The entire command center had stayed up through the night. Once they learned that the reconnaissance squad had safely reached the first observation point, everyone was ready to "clock out" and go to sleep.
The personnel on the ground began to withdraw, and the same was true for those in the air.
Apollo 2-2, which had been flying all night, didn't want to stay up any longer either.
"Sparta O-1, this is Apollo 2-2. The sun is up; it's time for us to withdraw. Good luck."
This was what U.S. Air Force A-10 attack pilot and flight academy instructor Lynn Taylor once said.
Although you might see photos of the AC-130 gunship, most taken in daylight, in reality, in the Afghanistan and Iraq warzones, it only operated at night and had to leave the combat airspace before sunrise.
The true essence of the gunship was its silhouette against the night sky.
Leaving the battlefield before dawn wasn't to preserve its "ghost" nickname—it was because daytime operations were far too risky.
The AC-130 specialized in low- to medium-altitude combat, its firepower fierce—that was its strength.
But it was also its weakness.
Neither its maneuverability nor its defense could match other fighter jets.
In an era rife with smuggled surface-to-air missiles and widespread man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), even armed groups of just a few dozen could strike at aircraft.
The AC-130, such a large and slow-moving target, would be a sitting duck if hit.
Losing one was more than just a financial hit—over a hundred million dollars—it would be a massive embarrassment for the world's only super-developed nation if top-tier gunships were shot down by terrorists.
So, no matter how poor the communications quality was at this moment, Apollo 2-2 simply couldn't keep on duty.
"F\*ck!"
Dietz, responsible for radio communications, immediately cursed at the AC-130's departure.
Only then did he press the button to reply, "Copy that."
With the AC-130 serving as a "mobile relay base" to boost signal strength, communications were already terrible. Without it, what would happen?
Dietz, who majored in communications, understood better than anyone that they could easily lose contact altogether.
That's why he was so frustrated.
"Ah, familiar story."
Long Zhan sighed quietly beside him. He already sensed the familiar pattern and knew the current situation was unchangeable.
Right now, the only thing he wanted to do was to nip the danger in the bud.
As long as those three shepherds didn't stir up trouble and go down to the Kataku village to warn the enemy, the final tragedy wouldn't occur.
If they could hold onto this point, the tragedy of Operation Red Wing would be averted.
"This observation point won't do. Most of the village is blocked, and the vegetation on the hilltop is too sparse. We'll be easily exposed here—we need to switch observation points."
Murphy returned with Matt, pointing about a kilometer to the left at another hilltop.
"I just talked with Matt; we both think that hill over there should be more suitable."
Long Zhan followed Murphy's finger and saw the distant hill indeed had much denser trees.
Hiding inside, they'd be completely unseen from outside.
But seeing this lush, green hill immediately reminded Long Zhan of the shepherds.
Such dense vegetation would be a perfect place to graze sheep; if they went there, the chances of encountering shepherds would be very high.
Although Long Zhan had already planned how to deal with the shepherds if encountered, objectively, avoiding them altogether was the best solution.
With the idea of avoiding the shepherds in mind, Long Zhan organized his words carefully.
"I don't recommend going to that hilltop. The vegetation is too dense, and the observation angles are too good.
If I were Shah, I'd definitely post guards there.
If Shah thinks the same way I do, that hill won't be safe anymore. We might run into trouble if we go in."
The more he talked, the more convinced he became.
By the end of his explanation, he was almost certain that the shepherds who appeared during Operation Red Wing were actually Shah's militia disguising themselves to guard that hilltop.
Our predecessors used this trick many times in guerrilla warfare during the Anti-Japanese War.
Shah, as a modern guerrilla leader who developed a force of over 200 under the relentless US military pursuit, certainly knew some war history.
Combined with the restrictions placed on the US forces by the BSOs,
using shepherds instead of soldiers to stand watch with rifles was likely Shah's clever idea.
Long Zhan's words were logical and compelling; Murphy, Matt, and Dietz were all taken in and had to take it seriously.
From their perspective...
Ahmad Shah, a former senior Taliban figure who had fought with troops, probably had anti-reconnaissance awareness.
If Shah really set up defenses in the most dangerous places beforehand,
running into those places would be a death sentence.
The more Dietz thought about it, the more he agreed with Long Zhan.
"Our communications are already terrible. If we go into that forested area, we'll probably lose contact with base completely. Even satellite phones might be useless."
"Don't we have Apollo 2-2?" Murphy asked.
"It just contacted me a minute ago. The sun's up now, and it's going back to feed its mom," Dietz replied irritably.
Murphy immediately understood. He knew the gunship usually didn't operate during the day.
"Long Zhan, what you're saying makes a lot of sense, but we need a better observation point. We can't confirm Shah's presence from here," Murphy said helplessly.
"We can go there."
Long Zhan pointed to a hilltop on the left with much sparser vegetation and a more open terrain.
"That angle is perfect. From the hilltop, we can see the entire village panorama, and since it's less concealed, Shah probably wouldn't have set up guard posts there."
Murphy didn't respond right away. He picked up his high-powered binoculars and looked over.