12 Strong Page #7

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"mortars, machine guns."

"A tactic I think

became outdated

"with the invention

of the Gatling gun.

"They've attacked

with 10 rounds

"of AK-47 ammunition per man."

Lisa, get in here.

"With snipers having less than

100 rounds

"with little water

and less food."

The letter's too well written.

I know it can't be Hal.

"We witnessed the horse

cavalry bounding

"from spur to spur to attack

Taliban strongpoints.

"The last several kilometers

under mortar,

"artillery and sniper fire."

That's Mitch.

"Everywhere I go to,

the civilian

"and local soldiers

are always willing

"to tell me that they're glad

the USA has come,

"and they speak of their hopes

for a better Afghanistan

"once the Taliban are gone."

Raven, this is Charlie 595.

Good drop. Good drop.

We hit one of their outposts.

Weapons cache destroyed.

Stand by for detailed sitrep

to follow.

So you take your grenade

and throw it?

This should hold you

for a while.

Yeah.

Hey, get Mitch over here.

Hey, Captain!

- Yeah.

- Come over here, please!

- You all right?

- Yeah, yeah.

It's like a javelin.

- You all right, Hal?

- Oh, yeah.

So you think you're making

any progress with Dostum?

Yeah. Yeah, we're doing good.

We're thinking of getting an apartment

together when this is all over.

Oh, sh*t.

No, don't make me laugh.

Glad you got a sense of humor.

I got some bad news.

What?

Headquarters inserted ODA 555

with Atta's militia.

Wait, General Atta,

Dostum's rival?

They think they have a better

shot of reaching Mazar-i-Sharif.

They don't trust us

to get through the gauntlet.

This kills us, Hal.

The minute Dostum hears

about Atta,

he's gonna forget

all about the Taliban.

Could be.

You might wanna

break up camp now,

in case you gotta

get out of here quick.

Yeah.

Hey, think of it this way.

You've just been handed

the most important

diplomatic job

in the free world.

Keeping the Northern Alliance

together.

Oh, finally.

I'm starving to death.

Habib.

Tell him that I wanna buy

one of his sheep.

He says

they're not for sale.

Everything's for sale.

Okay, tell him that we'll give

him 50 American dollars.

He says he will take $500.

For that?

How much are they worth?

$100.

Okay.

Huh?

300 American dollars.

Yes?

Good?

This guy should be

a f***ing military contractor.

All right.

Great. Lamb chops.

It's a great day,

my friend.

The Taliban pulled back

to protect the Gap.

We can move forward to here

in the morning.

If we do tomorrow right, we can

run them all the way to Mazar.

This war is won

or lost tomorrow.

General, I wanna explain

one of the other missions

that are taking place

tomorrow.

There's another team

like mine,

and they've been placed

with General Atta Mohammed.

They're moving on Mazar

from the southeast.

They gave north to Atta.

From the U.S. point of view,

you're all the Northern Alliance.

Who is the U.S. to tell me

what Northern Alliance is?

If Atta moves

to Mazar-i-Sharif first...

We're not dropping bombs so you can

go to war with Atta over the north.

The mission hasn't changed,

General.

We're gonna punch through

this Gap into the city.

Tiangi Gap is over

two kilometers long.

Razzan's best weapons

are right here.

Machine guns, mortars,

heavy armors.

And right here is 055 Brigade.

Foreign fighters. Al-Qaeda.

They won't give an inch.

They prefer death.

I won't let my men die

so Atta can go to Mazar first.

This isn't just your war,

General.

There are thousands of people

dead in your country and mine.

Now let me show you

how this is possible.

All right? We've already

lured them into this Gap.

I'm gonna put a man

on each flank,

and we're gonna overwhelm

this canyon with air support.

I've already sent

Diller downrange.

He's gonna cut off any

resupply and hit any retreat.

Then, you and I are gonna

charge through this Gap

and hit that main body

with a full frontal assault.

But Atta cannot

get to Mazar first.

I'm taking my men through there,

General, with or without you.

Without me and my men,

you are just an army of 12.

You all will die.

Good luck.

God damn it!

You're unbelievable.

You showed me the town

where your family died.

Told me every hell Razzan

and his army unleashed

on this place.

And now all you care about

is some turf war?

You lectured me

about the heart of a warrior.

You're no warrior.

You're just another warlord.

Yeah, go ahead.

It ain't us that's quitting,

General, it's you.

That's not a happy face.

I don't think

Dostum's on board.

What do you mean not on board?

He says he's not gonna fight a battle that

opens a way for his rival to take the city.

That's not

very big-picture of him.

He's fighting more than

one war here.

Look, I don't like it, but these

are the cards we've been dealt.

Yeah, well, Captain,

you gotta talk to him.

I did. He's gone.

He's taken most of his men, most

of the militia, and they left.

Listen, I ain't gonna lie

to you guys.

The chances are we are not

gonna make it out of this one.

Goddamn, we're this close.

We're so close to wiping

Al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan.

We'll never get

another chance like this.

But if we quit now,

then what happened back home

is gonna happen

again and again.

Each of you gotta

make this decision,

but I'm in.

We're ready for anything.

With or without him.

F*** him.

I mean,

we're already here, right?

All right.

We go in the morning.

You take what's left

of the guards with you.

And get some rest tonight.

Tomorrow's gonna decide it

one way or another.

Spencer, Black. You call in

airstrikes from the eastern flank.

Milo, Jackson and

Essex have been pushed out

against the enemy's

western flank right here.

Diller, Coffers and Bennett

will cover the enemy's

northern flank

in an attempt to block

reinforcements from Mazar.

Falls and Michaels,

cover Jones and me

from the sniper position

on the southern flank.

Here we go

down the rabbit hole.

- All right, Vern.

- Yeah.

Who wins in a fight?

Queen Elizabeth

or Margaret Thatcher?

Jesus, Falls. Where do you

come up with this sh*t?

From the depths

of my brilliant mind.

Seeing that, boss?

Falls, a scout just

picked us up.

My two o'clock. Over.

Target.

Got him.

650 yards.

Hold to left.

Good hit.

Coffers,

get that radio up.

I need 10 minutes.

You got five.

Like I said, five minutes.

No Dostum, huh?

K2 base,

this is 595 Delta. Over.

Request medevac on standby.

Over.

Roger.

Sh*t.

How we looking, J?

Eh. We're in the right spot.

F***, there's gotta be

at least 15,000 down there.

Spencer, this is Alpha.

We're in position.

Start lasing targets

of opportunity.

Biggest guns first. Over.

I am your biggest gun, Cap.

Diller, welcome back, man.

How was your trip?

Oh, I'm doing great.

I'm looking at timeshares

over here for the summer.

All right.

Let's do this, boys.

Heads down, stay safe.

All right, good to go.

All right, good.

- Hey, yo, J?

- Yeah.

055 brigade. Al-Qaeda.

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