Chapter 526

Chapter 526: The Dark Olympics

From the military base in Afghanistan, news reported that the Dragoon Consortium effortlessly reclaimed Takhar Province, while their defense division had the upper hand in the battles in Panjshir Province.

The last remaining "Super Dodo" launched repeated attacks. Although it had little advantage in aerial combat, it excelled in ground attacks. Aerial bombs and Rocket Pods helped the Dragoon Consortium’s ground troops overcome one stronghold after another.

The soldiers of the Dragoon Consortium, much like American soldiers, could call for air support. This feeling of exhilaration greatly surpassed their previous experiences with small armed organizations, clearly boosting their morale.

The complete reclamation of Panjshir Province was almost just a matter of time.

With the crisis for the Dragoon Consortium averted, they would only need time to rest and recover to further enhance their strength.

At this moment, the Kabul government had begun to fall into disarray. If they failed to eliminate the threat, it would inevitably lead to ongoing trouble.

This time, covertly supporting agents amassed over twenty thousand illegal armed militants to attack the Dragoon Consortium-controlled four northern provinces, but the defeat was already evident. Even many powerful and well-known agents paid with their lives.

It was impossible to expect the Dragoon Consortium to act as if nothing had happened; those capable of carving out their own territory were hardly law-abiding citizens.

The Kabul government was panicking; they were unable to suppress the Dragoon Consortium any longer. After losing to twenty thousand illegal armed militants, did they really think they could send another twenty thousand government troops to attack?

Although the Kabul government had American support behind them, it did not mean they could relax.

Even now, the government’s policies and military strength could only address a few limited provinces. Given the horrible transportation conditions in Afghanistan and the countless illegal armed groups, maintaining national unity without a large-scale civil war was nearly a miracle.

To openly oppose the Dragoon Consortium now would likely lead to consequences not much better than those faced by the illegal armed militants.

If the government army’s strength were to weaken significantly, wouldn’t that provide an opportunity for warlords to attack? Those warlords had long been waiting for a chance.

This would truly be like adding rain to an already leaky roof, leading to a complete disaster.

To avoid the Dragoon Consortium tearing the mask off and dragging the entire country into the nightmare of a full-blown civil war, the Kabul government had to make significant sacrifices. They brought the Dragon Party into the regime and acknowledged the chairperson qualifications of the provincial congress in the four northern provinces. They allowed representatives from the Dragoon Consortium in both the House of the People and the House of Elders, giving them a certain number of seats and the ability to participate in the Grand Jirga meeting, taking part in drafting and amending the constitution and approving other national laws. They also had the power to decide on matters related to Afghanistan’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests.

These concessions made by the Kabul government for self-preservation and stabilizing the domestic situation shifted the Dragoon Consortium’s status from a purely commercial one to a successful political direction.

If you don’t play politics, politics will play you. If the Dragoon Consortium wanted to grow and thrive in such a domestic environment, they would inevitably have to engage in this treacherous game and strive to be the house.

The reversal of fortunes for the Dragoon Consortium greatly intimidated the various provinces in Afghanistan. The warlords in the southern provinces estimated that they had no chance of escaping this deadlock, maintaining a tacit agreement in their attitudes toward this emerging power. Some provinces even extended olive branches to the Dragoon Consortium, hoping to establish a mutually beneficial relationship through its commercial operations.

Sometimes, profit does not only come from plunder. Although commercial development may not yield immediate effects, it excels in its lasting power and immense potential, something many insightful individuals clearly recognize.

By conveniently resolving Sally’s predicament, the Air Knight also successfully showcased his professional traits, turning the situation around with one decisive blow.

If it weren’t for this, maintaining such high-end combat effectiveness would require enormous costs and sacrifices.

Pilots generally had much more rest time than other military branches. After completing a secret overseas combat mission, Lin Mo received a rare three-day leave.

Avoiding the radio jamming zone of the "Night" base, Lin Mo called to check in on his teacher, Professor Yan Guoqiang, from a teahouse in a nearby town. During his free time, he also maintained and serviced the fighter jets but managed to find time to call his teacher.

Professor Yan was greatly pleased to receive Lin Mo’s call and felt a warm sense of relief.

However, when Lin Mo mentioned the international pilot death match, it seemed he had poked a hornet’s nest. Professor Yan reprimanded him sternly, forbidding him to delve into the so-called "Abyss Nirvana" competition, known as the graveyard for Air Knights, and warned Lin Mo that such death matches were not only illegal but also extremely dangerous.

Many exceptional pilots had perished in these underground flying combat matches, with most participants ending up with no remains.

Yet, seemingly aware of something, Professor Yan, in his protective concern for his prized student, disclosed some surprisingly shocking information while warning Lin Mo.

The "Abyss Nirvana" was actually supported in secret by governments and arms dealers worldwide, serving as a battleground for countries to engage in competition and struggle against one another, with a backdrop that was immensely complex and perilous.

One misstep could lead to disaster. Even the government of the country might not tolerate anyone daring to break the rules.

Regarding the trap set by Lockheed, Lin Mo could tell at a glance that they had no good intentions, yet he was still very interested in the international pilot death match.

From the confidential materials obtained by the Intelligence Group through the state strategic intelligence network, and with some insights gathered from Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, Lin Mo learned the true origins of this event, which actually dates back to 1891.

"Judicial Duels" once thrived in the West.

In the early European society (around the 11th to 15th centuries), when testimonies from both sides in court conflicted and no other evidence could clarify the truth, dueling became a way to resolve disputes.

When two individuals were locked in an argument and refused to back down, they would agree on a time and place, inviting witnesses to present a formal fight with deadly weapons. This was usually a result of one party injuring or insulting the other and was a custom in old Europe.

People at that time believed that the righteous would receive divine protection, giving them the power to defeat their opponents. There was a strong belief in the wisdom and fairness of the deities.

Thus, the winner of the duel was considered innocent, while the loser or anyone who backed down was definitely guilty.

It wasn’t until the 16th century, when Roman Catholicism reached its peak, that the Church intervened. The Church deemed it unfair for the physically weaker party to settle matters by force, violating the Christian principle of non-violence and disrespecting God.

The Church even decreed that those who died in duels could not be buried in church cemeteries. European nations like England and France also undertook judicial reforms that prohibited judicial dueling.

However, for several centuries, this method of resolving conflicts through violence was deeply ingrained in society and had far-reaching effects.

For Europeans before the 19th century, dueling was a commonplace occurrence.

Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, Italian poet Felice Cavallotti, and the youngest and most creative genius in the history of mathematics, ?variste Galois, all died in duels.

On the morning of July 11, 1804, American founding father and first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton died in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr.

On May 30, 1806, the seventh President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, killed the famous duelist Charles Dickinson.

During the same period in British history, four Prime Ministers participated in duels: the second Earl of Shelburne, William Petty (1780), William Pitt the Younger (1798), George Canning (1809), and the first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley (1829).

Literary figures such as Alexandre Dumas, Turgenev, and Tolstoy, along with Georges Clemenceau, the Prime Minister of the French Third Republic, were also skilled duelists. The "Iron Chancellor" Otto von Bismarck treated dueling as a regular occurrence, having fought 27 duels during his university years.

Even President Lincoln had once stepped onto the dueling ground.

In 1566, King Charles IX of France issued a strict regulation: anyone who participated in a duel would face the death penalty.

Yet, the law seemed unable to curb people’s enthusiasm for dueling, as in the following 30 years, thousands continued to die in duels in Paris. Even the sweeping revolution failed to change the fashion for dueling; it merely shifted the causes from honor and women to politics.

Dueling not only served as a powerful means for individuals to resolve conflicts.

Dissatisfied with personal confrontations, European families increasingly resorted to violence for solving their disputes, gradually evolving into small-scale wars or even national conflicts.

Battlefields became the best arenas for them to redistribute interests, whether relating to honor, territory, power, talent, technology, wealth, or other aspects.

What began as grand displays of chivalric duels evolved into thrilling and explosive gun battles, with mixed troop engagements leading to increasingly intense wars and campaigns. Even the outbreak of the two World Wars shadowed the struggles of interest groups.

As these enormous forces became involved, individual duels no longer maintained their purity; the death of the "sun of Russian poetry," Pushkin, in a duel was surely instigated by the Tsar’s orders, and the mathematical genius ?variste Galois also fell victim to a royalist conspiracy.

In 1891, inspired by the founding of the International Olympic Committee, some shadowy forces, using influential families to compete for interests, began to hold private duels or small-scale wars, forming a high-profile semi-public war competition. One could even say it was a war Olympics.

There were no second or third place finishers; only the champion would survive as the last contestant standing.