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12 Strong (2018)
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February 1993. A massive explosion ripping through the lower basement sections of the World Trade Center under tower number two. A terrorist bomb, how horrific a crime this is. August 1998. Our embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were bombed. The Bin Laden terrorist network was responsible. Suicide bombers blew a hole in the ship. My prayers are with the families of those killed... at the explosion involving the U.S. naval vessel Cole. Hidden in the mountains of Afghanistan, Bin Laden planned these attacks. September 9th, 2001. Ahmad Shah Massoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance, was assassinated by two members of Al-Qaeda. Massoud's death destabilized the Northern Alliance, removing the only threat to the Taliban's power in Afghanistan. I can't believe we have a fireplace. Yeah. Sort of a fireplace. It's propane. It's a fireplace. Maddy? All right. Up you go. Okay. Let's get your shoes on. Hey, I like your drawings. It's a ladybug. A ladybug? Wow, it's beautiful. I don't wanna unpack this room until we get the walls painted. And by "we," I mean you. Sounds like a lot of work. Yeah, what does that mean? Paint the walls and I'll show you. I love this house. You gotta learn Spanish, Daddy. Yeah, it's on the list, sweetie. You taking me to school again? Uh-huh. And picking you up. - Really? - Yeah! Turn that down, sweetie. Daddy, look. Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on the country. We have reported that one of the planes was an American Airlines 767 that had been hijacked... - Hey! - Thank God! Finally. Okay! Really? Really? - What the hell, man? - Relax, bro. - You know how nuts traffic is right now. - Traffic? - We've been freezing our asses out here all goddamn night! - Relax, bro. Why don't you jump your ass in this river? What, did you stop at Starbucks? - Where's my latte? - Milo, it's 8:30. - What happened? - What, you guys don't know? No, we were in the river, man. Goddamn, they're low. Is that part of a drill? Ain't no drill. Get me Josh Bailey at USASOC intel, please. Bailey on line three, sir. - Did you say line three? - Yes, sir. Sound off! Josh, Jesus Christ, you guys shit the bed on this one, huh? Was it confirmed? Well, it's not my job to know where. That's your job. All we are is ready. Well, quit wasting time talking to me then. Why are you here? Out of uniform with that fur on your face. Didn't you get back from Kuwait, like, three weeks ago? Yes, sir. Apologies. Technically, I'm still on leave. Well, if you're here today, leave is over. Take a look around, Captain. We're a little busy. What do you want? I want back on my team, sir. You don't have a team. You've been rotated to my staff. At your request, by the way. That was before. All right? Before guys were flying fucking planes into buildings. Well, your warrant officer turned in his retirement papers, and you've been moved up. So your team doesn't exist, all right? You'll be filtered into new ODAs when the opportunities arise. If I were you, I'd get back to your desk and start studying intel on Afghanistan. Taliban sponsored the attack, sir? Al-Qaeda planned this attack. They have refuge in Afghanistan. But Middle East is our assigned region, sir. Really? I didn't know that! Here's the thing, though. You don't have a region, 'cause you don't have a fucking team! So get back to your goddamn desk and let me do my job! Fuck. Sergeant, who's on line four? It was not long before that tower collapsed. The loss of life so far is catastrophic, estimated at 10,000. But that number could go much higher. These images from just across the Potomac River of the Pentagon, still on fire, a fire burning out of control after a hijacked airliner, another one, we believe this one to have been a United Airlines flight, smashed into the Pentagon around 9:45... Yo. What's up, Cap? - What up, Milo? - What are you doing here? Trying to get my team back. Ah, your little jalapeo ain't gonna be too happy - about that, huh? - Yeah, maybe not. What are you talking about? This team's done. And thanks to you, we're gonna be watching this whole thing go down on fucking CNN. What I did, I did for my family. I didn't know there was a goddamn war coming. Oh, buddy, you and your family, you're gonna be fine. From your cushy little office, you're gonna be fucking fine! You think I'm gonna be sitting on the sidelines with this shit happening, Dill? Huh? Did you talk to Bowers? Yeah, I did. I told him I want back in and he said no. He won't say no to me. Tell me you didn't submit that paperwork. No, it's on my desk. Good. If anybody in the Middle East did this, the Fifth Group's up. Fuck yeah, bro. Fuck yeah. I mean, we would have been. If we had a fucking captain. We'll be in this fight, boys. You mark my words. He's in a meeting, sir. It's a private meeting, sir. Your retirement papers? There's nothing to submit, sir. I'm still Chief Warrant Officer of ODA 595, and my team has more combat experience than the rest of Fifth Group combined. All that hell we went through in Somalia, Desert Storm, that means somethin'. You break this team up, you're cutting the head off your most venomous snake, sir. Yeah. Okay. I'll pull you a captain and get you in the game. We have a captain, sir. You have a captain with no combat experience. He's never been to war. He's only led you in training. He's already been bumped up to staff. This is a career wrecker. You understand that, right? Well, all due respect, I've spent two years with that fellow leadin' our team. If you think furthering his career is why he joined, you need to get to know your captain, sir. As you were. - Sorry about the desk. - No, no. It's a good kill. Besides, you're not gonna need it where you're going. Special Forces doesn't have thermals? Army wasn't expecting this. Yeah. Well, that makes two of us. You tell him. I'm not doing your dirty work for you. Marsha. I'll love you when you get back. Hey, buddy. Leaving? Yeah, I gotta go. How long? Don't know. Hey. You know I love you, right? Wow. Made it all the way to the oven, huh, babe? Some wives cry, I clean. Hey, uh, I was thinking... You're gonna have all the time in the world to clean that oven once I'm gone. And I'm kind of running out of time. So... Yeah, and I bet I know just how you wanna spend it. I mean, I have two hours. I'll be really quick. - Super quick. - Uh-huh, yeah, not a chance. Holding out is the only way I can guarantee you come back to me. - Please? - Mmm-mmm. - Just the tip. - Mmm-mmm. - Okay, you know what? - Mmm-hmm. War's gonna be over so quick. It's gonna be over in like a week. I promise. Go wake up the kids. Spend the time with them. I know what I signed up for. They don't. Don't wish for what you don't want. You were on a flight to New York two months ago. You don't have to justify it to me. I'm a soldier's wife. And I've been lucky. All I've had to worry about so far is malaria and chopper crashes. Most dangerous part's the ride in and out. Not anymore. I don't care how long you're gone as long as you come back. You understand? Yeah, I do. Then say you're coming home. I can't, baby. It's bad luck. I need to hear you say it. I'm comin' home. Hey, ODA 595. Where do we bunk? Uh, you see those Quonset huts? Those are for the teams. ODA numbers are on the door, sir. Don't salute in country. Are you trying to get our captain killed, bro? These are all friendlies. Oh, yeah? Who, that guy? That's not my friend. And that guy's definitely not my friend. Fucking Diller, bro. I could be their friend. He looks nice. That guy? Yeah. Heads up. Heads up. What's up, guys? Looks like Christmas came early, huh? Oh, yeah. Ho, ho, ho. Where have you guys been? Oh, we went to a fucking Nickelback concert. How was it? Throw your panties on stage? Nah, nah, nah, we got stuck in a holding position - till the weather broke. - From what I hear, the weather here doesn't change until June. Snowed last night. So get used to it. - What? Really? - Yeah. Hey, what's all this? Someone gave the quartermaster a Gold Card. Now, the only unit with any cold weather tac-gear is the 10th Mountain. They ain't sharing. Make sure everyone carries a GPS. I couldn't find one topo map of this place. - Copy that, Captain. - Hey, look what 515 left outside their tents. - -Hey, guys, quiet down. Oh, it's Britney Spears! Five months in country, this hair is what you're getting, man. Hey, man. Is that a wig? Can I touch it? Just one time. Ask Coffers' wife, man. She loves it. Oh! Cap said grow it out, guys. What happened? What happened? Whoa! Whoa! Be careful! Vern knows Krav Maga! Don't even think about... All right, pencils down. The other five teams have been interviewed. And, Cap, we're all countin' on you, so, you know, - no pressure. - Thanks, buddy. See you soon, boys. Yep. Give 'em hell, Cap. Bin Laden has been financing the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, setting up terrorist training camps all over Afghanistan. He's had one big win on U.S. soil. He wants another. And if we don't stop him, there will be more. Bin Laden might be the brains, but make no mistake about it, in Afghanistan, the Taliban is the muscle. If we remove them from power, he can't use them to make his attacks. Mazar-i-Sharif. Whoever controls that city, controls Afghanistan. If we take Mazar from the Taliban, then we cripple Bin Laden. Well, that's half-right. If you're gonna interrupt me, you should probably be entirely right. No, we aren't taking anything. The man who's gonna take Mazar is named General Dostum. He's an Afghan warlord with the Northern Alliance. He has the troops, he has the intel, he knows the cliffs. He knows every cave and most importantly, he does not care for the Taliban. So this is about airstrikes? Sorry, sir. No, you nailed that one. Dostum cannot take out the Taliban by himself. Here's the plan. We're gonna drop you into Northern Afghanistan. There, you will meet up with a CIA operative who will take you to Dostum. Your mission, earn Dostum's trust, embed with his militia, you fight alongside him while he makes his way to Taliban strongholds. When you get there, you call in for close air support strikes. Dostum will do the rest. One by one, stronghold by stronghold, until he takes Mazar, and the Taliban falls. You got six weeks. I'd say three weeks, sir. - God damn it. - No, no. All right, I'll bite. Why three? The Russians have been here before, right? They've done this. And they wrote about it. They said the snow was shutting down all the mountain passes by mid-November. Every year, without fail. Now, if the Russians are talking about a bad winter, it's usually worth paying attention to, isn't it? After three weeks, we will not get into Mazar. That snow will hit, the Taliban will dig in, and my men won't come home. Your air support comes from B-52s at 35,000 feet. How do you think you're gonna get close enough to be accurate without parking a bomb in your lap? I'll have to get out of the way, sir. The extra three weeks is cushion for your fuck-ups. There won't be any fuck-ups. Three weeks is all we need. Pretty confident for a guy who's never done this before. Never been to war. I don't see that as a disadvantage, sir. Well, maybe you should explain that. We're teaming up with a warlord that we know nothing about. We're not gonna be able to tell our enemies from our allies. Every step we take is gonna be on a minefield from a hundred different wars. And no one's ever called in a smart bomb airstrike from a B-52. So anyone who tells you they've done this before or has experience in this is lying, sir. There's no playbook here. We're gonna have to write it ourselves. I briefed five potential captains for this mission. About a hundred years of military experience between them. But you're the only one that sees it the way it is. I choose you. You and 11 men. Task Force Dagger. I would be remiss if I did not say to you, even in success the odds of you coming home... They're 100%, sir, with all due respect. See, I kind of made a promise, too. You know better than that, Nelson. - What'd she get you to? - Christmas. Hmm. It's a hell of a thing we do, isn't it? How do you love your family and leave them to go to war? You're wheels up at 2200. Dismissed. No, no. Knock that off. Go. Captain. The most important thing a man can take into combat is a reason why. This is from the towers. You carry that with you. Five weeks ago, 19 men attacked our country. The 12 of you will be the first ones to fight back. Go win this thing. Thank you, sir. Yeah! Son of a bitch. We're the first ones in! Yeah, it's kind of like the Apollo program. You know what they sent into space first, right? - What? - A monkey. Great. But, listen, brother. If it's six weeks, it's six weeks, okay? We can't rush this. We're in harm's way no matter what the weather. If your only goal is trying to keep us alive, we're dead men for sure. I ain't losing one man on this team, Hal. The only way home is winning. Well, shit, I believe you. Come on, let's tell the boys we're up. Oh, my God! This woman was stoned to death for being pregnant out of wedlock. This is what the Taliban does to women in Afghanistan. Oh, God, just shut that shit off. It's what they gave us for intel. But that's not intel, that's motivation. And I got two towers full of that. Ah, you don't need to study, Falls. You just shoot the guy shooting at you. Oh, is that how that works? Thank you very much, Mr. Wizard. Hey, look, Michaels. It's you. Jesus Christ, you guys are jealous. What do you call that? Is it like a coif or something? - Guys. Guys, guys. - I don't do bad hair. Listen up! All right, boys. It's us, we're going in. Yeah! We beat out the five other teams. We're gonna drop in behind enemy lines, link up with a warlord of the Northern Alliance, General Abdul Dostum. We'll assist him in fighting the Taliban and taking back the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which happens to be the stronghold and linchpin for the entire northern Taliban force. Now if we don't take that city, the whole country will turn into a goddamn terrorist training camp. World Trade Center's just the beginning. They're not finished with us yet. The catch is, we only have 21 days. How many troops does he have? He's got about 200 paid soldiers and an undetermined number of part-time militia. What about the other side? The other side has about 50,000 Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters. Missiles, armor, rockets, mortars, machine guns. We're outnumbered. Just 5,000 to one. It's what I call a target-rich environment. I kind of like those odds, to be honest. Now, gentlemen, once we land, we're about nine hours away from help. Which effectively means it doesn't exist. We're on our own. We all need to understand that capture is not an option here. We've all seen the intel on what the Taliban does to their prisoners, correct? Those motherfuckers will make you suffer. - Shit goes south, I'm dying with my boots on. - Amen. - As am I. - Hear, hear. We go in tonight. Single ship, no backup. So police your gear, get some rest. Had a successful test flight? We are the test flight. If you die, that's a letter you and your wife are gonna wish you wrote. I just made her a promise I'm coming home. I ain't writing her a letter that says I broke it. We got one, two, three, four, five, six... I guess that space suit answers the question about closing the freaking doors. What's your cruising altitude? That's a good question. Well, it must be above 10,000 feet if you're using O2. Shit, the mountains we're flying over are 10,000 feet. The sandstorms would ruin the engines and missiles have been fired from the peaks. Well, that puts us at 20. You can't fly a Chinook at 20,000 feet. We're not gonna. Flight altitude's 25. Oh. Well, how's this thing take it? We'll find out. Is there O2 for my team? We got masks in the back, but they don't work. Hell, ours didn't work last flight. This dipshit started seeing bogeymen. Almost crashed into the damn mountain. Oh, shit. We're gonna go hypoxic. Not me. Keeping my eyes on that fucker right there. We're going to the clouds, gentlemen. No one's ever flown a chopper this high this far. Strap in tight! - I've never been hypoxic before. - Really? Oh, it's great. All you do is faint. Think of it as a nine-hour nap. It's not the going to sleep that worries me. It's the goddamn hangover on the other side. Yeah, baby! - Well, you know why the Army uses Chinooks, right? - Why? So we'll be good and mad when we get into battle. I know, man! I'm a laugh factory! Mission equipment is set. EOS, flare, chaff. 595, we are clear for takeoff. Silver wings upon their chest These are men America's best One hundred men we'll test today But only three win the Green Beret Hey, 595, this is 1213. Visibility is deteriorating. We're turning back, blind alley. Hang on! We're descending. On purpose? - On purpose? - Roger that. - Wheels down, two minutes. - Two minutes! - Two minutes! - Wake up! Jock up, NODs on! Right gunner has landing area in sight. Going in hot. Here we go! Fifteen, ten, nine, eight. Hold your forward. Bring it down. Cleared on left, cleared on right. On five, four, three. Ramps cleared down. Ramp, ramp, ramp. Hey. There. See those two fellas? Yeah. - Is this our escort? - No, I don't think so. We're supposed to be meeting a squad. I don't think these are our guys. Shut them up. We got company. Shit! Put your fucking weapons down! Drop your weapons! No! No! No! Friendlies! Friendlies! Stand down! All right, weapons down! Let them up. That's your fucking escort. Let them up. We're sorry. Right. Okay. If you could just tell him we apologize? You team leader? Yeah, I am. You guys are late. Well, we're here now. You don't speak Dari? - Not at all. - How's your Uzbek? So-so. My Russian's decent. All right. Well, Russian will get you through. We should move, it's a long hike. They dumped you in a bad spot. Let's go, grab your gear. Let's move. Hey! Back up! No! No! Yo, yo, yo. Yeah, thank you. This is it. They call it the Alamo. Got you set up in here. Why don't you guys take first watch. Rotate every two hours. Head on a swivel. - Roger that. - On it. You know everyone died in the Alamo, right? I think you should keep that to yourself. Oh, this is great. Yeah, this is gonna go over real well in a Muslim country. It ain't our job to choose the gifts, man. It's yours. Come on in. This is your new home. Hey, feel free to eat any of that. The bread's good. I don't know what this is, but it's fucking great. Give me the lay of the land. What kind of intel you got? Well, here's what I know, and it ain't much. What's left of the Northern Alliance is essentially three separate militias. All right? That are all enemies with each other. General Dostum, General Atta, and General Mohaqiq. So you got a three-pronged attack that doesn't communicate, will not assist each other. And if they meet on the battlefield, they'll probably stop fighting the Taliban and start killing each other. What about our contact, General Dostum? General Abdul Rashid Dostum. Okay, he's Uzbek. Started fighting the Russians when he was 16. He's 55 now. Yeah, we have his bio. What's he like? What's he like? Yeah, what's he like? His personality. Angry, happy, sad? He likes show tunes. He likes show tunes. Great. Look, I read people for a living, and I can't get a bead on this guy. Okay? Only two things I know for sure. He hates the Taliban and they hate the shit out of him. How worried should we be about any of these guys trying to sell us to the Taliban? Uh, I'd be pretty fucking worried, if I was you. Right. - Does Dostum speak English? - No. He speaks Tajik. He speaks Uzbek. He speaks Dari. He speaks Pashtun, which is what the Taliban speak. And he speaks Russian. So you got that going for ya. Are you with us through this? No, I'm leaving right now. I got a 50 kilometer hike to give a bag of money to another warlord. Who knows, maybe we'll see each other on the battlefield. If we do, don't shoot the guy in the backwards cap. We'll keep that in mind. God, that spook is cheery. Yeah, runnin' around here alone, setting this thing up? Say one thing about him, he's got giant balls. Hey. - So where is he? - Who? - Dostum. - No clue. He knows we're here though, right? Whole fucking country knows you're here. Best of luck, Captain. I mean it. You too. Give 'em hell. Come look at this. Graveyard of Empires, and we're in it. Shows you how unlucky it is to write on that wall, so no one better do it. Hey, Cap. Get some rest, all right? Something ain't right here. Now, look. This is about being smart, not super human. Yeah, I know, I know. I'm gonna take the next watch. Massoud. When he died, the Northern Alliance might have died with him. Move! Move! That Dostum? General. Peace be with you. And what did he say? He said it's good to know the language of your enemies. Am I doing this alone? All right, let's go. Looks like Spencer got a promotion. I guess he prefers brunettes. Yeah, seems that way, huh? All right, why don't we give him the gift? Mmm. What did he say? I don't think the horse feed's a big hit. - Well, that went over like a bag of shit. - Mmm-hmm. You wanna try the vodka, Captain? General. To our new American friends. I hope they don't think they win copying the Russians. I was told you didn't speak English. I didn't speak to the man who told you I don't. Where are my bombs? General, I have more bombs than you could ever want. - Could you show me the Taliban's location? - Why the young one speak? He's our captain, sir. - Tell them to stand down. - Hey, Diller. General, I'm the captain. This is my team. You speak to me, all right? - This is my country. - I understand that. You own the land, but we own the sky. You want our bombs, talk to me. Okay. We talk. Why these men follow you? I could ask you the same question. You don't want the answer. Look. Look. Those eyes. Killer eyes. Those eyes. Killer eyes. Yes. Killer eyes. What did you kill? You wanna see me kill? You take me to the Taliban, I'll show you. Okay. We go. That was easy. Buddy, you better check that fucking swagger before he sells us to the highest bidder. Listen, he needed to know how far I can be pushed. Now he does. Fucking killer's eyes. General. General, how far away is the Taliban? Five hours. I have horses for you. - There's only six. I need 12. I got 12 men. - I have six. Hey, Cap. Looks like he's not done pushing you. I don't like splitting up the team, Hal. Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, might as well be now. At least he's willing to fight. I figured he'd just milk us for supplies and money. Can you show me on the map exactly where we're going? Cobaki. Over the mountains. All right, Diller, Coffers, Michaels, Bennett, Jackson, you're with me. Falls, Black, grab the daypacks, extra ammo. I took Dehi four days ago from Taliban. Mullah Razzan, leader of the Taliban, has a high price on your heads. 100,000 US dollars for your body. 50,000 for your bloody uniforms. That's it? A little low. Toss a little change out, Taliban. Well, look on the bright side. If his plan was to cash us in, he'd find another six horses for sure. I guarantee it. All right, who's ridden before? Anyone? Summer camp, when I was nine. Cancun, spring break. But I was pretty drunk. I can't ride for shit. Okay, so that's nobody. But, hey, this will be fun. All right. Okay, so a kick means "go." This is the steering wheel. Left to go left, - right to go right. Pull back to stop. - Okay. He's not waiting for us. Saddle up. I'll start a supply chain, okay? Schedule a drop. Does it have a name? Request ammo for Dostum's men. I know, but does it have a name? And Michaels will be on the radio. We'll check in every four hours. He's gonna test you. Yeah. I'm gonna test him, too. I'm not sure that's a good idea. About to find out. Oh, fuck. God damn it. Good luck, boys. You guys look like a bunch of naturals. Don't break the horse, Dill. Shit. I don't like how they're looking at us, Cap. Cap, we got three AK's and a spotter at three o'clock. Yeah, I see it. What the fuck are we stopping for? I don't know. Supplies. Yeah, well, we're sitting ducks here. You gotta be kidding me. Risking our asses for 10 gallons of water. No, he's showing us off. He's saying, "Look at the Americans. "They're here with me." Hey, don't fucking look down! Where you look, the horse goes. Move your head, it shifts your weight and shifts the horse's weight. Got it? Yeah, yeah, I got it. - Hey, boss. - Yeah. He's got us on the north side of this range. I'm guessing that isn't good. No. Commo satellites orbit to the south. There's no way I'm gonna get any signal through that mountain range. I'm gonna have to go up on the plateau and try to get better contact. He's got us camping in a dead spot. You think he knows it's a dead spot? I know every cell phone dead zone in my hometown. No GPS either, huh? No, it's pretty shitty. Your men are too slow. We will kill the Taliban in the morning. I see you. Yeah, I know it. I see that. That's a cool musket. Najeeb? Cool, I'm gonna take a piss now, so... No, no. No. Like to do this alone, bro. Respect the culture. This fucking kid. - Milo? - What's up, bro? Looks like you got a shadow. Yeah. - You see Dostum's men ride up that mountain today? - Yeah. Had his whole army ready to travel in five minutes. My guess is the Taliban ain't much different. It's not gonna be easy. Yeah, these people are tough. How do you know so much about horses? No, I grew up on a ranch. Father taught me. About the only thing he was ever good and gentle with were horses. So the old man ruled with an iron fist? And a leather belt. - Anything he could get his hands on. - Oh, yeah? Must have been best friends with my old man. Oh, yeah? I hope they let us see this one through, you know? Afghanistan's been invaded for the last 2,000 years repeatedly by everyone. Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great... You've been reading up on the place? I was a history teacher. - Get the fuck out! - No! I swear to God! - You serious? - Yeah. Shit, that's right. No, I remember reading something about it. In your report. It wasn't long though. What happened? I didn't... I got into a fight with this guy who was harassing my girlfriend, you know. And I kind of beat him up pretty bad. And where I was headed, I was headed to jail. So, I chose the military. Shit, man. And here you are years later sitting in a cave. Yeah, I should have chose jail. Why do your men stand guard? You're my guests, I protect you. We're not just your guests, General. We're your allies. My men aren't standing guard against you. They're standing with you. This is my responsibility. This is how we're trained. We have orders to follow. That's the difference between you and me. You have many men over you. Over me, only God. God, that was, that was some real bonding right there. Yeah. Sir, sitrep from Spencer. He's requesting a supply drop for Dostum's men. Winter's coming, and they need gear and provisions. Yeah, ship it out. Where's Nelson? Not sure. Terrain's cutting off radio reception. He thinks that Nelson's en route to Dostum's HQ. Our best guess is here. Cobaki. All right, hold on. Why aren't Nelson and Spencer together? Nelson split the team. He took six men and left Spencer and the others at the recon point. Christ, why'd he do that? Dostum only gave him six horses. Apparently, that's the only way to cross the mountains. According to Spencer, the horses aren't just transportation. Spencer says Dostum relies on them for combat. Horses? Yes, sir. There. Mullah Razzan's men. Wait, where? You see the pickup trucks? Those are the Taliban forces outside of Bescham. Right. Okay, General, let me explain how this works. I need to be close enough to give the exact coordinates and elevation. It's too dangerous. General, we're too far away. I can't call in anything from here. 500 of my men can die before one American gets a scratch. You know why? No, why, sir? Because if one American die, your government leaves, and then we lose the war. Okay. I'm dropping these bombs from 30,000 feet. The plane doesn't guide the bombs, I do. If I can't get close enough, I can't call in the exact location. Give me your little map. Give me your map. There. See? Here. Taliban. Here. Taliban. - Okay. - And here, Taliban. Now drop your bomb. - He's not getting it. - And we're still too far away. - Drop bombs. - How do I even know this is the Taliban? Who else would it be? There are a lot of armies in these mountains, General, and the U.S. is only at war with one of them. You call me a liar? I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that we're so far away I can't even tell what we're shooting at, what we're hittin'. Christ, he's calling the fucking Taliban. America, fuck you! See? Drop bombs. Badger 17, this is Alpha 595. We need a drop on enemy position. 8-4-7-2, 6-5-4-3. How copy? Over. Alpha 595, I copy. 8-4-7-2, 6-5-4-3, over. Roger. Drop when ready. You hit the green on this one, boss, you're a goddamn wizard. Yeah, no shit. Come on. Shit. All right, someone explain to these guys we missed. Goddamn. Shit. That was ridiculous. I didn't come here to play around. Check fire, we're way off. Stay here, I'll call back coordinates. No, no, Nelson. - Where's Cap going? - I don't know. Coffers. I'm getting closer. Wasn't gonna let you have all the fun. You ready for new coordinates? Yeah, we got some anxious people up here. 8-3-9-6... Bad element maneuvered in on 'em. Captain, there's an element moving in on you. All right, stay here. Let's go! I'll say again. 8-3-9... 6-4-5-7. Clear and hot. Bombs inbound, boys. Let's move! We're danger close, Cap! Move back! Move! Move! Move! General. Their forward position's obliterated. Why aren't we moving on the village? You will not live long here if you ignore what I'm telling you. You told me to bomb, that's what I did. Why aren't we attacking? That wasn't the plan today. You mind telling me the plan? We attack tomorrow. Tomorrow. Great. So that was, uh, what? Nice little dress rehearsal? A rehearsal, yeah. Great. I'm not gonna negotiate. These are my boots. You know, the ones you stole from our drop? I don't know what that means. I bet you we haven't even found half our shit. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That roof looks familiar, doesn't it? Hey, how much, huh? What is that? $10? $9.50? Huh? They got 10% of our MREs, a quarter of our blankets. We're missing a lot. What? Guess they like our chem suits. Trs chic. I'd like to tell you it gets easier, but... You know, every now and then, you meet a guy who doesn't feel anything. He goes out there, he kills people. Falls asleep before his head hits the pillow. You know, I used to think that that'd be better, right? That maybe I was just too weak. Then I realized... Nah. That's the thing that reminds us that we're humans. Hey, here we go. How'd you make out? All kinds of goodies. Good. Get most of it back? It was like shopping at Macy's. - Hey, yo, Spence, bro. - Yeah. See that little kid over there? Yeah. I can't even take a piss without the kid up in my business. Well, it is pretty fascinating. No, not really. It's not. No. He follows me around like a little stray dog, bro. Why don't you stop giving him treats? Bro, that's the thing. I don't give him shit, all right? He just follows me around smiling with his little 1910 gun, bro. You don't get it, do you? What, Spence? These guys guard us. Any one of us gets killed, Dostum might execute the man he thinks is responsible and his whole family. And this poor boy got you. So be nice. Be nice. Hey, uh, Najeeb? Here, bro, I got you a little... It's a little sucker. Put it in your mouth. No, no! You take the thing off it. And then you put it in your mouth. Yeah. Put it in your mouth. Yeah. Don't even fucking go there, bro. Don't go there, bro. - Give me my shoes. - That's cute. - Shut up. - It's cute. This is their next objective, Bescham. There's only one way in, and the Taliban know it. They're dug in hard just outside of town right here, heavily fortified. The whole fucking thing's a buzzsaw, sir. Yeah, then why the hell is Nelson walking into it? Shit. Did I pick the wrong guy? Sir, this one's not on Nelson. It's geography. Bescham is the only way to Mazari. Yeah, maybe so. But we can't pin all our hopes on Nelson. Let's get a second team in the works. If Dostum doesn't make it to Bescham by the time the weather sets in, it's gonna be a real shitshow. General, B-52s are in position. You have any idea what's going on? Dostum need to find out if his nephew still over there, fighting along with Taliban. Many switch sides. For necessity, loyalty change. Some every other week. Why the hell would they do that? A lot of these guys are farmers. Taliban comes through, they torture, murder, force them to fight. What choice do they have? Is it just me or does it feel like these assholes are counting their money every time they look at us? General. His nephew left this morning. We can proceed. Oh. Great. War's back on, guys. General, we're minutes from range. Is there anything you can tell me so I can better prepare my men - to assist you? - Very good. I don't know if horses were the best idea today. The bombs are gonna scare them bad. The horses know that these are American bombs. They won't be afraid. Oh, they know that they're American bombs. Okay. Makes sense. Wookie-99, new grid. 8-3-4-2, break, 6-6-4-9. Eastern flank is clear, General. You Americans, stay here! They're surrendering. Razzan is shooting his own men. Jesus Christ. Hey, where the hell did those come from? How did Dostum not know about a supply line? Wookie-99, we need a drop. Negative. I'm bingo. You're kidding me! I'm staring at a company of tanks. We need a drop! I'm sorry, I'm out of fuel, sir. I'm out. Hey, they're getting slaughtered. We gotta cover their retreat. Michaels, Coffers, base element. Go! Dostum! We've lost air support! Fall back! Fall back! Bennett! Bennett, are you okay? Now you have killer eyes! Go! Fucking hold him still, man. I'm fucking holding him. Jesus Christ. All right. He's gone. He's gone. Let's move him up. Up there. General, you know this area, right? Right? Which means you knew about the Taliban's supply line, and you didn't tell me. If I had known, if you had told me, I could have hit that column before they ever made it to us. If you wanna kill your own men, that's fine. But I ain't letting you put my men in harm's way, you understand? Everywhere you go is harm's way. No shit. We're fighting with horsemen against tanks. You have an obligation to tell me everything you know. You don't have a stomach for everything I know. Ah, fuck. You will not win here because you are not honest with yourself. You expect victory without blood. I expect you to share strategic information with us. Otherwise what the fuck are we doing here? Your anger comes from your fear because you live in a place where life looks better than afterlife. That's not this place. Here, Taliban kills everything you live for. Your mission will fail because you fear death. Mullah Razzan's men, the Taliban, they welcome it. Because they believe there is riches waiting for them in Heaven. Give me the goddamn information I need, and I'll reward every last one of them. General, I'm your link to the greatest weaponry in the history of civilization. You gotta stop guarding me and start trusting me. Greatest weapon in history is this. I don't have soldiers in my army, not one. Only warriors. Stop being a soldier. Start using this, and you can be a warrior, too. Come with me. Sit. They bring their weapons through Tiangi Gap. Out here, there's nothing. No passage, no water. No shade. So the only way to Mazar-i-Sharif is through Tiangi Gap. That's a choke point. That's the only way. So, for us to take Mazar, - we'll have to beat him in this Gap. - Yes. To get access to their stronghold in Tiangi, we must first take Bescham. You know, you have the sky, but wars are won in the dirt. I knew about their supply line. But I didn't expect their weapons. Fakir was my godson. Every time you lose a man, it's like a stab in your heart. And my heart is butchered, my friend. Don't think I send my men out there to die. I'm going to win you this thing, I swear to God. I believe you. Now see, the Taliban won't be defending their western flank because they can't imagine anything coming from this desert. Now, it's a crazy idea, but... But what? Well, the Taliban reinforcements come through here. Through the Tiangi Gap. This is why Dostum's killing himself trying to move forward. All the Taliban has to do is hold him off long enough to bring in more artillery. There's nothing out there. There's no water, no nothing. When you come in behind their line, you cut that chain. Ammo dumps, convoys, anything you can hit, you hit it. Can I walk it? I'm sick of that fucking horse. Diller, it's 120 klicks or something. A drop would give up your position. You gotta pack everything in. Can Dostum give us some mules? - Yeah, probably. - Okay. But listen, whoever does this thing has got to understand, this is different than what we've been doing, all right? You're on your own. No reinforcements, no extraction, nothing. Shit, I can't order anyone to do this. Someone's got to volunteer. Yes, you can. Just give us the order. That's an order. Nothin' I'd rather do. - Now pick two guys. - Bennett. - I'm in. - Coffers? Oh, I thought you'd never ask. Thank you, sir. No, thank you. Good luck, Bennett. Give 'em hell, buddy. I guess the best-looking fellas get the choice... 595 Bravo, come in. Go for Bravo. Hey, did you guys get horses? Yes. All right, good. Ride up to us. I split the team again, sent Diller downrange. Roger that. On our way. Welcome to the Ritz, boys. Valet will take your horses in the back. Came all the way up here for this? Where's the pool? Trying to work on my suntan, bro. I think my massage is at 4:00. Whoa, whoa. What the hell happened to Spencer? Well, he was right behind us, Cap. Oh. Shit. - You all right? - Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I gotta get off this goddamn horse. It's his back. He slipped a disc, I think. All right. Give me your... I got you. Okay. - Oh. Oh! - Easy. - Jesus Christ! - Fuck! Fucking heavy. Sorry. You're all right. You're good. Now, listen. Diller, he missed his first check-in. Well, it's the mountains. No reception, right? Yeah, maybe. Where'd you send him? He's flanking their supply route. Risky. Little bit. Well, the band's back together. Jesus, chief, you look like my grandpa. 20 bucks if you can stand up straight. You can keep that $20. Well, the best thing about calling in airstrikes, you can do it laying down, right? That's right. Let's get this war started! So far all clear, Cap. Hmm. What do you think? Jesus, we didn't get all of them. Captain! What's the order? Cover Dostum! Follow him! Move! Move! Milo! Ready? Go! Milo! Get the fuck over here! Shit. Jones! Huh? Moving! Rocket! 595, we're all clear. Try it again, bro. "Motherfucker." Mudda fuggah. Now we're getting somewhere. You know, I was thinking, uh, if I continue to follow you, I'm probably not gonna live very long. That's some ballsy shit you did back there. Sometimes you have to lead your men back into the right direction. What's the game they're playing? Besh Tosh. Uzbek game. Besh Tosh? Besh, five. Tosh, rocks. You know, when I ruled over Bescham, women wore no veils. Girls went to school. We had movies at the theater. But here, Razzan killed my family. I dreamed about taking it back, but now that I'm here, I don't wanna walk in. Too much pain. I hope you never know it. Uh, Cap? Yeah? You got a message through secure interface with Bowers. It's from SecDef. Yeah, I'll read it later, man. Sorry, Cap. The Donald Rumsfeld just sent you an email and it ain't a good one. What's it say? "When are you gonna get off your ass and get to Mazar?" Jesus Christ. You know what? Write this back to him. "Sir, let me explain the reality on the ground." Write it. Okay. "I'm advising a man "how to employ horse-mounted cavalry against T-72 tanks, "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, shit. 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 fucking 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. Fuck 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 shit? 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. Shit. How we looking, J? Eh. We're in the right spot. Fuck, 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. Gotta lead them a bit more, bro. All right. Gotcha. Viper 47, this is Bravo 595. Laser target designator 38.65. Target, tanks in the open. Nice shot, chief. How's that taste, huh? Okay, Bravo, good drop. Shift your targets 500 meters south. Over. Viper 47, new target. Multiple troops in the open. Drop 500 meters east of... Chief? Chief, chief, chief. How'd they find us? They surrendering? Chief, are they surrendering? Maybe. Might be a trick. Keep your finger on the trigger, okay? What do you wanna do with them? Alpha 595, this is Bravo 595. We got a situation here. Multiple enemy combatants attempting to surrender at our position. Roger, Bravo. Give me a sitrep when they're contained. Over. Flash 21, this is 595 Charlie. Request immediate... We gotta get that goddamn antenna! Cover me! Oh, shit! They got a BM-21 and they're going into the Gap! Do you want to surrender? Do you understand? No, no. Just stay there. Stay there, okay? If you wish to surrender, you stay right there. Stop. All right. All right. We gotta search each one of these guys. One by one. You hear me? Okay. Yeah. Stay sharp. Hal? Hal? Shit. Oh, shit! Hal? Hal? Hal? Oh, God. Hal, come on, buddy. Hal. Hal! Shit. No, no, no. Hal. Hal, come on, buddy. Come on. No, no, no. Hal! Come on! Oh, shit! Hey, buddy. Come on. Any station, Bravo is down! Bravo is down! How bad? Bad! I need immediate medevac! I'm on it, sir. Here, fix this! Sir, better late than never, huh? Let's go! Let's go! - How about now? - Yeah, yeah. Good, good. Alpha, this is Charlie. Do you read me? Go ahead. There's a BM-21 in the Gap, loaded with rockets. Oh, shit. What the fuck is that? Black, give me Spencer's status. It's a sucking chest wound. He's on a real clock here. All right, ready? Three, two, one. Up. Let's go. Easy. Hey. Movement. Let's roll, boys. Let's roll. Get down. Get down. Get down. Get down. Essex, can you target the BM-21? Negative. Pulling back? Back to the horses. Move! Go! Taliban's gonna swamp your position before a medevac can get in. Put the radio to Spencer's ear. All right, this is double or nothing, Hal. We're gonna evac you. Don't stop. We're not. We're gonna airlift you from the other side of the Gap on the road to Mazar-i-Sharif. It's the only way, Hal. Remember, the only way home is winning. You hang in there, my friend. Call the drop now! 464, adjust your target 20 meters west. How copy? Over. Good copy, 595. But we are not authorized so close to you. Danger close, bro! 464, requesting danger close ordnance! Copy that. Danger close. Twenty seconds. - Get the fuck out of here! - Let's go! Let's go! Run! Run! Essex? - Jackson? - Yeah. - Fuck. - Yeah. Najeeb? Najeeb. Najeeb. Come on, Najeeb. Come on. Milo? E! Come on, Najeeb. Come on, bro. Come on. Come on. - Are you okay? - Go help Jackson. - Okay? - Go help Jackson! - Look at me! - Help Jackson! Jackson? Get up! - Get up! - Come on. We gotta go. We gotta fucking go. E! All right. All right? Najeeb? Come on. Let it out, man. Come on. Let it out. We gotta go. We gotta go. Cap, we lost communication with Essex. Keep trying them. Listen, if we don't take out that BM-21, this whole thing is over. It fires 40 rockets in salvos. Got it? Forty, and then two minutes to reload. Say it back to me. Two minutes. That's how long we're gonna have to storm their positions, but we gotta get closer. And hold there until they stop to reload. K2 base, this is Alpha. Lead elements crossing phase line red. Anticipate high casualties. 38, 39. They're gonna have to reload soon. We'll have two... Oh, shit! - Captain! - Now's our window. Let's go! Contact front! Where's Diller? Moving to our position. Bird incoming in two minutes. Copy. Rendezvous at evac sight and pop smoke. Get the horses out of here! There's a chopper coming. How's he doing? Cap, I need that medevac here right now! All right, it's coming. It's coming. Chopper's inbound! Jones, get that smoke out! All right, here they come, buddy. Here they come. You hang in there, buddy. Did we get them? Yeah, man. We got them. We got them good. Hey. Hey, you hang in there. Don't you quit on us. Let's cover him up! Cover up! Okay, ready? Three, two, one! Up! Has anyone seen Dostum? Eye in the sky says full retreat over here. The whole Gap is clear. They're bugging out all the way from Mazar. Does air visual have eyes on Atta's militia? Yeah, they're approaching from the east. Dostum's going for Atta. This whole thing falls apart if the Northern Alliance breaks. We have to get to Dostum first! Head to Mazar! Let's go! General, wait. General Atta. I will let Atta have the city today. Tomorrow, we'll see. Well, you made the right choice. Right choice? There are no right choices here. This is Afghanistan. Graveyard of many empires. Today you are our friend, tomorrow you are our enemy. It won't be any different for you. Soon America will become just another tribe here. You will be cowards if you leave. And you will be our enemies if you stay. Just know that you will always be my brother. When I get into that city, I will raise your flag. It's your city, General. You raise your own flag. Here. It's been with me forever. - Now it's yours. - Thank you. Yo. Thank you for looking out for me. If you cry, I'm telling everyone. Shut the fuck up, bro. Welcome back! Changed the extraction site, huh? Yeah, I didn't think you'd walked far enough. Yeah. I was thinking, you know what, my knees feel way too good. - Well, they look good. - Thanks. Did you see the medic? Yeah. Feels good, huh? What, sitting down? Awesome. No, I mean to finally see one through. Yeah. Yeah. We won the battle, you know. Still gotta win the war. Yeah. That ain't up to us. Ain't our job anyway though, right? Yeah. So, where are you going to point us to next? I'm pointing us home. I'll follow you there. I'll follow you anywhere. Thank God for that. Spencer? He's stable. On his way to Germany. You got him here in time. Kept your promise. Yes, sir. That's beautiful, Maddy. Maddy! Come here! Look, Christmas came early! Daddy! |
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