Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 026
Chapter Title: Coup d'État Begins. 2 - Seizing Command
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Coup d'état declaration.
The gunshot that rang out within the Basra Offensive Force marked the true beginning of the coup.
It had taken a full ten years just to prepare up to this point.
1. Settling in America under the pretext of studying abroad, evading the watchful eyes of both the king and Khomeini.
2. Establishing the private equity firm Dark Angel to secure funding for the coup.
3. Luring promising junior officers and NCOs to America and winning their loyalty.
4. Smuggling Khomeini out of the country to ignite revolutionary fervor.
5. Shaking the nation with Khomeini while purging royalists and installing my own men in their places.
6. Leveraging the U.S. Embassy incident to gain bargaining chips with America.
7. Preventing civil war and building public favor by joining the fight in the Iraq War.
8. Securing the justification needed to oust Khomeini and his theocratic regime.
All that remained was to assemble forces in Tehran as swiftly as possible, seize the top brass, and seize control of the military.
If patience had been the key to reaching this moment, what mattered from here on was a lightning-fast blitz.
Before the enemy could even react, they had to neutralize the leadership swiftly and simultaneously, paralyzing the entire chain of command.
Of course, the groundwork had already been laid.
In the bucking helicopter, I turned to Hassan seated beside me.
"How long until Tehran?"
"About two hours to central Tehran."
Two hours—long if you thought it long, short if you thought it short.
"They can't be allowed to make a move before we arrive."
"The Shadows have already begun stirring. If everything's on schedule..."
Hassan lifted his wristwatch to check the time.
And then.
"By now, they should be moving in on the Capital Defense Commander."
Everything up to now had been preparation.
From here on, it was execution.
The very first step in any coup was to cripple the chain of command.
By eliminating the enemy's leadership.
The military was an organization built on rigid hierarchy: reports flowed upward, orders flowed downward.
Especially since they had seized power through revolution, Khomeini and his clerics were paranoid about military revolt.
They clamped down hard on the armed forces.
Any movement without explicit orders from above was branded treason and punished swiftly.
In other words, cut off the head issuing orders, and the body below couldn't move even if it wanted to.
That was the execution plan.
1. Paralyze command authority and neutralize the chain of command.
To that end, former SAVAK agents from the Shadows of the Black King lay in wait across Tehran.
And now, they sprang into action.
Tehran city proper.
08:15.
Capital Defense Commander Mohadi.
A black sedan carrying Mohadi, the Capital Defense Commander, slowly pulled away from his residence.
Its front license plate bore four large stars in place of numbers.
As the commander's car merged onto the road, military jeeps waiting nearby fell in front and behind as escorts.
Mohadi had requested police assistance from Tehran PD for his commute, citing wartime conditions.
A commander with his responsibilities couldn't afford to waste time stuck in traffic.
With police clearing the convoluted, narrow Tehran streets,
The commander's sedan raced unimpeded along the emptied road.
Immediately after Mohadi's vehicle departed.
Deep in the alley across from his mansion,
A man watching the car's taillights raised his wrist to his mouth.
Radio: Capital Defense Commander en route to headquarters.
His transmission flew toward
The intersection on the route to headquarters.
A cop had already manipulated the traffic light, gridlocking vehicles on both sides.
"Ah, damn. Again?"
"Who's passing through that they're blocking the road again?"
"It's the Capital Defense Commander."
"Great. Damn. Commanders get to block roads too, huh?"
"If you're pissed, join the army yourself."
"What's so great about the army? Up front, they get pummeled by Iraqis every day. Damn, how long do we have to wait?"
As trapped civilians grumbled irritably,
A sedan led by a military jeep barreled toward the intersection from one side of the road.
Vrooooom~~~~
Just as the jeep neared the intersection.
Atop the rooftop of a building on the corner,
A man clutching a radio made the call.
Radio: Commander entering intersection. Operation commence.
The instant the escort convoy turned into the intersection.
From the driver's seat of a waiting truck on one side,
The driver with an earpiece jammed the gearshift, floored the accelerator, and cranked the wheel.
Rumble~~~!!!
The massive truck surged past roadside vehicles and tore down the sidewalk.
"What the—! That's crazy!"
"Whoooaaa~~!"
The speeding truck barreled straight along the mercifully empty morning sidewalk and plunged into the intersection.
And then.
It slammed into the lead vehicle approaching from the left with perfect timing.
Bang!Crashhh~~!!
The jeep spun sideways from the impact, its hood crumpling, windshield shattering.
Shocked police rushed over, but the sedan the truck had rammed was already flung aside.
The lead vehicle careened into oncoming traffic and ground to a halt.
The trailing sedan and escorts slammed on brakes.
Screeeeech~!!!
The cop who had been controlling the light to let the convoy pass came running—
Black-masked men leaped from the truck, assault rifles at the ready.
"Wha. Wh-whaaaat~!!!"
Spotting the rifles, the police officer hit the deck reflexively.
And then.
The maskers unleashed on the escort vehicles.
Ratatatat~~!!!
Pewpewpew~~!! Crashhh~~!!
Hoods exploded,
Windows blew out.
The commander's loyalists leaping from the escort jeeps with pistols in hand sprayed arterial blood and crumpled backward.
While one secured the rear escorts,
Another dashed to the sedan's front and hosed the driver and passenger seats.
Ratatat~~!!
Shatter~~!!
The windshield disintegrated as blood bags burst inside, painting it crimson.
The masker who cleared the front yanked open the rear door.
Terrified, Mohadi cowered under the seat, trembling.
Slinging his rifle aside, the masker drew a pistol and seized the commander by the hair, dragging him out with one hand.
"Out! Now!"
As he hauled the commander away.
An officer kicked open the door of the flung lead vehicle and staggered out, rifle raised.
Seeing the commander being dragged, he lifted his radio to his mouth.
"Headquarters! This is the commander's escort—"
Bang!!
A single shot cracked from the rooftop at the intersection corner.
With the shot, the officer's head snapped sideways as if hammer-struck,
Blood and brains arcing through the air as he flopped onto the road.
Thud~!!
Opposite rooftop.
Click!
A man with a Soviet sniper rifle braced against the parapet yanked the bolt, ejecting the casing.
He slammed it home, chambering a round, then shifted his scope to the lead vehicle's driver seat.
Moments later.
The driver door opened; a soldier stumbled out clutching an assault rifle.
The crosshairs tracked his chest—he squeezed the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
The point-blank round punched through his chest and burst out his back.
The soldier flew backward, slamming into the pavement.
With both down, the sniper grabbed his radio from beside the parapet.
Radio: Lead vehicle secured. Moving to Rally Point A.
The sniper disassembled his rifle, packed it away, and vanished.
Tehran-wide transmissions flooded his earpiece.
Radio: Capital Defense Commander secured.
Radio: Army Chief of Staff secured.
Radio: 3rd Army Commander secured. En route to rally point.
Radio: 2nd Revolutionary Commander killed during capture. Body secured, en route.
Gunshots and crashes erupted across Tehran.
Thudthudthudthud~~!!!
Inside the helicopter en route to Tehran.
Hassan relayed the situation via radio.
"We've got comms."
"Good. Looks like Hawk 1 made it in fine."
Hawk 1 was one of Iran's two AWACS planes.
The early warning aircraft circled between Tehran and Abadan, linking secure lines between Basra Offensive Force command, the secret ex-SAVAK command post in Tehran, and small field teams executing ops.
It was also intercepting military and police radio chatter, feeding real-time enemy movements.
"Military brass captures are proceeding without a hitch."
"Lucky break. How many of ours are in Tehran?"
"310 secret police, plus 280 pulled from the airborne brigade and spec ops teams."
590 spec ops and secret police had been positioned near their targets.
They moved the instant the rebellion was declared.
"Sounds like a few targets went down resisting."
"Doesn't matter. As long as we conceal the deaths, the command chain stays paralyzed either way."
If a commander's death was known, a successor would assume authority.
But keep it hidden, and no one dares step up until confirmed—lest they face treason charges.
Thanks to Khomeini's excessive military paranoia, the atmosphere was perfect for it.
"We just need to hide the deaths for two hours. By then, the military will already be ours."
"Understood."
"Block any pro-regime unit movements to be safe."
"Yes, sir. That's already underway. Rush hour makes it easy."
Most coups happened late at night when people slept.
But we chose morning.
The reason? Rush hour gridlock.
Tehran defense commanders were mostly Khomeini loyalists.
My plants made up barely 20%.
But no matter how many troops they had, keep them from reaching central Tehran and it was over.
Tehran's narrow, tangled roads clogged solid at rush hour—large-scale vehicle deployments were impossible.
"And if a few 'accidents' crop up during commute..."
Hassan finished the thought.
"Civilians will block pro-regime advances for us."
Hooonk~~~ honkhonkhooonk~~~!
Blaring horns filled the streets,
Followed by a barrage of shouts and curses from drivers.
Blocking the narrow road: a truck billowing smoke from its crumpled hood.
With it smeared across two full lanes, traffic backed up for hundreds of meters behind.
"What the hell's going on! This early in the morning!"
"Some maniac."
"Hey! Move your damn car!"
"Outta the way! I'm in a hurry too!"
"Don't cut in!"
Tehran outskirts.
Accidents erupted simultaneously on every road leading into the city.
Tehran Police HQ was swamped with crash reports.
As cops rushed out to respond, police, drivers, and commuters jammed the roads, bickering.
Officers were overwhelmed by the flood of morning wrecks and scattered shooting reports.
"What in God's name is this?"
"No clue. Something big brewing?"
"Yeah, accidents hitting all at once like clockwork."
Their shoulder radios crackled nonstop,
While inside the chopper bound for Tehran,
Hassan beside me reported.
"Police and press are starting to sniff something."
"Figured. They're not complete idiots. Time to blind and deafen them."
Hassan glanced at his watch.
"Phase 2 kicks off soon."