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After four hours, Zain’s patience was wearing thin. He paid Inspector Mehsud a tidy sum of money to maintain a large contingent of militants who, upon receiving the order, would show up ready to fight. Zain had requested four dozen men, but so far only one dozen had responded. As Zain looked over Mehsud’s soldiers, he wondered how many of them had seen combat. A few men wore Kevlar vests. But most assembled wore dirty T-shirts as if the local daytrip to the dump had been cancelled. Until today, Zain had never needed to call on his army. By the looks of those standing in his driveway, he had been fortunate. On the plus side, these men knew what to expect and were prepared to follow Zain’s directives. He worried most about the army’s combat readiness. Would they turn tail and run if the opposing force presented significant resistance?
If this turned into a hostage scenario, Zain would require more men. Prior to the ensuing battle, he had gathered very little tactical information. He was confident a troop of considerable force was behind any woman who dared abduct his children. Going on raids with his father had taught him the tactical aspects of a siege operation.
In a siege operation, the larger force had a greater possibility of success than the smaller force. More men provided greater flexibility if situations called for different scenarios. A greater troop size allowed them to simultaneously breach the target and create diversions. To prevent the kidnappers from “bugging out” with his son, the situation would naturally evolve into a containment scenario. He would need a significantly increased number of men to cover all escape routes and form a less porous perimeter. How many more men would he need? That factor remained unknown until he was onsite and acquiring further information about troop size and force. Thus, Zain’s impatience grew by the minute.