There are more ways than ever to listen to history daily ad-free.

Listen with Wondry Plus in the Wondari app,

or you can get all of history daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at intohistory.com.

It's a little after 7pm on December 27th, 1979 in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Five armor vehicles climb up a steep winding road in the darkness.

In the last vehicle sits Colonel Oleg Balaishov,

a squad leader in the highly trained Soviet Special Forces,

here to assassinate radical Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin,

part of a larger plan to take control of Afghanistan and establish a pro-communist regime.

Colonel Balaishov closes his eyes and goes over the plan in his head.

After traversing the serpentine path up the hill,

the squad will reach the heavily guarded gate of the Tajbag Palace.

But just as he thinks about the opposition he might face at the gate.

There's a deafening explosion.

Afghan troops have spotted the approaching Soviets and begun hurling grenades.

Balaishov's eyes shoot open and he and the three other men in the vehicle ready their weapons.

Colonel Balaishov gives his men a glance and they nod back. They are ready.

Colonel Balaishov and his men leap out of their view and immediately face incoming fire.

All around them the ground trembles with explosions.

But through the haze of dust and smoke, the Soviet Special Forces fight their way forward,

reaching the fortified gate. With practice deficiency,

Colonel Balaishov and his men rush and overtake the gate's guards and continue on foot to storm

...