"Actually, it's not so bad. Compared to this kind of high temperature and drought, I hate the humid heat of the rainforest more."
Xia Yu took off his sunglasses and said.
As darkness fell, the sunlight became less glaring.
It's sunny during the day and cool at night; you'll get used to it.
Furthermore, they also need to accumulate experience in desert warfare for concentrated fire defense, which has always been lacking for them.
"By the way, where are the people from Golden Oak Leaf?"
Xia Yu continued to inquire.
The Blackfoot Alliance within Mari is mainly deployed in Mekana, which is closer to Niger and serves as the FAR's training base, thus facing relatively fewer threats.
Their main force was actually based at the military base in Niger, since Operation Barkhane was not only carried out in Mali, but also in the entire Sahel region, which included several countries.
Located on the Iforas Plateau, Kedar is more like an exclave, with several PMC companies with Western European backgrounds holding the front line, generally only patrolling and not attacking.
Previously, Golden Oak was in charge of the Oga region, but now there is also Concentrated Fire Defense. The Malaysians are increasing their efforts to first eliminate the jihadists in the east, as well as the Azawad Movement Coordination Organization.
After all, this is the gateway to the Sahara, so Oga is still very important.
Only by clearing out this area and severing the connection between the other two war zones can they reinforce their troops towards Kedar.
“A week ago, their main force went to an outpost 150 kilometers to the northeast to wipe out two armed groups of less than 100 people in the vicinity.”
Monier took the initiative to introduce the recent actions.
The main urban area of Aojia is not large, but the entire Aojia District covers 170,000 square kilometers, which is larger than Henan Province in China.
With nearly 600,000 people scattered across such a large area, it was impossible for every attack to start from the main camp outside the airport. The Americans set up temporary camps of about 100 people in each direction.
This number is not only sufficient for self-defense, but also allows troops on missions of clearing out enemy forces, Bacoma government troops, military contractors, and peacekeeping peacekeeping forces to resupply nearby.
"Oh, how were the results?"
Jihuo Defense and the two companies had collaborated in Panaka, and Xia Yu's assessment of the combat effectiveness of ordinary employees was that they were all inferior to those in White Hat.
Perhaps he wasn't suited for siege warfare, which is why he was very interested in the performance of the Golden Oak anti-crime campaign.
"The first group of fifty men killed more than thirty and arrested the rest. The second group of more than seventy men lost half of their men. Our own casualties were around ten, two slightly wounded and two seriously wounded. The rest were killed in action."
If the deceased were an active-duty soldier, even if it didn't make the headlines back home, it would still be major news.
However, the injured and killed were employees of PMC, and Golden Oak only needs to pay compensation according to the contract.
"They didn't invest much equipment, did they?"
"Not many, because these armed groups live with the villagers and can't deploy fighter jets, so they only deployed one Dolphin and four VABs."
The VAB that Monier mentioned is the four-wheeled armored personnel carrier of the Fai Army. The export version of this vehicle is 6x6. Golden Oak Leaf also picked up scraps that had been retired domestically.
This armored vehicle can only block 7.62mm full-power rounds and artillery shell fragments; RPGs can penetrate it almost without resistance.
A surprise attack is manageable, but an ambush is disastrous. Rocket launchers offer some chance of survival, but being hit by an anti-tank missile can easily wipe out an entire vehicle.
In addition, not all of the VAB tanks have been retired. After all, the VBMR Griffin, which is to replace the VAB, is still under development. Therefore, most of the tanks deployed in the Sahel region are still these 4x4 tanks, supplemented by a certain number of 8x8 VBCI tanks.
And here we can also see that the armored vehicles deployed by the Germans in Operation Crescent Dune seem to be all wheeled.
Indeed, for ease of deployment and logistical maintenance, they didn't even have an AMX-10P, let alone a Leclerc.
The concentrated fire defense is different; it's all tracked heavy armor, designed for the strongest defense.
The Golden Oak can sustain an operation that results in 6 deaths and 2 injuries because the employees' combat skills are limited and worthless, allowing for a wide-net recruitment of more people.
They will recruit skilled individuals, but not in this way. Generally speaking, you can refer to the white top hat, which is reserved for tackling tough challenges.
"Splash splash"
The sound of a helicopter came from afar; looking up, I saw a Super Hornet Mini in the setting sun.
It's the AS.332 Super Puma, an 8-ton tactical transport helicopter. Its carrying capacity is only slightly better than the frivolous Hind. Xia Yu hadn't considered the Karami in the first place.
But since it's cheap and produced in large quantities, and the Black Hawk, which has better performance, is more expensive than the Super Hornet, the best choice for these PMC companies with Western European backgrounds is the Super Jaguar.
The Americans have only deployed 20 helicopters throughout the Sahel region. Their own AS.332s are not enough, so they can use those from military contractors, which are paid by the hour.
"The injured were brought back for treatment yesterday; this should contain the remains."
Monier was right; what was brought down after the landing was indeed a body bag.
The militants killed can be buried on the spot, but our own people still need to be brought back.
They will freeze at Camp Auga overnight, and wait for the transport plane carrying the fire-fighting antelopes to arrive the next day, after which they will be transferred back to their home country.
They can't cremate them even if they want to, because Muslim countries don't have cremation services, and burning them in the open like in India is too hasty. It's better to take them back to their country.
"It's terrible. I just came back from the hospital. One of the two seriously injured had his lower leg amputated, and the other had his left arm severed by a 12.7mm bullet."
As Xia Yu was preparing to return to the barracks to pack his luggage, he ran into Liv.
"It saves the military doctors a lot of trouble. They can directly grind down the bone stump, seal the nerves, ligate the blood vessels, and then suture the muscles. No skin grafts are needed."
Losing an arm or a leg is terrible, but it's better than losing your life. This is the most realistic battlefield, which can only be described as cruel.
"Don't worry, it's just a 12.7mm heavy machine gun bullet. It can't penetrate any of our company's vehicles."
Xia Yu put his arm around Liv's shoulder, signaling her to relax.
As for the combat personnel who disembarked, he had faith in their combat skills.
In addition, the machine guns and tank guns on the vehicles are not just for show; they will destroy all the target's firing points before the area is cleared.
"Yeah, they can't even penetrate my Weasel K1."
Heavy armored ambulances are indeed difficult to handle. Adding a remote weapon station would allow them to perform surgery while simultaneously providing firepower.
Like Austria's Pende II armored ambulance, which has a weapon station on the roof, but the space on its large six wheels is limited, so it can only pull the wounded back to the rear for treatment, which is not as good as the rescue-type Boxer dog.
Yes, he'll install one right away. Within the effective range of the heavy machine gun, rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles will be unable to get close.
"Let me help you tidy up, it's a real mess."
Unable to bear the mess in the room, Liv rolled up her sleeves and prepared to help Xia Yu tidy up her luggage.
Even if the orderly doesn't have a girlfriend, it's the same. After fighting for so many years (less than two years), he can finally enjoy himself.
Xia Yu went outside, took out his satellite phone, and made his routine contact with Kuhn.
It was confirmed that they had left Gineya and entered Marie with the convoy.
There are still over 1,200 kilometers to go. Let's drive slowly. We should be able to reach Oga in about three days.
Golden Oak has just wiped out two armed groups, and the situation is already tense; it is not a good time to take action again.
Xia Yu used this time to find out about the situation in Oga, and he also needed to inform the Blue Helmet base and the government forces.
The Malaysians might be driven out, and the UN peacekeeping missions might be asked to withdraw, but the local forces will always be here.
Xia Yu's summary of business experience is to maintain good relationships with local forces, even if they don't have the money to pay for the project temporarily.
At worst, you can just mortgage it. On construction sites, it's common to mortgage cars or houses, but in Afica, mortgaging mines is more popular.
The uranium mine that Jihuo Defense acquired was through a bargain. Although he didn't have the energy to develop new projects, he could use the mining rights as equity to find partners.
At first, Xia Yu didn't have many such channels, but the War Museum was a great social platform, which allowed Xia Yu to get to know many mine owners in Afica.
There were both Chinese and foreign investors, and what they had in common was their love for tanks, which brought them closer together.
They exchanged contact information and expressed their intention to collaborate if the opportunity arose.
Marie, a wealthy black kingdom that has left its mark on history, even had a golden pilgrimage during the 14th century when Musa I carried about 10 tons of gold and scattered coins along the way, which shows that his ancestors were indeed very wealthy.
Even today, there are still thousands of tons of gold reserves underground, but half of the annual output of 50 tons is mined by hand, and the miners' income is even less.
Without machinery, resources like oil, manganese, uranium, zinc, and molybdenum are much harder to mine than shallow gold deposits, and war often shuts them down.
Development can only be discussed after the Gao region has been cleared out; otherwise, any mining rights are just empty promises.
Dinner was slow-cooked mutton with carrots. The presence of the military and the Blue Helmet Stabilization Mission has actually brought some prosperity to the local livestock economy.
Weapons and ammunition, as well as canned food, can be transported, but fresh meat and vegetables still need to be purchased locally.
A sheep costs around 100 euros, while bone-in beef can be bought for just 2 euros per kilogram, and offal is even cheaper.
However, compared to the income of the locals, they can only afford to eat during holidays and festivals, and they still have to rely on the soldiers of the Western Kingdom for consumption.
Of course, the American soldiers are even better; they're the most willing to spend money, not to mention no one checks their accounts, so they can be even more unscrupulous.
Xia Yu, Monier, and Charlie, the person in charge of Golden Oak Leaf, sat down at a table.
“Sherlock, you’ve come at just the right time. We’ve suffered heavy casualties this time, and half of our men have been here for almost a year. They need to go back home to recuperate.”
Charlie had no appetite and, as he spoke, he mashed the mutton with his fork.
Compared to mercenary organizations, which have higher casualty rates, military contractors have a better combat environment, but they still cannot avoid frequent life-and-death situations.
Of the people who returned to Golden Oak, some may leave directly, while others may become key personnel and be assigned to the company's industries or security operations as junior managers.
This is a screening process, selecting the useful, suitable, and lucky people.
Before new recruits arrive and without deploying elite troops, Golden Oak Leaf can only handle air strikes and low-intensity patrols.
The tough nuts are for concentrated fire defense, just like they did in Panaka.
No, it should be Yoshizaka more accurately.
"This time, the contract for the clearing operation would be more suitable for you; we've alerted the enemy."
Charlie had also heard about the recent deployment of Firepower Defense in Chung Fei.
To take down two camps with hundreds of people in one night—that's incredible efficiency!
In reality, it was because the preliminary work was thorough. Golden Oak clearly lacked effective information about their target and launched an attack hastily, so it is not surprising that such losses occurred.
Furthermore, their combat effectiveness is truly terrible. Even with meticulous plans, they can only keep casualties to within 5 people, and cannot achieve zero losses.
That makes sense; their company can afford the 100,000 euro compensation, but buying a better car and hiring special forces would be too costly.
Xia Yu once asked Old Yefu that Gna's labor costs were even cheaper, which was why they were becoming increasingly competitive.
"Let's not talk about these things anymore. Respect to the fallen soldiers."
He raised his glass of sweet white Riesling, and everyone else raised their glasses as well.
Although they fought for money, those who died in the fight against terrorism deserve a toast.
The next day, Xia Yu witnessed the A400M unloading 15 military containers and their little antelopes, picking up the 6 dead soldiers, and then taking off again. Xia Yu also borrowed a car from the base and headed to the Blue Helmet Camp, dozens of kilometers away.
Three detachments from China—guards, medical personnel, and engineers—are stationed here, totaling nearly four hundred people.
A total of 2,400 people across the seven mission zones of Afica have contributed to the peace and stability of the region.
“The situation is not normal. There have been several terrorist attacks this month, and with the clearing operation at Golden Oak a couple of days ago, I suspect they are planning something big.”
"The guard squad leader, Lao Dong, and Xia Yu said."
The construction of roads, bridges, and airport runways within the mission area was the work of the engineering corps, while they were responsible for guard duty. They entered the main urban area more often than the Germans, so they had a more acute sense of the changes in the situation in Oga.
"Okay, we'll be careful. You guys should be careful too."
Xia Yu nodded and said.
The blue helmets are easier to bully than the government army. Even if those armed groups and jihadist organizations know that the people fighting them are Malaysians, they will still vent their anger on them, which makes it very difficult to resolve.
"Once we leave the camp, we must remain vigilant at all times. We've only been deployed for a year; it will be over soon."
A year under high pressure is not easy to get through, and all we can do is hope that time will pass quickly!
Or the situation here has been brought under control, and the UN peacekeeping mission is no longer needed.
"In addition, I still suggest that you do not rush into the main urban area, as the situation here is more complicated than in the outer areas."
Old Dong offered some advice.
"That's what I was planning too: first clear out the armed forces on the periphery, and then advance from the outside in."
Xia Yu explained his battle plan.
Even with the support of drones, it's best not to push yourself into the quagmire of urban warfare from the very beginning.
He always kept this in mind, and that's what he did.
In addition, of the nearly 6,000 militants in Oga, there were only a few hundred hairdressers, plus a little over a hundred from Jihuo Defense and Golden Oak Leaf. They were simply not going to be killed off. They were basically driven away and intimidated.
As long as you lay down your gun, there is definitely a way to survive.
P.S.: I was writing until the early hours of yesterday morning when it got too cold, so I went to bed and wrote on my phone. I ended up falling asleep from exhaustion and have been putting it off until now.
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