After flying several hundred kilometers, the Super Hornet landed at the more popular Magnesium Army forward base.
The Old Magma Afica theater command increased the permanent personnel here to 1,200. With the absence of outposts and other scattered personnel, it was naturally more bustling than the military camp.
While still in mid-air, Xia Yu spotted their C-160.
The German Air Force markings have been removed from the fuselage; it must have been Hans who printed the Jihuo Defense logo on it. He loves doing this kind of thing.
"Boss, you're finally back! Come and see our transport plane."
Seeing Xia Yu get off the Hornets, Hans, who wasn't on a mission today, immediately came to greet him.
"What are you looking at? Can you even drive?"
"Isn't there a boss? You can handle it, boss. I'll be your navigator."
The two talked as they walked toward C-160.
"Hey, the Federal Defense Forces' C-160 even has a navigator!"
Xia Yu asked curiously.
With the development of the times, the navigator position, which was set up to prevent bombers and transport planes from getting lost, should have been phased out long ago!
"That's it. He just wanted a place at the top."
Kuhn knows his gunner best. He likes the company's new equipment, but it's a transport plane, so there's really nowhere for him to fire.
"Then you can also serve as the stevedore; this position is quite important."
Xia Yu assigned Hans a new job.
He has always been very frugal with his personnel, and he only plans to hire one pilot and one co-pilot for this C-160. Xia Yu can fill in for long-haul flights himself.
With the help of the driver assistance module, it's not tiring at all. This time, he was preparing to drive back to China.
“A loading and unloading supervisor is fine too. Honey Badger and I are in charge of the company’s supplies.”
Here's the thing: Xia Yu is in charge of picking up the goods, Hans and Domi are in charge of warehousing, and Kuhn only takes over when it involves truck transportation.
Now that air transport has been added, this responsibility is most suitable for the Megose train commander.
"Since you two are both here, let's call the fennec fox over and have a short meeting right here on the plane."
"Turn on the lights to illuminate the cargo hold of the C-160," Xia Yu said to the two men.
He needs to discuss and arrange the company's work for the next phase.
"According to what you're saying, the high-intensity attacks by the Americans can only last for a month at most, which means by the time Haitangtu and I return, only the regular patrol contracts will remain, right?"
After sharing information, Xia Yu summarized.
"Yes, boss, in the two weeks you were away, we launched four operations and took down four armed factions and extremist groups with a size of 100 to 200 people."
Christian began to speak.
"According to reliable intelligence, a considerable number of militants have retreated into the depths of the desert."
Apart from the Nasser al-Qaeda faction, an outsider, the non-governmental armed forces in Niger were never a significant force to begin with.
Now that the mopping-up operation has begun, it's no wonder they've become easily frightened, but things will be much more difficult once they've entered the desert.
Break it down into smaller parts; even Rommel couldn't do anything about it.
"Then, a month from now, it's time to end this short-term deployment."
Xia Yu set the tone.
At least until the rainy season arrives this year, firefighting teams will not be able to enter the Sahel region again.
Without Yevgeny's invitation, and having obtained Chinook, they might have gone to Chungfi, where the situation had further deteriorated.
The newly elected government appealed to the international community for help, and even the United Nations called for the lifting of the arms embargo against them.
However, since the decision to go to Syria has already been made, Zhongfei can only postpone it and go another time.
Since the company is operating a Chinook, and tactical integration also takes time, it would be more appropriate to develop combat capability within six months.
"Next, we should go to Syria, but before that, we need to make some preparations for entering Zhongfei later."
Xia Yu continued.
The people present knew that after leaving the Sahel, they would most likely go to Zhongfei, so this sudden departure from Afika and heading to the Middle East battlefield was somewhat unexpected.
It's probably just training. The most dangerous thing here is the suicide bomber. Switching from defense to attacking the strongholds of these armed factions and extremist groups is just pure harvesting.
Facing such opponents repeatedly will inevitably lead to a decline in combat effectiveness, so it is necessary to increase the intensity and fight in "adversity situations".
In just a few seconds, everyone's imaginations ran wild.
“A little over a month later, all the personnel and equipment at my uranium mine will be in place. Before this C-160 was available, my plan was to transport the equipment overland and slowly move it over.”
"It's not so troublesome now. We can airlift many things directly there. We just need to build a simple runway in the mining area."
Zhongfei is the center of Afica, and the uranium mine is located at the border of Zhade and Sudan, which is the center of the center. Transporting large equipment by land is fine, but given the current situation in the country, even small-scale resupply of one or two vehicles is extremely dangerous.
Air freight is the best solution, and the cargo hold of the C-160 can fit two 20-foot containers.
Once the dirt runway is completed, all the container barracks that Xia Yu has been storing at the port can be delivered to the mine in one go.
"The next thing is personnel arrangements. After the mine is put into operation, I plan to send a platoon of village protection team to guard it, and two combat employees will take turns managing it."
Xia Yu then mentioned the personnel arrangements.
The village protection team consists of a company, or three platoons. He would bring one platoon with him on each deployment, while the remaining two platoons would be responsible for the security of the company headquarters and the museum.
The unit being deployed to the mine this time will be a newly formed reinforced platoon, equipped with one 120mm mortar, one BTR-82S wheeled infantry fighting vehicle upgraded with a 20mm autocannon, and multiple machine gun units with 7.62mm, 12.7mm, and 14.5mm calibers.
Without this level of firepower, how can the safety of the mine be guaranteed?
Unless there's a stubborn enemy launching a large-scale attack, then the only option is to call for reinforcements.
Not only is the MiG-29 short-legged, but the Old Phantom can fly over the mine, unleash a barrage of attacks, and then land directly on Niara in Sudan.
It will be even better when the third phase of the museum project is completed. A squadron of four fighter jets—are you scared yet?
To rush into the mining industry when even safety cannot be guaranteed is not much different from a child carrying gold in a crowded market. Given Xia Yu's personality, he would never do such a thing; he has always been a cautious person.
"Boss, we've already built the runway at the mine. As for the follow-up deployment, Zhong Fei, are you planning to strike the rebel forces from this direction?"
Kuhn spoke up.
The last time they went to Zhongfei, they traveled towards the capital, Jiban, and only attacked the Pharaonic rebels entrenched in the surrounding area. However, in the northeastern part of the country, more than 30 towns were under the control of various armed groups.
These ambitious individuals are preparing for war, hoping to once again invade Jiban.
After ending Operation Red Butterfly, the French only maintained a few hundred troops in Chung Fei, so apart from the government army and pro-government militia, they could only rely on the Blue Helmet Stabilization Corps.
This is why the United Nations has been sending more personnel time and time again, bringing the total number close to 10,000, while the United States has less than 5 million people!
Unfortunately, no matter how many blue helmets there are, they can't help the government forces push the front line, and the Afica military police of the United States no longer care about the low-lying area of Zhongfei. They can only rely on private military contractors.
"Yes, we launched an attack from the mines, fought our way all the way to Jiban, and broke through the entire rebel-controlled area."
Xia Yu said with high spirits.
With the mine as a supply point, he can even airdrop supplies directly, unlike before when he had to rely on the client's system.
Furthermore, don't count on the combat effectiveness of the Zhongfei government forces. They don't have the Anka Mechanized Infantry Battalion that Xia Yu helped create. It would be good enough if they didn't make things worse.
"The straight-line distance is about 1,500 kilometers, it feels like a real challenge!"
Hans sounded somewhat excited.
Capturing thirty cities in one fell swoop would not leave anyone unmoved. However, while armed helicopters are relatively easy to manage, such a long-distance raid would severely test the combat effectiveness of the company's ground armored forces.
Whether it's a tank or an infantry fighting vehicle, the breakdown rate is 100%. The process of rescuing the armored vehicle, troubleshooting, and putting it back into combat will be repeatedly practiced in actual combat.
Unlike the current stage where only one battle needs to be guaranteed to proceed without problems, or the company initially having only one tank where the crew could simply abandon the tank if things went wrong.
What they need to do is act like an army, like a war machine at full speed, tearing apart all obstacles in front of Party A.
"So we need to go to Syria first to be baptized by high-intensity combat."
Xia Yu continued.
Without Yev's invitation, his battle plan against Zhongfei would not be what it is now.
"And what about recruitment?"
Kuhn asked another question.
"We'll recruit more people; the time is set for when I come back this time."
Xia Yu already had a plan in mind, and this recruitment was different from the past, it would be a bit special.
Several more topics were discussed, and then the internal meeting officially ended.
The Americans delivered a Chinook and sent pilots to teach him everything he needed to know. The Germans delivered a C-160, assuming he knew how to fly it. Hans and his team made him fly an extra leg to Niger, and then the pilots left immediately.
Fortunately, it wasn't too difficult to handle. The cockpit had a C-130 style, with a kind of mechanical beauty.
The upgrade the British Air Force underwent in 1999 only added a HUD and a relatively basic EFIS (electronic flight instrument), which is why Xia Yu is so determined to upgrade the C-160's avionics again.
[Project: transallc-160]
Completeness: 99.3%
"Complete enough, but not new enough," Xia Yu commented as he opened the system interface in the cockpit.
During the two-hour meeting just now, he maintained two Rolls-Royce Thyss.20MK22 turboprop engines to the level of 1,000 flight hours.
Only in this way can it unleash its maximum shaft horsepower of 6100, serving as a powerful force for Jihuo Defense for another 20 years.
Time flew by and it was lunchtime. After leaving the transport plane, Xia Yu found Liv and went to the restaurant.
Today, the Americans ate spaghetti bolognese, and to be honest, it didn't taste as good as the one Mariano and his crew made. It had a kind of knock-off spaghetti flavor, like the kind of spaghetti they ate during recruit training in Band of Brothers.
"Xia, it's not as good as the instant noodles you cook."
Liv said after taking two bites.
Unlike traditional Chinese medicine, which restricts certain foods, Western medicine allows you to eat half the amount of seasoning packet, add an egg and some grass, and instant noodles can be healthy too.
"Just bear with it for two more days, and we can go back to China and eat delicious food the day after tomorrow."
Xia Yu comforted his girlfriend.
"And this time when we go back to Afica, we'll cook for ourselves."
You can cook for yourself and eat whatever you want.
After filling their stomachs and returning to the barracks, Xia Yu and Liv chatted about their experiences in Kazakhstan. However, Xia Yu hadn't slept well the night before, and as they talked, he fell asleep with his head on the girl's lap.
When I opened my eyes again, it was already dark; it had been a very long sleep.
"It's almost 7 o'clock, you should have woken me up earlier."
Xia Yu yawned and got up.
"You've been working so hard, I just wanted you to get some more sleep."
Liv, enjoying the warm moment, replied with a smile.
Her boyfriend is busy when there's a war, and even busier when there's no war; he's like a superman.
"You'll have plenty of sleep after you get back to China. Pack your luggage these next couple of days, it'll be a whole month!"
Xia Yu reached out and rubbed his girlfriend's numb thigh, reminding her as he did so.
"Just winter clothes, I've checked the weather forecast where you live."
Liv stood up, supporting herself on Xia Yu's shoulder, and stamped her feet as she spoke.
Having lived in Afica for over a year, she seems to have hardly ever worn winter clothes.
"Don't just look at the weather forecast. We don't have central heating where we live. It's not as warm indoors as it is outdoors when the sun is out."
Although an air conditioner was installed, it was more comfortable for heating than cooling. Xia Yu had always preferred to shiver to keep warm since he was a child.
The good news is that we won't have to shiver anymore; the new houses in the countryside have underfloor heating installed, and we can run natural gas directly from there.
There are still more than 8 tons of CH4 in the storage silo, which is about 110,000 cubic meters of natural gas, enough to power a two-story building for a long time.
Xia Yu hoarded this stuff mainly for synthesizing ammonia. After all, fertilizer prices have gone crazy lately, so it's more cost-effective to collect raw materials and synthesize it himself.
Their trip to Syria should give them an opportunity to stockpile more natural gas.
While the Earth produces oil, it also generates associated gas. However, most of this associated gas is wasted during the oil extraction process. The iconic flames of many oil fields are actually burning natural gas.
Putting aside other factors, the Yilaoke oil field alone wastes as much as 17 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year, which is tens of millions of tons.
Syria may not have as much oil as Emirates, but it certainly has a lot of natural gas.
Xia Yu could easily collect tens or even hundreds of tons of natural gas that has escaped into the air, making a small contribution to mitigating global warming.
After dawdling for a while, it was already 8 o'clock. In the end, the two of them did not go to the cafeteria and stayed in the room to eat instant noodles.
He casually snapped a photo and posted it in the family group chat, instantly making his mother feel incredibly sorry for him. She immediately kicked him out of the house to go fishing.
The son is coming back soon. He won't be allowed to come home until he catches the wild mandarin fish that he likes to eat. You can only say that parents are always worried about their children. Old Xia braved the cold wind and went to the countryside to try his luck.
Two days later, Domi filled the C-160 with JP-8 jet fuel, while Xia Yu, unaware of his father's situation, led Liv onto the transport plane.
"Buzz"
Under the watchful eyes of all the staff at Jihuo Defense, C-160 soared into the sky, while their boss, Huangyou, took his girlfriend home for the Chinese New Year.
This collaborative transport aircraft has a ferry range of 8,858 kilometers, which is enough to fly from Niger to China, but that's still a bit short.
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