Because of its abundant mineral resources, the border areas of many countries, which have been ravaged by war, have not been deserted. Instead, the relatively resource-poor Luwangda has settled a large number of Tussi people here.
Slash-and-burn agriculture has had a tremendous impact on the environment.
Crossing the border into the disputed area has led to the rise of numerous villages and towns in what was originally a sparsely populated area, resulting in a distorted prosperity.
With a large number of trees being cut down in the rainforest and the arrival of over a thousand rebels, tanks have become able to pass through the area.
However, this only applies to the dry season. Busa didn't have the patience to wait for another rainy season, so one after another, secondhand man cars carrying newer Marder infantry fighting vehicles and Russian-sounding BTR-82S tanks traveled thousands of kilometers to the front lines of the border.
This is the area that Busa can still effectively control; further ahead lies a territory that nominally belongs to them, but is actually no-man's-land.
That was the paradise of the Tussi people, and Sasu was also a Tussi from the Guo tribe.
Although they all looked like Black people, their skin color, height, and body type revealed thousands of ethnicities. The man with the mustache exclaimed that he knew it all.
The Luwangda massacre in the 1990s was propagated as an attempt by colonizers to artificially distinguish between the Tusi and Hutu ethnic groups, but the two groups were not on the same side at all.
So how do we become like-minded people?
Of course, we should put aside our hatred and work together to benefit from external resources and promote development.
Following behind the Anka mechanized infantry battalion convoy was a smaller convoy of three heavy trucks, all of which were carrying double trailers.
The lead military vehicle was pulling a Marder S30 and a GpZ-80, followed by two heavy Renaults, one pulling a T-64B1M and a TRF1 towed 155mm howitzer, and the other pulling two 20-foot standard containers painted in rainforest style.
Considering the company's future expansion, Xia Yu did not use the system garage to manually pull the vehicles this time, but instead chose conventional transportation.
Instead of the company's combat and technical employees, he hired three logistics employees to drive the trucks, paying them $800 a month.
These three black men are quite remarkable. They used to work for the Odyssey Rainforest Transport team and drove double trailers for 10 years on the bad roads during the rainy season without ever overturning. They are true veteran drivers.
To be honest, it's only because of the fact that they can hire such cheap drivers that they can afford to hire them. After all, the sweatshop miners here only earn $200 a month, and the average GDP per person is just over $1,000 (including the cost of the money).
That $800 is enough for each of them to marry four or five wives and have a football team's worth of children—definitely a high-paying job.
Although there is a risk of being attacked on the road, at least you don't have to drive a tank to the battlefield like Domi.
"Pfft~~"
There was an obstruction ahead, so all the drivers lightly applied the brakes.
Xia Yu, sitting in the middle Renault, could see from the passenger seat that hundreds of people were hiking along the dirt road toward Panaka.
With a major battle looming, those with a keen sense of smell, or local residents whose lives were affected by the rebels' preparations for war, began to flee the once-prosperous border region.
Panaka, which was previously destroyed, has now become a top choice for refugees, or rather, many of the people here are people who escaped from Panaka earlier.
This is war. No one is spared when the flames of war reach. The Blue Helmet base, originally located near Panaka, has been moved here to control the situation and prevent it from deteriorating.
The refugees relied entirely on their own two feet to escape. They could rest here for a while, and some even decided not to leave.
Physical fatigue can be relieved, but illness can only be treated with medicine.
Next to the Blue Helmet base is a Doctors Without Borders frontline hospital.
Let's not even talk about the multiple outbreaks of Ebola, which kills people relatively quickly. Measles, severe acute malnutrition, and cholera are more serious issues here.
Especially when leaving their stable residences, there was no food or clean drinking water on the way to escape.
These refugees have a significantly increased chance of getting sick, but fortunately, Doctors Without Borders is providing them with humanitarian medical services.
For Jihuo Defense and Anka Mechanized Infantry Battalion, this is the nearest hospital.
Casualties are inevitable in war, and no one can guarantee that they will be lucky forever, so battlefield medical care is crucial.
Xia Yu's battlefield armored medical vehicle is still in the planning stages.
I definitely can't afford a rescue boxer dog worth tens of millions of dollars, and the cost-effectiveness of complete vehicles from other countries is not high. After looking around, I realized that I still have to rely on my parents.
Coincidentally, the project on a new type of amphibious armored ambulance for high-altitude areas is underway, and Xia Yu will send a Weasel vehicle body back to China for customized modification.
The amphibious function will be discarded, and the troop transport compartment will be raised as a whole and converted into a negative pressure operating room, with the addition of medical equipment such as monitors, ventilators, infusion pumps, and field blood transfusion boxes.
This way, whoever is injured in combat can receive surgery immediately after leaving the battlefield, instead of just receiving emergency treatment and being transported by helicopter to a rear hospital.
If the golden treatment time has passed, not to mention amputation, the patient could even lose their life.
Besides, if you encounter an unreliable doctor, it's better to let Xia Yu get the system's maxed-out medical skills for free.
It was too late this time; Xia Yu had only stored blood plasma in the system garage that matched the blood types of all the company's employees.
If anyone is unlucky enough to get injured and has to be brought here for surgery, all he can do is provide enough blood plasma and emergency medications.
Xia Yu can't help with treatment outside of a specific vehicle.
Soon, all the refugees passed through, and the transport convoy set off again.
Just as they drove past the entrance of the frontline hospital, a white female doctor in a short-sleeved white coat helped a local woman into the hospital.
Her face wasn't visible because of the mask, but her eyes were quite pretty.
Although Xia Yu considers himself a peace ambassador, he still feels that these angels in white are more noble than himself when he faces them.
Yes, in the end, he's just a businessman who only does good deeds within his capabilities. He can't compare to those medical workers who give up high-paying, respectable jobs to come to underdeveloped and war-torn regions to save lives.
This is a difference in mindset and pursuit. It's okay if you can't reach that level; respect and understanding are enough.
Continuing on, they arrived at the actual war zone.
Sergei and his three companions had been waiting for the main force for a long time. After the last battle, they moved to the border with the vanguard of Busa, during which time they encountered several raids by the rebels.
Therefore, the atmosphere in the camp was very tense. The arrival of concentrated fire defense and the main force of the Anka mechanized infantry battalion effectively alleviated this situation.
"Tell me, how's the situation?"
After everyone was settled, Xia Yu found Sergei and immediately convened a pre-battle meeting.
"This photo was taken by Sparrowhawk A."
Sergei didn't say much, but handed his boss a folder first.
Considering the need for pre-battle reconnaissance, he deployed the company's drones in advance, and they indeed captured valuable intelligence.
Several photos show familiar figures such as the T-72, BMP-1, and BMP-2.
Both the rebel and government forces in Afica have a strong preference for Soviet-made equipment, but recently there has been a trend of change.
When the government forces are re-equipping themselves, they tend to favor Chinese-style equipment.
"It seems that bringing Miss T with us on this trip was the right choice. The Weasel S30 alone is too much of a challenge against the T-72."
Putting down the photo in his hand, Xia Yu said with emotion.
Even with basic armor, additional armor, and a bomb-resistant kit, the weasel couldn't withstand the penetration of the steel needles.
Active protection systems might still be somewhat effective against the two-section penetrating rods of mango bullets, as there is a certain probability that they can sever the connecting steel sleeves or affect the flight attitude of the steel needles.
Having a T-6B1M in front to absorb damage would be much better; the Weasel S30 is suitable for hiding in the back as an assassin.
How much equipment do they have?
Xia Yu continued to ask.
The number of each type of armored vehicle cannot be confirmed from the photos.
"The conservative estimate is more than 10 vehicles, because the Sparrowhawk A was almost shot down by the rebels' SAM-24s, so the subsequent reconnaissance was carried out at its firing altitude, and we didn't get a very close look."
Once out of high altitude, the probability of the drone being shot down increases significantly. However, due to its age and the fact that the rebel camp was covered by vegetation, the Sparrowhawk A could only conduct general reconnaissance, but that was enough.
"If we had discovered it earlier, I could have persuaded Busa to bomb it again. Now, we should renegotiate the contract."
Bombing can only solve part of the problem; clearing the entire battlefield requires a combination of ground and air power.
Xia Yu's combat plan this time was simple and brutal: send two vehicle crews and one aircraft crew to crush the enemy in a coordinated air-ground operation.
Once outside the city map, the Mi-24V is less vulnerable to missiles and rockets; attacks from below are easier to deal with than attacks from all directions.
He was mainly caught off guard that time; otherwise, the old doe wouldn't have been so easily defeated.
Another point is that helicopters can ignore terrain, but armored vehicles cannot ignore landmines.
"We also took photos of the rebels laying a large number of mines, including anti-tank mines and anti-personnel mines. They must have left several safe passages; if they surrounded the entire area, they wouldn't be able to escape themselves."
Sergei then described the situation in the minefield.
He was unaware that the company had equipped itself with new mine-clearing vehicles, assuming that this was the focus of the initial operations.
"That's easy to solve. I'll do some on-site reconnaissance with the squirrels tomorrow. We'll need to discuss the specific timing of the attack with Busa first."
It's not just about discussing the timing, but also about the specific terms of the contract.
Unlike previous operations that only counted armored targets and not casualties, this time each rebel killed was worth $3,000, equivalent to three years' worth of GDP per capita.
The number of rebels in the rainforest is conservatively estimated at over a thousand, which translates to a base income of $3 million.
The truth is that concentrated fire could not eliminate more than 1,000 rebels; at most, it would only take a few hundred. The rest were handled by the Anka mechanized infantry battalion.
Destroy the camp, destroy the weapons and equipment, capture Sasu himself alive, and slap the other armed groups watching—all of these things will be paid for.
The rebels' newly reinforced armored forces are a prime target; taking them down can be done for the same price as Panaka.
These warlord militias illegally mining ore in the border area were all targeted by Busa, and the concentrated firepower against them would earn them double the money.
Leaving aside Busa's share, these warlords, who are practically invisible in the coastal areas of France, are all incredibly wealthy, as are those dealers who prefer cash transactions—they're all rolling in money!
The intensity of this rainforest clearing operation is still uncertain, but it will certainly be a long-term mission measured in months.
Busa's income is conservatively estimated at $10 million, and Xia Yu is confident that he can extract another $10 million from these targets during the operation.
Before the Chinese New Year this year, excluding his arms business, the revenue from his concentrated fire defense and strike business must exceed 100 million yuan, and including miscellaneous income, the profit must also exceed 100 million yuan.
Xia Yu is confident in achieving this year's KPI, and so are his employees, who are working hard to earn a supercar for their boss next year.
The roads in Afica are a bit rough, but supercar manufacturers are working hard to develop off-road versions of supercars, so buying one won't be a problem when the time comes.
I wonder who will be lucky enough to sit in the passenger seat.
"Boom!"
A loud bang nearby interrupted Xia Yu's thoughts.
That's the sound of a howitzer. Is it a secondary explosion or an attack by the rebels?
Xia Yu stepped out of the tent, just as he was about to pick up his binoculars to observe...
"Boom!"
Another explosion rang out, landing not far away.
That's a bit of a miss!
"Quickly, Sparrowhawk A, take off immediately and search in the northeast direction!"
Xia Yu shouted to the men who had followed him out.
The rebels are making rapid progress; they've even learned harassment tactics. It's just that they chose the wrong opponent.
"Mongoose, you go and command the artillery squad. Take them out."
"It's xN!"
The camp was set up 30 kilometers away from the rebels' core camp, and the largest caliber howitzer the rebels were equipped with was the 152mm Red Hammer D20, with a maximum firing range of 17.6 kilometers.
Although this thing can hit the red soil, several shots only grazed the camp, basically ruling out the possibility of laser-guided projectiles.
Someone outside was shining lasers, which lifted several tents at different heights and blew up several vehicles.
Since they can't hit their targets accurately, they shouldn't blame them for retaliating in self-defense.
Jihuo Defense does not have counter-battery radar, but it can do the same with drones.
The distance of more than ten kilometers can be covered in the blink of an eye. Unless they hide the cannons after firing, they will be discovered halfway through their retreat even if they are pulling the cannons along.
"Buzz~~Whoosh~~"
Once the propeller of the Sparrowhawk A reached the predetermined speed, it was directly launched into the air by the launcher, while Hans directed the number 1 group to unhook the tRF1 howitzer that was still attached to the trailer.
The younger and heavier "Baguette" has an effective range of 24 kilometers, which can be extended to more than 30 kilometers with extended-range ammunition.
Hans said no, let them run a few kilometers first, and he'll destroy them just the same.
"Target detected, enemy is retreating, real-time coordinates 28.1..."
The drone pilot reported the location over the radio, while the tRF1 also assumed a combat stance.
A 155mm high-explosive shell with a full copper ammunition belt was pushed into the breech by the loader. After the 04 manually inserted the full propellant charge, the breechblock was closed.
Based on the speed and direction of the truck towing the D20, Hans added lead to the firing data and then pulled the gun rope sharply.
"Thump~~"
With a loud bang, the gunpowder gas from the instantaneous combustion of the explosive charge propelled the nearly 50-kilogram projectile toward the D-20 howitzer 20 kilometers away.
"Boom!"
In the footage transmitted back by the drone, the airburst fuse directly detonated the 10-kilogram explosive charge, and the hF1 high-fragmentation steel projectile shattered into countless fragments, which swept across the area within tens of meters of the D-20 and the tractor truck.
One shot, and you're good to go; no second shot needed!
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