"How much do you want?"
New equipment is definitely better than second-hand equipment, and it's also more standardized.
The defense minister no longer dwells on the weapons and equipment of the less than two platoons of the Masina Liberation Front.
"120 M70 assault rifles, 6 M84 general-purpose machine guns, 8 RPG-7 launchers, 6 M57 mortars (60mm caliber), plus a basic load of ammunition, how about 300,000 euros?"
Xia Yu asked the other party.
He wasn't asking for a random price. The cost of purchasing equipment alone for the Porzu National Salvation Army was this much. The ammunition was a bonus from Xia Yu, since he still had a battalion's worth of equipment to sell.
“Yes, that’s fine. Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Sherlock.”
The Minister of Defense said excitedly.
He knew the market price. Because of the added costs of shipping and profit, plus the instability of the situation, a normal quote would have to be increased by another 20%. Xia Yu was giving them this price, which was a great deal, so why wouldn't they agree?
"Then let's set it for the day after tomorrow, and we'll complete the transaction there."
Xia Yu thought for a moment and then said.
After all, we're not a professional small arms seller, so this is pretty much it!
"That's unfortunate, I'm going back today, so I'll have to have my men bring the money over."
The Minister of Defense said regretfully.
He really had to leave. The border matter was settled, but Vajadugu still had a lot of things to do and couldn't rest for a moment.
"Then see you next time, Minister."
After seeing the other party off from the camp, Xia Yu watched their convoy drive away before returning to his own barracks.
The next time you see him, he might not be the Minister of Defense anymore. After all, coups happen quite frequently in Afika, and this administration might be overthrown at any time.
In half of the cases, they don't even need to use force; just a little publicity on TV or radio can be quite successful.
Armed rebellion is more likely to result in large-scale fighting; Guo and Zhongfei are examples of this.
Xia Yu arrived at the common lounge and saw that a third of the people were there. He clapped his hands to signal everyone to stop for a moment.
“The Masina branch in Ketuna Faso is their branch, and they haven’t been there long enough to be very wealthy. All their assets, when liquidated, amounted to only $168,000, of which 30% came from the slaughter of the village of Javazi.”
“This 30%, or $50,000, should rightfully be inherited by Dundu, but he is not yet an adult, so I will give him $500 a month until he turns 18.”
After saying that, he took out 50,000 and put it aside, then counted out 5 bills and handed them to the bewildered Dundu.
"Papa, this is too much money, I... I can't accept it."
Suddenly becoming a millionaire, Dundu quickly waved his hand.
“This is nothing. You’ll earn much more in the future, and this should have been yours anyway.”
He also became Xia Yu's godson and was intended to be entrusted with important responsibilities in the future; otherwise, he wouldn't have had so many troubles.
Xia Yu is a pro at winning people's hearts.
"Take it if I give it to you."
The young man was genuinely touched when the $500 was placed in Dundu's hand.
It wasn't because he had a lot of money, but because of Xia Yu's attitude. After losing most of his relatives, he had a new home.
"Alright, the rest will proceed as before. Haitang Rabbit, you can assign them."
Xia Yu tossed the remaining tens of thousands of yuan to Liv, saying that since Domi wasn't around, she would be in charge of managing the money, and then left the room.
The money wasn't much; each person received roughly a few thousand yuan, which was just pocket money.
Fortunately, Xia Yu made a lot of money. In addition to the bonuses from the spoils, the employees received a basic salary plus various allowances.
For example, when deployed to Mari, they can receive an extra deployment allowance of $100 to $200 per day, while the total package price for a single patrol by the French is 2,500 euros.
Even if the patrol frequency is only once every three days, it's enough to cover the labor costs and still make a profit.
The same applies when a battle occurs; 50,000 euros per person—Sherlock probably never imagined he was worth so much.
If it were rebels, they would definitely surrender. This money would guarantee they wouldn't cause any trouble. But these people are extremists; money can't buy them out. So the only option is to spend the money to buy their lives.
When cleaning up the battlefield, they collected a total of 63 bodies. Apart from the two civilians who died, the rest were all members of the Masina Liberation Front.
Including the cost of personnel and equipment deployment, the interim settlement totaled 3.386 million euros.
If the Americans themselves were to achieve the same result, it would probably cost well over 5 million euros.
The death or injury of one person is a loss of hundreds of thousands, and the destruction of a VBCI infantry fighting vehicle is a loss of millions.
Even in these relatively low-intensity counter-terrorism operations, they lose an average of two combat vehicles per month, and since the operation began in 2014, the army has rotated at least 50% of its equipment.
If the fighting continues, this number will rise to 75%.
This is already the limit, because the remaining 25% will not be delivered to Afika by Leclerc tanks, multiple rocket launchers, and various land-based missiles.
So it's a very worthwhile deal. Whether they hire Golden Oak or Focus Fire, the loss of personnel and equipment is irrelevant to them; they outsource the risk.
After confirming the receipt of 50% of the interim settlement payment, which amounted to 1.693 million euros, Xia Yu logged out of her online banking account.
The remaining 50% will be settled quarterly and deposited into an account that Jihuo Defense has just opened at the Afica branch of SG Bank.
This bank also has branches in Komlujah. When Osa took over several domestic banks, it never dared to touch the SG branch near the French embassy or consulate. In the end, it was because it was cowardly.
Unlike in the Sahel, where the Spanish army attacks directly, wouldn't they dare rob Spanish banks?
However, Xia Yu overheard Old Anka mention that Busa was interested in acquiring SG's 93.5% stake in its Guo branch.
Hanging the sheep's head of the Chinese people did have some effect; as the only bank in Khun Luggia that wasn't looted, its deposit business increased several times compared to before the war.
Xia Yu expressed his understanding, saying that ordinary people always seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, just like back in the Republic of China era, when everyone was willing to deposit their money in foreign banks.
However, this situation should change as the influence of the Fa Kingdom in Afica declines.
"Beep beep"
The sound of truck horns signaled the arrival of a supply convoy.
There were a total of 4 double-trailer Renault military trucks, and 6 of the 8 container trucks were for fire defense, and that wasn't all.
Prioritizing vehicles and equipment, the São Paulo only carried vehicles and supplies for the combat meeting, along with a batch of light weapons and equipment captured in Chung Fei.
In order to establish a foothold for concentrated fire defense in the Sahel region, Xia Yu planned to ship the goods locally. Therefore, he arranged a second ship and borrowed a transport convoy from the French to transport all the goods over like ants carrying grains of rice.
This is also why he was able to reach a deal with the Minister of Defense of Kinabalu.
The convoy entered the camp and first unloaded Dominic's supplies. Then, Kuhn directed them to unload six containers belonging to Jihuo Defense.
The containers carrying weapons and ammunition did not need to be dismantled because they had not been opened after being loaded onto the ship. However, one container was transported by air from China and loaded onto the ship in a container assembled in Kongluga.
Counterterrorism operations, apart from large-scale deployments by extremists and armed factions, mostly involve small groups.
Deploying a large force at this point would be useless; deploying a team of instructors would be more effective.
In particular, it involves deploying and withdrawing snipers and marksmen to conduct mid- to long-range harassment and attacks.
So after learning about the situation regarding concentrated fire defense, another job came up in my hometown.
I opened the specially marked container myself, and there were four engineering plastic crates at the door that looked out of place with the military green wooden crates inside.
"This size of box contains guns."
The guys who had nothing to do gathered around to watch the commotion, and Leonardo asked them a question.
"It's loaded with guns, but not machine guns."
As Xia Yu spoke, he opened the first box, took out a high-precision sniper rifle in a disassembled state, wiped off the excess gun oil, and then quickly assembled it.
"It's a sniper rifle, but I've never seen one like this before."
Apart from the technical staff, the combat staff all handle guns, but Paul is the only sniper, so he doesn't know much about sniper rifles.
"What are you looking at? I've never seen it before either."
Seeing everyone's eyes focused on him, Paul quickly spoke.
He's a sniper, but not a firearms expert. He's only familiar with a few sniper rifles, or rather, he can quickly get the hang of a sniper rifle he doesn't recognize, but he genuinely doesn't know what it is.
"Pallas's cat, come and help."
There were still three boxes left. Realizing she couldn't handle them alone, Xia Yu immediately called for help.
"Yes, boss."
Paul stepped forward to help, but when he opened a box nearby, the gun parts inside seemed to be slightly different from the one Xia Yu was holding.
“They are indeed different. These are two types of guns, two of each, both of which are .338 Lapua Magnum.”
Xia Yu opened the third box, explaining as she unpacked it.
"Our mission is to use these two guns in actual combat in the upcoming battles. Right now we are in a desert area, but we will have the opportunity to test them in other terrains in the future and write a detailed report."
New guns aren't just for show; it's also important to identify their shortcomings. Xia Yu just didn't expect that two new high-precision sniper rifles with 8.6x70mm caliber would be produced in the north and south respectively.
Sure enough, .300 has become an outdated caliber, and the future belongs to .338.
This made him very happy; after all, who isn't a .338 party member?
Also included in the box were a total of 6,000 rounds of 8.6mm high-precision sniper ammunition. If each bullet could eliminate an enemy, that would cost 300 million euros. He would have ripped the Chinese people off bald, so it's impossible.
These bullets are for training and testing. Of course, there are also commercially available bullets and reloaded bullets as a reference group for equipment testing. Xia Yu is rigorous. He and Paul each take down 50 targets, which is enough to gather the data needed to write the report.
"Um, boss, I didn't go to college."
Paul said somewhat awkwardly.
I'm certainly happy to have a new gun to shoot him, but let's spare him when writing the report!
"I'll write it first, you can refer to it, and then I'll polish it in the end."
Xia Yu understood Paul's helplessness; after all, not everyone is both literate and skilled in martial arts.
If he hadn't joined the army back then, he might have already started his dream of becoming a great online writer.
If he hadn't joined the army and wanted to kill those non-commissioned officers, he would definitely be a clerk in the military.
Another issue is that Paul could only write it in Russian first, then translate it into French himself, and finally have someone else translate it into Chinese. It would be better to do it properly.
"That's great, I'm good at that."
Paul gained confidence in his high school diploma.
However, I am not stupid. Besides my longing for military life, I joined the army mainly because I wanted to leave the impoverished Siberia.
His grades were good, and he was good at reading and writing French on his own. In addition to his military skills, this also helped him get into the concentrated fire defense team.
"There's still plenty of time. As long as we finish writing it before this deployment is over, we can get familiar with the gun first."
He let Paul familiarize himself with the gun, while Xia Yu ran away.
He's only a part-time sniper; his main job is business. This batch of equipment is to be delivered to the other party this afternoon, and he needs to prepare it.
In the afternoon, the transport convoy from Kinabalu arrived on time, led by an artillery lieutenant.
"Hello, Lieutenant Ibrahim."
Xia Yu shook hands with the other party.
How to describe this woman's appearance? She gives off a very resolute vibe, the kind that would be very popular among Black women.
"Hello, Mr. Sherlock, and thank you for everything you have done for the people of Nafaso. The Massina Liberation Front carried out a number of attacks when it was operating near my base, but unfortunately we only managed to take down one of their vehicles."
"This is what Lieutenant Ibrahim said regretfully."
"Oh, they took them out with a mortar."
Xia Yu asked curiously.
The opposing force consisted of artillery, but the Somali army was primarily equipped with mortars.
"Yes, a 60mm mortar is not much worse than a heavy machine gun, especially when the enemy also has heavy machine guns."
"You and your soldiers are very capable, but my buddies and I prefer to solve problems with machine guns."
Xia Yu praised the other party.
Hitting a moving target with a 60mm mortar would be considered elite in other regions, let alone in Afica.
To be this proficient in one's profession, one must either be exceptionally talented like Zhu Zi in "Bright Sword," or possess formal education and knowledge, using knowledge to fight.
Upon inquiry, it turned out that the other person was indeed a top student who graduated from Waggadougou University. He had abandoned his studies to join the army of Kinabalu, Somalia, because he saw the poverty and war in his country.
That's impressive. Afica does have good universities, and some of its college students even write papers for American students. It's just that due to practical reasons, the facilities are a bit lacking.
He chose to serve his country in the military instead of becoming a doctor or a lawyer, which is truly admirable.
If it weren't for good connections, Xiao Anka would really be a hopeless case. He failed to get into university after graduating from high school and joined the army, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant company commander through connections.
Of course, he learned a lot during the process of playing for Xia Yu, and learned what it means to be a soldier. He eventually went to China for further studies, so the result was still good.
"Mr. Sherlock, all the money is here. May I take a look at the equipment?"
Ibrahim didn't exchange many pleasantries and immediately asked to see the goods.
"Okay, I'll take you there."
Xia Yu accepted the money and led the way. Of the five and a half containers, only three belonged to the other party. Two more companies of light weapons and equipment would be delivered later.
If possible, it would be best to supply them to the other party together, since Mari has no shortage of light weapons, and he hasn't made contact with Niger yet.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com