Besides lacking armored vehicles, the US forces at this camp also lacked Black Hawks, Chinooks, let alone Apaches and Cobras—they only had damned Reaper drones.
There's nothing we can do but wish them good luck.
The only air support they could call upon immediately was the few Gazelles from the Niger Army Aviation. Their two Su-25s were acquired from Russia in 2014, and clearly they lacked the capability to be scrambled for combat at any time.
However, Xia Yu received information from the Minister of Defense of Kinabalu that the Nigeriens planned to acquire two real attack helicopters to combat extremist groups within their territory.
Because Russia had recently delivered two Mi-171 helicopters to them, Ketina Faso, which also needed military transport helicopters, went to learn from them (inquire about pricing), and that's how they learned of this important news.
However, due to limited budget, the Nigerien people's first choice for attack helicopters was not the newly produced Mi-35M from Russia, but the second-hand Mi-24V from Wukelan.
Compared to the nearly $20 million "bull," the old female buck, which is 70% new, sells for around $5 million on the international arms market and offers better value for money.
Xia Yu said that he would also sell the old female Deer. Selling two of them, along with weapons and ammunition, would be equivalent to more than half a month's revenue for Jihuo Defense. Why wouldn't he sell them?
Of course, what he was selling was the literal meaning of an old doe, not the company itself, the ultimate deer-tiger.
As a part-time arms dealer, Xia Yu was no longer satisfied with just selling ground equipment, so he ventured into a new field.
"Yes, they're all in stock. If they really want them, I can throw in a basic load of ammunition and a spare rocket pod."
At the familiar market street entrance, Anton led his men to set up checkpoints and conduct inspections outside, while Sergei and his team stayed in the car to monitor the situation in real time using drones. Xia Yu, meanwhile, sat in the Leclerc and made a phone call with the former minister.
He wasn't very familiar with Nirier, so there had to be a middleman between the two parties during the transaction.
The Minister of Defense of Kinabalu is the best candidate, and he also wants to see how well Xia Yu's Mi-24V performs.
They bought two Mi-35Ms from Russia ten years ago, but now the number is not enough. Back then, the Bucks only cost a few million dollars, but now the price has risen to a level that they can no longer afford.
Well, as long as the price is cheap enough, the Mi-24V seems pretty good.
Let the Niger brothers test it out first; if it works well, then they can buy two more.
Xia Yu understood that the other party was so attentive because they had something in mind, so he offered to give them a special discount if they were interested.
The Hind series is a classic best-selling model with a total production of over 2,300 units. Selling a dozen or twenty units after maintenance is not particularly eye-catching. Moreover, its target customers are all repeat buyers, which directly saves on the cost of training equipment operators.
If the client feels they are losing money, Xia Yu can simply provide more supporting ammunition; aerial rockets can become a new source of profit growth in the future.
As for anti-tank missiles, a Gatling gun is sufficient for low-intensity counter-terrorism. At best, a twin 23mm cannon can be replaced. Using missiles to shoot down pickup trucks is simply too extravagant for Black people.
Of course, the customer is king. As long as they express their needs, Xia Yu also offers the service of adding HOT-3 and HJ-8 missiles for an extra fee, and if they specifically ask for raw materials.
He could figure out a solution for the older 9M120, but the 9M127, which was only put into service a couple of years ago, has a huge vortex, so let's forget about it!
"boom"
A loud bang was heard outside the vehicle. Xia Yu opened the hatch and looked up. It turned out that Hans and Alvin had set off.
Of the six Mirage-2000D fighters deployed by the German military in Oga, two were transferred to other airfields, two underwent major mechanical maintenance, and the other two remained on standby to respond to any requests for assistance from several bases scattered across the Sahel region.
This is normal. Attack helicopters are useful, but they are not suitable for long-range or fast operations, so this job can only be done by fixed-wing fighter jets.
"Yes, it's a bit noisy here. You and the other party should discuss it some more, and we'll talk later."
Seeing that the conversation was almost over, Xia Yu hung up the phone after finishing her sentence.
He has Mi-24Vs in stock. The few he received are all refurbished to about 70% new and are stored at the mountain base. As long as the customer selects the configuration and places the final order, they can be delivered before he returns home.
There was a large quantity of ammunition and spare parts, which could be shipped in containers. He and Andrei each took a helicopter and flew directly there.
"Splash splash"
Just as Xia Yu was thinking this, the company's Mi-24V flew over their heads and sped off towards the outskirts of the city.
The glider crew's mission this time was to conduct armed patrols in the suburbs of Oga, and the troop transport compartment also carried half of the instructor team.
Previously, this job was done by the antelopes, but after the incident with Nanfei, the Germans temporarily grounded all the antelopes and outsourced their patrol duties.
Unfortunately, the Tiger tank has a certain chance of survival when encountering shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, but the Gazelle is almost certainly doomed.
Firefighting also suspended flights to antelopes, but fortunately, the doe's schedule (not every day) was full, contributing nearly 1.5 million euros in revenue per month.
If you work a full year, you can earn enough to buy a helicopter without firing a single shot; the return on investment is quite fast.
But with the Sahel region in such chaos, how could they possibly not fire a single shot, not even a rocket?
Seeing that there was still some time before lunchtime, Xia Yu called Hunter again to inquire about the museum's operations for the next two days.
Today's patrol wasn't very effective for him as the vehicle commander; he mainly came out to work and discuss business.
They could do these things in the camp, but Xia Yu preferred to stay with his buddies.
“Very good. Two days ago we released the winter paint scheme for the Bumblebee. As of noon today, it has fired a total of 68 shots.”
Upon receiving the call from his boss, Hunter replied excitedly.
That means an average of 27 shots per day!
At $18,000 for a 150mm grenade, this antique self-propelled howitzer could generate $486,000 in revenue for him every day.
At least that's the case this week when the vehicle was first released. The data will gradually drop in the following weeks, but it's still worth it to take a photo with the vehicle, which is a winter exclusive to the East Coast, while wearing a white smock and a white M40 helmet.
It would be even better if there was some snow on the ground, but unfortunately there is no winter in Konluga, so we can only use artificial snow scenery.
Releasing a new car every month is indeed a good way to maintain the museum's popularity. Visitors will have the fun of opening a blind box, making them want to come back again and again, and they can't help but buy an annual pass.
However, without comparison, there is no harm. The three German Hornets launched their attack in three days, and their revenue was equivalent to that of the Mireille Bucks working a month.
Although prices will eventually return to normal levels within one or two weeks, this clearly demonstrates the differences in profitability across different sectors.
Unfortunately, there is a development ceiling, and since more system functions cannot be unlocked, the museum can only serve as a cash cow, providing a safety net for Xia Yu and covering up the concentrated fire defense.
He then inquired about ammunition sales.
The Bovington Tank Museum, which officially offers live-fire shooting services to the public, has contacted Hunter again in the past two days, seemingly intending to place an additional order.
The other party has made money, and those who don't want to make a special trip to Afica can now choose to go to England, which is nearby.
These museums that have successively launched similar projects cannot be called Xia Yu's peers, but rather distributors who help him make money.
Until a military factory, his true competitor, stepped forward and drove down the price.
But it doesn't matter, because the second and third phases of the Xia Yu project were launched one after another, so the price of the live-fire tank shooting was useless.
Because you can't build an aircraft carrier that can simultaneously launch jet fighters and old-fashioned propeller fighters.
Differentiated services are the right direction for business development, Xia Yu believes, and he is doing just that.
They talked until their stomachs started growling before ending the call.
It was lunchtime, so Xia Yu left Domi to watch the car by herself and went to the Weasel K1 to have lunch with Liv, who had been watching online classes all morning.
The young woman has a busy schedule. When she's not on patrol, she goes out with the well-digging team to provide free medical services, spending half a day seeing patients and prescribing medicine, and the other half a day performing several surgeries to keep her skills sharp.
Aside from driving, she didn't have much to do on patrol days, but she still couldn't waste any time.
I helped Xia Yu with some trivial paperwork, and then I studied financial knowledge. My days were very fulfilling.
During the few days before the Xiumi-24V, Xia Yu also installed a remote weapon station on the Weasel K1, which made up for the last shortcoming in self-defense.
As for defense, in addition to the titanium alloy add-on armor, it is also covered with a lightweight explosive reactive armor.
Although it wasn't equipped with an active defense system, it was safe enough for Liv to stay in the vehicle because it was operating alongside two Marder infantry fighting vehicles and their interceptor missiles could cover friendly forces.
The truly high-risk positions in fire defense are those combat personnel who infiltrate behind enemy lines.
Even after leaving the cover of vehicles, the probability of them facing enemy fire directly is still not low, even in a surprise attack.
This is also why the instructors' base salary is higher than that of the vehicle commanders; they deserve this compensation.
After lunch, Xia Yu started yawning. He told Liv and then went to take a nap on the operating table in the back medical pod.
It's a bit narrow, but at least you can lie down flat, right? That's a special privilege reserved for the boss.
On the other side of Niger, a convoy of green berets and government troops on routine patrol was parked by the roadside.
The taste of this stuff is hard to describe; no American veteran liked it, but government soldiers ate it with relish.
"Damn it, we only have two M240s in the car, not even a bottle of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce. You're sending us on an arrest mission? This is practically sending us to our deaths!"
Squad leader Johnson, having skipped a meal, contacted the camp via radio and subsequently got into an argument with his superiors.
Arguments are normal in the military, but soldiers are duty-bound to obey orders. When there is no room for negotiation, he can only accept the order and carry out the mission.
The only weapons available were the M4 and a general-purpose machine gun, which was a bit lacking in firepower, but the intensity of combat in Niger was also low!
A worried Johnson could only think positively; no one wanted anything to go wrong.
After filling their stomachs, they continued their journey until the caravan reached a village near the border before nightfall.
They will rest here for one night, just like last time, and return tomorrow after completing their mission.
This is unimaginable for the military; living in a local village, do you really think you're some kind of royal army?
That's exactly what the soldiers thought, after all, they were invited here to fight extremist groups.
This is from the soldiers' perspective; from the politicians' perspective, it's about how they provided aid (money) to the Niger government and successfully gained access to their influence.
As the traditional sphere of influence of the United States, the United States outwardly has to consider the face of its allies, but behind the scenes, it is constantly engaging in underhanded tactics.
According to their assessment, despite the large budgets invested each year, the influence of the Chinese in the Sahel region is inevitably waning.
Until these countries experienced repeated coups, transitioning from pro-Western regimes to centrist regimes, and then to complete anti-Western regimes, taking action to drive out the other side.
Given the Chinese people's rare display of courage and their tendency to always surrender, they are unlikely to dare to start a war; they will only slink away in disgrace.
This is when the United States had its chance. People who love to spend money are easy to talk to, and the Niger government was reluctant to let them go.
The local civilians, however, did not necessarily share this view. Some wanted to profit from the American military, while others wanted to drive out all white people and infidels.
At least in this small border village, there are both types of people who immediately slaughter sheep to reward the arrival of the American army.
Soldiers from most countries have strong spending power, and Lao Mei is arguably number one. He can easily spend just a couple of US dollars, and fresh lamb is indeed delicious.
Just as they were preparing to start construction, a young man pushed an eighteen-year-old motorcycle and left the village in the night.
He was going to call for men, men who could kill these guys.
…………
"These lamb skewers are really good."
Xia Yu said, as he peeled off a whole skewer of lamb leg meat.
Jihuo Defense also had lamb tonight, but it was seasoned with Chinese barbecue sauce, which was very pleasant with beer.
"Boss, I've noticed a problem. When attack helicopters fly low, they can still identify personnel targets, but when we use fighter jets to drop bombs, it's very difficult to distinguish between friend and foe."
Hans was acting like a train commander, not forgetting to talk about work even while eating.
When a fighter jet attacks a ground target, it can clearly distinguish vehicle targets using its targeting pod, but due to altitude issues, it becomes extremely difficult to distinguish personnel targets.
"There is no solution for this at the moment. The reason why air support relies on ground guidance is to prevent it from hitting our own people. Secondly, it is necessary for ground personnel to accurately report the location. Both sides must establish an efficient communication method."
Xia Yu said after taking a sip of beer.
This is also a challenge in combined arms operations for fighter jets; don't call in air support and end up blowing yourself up.
If you can't distinguish friend from foe, don't fire at all.
Like today's Fruit Bats crew's operation, eight precision-guided bombs were used, six of which targeted vehicle targets from two armed factions.
By blowing up their vehicles and heavy machine guns, we can weaken the enemy.
Bombing a house directly raises concerns about potential civilian casualties and international repercussions.
The Mirage-2000D once bombed a large crowd. It was later claimed that it was at a wedding in the village. The two sides argued for a long time without any resolution because the truth was no longer important at that point.
It's safer to blow up the car first. If it doesn't run away after being blown up, but instead fires into the air, then it's definitely the right target.
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