"You, step forward." He pointed to a young man whose right shoulder was trembling slightly. "Why didn't you report the recurrence of your old right wrist injury?"
The young man's expression changed, and before he could answer, Zeng Bojian strode forward: "Reporting to General Chen, Li Chuang twisted his ankle during rappelling training last week, but the military doctor said he can resume training."
"Nonsense," Chen Ze said coldly. "What I need are soldiers who can go to the battlefield in three months, not wounded soldiers who want to show off their heroism. From today onwards, the wounded soldiers' system will be strictly enforced, and bonuses will be deducted for training while injured."
Zeng Bojian tapped his heel together: "Yes!"
Chen Ze turned to the other team members: "I know some of you are curious about why you train so hard." He pulled a photo out of his pocket, which showed a vast African savanna.
"Three months from now, the 120 best men will come with me to Cameroon. There are copper mines, gold mines, and oil fields there, as well as warlords, mercenaries, and bandits. Your mission is simple—"
He paused, then his voice suddenly rose: "I plan to develop mining and ports there, but the country of Cameroon is a bit chaotic, and the industry needs your protection. Of course, your salaries will triple when you go there, but I also need you to go there alive and come back alive."
"Understood!" The shout shook the roof, causing dust to fall in a flurry.
After inspecting the fighting arena, Chen Ze followed Zeng Bojian to the tactical training field.
The three hundred team members were divided into six squadrons, each undergoing different training exercises: one squadron was practicing anti-jamming firing in a mud pit, the second squadron was conducting CQB drills in a simulated town, and the third squadron was learning how to dismantle improvised explosive devices...
"The progress is faster than expected," Chen Ze said, standing on the observation tower and holding up his binoculars.
Zeng Bojian handed over a list: "As per your request, we have focused on strengthening tropical disease prevention and control, basic French language skills, and asymmetric warfare training. But there are two problems."
"explain."
"First, we lack heavy firepower. We can't get decent automatic weapons domestically. What we're using now are modified civilian versions, which don't provide enough firepower suppression. Second, we lack intelligence support. Without a reliable local intelligence network, we're practically blind in Africa."
Chen Ze put down his binoculars and smiled slightly: "Don't worry, I'll use my connections to buy you automatic weapons on the black market."
Zeng Bojian glanced at his watch. "Captain Wang should be ready by now."
In the base's conference room, Wang Zhenguo, the expedition leader who had just returned from Africa, was spreading a satellite map on the table.
This dark-skinned middle-aged man had served as a peacekeeping police officer in the Democratic Republic of Congo for five years and was an expert on Africa whom Chen Ze had hired at a high price.
“This area is 300 kilometers east of Douala, Cameroon.” Zeng Bojian drew a circle on the map with his finger.
"Locals call it 'Dragon's Backbone' because the mountain range resembles the spine of a dragon. Geological surveys show that the copper ore grade is above 2.3%, with associated gold and cobalt."
Chen Ze took the exploration report and quickly scanned the data: "Political risks?"
"It's much better than neighboring countries, but it's not very peaceful either."
Zeng Bojian pulled up several mobile phone videos, showing that "government forces control major cities, but there are separatist armed activities in remote areas. Just last month, a Chinese engineering team was kidnapped, and a ransom of two million US dollars was demanded."
In the video, several masked gunmen stand in front of an engineering vehicle with Chinese characters printed on it, waving AK-47s.
Chen Ze narrowed his eyes: "Have you found out who did it?"
“A small organization called the ‘Red Earth Liberation Front’ is suspected of being backed by a French mining group,” Wang Zhenguo said in a low voice. “We’ve learned that the engineering team was actually there to investigate rare earth mines, and the French didn’t want the Chinese to get involved.”
Chen Ze and Zeng Bojian exchanged a glance.
The French, always the French, these veteran European players in the former African colonies never easily give up their share of the pie.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
