Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 314 Walking Five Million
Hamra is located in the north of the Atuila Desert. It is the name of a small village. The terrain here is high, and you can enjoy the vast desert when looking south from here.

This was Song Heping's first time in Mali, but he had heard of its great reputation before coming here.

For the ten countries in the Sahel region, even though so many years have passed since World War II, the war here has not subsided.

Factors such as terrorism, political changes, conflicts between farmers and herders, ethnic conflicts, separatist movements, competition for natural resources, and illegal trade have torn the people here into two sides of hatred and opposition.

Especially after Western countries launched the so-called global anti-terrorism operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, a large number of local armed forces began to migrate to the Sahel region of Africa, joining the armed forces here, or setting up branches here to cultivate their own forces.

Many of the armed forces that came here are veterans of the Middle East or Afghanistan. Many of them participated in the Irigatic and Persian wars, experienced the first Gulf War, and fought guerrilla warfare in Afghanistan for many years. They can be said to be veterans who have experienced many battles.

The arrival of these people completely changed the geopolitical situation in the Sahel region. Originally, the local African forces fought each other, and occasionally fought with the colonial forces here. The intensity of the war has always been relatively low.

Now, foreign aid has arrived, and they are all elite soldiers and generals. With the old leading the new, the combat level of the rebels and local armed forces has soon been improved by more than one level. In the past, they only engaged in confrontation and shooting, but now they know how to fight guerrilla warfare, harassment warfare, and terrorist attacks.

The increasing situation and level of war caused great headaches for the Gauls, who originally regarded this place as their back garden.

In West Africa, the French influence was deeply rooted. Even when the colonial independence movement broke out after World War II, the French superficially returned administrative power to the locals.

In fact, after a hundred years of colonial rule, the French have cultivated a group of elites here, and these elites are more capable of governing and managing the country than ordinary people who can't read a single word.

In this way, the puppet government suddenly came online.

France has established a complete banking system here, using its national strength to endorse the issuance of West African francs to the country here, and has complete control over the finance here.

They also control national governance by controlling the elite class, allowing French companies to obtain priority mining rights here. French companies are present in every industry, including gold mines, uranium mines, and oil.

The combined effect of these factors has made security and stability issues in the Sahel region increasingly prominent. Every once in a while, something unexpected happens, either a rebellion or an attack, and there has never been a single day of peace in the region.

Take the Salafi militias as an example.

This armed force was actually established in the Middle East. After the coalition forces entered Irigaray, the members of the organization began to disperse. Some stayed in Irigaray to deal with the coalition forces, some went to neighboring countries, and some came directly to Africa, taking advantage of religious conveniences to take root and gain a firm foothold.

Although these decentralized organizations appear to belong to the same organization, their philosophies and natures are very different.

The Salafi organizations in Irigaray are using the banner of driving out the invaders, while the Salafi organizations in Africa have merged with members of al-Qaeda who fled from Afghanistan and declared their allegiance to al-Qaeda, becoming more radical.

This is also the reason why Song Heping has certain concerns about doing business with these guys. After all, the Salafi organizations in Africa are more extreme.

"I never thought that the Salafi militias here would have connections with the US military."

While waiting for the contact person, Jiang Feng and Song Heping talked about the situation in the Sahel region and the current status of the Salafi organization and expressed their deep emotion.

"Soldiers are thieves, and thieves are soldiers. Why do I feel this way?"

"That's the right feeling," Song Heping said. "Who backed al-Qaeda? If you trace it back to the Americans, aren't they the Americans? And in the end, didn't they just give them a 911/? Some things just breed trouble. There's nothing new under the sun."

Jiang Feng laughed and said, "The French probably never imagined that the Americans were plotting against them from behind."

"You're wrong," Song Heping said. "Based on my observations and previous experience interrogating DGSE agents, I dare say the French know deep down that Americans are not good people. In this case, they probably guessed about 70% to 80% that it was the US military that was behind this."

Jiang Feng said, "You know it, but you still don't get angry?"

Song Heping laughed and said, "Dare to overthrow? Didn't you see that they are still sending troops to Yiligo and Afghanistan to fight alongside the Americans?"

Jiang Feng scratched his head and said, "Why does this sound so weird?"

Song Heping said, "It's not strange. It all comes down to interests. If the French don't go to Yiligo and Afghanistan, they won't be able to reap the benefits there in the future. If they send troops, they can have some bargaining chips to grab some leftovers when the cake is divided in the future."

Looking at the desert in the distance, which resembled an eerie, abstract painting under the moonlight, he couldn't help but sigh, "National interests extend only to where the troops are stationed. Isn't that the same idea that Americans keep trying to find excuses to send troops here?"

As the two were talking, they suddenly saw a small cloud of dust rising in the distance.

Song Heping picked up the telescope and looked over there.

Sure enough, I saw several cars lined up and driving towards this side.

"I guess our client is here."

Song Heping turned around and said to the others, "Everyone, get ready. We may set off at any time."

Then he said to Jiang Feng: "Be careful, if something happens, take action."

Jiang Feng took a deep breath and nodded vigorously: "Okay!"

Soon, the vehicles coming from a distance approached and finally arrived in front of the few people.

More than a dozen fully armed militants in various uniforms came down from the car and surrounded Song Heping and his companions.

Some of these people looked very young, about fourteen or fifteen years old.

Song Heping couldn't help but frowned.

"Boss Song!"

A tall and thin guy finally got out of an off-road vehicle, baring his white teeth in the darkness and walking towards Song Heping with his arms opened exaggeratedly.

"Mr. Dunbar?"

Song Heping asked tentatively.

"it's me!"

The tall and thin Dunbar took off his sunglasses.

Song Heping felt that this guy was simply...

Wear sunglasses late at night.

What is this picture?

But he knew that the militants here could not be judged by common sense.

The dozen or so people in front of me alone were dressed differently. Some had their hair dyed pure yellow, while others wore colorful clothes.

In their eyes, there was nothing wrong with these clothes that were completely unsuitable for battlefield needs and even violated taboos.

Africa is indeed a magical place.

That’s why it’s also called the corner that God has forgotten. “Welcome to Mali.”

Dunbar was already in front of him, and Song Heping had to hug him. After all, the other party was so enthusiastic, he couldn't just keep him at a distance.

However, Song Heping soon regretted it. There was a strange smell on Dunbar's body, not just the smell of sweat, but also the smell that made people want to vomit.

"Where's the goods?"

After the hug, Dunbar was a straightforward person and went straight to the point.

Song Heping also wanted to finish the deal quickly and return to the Middle East as soon as possible. He liked to do business with straightforward guys.

"Here, please come and have a look."

Song Heping led Dunbar to a truck, asked the driver to open the door, then took a flashlight, turned it on, and handed it to Dunbar.

"You can check it out for yourself."

Dunbar climbed onto the car with a flashlight and stood in front of the SA-9 missile launch system, taking a clear look from top to bottom.

These launch systems were maintained by Mohammed and others before being shipped. Many parts were oiled, including the armored vehicle on the chassis and the launch system on it. From the engine to the launch control system, all were carefully inspected to ensure that there were no problems.

So from the looks of it, Dunbar is quite satisfied.

"Can it be opened now?"

"Of course you can, but I don't recommend you drive it back now." Song Heping said, "It's better to drive it back to your own territory."

Dunbar expressed his understanding and then checked the other two systems.

Judging from his expression, he was very satisfied.

"The goods have arrived, so..." Song Heping also got straight to the point: "Can I pay the balance?"

Dunbar showed his white teeth again: "No, no, no, not yet. We are not familiar with this thing. You have to teach us how to use it. Come back with us. After you teach my people, we will pay you."

Although Song Heping was reluctant, he had no reason to refute.

"Okay, we'll go with you."

"Follow our convoy, some places around here are unsafe."

Dunbar smiled, waved his hand, and got all his men into the car, driving southeast.

The convoy followed the Salafi armed convoy and drove southeast for more than three hours.

We drove until three o'clock in the morning, and then we seemed to see mountains in the distance.

Song Heping reviewed the map and estimated the distance they had traveled. He guessed that they had entered the Ifras Plateau in the northeast of Mali.

This place is adjacent to Niger, a country under deep French control, where more than a thousand troops have been deployed.

He vaguely felt that the purchase of SA-9 missiles this time was probably to deal with the French troops deployed in the border area of ​​Niger.

The convoy stopped at a village at the foot of the mountain.

Under the command of the Salafi armed minions, three trucks drove to an open area. While unloading, Dunbar came over to Song Heping and said, "Boss Song, our leader wants to see you."

Song Heping's heart moved slightly: "Is your leader here?"

Dunbar said, "Yes, he is here temporarily recently."

Song Heping went over and told Jiang Feng, "You stay here and watch the unloading. I'll go in with him to meet their boss."

Jiang Feng whispered, "Is there something fishy going on?"

Song Heping shook his head: "That won't happen. You just watch the unloading and don't let them damage the equipment. As long as the equipment is fine, we will be fine."

Jiang Feng nodded: "Okay."

After giving the instructions, Song Heping followed Dunbar through the village paths, winding through them and heading deeper into the village.

The villages in Africa are not as densely populated as those in the Middle East. The villages here are very primitive, with many stone and mud houses, and they are far apart from each other. A village is a large piece of land.

Song Heping silently memorized these roads and the surrounding environment. This was his habit because he never knew when they would be useful.

Dunbar stopped in front of a one-story stone house that covered a very large area.

"I'll go in and make an announcement."

"it is good."

Song Heping stood there waiting.

He looked around the house. There were four guards standing in front of the door, and there seemed to be armed men patrolling nearby. There was a large yard in front of the house. It was obvious that this was the residence of the richest man in the village.

Song Heping heard that the leaders of these villages were not called village heads, but were usually called chiefs or something like that, and a village was a small tribe.

I heard from Dominic before that the leader of the African branch of Salafi is called Isad. The French intelligence agency is currently offering a reward of 500 million US dollars for his head, as long as the specific location is provided.

If, as Dunbar said, his boss is really in this house, it means there is a walking five millionaire lying inside.

As for Isad, Song Heping had already made up his mind to kill him.

The reason is simple, I promised Dominic.

But it is certainly unwise to take action here now. Not to mention whether we can kill the other party and escape, even if we succeed in killing the person and escape, it will be difficult to explain to Peter.

In view of this, Song Heping has an ingenious plan to kill Isad while getting the reward and fulfilling his promise to Dominic.

Not long after, Dunbar returned.

"Mr. Song, our leader wants you to go in and talk to him."

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)