Firepower is king

The commander-in-chief didn’t let the highlight wait too long.

The Tiren Formation can be regarded as a strange flower growing in the magical land of Africa.

Weird here is a complimentary word, not a derogatory one.

Why do you say that? Because the commander-in-chief of the Tiren Formation is very punctual, very efficient in his work, and very direct in his speech. The most important thing is that he does not have the habit of boasting, so he comes up to brag.

"Hello, I am Dekun Sarberg, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the People's Liberation Army."

Of course, the commander-in-chief has a dark complexion and almost white hair. He looks quite old. He wears a simple military green uniform instead of a fancy dress. It should be noted that in Africa, almost no one becomes a general. If you are willing to wear camouflage uniforms or training uniforms, no matter what you are doing, you should always be in a formal suit.

Jilawotu said from the side: "Dekun, General Saberg was the Chief of General Staff of the Ethiopian Defense Forces with the rank of lieutenant general. He had retired, but under the pressure of the Ethiopian People's Liberation Army, the general rejoined the army and Serve as our commander-in-chief.”

I had never heard of it, but Gao Guang still said politely: "Hello, general."

Dekun shook hands with Gao Guang, and when they shook hands, Jilawotu pointed at Gao Guang and said, "This is the...mad dog I mentioned before."

Dekun's expression remained normal, and he was not frightened by Gao Guang's nickname.

Jilawotu continued: "A large part of our equipment is provided by Mad Dog, and he can also provide us with the intelligence we most need. General, this is the information terminal brought by Mad Dog."

Dekun had already seen it. In fact, his attention was also on the picture returned by the drone. The reason why he greeted Gaoguang first was because Gaoguang could bring them what they needed most.

Dekun didn't speak. He stared at the picture for a while.

The picture sent by the drone actually doesn't look thrilling. There is neither a fierce battle scene with heavy artillery fire nor an exciting march. You can only see squirming black spots, or in the picture. A very slow vehicle.

As an expert at reading, De Kun can see the deployment of the National Defense Forces from the reconnaissance, but only if he can understand it.

The pictures sent back directly were not refined. Those who could understand them must have high military literacy, and Dekun seemed to be able to understand them.

Finally, De Kun said solemnly: "There is a drone whose picture has never changed. It stays in one area and never moves, right?"

Gao Guang said solemnly: "Yes, that is the enemy's headquarters. Our people should be detained there. The other two drones are conducting reconnaissance along the road. Basically, the entire front can be covered."

Three drones are enough to survey the entire battlefield of the Ethiopian Civil War. The so-called overview of the whole situation is how De Kun feels now.

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After watching for a while, Dekun withdrew his gaze, and he said gently to Gao Guang: "I know your needs very well. You are planning to conduct a rescue operation, but with all due respect, this is difficult."

It’s okay to talk about the difficulties first, at least it won’t give false hope to Gao Guang.

"What are the difficulties?"

Dekun said seriously: "First of all, we lack transportation means. Rescue operations require suddenness and concealment, but we do not have transport planes or helicopters. If you want to go directly from Mekele to the vicinity of Addis Ababa, just You can only take a car, and given the current traffic conditions, it will take you at least twenty-four hours, because the roads will definitely be blocked by fighting."

Gao Guang said helplessly: "No transport plane? No helicopter? Nothing?"

"Yes, only cars."

If you want to carry out a rescue operation like that often seen in movies, where magic soldiers descend from the sky, you must at least have an airplane.

Due to the lack of transportation vehicles, how to enter and exit has become a problem. Gaoguang can find a transport plane. At worst, he can fly directly from Djibouti and let the Shadow Mercenary Group make an air landing.

But this is a rescue operation. You have to leave after saving people. You can't just walk back from the Egyptian territory on two legs.

If you drive there, it will not be a rescue operation behind enemy lines, but a penetration of the entire Egyptian defense line.

If there were only a few hundred or thousands of people fighting, it wouldn't matter if they penetrated the entire defense line. But this is a war using tanks and artillery to fire from a distance. In Africa, this is really a very modern war. There is a war, and a few dozen people break through the entire defense line and save four people. Then this is not a story, but a myth.

One-way airdrop is definitely not possible, nor is it possible to penetrate the defense line. What is needed is to go and return, so helicopters become the only option.

Gao Guang took a breath and said, "I'm here to find the transport plane, but the helicopter... you have to provide this."

Dekun smiled in embarrassment, and then he whispered: "Our airport only has one seized transport plane, but helicopters... I'm sorry, we really don't have this."

Gao Guang wonders where he can find the helicopter.

In fact, helicopters are easy to find. Even if there are no military helicopters, it doesn't matter, and King's Defense has helicopter pilots. However, the nearest take-off point for helicopters is also in Djibouti. The straight-line distance is about 700 kilometers, which is still a bit far.

US military helicopter

No way, this is an invasion.

Gao Guang could find the Mi-8 helicopter, but the maximum range of the Mi-8 with standard fuel is about 600 kilometers, which means it cannot fly one way. The maximum range with auxiliary fuel tanks is only nearly 1,000 kilometers. If you go there, you can't come back. If you add the waiting time in the air, it is likely that you will have to land after you go there.

If you can find the S70 helicopter, which is the civilian version of the UH60 Black Hawk helicopter, it will be fine. The maximum range of this helicopter is 2,200 kilometers. Even if it departs from Djibouti, it has enough range to fly back and forth.

But the problem is that the S70 is not easy to find. It may not be in time, but even if you find it, it is a problem for people to fly at the risk of being shot down.

The shadows led by Lei are definitely elite, but they have strategic transport aircraft for long-distance flights, and various types of helicopters can be selected for the final step of the air raid. However, here, a good cook cannot cook without rice. Without transportation, the shadows are no different from ordinary soldiers.

Gao Guang expected this situation. There will definitely be difficulties. What needs to be done is how to solve the difficulties.

There are two ways now. One is to drive over there by land, which takes a long time and has great risks, but it is a plan that can be implemented immediately.

Another way is to find a helicopter within a very limited time.

Gao Guang tends to use the second plan, and Gao Guang observed De Kun's expression. He found that De Kun seemed very calm when talking about these difficulties, so maybe he actually has a way.

"General, do you have a way to get a helicopter? As a local government, you should have a way to get a helicopter."

Gao Guang asked with an attitude of giving it a try, but De Kun did not answer his question directly, but turned around and said: "Open the combat map."

There is of course a map in the command room, but Gao Guang and others can't see it because the map on the wall is covered by a huge curtain.

A combat staff officer stepped forward and pulled open the curtain, revealing a huge combat map.

To be honest, not many people still use paper military maps for command these days.

Dekun stood up, picked up a long wooden stick, walked to the front of the map and pointed to a place surrounded by a circle with only a huge gap in the south. He said in a deep voice: "This is Mekelle. We have broken through the enemy's encirclement, but we are still in a semi-encircled state, and here." Dekun knocked on a point on the map with a wooden stick and said: "This is a military airport, 160 kilometers away from Addis Ababa, but our front-line troops have surrounded the airport and shot down an An-12 transport plane with a surface-to-air missile, and shot down two Mi-8 transport helicopters, but there are at least four Mi-8 transport helicopters inside." The TPLF was the ruling party in Ethiopia 18 years ago. The entire national defense force was pulled up by them, so they may be more familiar with all the airports in Ethiopia than the TPLF. So the intelligence must be reliable. Dekun said that there are at least four helicopters at this airport, so there should be. Dekun turned around and said to Gao Guang: "Our attack was sudden and quick. Before the enemy reacted, we had surrounded the airport. After shooting down three planes in a row, the helicopters dared not take off. If you can get here and cooperate with our troops to take down the airport, you will have helicopters available, and you will also get transport planes."

This is really a solution.

As we all know, the simpler the plan, the easier it is to implement, and the more complex the plan, the more difficult it is to implement. The plan that Dekun said is indeed a bit complicated, which adds a link to Gao Guang's rescue operation, and it is a very difficult link, which is not in line with Gao Guang's expectations.

Gao Guang thought for a long time, and then he said calmly: "You mean, let us take this airport for you, snatch the helicopter, and then rescue the hostages immediately?"

"Not take the airport for us, but help us take the airport. We lack the ability to attack because we lack heavy weapons, and our raiding ability is not strong. We can't use special operations to open a gap, so this airport was originally just besieged and destroyed, but if you need a plane, we can cooperate to launch an attack. After taking the airport, we get a usable front-line airport, and you get the plane you need."

It's a bold plan. General Dekun has something in mind. His plan is feasible. Although it is a bit risky, the risk is within the tolerance range of Gao Guang and others.

But you can't just take the chestnuts out of the fire for others. Although the main purpose is to rescue the hostages, Gao Guang doesn't like this kind of loss-making business even if it's a one-sided deal.

Gao Guang thought for a moment and said, "General, we sell weapons and intelligence now, but in fact, if you need it, we can also sell military force. Why don't we talk about the business of mercenaries? How much can you pay for taking over this airport?"

De Kun frowned slightly, because he didn't like the word mercenary, so after curling his lips, he said calmly, "I don't think this is a mercenary business, it's just a cooperation."

Gao Guang shook his head and said seriously, "We rescue hostages, not work for you in vain. Let's put it one thing at a time. General, show some sincerity and I will help you take over the airport. Or, you don't want to pay, and all the spoils will belong to me after taking over the airport. How about it?"