In the following two days, all mercenaries of the "Musician" Defense Company were busy with pre-battle preparations.
During the day, the workers in the oil field saw the mercenaries hustling and bustling, loading ammunition onto trucks, filling up all the trucks and off-road vehicles with fuel, and leading teams out to the wild for daily training, only to stagger back at night.
The air was permeated with the smell of gunpowder.
The chief engineer of the oil field wanted to ask Song Heping what exactly was happening, but no matter how he inquired, Song Heping just smiled and said, "Resuming production is your business; protecting the oil fields is ours. Don't worry about things that don't concern you."
However, the chief engineer was feeling uneasy.
Based on the ammunition that the "Musician" mercenaries were preparing, it was enough for a small-scale war.
There were cannons and rockets.
Light and heavy machine guns plus various RPG launchers.
Just the ammunition trucks alone were loaded on two full trucks.
So the chief engineer reported the situation to Turner, the general manager of the branch company.
Turner, on hearing this, was actually quite pleased, saying Mr. Song was right. You are responsible for security, and they should focus on resuming production. Why should you meddle in other people's business?
This rebuke left Sanchez, the oil field manager, stupefied.
Turner was very satisfied with the security provided by Song Heping's defense company.
Just a few days ago, more than two hundred armed militants tried to attack the oil field, and weren't they all wiped out in one fell swoop?
No matter the size of the company, a good plaster is one that draws out the pus.
He himself had KPIs set by the headquarters; if production couldn't be resumed within three months, his position as the head of the Illiguo branch would be unstable.
What was most important now?
Safety!
Safety!
Damn it, safety again!
As for how Song Heping went about it, Turner didn't care nor did he want to.
Song Heping himself knew that having two Illiguo mercenary platoons deployed in the oil field conducting daily real battle preparations would have a certain emotional impact on the workers there.
He also wanted to settle this matter quickly and wipe out the Free Army as soon as possible.
Once the Free Army was wiped out, the Madheh Army would immediately send troops to swallow up their former territory, seizing the opportunity to strike when the enemy was weakened.
In the future, all armed organizations on the Northern Border would be aware of the prowess of the "Musician" Defense Company. As long as they knew his defense company was not to be trifled with, they would naturally restrain themselves. Moreover, with his relationship with the Persians, the Madheh Army would not come looking for trouble, making the oil fields basically secure.
Eliminating the Free Army wasn't just because the organization was always coveting the oil fields, it was more importantly a message to the other groups on the Northern Border—a show of force to warn them not to provoke him or touch these two oil fields.
As for the other oil fields, whoever loves them can have them!
These few days, Song Heping was waiting for a message.
A message from Avanti.
It was part of his tactics.
It had to be coordinated with Avanti to be effective.
On the third day, a secret email arrived.
It contained only one sentence—
"Granny Wolf has knocked on the door."
After reading the message, Song Heping immediately performed a thorough deletion and then stepped out of the warehouse to call the cook in the other oil field.
"Notify everyone, we move tonight."
After instructing the cook, he immediately went to find Hunter and Disaster Star.
"Hunter, you're coming with me tonight, Disaster Star, you stay home."
"Why me?!"
Disaster Star looked quite dissatisfied.
"Are you afraid I'll drag you down?"
He was as blunt as ever.
Song Heping didn't let Disaster Star go not because of "Umarov's Curse".
It was because someone had to stay home to watch the oil field.
This operation involved 300 troops in two newly formed reinforced platoons.
There were only 50 Illiguo mercenaries left to guard both oil fields.
It was simply too risky to have no core members remain.
"Disaster Star..."
Song Heping went over intending to comfort Disaster Star with an arm around his neck but found he couldn't manage it; the guy was just too large.
Suddenly, he felt it was even more inappropriate to call him by the nickname "Disaster Star" at such a time, so he had to switch.
"Brother, I'm leaving you at home to anchor the place. Do you know what that means? Where I come from, home is the most important thing. Look, the oil field is our foundation, our source of wealth, our home. I'm leaving you here because I trust you. I know you can handle the situation, to prevent us from fighting the Free Army and then coming back only to find the oil field has been attacked.
That would be fatal!"
Disaster Star was missing a few screws in his head. After such comforting from Song Heping and thinking it over, it made more and more sense to him.
"Right... boss, I misjudged you; home is indeed what matters most."
A look of being entrusted with a mission suddenly appeared on Disaster Star's face as he made a determined declaration, "Rest assured! I will watch our home closely!"
"You should keep a close watch not only over Cook Oil Field but also pay attention to what's happening at Hassan Oil Field. Queen is in charge there. If anything happens on either side, you need to provide support as quickly as possible, got it?"
"Got it! Don't worry, boss! Unless I'm dead, I won't let anything happen to the oil fields!"
"There's no need to always talk about dying..."
Seeing him so worked up, Song Heping quickly tried to douse the flames.
"I'm leaving this place to you, and I'm at ease."
"You can rest assured to leave it to me! I guarantee there will be no trouble! Whoever dares come, I'll take them down!"
"Alright, alright..."
Hunter watched on. He thought Song Heping had a real knack for speaking.
He managed to mollify a towering Disaster Star, making him as docile as a child.
Having been brothers with Disaster Star for so many years...
Disaster Star had an explosive temper; apart from himself, it was difficult for others to make him obedient and grateful.
But Song Heping was something else, he managed to cajole Disaster Star into compliance with just a few words.
No wonder he could be the boss.
What nobody knew was that when Song Heping had been in the military, he had mastered a skill called "four capacities teaching" — the ability to speak, to do, to teach, and to work on people's thoughts.
This set of skills was essential for any junior-level commander to master, and Song Heping was simply applying this excellent tradition here.
By seven o'clock in the evening, Song Heping led the Hunters and the Illigo Mercenaries from Second Squad, promptly starting their journey.
A single off-road vehicle, five armed pickups, and five trucks.
The prearranged meeting point with the cook was about 20 kilometers north of Hassan Oil Field.
After the rendezvous, they split into two convoys, one following the other towards the Northern Border.
"Grey Wolf, are you sure the Persians' information is reliable?"
As soon as Cook got into Song Heping's car, he couldn't wait to ask about the operation's information.
"Don't worry!" Song Heping said, "There's no benefit for the Persians to double-cross us. We are helping them eliminate the Free Army, they wouldn't have time to thank us enough."
According to his tactical arrangement, the Persians were an important part of this operation.
In the tactical discussion meeting earlier, nobody could come up with a good way to annihilate the Free Army headquarters with 300 men and withdraw without casualty.
Song Heping finally thought of a clever move.
That was to use the power of the Persians.
This did not mean letting the Persian special forces unit participate directly in the operation.
After all, Song Heping had already dismissed such an idea beforehand.
If they could not participate directly, then they would participate indirectly.
Song Heping had Avanti order the elite Persian special forces unit to join up with the Free Army near the border where the Madheh Army and the Free Army's territories met, deliberately creating friction.
Frictions of this sort were very common in the Northern Border area.
Since they were armed organizations belonging to different forces, even teeth and tongue could have conflicts, let alone these fierce armed fighters?
Madheh Army and the Free Army had never gotten along, and occasional firefights happened.
However, for a long time, Sadam had been a common enemy to both sides, which is why they hadn't completely fallen out.
After all, flipping the table was beneficial to no one, and when the two forces were equally matched, any conflict would result in mutual destruction.
But ever since the Country M parties came in and Sadam was overthrown, the contradictions between these armed organizations in the Northern Border had started to become increasingly sharp.
The Madheh Army had long wanted to swallow up the Free Army's territory, and the Free Army had also been planning how to break Madheh Army.
Recently, the main energy of the Kurd people was on the struggle for the division of Illigo's domestic power, so the Free Army was temporarily holding back their desire to act.
Once the division of Illigo's internal power settles, the Kurds would definitely make a move on Madheh Army.
And Avanti was very clear about that too.
He wanted to create the Shia Crescent, which would require forming a united front in the north, wooing those who could be wooed and resolutely eliminating those who could not be wooed.
The armed forces of the Northern Border, the smaller organizations, have by now attached themselves to Avanti, only the Free Army hadn't given him attention, which was why Avanti had planted so many spies inside the Free Army, it was bound to come to blows eventually.
Song Heping's task for him was simple, create tensions over several days, leading to a situation where the Madheh Army and the Free Army were at each other's throats.
Once in this state, the Free Army would inevitably redeploy its dispersed troops to concentrate on the northwest junction of the two forces' territories to strengthen defenses against a possible major Madheh Army assault aimed at cleansing their territory.
But what they did not expect was that this movement played right into Song Heping's hands.
With the troops moved to the north, the south would be exposed.
And the oil field was located to the south of the Free Army's territory.
If the Free Army fell for it, Song Heping would then lead the mercenaries to conduct motorized marches to the southern edge of their territory. Before entering the mountainous area, they would conceal their vehicles, then trek roughly 20 kilometers to reach the vicinity of Artie Village.
Upon reaching the village, they would launch an attack before dawn, take the Free Army headquarters at the fastest speed possible, and eliminate all the high-level officials.
They had to ensure that the set mission was completed before 3 a.m., lead the team to withdraw swiftly, and return to the oil field.
The play they were enacting tonight was a classic deception tactic of feinting in the east and attacking in the west.
It would take less than two hours to get from the oil field to the southern border of the Free Army's active territory.
Soon, the hazy silhouette of the mountains appeared on the horizon, stretching endlessly beyond sight.
This was the north of Illigo.
It was also the starting position for the whole plan.
"Quick!" Song Heping jumped out of the vehicle and began issuing orders to Samir and Ahmed, two local mercenary platoon leaders.
"Immediately camouflage the vehicles according to the plan, order the two 107mm rocket artillery batteries to build concealed artillery positions nearby, make sure the settings are adjusted, aim at the retreat route, and be prepared for fire support at any moment!"
"Yes, boss!"
The two took their orders and immediately set to work.
Although the 107mm rocket artillery wasn't considered heavy, bringing it into the mountains would slow down the marching speed.
The 120mm mortar was different.
This weapon could be disassembled into three parts: barrel, stand, and base plate, each weighing around 50 kilograms, which a single soldier could carry. Once near Artie Village, they could reassemble it.
Having arranged everything, Song Heping looked at the sky.
The night was cloudy, with low visibility.
Such weather was good; it could hide the march of the troops from being noticed and prevent unexpected complications.
He then checked the time.
It was 9:18 p.m.
It would take at least four hours to get to Artie Village.
This meant arriving by 2 a.m.
The original plan was to commence the attack before 2 a.m.
If all went smoothly, there would still be time to organize and prepare upon reaching the vicinity of the village.
"Is everyone ready? As soon as you're ready, we move out! Pump yourselves up, I hope your stamina can keep up!" Song Heping gestured with a wave of his hand.
"Grey Wolf, you and Vanguard Team take the lead in clearing the way!"