Chapter 171 Return What You Stole from Me Double
30 days later, deep in the jungle, 50 kilometers south of the P·B company base…
Joe Ga followed Karman's footsteps, moving step for step through the dense jungle.
They had trekked through the jungle for nearly ten days before they reached the location of the gold mine owned by Joe Ga.
Seeing Karman ahead make a stop gesture, everyone halted in their tracks. Joe Ga carefully walked up to Karman, peered ahead, cursed under his breath, and then turned around to say, "Find a concealed spot, Antar launch the drone; damn it, someone actually dares to steal my gold."
Karman leaned forward, looking down at the huge mining pit below the cliff and the busy crowd of about a hundred people around it, then turned back into the jungle and said to Joe Ga with a smile, "Boss, you should be happy; these people are helping you mine because getting the gold out of here isn't easy.
They need to accumulate a certain amount before they can notify others to come and collect it.
We can be a little patient, follow those who come for the gold, and then we'll find our target.
Then, no matter how much gold they have stolen from your mine, we're going to make them spit it out double."
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Joe Ga, upon hearing this, nodded fiercely and said, "Right, those who steal from me must pay back double."
Saying this, Joe Ga turned and looked at the Sri Lankan Squad that had followed, and, waving his hand, he said, "I'll withdraw first and find a place to camp."
This time, a total of 17 people came, divided into three squads: Joe Ga's six-man team, Sanderson's seven-man team, and the Sri Lankan Assault Squad, which had recruited a Bolivian sniper among the mercenaries to form a four-person assault assassination team.
The recruitment of camp personnel had finished a long time ago; news of a monthly salary of 30 dollars spread, and while it wasn't to say that the entire country was in awe, every town capable of receiving the message had young people figuring out how to gather at the P·B base.
With the help of seasoned jungle veterans, Seville's retired lieutenant Belic spent a week selecting 1,000 individuals from nearly 3,000 candidates, integrated them with the troops from Bangassou, and began a three-month intensive training before dismissing 500 of them.
Karman's veterans spent 15 days with them in the jungle to get Joe Ga and his men familiar with the Congo jungle's environment.
When Joe Ga returned to the base from the grueling jungle training, he received some terrible news...
Ever since Joe Ga returned to the base, 'Cobra' would fly the 'Super Albatross' equipped with a Scout Pod every three days, and in nearly 20 days, just the environmental imaging data filled many 100TB hard drives.
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Then this data was transferred to Eric, the computer hacker who knew how to handle it efficiently; he quickly integrated the images to create a digital map covering Joe Ga's territory and the surrounding buffer areas.
The Scout Pod mounted on the Big Beak Bird wasn't the most advanced, but it was the best equipment Colonel Ka could get at the time, with imagery much clearer than civilian equipment, not to mention miles ahead of Google Maps.
And when Joe Ga located the precise position of his own gold mine on the digital map, he was shocked to discover that someone was stealing from it.
This was something he could not tolerate!!
So he left half of his mercenaries to partner with the Seville veterans and jungle veterans to keep the base secure while he led Sanderson's team and the Sri Lankan Squad into the jungle, vowing to kill off all those bastards.
Sanderson's team was named Team B, with the medic 'Hemostatic Forceps', sniper 'Kitten', machine gunner 'Chainsaw', assault soldier cum sapper 'Crowbar', machine gunner 'Torch', assault soldier cum demolitionist 'Impact'.
The Sri Lankan Squad was named Team C, with assault soldiers 'Scorpion', 'Viper', and 'Poison Wolf', along with a sharpshooter who bore a striking resemblance to Ronaldo and came from the Bolivian Special Forces, 'Xiao Luo'.
In terms of firepower in the jungle, Karman rated Team C the highest.
They were the only ones who, during offensive and defensive combat training, had beaten those jungle veterans with bare hands, even though they used some less honorable tricks; but a win is a win.
Among the Sri Lankan trio, 'Viper' was good with grenades, 'Scorpion' excelled with the broadsword, and 'Poison Wolf' was skilled at making IEDs.
All of them were experts in hand-to-hand combat and accustomed to coating their knives with homemade poison.
Accompanied by 'Xiao Luo,' the Bolivian Special Forces veteran used to the jungle, this four-person assault assassination team was extremely formidable.
For weaponry, the team used UMP45s specially made by Joe Ga.
Compared to the MP5 and MP7 which require specialized 9mm subsonic bullets for silencing, the UMP, loaded with .45 ACP cartridges and fitted with a silencer, not only hit harder, but its silencing effect was scarcely inferior.
'Xiao Luo,' the Bolivian, used a top-of-the-line 7.62 caliber G28, which is the fully equipped HK214.
Equipped with a silencer, he used Schmidt & Bender's nine-fold daylight scope and Hensoldt NSV night vision systems, along with a series of other accessories, all of which were custom-made specifically for 'Xiao Luo's' needs.
This four-man team might not be the best assault squad, but paired with the night vision and communication equipment provided by Joe Ga, they were definitely the best assassination squad in the jungle.
Cunning, silent, and lethal, these were their shared traits and the reason they came together.
Compared to Team C's aggressiveness, the 'Vanguard' Sanderson's Team B excelled in versatility.
Their loadout could handle any kind of combat and perform well.
What made them outstanding was that, except for 'Kitten,' who had retired from the police elite forces, all others had endured rigorous training and real combat tests.
However, their lineup and personalities meant they were a forceful assault team capable of taking on tough battles and dealing with various situations.
Moreover, these people possessed a stronger team spirit. In contrast to Joe Ga and his "International Brand" team, Sanderson proactively gave up his usual American-style rifle and selected a 5.45 caliber AK107, outfitted with a grenade launcher, to match the habits of the main Diamond team members.
'Hemostat' used a 5.45 caliber AK74U carbine.
'Kitten' used a 'Chukavin' 7.62mm semi-automatic sniper rifle that had not yet been adopted by the Russian Army.
The two machine gunners in Diamond used 5.45 caliber light machine guns, while the two assault soldiers also used AK107s.
With a seven-man team uniformly using Russian weapons, the ammunition pressure was significantly reduced, and it also meant that their firepower would be much more ferocious during combat.
In comparison to the professional Team B, Joe Ga's team was not as proficient.
Joe Ga used a 5.56 caliber HK416, Karman used a 5.45 caliber AK74U carbine, Nis used a .338 Magnum G29, Antar for this mission opted for a 7.62 caliber M110, Dorian used a G36C, and Ayu used a Russian-made PKM machine gun.
Except for Dorian, who could exchange bullets with Joe Ga, no one was on the same page.
But just because their gear wasn't as professional didn't mean they were lacking in combat ability.
The advantage of personalized gear was that it allowed each of them to perform to their fullest potential, and due to the long period of acclimatization, they seemed to have gotten used to this state.
It seemed to be working out pretty well, as they had never encountered a situation where they were short on ammunition.
Sniper Nis could shoot the furthest, Assault Soldier Karman was the strongest, Precision Shooter Joe Ga was the most accurate, Spotter Antar was the most attentive, and Machine Gunner Ayu carried the heaviest load. Dorian, well, Dorian told the funniest jokes.
If we apply the barrel theory, Joe Ga's team was actually the strongest!
However, warfare wasn't just about data, it was about the situation...
Team C would definitely be better in a night-time ambush, while Team B would excel in urban street fighting. Joe Ga's Team A was capable of handling various situations, and their standards were not too shabby, which was already quite good.
This strike was their first formal engagement, so Joe Ga chose the two most powerful squads to support his own.
With the cooperation from the air force, they would definitely be able to take down those bastards stealing from the mines in one fell swoop.
Everyone quickly gathered in a secluded area. As Antar's drone took off, Joe Ga dropped his backpack, sat on the ground, and said, "No rush. Dragon Gecko is right; I not only want to take this gold mine, but I also want those who stole my things to spit the gold out.
Once Antar has some preliminary observations, 'Scorpion,' take Team C in tonight for a look. It would be best if you could bring back a live capture. I need to know how long we're going to wait here."
'Scorpion' was a silent and lean Sri Lankan. Hearing Joe Ga's orders, he shook his head and said, "No need to catch a tongue. That would easily alert them.
We'll move in tonight to check their food and gold reserves, then we can roughly estimate when the people coming to pick up the goods will arrive."
Joe Ga nodded, realizing he didn't have much to say, as he knew nothing about the configuration of the mining camp below.
Seeing their boss fall silent, Sanderson spoke up, "Boss, I took a glance earlier, there are at least 200 slaves working naked in the pits below. What's your plan for them?"
Joe Ga shrugged and replied, "What else can we do?
After everything is done, we'll give food to those who want to leave, and those who want to stay will continue working, but with room and board plus a salary.
Believe it or not, paying workers yields much better results than using slaves."
As he spoke, Joe Ga smacked his lips and said with a laugh, "Have you noticed how many small screening devices they've installed over the pit?
Actually, I'm coming out ahead; it's not cheap to transport so much equipment to the jungle, haha…"
As Joe Ga spoke, Karman, who had been silent until then, suddenly said, "10 days, in 10 days at most there will be someone to deliver supplies and take away the gold."
Joe Ga looked at Karman with surprise and asked, "How do you know that?"
Narrowing his eyes, Karman said, recalling, "I took a careful look from a high place just now, and there were absolutely no roads for vehicles around the mine…"
As he spoke, Karman picked up a stick and sketched a rudimentary map on the ground. Pointing at a wavy line representing the river, he said, "They're using this river to send supplies.
This river is a tributary of the Ale River within Congo. The rainy season has passed, and the water level in the river won't allow big boats to pass. It would be very difficult to send enough supplies for 300 people with small boats.
So within 10 days at most, they will send someone to deliver food and take away the gold."
Joe Ga looked at the fierce expression Karman had while staring at the makeshift map and said, enlightened, "You mean their camp is upstream on the river?"
With a sneer, Karman nodded and replied, "And it must be near the border town of Yakoma in Congo. It's a hotspot for guerrillas and drug traffickers. Only there could they organize and purchase that mining equipment.
Boss, we don't need to do any tracking; just grab the people delivering the supplies, and then we'll know who to ask for our dues!!"