Chapter 65: Recruiting Troops and Buying Horses

Drafting a tactical plan was no difficult task for Song Heping. Besides, according to the current plan, "Musician" Defense intended to recruit only sixty local mercenaries along with nine elite combat operators, which was equivalent to a force of two platoons.

It was essentially a company-level tactical scenario.

Although Cook had confidence in Song Heping's squad-commanding abilities, this sudden expansion to over sixty men inevitably brought him a hint of worry.

The company was growing, but problems came with it.

Looking at his own team, there was truly a lack of talent.

That pair, White Bear and his partner, were out of the question. One was a sniper and the other a former machine gunner; neither had even managed to become a squad leader when they left the airborne troops, so there was no point in talking about command capabilities.

As for Gray Wolf.

He was a solid man of few words who executed missions without hesitation, but when it came to commanding a military operation involving dozens of people, it was risky. By the time he gave an order, half a day would probably have passed.

Then there was himself.

His combat command level fell far short of his culinary skills.

Finally, there was the newly joined Ferrari. While he was an expert at logistical support, he was not handy with a gun. The guy even claimed to be an intellectual, finding mindless fighting and killing tasks the most tedious things of all.

No wonder people said talent was the most important thing in the twenty-first century; without talent, one was like a eunuch entering a brothel—unable to get anything done.

Never before had Cook dreamed of running a private military company, let alone imagining that the operation would expand to such a scale.

Now, his bicycle had suddenly turned into a motorcycle. The team of just a few people had expanded to several dozen in the span of just a few days. The speed was so astonishing that it made him feel somewhat out of control.

Looking around the entire team, the only person he could realistically count on was probably Song Heping.

"Sang, are you really confident you can command that many people?"

After hesitating over and over again, Cook finally voiced his doubts.

"Is it hard?"

Song Heping said, "Isn't it just a defense plan? It won't take me three hours, but right now I'm still lacking something."

Cook asked, "What is it?"

Song Heping said, "Intelligence. You need to find a way to get me some intel."

Cook asked, "What kind of intel do you want?"

Song Heping said, "The records and analysis reports of attacks on the Hassan Oilfield and its surrounding oilfields over the past few months, as well as the security situation assessment report for the area near the Hassan Oilfield. These are extremely important."

Cook blurted out in astonishment, "Are you out of your mind?! Where am I supposed to find those things?! Just draft the plan based on the terrain, why do you need so many intelligence reports? Do you think you're a regular army? The CIA or the Navy SEALs?!"

Hearing Cook say this, Song Heping's anger flared up.

When it came to tactical arrangements, he was an absolute stickler for rigor.

Things like this could cost lives if not handled properly.

So he couldn't help but taunt Cook: "What the hell do you know! The prerequisite for drafting a combat plan is intelligence; a combat plan produced without intelligence support is nothing more than castles in the air and empty talk on paper!"

"What castles?! What talk?" Cook didn't understand.

"You handle the business, I handle the military, don't mess things up for me."

Song Heping couldn't be bothered to explain it to him. Cook had his limitations; while he was great at handling external relations, in combat he was at best a passing individual soldier. But when it came to command, Cook could be summed up in one word: reckless!

"What are you two arguing about?"

Ferrari had appeared behind them at some point.

He patted his chest and said, "Why didn't you come to me for intel? Come to me!"

With that, he turned around and went outside, soon returning with a computer bag. He opened it, took out a laptop, booted it up, and began retrieving files.

"You're looking for the security analysis reports and attack records near the Hassan Oilfield area, right?"

"That's right," Song Heping said. "You have them?"

"Commanding is your job; gathering intel is mine. Don't forget I came out of the Coalition Security Assistance command." Ferrari finished retrieving the files and waved Song Heping over. "Take a look and see if these are what you want."

Song Heping hurried over and clicked on the files.

At first glance, he was instantly overjoyed.

These were the security situation analysis reports and firefight reports from the coalition forces and the ICDC troops in the Hassan Oilfield area over the past three months.

Clearly, these were all internal documents of the coalition and the security forces.

They included combat analysis reports that combat commanders were required to write after every military operation. These covered a vast amount of content, such as the enemy's firepower, affiliated armed factions, troop numbers, tactics used, and casualty status.

There were also analyses of the various armed factions in the northern oilfield area, detailing how many factions there were, whom they were loyal to, and who was supporting them behind the scenes—all written inside.

Song Heping suddenly thought of something.

These were all internal classified documents.

According to regulations, Ferrari should not have been able to copy these materials when he left his post.

But he didn't want to dig into the bottom of it.

If Ferrari wasn't afraid, what was there for him to fear?

Just as he sat down to review the data and reports for a while, Gray Wolf's voice sounded from outside.

"Sang! Someone's here to see you!"

Hearing the voice, Song Heping walked out of the room and caught sight of Samir at a glance.

"Samir? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to apply for a job," Samir said. "I saw the recruitment notice..."

Song Heping said, "You're here to apply?"

He suddenly felt a bit puzzled.

"You don't want your gig with the ISF anymore?"

Hearing Song Heping mention this, Samir's expression became somewhat unnatural.

Seeing this, Song Heping immediately understood that the other party had unspeakable difficulties.

So instead of pursuing the matter further, he changed the subject and said, "We do need people, and of course we welcome experienced guys like you, but Cook handles this stuff. Why didn't you go straight to him?"

Samir said, "I figured you'd be easier to talk to."

Song Heping was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter.

Indeed, Cook's appearance did not look like that of a kind-hearted person; he possessed a rather fierce and menacing aura.

"Cook!"

Song Heping shouted toward the container room, "Someone's here to apply!"

Hearing the news, Cook stepped out of the room and looked surprised upon seeing Samir: "Samir, you were doing fine over at the ISF, why come to my place to apply?"

Samir fell silent again.

Song Heping shot a glance at Cook, signaling him not to ask anymore.

Cook caught on immediately and shifted his tone: "Alright, you know the situation with our company. It's newly established, and as for the salary... three hundred dollars a month, with mission bonuses and incentives. Weapons and equipment are provided by the company, and meals are free during missions, but I won't cover them when you're on vacation and back home. With these terms, are you willing to work with us?"

At this time, local security in Iraq generally started at one hundred and fifty dollars, with the maximum being three hundred dollars a month.

Cook had one very good trait: he treated his subordinates well. At least in terms of compensation, he was absolutely fair and not the type to skim off his men's pay.

"I'm willing! I'm very satisfied!"

Samir's eyes instantly lit up.

"Wait." Song Heping reached out to stop Samir, then turned to Cook: "Cook, Samir speaks English. He's not just an ordinary mercenary. Look, you might as well offer a higher rate. I need two platoon leaders here, so why don't you assign him a platoon leader position and give him a little extra responsibility allowance."

Cook calculated in his mind and felt that raising it a bit was fine.

The price of local security was simply too cheap.

Cheap to an inhumane degree.

Samir had studied abroad and returned with bilingual abilities. Moreover, back in the town of Krasa, when all the other ISF members had fled, only he and two other ISF men had driven up in a Humvee to help.

What was the most important thing when recruiting mercenaries?

Professional ethics!

Samir had a strong sense of professional ethics, unlike those parasites in the ISF who only fought when things were going well and vanished when trouble arose.

"Alright, a platoon leader gets an extra two hundred dollars!"

"Thank you so much, Mr. Yevgeny! I will definitely work hard."

Tears actually welled up in Samir's eyes.

Song Heping watched this, his heart suffering a sharp pang.

It seemed Samir was genuinely in desperate need of money to support his family.

To think how wealthy Iraq had been before the war, and now a mere two hundred dollar increase could make him this emotional...

What a tragedy!