Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Remonin’s camp had not moved, but its territory had expanded.
The small hill remained at the center, but the camp’s territory now extended farther in all
directions.
The last time Li Du visited, the terrain around the hill was uneven. Now, there were
more than ten cranes and road rollers working to flatten the land.
The helicopter landed on a large plot of empty land. A red carpet had been laid out on
the ground. On one end of the carpet were soldiers in the Mozambique military uniform.
When Li Du and Sophie stepped out of the helicopter, the military band started playing a
song, following the conductor baton’s lead.
This welcome ceremony was grander than the previous one. Other than being more
formal and official, there was even a red carpet to walk on.
The red carpet looked fine from afar, but it seemed rather dirty on a closer look. It was
unclear where Remonin had found it.
Remonin was in a different army uniform and there were golden stars on his sleeve.
Shaking Li Du’s hand, he smiled widely. “Welcome, Li! I am thrilled to welcome you and
your lady to my military region!”
Many things were different from the last time they met. Previously, Li Du came alone,
but this time he brought Sophie with him. In addition, it was more formal this time, like
two partners meeting for a business council.
Sophie and Remonin shook hands, and Brother Wolf and the rest joined them.
Remonin looked at the three bodyguards and asked Li Du enviously, “How much do
your bodyguards earn?”
Li Du said, “No less than twenty thousand every month. Why? Are you interested in
them?”
Remonin said, “Of course I’m interested. I want to find a group of outstanding warriors
to train my soldiers. I need excellent instructors, but I do not have so much money to
pay them.”
They had not exchanged more than a few phrases yet, but Remonin had already
brought up the key topic – every problem was a money problem.
Li Du himself was also in need of money. Therefore, he did not say much but only
smiled and nodded to gesture that he understood.
Remonin did not elaborate either. After all, he was now an important, powerful leader in
the national defense. He had his image to maintain as well.
Following the band, they were off to watch the parade.
Compared to last time, the scale of the military parade was larger as well. It seemed like
Remonin had mobilized even the veterans, helicopter escorts, and trucks with the
machine guns.
The finale involved four armored vehicles, camouflaged in green paint. They had eight
large, black tires. The entire car was wedge-shaped, about two meters high, two and a
half meters wide and seven meters long, and looked rather dominating as it drove over
slowly.
Seeing those armored vehicles, Li Du looked at Remonin, surprised. Remonin said
proudly, “Keep watching, there are better things ahead.”
Li Du said, “Didn’t you say that your government did not give you any resources?”
Remonin said vaguely, “Not much, no, but they did give me a few things. They couldn’t
send me here empty-handed, right? I have to guard the country’s territory in the
southwest.”
Li Du did not probe further. Remonin would definitely not divulge all the details. He
would keep some information for himself as his triumph card.
Li Du had not been in the army and did not have much knowledge of army vehicles.
Hence, he directed his questions at Brother Wolf, who was by his side.
Brother Wolf whispered in his ear, “This is the BTR-152 armored personnel carrier.
Commander Remonin got junk from the Ministry of Defense. These things have long
been outdated.”
“The BTR-152 was commissioned from the 1950s to the early 1970s. It was one of the
earliest armored infantry vehicles in the Soviet Union. It was replaced by the BTR-60
infantry in the 1970s and has been long eliminated in the world of warfare.”
“I recall that the armory of this vehicle is only thirteen millimeters at the end. In some
areas, the thickness of the armor was only four millimeters. The total combat weight
was about nine tonnes and the maximum speed was seventy-five kilometers. The
weapon was a 7.62 millimeters machine gun….”
Brother Wolf continued with his brief lecture on the vehicle, and though he was a
serious man, he almost laughed as he said, “Let’s put it this way, there are more
formidable military machines out there.
There was a gun barrel at the back of the armored car, being dragged by the truck. Li
Du was amused. Was this truck brought out for comical effects?
He had only seen stuff like that in old movies. The gun barrel was propped up by two
wheels. There would be an iron plate in the middle of the wheel. It was one of those old
gun barrel vehicles that had to be dragged by horses.
Li Du asked Brother Wolf, “These are also items from the 50s and 60s, right?”
Brother Wolf looked straight ahead as he said, “This, this, this is the M1942 76mm
howitzer? Sh*t! Does this stuff still exist in this world? Boss, you guessed wrong, this is
not something from the 50s or 60s. This was used during World War II!”
He told Li Du that the howitzer had been invented in 1942 and was used all the way
until the end of World War II.
In fact, even during World War II, that sort of gun barrel had not been popular. It was
because the howitzer was inadequate for dealing with the German Tiger One tank,
Panther tank and the No. 4 H-type tank. Hence, many production lines were mobilized
to make the more effective 57 Mm ZIS-2 anti-tank guns.d
At least there was quite a number of those gun barrels. Li Du counted a total of eight.
As the eight trucks drove past them, Remonin revealed a proud expression, puffing out
his chest.
To Remonin, those weapons were his triumph card.
That was understandable. Previously, Remonin had been the leader of a tribe. The
most powerful weapon he had was a high-altitude machine gun on a pickup truck. He
had no other heavy weapons.
Although the armored vehicles and artillery were primitive and old, they were still
considered heavy weaponry. With such weapons, the surrounding tribes would be no
match for him.
Li Du could not have higher expectations for Remonin. In reality, the weapons in all of
Mozambique were trash that the Soviet Union had discarded.
Those armored vehicles had been sent to Mozambique as a gift from the Soviet Union
in support of the third world country’s development. However, in reality, the Soviet
Union had only wanted to dispose of the trash in their military warehouses.
To the leaders of the poor African country, these weapons seemed top notch. Even
now, they were still using the production lines that the Soviet Union had initially built for
them.
Li Du stayed silent for a long time after the parade. Remonin was pleased, feeling that
Li Du must have been awed by his weapons.
He smiled. “Li, forgive me for not telling you that I have a truly powerful army. I had
wanted to surprise you.”
The corner of Li Du’s mouth twitched and he said, “What a huge surprise!”
Remonin brought them to their lodgings and on their way there, Li Du could not help but
ask, “Commander, is that all your Ministry of Defense gave you?”
“Actually, I bought these with my own money,” Remonin said.
Li Du exclaimed, “What? Doesn’t your military region belong to the government?”
Remonin said helplessly, “Of course it does. However, to tell you the truth, Li, we can’t
count on the government. If the military zones want to develop, we have to feed the
people at the top. Only then would they transfer some weapons to us.”
Li Du asked, “What kind of weapons?”
“T-54 tanks, BRDM-1 armored reconnaissance vehicles, BMP-1 infantry fighting
vehicles, anti-tank missiles, recoilless guns, and even Mi-8 helicopters!” Remonin said
excitedly.
