573: Chapter 568 The Battle Has Already Begun 573: Chapter 568 The Battle Has Already Begun After an expensive but awkward lunch with Justin and Friend of Nature, Gao Yang and his team left the restaurant.
As soon as they had left the restaurant, Gao Yang immediately called Destin.
Destin was in charge of all crew arrangements on the ship and managed all combat operations, so he was the first person Gao Yang needed to notify.
Once the call connected, Gao Yang didn’t bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point, “Destin, the British are jealous of our business,” I’ve just received intelligence that they’re planning to make a move against us.”
Destin wasn’t surprised at all and said, “That’s not unexpected.
We’ve had two conflicts with those British recently, our guys fought with the British on small boats twice, and I think they’re bound to make a big move.
Do you know how they plan to proceed?”
After relaying the information he had received from Justin to Destin, Gao Yang said in a deep voice, “We don’t know when the detailed intelligence will arrive, but whether the British want to cause trouble on sea or land, we need to be prepared in advance.”
After pausing for a moment, Destin replied solemnly, “Understood.
We’ve just recruited sixty new people.
I was planning to deploy them immediately to the escort tasks, but now, we can let them bolster our existing escort strength.”
As for the Maritime Security Company, Gao Yang was practically a hands-off owner who just collected dividends and didn’t manage the operations.
Hearing Destin’s words, Gao Yang was somewhat surprised and asked, “We’re hiring again?
Is our business really that good?”
Destin laughed and said, “Yes, it’s very good.
We’ve always faced a shortage of manpower.
The current favorable situation is largely due to your good relations with the Skull Gang.
Any ships we escort, the Skull Gang lets pass for free without any harassment.
Gao, we should show some appreciation to the Skull Gang.
However, the security company shouldn’t have direct contact with the Skull Gang, so, if you have time, you should manage this aspect, like providing some assistance.
Of course, the money will come from the security company.”
Gao Yang thought for a moment and said, “Okay, I understand.
I’ll make a trip to Bosaso when I find time.
If there’s nothing else, I’m going to hang up now.
I’ll notify you immediately if there’s any new information.
Anyway, be careful during this period.”
After hanging up the phone, Gao Yang said to Cui Bo, “Call Toad and Tommy, tell them to get ready.
We’ll meet up on the transfer ship.
We should also start preparing to leave, pack up and go to New York, then from New York to Africa.
Three days of preparation should be enough.”
Cui Bo nodded and began calling Jinfang and Tommy, while Gao Yang started calling Frey and Glolov to inform them that it was time to depart.
Eileen said excitedly, “Sir, do we have a mission?”
Gao Yang shrugged and replied, “Not exactly a mission, it’s actually one of our industries being threatened.
We need to eliminate this threat, so yes, there will likely be fighting, but it’s not really a mission.”
Gao Yang and his team all had shares in the security company, so they definitely needed to contribute, but new members like Tommy and Eileen didn’t have shares yet.
It seemed a bit inappropriate to have them work for free.
After thinking it over, Gao Yang said to Eileen, “Hmm, there won’t be any commission for this task, so we’ll need to pay you.
Can’t have you exerting yourself for free.”
Eileen laughed, “Oh, as long as I get to fight, talking about money is so boring.”
Gao Yang smiled and was about to continue making calls when Cui Bo waved his phone at him and said, “Brother Yang, Toad wants you to take the call, there’s big trouble.”
Not knowing what it was about, Gao Yang took the phone and then heard Jinfang speaking urgently, “Brother Yang, I was just about to call you when Rabbit called me.
There’s trouble with the Skull Gang.”
Gao Yang’s heart tightened and he asked, “So soon?
What happened?”
Jinfang replied gravely, “The Skull Gang just fought a battle and lost, lost badly, with heavy casualties, and the situation is not looking good now.”
Though it may have been a coincidence, Gao Yang felt that the downfall of the Skull Gang was inevitably linked to the British and urgently asked, “What happened, tell me more.”
“Jiang Yun just called me, he should be looking for you, or it might be Maide who calls you.
From what Jiang Yun said, Maide wants us to come over and help,”
While Jinfang was speaking, Gao Yang’s phone rang.
He glanced at it and said to Jinfang, “It’s Jiang Yun’s call.
I’ll ask him myself.”
After handing the phone back to Cui Bo and answering his own, he indeed heard Jiang Yun’s voice.
“Has Toad already told you about the news?
Ram, the trouble this time is quite big.”
Gao Yang frowned and asked, “What happened?
How did we get defeated?
Was the loss great?”
Jiang Yun sighed and said, “Don’t mention it, the losses are severe.
Over a hundred and ten dead, more than sixty seriously injured, and over two hundred lightly wounded, all of them were elite.
The losses of the Instruction Platoon exceeded half.
If it weren’t for the Instruction Platoon staunchly holding off the enemy’s pursuit, the losses would have been even greater.”
Gao Yang was displeased upon hearing this and asked, “What happened?
Such huge losses!
With you there training them personally, how could there be such heavy casualties?”
Jiang Yun replied helplessly, “Ah, it’s just me and Three Cannons here.
Although the training results are indeed good, the commander was too inferior.
You have to understand, we came here only after Skull Gang had established itself and stabilized in Bosaso.
The situation is different, and we are treated differently compared to you.
Let me put it this way, if I were commanding this battle, even if we couldn’t win, we certainly wouldn’t have been defeated so badly with such huge losses.
But there’s nothing I can do, we are just instructors, not commanders.
We don’t have anything to do with going into battle, what could I possibly do?”
Gao Yang understood immediately.
Initially, they had been employed to train people for Skull Gang, but back then, Skull Gang could only be described as a ragtag bunch.
It was only after enduring the hardest phases under their training that they managed to secure Bosaso and stabilized, a journey they walked together, a friendship forged in blood.
The treatment Jiang Yun received after Skull Gang had settled and strengthened was bound to be different.
Before Gao Yang could speak, Jiang Yun continued, “Maide and Abu are discussing what to do now.
I guess, no, they will definitely look for you.
Abu is the commander, this guy is reluctant to delegate authority, but he has taken the initiative to say that you should be invited back to command for him.
So, I called you first, so you could be mentally prepared.”
Gao Yang sighed and asked, “Who is the opponent?
How are they so formidable?
I know Abu’s command is indeed poor, but the soldiers you trained, even if poorly commanded, shouldn’t have been defeated so disastrously.”
Jiang Yun’s tone immediately became serious and he said, “This is the crux of the problem.
The opponent is extremely formidable, and they even have armored vehicles and tanks.
I was notified to head to the battlefield when the situation turned unfavorable.
Although I didn’t engage with the enemy directly, I could tell at a glance, the opponent is no ordinary force.
From what I observed, there must be at least one elite unit of around two hundred men among the enemy.”
Gao Yang immediately understood; those were the British making their move.
Compared to their maritime security company, the existence of Skull Gang posed a greater threat to them.
The security company competes with them, but Skull Gang could directly undermine the British’s foundation in guarding the Gulf of Aden.
Those British had launched a direct attack when Skull Gang had just been established, only to encounter Gao Yang and his team, which led them to retreat with failed ambitions.
After a long interval, they launched another attack, and this time, they aimed to strike both Skull Gang and Gao Yang’s security company simultaneously.
After a moment of silence, Gao Yang said, “I see.
We’ll make our way there as soon as possible.
When did this happen?
When did the battle start?”
“The battle began the day before yesterday, but it officially ended today.
We just gathered the scattered troops and counted the casualties.
Also, this battle was initiated by the Skull Gang.
The enemy is based in a pirate stronghold about 240 kilometers east of Bosaso.
There are a lot of people in the enemy base, around three thousand.
Initially, this was a stronghold occupied by several pirate groups together.
However, the soldiers reported that they saw the Somali Youth Party flag being flown by the enemy.
Now, it’s unclear whether the Youth Party has infiltrated that pirate base.”
The Somali Youth Party is an extremist organization and a natural enemy of the secular Skull Gang.
Plus, the Youth Party is currently the strongest secessionist armed group in Somalia.
Though the Youth Party has been active mainly in southern Somalia, the northern coastline has not been within their range of operations.
Previously, Skull Gang had never come into contact with the Youth Party.
The Youth Party had long coveted the pirate activities along the Gulf of Aden coast.
Having completely controlled a large area of southern Somalia, it was inevitable that they would expand north.
Knowing that Skull Gang might confront the Youth Party, Gao Yang couldn’t help but worry for Skull Gang.
The Youth Party is not an easy opponent; they are all extreme zealots.
To defeat the Youth Party, merely defeating them is not enough; they must be completely eradicated to truly eliminate the threat.
For Skull Gang, which aspires to unify the country, the Youth Party is an unavoidable adversary.
However, it will only be possible to have a full-scale war with the Youth Party when Skull Gang has secured the north and started moving south.
For now, even if there are Youth Party members among the enemies, the engagement would only be at a small scale.
(To be continued.
If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to vote and support me.
Your support is my greatest motivation.
Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)