587: Chapter 582: Grand Ivan’s Favor 587: Chapter 582: Grand Ivan’s Favor When Gao Yang and his group arrived in Bosaso, it was already the early hours of the second day.
Due to the slow speed of the merchant ship, and not much faster on the fishing boat offered by the Skull Gang, they only set foot on land at five in the morning.
Even though it was five in the morning, there were still a lot of people waiting at the port to greet them.
All the key figures of the Skull Gang in Bosaso turned up without exception.
After embracing Maide, who had lost an arm, Gao Yang didn’t bother with pleasantries and immediately asked, “How’s it going?
Has everyone from Banda been pulled back?”
Maide nodded and replied, “Everyone has been safely retreated to Gandara, including the original villagers of Banda.”
In truth, Maide had not intended to withdraw from Banda.
He and Abu had discussed urgently sending more personnel to Banda.
However, Gao Yang, who trusted Jiang Yun’s judgment, persuaded them to temporarily give up Banda, a place of little strategic significance, and Maide almost instantly agreed to the suggestion without hesitation.
Gao Yang let out a sigh of relief and said, “It’s good that you withdrew.
We can always fight to regain a lost place.
As the saying goes, ‘Lose land and keep people, you lose both land and people.
Keep people and lose land, you will eventually get both.’
Maide laughed heartily and responded, “Exactly, that’s the spirit.
Let those guys have Banda for now.
Damn their ancestors, we’ll fight back and take it in a few days.
Now that you’re here, losing Banda doesn’t mean a thing.”
Gao Yang was puzzled listening to Maide’s Sichuan-accented Mandarin.
Seeing this, Maide laughed again and said, “I’m just so happy to see an old friend, and the language I picked up while studying abroad just came out naturally.”
Gao Yang laughed and turned to embrace Abu, who stood by with a serious face.
Abu was still wearing the very flashy military uniform procured by Uriyangko, standing tall and straight.
After embracing Gao, Abu said with a tinge of melancholy, “You’ve finally arrived.
You know, I’ve suffered a significant defeat this time.
With you here, I feel a bit more relieved.”
Gao Yang turned serious as well and replied, “Don’t take it to heart.
When it comes to war, no one can be sure of victory.”
Abu nodded and said, “There’s another thing.
Last night, someone brought your equipment.
They insisted on personally guarding your stuff, so I arranged for them to rest.”
Destin was quick to act, having already delivered the equipment.
The Sicilian Princess was originally closer to Bosaso than the Sicilian Prince, so with urgent arrangements, the equipment had arrived even before Gao Yang and his team.
Jiang Yun and Zhou Zhou were also present.
Li Jinfang was already happily chatting with them.
Gao Yang greeted them briefly, signaling that they would talk later.
He introduced to Maide and the others the new members who had joined Satan’s ranks, then exchanged pleasantries with familiar faces from the Skull Gang.
Surrounded by people, they made their way to the Skull Gang’s current headquarters in Bosaso.
The Skull Gang directly occupied the buildings left by the Mokadi Faction.
The conditions were fairly decent, but it was an office space.
Maide and Abu, the highest leaders, did not move into Mokadi’s abandoned mansions; instead, they chose very modest accommodations.
From this detail alone, one could see that Maide was a man capable of handling significant affairs.
After leaving the port and giving Gao Yang and his team a brief tour of Bosaso’s current state, checking military facilities and the like, they arrived at the Skull Gang’s headquarters.
The people Destin sent to deliver the equipment were staying here.
Gao Yang couldn’t rest yet; he arranged for Cui Bo to receive the equipment and immediately suggested starting the meeting right away.
Inside a small conference room, Satan Mercenary Corps was represented by Gao Yang and Glolov, while the Skull Gang had four attendees — Maide and Abu, plus the current commander of the Instruction Platoon who had previously been a platoon leader and now promoted to battalion commander, and also present was Jiang Yun.
Once everyone was seated, Gao Yang, not one for small talk, said, “We all know each other well, so let’s speak frankly.
We are here to get paid and fight.
But as you all know, our Maritime Security Company has a stake in your operations.
To be honest, the security company has benefited from the Skull Gang lately, so when necessary, our security company will step in.”
Maide nodded and smiled, “Thank you.
However, I believe we can handle this ourselves.”
Gao Yang gently rapped on the table twice and said, “I think so too.
However, we’re currently facing a tough problem with those British people, especially since they’ve brought in tanks.
Our men lack anti-tank equipment and experience, which poses a big challenge.”
Abu sighed with regret, “We were doing well recently, conquering a lot of territory.
As a result, we just purchased a batch of weapons to expand our forces, along with a large number of other supplies for daily life.
The regrettable part is that we did not buy any anti-tank weapons.
Ram, do you think it’s still possible to get them now?”
Gao Yang waved his hand dismissively, “There’s still time.
To fight tanks, you don’t necessarily need heavy weapons – anti-tank missiles and cannons will do.
If push comes to shove, heavy-duty anti-tank rocket launchers can handle those old tanks too.
As long as you have the money, this isn’t a problem.”
Maide looked troubled, and Abu also had an embarrassed expression.
Gao Yang frowned and asked, “What’s the matter, you’re out of money?”
Maide gave a wry smile and said, “There’s still about 3.80 million left.
These past few days, we’ve almost collected five hundred thousand dollars, but I was planning on using that amount to pay your commission.”
Without waiting for Gao Yang to speak, Glolov said, “That’s not a problem, you can owe us first.
Just give us whatever is left.
We have some new guys, otherwise, we wouldn’t even need it.”
Gao Yang and the others were already prepared to personally cover the financial aid for the Skull Gang, let alone allow them to owe some money.
However, right after Glolov finished speaking, Maide immediately said, “That won’t do, we must pay you right away.
We can’t always let our friends suffer losses.”
Gao Yang also waved his hand and said, “Don’t worry, that’s not an issue.
Even if there’s just over five hundred thousand dollars, it should be enough.
Anti-tank weapons aren’t that expensive.
Let’s do this instead, we’ll solve one problem at a time.
I’ll call Uriyangko right now to see how much the anti-tank weapons will cost.”
No sooner had he said he would call than Gao Yang immediately dialed Uriyangko’s number.
After Uriyangko picked up, he immediately burst into laughter, “Buddy, you finally have time to call me.
What, can you come to South Africa now?
Grand Ivan and Ivan are getting impatient, they really want to meet you and thank you, but you haven’t even made a single call.”
After Gao Yang chuckled, he replied, “I’ll go to South Africa when I have time, but right now I’m calling because there’s business to discuss.
I need anti-tank weapons.
What do you have in stock?
I probably need…”
Uriyangko interrupted Gao Yang in his hearty tone, saying, “Don’t ask me what I have, just tell me what you need.
Whatever it is, I’ll get it for you.
Also, this time you don’t need to ask about the price.
Grand Ivan said that whatever you want, no matter what it is or how many, it’s all free of charge.”
Gao Yang was taken aback for a moment and asked, “Okay, but what does that mean?”
Uriyangko laughed and said, “Do I even need to explain?
Of course, this is one of the ways Grand Ivan is thanking you.
Notice, I said ‘one of the ways.’ In any case, just say whatever you need without worrying about the price.
Are you targeting tanks?
Where at?
If it’s convenient, I can get you a couple of Mi-24s.
I have them ready at hand.
If you plan to use them regularly, I’ll give them to you.
If not, I’ll pair them with pilots for you—you can just return them after use.”
Gao Yang swallowed, and after laughing in a daze for a moment, he said, “Well, please thank Grand Ivan for me, but actually, it’s not for me this time.
It’s for the Skull Gang.”
Gao Yang would accept the favor from Grand Ivan, but the problem was, he couldn’t pass Grand Ivan’s favor on to the Skull Gang, especially when it was such a significant favor.
“Oh, it’s for the Skull Gang, is it?
Well, in that case, it can’t be free.
So, tell me what you need.”
After explaining what he was up against, Gao Yang asked, “Do you have anything suitable over there?
It would be best if it could be delivered quickly, as it’s quite urgent.”
Uriyangko answered with a laugh, “Anti-tank missiles?
Are you looking for new or old ones?
For new models, there’s the AT-14, for older models, there’s the AT-4.
I also have American Javelin anti-tank missiles and TOW heavy anti-tank missiles.
Given your situation, I think the AT-4 is enough.
Pair it with a few AT-14s to speed up the delivery.
I can get them to Bosaso within two days.
The Skull Gang has plenty of rocket launchers, which can handle armored vehicles, so you don’t need to purchase any more of those, right?”
After considering for a moment, Gao Yang said, “Let’s stick with Russian equipment.
The AT-4 is a bit complicated to operate.
Just the AT-14s will do.
Send over ten units.
How much is that?”
“The Skull Gang is an old friend, so I’ll give you a super low price.
Ten missile firing systems with twenty missiles in total for six hundred thousand dollars.
If you need more missiles, you can purchase them later for ten thousand dollars each.”
The AT-14 could be reused, and after hearing Uriyangko’s quote, Gao Yang felt it was acceptable.
Even though the Skull Gang might not have a chance to use them against tanks after the battle, facing a combined force of around a dozen armored vehicles and tanks, ten missile launchers were the bare minimum.
You could never guarantee what might happen on the battlefield.
Waging war is like burning money.
Gao Yang thought for a while and then said, “Alright, one more thing, can you accept payment on credit?
The Skull Gang has some financial troubles.
It would be best if they could pay later, but it’s also no problem if they can’t.”
Uriyangko agreed readily, “The Skull Gang needs to buy on credit?
They’re sitting on a huge source of wealth.
Well, alright, they are a prime customer, so of course they can buy on credit.
But buying on credit will cost an extra one hundred thousand dollars, with a one-month payment extension.
Then for each additional month delayed, another hundred thousand dollars will be added.”
Gao Yang looked at Maide and said, “Ten missile launchers, twenty missiles, total cost six hundred thousand dollars.
It’s possible to buy on credit, with a one-month term, and every additional month will cost an extra hundred thousand dollars.
Is that acceptable?”
Maide waved his hand, laughing and saying, “Of course it’s no problem, absolutely no problem at all.
It’s a very good solution.
This way, I can pay your commission first, and as for Uriyangko’s arms money, we can also pay him quickly, just in a few days.”
Gao Yang nodded and then said on the phone, “We’ll take the missiles.
Also, what were you saying about the Mi-24?
Explain in detail, I’m very interested.” (To be continued.
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