676: Chapter 668 Once a Killer 676: Chapter 668 Once a Killer Ling Chen at five-thirty in the morning, Justin had passed the intelligence on to Ivan.
As they looked at the new information they had received, the faces of several people turned grim.
Justin had indeed sent over a detailed floor plan of the Consulate General, along with the numbers and designations of the South African troops allocated for its defense.
Now, Ivan and his team had the most critical intelligence for a forceful assault in their hands.
The problem was, the more they knew, the more desperate they felt.
Embassies and consulates are, in effect, the territory of their respective countries, and in theory, South African military forces should not enter the United States Consulate General.
Soldiers or military police tasked with security can only construct defenses outside the Consulate General.
But now, a full fifty South African soldiers had been placed inside the U.S.
Consulate General, all of them Special Forces.
Outside, a total of eighty people had the Consulate General surrounded on all sides.
The Consulate General had its own American guards inside, and while they couldn’t obtain exact numbers for this group, there were at least ten to a dozen of them.
Moreover, the Americans would deploy Marines to take over the internal security at the Cape Town Consulate General, with the South Africans still responsible for the exterior.
After reviewing the floor plan of the Consulate General several times, Sergei shook his head and said, “We can’t launch an assault, nor is it feasible.
We only have fifty people, which is nowhere near enough.
Even with more people, it wouldn’t suffice.
To storm the Consulate General, we would need at least three hundred men, and heavy weaponry as well.”
With Sergei, who was mainly responsible for the military actions on Ivan’s side, already ruling out the possibility of an assault, Gao Yang also sighed and said, “An assault is no longer possible.
Let’s think of another way.”
Uriyangko’s face was ashen as he said, “Even if we had enough personnel, storming the place would be a declaration of war against the United States.
The Americans would never let it go; they’d retaliate to the end.”
Ivan sighed and said, “The Americans have already dispatched a small-scale force to reinforce the defense of the Consulate General and are responsible for transferring Grand Ivan to the United States.
Our time is running out.
By noon at the latest, the Americans will arrive.
If they’re going to send Grand Ivan to the United States, it would likely be today.”
Uriyangko shook his head and said, “Not necessarily.
If Grand Ivan’s heart condition is serious, then he won’t be able to withstand a long-distance flight.
In fact, given Grand Ivan’s physical condition, even moving him would be dangerous.
If the Americans want to take a living Grand Ivan, it’s unlikely that they’d move him today.”
Gao Yang immediately said, “Find a doctor, a specialist in cardiology, to help us assess when Grand Ivan can be transferred.
Guessing isn’t getting us anywhere.
Without solid intelligence, this is all we can do.”
Ivan responded immediately, “Good.
Even if the doctor can’t make an accurate judgment, it’s still better than us laymen making wild guesses.
Sergei, go find a specialist, no matter the cost, but make sure it’s a real expert without any information leaks.”
Uriyangko spoke with a stern face, “If we can’t find one, we’ll kidnap one.”
Gao Yang had already become involved in the rescue operation for Grand Ivan.
Although an outsider, since he was already taking part and his role was significant, it was natural for him to be part of the planning of the entire operation.
Now was not the time for politeness.
Gao Yang took a map of Cape Town and drew several lines on the routes from the Consulate General to the airport.
He said, “Send someone to watch Cape Town International Airport to see if the American plane lands there.
I think if they are going to take Grand Ivan away, they’ll likely use the same plane that brought the American soldiers.
We can’t storm the Consulate General, so we’ll wait to ambush the convoy.
The ambush team will need to be in position early, ready to act at any moment, to avoid being caught off guard.”
Ivan nodded and said, “Let’s wait for the American plane to arrive before making a move.
There are too many roads around the Consulate General for us to block them all, but we can set up an ambush near the airport.
After all, they will definitely need to go there.”
After saying this, Ivan slammed his hand on the table and said, “If only we could get inside the Consulate General.
I’ve invited two experts.
Perhaps they will have some solutions once they arrive.”
Just then, someone from the next room came into the living room, covering the mouthpiece of the phone, and whispered to Ivan, “Important call, a big shot’s on the line.”
Ivan immediately reached for the phone and then quickly stepped into a secluded room.
After ten minutes, Ivan returned with a look of joy on his face.
Re-seating himself on the couch, Ivan took a deep breath and said, “Those big shots, they’ve made their move!”
Uriyangko clenched his fist and swung it vigorously before exclaiming with excitement, “I knew it!
If Grand Ivan were taken by the Americans, they wouldn’t fare well either.
Who was on the phone?
What did they tell us?”
After pondering briefly, Ivan said in a serious tone, “This isn’t something that requires high security clearance.
Okay, the call was from the Vice President!
Of course, it wasn’t him personally; it was his aide.”
Gao Yang was shocked.
Grand Ivan had managed to reach the Vice President for support.
No wonder he dared to stay in South Africa, living almost openly.
It turns out he really did have a powerful backer.
Ivan said gravely, “It seems that there has been some conflict between the forces controlled by the President and the interest group behind the Vice President, of which we’re not very clear.
But now, it appears the President is aiming to use Grand Ivan to strike at the Vice President, and now, the Vice President has decided to step in and help us.
So, I think those big shots we’ve lost contact with will soon be back in touch.”
Uriyangko asked anxiously, “So what about now?
Do we have any new information?”
Ivan nodded and said with a smile, “Of course we do.
We can now confirm that Grand Ivan is inside the Consulate General, along with Grand Ivan’s assistant.
Moreover, Khailkov has been taken to Pretoria.
The guards from the estate are also there, not in the hands of the Americans, but still controlled by the president.”
“Since someone has decided to help us, what can we use?
The most critical is intelligence.
There should always be detailed intelligence provided to us, right?”
Gao Yang was concerned about intelligence—the more detailed, the better.
Ivan nodded and replied with a smile, “Certainly, we will receive intelligence.
We have our people throughout Cape Town.
From now on, we will be aware of every move made outside the Consulate General.
Also, I have received a commitment that the Americans will not be able to use helicopters to extract Grand Ivan from the Consulate General.
They can only use cars.”
Uriyangko asked urgently, “Is there a possibility that the vice president could exert pressure to release Grand Ivan directly?”
“That’s impossible, absolutely impossible.
We will receive intelligence and full support from Cape Town.
Everyone from the mayor to the police will provide us with all the conveniences, but ultimately we must act on our own.
No one will help us in that regard.”
After a pause, Ivan said softly, “At least, even if we launch a frontal assault on the Consulate General now, there will be no police reinforcement.”
Uriyangko chuckled, “Suddenly, the situation has improved a lot.”
The situation indeed had improved significantly.
Once the high-ranking South Africans involved with Grand Ivan decided to rescue him, a steady stream of intelligence began to flow.
From six o’clock in the morning until nine, the intelligence gathered in these three hours was more abundant and much more precise and useful than what Ivan and his team had previously managed to find out.
When the time reached nine o’clock, someone came out and said to Ivan, “Boss, there are two people looking for you.
They say you invited them here, and one of them says his name is Leon.”
Ivan looked surprised and said, “They’ve arrived so quickly?
Please, bring them in.”
After a short while, a man and a woman were led into the living room by Ivan’s subordinates.
Both appeared to be in their thirties, Caucasian, the type you wouldn’t take a second glance at in a crowd.
The man was neither handsome nor ugly, and the woman wasn’t beautiful, but not unattractive either.
Altogether, their most noteworthy feature was their lack of any distinguishing features.
When the two entered, Ivan stood up and introduced them to Uriyangko and Gao Yang, “Let me introduce you.
These are Ryan and Medusa.
They are friends of mine, with whom I have worked before.”
Upon hearing Ivan’s introduction, Gao Yang immediately said, “Right, the name Ryan—it means ‘lion,’ doesn’t it?”
Lion means ‘lion’ indeed, but with a British accent it is pronounced “Leon,” while an American would call it “Ryan.” Since the person who had come earlier was referred to as Leon by Ivan and now he introduced him as Ryan—and given that the woman’s name, Medusa, obviously sounded like a nickname—Gao Yang asked if the man’s name meant ‘lion.’
“Correct, my name is Ryan, which means ‘lion,'” the man said with a smile, then extended his hand to Gao Yang and happily said, “Pleased to meet you, Ram.”
Gao Yang expressed his surprise, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you, too.”
Meanwhile, Ivan looked astonished and said, “I didn’t know that you two were acquainted.”
Gao Yang was even more surprised and exclaimed, “What!
I thought you told him my identity.”
Ryan smiled and replied, “No one told me you would be here.
As a celebrity, it’s not surprising that I recognized you, is it?”
Pointing to his own face, Gao Yang said, “Am I that famous?”
Ryan responded with a smile, “Certainly quite famous.
Satan’s Ram—well, you don’t need to look so shocked.
I understand, being well-known isn’t good for a mercenary, and it’s even worse to have many people know what you look like.
But don’t worry, there are no more than five people in the world who know your nickname and what you look like at the same time, and I’m one of them, of course.
And by that, I don’t include your friends.”
“So, you’re a mercenary?”
Ryan shrugged his shoulders and said, “My wife and I are not mercenaries, but something similar.
To be precise, we used to be assassins.”
(To be continued.
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