167: Chapter 167 One Fish, Multiple Ways to Eat It! Nobody's a Fool

"Reporting to command, this is Ghost, we have arrived at Observation Point One." Mark Smith lowered his voice and reported via an encrypted channel to the command post located deep underground the Great Wall defense line.

"The main enemy force is moving past the rocket artillery and gathering towards the gold mining area. Initial estimates put their size at over two thousand men, primarily equipped with pickup trucks, AK rifles, and RPGs; they look more like tribal militia. We are conducting continuous reconnaissance. Additionally, the enemy rocket artillery unit is establishing a firing position. Judging by their attire, this unit is regular military."

"The 'Phantom' squad has also laid low on another high ground and sent back the same intelligence," another communication line cut in.

On the holographic sand table, dense red dots representing the Sudan forces emerged from behind the border line, converging into a winding band of light, moving slowly in the direction of the gold mining area.

The dust kicked up by the pickup trucks was clearly visible under thermal imaging. The truck beds were packed with armed personnel waving AK rifles and RPG rocket launchers, disorganized and huddled together in a mess.

Inside the command post, a staff officer was leisurely holding a cup of coffee; the atmosphere lacked any pre-war tension.

"Just as the scouts judged, the ground force leading the attack is just a rabble." This staff officer from the Huaxia advisory group pointed at the dots on the sand table, his tone devoid of any ripples.

"Except for the twelve rocket launchers discovered, the main force of the Sudan government army has not appeared at all. Those who came are all tribal armed groups from the Darfur region. Looking at their equipment and marching formation, they don't even qualify as militia; at most, they are a group of armed thugs."

Colonel Zhou Zheng nodded and turned his head to look at He Jun: "It seems our judgment is correct; Khartoum's calculations are very shrewd."

He Jun's cheek muscles twitched, and he curled his lips.

"Just milking the situation for all it's worth."

He reached out and drew a circle on the sand table, encompassing all the tribal armed groups.

"They are using these disobedient tribal private armies to lead the charge. If they happen to capture the gold mine, their government army will come out to reap the rewards and rightfully take the lion's share, after all, they provided the rocket artillery. If they fail to take it, those who die will all be tribal people, which just happens to weaken local forces and strengthen the central government's control. Regardless of winning or losing, Khartoum doesn't lose."

"Moreover, the government army's main focus is on the Rapid Support Forces, so they won't pour out all their forces."

Such tricks are not uncommon in this world.

"The Americans instigated it, the Sudan government went with the flow, using us as a whetstone and these tribes as consumables," Colonel Zhou Zheng added. "Intelligence shows that the Russians, who have always been active in the Darfur region, are making no moves this time, choosing to watch from the sidelines. This shows that everyone has seen through Khartoum's tricks."

The people in the command post exchanged glances, the meaning of which was self-evident.

This so-called war was a political performance with ulterior motives from the very beginning.

The Sudan government never intended to fight a real national war against the Cyber Freedom Republic; they just wanted to leverage the smallest cost to pry open the largest benefits.

"Since they want to put on a show, we will tear down their stage."

Lin Zhou's voice came through the communication channel on the main screen. Although he was in Beijing, he was monitoring the frontline movements throughout via a remote system.

"This time, we must not only win but also demonstrate our determination and strength. I want to wipe out all this rabble!"

His tone was steady, devoid of emotion, but the murderous intent in his words made the command post quiet down, and even the air seemed to tighten a few notches.

Lin Zhou paused for a moment and continued: "When necessary, we can learn from what we did to our southern neighbor decades ago. A punitive action in exchange for decades of stability—that's a worthwhile trade."

He Jun and Colonel Zhou Zheng looked at each other; a sharp glint flashed in both their eyes simultaneously, and then they nodded heavily.

At this moment, an emergency report interrupted the meeting.

A communications soldier stood up and reported: "Lord, news has come from Beijing. Due to the tense border situation, the 'Miracle Seed' achievement conference originally scheduled to be held within our country has been cancelled. The Huaxia side has decided to change the conference location to their desert agricultural experiment base in the northwest, and the time is set for one week later."

Lin Zhou's brows knit together for a moment, then quickly relaxed.

"That's fine too; their experimental fields are larger in scale, and the results will be more persuasive. When the time comes, let the whole world see how ridiculous the genetically modified technology touted by those agricultural giants is in the face of a true miracle."

He hung up the communication and rubbed his somewhat throbbing temples.

War, diplomacy, tech conferences... everything was piled together, leaving him almost no time to breathe.

He wanted to lean back in his chair and rest for a while, but he couldn't close his eyes. His mind remained tethered to the distant "Ironforge" gold mining area, where the most critical moment was counting down.

The desert night, the temperature plummeted, and it was exceptionally long.

In the temporary camp of the Sudan tribal coalition, bonfires were lit, and several tribal leaders sat around together, discussing the upcoming general offensive.

"As soon as day breaks, the government army's rocket artillery will blast open that iron turtle shell on the other side! By then, our two thousand-plus men will charge up together; there are only a hundred or so of them, we could drown them with just one spit each!"

A bearded leader took a heavy gulp of wine and shouted loudly.

And the "heavenly fire" they expected was destined not to descend.

At the rocket artillery position tens of kilometers away from them, the soldiers of the Sudan Artillery 4th Brigade were slowly making the final preparations before launch.

An officer checked his watch; there was less than ten minutes left until the ultimatum deadline.

He yawned and shouted to his subordinates: "Get sharp! Raise the launchers and prepare to set the coordinates!"

Following his order, the camouflage nets were pulled away, and the launchers on the twelve heavy trucks began to rise, revealing their steel silhouettes under the moonlight.

On the high ground, Mark Smith saw this scene clearly through night vision goggles.

He spoke into the throat microphone, in a whisper-like volume, and issued the final order.

"'Ghost' calling 'Phantom', the target has entered the launch preparation phase."

"Received." The response from the captain of the "Phantom" squad came through the communicator.

"Synchronize time. Thirty seconds later, fire at will." Mark Smith's voice came through steadily, with no emotional fluctuations.

"Good hunting, everyone."

Just as he finished speaking, the Sudan officer opposite also raised his hand, about to give the order to fire.

He Jun, in front of the holographic sand table in the command post, watched the twelve red dots representing the rocket artillery and the two blue dots representing the special forces squads, and softly spat out two words.

"Do it."