Mercenary's War
Chapter 2443 - 2419: Codename: Flock
They drove the vehicles into a mountain col, picked suitable spots to put up camouflage nets that could both conceal them and block the sun. Once they reached the gap between the hills only ten kilometers from the border, Gao Yang directed the establishment of their first temporary camp.
The convoy couldn’t go any farther; it had to be dispersed and hidden. If they wanted to reach the real forward positions, they’d have to walk there, or drive close and then go on foot, otherwise they’d be easily spotted by the Shah People.
The Houthis Armed Forces had already deployed about six hundred men in the area, but these troops were spread out, with no real defensive positions set up. It wasn’t that the Houthis didn’t want to station formed units here, it was that logistics couldn’t keep up.
There was no water in these mountains, no trees, no cover at all. Throwing men here was easy; supplying enough water and food was hard, especially water. Without water, it’s hard for a man to survive more than two days, so the Houthis were willing but not able.
Even without large formed units holding the line, it was still unlikely that Shah Soldiers would bypass the Houthis’ forward outposts and attack through, so building a camp behind the Houthis’ forward line was relatively safe.
Reaching the front line didn’t mean things were done; the truly busy period was only just beginning.
Rebrov needed to take his staff and observation team to many different positions, and use GPS to record the data in detail, turning them into several fixed firing positions. That way, they wouldn’t have to recalculate coordinates every time they moved; they could just pull out the coordinate parameters for each position and use them directly.
As for Gao Yang, naturally he needed to take the people from Satan to the very front positions and see for himself.
The sun was up, everyone was busy, and Gao Yang was also getting ready to go to the front for reconnaissance. Just then, Salim jumped down from his vehicle and ran toward Gao Yang at full speed.
The camp hadn’t even been set up yet; Salim had stayed in the vehicle to keep in radio contact with Sanaa City. Seeing how flustered he looked as he ran, Gao Yang knew news had come from Sana’a, and it probably wasn’t good.
Sure enough, Salim sprinted up to Gao Yang, then said in utter shock, "We’ve already taken Aden, and Hadi has fled to Saudi Arabia for asylum..."
Gao Yang pressed his hands down and said in a low voice, "Calm down, take it easy. What you’re talking about happened three days ago."
What Salim was talking about was indeed old news from three days back. The Houthis Armed Forces had been fighting with restraint, but the militias Hadi cobbled together were just too lousy, and their morale was abysmal. The Houthis didn’t dare hit Hadi too hard, so they hadn’t launched the kind of large-scale offensive against Aden that Iran wanted. But the Aden garrison simply collapsed without a real fight; after just a few small-scale skirmishes, even Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia. Faced with an Aden that was completely undefended, the Houthis had no choice but to take it over.
Although there were still sporadic fights in Aden City, Aden was taken, that much was already certain, so Gao Yang couldn’t figure out why Salim was in such a panic.
"Saudi Arabia has deployed Special Forces and landed in Aden!"
Salim finally revealed the cause of his anxiety. It turned out Saudi Arabia had finally sent in ground troops—but in Southern Yemen, not on the Northwest Border.
Gao Yang was genuinely a bit surprised; he hadn’t expected Saudi Arabia to move this fast.
For the Houthis Armed Forces, this might be a fate-deciding event, and from the looks of it, not a good one. But for Gao Yang, the development he’d been waiting for had finally taken a step forward.
"The Shah Army has landed in Aden. How’s the fighting?"
"We haven’t received a detailed report yet, but by my estimation, it won’t be going well."
Salim looked deeply worried. Naturally Gao Yang couldn’t afford to look pleased. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said, "My brother, there’s nothing we can do about what’s happening in Aden. Your duty now is on the northwest front line. I think you’d better focus your attention here."
As an important figure in the Houthis Armed Forces, Salim hadn’t come to the Northwest Border just to keep Gao Yang company; he was carrying the heavy responsibility of commanding operations along the najran sector of the Northwest Border.
After a long sigh, Salim said very solemnly, "In a while I’ll go to the front with you for reconnaissance. I want to see the situation on the border with my own eyes."
"All right, we’ll go together. Get yourself ready; I plan to move out in two hours."
Salim hurried off again. At that point, Gao Yang signaled to the others with his eyes and said quietly, "The fighting’s started in Aden. Saudi Arabia has deployed Special Forces. That matches our projections, and it confirms our intel was accurate."
Right now, the jobs Solar System Company had taken from Saudi Arabia were mainly in Southern Yemen, which meant that since Saudi Arabia had sent troops to land in Aden, the employees of Solar System Company should be about to enter Yemen as well.
Glolov was still very concerned about the situation in Aden. He said quietly, "Have our people moved out?"
Gao Yang shook his head. "Not yet. Saudi Arabia has deployed Special Forces. Our people have received orders to be ready to enter Yemen at any time, but there are no specific orders yet. If there’s any news, Abdul will let me know in time."
No matter what was happening in Aden, the priority for Satan was still what lay directly ahead. Gao Yang checked his watch, then said in a deep voice, "Everyone, use the time to get ready. We move out for frontline reconnaissance in two hours. We may run into enemy reconnaissance forces, so stay alert. Also, our unit call signs are a mess right now. It’s inconvenient for command and radio. From this moment on, we switch to wartime call signs."
With more units in play, command had gotten troublesome for Gao Yang: the Dagger Assault Team, the artillery, and Satan’s main body. When issuing orders to different teams, he either had to call them by their commanders’ nicknames, or use their real unit names in the clear.
Wartime call signs were essential, and Gao Yang already had an idea. He raised his voice and said, "From now on, our overall call sign is ’Sheep Herd.’ Satan’s main body is ’Goat,’ Artillery Section One is ’Sheep,’ the Dagger Assault Team is ’Antelope,’ and the command post is ’Sheepfold.’ Individual call signs stay as personal nicknames and won’t change—but I’m different. My wartime call sign will be ’Head Sheep.’ Does everyone understand?"
"Understood!"
Gao Yang nodded and continued, "As for the Houthis Armed Forces under Salim, their call sign is ’Cow Herd,’ their command post is ’Cow Pen,’ and Salim’s personal call sign is ’Camel.’ Remember, when using the radio from now on, you must use call signs."
Cui Bo raised his hand and shouted, "Boss, Head Sheep, how come the Houthis Armed Forces are ’Cow Herd,’ but Salim’s call sign is ’Camel’?"
Gao Yang laughed and said, "Salim picked it himself. What can I do about that?"