"Afghan?"
Song Heping realized that he had guessed correctly just now.
This guy indeed ca to find him because of sothing related to Afghanistan.
"If it's about business collaboration, I have no problem, but acquisition is out of the question."
"Since you're not willing to sell, we can only talk about collaboration."
Elson still maintained a polite deanor.
There's a saying, 'one does not slap the smiling face.'
Since the other party was courteous, Song Heping couldn't well erupt in anger.
Besides, he had been to Afghanistan before, although he didn't have an in-depth understanding of the situation there, he knew it indeed was a gold mine.
Aricans, for the so-called counter-terrorism, have been hustling there with a bunch of NATO underlings, he had heard from Robbin, the general manager of AAFES company, while in Illigio, that this small Central Asian country was currently seen as lucrative pickings.
But to undertake business there, without substantial capability, it was not feasible; only PMC companies with deeply backed profiles could secure contracts.
At that ti, Song Heping's company had just secured a transportation contract from the Illigio military, and was not yet firmly established; how could he dare to dream of sharing a piece of the pie in Afghanistan?
Now, the situation was different.
He already possessed certain capabilities.
Moreover, the business in xico would beco his cash cow, continuously funneling funds to him.
The operations in Illigio had stabilized, and Pete had been dragged into the mix by him; being such a shrewd person, Pete probably knew how much money Song had spent on him and his military friends' relatives.
With Ferrari stationed in the Green Zone, future business would surely encounter no problems.
As a defense company, it naturally couldn't be satisfied with just these orders; more orders, the better.
Money was no longer Song Heping's primary concern.
It's like when you're very wealthy, you can afford to talk about dreams, sothing more ethereal.
Moreover, a career is a man's aphrodisiac.
The bigger the vision, the stronger the aphrodisiac.
If initially, Song Heping, collaborating with Old Demon to open a general store in the Illigio Green Zone, rely embraced a philosophy of contentnt with little wealth, then now, having made a substantial amount of money, Song's desires had broken their shackles and risen to another level—
That is the entire world.
"Let's hear it."
Song Heping returned to the edge of the terrace and stood in front of Elson.
"Our company has been expanding its business over the past year, and now we face a problem; there's a large volu of business, but not enough people to handle it, although we have acquired several small and dium-sized defense companies, we still find it insufficient to et our company's business needs."
Song Heping listened and was sowhat surprised, "Such a large volu of business? But I heard that there are already many rcenaries over there."
He felt puzzled in his heart.
In such a large region in Illigio, the rcenaries finding sustenance there amounted to only twenty to thirty thousand.
In Afghanistan, though it's a small territory, it's said that dozens of small and big rcenary companies had entered for a slice of gold after the war started.
Even familiar nas like AAFES and Black Water have operations there, and according to reliable intel, just the rcenaries affiliated with the Arican defense companies number up to 17,000 in that area, which is quite alarming.
Faced with Song Heping's queries, Arsen made a constipated expression, frowning as if organizing his thoughts.
After a pause, he sighed slightly and said, "You're right, that was the situation indeed. But things are sowhat different now..."
"Oh?"
Song Heping smiled and said, "I would love the details, please go on."
Elson then began to explain the reasons behind these developnts.
The more Song Heping listened, the more surprised he beca, and the more he found it interesting.
In Elson's narration, the matters involved were information Song had never obtained through other channels.
Ever since the Afghan war started, Old Arica had sent huge forces, swiftly sweeping through all key military strongholds within Afghan territory, including Kabul and Kandahar, with the Northern Alliance and other forr resistance forces, quickly taking control of the situation.
However, once most of the territorial control was secured, the Taliban and various resistance organizations began to disperse, retreating into the mountains and areas bordering Aba to leverage the geographic advantages and comnce guerilla warfare.
This tactic caught the coalition, which had originally deployed about twenty thousand US Army personnel into Afghan territory, sowhat off guard.
These 20,000 troops need not only to attack and sweep away the enemy but also to track Brother Deng's whereabouts, as well as defend major cities and support the army and police of the new governnt. They are responsible for providing systematic military training. Thus, the troop numbers suddenly seem insufficient.
During the onset of war in Afghanistan, there were always two allied forces within the country. One was the coalition led by the United States, totaling about 19,000 people, and the other was the NATO International Security Assistance Force with a total force also near 20,000 persons, primarily comprising British Army, German Army, Canadian Army, Dutch Army, Italian Army, and so French forces. Twenty-six NATO countries and other US allies participated, (including Australia and South Korea), but the main force fighting the Taliban was the coalition. The NATO security forces mainly engaged in peacekeeping operations in the relatively safe northern regions.
Therefore, the United States requested other allies to increase troop deploynt, but these brothers shirked their duties and absolutely refused to send more troops.
Thus, in June, Old Arica suddenly announced the transfer of command in the Afghan battlefield to Britain, appointing an admiral nad Chariz as the commander. They handed over 13,000 of their troops to coalition command while pulling back the remaining 6,000 to the northern regions, where they took on more of a hands-off role.
Britain initially realized it was a hot potato, but if they could put their own person in command and achieve results on the counter-terrorism battlefield in Afghanistan, it would enhance their status and image internationally.
As a result, the n in the London Parliant, despite opposition from the military, decisively took over the command authority.
Once they had the command authority, they discovered this hot potato was scalding hot.
The issue of insufficient troop numbers also gave Admiral Chariz a massive headache. They had to start consolidating NATO's other countries to increase deploynt in Afghanistan, upping the number till nearly 30,000, but still found it to be a drop in the bucket.
Consequently, they had to employ local PMC companies to undertake a large amount of military operational tasks, training missions, transport logistics, and support duties.
Under these circumstances, a flood of sizable contract orders from the British military surged toward the Jie Fushi Group, presenting massive pressure on this defense giant.
Others worry about their companies lacking business, but Jie Fushi Group fears it has too much business to handle effectively.
But they couldn't refuse the business.
Now was when the British military faced the most pressure; if they didn't help undertake so of that stress, they could forget about securing future business deals.
Therefore, a frenzy of acquisitions of small and dium-sized PMC companies by the Jie Fushi Group occurred, and even approaching Song Heping to acquire "Musician" Defense was motivated by this reason.
As a power player in the defense industry, Jie Fushi Group had indeed conducted a thorough investigation of "Musician" Defense and Song Heping, who were known as a highly capable new star in the defense sector. They were about to contact Song Heping, only to find out he was recently in South Arica.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Elson encountered Song Heping at a think-tank defense forum in the United States, and he certainly wasn't going to miss this rare opportunity.
After listening to Mr. Elson's explanation, Song Heping felt this job was manageable.
It should be noted that Jie Fushi Group has deep connections with the British Governnt and even the military as many of their consultants and senior managers are retired high-ranking officers from the British Army.
Now that Chariz was the highest commander of the Afghan Blue Army, following these fellows was surely beneficial.
"Mr. Elson, your explanation is quite compelling," Song Heping candidly presented his question: "But I need to know, if I agree to cooperate, what is the price and content of the contract you offer our company? Once in Afghanistan, what specific business are we responsible for?"
"Military training as well as coordinating with so military operations," Mr. Elson said. "The military training is aid at the police forces under the new Afghan governnt, while the military operations mainly involve working with our SAS or US Special Forces on so special missions, as I've heard your company is highly skilled in special operations. As for the price, the military training has a fixed contract, signed annually based on how much is undertaken. If you agree, the training of police stations in the Kandahar area will be handled by your company, with a contract value of £30 million per year for two years. The special operations tasks, however, will be priced based on the difficulty of the task and the bounty on the target, so I can't give you a definite number right now."
"Kandahar..."
Song Heping imdiately realized – that was in southern Afghanistan.
And, it was near the Abba border area.
The British really are cunning, the Aricans feed them shit, and they want to feed it to themselves.
"Kandahar is in the south, near the Abba border area. If I'm not mistaken, that area is the most dangerous region in all of Afghanistan. Mr. Elson, you've really played a clever hand."
Mr. Elson chuckled awkwardly, "As they say in your Chinese culture, 'One seeks fortune amidst danger', right?"
"I'm not interested in this contract," Song Heping said candidly, "I have a transport contract with the US military in Illigio worth $240 million per year. If I may be frank, you British are too stingy. Goodbye."
Having said that, Song Heping turned and walked away.
"Wait!"
Mr. Elson was desperate.
Song Heping didn't turn but already smiled.
Because he knew, the British were now grasping at straws.
Now, it was a seller's market.
"Mr. Elson, do you have anything else you wish to discuss?"
Mr. Elson, seeing Song Heping's relaxed deanor, couldn't help but say, "What kind of terms would it take for you to accept? More money?"
"Yes, it would take more money," Song Heping said. "And a lot more money."
He raised a finger.
"Add ten million?!" Mr. Elson was stunned.
"No." Song Heping shook that finger. "A hundred million."
"Are you out of your mind!"
Even Mr. Elson, normally so composed, couldn't help but lose control then.
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