Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 371 - 354 The Way of the Mercenaries

Chapter 371: Chapter 354 The Way of the Mercenaries

"How come there are only these few people?"

Originally, Grasse didn’t want to ask too much, but when he saw that Gao Yi had only a few people with him, he couldn’t help but say, "They haven’t all died in battle, have they?"

"Only these few are left from the War Axe Mercenary Group, and Lego Mercenary Corps can’t be used anymore."

Gao Yi and Grasse’s conversation couldn’t be heard by others, so Donkey took his remaining few subordinates far away.

Gao Yi looked back at Donkey and continued, "We still have the Sand Scorpion Mercenary Group, which is Sherkin’s men, adding up to thirty to forty people. I think that should be enough."

"It’s hard to say."

Grasse turned around, lowering his voice, "Burning Wind has holed up in the embassy. If he doesn’t come out, it’s going to be troublesome."

Things were already troublesome, no need to emphasize that further.

Seeing that Gao Yi had no response, Grasse continued, "Panetta called us, willing to cooperate. If he can control the CIA, he is willing to coordinate in many aspects with the Pentagon’s work, especially willing to transfer intelligence resources, funds, and personnel to the Secret Action Bureau, which is very important to us. Therefore, meeting Panetta’s demands has become very important. Right now, our drones have locked and are continuously tracking Burning Wind, and the President has personally witnessed everything you’ve done. He’s very interested in you."

The preceding content was alright, Panetta had roughly mentioned it, although without detailed explanation, Gao Yi understood the implications.

What surprised Gao Yi the most was the last sentence.

"What did you say? The President witnessed everything I did?"

"Yes, the CIA had a drone monitoring the whole time, and later we also deployed drones, transmitting real-time signals to the White House. Even if the CIA didn’t want the White House to see their debacle, they couldn’t help it."

Grasse’s tone sounded excited, unable to suppress his own joy, he said, "Now, we need to prove to the President that military operations need to rely on us, not the CIA."

Gao Yi curiously said, "So the President wants to win me over?

"Yes, congratulations! You have now come into the White House’s sight, becoming a crucial factor influencing the decisions of the White House, the CIA, and the Pentagon especially in reaching a reconciliation and cooperation between the Pentagon and the CIA."

Grasse patted Gao Yi on the shoulder, whispering, "The people above me don’t want you to know how important you are, nor does Panetta want you to understand your significance, but as a friend, I must tell you these things."

Had Grasse not mentioned it, Gao Yi wouldn’t have known his actions were being broadcasted live.

"Thank you."

"Don’t mention it, now you know. Whether or not you kill Burning Wind isn’t important, even if you let him escape, Panetta can’t do anything to you, he must strengthen his cooperation with you."

Having said that, Grasse turned the conversation, "However, killing Burning Wind is indeed very important for the Pentagon and Panetta. So, if there’s a chance, of course, you still have to try."

Gao Yi looked at Grasse and said, "Killing Burning Wind is no problem, but how much effort can you guys put in?"

"It’s not possible to get a direct hit. Just now if we had bombed Burning Wind’s location, we could have said it was accidental, with all the excuses ready, claiming some Iraqi troops mutinied and let the CIA take the blame for the intelligence failure causing the bombing. But now that Burning Wind has fled, chasing his car and throwing bombs would be too much."

Grasse sighed regretfully, "That’s how it is now. Burning Wind has fled into the embassy and is protected by the CIA. He now has many channels to escape Baghdad, whether he disguises himself to board a commercial flight or takes the road to other cities, one way or another, once Burning Wind escapes, it will be difficult to kill him again."

"Is there no possibility he could leave from a military airbase?"

"No chance. We cannot let him leave on a military transport plane. He doesn’t have that opportunity."

Grasse said softly, then spread his hands, "Do you have any ideas?"

What other ideas could there be? It was back to the assassin’s tactics, certainly not leading two mercenary groups to forcefully attack the embassy.

"Handling this matter has become difficult now. So many people come and go from the American Embassy every day. As soon as Burning Wind disguises himself, how can we distinguish him, are we going to station someone at the airport?"

"We already have focused surveillance at the airport."

Grasse thought ahead, his voice serious, "Of course, we still have too few people. But you forgot Panetta—if he’s willing to fully exert himself, even if it means solidifying the suspicion of being an insider to kill Freedom Wind, then he can definitely find some intelligence. Uhm, we don’t need to know how Burning Wind will leave, but we need to know how he won’t leave."

Gao Yi was, for a moment, unable to comprehend the implication in Grasse’s words.

"What do you mean?"

"The CIA is divided, and of course, there are those in Baghdad who side with Panetta, who provide intelligence, such as when someone leaves the embassy. But Panetta’s people would inform us in advance that this person is definitely not Burning Wind, reducing a lot of our investigative work. Conversely, if someone seems highly suspicious, we could proceed to verify their identity before deciding what to do."

After Grasse finished speaking, he said to Gao Yi, "So, my current thought is to be prepared for any possibility. If we obtain concrete intelligence, all you need to do is take action and kill him."

Gao Yi didn’t need to search for the intelligence himself, he was only responsible for the final action.

In this way, Gao Yi felt that the task seemed not so difficult after all.

"This is simple, leave it to Sherkin’s Sand Scorpion Mercenary Group. If they fail, I’ll step in with War Axe personally."

Grasse nodded, then he suddenly said, "I gave them anti-tank missiles to rescue you. Uh, although limited by my status and available resources, I couldn’t come myself, but I did my best."

Pointing to his chest, Grasse continued in a low voice, "I didn’t have the upper-level permission when I gave Sherkin the missiles."

"Understood, thank you."

"You’re welcome, we are brothers."

Placing his hand on Gao Yi’s shoulder and giving it a pat, Grasse suddenly smiled and said, "Joelson is inside the American Embassy, acting as Panetta’s confidant and coordinating with several key CIA personnel in Baghdad. Whether we can get enough intelligence depends on his performance now."

Joelson was already in Baghdad, acting as an intermediary between Panetta and Gao Yi. Before tonight, he was insignificant within the bureaucratic system of the CIA but now, appearing as Panetta’s confidant, his career prospects looked suddenly bright.

Although this meant being tightly bound to Panetta’s camp, it was certainly good for Joelson. As long as he survived tonight, even if Joelson didn’t achieve anything spectacular, he was sure to receive an important yet flexible position. As for the rank, it was almost certain to increase.

Those in good relations with Gao Yi had bright futures; this was Gao Yi’s biggest gain.

In other words, although following Gao Yi was somewhat dangerous, it not only involved making a lot of money but also significantly elevating one’s status.

"Very good, I’m much reassured with Joelson coordinating actions inside the embassy."

Gao Yi was indeed very satisfied with the situation, he thought for a moment, and said, "Then let’s handle Burning Wind with the mercenaries. It’s simple, as soon as Burning Wind appears, let War Axe and Sand Scorpion take him out."

"Anything else?"

"That’s it."

Consistently simple plans, no need for second thoughts, for there were not many details.

Grasse took a soft breath and said, "Well... alright, let’s do as you say. Just act upon receiving intelligence, uh, we can’t provide an airstrike, since the White House is watching. But, we can provide aerial reconnaissance, starting now, covering surveillance, allowing reconnaissance aircraft to provide high-definition images of any corner of Baghdad."

The Pentagon still provided support, although not allowing bombs, the full aerial surveillance was enough.

Gao Yi nodded and then he suddenly remembered something.

"Right, what about those British planes? Have they entered Iraqi airspace with Iraq’s permission? Or with approval from your military?"

Grasse laughed, then cheerily said, "The British, huh, the British. The CIA doesn’t care about them now. They’ve been tricked by the CIA. Their transport planes don’t have enough fuel to return to the Ocean amphibious attack ship, so their transport helicopters made emergency landings at our Air Force Base. Then, we refused to refuel them."

"Is that possible?"

"It is indeed possible, let those British sit in their helicopters and feel Baghdad’s scorching sun."

Grasse grew more delighted the more he spoke, his face gleeful as he said, "I just received news, the British Prime Minister called the White House, asking them to order our forces in Iraq to refuel them and to open up the airspace, not to have fighters rapidly fly over them..."

"Wait, you’re leaving out something important again. What rapid flying over?"

Grasse smiled and said, "While we can’t shoot down the British planes, scaring them is always possible, giving you some satisfaction. So, we flew over their helicopters, the air turbulence nearly causing them to crash, then radar locking, releasing flares to block their route, performing cross-crossing flight maneuvers in front of their helicopters—none of these could be missed. Why do you think their transport landed at the Baghdad Air Force Base, buddy? It was a forced landing."

"Such pleasant news should have been shared earlier."

"No, the important part I haven’t mentioned yet. The British Prime Minister then called the White House, and the President despised their poor performance so much that he refused to take the call, and also refused to order the military to assist them."

Grasse laughed heartily and said, "The British immediately got played by our President, forcing them to cooperate with Freedom Wind, haha, let them cool off in their helicopters for a couple of days. Since the White House won’t issue any orders, we definitely won’t refuel them, and even if the White House orders it, we can still delay them for hours. That’s what happens when you team up with Freedom Wind; it kills them!"