The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse-Chapter 401 - 394: The Old Soldier Youzi

Before reaching the banks of the White Nile River, Gao Yuan and his team could only be active within the Sanitation Worker’s sphere of influence, but if the Sanitation Workers really occupied cities along the Nile like Malakal and Malut, then they were about to enter the Sanitation Worker’s stronghold.

But Gao Yuan couldn’t figure it out, he couldn’t understand why the Sanitation Workers wanted to occupy this place. Was it just for the oil?

If it was for the oil, Gao Yuan didn’t need his think tank to know it was impossible. It wasn’t difficult to extract oil in the Abiye Region, but transporting it was too challenging. With almost no infrastructure to speak of, in cities that didn’t even have a bridge, what were they going to do with the extracted oil?

If it wasn’t for the oil, the only reasons Gao Yuan could think of and understand were due to this area’s remoteness from the world’s major cultural centers. Precisely because it was distant and backward, the Sanitation Workers would choose to settle here and then manage the place, treating it as their ultimate refuge.

However, this reason didn’t explain why the Sanitation Workers were striking out in all directions.

The Sanitation Workers had taken control of the Suez Canal, they had control over the Sinai Peninsula, and they fought in Biliya and with Angels. These behaviors could not be explained simply by the desire for a place of refuge.

When making certain tactical decisions, at the very least one must have a basic assessment of the strategic environment. Currently, everyone in Spark Squad combined knew less than Gao Yuan and Xinghe, and excluding the alien Xinghe, it could only be Gao Yuan who would make the final and also the most important decisions.

The fundamental purpose of this expedition was the Ark of the Covenant, the medical pod, and the medical pod was now in Djibouti. To reach Djibouti and have enough strength to seize the Ark of the Covenant, they must obtain Ram’s support and cooperation. If they had a clear understanding of this, they couldn’t afford to expose themselves prematurely. Any contact and combat with the Sanitation Workers had to be strenuously avoided.

Therefore, there was no need to pay attention to the tactical disagreements and struggles between Sirte and Ralph.

Gao Yuan raised his hand, and Ralph immediately stopped talking. However, Sirte didn’t see Gao Yuan’s raised hand, so he continued to ramble on.

"Have you been here before? Do you know how difficult the Malakal Region is to navigate..."

Cross nudged Sirte, who turned around, saw Gao Yuan’s gesture to shut up, shrugged his shoulders with a look of indifference, and instantly closed his mouth.

Gao Yuan said in a stern voice, "We need to find a safe place to abandon the vehicle and cross the river, and it’s critical to avoid any contact with the Sanitation Workers. The reasons are complex, and I won’t explain them to you, but any actions that could possibly expose us are strictly forbidden. Okay, now you discuss the specifics of how to implement this."

Having set the tone and determined the route, the rest of the details were left to the professionals. Gao Yuan was the nominal team leader, but so far, all his members had given him enough respect, which meant he was indeed the de facto team leader. However, being the team leader didn’t necessarily mean he had to personally handle everything.

When facing things he was not familiar with or good at, Gao Yuan chose to watch, listen, and not speak.

So it was Li Jingang and Ralph who were teaching Gao Yuan how to be a qualified team leader, a team leader of a special forces squad.

As for Sirte, he was an old mercenary and a seasoned old soldier, his combat experience incomparably rich—more than all the others combined—and they all, including Ralph and Yuri, had to acknowledge this. Moreover, most importantly, Sirte proclaimed to have fought in every terrain around the world.

After several probes and verifications, Sirte’s claim, which seemed like a boast, was confirmed to be true, a fact even Ralph had to admit.

But an old soldier like Sirte had the typical drawbacks of one.

Compared to Ralph and Yuri, Sirte’s biggest trait was his laziness.

Throughout the journey, the task of collecting information and making maps was something Sirte absolutely refused to partake in, so although the manpower was meant to be from four parties, only three were involved in map-making because Sirte plainly wouldn’t do it; he was too lazy for such tasks.

The kind of soldiers one leads reflects the leader, and not one of Nate’s soldiers was worth a damn.

Klaus’s nickname was Scarecrow, and indeed, like a scarecrow, he was a very quiet person. However, being quiet didn’t mean he was easy to talk to, nor did it mean he wasn’t a pain in the ass.

Sirte was an arrogant, proud, talkative scumbag, while Klaus was an arrogant, proud, less talkative scumbag, nothing more.

But it had to be said, when the immensely experienced pair voiced their opinions, their advice would ultimately be implemented, simply because what they said made sense.

Gao Yuan set the tone, and Klaus, after contemplating, spoke slowly, "If we decide to ditch the vehicles and cross the river tomorrow, then we must scout tonight. We must survey the river for at least ten kilometers upstream and downstream to ensure no enemy presence on either side, no fixed patrol routes of the enemy, and only after understanding the situation completely will we decide where to cross the river."

Ralph murmured, "Ten kilometers, is that really necessary?"

Klaus replied indifferently, "It’s necessary."

Ralph waited for Klaus to explain the reason, but Klaus didn’t intend to explain.

After a moment, Ralph, suppressing the urge to punch someone, said quietly, "Ten kilometers on each side, I don’t think it’s necessary to scout such a large area."

Sirte began to laugh, not bothering to conceal his contempt, "Kid, you’ve clearly never fought a war unsupported. You only fight on your own soil. You have no idea what it’s like to carry all your equipment on your back and infiltrate enemy territory for a prolonged period, do you?"

Ralph clenched his fist; his nostrils flared slightly, but he held back, resisting the urge to stand up and swing at Sirte.

Shaking his head, Sirte continued, "Based on our experience, if you think there’s a chance something might go wrong, then it most certainly will. If we have to walk to find Ram, it will take us several days, and here we are on Sanitation Worker territory. If they discover the cars we’ve abandoned, what do you think they’ll do?"

Ralph took a deep breath.

Looking at Ralph with the patience one might reserve for a slow child, Sirte continued, "You at least don’t have to worry about your rear because, small as your country might be, it still has the backing of a nation. We, on the other hand, have to consider all possibilities. If we were to carry out a long-term infiltration mission, we would never leave behind anything that could expose our tracks. But now, we have no choice but to leave many cars here. We can’t burn them or hide them, so we must expand our scouting area to find a secure enough location to deal with these cars; I absolutely won’t take the risk of fording the river and race against the enemy’s automobiles on foot."

Ralph said softly, "I’ll sum up your rambling as Murphy’s Law."

Shrugging, Sirte replied, "Sorry for the rambling, just worried you wouldn’t understand. But do you get it now?"

A soldier from Egg Bomb Squad silently stood up, but then Ralph gestured, and the soldier quietly sat back down.

Taking a deep breath, Ralph said, "As a mature professional soldier, I agree with your suggestion."