Chapter 93: Africa's Strongest Tank (Second Update)

At nine o’clock in the morning, the golden sun beat down from a merciless sky.

The temperature inside the military base began to rise at a startling pace, as though mirroring the tension and impatience gripped by Xing Xiaolong and the others as they faced the mission ahead.

Meanwhile, there were now less than three hours left before the escort teams from both sides were due to meet at the border. Once the two hours needed to drive from Marsabit Military Base to the frontier between Kenya and Ethiopia were deducted, the time remaining was desperately short.

In this final half hour, Black Fox gathered everyone in the main briefing room. She meant to use the time to explain the newly revised plan and to reassign each person’s duties and movement details.

The projector clicked on, and a satellite map lit the white screen at the front of the room.

Black Fox switched on the laser pointer in her hand. The red dot settled on the border between the two countries as she explained in a clear, methodical tone, “The Ethiopian police convoy will meet us at the border, then escort us along this only international highway all the way to the court detention facility, right here in the center of Dilla.”

She moved the red dot to a fairly large building in Dilla’s downtown and circled it several times so everyone could see it clearly.

“It’s a high-definition satellite image? Looks like the Bald Eagle really didn’t lift a finger in the background,” Xing Xiaolong thought in surprise.

From the crisp image, one could clearly see that the detention block holding the prisoner and the courthouse stood back to back, built as one connected complex. It was a rather unusual arrangement, something rarely seen elsewhere.

A little strange, to say the least.

“The danger level for this operation is extremely high...” Black Fox’s tone hardened. “There are two places where an attack is most likely. The first is at the prisoner handover point, when Jihad steps out of prison and into public view.

“The second is during the convoy’s departure from the court detention facility, all the way until it leaves the city center. At any moment along that stretch, we could be attacked by armed assailants.

“Once we leave the urban area, that only means we’ve moved out of the highest-risk zone. The rest of the route can still bring trouble, and no one can guarantee there isn’t a gunman hiding in the shadows.

“To make sure this mission succeeds, I need everyone at maximum alert. Stay sharp. I do not want to remain inside Ethiopian territory forever, and I’m sure none of you wants to lose your life either. Am I right?”

She swept her gaze across the room, and the severity in her expression eased slightly.

“Next, let me introduce myself. I am the commander of this operation. You may call me Colonel Irina, or simply address me as ‘Commander.’”

After Black Fox introduced herself, she pointed to Xing Xiaolong, who was seated near the front.

“He is my special operations assistant. You may call him the Dragon King, a very remarkable Asian fellow. If you show him sufficient respect, it may bring you unexpected benefits.”

After introducing Xing Xiaolong, Black Fox went on to present CIA agent Bill Lipschutz, the special police team leader Yegor, and the government liaison officer Glen.

She also introduced the two deputy marshals responsible for prisoner transfer and legal paperwork.

As for the remaining eleven Kenyan special police officers assigned to the mission, they only needed to follow orders and know who their leaders were.

So Black Fox did not ask them to introduce themselves one by one. She treated them as a single unit.

Once the main personnel had been introduced, she spent another ten-odd minutes outlining each person’s responsibilities and the details they would need to watch for during the operation.

For example, the first team would be mainly responsible for guarding the prisoner, while the second team, led by Black Fox herself, would handle all emergencies encountered en route and determine what to do if gunmen were spotted.

Xing Xiaolong’s role was the most unusual. Black Fox had assigned him as a free agent.

For reasons she could not explain, a woman’s intuition told her that it would be better not to confine Xing Xiaolong to any fixed position, but to let him move freely during the operation. Compared with assigning him a rigid task, this would likely bring unforeseen results.

There was no logic to it, only instinct. And so she made the arrangement that way.

“I won’t say much more. Remember one thing: until we are back here, the mission is not over. Even if we cross the border, understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

Everyone shouted their response in unison.

“Stay alert at all times. Five minutes to prepare is more than enough. Move out.”

Black Fox brought the briefing to an end with a clap, then lifted a hand and gave Xing Xiaolong a sharp, stylish snap of her fingers before leading the way to the armory to collect the weapons and equipment for the mission.

Five minutes later, twelve elite Kenyan special police officers, one CIA agent, one government liaison officer, two deputy marshals handling the legal side, Xing Xiaolong, and the overall commander, Black Fox, arrived at the motor pool.

They boarded three off-road vehicles and one SUV carrying the two prisoners, then drove out through the gates of the military base.

From Marsabit Military Base to the border, the entire route lay within Kenyan territory, and border troops and police had already cleared the way. Nothing unexpected happened.

After two hours on the road, they arrived safely at the border crossing between the two countries.

The convoy stopped for less than ten minutes. The government liaison officer and the Ethiopian border official completed all the entry procedures, and then the convoy set off once more.

The Ethiopian side had sent only two vehicles and fewer than ten police officers, though one of the vehicles was an armed pickup truck.

The kind with a heavy machine gun mounted in the bed.

On this strange and untamed continent of Africa, anti-government militias and regular armies alike liked to use armed pickups like these, with heavy machine guns welded onto the backs of their trucks.

Even the police forces here had such armed vehicles.

It really was cheap to build and easy to modify. No matter what department it belonged to, if it could shoot a gun, it seemed only proper to have a few armed pickups on hand.

Still, joking aside.

Seeing that even the police were equipped with such heavy firepower, not only did the Kenyan special police feel a surge of pressure, but Black Fox herself was secretly alarmed.

If the police needed heavy weapons to carry out their duties, just how chaotic was the southern border of Ethiopia?

Black Fox and the Kenyan special police, because they were conducting an armed cross-border operation, were allowed under prior agreement between the two sides to carry only light police equipment.

As a result, they had not brought any heavy firepower, not even grenade launchers.

Their strongest weapon was a single HK21 light machine gun, a 7.62 mm relic designed in 1970 and already in service for nearly fifty years.

Thinking of the vicious firepower they might face, then glancing at the lightweight weapons in her own hands, Black Fox looked at Xing Xiaolong and gave a slight, helpless smile.

It was a charming smile, but there was a trace of resignation in it too.

If they truly ran into heavy suppressive fire, fighting with the weapons they carried would indeed be a grim business.

But armed border crossings had already pushed the limit. Hoping for overwhelming firepower was plainly unrealistic. Black Fox could only pray in secret that the odd Ethiopian police unit’s old M2HB heavy machine gun mounted on the armed pickup would prove useful if the need arose, with its .50-caliber 12.7 mm rounds.

Looking across everyone on the Kenyan side, only Xing Xiaolong seemed not to feel the slightest pressure at the sight of the armed pickup.

Black Fox mistook his calm for youthful ignorance and smiled to herself. “There are advantages to not understanding,” she thought. “At the very least, you won’t be afraid before anything has even happened. Ignorance is bliss.”