"Have you gone mad?!"
When Cook found out that Song Heping had taken on the military contract in Mosul, he started cursing over the phone.
"Do you realize the US Army couldn't clear out the resistance army hidden in there after fighting for three months? I heard there are elite snipers and small groups lurking in the city, and this is not a small-scale raid, it's a large-scale military operation. The place is hell, many American soldiers don't even know where the bullets are coming from before they meet their maker!"
"If you're scared, you don't have to go. You've made enough money now; you can go back to your hometown, buy a big villa, get a country house for vacations, hunt in Siberia on your free days, and live a peaceful life."
Cook's personality was well-known to Song Heping.
If he didn't like something, he would start by cursing.
After cursing, he would still go ahead with it.
Song Heping was well aware that Cook understood why he had taken this contract.
The reason was simple.
It was like a small company taking on a subcontract from a big business; without previous cooperation and no qualifications, they wouldn't be considered.
Only with a past partnership, good reputation, and trust from a big corporation could they secure a contract.
Simply put, you have to enter this circle.
Currently, all the lucrative contracts within Illigo were monopolized by a few large international defense companies, and for a smaller company like "Musician" to get some corporate orders was already quite impressive.
If not for Angel's help, Wood Energy's relatively good oil field security orders might not have ever come to Song Heping's team.
It was precisely because they secured the Hassan Oil Field order that they later obtained the Cook Oil Field contract. With two oil field contracts under their belt and performing well, they later managed to obtain a minor military contract for the Sherebyat Water Station.
In the water station security operation, "Musician" Defense's performance was exceptionally outstanding, which caught Curtis's attention. It was Curtis who recognized the capabilities of "Musician" Defense, leading to this recommendation.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Success will never be achieved overnight.
Song Heping understood this, and naturally, Cook did as well.
It was just that when he heard it was Mosul, he became agitated.
Indeed.
Now, Mosul is a hell.
Since early last May, the coalition commander had publicly boasted that they had control over the entirety of Illigo.
The reality was they couldn't even completely secure the Green Zone, which remains messily unchanged till now.
The situation in the northwestern part of Illigo was even more complicated.
The reason is that this area borders Siria, Persia, and Turkey, allowing the armed resistance organizations to fight when they can win and flee when they can't, while continuing to receive a steady supply of resources.
Although the coalition forces led by the US Army had made some deployments and interceptions on the border to try to cut off the supplies coming into cities like Mosul from these neighboring countries, the border is still thousands of kilometers long, and the US Army couldn't completely stem the flow.
The result is that, although it seems they have taken several major cities in the northwest, the battle has not stopped, causing the US Army especially in Mosul and its surrounding areas to suffer the greatest losses since the invasion.
The significant casualties put enormous pressure on the politicians, a longstanding tradition in America: as long as the number of national soldiers' casualties rises, anti-war sentiment emerges domestically, and opposition in Congress would exploit the situation to discredit the administration.
But this wasn't enough to stump those in power. Since regular military casualty numbers were unsustainable, they let contractors and local Illigo troops take over—whatever ICDC government army, whatever ISF special forces, let them handle it.
The deaths of these individuals didn't need to be counted or explained to the public; as long as the money went to the contractors, it was purely a business transaction.
Perfect!
Currently, there are already several contractors who have received contracts in Mosul, including Black Water, Sparta, and Olive Group (OG company), all of whom have deployed a large number of combat mercenaries in various parts of Mosul.
The compensation for these contracts is extremely generous, something previously unattainable for a small company like "Musician" Defense.
This time, Deputy Commander Peter actually took the initiative to extend an olive branch to "Musician" Defense, giving them an opportunity to join the circle—how could Song Heping not seize it?
Indeed, when Song Heping told Cook he could avoid going if he was afraid, Cook immediately refused.
"Who said I'm not going? Am I that kind of person who fears death? Song, you're underestimating me!"
"If you're not scared, then hurry back to the company. I am waiting for you guys here; this mission is quite tricky, so we need to study it thoroughly."
After hanging up, Song Heping picked up the documents provided by Peter, opened the cover page, and started studying the content inside slowly.
This is an analysis report on an organization named "Hunter".
According to the contents of the report, the "Hunter" organization has only appeared in Mosul within the last month.
During this month, as many as 162 US Army soldiers have died in Mosul battle, with over three hundred wounded.
At first glance, this number doesn't seem high.
However, when compared to the casualty figures from the entire "Illigo Freedom" operation, it becomes horrifying.
As part of the invasion force invading Illigo, from the start of the invasion in April last year until the announcement of the end of the "Illigo Freedom" in July, a total of 262 US Army soldiers died, and among them, 123 died from traffic accidents, friendly fire, and other strange causes.
Out of these 162, besides a portion who were killed by Resistance Organization's stealth attacks using rocket and Mortar fire, most were snipers who were killed during search and destroy missions in the city over the past month.
The ambushers who targeted US forces were extremely skilled shooters and very clever, never engaging in prolonged combat, killing whatever and whoever they could, and moving immediately upon detection by US forces.
By the time support arrived, it was often too late, and the area searches afterward usually came up empty.
The report also analyzed the tactical measures used by the resistance organizations in the Mosul area recently; these armed militants adopted a range of effective tactics and strategies.
Instead of defending the city with large structured forces using buildings as they had at the beginning of the battle of Mosul, they completely decentralized their forces, formed numerous mixed, highly efficient combat teams, and adopted hit-and-run tactics continuously wearing down the strength of US forces and the ICDC.