"Why are you still here?"
Song Heping suddenly remembered something.
"What about the wounded? Why didn't you send them to the hospital in town?"
"This..."
Samir had also just remembered this.
"Isn't it... Boss, didn't you ask me to stay here to be your translator?"
"Yes, but you could have arranged for someone else to do it. You do your translating, does that prevent you from sending someone to take the wounded to the hospital?"
"..."
Samir was speechless.
The boss was really hard to serve.
He hurriedly went to arrange for someone to take care of the wounded and the bodies.
At this moment, those who were collecting the bodies of the armed militants around the water station had all returned, bringing back a large number of individual weapons, mostly AK series, nothing surprising.
The somewhat satisfying finds were three run-down trucks and six pickups; confiscating these as company property for transporting supplies was quite good, as it would save a considerable amount of money.
However, no matter what, the collected weapons were also very useful if kept. Storing them in a room to establish an armory and ammunition depot would be beneficial should the water station face a high-intensity attack, having ample weapons and ammunition to hold off the enemy until reinforcements arrived.
Song Heping didn't trust those allied forces.
Although Colonel Curtis had informed him that if there was a problem, he could call the United Security Council for air support and so on.
But having been here for so long, Song Heping had never received support from the allied forces.
Often the battle would be over, and matters would be dealt with, before the US Army arrived late.
Those soldiers, worn down from daily firefights with militants, barely had any energy left to handle the trivial matters of private defense companies.
Better to rely on oneself than on heaven or earth.
That was Song Heping's operational principle.
"Boss, how should we deal with these people?"
White Bear, seeing that the interrogations were complete, took the initiative to ask what to do with the captured armed militants.
Usually, armed personnel caught by private defense companies would be handed over to the temporary government, that is, the local police stations.
Currently, Illiguo's various levels of administrative structures were gradually resuming operation, and most places had police stations.
If the captive was a sensitive militant leader, they would be directly handed over to the United Security Council or the US Army for disposal.
Song Heping thought for a moment and said, "Keep one person, tie up the others tightly in a room and have two people watch over them."
"Which one should we keep?"
"Keep the skinny one."
"No problem!"
White Bear was impatient, but his impatience had its advantages; he worked swiftly. He immediately took people to tie up the captives tightly like rice dumplings and locked them up in the building.
Samir asked Song Heping, "Boss, why keep the skinny guy?"
"Have him be our guide," Song Heping said. "The address he mentioned just now, it looks like it's in the town, isn't it?"
Samir replied, "Yes, it's a nearby town called Gela Town."
"Interesting," Song Heping said. "I initially thought their stronghold would be in the mountains or the desert."
Samira said, "Hiding in a town has its benefits; hide a gun, and you're a civilian, pick up a gun, and you become a soldier."
"The greatest secrecy is hiding in plain sight," Song Heping muttered to himself, thinking that if this was indeed the case, it posed a significant threat to the future security of the water station.
If they hid in the nearby towns, even if he wanted to find them for revenge or eradication, it wouldn't be easy.
The reason why the US Army hadn't been able to fully control the northern area for several months was precisely this.
Invading a country with a formal military force and wanting to control someone else's land isn't difficult when facing a proper Defense Army; it is all about military strength.
However, dealing with guerrilla forces and resistance organizations is a different matter entirely; the difficulty lies in discerning between civilians and armed militants.
Now, having taken over the security order for the water station, he had to ensure no armed militants dared to attack it.
The best method, as previously at the Hassan Oil Field, was either to win them over, such as with the Mahdi Army, or to deal directly with those who couldn't be won over, like the Freedom Army.
The same applied here.
The reason the first two PMC companies couldn't carry on was that they were exposed while the enemy was hidden. Defending the water station might repel one attack, but what about two, three, four attacks?
An endless series of assaults would leave people exhausted and gradually weaken their strength. After all, in military doctrine, this is a question of the initiative.
Who holds the initiative on the battlefield.
If it's always in your opponent's hands, you're bound to lose eventually.
You must seize the opportunity and take the initiative.
That was the combat principle Song Heping had learned in the army.