"What did that blond guy tell you?"
Returning to his own convoy, the cook came up and asked.
"Good news," Song Heping said. "This time, only 50 of us will be stationed in the oil field area."
"Wasn't it agreed to be 200?" the cook was stunned.
Song Heping shook his head. "Not anymore, it's been changed at the last minute."
The cook asked, "Changed to what?"
"I guess they feel we're not capable of taking on the security task for Hassan Oil Field and figured it's better to have fewer people go over. That way, if something happens, they won't have to compensate as much."
Song Heping pointed out the cunning thoughts of Wood Company.
"Damn capitalists!" the cook muttered. "How little they must think of us!"
After a pause, he added, "But we really do have fewer people. Look at Lars and his lot, just the local mercenaries alone number 100, and there are 30 core team members..."
As he spoke, a hint of worry flashed in his eyes.
Song Heping also felt considerable pressure.
The Hassan Oil Field covered an area of nearly six hundred square kilometers.
This was his first time commanding a troop in actual combat, but at this moment, he couldn't show any weakness. After all, he was now the one in charge.
"No problem, just follow my orders once we're there."
Although he said this, when Song Heping and his team arrived at Hassan Oil Field at dusk, he still felt some trepidation.
The oil field area here was almost an endless plain. What met their eyes were countless steel towers and huge oil storage tanks. As the convoy entered the oil region, they were greeted with a scene of destruction and desolation; many facilities and buildings were damaged, and it was obvious that parts of the pipes had been deliberately blown up.
Some areas had blackened ground surfaces, clearly scorched by fires.
After unloading the engineers and local employees of Wood Company, Song Heping gathered everyone together, first instructing Samir and another platoon leader, Larif, to take the two platoons of 60 men to set up defensive patrols near the core production and residential areas. Then he went with the cook and others in a car to reconnoiter the entire oil field area.
During the reconnaissance of the terrain, the more Song Heping saw, the more apprehensive he became.
He increasingly felt that Wood's assigning such a vast oil field security task to his mercenary group did not mean that the old fox trusted him.
It was too big.
This oil field area.
The residential area, the oil extraction zone, and the loading and storage areas.
The whole oil region was a long strip, about 18 kilometers wide and 32 kilometers long, with a total area of 576 square kilometers.
Preventing incidents was not impossible, if Wood Company was willing to erect wire fences along the normal boundary of the oil region and station at least two companies of security personnel for day and night patrols, and if they could receive quick reinforcements from the coalition forces and air support when incidents occurred.
But with his mere 60 men, it was simply impossible to defend. Except for a marshland north of the storage area, the rest of the place lacked natural defenses, a flat terrain with only sparse mounds and ditches, no cover, and no choked points for defensive positions.
One might say the entire Hassan Oil Field area was a sieve with holes everywhere.
After returning to the production area, Song Heping immediately sought out the engineer supervisor Sanchez to inquire about the work plans for the next few days.
Sanchez honestly reported, "Our main task for the next few days is to assess and test to see to what extent the equipment here is damaged, to prepare a report for the head office, so they can arrange how many people to send here to resume production, transport how much equipment to repair the damaged facilities, and get the whole oil region up and running."
On hearing this, Song Heping had an idea in mind.
"We won't stay here overnight. Have them stay in a nearby town, and we'll drive back here to work tomorrow morning," he shared his opinion.
Sanchez hurriedly said, "What? There's a residential area here; why not stay? I just went and checked—the houses are fine. Inside, someone had gone through things, but the beds are there. We brought sleeping bags; we can manage."
Song Heping said, "If you don't want to die, you'd better listen to me. This place is not safe to stay in at night."
Sanchez asked, "You mean we might be attacked tonight?"
Song Heping said, "Not necessarily, but it's unsafe. If an armed organization attacks, our few people can't protect you all."
Sanchez said, "What do you mean by that? You're mercenaries, security is your responsibility. My responsibility is to quickly put together a report for the head office and assist with the rapid resumption of production."
Song Heping countered, "Can you work at night?"
Sanchez shook his head, "The power system has some problems; it needs fixing."
Song Heping said, "That's right, so, go rest in the nearby town at night and come back to work during the day. We'll be responsible for escorting you. Does that affect your work progress?"
Sanchez was at a loss for words.
Because what Song Heping said was true.
This way, work efficiency wouldn't be affected.
"Alright." Sanchez conceded, "But I have to report this matter to Mr. Turner."
"Right." Song Heping remembered something, "Where's Mr. Turner?"
Sanchez said, "He's gone back to Baghdad, telling us to call him if there's any issue."
Song Heping laughed, "That's right. He's run off, do you think he doesn't know how dangerous it is here?"
He patted the shoulder of the engineer supervisor in front of him, "Follow my lead, and you won't end up in a box being shipped back to the Country M, right?"
Sanchez had two children, the oldest only six and the youngest one.
When Song Heping spoke like this, he understood immediately and nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Returning to his own team, Song Heping shared his decision with everyone.
The cook breathed a sigh of relief after hearing it.
"That's good, at least we don't have to worry about protecting them."
Finally, the cook asked Song Heping, "Going back to town tonight will make it easier for us too, right?"
"We're not going back." Song Heping said, "We're staying."
"Staying? Staying here?"
The crowd was a bit surprised.
Song Heping took out the map and spread it on the table.
"Guess if we have gotten here, whether those armed organizations entrenched around here have received the message?"
The cook thought for a moment and said, "They must know. This is their turf, and they definitely have their informants."
Song Heping said, "That's right, and since they know, they'll surely come here to stir up trouble. Both Hassan and Cook oil fields are in high-production areas. The several forces entrenched here all want to take control to make a fortune. Why hasn't anyone taken over? That's because none of them can hold it.
The Americans think they can hold it, so the provisional government outsourced it to them, and the local forces will definitely use their methods to make the Americans give up and leave. I guess, by tonight, they'll come to give us a warning."
The cook nodded, "You mean we're going to have a good fight with them here tonight?"
"Fight? What fight?" Song Heping put away the map, "How many of us are there? To fight them to the death? Cook, you think the company's compensation is too much to pay out, huh?"
His meaning was understood by everyone.
The core team members had insurance.
If they died, the insurance company would compensate.
However, because it was battlefield insurance, it was particularly expensive, and only the core team members could afford it.
As for local mercenaries like Samir, they didn't qualify for this benefit. Generally, as per the rules in Baghdad, for every local mercenary that died, a compensation of 5000 US dollars was paid.
"If we're not fighting them, why are we staying here?" White Bear stretched and said, "We might as well run a few dozen kilometers back to town and get a good night's sleep."
"If we have guests coming, shouldn't we prepare a little surprise for them?" Song Heping said, "Right, have them move some of the landmines from the vehicle. If we have guests tonight, let them come. We'll prepare a good meal and wait for them, inviting them to savor it thoroughly."