Chapter 1968 - 1434: Ideals and Reality (Part 2)

At that moment, the door at the end of the corridor opened.

Safar Al-Rahim stood at the doorway.

He wasn't wearing a regular uniform, but combat camouflage, with knees and elbows worn white. Above the left chest pocket was the badge of the Desert Eagle Camp, and on his right arm was the patch of the Iraq Army Special Forces.

Song Heping scrutinized the man closely for the first time.

Thirty-two years old, but looked somewhat older.

The desert sun and sand had etched lines on his face that transcended age, especially around the eyes and mouth—marks that only come from prolonged pressure and fatigue.

His physique was well-maintained, with broad shoulders and a straight back, characteristic of a professional soldier's posture.

But what caught the most attention was his eyes.

Deep brown irises, very dark pupils, sharp and penetrating when looking at someone.

"Mr. Song." Safar spoke proactively: "Please come in."

The office was as simplistic as the corridor.

An old iron desk, its paint chipped; two wooden chairs, one of which had a leg reinforced with wire; a filing cabinet, with the door ajar, showing overstuffed file bags inside.

The only decor was a large map of Iraq on the wall, densely marked with symbols and arrows in red and blue markers.

Safar walked behind the desk but didn't sit down, instead turning to face the map.

His finger pointed to Mosul, circled in red.

"Three months ago, the Sinjar operation," he said, back towards Song Heping, "One of my assault platoons, twenty-five men, was ordered to pursue a group of 1515 key members infiltrated from Siria. Intelligence indicated their party numbered only eight to ten, lightly equipped without heavy firepower. My platoon set out at four in the afternoon, expecting the battle to conclude before sunset."

His finger moved westward, stopping at a marked mountainous terrain.

"But they underestimated the opponent's preparation. Those 1515 members were not ordinary terrorists; they were former Iraqi Republican Guard Special Forces officers who joined extremist organizations after 2003. They knew the terrain well, and possessed night vision equipment."

Safar turned around, retrieved a thick document from the drawer, and tossed it on the table.

"The operation report – pages 3 to 5 detail the action, pages 6 to 8 analyze casualties. See for yourself."

Song Heping didn't open the report.

He had already learned the whole battle process through Henry's intelligence network.

A well-trained detachment of Iraq Army Special Forces was almost annihilated in a nighttime encounter due to an equipment disparity.

The enemy exploited the night vision advantage, occupying strategic positions, and precisely eliminated exposed Illigo Soldiers one by one.

While Safar's men could only fire blindly until their ammunition was depleted.

"What do you need?" Song Heping asked straightforwardly.

"Thirty sets of third-generation night vision goggles, preferably panoramic four-lens," Safar replied without any hesitation: "My battalion has four tactical companies, each needs six basic sets, two for command, sniper, and assault groups respectively. Plus, six spare sets for rotation and maintenance."

"What about light weapons?" Song Heping asked.

"Standardized," Safar's voice carried suppressed fury: "We're using a hodgepodge now. Outdated AK-74s, captured M4A1s, CZ-805 issued by the Ministry of Defense, and about a dozen SCAR-Ls of questionable authenticity bought from the black market. Every pre-action requires armorers to spend two hours zeroing different weapons, and soldiers must familiarize themselves with at least two operation systems. That's just rifles; machine guns include PKM, M240, M249, and handguns feature Glock, M9, Makarov…"

He walked to the wall, tapping a chart below the map: "This is last month's logistics request form. 5.56mm NATO rounds, 7.62×39mm, 7.62×51mm, 9mm Parabellum rounds, 9mm Makarov rounds. My logistics officer has to engage five different departments monthly to assemble basic training ammunition. And live ammo? Depends on which faction of the Ministry of Defense is in a good mood."

Song Heping listened quietly.

He knew every word Safar said was true because the intelligence provided by Henry was even more detailed.

The Desert Eagle Camp had four combat operations canceled or delayed last year due to insufficient ammo, allowing at least three high-value targets to escape.

"Major." Song Heping crossed his hands on the table: "I brought ten GPNVG-18 panoramic night vision goggles, the same four-lens used by US Special Forces, 120-degree view. Twenty HK416A5, fully equipped with EOTech EXPS3 holographic sights, LA-5 PEQ laser pointers, SureFire M600V tactical lights. Five MG5 universal machine guns, with ten thousand 7.62×51mm rounds. Also fifty sets of US Army standard ESAPI Bullet-Proof Plates, protective level three times higher than your current inferior plates."

Safar's expression froze.

Not delight, but a mixture of desire and caution.

His Adam's apple moved up and down, subconsciously clenching his right hand into a fist.

"What are the conditions?" he asked, his voice deeper than before.

Giving away such expensive equipment?

There's no free lunch, least of all falling onto his unit's lap.

Safar knew all too well the rules of the game in this country.

Every gift is tagged with a price, often a staggering one.

"Two things." Song Heping raised two fingers: "First, this batch of equipment must be formally received, documented as 'Emergency Materiel Procurement for Special Operations Battalion of Desert Eagle', and processed through a special channel to bypass conventional approval procedures. Second, persuade Minister Rashim within two days to have the Ministry of Defense complete the handover process of my remaining munitions in the Mosul warehouse within a week."