231: Chapter 231 The Curved Blade Pierced by the Campfire

The young man rose slowly. He didn't look at Houssa, but instead walked to the map and stared at the point marking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait for a long time. Then, he turned and pulled an ancestral scimitar from his waist—the tribal totem of Bani Amir was engraved on the blade.

Clang!

He plunged the scimitar fiercely into the muddy ground beside the campfire, the blade vibrating.

“Bani Amir,” Mustafa's voice was hoarse, “will join. But I have one condition.”

“Speak,” Houssa looked at him calmly.

“The first tough battle,” Mustafa's eyes burned with the flames of revenge, “let us be the vanguard. I want to use the blood of the enemy to offer a sacrifice to the souls of my clansmen.”

Houssa reached out and pressed his hand on the trembling hilt: “Deal.”

Five hands were stacked together.

At that moment, deep within the limestone caves of the Al-Hada Mountains, the four-tribe alliance was officially formed.

That night, Houssa issued his first reorganization order: all armed forces of the four tribes were to be unified and reorganized into the 'Yemen Liberation Front 1st Mountain Brigade,' consisting of four infantry battalions, with each battalion based on the original tribes. Houssa appointed himself as the Brigade Commander, Mahmoud as the Deputy Brigade Commander and Political Commissar, while Hussein, Ali, and Mustafa served as the commanders of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions respectively.

Simultaneously, he sent a request to Naypyidaw through the system channel:

[Sovereign, the Yemen line has integrated four major tribes with a total force of approximately 2,200 men. Requesting heavy fire support to carry out the first battle to establish our prestige. Target: The forces of Ibrahim Zakaria, a pro-Squid Nation warlord. This unit is entrenched in Azan Town, 80 kilometers southeast of Taiz, controlling an important land route to the Red Sea. Their strength is approximately 1,200 men, equipped with 4 T-72 tanks, 8 BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, and 6 122mm howitzers. Suggested tactics: Long-range fire coverage + rapid mobile assault.]

[Exchange List: 4 sets of 122mm multiple rocket launcher systems (40km range); 400 rounds of matching rockets; 30 sets of 107mm single-tube rocket launchers (simple pickup-mounted type); 50 recoilless guns (73mm); 100 DShK heavy machine guns; 80 Armed Pickup Trucks (modified Toyota Hilux).]

[Estimated Total Consumption: 75,000 points.]

Naypyidaw, the secret room of the Presidential Palace.

Zhang Cheng looked at the integration report and operational plan sent back by Houssa and nodded slightly.

“This Houssa is moving faster than I imagined,” he said to Old K. “In less than a month, he went from being alone to raising a force of over two thousand people, and he even settled the score between four tribes with mutual grudges. The system-customized Advanced Death Soldiers are indeed worth the price.”

Old K's data stream was calm: “His background implantation included expertise in 'tribal political mediation' and 'strategic planning.' But the truly key factor is that he grasped the deepest pain points of these tribes—the hatred of losing their homes and families, and the fear of their living space being squeezed.”

“So we need to add more fuel to his fire.” Zhang Cheng operated the system interface. “Exchange approved. Additionally, add 20 sets of individual anti-tank missiles (HJ-8 Modified) and 30 sets of individual air-defense missiles (voroshilov-1). Since we're going to fight, let's fight beautifully and create a deterrent.”

[Exchange confirmed. Total consumption: 98,000 points.]

[Supplies will be dropped at the Saleh Port coordinates within 48 hours under the cover of a 'Red Sea coastal smuggling ship grounding accident'.]

Zhang Cheng replied to Houssa: [Approved. The first battle must be a total victory. After the battle, immediately move to the south bank of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and establish anti-ship missile positions. Remember: your battlefield is not in the mountains, but in the Red Sea.]

[Understood. The battle for prestige will be decided within five days.]

Azan Town was the most important transportation hub southeast of Taiz. Three highways converged here: one heading north to the Taiz city area, one southeast to the ports along the Red Sea coast, and one southwest connecting to the mountain tribal areas. Whoever controlled this place held the throat of land transport in southern Yemen.

The warlord Ibrahim Zakaria had operated here for eight years. He was originally a colonel in the former government army. After the civil war broke out, he took his troops to occupy Azan Town and played both sides—at times accepting aid from Saudi Arabia to fight the Houssa armed forces, and at other times accepting bribes from the United Arab Emirates to 'maintain regional stability.' In the past six months, he had even established contact with the Squid Nation's intelligence agency, becoming an important proxy for the latter in southern Yemen.

His headquarters was located in the former government building in the center of town, a three-story concrete building with four anti-aircraft machine guns mounted on the roof, surrounded by sandbag fortifications and barbed wire. On the outskirts of the town, there was a company-level outpost in each of the four directions, equipped with mortars and heavy machine guns. Eight hundred core troops were stationed inside the town, well-equipped; the four outer outposts each had over a hundred men, mostly recruited local militia.

Ibrahim himself was currently in his bedroom on the second floor of the headquarters, sleeping soundly while holding a young girl he had just kidnapped. On the nightstand sat a half-drunk bottle of whiskey—a 'small gift' from a Squid Nation advisor.

4:30 AM.

In a valley thirty-eight kilometers northeast of Azan Town in a straight line.

Four 122mm multiple rocket launcher vehicles had already deployed. These weapons exchanged from the system had undergone simple camouflage—covered with desert camouflage nets and parked in the shadows of natural rock walls. Each launcher vehicle carried forty launch tubes, all of which were now tilted upward, pointing toward the southwestern sky.

Operating these rocket launchers were twenty Junior Death Soldiers disguised as 'overseas returnee artillery experts.' They skillfully completed the final entry of firing data.

“Target coordinates: A-1, enemy headquarters and surrounding fortifications; A-2, western outer outpost; A-3, eastern outer outpost; A-4, northern outpost; A-5, southern outpost.”

“Rocket types: High-explosive fragmentation rounds for area A-1, dual-purpose submunitions (anti-personnel/anti-light vehicle) for areas A-2 to A-5.”

“Salvo mode: Four vehicles synchronized, two rounds of rapid fire, fifteen-second interval.”

“Data entry complete.”

“Launch preparations complete.”

On the encrypted channel, Houssa's voice came through calmly: “Execute according to plan. After the first round of salvo, the mobile assault team will depart.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Launch countdown: Ten, nine, eight...”

At the same time, at assembly points fifteen kilometers northwest and southwest of Azan Town.

Eighty Armed Pickup Trucks were already roaring with their engines. Each vehicle had been reinforced and modified: the cabs were welded with steel plates, and the truck beds were either mounted with DShK heavy machine guns or 107mm rocket launchers, or carried four to five fully armed soldiers. Most of these soldiers wore a mix of clothing—tactical vests over tribal robes, and headscarves wrapped around their heads with only their eyes exposed, their gazes full of eager fighting spirit.

Mustafa stood on the hood of a command vehicle, making a final mobilization with a megaphone: “Warriors of Bani Amir! Today, we will let those Saudi dogs and Squid Nation proxies know that the true masters of these mountains have returned! No prisoners, leave no one alive—unless they kneel fast enough! Allahu Akbar!”

“Allahu Akbar!” over three hundred warriors of the Bani Amir tribe roared in unison.