MTLNOVEL Chapter 1082: Strange Maozi
After Joe Ga finished speaking, Donahue was the first to sit down at Joe's right hand side...
'Ching Shan' stood up silently and moved to sit on Joe's left.
The French Major General adjusted his uniform, walked to the second left position and sat down, frowning as he glanced at 'Ching Shan' but said nothing.
The British Major General nodded and smiled to Joe Ga and then sat next to Donahue.
The most nondescript Italian Major General walked over with a grin and sat beside the British Major General.
Everyone was seated, except for the Russian Major General, who remained standing...
This guy frowned as he looked at the suddenly quiet crowd, turned to Joe Ga and said, "We are shareholders of the United Mining Management Company, we have the right to exercise our own rights..."
Joe Ga was baffled by this guy's unexpected confidence, incredulously rubbing his ear and said, "Major General Kasimov, as far as I know, your missile frigate is still stuck in the Black Sea and hasn't come out yet...
So tell me, how many divisions have you brought to exercise your authority?"
Saying this, Joe Ga seemed to recall something, patted his forehead, and said, "Oh, I remember now, you're a good friend of the Wagner boss...
Listen to me, if you're representing Russia's interests, then you should find a seat and watch us win and then take home the spoils of victory.
If you're representing Wagner, then there's no seat for you here, Djibouti has plenty of mercenary giants larger than Wagner, you should deal with them."
Joe Ga's speaking pace was not fast, but his authority was absolutely sufficient...
He had done his homework before coming, and the backgrounds of these people had long been thoroughly investigated.
No one else was a problem, only Major General Kasimov's identity and stance were somewhat strange...
A large interest group surrounds Russia's President, and most of this group were people he met during his rise.
Childhood friends, university classmates, judo class fellows, friends from his time as mayor, and so on...
To be honest, the President is a man of loyalty, anyone who knows him and has helped him, he's willing to give them a chance to board his ship.
Prigozhin, the boss of Wagner, was among them, a big shot who started out selling hot dogs on the street after being released, earning great benefits by serving diligently when the President was vice-mayor of Saint Petersburg.
After the President rose to power, Prigozhin seized contracts for army, school, and Kremlin catering supplies, effectively monopolizing government catering orders, making him somewhat of an oligarch.
However, compared to oil and finance oligarchs in Russia, a catering oligarch didn't attract much attention; the outside world knew little about him, and he was just a junior member of the President's interest group.
Until he took over Wagner, gradually expanding his sphere of influence.
Wagner was originally called the Slavic Military Service Company, and its foundation and expansion relied on the political upheaval in Crimea and the war in East W.
Later, because their top commander at the time, Utkin, liked the composer Wagner, they renamed it to Wagner.
Wagner initially performed exceptionally well in several conflicts in Crimea, catching the attention of the Russian high-level officials, and later received huge support from the Russian military to back East W's pro-Russian government.
Prigozhin was also during that time, hinted by the President, acquired shares of Wagner, becoming the new boss.
Surface-wise, Wagner was a contracted military service company under the Russian Ministry of Defense, but in reality, they were the President's private army.
This company used Russian military facilities for training, and the first batch of mercenaries sent to protect Bangui in Central Africa had mixed with Joe Ga's forces, but the second batch, however, included T90 tanks and S300 air defense missiles...
The MiG-29 fighter jets were initially supposed to be deployed, but were blocked by Central Africa's President Francois.
Years ago, the Central African Government signed a protection agreement with Russia to ensure the security of the capital, using the well-known Ndassima gold mine and a diamond mine near Nora as rewards, but Wagner ultimately showed up.
The security contract still had three years remaining at that time.
Wagner knew perfectly well that Central Africa was now P.B.'s territory, but instead of focusing on gold mining to earn money, they increased troops there, showing intense provocation.
However, Joe Ga couldn't care less about them...
The office dwellers have no understanding of the actual situation; Wagner getting free equipment from the Russian military is impressive, but once landed, they can't bypass the Central African Government and P.B. in anything...
The dispatched mercenaries couldn't care how the higher-ups think...
They're just employees paid monthly, to live good lives in Central Africa, they have to get along well with P.B.
Otherwise, they'll even rely on domestic air transportation to fuel their vehicles.
The first group of defectors led by Salenko is now P·B level 18 employees. Although the Slavic team he leads has suffered casualties and only 173 members remain, they are responsible for the security of the Tubruq oil pipeline.
There's a lot of work, but the salary they receive is several times higher than when they were with Wagner.
The Wagner soldiers stationed in Central Africa have repeatedly inquired of Salenko if P·B has any recruitment plans.
If Joe Ga didn't want to mess things up with Wagner and make it difficult for the Central African President, a Slavic heavy equipment battalion could have been easily recruited during the previous recruitment campaign.
Wagner now has about 4,000 combat personnel, stationed across Syria, Mali, Madagascar, SD, and more than a dozen other countries, mainly in Africa.
Their business is backed by Russia, leveraging Prigzhin's influence to provide military aid to those countries...
As mentioned before, 'aid' is never free. Wagner's business is trading military services for mining resources.
Apart from being soldiers and mining, Wagner also has a cyber army named 'Troll Farm', which last year aided Rashiri by spreading misinformation online.
Due to Donahue's company having unclear ties with several Russian companies, the Democrats still occasionally accuse Donahue of 'collusion with Russia'.
The peculiar nature of Wagner is apparent to anyone with insight; their real boss is Prigozhin, while Prigozhin is just the general manager!
Russia's interests in Yemen were finalized with the establishment of the United Mining Management Company.
Now with Kasimov stepping in, Joe Ga immediately understood Wagner planned to start new operations in Yemen.
Whether they intend to challenge Joe Ga's influence or simply cause trouble, or if there is something in Yemen they particularly want, is unknown to Joe Ga.
But he holds the absolute advantage now and certainly won't tolerate these people...
Looking at Major General Kasimov's stiff expression, Joe Ga smiled and said: "Buddy, you can find a seat and shut up...
Or go outside to make a call and gather the Wagner people, then consider whether to oppose me or wait for my orders.
Even if you go to work for Al-Qaeda across the street, I have no objection; they would definitely be willing to pay a high price..."
Kasimov felt humiliated, slammed the meeting table forcefully, glared at Joe Ga, and shouted: "We are partners, we have our own rights, we have the right to send our forces to participate, we have the right to act independently..."
Joe Ga was amused by this guy's words and shook his head, saying: "Brother, you only have the right to watch because you have nothing in your hands..."
Seeing Kasimov looking infuriated and wanting to speak, Joe Ga smiled and said: "If you are counting on those Wagner troops transferred from SD, hmm..."
Joe Ga turned to Bayar, smiled, and said: "Inform the Djibouti government to refuse entry to all Wagner mercenaries..."
As he spoke, Joe Ga looked at the still defiant expression of Kasimov. He patted his head and said to Bayar: "Reach out to the Greeks and have them conduct exercises or something in the Aegean Sea.
Those Russian frigates rarely make it out of the Black Sea; let them stay in the Aegean Sea for a few days."
Bayar stood up with a notebook, nodding while recording, and said: "Sir, is that all?
Actually, I think the equity distribution of the United Mining Management Company can also be adjusted..."
As soon as Bayar finished speaking, the French and British Major Generals sat up straight. They were purely there to make money for their governments. Kicking out Russia would ensure more shares for them, which they would certainly be very happy with.
Kasimov saw everyone present taking Joe Ga's words as a matter of course and immediately realized he had hit a brick wall this time.
A mercenary company boss capable of persuading the Greeks to intercept the Russian Navy—what level of power is that?
This guy grew up in Russia's bureaucratic system. He doesn't have a thorough understanding of P·B, but he has basic political wisdom...
Looking at Donahue, who maintained a perpetual smile despite supposedly being of the highest rank present, and thinking of the two deeply drafted Zumwalts docked at the American naval base, he immediately felt he had identified the key issue.
P·B is an American company, and Hu Lang is surely an American proxy.
He consciously glanced at the ever-silent 'Ching Shan', standing up straight, and said: "We should be partners on Yemen issues. Fighting terrorism should be a consensus, Wagner's introduction into Yemen would help stabilize the local situation."
Then Kasimov looked at Joe Ga and said: "Hu Lang, we should be collaborators, not enemies!
I have a piece of secret intelligence; Al-Qaeda has received external assistance, their manpower and resources now far exceed what several composite battalions can handle.
Regular troops can't enter Yemen for combat, and P·B alone isn't enough!"
Joe Ga instantly realized this guy's purpose and smiled, saying to Bayar: "The Iranian Intelligence Agency has been withholding information from you...
Do you think it's because my stance isn't clear enough, or am I too amiable?"