50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 786 A One-Man Advance Team
"You need to understand one thing: among the world's armies, we have never had an advantage in terms of weaponry, but war has never been just about weapons."

"We have defeated a coalition of seventeen nations on land, and we cannot be weak at sea."

Sun Zhiwei's words of encouragement did have an effect; afterwards, the crew members on the two frigates were noticeably more spirited than before.

That should be fine. After all, it's the first time we've gone on a mission to the open sea, so we can't have too high expectations. Just maintain normal combat strength.

After they sail and destroy a few enemy ships, their morale will naturally change.

The two frigates can reach a top speed of 28 knots, but maintaining this top speed for an extended period would be unsustainable for the ships' equipment and fuel.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, they will maintain a cruising speed of 15-20 knots.

The distance from Malacca to Mukala Port in the Gulf of Aden is 6000 kilometers, and at a speed of 20 knots, it takes 6-7 days.

After a simple calculation of the flight distance, Sun Zhiwei frowned.

South Yemen is already a battlefield. Without support for six or seven days, the situation could get much worse. This is definitely not acceptable.

"Comrade Tao Yongqiang, could you please contact the embassy in South Yemen right now and ask them about their current situation?"

He needed to know how long they could hold out; six or seven days was definitely not enough.

Half an hour later, the South Yemeni embassy called back, and Sun Zhiwei learned about their current situation.

We currently have over 800 people in South Yemen, but these 800 people are divided into three groups.

Part of them were staff from the embassy district, part were experts and relevant personnel from various aid and contracting groups in the Hel Muksa community, and part were doctors and nurses from the Chinese medical team in Abyan province.

However, all three areas are war zones fiercely contested by both sides in the conflict.

The only slightly better area is the embassy district, since the Russian embassy district is also located there.

After the war began, they actually drove a T-80 main battle tank out of their own embassy and parked it at the embassy gate.

This massive machine served as a powerful deterrent to both sides, which significantly reduced the intensity of the fighting in the embassy district.

However, the situation is not so optimistic in the other two places. Staff members in the Hel Muksa community and Abyan province are trapped there with very little food or defensive weapons.

Embassy staff are currently looking for ways to bring personnel from the other two locations to the embassy area, but so far they have not succeeded.

"Return the message to them that our two warships are on their way and are expected to arrive at the port in six days. Tell them to stay in the embassy area and not to move around. The advance team will arrive at the embassy in a day."

The telegram was sent quickly, but the captain still questioned the words "advance team".

How many people are in this advance team? Are they sure they can arrive tomorrow?

Sun Zhiwei smiled and said, "The advance team consists of only me. However, I need to borrow the Black Hawk from the ship. Will you have any problems on the journey if you are missing one Black Hawk?"

"No problem, one Black Hawk is enough, but the Black Hawk's range isn't enough. Besides, what use can you be by yourself?"

"I know I can find a place to refuel along the way. As for what role I can play, don't worry about that; I'll find a way to help them."

After saying that, Sun Zhiwei looked at his watch and said, "It's 3:40 a.m. now. Could you please prepare some food for me on the ship? I'll set off after I finish eating."

"Okay, food is always available. Let's go straight to the restaurant."

Although it was late at night, the ship's mess hall was still brightly lit. The cooks were still on night shift, keeping the pre-prepared dishes warm on hot water so that the sailors returning from their shifts could come and eat at any time.

Sun Zhiwei didn't complain. He picked up his tray, got his food, and started eating heartily. Tao Yongqiang stayed by his side, asking about the progress of the mission.

Sun Zhiwei and Tao Yongqiang ate and talked for 10 minutes. After they had finished eating and drinking, he got up to say goodbye to Tao Yongqiang.

"Comrade Tao Yongqiang, I'll be leaving now. I'll make sure our fleet gets there safely. See you in a week." With that, he saluted Captain Tao Yongqiang.

"Rest assured, we'll see you in a week." Captain Tao Yongqiang also stood up solemnly to return the salute. Sun Zhiwei was going to the war zone alone, which was no easy task. All he could do was lead the fleet there to provide support as soon as possible.

Five minutes later, Sun Zhiwei drove the Black Hawk he had just gotten off the plane and set off again, speeding towards the northwest.

His claim to Tao Yongqiang that he could find a place to refuel along the way was just a cover-up; he actually had plenty of aviation fuel in his cargo hold, so he could fly continuously without stopping.

He soon flew across the Strait of Malacca and into the Bay of Bengal.

However, he needed to take a slight detour ahead because he needed to go to Sri Lanka to retrieve some equipment.

Just now, a message mentioned in a telegram from the South Yemeni embassy gave him an idea.

If the Russians can intimidate the enemy with a tank, so can he.

Once he gets there, he will definitely need to help the staff of the Hel Muksa community and Abyan province evacuate to the embassy district, but ensuring the safety of the staff along the way is the most important issue.

If tanks could clear the way, it would undoubtedly greatly increase the probability of safety.

Unfortunately, he has never had a tank among the equipment he has collected in his space, which is a bit of a problem for him.

Fortunately, he found useful information from his memories of his past life.

Our family has been trading with Sri Lanka ever since we signed the China-Sri Lanka Rice-Rubber Agreement in 1952.

From 1953 to 1982, trade between China and Sri Lanka was accounted for, which is a barter trade method used because both sides lacked foreign exchange.

In other words, we provide them with textiles, electromechanical products, building materials, small hardware, pharmaceuticals, and other commodities;

Sri Lanka imports rubber and its products, specialty agricultural products such as black tea and coconut oil, and commodities such as gemstones from us. The two sides offset the trade amount through bookkeeping.

It wasn't until 83 that China and Sri Lanka switched to cash settlement for trade.

During this period, we exported 20 Type 69 medium tanks to Sri Lanka, which is Sun Zhiwei's target this time.

On the vast Bay of Bengal, a Black Hawk helicopter sped across the sea like a bolt of lightning.

After a 6-hour flight, we are about to arrive at Sri Lanka.

Sun Zhiwei showed no signs of slowing down. After reaching the coastline, he quickly determined the direction and headed straight for Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.

The number of 20 main battle tanks was not large; according to his memory, these tanks were all in military camps on the outskirts of Colombo.

He didn't need to land; the time it took him to fly directly over the military camp was enough for him to collect several tanks remotely using spatial teleportation.

(End of this chapter)