Soldiers Assault: Starting from the 7th Steel Company

Chapter 200: Engwara's True Identity?
With the addition of modern unloading equipment, the unloading operation proceeded exceptionally smoothly. Amidst the roar of machinery, crates of supplies were precisely unloaded from the cargo ship and neatly stacked on the dock. Within just a few hours, all the goods had been safely loaded onto the trucks. To ensure the safety of the supplies, Chen Jiang led all the soldiers in a round-the-clock vigilance, keeping a watchful eye on the surrounding area.

The local troops led by Augu were positioned on the perimeter for surveillance. This wasn't because Chen Jiang distrusted them, but rather because, being in a foreign land, caution was always the best policy. Moreover, with the deterrent presence of these armored infantry fighting vehicles, unless it was a regular armored force from the Democratic Republic of Congo attacking, what foolish thief would dare to provoke them?

The nights in Matadi were quite cold, and Chen Jiang and the other soldiers huddled inside their armored vehicles.

Engwara was quite considerate, bringing a sumptuous meal and even local palm wine. However, Chen Jiang had strictly forbidden drinking alcohol, so the drinks ended up benefiting Augu and his companions.

Chen Jiang took advantage of this rare free time to send a text message to his wife in the Kinshasa military camp. Unexpectedly, Chu Ning hadn't slept at all and was also eagerly waiting for her husband's safe return. The two chatted on the phone for a while, pouring out their hearts to each other. Eventually, Chen Jiang couldn't hold on any longer and, after arranging for the soldiers on duty, fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Xu Sanduo had already prepared a simple breakfast—several bowls of steaming corn porridge with local flatbread. Although simple, it was a rare delicacy in resource-scarce Africa.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Chen Jiang said goodbye to Captain Sun. He was finally about to return home. Many soldiers handed him letters they had written overnight, instructing him to send them back to China. Chen Jiang was no exception. He wrote a letter to his mother-in-law to let her know he was safe.

After everything was ready, Chen Jiang arranged for a row of 10 infantry fighting vehicles, all of which were painted in United Nations blue with prominent UN markings.

The other supplies were loaded onto trucks, along with a large number of equipment and vehicles from the engineering battalion, driven by the battalion's personnel, and then there was Augu's team. The group marched in a grand procession toward Kinshasa.

However, the line was much longer when we went back this time, so the pace was much slower.

Those with ulterior motives along the way couldn't help but be envious when they saw Chen Jiang and his group carrying so much cargo. However, seeing so many armored vehicles, they could only consider whether they were qualified to keep their belongings.

So, although the journey was slow, we finally arrived in Kinshasa around dusk.

When Guo Baoqing and the others finally saw Chen Jiang's convoy at the gate of the military camp, they were so excited that they danced with joy. Chu Ning even ran out and hugged her husband tightly.

That night, perhaps because he was accompanied by his beloved wife, or perhaps because he had returned to his own territory and was extremely tired from the journey, Chen Jiang slept very soundly.

When she woke up in the morning, Chu Ning had already prepared a sumptuous breakfast for her. He had to admit that the wife he had married was truly virtuous.

Because the supplies brought in were so plentiful, eggs and noodles were a rare treat, things that are commonplace in China but are absolutely precious here.

Chen Jiang ate with great relish, praising his wife's cooking skills.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, he first arranged for personnel to direct the troops' training. Then, he and Guo Baoqing set off to find Yuan Guoxing to report on the supplies they had received. Xu Sanduo and his men had already inventoried and stored all the supplies.

Upon seeing that the equipment had finally arrived, Yuan Guoxing immediately discussed the next tasks with Chen Jiang and Guo Baoqing.

Their main peacekeeping mission this time is to maintain social order in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighbor, the Republic of Congo.
Before the 19th century, the development of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo was indistinguishable because they were under the administration of a single country called the "Kingdom of Congo".

The fate of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo only changed after Western countries colonized the African continent.

In the late 19th century, European powers ceded the land east of the Congo River to Belgium, which became the Democratic Republic of Congo as a Belgian colony.

The land west of the Congo River was ceded to France and became the present-day Republic of Congo.

On the surface, this territorial division was merely an act of Western powers carving up war spoils, but in reality, it foreshadowed the fate of the two countries.

After the Republic of Congo was designated as a French colony, it suffered brutal exploitation. However, due to the abundance of resources within the country, France did undertake some development to facilitate its exploitation, laying a certain foundation for the industrial development of the Republic of Congo.

Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, was also the symbolic capital of Free France during World War II.

After gaining independence in 1960, the Republic of Congo did indeed rely on the foundations laid by France to develop its domestic economy relatively well.

Now, it has basically achieved food and clothing security and is considered one of the better-off countries in the entire African continent.

But the situation was different in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At that time, Belgium only treated the Democratic Republic of Congo as a "cash cow," making endless demands without giving anything back, and the people lived a very hard life.

Moreover, unlike France's development of the Republic of Congo, Belgium had no intention of developing the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a result, the Democratic Republic of Congo had no industrial base whatsoever after independence, and its economic development was extremely slow.

More importantly, in order to prevent the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo from rebelling against Belgian colonial rule, Belgium supported many political parties within the DRC.

According to incomplete statistics, there are as many as 400 political parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These parties all want to come to power, so they attack each other and even fight each other. As a result, the already poor and backward Democratic Republic of Congo has become even more chaotic, making it one of the poorest countries in the world.

Seeing their neighbor having plenty to eat and drink while they were forced to eat wild vegetables and insects, anyone would feel resentful. This is why the Democratic Republic of Congo harbors deep hatred towards the Republic of Congo, and the Republic of Congo looks down on the impoverished Democratic Republic of Congo. The hostile relationship between the two countries is very serious, with various conflicts erupting one after another.

Therefore, the peacekeeping forces are under great pressure. Ideally, the best approach for such situations would be to provide relief to the people while simultaneously helping them resume production. Throughout history, as long as people have food and clothing, who would be foolish enough to engage in dangerous activities like fighting for their lives?

But it's very difficult here. First of all, the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not small. Although the land is vast and the population is sparse, it is relatively concentrated in the Kinshasa region. How much food would be needed to feed so many poor people? Which country has so much food to donate? And even if it did, the major powers would not be willing to be such a sucker.

On the other hand, given the underdeveloped transportation system within the Democratic Republic of Congo, how could so much grain be transported here?

Most importantly, the people in Africa have a bad habit: once they get addicted to freeloading, they are no longer willing to work. Therefore, helping them restore production will become a pipe dream and even more unattainable.

This is why the UN's mission for the Chinese peacekeeping forces is not relief, but rather maintaining stability and providing some humanitarian assistance.

As for the peacekeeping forces from other countries in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are several thousand of them. They are mainly there to maintain stability, but their presence is largely symbolic. The situation there is too chaotic, and such a small peacekeeping force probably won't be able to do much.

According to Yuan Guoxing, the Democratic Republic of Congo has various armed forces.
For example, the "Liberate Rwanda" in Rwanda consisted of an army made up of Rwandan refugees.

This armed force may seem to have nothing to do with the Democratic Republic of Congo, but it wasn't there to liberate Rwanda at all; it was specifically stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The refugees have formed a force that is rare in the world.

There is also the "God's Resistance Army" in Uganda, whose aim is to establish a theocratic state in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The key point is that the public's support in the Democratic Republic of Congo is not low.

Various unrelated armies like to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo, mainly because the Congo's military is too weak. Although the Congo's army has a total strength of 10, many of them are grandfathers over 50 years old or child soldiers around 10 years old. How much combat power these troops actually have is something that can only be figured out by themselves.

The only force that could be considered elite was probably the president's guard, with a force of over a thousand men, including Augustus and his men.
However, most of the country's military is in the hands of Vice President Benba, who possesses a number of Soviet-style tanks. This is his "trump card" and the main reason why the current president, Kara, is so wary of him.

Hearing this, Guo Baoqing was a little unhappy, because his mission was to lead the engineering battalion to carry out some public welfare construction in the Democratic Republic of Congo, such as road construction and hospital building. But if things continued to be so chaotic, the lives of the engineering battalion would be at risk.

“Instructor Guo, I understand your difficulties, but this has always been the case in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Look at the peacekeeping forces of other countries, which country would be willing to invest a large number of troops in this place to maintain stability? Besides, the best way is to establish a unified large party and abolish all other small parties. This would definitely ensure peace, but it would require a massive investment, which is simply not worth it.” Yuan Guoxing had been here for a long time and was very familiar with the situation, so his points were quite incisive.

"Chief, my idea is that it would be best to maintain a relative balance of power between Kara and Benba, which would help us carry out our work," Chen Jiang suggested.

"Balance? What do you mean?" Yuan Guoxing asked, somewhat puzzled.

"After this period of time, I have seen some clues. Although Vice President Benba's power is stronger, his governance is relatively rough and he is not very popular. President Kara, on the other hand, is the legitimate son of the old president, and the people here still trust him. If we help Benba, we may gain some benefits in the short term, but in the long run, the Democratic Republic of Congo will probably fall into greater internal turmoil."

Chen Jiang said this not out of excessive compassion, but because if things get chaotic here, China's peacekeeping forces will have to be continuously deployed here, and in the end, won't the motherland pay the price?

"You mean you support Kara?" Yuan Guoxing really didn't have much confidence in Kara's strength. He had been here as ambassador for many years, but Kara's strength had never been revealed. This was just one guard, which, although elite, was too small in number.

"No," Chen Jiang unexpectedly denied.
"Huh? Chen Jiang, can you explain this more clearly? You're confusing me." Guo Baoqing was a little confused.

Chen Jiang smiled calmly, "We can't directly support Kara, because that would be like breaking ties with Benba. If he sees that Kara has our support, he will definitely act desperately, which will eventually lead to war."

“But we can help him do something else,” Chen Jiang said confidently.

"Alright, stop keeping me in suspense and tell me your thoughts." Yuan Guoxing was getting a little impatient.

Chen Jiang then brought up Engwara's earlier request. On the way here, he had heard Augu secretly tell him that Engwara actually had a very close relationship with President Kara, and that the fact that they were able to obtain the equipment so smoothly this time was mostly due to President Kara's help.

As for Engwara's request, it might just be Kara's idea.

“But I’ve never heard of any such relationship between them before,” Yuan Guoxing said, quite surprised.

"This is just my guess. You'll have to confirm it yourself. If my guess is true, then helping Engwara is helping Kara. We won't openly clash with Benba yet. Once Kara's strength grows, the two sides will reach a certain balance and check each other, and the order here will naturally be well controlled."

Looking at Chen Jiang's forward-thinking mindset, Yuan Guoxing felt that it was a brilliant decision for the higher-ups to send him to Africa. This young officer was definitely his strategist!
Supporting Engwara economically is not difficult; as an ambassador, he has the resources for that. However, in terms of military support…
My country advocates peaceful diplomacy, so I'm afraid it will be very difficult in this regard.

Chen Jiang saw his concerns and offered his own idea: we could help Kara train his presidential guard. The guard would not be large, and Benba would not be afraid of it. However, we could operate it entirely according to the Chinese officer training model. Once the guard's combat effectiveness was formed, it could be expanded quickly and become a pro-China armed force, which would definitely benefit us.

As for weapons and equipment, as long as the Democratic Republic of Congo is willing to pay, there are probably plenty of Western arms dealers willing to sell weapons to it. With money, there's no need to worry about not having equipment.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Guoxing's eyes lit up. This was truly a brilliant plan!
Since Guo Baoqing's engineering corps was going to help the Democratic Republic of Congo with its infrastructure projects anyway, why not make the southern port of Matadi even more prosperous, so that resources from the country could be transported over continuously? It would be a win-win situation!
(End of this chapter)