Time Travel 04: I Fight the US in the Middle East

Chapter 138: The entire fleet, including vehicles, goods, and people, was delivered to Langtuo territory!

The sun cast its last rays of sunset upon the earth, the sky gradually darkened, and the earth slowly cooled down.

Buzz, buzz!

Diesel engines roared as tanker trucks prepared to leave the oil field. At the intersection where the oil field and the highway met, two Hummers and two Strykers were waiting.

Seeing this scene, Talige's heart skipped a beat. He had originally wanted to part ways halfway, but then—the US military was going to escort him!

Of course we have to escort it; after all, it's money!

Although the main force of the Ba'ath Party was annihilated by the US military, and the US military is still recapturing Mosul, the battle is going too smoothly, which is not typical of the Mahdi Army. Therefore, there is a high probability that the Mahdi Army is not trapped in Mosul.

Not to mention that there are already many guerrilla groups in Yituo's territory. If they were to be targeted by these people, the entire convoy might be wiped out. Of course, he couldn't refuse either. When he saw Pete in one of the Strykers, he had to go over and say hello.

"General Pete, are you going to come with us in person?"

Pete was just a major, but he was still very happy to hear the word "general".

"Yes, the higher-ups are worried, so we need to escort them along the way."

"What about the other oil fields? Have they sent personnel as well?"

Once they reach the main road, they will meet up and travel together. If every oil field sends out a convoy of this size, it will be impossible for them to lose some vehicles along the way.

"I don't know, but in any case, our oil field needs to send an escort team. Let's go."

this----

Tarig seemed to understand; this guy also wanted to line his own pocket!

Stealing oil from Iraq was a decision made by the White House. The crude oil in the oil field would be loaded onto tankers through various means and sold to other countries, but—all the revenue would go to the White House, and the rank-and-file U.S. soldiers would not get their hands on it.

They risked their lives to fight, and in the end, they gained nothing?

That won't do!

Some people join the military to become high-ranking Americans, while others join to get rich!

Previously, Kirkuk's oil was exported via pipelines, so even if they wanted to tamper with it, they wouldn't have the chance. Now that it will be exported via tanker trucks, their opportunity has arrived!

If some of the tanker trucks are intercepted and sold through other channels, the money can end up in the hands of the local commanders.

That's why they went on this trip!

Those damn guys!

Tarig reluctantly opened the door of any random tanker truck, got on, and heard a dissatisfied voice.

"Mr. Tarig, these American soldiers wouldn't be trying to steal the crude oil from our vehicles, would they?"

Tarig glanced at the driver suspiciously; his name seemed to be—Hacker?

"I don't know, Hacker. Don't talk nonsense. The Americans are our saviors. Without them, we would still be suffering under Saddam's dictatorship—"

"Yes, but—if you want to get rid of these Americans, we have ways to do it too."

"What method?" Hacker's eyes lit up.

"During the march, we accidentally bumped into it, specifically the armored vehicle carrying the leader. If it was indeed his doing behind the scenes, then if something happens to him, the other vehicles will stop escorting him."

If it's an oil tanker truck from the East, it can weigh 20 to 30 tons when empty, and 70 to 80 tons when fully loaded!

Overloading is not common here. The weight of 250 barrels of crude oil will not exceed 36 tons. With the addition of the wagon, the total weight will be around 50 tons.

However—even so, ramming those Stryker armored vehicles would be a piece of cake, after all, those vehicles only weighed twenty tons.

Haeckel's eyes widened. "You really dare to do that, kid?"

Of course we dare! Our Mahdi Army is here to fight the Americans. Needless to say, we wouldn't hesitate to ram them, or even just give them a taste of their own medicine.

Will it damage our car?

"No problem, my old Steyr has a metal bumper and the radiator is inside. At most, the outer metal will be damaged, but it won't matter."

Tarig took a deep breath: "Then... let's give it a try?"

Let's give it a try!

At this point, the convoy had already left the oil field, but they weren't far enough away. If they acted now, the enemy would simply switch vehicles, so they had to wait. All they needed to do was keep a close eye on the target armored vehicle.

Five kilometers, ten kilometers —

Just as they were about to reach the point where they could meet up with the convoys from the other oil fields, the opportunity finally arrived!

Brake lights appeared on the road ahead, indicating that convoys from other oil fields were waiting.

It also started to slow down, and then—

Seeing the large eight-wheeled vehicle ahead slow down, Hacker floored the accelerator.

Buzz, buzz!

The heavy truck roared and lurched forward!

The next moment, Hacker casually swerved the steering wheel, leaving the normal driving lane, and then swerved it back, the front of the car hitting the right rear wheel of the armored vehicle in front of him!

The WD615 engine roared as the front of the vehicle pressed against the armored vehicle, pushing forward. Visibly, the Stryker began to turn sideways!

This is a classic car crash maneuver.

On the highway, if you encounter drivers who don't use their turn signals and suddenly turn the steering wheel, you must brake and let them pass. Never accelerate, and definitely don't crash into their right rear wheel. If you do, the vehicle that cut in will definitely overturn!

The current convoy is in a line. To create a special situation where the right rear wheel is hit, the car would have to be swerved outwards and then swerved back inwards.

Only semi-trailer tractors can do this. The cab is very short and very maneuverable. In a truck platoon, this truck will often cut in line. Once the cab is in, the trucks behind can only wait and let the one cutting in squeeze in first.

Inside the Stryker armored vehicle, Pete felt the vehicle vibrating irregularly and immediately became anxious: "What's going on?"

"I don't know, we—"

Before the driver could finish speaking, he felt the right side of the car begin to lift up, and the floor beneath his feet began to tilt.

"Oh no, damn it—"

The driver instinctively tried to press the accelerator to level the car again, but it was too late.

Thirty degrees, sixty degrees —

Boom!

The Stryker armored vehicle overturned!

The people inside were thrown around in a daze, especially Pete, whose head hit a handle, instantly breaking his forehead and causing blood to gush out.

The overhead hatch opened, and the driver was the first to get out. Looking at the Steyr that had crashed into him from behind, he angrily said, "Damn it, what are you doing!"

Inside the car, Hacker quickly jumped off: "Sorry, I'm so sorry, I was just a little dazed, and then—"

Tarig also got out: "How could this happen? Damn it, Haeckel, how are you driving? Order the convoy to..."

Stop and provide assistance!

Pete crawled out, clutching his head, his face grim. "No need, you guys can go! Oh, and don't tell anyone about this accident, lest it have a bad impact—"

Sure enough, it was this guy who came out on his own.

He could secretly smuggle some crude oil to sell, but he absolutely could not delay the entire convoy's progress; in fact, he had to keep it a secret! Otherwise, if his superiors found out that he had brought a team along, they would probably know what he was up to.

"Okay, we will definitely deliver the crude oil on time!" Tarig knew perfectly well.

The convoy bypassed the overturned Stryker and continued on its way.

In the car, Tarig excitedly pulled out a box of Camel cigarettes, lit one, put it to his lips, glanced at Hacker who was driving, and then—threw the rest onto the dashboard.

"Here you go, well done!"

"Thanks!"

Hacker also lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exclaimed, "This camel cigarette is definitely better than hookah!"

"Mr. Tarig, our convoy is at the very back, isn't it? That way, when we reach the designated spot, we can part ways with the convoys ahead—"

Tarig glanced at him: "You seem to know a lot?"

"Yeah, I've done this many times before. Most of the time, we sold them through Langtuo's channels. When we arrived at the agreed location, we just had to unload the trailer and replace it with the trailer provided by them. Actually, if that's the case, it would be better to change the tires off the trailer beforehand, which would save some money."

Transferring crude oil from one tank to another is no easy task, so trailer swapping has become a common method.

In the West, trailer swapping is very common. The tractor unit belongs to the owner, while the trailer belongs to the transport company. Few drivers would try to change tires with malicious intent. However, in Yituo, long-distance transport is done with one tractor and one trailer, and the trailer also belongs to the owner.

In this special situation, where a tire replacement is necessary, any tire that can still run 500 kilometers must be replaced with a tire that can only run 200 kilometers at most. Although dinars are not worth much, every dinar saved is a dinar saved.

These words stunned Tarig, but he reacted after a moment: "Hmm, not bad, Hacker. We'll be doing this often from now on. I can't keep following along forever, so this route is yours from now on!"

This was his first time doing this, so he was just following along. Once he gets used to it, we can hand it over to someone we can trust. This Hacker just performed well and is a talent that can be cultivated. We'll entrust him with the future!

"Thank you for the promotion, Mr. Tarig. Don't worry, once we're more experienced, we'll be able to sell half of the cars, and we'll definitely make a lot of money!"

"Um!"

Tarig was also pleased; it was these people at the bottom who knew how to squeeze every last drop of profit out of everyone.

As night deepened, Tarig also grew sleepy and yawned repeatedly.

"Why don't you go to the sleeper berth in the back and take a nap?"

Most heavy truck cabs are equipped with sleeper berths, and it's common for drivers to sleep while driving. Just as Tarig was about to climb to the back after hearing Hacker's words, he heard a familiar voice from outside.

Da da da!

Is this... a sneak attack?

Buzz, buzz!

The escorting pickup trucks drove off, and machine guns on board unleashed streaks of fire, creating a truly spectacular scene.

Suddenly, streaks of fire shot past the pickup truck, hitting it and bursting into fireballs.

Boom! Boom boom!

The guard's pickup truck was blown up!

The Iraqi security forces do have a lot of resources at their disposal, but—after the last raid on the Green Zone, everyone only trusts their own people. The escorts this time were all selected from Samir-Gadban's own tribes.

Eight pickup trucks and a hundred-strong escort force may not seem like much, but they were all friendly hands, the kind who were willing to risk their lives. Now—

One after another, they were blown up!

What to do? If I had known this would happen, I would have been better off accepting the US military's escort!

Talig's face turned ashen. He never dreamed that this would happen. Weren't those damned guerrillas all trapped in Mosul by the American forces?

"I know a route that can get through heavy trucks and also bypass Highway 2," Hacker said.

"Then what are we waiting for? Open it!"

"Okay, I'll lead the way and let the other vehicles follow!"

Buzz, buzz!

The Steyr tanker truck moved forward, overtaking other vehicles, and drove to the front of the convoy. After driving a short distance, it drove off the highway!

The other drivers arranged by Mahdi's army also followed, and so—

The other vehicles also stopped hesitating and started moving one after another.

Above, the moon and stars were few.

The convoy drove through villages and towns, and no one expected that there were such special roads!

Buzz, buzz!

The roar of engines echoed through the countryside.

Boom, boom boom! The sound of explosions still echoed behind us. It seemed that those pickup trucks had fought with all their might to cover the convoy's escape, and now—they were probably all dead there!

On the lead Steyr truck, Tarig let out a long sigh of relief.

"Hacker, you did a fantastic job! If it weren't for you, we probably would have been wiped out by those damned guerrillas!"

The guerrillas can't take these vehicles with them, but they can burn them all!

"You're welcome, it's all I should do."

"Once this mission is complete, I'll recommend you for managing the fleet; you'll be well-off!"

"Thank you! Would you like to go back and take a nap for a while?"

"Um."

Although the vehicle was bumpy and the engine was roaring, once you were sleepy, these difficulties were nothing.

Soon, Tarig fell asleep on the cramped bunk. When he opened his eyes again, the east was already beginning to lighten. Wait, what's this—is this a mountainous area outside?

"Hacker, where is this?"

"Zagros Mountains".

What?

Tarig was completely dumbfounded: "Shouldn't we be heading south?"

"Of course not, since we'll sell the car and the fuel—"

Wait, something's not right, this—

Just then, they saw the soldiers of the Langtuo Holy City Brigade ahead. They waved to the convoy, and Hacker stopped the car and waved back.

"Brother, the car and the people have arrived. The man in my car is Yituo's Deputy Minister of Petroleum—"

Crack! A thunderbolt flashed through Tarig's mind.

"Damn it, Haeckel, how could you betray me?"

"Sorry, I was originally a member of the Mahdi Army, so—it doesn't count as betrayal."

Mahdi Army, it's Mahdi Army again! How could I possibly trust a Mahdi Army?

Look at that long convoy behind us. It seems that all 280 vehicles we raised this time have been delivered to Langtuo!

Each truck can carry about 250 barrels of crude oil. At $30 per barrel, each truck carries $7,500. Two hundred and eighty trucks carrying crude oil would carry $2.1 million. All of this wealth ended up in the hands of the Mahdi Army!

Not to mention these cars, even a used car worth ten thousand dollars is more than two million dollars!

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