Song Heping had never expected that Fer would ridicule him outright.

"Song, no offense, but what are your people sending me? Can this even be considered evidence for news? If I publish this, I'm afraid I'll be implicated too!"

Fer's tone was very dismissive, as if an expert was lecturing a middle school student.

"What has the informant over there sent you?"

Song Heping, restraining his impatience, asked Fer, "What's missing? I'll have him supplement whatever is needed."

"Everything is missing." Fer was unapologetically irritable, a trait well known to Song Heping from their interactions.

Of course, it's rare to find someone both capable and good-tempered.

Fer bluntly said, "It's all rubbish! Just textual intelligence, utterly worthless!"

Song Heping asked, "Are there no photographic intelligence?"

Fer replied, "There are, but they're garbage photos. What use are photos of the Colombian Government Army's operations?! I've emphasized before that we need photos with all three parties in the same frame to count! Otherwise, what use are these textual intelligences and some movement photos of the Colombian Government Army to me?"

He was clearly very agitated, and his tone was vehement.

This somehow reassured Song Heping slightly.

The reason was that Fer's anger indicated that he cared about this major news and really wanted to do it well.

If he was indifferent, there would be no need for any emotional upheaval.

"Photos of military movements can also be indicative," said Song Heping, "Perhaps you could first show the media the photos to make an appearance. Our informant here will rush to capture the right shots for you. You know as well as I do that capturing a photo of all three sides together isn't an easy task."

"I don't care! Do you think I haven't seen combat?! Song, I've been a war correspondent myself, running ahead of soldiers on battlefields in Z East and the African Battlefield!"

Fer scoffed.

"If you're scared of dying, don't be an informant, just as if you're scared, don't be a war correspondent! It's about respecting the profession, professional ethics!"

Dealing with such a serious guy, Song Heping was both happy and troubled.

Happy because handing things over to this kind of person meant two words—rest assured!

Troubled because working with this kind of person could be exhausting; any small flaw could provoke a fierce backlash from him.

Fer seemed not to plan on stopping his complaints, continuing, "Song, you need to understand the kind of pressure and protocol involved in breaking such big news in our country. For a famous war correspondent and investigative journalist like me, do you know what an investigative journalist does? They must speak with facts, have solid evidence in hand, otherwise, as soon as this news hits the streets, TV stations will invite me on their shows, and whether it's the military or similar entities, they will send 'fighters' to confront me on air, questioning my evidence."

"For instance, textual intelligence is worthless because you can sit behind a desk and churn out dozens of such news pieces in one day, but it's useless! They're worthless! Photographic and video evidence are most persuasive, but not all evidence is equal, and what your people have given me is trash! These photos—if broadcasted—are easily explained away as a routine operation by the Colombian Government Army. Do you want me to challenge that? Interfere in their internal affairs?! I certainly don't want to be embarrassed on a show!"

After continuously complaining for nearly ten minutes, Fer emphasized the importance of the process and photographic evidence several times on the phone, finally hanging up after Song Heping repeatedly assured him.

After the call, Song Heping was nearly driven to exasperation by Fer.

Damn...

What to do?

"Morins."

He gestured for Morins to come over.

"What? The intelligence from my informant wasn't good?"

"Right," said Song Heping. "The journalist from the United States said that your guy only sent some textual intelligence and although there were some secretly taken photos, there were no photos with all three parties in the same frame."

"That's not true, my informant told me he captured photos of the US Army military advisor and the Colombian Army Deputy Commander in action together," Morins protested angrily. "Aren't these enough to prove American involvement in the operation?"

"Not enough!" Song Heping said, suppressing his anger, "Far from enough! There has to be someone from the AUC in the photos; merely having the US Army military advisor here doesn't create explosive news because the cooperation of the US Army with the Colombian government is already not newsworthy, understand? They just need to explain that this is an operation conducted under the cooperation agreement of the two countries' anti-narcotics war. Do you think that would embarrass anyone in the White House?"

"Oh, God! Do you think it's easy to capture a photo of all three parties together? There's no way to know if the AUC has a military representative in the government army's headquarters, but the battlefield situation clearly shows a joint operation among the three parties! What else do we need photos for?! With everything happening like this, don't you think the American media knows?!"

Morins looked like he was about to collapse.

He was very anxious.

Because the AUC's offensive was currently very strong.

Although a squadron of the government army's Special Forces had been annihilated at Camp G1, this would only ignite greater fury.

Within the foreseeable 24 hours, the government army would likely launch an all-out attack, both from the ground and the air, against the Anthony Forces in the Tame Region.

Two battalions VS two regiments of the government army plus aerial forces—one hardly needed to think to know how long this could last.

If Tame Region was lost, it was a total loss.

In fact, Song Heping was no more relaxed than him.

He had simulated the future development of the battlefield countless times before the war began.

The only chance to win was to drive back the government army in the Tame Region; otherwise, he'd have to arrange for Morins to escape.

Song Heping said nothing, just quietly watched Morins.

A few minutes later, Morins finally stopped cursing.

Because cursing solved nothing.

"I'll go contact the informant again and get you what you want!"

"That's right." Song Heping said with a shrug, "Complaining won't solve anything."

After Morins left, Song Heping's gaze returned to the map; he took out his phone and called his own squadron leader, Peterovich.

"Peterovich, how are things on your end?"

"Boss, we are all set. Both planes are loaded with bombs and ready to take off; they are just waiting by the runway for your command."

"Are you confident?" Song Heping asked.

Peterovich confidently replied, "No problem! As long as the coordinates from the ground guidance team are correct, I guarantee there won't be a single survivor near the target area."

Currently, there are two SU-24 fighter bombers equipped with four ODAB-1500 thermo-baric bombs in total. Song Heping planned to drop two in the north and two in the south defense zones. Besides these four thermo-baric bombs, each aircraft also carried two 500 kg aerial bombs and two combat bombs for self-defense.

Although it was not fully loaded, it was enough.

After all, these things were too expensive, and the company's finances were a bit tight lately. Song Heping had to scrimp and save money.

"I want not only for you to hit the target but also for you to return alive, especially without letting anyone find out where these planes came from. Otherwise, we'll have a serious problem. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Understood."

Peterovich clearly understood.

The two SU-24s would take off from within Venezuela, something the Colombian Government must not find out about, or it would cause an international issue.

"We are only a few dozen kilometers from the border; as long as we fly low, Colombian radar won't detect us. Moreover, the AUC armed forces don't have anti-aircraft missiles. At most, they have man-portable air defense systems, but those barely pose a threat to us. Don't worry! After we bomb, we'll fly back to Venezuela at supersonic speed, and by then, they won't even realize what happened."

The maximum flight speed of the SU-24 can reach 2.35 Mach, while man-portable air defense missiles generally have a speed of about 2 Mach, making it quite difficult to shoot down high-speed aircraft like the SU-24.

This was precisely why Peterovich always emphasized to Song Heping that although the bombing plan seemed crazy, it was not dangerous at all.

Once the planes entered Venezuelan territory, the Colombian government could only stare dryly, and at most, they would just "suspect."

"Alright, get ready, we can take off at any moment."

After giving instructions to the bombing crew, Song Heping walked up to the radio and started calling Anthony's unit.

"FOX calling G1, FOX calling G1."

"G1 here, go ahead."

"Have you finished clearing the area?"

"We've cleared the area, AGLAN lost eighty-two men."

"Have you evacuated the camp?"

"We evacuated, and just as we left, their planes arrived and bombed the camp again, dropping several bombs into the mountains, but they couldn't find our position so it was all for nothing."

Anthony chuckled over the radio.

"I bet their commanding officer is fuming."

"Don't get too cocky," Song Heping said. "I'm quite certain they will spare no expense in attacking your defenses in Tame. I'll need roughly two days to force them to withdraw. During these two days, you must hold on. Remember my words, don't engage directly; use your guerilla warfare skills in the jungle to stick them in the Tame Region. They must not break through the Tamei Defense Zone."

"Headmaster, don't worry. I haven't forgotten what you taught me," Anthony replied. "Now, watch my performance!"

After putting down the radio, Song Heping paced back and forth in the command center.

He realized he couldn't do anything right now.

All he could do was wait.

Wait for Morins' informant to send back the most crucial photographic evidence.

In the command center, the radio was bustling.

Listening for a while, Song Heping only heard bad news.

The pressure was enormous at both the northern and southern end defense lines; the lines were contracting rapidly.

He went over to the map, re-marking the latest positions and points of engagement he heard.

After marking, Song Heping looked at the map again and realized that in just a few hours, the first lines of defense on both north and south ends had given way, retreating a full ten kilometers to organize defenses on the second line.

The third line of defense was approximately seven kilometers behind the second line. If they faltered again, they would have to engage in guerrilla warfare in the jungle.

"The retreat is happening too fast..."

Song Heping muttered under his breath, taking a deep breath of cold air.

At this rate of defeat, they wouldn't last a week.

But he was helpless as this was the level of combat ability of the anti-government armed forces here; the willpower of his soldiers below was very weak, and they couldn't be measured against the standards of the PLA.

PLA soldiers could still form a fighting unit with three people even if their regular units were disbanded.

But here, the armed members would choose a full retreat at the slightest breach in their lines.

This reality was beyond Song Heping's control.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com