Two days later in the morning, the three men met again in Harrowby’s room.

After exchanging greetings, Harrowby led them into the living room. He pointed to the seat in front of the desk, then walked to the place where the laptop was positioned and sat down.

After they were seated, he handed each of them a document held together with a paperclip.

Deng Shiyang spent about ten minutes reading through the thin document from beginning to end. The three A4 pages detailed the types and quantities of all of Mozambique's air defense weapons.

Compared to their modest air force, Mozambique's air defense units were much larger, with a richer variety and quantity of weapons. They not only had Russian-made SA-3, SA-6, and SA-9 surface-to-air missiles but also a considerable number of Chinese-made Type 65 and Type 74 twin-barrel 37mm anti-aircraft guns. In addition, some border defense units were equipped with Russian-made ZU-23 twin-barrel 23mm anti-aircraft guns.

Putting down the document, Deng Shiyang asked, "Where did this intelligence come from? Is it reliable?"

Harrowby, who was operating the laptop, didn’t answer. Deng Shiyang glanced at the TV on the wall, which was displaying an image being loaded. The loading speed was slow, but the displayed portion showed it was a high-resolution satellite image.

Once the image was mostly loaded, Harrowby looked up and, in an almost official tone, said, "Gentlemen, what you are seeing is a gift from our Western friends." He paused and advised, "On this point, I hope you forget it as soon as you leave this room."

On this satellite image, which took twenty minutes just to load, all the positions and attack ranges of the surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns in Maputo Province could be seen. Additionally, it marked the detection range of every military and civilian radar station in the area and their detection altitudes at various distances.

Mozambique appeared confident in its southern neighbors, Swaziland and South Africa, as the bulk of its air defense units were deployed in the northwest, near the borders with Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Tanzania. In Maputo Province, there were only three SA-3 missile batteries, all located in the suburbs of the capital, Maputo. Furthermore, there were three anti-aircraft batteries equipped with 37mm guns stationed at Inhaca, near Santa Maria Point, and further south at Bela Vista. Some border defense units stationed near the South African border were also equipped with a few 23mm anti-aircraft guns.

Keith spent the entire morning cross-referencing the information on the maps and satellite images and finally determined the air infiltration route. The helicopters would take off at midnight from the offshore base, ten nautical miles from Mozambique. They would first fly low over the Lagoa area, then cross the border near the Nunes Mountains to enter Swaziland airspace.

Flying over Mozambique turned out to be easier than expected, but after seeing the latest satellite images of Swaziland, Keith wasn't the least bit pleased.

Due to Swaziland’s scattered population, even if they detoured through the mountains to use the terrain to avoid radar, the engine noise would inevitably alert people on the ground. Despite the effort to avoid densely populated areas when planning the flight route, silently transporting the mortar team to the mountains near the presidential palace was still an impossible task.

It was soon midday. Affected by the stagnation in planning, everyone seemed a bit downcast. Harrowby suggested a short break, with lunch afterward. The other two had no objections, so he picked up the phone on the desk and dialed room service.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Deng Shiyang stood up, rubbed his numb buttocks, then walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, facing Victoria Harbour as he stretched exaggeratedly and exhaled a long sigh.

Keith, looking a bit tired, paced over to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of mineral water, and lazily sat on the sofa by the window. He took a sip of water and then complained, "If we can't transport by air, we might as well have the mortar team travel overland."

Harrowby put down the phone and responded irritably, "If they weren't carrying weapons, it would be easy—just bribe the border guards."

"Wait!" Deng Shiyang seemed to have thought of something. He walked quickly over to Harrowby and asked, "What did you just say?"

"Bribe the guards..."

"No, the other part."

"If they weren't carrying weapons..."

"Yes, exactly!" Deng Shiyang suddenly slapped his thigh, startling the other two.

"Can you arrange for the mortar team to enter the country and transport them to the Madimayba Mountains?"

"I looked into it before. Due to scarce supplies, food and everyday goods are commonly smuggled in border areas. In the South African border area, a few dozen dollars is enough to bribe the guards to let you in. At checkpoints in cities, a couple of Marlboro packs or a bottle of whiskey will do." Harrowby paused and said, "But the border checks are strict, and it's hard to smuggle in large weapons like mortars."

"That’s good enough." Deng Shiyang nodded, then turned to Keith on the sofa and said, "Calculate the weight of the mortar team's equipment—I might have an idea."

Keith walked to the desk and sat down, typing on Harrowby's laptop for a while, and then answered, "The three 81mm mortars, with baseplates and tripods, weigh 300 pounds. Two hundred shells weigh 2,000 pounds. Adding the propellant charges, fuses, and ammunition boxes, the total is about 3,000 pounds."

"That load needs at least a truck to transport it—how do you plan to get it past inspections?"

"I don’t plan on transporting the mortars overland." Deng Shiyang calmly replied, adding, "You just reminded me—the weapons and personnel don’t have to be transported together." He then paused and said to Keith, "Check again if there are any South African flight routes passing over Swaziland."

"Are you planning an airdrop?"

"Exactly. My plan is to enter Swaziland airspace via a commercial flight route and airdrop the mortars and ammunition near the presidential palace."

Harrowby looked disappointed and said, "Commercial routes fly too high. At that altitude, an airdrop requires a large landing zone, and there’s not enough space in the mountains..."

"That’s for regular parachutes." Deng Shiyang interrupted, "You must have heard of JPADS used by the U.S. Army, right?"

"JPADS? The GPS-controlled parachute?"

"Yes." Deng Shiyang nodded and continued, "JPADS stands for 'Joint Precision Airdrop System.' It's used by the U.S. military for parachuting supplies into dangerous airspace. Its computer calculates wind drift and air pressure to control the parachute to land at a designated spot with an error margin of less than a hundred yards."

"I know what JPADS is!" Harrowby seemed a bit frustrated. "We're a commercial organization, not the Pentagon. It’s not easy to get our hands on such equipment."

Deng Shiyang smiled and said, "That’s where your 'Western friends' come in. Let them ask 'Langley' for help to get us two JPADS-2K units."

Harrowby's expression shifted slightly, and he asked, "Is there any other way?"

"As far as I can see, there isn’t."

"I also think this plan could work." Keith pointed at the map displayed on the TV screen, echoing, "There's a route from Richards Bay Airport to Nelspruit Airport that passes right over Swaziland." He paused and added, "Moreover, Richards Bay is a large deep-water port, and it's only a day’s sail from Mozambique—perfect for transferring weapons and supplies."

Deng Shiyang glanced at Harrowby and said, "There are less than two months until Ndofa's birthday." To push him to make a decision, he added, "Besides, I don't think the client has the patience to wait until National Day at the end of the year."

Harrowby raised his head, staring at Deng Shiyang with an intense gaze, as if trying to see through him. He suddenly found the man before him to be unfamiliar and elusive, a sense of being manipulated welled up within him.

After a long consideration, he gritted his teeth and said decisively, "Fine, I'll try to get JPADS. You two get started on the detailed plan—I want it by the end of the week."

Annotations:

- Langley: Located in Fairfax County, northern Virginia, USA, it is the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

- JPADS-2K: A lightweight version of JPADS, capable of carrying a payload of 2,200 pounds.

- Richards Bay Airport: A South African airport located in the city of Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal Province.

- Nelspruit Airport: A South African airport near the capital of Mpumalanga Province, Nelspruit.