980 General
Li Du did not take Sophie with him. Mozambique's situation was worse than South
Africa's, so Sophie and the four little ones stayed in Durban. Big Quinns and Big Ivan
remained with them and were responsible for their safety.
In order to ensure his own safety, Li Du put many things into the little bug's black hole
space before his departure: grenades, guns, crossbows and other weapons, spare
satellite phones, and a variety of drugs, including some powerful poisons and
tranquilizers that he bought through special channels.
On the way, Li Du asked, "What is the intention of General Remonin in trying to be
friends with me?"
The lion hunter chuckled and said, "What purpose can it serve? General Remonin is
very open and generous, and he likes to make friends."
Li Du laughed. "Why won't you be honest?"
The lion hunter rubbed his chin moodily, and said, "He wants to make friends with
handsome young men like you, and besides, as far as I know, diamond mines had
recently been discovered in the general's territory."
Isn't honesty great? Now that Li Du knew what the general wanted, he felt more secure.
The other side knew his identity and wanted to get him over to see if he could negotiate
a deal for the mined diamonds.
Li Du too rubbed his chin. "How is General Remonin's temper? I won't have any
problems there, will I?"
Brother Wolf, who was sitting in front of the co-pilot seat, said when they were boarding
the helicopter that if Li Du wanted to turn back midway, he could just say so and Brother
Wolf would deal with the pilot.
Although his pilot skills were not as good as Big Ivan's, he could still deal with the
ordinary business helicopter.
The lion hunter raised his hand and said, "I swear by my business and my life that there
will be no danger. Besides, he's not a warlord, he's a tribal chief, though we call him
General."
Li Du also believed that there would likely be no problems. He was not just any ordinary
person and, if the lion hunter dared to put him into the fire pit, the Winston group would
not let it pass, and the lion hunter would hardly dare to take the risk of business
bankruptcy.
Diamond ore was found in Mozambique, which was still a relatively rare occurrence.
Mozambique was rich in resources, but diamonds were rare. The natural resources
mainly consisted of tantalum, coal, iron, copper, gold, titanium and natural gas.
The country had the world's largest reserves of tantalum, about 7.5 million tons, most of
which had yet to be developed, with few people willing to step up to the task.
It didn't take long for the helicopter to fly over. General Remonin's territory was on the
border of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Mozambique's terrain was rugged, with many plateaus and mountains, and less than
two fifths flat land.
In terms of topography, it was roughly divided into three steps from northwest to
southeast: the northwest is plateau and mountain, with an average altitude of 500-1000
meters. In the central part, the height was between 200 and 500 meters, with occasional
peaks. The southeastern coastal plain had an average elevation of 100 meters.
The border of the three countries was in the very southwest of Mozambique, with
stretches of mountains where General Remonin's territory was naturally located.
These mountains were very desolate, some were barren mountains and sandy
mountains, with no human settlement apart from some tattered tents. Such territory had
no value, so no wonder the government was reluctant to regulate it.
Although the lion hunter assured him on the way there that the general was not a
warlord but a tribal chief, Li Du saw no difference between the two.
Since he was known as General, Remonin naturally had an army camp, which was
located at the border of the Three Kingdoms.
The reason for setting up the site at that particular location was most likely to prevent
the government forces from encircling and suppressing the camp. Remonin left himself
an escape route. If the government forces attacked, he could take his people to take
refuge in two other countries.
Judging from that, General Remonin's power was not very terrible. Li Du relaxed and
carefully observed the situation of the camp.
From the helicopter, he saw that the camp was on a terraced hill. Instead of growing
crops, however, the people of the camp used the terraces to build houses.
Li Du counted about thirty houses, with the largest building probably being the general's
mansion.
The terraces of the hill also served as a parking lot fora jumble of rusty pickup trucks,
military-green heavy trucks, motorcycles and more.
At the base of the hill, Li Du saw swarms of men looking no bigger than ants. They were
training.
From the bottom of the mountains by the terraced road that ran around them, there
were many checkpoints. The fence was spiked with bayonets and bordered with
sandbags. There was also a stand of machine guns.
Around the hilltop building, there were many anti-aircraft guns and machine gun
positions. When Li Du's helicopter appeared, another helicopter flew into the barracks.
Li Du picked up his binoculars and looked through them. He thought it must be either an
armed combat helicopter or a civilian one like theirs.
When the door of the helicopter was moved aside, he saw black men sitting inside.
There were heavy machine guns on the floor of the helicopter.
They landed on a flat concrete pitch under the watchful eye of an army helicopter on a
large hill.
A group of men waited nearby, some with guns, others with trumpets and drums.
The burly black man at the head of the party had a red beret on his head, a pair of large
sunglasses, a military uniform, and a medal on his chest.
"Is this General Remonin?" Asked Li Du. The lion hunter nodded.
The helicopter moving, they descended, and the general greeted them warmly.
Li Du looked at the black soldiers calmly, although they were a formidable force. They
had big arms and barrel-like chests, and carried Russian rifles.
Brother Wolf looked at him and smiled.
"What's up?" Li Du asked in a low voice.
Brother Wolf said, "Just fancy, it wouldn't be difficult to assassinate him if Big Ivan and I
joined hands."
Li Du wanted to ask more questions, but as the black general approached, he had to
give him his full attention.
"Ha ha ha, welcome to the VIP. It is a great honor for the democratic army to have such
distinguished guests come to my humble place!" Remonin laughed, showing two rows
of white teeth.
Democratic army? Li Du knew the flag of his army.
The lion hunter shook hands with Remonin, flattered him repeatedly, and introduced Li
Du.
Li Du, too, shook hands with Remonin amidst the sounds of horns, drumming, and
music. Now Li Du understood that the trumpets and drums he saw before they landed
were actually the general's military band.
Although he was reluctant to come to a dangerous place like Mozambique, at this
moment he was very glad to have come.
General Remonin received him in a very flattering manner, complete with a military
orchestra. Li Du had never seen anyone but national leaders get this kind of treatment.
Not only did the military band play, but the soldiers with rifles gave them a goose-step.
Li Du stood beside the general, astonished to see this full-blown military parade.