Chapter 1759 - 1362: The Art of the Deal

"Boss."

Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.

Song Heping turned around and saw Abu You standing not far away.

"This is my preliminary reorganization plan."

Abu You walked over, handed him the file and said:

"They've agreed to follow your suggestion: using my original three main regiments as the backbone, and adding some reliable prisoners to form a new mechanized brigade. The total strength is tentatively set at eight thousand, under which there will be three mechanized infantry battalions, one armored battalion, one artillery battalion, one engineer battalion, and one logistics support battalion."

Song Heping took the file and skimmed through it quickly.

More than twenty pages, detailed down to the stationing of each company, equipment lists, and training schedules.

It was clear that Abu You was serious; he had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.

"The selection of officers is crucial." Song Heping flipped to the personnel arrangements section. "They must have political sense, they must be sufficiently loyal. Of course, they cannot all just be your old subordinates; you have to appoint people on merit, and sometimes you even need representatives from other factions. Balance, Abu You. That's what you suffered from before—you didn't know how to balance the relationships among all sides, and ended up as a thorn in others' eyes."

As he spoke, he handed the plan back to Abu You.

"Even though you're a soldier by background, once you enter the Military Committee, that's not just a purely military department. You won't be able to avoid being drawn into Elbil's political circle. Take care of yourself."

Abu You nodded and said, "I understand. These days with you, I've learned a lot. Boss, don't worry, I won't let you down."

"Then do your job well."

Song Heping passed the file back to him.

Samir received the file solemnly, gave a salute, then turned and left.

After Samir left, Song Heping continued to stand in the shadow for a while.

The order in the POW camp had been fully restored; the prisoners squatted on the ground eating a simple lunch, and few people were talking.

Medics were patrolling inside the camp, checking on the wounded.

In the distance, several military trucks were unloading drinking water and medicine.

Order.

This was the most important thing after a war ended.

Establish order, maintain order, make sure everyone knows what the rules are and what consequences come from breaking them.

His phone vibrated again.

This time it was Samir.

By now he was already in Baghdad.

After all, the parliamentary bill would be voted on in the next few days. Since the rebellion here in Elbil had been put down, there was no need for him to stay here.

As soon as he left Elbil, he took a helicopter from Musician Defense and rushed back to Baghdad.

"Boss, Saeed is here, with Old Masud's contract. He's waiting for you in Hulmatu. Also, there are a dozen invitations from Baghdad: a lunch at the American Embassy, a tea at the British Embassy, a dinner invitation from the Maliki Prime Minister's Office, plus a few local big companies..."

"Tell Saeed I'll be there later." Song Heping cut him off and said, "As for those invitations, put them all on hold for now. Say I'm busy with military affairs and will schedule when I have time. Also, compile the list and background of those people and companies who invited me and send it to me."

After hanging up, he took one last look at the POW camp.

Order, rules, balance.

These three things were the rarest resources in a land of chaos, and also the foundation of his foothold here.

That evening, when Old Masud's video conference request came in, Song Heping was on the helicopter back to Baghdad.

He looked at the flashing encrypted icon on the screen and hesitated slightly.

According to his own inclination, he did not want to overly involve himself in the internal affairs of the Kurd people.

But thinking of that soon-to-be-signed consultancy contract with an annual fee of twenty million US Dollar, he still pressed the answer key.

On the screen of the encrypted tablet, four windows lit up in succession.

Old Masud was on a hospital bed, pale-faced but sharp-eyed; Tor Khan was in his Ministry of Defense office, a huge Illiguo military deployment map behind him; Abu You was still in the temporary command post of the Nasur POW camp, with the sounds of truck engines and soldiers' clamor audible in the background; and Song Heping himself was in the helicopter cabin, wearing noise-cancelling headphones.

"We have won a battle, but the war is far from over."

Old Masud came straight to the point, his voice carrying deep fatigue and concern.

"Barzani is dead, but his network of connections and his remaining supporters are still there. The resettlement and screening of more than ten thousand prisoners is a huge challenge. Control over places like Kirkuk needs to be reasserted."

He paused, and the image on the screen flickered due to signal issues:

"Moreover, this civil war has exposed too many problems within our Kurdish Autonomous Committee. The loyalty of the army, the loopholes in the command system, the risks in intelligence security. Barzani is not the first man to be corrupted by power, and he definitely won't be the last."

"The priority now is to reorganize the army and establish a more reliable command and oversight system."

At this point, he deliberately glanced at the video window where Song Heping was, and added:

"Also, I have good news here. Regarding the proposal to reorganize Samir Department's troops into the Border Defense Tenth Division, the Sunni Sect parliamentary group has changed its stance and declared support. This is largely thanks to Mr. Song's display of strength and influence during this counterinsurgency."

Abu You snorted on the other end of the screen: "That old fox Hashimi turns fast. A few days ago he was on TV cursing us, and now that he sees we've won, he changes his face immediately."

"That's politics." Tor Khan said calmly. "They see which way the wind is blowing. The Shiye Sect was already in favor, plus we Kurd people support it. If the Sunni Sect kept opposing, it would not only be meaningless, it would also marginalize them. So it's better to change their stance proactively and still extract some benefits—for example, arrange a few officer posts in the new unit."