Chapter 813 Guerrilla Camp

"Along with the Papua independence movement, there was also the Papua Free Army, which insisted on seeking independence through armed struggle."

Downing continues to describe the unrest on Irian Island.

"In the past more than half a century, the Free Army of Papua has broken out in armed conflicts with government forces many times. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties. The Free Army of Papua has also been designated as a terrorist organization by the Batavia government."

After listening to Tangning's introduction, it was not difficult for Gao Fei to tell that she was more sympathetic to the Batavia government and the rebels.

"Sister Tang, do you think the Papua Free Army is a terrorist organization?" Gao Fei asked cautiously, "We are on a business trip to represent the position of Tiangong. If the Batavia government believes that Tiangong is cooperating with terrorists, we will not protect Tiangong." It is not allowed to cause diplomatic disputes.”

Tangning pondered for a moment and said reluctantly: "To be fair, the Free Army of Papua has indeed launched terrorist attacks."

“One of the most famous incidents occurred on December 2, 2018, when a group of Batavia construction workers in Nduga were attacked by more than 50 anti-government militants on the construction site, 19 of whom were kidnapping."

"After the incident, the Batavia government quickly sent troops to suppress the incident, and finally rescued four people. Two people were missing, and the remaining hostages unfortunately died."

"This attack is the most notorious of the Papua liberation movement in recent years, and the organization that launched this attack... is the Papua Free Army."

"After the tragedy, Batavia President Joko ordered the military and police to arrest the perpetrators, claiming that there would be no room for these anti-government elements."

"The army was ordered to march to the West Papua region where guerrillas were active, burning houses and bombing villages. More than 39,000 local residents were forced to flee their homes, and many died of hunger and disease in the refugee camps."

"The Free Army of Papua also launched more intense retaliation."

"In April last year, Brigadier General Nugraha, who was in charge of intelligence work in the Batavia military, was ambushed and killed by militants. Afterwards, the Free Papua Army claimed responsibility for the incident."

Gao Fei nodded thoughtfully and remained silent.

Tangning didn't ask him what he thought of the "Free Army of Papua".

As for whether to cooperate with this organization, the two of them had reached a tacit understanding while talking.

The special police followed the guerrillas led by Lieutenant Colonel Gale and walked upstream along the bank of the stream.

Climbing up the hillside, the woods gradually become sparse, and in the center of the gentle slope lies a clear lake, which is the source of the creek.

The temporary camp of the guerrillas is on the lakeside, with tents, ammunition boxes and other debris piled up. A flag with a red background and a white star at the top and a blue and white stripe at the bottom is erected. It is the "Morning Star Flag", the symbol of the Free Army of Papua.

There are more than 300 guerrilla fighters in the camp, the vast majority of whom are brown-skinned Papuan youths, with a few whites and Chinese.

Out of curiosity, Gao Fei chatted with the Chinese guerrillas for a few words and learned that they were all volunteers who had traveled thousands of miles to join the guerrillas. Their conversation also seemed very educated. When he inquired, he found out that they were all college students.

The most outrageous thing is that the guerrilla military doctor is actually a doctor of medicine who has returned from studying in Europe. He claims to be a Trotskyist who worships Che Guevara, and he is really an "internationalist fighter".

Regardless of whether they agree with the political philosophy of the Free Army of Papua or not, the young special police officers cannot help but be deeply moved by this noble and romantic spirit of internationalism.

Lieutenant Colonel Gale asked the visitors to wait outside the camp and report to their superior, Colonel Willen.

After a while, Lieutenant Colonel Gale came back and asked everyone to follow him.

Gao Fei and his party followed Lieutenant Colonel Gale across the camp and reached the highest point of the hillside.

A tall and thin man wearing camouflage uniform stood on the hillside, looking through the telescope at the mining area below the mountain.

The direct distance between the temporary base of the guerrillas and the Hiti Gold Mine is less than two kilometers.

From here, you can see the chimneys of the mines with billowing black smoke and hear the roar of the machines in the factories.

More importantly, the only road leading in and out of the mining area can be monitored from here.

Colonel Willen, the commander of the guerrillas, seemed to hear the footsteps, put away his binoculars, turned around and walked down the top of the slope.

This Che Guevara of Irian Island had a thick beard and held a pipe in his left hand. He smiled and extended his right hand to shake hands with the visitors one by one.

"Good afternoon, Batavia's Bird of Paradise, and welcome back to Parian Island!"

Colonel Willen is about forty years old. He looks like a typical Papuan man, but his conversation is elegant and decent. He speaks with a pure London accent.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Colonel. I didn't expect to meet you here again." Tangning shook hands with Colonel Willen and introduced to Gao Fei: "Mr. Colonel graduated from Cambridge University and is considered an old senior of mine. He is a staunch Marxist."

"Cambridge graduates, no wonder." Gao Fei joked casually, "Smart people in Cambridge have always had a tradition of supporting the Communist Party."

Colonel Willen smiled knowingly and shook hands with the young man from the East.

"Colonel, I heard that you are planning to attack the Hitti Gold Mine?"

Tangning asked straight to the point.

"I do have this plan."

"I advise you not to do this!" Tangning looked serious. "The Hiti Gold Mine has at least 200 well-equipped Vanderwal mercenaries responsible for security. The guerrillas are asking for trouble when they storm the gold mine!"

"Ms. Bron, I'm not stupid enough to hit the iron plate with my head when I know there's a piece of iron plate on the other side." Colonel Willen laughed, "We have an insider in the mining area, and I know the security situation in the mining area better than you do."

"Since you know that the Hiti Gold Mine is a tough nut to crack, why do you still want to gnaw it?"

Gao Fei asked Colonel Willen in half-baked English.

"In fact, we don't plan to attack the gold mine directly." Colonel Galen lowered his voice, "According to the information provided by the insider, a truck carrying gold will leave the mine tomorrow morning and drive to the dock in Merauke. We are ambushing here to rob the truck carrying gold and use the money to supplement the scarce military expenses."

"For trucks carrying large quantities of gold, the number of armed escorts must be indispensable." Gao Fei said.

"If the mercenaries come to escort the trucks, we will change to Plan B and go straight to the defense-less Hiti Gold Mine and kidnap the senior staff of the gold mine. The Suharto family will have to pay a ransom for these lackeys." Lieutenant Colonel Gal sneered.

Gao Fei exchanged glances with his teammates beside him. They all disapproved of the Papua Freedom Army's practice of kidnapping civilians and extorting ransom.