After getting the money, his men searched the bag containing the cash very thoroughly to ensure there were no bombs or bugging devices before taking the money back to base.
Inside the base, Hamid follows Charlie’s advice and holds a recommendation meeting.
This time, he wanted to give praise to the elites who performed outstandingly in the battle to attack the oil field and the three soldiers who were heroically wounded.
In the past, Hamid’s forces were largely composed of guerrillas, with chaotic and loose management,
unclear internal organizational structure, and unclear promotion levels for soldiers and officers.
The appointment and dismissal of a number of leadership positions were all decided by Hamid himself based on his personal preferences, and he lacked sufficient credibility.
This time, he decided to follow Charlie’s instructions and take this opportunity to promote the military merit system.
In the future, anyone who excels in a team will be awarded a medal;
whoever is awarded the medal will be promoted,
and whoever gets an official position will become rich.
According to Charlie, military management cannot be driven solely by interests.
The more money is spent on rewarding officers and soldiers,
the greater their tendency to become mercenaries deep down.
When mercenaries fight, they always put personal interests first and there is absolutely no possibility of sacrifice or dedication.
If you want your officers and soldiers to have a spirit of service,
You have to give them enough sense of honor.
Therefore, Hamid imitated the military structure of major countries and planned to implement a military merit system in the army from now on.
Every officer who is promoted in the future must have a clear and definite military job as support.
This will not only reassure everyone, but also increase everyone’s enthusiasm to serve with full service.
The soldiers and officers who were awarded the medal received not only US dollar cash, but also the “Victory Medal” awarded by Hamid.
The Victory Medal is modeled after the Iranian army and is described as the highest medal of honor by Hamid.
The three wounded soldiers received the relatively lesser “Medal of Valor.”
At the same time, each received a prize of $50,000.
At the same time, their military rank was raised by one level and their monthly salary was also raised by one level.
This step makes officers and soldiers realize that as long as they perform well,
even if they did not play a decisive role in the war,
Their own courage will be appreciated and recognized by the highest leaders.
When it is acknowledged, the praise given is not just verbal, but real benefits will be obtained.
so that the soldiers under his command began to be enthusiastic about looking forward to the next war.
Even ordinary soldiers hope to be on the front lines next time, and receive recognition and awards from their commanders even if they are injured.
Thus morale rose to its highest point.
Soon after, Hamid selected an officer who had performed well and announced on the spot the formation of a new team called the Oil Field Guard.
The oil field guard team consists of a total of 300 soldiers, including five reinforced platoons, each with a full strength of 50 men.
In addition, there is a transportation platoon, which also has 50 members.
Five reinforced platoons, responsible for guarding the entire oil field, immediately moved to the oil field that Hamid had just captured.
The transport platoon is responsible for the armed escort of the oil produced in the oil field.
Based on a daily production of around 5,000 barrels, at least 700 tons of crude oil are produced daily.
Using heavy duty tanker trucks, at least 30 to 40 trucks must be filled.
A medium-sized fleet is needed to transport oil continuously without stopping.
Hamid formed a transport platoon to escort oil under armed guard and deliver it to the Cataclysmic Front army bases continuously.
However, the problem now is that the Cataclysmic Front army cannot build its own refinery in the short term.
If designed and built on a scale of one million tons per year, it would require an investment of at least hundreds of millions of dollars and at least two years.
Previously, oil fields produced oil every day, but how to sell it became a complicated problem.
Hamid was only a minor warlord and had no ability to engage in global trade.
If he wants to sell the oil for cash, he only has two options:
selling it to local small refineries at very low prices or smuggling it to Turkish traders.
Local refineries have low capacity and offer very low prices, so their profit margins are small.
However, if the oil is smuggled and sold to Türkiye, even if the price is slightly higher than selling it to small workshops,
the risks and costs of smuggling must still be borne.
The situation in Syria is easier to handle, as opposition operations are very chaotic, with border and customs checks almost non-existent.
However, Türkiye is a medium to large country, and their border and customs checks will certainly not allow Syrian black oil to enter easily.
Luckily, Charlie has his own Yisu Shipping, and he can give Hamid a third option, which is to transport crude oil to the Cataclysmic Front army base.
The Cataclysmic Front army is located right on the beach and has a simple dock.
This pier is continuously being upgraded and modernized.
Oil can be transported from here to Yisu Shipping oil tankers, and then transported back to China by these tankers.
Once the refinery is operational in the future, heavy oil can be transported directly from here to nearby shipping lanes, and Yisu Shipping’s cargo ships can refuel on the route.
Given the size of Isu Shipping’s fleet,
this level of production capacity is not sufficient to meet the fleet’s annual heavy oil consumption,
so that at that time all crude oil will be produced and sold by the company itself.