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On 3 September 2006, the newly established Somali Defence Force finally welcomed its first visits from other parties. A delegation of the Angolan military, led by Angolan Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Anbonne www.biquge.info arrived in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The Chief of the General Staff of the Somali Defense Forces, Major General Hussein, personally came to the airport to greet him and expressed his attention to the Angolan military delegation!

Because of the arrival of the Angolan military delegation, although martial law was not declared at the Capital International Airport, it also temporarily strengthened its defenses. Officers and soldiers of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Regiment of the 1st Armoured Brigade of the Somali Defence Forces (SDF) were on guard near the capital's airport in a King Lion infantry fighting vehicle.

Since the peaceful reunification of Somalia, because of its special geographical location and as a representative country of war, it has attracted a large number of foreign tourists, and the capital airport, as an important transportation station connecting foreign countries, has attracted tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world every day.

Today, the airport has suddenly tightened its security in some key thoroughfares, and soldiers can be seen everywhere, which makes many first-time visitors stop at a distance, because it is very similar to the rumors that soldiers with guns can be seen patrolling the streets everywhere.

At 11 a.m., a special plane from Angola landed at the capital's airport, and several Somali Defence Force jeeps rushed directly into the airport to the side of the special plane.

Amboine is a middle-aged man in his forties, with not only the gritty temperament of a soldier but also an indescribable sense of vicissitudes, as a country that has been mired in civil war for 27 years, almost a generation or two has been affected by this environment, and has the potential to become a soldier. Not to mention Amboin, who can become the deputy chief of the General Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces!

As soon as he got off the plane, Amboin saw a group of people standing below to greet him. The leader was an Arab who appeared to be in his thirties. With a slight movement in his mind, Amboin knew who the person who greeted him was: Hussein, the chief of the General Staff of the Somali Defense Forces.

Thinking of the identity of the other party, Amboyne's pace couldn't help but speed up a little, how to say that the other party is the chief of the general staff of a country, according to the principle of equal reception, he came to visit Somalia, and it was enough for the Somali Defense Forces to send at most one deputy chief of the general staff. Unexpectedly, the chief of the General Staff appeared and greeted him at the airport in person. Although Amboin is not optimistic about the mission he has come from, he is pleased with the importance attached to the Somali Defence Force.

In the spotlight of several military journalists, the cordial handshake between the Chief of the General Staff of the Somali Defence Forces and the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Angola stopped in the frame.

The group arrived at the Somali Defence Forces Ministry of Defence Building, which is what insiders call the General Staff Building, a gray three-story building.

In the room, the two sides expressed their views on a number of issues in Africa, but since they were both military figures, the references were mainly on the military side.

In the afternoon, accompanied by Chief of Staff Hussein, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Amboin visited the headquarters of the Somali Capital Military Region, as well as the camp of the 1st Armored Brigade. At the camp of the 1st Armored Brigade, Ambroon was surprised to see officers and soldiers who were different from the somewhat scattered armies of most African countries.

"Chief of Staff Hussein, I have found that the soldiers of your country have some similarities in their overall appearance with the Chinese soldiers I have visited." Angola now has a relatively close relationship with China, in Angola, you can often see Chinese people who come to work, to the Chinese, most of the Angolans are very friendly, which is also related to China's many assistance to Angola.

Hussein smiled secretly, these soldiers were trained in accordance with Huaxia's elite soldiers as instructors, and they were trained almost according to Huaxia's training syllabus. Of course, there are some similarities with the Chinese army in temperament and appearance.

"In the sequence of our national defense forces, there are many soldiers who used to be retired from China." Hussein smiled indifferently and explained very succinctly. But this sentence is enough for Amboin to understand clearly.

Amboin has a look of certainty on his face, and since last year, there have been several big noises in Somalia. Attracting the world's attention, Angola, as an African country, has naturally done a detailed study of Somalia. Because the two countries are similar in a sense. It took a long period of civil war to become peaceful. Although Angola's civil war lasted longer than Somalia's, its peaceful reunification also took place earlier than Somalia's, ending the civil war in 2002 with the killing of Savimbi, Angola's largest armed leader.

At the camp of the 1st Armored Brigade, Ambone focused on watching the troops' tactical drills. In particular, the small-scale rapid assault drill conducted by the Jibu Regiment made Amboye's eyes light up.

Although the situation in Angola has stabilized, it does not mean that there are no internal disputes and contradictions. There are still many opposition parties and armed groups. It's just that large-scale civil wars are almost no longer happening. However, small-scale clashes still occur from time to time, and the Angolan military now needs a weapon that can be quickly deployed and supported. In the Angolan army, most of the weapons used are weapons produced in the former Soviet Union, Cuba, and China, because most of these equipment are Soviet-made weapons or extensions, and they all have a characteristic: bulky, practical, and powerful. If these weapons and equipment can still play an extraordinary role in a large-scale war, but now that the situation is gradually calming down and the battles are becoming more and more miniaturized, whether or not it can be quickly mobile and deployed in the areas needed is an important indicator of whether an army can meet the needs of the current situation.

The wheeled infantry fighting vehicle is more and more valued by all countries because of its strong firepower and rapid deployment capabilities. Compared with tracked armored vehicles, wheeled infantry fighting vehicles have fast mobility, low fuel consumption, low cost of construction and low maintenance costs, which is a very suitable weapon for the development of equipment for many countries with insufficient economic strength.

"Chief of Staff Amboin, the infantry fighting vehicle you see is the first generation of the Lion King infantry fighting vehicle developed and produced by my country's Xingchen Industrial Group; The second-generation Lion King 2 infantry fighting vehicle is better and more mobile than this Type 1 surname...... "Chief of Staff Hussein did not forget the most important thing, and when the group came to a prepared combat vehicle, he began to introduce it to the Angolan military.

Amboin nodded from time to time, and occasionally asked some questions, all of which were answered satisfactorily. Originally, given the relationship between Angola and China, the purchase of weapons from China was the first choice of the Angolan military. However, in the first half of this year, a normal arms procurement between Zimbabwe and China triggered a diplomatic dispute between many countries, which made Angola have great concerns about the purchase of Chinese weapons. In the first half of this year, a Chinese steamer loaded with arms sailed to Zimbabwe, because Zimbabwe is a landlocked country and has no port. So the ship was to eventually dock in a neighbouring coastal country and then transport the arms by road to Zimbabwe. However, the US political axe is bent on 'covering the sky with one hand' in Africa, 'encircling and intercepting' this arms ship, and strongly warning Zimbabwe's neighboring coastal countries not to allow it to dock. Countries such as South Africa and Mozambique, under pressure from the United States or for other reasons, refused to allow the ship to dock in their domestic ports, but in the end Angola allowed the ships to use their ports. On this matter, China, the United States, Angola and Zimbabwe are very noisy.

The Angolan political axe values its friendship with China and has extended a helping hand, which may be due to the fact that the United States has supported Angola's largest armed forces for decades, which led to the Angolan civil war for decades, but it does not mean that Angola has ignored the pressure of the United States. As a coastal country in West Africa, it can be said that the other side of the Atlantic is the United States, and Angola does not have the courage to repeatedly 'disobey' the United States.

If China does not purchase arms, Angola will not purchase arms from the United States and other Western countries. This is because there is great resistance in Angola to the use of Western weapons, and there is also a fear that it will be restrained by Western countries. After all, when weapons and equipment are bought and used, they also need various spare parts and the ability to maintain these equipment. After learning that Somalia, which is also an African country, also has a relatively advanced infantry fighting vehicle, the Angolan military became interested, which is why Amboin's visit to Somalia was borne.

In the evening, a delegation from the Angolan military attended a welcome party personally organized by Somali President Yusuf. Also present at the welcoming meeting were several important Somali ministers and the commander of the Capital Military Region, Kenyare, and others. In addition, the Ambassador of the Angolan Embassy in Somalia and some staff members also attended the evening.

At the welcoming meeting, President Yusuf welcomed the arrival of the Angolan military delegation on behalf of the Somali political axe and made an important speech.

President Youssef only spent less than half an hour in the party, which was already a great face-saving gesture for the Angolan military delegation, otherwise he would have nothing even if he did not attend. Before leaving, Youssef also cordially invited Angolan President dos Santos to visit Somalia through Amboin.

The next day, the Angolan military delegation visited the industrial park in the town of Badada, where they visited the mysterious arms production base.

Here, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Amboin met with a man he had carefully studied before coming: Li Mo.

It is rumored that this businessman from China is the actual leader of the Paraming Army, and Amboyne does not know what the real inside story is, but from the calm and calm Chinese in front of him, there is no trace of respect for Chief of Staff Hussein.

Because of his current identity as a businessman, Li Mo did not make too 'out-of-line' moves, and rarely spoke during the entire accompanying visit. The people who introduced Ambone and his party were experts and other members of the production committee.

At the weapons test site in the industrial park, Amboyne and others finally saw the ultimate goal of this trip, the Lion King 2 infantry fighting vehicle.

At the first glance of the infantry fighting vehicle, Amboin could hardly believe it. This tank, which looks similar in appearance to the mainstream wheeled combat vehicles of Western countries, was produced by a newly reunited Somali company. Had it not been for the assurances of several Angolan weapons experts accompanying him that the vehicle was not produced by any country today, he would have almost assumed that the Lion 2 infantry fighting vehicle was secretly purchased by Somalia from some country.

"Mr. Li, can our people give it a try?" After listening to the expert's introduction to the data of the vehicle's surname, Amboin couldn't help but ask.

Li Mo was stunned for a moment, nodded and said, "Of course you can, if you don't experience it personally, your understanding of the chariot surname Neng will not be comprehensive!" ”

(To be continued)