A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 939 Plant the Red Flag in the Enemy's Heartland!

This won't work, that won't work, and the situation suddenly became very awkward.

Fortunately, the young Johnson & Johnson employee stepped in to smooth things over and draw everyone's attention back to him.

"I have a way! The CIA has recently started using agents!"

"agent?"

"Uh... it sounds nice on the surface, but they're just mercenaries! The CIA is now recruiting some veterans under its own name to do things that don't follow the rules!"

"We could learn from this approach, set up a shell company, lend it a name, and establish... uh, a mercenary-style security team? The CIA recently did just that at Uncle Hippo's house..."

"Bullshit! This guy's just a white dog! No way! Absolutely no way!"

Company Commander Tang and Squad Leader Ru shook their heads vigorously, reacting extremely strongly.

No wonder, this "mercenary" model, upon closer examination, bears a striking resemblance to the "pseudo-military" group that helped the Japanese bully their own people back then.

"Mercenaries? That's an old capitalist trick." Mulan's sarcasm deepened. "In this day and age, the only ones who can really pull this off and even turn it into a regular army are the French Foreign Legion."

This is true.

Johnson & Johnson's information wasn't entirely wrong, but the historical context was crucial.

Although private military companies (PMCs) such as Blackwater later became world-renowned, that was a story after 1997.

In the era in which Company Commander Tang and Mulan lived, privately-run armed forces operating in the modern sense were still in their infancy.

The only country that truly treats "foreign mercenaries" as an extension of national military power and endows them with regular military organization and legendary status is France's "Foreign Legion".

This unit, established in 1831, is a frequent participant in many covert operations and historical obscurities. Early PMCs like Executive Outes, active in Africa in the 90s, were far from reaching the scale and model of later, more conventional forces.

Furthermore, as mentioned before, when you're out in the world, you need to pay close attention to international events!

Mulan then taught these guys, whose combat skills were maxed out but whose intelligence gathering was far inferior, a good lesson.

Mulan had a newspaper in her hand, something like "Voice of the Sishui River." For some reason, it was in English.

The front page headline prominently featured a photo of Sukarno shaking hands with the "Corn King," with the headline "The Thousand Islands Nation Stands Firmly on the Side of the Anti-Imperialist Camp."

"Open your eyes and look! The people here now call any white person a 'lackey of imperialism,' and you set up a mercenary company with a foreign name? Do you want to die even faster?"

"The newspapers are all shouting 'move closer to the alliance,' but you guys are going against the tide and trying to become a target for 'mercenaries'? Do you think the Chen family hasn't died enough, or do you think your identities are too clean and want to attract the 'attention' of the whole city?"

The cabin fell into a deathly silence. The men, who hadn't flinched even amidst a hail of bullets, were rendered speechless by Mulan's barrage of practical questions, and could only breathe heavily in silence.

Looking at this group of martial arts enthusiasts stuck in a dead end, Mulan couldn't help but roll her eyes: "You guys are so stupid for not copying the experience that's already at home!"

"Experience from home?" Company Commander Tang and Qiangsheng looked up at her almost simultaneously, puzzled.

“The commune!” Mulan leaned against the bed and tapped her fingers on the edge of the newspaper.

“Aren’t the people’s communes in China just about collective mutual assistance and militia self-defense? There must be quite a few Chinese people around Grandpa Chen’s rubber plantation, right? Let’s organize them and set up a ‘Chinese Mutual Aid Commune’! They can plant rubber and do production together in normal times, and the commune’s militia can go directly to the rescue when something happens!”

"Organize yourselves, arm yourselves for self-defense, and help each other in production!"

"Hey..." After Mulan's suggestion, the eyes of the two veterans lit up, leaving only the young Johnson to pull out a red book and start reading.

Seeing that they understood, Mulan simply gave a specific solution:

“We can help Grandpa Chen unite with several other trusted Chinese plantation owners in the surrounding area who are also being oppressed to establish a rubber plantation mutual aid commune. On the surface, it would be an economic cooperative organization for mutual production and joint sales, which would be legitimate, in line with policy, and might even garner some superficial official support.”

We don't need to send outsiders to guard the area; we can help them build up their militia—teach them how to use guns, lay minefields, and conduct joint defense patrols.

Grandpa Chen was a descendant of a Nanyang mechanic and held considerable prestige among the local Chinese community, making him the rightful head of the commune. This meant that protecting the rubber plantation wasn't just a matter for a few individuals, but for the entire Chinese community!

“Then,” Mulan lowered her voice, “under the pretext that the commune needs to protect the rubber forests and guard against theft and wild animals, we will form a legitimate militia! We’ll use the eight remaining rubber pellets from the Bald Eagle, and our people will conduct secret military-style training and tactical instruction. In peacetime they’re farmers, in wartime they’re soldiers! If anything happens, the entire commune can quickly coordinate and support each other, trapping any invading enemy in a people’s war!”

Company Commander Tang's eyes suddenly lit up: "You mean, to unite the scattered Chinese into one force? It's both legal and sustainable!"

“That’s right!” Mulan pointed to the newspaper: “Aren’t they all moving towards the alliance? Then it should be easy to register the commune with the local government!”

“The commune is a collective organization, not a foreign force, so the local government has no grounds for complaint; the militia is acting in self-defense, fighting against bullies and preventing them from seizing territory, so they have a legitimate reason to fight. We’ll leave some guns and ammunition behind, and after Sergeant Ru recovers from his injuries, we can train them for a few days. Even if we leave, they can still guard the garden on their own.”

"Alright! Let's do it this way!" Company Commander Tang waved his hand, exuding an air of heroic pride.

"That's wonderful! You two are both very capable! Sister-in-law, I'll definitely send you a generous gift after you get married!"

When Squad Leader Ru looked at Mulan, he inexplicably thought of another brother with a cowlick on his head, and immediately blurted out something reckless.

"Oh? Then I really should thank you!"

Mulan didn't show any shyness this time; she just patted the centipede scar on Sergeant Ru twice.

"This cruise ship is docking in Jakarta, so you can rest for a while. I'll find someone to make you a seal, and the organizational charter will just be modified to fit the framework of a domestic commune..."

"Xiaoqiang, do you have the clerk? Let them handle this!"

"Yes!"

……

As Mulan left, Company Commander Tang and Squad Leader Ru began whispering to each other again:

"Hey, our brother with the ahoge is so lucky! With Mulan by his side, I don't think anyone can bully him anymore!"

"Tsk tsk, he's just a bit too wild. Little Jiang will be completely under his thumb from now on..."

"Master...it hurts so much..."

"Serves you right! Serves you right for talking nonsense!" Company Commander Tang looked at the grimacing Squad Leader Ru, put aside any camaraderie, and gave him a good scolding.

Suddenly, the young man from Johnson exclaimed, "So this is what a commune is all about! This idea... is brilliant!"

"Comrades, do you think I could do the same thing over in the Bald Eagle?"

"There are so many Chinese people in Chinatown, and they've always been bullied by those white pigs. If only we could unite them in the name of a community..."

"Hey lad, you've got an idea! Does this mean we've planted the red flag deep inside enemy territory?"

The two veterans' eyes suddenly lit up...