Selling oil across Libya

Chapter 27 Give and Take

Qin Rui has noticed that residents of the Numidian Brigade-controlled area are gradually migrating eastward.

Qin Rui not only did not stop them, but also ordered his troops to set up roadblocks on major transportation routes, allowing only exit and not entry.

It's not that Qin Rui is heartless.

There was absolutely no way to communicate.

Qin Rui's Aleppo pine trees were mostly eaten by a shepherd's sheep in just half a day.

The shepherd not only did not stop them, but also cut down the trees, intending to take them home to repair the sheepfold.

"Why let sheep graze on trees when there are weeds and shrubs everywhere?"

Qin Rui patiently tried to communicate with the shepherd.

"They don't understand me and don't obey my commands."

The shepherd's smile even carried a hint of mockery.

"Tiger, a total of 121 trees were destroyed."

The whiteboard is furious; this guy must have done it on purpose.

"Listen, you destroyed 121 of my trees. Starting tomorrow, you must replant double the number, or you'll be in trouble."

Qin Rui gave up; he would no longer waste his breath.

It is likely that thousands of years ago, the southern coast of the Mediterranean was just as lush with vegetation and shaded by trees as the northern coast.

In the nomadic concept, sheep eating grass is a matter of course, and there is never any concept of recycling.

When the grass is all eaten, they move to another place to continue eating.

If desertification is caused by overgrazing, then it must be God's will.

God has surely prepared the Promised Land for me in another place.

"It wasn't me who ate it, how could you do this?"

The shepherd not only did not think he was wrong, but also thought that Qin Rui was at fault.

"Is the sheep yours?"

"certainly!"

"Then what else do you have to say?"

"Is there a direct connection between the fact that my sheep is mine and the fact that my sheep ate your tree?"

The shepherd was perfectly justified.

Qin Rui really couldn't understand why he was so self-righteous.

Mia sneered and told Baiban to go to the shepherd's pen and lead out 121 sheep.

"No! You can't do this!"

The shepherd wailed and wept bitterly.

The shepherd had only about thirty sheep in total.

Without further ado, Mia, finding her MP5 insufficient, took the whiteboard AK74, removed the silencer, and unleashed a burst of fire into the sky.

The shepherd stopped crying, his face filled with fear, and scrambled to his feet.

"Does it really have to be this way?"

Qin Rui is a civilized person and should not be enamored with violence.

"Brother Tiger, you don't understand these bastards at all!"

Your friendliness and kindness are seen by them as nothing more than a sign of weakness.

Miya's violence was a traditional way for nomadic peoples to resolve conflicts.

After the town of Zawiye was destroyed, Mia returned to Zawiye and brought back more than a dozen children, the oldest being only five years old and the youngest only three months old.

Mia's grades were excellent, and Qin Rui originally planned to have Mia teach the children, instructing them in academic subjects.

Unexpectedly, Mia wanted to train these children to be warriors, showing no awareness of cultivating talent.

"When the enemy comes, knowledge and culture cannot protect us; on this land, strength is everything."

Mia's words reaffirmed Qin Rui's belief in the importance of education.

However, it cannot be said that Mia was wrong.

Many of the members of the Transitional Council and the interim government officials are former Libyan government officials or so-called highly educated individuals with overseas study experience.

When war came, they did not unite around the colonel and fight against the common enemy.

Instead, it's all about surrendering, defecting, and betraying—this way.

Like Mia, Dalia firmly believes that knowledge cannot arm her; only AK is her most trusted companion.

Apart from the children that Mia rescued.

In the entire Zawiya region, only Mia and Dalia are pure Libyans.

Since both Mia and Dalia think so.

Qin Rui then stopped insisting.

At least for now, force is the only way for the Numidian Brigade to survive.

Haftar's propaganda offensive was more effective than he had imagined.

After the Transitional Council occupied Tripoli, some of the residents of Hums who had fled before the outbreak of the war returned to Hums to continue their lives.

After learning through the radio that the Numidian Brigade continued the monogamous system of the Colonel's era and did not recognize the polygamous system of the Transitional Council, the mayor of Hums, Majid, sought out Musa to understand the situation.

"Yes, as long as it is within the jurisdiction of the Numidian Brigade, monogamy is still practiced, and polygamy is illegal."

Musa doesn't even want a wife who's been custom-made for him; he simply can't understand these people's mentality.

"The restoration of traditional polygamy is an order from the Transitional Council. Does the Numidian Brigade not obey the Transitional Council's decision?"

Majid was filled with unease; during his escape to Benghazi, he had already married his second and third wives.

"The Numidian Brigade will certainly comply with the correct regulations."

Must we obey a wrong decision?

Musa sneered, saying that the Transitional Council was restoring polygamy in order to win the support of Libyans to the greatest extent possible.

In retrospect, this tactic was indeed very effective.

"Sir, may I ask what kind of punishment one would receive for violating the Numidian Travel Bureau's regulations?"

Majid has not given up.

If it's just a fine, that's not unacceptable.

"According to tradition, they will be stoned to death."

Musa's words were meaningful.

Majid was startled and hurriedly took his leave.

The next morning, Musa sent men to look for Majid again, only to find that Majid had already fled to Benghazi overnight.

Like Majid, since Haftar launched a propaganda offensive against the Numidian Brigade on the radio, Libyans have been flocking from the Numidian Brigade-controlled areas to the Transitional Council-controlled areas.

Haftar's insidious act is that he launches a propaganda offensive only against the western regions controlled by the Numidian Brigade.

Residents in the east don't receive these messages at all.

"Tiger, if we don't do something soon, all our men will run away."

Yuri was deeply worried.

The civil war was mainly concentrated in the western region, which was already severely damaged and had suffered a large loss of population.

After Haftar launched his propaganda offensive, more than 5 people left every day.

After the fighting broke out in Tripoli, not all Tripoli residents fled abroad; more than two-thirds of the Tripoli residents fled to nearby towns in preparation for their return after the war.

Although the fighting in Tripoli has now completely ended, they did not return to Tripoli, but instead went directly to Benghazi or a neighboring country.

West of 15 degrees east longitude, approximately 700,000 square kilometers.

If this situation is not curbed, the area controlled by the Numidian Brigade may become one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world.

Sparsely populated areas, like the Sahara Desert, have only one person per square kilometer.

The area controlled by the Numidian Brigade is roughly estimated to have a population of less than 50.

"They were never loyal to us; they were never one of us."

Qin Rui wasn't afraid; since some people were leaving, others were willing to come.