The dock workers at Richards Bay Port took three days to load the "Kristo" with over a dozen containers filled with various supplies. However, the ordered firearms were still stored in the warehouse and were scheduled to be loaded onto the ship the day before departure.


    The most challenging aspect of the transportation process was moving the two Mi-17 helicopters. It took quite an effort to get these two "Hippo" helicopters to the port. First, Keith contacted the pilots and had them relocate the helicopters to Richards Bay Airport, where they were then towed into a hangar to have the rotors removed. Du Preez contacted a transportation company that specialized in moving large cargo and rented two sixty-foot-long flatbed trucks.


    After securing the transportation vehicles, they faced another issue while planning the route. The Mi-17 fuselage stands over fifteen feet tall—far exceeding the clearance of bridges and tunnels—meaning they had to take a detour through the suburbs at a snail''s pace and even request assistance from the traffic department to close roads and maintain order. As a result, transporting the helicopters from the airport to the port ended up taking an entire day.


    On the day the helicopters were finally loaded onto the ship, the combat training course also reached its conclusion. It was also the same day that the training camp’s "Killing House" was finally completed.


    The origins of the "Killing House" have long been lost to history, but since it was popularized by the British SAS and the American Delta Force many years ago, this facility has become a critical part of close-quarters combat training worldwide, used by militaries and law enforcement alike.


    Given the constraints of time and budget, the training camp''s "Killing House" was constructed as a "tire house." Its materials came from junkyards and garbage dumps across Botswana, South Africa, and Namibia. It took three weeks just to gather the old, discarded tires.


    Building the tire house wasn''t complicated, but it required a lot of labor. Workers would place used tires flat on the ground and stack them, inserting a long wooden stake into the middle and filling the inside with sand before compacting it. The result was a ten-foot-high "tire column." When lined up on the ground and placed side by side, these columns formed bulletproof walls.


    This "Killing House" wasn''t very large, covering an area of less than 600 square feet. But it used 3,000 discarded tires, which were stacked and assembled by dozens of temporary workers from nearby towns. It took them half a week to build, thanks in part to Harris spending a considerable amount of money on overtime pay to have the workers rush the construction day and night.


    The tire walls inside the house were divided into a thirty-foot-long hallway and two square rooms. The entrance was fitted with a wooden door, while the interior was furnished with old pieces of furniture, along with several target mannequins to simulate a living room and a bedroom. To allow instructors to observe the trainees up close, a narrow catwalk was installed atop the tire walls, with cameras also mounted in each corner of the rooms.


    The African soldiers had never seen such a novel training facility. Their curiosity and excitement made them eager to get inside to show off their skills well before it was even completed. But Semler seemed determined to build up their anticipation, making them practice instead in an adjacent open area—he had them split into squads, carrying unloaded rifles and rehearsing team movement and positioning within makeshift "hallways" and "rooms" that had been roped off.


    However, the current week’s combat skills course was only a crash course, and there wasn''t much time left for further training. As such, on the day the "Killing House" was completed, it welcomed its first batch of users.


    More than a hundred African soldiers gathered in front of the "Killing House." A makeshift long table constructed from plywood was placed on the ground, with four laptops sitting side by side, each connected to the closed-circuit television cameras installed inside the facility, allowing the rest to observe the trainees in action.


    For the mission briefing, Semler moved the whiteboard from the conference room to the open area. On the board was a floor plan of the "Killing House," drawn in black marker, with about a dozen red and yellow magnets arranged next to it. Standing directly across from the whiteboard were ten fully-armed African soldiers.


    Semler took six red magnets and four yellow ones, lining them up in front of the entrance on the floor plan. Then he turned and gestured toward the nearby "Killing House," saying, "According to the intel, there are six enemies inside, but their exact positions are unknown. Your mission is to storm in and eliminate all of them."A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    "As you''ve been practicing for the past few days, you will be split into an ''assault team'' and a ''support team.''" He pointed to the magnets, then moved three red ones into the hallway. "Once the assault team is in and the hallway is secure, the rest of the assault team will follow, with the support team providing cover and entering last." He moved all the magnets into the building, placing them at the doorways of the two rooms.


    "I''ve already taught you how to clear a room." He moved two red magnets into the living room, placing them in the corners nearest the door. "If there''s no resistance or minimal resistance upon entry, take up positions in the two corners immediately, with the rest following and the support team providing cover in the hallway. If there''s heavy resistance at the door, the support team will suppress the enemy, and during that time, the assault team will hold their positions in the hallway. Once the enemy is suppressed, the assault team will enter." He moved four more red magnets inside, then pointed to the magnets in the corners before extending his finger to indicate the opposite corner, adding, "Once inside, move along the diagonal line of the room to search for enemies and eliminate all of them."


    After demonstrating with the whiteboard, he turned and asked, "Got it?"


    "Got it!" the ten men answered in unison.


    Semler nodded, then walked over to the makeshift table where the laptops were placed.


    The assault team took up positions on both sides of the "Killing House." One team member pulled out a light blue M69 training grenade, pulled the safety pin, and another signaled toward the table.


    Semler picked up the stopwatch and raised his left hand, waving it down, and the soldier immediately threw the training grenade into the house.


    "Boom!" As the sound of the explosion echoed, two soldiers on either side of the door immediately turned toward the interior, raising their weapons and aiming inside.


    "Rat-tat-tat—" A burst of gunfire rang out, shredding a chest target placed at the end of the hallway. The two men then led the charge into the house.


    First the assault team entered, then the support team, and soon the three squads had successfully stormed the house. Each assault team member carried a large sledgehammer hooked onto their belts. After entering the "Killing House," they pulled out the hammers, rushing to the doorways, and swung them at the locks.


    "Bang!" The flimsy wooden doors couldn''t withstand the heavy hammers. The person who broke down the door dropped the hammer, kicked the door open, and then sidestepped out of the way, allowing the person behind to throw in a training grenade.


    Two more explosions rang out, and the assault teams streamed into the rooms one after another, followed by a flurry of gunfire echoing inside the tire house.


    The gunfire began and ended quickly, lasting just a few seconds before a voice shouted, "Clear!"


    All the enemy targets had been turned to swiss cheese. The entire mission—from start to finish—took less than twenty seconds, a rather clean and efficient operation. For those who had undergone only a crash course in training, reaching this level was already commendable, but Semler—who had been staring at the screen—could only shake his head.


    "Turn off the weapon''s safety, clear chambers."


    The ten Africans immediately complied and stood in a line in front of the "Killing House."


    "Gentlemen." Semler walked up to them with a stern expression.


    The men who had previously stood proudly, now exchanged uneasy glances.


    The German waved them over, leading them inside the "Killing House." He stopped in the middle of the living room and asked, "Do you believe in God?"


    That question earned him ten bewildered looks.


    "Thank Him, because if this had been real, most of you would be dead."


    He spoke as he walked over to the corner of the room, where a dummy dressed in a light gray T-shirt and navy blue pants lay on the ground. He bent down and turned the dummy over, revealing a Browning automatic pistol taped to its chest.


    "Look at this—this gentleman here has a gun."


    After saying this, he moved to the other side of the room, reaching into the gap between the sofa and the tire wall, pulling out another dummy that had been stuffed inside.


    Throwing the dummy at their feet, Semler pointed to a training grenade taped to its "hand" and said, "And take a look at this guy—he''s got a grenade." He then added, "While you idiots were shouting ''Clear'' ,this guy would have had enough time to go meet Allah and those seventy-seven virgins."


    "But the intel said there were only six enemies..." one of the men protested.


    "You think in real missions, when intel says there are only six enemies, that means there are only six enemies?" Semler cut him off sharply. "There are three things you should never trust in combat—intelligence, grenades, and the corpses lying on the ground."


    "Now tell me, what was your mission?"


    "To eliminate the enemy."


    "Wrong. It was to eliminate ''all'' the enemies." Semler corrected them. "Your mission is to capture this building, clear out all hostile forces, and eliminate potential threats. Remember, never overestimate a grenade’s effectiveness. As long as it’s not one of our own, standing or lying, shoot the couple of  bullets in the corpses. Turn any potential threat into a dead one before doing anything else. If enemies are hiding behind cover or barriers, suppress or eliminate them with machine guns and grenade launchers. Understood?"


    The African soldier looked at the ground, frustrated, and said nothing.


    "Did you understand me?" he asked again, raising his voice.


    "Yes, sir..." they answered in low voices.


    "Next time, bring your brains along. Thank God this was just a god damn exercise!"