1011: Chapter 996: Visiting 1011: Chapter 996: Visiting Busy all morning, meeting one person after another, Gao Yang finally had a chance to catch up on some sleep.
Afterward, he met with Satan’s men and simply talked about the results of his meeting with Marshall.
Anyway, the items he was given or the burdens forcefully pushed on him wouldn’t arrive anytime soon, so it wasn’t late to discuss the details later.
After sleeping all afternoon to recharge for the night’s operation, Gao Yang was called to dinner as dusk approached.
The big plate chicken was delicious, just the way Gao Yang liked it, and being held in high regard came with many benefits.
One of them was receiving meticulous attention, even when it came to cooking.
Li Qiu was only in charge of cooking.
Others took care of tasks like peeling potatoes or cutting the chicken into pieces.
Preparing meals for merely forty people was easily managed, so there was no issue of too many wolves and not enough meat this time.
The liaisons also ate together, with Dani and Farouk smiling from ear to ear as they enjoyed their meal.
Since everyone had gathered for the meal, saving Gao Yang the trouble of calling everyone together, he stood up and clapped his hands after dinner, loudly saying, “I have some matters to announce.”
After speaking, Gao Yang pointed at Taylor and announced, “The newcomer can be called Postman.
Everyone, get to know him.
He will join us in action tonight.”
Taylor stood up and saluted, a mercenary gesture.
Then Gao Yang loudly said, “Postman, you’ll join us tonight.
You don’t have to do anything.
Just stay on the helicopter and watch how we work.”
After waving his hand to signal Taylor to sit down, Gao Yang continued, “Tonight, everyone will have to work hard.
We will start the operation at nine o’clock.
The enemy won’t all be asleep at that time, so the danger will be greater.
Everyone, be careful.
Moreover, barring any unexpected incidents, we will strike multiple times.
So take twice the standard ammunition, check all battery levels of electronic devices, replace them if necessary, and bring spare batteries for devices with high power consumption since we may head to a second battlefield without resupply.
It will be dangerous and grueling tonight, and I hope everyone is well-prepared.”
Looking at his watch, Gao Yang asked loudly, “Does anyone have questions?”
Ludwig raised his hand and then asked loudly, “Do we need to capture prisoners?”
After thinking for a moment, Gao Yang replied, “Safety first, so there’s no requirement to capture prisoners.
However, if you can ensure safety and there’s a high-value enemy target, you may capture them.”
Dani and others were hoping to capture more prisoners, but Gao Yang’s own need to capture prisoners was not as strong.
Although capturing prisoners could help locate Badadi’s whereabouts, capturing them alive was much more difficult than killing the enemy.
Under the principle of safety first, Gao Yang wouldn’t forcibly attempt to capture prisoners.
Having said that, Gao Yang once again asked, “Any more questions?”
No one else spoke up, and Gao Yang waved his hand, saying, “Good, those who have no other business go prepare early.
We’ll assemble in an hour.
That’s all.”
The diners left one after another, and those who hadn’t finished continued eating.
In reality, the preparations had already been made long ago.
Nobody would truly wait until the last minute before getting ready.
Being a mercenary meant being responsible for oneself, without expecting others to take care of you.
Gao Yang returned to his room, donned all his gear, and then joined the others who were ready to depart.
They chatted and laughed as they watched the helicopters being filled with fuel and prepared for takeoff, until they all boarded on time and took off from the ground.
Four targets were selected, but only the first was essential to capture.
The remaining three were backups, and it was hard to say what might happen during the operation.
If too much time and firepower were expended on the first target, whether or not the backup targets could be continued to be attacked would become a question.
The first target was a potential hideout for Badadi.
It wasn’t a command post, and although it was in a Rebel Army-controlled area, it was far from the front line, considered a secure rear area by the rebels, so there wouldn’t be many guards.
However, the likelihood of finding Badadi there was comparatively high.
Of course, if Badadi was indeed there, then the guard force wouldn’t be small.
But if they truly found Badadi, the rest of the backup targets could be disregarded.
No matter how long the fight, it would be worth it.
The vibration of the plane was significant, and the noise was loud.
Farouk sat in the corner assigned to him, fiddling with the camera.
This time, he had an additional camera mounted on his helmet.
Watching Farouk take off his helmet to check the camera, Gao Yang shouted, “Captain!
Put on your helmet!
You mustn’t take off your helmet until safety is assured.
Don’t you know that?
Don’t let me catch you taking off your helmet again!”
Farouk felt somewhat embarrassed by Gao Yang’s scolding tone.
After all, he had reached the status of a senior officer and was older than Gao Yang, but on the helicopter, Gao Yang was the supreme commander, the ultimate authority.
So without a word, Farouk obediently fastened his helmet back on his head.
Normally, anything goes, but once on the battlefield, Gao Yang would involuntarily become a different person.
Any small mistake would lead to immediate reprimand or even a scolding, and in more urgent cases, it could lead to physical intervention.
No one would express dissatisfaction with Gao Yang’s behavior.
Instead, such a commander would earn the trust of his subordinates.
Even as mercenaries, they wouldn’t want to deal with a commander who was indifferent to everything.
As the commander, Gao Yang was responsible for every person under his command.
With great power came even greater pressure; he was charged with the lives of his men.
Hence, Gao Yang had no time for gentle persuasion when correcting others; he acted in whatever way was simplest and fastest, which often meant being brusque.
Lights were under control, and so were communications, in order to avoid detection of radio activity, because according to Abach’s testimony, the IS had been trained in radio communications and had obtained equipment for monitoring them.
This was new intelligence, so to avoid early discovery, contact with helicopters and the airport was now severed.
There couldn’t be any chance of the operation being exposed.
After more than forty minutes of flight, the cabin’s indicator light went on: they had arrived above the targeted area, and radio communication control was lifted.
“Night Demon One, arrived above the targeted area, no visible threat targets, looks very calm, over.”
“Night Demon Four, reached target airspace, no visible threats, I’m going to lower the altitude, over.”
Eileen’s small Antelope helicopter was tiny, and the noise emitted during flight was minimal, which meant she could lower the altitude and conduct reconnaissance closer to the target building in angles unreachable by Mi-24 and Mi-17.
If a Mi-24 or Mi-17 descended to the same altitude, the noise would be enough to startle sleeping people out of their beds.
The reconnaissance had been underway for five minutes.
“Night Demon Two, spotted vehicles four hundred meters west of the target building, heading toward the target, over.”
“Night Demon Four, no discoveries, heading west now, over.”
“Night Demon Four, vehicle spotted, its direction has changed, now moving away from the target building, no dangerous targets detected, continue with the original plan or not, over.”
It seemed peaceful; Badadi’s hiding place appeared virtually empty, which suggested there was a slim chance that Badadi was there.
Gao Yang now needed to make a decision, whether to land and start an attack to confirm Badadi’s absence or to simply turn around and head to another predetermined target area.
The reason for abandoning the attack was simple: if they attacked, Badadi would definitely abandon the hideout, with the probability of alarming the enemy at nearly one hundred percent.
It was uncertain how long Abach’s capture could be kept secret, but the current situation of the IS wasn’t bad.
Even if they learned of Abach’s capture, Badadi wouldn’t necessarily completely change his usual habits and style.
But if every hideout Abach pointed out was attacked, Badadi would be forced to arrange new safe houses.
In such a scenario, the prearranged plan was to retreat quietly, as if they had never been there.
However, Gao didn’t want to act immediately according to the original plan; he wanted to ask Taylor’s opinion.
As someone from CCT, Taylor’s role was to make target assessments and then guide aerial forces; he had his own set of criteria for deciding whether a predetermined target was worth attacking.
Gao Yang spoke into the walkie-talkie with a serious tone, “Night Demon Four, I want to know Postman’s opinion.”
Taylor was only there on observation; he was sitting in the back and wasn’t equipped with headphones or a communication system.
After a brief wait, Eileen immediately said, “Strike!
Postman says there might be a surprise here, or there might be nothing, but he thinks it’s worth a try.
He also said that if we encounter little resistance during the attack, we should try to capture prisoners, because the surprise could be with them.”
Gao Yang immediately said, “Commence attack action, Night Demon One and Two, abandon fire preparations, Night Demon Four on alert, Night Demon Three to land as close as possible to the target point, over.”
Gao Yang opted for a heliborne assault, and that as close to the target building as possible, facilitating the combat personnel’s swift entry into the structure.
The great noise of the aircraft landing could wake people up; the sooner they entered, the more likely they might catch a big fish.
The location of the operation was in the far outskirts of Damascus, belonging to a village with houses scattered here and there, and further east lay the desert, with plenty of open space in the village.
The target building was just a bungalow; the helicopter landed directly in front of its door.
Jacklan’s landing approach was incredibly brash, swooping the helicopter in as if crashing a gate, much like driving a car to visit a friend, only it was like driving the car directly onto the sofa in the host’s living room.
The rotor of the helicopter whipped up the fine sand in the courtyard, creating a sandstorm so intense that without a night vision device, nothing could be seen.
The helicopter remained stationary in the courtyard with its tail cargo door wide open.
Gao Yang leapt out and rushed toward the house door less than ten meters away.
There was no need to deploy any formation; once off the helicopter, it was straight to action.
It was as if having driven the car into the host’s living room, one might as well sit in the car and directly enjoy a cup of coffee.
(To be continued.
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