117: Chapter 116 What’s Going On 117: Chapter 116 What’s Going On The Aziziya Barracks were under extremely strict guard; it was no longer possible for Gao Yang and his team to drive straight up to the gate.
At a distance of five hundred meters, they had to disembark from their vehicle and, after passing through a defensive line made up of wire fences and sandbags, finally arrived at the entrance of the Aziziya Barracks.
Under the aim of machine guns, Gao Yang and his group walked towards the usual spot for recruiting mercenaries at the barracks’ entrance, but this time, there were no groups of mercenaries huddled together, leaving only the five of them standing alone.
As the government forces’ situation worsened, more and more mercenaries chose to leave or to work for the opposition.
However, the upside of the bad situation was that Gaddafi could only offer higher prices to attract mercenaries, especially for elite ones, Gaddafi was quite willing to spend money.
Seeing the appearance of Gao Yang’s group of five, the person in charge of recruitment was excited and took the initiative to greet them, “Over here, are you free mercenaries or from a mercenary group?”
Gao Yang walked over and said, “We are from the Satan Mercenary Corps, and we’ve participated in the battle of Misrata.”
The recruiter, holding a tablet computer, swiped on the screen for a moment and then called out loudly, “You participated in the Misrata campaign, let me see.
Satan Mercenary Corps, found it.
Your evaluations are not bad, actually quite excellent.
All three commanders have given you full marks.
You will get top salary, welcome back.”
Gao Yang looked at Glolov and whispered, “This feels so strange, since when did they start selecting mercenaries like this?
It feels like I’m applying for an office job rather than coming to fight a war.”
Glolov shrugged and said, “Who knows, this is the first time I’ve encountered such a thing as well.
Maybe they also want to enjoy the charm of high technology, gathering all the information of the mercenary groups.
Ha, is this considered high tech?
But I think it feels pretty good that by just reporting our names, we can get the highest pay.”
“You can be assigned a defensive task, which originally had enough personnel, but given your excellent performance, you can still join in.
There is one requirement, though: you must accept the command of a certain commander and cannot retreat on your own before he orders a withdrawal.”
Gao Yang hesitated, as he could not accept being commanded by a stranger, particularly if there was a significant chance the commander was incompetent.
Then again, if the mission was to protect a VIP or a strategic location and they wanted to flee at the first sign of trouble, no one would spend money on such mercenaries.
After a moment of hesitation, Gao Yang spoke in a deep voice, “What kind of mission is it?
Who will we be taking orders from?”
“The mission is classified; I don’t know who your commander will be.
One thing I must clarify: your commander will not interfere with your combat methods.
He only requires and oversees that you hold your ground, that’s all.
If you cannot agree to this basic condition, you cannot get the task.”
Gao Yang felt the demand was acceptable and promptly asked, “What’s the pay?
And how is it settled?”
“Based on the size and performance of your mercenary group, the wage is twenty thousand US dollars per day.
However, that’s the base pay; there will be bonuses and bounties.
The bonus amount depends on the scale of combat, starting at a minimum of ten thousand US dollars per day, with no upper limit.
Bounties need no explanation; it could be a million or merely a hundred, which I’m sure you understand.”
After nodding, Gao Yang turned to Glolov and the others and asked, “What do you think?
Can we take this job?”
Glolov spoke solemnly, “The biggest issue is taking orders from someone else, which is troublesome.
But for a defensive mission, this is quite normal.
No one can be too free when accepting a defense task.
I think we can take it.”
Li Jinfang said, “The Old Russian is right.
Protectors who run as soon as there’s a fight – who would want such people?
Their conditions are not excessive.
Let’s take this job.”
Gao Yang also wanted to accept this mission and since no one objected, he immediately said to the recruiter, “No problem, we’ll take the task.
Where should we go now?”
“Right here, go inside.
Someone will arrange things for you.”
Gao Yang was surprised to find that they didn’t need to go anywhere else; he had thought they would be sent to a secret location and then guard a target they might never know, but it turned out he was wrong.
The Aziziya Barracks occupied four hectares, with tall, sturdy concrete walls surrounding it.
The tops of the walls were covered with various monitors and sensors.
Both inside and outside, there were wire fences and fully-equipped soldiers, as well as visible anti-air missile launchers.
Now, tanks were positioned at regular intervals, ensuring the barracks were fortified as tightly as a drum.
Gao Yang couldn’t understand.
Azzizia was already the most fortified place in Libya, so why were they needing mercenaries like them?
Although Aziziya Barracks had been subjected to multiple bombings, it was arguably still the safest place in Libya.
The barracks had a labyrinthine arrangement of walls and multiple entry points; each entrance was heavily guarded by a significant number of soldiers.
Gao Yang and his group quickly made their way into an area they had not entered before.
Passing through each entrance required a check, but to Gao Yang’s surprise, they were not relieved of their satellite phones.
After being led to the edge of a large, open green space within the barracks, Gao Yang and the others stopped.
Looking around, Gao Yang saw several large tents randomly dotting a vast green field, with a building near the edge of the green space.
At approximately two hundred meters from each corner of the building stood a small house.
Outside each house were emplacements temporarily constructed of sandbags.
Gao Yang noted that each position was equipped with at least two anti-aircraft machine guns and two anti-aircraft cannons, all camouflaged with netting above them.
It was evident that these four emplacements were set up to guard the not-so-tall building in the middle of the green field.
At that moment, Gao Yang had an ominous feeling, as he recognized that this place should be the notorious Azizia Palace of Gaddafi.
Gao Yang and the others did not have to wait long before a person with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel came over to take charge of them, signed a piece of paper, and sent the person who had brought Gao Yang and his group away.
Then, the Lieutenant Colonel looked them over and said, “Follow me.”
Without any further ado, the Lieutenant Colonel led Gao Yang and his group to a position on the northwest side and brought them to the door of a small house.
Pointing at the humble door, he said, “My name is Ibrahim.
From now on, you will be under my command.
You’ll live in this room.
Do not leave without a task assigned to you or permission granted.
Someone will provide you with food and drink; the specifics will be explained to you later.”
After these words, the Lieutenant Colonel left without another word, made a couple of turns, and entered a small house, slamming the door shut behind him.
Gao Yang and the others exchanged glances and entered the small room assigned to them.
Their room had no door, only an entrance less than half a meter wide and not quite one and a half meters tall.
The room was approximately eight square meters, with two bunk beds and nothing else.
However, the firing ports and one-meter-thick concrete walls clearly indicated the true purpose of the small room: it was a defensive bunker.
Cui Bo sighed and said lightly, “At least there’s a sense of safety living in a room like this.”
Gao Yang grimaced and retorted, “Stop kidding.
Are you dumb?
It’s clear we’ve been duped.
This is definitely Gaddafi’s palace, a key target for NATO bombardment, and what we’re guarding is a decoy.”
Glovolov responded wryly, “It seems that way.
I’d bet that Gaddafi isn’t here; otherwise, the guard would be much stricter.
And no one has told us what to do.
They just dumped us here; it’s definitely a trap, and we’ve been had.”
Li Jinfang said with frustration, “If Gaddafi isn’t here, why would they make such an effort to have so many people here?
It doesn’t make sense.
Do you think Gaddafi is employing some kind of military tactic?
The empty fortress strategy, perhaps?”
Gao Yang shook his head and replied with a bitter smile, “Gaddafi would be stupid to stay here, waiting to get bombed.
Besides, Gaddafi prefers living in tents, and that’s hardly a secret anymore.
Look at the tents on the green field; do you see beautiful female guards or camels?
If not, then Gaddafi is definitely not here.”
From the firing ports, one could see the sandbag emplacements outside.
Glolov peered out and said gravely, “There are at least fifty people outside, all in position but looking relaxed.
Okay, we can confirm we’re guarding Gaddafi’s empty building.”
“Umm, will we still get paid?”
Frey didn’t care whether they were guarding an empty target; he just cared about getting paid.
Gao Yang smiled and said, “We should, but sadly I have to tell you, even if they don’t pay us a penny, we don’t have any recourse.
Look at those guards outside, if we cause any trouble, they won’t hesitate to take us out.”
Just as Gao Yang finished speaking, a voice outside called, “Hello, my poor unfortunate souls, may I come in?
I’d like to see which pitiable catches landed in the net today.
It’s polite to knock on the door, but there isn’t one to knock on here.”
Gao Yang’s brow furrowed and he called out loudly, “Please come in.”
A tall black man bent over awkwardly to enter the small room.
Standing well over one meter ninety in his gleaming bald head, he nearly touched the two-meter-high ceiling in his American desert camouflage, creating an imposing presence.
Although the man was bald, he sported a ring of stubble, and his salt-and-pepper beard indicated he was no longer young.
The black man looked at Gao Yang and the others and announced loudly, “Good afternoon, gentlemen.
I’m pleased to meet you.
With you joining us, at least I feel I’m not the only one to have made a stupid decision.
My name is Harris, but you can call me Big Guy, or I’m also happy to be called Flamethrower, as I tend to have a fiery temper, haha.
Call me whatever you like, just don’t call me n*gger, buddies.
On behalf of the Black Fire Mercenary Corps, I welcome you to the land of despair.”