251: Chapter Two Hundred and Forty-Nine: Anger 251: Chapter Two Hundred and Forty-Nine: Anger As Li Jinfang was calling out, Gao Yang could already hear the gunfire coming from the east of the fishing village.
After cursing bitterly, Gao Yang immediately yelled, “Rabbit, you’ve heard the situation.
This rabble can’t be commanded.
They’re definitely swarming to the east.
Take the sniper team to the south, and let Asan take the marksman team to the west!
There’s no order to provide support, just set up an observation line!
If you encounter an enemy that’s too strong, close in with the main force.
Understood?”
“Rabbit here, Asan can’t lead the marksman team to establish an observation line.
Asan’s been hit.
I’ll take the sniper team north, and Ahmad will take the marksman team to the west.”
Cui Bo’s tone sounded very gloomy, and after he finished speaking, he added gravely, “Ram, Asan’s not going to make it.
He’s still breathing, but he’s beyond saving.”
If Gao Yang had to worry about someone’s safety in the Skull Gang, it could only be Asan.
It wasn’t Maide or Abu.
He had good relationships with them, but they all came after Asan.
In the two months here, other than occasionally studying the necessary knowledge of a sniper with Cui Bo, Asan had barely left Gao Yang’s sight.
Asan was intelligent, agile, obedient, willing to endure hardship, and very close to Gao Yang.
For the past two months, he had essentially been Gao Yang’s little follower.
Moreover, any teacher would hope to see their student succeed, and Asan greatly fulfilled any teacher’s expectations.
Gao Yang liked this student very much and had invested a lot of effort in him.
Upon hearing Cui Bo say that Asan was not going to make it, Gao Yang was stunned for a moment before asking in astonishment, “Asan’s not going to make it?
Is that true?
The marksman team is in the Instruction Platoon camp, and there wasn’t supposed to be much going on there.
How could Asan have possibly been shot?”
“The Instruction Platoon camp wasn’t attacked.
Asan fired from the same spot twice and then he was hit by a sniper.
The bullet entered his lung through his shoulder.
The enemy is very good, really good…”
“Understood.
Go carry out the orders.”
There were pressing matters of war.
Gao Yang had to lead a rabble of troops to reinforce Li Jinfang.
He only responded to Cui Bo casually, but Gao Yang’s emotions were far from calm.
Initially, he only felt surprise and confusion at the news of Asan’s misfortune.
But after confirming it, his emotions turned to anger.
Gao Yang was thoroughly angered because someone he cared about was going to die.
Gao Yang was furious, which meant someone was going to pay a heavy price for it.
Grabbing the collar of the soldier from the Instruction Platoon who was acting as a translator, Gao Yang said deliberately, “Get everyone to reinforce the east, follow me.”
After speaking, Gao Yang immediately ran towards the direction of the gunfire in the east.
Some people were already running towards the location of the firefight, but most of them stood still, looking confused.
The situation was sudden, and once again, these untrained people didn’t know what to do.
Looking at those standing still, Gao Yang felt even angrier for some reason.
He knew these people all had guns but were untrained.
In fact, they were just civilians who took murder and being murdered too lightly.
Yet, Gao Yang was angry because he couldn’t understand why these people, who didn’t know anything, were fine, while a sniping prodigy he had high hopes for had been killed.
“Follow me!”
He roared at the bewildered crowd and continued running forward.
He hadn’t learned much Somali during this time because he didn’t think he would come back to this godforsaken place in Somalia, so it would be needless.
But as he shouted these words with a bellyful of rage and unwillingness, those confused people suddenly seemed to find their spine and began to follow Gao Yang.
Before long, nearly everyone on the beach was running after Gao Yang.
While running at a swift pace, Gao Yang lowered his voice and said almost word by word, “Big Dog, during this time, you’ve taken the artillery camp as the center and preset coordinates for the surrounding areas.
I want to know how that’s going now.”
“Big Dog here, we’ve set coordinates for spots within five kilometers around the artillery camp that have distinctive features, but that was just for practice.
Neither mortars nor rocket launchers have been trained for beyond-visual-range shooting.
You know, I only have general knowledge about artillery, I can’t calculate the base firing line, let alone work out precise firing coordinates for angles, I can’t teach them to shoot super accurately at beyond-visual-range.”
Gao Yang fell silent for a moment and then said gravely, “Toad, look for obvious landmarks and tell Big Dog.”
“Toad here, there’s a large tree at a forty-five-degree angle.
I don’t know what kind of tree it is.
Big Dog, is that a landmark?
Ram, we estimate the enemy numbers to be over three hundred and increasing.
We need support, fast!”
The urgency in Li Jinfang’s voice was palpable.
Gao Yang immediately said, “Big Dog, answer Toad’s question!”
“Big Dog here, the large tilted tree, that’s landmark number four.
But, even with mortars, we can’t guarantee hitting the exact spot.
There’s a high possibility of friendly fire.”
Gao Yang yelled at the top of his lungs, “Friendly fire is authorized, repeat, friendly fire is authorized!
Toad, report the distance and direction between the enemy and the landmark.
Big Dog, three test shots!”
Gao Yang was almost at the entrance of the village.
By now, he could see the muzzle flashes from both sides, but Gao Yang didn’t want to wait until he reached the position before letting Glolov open fire.
He didn’t want to wait another second.
“The enemy is all around the big tree, within a range of 300 meters to the north and south, I repeat, within a range of 300 meters to the north and south of the fallen big tree, it’s all enemy!”
“Big Dog received, Toad be careful, prepare for the barrage, three rounds volley fire, go!”
After Glolov gave the order, the mortar shells quickly descended, but the shells didn’t hit the enemy’s position—instead, they landed less than twenty meters from the position that Li Jinfang and his men had hastily established.
Indeed, they nearly caused friendly fire.
“Shift the mortar strike another 200 meters forward, repeat, forward by 200 meters!”
“Big Dog understood, moving forward by 200 meters, three rounds volley fire, go!”
Glolov responded after a moment’s wait, and during this timeframe, he had already corrected the drop point of the shells.
Three shells quickly came down, and this time, although the crash sites of the three shells were far apart from each other, they all finally landed on the enemy’s heads.
“The impact points are scattered but all on the enemy’s position, keep hitting this coordinate, fire away!”
Hearing Li Jinfang’s observation report, Glolov immediately said, “Toad, be careful and have your men take cover!
Twenty rounds volley fire coming, go!”
The shells continued to fall, and although not all of them hit the enemy, at least almost half of the shells landed on unoccupied areas.
Fortunately, none fell on their own men, mostly landing on the no-man’s-land between the two forces.
After a succession of explosions, Gao Yang arrived with his men just in time.
After yelling in Somali to get down, he immediately lay prone and began firing.
The enemy had no cover to speak of, at most they could only shoot while lying down.
Even with them lying on the ground, for Gao Yang, hitting such targets was almost too easy.
As mortar shells continuously came down, the Skull Gang arrived in full force to assist.
The enemy positions began to stir, and not long after Glolov had ordered just two rounds of mortar fire, the enemy started to retreat.
At first, there were only a few running back, but soon, the enemies began to flee in panic.
Gao Yang’s shots never missed.
Once locked in his scope, it meant death.
Gao Yang fired rapidly in succession, quickly emptying three magazines, all in just a little over a minute’s time.
Seeing the enemies fleeing, some of the Skull Gang started to get up to pursue.
Gao Yang didn’t dare let this disorganized, hot-headed mob chase after the enemy amidst the current chaos.
A few casualties were a minor concern, but if they rashly pursued and then got ambushed in a counterattack, that would be a serious problem.
Moreover, the Instruction Platoon and the artillery camp currently only had heavy weapons such as mortars and rocket launchers, and their defenses were extremely weak.
Gao Yang was furious, but he didn’t let anger cloud his judgment.
He would not allow his anger to compromise the safety of Glolov, who had stayed back at the camp.
Gao Yang shouted to the soldiers of the Instruction Platoon beside him, “Get everyone back to the village, no pursuit, those who disobey orders will be shot!
Yell it with your loudest voice!”
Li Jinfang also heard Gao Yang’s orders through his headset.
He emulated Gao Yang’s approach, instructing the soldiers of the Instruction Platoon beside him to shout out Gao Yang’s orders loudly.
The collective yelling of dozens of soldiers managed to call back those who had just chased after the enemy.
Having dealt with the pressing crisis, Gao Yang yelled out, “Toad, you know what to do, clean up the battlefield.
I’m heading back to check the situation.”
Gao Yang felt overwhelmed; the Skull Gang had completely lost their command, and now they could only rely on these foreigners for directions.
Thankfully, the Skull Gang members were still obedient, otherwise, they could have disappeared from history after tonight.
Bringing only one interpreter, Gao Yang ran towards the artillery camp with his fastest speed.
Right now, he couldn’t care about anything else; he just wanted to see Asan one last time.
“Rabbit!
Where is Asan?”
Cui Bo had gone to establish an observation line to prevent them from being surrounded unawares, so he wasn’t by Asan’s side during the last moments of his life, unable to stand guard by Asan who had nothing to hide from him.
Hearing Gao Yang’s question, Cui Bo answered in a low, tearful voice, “He’s in his own barracks.
I left a lightly wounded man to watch over him.
Brother Yang, please see him off for me.”
Gao Yang immediately ran toward Asan’s barracks, and as he burst into the barracks, his eyes met with Asan’s, who was facing the door.
Asan’s eyes no longer held any luster, but his chest was still heaving.
With severe lung injuries, his mouth was full of bloody froth.
But as his gaze that was becoming unfocused saw Gao Yang, it quickly focused and rested on Gao Yang.
Asan, who had been trembling, suddenly stopped shaking, his eyes shone, and a slight smile even appeared on his face.
Asan tried to speak, but though his mouth opened, no sound emerged, only more bloody froth.
His right hand resting on his stomach struggled to lift, fluttering four fingers at Gao Yang, and then, his head, which he tried to keep raised, drooped to the side, and he died.
(To be continued.
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