253: Chapter 251: You Are the New Legend 253: Chapter 251: You Are the New Legend The casualty numbers had not yet been counted, but from what Gao Yang observed, they would certainly not be small.
He was very curious to know which Mercenary Group these attackers, who dared to launch an assault on the Skull Gang’s base camp with absolutely inferior numbers, came from.
“If you’re mercenaries, then which Mercenary Group do you belong to?”
The captive’s face was covered in camouflage paint, making it impossible to discern any expression, but his clenched fists suggested he was highly resistant to Gao Yang’s question.
However, Gao Yang did not press him, for he knew the captive would speak eventually.
Indeed, after a silence, the captive spoke gravely, “Three small Mercenary Groups.
You don’t need to know the names any longer, since our Mercenary Groups no longer exist.
Knowing them wouldn’t be of any significance to you.”
“Are you British?”
The captive was taken aback by Gao Yang’s abrupt question then nodded and said, “Yes, British.”
“Are all of you British?”
“Most of us are British, but not all.”
Gao Yang had received the answers he wanted.
He stared into the captive’s eyes and said solemnly, “Tell me, who sent you.”
“I don’t know.”
Gao Yang shook his head and said, “This is not good.
You are a worthy opponent, and I would like to preserve your dignity as much as possible, but if you are not willing to cooperate, I will have no choice but to resort to torture.
This is not good, not good at all.”
The captive sighed and said, “I know I won’t survive, but I don’t want to be tortured to death, so it’s not that I want to hide anything.
I truly don’t know who the employer is.”
Gao Yang sighed and said, “Then tell me, how did you take on this mission?”
After a moment of silence, the captive said, “Someone I knew approached me and told me about an easy job, with a total reward of five million British Pounds.
But the job was too big for a small number, it needed several small Mercenary Groups to cooperate.
I thought about it and then agreed.”
“Talk about the person you know.”
The captive glanced to the side and said, “He’s here too, already dead.
He used to be part of the Armored Group but left with a few comrades to establish a tiny Mercenary Group.
He said someone wanted to hire the Armored Group for a deal, but they refused because the Armored Group doesn’t bother with small tasks.
However, his friend from the Armored Group passed the job to him, and then he gathered enough people to take on the mission.”
When he heard the name Armored International, Gao Yang’s heart skipped a beat.
Armored International was the largest private security provider in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in the world.
It was a true behemoth, a colossus with a global reach, dealing in state-level contracts.
No wonder they scorned a mere five million British Pounds job.
“The three Mercenary Groups united to take on this task.
Then we boarded a ship in Yemen and came here.
We rested for a few days in the Gulf of Aden.
During that time, the person initiating the operation met with the employer several times.
They devised a battle plan, and here we are.
I never saw the employer, so I don’t know who it is, and I’m not interested in finding out.”
Gao Yang didn’t need the captive to tell him; he already knew who the employer was.
Apart from the British who practically monopolized the maritime security business in the Gulf of Aden, no one else would spend a large sum of money to hire mercenaries specifically to eliminate the Skull Gang.
The Skull Gang had been doing well recently.
Although they hadn’t expanded their territory by force or absorbed other pirate organizations, according to Maide, three pirate organizations were planning to ally with the Skull Gang.
The Skull Gang hadn’t expanded much on land, but their sea control had significantly increased.
Their income was also considerable, at least twenty thousand US Dollars a day, and at times it could reach two or three hundred thousand.
The Skull Gang’s model had enticed other pirate organizations, with some starting to collect tolls like the Skull Gang, instead of hijacking ships.
While a ransom from a single ship could be larger, the success rate of hijackings was too low.
Upon closer calculation, it wasn’t as profitable as the consistent income from tolls, which could guarantee at least a couple of thousand US Dollars per day.
Many merchant ships were willing to pay this fee to avoid being hijacked, with the minimum being just a couple of thousand Dollars and at most, ten or twenty thousand.
Thanks to the Somali pirates, the Gulf of Aden was a treasure trove for maritime security companies, yet if the Skull Gang’s model were fully implemented, shipping companies may not spend less, but maritime security companies would certainly earn much less.
Therefore, they had to eliminate the Skull Gang in its infancy, and they indeed responded with incredible speed.
Understanding the consequences, Gao Yang didn’t need to force the captive to reveal who hired them, as the answer was quite clear—it must be a joint operation by British maritime security companies.
Now Gao Yang was more interested in the mercenaries’ origins, which unit they were from, and their detailed operational plans.
“Tell me your operational plan.
I want detailed content,” he demanded.
The weak prisoner replied: “We cooperated with a local armed group for a joint assault.
Our job was to attack and draw attention by landing from the sea, penetrate the core area of your camp to create chaos, and let the local armed forces complete the encirclement.
The agreed time to act was 12:30, but although we started on time, those n*ggers didn’t coordinate with us.
Those damn n*ggers, I was so foolish to believe they could follow a timetable.
Truth is, we didn’t really care if the n*ggers started their attack on time; we thought we could handle everything.
According to the intelligence, the target was just some pirates, but fuck, it was a regular army.
You not only had night combat capabilities but also damn mortars and rocket launchers.
What’s unbelievable is that the pirates also had flares, fuck, and you mercenaries who should go to hell.”
Finally proud, Gao Yang allowed himself a smile and said, “If you had come two months earlier, there would be no mortars, rocket launchers, RPGs with night sights, no mercenaries equipped with night vision goggles and skilled in night combat, no regular army.
But we’re here, and now you have all of that.”
The prisoner said dejectedly: “You trained a regular army?
Alright, you did well, there’s nothing more to say.
Planning a mission based on wrong information doomed us to failure, there’s nothing more to say, nothing more!
We’re all mercenaries; for the sake of our profession, for the sake of God, grant me a quick end.”
Gao Yang spoke gravely, “I thought you would ask me to spare you.”
The captive gave a bitter laugh and then spoke sorrowfully, “Spare me?
Even if you were willing, what would that change?
I’m the commander, I’m still alive, but all my brothers are dead, not one left, all dead.
How can I continue to live?
I can’t face their families; might as well die here with them.”
Gao Yang said sternly, “I’m also a commander, and I understand your feelings.
Now tell me, which unit are you from?
I admit you’re indeed very tough, so I want to know your story.”
“Royal Marines,” the prisoner said, “my brothers and I all were.
The other mercenary group was more mixed, with British, Spaniards, Portuguese, and French.
I don’t know which units they came from.
The initiator of this operation, his Mercenary Group only six strong, had just formed and hadn’t even had time to choose a name.
This was their first action after leaving the Armored Group to establish their own Mercenary Group, haha, how ironic.
The elite of the SBS, the cream of the crop, the pride of the Royal Marines, an undefeated myth, got wiped out on their first operation on their own, and to top it off by a single man, all by the same man.
Fuck, I don’t even know what to say.”
Hearing the name SBS, Gao Yang felt somewhat incredulous, as it signified the Special Boat Service, the Royal Marines’ elite squadron.
In the UK special forces community, many know of the SAS – the Royal Special Air Service, with their famed red berets, the very first such unit in the world, with a legendary combat record almost synonymous with special forces.
Most are unaware of another ace force called the SBS.
While SAS mainly operates on land, SBS specializes in amphibious assaults.
SBS’s record is no less impressive than the SAS and is even more shrouded in mystery.
If the SAS are heroes in the public eye, then the SBS is the demon lurking in the fog.
There was no doubt, the sniper that Gao Yang encountered belonged to the SBS, and the six-man squad he obliterated must have been elites retired from the SBS.
Feeling slightly unreal, Gao Yang said blankly, “You’re telling me, I took down a squad from the SBS by myself?”
The prisoner looked at Gao Yang as if he were an idiot and replied, “Of course, only the sniper was a former SBS member.
If they were all ex-SBS, do you think you could’ve killed them all?
What are you thinking?”
Gao Yang felt a bit embarrassed, indeed, if all six men were ex-SBS members and he had managed to kill them all alone, that would have been not mere luck but legend.
The prisoner glanced at Gao Yang and then at the gun in his hands, and sighed, “I saw the guy I knew, fired several shots and missed his target.
If you are the one who rolled around on the beach, then you wiped out their entire combat team.”
Gao Yang exhaled softly and said with gravity, “I didn’t even know I was that good, to take down an SBS sniper and completely wipe out a team led by an SBS member.
It’s somewhat unbelievable, but I must admit, it makes me a little proud.”
The prisoner gave a sad smile and said, “To successively dodge from an SBS sniper’s aim and strike back, to be honest, I respect you.
But if your opponent were twenty years younger, no, just ten years younger, you’d be the one dead.
A fifty-five-year-old man is not fit for frontline combat anymore.
He was defeated by time and by his pride.
Nevertheless, to kill a fading legend, you become the new legend.
So, you indeed have a right to be proud.”(To be continued.
If you like this work, I invite you to vote your recommendation ticket or monthly ticket at Qidian (qidian.com).
Your support is my greatest motivation.
Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)