257: Chapter 255: The True Warrior’s Spear 257: Chapter 255: The True Warrior’s Spear Four of the people killed by Gao Yang were shot in the head, one took a bullet in the neck, and the last one was hit in the left shoulder, the bullet entering through the shoulder and blowing up the entire left chest cavity.
Although the heads of the bodies shot in the head were deformed, it was still possible to tell where the bullets had hit.
Three of them were shot in the side of the head, and only one had been shot right in the forehead.
At the time Gao Yang fired, everyone else was turned to the side, except for that one sniper who was facing him square on.
Without a doubt, the one who took the bullet in the forehead was the sniper who had nearly finished Gao Yang off—the former SBS member.
Seeing the six bodies he had shot, Gao Yang couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine.
If there had been more than one sniper shooting at him, if these people had paid attention to his movements instead of blindly firing into the village and consequently being side-on to him which stopped them from reacting as he took them down one by one, Gao Yang really didn’t know if he would be the one still alive.
After all, a range of three hundred meters was well within the effective range of an assault rifle, and with these people’s marksmanship, if two had shot at him at the same time, his chances of escape would have been slim.
In the end, these people had underestimated their opponent.
They believed their comrade would not miss because their sniper was from the SBS.
Thus, they did not react in time to Gao Yang’s shots.
But it’s understandable; they could never have imagined that in a pirate’s fishing village, there would be a top-tier marksman who not only survived their confident sniper but also killed him in return.
The sniper died entirely at Gao Yang’s hands.
In a sniper’s duel, inferior skill meant death, so his demise wasn’t unjust in the slightest.
As for the other five, once their core was killed, it was no surprise that those who were in a completely different league from the sniper were easily taken down by Gao Yang.
Gao Yang glanced at the bodies for a while before turning to leave.
He didn’t plan on lifting the enemy’s face mask to see their faces, nor did he wish to express any sentiments.
All he wanted right now was to see if there was any usable equipment on them.
The equipment was gathered together on the beach.
Gao Yang felt it was impossible to tell which gear belonged to whom, but to his surprise, although the attackers had acted in concert, all the equipment still retained its distinctive characteristics.
At least as far as weapons were concerned, it was easy to match the weapons to the quantity of differently dressed corpses.
Six HK416/417s, these were definitely the weapons used by former SBS members.
There were also thirty-two G36s, plus two PSG-1s and two M110 sniper rifles.
But what shocked Gao Yang the most was the twenty L85A1s in the pile of weapons.
Gao Yang was most interested in the weapons chosen by the six former SBS members, and just like his own group, they had selected the HK416 as their assault rifle, while their sniper used an HK417 sniper rifle chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO round.
As one of the few UK special forces units that can choose their firearms, it’s normal for SBS to use whatever guns they want.
The presence of thirty-two G36 assault rifles was also normal; the G36, a well-tested weapon, is common on many battlefields.
As for the four sniper rifles, there’s nothing unusual about that either; within the mercenary community, snipers have the largest choice of what weapon to use.
The only thing that seemed odd, even inconceivable, was the presence of the L85A1 assault rifles.
The L85A1 earned a reputation for being something only true warriors dared to use.
Gao Yang had always thought that only desperate British soldiers, with no choice in weaponry, would resort to using L85A1s.
But to see L85A1s in the hands of mercenaries made him, beyond his astonishment, hold a newfound respect for the warriors wielding them.
The L85A1, also known as SA80, is the primary light weapon system in service with the British armed forces, and one of the few bullpup design rifles.
The reason why it was said that only true warriors dare use the L85A1 is that it’s peculiarly unreliable.
Without real courage, one would really fear to use this rifle, so those who chose to use the L85A1 must be true warriors.
The L85A1 is most infamous for its tendency to jam.
In harsh conditions, if it fires three to five rounds without a malfunction it’s considered good, but this modern rifle, which has been known to jam after firing just a single round, effectively turns a rifle that’s supposed to be automatic into one that can only fire single shots—no other gun has this issue like the L85A1 does.
Another well-known problem is the ease with which one can accidentally hit the magazine release button, causing the magazine to fall out; sometimes, it would simply drop out inexplicably, making one wonder exactly how one had failed to please this temperamental firearm.
Hence, no soldier has truly used an L85A1 unless they’ve had a magazine fall on their foot.
As for the poor quality of plastic components that often fall off or break, the gas system’s top cover that isn’t secure and often springs open, requiring tape to keep it shut for peace of mind; mag springs being too weak, magazines need to be kept clean and constantly checked for dents at the feed lips to ensure proper feeding, the difficulty in reassembling the rifle due to its many precision parts, and the fact that if the gas piston needs to be disassembled for cleaning, it has to be done by an armorer to prevent jams—all these concerns barely register compared to jamming and dropping magazines.
The safety device must be operated with the trigger finger rather than the thumb, and when pulling the bolt to the rear, one must reach around to the back right side of the rifle.
The location of the fire selector is inconvenient, and the operation is too stiff, among other ergonomics and handling issues which then seem trivial by comparison.
For the British soldier, weapon choice isn’t optional; using the L85A1, a rifle more prone to cost one’s own life than the enemy’s, is just unlucky.
For special forces that can choose their own weapons, like the SAS and SBS, there’s no way they’d touch the L85A1.
Those L85A1s belonged to the captured individual’s group, matching in number to the team dressed like the individual Gao Yang had killed.
These people were once members of the Marines and perhaps accustomed to the rifle, which is why they continued to use it.
However, Gao Yang couldn’t fathom whether these individuals were supremely brave or foolish for continuing to use the L85A1, such a notoriously poor gun, after leaving the Marines.
As a traditional military power, Britain developed the L85A1 as their main weapon.
Surprisingly, besides their own armed forces, you couldn’t find another army using it.
Of course, the British army had no choice but to use it.
If they could choose, they certainly wouldn’t pick the L85A1, yet they couldn’t sell a single unit when it came to exports, which was a bit embarrassing.
That being said, it wasn’t entirely true that the L85A1 couldn’t be sold at all.
Saudi Arabia, famously known as the big spender on the international arms market, once bought a batch of L85A1s.
However, they refused to buy a second batch, no matter what.
Another country that used the L85A1 was Sierra Leone, but that was only because the British had gifted them a small quantity.
Sierra Leone, after using the L85A1 a few times, discarded them altogether and returned to using AKs.
Since the L85A1’s reputation had hit rock bottom, and many soldiers refused to use it, the Ministry of Defense finally couldn’t tolerate it anymore after NATO removed the L85A1 from its designated list of light weapons.
They pushed for an upgrade and handed the L85A1 to Germany’s Heckler & Koch for improvements, which led to the creation of the L85A2.
After Heckler & Koch’s improvements, the L85A2 was significantly better than the A1, but the problem was that the L85A1 had fundamental flaws.
The L85A2, despite being an upgraded version of the L85A1, was still a poorly designed gun…
Gao Yang was extremely curious.
He couldn’t understand why anyone would be brave enough to use the L85A1.
If it was due to familiarity with the L85A1, then using the L85A2 would make sense too.
After all, the L85A2 was at least much better than the L85A1.
Driven by intense curiosity, Gao Yang picked up an L85A1.
After inspecting it carefully, he found that he hadn’t been mistaken—it was indeed an L85A1, not an L85A2, at least in appearance.
Gao Yang, unable to make sense of it, decided to test the rifle; otherwise, his curiosity would torment him for a long time.
But he could only wait until daylight the next day to test fire it, to avoid any misunderstandings that might occur from the sound of gunfire and stirring up the people who had finally settled down.
It was a sleepless night.
Gao Yang sat not far from where the bodies were laid to rest, waiting for daybreak when many things could truly begin.
If there were any enemies attacking, they would be detected early, and it was then that Gao dared to call everyone back together.
Despite the sleepless night, Gao Yang didn’t feel the slightest bit tired.
He said over the radio, “Everyone, if you’re not busy, come to the beach.
I’m waiting for you here.”
Except for Bruce, who was still treating the wounded, the others gradually returned to the beach.
Li Jinfang and Frey had already been to the beach, but Glolov and Cui Bo had just learned what happened there.
The bodies of both friends and enemies took up a large area of the beach, and relatives of the deceased had started to recognize their loved ones, filling the air with sounds of weeping and mourning.
Gao and his group remained silent.
After a while, Cui Bo finally let out a sigh, “Has the casualty count been released yet?”
Gao Yang, with a heavy voice, replied, “The enemy’s death toll has been confirmed—sixty-four on the shore and twenty-three on the ship.
As for the casualties of the Skull Gang, there’s no exact number yet.
Bodies are still being discovered even now.”
After a moment, Cui Bo cautiously asked, “What about Asan?
How is he?”
Mentioning Asan caused a wave of discomfort in Gao Yang’s heart.
He shook his head and in a deep voice said, “He’s dead.”
Although Cui Bo knew Asan likely hadn’t survived, his face turned extremely grim upon hearing of Asan’s death.
To distract himself and to prevent the atmosphere from becoming unbearable, Gao Yang shook the L85A1 in his hand and called out loudly, “Guys, take a look, what gun is this?”
Cui Bo took a glance and, looking surprised, said, “L85A2?
No, that’s wrong, it’s an L85A1.
Damn, are there really fools still using this gun?”
Gao Yang shrugged and said, “I’m curious about that too, so I want to try it out and see if this gun is really as bad as its reputation.”(To be continued.
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