259: Chapter 257: General Commander of the Four Armies 259: Chapter 257: General Commander of the Four Armies The casualty numbers had been tallied: one hundred and eighty-six dead, three hundred and fourteen wounded, and as the severely injured continued to succumb to their injuries, the number of dead would rise even further.
Gao Yang estimated the final death toll would be around three hundred, including nineteen deaths and thirteen lightly wounded from the Instruction Platoon.
After finally obtaining a more accurate count of the casualties, Gao Yang remained silent for a long time.
Eventually, he let out a sigh and said, “Just over sixty enemies caused five hundred casualties.
What a devastating loss.”
Glolov shook his head and said, “I don’t think so.
We were ambushed at night by elite mercenaries.
At the cost of five hundred casualties, we annihilated sixty-four of the enemy.
If we include those on the ship, that makes eighty-seven.
Considering the huge gap in strength between us and the enemy, I think this is a great victory, a very great victory.”
Frey also pursed his lips and said, “Boss, just look at those people celebrating the victory, and you’ll know that Big Dog is right.”
Gao Yang glanced at the beach, where almost all the men, women, and the elderly of the fishing village had gathered.
Those who had lost someone were mourning over the bodies, while those who had not lost anyone were celebrating the victory.
The grief and celebration coexisted strangely, not affecting each other at all.
Somalis indeed did not take death too seriously because death was so common here that it had become numbing.
Regardless of how many of their own were killed, as long as they could annihilate the enemy, it was considered a victory, and a complete one at that.
Looking at the still-celebrating crowd, Gao Yang shook his head helplessly.
These people might not care about their own lives, but Gao Yang had to care for them.
So his next task was to figure out how to reduce the number of casualties.
The situation had gradually become clear.
The Skull Gang controlled three fishing villages, the one Gao Yang and his men were in was the largest and closest to Bosaso, which made it the primary target.
The other two villages had not been attacked.
The reason the mercenaries had managed to slip ashore unnoticed had also been clarified.
As the supreme military commander, Abu had not arranged for any sentries at all.
It wasn’t a momentary oversight; he simply had never arranged them.
As a group of fishermen and pirates, the Skull Gang, from top to bottom, had utterly failed to realize that they were, in fact, now a military organization—a very conspicuous and hate-drawing one at that.
Without a doubt, Abu lacked the most basic qualities of a commander; he was still using the same approach he had when he was a pirate.
Gao Yang and his men were only responsible for training the soldiers, instructors who, apart from taking care of their own affairs, would not meddle in any of the Skull Gang’s affairs.
Moreover, they couldn’t interfere casually.
How to train the soldiers was their business, but how to use the trained soldiers was a matter for Maide and Abu.
Gao Yang had never intended to interfere with the Skull Gang’s affairs, but since it was impossible not to care now, he had to make the Skull Gang follow his instructions.
After some deep contemplation, Gao Yang said in a deep voice, “Although we are only temporarily in charge of the Skull Gang, we must do our best during this period, no matter what.
Toad, you are acting as the commander of the Instruction Platoon, and you can appoint officers as you see fit.”
“Understood.”
“Big Dog, you are in charge of commanding the artillery.
I’ll give you a position.
Hmm, Artillery Commander will do.
You don’t have to worry about the heavy machine guns anymore.
The positions between the two are far apart.
Just focus on the artillery.”
Glolov laughed and said, “Me, an airborne soldier, is now in charge of commanding the artillery, and even as the Artillery Commander.
Well, in Russia, mortars are actually not classified under artillery, but rocket artillery is.
So I suppose my title of Artillery Commander is indeed appropriate.
But, could I have a different title?
I’d like to be called the Commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces.”
Gao Yang waved his hands repeatedly and said, “That won’t do.
Here, mortars are also part of the artillery.
If you become the Commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces, then the artillery might be unhappy.
So just stick to being the Artillery Commander.”
Gao Yang was just saying it offhand, and the title of Artillery Commander was just a jest, just as Glolov’s response was.
Training and commanding those so-called artillery soldiers was a difficult task.
Although there were fewer than two hundred of them, having the title of a commander made things sound more enjoyable.
It was simply to make the best out of a tedious job.
While Gao Yang and Glolov were joking, Li Jinfang also wanted to join the fun.
He loudly said, “That’s not right; that won’t do.
Big Dog has become a commander; I should get a position as a commander too.
I’ll reluctantly take on the position of General Commander of the Army.”
Everyone laughed, and Gao Yang pointed at Li Jinfang with his hand and said, “Alright, then you are the General Commander of the Army of the Skull Gang.
Hey, what’s the Skull Gang’s official name again?”
Cui Bo laughed and said, “The Alliance of Fairness and Justice.”
Gao Yang immediately said, “Alright, Toad, you are the General Commander of the Army of the Alliance of Fairness and Justice.”
Glolov laughed and said, “No, no, if he’s the General Commander of the Army, doesn’t that make me his subordinate as the Artillery Commander?
The artillery must definitely be under the command of the army.”
Gao Yang slapped his thigh and said, “Hey, that’s easy to fix.
Let’s just promote you one more rank.
Big Dog, you become the General Commander of the Navy and also serve as the Artillery Commander, an additional title for you.”
Frey, brimming with enthusiasm, pointed at himself and said, “What about me?
What about me?
What commander should I be?”
Gao Yang said with some difficulty, “You are in for a bit of trouble though.
I was thinking of concentrating the RPGs under your command, along with the heavy machine gun platoon.
What kind of military branch is this, and what command would you hold?
How about being the air force commander?
Your name is Frey, after all; being the air force commander suits you just fine.”
Frey replied with a helpless look, “Air force?
Do we have anything that can fly?
Their commander, at least, has something to do with flying.
It looks like I’ll have to fold some paper airplanes to qualify as the air force commander.”
Cui Bo immediately said, “Silly, what do we have for air defense?
Rocket launchers and heavy machine guns, right?
Even though you don’t have planes, you can shoot them down.
So, you should be the air force commander, also doubling as the commander of the Strategic Air Defense Forces.”
Frey’s eyes lit up, and he laughed, “Alright, I am now commander of both the air force and the Strategic Air Defense Forces of the Somali Alliance of Fairness and Justice.”
Cui Bo suddenly paused and said, “Wait, that’s not right.
If you’ve got command of the navy, the army, and the air force, then what am I supposed to command?”
Gao Yang slapped his thigh and said, “Simple, just add a new branch.
Slap on ‘strategic’ to make it sound fancy.
Let’s call it the Strategic Special Forces.
Establish a combat command post, and from now on, you are the commander of the Strategic Special Forces.
Our special forces’ operations army ranks are on par with the navy, army, and air force.
The Skull Gang, no, the Alliance of Fairness and Justice, will now have four branches, called the Navy, Army, Air, and Special.
How’s that?
Impressive enough now?”
Cui Bo nodded repeatedly, “Impressive, alright.
I am now the commander of the Strategic Special Forces.”
Gao Yang laughed and said, “Rabbit, you’re in charge of your sniper team and the marksmen who aren’t assigned to the Instruction Platoon.
You have the authority for independent fire and battlefield selection.
Do whatever is appropriate.”
All jokes aside, when it came down to serious matters, Cui Bo promptly said, “Understood!”
After speaking to Cui Bo, Gao Yang then looked at Frey with a serious tone, “Your task is a bit more troublesome.
You definitely have to command those from the heavy machine gun platoon, because the heavy machine guns will undoubtedly be spread out in use and won’t be concentrated in one place.
So, your mission is to ensure that the heavy machine gun platoon is ready for deployment on the battlefield.
You are responsible for getting their discipline in shape during this period.”
Frey nodded and said, “I understand.
Starting today, I will have the rocket launcher team and the heavy machine gun platoon train together.”
After the tasks were assigned, Gao Yang stood up, dusted off the sand on his pants, and said, “Later on, I’ll gather everyone from the Skull Gang to give them a talk.
Now, I need to go check on Bruce’s situation and that of Maide.
Who knows how he and Abu are doing.”
At this moment, Cui Bo said, “Hold on, Brother Yang.
What about you?
What command will you take?”
Gao Yang was startled, then let out a laugh and said, “What command could I possibly take?
You’ve already divvied up all the command titles among yourselves.
Well then, I guess I’ll just be the Supreme Commander of the Three Armies, or maybe the Grand Marshal of all forces.
No, that title’s too old-fashioned, foreigners won’t understand it.
So, the Supreme Commander of the Three Armies?
Never mind, I’ll take on the whole string of titles.
If I announced all of them, it would scare a few people to death.”
Cui Bo immediately held up four fingers and said, “Not three armies, but four.
How about this, you can be the General Commander of the Four Armies, with the rank of Grand Marshal, responsible for commanding the Somali Alliance of Fairness and Justice’s Navy, Army, Air, and Special Forces.
Now that’s a title, imposing and commanding!”
Gao Yang retorted jokingly, “Idiot, all our forces combined barely make a thousand people, yet you dare to give me the rank of Grand Marshal.
Telling this joke would get us laughed at.
In my opinion, it’s already quite good for me to be a major.”
Glolov immediately shook his head, “No way, I was already a second lieutenant when I retired.
If you were a major, then the rest of us could only be officers.
I still want to make it to a field-grade officer.
Why don’t you be a general?”
Gao laughed again and said, “Gaddafi himself was just a colonel.
It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to be a general.
How about this, I’ll promote myself one rank.
I’ll be a lieutenant colonel, and all of you will be majors.
Done, that’s an order!”
Glolov and the rest immediately stood up in front of Gao Yang, forming a line, standing at attention.
Gao Yang tried to stifle his laughter and commanded loudly, “Order: all commanders of the branches are to gather their personnel and announce that you are now the highest authority of your respective branches.
Begin your duties immediately.
Dismissed!”
The group saluted Gao Yang with a snap, saying in unison, “Yes, Lieutenant Colonel!”
Gao Yang returned the salute and they all burst into laughter.
They had just solemnly completed a rather absurd task, which was quite entertaining.
Although their salutes were a mixed bag—with Li Jinfang saluting in the standard Huaxia military style, Glolov using the Russian salute, and Cui Bo and Frey, having never served in their countries’ military, giving a less precise salute influenced by their training in Israel, albeit with their own national military salute flair.
When Gao Yang returned the salute, he simply used the informal gesture commonly exchanged among mercenaries—two fingers swiftly passing by the temple.
So, overall, their salutes were quite a motley display.
After the salute, the group split up amid laughter to attend to their own matters, not taking the earlier playful episode to heart.
However, none of them expected that, after many years, the Skull Gang—no, the Alliance of Fairness and Justice—would eventually unify Somalia, and the titles they jokingly assigned to themselves would find their way into the history books of Somalia.
Moreover, under the rule of the Alliance of Fairness and Justice, Somalia’s military branches indeed comprised four parts.
To give Cui Bo a title, Gao Yang had impulsively created the Strategic Special Forces, which later became an official branch of the Alliance of Fairness and Justice.
As for Bruce, who was absent and couldn’t secure a position for himself, he was quite dissatisfied.
Therefore, Gao Yang and the others assigned him the post of sanitary and logistics minister—a civilian position—since all the military ranks had been taken.
Consequently, Bruce’s name would appear as a civil servant in the history books.
As for Gao Yang, years later, the history books of Somalia under the rule of the Alliance of Fairness and Justice began their account of him as follows: The great Gao Yang, as the first General Commander of the Four Armies of the Alliance of Fairness and Justice, made indelible contributions to the establishment and expansion of the four branches of the Fairness and Justice Navy, Army, Air, and Special Forces, as well as to the peace efforts in Somalia.
(To be continued.
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