276: Chapter 274: Professional Ethics, Buddy.
276: Chapter 274: Professional Ethics, Buddy.
Gao Yang picked up a random sniper rifle.
Sniper rifles were standard issue for the Vulture Mercenary Group, and he picked up a Remington M700.
His spare gun couldn’t be delivered right away, but as long as he had a sniper rifle, despite a slightly slower firing rate, Gao Yang’s accuracy was still guaranteed.
With Vulture as the leader, the Vulture Mercenary Group’s equipment was certainly not the best, but the accuracy of the Remington M700 was still reliable, and the equipped low-light night vision scope was not bad.
The key factor was the close distance, so for Gao Yang to achieve one shot, one kill was definitely not an issue.
However, the M700’s four-round magazine capacity was frustrating.
After getting used to the high rate of fire and the large twenty-round magazine, having to change magazines after firing four shots was extremely annoying for Gao Yang.
Frey was carrying a rocket launcher, firing round after round at the opposite building.
However, he could only hit the secondary firing side of the building, not the main firing side facing the Skull Gang’s position.
In a short period of time, Frey launched thirteen rockets.
The rocket launcher teams that had gone up to the rooftop also came over, handing over their loaders filled with rockets to Frey for firing.
Meanwhile, Glolov, Li Jinfang, and the two squads following Gao Yang poured all their firepower down, causing significant casualties for the members of the Vulture Mercenary Group who were eager to retreat, and the building opposite Gao Yang had already gone completely silent.
As soon as the platoons from the Instruction Platoon and the Seventh Platoon entered the building opposite Gao Yang, the battle quickly began to die down.
After finding no more targets to shoot at, Gao Yang said in a deep voice, “Rabbit, report the situation.”
“This is Rabbit.
Our assault team has completed the takeover of the building and is clearing the surrounding structures.
Progress is smooth, over.”
“After clearing the area, establish defensive positions on site, do not pursue, rest on site, count the casualties, everyone, if there’s nothing else to report, change the frequency, and revert to the command frequency.”
After confirming that there was nothing to report, Gao Yang and a few others changed their radio frequencies back to the command frequency they had used before.
Checking the time and realizing it was already past two in the morning and the battle had been going on for over ten hours, Gao Yang said in a deep voice, “I am Ram.
All commanders take note, continue the attack if all goes well.
If met with strong resistance, cease the attack, contract the frontline, and establish defensive positions.
Wait for further orders.
Maintain clarity on the communication channels, over.”
“First Platoon received.
My platoon will continue the attack.
There’s just one issue, about a hundred people are volunteering to join us in attacking Mokadi.
Please advise whether to accept their request, over.”
After the platoon leader of the First Platoon finished speaking, several other platoons also reported the same situation, though the number of volunteers varied, with some having more than two hundred and others having several dozen people.
It was at this moment that Gao Yang truly understood what it meant for people to rally to a cause.
After some thought, Gao Yang said, “You can let them join, but you must be able to control them.
If you’re not confident, do not let them participate in the assault.
If anyone takes the chance to kill and plunder, execute them on the spot.
In the future, if a similar situation occurs, handle it like this without reporting.”
After finishing, Gao Yang shouted to Frey, “Little Fly, you and your men are free from combat duty now.
Go and relieve Test Tube from watching our prisoners; Test Tube’s got his hands full.”
Li Jinfang hurriedly said in a loud voice, “Instruction Platoon, report the casualty situation of all units as soon as possible.”
Glorov just shrugged helplessly and said, “Guys, I hope we won’t encounter a situation that requires us to take action personally again.
The casualties are too heavy.”
Gao Yang also did not want to face a situation where they would need to take personal action again.
The casualties were indeed heavy.
In the recent assault, one of the platoons lost eight people either killed or seriously injured, rendering them completely combat ineffective, which was almost a third of a platoon.
The second platoon, which was tasked with covering and distraction, had more than half casualties.
As for the rocket launcher team that initiated the assault, there were now only eight people still able to move; the rest were either dead or seriously injured.
Adding to the casualties from earlier fighting with the Vulture Mercenary Group, the Instruction Platoon had suffered over fifty percent casualties just in front of these two buildings.
The casualties were heavy, but the battle results were also significant.
However, the enemy’s casualty numbers couldn’t be tallied yet.
What Gao Yang urgently needed to know now was how many people Vulture had involved in the battle.
Of course, Gao Yang knew he could obtain a lot more information from Vulture himself, far beyond just how many men the Vulture Mercenary Group had.
“Rabbit, has my spare gun arrived?
After it’s delivered, bring over my gun and all the maps.
Don’t forget to bring a few snipers too.
We’re going to establish a sniper position and observation post on the rooftop here.”
“Rabbit received, the car is already on its way, I’ll be right over.”
After speaking with Cui Bo, Gao Yang waved his hand and said, “There’s nothing for us here for now, let’s go question the captive and see what we can get.”
Only Gao Yang knew about Vulture’s background, but he didn’t plan on sharing this information with anyone else right away.
When everyone returned to the third floor, Frey had taken over the watch of Vulture, and naturally, Bruce had already gone to assist with treating the injured.
The third floor was still in complete darkness.
Frey could see Vulture with his night vision goggles, but Vulture couldn’t see anything, which instead of providing a sense of security, only increased his unease.
He continually looked around in vain in the darkness, which made him even more fearful and anxious.
After seeing Vulture, Gao Yang took out a powerful flashlight, switched it on, and shone it directly into Vulture’s eyes, loudly proclaiming, “Let’s have a talk now, so I can determine if you’re of any use.
If you’re not, then your fate certainly won’t be pretty.”
The bright light forced Vulture to close his eyes, then he covered them with his hand, shielding them from the intense light.
After his eyes had adjusted to the brightness, he slowly opened them again and saw a circle of people surrounding him.
Although he was encircled by the enemy, the presence of light gave Vulture some relief.
Without waiting for Gao Yang to question him, Vulture spoke up loudly, “Gentlemen, no matter what you ask, as long as I know it, you will know it too.
I just want to survive.
Gentlemen, I’m just a poor man trying to provide for my family, I don’t want to die here.”
Knowing Vulture’s identity, Gao Yang didn’t waste his breath asking questions like his name or the name of the Mercenary Group.
Instead, he directly asked, “How many of you are there?
What is your combat mission?”
“There are seventy-four of us.
Our original mission was to secure Mokadi’s safety, but at nightfall, we received a new task—to establish a position here and hold off your assault until dawn so the Mokadi Faction could organize a counterattack.
Guys, you are too strong; Mokadi is no match.
They need to gather the loyalists of the Mokadi Faction.
Also, guys, we really don’t want to be your enemies; we’re just here for security duties.
But as you know, mercenaries can’t really choose their fate.”
“What about the other Mercenary Group here, how many are there?”
“There is another Mercenary Group, but I don’t know the name.
The number?
It seems to be about thirty, but I haven’t had contact with them.
We arrived ten days ago, and they only arrived three days ago.
They are responsible for establishing Mokadi’s last line of defense.
We’re not in the same area; I just saw them from a distance when they arrived.”
“Equipment conditions, do you know how well they’re equipped?”
“They were uniformed, carrying a lot of gear, so their equipment should be quite decent.
I only saw them from a distance, so I really don’t know the details.”
“Good, how many die-hard loyalists does the Mokadi Faction have, and what is their combat effectiveness?”
“There are about a thousand.
Mokadi once briefed me on the situation.
He commands personally a force of around a thousand, I presume these are his die-hard loyalists.
As for their combat effectiveness, well, guys, how do you imagine the combat strength of Somalians to be?
That’s exactly what they are—nothing more than an AK47 with a bit more ammunition than others.
Most of them don’t have grenades, but there’s a fair number of light machine guns.
I’m not too sure about the number of heavy machine guns, but it shouldn’t be too few.
They have mortars, but the ammunition is very limited and won’t have much effect.
There seem to be a couple of 107mm rocket launchers, but I’m unsure of the ammo stock.
Guys, I’m skeptical about the loyalists’ will to fight when facing your firepower.
They’ve never seen a war like this; they’re terrified.”
Vulture was very cooperative, almost pre-empting answers to questions Gao Yang hadn’t asked, saving Gao Yang a lot of time.
“Do you know where Mokadi is?
And the loyal forces still committed to Mokadi, do you know their distribution areas?”
“I know where Mokadi is and where his loyalists are too.
Guys, Mokadi is an idiot—a big one.
He kept most of the people he trusts around him.
This guy is extremely afraid of death; he never considered what he would do after you took over most of Bosaso.
I don’t even know how to describe his intentions; he’s an idiot.
Maybe as a pirate lord, he’s brutal, he’s cunning, but when it comes to warfare, especially when facing an army instead of pirates, he’s done for.
Guys, I’m willing to lead you straight to Mokadi’s lair.
I’m willing to join you, voluntarily, for free, and I’ll even give you all the money I’ve earned, just to stay alive.”
Glolov didn’t recognize Vulture, nor did he know Vulture’s true nature.
After hearing Vulture’s words, Glolov murmured softly, “Well, professional ethics are a luxury for most mercenaries, but I’ve never seen a mercenary with less professional pride than this guy.”
(To be continued.
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