34: Chapter 34 Half a head 34: Chapter 34 Half a head The name “Free Mercenary” sounds very attractive, but it’s quite cruel.
So-called free mercenaries are just those who can’t find a mercenary group to join and can only seek out work on their own or in small partnerships, selling their services to whoever is willing to pay, with no guarantee of safety or money.
Free mercenaries have neither the cover of comrades-in-arms nor the assurance of reliable logistics.
Frankly speaking, free mercenaries are the cannon fodder among mercenaries, and they are the ones who die the quickest.
Generally speaking, free mercenaries are those whom no mercenary group is willing to take in.
Anyone who wants to scrape by under the barrel of a gun and has some skill will find a job in some mercenary group—it’s just a question of how much money they can earn.
Someone like Glolov, who can use a machine gun to the point of mastery and is a veteran who has been through bloody battles, would be eagerly sought after by any mercenary group.
“Glolov, with your skills, why did you become a free mercenary?”
The speaker was Bob, who was very curious about why Glolov had become a free mercenary.
Glolov’s face was filled with sorrow as he sighed, “I used to be in a mercenary group, but one of my friends had a bit of trouble.
He was expelled from the mercenary group, so I left with him.
Just a moment ago, my friend was killed in battle.”
Gao Yang and Bob immediately gained a new level of respect for Glolov; to become a free mercenary for the sake of a friend showed he was a trustworthy person.
After a moment of silence, Gao Yang said to Glolov, “You’ve entered Grozny twice, those must’ve been some fierce urban battles, right?”
Glolov nodded and replied, “The first time was a death mission.
Out of the ninety-six people in our company, sixty-one died, and eight were crippled.
I got shot twice, but, luckily, I didn’t die or end up crippled.
The second time was for revenge.
The reason I refused to retire was to wait for the day I would re-enter Grozny.
I’m glad I got to see that war and even more glad to have come out alive again.
In the second Chechen war, there were a hundred and thirteen people in our company; twenty-one died, and I sustained some minor injuries, but at least I made it back alive.”
Glolov paused, then pointed at his own head and said, “My head got smashed open by our company commander’s head, blood everywhere.
After the battle had ended, a big shot saw me like that and thought I was very brave, so he gave me a medal.
Once the war was over, I immediately applied for retirement.
Thankfully, with the medal, my retirement was approved quickly.”
Gao Yang and Bob both looked puzzled.
Bob asked, surprisingly, “Your head, got smashed by your company commander’s head?
What do you mean?”
“Oh, I didn’t explain it clearly.
Our company commander was a young captain, very handsome, a brilliant graduate from the military academy.
I liked and admired him very much.
He always led from the front, but unfortunately, when we were storming a building, he was blown to pieces by an opposition’s shell.
His head flew out of a window for dozens of meters and hit me on the head.
His lower jaw was gone, the exposed upper part of his jaw bit down on me here, and it looked very scary, although it wasn’t too serious.”
As Glolov spoke, he brushed aside the hair on his head to show Gao Yang and Bob the scar, a crescent-shaped mark.
Gao Yang and Bob looked at each other, involuntarily inhaling sharply, while Glolov just smiled and continued, “Our captain was left with only half a head, his eyeballs burst, but I still recognized him at a glance.
He had his hair freshly cut, shaved into a heart shape.
The guy took a photo before the battle and sent it to his fiancée.
If it wasn’t for his hairstyle, I really wouldn’t have recognized him.”
Gao Yang hadn’t intended to ask Glolov about his experiences, he just wanted to get some urban combat tips from him, but Glolov’s words had piqued his strong curiosity about Glolov and what he had been through.
“What happened after?
Did you get your revenge?
I mean, did you storm that building?”
“Of course, I put the lieutenant’s head in my bag, then stormed the building with the few brothers I had left, firing upon anyone I saw.
Actually, there were hardly any people in that building, just four black widows.
You know what black widows are, right?
Those women stuffed with bombs.
We didn’t give them the chance to detonate; we turned them into sieves.
Then, not much longer, the fight was over.
A Major General came to inspect the battlefield, saw me, and thought I looked terrifying.
He asked me how many bastards I had killed; I said about twenty or thirty, I guess.
Maybe more, maybe less.
Then he gave me a medal, just like that.”
Gao Yang was aware that Russian forces, especially in Grozny, faced incredibly tough battles with high casualty rates, but he had never delved into the details.
Yet, hearing Glolov speak so nonchalantly about his past battles gave him a glimpse of the brutality.
Gao Yang thought for a moment, then said, “You have experience in street fighting, and plenty of it.
I think the battle we’re about to start will also be street fighting.
Can you tell us what we should watch out for?”
After a moment of reflection, Glolov said, “This war here, how should I put it, if I were given a company, I could fight from one end of Benghazi to the other.
Alright, I’ll put it this way, compared to Grozny, this place is heaven.
All you need to do is find some cover and start shooting.
As long as you’re not incredibly unlucky, you shouldn’t die.”
“Isn’t that an exaggeration?”
“Not at all.
Before those civilians learn how to fight, and by civilians, I mean both the opposition and the government forces, as long as you’re not up against mercenaries, you don’t need to worry about anything.
Compared to those bastards in Chechnya, I can only say that the people here are just sheep waiting to be slaughtered.”
Gao Yang recalled the battles he had seen, and indeed, as Glolov had said, they lacked the most basic military training.
If the government forces were at the same level, then there wouldn’t be much pressure.
The most critical thing was that, according to the news from Morgan, there were no mercenaries discovered, those surrounding Morgan seemed to be only government troops, and some armed personnel from what seemed like an intelligence department.
Gao, who had initially felt some tension, couldn’t help but smile happily, feeling much more relaxed.
He shook his head and said to Glolov, “Well, let’s hope our enemies don’t have any mercenaries.
It’s strange, when did the mercenaries become the main force of the war?
Anyway, about your captain, how did you end up dealing with his head?”
Glolov shrugged with a look of helplessness, “Those guys who collect the bodies are unreliable, just a head, they wouldn’t identify him properly, they’d surely lose it or just bury it in some random cemetery.
So I kept his head with me all along and later gave it to his parents.
His fiancée saw it too; actually, she shouldn’t have seen it.
The moment she did, she passed out.
When she woke up, the way she cried…
never mind, I can’t describe her look.
In any case, I’m just glad my wife doesn’t have to weep over half my head.”