42: Chapter 42: Harvest 42: Chapter 42: Harvest Golov was more than willing to answer Gao Yang’s question.
“It depends on how they’re used.
The copper-cased bullets from the United States are the most expensive and also the most accurate, but good bullets need good guns to match.
Those roughly made AK47s can’t handle this fine grain.
Generally speaking, the steel-cased bullets produced in Russia, and the bullets you produce in Huaxia, are all good choices.
Well, I personally think that Huaxia’s products are the best.”
Feeling an inexplicable sense of pride upon hearing Golov say that the bullets manufactured in his motherland were the best, Gao Yang asked with keen interest, “Why do you say Huaxia’s products are the best?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Golov replied, “Although I haven’t used Huaxia-made bullets much, I’ve fired more than twenty thousand rounds.
The batch we purchased back then was all made in Huaxia, and those bullets almost never had a problem.
Moreover, Russian bullets lose accuracy at three hundred meters, while Huaxia’s bullets can still maintain accuracy at three hundred and fifty meters.
The key is that they’re not expensive, so Huaxia-made bullets are in high demand.
Unfortunately, in Africa, they aren’t always available, and you need luck to find them.”
After a pause, without waiting for Gao Yang to ask, Golov continued, “As for other usable ones, there are bullets manufactured by some Eastern European countries, like Romania or Yugoslavia.
They’re also quite good.”
His thirst for knowledge growing, Gao Yang knew that despite understanding many things from books, it wasn’t as direct or authoritative as learning from the mouth of Golov, an old soldier, after all, the user has the highest authority to speak.
“What about guns?
Which country makes the best ones?”
Golov thought for a moment before replying, “If we’re talking about guns, those made in Russia are the best, followed by those made in Huaxia, which are also reliable.
But after long periods of firing, the barrel tends to heat up faster than Russian-made ones and is prone to rust.
However, the quality is guaranteed, and no matter when they were made, they are just as useful.
Then there are the Romanian-made guns, which are very good, and some even better than Russian ones.
But the biggest problem is that the quality of guns produced in Romania has declined in recent years.
You need to find ones made before the nineties, those are the best choices.
Of course, aside from Romanian-made ones, guns and bullets, no matter where they are made, the newer, the better.
Oh, except for those marked with Arabic writing.
Whether new or old, guns or bullets, toss them away lest they cost you your life.”
After firmly committing Golov’s words to memory, Gao Yang discarded the bullets in his hand and clapped his hands together, saying, “It seems I have much to learn, and I’ll have to ask you for advice later.
But we can’t waste time now.
Let’s pull out.”
Golov nodded and said, “Hold on.
Although these bullets are garbage, there’s still something good here.
Look at this.”
After speaking, Golov kicked open a box and took out a mortar shell from it.
He waved it at Gao Yang and said with a smile, “Look at this, a Russian-made 82mm mortar shell.
It looks like they intended to use these to make bombs, but we can use them as hand grenades.”
The 82mm mortar shells were not small.
Gao Yang walked over, picked one up, and weighed it in his hand, estimating that a mortar shell must weigh at least three to four kilograms.
Furrowing his brow, he said, “It’s so heavy, can you throw it?
Won’t you end up blowing yourself up?”
Golov laughed heartily, flexing his biceps to Gao Yang before responding with a laugh, “I can throw it a dozen meters or so, but the most important thing is, our enemies will be inside a building, right?
So there’s no need to throw it very far.”
Gao Yang felt that Golov made a lot of sense and, with excitement in his voice, said, “Great, there are four shells here, let’s take them all and give those bastards a taste of their own medicine.”
Golov carried the box filled with shells, and Gao Yang took his machine gun.
They quickly went downstairs, and upon reaching the first floor, Gao Yang did not hesitate to hand the machine gun to Cui Bo, asking him to carry it for Golov.
Gao Yang put on his night vision goggles and looked outside.
Seeing no one attracted by the gunfire, and with continuous shooting from the town covering their activity, he confirmed it was safe.
Just as Gao Yang was about to leave, he saw the bodies of Fedor and Malik and suddenly felt he couldn’t just leave like that.
Stopping in his tracks, he turned to Cui Bo and said, “We can’t just leave Fedor and Malik hanging like this.
Even if we can’t take their bodies with us, we should at least take them down.
Turn on the lights.”
After switching off his night vision goggles, Gao Yang asked Golov to keep watch, and then joined Cui Bo in taking down the bodies of Fedor and Malik.
But there wasn’t much they could do; neither did they have the time to bury the bodies nor the means to take them with them.
Gao Yang thought for a moment, sighed, and said, “Why don’t we burn their bodies?
We can’t just leave the two of them here to have their corpses desecrated after dying.”
Cui Bo shook his head, speaking solemnly, “The neighbors around here are actually quite decent; they should take care of Old Ma and Fedor’s bodies.
Let’s not kill them; Malik’s faith doesn’t allow cremation.”
When it came to matters of faith, Gao Yang also felt it wasn’t right to cremate Fedor and Malik.
Looking at the contorted faces of Fedor and Malik, Gao Yang was filled with sorrow, and at the same time, he was extremely hateful towards those murderers,
Suddenly, Gao Yang realized he needed to take something with him.
He quickly walked to the front of the shop window, reached out, and picked up a short-handled axe from the windowsill.
The axe was supposed to have a sheath, but Gao Yang didn’t see it, nor did he bother looking for it any further.
He hung the axe on the combat vest over his left chest, where there was a Velcro loop that was meant for a knife, but since Gao Yang’s hunting knife was not suitable to hang there, the axe fit perfectly with its head up and handle down through the loop, making it convenient to grab.
Seeing the puzzled look on Cui Bo’s face, Gao Yang said, “Malik used this axe this afternoon; he casually placed it on the windowsill.
I think it’s more meaningful to carry this axe for revenge.
Besides, if there’s a chance to use it, it’s as if Malik himself is taking revenge.”
After hearing Gao Yang’s reasoning, Cui Bo found it made sense.
He looked around the shop but didn’t find anything convenient to carry.
In the end, he simply took a shovel—not a military-grade entrenching tool, just a regular garden shovel, which could be quite effective when swung at someone.
Cui Bo slipped the shovel onto the external attachment of his backpack and said, “Alright, let’s go.
Speaking of which, all the goods in Old Ma’s shop are high quality, all imported from Europe, really expensive,”
Gao Yang was in a bad mood.
After hearing Cui Bo’s words, he too wanted to find a topic to alleviate the gloom.
Finally, after glancing at the bodies of Fedor and Malik one last time, Gao Yang turned off the lights in the shop and began to walk away, saying, “I know, this axe I took is the Gransfors brand from Sweden.
Don’t look at it just as a Nordic-style farming axe; it’s quite expensive.
The model I took is called ‘Wilderness,’ and their products are said to be handmade.
You know, anything that’s got to do with handcrafting over there is expensive.
This little axe, it sells for over a hundred euros.”
Cui Bo expressed surprise, “Brother Yang, I knew you were well-versed in knives, but I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable about axes too.
A Nordic farming axe, and you know its history?”
Gao Yang gave a bitter smile and said, “You forget that my biggest dream was to live on a mountain, remember?
The video I sent you, the Northern Wilderness series by Remirs, he used an axe of this brand.
After I saw it, I wanted to buy one for myself.
I got scared off by the price.
By the time you add shipping, this axe costs over a thousand in Huaxia.
Later I didn’t have the heart to buy it, but I didn’t expect to come across it here.
Remirs used the ‘Small Forest’ model, which is bigger.
Actually, I wanted a ‘Small Forest’ too, but it’s just too long and not convenient to carry.
Unlike this ‘Wilderness’ axe, it’s the perfect size.”
Cui Bo was dismissive, “I remember the film you mentioned, but although it looked good, I couldn’t understand it because it was all in English.
I wonder if there’s a subtitled version now.
Anyway, I’m not interested in axes, let alone such expensive ones.”
Gao Yang said somberly, “I lived in the wilderness for over three years, and I always thought how great it would’ve been to have an axe.
Although I got enough of living in the wild, my interest in axes has only grown.
What I’m more interested in now is using this axe to chop up that guy named Sharim.”
Cui Bo nodded, agreeing, “Absolutely, they slashed Malik so many times; we’ll chop him with the axe just as many.
But, Brother Yang, could you really go through with it?”
Gao Yang thought hard about this question and finally admitted dejectedly, “Sigh, I feel it’s too much for me.
You could tell me to shoot someone, and by now, it wouldn’t really bother me, but to chop someone with an axe, I probably really couldn’t do it.”
Yet Cui Bo let out a cold snort, his teeth gritted, “I might be able to.
If you can’t handle it, let me do it.
We absolutely have to chop off that bastard’s head, first as a sacrifice for Malik and Fedor, then play soccer with it.
Fedor is one thing, but Malik had a wife and kids, seven or eight mouths counting the old and the young, all relying on Malik.
With him gone, how are they supposed to get by?
Thinking of this, how could I possibly hesitate?”
Although Glolov didn’t understand what Gao Yang and Cui Bo were saying, he still said in a low voice, “You two better keep your mouths shut.
If you want to discuss stuff, there will be plenty of time later on.
But right now, it’s best to keep quiet.”
Gao Yang knew Glolov had a point and was also aware that chatting while on the move wasn’t appropriate.
He just felt terrible and wanted to distract himself by talking to Cui Bo.
However, after Glolov’s warning, Gao Yang immediately told Cui Bo in Chinese not to talk anymore, and then he too fell silent to avoid unnecessary trouble.
The three of them continued on their silent journey, drawing ever closer to their destination.