631: Chapter 624: The Time for Revenge Has Come 631: Chapter 624: The Time for Revenge Has Come Musa Moye’s men continued to withdraw from the northeast of Gazaley City, rifles held high.
Upon reaching the surrender point, they threw down their weapons and willingly allowed themselves to be guarded.
Abu couldn’t close his mouth, showing his big white teeth and laughing foolishly from time to time.
The surrender of Musa Moye not only meant the battle of Gazaley was drawing to an end, but also that the surrendering pirates were definitely going to be incorporated into the Skull Gang.
Having won a major victory, the numbers of the Skull Gang were certain to be reinforced, and their territory had expanded significantly.
To the east of Bosaso on the coastline, there was no longer any force that could contend with the Skull Gang, so Abu couldn’t help but rejoice.
The garrison had been brought in to fight, but now there was no need for combat – they just had to watch over the captives.
Although Gazaley had not been completely seized, the only ones left stubbornly resisting were the British and some members of the Somali Youth Party.
Dealing with them was a small matter indeed.
The first and second companies had already taken over the position originally held by pirates.
They didn’t need to attack anymore, just block off the British’s escape route.
The main attack direction had shifted from the northeast to the southwest.
Gao Yang and his group, towing artillery with tanks, had reached the outskirts of Gazaley City to the southwest.
It felt odd that tanks were useless but towing howitzers was the only option – still, having artillery was what mattered.
Against the fortifications built by the British, small caliber guns were of little use, but using 122mm howitzers was no problem at all.
The British indeed lived up to the name of the transport chiefs, knowing that the Skull Gang lacked weapons effective against fortifications, and they rushed to deliver them.
Lining up the artillery in a row, they were placed outside of Gazaley City.
After setting up the positions and lowering the barrels, aiming at the British fortifications, the shells were taken out of the tanks one by one and placed beside the cannons.
The members of Satan Mercenary Corps watched the lively scene from the side.
When everything was ready to fire, Abu, along with a few men, hurried over.
Seeing the three cannons ready at any moment, an elated Abu rubbed his hands together and, with a trembling voice, pointed at the cannons and asked, “Are these guns ours now?”
Gao Yang nodded and said, “Yes, of course they’re yours.
Oh, and there are only three cannons here.
Three more just like them are at the British landing point.”
As they were speaking, a cannon suddenly fired.
After a loud “boom,” a shell hit a fortified position that had been strengthened using a building.
The impact sent bricks and sand flying, and although the main structure of the fortification was still intact, a large hole had been blasted in the wall.
Seeing the power of the D30, Abu said with a quiver in his voice, “That’s the power of a big gun!
It really is different.
Now that we have six big guns, this is great – wonderful even.
The next time we fight, we’ll just set up the cannons and blast them to death.”
Gao Yang chuckled and focused on watching Destin’s men test fire.
Then the second cannon fired, hitting the target once again.
The fortification, hit by two consecutive shots, collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Abu shouted excitedly, waved his hand, and urgently said to Gao Yang, “Can you talk with your friend?
I want to go help them load the shells.”
Abu’s attitude was as proper as it could be.
As the true highest commander of the Skull Gang’s military force, if he wanted to get up close to see how the cannons worked and to lend a hand, he still had to negotiate with Gao Yang.
Gao laughed and replied, “Let’s go.
We’ll do it together.
I haven’t touched a cannon before either.
This is a rare opportunity, let’s fire a few shots.”
The D30 is a howitzer and its main task is to provide long-range firepower.
For long-range firing, professional artillerymen are needed.
If someone doesn’t know how to use the gun, no matter how far the shell goes, it’s pointless.
There were no professional artillerymen among those brought by Destin; they all knew how to operate a cannon, but they were at a loss if they had to shoot long distances using coordinates.
However, direct close-range shooting after lowering the cannon was much easier – professionalism didn’t matter as much, as long as they could aim and fire the shell.
Destin’s men were not professionals to begin with, and adding a few more non-professionals, who were only responsible for carrying shells or doing the final act of firing for Gao Yang and Abu, would not have any impact at all.
When the D30 is leveled to fire armor-piercing bullets it can be used to attack armored vehicles.
At level position, the minimum direct-aim range is 950 meters.
Their cannons were less than two kilometers from the British fortifications – close enough, and without the need to overly worry about British snipers.
Gao Yang went to a cannon with Abu, spoke briefly with an Israeli wearing a black balaclava, who then stepped aside.
Gao took the firing lanyard and gestured to Abu with a smile, “Come on, this cannon is yours to fire.”
Overjoyed, Abu took the lanyard.
Watching the Israeli load the cannon and lock the breech, upon hearing the Israeli shout “Fire,” Abu pulled hard, and the shell was fired instantly.
When the cannon fired, Gao Yang covered his ears with his hands, but Abu seemed to have no intention of protecting his ears at all.
The moment the cannon went off, Abu’s ears began to buzz.
“That’s awesome, I love cannons!
I love cannons!”
Abu shouted loudly, his face full of anticipation as he watched the cannon being reloaded with another shell, the breech closed, waiting for the order to fire.
Suddenly, Gao Yang looked surprised and then pointed in a direction, saying, “They’re waving a White Flag, the British are surrendering.”
“Ah!”
Abu looked utterly astonished, turned his head, and followed the direction Gao Yang was pointing.
Under the bright moonlight, he could vaguely see a White Flag being waved back and forth through a firing hole in an emplacement.
The unsatisfied Abu grumbled, “We only fired four shots and they’re surrendering?
That’s too fast.
Damn British, why couldn’t they hold out a little longer?”
Gao Yang certainly wouldn’t ignore the British’s signal of surrender to accommodate Abu’s feelings, but he couldn’t help looking toward Glolov.
Whatever Glolov wanted to do, Gao Yang would support unconditionally.
They shared a bond from life-and-death situations, an inseparable unity.
If one’s own people didn’t support each other, what would the so-called brotherhood of life and death be but empty talk?
Seeing that Gao Yang appeared to be in a dilemma, Glolov smiled and said in a low voice, “It’s okay, I have absolutely no problem with killing prisoners, not at all.
My attitude towards revenge is to finish off the enemy, and it doesn’t have to be on the battlefield.
I don’t have moral scruples; I’m happy to kill them after taking them prisoner.”
Gao Yang also didn’t mind killing prisoners, but the problem was that it was the Skull Gang that was fighting the British, not him.
If they accepted the enemy’s surrender only to kill the prisoners afterward, that infamy would ultimately fall on the Skull Gang.
If they killed all the British on the battlefield, nobody could say anything, but to let them surrender and then kill them, even though they are mercenaries, it wasn’t certain whether Abu and Maide would agree.
After mulling it over for a moment, Gao Yang felt it was best to be upfront.
He approached Abu, who still seemed regretful at having lost the chance to fire the cannon, and said, “Abu, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”
Seeing Gao Yang’s serious expression, Abu became a little nervous and asked, “What’s up?
What happened?”
Gao Yang pointed to where the British were and said in a somber voice, “Those British are about to surrender, but there are some among them who are mercenaries, our sworn enemies.
These mercenaries must die.”
Abu’s expression relaxed, and he laughed, “I thought it was some big deal, it’s just this little thing.
What’s there to talk about?
Just kill them.”
Gao Yang shrugged and asked, “Killing prisoners, this infamy will fall on you.
Aren’t you worried about retaliation?”
Abu waved his hand dismissively and sneered, “Not afraid!
The British have come looking for trouble a second time.
If we don’t teach them a profound lesson, they’ll come again.
In my opinion, it’s okay to take them all out.
If they come again, so be it, we’ll just keep fighting!”
Gao Yang smiled and said, “You don’t have to take out all the British, just a part of them.
Okay, if you don’t mind, then I know what to do.”
Destin suddenly interjected, “The British are concerned about their people, their employees, and the mercenaries clearly don’t fall into their category of concern.
If they all die, it’s just that, and perhaps they’d even be glad.”
Gao Yang nodded in agreement and said, “Exactly, that’s the case.
Kill all the mercenaries as a warning to the others.
Alright, I’m going to arrange for the acceptance of their surrender now.”
Group after group of dejected British left their positions, carrying their guns to the soldiers of the third platoon who were accepting the surrender.
They placed their weapons on the ground beside them and formed a group.
There were one hundred ninety-six British who surrendered, a number close to what Gao Yang and his group had anticipated.
While the British were surrendering, Destin had already led his people away, not showing his face to the ones who were certain to be released.
Meanwhile, Gao Yang and his men silently watched those who laid down their weapons with their faces covered.
Every time someone with a Sniper Rifle was spotted, they were taken aside to be kept under separate watch.
In the end, there were twenty-one snipers in total.
Distinguishing the Holmesny men among them wasn’t easy, just by their uniforms, because the clothing of the British was all fairly similar, all desert-colored combat attire rather than uniform, just desert battle dress.
Although it was difficult to tell them apart, Gao Yang didn’t think it would be hard to pick out Holmesny’s men.
Under the threat of death, he didn’t believe the British had the courage to stand together until the end.
Once Holmesny’s men were singled out, it would be Glolov’s time for retribution.
(To be continued.
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