Mercenary's War

Chapter 2441: Chapter 2417: Better Hidden

The incident in the village outside Kamar City was just an interlude, but it sounded an alarm for Gao Yang; Yemen is indeed a very complex country. They came to help the Houthis Armed Forces; therefore, they are considered enemies in the eyes of roughly half the Yemeni population.

In fact, aside from a very few people they frequently interact with, regardless of friend or foe, Satan is an outsider in Yemen. Everywhere they go, they are met with hostile and wary glances. As for Eileen and Phoenix, if they don’t wear long robes with face veils, they can’t even step out, and it’s the same even within the Houthis Armed Forces.

Yemen is truly a difficult country for outsiders to develop any liking for because it’s not only dangerous but also makes one feel oppressed.

In an extremely unfriendly place, the members of Satan are very conspicuous foreign faces. No matter what they do, they will attract attention and hostility, and attention itself implies danger, and very significant danger at that.

Thanks to the timely discovery, Satan was able to rest for a sufficient amount of time in the village, waiting to continue toward their destination after nightfall.

After hitting the road again, Gao Yang pondered for a long time and finally said to Glolov, "We should grow beards..."

Glolov earnestly responded to Gao Yang, "I can manage that easily, but it’s hard for you because you can’t really grow a full beard."

Gao Yang didn’t have much facial hair. Glolov could easily grow a big beard, but Gao Yang really couldn’t grow a big beard like the locals.

At this point, Joseph suggested, "You don’t necessarily need a big beard; actually, putting on local attire would be enough. If you insist on having a beard, you’ll have to use a fake one."

Gao Yang, feeling helpless, replied, "I want to maintain maximum combat effectiveness, but now it seems we have to abandon our familiar gear; let’s change clothes then, as there’s no real need for a fake beard."

Clothing and gear are also part of combat effectiveness, and they’re crucial.

Currently, everyone in Satan is wearing tactical clothing, equipped with bulletproof vests, helmets, and combat vests on top. On their backs, there’s a 3D combat pack, with suitable places for magazines, grenades, and smaller items like pistols, making them accessible. But in Yemeni clothes, these things are hard to carry.

The most common Yemeni clothing is a white robe with a wide belt fastened in the middle, resembling a skirt from the waist down; the most common footwear is slippers, and they wear either white or red-and-white checkered headscarves.

Switching to the most common Yemeni clothing indeed facilitates concealment, but there are no pockets whatsoever. If you wear a bulletproof vest under the robe and cover it with a combat vest full of miscellaneous items, it stands out even more than wearing tactical or camouflage suits.

The choice between wearing combat suits for maximum fighting capability or changing clothes for easier concealment has its own merits, enough to give one a headache.

Gao Yang had been troubled for a long time about whether to change clothes. His decision was to wear local attire in ordinary times and tactical suits in wartime, but now adopting the same strategy is no longer feasible because it’s difficult to distinguish between ordinary time and wartime.

"Big Dog, given our current situation, what do you think is most suitable?"

Gao Yang decided to leave the final decision to Glolov because he had the most experience.

"What I know is if you wear distinctive clothing on the battlefield, you’ll attract everyone’s attention. Even if you wear the best bulletproof vest, you’ll attract all the bullets within the enemy’s line of sight. If you look no different from those around you, at least sniper attention is less likely, and you won’t become everyone’s instinctual target."

Gao Yang understood what Glolov meant, but he needed it reiterated by someone experienced for the advice to be effectively internalized, which illustrates how experienced veterans help novices.

Joseph added, "Boss, I also think better concealment is far more important than stronger protection."

Gao Yang cheerfully replied, "You guys are right; we’ll change clothes. We have to look indistinguishable from locals. Damn it, I can’t believe I was bothered by this issue for so long."

Glolov laughed and said, "Actually, for the battles we’ll face, there’s no need for extensive close combat equipment. Pistols, grenades, can all be discarded because the mountain warfare here offers a distant view. We probably won’t have close encounters with the enemy. So, just carrying a rifle and enough magazines suffices. Even if accessing magazines is inconvenient, it won’t matter much as the distance negates the necessity to save those few seconds."

Having fought city battles and CQB often, Gao Yang was accustomed to having all his combat gear in the most accessible position. So while he recognized the validity in Glolov’s statement, he still felt uneasy, which stemmed from a mere lack of habit.

Everyone had already prepared Yemeni clothes, so there was no need to find them last minute. Gao Yang picked up the intercom and said, "Guys, listen up, everyone prepare the local outfits and switch when we next stop."

The trouble with changing clothes is not being able to wear a helmet because wearing a helmet with a robe is too conspicuous.

But the ones most averse to local attire were Eileen and Phoenix, as they had to continue wearing black robes that only revealed their eyes.

"Oh, F**k, I hate only showing two eyes, really."

Eileen complained for a bit, while Phoenix had no complaints; even if she had them, she wouldn’t voice them.

After making a decision that seemed insignificant but was quite important, Gao Yang, along with Glolov and Joseph, took turns driving and resting, only stopping for refueling. After entering the mountainous area, road conditions improved significantly, thanks to less war damage and fewer towns and villages near the border, leading to fewer people and thus fewer vehicles, maintaining better road conditions.

Once everything went smoothly, and when it was Gao Yang’s turn to rest, Glolov suddenly woke him and said, somewhat excitedly, "We’re about to reach Kitaf!"

The original plan was to take a break at Kitaf, but after discovering numerous Saudi spies, the plan to rest at Kitaf was completely canceled. The options now are to either rest and resupply in the villages near Kitaf or head directly to the front-line mountains.

Gao Yang wiped his face, looked at his watch, and said in a deep voice, "It’s just past three in the morning, there’s enough time. Inform everyone to turn off the headlights and use night vision devices for driving; tonight, we head straight to the border area."

After donning the night vision devices and switching off the headlights, Gao Yang glanced out of the car window during a test drive. He saw bare barren mountains as far as the eye could see, which made him can’t help but wonder what Najran city and the Shah soldiers would look like after crossing those mountains.