Mercenary's War

Chapter 2453: Chapter 2429: Tuition

When Gao Yang arrived, all he saw was wreckage burning everywhere.

"Are there any other survivors? Where are the wounded?"

Rebrov was sitting on the ground, holding his head, motionless. Roshkov pointed at a few people either lying, sitting, or standing, and whispered, "All those alive are here, most of them are only lightly injured, even without treatment they will be okay. The others, the others are all dead..."

Gao Yang couldn’t help but start trembling. Out of over ninety people, only eleven survived, which includes the four in the command post who were not bombed. That means all the artillerymen perished, and out of the logistics convoy’s sixty-two people, only six survived.

It’s normal that the logistics convoy had more people than the artillerymen, because the Houthis Armed Forces didn’t have automatic ammunition supply vehicles. Once the self-propelled artillery used up its carried ammunition, manpower was needed to replenish ammunition into the self-propelled artillery, this alone required more than thirty people. The rest were drivers for auxiliary vehicles like fuel trucks, supply trucks, and water trucks.

"What happened? What happened? What is going on?"

Actually, Gao Yang didn’t expect an answer. There was an air strike, and they used cluster bombs. So many died, what else was there to ask?

Looking at the various vehicles that had stopped exploding but were still burning, Gao Yang’s eyes turned red.

Roshkov bowed his head, despondent, saying, "We carried out the shelling orders, so the brothers were all in the vehicles. After the shelling, they should have changed positions, but the brothers didn’t get off the vehicles. The logistics convoy brothers were also on the trucks waiting for orders, so when the cluster bombs fell, almost everyone was in the vehicles. The supply truck exploded, and the brothers nearby were all gone."

The submunitions from cluster bombs are armor-piercing shells. When armor-piercing shells explode over targets, they form a metal jet. For armored vehicles like self-propelled artillery, the metal jet penetrates the armor, causing more destruction than to cars with only a thin layer of metal.

The logistics convoy was all cars, many metal jets from armor-piercing shells faced almost no resistance when piercing the roof and therefore wouldn’t form metal jets at a large angle. Instead, they penetrate the entire body of the car and since cars are surrounded by glass and not armor, no overpressure effect is created. So long as the metal jet doesn’t hit the occupants directly, there would be no harm.

But almost all of the logistics convoy died, aside from those killed by the cluster bombs, most were killed by the explosion of the supply truck.

Gao Yang sighed deeply, extremely agitated, saying, "How could this happen? How could this happen!"

Roshkov, with a face full of sorrow and helplessness, said, "Because we neglected our duties, Rebrov and I were too careless, we underestimated the opponent too much, so our negligence killed all the brothers. We had more than ten minutes to relocate, but we didn’t because Mouse came to deliver lunch. Rebrov ordered to have lunch before moving positions, and I strongly agreed with his idea because we all thought it was okay."

Having admitted everything, Roshkov lowered his head, forlornly saying, "Rebrov and I, the two of us, buried all the brothers with our own hands. We both deserve to die!"

Liang Dong didn’t know that his delivery of lunch was also one of the reasons the artillerymen perished, but he knows now.

If Liang Dong hadn’t happened to deliver the lunch, then despite underestimating the Shah People, out of habit, Rebrov would have still ordered to relocate.

Actually, relocating positions might not have avoided the air strike, because the planes launching the strike could see very far, and the movement speed of self-propelled artillery compared to planes was negligible. However, once the convoy started relocating, it would naturally spread out over a very long distance, on mountain paths they can only move in a long serpentine line. If the convoy stretched out, even with a cluster bomb attack, at least fewer people would die. Moreover, the effectiveness of cluster bomb submunitions against moving targets is ultimately worse than against stationary ones.

Of course, it’s also possible that after relocating, the self-propelled artillery might not be discovered by the fighter planes. Anything can happen on the battlefield.

None of what happened could be blamed on Liang Dong, everyone knows that, Liang Dong himself knows as well, but this doesn’t stop his self-blame.

Especially since the lunch delivered was borscht, which was indeed one of the crucial factors leading to the artillerymen’s total annihilation. If it were still the food the Ukrainians were tired of eating, Rebrov might also have chosen to eat after relocating positions. You can only say everything was coincidence, everything was fate.

Liang Dong murmured blankly, "If it weren’t for the borscht, the borscht, damn it, borscht, why did I make such damned borscht..."

The self-propelled artillery, forcibly taken, is gone, but Gao Yang doesn’t feel heartache.

The artillerymen are gone, and Gao Yang’s heart aches to death, not because these people are hard to find, but because these people were his subordinates, his comrades, dying like this is unbearable for him.

Cluster bombs are Nate’s nightmare because Nate watched an entire convoy turn into wreckage under cluster bombs.

Gao Yang didn’t witness the power of cluster bombs firsthand, but cluster bombs will certainly become his nightmare too.

Manpower has its limits, facing high-tech weapons that cannot be fought with manpower alone, very little can be done relying on humanity’s strength.

Gao Yang looked at the few remaining people; miraculously, the person he valued, Masyev, did not die, but at this time, he could no longer feel joy over Masyev still being alive.

However, no matter what, Rebrov not dying is a blessing amidst misfortune.

Sighing, Gao Yang sternly said to Rebrov, who was paralyzed on the ground: "Stand up, what are you doing sprawled out here? Get useful!"

Rebrov raised his head, gazing at Gao Yang lifelessly, his voice trembling, "I want to die."

Gao Yang took a deep breath, saying, "You were careless, you all were careless, we all were careless. Over time, the enemy’s weakness has made us all start to underestimate them, and underestimating the enemy always comes at a cost. The Shah People are really poor at warfare, but they ultimately have the most advanced arsenal in the world."

Rebrov said softly, "When to relocate, where to relocate, this was my responsibility. I killed the brothers. Boss, you don’t understand how I feel right now, I really want to die, I killed the brothers, I’ve been crushed by my guilt and regret, I really want to die."

Gao Yang kicked Rebrov and then said coldly, "Eighty-four brothers’ lives because of your mistake, now you tell me you want to die? Now I don’t want to say much, stand up, take care of these few remaining people, eighty-four lives as tuition for the lesson, you’d best not waste it lightly."