The battle was not over.
Sholokhov had the leisure to chat, but Gao Fei and Samir certainly did not. While Sholokhov was still doubting him—and doubting himself—Samir finally opened fire.
With a whoosh, a rocket shot out.
At a little over a hundred meters, the distance was not too great. Hitting an armored vehicle was still fairly easy. Gao Fei watched as sparks flashed on the armored vehicle, and then a plume of white smoke immediately rose from it.
It did not catch fire or explode, but the armored vehicle came to a stop. Then Samir roared in extreme excitement, “Hit!”
Immediately after, another rocket struck the armored vehicle. This time, the vehicle instantly began spraying sparks, and flames quickly flared up.
They had not fired when the tanks and armored vehicles were advancing, only hammering them hard when they retreated, and the effect was obvious. Two tanks and four armored vehicles—not a single one could make it back.
The armored vehicles that had their tracks blown off by mines and were stuck in place were left to the artillery. Those that could still move were dealt with by the frontline infantry using rocket launchers. Wagner’s combat system was not particularly advanced, and in truth it was not very reasonable either, but it was effective.
The armored vehicle’s door opened, and Gao Fei once again got the chance to shoot at moving targets.
Only, just now the machine gun had not fired a single shot. But this time, against the one remaining armored vehicle and the few surviving soldiers, the light and heavy weapons on this position all opened fire together.
Who knew what they had all been waiting for earlier.
From the side, people could still be seen rushing out through the rear door of the armored vehicle. Gao Fei pulled the trigger for the third time, instinctively firing single shots, but after realizing that everyone was shooting, he immediately held the trigger down and did not let go.
Of the four men who jumped down from the armored vehicle, three fell cleanly and neatly, but Gao Fei had no way of telling whether he had hit any of them.
The main reason he had opened fire was simply to try the feel of automatic fire.
This battle could be declared over. Of course, only the battle directly in front of Gao Fei and the others’ position was over. Looking left and right, the fighting on both sides was still intense, the sound of gunfire and artillery continuing without pause.
Samir looked toward Sholokhov. As soon as the machine gunfire stopped, he immediately said, “Sir! I hit the armored vehicle!”
Sholokhov said listlessly, “Good work.”
Samir lowered the launch tube, then said expectantly, “Then there’s a bonus, right?”
“Yes.”
Sholokhov looked around, then immediately said, “Get back into the dugout. It’s not directly in front of us, and we don’t need to go sweep the battlefield and finish off the remaining enemy. Everyone back into the dugouts. There may be shelling.”
The machine gunner put away the machine gun. He placed it in the trench, then silently crawled back into the dugout.
But after sitting back down, the machine gunner suddenly remembered something. He took out the cigarettes Gao Fei had given him, pulled out two, put one in his own mouth and lit it, then crawled out of the dugout and came before Gao Fei with the unlit cigarette.
He reached out and handed over the cigarette. After Gao Fei took it, the machine gunner also offered him the lighter.
“My name is Graski. You shot well.”
Offering a cigarette, lighting it, and introducing himself—this was the machine gunner’s way of showing Gao Fei recognition and acceptance.
There was no other extra meaning. After lighting Gao Fei’s cigarette, Graski had absolutely no intention of lighting one for his own team leader as well. Without the slightest hesitation, not even waiting for Gao Fei to reply, he turned around and went straight back to his own dugout. After sitting down, he took a deep drag with a look of complete comfort.
Gao Fei did not enter the dugout. Neither did Samir. Sholokhov was still standing where he was, staring at Gao Fei.
That made things very awkward for Gao Fei.
According to Gao Fei’s habits—or rather, according to the habits of people from Huaxia—you either smoked by yourself, or you handed one out to everyone. Graski’s behavior was a little stingy, leaving Gao Fei unsure whether he should keep smoking his own cigarette.
“Uh…”
Just as Gao Fei was thinking about what to say, Samir once again could not wait and asked, “Sir, how much bonus do I get?”
The reason Samir had not gone back into the dugout was because he was anxious to ask this.
All right, in truth, Gao Fei also wanted to know very much.
Sholokhov looked at Samir, then said impatiently, “It’s split evenly. Everyone in our company splits it evenly, plus the artillerymen behind us, and the sappers who laid the mines. Everyone responsible for this section of the position splits it evenly. What, did you think you could take the whole bonus just because you fired one rocket?”
Samir froze for a moment. After sighing softly, he nodded and said, “All right. That’s pretty fair.”
To be reasonable, without artillery support and without mines laid in advance, relying only on machine guns, rifles, and rocket launchers, it was not impossible to repel an attack by tanks and armored vehicles, but it definitely would not have been this easy. In fact, being wiped out entirely would have been possible.
So splitting it evenly was right. Samir had nothing to say. After thinking it over, he asked again, “Then after splitting it evenly, about how much can we get?”
Gao Fei silently calculated in his mind. Ten thousand for one tank, five thousand for one armored vehicle, personnel not counted. That made forty thousand euros in bonuses. Even if everyone split it evenly, each person should still get a bit of money, right?
Sholokhov thought for a moment and said, “About two hundred per person.”
Not bad. They had fired a few shots, basically just watched the show, and could still get two hundred euros. That was pretty good.
It really beat going to work.
Samir also looked satisfied. He hurriedly said, “Will it be paid with our wages, or…?”
“Not necessarily. If you live until they pay out, you’ll naturally get it!”
Samir froze for a moment, thought about it, then continued, “Rex killed two enemies. Does he get a bonus?”
“Personnel don’t count. Unless he killed an especially valuable enemy, personnel are not calculated separately for bonuses. Is this all you care about? Get back into your hole.”
Sholokhov looked a little angry. Samir said without the slightest hesitation, “Yes, thank you, sir.”
Samir happily returned to his own dugout, while Sholokhov said to Gao Fei, “You… shot well. Come here. Let’s talk.”
Sholokhov pointed at his own dugout and said, “You go in.”
Gao Fei put the safety on his rifle and crawled into Sholokhov’s dugout. He thought Sholokhov was going to come in as well, but to his surprise, Sholokhov simply sat down in the trench.
He sat directly in the trench, took out a cigarette and lit one for himself. Only then did Sholokhov say with a serious expression, “I have to admit I misjudged you. You shouldn’t be some rookie who knows nothing. But… forget it. Just tell me, how did you shoot?”
Gao Fei did not know how to answer.
For a true newcomer with abundant theory but zero practical experience, Gao Fei really had no way to explain it using terminology only veterans would understand.
After thinking for a while, Gao Fei said very earnestly, “I just shot like that. Like during training. Mm, like shooting at targets. Aim, shoot. That’s it.”
“If shooting were that simple, there’d be no need for instructors.”
Sholokhov took a deep drag on his cigarette, then said gravely, “But what you said isn’t wrong either. Shooting really is that simple. Mm, all right, I’ll take everything you said as the truth. Then why didn’t you report your specialty?”
Gao Fei did not hesitate. He had already thought up his answer long ago.
“This is my first time in actual combat, and I’m not a sniper either, sir. I didn’t know how good my marksmanship would be in real combat.”
Sholokhov looked as if he had suddenly understood. He could not help nodding as he said, “That makes sense. That’s right. You’re a veteran, but also a novice. Mm, that’s right. Then if the company asks you again whether you have any specialties, what will you choose?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Gao Fei said, “No specialty! Sir, I’m very glad to fight under you. It was my good luck to meet a good combat team leader. I don’t want to be transferred under someone else. I’m sticking with you, sir.”
A satisfied smile appeared on Sholokhov’s face. He grinned and said, “Good, good. You’re not bad, kid. Here, have a cigarette. Are you hungry? Want some water?”