People in the Penal Battalion had friendships too. Old Scumbag was saying goodbye to that young man, but the young man named Andrei paid him no mind.
They had thought that with the Penal Battalion there, they could hide behind them. They hadn’t expected that the arrival of the Penal Battalion would prompt the Russian army to launch a large-scale offensive, and that this large-scale offensive would not go as smoothly as expected. As a result, the Fourth Assault Team, which originally had no plans to enter the fight, now had to take part as well.
When defending in the trenches, they operated by fireteam, but when it came to attacking, at the very least they had to move by squad.
First Team’s position was on the left, so to assemble first, Gao Fei and the others had to move left along the trench until they linked up with the squad leader.
They had not gone very far before Gao Fei saw a row of men waiting in the trench.
Now the entire squad was together: three fireteams, twelve men including the squad leader.
“Move faster. What’s with him?”
The young man named Andrei was walking at the very front, so when the squad leader saw him, he could not help asking curiously.
Sholokhov said without the slightest hesitation, “He wants to return to the battle.”
Andrei looked quite the part, with blood all over his face and neck. He looked frightening; with just a little acting, he would not have had to fight. What was more, he had already been at the wounded soldiers’ holding point. All he needed was for someone from the rear to come up and gather the wounded, then he could safely head back. In that case, he would have preserved his life in this battle.
Everyone else avoided fighting whenever they had the chance, but this young man named Andrei was something else—he actually wanted to join the battle of his own accord.
The squad leader did not quite understand. He looked at Andrei and asked with a curious expression, “You want to fight with us?”
Andrei stiffened his neck and said, “Not fight with you. We’re just going the same way.”
The squad leader waved a hand and said, “Where are you wounded? Has the bleeding stopped? Wrap him up.”
Every squad had at least one medic. He might not necessarily have any real medical ability, but he would definitely carry a dedicated first-aid kit with basic medicine, bandages, and the like inside.
They were mostly veterans, and could deal with simple injuries themselves. But this Andrei had not treated his wound at all, for some unknown reason.
The soldier with a first-aid kit slung diagonally across his body walked up and said in a muffled voice, “Take off your helmet.”
Andrei took off his helmet. His hair was very short, the kind of crew cut that had grown back after his head had been shaved bald. Above his left ear, there was a hideous wound on his scalp. The blood had clotted into a mass, which had in turn slowed the bleeding.
The helmet looked fine, yet his scalp was injured. That kind of wound was not common.
“How did you get wounded?”
“A bullet punched through my helmet. I changed helmets.”
The medic looked suddenly enlightened. He picked up a disinfectant wipe and pressed it directly onto Andrei’s wound.
Gao Fei felt pain just watching, but Andrei merely swayed slightly and did not make a sound.
The medic rubbed hard with the disinfectant wipe a few times, casually tossed it aside, then tore open a clean wipe and pressed it onto the wound again, scrubbing hard. Gao Fei felt as if his own scalp were beginning to ache faintly.
Gao Fei could not help turning his head away. He did not dare watch anymore.
The medic took out a spray can and sprayed Andrei’s wound a few times, then pulled open a roll of gauze and said, “Squat down!”
Andrei went down on one knee. Standing behind him, the medic wrapped the gauze around and around until the roll was used up, tied a knot very casually, and said, “Done.”
A simple cleaning of the wound, a spray that probably disinfected and stopped bleeding, and that was it. The treatment was finished.
Andrei put his helmet back on.
The squad leader clicked his tongue and said, “Pretty tough, young man. Why do you want to go back and fight?”
Perhaps because he had just had his wound treated by someone, Andrei seemed embarrassed to speak harshly. After thinking for a moment, he said in a low voice, “I need military merit.”
“Oh. Ha, haha.”
The squad leader gave two dry laughs, then said very lightly, “Then good luck to you.”
The squad leader picked up the radio and said, “First Squad, Assault Platoon, assembly complete. Over.”
They had originally come to take over the trenches and hold the position, but now their role had been temporarily changed to taking part in the attack. Of course, the troops had to be gathered bit by bit.
“Converge on me. We’ll move at platoon strength. Over.”
After the voice from the radio finished speaking, both the squad leader and Sholokhov froze for a moment.
The squad leader personally commanded Third Team, so he also served as Third Team’s team leader.
There were three team leaders in total, and at that moment, they were all looking at one another.
The leader of First Team, who had just gotten into a fight, frowned and said, “Platoon strength, huh. That’s a bit troublesome.”
Sholokhov said in a low voice, “I heard from the Penal Battalion people that many of the enemy are mercenaries. Their equipment is very good. Be careful in a bit.”
The squad leader nodded. Then he said to Andrei, “Where were you wounded? Did you exchange fire with the enemy? What was their equipment like?”
Andrei hesitated for a moment and said, “I didn’t see the enemy. I was shot first, then knocked unconscious by a shell blast.”
The squad leader did not hide his disappointment at all. He waved a hand and said, “Move out. Follow me.”
The team started moving again. This time, there were more people, and the target was larger.
If there were a drone around, this would be worth bombing.
After walking less than a hundred meters, they reached a very wide intersection ahead. The lunatic platoon leader was squatting in the trench with many men.
A platoon should have thirty-six men, but an assault platoon was a reinforced platoon. In addition to three squads, there was also an assault team under the direct command of the platoon leader. The total number of men in the platoon fluctuated between forty-four and forty-six.
More than forty men assembled together was actually already a considerable number.
“Hello, Ricks.”
The platoon leader did not greet anyone else. From far away, after seeing Gao Fei, he called out directly to him.
Gao Fei could only say, “Hello, platoon leader.”
The platoon leader’s gaze passed over the squad leader, passed over Sholokhov, and then he said very seriously, “Show me what you can do in a bit.”
“Yes, platoon leader.”
The platoon leader said loudly, “All right, everyone’s here. I’ll explain the mission. We have brothers who don’t speak Russian, so translate for them.
“Our current mission is to advance to the enemy’s main position and support the Penal Battalion. The battlefield situation is chaotic right now, with enemy and friendly forces mixed together. Everyone stay alert. Understood?”
“Understood!”
There were no especially clear operational orders. The fighting to come would depend on the platoon leader’s on-the-spot command.
The platoon leader glanced at his watch and said loudly, “Advance in combat formation. First, we get to the enemy’s main position. Now, assault team, move out.”
The eight-man assault team stood up, bent at the waist, entered the communication trench, and disappeared into the trench at a quick jog.
“First Squad, move out.”
They still had to keep some distance between them, lest a single shell come down and wipe out the whole squad.
Gao Fei followed behind Grasky, jogging into the communication trench. Then he discovered that Andrei had not followed them.