Even men in the penal battalion had friendships. The old scum was bidding farewell to the young man, but the youth named Andrey completely ignored him.
They had thought that with the penal battalion around, they could hang back. Nobody expected that the penal battalion's arrival would prompt the Russian forces to launch a massive assault, nor that the offensive would go far less smoothly than planned—ultimately dragging in the 4th Assault Detachment, which hadn't originally been slated for combat.
When defending the trenches, they operated in small teams, but on an assault, they had to move as at least a full squad.
Team 1 was positioned on the left, so to assemble, Gao Fei and the others had to move left along the trench until they linked up with the squad leader.
After not walking too far, Gao Fei spotted a line of men waiting in the trench.
Now the entire squad was together—three teams, twelve men including the squad leader.
"Pick up the pace! What's with him?"
The young man named Andrey was walking right at the front, so when the squad leader saw him, he couldn't help asking out of curiosity.
Without hesitation, Sokholov said, "He wants to head back and join the fight."
Andrey cut quite a figure. His face and neck were covered in blood, looking terrifying. With just a little pretense, he wouldn't have to fight at all. What was more, he had already been at the casualty collection point; all he had to do was wait for personnel from the rear to gather the wounded and take him safely back, and he would have survived this battle.
While anyone else would avoid fighting if given the chance, this young man Andrey was doing the opposite—he was volunteering to jump into the fray.
Unable to understand, the squad leader looked at Andrey and asked with genuine curiosity, "You want to fight alongside us?"
Stiffening his neck, Andrey said, "Not alongside you. You're just heading the same way."
The squad leader waved a hand. "Where are you hit? Has the bleeding stopped? Bandage him up."
Every squad had at least one designated medic. They didn't necessarily possess real medical training, but they definitely carried a first-aid kit stocked with basic medicines, bandages, and the like.
Most of them were veterans who could handle minor wounds themselves, but for some reason, Andrey hadn't treated his.
A soldier with a first-aid kit slung over his shoulder stepped forward and muttered, "Take off your helmet."
Andrey took off his helmet. His hair was cut very short, a buzz cut growing back from a shaved head. Above his left ear was a gruesome laceration on his scalp. Right now, the blood had congealed over the wound, which actually slowed the bleeding.
The helmet looked intact, yet his scalp was wounded—an uncommon injury.
"How'd you get hit?"
"A bullet punched through my helmet. I swapped it for another."
Enlightened, the medic pulled out an antiseptic wipe and pressed it straight against Andrey's wound.
It made Gao Fei wince just watching, but Andrey merely swayed slightly, not making a sound.
The medic rubbed hard with the antiseptic wipe several times, tossed it aside, opened a fresh one, and pressed down to scrub vigorously again. Gao Fei felt as though his own scalp were throbbing in sympathetic pain.
Gao Fei couldn't help turning his head away, unable to watch.
The medic took out a spray canister, sprayed Andrey's wound several times, then unrolled a bandage. "Crouch down!"
Andrey dropped to one knee. Standing behind him, the medic wrapped the entire roll of gauze around Andrey's head, tied a careless knot, and said, "Done."
A simple cleaning, some spray that probably disinfected and stopped bleeding, and that was it. The treatment was complete.
Andrey strapped his helmet back on.
The squad leader clicked his tongue. "Tough kid, aren't you? Why do you want to go back and fight?"
Perhaps feeling awkward about snapping after just having his wound treated, Andrey thought for a moment before answering in a low voice, "I need combat merits."
"Oh, ha, haha."
The squad leader gave a dry chuckle, then said in a relaxed tone, "Then best of luck to you."
The squad leader raised his walkie-talkie. "Assault Platoon, 1st Squad is assembled. Over."
Originally sent to relieve the trench and hold the position, they had been reassigned on the fly to join the assault, so naturally the units had to be regrouped step by step.
"Rally on me. We're moving out at platoon strength. Over."
When the voice on the radio finished speaking, both the squad leader and Sokholov froze for a second.
The squad leader personally commanded Team 3, serving concurrently as its leader.
All three team leaders exchanged looks of mutual surprise.
The leader of Team 1, who had gotten into a fistfight earlier, frowned. "A platoon-sized operation? That's asking for trouble."
Sokholov said in a low voice, "I heard from the penal battalion that a lot of the enemy are mercenaries with good gear. We'd better watch ourselves."
The squad leader nodded, then turned to Andrey. "Where were you hit? Did you engage the enemy? How well equipped were they?"
Andrey hesitated. "I didn't see the enemy. I took a bullet first, and then an artillery shell knocked me unconscious."
Making no attempt to hide his disappointment, the squad leader waved a hand. "Move out. Follow me."
The column set off again. With more men this time, they made a bigger target.
If there were any drones around, a target like this would be well worth bombing.
After less than a hundred meters, they came to a wide junction ahead, where their lunatic platoon leader crouched in the trench with a large group of men.
A standard platoon was supposed to have thirty-six men, but the Assault Platoon was a reinforced platoon; along with three squads, it included an assault squad directly under the platoon leader's command, fluctuating between forty-four and forty-six men in total.
Over forty men gathered in one place was actually a substantial force.
"Hello, Rex."
Without greeting anyone else, the platoon leader spotted Gao Fei from a distance and called out to him directly.
Gao Fei could only reply, "Platoon Leader."
The platoon leader's gaze bypassed the squad leader and Sokholov as he said in all seriousness, "Later, let's see what you've got."
"Yes, Platoon Leader."
The platoon leader raised his voice: "All right, now that everyone's here, I'll brief you on the mission. Some of our brothers don't speak Russian, so translate for them.
"Our mission now is to advance to the enemy's main position and support the penal battalion. The battlefield is in chaos right now, with our forces and the enemy completely mixed together. Stay sharp, everyone. Understood?"
"Understood!"
There were no precise tactical orders; the fighting that lay ahead would depend on the platoon leader's calls on the fly.
The platoon leader glanced at his watch and barked, "Advance in combat formation! Get to the enemy's main position first! Assault squad, move out!"
The eight-man assault squad stood up, hunched over, and entered the communication trench, jogging briskly until they disappeared around the bend.
"1st Squad, move out."
They still had to keep some spacing between them, lest a single artillery shell wipe out the entire squad.
Gao Fei followed Glaski, jogging into the communication trench. Then, he noticed that Andrey hadn't followed.
Chapter 28