It turned out that Sokholov had not only been a team leader, but also the assistant squad leader. So after the squad leader was killed in action, he naturally stepped up to take command of 1st Squad.
However, with a few more men under his command, his leadership style had to change along with it.
Before, Sokholov would just grab his rifle and charge in himself. But now, he had to consider how to maximize the combat effectiveness of an entire squad.
It sounded simple enough, yet it was anything but. A squad leader was the most basic frontline commander, but even among frontline commanders, there was a vast difference between the great and the mediocre.
In Gao Fei's eyes, Sokholov was doing quite well.
Now, Gao Fei had a new worry to ponder: with Sokholov becoming squad leader, would their Team 2 be broken up?
Only eight men were left in the entire squad, four of whom were newcomers. Even if replacements were brought in later to restore their full twelve-man roster, that would still leave only four veterans.
Veterans were in critically short supply. If they continued organizing into four-man fireteams, Sokholov would either have to move to another team to serve as both squad leader and team leader, or Glaski would be reassigned to lead another team.
Gao Fei didn't want them to be split up. They had only just grown used to one another, and parting ways would mean adapting all over again.
Still, that sort of thing wasn't his choice to make.
The Ukrainians had dugouts too, and right now Gao Fei was the only one allowed inside.
The core of their firepower had to be protected. Without Sokholov's orders, Gao Fei wasn't permitted to step outside. As for Parker, having been disarmed, he was forced to crouch in the trench right where Gao Fei could end him with a single shot. Even with a dugout right there, he wasn't allowed inside.
The very men who had captured Parker had to risk their lives staying out in the trench; how could a prisoner like him be allowed to take shelter in a dugout?
The battle was still raging fiercely around them. Gunfire never ceased, and explosions rang out without end. The only silver lining was that Gao Fei's position remained relatively quiet. Half an hour had passed since they took the enemy fortification, and not a single new enemy had shown up.
"Calling... calling... Fuck!"
Sokholov was still trying to radio in every now and then, but there was never any response.
Even if mortars in the rear were supposed to provide accompanying fire support for the infantry, it was useless now—they couldn't reach anyone at all.
It could only be said that Russian electronic equipment was far too outdated, lagging behind by a massive margin.
The lull did not last long. Yet what shattered the quiet was neither swarming enemies nor routed soldiers whose retreat had been cut off.
"Drone!"
With a shrill scream, Gao Fei immediately looked up. He scanned the sky. He saw nothing, but heard a piercing whine.
The high-pitched whine flashed past, followed instantly by a thunderous boom.
Right as Gao Fei looked up, a tremendous blast echoed from the trench merely seven or eight meters away.
The explosion wasn't particularly powerful, not even matching a defensive hand grenade, but a soldier lying prone in the trench collapsed to the ground.
Sokholov had spaced the men far apart. Even if a drone dropped a mortar shell, it could only hit one person, and these kamikaze drones packed even less punch.
Yet kamikaze drones exerted far greater psychological terror—the kind that stripped a man of his will to fight in an instant.
You couldn't defend against them, couldn't dodge them, had no idea if another strike was coming, and had no clue who the next target would be.
You either fled the position or held your ground and endured.
Taking shelter inside fortifications was virtually useless—in fact, it often made things worse. A kamikaze FPV drone could fly right through an embrasure, and an enclosed space would only amplify the blast's lethality. Outside, a strike might kill only one man at a time; inside a bunker, there was no telling how many would die.
Everyone's immediate instinct was to turn around and look up, first checking if there was a drone hovering overhead. Their next reaction was to scramble into a dugout, praying the enemy didn't have that many drones and that the enemy drone operators would seek out more valuable targets.
Gao Fei was terrified that Sokholov had been singled out.
Sokholov had several traits that made him a prime drone target. First, he carried a walkie-talkie. Second, he had binoculars. Even though he rarely pulled out the binoculars, the walkie-talkie had to be clipped to his chest.
Carrying a walkie-talkie marked someone as at least a team leader. If a drone pilot had to pick a target among several men, they would almost certainly prioritize the one with a radio.
In truth, drone pilots favored snipers even more. If a rifle had an optic mounted, you had better pray the drone didn't spot it—once spotted, you were guaranteed to be struck.
After that came machine gunners, gunners slinging rocket launchers, anyone carrying a sidearm, or anyone pointing and giving orders across the position.
As for saluting a superior on the line, that was practically having a personal vendetta against him. Even without kamikaze drones nearby, reconnaissance drones were constantly circling overhead. If a group of men actually stood and saluted one person, failing to summon a swarm of drones down on his head would almost be an insult to the gesture.
That was why Sokholov and the others refused to carry handguns, and why Gao Fei and his comrades hid their radios rather than use them, despite each having one. The oppressive terror instilled by drones was simply overwhelming.
Sokholov had a walkie-talkie and had been constantly trying to radio out, while Glaski manned a machine gun. Both were priority targets.
Gao Fei was terrified that one of them had been hit. Not knowing who had been killed and not daring to step out of the dugout to look, he could only yell at the top of his lungs, "Squad Leader? Glaski! Samir!"
Gao Fei wasn't close to the others and didn't particularly care who had died; he only hoped it wasn't one of his closest comrades.
Glaski shouted back, "I'm here!"
A moment later, Samir Bek said, sounding shaken, "I'm okay."
Only Sokholov didn't answer. Gao Fei's heart leaped into his throat, and his voice trembled as he yelled, "Team Leader! Fuck, Team Leader!"
"Shut up!"
Sokholov replied, followed by a loud bark: "Stay in cover!"
Sokholov wasn't dead. Gao Fei breathed a sigh of relief, his heart sinking back into his chest.
Right then, Gao Fei heard crackling static from the walkie-talkie. Muffled voices cut through the noise; the communications that had been jammed all this time finally seemed to be clearing up.
Sokholov was in no rush to reply, wary that speaking into the radio might draw a drone's attention.
After waiting a moment, Sokholov slipped into the dugout, keyed the walkie-talkie, and shouted, "This is 1st Squad! We have taken the enemy position! We are currently holding it! Do you copy? Over!"
Soon, Gao Fei heard the company commander's voice, brimming with pleasant surprise.
"You took the position? Excellent! Hold it! You must hold it! You're our breakthrough point! I repeat, your position is the breakthrough point for the entire front! I'm sending reinforcements immediately! Over!"
Listening to the voice over the radio, Gao Fei could hardly believe his ears.
How had they become the breakthrough point? How had they ended up as the salient—the first along the entire front to rupture the enemy line?
First to breach, shatter the formation, capture the banner, slay the general.
The four greatest feats in military tradition since ancient times remained the four greatest feats even today.
What did 1st Squad count as right now? First to breach, or shattering the formation?
Being the first to penetrate the enemy's defensive line was surely the first to breach.
And here lay the problem: right after breaching came plunging deep into the enemy lines.
It meant getting surrounded!
It meant a slim chance of survival—no, here in Bakhmut, it was a bloody death trap with zero chance of making it out alive!
Chapter 41