Dangerous Ground

The fortification was pitch-black inside, and by this point, the bodies had not even been carried out. The frantic rush had lasted well into the night. In the end, what allowed 1st Squad to rest was not an improved situation, but utter physical exhaustion. Drained to their limits, the men lacked the strength even to clear away the dead. They simply could not hold out any longer, and everyone had begun slacking off, intentionally or otherwise. When Sokholov finally had to call a halt, the men—having spent the whole morning fighting and the entire afternoon doing hard labor—collapsed limply into the trench. Truth be told, these guys looked burly enough, but when it came to actual work, they were terrible at it. The first night spent in a forward position was extraordinarily dangerous. If the Ukrainians counterattacked, they would likely strike that very day while the Russian forces were still finding their footing. The first night after taking a position was always the most perilous. Yet even with the danger, it was impossible to keep everyone at the ready; their bodies simply could not take it. They instituted a two-man night watch. Gao Fei could not rest, while the others took turns standing guard, rotating out every hour. On this most dangerous first night, Gao Fei had to shoulder the burden. Whoever stood guard with Gao Fei had to chat with him for a bit—partly to build rapport, partly to keep themselves awake, and naturally, to keep Gao Fei from dozing off as well. The Russians showed a great sense of propriety when conversing, which was a genuine virtue. Before becoming close, everyone talked about more or less the same things. Women, good food, and alcohol, followed by combat experience, with a few curses thrown in at the logistics division. The routine was always the same, and an hour slipped by quickly enough. After enduring six hours of this, Gao Fei did not feel sleepy, but his mouth was parched from all the talking. It had grown dark around six in the evening. After six hours, it was only a little past midnight. If he wanted to rest, he would have to wait until dawn at the very earliest. Gao Fei was talked out, but when Andrey's turn came, he began to feel genuinely annoyed. Andrey spoke some English, though not very well, while Gao Fei could manage a few words of Russian, mostly limited to military terms. Without an interpreter, communication was rough. Even so, Andrey's eagerness to curry favor with Gao Fei was glaringly obvious, his mouth running on without pause. The feeling of talking past each other grated on Gao Fei. It was not that he looked down on Andrey; it was simply that constantly straining his brain to decipher what Andrey was saying was seriously interfering with his sentry duties. "Go outside and check with the thermal optic. See if any enemies are approaching." Strictly speaking, Gao Fei had no authority to give Andrey orders, but as soon as he spoke, Andrey took Gao Fei's rifle without hesitation. He obediently went outside, risked sticking his head above the trench, and swept the area through the thermal optic mounted on the weapon. Gao Fei now had two AK-74s: one fitted with the captured thermal optic and one bare rifle with iron sights. Beside them lay a semiautomatic shotgun and an SVD sniper rifle. On the offensive, a soldier could carry only one long gun, but on defense, he could use as many as he wanted so long as he stayed in position. That was about the only advantage to holding a trench. "No enemy." Andrey was still in high spirits for conversation. Mixing English and Russian, he asked, "Were you in a... unit before?" Gao Fei could not make out the specific terms Andrey threw into the jumble, and he could not be bothered to parse them. In a low voice, he said, "Shut up. Stay quiet and keep watch properly." Andrey instantly realized he had become a nuisance. He shut his mouth at once and stood quietly to the side. He looked like a wild, rebellious sort, but in reality, he was remarkably obedient. Andrey was a walking contradiction, though in a good way. Right then, Gao Fei heard a low voice from outside. "Rex, I'm here." It was Samir. He lifted the camouflage netting hanging over the entrance and stepped inside the fortification. Standing guard at night could now be done from inside the barrier troops' bunker. The exit leading from the bunker to the communication trench had been completely blocked off, and two separate firing ports had been cut out, both sealed with camouflage netting. This kept their field of view largely unobstructed while effectively preventing suicide drones from flying in. Russian positions and Ukrainian positions prioritized defenses against entirely different threats. The Russian military guarded against drones and small-scale special forces infiltrations, whereas the Ukrainian military guarded against mortars and small-scale special forces assaults. Consequently, Russian fortifications invariably sealed their doors and windows with camouflage netting, while Ukrainian fortifications focused on reinforcing overhead cover; even if the roof could not withstand a direct hit from heavy artillery, it had to stop mortar rounds. With only two firing ports cut out, Gao Fei occupied one and Andrey the other. Samir walked over to Andrey without standing on ceremony and said in a low voice, "Move. Head to the back." Andrey did not budge. Samir looked at him in surprise. "What are you doing? Move!" Andrey still remained still. In his urgency, Samir switched on his flashlight, only to see Andrey standing up inside the cramped, low-ceilinged bunker, glaring at him with a vicious scowl. Samir stared back in disbelief. "What do you think you're doing?" Gao Fei was just as bewildered. "Andrey, what are you doing?" Andrey spoke at once. "He has no right to order me around." After offering that brief explanation to Gao Fei, Andrey turned on Samir, snarling, "You don't have to use honorifics, but you don't get to order me around like I'm your lackey, understand?" Samir could not understand Andrey's rapid, heated Russian, and neither could Gao Fei. Seeing the blank look on Samir's face, Andrey switched to broken English. "You. No order. Me. Not. Your. Boy." Was Andrey trying to assert his independence? Both exasperated and amused, Gao Fei snapped, "Andrey! Shut up and sit down!" Andrey immediately complied, moving off to the side to sit on the ground beside a pile of corpses. Samir spread his hands, switched off the flashlight, and stepped up to the firing port Andrey had just vacated. "The squad leader said we're entering the dangerous window now. From here on, I'll be keeping watch with you. Once daylight breaks, I can get some proper sleep." With that, Samir wore a sudden look of relief. "I'll be handling the night watch from now on. That means I can sleep during the day, and sleeping during the day means getting out of a lot of work." Samir's hearing was exceptional, an invaluable asset for night sentry duty. To keep him in peak condition, he had been granted special privileges. It was the right call, but also a forced one. With manpower already stretched thin, having two men dedicated solely to combat duties would slow the progress of fortifying the position even further. Gao Fei asked in a low voice, "How much water do you have left? Any food?" "Still got food, but the water's almost gone. Working today took a lot of water, and we didn't scavenge much from the bodies. The rations are fine—we can easily hold out for two more days—but if we have to keep digging tomorrow, there won't be enough water." With that, Samir added with no small amount of annoyance, "They can't even guarantee basic drinking water. What the hell is logistics even doing?" Gao Fei sighed. He raised his rifle and peered down the communication trench through the thermal optic. "The battery on the thermal optic is down to half. At this rate, it'll die before the night is over. If there's no way to recharge it, we won't have any thermal vision left." Samir whispered, "Turn the optic off. Stop talking now. Let me listen." Gao Fei fell silent. Samir sat behind the firing port, head tilted as he listened intently to the outside world. If the enemy truly intended to launch a raid with a small element, this would be their first target, as they could advance straight down the communication trench. "Tomorrow we have to block the communication trench. Just blow it up and cave it in. I'll do it tomorrow," Andrey muttered from the side. Gao Fei hissed, "Shut up! Don't distract Samir." Andrey went quiet immediately. Russians had a deep, ingrained respect for strength. So long as a person demonstrated ability that far surpassed their own, they became remarkably compliant. It was an admirable trait—at least within the military, it was an absolute virtue. Silence settled once more. Gao Fei listened for sounds outside as well, but heard nothing save for distant, sporadic explosions and gunfire echoing from unknown directions, faint and far between. A wave of drowsiness began to wash over him. After Samir arrived, Gao Fei had even powered down the night-vision device. In the pitch-black darkness, unable to see anything and with no sound reaching his ears, the environment was practically begging him to sleep, and he could not help nodding off. Samir suddenly shifted, his voice reduced to the faintest whisper. "Don't make a sound. Someone's coming." Gao Fei snapped wide awake. Samir kept his voice hushed. "A few of them. Very close. Turn on the thermal, quick." Gao Fei had not shut the thermal optic down completely; he had only put it into sleep mode. At Samir's warning, he quickly brought it back to life and rested the rifle on the ledge of the firing port. Samir could not see, but he could hear. Gao Fei could not hear a thing, but now he could see. At the far end of the communication trench, roughly thirty-five meters away, two soldiers suddenly came into view. They were not merely walking forward; one had stepped halfway out of cover, a rocket launcher balanced on his shoulder. Gao Fei's scalp practically tingled with terror. He brought his sights onto the man half-exposed with the rocket launcher, and the instant the launcher leveled off toward his position, he fired without hesitation. The abrupt gunfire shattered the stillness of the night. A three-round burst caught the rocketeer, dropping him on the spot. But as he fell, the launcher went off. The rocket skimmed low along the dirt, struck something that deflected its flight path, and shot wildly up into midair. A thunderous detonation tore through the dark, enough to jolt anyone awake no matter how deeply they slept. Gao Fei swung his muzzle toward the other enemy soldier in the trench, but the moment his shots rang out, the second man, who had also been leaning out, pulled back behind cover. There was no need to shout or give a warning. Gao Fei kept his eyes glued to the communication trench as Sokholov bellowed from down below. "Enemy attack! Get mov—" Gao Fei swept his barrel across the berms along both sides of the communication trench. Since the first rocket had gone wild, the enemy would surely leave the cover of the trench and try to fire another launcher from the elevated ground flanking it. Sure enough, as Gao Fei shifted his sights to the right, he caught a glowing red shape barely cresting the level of the earth. Fire. Just keep firing. In a night fight, there was no room to fuss over precision shooting; getting rounds off first was what mattered. At the very least, he could not give the enemy the time to fire another rocket. This fortification was not all that sturdy. If a single rocket struck it, every man inside would die. He could not let them fire another rocket. Under no circumstances could he allow it.