Hints

Parker looked supremely confident. Gao Fei lowered his head slightly and darted a quick glance at Samir, only to find him looking thrilled. Parker was dropping hints, but what was he actually planning? Gao Fei racked his brain, trying to imagine what kind of difference Parker could possibly make. If they were anywhere else, Gao Fei might have assumed Parker was aiming to turn a profit by trafficking arms or running some other black-market scheme. But this was the Bakhmut meat grinder. What could Parker possibly do here? Samir couldn't resist stepping forward. He asked Parker cautiously, "Sir, are you saying—" Parker shot Samir a warning look, then placed an index finger against his lips. Samir shut his mouth immediately. Parker smiled at Samir. "From now on, stick with Rex. Keeping him safe will benefit both of you." "Yes, sir." Samir didn't salute, but he obeyed meekly. Parker looked at Gao Fei again. He traced a circle in the air, encompassing Andrey and Samir, sweeping wide enough to take in the entire position. Then he rested a hand on Gao Fei's shoulder. "Enough said. I've got important business waiting for me. Once it's done, you'll see what kind of difference I can make for you. I'll call you. Take care, and goodbye." Gao Fei said with gravity, "Be careful. Watch your back!" Parker turned around, waving a casual hand, though he dropped it with firm resolve. Parker was gone. He had reclaimed his mobile phone, told Gao Fei he was famous, dropped a few hints, and left. Watching Parker's receding figure, the company commander finally hurried back over. The company commander didn't need to accompany Parker all the way back. Now that Parker was gone, he could finally come over to get some answers. "What did that guy just say to you? Your ears are sharp—what did Parker tell you?" The company commander didn't look like he was looking for a fight; if anything, he seemed driven by sheer curiosity. Without hesitation, Samir said, "He just came to pick up his phone, told Rex to stay safe, and mentioned something about swapping positions. I was standing right beside them the whole time. That's all I heard." The company commander turned his gaze to Gao Fei, who asked without hesitation, "How's Sokholov? Any news?" "No news. I can't leave the command post, and the field hospital doesn't give us regular updates. What on earth did Parker do? How did he end up as our regiment's deputy chief of staff?" Gao Fei said in astonishment, "You don't know? If even you don't know, how could I?" The company commander exhaled. "We sent him up to the regiment yesterday. Who could have guessed that today I'd receive orders from the regimental commander telling me to take instructions from him? Damned if I understand it." Gao Fei lowered his voice. "I heard there's trouble paying out bounties right now?" Being half-deaf, Gao Fei's voice naturally carried. Even though he tried to keep it down, it was still a bit too loud. The company commander hurriedly made a pressing gesture to shush him, whispering, "Payouts are a bit slower than before, but we're different. How much could our bounties amount to anyway? How could Wagner not afford it? At most, it's a delay of a couple of days. Once the fighting here ends, they'll pay up for sure." The company commander looked haggard and clearly didn't want to dwell on the subject. He looked at the bodies in the trench, then glanced around at the pulverized, chaotic position. With a faint sigh, he said to Gao Fei, "You men worked hard. Next, get ready for a rotation. Pulling you back completely is unlikely, but they should move you to a relatively safe sector. I haven't received official orders yet, so hold tight." With that, the company commander glanced to the side and added, "Get some rest. I'm going to check on the rest of the men in the company." He wasn't just Gao Fei's company commander. The man was likely enduring his own torment right now; who knew how many men E Company had lost in this latest clash? Gao Fei couldn't shake the feeling that the company commander felt embarrassed to face them. Though the bounties didn't come out of the commander's pocket, when mercenaries weren't getting paid, being their company commander was no easy task. Once the company commander was gone, Samir slipped over to Gao Fei's side and whispered urgently, "Do you understand what Parker meant?" "Not really." Caked in dirt, Andrey stood right beside them, staring blankly, unable to hear a thing. Gao Fei produced the bottle of ear drops and gestured for Andrey to lean in. After tugging Andrey's ear and administering some of the liquid, he shouted, "Can you hear me?" Andrey looked pleasantly surprised. He nodded vigorously and shouted back, "I can hear a little bit!" Gao Fei stowed the rest of the medication and said to Samir, "Go on." "Do you know how the Americans did things in Iraq?" Caught off guard by the question, Gao Fei thought for a moment. "Of course not. What did the Americans do?" "After occupying Iraq for a long time, their soldiers used bullets as currency to buy things—did you know that? And do you know who was buying those bullets?" Gao Fei shook his head. "I honestly don't know. The internet didn't mention that." "A dollar a round. Bullets were hard cash. When the Americans went out on patrol, each man carried six magazines, and when they got back, five were empty. Machine gun rounds went for two dollars apiece. They'd take two belts out and return with just one." Spit flew as Samir spoke, gesturing animatedly. "Hand grenades—one grenade could buy you a woman for the night. Bullets worked too: ten rounds, twenty rounds, even three rounds. To the soldiers, ammo was universal currency." Surprised, Gao Fei said, "Who was buying the ammunition? The Iraqi insurgents? Those soldiers sold bullets to their enemies to be shot right back at them?" "Yeah, exactly! But even if the grunts didn't sell them ammo, was the enemy going to run out?" Samir treated it as completely obvious. "An American soldier had to spend eight hundred dollars of his own money on his uniform, their hazard pay was garbage, and going on patrol was deadly dangerous. Why not turn bullets that were going to be expended anyway into cash? If you didn't sell them, someone else would. As for which bullet ended up killing you—who could say?" Gao Fei understood the practical logic, but the psychological mindset baffled him. Knowing that those siphoned bullets might eventually be fired right back into their own skulls, why arm the enemy in the first place? "So... they just let them do it? Nobody stopped it?" "Who'd stop it? How? If the higher-ups weren't leading the charge, who on the bottom would dare? They ate like garbage, couldn't sleep, and had to patrol in full combat gear in forty-degree heat. If they died, there was barely any compensation. With a chance to make money on the side, why wouldn't they?" Seeing Gao Fei's lingering bewilderment, Samir continued, "Think about it like this: if you have to patrol an area regularly, you definitely don't want terrible relations with the local insurgents. Nobody wants to get ambushed every single time they step outside. But if you maintain friendly ties, sell them ammo and grenades, and treat every patrol like a business trip—is anyone in your sector going to shoot at you?" Gao Fei's worldview was getting thoroughly upended. His eyes widened. "They just stopped shooting? If they stopped shooting, what did the insurgents need bullets for? And if nobody shot, why were there still so many attacks in Iraq?" "The Iraqis went to somebody else's sector to ambush other Americans! You're the guy doing business with me, so I won't shoot at you—I'll just go over to another unit's turf and attack their troops instead! All I need is to pull off one or two attacks a month to keep up appearances, right?" "You saw this firsthand?" "I know it inside and out. It's not like I haven't been to Iraq. Let's put it this way: frontline troops only sold bullets and grenades, but the brass dared to sell anything. A patrol would roll out with three vehicles and return with two—ask them what happened, and they'd say one was destroyed. Mortars, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns—there wasn't anything they wouldn't sell." "That's insane. Weren't they afraid of getting caught?" "People died when they were supposed to die, and people made money when they were supposed to make money. The two didn't conflict." Gao Fei thought about it, but he still felt a situation like Iraq couldn't possibly happen here. "You think we could pull that off here? That's impossible!" "I don't think so either. A tacit agreement between officers and men to trade covertly with the enemy only happens after a prolonged occupation. The fighting here is brutal right now, with so many men dying every single day. Rationally speaking, it couldn't happen this fast." Gao Fei pondered. "Could it be a general offensive to take Bakhmut outright?" "Mm, that's possible too." A spark of excitement flashed across Samir's face. He raised his voice, "If we're in the first wave to punch into the city, we'll strike it rich! Could Parker actually help us break right into Bakhmut? No way... does he have that kind of pull?" Parker had hinted at moneymaking opportunities—that was the difference he claimed he could make. But direct trade with the enemy was impossible. Ukraine wasn't like Iraq; unlike the Iraqi insurgents, Ukraine was in no short supply of rifle ammunition. Ukraine lacked artillery shells, but there was no way Gao Fei and his squad could sell artillery shells. Samir wore a look of deep contemplation, muttering, "How else did the Americans do it? Right, when they needed combat merits, they'd designate an area, claim the people inside were attacking them, and wipe out everyone in the zone. That way, they burned through ammunition to write off as combat expenditure and claimed credit for killing militants. Uh, but here is different. Bakhmut hasn't even fallen yet—how could they do that?" Wasn't that just slaughtering civilians to claim military credit? The concept was clear enough, but Gao Fei had no idea how one would even pull it off—not that he would ever agree to do something like that even if the chance arose. Evidently, military enthusiasts were still naive; there was far too much dirty laundry they had never heard of. While Samir racked his brain over what Parker could bring them, the walkie-talkie clipped to his shoulder crackled. The company commander's voice came through: "We're rotating out. Our entire company is swapping sectors with the penal battalion. You men pull out first; your positions will be filled by the penal battalion. Fall back immediately to the safe zone and wait until I assign your new positions before moving in. Move out now." The changes were already beginning. So fast.