Chapter 259: You Should Get Used To It (2)

The two soldiers next to the French soldier unbuttoned his uniform and used it to cover his face. They then rested his hands on top of his chest.

If they had a stretcher right now, they would have tied the rookie French soldier’s hands with a belt and the shoelaces of his military boots together, which was a tradition in the Foreign Legion.

Kang Chan rubbed his cigarette on the ground and stood up. He then went around the mountain, finding soldiers from different teams carefully laying down their dead brothers.

“We suffered three casualties, three wounded, Captain,” Cha Dong-Gyun said. “And...”

As Cha Dong-Gyun provided his report, they reached their fallen comrades. The soldiers’ noses and ears were covered with cloth cut from their sleeves, and their arms were crossed on their chests.

Cha Dong-Gyun continued, “... the woman who came to our base was also killed. She was shot while she was retreating to this place.”

Damn it!

They could only do so much to prepare against ambushes, considering they were meant to take their targets by surprise, but Kang Chan never imagined that they would have this many casualties.

“You’ve all gone through a lot already, but don’t lower your guards yet. Take turns resting.”

“Yes, sir.”

When Cha Dong-Gyun turned away, Andrei—who was nearby—approached Kang Chan.

“I’ve got four dead, one wounded.”

“How much ammo do you have left?” Kang Chan asked Andrei.

“Only about two magazines per person.”

“I see... Get some rest for now.”

“If the South Korean team is going out for a night operation, we’d like to come with you,” Andrei gruffly requested. He then turned around.

The Green Berets were hit the roughest. The chances of survival of the five wounded soldiers they left behind at the base were looking slim.

“I’m Robert[1], commander of the Green Berets. Three of my men were killed. Including the five we left at the base, we also have a total of nine wounded,” Robert reported.

Robert had sharp eyes and an angular face with high eyebrows—a distinct feature of Caucasian men.

“I’m sorry. You all only came here to help us.”

“You are the God of Blackfield,” Robert began as he looked Kang Chan straight in the eye. “Getting to witness the operation you conducted in Afghanistan made us all want to fight alongside you. Going out on an operation without receiving orders from Command will likely cause problems later, but none of the wounded or deceased soldiers will resent you for this.”

He then turned around and walked away.

The moon peeked out from between wispy clouds.

Rustle! Rustle!

Kang Chan went back around the mountain and walked to the front. He then stood next to Seok Kang-Ho, who was standing guard.

“The Quds seem to be praying,” Seok Kang-Ho commented.

“The question is, why did those sons of bitches suddenly come here and attack us?”

Seok Kang-Ho glanced at Kang Chan because of his response, which didn’t seem relevant to the topic. He then turned his head toward the tribespeople’s village in front of them.

“Combining the ones who attacked us from the front and the back, they sent more than six hundred people against us. Isn’t deploying that many Quds enough evidence of how badly they want to kill us? That’s the only logical explanation here.”

“You think so too?”

Seok Kang-Ho responded with a brief grin.

“Why would they kick up this much of a fuss, though? They even used the UN. The United States, France, the UK, and Russia’s special forces are here as well. Among these people, we’re the only one that isn’t from a powerful country. What can those fuckers gain from killing all of us here?”

“What would overthinking this give us?” Seok-Kang Ho asked with a wry grin.

Kang Chan nodded in response, then glared at where their enemies could be.

“You’re right! Let’s Focus on taking down those bastards for now. We’ll naturally figure out their motives once we’re done with them anyway.” Kang Chan turned his head to Cha Dong-Gyun. “Does anyone have a satellite phone?”

“We’ve got one in the back,” Cha Dong-Gyun answered.

He then trotted to the back of the mountain. A moment later, he returned with the phone.

Even though they were on a mountain, the trees and plants around them only went up to their waists. The wave-like ridges were connected to each other, forming a lot of deep craters they could use like trenches to hide in. It would be easy for them to defend this position as well, considering their enemies would have nowhere to hide if they attacked head-on.

If their snipers could neutralize the enemy mortars, missiles, and machine guns, then they would have a shot at survival.

Kang Chan turned on the satellite phone.

Triiing!

Along with an electronic trill, the blue backlight of the keypad lit up.

Kang Chan dialed a number. The call rang twice before it was answered.

- Anne speaking.

“You already know what’s going on here, don’t you?”

- Yes, we’re monitoring the situation through a satellite.

Kang Chan looked at the tribal village right in front of the mountain and the ridge that was connected to it through a path.

“Can I request support from France’s Foreign Legion?”

- The Director-General’s approval is required when the enemy isn't African insurgents.

“Anne, I believe the DGSE is also aware that our enemy is the Quds. Saying that I need the Director-General’s approval in this situation is more insulting than just saying you can’t help.”

- I simply informed you of the procedure. Even if they were given orders, it’ll take approximately four hours for them to reach your location.

Now that he thought about it, Anne did only tell him about the official procedure.

“Send enough men to surround the Quds. I want them here as soon as possible.”

- Understood.

“Thanks, Anne.”

Kang Chan handed Cha Dong-Gyun the satellite phone, then called over all the commanders through the radio.

When everyone arrived, he immediately started their meeting. “As everyone probably already knows, we’re surrounded by well over five hundred Quds.”

He had roughly figured out how many Quds were left by subtracting the dead from the previous fight and the ones from this fight from the estimate he had of those who had arrived on the trucks.

Kang Chan continued, “The Quds will launch another offensive once they’re done praying. They probably calculated how much ammunition we have. And since so many of them rushed over here, it’s obvious that they want to kill all of us before reinforcement arrives.”

The commanders nodded.

“I heard it’ll take more than four hours for the closest Foreign Legion team to reach us, so we better start conserving ammo as much as we can. I need three people from each team.”

“What for?” one of the commanders asked,

“They’re going to stand at the forefront when we engage in close combat.”

Tyler exhaled a groan, then nodded.

Kang Chan continued, “They’re probably almost done praying. Do your best to survive.”

“So we just have to survive until the Foreign Legion gets here?” Robert asked.

The commanders looked at Kang Chan for an answer.

“No.” Kang Chan looked at all of the commanders. “I’m telling you to survive until we’ve killed all of our enemies.”

Robert looked at Kang Chan blankly, seemingly unable to understand what he just said.

***

Kang Dae-Kyung put down the economics magazine that he had been reading on the sofa. “What are you doing?”

Yoo Hye-Sook smiled. “You mean this?”

“Are you... writing a letter to Channy again?”

“What do you mean ‘again’? This is only the second letter.”

Kang Dae-Kyung stood up and walked to the table. “What are you writing about? Should I also write him one?”

“You want to write him a letter?” she asked.

Kang Dae-Kyung tried to look at what she was writing, but she quickly covered it with her hand.

“What? Why are you covering it? Are you bad-mouthing me?”

“Honey! Go away! Go!”

“Why? What did you write?”

Kang Dae-Kyung forcibly leaned forward to look, but all he could read was ‘to my dearly missed son,’ which was written at the very top.

“All right, all right! I won’t look!

Tsk

, how petty!” Kang Dae-Kyung joked.

He then sat across from Yoo Hye-Sook and started to read the magazine again.

“I heard that it’s really cold over there. I wonder if he’s doing well,” Yoo Hye-Sook said, concern evident in her voice.

“He’s at a facility provided by South Korea, so it likely has great heating to keep him warm.”

“I hope so... I hope he can read my letters somewhere warm,” Yoo Hye-Sook mumbled, her wish disappearing into the air.

***

As the Qud’s prayers came to an end, tension rose among the special forces teams standing by on the mountain.

Click! Clank!

As the sounds of soldiers inspecting their weapons rang throughout the area, Kang Chan’s wound started to throb. He looked down and frowned.

Seok Kang-Ho asked, “What’s wrong?”

“This...!”

Kang Chan carefully slid his hand out of his pants pocket, revealing a letter covered in dried blood.

He wouldn’t be able to read it if he forcibly pulled it apart. He could soak it in water to get rid of the blood, but that would also smudge the ink. He had no choice but to give up on reading it.

Seok Kang-Ho seemed surprised. “You haven't read it yet?”

Kang Chan stared at the first hand-written letter he had ever received in silence. He couldn’t even read the name written on the envelope now. He felt as if the world was telling him not to wish for too many things.

Kang Chan let out a deep sigh.

Right now, he had to fight the enemies in front of him.

Kang Chan returned the now-rigid letter in his pants pocket, then slowly looked around them.

The worst-case scenario would be their enemies attacking them all at once. Unfortunately, the bastards would be well aware of it too, which meant that was exactly what they would do and why Kang Chan had told the commanders to choose and prepare soldiers for close combat.

If their enemies rushed at them all at once, some would likely assume that they would just go shooting and killing Kang Chan and his men, but it was much more complicated than that.

A battalion of five hundred soldiers would be simultaneously attacking less than sixty people. They could certainly somehow gun down the five special forces teams if they were about two hundred meters away. However, there were only a little more than thirty meters between the tribe’s mud houses and where Kang Chan was hiding.

Nevertheless, Kang Chan and his men would have to fight accordingly if even just ten of their enemies managed to get over the ridge. Otherwise, they would eventually have hundreds of Quds bearing down on them.

Being surrounded by this many hostels would make those who lacked experience freeze. The moment they started fearing guns, glinting blades, shouting, and the bloodshot eyes behind the black masks, then they would no longer be able to do anything but die.

Crunch! Crunch!

Kang Chan heard dirt being crushed under heavy footsteps. The Quds had finished praying.

In this hot and humid environment, an unpleasant odor wafted toward the five special forces teams from the tribe’s houses. It smelled as if they had a wet goat nearby.

As the sound of crunching dirt became increasingly louder, Kang Chan raised his hand to his helmet.

Chk.

“Our enemies are on the move. Snipers, on my signal, neutralize all mortar and RPGs.”

The army interpreters passed on what Kang Chan said through the radio in their respective native languages.

Chk.

Kang Chan continued, “My enemies gave me the codename ‘God of Blackfield,’ the god who brings death to his enemies.”

Clatter! Clatter!

Black shadows soon came into view, quickly going up the ridge and moving toward them.

Chkk.

“Our enemies will meet the god of death today. Hold your ground. Show them the might of world-famous special forces. The God of Blackfield will be at the very front.”

The scar on Gerard’s cheek twitched when Kang Chan looked at him. With glinting eyes, Seok Kang-Ho grinned even though all he understood was Kang Chan’s codename.

Kang Chan raised his hand to his helmet again.

“This is for South Korea’s special forces team! Just like every other battle we fought before, we’re going to return alive from this fight as well. We’re going to pass on the experiences we gained here to our juniors so that they too can one day go out on operations and be the object of envy. We will not stop until then!”

Kang Chan slowly twisted his upper body and looked at Cha Dong-Gyun, who was behind him. He nodded at him to take over.

Cha Dong-Gyun turned around, facing the soldiers hiding on the ridge.

“Make sure General Choi, the other special forces teams, and our enemies get a clear view of your determination!” he yelled furiously. The soldiers’ blood started to boil. “Brothers, let everyone hear our conviction!”

“If I can!”

The chant echoed across the mountain and toward the rest of Africa.

“Protect the country with my blood!”

The foreign special forces teams stared at Cha Dong-Gyun with glinting eyes.

“I am happy!” the South Korean soldiers finished.

“

Hooah

!” the Green Berets shouted, their unique warcry reverberating through the lands.

The Russian team followed, “

Arrai

!”

“

Oorah

!” The SBS yelled.

Gerard looked around them with an amused expression.

“How nice would it have been if this happened in the past?” he asked Kang Chan.

Just as Seok Kang-Ho glanced at the two out of curiosity, the dark shadows simultaneously charged toward them.

Click! Pew!

Kang Chan pulled the trigger of his rifle. The battle had begun.

Du du du! Bang! Du du du! Pew! Pow!

“

Whoo-ah

!” their enemies roared.

Dirt splattered as the enemies rushing toward them fell backward one after the other. However, in that short moment, they had already reached the tribespeople’s houses.

Du du du! Pew! Pew! Du du du! Bang! Bang! Du-du!

“

Whoo-ah

!” they repeated.

The gunshots and the Quds’ roars made it almost impossible for Kang Chan to think.

The Quds were attacking them with the determination to die.

Du du du! Du du du! Du du du! Du du du du! Thud! Du du du!

Pew! Thud! Pew! Thud! Pew! Thud!

One of Kang Chan’s men fell to the side as more enemies collapsed, now only ten meters away from them.

More people ran past those who fell with bullets in their heads, taking over their position.

Du du du du! Du du du du du du!

Du du du!

The dirt in front of the five special forces teams exploded every time their enemies’ guns blazed.

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Click!

Kang Chan shot at the hostiles in rapid succession, stopping only to change magazines.

Pew! Bang! Du du du du! Thud! Du du! Thud! Du du du du!

More and more of his men fell as sparks flew right before their eyes.

This fight would be determined by who could shoot faster and more accurately, not by whether they could avoid getting hit or not. Another deciding factor was whether they could maintain the ten meters between them or not.

After about ten minutes of a gruesome battle, their enemies stopped attacking and instead hid in the tribe’s houses.

Click! Clank! Click! Whoosh!

Kang Chan could hear the soldiers inspecting their weapons, checking their magazines, and dragging the wounded to safety.

“

Haah

.

Haah

.”

The soldier right next to Kang Chan was breathing heavily, but that didn’t sound awkward during their break.

Clatter! Clatter!

They heard the dirt crumbling again. Their enemies could be on the move again.

Those sharp motherfuckers!

Their enemies knew that it would be much easier to attack them while their formation hadn’t recovered yet, especially since it would take a while before they could regroup. They were better than Kang Chan expected.

Since you bastards seem to know us so well, I’ll have to work that much harder to kill you all!

Click! Clank! Click!

When Kang Chan held up his rifle and aimed at their enemies, he heard the soldiers all around him lifting their guns as well.

The stink of blood and the disgusting odor from the dead brushed past them with the heat.

Du du du du! Du du du du! Du du du du du!

AK-47 muzzles flashed as bullets flew toward Kang Chan, seemingly letting everyone know that their battle had resumed.

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

Du du du! Du du! Du du du! Du du du du! Du du! Du du du du!

Another soldier fell backward.

Du du du du du!

‘Damn it!’

Kang Chan thought.

In Somalia, AK-47s and RPGs were displayed and sold like fish in markets.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Du du du du! Du du! Du du du du du!

As Kang Chan shot at the Quds, he suddenly felt as if something was amiss—as if he was missing what their enemies were telling them through the damn gunshots.

Bam!

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

When Gerard stumbled, Kang Chan provided cover fire and blocked him from the hostiles' line of sight. For now, he had to focus on the fight in front of him.

“I’m okay!” Gerard yelled.

Du du du! Du du! Du du! Du du!

Kang Chan didn’t have time to check if people were okay in situations like this. They had to prioritize protecting the ten-meter distance between them and their enemies above all else.

Under the moonlight, their enemies' blood and clumps of dirt splattered all over the battlefield. The smell of gunpowder, blood, and death lingered in their surroundings.

Thud!

A Green Beret fell back. Kang Chan heard the soldier next to the fallen Green Beret yelling something through the gunshots and pulling the wounded away, but he couldn’t take his attention away from the hostiles in front of them right now.

Bam! Thud!

Another soldier collapsed not long after.

Kang Chan didn’t know where and how Gerard got shot, but the latter swore loudly as he changed magazines.

Pew! Bam! Pew! Bam! Pew! Bam! Pew! Bam!

Kang Chan relentlessly put bullets right into the hostiles’ foreheads. He would emerge victorious in this battle.

His goal now was completely different from his mercenary days, but just like back then, he still needed to win.

Whoosh! Thwack!

Under the moonlight, Kang Chan took down another, their blood fountaining out as they fell.

Pew! Bang! Bang! Bang! Du du du du! Du du! Twack! Pow!

The Quds were just right around the corner now.

Whoosh!

Kang Chan shot another enemy on the forehead and pulled him by the collar.

Pew! Bam! Pew!

He then shot two more in the chest. The other Qud members ran toward him from behind the person he was holding, but they too fell forward as if they tripped on something.

1. Previously we've had Robert from the Foreign Legion, but that has been changed to Roberre because there are now 2 Roberts. We're going with 1770 Roberre 😂 ?