A Mercenary's War

Chapter 76: Large Purchase

Translated by: kevin1782

Edited by: Isalee

The van Ulyanko came in was huge. He led the group to the back door and extended his hand to pat the door twice. The truck compartment opened from the inside.

Two heavily armed, ma.s.sive guys stood behind the door. Upon seeing Ulyanko, the two men shifted their muzzles to the side and then let down an iron ladder. Ulyanko gestured a ‘please’ signal to Gao Yang before he placed his heels into the compartment.

Both sides of the truck had shelves for the goods, and they were filled with all kinds of supplies on them. Ulyanko stood right in the middle of the carriage and laughed, “Please take a look, on the left are all the weapons, and the right has all kinds of auxiliary materials. Everything is available, from communication equipment to socks. Please choose to your heart’s content, but I have to mention something first. No tabs or credits.”

This was a very eye-opening experience for Gao Yang. He thought there wasn’t a need to prepare anymore, but after seeing the contents of the carriage, he felt that maybe there were many things to buy. 

Gao Yang swung his head toward Jin and said, "See what you need, come and choose."

Weapon types in galore were sitting on the weapon racks, but almost all of them were made in Russia. The Russian light weapon series was the most popular for mercenaries in Africa after all — not to mention that the bullets were also easy to replenish. However, the most important thing was reliability.

After Jin glanced at the weapon rack he asked Gao Yang, "Ask him if he has the Type 95 [1] and for a pistol I want the QSZ-92 [2]. I am most familiar with these two. If he doesn’t, then the Type 81 [3] and the Type 54 [4] are also fine."

Gao Yang asked for Jin on his behalf, and Ulyanko was truly apologetic. “Really, really sorry, this car is my sample car, so we temporarily do not have the stuff you want right now. I don’t have the Type 95 and the 5.8 mm bullets, but I do have Type 97 rifles. As for the others I have all them, and if you can accept it, I can send them in a few days. "

Jin was in fact just only asking. The Type 95 rifle’s 5.8mm rounds were very hard to find, and the Type 97 rifles were the Type 95"s export-variant; the bullets that the Type 97 used were 5.56mm. Though the two guns’ appearances and internal structures were almost the same, once the bullets were changed, the two rifles would be two totally different cases. 

Learning that there was no Type 95 rifle which he wanted the most, and not the Type 81 either, Jin helplessly told Gao Yang, “I haven’t handled a foreign gun before, but have I used the Type 56 [5] before. Seems like I can only use AK-47."

Gao Yang pointed at an AK-74 and said, “If you’re accustomed to small calibers, you can use this. If you can use the AK-47 you can certainly use the AK-74.”

Jin thought for a while but he still shook his head and said, "Well, 5.45mm bullets ain’t easy to find. It’ll be a real problem when there’s no replenishment after all of them are expended. 47 still, I guess."

Jin finally chose a Russian-made AK-47 in addition to ten magazines and six hundred rounds of ammunition; Jin originally wanted a thousand bullets. When he was in the Reconnaissance Unit, he completed a long battle mission. The ammunition base he carried had one thousand rounds at that time, but the 7.62mm bullets were heavier than the 5.8mm bullets. Furthermore, the 7.62mm bullets were mainly used by both sides in the Libyan war, making it very easy to restock. So Jin eventually took fewer bullets and obtained a few more grenades instead.

As for the pistol, Jin got his second choice. Instead of the Type 54 pistol, there was a Russian-made TT33, and these guns were basically the same thing except for the fact that they had slightly different shapes.

Jin’s final weapon combination included an AK-47, a TT33, and ten Russian-made RGO defensive grenades.

Regarding the grenades, Gao Yang and Hare were somewhat pa.s.sionate too, and thus they also stocked up on a few of them. Ulyanko had two types of grenades: the RGO defensive and RGN[6] offensive grenades. RGOs were heavier since the shrapnel was more powerful, weighing about five hundred grams. RGNs were lighter, around three hundred grams.

Although the two grenades were both not light, Gao Yang and Hare could still take two to three of them. Unfortunately, Gao Yang and Tribo were only army fans, they didn"t actually have any official army training; thus the disadvantage was revealed — they didn"t know how to use a grenade at all. While they could simply learn how to use it, letting two novices throw the real ones would make it more likely to hurt themselves. So, Gao Yang and Tribo had little choice but to give up on bringing a few grenades.

As for Grolev’s weapon it was too easy to choose: a light GPMG RPD, nothing else needed. Other than that would be ten drums of a hundred rounds each. All these were enough for Grolev to carry since he couldn"t carry anymore anyways. So Grolev’s secondary weapon was just a Russian made AK-74 bayonet.

After choosing the weapons, it was finally the time to bring the equipment. Jin and Grolev both took a big Russian big each, though they were very rough and ugly, the backpacks were durable and tough — it’s just that it wasn"t as comfortable as Gao Yang and Hare"s 3D bags. Jin also got himself a Russian military ILBV[7] singlet vest.

Gao Yang also replenished his ammo. He took a box of 11.43 mm pistol rounds and two magazines. Each box had exactly one hundred rounds. Although he knew he wouldn"t be using so many, the rounds and magazines were all American-made, and bronze sh.e.l.ls of the high utmost quality were hard to find in Libya. So, Gao Yang still took more, the only unfortunate thing was that the rounds were all lead-centered — not the buckshot that Gao Yang wanted. It wasn"t really much of a disadvantage however, though the buckshot"s stopping power was a lot better, it would be rendered almost powerless in the face of stronger and harder obstacles. While coated bullets had weaker stopping power, the penetrating power was much better.

After buying all the weapons that were needed, Gao Yang hardened his heart and bought four walkie-talkies. Having walkie-talkies would be a great advantage as they wouldn"t need to shout their throats out even if they were a little far from each other or worry if they couldn"t hear anything in the midst of loud guns and mortars on the battlefield.

Smooth communication on the battlefield was extremely important, so the most expensive thing Gao Yang bought from Ulyanko were the Motorola walkie-talkies. These phones were highly resistant to signal interference. Though the range was a little small, Gao Yang and the rest wouldn"t be too far from each other; the range was hence still acceptable in addition to their throat mics[8]. Even if the environmental noise was really loud, there would be no need to fear for those interferences.

Actually Gao Yang still wanted to bring his shotgun, but Ulyanko only one had one brand — the Russian-made Saiga 12[9], and this gun was too heavy for Gao Yang to bring. So, Gao Yang was attracted to an AK-74U — small, concise and powerful — it was very suitable for close combat, but he still gave up in resignation. The reason was simple: not enough cash.

When coming out of the carriage, Gao Yang conveniently took a roll of transparent scotch tape and although it"d cost fifty USD when would cost a few bucks elsewhere, Ulyanko generously expressed that he was giving it Gao Yang for free. But what was depressing was that apart from the scotch tape, Ulyanko wasn"t willing to give away even a single round.

Translator’s note(s):