Mercenary’s War
Chapter 1065 - 1065 One Thousand and Forty-Eight Return the Favor

1065: Chapter One Thousand and Forty-Eight: Return the Favor 1065: Chapter One Thousand and Forty-Eight: Return the Favor Strange enough, Gao Yang didn’t receive his promotion order.

Although Gao Yang also felt that getting promoted after every battle was indeed too fast and exaggerated, he had destroyed a Rebel Army headquarters and captured over twenty foreign prisoners.

These were solid proofs of foreign direct involvement in the Syrian Civil War.

With these two merits, Syria should have shown some appreciation, and the only thing Syria could offer was probably a honorary military rank.

But two days have passed since returning to the airport, and Dani still hasn’t shown up.

The expected awards, the promotion glorifying Gao Yang alone, or the more tangible rewards like bonuses—all were absent, as if the Satan Mercenary Corps had been forgotten.

It was bizarre for Gao Yang, and equally puzzling for Gilanor and Farouk.

What was even more strange was that after Dani took the prisoners away, he didn’t return, and no one knew what he was up to.

Being highly sought after initially, to being completely neglected after a battle, it was simply baffling.

What Gao Yang could do was to continue with his duties.

Saying he remained poised would be a compliment to him.

To put it correctly, since he was just a guest army, he had no say in any decisions made by the Syrian side.

Of course, he wasn’t upset.

Gao Yang wasn’t that petty; it was a cooperative relationship, after all, and the Syrian side’s current reaction was simply a return from an excessively enthusiastic attitude to a normal state.

These days, what Gao Yang cared about the most was the repair status of the damaged Night Demon One helicopter.

Night Demon One was hit by an anti-aircraft missile, the tail rotor was damaged, and the tail was hit by several fragments, but the overall condition was still okay.

Some damage, not particularly severe, just repairing and replacing some parts were enough.

Then, Gao Yang focused on the training of the Republican Guard Division Special Strike Force.

Now, the training mode had changed; physical training was pushed far back, focusing mainly on CQB drills, with shooting and tactical actions as secondary, aimed to make the Special Strike Force operational in a short period of time.

On the third morning, Gao Yang habitually sat in his office reviewing intelligence, a new habit he had formed over the last few days.

Gao Yang had now grown accustomed to having a hot cup of red tea and a small dish of very sweet desserts ready on his desk when sitting down.

Having a cup of tea and then munching on some desserts before starting the morning work felt quite nice.

After leisurely sipping some tea, Gao Yang asked, “Is there anything new today?”

Yake, looking utterly bored, lifted his head and said, “No, the trail has gone cold.

The Iron Wall Mercenary Corps has disappeared again.

However, monitoring results have shown that several people from the Iron Wall Mercenary Corps always drive two vehicles and their characteristics have been recorded.

If those two vehicles appear again, we’ll know the Iron Wall Mercenary Corps is out and about.”

Gao Yang waved his hand weakly, then said somewhat helplessly, “Keep a close eye on the whereabouts of the Iron Wall Mercenary Corps, but have you found the targets you’ve been looking for these days?”

The Military Intelligence Directorate was unreliable, claiming low-threat targets could suddenly produce dozens of special forces.

Gao Yang now felt it was more appropriate to rely on Yake and Number Thirteen to select targets.

Yake nodded and responded, “We’ve selected two suitable targets; they are not crucial, but they hold some value, barely passable for decapitation missions.

It would be appropriate for Farouk to lead his men for some practice.”

After saying that, Yake spread his hands and added, “As for whether that will satisfy Marshall, I have no idea.”

Gao Yang chuckled sorrowfully a couple of times; the targets were too tough for him to risk taking the Republican Guard Special Strike Force, picking an easy target was just sliding by, and Marshall wouldn’t be pleased with that.

However, Gao Yang decided, regardless of whether Marshall was satisfied or not, he would proceed as planned.

The foundation of the Republican Guard Division Special Strike Force was too weak; their equipment was decent, but the training approach was emergency-mode.

They were god-like against the regular forces of the Rebel Army.

However, against tougher opponents, they were easily exposed.

Farming small mobs to accumulate experience and reputation, avoiding the big bosses, was enough to cover for Marshall.

It was enough to maintain a high enough prestige for the Republican Guard in the short term, enough to not disgrace Gao Yang as the actual commander, and most importantly, to avoid sending soldiers of the Republican Guard Division Special Strike Force to their deaths.

Gao Yang waved his hand and said, “Find more targets.

Just keep pulling out the Special Strike Force for action until Farouk can command on his own.

Let’s just do that.”

Yake wrote a few words with his pen and said, “Noted.

There’s plenty of suitable small targets.”

Just then, Gao Yang’s orderly gently knocked on the door and said softly, “Colonel, Major Dani has returned, and he’s asked you to visit his office.”

Dani finally appeared, and Gao Yang immediately stood up, hurriedly opened the door, made a gesture, and headed straight to Dani’s office.

Dani’s office was actually right beside Gao Yang’s, separated only by four rooms.

However, Gao Yang hadn’t visited it more than twice, as it was always Dani who came to his office.

Dani’s orderly was standing at the door, and upon seeing Gao Yang, immediately pushed the door open, closing it gently once Gao Yang was inside.

Walking back and forth in the room, there were two metal boxes on his desk.

As soon as he saw Gao Yang, Dani immediately put on a smile and said, “I was actually planning to come find you, but there are some things that aren’t suitable to speak of in front of your men, so I had to ask you to come here.

Please, have a seat.”

After both sat down, Gao Yang chuckled, “Major, there you are.

Where have you been these past few days?

I didn’t think it took that long to write a report.”

A smile appeared on Dani’s face as he softly said, “I’m no longer a major.

It’s been confirmed that I’ll be promoted to lieutenant colonel.

The orders are in, it’s just that they haven’t been communicated and the ceremony hasn’t been held yet.”

“Haha, congratulations, Lieutenant Colonel, sir!”

Dani smiled awkwardly and after shaking hands with Gao Yang, he said apologetically, “This operation has been a massive success for our Military Intelligence Directorate, an unbelievably great victory.

But, for some, well, my victory seems a bit untimely, which is why I assume these past few days have been tough for you, right?”

Gao Yang shook his head, “It’s not that tough, but I’ve felt a bit forgotten.

What, someone isn’t happy with the victory?

Oh, I see, is it Marshal?”

Dani nodded and said in a low voice, “I was a bit inconsiderate in my approach.

It would have been better if I had involved a few men from the Republican Guard Division Special Strike Force from the beginning.

The Military Intelligence Directorate is getting a lot of attention internally, so Marshal isn’t pleased.”

Gao Yang found this hard to believe, “Buddy, it’s a civil war right now, a state of war.

Does who gets the victory really matter that much?”

Dani nodded, “It matters a lot, especially to Marshal.

Let’s drop this topic.

As long as you understand the situation, that’s enough.”

Gao Yang sighed.

There was no way he could continue the conversation on this topic with Dani; it involved governance and was always troublesome, too sensitive, and hard to discuss.

Dani took a deep breath and continued, “We’re well aware of your role.

This war should have been over, but for some reasons, you’ve been sidelined.

This is the intention of some higher-ups, wanting to put you on ice.”

Gao Yang waved his hand, “It’s okay, I actually don’t mind, it’s just honorary military titles and the like, it really doesn’t matter.

I’m more concerned about whether we can get more laser-guided bombs and such.”

Dani gave a faint smile and said, “Marshal might be unhappy, but our president is very pleased, and so is everyone at the Military Intelligence Directorate.

To make it up to you, our director has allocated a special fund approved by the president.”

Hearing about the special fund, Gao Yang’s heart leaped.

Losing unimportant honors like military titles but gaining tangible assets was a good thing.

Indeed, Dani patted the metal box on the table and smiled, “We’ve allocated a fund as a reward for you.”

Gao Yang laughed heartily.

No wonder Dani wanted to talk to him directly.

It involved money.

Dani stood up, pushed the two boxes forward, and said with a smile, “It’s up to you how you allocate this.

It’s a total of eight hundred thousand dollars.”

Just eight hundred thousand dollars, Gao Yang felt slightly disappointed.

Honestly, without warfare, this amount would only last him about seven to eight days, and during conflict, considering daily combat pay, perhaps just two to three days.

Although it’s a bit less, it’s certainly better than nothing, especially since Syria is really short on funds now; this eight hundred thousand was squeezed out of the Military Intelligence Bureau’s own budget and showed considerable sincerity.

This was a case of reciprocation; Gao Yang looked out for Dani, and Dani needed to look out for getting Gao Yang some benefits.

Gao Yang also stood up, smiling at Dani, “Thanks, I’m sure you put a lot of effort into securing these funds.”

Dani smiled with relief, “At least I managed to squeeze out some funds.

Oh, and one more thing, about the information you asked me to look into, I’ve got some leads.”

Gao Yang had asked Dani to discreetly investigate the whereabouts of Haifa, the sister of Number Thirteen.

With Syria having almost complete control over Lebanon and the Syrian Military Intelligence Bureau having numerous operatives there, searching for anything that happened in Lebanon was more convenient for them than for any other country’s intelligence agencies.

Gao Yang, without disclosing this to Number Thirteen, had given all available information to Dani, asking him to use the channels of the Military Intelligence Bureau to track down Haifa.

Now that Dani mentioned having some leads on Haifa, Gao Yang instantly perked up, finding this news much more invigorating than receiving eight hundred thousand dollars.

Gao Yang asked urgently, “What’s the situation?” (To be continued.

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