76: Chapter 75: Major Purchase 76: Chapter 75: Major Purchase Uriyangko’s van was quite large, and he led the way to the rear doors of the truck, tapping twice on the door before it was opened from the inside.
Two fully armed men guarded the behind the rear doorway, and upon seeing Uriyangko, they moved their guns pointing at the doorway to the side, and then lowered an iron ladder.
Uriyangko gestured to Gao Yang with an inviting hand motion before stepping into the van.
There were shelves lining both sides of the van, filled with all sorts of supplies, and Uriyangko stood in the middle aisle of the van and said with a smile, “Please take a look; the left side is all weapons, and the right side is all kinds of auxiliary supplies, from communication equipment to socks, everything’s included.
Feel free to choose whatever you want, but I must say upfront, no credit.”
Gao Yang felt a sense of eye-opening excitement.
Initially, he thought he had nothing left to prepare, but after seeing the items in the van, he felt that perhaps there was still a lot to buy.
Gao Yang first signaled to Li Jinfang with a shake of his head, saying, “See what you need, go ahead and pick.”
The weapon rack was filled with various types of weapons, but they were almost all of Russian make; after all, Russian light weapons are the most popular among mercenaries operating in Africa.
Not only are bullets easy to replenish, but their reliability is key.
After scanning the weapon rack, Li Jinfang said to Gao Yang, “Ask him if he has Huaxia’s Type 95, for the pistol I want the Type 92, I’m most familiar with these two.
If he doesn’t have them, the Type 81 and the Type 54 will also do.”
Gao Yang relayed the question to Uriyangko, and he responded with an apologetic face, “I am so, so sorry, this vehicle is my sample van, so I don’t have the items you’re asking for at the moment, and I also don’t have the Type 95 rifle and the 5.8 mm bullets, but I do have the Type 97 rifle.
As for the rest, I have them, and if you can accept it, I can deliver it in a few days.”
Li Jinfang was actually just inquiring.
The 5.8 mm bullets of the Type 95 rifle are very hard to find, and the Type 97 rifle is the export version of the Type 95, which uses the NATO standard 5.56 mm caliber bullets.
Although the two rifles look and are structured almost identically, after changing the bullets, they are almost two different things.
Upon learning that he couldn’t get the desired Type 95 rifle nor the Type 81, Li Jinfang said to Gao Yang with a sense of resignation, “I haven’t handled foreign guns, but I’ve used the Type 56 submachine gun, it seems I can only use the AK-47 now.”
Gao Yang pointed at an AK-74 and said, “If you’re accustomed to a smaller caliber, you could also use this one.
If you can use the AK-47, you’ll definitely be able to use the AK-74 as well.”
Li Jinfang thought about it but still shook his head and said, “Never mind, the 5.45 mm bullets are hard to find.
If we run out and can’t get a resupply, that would be troublesome.
Li Jinfang ultimately chose a Russian-made AK47, along with ten magazines and six hundred bullets.
Initially, he planned to bring a thousand bullets, as that was the standard amount he carried for long-duration combat missions in the Reconnaissance Company.
However, 7.62mm bullets are heavier than the 5.8mm ones, and since the 7.62mm intermediate cartridge used by the AK47 is commonly used by both sides in Libya, replenishing them would be very easy.
Therefore, Li Jinfang ultimately decided to carry fewer bullets and opted to take a few more hand grenades instead.
As for a handgun, Li Jinfang got his second choice.
Although he didn’t get the Type 54 pistol, he received a Russian-made TT33, which is basically the same in all aspects except for minor differences in appearance.
Li Jinfang’s final weapon configuration consisted of an AK47, a TT33, and ten Russian-made RGO defensive hand grenades.
Regarding hand grenades, both Gao Yang and Cui Bo were quite envious and wanted to take a few for themselves.
Uriyangko had two types of hand grenades available: the RGO defensive and the RGN offensive.
The RGO defensive grenades are heavier, with more fragments and greater power, weighing just over five hundred grams, while the RGNs are lighter, weighing over three hundred grams.
Although neither type of grenade was light, Gao Yang and Cui Bo could still manage to carry a few.
However, the drawback of being military enthusiasts without formal military training became apparent at this point; they didn’t know how to use hand grenades.
While they could learn the basics quickly, letting two people who had never actually used hand grenades before throw real ones would more likely result in self-injury.
Therefore, Gao Yang and Cui Bo had to reluctantly abandon the idea of taking a few hand grenades with them.
Choosing weaponry for Glolov was much easier; an RPD light machine gun was all he needed, nothing more.
In addition to that, he took ten one-hundred-round drum magazines.
Since that was all Glolov could carry, his secondary weapon was just a Russian-made AK74 bayonet.
After selecting the weapons, it was time for the carrying equipment.
Both Li Jinfang and Glolov took a Russian-made large backpack, which, despite being crude and unattractive, was durable.
The only downside was that it wasn’t as comfortable as the 3D packs that Gao Yang and Cui Bo had.
Additionally, Li Jinfang also made use of a current Russian military combat vest.
Gao Yang also stocked up on ammunition.
He took a box of 11.43mm handgun bullets and two magazines.
The box contained exactly one hundred bullets.
Although Gao Yang knew he wouldn’t need that many, the bullets and magazines were of high quality, American-made copper-cased bullets that were not easy to come by in Libya.
Therefore, Gao still took extra, with his only regret being that they were jacketed lead-core bullets instead of the hollow-point bullets he wanted.
However, this wasn’t a significant disadvantage.
Hollow points might have better stopping power, but they lose effectiveness after hitting hard barriers.
In contrast, jacketed bullets have weaker stopping power but better penetration.
After buying all the weapons, Gao Yang made the decisive call to purchase four walkie-talkies, knowing they would be invaluable on the battlefield.
At least with walkie-talkies, they could communicate over distances without shouting and not worry about being unheard amidst the onslaught of gunfire.
Effective communication is vital on the battlefield, so Gao Yang bought the most expensive Motorola walkie-talkies available from Uriyangko due to their strong anti-interference capability.
Although their power was a bit low, the distance between Gao and his teammates wouldn’t be too great, which made the lower power acceptable.
Additionally, Gao fitted the walkie-talkies with throat mics to ensure communication clarity, even amidst loud noise.
Gao Yang actually wanted to bring a shotgun as well, but Uriyangko only had one model available, the Russian-made Saiga 12, which was too large and heavy for him to carry.
So Gao took a liking to an AK74U—compact, efficient, and powerful for close-range combat.
But in the end, he reluctantly had to give up on it for a simple reason: they ran out of money.
When they stepped out of the train car, Gao Yang casually picked up a roll of transparent tape from the shelf.
Although the tape, which normally sold for a few dollars a roll, was priced at fifty US dollars by Uriyangko, Uri graciously offered to give the tape to Gao for free.
Unfortunately, aside from the tape, Uriyangko wasn’t willing to give away even a single bullet.