1132: Chapter One Thousand One Hundred and Fifteen: Thoughts of Ho Intensify During Festive Seasons 1132: Chapter One Thousand One Hundred and Fifteen: Thoughts of Ho Intensify During Festive Seasons All contacts had been made; now all that was left was to wait.
As a Major General and also an injured soldier, Gao Yang certainly deserved special treatnt.
Saidev, playing the gracious host, had arranged for Gao Yang a private small room, complete with a bed and a blanket, though the blanket had been used by so many people it had turned black.
Aleppo Prison wasn’t short on rooms but lacked household items like beds, due to the many people received into the prison, the original supplies just weren’t enough, and people had to take turns using the sets of bedding.
Jansen and Andy He, both injured as well, also had a room each, while those unhard were placed together in larger rooms.
However, Saidev made every effort to create the most comfortable conditions possible for the Satan rcenaries, ensuring that each had a bed and a blanket.
It was December, with Syrian temperatures around twelve to thirteen degrees during the day but dropping below ten at night.
The nights were cold, especially under the covers; a couple of days might be bearable, but over a prolonged period, a bed and a blanket surely provided much more comfort.
At this point, there was no use in demanding differential treatnt.
Gao Yang and his n were capable of both enjoying the good tis and enduring hardship; after all, sleeping on a bed was far better than on the ground.
During the first night spent in the prison, Gao Yang slept soundly, exhausted to death.
At night, he’d hit the bed and fall asleep instantly, the only exception being Andy He, whose stimulant effects hadn’t worn off yet.
Despite his injuries and the exhaustion from surgery, he found himself unable to sleep and faced a sleepless night.
The next morning when Gao Yang and the others got up, the prison guards were already having their breakfast.
This ti Saidev brought compressed biscuits again, but Gao Yang politely declined.
In the end, both Gao Yang’s group and the other guards ate flat bread.
The prison guards themselves cooked the bread, round discs slightly larger than a palm; one piece per person was considered a al.
The bread was akin to the pita they ate back at the airfield, except the airfield kitchen’s bread had oil and seasoning, while the prison’s bread was just plain flour and water, not even salted – it would be strange if it tasted good.
The situation in Aleppo was already tense.
When the air force air-dropped supplies to the prison guards, they wouldn’t consider comfort items, and getting basic survival supplies was already good enough.
Thus, the prison had been without salt for almost half a month, and it had not been included in the subsequent air drops either.
Although the flatbread was bland and poorly leavened, nearly hard as a rock, Gao Yang enjoyed his al; Saidev and the others had eaten such bread for a long ti and were fed up with it, but for Gao it was still a better option than the compressed biscuits for his first al.
After finishing the bread, Gao Yang dusted off his hands and returned to his room.
He picked up the phone to notify Polovich that during the next supply drop, not to forget to bring so salt and cumin and other seasonings, as well as blankets and changes of clothes.
As for things like flour and rice, the governnt forces would naturally arrange air drops for those, Gao Yang didn’t need to worry about them; his only concern was to make life in the prison as comfortable as possible.
The supply drop routes had already been confird.
Little Donnie would use Morgan’s private plane to deliver dicine and special ammunition to Cyprus, while Polovich would contact his old subordinates to arrange an extrely experienced crew.
After picking up the items from Little Donnie in Cyprus, they would fly straight to Aleppo and air-drop the supplies into the prison.
To expedite the process and obtain the urgently needed supplies, Gao Yang did not use any Syrian resources.
He organized everything himself, and all that Syria needed to do was to open up its airspace, allowing the planes carrying supplies for Gao Yang and his team to fly directly to Aleppo without needing to land en route.
For the Satan rcenary Corps, it was quite a luxury to be able to operate at this scale.
Gao Yang felt that he was progressively becoming more like Nate; however, this didn’t bother him.
After all, as rcenaries, if you have money, you spend it.
There’s no guarantee of a tomorrow, so when the conditions allow it, you’ve got to seize the mont and enjoy yourself.
Andy He’s excitent from the stimulants had not gone away yet.
He was physically tired but ntally overstimulated, which was quite unpleasant.
Unable to sleep or move much, Andy He simply had soone move his bed outside, reasoning that lying there and talking with Gao Yang and the others was a good idea.
Apart from talking with Saidev to gather intelligence on the enemy, there was nothing much for Gao Yang to do on his second day in prison.
It was quite tranquil; the Rebel Army didn’t launch any attacks, and the defending forces did not want to waste ammunition by firing at the rebels.
Both sides could see each other’s outposts but remained peacefully unengaged.
After a long chat with Saidev, Gao Yang had a rough understanding of the pattern of the Rebel Army’s attacks.
Then Saidev went to check on the sentinels’ defensive status, and Gao Yang went to find the folks from Satan for a chat.
As he walked into the large house where Satan’s mbers were staying, everyone looked at him.
Andy He patted his bed and called out loudly, “Boss, sit here.”
Gao Yang sat down and asked with a smile, “What are you guys talking about?”
Only after speaking did Gao Yang realize that the mood was sowhat somber.
Rafael and the others were all lost in thought, but at that mont, Andy He said with a laugh, “Nothing much, we just got to talking about how Christmas is almost here.
Looks like we’ll be spending it in prison this year.”
Gao Yang was taken aback and glanced at his watch.
Only then did he rember that it was already December 21st, with Christmas on the 25th.
Gao Yang, Li Jinfang, and Cui Bo didn’t really celebrate Christmas; they’d just join in for the fun, while Glolov, an Eastern Orthodox follower, celebrated Christmas on January 7th.
But for Rafael, Frey, Taylor, and Eileen, Christmas was very important indeed, akin to Chinese New Year for Gao Yang.
In all these years, none of the places Gao Yang had been had any festive atmosphere for the New Year.
When the New Year ca around, he never made a point to celebrate it.
Even if he knew which day was the Lunar New Year, he’d not go out of his way to observe it, preferring not to bring it up at all.
It’s the feeling of missing family during festive tis.
Gao Yang dared not remind himself when it was New Year’s; it was better forgotten.
If he couldn’t forget, he’d find sothing to do on the eve of the New Year and the New Year’s Day to stay busy and keep it out of his mind.
Now stuck in prison, with nothing much in sight and coinciding with many of the Satan mbers’ most important holiday of the year, keeping it unntioned was alright.
But once it’s ntioned and the realization that Christmas is upon us, it would definitely cause so discomfort.
Gao Yang also felt dispirited.
He had promised Yelena a trip during the Christmas holiday, but ended up stuck in Syria for so long, and now imprisoned.
Unable to return ho, there was not much else to do.
Gao Yang waved his hand and said, “During the holidays, everyone should call ho, report you’re safe, and talk with your families.
Has everyone got their phones?
If not, let know and you can use mine to call.” (To be continued.
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