Fatal Strike: Paladins Mercenary Road

Chapter 900 The Northern Brigade in a Dire Situation
Mountain Eagle didn't know the true situation of the 'Northern Brigade' either. Anyway, after he had the shop assistant pack up the items and send them out of the shop, Sako's underlings seemed rather surprised...

Although he was still grumbling and saying bad things, he was very enthusiastic when he was moving things onto the car.

To be honest, Mountain Eagle thinks that once you figure out their personalities, they're actually quite easy to get along with.

The old saying, "It's never wrong to be overly polite," is a universally accepted rule of human nature...

After the truck bed was piled high with cigarettes and alcohol, two burly men from the Northern Brigade were already willing to greet him.

Inside the store, Sako gritted his teeth and bought a pack of cigarettes for each of his men, distributing them to them...

Unfortunately, the purchasing power of the dinar is very limited. More than 30,000 dinars are only worth a little over 300 euros. After buying cigarettes, only a few dozen euros are left.

After handing out the cigarettes, the guy realized his men's attention was still on the truck, so he grabbed his last few dollars, turned around, rushed into the store, bought a ton of candy and chocolate, and squandered all the remaining money.

Seeing Sako's somewhat childish behavior, Mountain Eagle smiled and shook his head, then approached Galahad and Robin, who had been waiting nearby...

Galahad suffered a severe back sprain outside Bucharest, but he can now stand here and move around a little, all thanks to the injection of pain-relieving pills.

Judging from the condition of those cars, the road ahead won't be smooth sailing, and the old man's back probably won't be able to take it.

When Galahad saw the mountain eagle approaching, he volunteered, "My back injury is very serious, so I can't travel with you. However, I can stay and try to organize an evacuation route for you."

As he spoke, Galahad glanced at the busy 'Northern Brigade' men, hesitated for a moment, and said, "'Northern Brigade's' combat strength is very limited. If it weren't for their ability to retreat into Serbian territory, they would have been scattered by the Kosovo Liberation Organization long ago."

If you're thinking of relying on them to help you capture the 'white whale', I advise you to be careful.

Robin can work with you. He's served in Kosovo and dealt with the Kosovo Liberation Organization, even though it was several years ago. At least he has some understanding of the area.

Mountain Eagles like experienced old men like this. They rarely do anything irrational. Even when they are extremely angry, they will at most risk their own lives and would never do anything to implicate others.

Faced with Galahad's attitude, Mountain Eagle thought for a moment, then handed Galahad a backpack along with a bank card, saying, "The bag contains some of my spoils from Romania, worth about 100,000 euros, and the card has 800,000 US dollars..."

Kobe and his team's influence is ineffective in Serbia. Kosovo is a hornet's nest; if we engage in combat with the Kosovo Liberation Organization, it will inevitably trigger a large-scale encirclement and suppression campaign.

I need you to find a way to get a helicopter, ready to go to the southwestern border region to support us at any time.

Galahad glanced at the mountain eagle's bank card in his hand, hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded and said, "I know what to do..."

The Arctic fox has friends here, and so do I, a Knight of the Round Table!

Ever since learning what had happened within the Knights of the Round Table, Mountain Eagle had felt a deep sympathy for these old men.

A group of legendary old men from SBS led the Knights of the Round Table to the second position in the world, but in the end they were ensnared by capital, not only incurring huge debts and losing their autonomy, but also having to fight each other.

The four Knights of the Round Table who died near the Bank of Tiriak were less killed by the Mountain Eagles and his men than they chose to die.

However, although they were finally freed, they also placed the responsibility and pressure on Galahad.

This old man had long since left the Knights of the Round Table with Lancelot, Percival, and Lanmarok to establish his own 'Glass Knights,' but now he's calling himself a 'Knight of the Round Table' again...

He's planning to spend the rest of his life trying to make amends for the mistakes his former comrades made!
Mountain Eagle had no right to interfere with Galahad's choice. Faced with Galahad's attitude, he could only offer his blessings. Moreover, having such an experienced veteran planning the retreat and providing support from the rear made him feel more at ease than with the meager 'Northern Brigade'.

Mountain Eagle didn't say anything more. He saw that the truck was already loaded, so he patted Robin's arm, walked over and declined the invitations from the burly men of the 'Northern Brigade' to ride in the car. He climbed directly into the back of the truck, then familiarly patted the roof and shouted, "Let's go..."

The convoy quickly left the city and drove onto a country road...

This region, bordering Kosovo, is mainly mountainous and hilly with a high vegetation coverage. Due to the terrain, apart from a few major cities, the infrastructure in other areas is quite underdeveloped.

The convoy traveled for nearly two hours on a narrow, muddy road before turning into a grove of trees. After struggling through the woods for more than ten minutes, it finally stopped beside a small river.

The mountain eagle had been thoroughly chilled by the cold wind and was jostled around so much that it was completely disoriented...

Just as I jumped off the truck and was about to stretch my back, I saw a head peek out from a bush ahead...

A boy with face paint and a ghillie suit stood up, holding an old-fashioned hunting rifle that looked older than him, and curiously examined the mountain eagle...

"You're Mountain Eagle?"

The boy said in broken English, "The elk said you'd give me a real sniper rifle..."

Mountain Eagle was taken aback by the boy's directness. Looking at the boy's ill-fitting combat boots and the frostbite on his hands, he smacked his lips and nodded, saying, "Didn't the deer tell you that when you ask someone for a gift, you should say your name first?"

The boy stepped out of the bushes, stared into the eagle's eyes for a few seconds, then extended his hand to it and said in a very serious tone, "My name is Luca, Luca Tadic. Colonel Tadic is my grandfather..."

As he spoke, Luca straightened his body and said seriously, "I am a soldier of the 'Northern Brigade'!" Mountain Eagle reached out and shook hands with Luca firmly, then looked at the boy's obviously homemade ghillie suit and said with a smile, "It seems that you are not only a soldier, but also a very good sentry."

Upon hearing this, Luca said somewhat unhappily, "I won't be a sentry forever..."

I need a good gun so I can become a qualified soldier!

Seeing Luca's resolute expression and the nonchalant looks of those around him, Mountain Eagle thought for a moment, then turned and beckoned Robin to bring over the weapons package...

Under Luca's watchful gaze, he unpacked the large bag and pulled out an M27...

After checking the M27's chamber and confirming it was empty, Mountain Eagle handed the gun to Luca...

As Luca received the gun, Mountain Eagle asked with a smile, "What do you want to do after you become a qualified soldier?"

Luca gripped the handguard of the M27 with one hand and the stock with the other, and said fiercely, "I'm going to wipe out the bastards of the Kosovo Liberation Organization!"
They killed my father and sister, and they frequently harassed villages near the border, resulting in many deaths!

"Once we eliminate them, there will be peace here!"

Mountain Eagle paused for a moment, then bent down and took out a tactical vest containing four M27 magazines from his bag, draping it over Luca's shoulder...

This child doesn't understand politics, and probably doesn't comprehend the causes of Kosovo, but it's clear that ethnic hatred is spreading in this region...

Serbs, Serbians...

Albanians...

Croats, Croatians...

Who would have thought that such a small area as the Balkan Peninsula would be home to three religious sects: Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam?

Sectarian strife, disputes over whether to go east or west, and the hatred stemming from years of conflict...

Over the past few decades, hatred has festered in this region, eventually turning it into a 'powder keg' that Europe dreads!
Many people are unaware that the core reason for the war that destroyed Yugoslavia was that Europe benefited greatly from the industrial boom following the collapse of the Soviet Union, leading to the rapid expansion of industrial power and economic strength in France and Germany.

Then the European Union was established in 93, and the Euro was introduced in 99, forming a super union with a huge land area and a population of 4 million.

Back then, in order to open up energy routes to the Middle East, the European Union, a bunch of Europeans who were good at talking but not good at fighting, took the lead in igniting the Balkan wars by finding an excuse.

However, their military strength is too weak, so they had to drag the United States into the fray to bail them out. As a result, the conflict in the Balkans is still ongoing, and Europe remains on edge.

This war interrupted the rise of the euro, leading to a large-scale exodus of Western European capital to the United States for safety around 2000.

The same situation occurred in the later French-led Libyan war. The Europeans knew they couldn't handle Gaddafi on their own, so they dragged the US military into the fray to bail them out.

Then Libya repeated the situation in the Balkans, and France and some EU countries were firmly locked in Libya, bleeding them dry and unable to break free from American aid.

From then on, the EU ceased its attempts to wage wars to seize energy resources, allowing Russia to take advantage of the situation and quickly ease tensions with Europe through oil and gas pipelines.

When relations between Russia and Western Europe eased, Serbia's situation became extremely bad!
Russia is really not a qualified leader!

Anyone familiar with European history knows that Western European countries generally faced only two situations and three things when dealing with Russia...

When Russia is weak, Western Europe holds meetings, holds political parties, and attacks Russia!

When Russia was powerful, Western Europe spent its time holding meetings, engaging in political maneuvering, and avoiding Russia!

The strong relationship between Europe and the United States was built on the foundation of 'avoiding Russia'...

How could the United States possibly stand idly by and watch both sides 'defy historical destiny'?
Once Europe, a super-alliance of similar size, has access to Russia's energy resources, it will inevitably break free from American control. At that point, the world's superpower will be uncertain, and thus, stirring up trouble in Kosovo has become a regular activity for the CIA.

If things get chaotic here, the EU's heart will skip a beat!
If we divide the world geographically, there are actually only four countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the European Union...

The 28 small European countries formed a behemoth, yet they could never unite as one. The EU, which has three permanent members of the UN Security Council, ultimately became a blood bag for the United States.

Then, when the big brother America was in trouble, the little brothers in Europe chipped in to help, and the big brother America took all the benefits, while the little brothers in Europe were the ones who took the hits when terrorists attacked.

What the Europeans did was utterly ridiculous, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them a negative example of politics!
Serbia, a small and helpless country caught in the middle, became a victim, unwanted and neglected by everyone!
While the Albanian-controlled areas of Kosovo are not exactly devastated, the living conditions are much harsher in the border regions, especially around the Republika Srpska. In particular, in those dark corners, warlords like those from the Kosovo Liberation Organization have committed numerous atrocities, yet the outside world remains completely unaware of them!
Just as many people don't know, even though the Minsk agreements have been signed, fighting continues in the Ukrainian region.

Now, a child is displaying a deep-seated hatred in front of Mountain Eagle, which evokes some sympathy from Mountain Eagle and gives him a new understanding of the Northern Brigade's situation...

Their situation is not good; otherwise, a child who looks only sixteen or seventeen years old should be in school now, instead of climbing mountains and hills, lying in the snow and ice, shouting for blood to be repaid.

(End of this chapter)