"John Ringo - Ghost 03 - Choosers of the Slain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ringo John)

theRepublicofGeorgia , using part of his reward money to buy a pleasant little farm with a group of tenant
farmers already in place. However, the security situation in the area being what it was, he'd taken the
opportunity to train the retainers as a local "militia."

The retainers, called the Keldara, had taken to it like so many ducks to water. A little digging turned up
the fact that the Keldara were anything but simple farmers. They were, in fact, the last remnant of the
Varangian Guard, the Viking guards of the Emperors of Byzantium. The group had apparently descended
from a small force of mixed Norse and Scotts-Irish that had drifted down through the Meditteranean until
encountering theByzantine Empire .

They farmed quite well but at heart, like the Kurds and the Ghurkas, they were warriors first and
foremost. A couple of million dollars in equipment and a similar amount in payroll for trainers and training
had turned them into a formidable, if small, fighting force. They had taken on a Chechen "battalion" at
nearly three to one odds and the prisoners and dead in the Georgian military trucks were the result.

Mike suspected it wouldn't be the last such battle for the group called "The Tigers of the Mountains."

"Mr. Jenkins," the Russian attache replied, nodding. "Quite a battle for a little militia."

"Untrained militia," Mike pointed out. "They were only in their third week of training. The teams fought
them straight off of their first days of range training."

"How many did you kill?" Ushakoff asked.

"One hundred and three KIA," Mike replied. "Including some who got froggy when we were in the
capture phase. Forty-two WIA, including some the doctors don't think will survive. And twenty-one
prisoners, unwounded."

"And Breslav?" the Russian asked.

"He, unfortunately, did not survive the encounter," Mike said, slipping a picture out of his jacket pocket
and handing it over. Breslav had, apparently, been directly in the area of effect of a claymore since his
torso and right arm were missing. However, his head was still attached and the expression of surprise
was clear on his face. As was the expression of satisfaction on the face of the Keldara that was holding
his head up by its hair. "I would have liked to capture him for intel purposes, but you can't always get
what you want."

"We are glad enough that he's dead," Ushakoff replied, smiling at the pic. "Can I keep this?"

"Certainly," Mike said. "It's a photo quality printout, anyway. We only use digital cameras."

"Three weeks of training, you said?" Ushakoff asked. "I think that my bosses will be impressed. Very
impressed."

"And, of course, the intel we forwarded you," Mike pointed out. "That stopped his team from
enteringChechnya . Can I take it we might be able to avoid a border war?"

"There is still the matter of the Paniski Gorge," Ushakoff pointed out. "That is where their main bases
are."