A smart person would be able to imagine the loyalty of a mercenary even if they didn't know much about it. Needless to say, Stinging Ant knew a lot about mercenaries.
In the eyes of a regular army, mercenaries were definitely a derogatory term. An army formed by desperadoes who valued money more than their lives did not deserve to be called an army in the eyes of a regular army.
Hua Xia's ancestors had a lot of wise sayings, such as how there would always be fish under delicious bait, and how there would always be brave men under great rewards. This was a vivid description of mercenaries.
Although these mercenaries were not necessarily a mob and were all from the regular army, their image and reputation were not good. It was all because of their lack of loyalty.
Hegel said, "Their existence is reasonable."
From this point of view, mercenaries were completely a "product of commerce", which was also in line with the original intention of "employment". Mercenaries only believed in money and did not have a sense of country or nationality. A team that only relied on money to maintain was not reliable.
As a mercenary, Stinging Ant was most worried about fighting against Hua Xia's soldiers for a reason.
This could actually be compared to mercenaries. Hua Xia's army was called the Hua Xia People's Liberation Army. They were loyal to Hua Xia and the people of Hua Xia.
On the other hand, mercenaries like Stinging Ant were motivated by money. Only those who worked for money were mercenaries.
When a real war came, the loyalty of these two would definitely be different, and the choice would also be different. Hua Xia's soldiers paid a price for Hua Xia's stability, but mercenaries paid a price for their masters.
In fact, a truth was proven during the Thirty Years War in Germany: the combat power of a country's citizen army was much higher than that of a mercenary army without a stance.
Combat power was not just a matter of ability, but also a considerable part of it was mental power!
Of course, from the looks of it, mercenaries had a lot of room to survive because some things had changed.
For example, the Romans in the Punic War always thought that their army was definitely stronger than that of a mercenary army without a stance, so their citizen army won against Carthage.
Not long after, in the Battle of Juguda, the performance of the citizen army was a complete mess. In the end, they had to replace the citizen army system with a mercenary system.
More than two hundred years ago, the Americans also believed in a citizen army. In the end, during the Anglo-American war, the English army, which mainly consisted of mercenaries, burned down the earliest White House.
In his memoirs, Lincoln also said that when a group of extremists surrounded the building he was in, the army had already scattered, and it was the mercenaries who confronted them for more than forty-eight hours that allowed him to survive.
Therefore, after the Vietnam War, the United States changed from a compulsory military service system to a mercenary one.
This was hard to say. The so-called loyalty sometimes depended on whether the nation was truly united or not. It also depended on whether the country's leader was willing to lead.
It was undeniable that most of the mercenaries worked for money. They were not easily intimidated and did not develop fear easily. This way, their morale would not be so easily affected.
Although all mercenaries were motivated by money, not all mercenaries were easily bribed.
For example, most of the people in the Holy Flame Mercenary Group were role models. Although they did not understand loyalty, they understood honor.
Mercenaries who understood honor were very difficult to bribe.
However, it was undeniable that there were definitely many ruffians among the mercenaries. As the mercenaries became more and more professional, as professional soldiers, their psychological quality and combat skills were very strong. Many countries hired mercenary companies in large numbers.
Sometimes, when mercenaries fought bravely and were not afraid of death, they would rather die than surrender. It seemed to give people a feeling that they were very loyal.
However, the Holy Ants knew that this kind of loyalty was only superficial. It was a so-called loyalty that had a deeper reason.
Why would mercenaries rather die in battle than surrender? Was it because their loyalty was high? Was it because their stance was firm? This was all nonsense!
The most fundamental reason why mercenaries would rather die than surrender in war was because mercenaries were not protected by the Geneva Convention!
Think about the mercenaries in the French Foreign Legion. They did not even wear helmets in battle. They were not afraid of death, they were afraid of being captured.
Look at what the Geneva Convention said about the protection of regular army prisoners of war.
At the beginning, it emphasized that the detaining country had to be responsible for the prisoners of war. The prisoners of war must be treated and protected humanely at all times. They must not be subjected to physical mutilation or any medical or scientific experiments. They must not be subjected to violence, intimidation, humiliation, or harassment by the public. Revenge measures against the prisoners of war are also prohibited.
Even the prisoners of war, other than weapons, military equipment, and military documents, must be kept by the prisoners of war themselves! Moreover, the prisoners of war must be provided with accommodation, food, hygiene, and medical care. They must not be ordered to do dangerous and humiliating work. They must not be subjected to physical or mental torture. After the war ends, the prisoners of war must be immediately released or repatriated. There must be no delay …
Look at the Geneva Convention's protection of regular army prisoners of war. It was too comprehensive!
If the Geneva Convention also protected mercenaries, they would definitely not fight so desperately in the war.
It was because the Geneva Convention did not protect them. Once they were captured, they would be tortured!
Those things that couldn't be done to the prisoners of war of the regular army would all be done to them!
Many people did not know the cruelty of war. Ordinary people could not imagine the horror of war.
Not to mention those who were not protected by the Geneva Convention, even prisoners of war who were protected by the Geneva Convention would have to endure torture that would not easily leave behind any evidence.
Once a mercenary was captured, they would basically be tortured to death. Therefore, they would rather die loyally in the war than be captured by the enemy.
The Thorn Ant said this to the mercenaries in front of them because they knew this mentality. As long as they did not make things difficult for the mercenaries, did not take their lives, and did not capture them. Instead, they would let them go and give them a chance to gain benefits. They would not be so stupid as to fight with their lives on the line.
The Thorn Ant's words silenced all the mercenaries.
Some of them were still looking at the weapons on the ground. Some of them had already calmed down. Their killing intent slowly disappeared.
"You can't betray me! Don't forget, I paid you! Every one of you can get millions of dollars in commission every year! Now that I need you, you are betraying me?! "Hound Four said heartbreakingly. He could not accept the fact that his mercenaries were retreating.
However, it did not matter what Hound Four said now.
These mercenaries were very clear about their situation. It was not impossible for them to risk their lives to save Hound Four. However, the chances of that happening were not more than 50%, or even less … Because they were forced to disarm themselves just now.
Even if they could save Hound Four, they knew very well how many of them would die based on the skills of Xu Yun and the Thorn Ant. It would be good if two out of ten of them could survive. Who could guarantee that they would be the remaining two?
Therefore, they were very worried about this.
Now that the Sting Ants were telling them to leave, Fourth Gou was dead for sure. If that was the case, they could really raid Fourth Gou's house and take away everything valuable before looking for the next house.
Anyway, the bosses in the Golden Triangle were lacking mercenaries. The more powerful the bosses were, the more they lacked professional mercenaries like them.
They were not worried that they would not be able to find a job after leaving Hound Four.
This was one of the main reasons why they were not loyal. After all, their loyalty was only on the surface. The only thing they were loyal to was money. As long as they had money, they could change their master at any time.
If Xu Yun took out ten million dollars and threw it at these mercenaries, they might even raise their guns and aim at Hound Four.
This was not strange at all. It was very normal. Betrayal was a very normal thing for mercenaries.
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