Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 232 Javelin Missile
The radio operator in the reconnaissance car has been in contact with the rear. He can't see the situation outside, but he can hear the captain's trembling voice through the headset.

"Samurai holding swords are painted on the enemy's tanks. This tactical logo represents the 6th Armored Division of India." The commander said while suppressing his throat.

"I don't know why the 6th Armored Division suddenly appeared here. They should be 250 kilometers away."

The other members of the tank knew that those tanks were just outside, only separated by a layer of 2 cm thick armor.

Radio waves are transmitted to a distance of 15 kilometers.Only then did the Pakistani "mixed brigade" know that the Indian tanks had arrived in the small town of Dureji, which was half a day sooner than expected by the army staff. In the itinerary of the Indian Army; in fact, there are no such items in Spanga's marching schedule.

From the map, the highland on the west side of this town is the last terrain conducive to defense in the west of Karachi. If Indian tanks cross the Heb River, which is only 1 meter deep, and seize this highland, it will be kicked open the west gate of Karachi. , the next thing that can stop the tanks is the streets of Karachi.However, the reconnaissance vehicle in front sent back a message that the Indian tanks just cut off the road from Karachi to Khuzdaji. They stopped around the town, perhaps waiting for fuel supplies.

The wheeled reconnaissance vehicle went around boldly, then hid in the sand and quietly escaped the sight of the Indian tank.The reconnaissance vehicle waited for a while one kilometer away, but the Indian armored forces remained silent for a long time.The captain guessed that these Indian tanks were waiting for fuel supply, and the reason why they did not cross the river was to avoid causing trouble to the tanker.

Spang's increased mobilization of troops clearly has some negative effects.He put an armored unit of the 10th Army on the original offensive route of the 1st Army. This pretense naturally brought confusion to the Pakistani intelligence department, but it also brought some chaos to himself in terms of battlefield communication and supplies. ; The 6th Armored Division rushed here to give the enemy a surprise, but they spent the whole night waiting for fuel, because the supply convoy was sent to the wrong place, and the lack of communication caused them to take the bus in front of them. The military reconnaissance vehicle was regarded as one of his own.

The current messy situation seems to have given the Pakistani 12th Army a chance to make amends.However, the "Mixed Brigade" has no tanks. They only have a bunch of various armored vehicles, half of which are wheeled. Even if they can occupy positions, whether they can hold them is a big problem.The situation was extremely urgent, and this nondescript armored force rushed forward against the dust all over the sky.The five huge chariots in the queue are particularly conspicuous.

Abad stood on the turret and watched the front with goggles.The turret of this self-propelled cannon is unusually tall, which was designed as a last resort in order to fit a huge artillery. The remaining advantage is that it can make the commander's field of vision a little farther.However, today, the sky is covered by dust and dust, making it impossible for Abad to see the situation in the distance.He kept thinking about the 6th Armored Division in his mind.It is said that this is a first-line armored division second only to the White Tiger Division in strength, with a T90 regiment.Abad doesn't know whether he will face T72 or T90, if it is the former, it will be easier to deal with.Still, even the T72 is an opponent that must be handled with care against a lightly armored tank destroyer.Once the battlefield is in chaos, enemy tanks will use their mobility to sneak to the front line. For Abad, that will be the most dangerous situation.

Abad knew that for a mob like the 12th Army, chaos on the battlefield was inevitable.When he was still fighting in the Indus River, most of the surrounding infantry would regard the Indian tanks (including T2) 55 kilometers away as T90; he heard all kinds of chaotic calls on the radio, saying that they were facing the White Tiger Division, In fact, the White Tiger Division did not participate in the battle of crossing the river at all.

Indian T90 is rare in the front line T90.Abad has fought against several Indian armies and knows some details. The T72 regiment of the mechanized infantry division will do most of the dirty work, while the T90 tanks equipped with elite troops have only one mission, which is anti-tank. The T90's advanced command ceremony aiming system allows it to shoot accurately while on the move. This is a capability that the Type 89 tank destroyer does not have, not to mention the mobility and protection capabilities. The only advantage of the Type 89 is this. With the firepower of a 120mm gun, how to hide this gun on the battlefield is a problem he has been thinking about.

Several bumpy jeeps passed by the huge self-propelled anti-tank artillery, and a weapon operator in the rear seat looked at the monster next to him in surprise. Obviously, he had seen such a weapon for the first time.

"Dude, they told me we don't have armor." The shooter in the back seat yelled at Abad, who was high above him, trying to drown out the roar of the engine so that Abad could hear him.

"We are not armored soldiers, we are artillery," Abad corrected politely.

The soldier shook his head vigorously, apparently he had some misunderstandings about the strange-shaped car.

"Is it a howitzer? It's so damn big... I heard that the Indian tanks are just east of the Heb River, so don't be careless, but don't worry, we will protect you," the shooter said, patting a part of the launcher. Javelin missiles. "We wiped out their tanks so you can beat up their infantry lol."

Abad hummed vaguely.He was used to not explaining to others that this was not a howitzer, it would be too much trouble and unnecessary.

"Hey dude," the chatterbox in the jeep seemed to have something to say, "I really envy you artillerymen. You never have to see enemy tanks, but we are different. We have to deal with them at a very close distance."

"Is that so?"

"I've knocked out 2... no... 3 Indian tanks."

"Amazing record," Abad said, looking down at the guy.

"It's nothing special." The man said with a smile.Then the car dangled and disappeared into the dust.

At noon, the vanguard of the mixed brigade finally arrived at the "preset position".This position is currently only a line drawn by the military on the map. In fact, there is nothing. All vehicles can only find the shooting position by themselves.Abad directed the five vehicles under his command to stay in a slightly rear position through the radio, and to shoot at the Indian tanks, which was not what he wanted.He had carefully studied the terrain, and arranged all the cars on a small slope overlooking the entire river, but he couldn't see the situation on the other side of the river for the time being.

Due to the wind and sand, the visibility at this time was only a few hundred meters.Both sides can hear some movements of the other across the river, but cannot see each other for the time being.Abad knew that the Indians would not wait forever and would definitely rush across the river before dusk. They always liked to attack during the day. The No. 109 tank began to use the bulldozers it carried to push out an earth wall on the high ground. Such a thick earth wall can be used to cover the tall turrets and also resist enemy shells.

While the chariot was rumbling under construction, he found that the javelin shooter who had accosted him half an hour ago was looking at him with his mouth wide open not far away. He probably hadn't seen the bayonet on the artilleryman yet.

The front of the defensive position is composed of a company of Saad infantry fighting vehicles and a large number of jeeps equipped with anti-tank missiles and recoilless guns. Five 5-type tank destroyers are the most powerful, hiding behind other tanks in an inconspicuous small on the hill.Next to the hillside is an anti-aircraft position composed of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, and behind it are several self-propelled mortars converted from M89 chassis.

The wind that carried the yellow sand finally began to die down in the afternoon.When Shuangfeng could barely see each other, the Indian commander on the east bank of the river was inevitably taken aback.In the morning, they sent a platoon to occupy the high ground, and unexpectedly formed a temporary defense line composed of vehicles.And a tank company he stayed by the river has been exposed to the range of enemy anti-tank weapons.

"I saw some blurry shadows, like T72. But I can't measure the range, this is the bad weather." The gunner of No. 109 said.

"Leave them alone, and let the anti-tank missiles deal with it." Abad pressed the inter-vehicle communication button and spoke to the surrounding vehicle crews through the radio. He hoped to temporarily hide in a corner of the battlefield for a good observation.This so-called "mixed brigade" was cobbled together from the most capable units in the entire reserve army. The command was extremely chaotic.In the past month, he has experienced too many collapses caused by the abandonment of neighboring positions.So today he doesn't want to go into battle prematurely, he hopes that he can take on the responsibility of a reserve team that can remedy the loopholes in the front line.

Sure enough, the leading anti-tank missiles began to fire first.The Javelin missile with superior performance can identify and capture the infrared signature of enemy vehicles through wind and sand. This missile has become the trump card of the mixed brigade's first round of attacks.The shooters searched in the 4X sight, then aimed the central reticle at the target, pressed the identification button, and the missile seeker locked the infrared signal from the tank engine within a few seconds and recorded the image characteristics; At 800 meters away, the Indian T72 tank was unable to make an effective counterattack. The T72's 8x optical sight could not see the target clearly through the yellow sand, and laser ranging could not be carried out in such bad weather.The Indian tank company could only move forward quickly in an attempt to get close to the opponent. As a defense, they released a large amount of smoke at the same time.However, such smoke is of little use to missiles with the ability to match target images.

The company commander's chariot rushing to the front was immediately destroyed by the first missile that fell from the sky.When the Indian tank company rushed to the river, 3 vehicles had been destroyed.The Indian commander who had been observing in the small town of Dureji noticed something was wrong and immediately ordered the tanks to retreat.Fortunately, there are not many Javelin missiles in the hands of the Pakistanis. After the Indian tank retreated a few hundred meters, it never fired again.The wreckage of 5 T72s was left on the river beach in a haphazard manner, burning blazingly.From the west bank of the river came the cheers of the soldiers.On the other side of the dust, the Indian army was silent and did not respond.

"These missiles are really powerful." The gunner of No. 109 car said enviously.He could see those burning tanks from a distance through the optical sight.The time from aiming to launch of the Javelin missile is obviously not longer than this 120mm gun, and as far as he saw, the destruction rate was [-]%.

"I think they were too happy," Abad said coldly.

"Now the Indians have stopped attacking, maybe they are afraid."

"Are they afraid of a few missiles? Let me tell you, Indians never care about losses," Abad said disapprovingly.

"You think they're biding their time?" the gunner continued.

"Of course, they're waiting for this sandstorm to end."

"and then?"

"Then? You really don't understand. As long as the air becomes transparent, their laser beam weapons can take advantage of the range."

(End of this chapter)