Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 314 Crossfire
Tasim's face was pressed against the forehead pad of the scope, and he calmly pressed the launch button before the enemy disappeared into the smoke screen.He remained motionless amid the loud gunfire, and the image stabilization equipment allowed him to keep an eye on the target in the violently shaking car body. Of course, for him, the loud noise of firing was already very numb.All he wanted, was to see the shell hit that, where he wanted it to hit, metal on metal, that was his greatest joy in combat.Sometimes he felt that the war had distorted him, into a species between man and metal, a state of insensitivity but precise response, like a killing machine.

In the eyepiece, the straight ballistic trajectory directly hit the left side of the tank's turret, and no large burst of fire was seen.If the armor-piercing round fails to penetrate the armor, there is usually a strong flash, and fragments of the pole round carrying remaining kinetic energy are scattered around like a tracer round hitting a steel plate.

After waiting for a while, the enemy tank began to emit white smoke, followed by flames. It seemed that the fire protection equipment was activated, but it did not extinguish the internal fire.

"It's pierced, ready to change the target." The commander's indifferent voice came from next to his ear, and it was obvious that Yahini had already decided that there was no need to make another shot.He's always looking around for new targets, but when shooting he'll take a look back and decide on his next target.

Still watching the burning tank, Tasim thought, the commander and gunner must be finished.On the right side of the Arjun turret, a hand pushed open the hatch, which was the position of the loader.Survivors climbed out of the machine gun and jumped off, seemingly unhurt.After a while, another person struggled out from under the gun barrel, and fell to the ground surrounded by billowing smoke. That should be the driver of the chariot.Seeing that the car dealer and the gunner failed to climb out, Tasim couldn't help grinning.

"What are you waiting for, quickly track the target on the right." Yahini said.He has found his next target.

Tasim's eyes did not stay on the Arjun tank that was burning more and more, he quickly operated the artillery to turn to a new target.

"All invaders should see how their tanks burn." Tasim said proudly.

"I said, next target." Yahini repeated impatiently, "Sergeant. This is not your time to be proud, hurry up and aim."

The third target was a tank that was falling back, trying to align its frontal armor with the firing line of the Pakistani tanks.It can be seen that these Indian tankers have figured out the situation of this ambush from a short period of dizziness.This alerted Tasim that the strength of the Indian tankers in this unit was not inferior to that of the White Tiger Division.Yahini expected to fight three rounds before the enemy counterattacked, obviously underestimating the enemy.

Tasim squinted his eyes, watching the laser spot he fired swaying on the enemy's front armor plate for a while.A shooting point is quickly generated in the scope.This is the reference shooting point obtained after the fire control calculation, but experienced gunners still make some small adjustments based on previous shooting.

The tank seized the last opportunity to fight back. The 120mm artillery easily hit another Type 99 tank that remained at a standstill, but the shell still failed to penetrate the thick wedge-shaped armor on the front of the Type 99, but broke into several pieces and flew in all directions.

The Type 99 armor has become a mystery in this war. Since its sudden appearance, no one has been shot through from the front.Indian intelligence agencies could not help but draw the following conclusions: the Chinese laboriously built an assembly plant near Quetta, and then secretly assembled such a small number of Type 99 tanks by means of section transportation, apparently because the Chinese were convinced of this equipment Has the ability to turn the tide of battle.Of course, the main reason for the so-called impenetrable myth is that there are too few Type 99s in theaters.

As the enemy turret turned, Tasim found that his shooting angle was slightly off, which added a little slope to the nearly vertical armor of the Arjun tank, bringing some variables to the shooting.He simply aimed directly under the enemy's artillery to avoid the reactive armor on one side.He believes that this can increase the certainty of breakdown.

The shells fired at the junction of the Indian tank's turret and the car body at a great speed, and got in.Arjun's artillery fell rapidly, and the barrel exceeded the limited depression angle and hit the ground directly.Either the cradle was broken, or the counterweight behind the trunnion had been hit.No flames or smoke was seen coming from the seams for several seconds until an internal explosion tore the turret whole and flung it to the ground.

The Indian heavy tanks retreated to the roadbed one after another. This decisive action made the Arjun tank proudly hide most of the hull, and only exposed the gun barrel and the sighting equipment on the turret.When Yahini chose his position, he was too greedy for shooting and ignored cover. Now his company is more exposed than the enemy.The sergeant suddenly realized that today's battle might be difficult to end.

The 43rd Armored Regiment of the Indian Army, unlike other armored regiments assigned to division-level units, has always existed as an independent armored unit and actually plays the role of an armored teaching force.Although the generals on the front line don't want this regiment, it doesn't mean they are vulnerable.

Lin Huaisheng and Yahini noticed at the same time that the enemy was stunned for a surprisingly short time. Apparently, a calm commander in the convoy is still alive, and he gave a series of correct instructions through the radio. He analyzed the situation , gathered the formation, and made a countermeasure.This was originally a goal that should have been addressed in the first place.But in night operations, it was difficult to identify the command tank, which made Yahini take the opportunity to shoot the commander directly, and now he still does not know the location of the commander.

The enemy has judged the situation. They saw the number of Yahini clearly and quickly organized an effective counterattack. The enemy's numerical superiority forced Yahini to retreat with the rest, looking for a low-lying place to hide the chassis.The artillery of the Arjun tank was more accurate than the 125mm smoothbore gun of the White Tiger Division. The shells hit Yahini's company one after another, making a terrible impact.But the myth of 99 continues.None of these kinetic shells fired from the rifled gun with a sliding belt can penetrate the frontal armor of the Type 99 tank.

Yahini has to thank Arjun for this completely out of date cannon.Regardless of the muzzle velocity and diameter-to-length ratio of the ammunition, this artillery is outstanding.The armor-piercing shell-piercing ammunition fired by the tail was inherently contradictory in mechanism, because it was originally the ammunition fired by the smoothbore gun.

The first few rounds of shooting came to an end, and the tanks of both sides stabilized their positions in the retreat.The large flares that slowly fell from the sky exposed the entire Indian formation to the unobstructed wilderness.This was Lin Huaisheng's second plan. He was not crazy enough to trust a 20-year-old sergeant.Yahini had assured that his 8 cars could make the difference in the first three shots.Looking at it now, it is obvious that the bragging was overblown.

The infantry fighting vehicle, which was 4 kilometers away, finally saw the distant target clearly with the help of the brilliance of the flare. For the infantry fighting vehicle, it is rare to encounter the opportunity to beat the tank, and it is unimaginable to attack the tank at night. .All Indian tanks were turning their bodies and turrets, trying to align the front with the deadly firepower of the Type 99, but they inadvertently exposed the side to the infantry fighting vehicle on the other side.The infantry carried on the vehicle unloaded the heavy anti-tank missiles early and was also ready to attack.

At this moment, Lin Huaisheng was hiding behind the bushes on the mountain overlooking the battlefield.Now that the fierce battle is in full swing, there is no need for him to intervene in the command. He believes that these people are good players and know how to fight.He was condescending, keeping his eyes on other directions, preventing unexpected enemies from appearing suddenly.

In addition, he has another purpose, which is to wait for the enemy's anti-aircraft missile force to expose itself.The intelligence department determined that there was an S300 position near Jebri, which was difficult to locate. Zhou Yaohua judged from the enemy's radar debugging that the enemy would find the position before dawn and complete the deployment.In this way, its attack range will be extended to the sky over Quetta.Once the plan is successful, this position will cut off the transportation line again. The only possible result is that the entire southern Chinese army retreats to Iran, and the war will end in complete failure.The air force was unable to attack at night because the enemy's radar was constantly changing position.If Lin Huaisheng's sneak attack is frustrated, the air force must fight back at any cost during the day.

Lin Huaisheng judged that the bridge to the east of Jebri was the only escape route for the tracked vehicles in the missile battalion.If the enemy perceives a threat, they should retreat from the railway bridge to the east bank of the Naj River.This is a reasonable conclusion drawn from the reaction of the Red Flag 9 missile force in the Suleiman Mountains to the Indian advancing force.He kept Lao Ding and the 10 T90s under his command as a reserve team, just to sneak up on the railway bridge, so as to take advantage of the chaos and pull out this thorn in his side.

"Viper, here is the Trojan horse. How are the elephants? I heard the communication from the elephants on the radio. They have a very decisive officer who has been giving orders."

Old Ding asked.Although Lin Huaisheng strictly restricted the communication of these T90s to avoid exposure, Lao Ding still couldn't help but want to ask. He could hear the communication through the enemy's radio station, and then realized that Yahini was in trouble. .

"The elephant has fallen into the crossfire, and it seems hopeless." Lin Huaisheng said calmly.

"We do nothing?"

"Yes, take it easy."

The huge turret of the Arjun tank exposed from behind the roadbed, its side profile can be clearly seen in the stabilized sight of the Type 97 tank. The commander found that the flare fell much faster than expected, and the laser beam missile fired The target needs to fly quite a long distance, can the timing be seamless?No one knows what to do.

The muzzle retreated violently, and the first missile was fired from the company commander's vehicle and fired at the target.The missile quickly slowed down after opening its wings, and at the same time its laser receiver found the axis of the laser beam and began to fly along this axis.Subsequently, the remaining laser beam missiles were launched one after another.

Distant targets, at the maximum magnification of the sight, are still not clear enough.And the target is rapidly hiding in the darkness as the brightness of the flares fades.The gunner looped the reticle over the target and prayed that the target would not maneuver and ruin the aim.Fortunately, these Indian tanks were busy shooting and did not detect the threat from the north.

At the last moment when the missile approached the target, the Arjun tank completely disappeared into the darkness, but the missile still flew there accurately along a beam of laser light.There is nothing to do but wait.

There was a huge explosion in the dark, and the first missile finally hit the tank. The concentrated warhead easily opened a small hole in the side armor, and the metal jet drilled into the turret, causing a second explosion.The explosion illuminated a small area, allowing a follow-up anti-tank missile that had lost its target to retarget and knock out a tank.But the remaining missiles that did not seize the opportunity all failed to hit.

Lin Huaisheng witnessed the entire process of this unsuccessful attack from the top of the hill. It seemed that the illumination time provided by the flares fired by Li Ping was too limited, and the preparation time of the anti-tank troops was too long.There was no other way but to hope that the two troops could cooperate better in the next round of firing, but he had no idea whether they could cooperate well, because it was just a method he came up with hastily and had never been seriously practiced.

(End of this chapter)