Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 571 The second contest, once again gaining the upper hand.

The two platoons of the 40th Highland Artillery Regiment directly under the Indian Northern Group are quickly fleeing the firing position.In fact, the last evacuation truncation is the most important thing to show the professional level of the artillery. In the era when computers complete most of the fire control calculations, it is of great significance to the mobile artillery to safely retreat to the backup position.

Hariyaman deployed only 2 artillery pieces on each position, and his intention was to prevent chaos when retreating on the fragmented mountainous terrain. In his eyes, Indian artillery is usually disorganized or potentially prone to chaos. This kind of thing is different from performing cannons for superiors on the practice field.Soldiers from some countries always perform better in actual combat than in exercises, while in some countries the opposite is true. This is a manifestation of national character.A good commander should not expect too much from the extraordinary performance of soldiers, but be able to plan for a rainy day.

These brown/white camouflaged tanks turned around roaring, their tracks churning up the dirty snow around them.

They quickly moved to the second position, and everything was in order.The commanders huddled in the turret and pinched their watches. This was a moment of fear.As the minutes passed, perhaps the Chinese were not as magical as the Major had feared?Will their counterattack come so quickly?
The first round of counterattacks came from the Chinese army's long-range rocket launchers, which quickly covered and fired according to radar data.The rocket shot through the sky, whizzed down from the clouds, and accurately landed on the muddy and dirty snowy ground where the self-propelled artillery was deployed and fired just now.In just a split second, the empty and silent valley exploded into a ball of fire.The huge vibration can be felt even several kilometers away.

Khaliani was sitting 8 kilometers away. Through the armor, he could still hear the uninterrupted explosions over there. The major closed his eyes and waited for the lengthy attack to pass. The doubts in his heart were almost solved.

The enemy's counterattack was swift and precise, but at least my troops were unscathed. On the monitor, those yellow triangles were still moving slowly; if the enemy used howitzers instead of rockets, the counterattack might come faster, but Another worry can be relieved. They don't have enemy artillery groups that can reach such a deep area in this area. Those insidious 39-caliber 155 light howitzers can't even hide in a high-elevation position secretly by helicopter. 30 times 122 guns, let alone even think about it.

The second round of counterattack by the Chinese army came from the Air Force.Two J-2 bombers coming from nearby circled over Tamcok, and were photographed in the attack range of the S16 in Srinagar, without daring to go too deep.But they still dropped satellite-guided bombs from a distance.The Chinese Air Force uses this kind of slow-moving bomb to attempt a second attack on the possible retreat of the self-propelled artillery. This kind of bombing regardless of the cost is of little practical significance; subsequently, the slower drone carrying the laser-guided bomb Travel across the mountains and come to confirm the results of the battle.

A low-altitude blind-supplying radar vehicle raises its hydraulic crank arm high and precisely monitors every movement in the air. As long as the opponent gets too close, it will be attacked.Meneam may not be a decisive commander, but he is a shrewd general who is very good at tinkering with the defense line in various locations.The radar network outside Srinagar, although not complete (complete surveillance is almost impossible in mountainous areas), was quite effective.Of course, part of the homework of the Chinese Air Force's daily dispatch is also in the confrontation, testing out the scope and changes of the prevention and control net on Srinagar's head, and is ready to find a gap to throw a few anti-radiation missiles at any time.

Haniaman can imagine how frustrated the commander of the Chinese army would be when he saw that there was not a single destroyed target in a valley that was blown up in a mess. Not only were a lot of expensive ammunition poured out in vain, but more importantly, Yes, they knew that they had encountered a formidable opponent at this moment.Thinking of these, he still felt a little proud.

"Not every Indian artillery is trash, just wait and see."

Xu Jingzhe has been following the drone's real-time field of vision to observe the results of the long-range suppression of the newly emerging enemy's firepower just now. He is looking forward to seeing what kind of weapon the enemy uses.

The adjusted artillery mine immediately discovered the trajectory of the enemy's shells flying over the surveillance area. Through the analysis of the ballistics, it accurately calculated the area where the ammunition was fired. Mark out the target location.

Due to the long distance, the latent counterattack firepower cannot be countered immediately (including various extended-range ammunition), so we can only use the rocket launchers on duty north of Pangong Lake. These rocket launchers were originally used to monitor Leh. When the enemy's surface position is mobilized, destroy its soft targets.Such twists and turns certainly show the high efficiency of the front-line C4ISR system (or similar systems expressed in other terms), but the counterattack speed is compromised.

Xu Jingzhe was greatly surprised by the results of the long-distance reconnaissance by drones. Through ordinary optical equipment (the sky has not yet completely dimmed), he saw the valleys and hillsides where the gunpowder smoke had not completely dissipated, and saw the , Potted and mottled area, the rockets covered a huge area of ​​more than 30 hectares, but could not see any damaged vehicles, usually they should be the most conspicuous, if any.

"Where are those burning vehicles? Didn't hit anything?"

The old man still doesn't remember the army's counterattack with rockets. When they miss, they should more or less kill some targets.The storm of flames piled up in metal boxes spread out, but nothing was gained.

He knew, more or less, that the intelligence community was at fault.It is not even known now, is this attack from Caesar system or AS90 or other system?Or how many such systems does the enemy have?And superiors are awaiting a report.Of course, through analysis, India's FH77 and M777 can use NATO ammunition, but the 155 artillery that does not match the kinetic energy and range can be excluded, but such an inaccurate report is obviously outrageous.

"The superior will definitely ask about the enemy's weapons and command?" He thought for a while, then picked up the phone: "Tell the drone to cross the red line and continue to reconnaissance westward along the mountain. I want to see something specific. "

The red line refers to the dotted line delineated on the combat map and often changed. UAVs generally do not cross this line. Its advance and retreat depend on the actual air defense capability of the Meneam defense line. The deployment of the Indian lieutenant general is conservative but rigorous. There is no point, but the layers are clear, so when dealing with it, it is necessary to be more rigorous than the staff here.

The sky was getting dark, and the Sikh fighters on the top of the mountain finally waited for the time to attack. They lined up in scattered skirmishers with high fighting spirit, and charged down with shouts.After crossing the 1.5 kilometers of frozen river, they will rush into the valley, where they will fight the Chinese army.

They know that China may have a force of 1500 troops in a very close area, and they can mobilize several companies through helicopters, while India cannot use helicopters in areas lacking air dominance.In other words, the number of Chinese troops is far greater than their own, but even if the enemy has 5000 people, they will ignore it. The enemy is just driven by political officers and cannot adapt to high-altitude combat troops; At altitudes above 4500 meters, you can only walk with your guns out of breath. 60.00% of them will be carried back to the area below 3000 meters within a month due to the accumulation of water in their lungs. This is what the superior said, and not many people combined with 1962 years of history, considered the possibility of this claim.Even if such rumors are somewhat exaggerated, these soldiers have long been suffocated under the air strikes and shelling of their opponents all day long, and they all look forward to fighting a good battle; There is a home to which they are eager to fight.

Lieutenant General Meneam of Jammu watched the attack of the troops. He knew that the troops would never return, and might not even be able to rush into the valley, but war, that's it.

After his nephew was engulfed by the avalanche caused by the bomb, he became more decisive and no longer felt moral remorse in taking actions such as using his life to test the enemy's deployment.

"General, they are exposed on an unsheltered slope, and there will be heavy casualties." Someone reminded.

"What a fuss. How can there be no death in war? I look forward to the exposure of the enemy's firepower." It was not Meneam who answered, but Olinde, who has always been Meneam's most fierce general.They are also one of the few people under him who think about how to attack all day long. Although the thinking is not very compatible with Meneam, the commander knows that such people are always needed.

Meneam remained silent, continuing to look at the several monitors in front of him, waiting for news from the observation post on the top of the mountain.The largest part of these displays is on the front of the command post, providing information on the deployment situation of the troops at any time and on the counter front. As the core of the command post, it does not change much.It replaced those paper contour maps that had to be climbed up and down with red and blue pencils.On the side is the air situation information, with large and small zigzagging closed lines on it, representing the envelope of one's own air defense firepower, and some known enemy air defense firepower ranges.The moving symbols are various aircrafts of both the enemy and the enemy.If one's own aircraft flies over, there will be a framed number display on it; if an enemy aircraft is detected, there will also be information about the predicted model.

"The reconnaissance advantage of their drones has to be discounted at night." Olinde folded his hands and said proudly, "The observation capabilities of frontier artillery fire are also the same. Therefore, attacking at night is also beneficial."

"Brother, we must also consider the damage caused to the troops by the severe cold at night." The commander said slowly, appearing more stable and benevolent than Olinde.

"If the Chinese army thinks that we can't afford to die, they will be even more unscrupulous." Olinde's answer shows that he is not convinced.

After the sunset disappeared, the Chinese army at the front had switched to using low-light night vision equipment to reconnaissance the charging enemies.In snow-capped mountains, the reflection of starlight can make the background clearer.The artillery observer held the communicator nervously. He didn't need to indicate the firing range of the artillery. All he had to wait was the timing, waiting for the enemy to walk into the marked rectangular area by himself.Judging from the formation mountain, the enemy's morale is good, and the ability to move is not affected by the plateau. Indeed, as the intelligence shows, it is a well-trained force in an area above 5500 meters (Siachen Glacier).

The 122mm towed artillery concealed in the rear finally received instructions from the enemy to enter the target area and launch a counterattack immediately.Soon the sound of rumbling guns sounded. After flying for a long time, the shells fell near the sparse skirmishing line. The front observers could see the enemies lying down one after another through the night vision goggles, and some stood up afterward. , continued to charge, and some stopped standing up.

For the artillery company, this is a difficult choice. On the one hand, the new enemy situation shows that the enemy has accurate firepower that can reach the front in an area that is 30 kilometers away from the front, as well as a more rear-deployed, accurate Inadequate Tornado rocket launcher.On the other hand, it is absolutely intolerable to let the enemy rush down the mountain and enter the valley.This means that India will see through the entire deployment, and the Chinese infantry in the valley is also in a position where enemy artillery fire may hit. The 122 artillery chose a straight trajectory as much as possible, so that if the enemy's artillery radar is not deployed properly, its position cannot be detected.

About 2 minutes ago, Xu Jingzhe said in a phone call to the chief that it is very unwise to use forward artillery under the current circumstances. Of course, he could not give a good replacement plan; he could only suggest that the troops should be ready to Be ready to abandon the equipment and retreat into a solid bunker; in addition, the 45-caliber self-propelled artillery lost by the division should also be mobilized to replace the main artillery group in this area. The first suggestion is obviously of practical significance, while the second suggestion is Empty talk that doesn't help the current situation.At this moment, the rocket artillery unit north of Pangong Lake is also in the process of withdrawing from the position, regrouping, and reloading the lengthy operation, and cannot be put into combat.

Hariyaman has been waiting for the feedback from the hidden artillery reconnaissance radar. Even if the army's first-level command is still using the previous generation of Simberlin radar mounted on a trailer, and he has already used the Cobra radar on the armored chassis, the British are certainly more advanced. It is getting more and more stingy, but it still meets India's request on the supporting issue.At present, this radar is in a state of silent standby (in case the opponent's air fire detects it).If it is turned on, a short, about 20-second magnetron warm-up time is required.

Someone finally reported on the high ground in Diemcuoke that after seeing a flickering glow behind the east mountain, the major immediately ordered the artillery reconnaissance radar to enter the scanning state.He knew that the enemy would not only fight for a few rounds, they were always vicious, so he had enough time.

When the artillery entered the fourth round of firing, the major accurately obtained the main information he wanted, and narrowed down the general target area to an acceptable range.Comparing the terrain, the enemy took advantage of the cover of the reverse slope very well, and the position was scattered but organized, and seemed to have permanent fortifications (satellites did not detect it); from the ballistics, he could roughly guess that the enemy used 4mm artillery. The scale is about one company, and he doesn't know if it is a self-propelled artillery.It would not surprise him if the Chinese army, relying on its comprehensive advantages, also put the old-fashioned artillery into the war. The enemy's superiority in information gave them greater freedom in deployment.

(End of this chapter)