Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 272 Artillery Showdown!

Nico thought for a moment and then said, "To be on the safe side, let's test it twice... After slowing down the evacuation speed by 15 seconds the first time, we'll resume the normal evacuation speed once."

Although the SEALs didn't quite believe Milton's artillery could complete the counterattack in 2 minutes and 15 seconds, they didn't dare to be too overconfident, as their opponent was Milton after all.

Just like Milton's self-propelled artillery company, they were very disciplined and their withdrawal time never exceeded 2 minutes.

After a night of intense fighting, the seals had come to regard Milton as an opponent of the same caliber.

A powerful artillery force capable of rapid and precise indirect fire would be a devastating blow to the primitive forces of the Arsu government's defense army, should it appear on the battlefield.

"Roger that!"

"We really have to do everything."

"..."

Nico crouched beside the left track of the M109 and quickly shoveled away the rubble. The AN/TPQ-37 counter-battery radar had just confirmed the coordinates of the enemy artillery position.

The firing parameters were also quickly calculated.

The other team members also began to report according to the procedure with practice.

"Target: Enemy 2S5 position cluster, coordinates... Ammunition type: HE, instant fuse, ammunition number..."

"The grounding depth of the hoe meets the standard."

"Azimuth, elevation..."

Not far away, O'Connor aimed a high-explosive shell at the slot of the ammunition feed mechanism, fed the projectile into the breech, and locked the breechblock.

"Loading complete!"

"emission!"

boom! boom! boom!
The six large-caliber howitzers at the artillery position fired in unison, and 10 seconds after the shells left the barrels, Nico immediately started the timer.

According to intelligence, Milton's counter-battery radar is the same model as theirs, which can be detected within 10 seconds of a shell being fired. In other words, at this point, the enemy has already begun to calculate the firing data at the fastest speed and prepare to launch a counterattack.

We need to retreat in 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

After firing six rounds of high-explosive shells at a mortar position in Milton on the front line, Nico glanced at the time again and nodded slightly: "Prepare to withdraw!"

The team members acted very quickly, almost at the 2 minutes and 15 seconds mark, they packed up all their things, stepped on the gas, and began to retreat at full speed towards the target location.

Nico was intently watching the timer, and as the countdown reached 3 minutes and 01 second, the explosion came as expected behind him.

Just as Nico was preparing to launch the next attack, a team member's voice suddenly came: "Report! The power reserve of the counter-battery radar has entered the first warning position."

Anti-battery radar power supply...

Nico's body jolted suddenly—the Arsu government forces had entrusted the entire battlefield's high pressure to this SEAL team, resulting in Nico having too much intelligence to gather and too much information to process, and he had almost forgotten about this matter!
This is an inevitable mistake that occurs when high pressure and living space are compressed to the extreme.

Human energy has its limits!

Fortunately, to prevent this from happening, Nico had designed two warning lines in advance in the procedure, so that the team members could report in time if there were any signs of a problem.

Nico calmly said, "Reconnaissance Team 1, leave the team and find a fixed reconnaissance position on your own. Conserve fuel, start the diesel generator... Maintain contact with us, pay attention to reconnaissance, do a good job of camouflage, and don't let the enemy sneak up on you."

“Continue to monitor our skies and don’t let their drones in.”

The first artillery reconnaissance team consisted of three of the most elite reconnaissance groups, operating at varying elevations around the battlefield.

Team 2 followed the vehicle-mounted radar of the artillery company.

"receive."

Nico glanced at the artillery scouts who had left the team, his face expressionless, but he quickly reviewed all his actions in his mind.

If one oversight has already occurred, are there no other oversights?
This oversight was only discovered because the program was improved; what about the other oversights?

When a problem surfaces, there are likely already too many problems to count.

However, after carefully reviewing his decisions and actions during this period of heightened pressure, Nico did not find any particularly major flaws.

"O'Connor, help me think about the decisions we've made in the last four hours. Where do you see any high-risk situations that cannot be ignored?"

O'Connor sat in the car, thought about it carefully for a while, and shook his head: "I think they are all reasonable, and there are no major problems at the tactical level."

"Um……"

Nico put aside his various thoughts—since there were no problems, there was no need to overthink it; he could simply trust his own and his teammates' judgment.

After separating from the artillery reconnaissance team 1, they arrived at the designated artillery position, completed two rounds of shelling, and successfully withdrew.

Milton's artillery counterattack also maintained a pace of about 3 minutes, so Nico made the final decision to officially extend the withdrawal time to 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

Even with an extra 15 seconds in each round of shooting, Nico felt the pressure mounting...

Just now, the front line is in dire need of attention again. Milton's tank force has broken through and captured a position, which is located even behind some unconquered positions and beyond some retreating soldiers... If left unchecked, it will cause huge losses!
A whole host of similar positions were requesting artillery support, so Niko could only pick the most important targets to engage.

“Logically speaking, such a protrusion should be very dangerous and easily taken over by the defenders…” O’Connor couldn’t help but sigh. “Now it’s not causing Milton any trouble, but rather causing us trouble. It’s really…”

“No need to complain so much, Milton is on the offensive.” Nico watched the artillery battery arrive at the position and patted the vehicle door. “At this rate, they will be exhausted in two days, and we have reinforcements in the rear… All we have to do is buy time.”

"Prepare to strike the target and blow Milton's salient to smithereens."

"Yes!"

Several more soldiers took stimulants and then began shelling according to procedure.

Firing data...

Loading, launching...

Nico looked at the timer and nodded slightly—everything was going very smoothly and according to plan.

Just as the six M109 guns were firing their fifth round of shells at the target, and the shells were about to leave the barrel, Niko's radio suddenly picked up a message from the second artillery reconnaissance team.

"Report... Radar has detected enemy counter-fire. Please evacuate within 10 seconds. Repeat: Enemy counter-fire detected. Evacuate within 9 seconds."

Boom boom boom!
The sound of the large-caliber howitzer shells leaving the barrel was deafening, but Nico seemed not to hear anything and stood frozen in place.

My brain, which had been a complete mess from working through the night, suddenly cleared up as if it had been forcibly pressed into a pile of ice.

Enemy detected, counter-fire?!

Nico glanced at the timer instinctively—how much time had passed in the hell?!
Based on this timing, the counterattack speed of this round of shelling should be around 2 minutes and 05 seconds!
Previously, the counter-attack speed was always 3 minutes, but now it has suddenly become just over 2 minutes. How is this possible?

Even if the Soviet Union were revived and its most powerful elite artillery were brought over to operate the 2S5, it would be almost impossible for them to achieve that counterattack speed.

Two minutes and 15 seconds is conservative enough... but Milton's artillery did it, keeping the counterattack time to just over two minutes.

No matter how skilled a soldier is, he can't become an "aha" moment and advance the counterattack time by almost a minute.

So... just over two minutes, that's the true strength of Milton's artillery.

Is Milton some kind of god? What makes him so great? Does that mean Milton's men are stronger than our so-called world's best special forces? What's the point of fighting then?

They had been covering up their actions, waiting for us to slip up!
It generally takes only 25-30 seconds from the time a shell leaves the barrel to the time it hits the target. It takes 10 seconds for the shell to be detected by radar after leaving the barrel. In other words, there are only 15 to 20 seconds left before the shell hits the ground. A heavy artillery battery composed of large-caliber howitzers has a very large strike range.

You must leave at least 10 seconds to run for your life before you can say you've barely made it to a relatively safe area.

In other words, Nico couldn't take these M109s, as well as the various shells on the supply trucks, with him.

The thought flashes by in an instant; no matter how confused or reluctant one may be, there will be no hesitation when faced with a choice between life and death.

Suppressing his confusion and pain, Nico roared, "Everyone, drop everything and run! Now!!! Find any cover you can see. Enemy shells will land in 18 seconds!"

The other seals didn't hear the radio amidst the deafening gunfire, but they couldn't disobey their captain's orders.

All the seals suppressed their bewilderment, almost dropped what they were holding, and scattered in all directions at their fastest speed.

The soldiers carrying ammunition instinctively let go, and the heavy shells crashed to the ground, rolling into the muddy ruts. The loader at the gun emplacement, O'Connor, reacted even faster than he thought, leaping out of the vehicle, tumbling to the ground, and fleeing in the same direction as Nico.

The other seals also slammed open the car doors and rolled out of the vehicle at unimaginable speeds, rushing towards the nearest depression without looking back.

All that could be seen was a burst of action, the results of the SEALs' rigorous training were on full display, they ran wildly in different directions without a moment's hesitation or looking back.

Some people found a rock that could barely cover their bodies and curled up behind it.

Nico and O'Connor were luckier and found a shallow depression. They pressed their bodies against it, using all their strength to press their entire bodies firmly into the ground, their faces slamming heavily into the cold, damp soil and pile of rubble.

Before the shells arrived, his last action was to glance at the timer.

next second.

boom--

A sound like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting open came.

The first explosion wasn't nearby, but the dull thud felt like a heavy hammer blow to the chest.

"Cough cough..."

Nico's coughing was completely drowned out by the overwhelming sound of artillery fire. The dense explosions tore through the air, and the earth trembled violently like a drumhead, sending up all sorts of rubble and clods of earth that slammed onto his back and helmet.

A dense, sharp whistling sound swept overhead and around them, the air ripped apart with a constant screeching—if Nico hadn't found this depression, and if it had been half a meter higher, he would have been riddled with bullets by now.

Rumble…

Blinding, incandescent white flashes erupted continuously, their light even outshining the rising sun, and showed no sign of stopping.

Soon, a deafening roar, far more muffled and terrifying than any other explosion, resounded.

Nico knew the supply truck had been hit. The stack of high-explosive shells had been directly detonated, and a massive, orange-red fireball, so large it swallowed all light, suddenly expanded, followed by a churning, mushroom-shaped black cloud.

The fate of those M109s nearby can be easily imagined.

Their self-propelled artillery company was completely annihilated.

At this moment, a deep sense of regret filled Nico's heart—if only he hadn't made that decision, if only he had strictly followed the procedure of fighting and retreating within two minutes, Milton wouldn't have been able to achieve such results.

In just 15 seconds, the outcome of this artillery duel was decided.

When I get back, I must write a proper report, detailing Milton's terrifying fighting prowess.

Konik had no more time for regret or reflection... because even though his ears were filled with a sharp ringing, he could still hear that the shelling had not ended; on the contrary, the sound of shells hitting the ground seemed to have become even more frequent.

"Such a long bombing session..."

Nico glanced at the timer again.

This shelling duration far exceeds what self-propelled artillery should have, and the shelling density is clearly not something a heavy artillery battery could achieve.

Damn it, Milton's towed guns, which had been pulled to the front lines but whose positions hadn't been exposed, also started bombarding this area fiercely!

It's estimated that there must be at least 20 large-caliber howitzers unleashing their full firepower on this small area!

In order to wipe out Nico's force, Milton didn't even bother with supporting the front lines and instead mobilized the firepower of an entire heavy artillery battalion!
As an American, this was the first time he had experienced what it meant to be bombed so badly that he couldn't even lift his head.

Rumble…

Five long minutes passed before the intense bombing gradually subsided.

At this moment, the winter air had been completely ignited, and the heat wave hit Nico's face, scorching his skin and lungs.

But he couldn't think about that anymore.

Nico made a very simple judgment—Milton was going to launch a crazy carpet bombing campaign against the area, with the simple goal of suppressing them and buying time for the rapid reaction force.

Milton's special forces are probably close to this location by now.

At least, it's already close enough to bite!
Nico struggled to his feet from the depression and shouted with all his might, "All team members, assemble! All team members, assemble! Now!"

The M109 can no longer be seen from the artillery positions in the distance.

All that remained were ruins billowing black smoke and burning fuel.

After a quick assembly, Nico quickly took a headcount.

10 people.

We lost more than half of our assets.

If someone dies in a shelling of that scale, let alone their body, they might not even be able to find their dog tag.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that some team members did not die, but were only injured by shrapnel and have a good chance of being rescued. They may still be breathing and subconsciously calling for help in low voices.

But Nico couldn't save them—he even doubted whether he could save himself from such a powerful enemy.

Nico looked at his disheveled men and said, "As the commander, I bear the responsibility for this defeat, but now we must consider our options."

"Over there, in the direction of Solora, the defenses are relatively solid, there's still a large army holding the line, and there are still planes, so there's still hope."

"One failure is not important. As long as we go back, we can make a comeback."

Hearing that they were to flee back instead of continuing to resist, the fear on the faces of many seals lessened.

Nico watched this scene, opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Fear... The world's top special forces, arguably the best of the best, were actually terrified by a warlord from who-knows-where.

The effects of the stimulants were gradually waning, and whenever the soldiers recalled the battle, they could only deeply feel what "despair" meant.

Their individual soldier quality is undoubtedly at least one level higher than Milton's army.

Comilton was able to use his information advantage, his command ability, his intelligence secrecy capabilities, and his numerical and equipment superiority to gradually squeeze their living space, and even considered putting pressure on the Solora command...

The entire team was constantly on the go.

Ultimately, under the pressure of sustained high-pressure, high-intensity combat and the pressure from the rear, Nico made a slight, entirely reasonable, tactical compromise.

Needless to say, Milton seized upon what happened next. Fifteen seconds, an insignificant amount of time in any other context, was all it took.

The entire artillery company was wiped out.

"Everyone, retreat."

"..."

……

"Tax Police Corps" Heavy Artillery Company.

Boom boom boom...

All the soldiers were on edge, driven by a fierce determination—they knew their opponents were elite, and they wanted to prove to the "Godfather" that they were no less capable than anyone else.

"'Godfather,' the enemy has made a mistake! They've extended their shelling withdrawal time to 2 minutes and 15 seconds, which is well within our counterattack time!"

The artillerymen, who held an informational and other advantages but were always slightly outmatched by the enemy, were already feeling frustrated and ashamed. Now that they saw an opportunity, they became excited.

“No need to rush.” Milton waved his hand. “Continue to wear them down and wait for the results at the front.”

"……Yes!"

Boom boom boom...

"'The Godfather,' their counterattack time has been reset to 2 minutes..."

"It's 2 minutes and 15 seconds again, and twice in a row, Mr. 'Godfather,' shall we give it a try?"

"Not in a hurry."

Boom boom boom...

"Reporting to 'Godfather': The Second Armored Company has broken through the enemy's lines and created a salient. The enemy is now in complete disarray! The retreating troops are clearly panicking!"

Milton suddenly spoke up: "Complete the next counterattack against the enemy artillery as quickly as possible!"

Milton wouldn't care what the seals were doing—their probing attacks, their erratic retreats—he wouldn't gamble on the battlefield unless absolutely necessary.

Milton's decision-making approach was to gradually cut off the enemy's other options, create a crucial target on the front lines that the enemy had to bombard with heavy artillery to eliminate, and force them to make the choices they wanted.

What good is a soldier's individual skill level?
Milton's advantages were enough to gradually make up for the disadvantage in "individual soldier quality," enough to corner this elite force and force them to take some tactical risks that seemed to be within the safe redundancy range.

"Yes!!!"

The artillerymen were finally energized!

After the counter-battery radar detected that the enemy had opened fire again, the artillerymen, who had long been familiar with the operating procedures, immediately input the coordinate information into their individual PDAs, and the firing data was calculated instantly!

The artillerymen immediately began adjusting the firing angle according to the firing data.

"Target: Enemy M109 position cluster, coordinates... ammunition type: HE..."

"..."

"Shoot! Shoot!"

Boom boom boom!
The shell is fired!

Meanwhile, battle reports from the front were still coming in—the enemy was shelling the salient, which meant that the enemy had not yet withdrawn!
It worked!
Milton waited for them to finish their work and said, "Send the coordinates to the towed artillery units that have been pulled to the front line and have them bombard the surrounding area in coordination. I need 12 guns and two companies of fire support."

"Yes!"

Forty seconds later, the message came from the scout in charge of operating the drone.

"The First Special Heavy Artillery Company has successfully hit its target. Observation indicates that 6 M109 guns and 2 supply vehicles have been completely covered by artillery fire, and their chances of survival are slim. Note that no enemy vehicle-mounted counter-battery radar has been detected. Over."

Finally, finally!
Hard work pays off!
After utilizing all advantages and exhausting all means, including the use of PDAs, the enemy's damned, annoying artillery force that had been bombarding its high-value targets was completely wiped out!
The entire battlefield situation suddenly became clear!

Milton jumped to his feet: "Don't stop! Keep the barrage firing, bombard them! Tell the towed artillery positions that no one is allowed to stop without my order! Bomb them to death!"

"Tell Flora the information and let her make her own judgment, then deploy rapid reaction forces to surround them! If they can't be captured alive, kill them!"

Once these people enter the area occupied by the army as determined by the panel, the [Battlefield Counter-Espionage] function will be activated, allowing Milton to pinpoint their exact location!

"Where's my guard company? Follow me!"

The others were startled: "'Godfather', isn't this a bad idea? Let's not take this risk... Life is better now, you're already on the front lines, you really don't need to charge into battle."

“What are you thinking?” Milton cursed. “Have you forgotten that enemy scout who’s been bothering you like a fly? I’m going to lead the team to catch them myself!”

Milton had been too preoccupied with other things to care about before, having been disgusted by them for far too long.

Now that the biggest problem has been solved, I can finally deal with this fly.

Milton had a feeling that the people standing in the enemy camp this time might not be from SAD—the CIA wasn't that strong, or rather, their strength wasn't in this area.

"Armored all-terrain vehicles, get ready, everyone put on heavy body armor... Don't be careless, even without heavy artillery, they are still one of the most powerful combat units in the world."

"I'd like to see who's really fighting me this time."

(End of this chapter)