Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 152 Condescending
"The whole day, why haven't they arrived? I mean the Indian tank column yesterday. We can't pretend that they don't exist. If they rush over, we will be finished." Tasim continued to complain, he said It's all a matter of fact. The No. 221 tank has no more ammunition and fuel, but the reinforcements have been arriving for a long time, and the communication has not been restored.And Yahini can only wait here according to the order before losing contact.
"There's always a way, maybe reinforcements are on the way."

"What should we do? We have no fuel, and there is not much ammunition left." The gunner Tasim said, looking at the floor, as if he wanted to stir up something secretly.

"Soldiers should fight to the end, regardless of whether they have ammunition or not." The commander Yahini said decisively. He knew that if he didn't take advantage of Tahim's thoughts now, he would propose to abandon the car and flee soon.

The commander was about to continue talking, when his communicator (connected to the channel outside the tank body through the communication control box in the vehicle) suddenly made a movement. This was the first time in 20 hours, and it seemed that the electronic interference was interrupted.

"Pan Shi 221, are you still there?" It turned out to be the battalion commander's voice.

"This is Panshi 221." Yahini pressed the chest switch and spoke through the throat microphone (the tank communication system allows the commander to communicate with the radio through a communication control box in the vehicle from outside the vehicle.).

"Report your exact location."

"Panshi 221 reports that we are still near Fort De La Valle. But there are no other armored units here, only an infantry company and 8 trucks. Last night we carried out a short counterattack and blocked an enemy column at 30 kilometers. In addition, they destroyed at least seven or eight enemy tanks, and they did not attack the Fort Delavor area all day today." The sergeant slightly exaggerated the results of the battle when he reported.

"Great, so you're still here. I've been worried that you've... Listen, their advance is not over yet. There will be a large-scale attack before sunset, and they must be stopped." Battalion Commander Younis's order was concise and to the point , and there is no extra inspiring information, especially he did not mention support or supplies, which disappointed all the members of the 221 team.

"You mean, a massive attack?" the sergeant yelled, for he was running out of ammunition now.

"One of our companies is already on its way. Your crews must hold the enemy for a while before they can assault the road west of Ujay. We must buy all the time we can to complete the line; think of a way, use the streets and the walls, please. You," pleaded the battalion commander, his words becoming ambiguous, and although he said there was a company, he did not mention when the company arrived.

Before Yahini could reply, the communication was cut off.The earphones are filled with all kinds of noise, and the electronic interference from India was really distracted just now, but now they are making a comeback.

The sergeant looked up at the crumbling walls of Fort Delaware on the high slope.He thought, this is the only way to do it now, and hoped that these ancient ruins could help.

The three bravely drove the No. 221 tank to the high slope. At this time, the civilians in the ancient city were almost gone. Only an infantry company that stayed behind last night was still there. The infantry were very numb, and the trench was half dug. Sitting next to the mound blankly waiting for the enemy to kill.

Yahini got out of the car and looked for the company commander of this company, and finally found it.He walked into the company headquarters in the tent and asked the infantry to cooperate with his chariots. Company commander Saleh suffered a slight head injury during the MiG-21 attack. The order to evacuate was issued, but the order was delayed.He disapproved of this sergeant who broke into his headquarters and pointed at the map.

But when Yahini told the captain that his 221 crew took the initiative to attack last night and easily knocked out 15 Indian tanks, he still calmed down the company commander who had never fought.Then the two sketched out a counterattack plan. The plan was very simple. Yahini would deal with the Indian tanks on the high ground, and the Indian infantry would be handed over to Saleh's company. Covered and retreated, pushed to the hilly area one kilometer to the west.

Yahini believed that Fort Delaware was an obvious landmark on the edge of the desert, and the enemy's firepower would undoubtedly be directed here, so he suggested to the captain that the infantry company's limited-range anti-tank weapons team should be dispersed to several places to the east. In a village, deploy machine guns in civilian houses and don't crowd them in castles, as it is not easy to use firepower, and it is easy to be killed by enemy artillery.Saleh nodded again and again. He felt that although this kid was annoying, what he said did have some truth. It must not be easy to kill 15 Indian tanks.

Finally, Yahini took out a communicator and gave it to the company commander (connected to the crew channel, which can provide duplex
Yahini returned to No. 221, commanded the tank to slowly fall into a section of collapsed wall, and pointed the muzzle to the east. He felt that the location with the back of the turret was a good choice, and the shadow of the tower in the sunset could be well covered. Tanks, especially useful for aircraft that search for ground targets from the air.He then climbed to the top of the tower and sat and waited for the enemy to appear.The turret on the east side of the castle is the commanding height in this area, overlooking the surrounding desert and villages, and the enemy's every move within ten kilometers in front can also be seen.

Soon, smoke and dust could be seen billowing in the distant col.Yahini observed with a telescope in the tower for a while, and there were two black spots about four or five kilometers away. After a while, he saw clearly that two armored vehicles were galloping, but he did not see the main gun.If you get closer, you can tell that this is a reconnaissance vehicle of the Indian Army based on the BMP-2 tank chassis. There is a small-caliber weapon on the turret, which obviously does not pose a threat to No. 2. It seems that they suffered a loss last night. , Changed the method of relying solely on tanks with weak observation capabilities to attack alone.

When the reckless reconnaissance vehicle quickly drove to the farthest village, Yahini just returned to the tank.Apparently, the enemy did not notice the ambush in the village, nor did they see the tanks next to the castle. Yahini has never made up his mind whether to waste shells on such a lightly armored target. Perhaps it is a good way to hand it over to the infantry.

The two soldiers operating 2mm recoilless guns ambushing under the high slope were a little impatient. This was their first time facing a battle, so they were inevitably a little nervous. Two reckless armored reconnaissance vehicles moved slowly on the street, and the commander could clearly see his head poking out of the turret to look around.

"Boom!" The gunner opened fire without waiting for the chariot to reveal its weak side. This shot actually shut down the armored reconnaissance vehicle moving at a low speed. The first reconnaissance vehicle stopped abruptly, while the Indian vehicle Chang also quickly retracted his head into the turret.The loader of the recoilless gun quickly finished loading the second round like clockwork.At this time, 80 meters ahead, the exhaust pipe on the side of the enemy tank emitted thick smoke, and it was obvious that some action was required to re-ignite.The second shot hit the rear side of the hull, there was a slope, and the ammunition bounced off.For some reason, the car was slow to start or return fire. Maybe he hadn't seen the huge flames when the recoilless gun fired. Three rounds completed.

A third shot hit more or less the same spot, but luckily, the scout was hit, and the tank burst into flames.Indian soldiers fled from various exits and were knocked down by a machine gun ambushed nearby.The latter reconnaissance vehicle kept firing smoke bombs in an attempt to escape. Tasim opened his mouth and waited for it to fall into the firing line. The depression angle of the tank's artillery is limited, and he can't shoot it yet.The Indian tank retreated all the way out of the village and seemed to be out of danger. No. 221 pierced its front armor with an armor-piercing shell, and the ammunition in the tank exploded quickly, blowing the turret away. Until someone crawled out of it.

Behind the col, the tanks and infantry of the Indian 16th Infantry Division, guided by the billowing smoke, swooped over.Spanga changed the previous restrictions on the division and let it attack.The division commander Janaguri ordered the only tank regiment of the division to rush forward. He knew very well that his T72 tanks were at a disadvantage in terms of night vision equipment after dark, so he had to rush forward before the sun went down, and his foothold would be unstable. The enemy's front line was completely destroyed.

Yahini counted the number of enemy tanks. When he counted to 15, the green light on the communication control box was on, indicating that it was the communication outside the vehicle. He turned on the intercom, and the panicked voice of Captain Saleh came from the other end.

"Too many, a battalion of infantry."

"Don't be afraid, they are completely exposed in the desert, and they don't know our number." Yahini said, in fact, he himself has no experience in fighting enemy infantry.

Saleh hesitated and did not speak. It seemed that the company commander still lacked the tempering of fighting, and it was difficult for soldiers to grow up without going through real battles.

"Look at those trucks," Yahini said.

"I saw it," Saleh replied.He could indeed see through the binoculars a large number of Indian trucks parked in a distant place. There were no towed artillery behind the trucks, only a large number of soldiers were jumping off the trucks, and then marching here in a file.

"It's just a motorized infantry, at best a third-rate force without artillery cover." Yahini said pretendingly contemptuously. His intention was to inspire the company commander's fighting spirit, but he didn't realize that such words might hurt Captain Saleh, because the captain's border guard company is also a low-level force, and the main task of the company is to conduct high-kicking queue drills at the India-Pakistan border checkpoints and perform guards of honor before the flag is raised.

"I hope they can collapse at the first touch as you said." After the company commander finished speaking, he turned off the communicator.

Yahini slowly looked for the first target in the periscope. He hoped to hit the first shot and boost morale.But the Indian tank came to a halt about 3 kilometers away, which was beyond his confident range.Perhaps they were waiting for sluggish infantry, or perhaps an artillery cover?If there are a few laser beam-guided gun-launched missiles in the No. 221 tank at this time, it is entirely possible to kill a few of them while they are parked there, but in the First Armored Division, only platoon commander-level vehicles can be equipped with such rare weapons. Weapons, and now Sergeant Yahini can only wait for the enemy to run into range by himself.

(End of this chapter)