Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 160 The Arrival of the Tornado

On the hillside in the distance, Abad did not choose to move his position, and his platoon kept firing grenades at the bridgehead.These grenades do a lot of damage to weakly armored infantry fighting vehicles.

Spanga, who had been observing the opposite bank, found that something was wrong. Why did the situation suddenly take a turn for the worse?He remembered that the shelling had leveled the city, but where was all that direct fire coming from?Why did the Air Force allow enemy planes to attack the bridge several times?Thinking of this made him angry.

As a last resort, he wondered, is it time for the tank to prepare to forcibly dive across the Indus River?As long as a battalion of tanks crossed the river, the situation would immediately turn around.However, swimming in such a firefight area is very dangerous.Tanks can't go into battle immediately after crossing the river, so diving has always been his main option and a way he has always avoided.But now it seems that the enemy on the opposite side gradually has a bargaining chip in their hands. Obviously, reinforcements from afar are gathering, and he must consider all means.

"Let the engineers move faster. Before dawn, the three pontoon bridges must be built. Also, inform Major General Makani to prepare his armored troops for swimming operations." Spanga said.Someone immediately called and contacted the 3st Division.

The prior intelligence work of the Indian intelligence agency was very in-depth. Spanga knew the hydrological data of every section of the Indus River passing through Sindh Province. He knew that it was not the depth that hindered the diving, but the width. The width of this river is more than 600 meters. meters, close to the limit of diving, and long-term underwater diving will make the movement time of the snorkel on the surface of the water very long, and it is easy to be hit by direct fire.In addition, the embankment on the west side of the river is relatively steep, and the tank's eyes are dark under the water, and the track loses its grip, so it may not be able to go ashore smoothly.In fact, this is also the reason why he sent bulldozers to dig long ditches on the opposite bank first. The erection of pontoon bridges also cannot avoid this problem. It is still necessary to open up a relatively gentle river beach.Fortunately, 3000 Indian troops have established a position 300 meters deep and 800 meters wide on the opposite bank, which reduces the risk.

"Report to the commander, the commander of the 31st Division has something to say." The adjutant said and handed over the microphone.Spanga hesitated for a moment, and took it. He knew that the plan to cross the Indus River would be resisted by the officers below, and it was indeed too dangerous.

"Commander, you can't do this." On the other end of the phone, Markani, the commander of the 31st Armored Division, shouted anxiously. "This is Master White Tiger, the master you brought out with your own hands."

"So you have to take advantage of the darkness. Swimming during the day is more dangerous," Spanga said.

"Commander, I found that the enemy's anti-aircraft firepower is very weak. At least paratroopers should be used first, or... Army aviation." Manica continued to resist this order. As a commander, this is a natural thing. The tank walks underwater , or even be killed by an enemy machine gun.

Spanga did not respond immediately. The secondary plans mentioned by Makkani were already prepared. Makkani himself participated in the formulation of the plan, which is naturally clear.The Lieutenant General himself was always inclined to send the armor across the river quickly, which would solve the problem once and for all.But now it seems that it is very difficult to fight quickly.He thought, maybe he should listen to Makani's words. After all, the White Tiger Division is his old army and the best armored division in India. He couldn't bear to let the boys take the risk of diving in the flames of war.

Seeing that Spanga hadn't spoken for a long time, Makani knew that his words had worked.He continued:

"I think it's better to implement the second plan, let the mechanized infantry float across the river downstream and outflank Sukkur."

"Well, let at least one T90 company prepare for the dive... But, don't move for now, let the 474th Engineer Brigade of the Second Army quickly rush to other marked areas downstream to find places where bridges can be built." Spann Gha said that due to good preparations, all four Indian Army engineering brigades and most of the bridging equipment are now in his Central Commando Group, so he can have many ways to cross the river, which is currently being crossed. The desert came.

"I don't see a problem. Air Force reconnaissance shows that they are poorly prepared in the entire river area, with not much heavy firepower, although the rest of the bridges on the river have been blown up. But the 11th Mechanized Infantry Division can easily cross the river Go, disintegrate their line of defense." On the other end of the phone, Markani hinted calmly.He hoped that the dangerous task of floating and clearing the river bank would be handed over to the 11th Division's aircraft battalion.As an old subordinate, he always had something to say in Spanga, and it was not so easy for other division commanders to pick and choose tasks.

"Without a main battle tank, I'm worried..."

"My tanks and artillery can cover them across the river on the east bank." Makeni continued to insinuate, hoping that Spanga would make up his mind.

"Well, for the time being, the infantry fighting vehicles of the 11th Division can only try to float downstream and establish positions." Spanga said.He is a hardcore tankist, and all offensive plans rely heavily on tanks. He has always been skeptical about whether infantry fighting vehicles with light firepower and thin armor can complete assault tasks independently.In addition, as a tank expert, he knows very well that the chassis manufacturing process of the Indian-made BMP-11 tanks equipped by the 2th Infantry Division is always not up to standard. During the exercise, problems such as slow crossing speed and serious water leakage were also exposed. Crossing a river that is 500 to 700 meters wide, God knows what will happen.But it is also a way to let them try it in the dark.

"Commander, I think this plan is feasible." Markani agreed cautiously.

"Well, let's do this. According to the second plan, launch a forcible crossing attack in all designated areas. Let the paratroopers dispatch immediately and parachute deep in the west of the river. I want to see the reality of their coastal defense." Spanga finished. , hung up the phone, raised his hand and looked at his watch, he estimated that it would take some time to cross the river.

Airdropping paratroopers to control the enemy's rear is also a backup method that the staff has been arguing endlessly, because considering the casualties of airdrops at night, Spanga has been hesitant to use paratroopers in the first place.Unlike Singer, Spanga was never a gambler, he was a calculating man, and he knew that if he didn't use tank troops to submerge, the time had come to play both cards at the same time, with light armor The chariot cooperates with the paratroopers to start a melee with the enemy to maintain the time and space required for the engineers to build the bridge, and it will inevitably cost more blood and time.But war itself is like this. If you can't win by cleverness, then you can only defeat the enemy by strength.

"By the way, contact Captain Chalabi and ask his men not to stop and continue their activities. Be sure to understand the enemy's overall deployment, especially their heavy firepower."

"Understood." The adjutant replied.

"Also, continue to search for the enemy's command post. The shelling just now obviously did not cause the enemy on the other side to lose command. Let them find out quickly."

"Yes."

The Chalabi team hiding in the old city of Sukkur has been avoiding the shelling of their own army and the search of the Pakistani military police among the ruins of Sukkur.According to their secret guidance, Pakistan's command post and ammunition depot have been blown up by the firepower from the other side, but Pakistan's command does not seem to be paralyzed. It seems that the overwhelming shooting of the tornado did not kill the supreme commander.In addition, the original intelligence shows that the enemy's soft-bad unit does not have decent armor and artillery, but the new information shows that they have at least one howitzer unit above 105 mm (actually the grenades fired by the 89 tank destroyer platoon) Lurking in the rear position.Now is the time for the special forces to dispatch again.

Chalabi's subordinates soon discovered that the communications in Pakistan depended entirely on the correspondents on motorcycles. The whereabouts of these correspondents who shuttled through the artillery fire were very doubtful. It seemed that they were not in the city, but always ran out of the city.The captain was keenly aware of the strangeness.

Colonel Majid's temporary headquarters was established in a forest outside the city, away from artillery fire, overlooking the entire Sukkur and the other side of the river.Since the direct company was sent to fight, there was only one guard platoon and half a communication company waiting to receive orders.After the colonel survived the tornado attack, he decided to keep a low profile. Instead of finding a basement where he could be buried alive, he came to this wilderness where evacuation is easy. In addition, he strictly ordered all vehicles not to approach, and the surrounding area The deployment of troops is also very loose, lest the enemy planes find some clues from the military vehicles parked together.

"Has the tank unit on the hillside been in contact?" asked the brigade commander with a bandage on his head.

"Communication soldiers have searched all over the world. The howitzers on the opposite side attacked the hill just now, but those tanks have moved their positions. I don't know if they have been found." What is the number of reinforcements.

"Thanks to the timely arrival of these tanks this time. Also, is there any new news from the headquarters?"

"The signal troopers sent to Sicabul have not returned yet."

"If the reinforcements can arrive before dawn, there will be rescue." The brigade commander said.His words showed a bit of confidence. Now he still has more than half of the fully formed brigade and some improvised remnants of other troops, which are much more numerous than the enemies who have crossed the river.Of course, it was impossible to eliminate this group of enemies. After the fight, he already knew that the fighting power of the enemy battle group was far higher than his own.

Brigadier Majid walked out of the camouflage net. The battle in the east was in full swing, but the enemy's uninterrupted artillery fire seemed to have weakened a little.He wondered if their offensive momentum had been weakened.

"I always felt unsafe here, and told the guard platoon to move to the back of the mountain."

There was a piercing scream in his ear, he had experienced such an attack once, and he knew that it was the unique sound when the tornado rockets approached. Clusters of flames appeared in the sky from the red clouds, and the dense rockets were heading towards him without any trace. The sheltered temporary headquarters was covered.The colonel knew that his death was imminent this time, but he couldn't figure it out, how could the headquarters be exposed?
A few seconds later, the entire hilltop and the forest were cut to the ground by this battalion-scale salvo.The attacking firepower was so intense that it was unimaginable, it was like the end of a personal grievance.Within a radius of 200 hectares, no one could possibly survive such an attack, not even the wreckage left behind.

(End of this chapter)