Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 424
The flares fired outside the city fell from the sky one after another, slowly illuminating the small and silent town of Dingsugiya. During the intervals between the fall of the flares, there were short, tentative fires all over the city. This is the firepower of the Indians. As a test, they hope to exchange fire immediately, so as to judge the size of the Chinese army.

What the Indian tank troops did not expect was that the technical advantages of thermal imaging equipment were completely and quickly lost in the heavy rain.These tank soldiers from areas with little rain have never had such mental preparations-infantry wearing raincoats in heavy rain are almost invisible in the thermal imager.Most of the commanders, including the unit, did not realize how much trouble this rain would cause.Kambia Kun himself was secretly glad not long ago that the coming of this heavy rain will stop the Chinese Air Force from wreaking havoc.His attack was a bit frizzy, he didn't put down his infantry, he first established a foothold in the poor streets of this small city, and he didn't dispatch troops to act separately, but attempted to complete the occupation while marching.

Lin Huaisheng was much more prepared than the 4th Brigade. His anti-tank team was all deployed in the last third of the town.Because the streets here are the narrowest.He expected the enemy tanks to march here, and they should be able to pull up to several long enough columns.This is quite beneficial to your own anti-tank firepower, hitting the enemy's weaker armor from the side.

Out of caution, Lin Huaisheng placed three companies equipped with anti-tank missiles outside the city to prevent the enemy from quickly outflanking. In the city, he deployed several infantry companies with only rocket launchers, and the core positions were defended by Xue Xiaoyan's reconnaissance company. .He added some heavy anti-tank teams to the reconnaissance company code-named Fox. The requirements were not high, as long as they could hold the enemy for a while.

The leading Indian tank stopped and went, looking very cautious.The superior kept urging the leading company C to move forward, but the commander realized that the last few hundred meters would not be that simple.The enemies outside the city are constantly firing flares, which means that there must be something hidden in the dark places in the city.

The commander kept looking around, but the periscope on the conning tower was completely blocked by the water flow. Only when the opponent's flare fell, could he see the outline of the gloomy building opposite.And the sound of raindrops hitting the armor actually overwhelmed the sound of the engine idling, everything was too weird.

On the radio, the company commander continued to shout:

"Don't dawdle, we're running out of time, hurry and cross the railroad."

"Company commander, I request to turn on the headlights. There are some strange things on the ground that may be covering mines."

"Are you crazy?" the company commander said loudly, obviously a little angry at this ignorant request, "Hurry up and act."

The Chinese anti-tank team hiding around the corner heard the harsh sound of the tank tracks rolling over the gravel.A bolt of lightning fell, and the hideous shadow of a tank could be seen reflected on the opposite wall.

"Don't rush to fire, wait for my order." The Chinese squad leader roared loudly over the sound of the rain, and he was confident that the enemy in the tortoise shell would not be able to hear it.

The tank rumbled towards it, and in a blink of an eye it drove up a pile of broken bricks, and there was indeed a landmine hidden underneath.

With a dull explosion, the tank stopped suddenly, and then the track shoe on one side rolled to the ground, and a burnt smell filled the air.

Finding that the tank was out of control, the panicked commander hurriedly turned the periscope and the top machine gun to prepare for a counterattack, but he couldn't see anything.Then he started calling into the radio.The tanks behind each reacted differently, and suddenly huddled together.

A Chinese soldier poked his head out quietly from a square platform on the second floor, carrying a PF89 rocket launcher on his shoulders. Amidst the thunder and lightning, he saw the rotating turret below.He pointed at the approximate location of the engine, pulled the trigger, and quickly shrank his head; but the distance was too close, and the fragments after the explosion still flew past the helmet.The slow-response Indian tanks then fired wildly, but most of them couldn't see the exact location clearly through the optical equipment, let alone be accurate.

The Indian tank that was hit suddenly burst into flames, exposing all the other nearby tanks. It can be seen that this is the third tank in the queue.In the flickering flames, the tank's turret was still turning back and forth.

The second rocket came from the side and hit the turret accurately, but only detonated the reactive armor.At this time, the first tank in the lead was also hit once by a rocket in the dark, and the armor-piercing jet was blocked by the armor. It was safe for the time being, but the tank could not move, and could only be beaten.

After the sudden sound of guns and guns, Kambiakun has been observing the battle situation ahead, seeing the flames on the street, only hearing the sound of his own weapons counterattacking out of order, it seems that the situation is not good.Soon Company C reported to him that the enemy had occupied favorable street terrain and launched an attack.

The terrain here is also enough to give him a big head, and the infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns with a relatively large shooting range behind him can't go up for a while.He immediately ordered the infantry to get out of the vehicles, march towards the sound of guns and guns, and throw themselves into the battle from floor to floor.Then order the tank A company to pass through the low houses on one side, and push out a road directly, threatening the enemy's rear.

The road leading to the train station is burning, and there are explosions one after another.The turret of the first tank was miraculously still turning, all of its reactive armor had been detonated, and the top optics had been blown up by fragments, but the gunner's sighting equipment was still firing shells.It was previously reported that this tank had been penetrated at least 3 times, but there were always live holes inside.

Xue Xiaoyan hid behind the artillery mirror, waiting for the heavy bazooka team to slowly set up the launcher behind the railway embankment, hoping that the heavy firepower would solve the problem in one fell swoop.At the same time, the surveillance team reported to him that the follow-up enemy did not stop in place, but advanced directly from the low old city.And saw that the infantry had dismounted, and had joined the fire with the troops in front.

Lin Huaisheng's command post is leaking, and he is sitting in it wearing a raincoat waiting for news. His drone has just lost contact in the storm, and now he can only determine the battle situation through the radio.

Several companies outside the city called for artillery fire one after another, and the staff kept updating the enemy's position on the map. The blue arrow was almost on the side of the train battle.Obviously, the enemy did not hesitate to crush the city into powder, but also to make a way out. The 4th Brigade's counterattack was quite decisive, which was beyond his expectations.

Lin Huaisheng's howitzer unit has been correcting its direction according to the enemy's movements, and can fire at any time, but its determination is always difficult.He knew that most of the civilians in this city had already fled, so he didn't seem to need to bind himself.

"Old Ding, are you going to cover and shoot? You can't be stingy when you seize the fighter." He began to seek the determination of others.

"In my opinion, it's better not to open fire on residential areas. You can't bear the responsibility." Lao Ding resolutely dismissed his idea, so the shelling operation had to be suspended.The [-]th Armored Brigade broke into Sudin Yaji, obviously with malicious intent to kidnap civilians, but he was trapped by the policy.

At the same time, Xue Xiaoyan's friendly troops on both sides had already fallen into a fierce battle with the enemy's infantry. There was a sound of explosions in the east of the city. He could hear that the two sides were blindly shooting at each other from a long distance away.After a while, the Indian infantry's advance seemed to be stopped.Probably because their eyes were darkened, they also lacked the courage to take the initiative to fight.But on the other side, an Indian tank is still advancing recklessly, and has already crushed a large area of ​​the city into ruins.

The tenacious Indian tank directly in front was finally penetrated by the 120mm rocket launcher and stopped moving. White smoke began to emerge from the seams of the turret.

Two hours ago, Lin Huaisheng personally taught Company Commander Xue the method of pinching the head and cutting the tail through the radio. Now the first step has been completed, but he doesn't know where his other troops that cut off the back are at this moment?
On the south side of the small town, Kambiakun's brigade was blocked on the road and could not move, although Company A had made some progress in its attack.But in the dark, most of his troops were completely at a loss, unable to deploy, and everything was changing out of control.Of course he also knows that armored vehicles must be constrained in urban combat and need to be extra careful, but he is eager to control this small town with only 15 square kilometers, and he really underestimates the enemy.

"Quickly get Search Company out of the way and B Company to go around sideways."

The major general, wearing a raincoat, sat on the turret and shouted.However, the troops were in a mess and their location was unknown, and it was impossible to fully convey his original intention by relying on the radio alone.He weighed the pros and cons, and decisively ordered the guards to turn on the headlights. At the same time, he recruited a messenger to send the attack route he had drawn to the company commanders of each company.

The BMP-1 tanks of the search company that had put down the infantry were originally planning to follow up and cover, but they received an order to make way for the passage, and did not specify the exit area, so the tanks of the whole company began to advance and retreat in the direction they understood. , exposing the flanks of the troops directly under the brigade headquarters.

The detachment sent by "Fox" to cut off the enemy's rear has also lost its way in the torrential rain. After passing by Indian infantry several times and dodging the rampaging T90 tanks, the commander discovered that this It's a little too big.After the enemy tanks passed, the original hidden alley no longer existed.This small town is too small to withstand the random smearing on the map by the commanders of both sides. Especially after the Indian tanks advanced, the original maps drawn by the two sides based on satellite photos were no longer usable.

It was easy to penetrate to the rear of the Chinese army, and the sound of rumbling chariots was heard from behind the ruined walls.The platoon leader stuck his head out from the gap in the broken wall, and saw that the front was brightly lit. Two self-propelled anti-aircraft guns occupy the front and rear commanding heights, and many motorcycles shuttle back and forth, surrounding several tanks.

Of course, the platoon leader could see clearly that it might be a headquarters after the enemy occupied the urban area. Judging from the size of the troops in the core position, it was probably a company directly under it and some air defense communication units.He counted, and there are a total of 9 tanks in a guard formation facing the front and both wings, but there is a gap behind the side. Although there is no command vehicle, one can see a tank with an obvious extra antenna parked in the middle. There was another officer with most of his body exposed. Although he couldn't see his rank clearly, he guessed from the way he talked to the motorcyclist below that it was a big fish.

The platoon leader quickly greeted a PF98 bazooka team and quietly prepared to launch on the rubble pile 150 meters away.The terrain was not very good and there was some inclination, and the lights of the cars sweeping around from time to time were bright enough to expose the group, but the Indians' vigilance was very sloppy, and they never paid attention to the side and rear direction.

"The guy in the car must be killed." The platoon leader said in the shooter's ear.

"We have to find a way to detonate the reactive armor first."

"I'll figure out a way, you just listen to my password," said the platoon leader, "I knew I would bring an extra sniper rifle."

The shooter aimed at a stationary target from within a narrow field of view scope.The vertical raindrops showed that there was no wind deflection at all, and he could calmly point the crosshairs at the side of the enemy's turret. To be on the safe side, he didn't perform laser ranging to prevent the enemy from finding out, but it can be roughly judged by the reticle. Even if the distance is a little bit worse, the impact point is lower, and it may hit the ammunition in the chassis, which is still acceptable.He is not as greedy as the platoon leader, thinking about killing a senior officer at once.

Ready to fire, a BMP-1 tank suddenly drove slowly to the side of the command vehicle, and the low infantry fighting vehicle completely blocked the equally low tank.The shooter can only wait in the heavy rain.I saw two Indian commanders sitting on their respective turrets in the distance, talking loudly, as if arguing, and finally the commander on the infantry fighting vehicle got into the turret angrily and drove away.The tank reappeared in profile.

In an instant, several 80mm rockets were fired first, followed by 120mm rockets after a second.When the light rocket hit the reactive armor, Major General Kambiakun, who was exposed half of his body on the roof, was injured by the reactive armor. He fell into the tank and his face was bloody when he touched it.

Immediately, the 120mm rocket directly penetrated the weak side armor.The anti-explosion system in the car responded in a timely manner, and the top hatch was opened, so no fatal injuries were caused.

The major general stood up dumbly, feeling the rotation of the chassis, the tank was turning sharply, blocking the front from the front.

(End of this chapter)