Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 446 New Commander
Before the formation arrived at the designated area, the radar did not find any trace of the helicopter. This enemy is always good at using the mountains to hide their whereabouts, and they are very vigilant. It is indeed difficult to shoot them down with air-to-air missiles.But this time they had some negligence, and they did not push the cordon of the temporary takeoff and landing field far enough. A nearby reconnaissance force successfully discovered its takeoff and landing field and sent back location information.Intelligence indicated that the enemy was fleeing, and if they were quick enough, they could be pinned down.

After the three fighters arrived, they immediately circled at high altitude.In standard mode, the bomber begins searching for targets through the pod.The enemy is close to the ground, and has a brown-green camouflage that is very suitable for the local mountainous areas. However, when observing from a high altitude, its flying rotors can easily expose them for a long time.It can be seen that there are a total of more than ten planes, some of which have already taken off and started to move south, and others are coming. The command plane told Zheng Hui that the enemy may all escape within 3 minutes.

The pilot in the back seat of Zheng Hui saw the pointing laser fired by the ground reconnaissance force, and the laser pointed to a Mi-17 transport plane on the edge of the takeoff and landing field. He suggested that Zheng Hui give up this ready-made opportunity to the formation. another plane.

The field of view of the J-16 at this time is wider than that of the Mountain Eagle troops hiding in the dark, and they can see the whole picture of the enemy well.The pilot fired a laser at a helicopter that was kicking up dust and was about to take off and flee.This is an extremely challenging goal for guiding a 250kg unpowered bomb.

"Kunlun, please give priority to attacking the fleeing targets. We must block them all here."

"Move the crutches, you can figure it out yourself."

The blinding laser beam followed the helicopter as it quickly turned around in a hover and moved south.The helicopter's controls looked awkward, and the pilot thought, maybe there's a platoon on it?Or is Lausanne himself on it?While thinking, he put his hand on the button.

The "Hovering Angels" squadron is going through the most difficult period.Although it has been expanded and supplemented several times, this squadron once became the largest helicopter squadron in India, but in the continuous months of brutal combat, the number of helicopters has lost nearly half in the mountains, and the ratio of battle damage to accident crashes is close to 1. 2.And in order to cooperate with Lausanne's various strange and insane plans, this experienced combat force was forced to seek a gap for survival in various dangerous situations.The commonly used skills include: find the route in the blind spot of the opponent's artillery fire; use ultra-low-altitude aircraft to avoid high-altitude fighter jets; complete take-off and landing as quickly as possible to avoid various attacks. With the experience of missiles, it is obviously feasible to use mountains to avoid medium-range missiles, although the cost is that many planes crashed into the mountains.But today, such a narrow survival gap is about to close, and they are about to hit the gate of hell.

It is only 2.5 kilometers away from the attacking vanguard of the Chinese ground forces. In fact, it is only separated by a mountain and a local security force with ulterior motives at any time - the 9th Battalion of the Assam National Army, also known as the Mizoram Rifle. The Ninth Battalion of the Wing - she even has the honorary title left over from the Victorian era. Most of the members are Hindus from Bangladesh, and the combat effectiveness is close to zero in the eyes of Lausanne Gyatso.

A few days ago, in order to seize the commander of the Nepalese army, Lausanne hastily dispatched a unit from the south of Warong to here. Now he suddenly changed his mind and asked the hovering angel helicopter to quickly transfer these people back.This capricious person really terrifies the pilots of the "Hovering Angel".

One thing Lausanne didn't know was that right after he broke his promise, the Gurkha Battalion decided to disarm the Chinese troops with dignity, on the condition that the Chinese government arranged for them to go back to Nepal.However, before the terms of the negotiation were negotiated, they gave priority to providing the location of the newly established temporary takeoff and landing field of the 51st Squadron, hoping that the Chinese Air Force would strike immediately.

The Eagle Troops did not take too much effort to find this place. If there is no tip-off from the enemy, it would be very difficult to catch the treacherous and fast "hover angel". The scouts who climbed up on two legs , usually only visible from afar as they appear and disappear on the edge of the ridge.Lausanne chose this place in a relatively good location, surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the Chinese army's forward curved firepower is not easy to hit.The plane can fly south along a ravine for a certain distance to get rid of the radar threat from east of the river. Of course, such flying requires extremely high technical requirements.

"Captain, I have a hunch that Lausanne is up there."

"No, that kind of person is not so easy to die." Zheng Hui replied.

A shrieking bomb fell from the sky and landed on the low-speed moving helicopter impartially, causing a white light on the monitor.The plane was smashed to the ground in an instant.The huge rotor that was blown up whizzed towards the soldiers lying down on the hillside 150 meters away. Although these people were well-trained, they still couldn't escape the rotor like a lawn mower flying among the crowd. Stop, half the company has been reimbursed.

The J-16 formation originally thought that this dispatch would inevitably return empty-handed, but they did not expect to encounter the enemy when returning.In the entire southern Tibet battlefield, Lausanne's troops were the most ruthless.There is no prioritization of targets within the Chinese Army Command, but the unwritten statement among the staff is that Lausanne has a higher priority than any other Indian general. Xu Jingzhe's radio interception team and several reconnaissance units have also been Find his whereabouts, but always unsuccessful.

The 250kg bombs fell one after another, and the valley suddenly turned into a sea of ​​flames. Although the steep mountains here can withstand artillery fire, at least there is no cover on the top. The 11 helicopters, which were ready to be full of soldiers and wounded waiting to escape, and a large number of infantry waiting to board, were completely covered by the explosion.

Lobsang Gyatso was on a hill 4 kilometers away. Seeing that most of his battalion could not withdraw, he smashed his fist on the nearby pine tree, rubbing off a layer of bark.Reason told him that there was no time to send planes to pick up the remaining personnel of this force, and the Chinese army was quickly passing through the defense zone of the surrendering troops to the vicinity.The enemy is familiar with this kind of division tactics, and they also have air supremacy. If they hate it, they may even get into it.

He resolutely reneged on his promise to be the last one to evacuate from the war zone, and fled south with his streamlined headquarters on a helicopter.He didn't know where the 5th Mountain Division was now, and he didn't want to know; none of these things were as important as the one before him.He was going to touch the most dangerous thing on earth, he thought, if the enemy knew that the most dangerous thing fell into the hands of the most dangerous people, they would definitely regret launching this war.

"When I come back, I will bring the power to make you all tremble, even if I go to hell, I will not hesitate."

He grabbed the open hatch of the helicopter, looked at the flames in the distance and said bitterly.

Xu Jingzhe's new plan had just been submitted to the commander. After reading it, the commander's face became stiff.He is an enlightened old-school soldier who essentially rejects opportunistic tactics. Simply put, he loathes so-called "special operations."He didn't believe that a crucial victory could be achieved by impromptu plans and insufficient preparation.So when he saw an Indian Mi-35 helicopter appearing in Xu's plan, he inevitably shook his head.

"This, can it still fly?"

"With replacement short wings and reinforced supports... it's ok, the engine is fine."

"But even then, you can only carry very few soldiers to that position, and coordinating with the chief of staff's forward force is a problem."

"The most accurate information we have obtained is that the enemy has not yet placed explosives on the northern approach of the bridge. As long as the south bank is under control, Lin Huaisheng's troops can quickly pass through the bridge and establish a bridgehead in the north."

Xu Jingzhe did not answer the commander's question, but jumped to the biggest possible goal of this battle, hoping to impress the commander to support his plan.

The commander's complexion is getting worse and worse. In principle, he must not tolerate adventurism. To a certain extent, war is a competition between the professionalism and planning of the two staffs, and he is definitely not a gambler who gambles on luck.He stared at Xu Jingzhe and asked, "How sure are you?"

"No more than [-]%."

"Then go do it."

After speaking, the commander turned around and didn't care about this mess anymore.For him, the military significance of being able to capture Tespur in advance is very attractive. Since the beginning of the war, although the enemy has been retreating steadily, they have not wiped out a large number of effective enemy forces through a large-scale encirclement and annihilation battle.Time is not entirely on his side. The window period for Shannan's attack will end soon. Once the transportation is delayed, the war may become a stalemate. This is obviously the worst outcome.

On the other wall of the command room, a new huge screen suddenly lit up. The screen showed the situation in the Dawang area, and a new offensive was about to start.The reason why the battle in the direction of Dawang has been delayed until now is that in order to prevent the enemy from being too nervous, they actively retracted to Tespur, which is actually creating conditions for Lin Huaisheng's attack.

"There are still 2 hours, and the battle is about to start. How is the situation on the border of Bhutan?" The first question the commander turned out to be the weak neighboring country next to him.

"Security has been stepped up at checkpoints and border police have formed a standoff with the Indian Army."

"Be wary of the enemy fleeing from Bhutan."

"The drone has been dispatched."

The shelling of the area around Tawang has been going on, and the drones are flying along the border of Bhutan at will, monitoring the Indian 2nd Mountain Division for signs of movement towards the border of Bhutan.Indian fighter jets have been relying on intrusion into the airspace of neighboring countries to achieve tactical goals, and it is difficult to guarantee that its ground forces will not repeat the old tricks.

In the shelling battle on the border, the 2nd Mountain Division and the 56th Infantry Division opposite Dawang were at an absolute disadvantage. They only had some old 105mm howitzers with a limited range. Once they fired, they would be attacked immediately. , and every shell fired from the opposite side exceeded this caliber.

Lieutenant General Moro Gani, the commander of the 2nd Mountain Division, is thinking about the future in fear. Two hours ago, he had just become the commander of the Eastern Military Region. He wanted to shirk, but his superiors did not give him such a chance.

Chaguye used to be the head teacher of the Second Division. After being promoted, he was proud of himself for a while, but now he is in prison; A bomb said to weigh 4 tons was detonated.Obviously sitting in the position of this commander, there are only two ways out for the time being: either to be targeted and eliminated by the enemy air force, or to become a scapegoat for the political struggle in New Delhi.

Morogani had to figure out a third way out for himself.In the end, he thought of a general retreat. In the retreat that was faster than the enemy's attack, he would withdraw all the troops in the Assam area and knead them together.Once the main force retreats to the narrow area east of Siguri, a defense system with a narrow front and a large depth can be formed.He studied Pasade's plan of operations and found some operational principles that could be used.For example, if you retreat decisively against the shortcomings of Chinese transportation, you can shorten your own supply line and at the same time extend the opponent's supply line.Don't look at how fierce the Chinese army's offensive is now. Once the mountains are covered by heavy snow, the situation will be very different.They occupy several airports around Jabuwa, and they can only maintain a logistics supply of 7 to 8000 troops. This is not a problem of the number of airports, but a problem of insufficient strategic transportation capacity of the Chinese Air Force.Such transportation capacity is not enough to support their large-scale offensive in winter.From this, it is not difficult to draw a conclusion that behind the enemy's rapid offensive, their real goal-the goal of quickly annihilating the main force of the Indian Army has not yet been achieved.

Come whatever you are worried about, just like what was discovered at the frontier of Zayu, the shelling of the opposing army is becoming more and more violent, and the electronic reconnaissance troops have also intercepted more and more radio call signs of the enemy in front of them, although they are true and false , but the lieutenant general can judge from this that the battle in Tawang is going to start in a few hours.

Taking advantage of this interval, the lieutenant general quickly left the headquarters, took a helicopter through the airspace of Bhutan, and transferred to the temporary headquarters 100 kilometers west of Tespur.At present, it is the only safe solution to carry out various maneuvers through the airspace of Bhutan. The Chinese Air Force has not yet crossed the airspace of Bhutan.

The interim headquarters is located between Tespur and Siguri, which is still covered by India's receding and shrinking air defense circle.In fact, it was part of the vertical defense line built by Pasade a long time ago. Although it was not completed, there was always a place where the new commander could be temporarily placed.No one knew why Pasade had such a vision. Not long ago, his plan had been criticized by the Ministry of Defense as cowardly and unprogressive.

(End of this chapter)