Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 488 The Longbow Threat

However, Yahini's crew is different. The gunner Tasim has more than 300 hits at various distances (including firepower points), and he can almost completely integrate himself into the middle of the ballistic calculation. Because the target is too far away, it is very difficult to It is difficult to track the target stably by manual means, and the accurate lead number can be calculated by sampling the angular velocity (turret rotation speed).Only experience that is different from ordinary people can make up for it, and of course it depends on some luck.

"Keep the cannon-fired missiles and an armor-piercing projectile, I believe you can do it." Yahini said.He guessed that if he could hit it with one shot, he could scare the enemy behind. His gunner had hit the target at a longer distance, but it was on the plains and the wind direction was more stable.

Gunner Tarsim had been tracking the lead enemy tank, a target he had chosen because it seemed to have the most consistent speed and seemed nonchalant.

The small flag on the antenna of the enemy tank fluttered in the wind, which was more intuitive than the number obtained by the cross-wind measurement sensor.The laser ranging numbers jump up and down at 3205 meters, accurate to the meter.Accurate ranging makes it very easy for the fire control to adjust the height direction, but it is more difficult to adjust the horizontal direction.He observed for a few seconds at the maximum magnification of the optical sight, then corrected the firing line to a position well in front of the target, and pressed the launch button.

Of the 10 chariots in the entire position, only the company commander opened fire first in the car.Yahini watched the shell fluttering and falling slowly.Just before it will completely disappear into the background, it finally hits the lead enemy tank.The remaining kinetic energy of the shell was still sufficient to penetrate the side chassis.The tank, which was advancing at a speed of about 40 kilometers per hour, suddenly stopped after being shot, turned 90 degrees, and then stopped there.The rest of the Indian tanks behind the column were blocked and stopped. This gave the Pakistani side an excellent opportunity. Most of the shooters against stationary targets were still very sure. These tanks took the opportunity to shoot at the stationary enemy tanks. Chaos the enemy.

At the same time, the mortar shells fired by the Indian infantry fell sparsely at a position about 70 meters in front of the position. The enemy probably had a problem with ranging, which made the first shelling inaccurate.Yahini estimated that the second round after the observation correction would be more accurate, but he ignored the mere mortar.The densely packed Indian infantry was about 2 battalions in size.He called the howitzer regiment of the division to cover the exposed enemy infantry on the radio, but the headquarters did not reply for a long time. Obviously, the artillery had not yet reached the designated position. In this operation, most of the troops had problems with the command. The retreat was even worse organized.

Yahini can only replace half of the tanks with infantry anti-personnel ammunition to shoot at denser clusters, but the effect is limited.This battle is indeed a bit ironic. The Indians suffered an unprecedented defeat in the east and almost shook the country, but they were able to regain their face here, which shows how low the combat effectiveness of the Pakistan Army has been.

Just as he was hesitating, a huge and dull explosion sounded from the left side of the company commander's car, which sounded like the sound of a tandem warhead piercing through the armor. He quickly turned around the perimeter sight, and a chariot was burning, and the muzzle was still pointing forward. .

This is not the damage effect of being hit by any direct fire. After being penetrated by an armor-piercing projectile, it usually does not cause such a large explosion... probably by being hit by a very 'heavy', shaped armor-piercing warhead ?
He was startled. In an instant, the hit tank had a second explosion. The turret and all the hatches and ejection ports on the site were washed away by the air wave, and hot smoke gushed out from the middle. This time it was The internal ammunition was detonated, and in Yahini's experience, no one survived.

"The whole company fires smoke and retreats 30 meters. The enemy has an unknown force, maybe in the air, and turns on the laser to fight."

The tanks lined up in a row began to retreat slowly, while emitting a large amount of smoke, trying to block the enemy's sight and laser irradiation in the dark.They left the burning tank where no one survived.

"Who saw what was going on? It was a missile that might have been launched from an infantry position." Yahini continued to ask his comrades on the radio.He is a veteran of the battlefield, at least after being beaten, he can quickly clear his mind, rule out all possibilities, and narrow the scope of unknown threats, instead of standing still in a daze like a novice.

He knew that the Indian Air Force did not have such an anti-tank capability, at least not above the clouds.He guessed that it might be the at35 (helix 9) launched by Mi 2 or some kind of more powerful anti-tank missile.He fought against India's Mi-35 armed helicopters in the south. The laser countermeasure equipment of the Type 99 tank can at least give an early warning, and can detect the launch position of the semi-active laser-guided Russian-made spiral missile in advance.

"Report, the enemy's laser radiation was not detected just now."

The rest of the crew reported one by one, and found no laser irradiation in any direction. Yahini began to have a bad feeling that the enemy had some new and vicious means.

"Command, I need the Air Force to strengthen the security of the low-altitude area, there are still enemies in the mountains..."

Before the words fell, there was another huge explosion outside, and another tank was destroyed by some kind of anti-tank missile in a blink of an eye.

Yahini's premonition came true, and another tank was hit for no reason, so powerful that no one survived.Due to the smoke, he couldn't see the tank being destroyed for a while, but could only see the flames soaring into the sky and the turret that had just fallen from the sky.But since there is smoke, how do the enemies in the distance see their own people?

"Abandon the position, reverse the vehicle at high speed, retreat below the slope, repeat, the enemy is in the front, immediately abandon the position."

He decisively ordered the maximum speed to retreat, and the remaining 8 tanks quickly reversed and retreated under the cover of thick smoke.It is certain that the threat comes from the front. It can not only see the target clearly through the smoke, but also penetrate the main armor of this advanced tank from the front. At present, two shots and two penetrations, or its armor-piercing ability can deal with Type 99 The tank was rich, or it shot through the top of the turret from a higher position.

"Command, I'm pretty sure there are enemy helicopter gunships in the mountains opposite, and they're coming again, and they're carrying weapons with a long range. We can't see them at all."

Yahini's decisive order avoided greater losses, and the tank company quickly retreated to the northern hillside, which made the opponent in the dark lose the target.

The rotor, which hides and disappears from time to time behind the ridge, begins to rise slowly, with a huge millimeter-wave radar on top of the rotor.The helicopter ascended out of desperation in an attempt to compensate for the scanning range.However, the Pakistani tank forces retreated too fast for radar to continue tracking.

The Indian pilot regretted that just now, just to be on the safe side, he did not launch all the Hellfire missiles continuously.The enemy's counterattack speed was first-class, and they escaped the radar tracking all at once, which was indeed unexpected.

During the training of the pilots in the United States, the American instructors taught the condescending anti-tank experience-tanks are steel idiots with unclear vision. If they do not use the laser pointers necessary for semi-active laser weapons, they will be very numb on the battlefield and will not perceive the outside world. and once encountered a blow, the reaction will not be too fast, usually the commander will respond blindly, or simply stop and turn the turret to search for who hit him.This is the experience that the Americans have summed up through several wars.It just so happens that the Longbow Apache can use a radar-guided missile that doesn't rely on a source of laser illumination, and for a tank, it really can't sense the threat.

"Longaxe 2, change the position, use optical equipment to supplement the search for enemies in the main position, we must kill them all today."

Another helicopter, loaded with weapons but without radar on the top of the rotor, quickly pulled up. Judging from the amount of ammunition carried, it did not play a role in the attack just now.The helicopter hovered at a higher altitude, and the rotating tower integrated with various passive search devices in the nose began to rotate, but there were no blank eyes on the enemy's position, and the search was fruitless.

"Longaxe 1, the infrared search is invalid, I suggest changing the strategy."

"from the side?"

"Yes, from the side, go and drive them out."

"Okay, you outflank the reverse slope from the north, and watch out for the anti-aircraft weapons on the enemy's positions."

"Longaxe 2 understands."

The D-type gunship carrying a millimeter-wave radar agreed to the new plan, while the other C-type Apache, which did not have radar search capabilities, raised its altitude and flew north. They could exchange information through the data link. Do information sharing.If it weren't for the fact that the Indian pilots were still not proficient and bold enough, the two armed helicopters could have cooperated and fired more than 2 Hellfire missiles at the same time just now, wiping out all the enemies they saw.They tried to knock down the targets one by one safely. In principle, the opponent should stop there for at least 8 seconds, and then make wrong countermeasures. This is of course what the American instructors said.However, Yahini, an old fritter with a keen sense of smell, only took 40 seconds to detect an unprecedented threat on this battlefield, and made the correct disposal.

The stout helicopters now need to disband the formation to get a larger, complementary cross view, and then wipe out the tanks one by one. The tanks are of course difficult to threaten them, but the situation in the air is very unclear. This is what Indian pilots need to worry about .Additionally, being exposed is also vulnerable to surface-to-air weapons.

The air supremacy in this area is still being fought, but it is not very intense. In many cases, there are neither Pakistani nor Indian fighters in the air.On the one hand, the Pakistan Air Force is afraid that fierce combat will expose young inexperienced pilots to problems. On the other hand, several cautious squadrons in India are also worried that Pakistan will be closer to the airport, which will make them less advantageous in air combat.As a result, the air-ground battlefield here is not coordinated. When the ground battle is fierce, the air is deserted.

Sami was on standby on the runway, and at the same time listened to the conversations between the ground command post and other fighters through the radio to determine whether he should attack.He can freely choose the time to take off, and the commander in the tower is only a lieutenant colonel, and he has to listen to him.

He heard someone in the AWACS call Griffin's pilot to monitor the low altitude, and then reminded the pilot not to force it.Obviously low-altitude flying is not a skill that novices can master.Recently, many young guys have lost their lives because they were too close to the mountains. Half of them were killed by artillery or missiles ambushed in the mountains, and the other half directly hit the mountains. Such losses accounted for 7% of the losses of novices.

"Viper, this is Griffin 4. I'm sure I saw a longbow Apache. But he's flying too low for me to aim."

"Griffin 4, you must have read it wrong. There is no Apache in India yet. It should be Mi 24 or Polaris."

A stubborn director in the AWACS said calmly, as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

"Viper, I see it's got a giant radar on it, I'm going to mistake Polaris for an Apache?"

The young pilot became a little irritable. He obviously cared about what the other party said. How difficult it is to mistake Polaris for Apache. Such an assumption is simply an insult.

"Griffin, I can confirm that there are no longbow Apaches in this area. Your fuel is low, return immediately."

Sammy lightly pressed the button of the vertical direction display to find the current position of Griffin 4. From the digital map, it was just north of the place where he shot down the Mi-35 helicopter at night. Several Mi 24 or Mi 35.Of course, if the US did secretly deliver some new weapons, Indian authorities should, and likely would, give them priority to Meneam.

As of the morning briefing, it is still believed that the United States has not delivered Apache gunships and the latest order of C130 transport aircraft. Although India requires as much as possible to provide old goods for war, the intelligence agency judges that delivery and personnel training still need a lot of time. It will be January next year at the earliest.

"Ground Commander, this is Black Spider No. 1, please take off." As he spoke, he stuck his head out of the cabin and signaled to the ground crew below to start the engine.

"Colonel, there is no special enemy approaching for the time being."

"Well, it's just your 1, I think it's necessary to take off."

he insisted.

"Okay, you can take off anytime."

The engine roared gradually, and skilled ground crews quickly removed various pipes and ladders.The colonel is different from others, he doesn't have to take off with a specific plan, he is the planner himself, if he didn't stay in the combat force on purpose, he should have been a major general long ago, maybe even more powerful than Lieutenant General Islam Eligible to serve as successor to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

"Poisonous snake, did you see any changes in the low altitude?"

"Not at all. Instead, India's Flying Snakes got a few Su-30s, wandering 120 kilometers away."

"Those guys may be watching you, so be careful."

The colonel frightened the AWACS and pulled up the fighter jets from the runway. He knew that the helicopters were slow and might not have time to leave the battlefield, or maybe they didn't want to leave at all.

(End of this chapter)