Time Travel 04: I Fight the US in the Middle East

The first M1 tank to stall.

The engine cover had been opened. The 5mm thick steel plate wasn't very heavy and could be opened manually. The driver, George, was half-crammed inside, covered in engine oil and filthy.

"George, how is it? Can it be fixed?" Bradley's voice was full of anxiety.

For tank crew members, the tank is their best weapon; they are only safe inside it!

Now... the engine is broken. With the sun shining down, the inside of the tank has become an oven. They have no choice but to come out, and they have to repair it from the outside!

Even though the nearby buildings were guarded by soldiers, he still felt unsafe. He didn't know where or from what angle that terrifying Grim Reaper Juba would shoot bullets, making it impossible for him to defend against them!

Upon hearing his question, George raised his head, holding up a sausage-shaped object.

"This fuel injector has already been removed; the inside... is completely burned out and must be scrapped!"

After saying that, he handed the fuel injector to the loader next to him.

"Then hurry up and get a new one!" Bradley urged.

"We don't have any new tanks on us, so we have to have them sent over," George said.

Tanks carry some easily damaged parts when they go on missions, including tracks and road wheels, but fuel injectors... these things generally don't break at all. Who would have thought that a handful of sugar mixed with fuel would carbonize at the fuel injector and burn it to death!

After George finished speaking, he reached in again and began disassembling the second one.

For diesel engines, there is one fuel injector per cylinder. A twelve-cylinder engine would need twelve fuel injectors.

The gas turbine has an annular combustion chamber and a ring of fuel injectors! The AGT-1500 has a total of eight fuel injectors. The top ones are relatively easy to remove, but the bottom ones... are extremely difficult! So how exactly do you remove them?

At that moment, Lieutenant Colonel Gary Wallersky, the battalion commander, walked over with a grim expression: "How long will it take to repair the engine?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Wallersky, please rest assured, we'll fix it as soon as the helicopter delivers the parts!" Bradley said, then yelled at the car, "George, hurry up! It's just eight nozzles, why are you taking so long?"

George was also feeling aggrieved. "When have I ever done this kind of work? In the past, when the engine broke down, we would replace it directly in the field!"

Western tanks are designed with maintainability in mind. The power system of the M1 tank can be directly hoisted, and changing the engine in the field will not take more than fifteen minutes.

but……

Engines are such large components that they are inconvenient to transport by air; they can only be transported by land using vehicles. Under the current circumstances, there simply isn't enough time! Sending fuel injectors by helicopter would be much faster!

"George, if we coordinate a helicopter now, how long would it take you to fix it?" Lieutenant Colonel Gary Wallersky asked.

George looked up again: "Reporting, Battalion Commander, if we're lucky, it should take about ten hours..."

"What? Ten hours, George? Do you know what that means? You lazy bum!" Bradley cursed as he rolled up his sleeves, ready to punch George.

George sighed, "The top fuel injectors are easy to remove, but the bottom ones are impossible to reach in without lifting the engine... I'm just a part-time engineer, I..."

Tank drivers also serve as on-board engineers, but at most they are responsible for some simple daily operations, such as blowing up the air filter. This is almost equivalent to overhauling the engine, which they are not good at!

Ten hours!

Lieutenant Colonel Gary Wallersky's face darkened further, which meant that they would not receive heavy firepower support for ten hours!

That's exactly what those damned Mahdi Army soldiers were hoping for, wasn't it?

He turned angrily to the nearby M2 infantry fighting vehicle: "Maxwell, how long will it take to fix this vehicle?"

"Reporting to the colonel, it will take approximately twenty hours!"

What?

Lieutenant Colonel Gary Wallersky's face was ashen: "It's just a diesel engine. Can't we replace the fuel injectors in an hour?"

The engine of the M2 infantry fighting vehicle is located on the right side of the front of the vehicle. The engine can be exposed by removing the outer armor plate. It uses a Cummins V8 diesel engine with the fuel injectors on top. You just need to unscrew them!

Changing clothes should be quick!

Maxwell took a flashlight and shone it into the opening where the fuel injector had been removed.

"Lieutenant Colonel Wallersky, you can see from here that the piston head is burnt out; we need to replace the piston..."

Replacing the fuel injectors is simple, but replacing the pistons... requires lifting the engine, removing the cylinder head, removing the connecting rods... a complete engine overhaul!

They worked for twenty hours straight without saying a word! After all, they're all just amateurs; they've never done extensive field repairs before!

If we brought a few retired veteran drivers from the East, they could get it done in five hours!

Judging from the extent of the diesel engine damage, the M1 tank must be in serious condition! It's not just the fuel injectors that are damaged; there might also be the power turbine, but the tank crews haven't taken it apart to check, so they're not entirely sure yet.

There's simply not enough time to repair it!

Lieutenant Colonel Gary Wallersky was utterly disappointed. He walked heavily back to the temporary newspaper headquarters, staring at the large-scale military map of Sadr City hanging on the wall, his gaze wandering.

beep, beep...

Major Joseph McDonald walked in with rapid footsteps.

"Lieutenant Colonel Wallersky, the statistics are complete. There are five M2 infantry fighting vehicles and eight Humvees in good condition, without the addition of substandard fuel..."

This amount of equipment isn't even enough for a whole company!

Looking at the sun sliding down to the west, we can't wait any longer!

Lieutenant Colonel Gary Wallersky gritted his teeth: "Order the entire battalion to abandon their equipment and retreat in ten minutes! Call all the staff officers in to discuss a safe withdrawal plan!"

They were fine when they came, but now they can't get back? They'll walk back if they have to!

Major Joseph McDonald paused for a moment, then said, "Lieutenant Colonel, the division commander gave us the mission..."

This is disobeying military orders! No country or army would tolerate such a thing!

If we withdraw now, will we face a court-martial upon returning? Especially with our newly appointed division commander, who's been itching for a decisive victory, and now…

Lieutenant Colonel Gary Wallersky interrupted him.

"Hmph, the mission the division commander gave us is impossible to complete. We should have evacuated after the supply convoy was attacked. It's not too late now. If we wait until dark, we will suffer countless attacks. We must hurry and retreat while it's still light. I need to take my children with me..."

boom!

Just then, an explosion suddenly rang out in the distant sky!

Lieutenant Colonel Gary Wallersky burst out of the command post and looked out at the sky. He saw an Apache helicopter with thick black smoke billowing from its engine compartment! Looking further, he saw a column of smoke rising from the rooftop of a building not far away.

This is... it was hit by a portable anti-aircraft missile!