Amidst the chaotic background noise of gunfire, the low murmur of death echoed in my ears—it was an attack helicopter!
"Quickly, quickly, bring out all our anti-aircraft missiles!"
After suffering a series of blows, Xie Kao's attack helicopter PTSD flared up.
But the proper attack helicopter he feared was still loading ammunition; what arrived was a transport helicopter that was even less friendly to him.
Andrei piloted the Super Hornet, flying low over the night to the airspace above base C.
Those without night vision goggles could only hear noises and couldn't see anything clearly when they looked up. But for the militants wearing night vision goggles, it was like the Zumari militia seeing a Black Hawk Down – a huge target in the sky.
It was so close to the ground that it seemed within reach—wasn't this just easy prey delivered to our doorstep?
Yes, it's not surprising that if you charge in without a plan, you'll get shot down. But this time, Jihuo Defense came prepared.
Before the Boko Haram members could react, the Super Hornet, having completed its hovering maneuver, simultaneously launched four rappelling ropes, allowing the instructors on board to rappel quickly to the ground in two groups.
"Splash splash"
Two kilometers away in the armored vehicle convoy, the red Gepard turret rotated, and the twin 35mm gun barrels rose accordingly.
The Mi-24V is gone, and the AS550 has the same high-frequency output, but the airframe is a bit fragile. Even the heavily reinforced defensive parts can't withstand a single machine gun bullet, let alone portable air defense missiles.
It's just that there are more of them and the interception frequency is higher.
Without hesitation, Lao Lu pressed the launch button.
"Woo"
"Beep beep beep"
"Knock knock knock knock"
Before the ZU-23-2's tracer ball could even catch the Super Hornet, it was mercilessly destroyed along with its gun by a burst of DM81 high-explosive shells.
"Puff puff puff whoosh whoosh whoosh"
However, the anti-aircraft defense team, lacking any sense of martial ethics, launched a surprise attack. The enemy was completely unprepared, and only after more than a dozen RPGs missed their mark did they rummage through boxes to find their anti-aircraft missiles.
"Da da da"
This device, when used with a soldier's night vision device to confirm the approximate location of a target, can be activated and lock onto it automatically. Its operation is less technically demanding than that of older anti-tank missiles that require wire-guided control.
A 500mm RHA PG-7VL armor-piercing round pierced the air and then, with a slight error of 50 meters, narrowly missed the bulky helicopter.
Unable to afford the Igla-S, Shekau acquired a large number of SAM-7s and a small number of Iglas, aiming for saturation air defense.
"Knock knock knock knock"
Based on data from the fire control computer, the twin 35mm anti-aircraft guns, which were constantly fine-tuning their angles, fired more than 20 programmable airburst rounds in one go.
"Boom boom boom boom"
These old guys, when facing a red cheetah with a muzzle velocity of nearly Mach 4 during the acceleration phase, can exert not much more pressure than a slow, small target.
"Put-put-put"
This is the advantage of night raids. Machine guns and autocannons have tracer bullets, and rocket launchers, even with individual night vision goggles, are not very accurate against ground targets unless you use a dedicated night vision sight or thermal imaging sight. Let alone aerial targets.
If one shot doesn't work, I'll fire ten; the price is about the same anyway.
These decades-old missiles, having been stored in storage for decades, burst from their launch tubes, charging towards the foreigners' helicopters with the imposing air of an old general, still able to eat a large amount of rice and meat, and riding a heavily armored horse.
A series of locking prompts sounded as seven or eight refurbished SAM-7s simultaneously locked onto the two helicopters in the sky.
Get down here!
But Andrei and Lyman turned off the infrared/ultraviolet missile warning system, completely ignoring the eight missiles, and didn't even fire a single heat decoy.
Alternatively, you could buy an extra portable anti-aircraft missile. The advanced models are expensive, but the price of refurbished older missiles is generally no more than 10,000 euros per missile.
The maximum speed of the old Arrow-2 was Mach 1.26, and the improved Arrow-2m only increased it to Mach 1.47. Not to mention that at such a close distance, these missiles would not even complete their acceleration phase.
After dropping off the personnel, Andrei La accelerated rapidly with increased throttle. But even at this point, the slow-to-realize black guy was already waving his weapon at the Super Hornet.
The massive number of twin 23mm anti-aircraft guns began to roar, but it was as if you were the only one with guns.
Inside the car, Lu Xianglin saw on the screen eight targets that had been locked onto as soon as the plane took off, and they were speeding past two friendly targets about 1 kilometer away.
"Knock knock knock knock"
The original Russian RPG-7 1PN93-2 night vision scope sells for 2,000 euros online, but when smuggled into Afica, the price starts at 5,000 euros higher.
At this distance, RPGs are completely out of the question, but even the worst portable anti-aircraft missiles can reach the target, not to mention those anti-aircraft guns.
"boom"
The fennec fox, diving to lower its altitude, entered attack mode, and the muzzle flash of the RH202 cannon tore through the night sky.
After flying over a thousand meters, the rocket's self-destruct time fuse was activated, causing it to explode into a fireball.
With this money, Xie Kao would be better off buying a few more sets of civilian individual night vision devices.
You can use heat decoys to fool half of them, and use your own mobility to shake off the other half, but the last one or two shots become extremely deadly.
Meanwhile, the Super Hornet climbed from a low altitude of 50 meters to 500 meters.
Bullets rained down on the helicopter's thick fuselage, but couldn't penetrate its defenses at all, until the first guy with night vision goggles picked up an RPG.
"call out"
Soon, they were captured by the inescapable net of countless prefabricated tungsten spheres. Eight fiery flowers bloomed in the airspace hundreds of meters in front of the two helicopters, creating a beautiful scene reminiscent of lotus seeds blooming anew in an ancient tomb.
"Snow Leopard, well done!"
Andrei shouted excitedly over the radio.
Although I knew it was nothing serious, I still felt a tingling sensation in my lower body.
If he felt stimulated, then the black guys who fired the missiles were a bit overwhelmed.
They have the concepts of missiles and anti-aircraft guns, but they lack the understanding of modern self-propelled anti-aircraft guns with integrated radar, electro-optical targeting, pure fire control, and programmable airburst damage.
Pearl above, what kind of evil magic did the enemy use to destroy their anti-aircraft missiles?
At the treehouse window, Xie Kao, who had also witnessed this scene, removed his night vision goggles, his mind filled with questions.
But now was not the time to get to the bottom of things, and he subconsciously overlooked the reason why the helicopter had descended to such a dangerous altitude.
However, the eight members of Old K who were sent to the core area of Outpost C did not forget their mission, and they were rapidly approaching the treehouse.
It would be very dangerous to infiltrate and attack the strongholds of extremist groups during the day. At night, even if the enemy has individual night vision goggles, the level of danger is reduced by an order of magnitude.
Old K, Tom, Rob, and Mariano, the four assault troops, led the charge as the first echelon, their crossfire directly sealing off the entire fan-shaped area.
Leonardo and Daniel's two-man machine gun team were positioned in the center, providing fire support for the assault team that had located high-priority targets.
Johnny and Lawrence, the two marksmen, stayed at the back to prevent the entire infiltration team from being outflanked. However, with the glider and shrew crews drawing aggro from the sky and armored convoys applying pressure around the outpost, the instructors' team advanced very quickly.
100 meters directly ahead was their destination—the treehouse where Xie Kao was staying.
At the same time, at the frontline medical station, Lao Luhu also completed the reloading of ammunition for four rocket launchers and machine gun turrets.
"Splash splash"
After watching all the soldiers in Platoon B withdraw, Xia Yu began to climb the collective pitch.
"Hey boss, hey boss, this is Fruit Bat, we've got your eyes on you."
Alvin's voice came through Xia Yu's headphones.
He turned his head to look in the direction of the stag, and saw two small dots appear in his night vision goggles.
Those are the exhaust plumes of an F-4K and a MiG-29S, flying at a pretty fast speed.
"Change the battle plan, reduce the frequency of attacks on small strongholds, and reserve half of the ammunition for strongholds A and B."
He issued new combat orders to Old A.
Each of these two strongholds sent 500 men to support the branch, so the defense must be very weak.
If we don't take this opportunity to unleash a devastating attack, how can we justify the damage he just dealt!
"Fruit Bat understands, proceed to base A first!"
After replying, Alvin contacted his wingman, and the two fighter jets turned and flew towards base A.
On the way, he tapped the tactical tablet on his lap and opened the nine-line briefing for Outpost A.
When a regular air force launches fighter jets for ground attack, it either has ground guidance or complete briefing data; it is impossible for it to randomly select a lucky target to strike.
Okay, Xia Yu used to randomly attack quite often, but while he, as the boss, could do it that way, Alvin, as a professional, couldn't.
Since this sortie was launched without ground guidance, intelligence about the target became even more crucial.
Just as Xia Yu flew over base c, Alvin arrived at base a.
The laser targeting pod fired a coded laser beam, silently illuminating the pre-set target—the shack area of the outpost.
A GUB-12 was dropped from the underwing pylon. The 500-pound laser-guided bomb, initially in free fall, was gradually driven towards the laser-illuminated target by changes in the control surfaces and the disturbance of the airflow.
"boom"
In the flames of the explosion, the shockwave mixed with fragments spread out at high speed, and black smoke finally rose up.
Then came the second and the third shot.
The instructors in the MiG-29s behind looked on with envy.
Both are old aircraft, but this one is a generation more advanced, yet it can't drop precision-guided munitions; it can only fire unguided rockets and iron bombs.
Of course, he also knew that this had nothing to do with the platform.
With proper modifications, the Su-7 can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h... no, the Su-7 can even throw a GBU-12.
It's not impossible for him to throw the Storm Shadow with his MiG-29s.
"Bombing complete, proceeding to base B!"
Alvin called his wingman.
The main force for attacking large strongholds is the Spey Ghost, while the smaller strongholds are dealt with by the Tsurugi Pivot.
After the rockets were used up, there were still cannons left. In this operation, the two fighter jets did not intend to take a single round of ammunition back with them.
"Beep beep beep"
The satellite phone rang again, and Xie Kao, feeling a chill run down his spine, thought it was a death knell. He'd been bombarded with calls without a single piece of good news.
This concentrated fire defense unit doesn't even have 100 people, so how come they've been fighting from the first half of the night until almost the second half?
Are they all made of iron?
Xia Yu said that having vehicles is good, as ammunition and fuel are plentiful, and their company can fight at high intensity for a whole day.
"What's up"
Xie Kao finally answered the phone.
"Chief, something terrible has happened! This is Alamanthu. Our base has been bombed, and we can hear fighter jets in the sky."
Alamanthu is the person in charge of the Boko Sanctuary in the southwest of the forest, which is outpost A.
The fighter jets that Jihuo Defense had been missing for so long finally appeared, and they gave him a big surprise right away.
"Where are your anti-aircraft missiles? Use the SAM-18s I gave you!"
Xie Kao shouted loudly.
He bought a total of 12 SAM-18 Igla missiles, each costing tens of thousands of dollars. Knowing that the Kamalon branch had been targeted, he sent 5 more over.
Two of the remaining seven rounds were to be used at each major stronghold, and one was to be carried with you.
Damn it, how could Al-Alamant let the enemy bomb it like this?
"I can't see the target, their bombs are like they have eyes, completely different from the Air Force guys."
Old Man Black quickly explained to the leader.
The Niri-Liya Air Force's fighter jets could be shot down even without them being attacked, but the concentrated fire defense's fighter jets could drop bombs directly outside the range of portable anti-aircraft missiles, making it impossible for them to reach the enemy.
Xie Kao regretted it at this moment, regretting that he hadn't bought medium- and short-range air defense missiles from Jack (Mordovan).
Millions are millions, but that money can still shoot down fighter jets. The portable anti-aircraft missiles he bought for millions are useless; they can't even shoot down helicopters.
Even if we bought them, there wouldn't be enough time to deliver them. The missiles and the launchers with radar couldn't fit in a shipping container.
Putting the equipment issue aside for now, the question is why their well-hidden stronghold, which had withstood several government raids, was completely transparent to Ji Huo Defense.
Shekau was an excellent theologian, but his understanding of science was relatively poor.
Anyone who has watched a few Hollywood blockbusters knows the role of military satellites, so this movie's depiction is not exaggerated at all.
It's just that PMC companies don't have the resources in most countries, but unfortunately, Jihuo Defense does.
"Beep beep beep"
The agonizing ringtone sounded again; another call came in.
Xie Kao's thoughts were pulled back, but at this moment he hesitated, unsure whether to accept the call.
"beep"
The old deer-tiger, having arrived above base C, began to breathe fire. Seeing the newly arrived attack helicopters, Xie Kao didn't hesitate. He threw away the phone and picked up his AIM assault rifle, which was neither gold-plated nor diamond-encrusted.
This stronghold is completely destroyed. The only way out is to retreat in all directions with the remaining people.
The other two major strongholds are also off-limits. Only by taking a small number of trusted followers to a smaller stronghold can we weather this storm and protect the Boko Holy Land…
"Bang bang bang"
A gunshot, quite different from the AK-style gunshots, suddenly came from downstairs, interrupting Xie Kao's train of thought.
This, this, could it be!
Thinking of the helicopter from earlier, Xie Kao suddenly had a bad feeling.
Yes, that's what he was thinking, but it was a little too late; he was trapped on the treehouse.
So, is that the end of it?
No, he has other options.
Xie Kao strode to a window of the treehouse and threw down a ball of rope from the shelf.
The story of the cunning rabbit with three burrows plays out in Afica's nature every day, and he also has a backup plan.
Following the hemp rope, Xie Kao quickly descended by pushing off the tree trunk, but as soon as his feet touched the ground, a hard "stick" pressed against his lower back.
"Got you!"
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