"This area has the highest light density."
After finishing the aerial reconnaissance, Xia Yu found Old Ye Fu the next morning and pointed to the 65-inch TV that he carried everywhere.
This thing is very convenient for setting up tactics. On a daily basis, it can also allow the guys to follow the Champions League, play games, etc. Each deployment starts at least once a month, but the daily routine is a bit boring.
The screen displayed an aerial view of Balmyra's main urban area taken yesterday. The areas with high density of lights were all circled in red, covering an area of approximately seven or eight thousand square meters.
"Mr. Yevgeny, haven't you launched any air raids on this area?"
Xia Yu asked Old Ye Fu.
"I would like to, but unfortunately, we lack precision-guided munitions."
It's a little embarrassing to say, but old Yev still told the truth.
Two years ago, Russia made a high-profile intervention in Syria, stating that it would only demonstrate once, and dropped a large number of precision-guided bombs.
Then things didn't go as expected. Despite suffering heavy casualties, Ace continued to mass produce troops, while they ran out of supplies.
Even if it's a bit of hindsight, it was still foreseeable.
With such a small military budget, besides maintaining weapons of mass destruction, it also has to be divided among the army, navy, and air force, which have a total of over a million personnel. How much budget can be allocated to precision-guided bombs each year?
The KAB-500KR, the first TV-guided bomb developed by the former Soviet Union, was deployed in the early 1980s and used extensively in the Afghan War.
Even if production capacity could be maximized in such a short time, it would have been exhausted by several wars, leaving Russia unable to rely on its reserves and relying on newly produced goods.
However, military factories need time to produce goods after receiving orders, which has led to the current predicament that only high-value targets can be targeted with one or two missiles.
Under normal circumstances, just throw unguided iron bombs!
Even guided missiles have a few meters of deviation in accuracy, while unguided missiles would directly hit nearby civilian areas, which would ignite public outrage.
As for flying lower to hit more accurately, they had tried that, but Ace and other opposition forces all had portable anti-aircraft missiles.
This is the consequence of lacking precision-guided munitions, but just because you lack them doesn't mean I lack them too.
Whether it's the GBU series or the KAB series, Xia Yu has plenty of stock.
What, you want to smoke Huazi (LT, FT series)?
This Spey Ghost really can't be thrown away; the Red Falcon has to be in position first.
“Then we’ll do it. We’ll take off tomorrow and bomb this area.”
Xia Yu then used the stylus to mark an "X" on the area.
Missiles are efficient at taking down tanks, but demolishing buildings requires large-charge aerial bombs.
A low bungalow will only need 500 pounds, while a two- or three-story house will need 1,000 pounds or more, and 2,000 pounds would be a bit wasteful.
The meeting was scheduled for dinner, as the weasel was still quite vengeful.
If you made my meal uncomfortable, then I'll treat your people to a final supper.
Should we follow up further?
Yevgeny took off his reading glasses and asked.
His point was whether they should launch a full-scale attack and unleash their full power.
That's a bit reckless. You launch a full-scale attack with just one sortie. No wonder the casualty rates for both the Garner and government forces are quite high.
Such a high-intensity battlefield should be fought using American-style tactics.
First, use fighter jets to drop tens or hundreds of tons of precision-guided bombs to deplete the enemy's manpower as much as possible before contact.
This makes it much easier for people to enter later.
Old Yev felt wronged, saying that they lacked precision-guided munitions, but they still had artillery shells, or rather, Gna's fist was the artillery.
Through his persistent demands, the company has accumulated enough ammunition to launch a large-scale offensive.
If we follow up this time, then we should fire all of these shells.
"I see. Being able to obtain continuous artillery support is crucial."
Xia Yu nodded in agreement.
In Afica, the greatest demand for artillery for concentrated fire defense was during the siege of the Sassou rebels, when four Hail trucks were used.
The targets of the subsequent strikes were very concentrated, and since civilians were also taken hostage, the strikes were mostly precision-guided, with air-to-ground rockets being the primary means of firepower.
However, in Syria, the Ace's members were numerous and scattered, which necessitated the use of traditional artillery to continuously bombard them.
He didn't see Gna's artillery at the outpost camp, mainly because old Yev didn't want to provoke the enemy before the general offensive.
Having discovered that so many howitzers were concentrated there, the enemy wouldn't just send one M109 to greet them, so he left all of the company's D30s at the T-4 base.
There are only two T-72B1s and five T-55s here, less than ten BMP-2s and BTR-80s in total, dozens of Tiger light armored vehicles, and nearly a hundred pickup trucks and various other trucks.
To be honest, these things aren't very attractive to the Black Army; they have far more tanks and armored vehicles!
The only drawback is the use of conventional artillery; the suppressive firepower is mostly composed of various mortars, and the D30 and old M30s seized from the government forces were not deployed in the Balmira direction.
This was the result of Old Ye's observation over two months, but Xia Yu always felt that things were not so simple, and these terrorists might be up to something bad!
His hunch was right. If there was a lack of conventional artillery, then there must be other suppressive firepower. Otherwise, Ace wouldn't have felt comfortable withdrawing half of his troops.
However, Hussein was very cunning and never revealed his trump cards.
But in the face of absolute power and suppressive strategies, these so-called trump cards are nothing but paper tigers.
While Xia Yu held war in awe, he also looked forward to seeing what tricks the other side might pull at him.
"Calling Fruit Bat, this is Weasel, how's the F-4K?"
After seeing Old Yev off, he contacted Alvin to inquire about the current status of the fighter jets.
The Spey Phantom is positioned by the company as a fighter-bomber. Its interception attributes have been removed, and it mainly leverages its advantage of a bomb load of over 7 tons, making one bombing run equivalent to two enemy sorties.
"Excellent. The maintenance was completed yesterday, and it is ready to take off for combat at any time."
After flying from Aqaba Airport to T-4 Air Force Base, Lao A hadn't taken to the skies, but now he perked up at Xia Yu's call.
"Tomorrow morning, I will send mongooses and honey badgers over to carry out the air-bombing mission in the evening."
Xia Yu issued the combat orders.
"Yes, boss!"
Finally, he got his job, and they even assigned him a rear-seat weapons officer, which shows how high-level this operation was.
It is quite high, because unlike in the past, this time it is a full-load precision bombing within a 100-kilometer operational radius.
One person alone is no ordinary old man like Fei; we must let Hans take over.
Of course, Xia Yu, the boss, can also play a supporting role, but he has an even more important task.
The next morning, Hans and Domi stuffed freshly baked pretzel bread with slices of ham, and then ate a large bowl of mung bean and oat porridge to fill their stomachs.
Since Lao Wu joined Jihuo Defense, the company's food quality has improved significantly.
Starting with breakfast, there's a different variety every day. Not to mention bread and steamed buns, there are countless combinations of Chinese and foreign grains in half a container.
The refrigerated containers are filled with all kinds of chicken, duck, fish, and meat, prepared in a variety of ways, including pan-frying, stir-frying, cooking, and deep-frying. It can be said that the taste is guaranteed first, and then the calorie intake is guaranteed.
The fruit bat crew was in a bad situation; even if they managed to get a bite of the Russian crew mess (N2 flight rations), the taste was just so-so.
After breakfast, the two arrived at the T-4 base in a Super Frelon.
Andrei loaded up a bunch of miscellaneous goods and went back. After saying goodbye to Kuhn, the two members of the Mongoose crew were led to their storage yard by the village guards who were watching over the goods, and found container B6.
The company's A-series containers are used for ground ammunition/consumable supplies, while the B-series containers are used for helicopter and fighter jet supplies.
The contents of box B6 were separate guidance kits, fuses, and MK83 aerial bombs.
A standard 20-foot shipping container can hold enough cargo to assemble 32 GBU-16B/B laser-guided bombs, and the two men carried a total of 6 of them.
The second-generation Gemway has a maximum range of only 12 kilometers, which is more than enough to engage targets with little to no air defense.
But if there was even one Tor air defense system, it would be immediately taken down.
Therefore, in competition between nations, the range of precision-guided munitions is of paramount importance.
With the same Mk83 aerial bomb warhead, you can add a solid rocket engine to the GBU-16B/B to upgrade it into the AGM-123A Click Beetle 2 powered laser-guided bomb, achieving a range of over 25 kilometers.
Alternatively, like Pakistan, they could directly import the glider guidance kit from a neighboring major power and install it on the back of the Mk83, focusing on a two-pronged approach with both medium and magnesium missiles, which could double the range.
After loading six aerial bombs onto the ammunition trailer, the two men went to the B8 container next door and retrieved 12 MK82 missiles.
The payload is still 18 missiles, but with all of them equipped with laser guidance kits, it's not something you can get for $500,000. Even at a friendly price, a single bombing run would cost three times that amount, roughly equivalent to 30,000 barrels of crude oil.
The oil fields controlled by the government forces only produce about 10,000 barrels a day. It would take three days to gather enough for one sortie, so the oil must have other sources.
The oilfield controlled by ISS produces nearly 100,000 barrels of oil per day, and smuggling is essential to converting it into US dollars.
Despite the fighting, the flow of black gold was not hindered. The Turkic people and opposition forces in the north bought up large quantities of gold, while the government forces in the south also purchased it through smugglers.
Strategic resources are not something you can control based on personal feelings. This is the only resource they can exchange for foreign currency. If they buy back a barrel for $20 to $40, they can still make a profit.
Regarding the Elek oil field, after they recaptured Balmira last year, the market price once dropped to $10.
But this price is too high. This property belongs to the state. If they take Elek back, they won't have to pay Elek any money.
Therefore, what's wrong with charging a higher fee for concentrated fire defense services? Only by spending the money can we recover more losses.
While Hans and his team patiently assembled the laser-guided bombs, the government forces readily agreed to the strike plan.
If the concentrated fire defenses can recapture the cities of Balmira and Elek within a month, they can even withstand prolonged precision bombing.
Spending over 100 million (hiring two companies) to recapture two cities is probably the most cost-effective deal the government forces have ever made. It's a pity that such strong combat power is only available for short-term deployment.
Xia Yu isn't stupid. Fighting Ace is nothing, but further north is all pitfalls.
It's alright if concentrated fire defense only scratches the surface, but those who are deeply involved like Grenadier are bound to stumble sooner or later.
But he couldn't say it outright; he could only offer a few words to Old Yev at the end. Whether he would listen or not was hard to say, because that was just his personality.
This is also due to his personal charisma, which is why his employees trust him unconditionally.
But you're an amateur after all; being brave but reckless won't do, and you might not be able to live up to that trust.
Hans breathed a sigh of relief as he connected the fuse of the last GBU-12 missile body to the rack.
This job was easier than hanging missiles, but more troublesome than hanging iron bombs. Fortunately, it was finally all done.
Take a break and then set the laser code for each bomb on the laser targeting pod. You don't need to connect to any data interface. Just unlock the bombing and pull the fuse to activate the bomb and send it crashing towards the spot your laser is pointing at.
Switching to GPS-guided JDA is simpler; you only need to provide the computer with the current position and the target's GPS coordinates. However, that system is twice as expensive as laser-guided systems.
Using products that customers can afford is a sign of a successful businessman's self-cultivation.
"Have an apple; there's quite a lot of fruit here."
Hans took the apple that Alvin tossed to him and took a big bite; it was indeed crisp and sweet.
"It's delicious, but fruit bats, after today's flight, we may need to team up for a while longer."
This trip was undertaken with an abundance of ammunition, so business was booming; the more ammunition consumed, the better.
"This is a good thing, the boss has received a big order, but after the high-intensity bombing, it will be very difficult to fight in urban warfare."
As a professional, Alvin had a good grasp of the bombing's effectiveness.
"Yes, it's tough, but facing dozens of RPGs is better than facing hundreds. Those would be too many to handle even after the convoy's interceptor rounds were used up."
Hans was mentally prepared to be hit by rockets, but as long as the canister wasn't opened, it wouldn't be a big problem.
"There are over two thousand people in total. It wouldn't be unreasonable to kill three to five hundred with continuous bombing!"
"I don't think this number is excessive. Let's keep working!"
After finishing the last bite of his apple, Alvin went to change into his anti-G suit, and Hans, who had finished setting up the data, also went to change.
As dusk approached, the F-4K, which had been commissioned for the second time at Jihuo Defense and was dropping over 100 tons of bombs, slid out of the hangar.
"Boss, this is the Fruit Bat Crew. We are ready for departure. Shall we proceed?"
Alvin turned on the radio and called Xia Yu.
"action!"
Xia Yu, who was having dinner in the cockpit of his Mi-24, issued combat orders.
"yes!"
After taxiing to the runway starting point and receiving takeoff clearance from the control tower, Alvin did not hesitate and pushed fuel forward through the throttle valve.
"Buzz"
Night swallowed the last rays of sunlight, only to be torn apart by the bright tail flames of the Spey MK202 with its afterburner engaged.
"boom"
An F-4K carrying 18 precision-guided bombs soared into the sky, and the Russian pilots on the runway were all talking about it. This was not the Spey Phantom they knew.
There are many monsters they don't recognize. Have they ever seen the red monster from Persia? Do they know about the ultimate monster with variable-sweep wings? Supercruise... well, never mind that, Xia Yu doesn't have one yet.
I wrote over a thousand words yesterday, using a helicopter for shooting, but it didn't feel right, so I scrapped it and switched to writing a cleanup script. I also changed my work schedule along the way, which is why it's been dragging on until now.
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