The base is only 12 kilometers away from the rebel-controlled town of Ikku as the crow flies, but the actual driving distance is more than 15 kilometers.
30 kilometers past Iku, you'll reach Bomatou, a sister city of Panaka.
The population was 250,000 at the end of the last century, and now it is at least 400,000, also under the control of the rebels.
If Anka can eliminate the rebels here, he can directly threaten Panaka's rear, creating opportunities for Busa.
The rebels originally stationed here consisted of two mechanized infantry battalions.
Between Bomatou and Panaka, there was a light tank battalion, plus several infantry battalions, making a brigade of about three thousand men.
Little Anka can mobilize less than 1,500 people, but their combat strength is far superior.
There's a saying that goes something like this: 1,500 versus 3,000, the advantage is in my hands.
The following morning, Sergei's group was dispatched by Xia Yu.
Battlefield reconnaissance is a specialty of special forces soldiers, not to mention that they are also equipped with drones.
When Old Anka arrived at the camp, the six of them had also successfully returned with the intelligence.
"The rebels have reinforced their forces in Iku, with a similar configuration to ours: one mechanized infantry battalion with two infantry companies, plus more than 300 militiamen to assist in the defense."
At the meeting that evening, Xia Yu briefed everyone on the intelligence regarding Iku.
The rebel infantry battalion did indeed change its location.
Now Iku has become the de facto bridgehead on the western front, and the subsequent battles will inevitably revolve around this place.
"Mr. Weasel, what are your thoughts?"
Old Anka asked Xia Yu.
According to the contract they signed before their departure, both of the rebel army's mechanized infantry battalions were contracted out to Xia Yu.
A battalion costs $2.2 million, while a light tank battalion deployed on the Western Front costs $3.3 million.
In other words, the three battalions have a guaranteed contract of at least $7.7 million.
There are also cooperative operations, which are supplementary agreements to the contract.
“A sneak attack is impossible. The rebels are already prepared for defense. We must defeat them head-on.”
No matter how well they were prepared, they were still useless. With the intelligence in hand, Xia Yu had no more scruples.
"In addition, there is another piece of good news that I didn't have time to tell you. The main equipment of this mechanized infantry battalion in Iku Town is the same as that of the Osa mechanized infantry battalion. It is all BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles."
"I understand, you want to use the Mi-24 against them, is that right!"
While everyone was unaware of what good news it was, Kuhn suddenly realized.
"That's right. The BMP-1's gun isn't very accurate, but it's very threatening to lightly armored targets. Using a helicopter to deal with it is the most effective method."
Tanks are also effective, but the efficiency of a single vehicle crew is too low.
The last time Xia Yu dealt with Osa, it was by launching a surprise attack at night and blocking his escape route.
Yiku Town is well-connected and has a number of buildings, so Xia Yu's car couldn't keep up with so many other cars.
"We'll coordinate our operations and make sure none of their infantrymen escape."
Old Anka thought it was feasible, but the details still needed to be discussed.
"No rush, we can take action within this week."
Xia Yu is quite considerate of the client.
The crew brought by Old Anka also needed time to adapt.
For the next two days, Anka was busy.
He dispatched at least 10 BTR-80 crews to harass Iku.
This action angered the other side, and not only were RPGs fired at them, but two BMP-1s from the town were also dispatched.
But as Xia Yu said, the 2A28 low-pressure smoothbore gun has very poor accuracy.
It can't hit a moving BTR-80 from 1 kilometer away; it's just a waste of ammunition.
Meanwhile, the Inspire 2 was also observing the battlefield from the air.
The other side deployed two BMP-1s, and two more were stationed at the east and west intersections but did not make a move.
This battalion is doing better than Osa, as it has one more infantry fighting vehicle and its armored personnel carrier is not the BTR-60 or the BTR family of vehicles, but the less common MT-LB.
"The artillery company of this mechanized infantry battalion has been reinforced. The MT-LB has weak firepower, but its advantage lies in its towing capability."
Looking at the footage transmitted back by the drone, Xia Yu said confidently.
"Found it, it's a T-12 anti-tank gun."
Sergei had good eyesight and immediately locked onto the gun barrel protruding from the bunker.
"They weren't here last time, but why aren't they firing?"
Zooming in and counting carefully, a total of six anti-tank guns of the same type were deployed in different directions, which matches the number of MT-LBs.
"They're not firing the BTR-80; they're trying to take out Anka's weasel. This rebel commander is quite cunning."
Seeing through the other party's intentions, Xia Yu shook his head.
That's how the battlefield works. No matter how old the equipment is, if you use the right remedy, it can still give you a hard time.
A Weasel sells for 1.8 million; if Xiao Anka were to drive it himself, I wonder how many would he have to pay out of pocket.
Now, for just 2.2 million, Xia Yu will help him take the entire camp with him.
Anti-aircraft guns can be used to fight tanks when laid flat, but anti-tank guns cannot be used to fight helicopters when stood upright.
The fate of these six cannons was sealed. After controlling the drone to return to base, Xia Yu called everyone to go back with him.
Back at the camp, he told old Anka what had happened, and both father and son were terrified.
So this is where these rebels were waiting for them!
"When attacking to defeat the defender, the attacking side is at a disadvantage, so there's no need to worry about it."
Xia Yu comforted the father and son.
A shrewd boss needs to let the client know how many pitfalls he has helped them avoid and how many risks he has prevented.
Only in this way will the client feel that the money was well spent and will want to cooperate with him again for future projects.
Success lies in the details. Tomorrow, let old Anka and his son see what a sweeping offensive looks like.
After saying goodbye, Xia Yu returned to his own residence.
"Mongooses and honey badgers, we've got work to do. Get ready for tomorrow's operation."
He didn't even go inside the tent; he just started calling for people outside.
Domi was the first to rush out, while Hans was still holding a kitchen knife.
"No rush for dinner, let's go change the rocket pod."
The 55mm S-5 air-to-ground rocket is ineffective against armored targets.
Xia Yu plans to replace all four rocket pods on the Mi-24V with B-8V20 rocket pods designed to fire S-8 rockets.
Because of the increased caliber, each machine can only hold 20 rounds; 80 rounds should be enough to wipe out this battalion.
If it were a modern, improved Mi-35M, it could even carry a B-13L1 rocket pod equipped with an S-13 variant.
With this caliber, opening a tank's canister shouldn't be too difficult.
From this perspective, the old female deer has quite a lot of potential for improvement.
Even if we don't replace them with larger caliber rocket pods, the missile pylons on the wingtips might one day be able to mount Hellfire missiles.
A certain group rejoiced, while Xia Yu's wallet wept.
Hans crawled into the container, found the two spare B-8V20 rocket pods, and after a lot of effort, he finally replaced them all on the Mi-24V.
"Mongooses, 80 in total, enough to take down 10 vehicles and 6 cannons. Are you confident?"
Xia Yu patted Hans on the shoulder and asked.
The disadvantages of unguided rockets are large dispersion and poor firing accuracy, so they rely heavily on the experience of the gunner.
"Captain, don't worry, you know how good I am!"
Hans was very confident in himself, after all, he had fired a total of 500 rockets at his boss during the month-long special training.
By the end, he was even afraid that he would bankrupt Xia Yu.
Just kidding. The material cost of an S-5 is less than $100. 500 rounds is about the same as Hans's basic salary for a year. Would Xia Yu go bankrupt because of tens of thousands of yuan?
Of course, it will be very expensive if you buy it from someone else.
Renting a helicopter would be even more expensive, so Xia Yu provides air support for Xiao Anka for $300,000 per trip.
Even this was a friendly price from a major client.
When other people come, I'll just ask for 500,000 without haggling. You think it's too expensive, but I think it's too expensive too!
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