The groundhog crew fired first, with the upgraded Mi-24P's twin 30mm cannons launching ammunition into the distance, the tracer trajectories tearing through the night sky were quite a sight to behold.
Soft targets that get hit by high-explosive warheads are not in a good mood.
"Boom!"
Some of the homemade bombs they were carrying exploded, but others organized a counterattack.
"Whoosh!"
The modified PG-7VL armor-piercing projectile unfolded its mosquito coil-shaped folding tail fins, ignited its rocket engine, and accelerated toward the Mi-24P leading the charge.
Using the RPG-7 to shoot down helicopters is a unique skill of the Chamarians. The key is to prevent the time-delay fuse, which is set to self-destruct at 1000 meters (4.5 seconds), from being triggered.
Let's put aside whether it's accurate or not; we can't just detonate a smokescreen before even reaching the target, can we?
Extending the effective range is important, but it would be even better if it were equipped with a non-contact proximity fuse used in portable anti-aircraft missiles.
Unfortunately, no one has yet filled the gap between RPGs and Manpads.
Air-to-ground anti-tank missiles have guided rockets, and man-portable anti-tank missiles also use the AT-4 launch system. There is also the Nlaw anti-tank missile with a tandem warhead. There are not many good alternatives for man-portable air defense weapons.
I don't expect it to be as cheap as the RPG-7, but it should at least be priced at around ten or twenty thousand dollars!
"Whoosh!"
Two more RG-7VL armor-piercing rounds were fired from another direction, but the Jihuo Defense Army Aviation Department had conducted special targeted training, and would never airdrop personnel unless they were attacking a stronghold, leaving them hovering in mid-air as live targets.
The four Mi-24s skillfully evaded the armor-piercing warheads with a few simple maneuvers, until they lost power and crashed to the ground to explode.
"Damn it, we still need to use portable anti-aircraft missiles. Don't stop, keep attacking them."
The commander leading the team angrily cursed.
Before setting off, the batch of consumer-grade drones that the leader had bought at a high price had just arrived. He was thinking that since the RG-7VL warhead, which had its rocket engine removed, wasn't too heavy, could he use the drones to ram into the helicopter?
But quadcopter drones can only bully helicopters parked on the ground at best.
Once airborne, it would be blown away by the strong wind from the propeller and would never hit its target.
Small loitering munitions are similar, while larger ones are enough to force attack helicopters to carry air-to-air missiles and transport helicopters to carry jamming pods.
In any case, the survival rate of helicopter units is greatly reduced when facing regular troops, but these days extremist organizations can get their hands on portable anti-aircraft missiles.
Without specific countermeasures, it's best to use fewer helicopter units.
"Knock knock knock"
The Frostbirds, having entered attack range, also opened fire. Their cannon turrets were much more accurate, but facing such a dispersed group:
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"
The rocket pod fired one 80mm dart round after another. These things are less effective than small steel balls when loaded into No. 12 shotgun shells, but when they are loaded into the warheads of artillery shells and rockets, the sheer number of them creates a scale effect.
"Boom boom boom boom"
Arrow-shaped fragments, mixed with explosive charges, were propelled by the blast wave and flew in all directions.
The soft targets hiding behind bushes and trees were hit squarely; those whose main arteries were pierced died within minutes—the efficiency was extremely high. But just then…
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"
Several more RG-7VL armor-piercing rounds were launched, but the ultraviolet/infrared warning system on the Longbow Crossbow suddenly sounded an alarm.
Oh no, there's a portable anti-aircraft missile mixed in with the rocket. The Zormali youth team has learned to play dirty tricks.
But so what?
The flying squirrels, with their clearly defined roles, have already taken action. Faced with the incoming missiles, the Longbow Cross Deer tilted its nose forward, protecting its tail rotor in a defensive posture, and then followed closely behind:
"Puff puff puff"
The aircraft unleashed a barrage of heat decoys from both sides, forming a volley to intercept the FN-6 missile.
That's not all. The infrared seeker of this portable air defense missile has been upgraded with improved anti-jamming capabilities, so friendly forces also need to step up their efforts.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"
The two Mi-24P aircraft, whose additional armor was a standard lower than that of the Longbow Cross Deer and the Old Deer Tiger, raised their noses and fired S-8O flares one after another from behind, directly in front of Lao Han and his men.
It must be said that the former Soviet Union really mastered unguided rockets back then. In addition to its own chaff launcher system, the rocket pods could also fire S-8O illumination flares and S-8P chaff flares.
At this point, with a burn time exceeding 30 seconds, even a 2 million candela flare, while not blinding the infrared seeker, can definitely interfere with the missile's normal operation, even if its infrared radiation spectrum characteristics are not similar to those of a helicopter.
A few seconds later, it seemed as if the sky had brightened.
"boom"
This FN-6, having lost its target, self-destructed after a delay.
"They actually brought portable anti-aircraft missiles. Let's launch a volley of rockets first."
Xia Yu issued the order.
"Yes, boss!"
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"
The four Hinds redeployed and launched rockets at the scattered soft targets.
The RPG shooters and anti-aircraft gunners who were attacking just now were all riddled with arrow-shaped shrapnel, turning them into hedgehogs.
After completing this round, they teamed up and headed to the next location to reload their ammunition, leaving the remaining targets to the Fennec Fox, the Sea Knight, and the Black Hawk.
The best thing about the Mi-24 platform is that it has a troop transport compartment. However, just as mechanized infantry dislike the BMP-1 and BMP-2 troop transport compartments, airborne troops also dislike the Mi-24's troop transport compartment, which can seat eight people.
Its greatest use in concentrated fire defense is to carry an extra load of ammunition for reloading.
In the event of intense combat, 80 rockets are simply not enough.
Two rounds of 160 shots would be more like it!
"Knock knock knock"
"Put-put-put"
"Bang bang"
The second-line helicopter squadron, stationary, used machine guns, cannons, and sniper rifles to finish off the enemy, firing ammunition at all the still-movable soft targets in the thermal imaging scope with extremely high efficiency.
In this operation, heavy attack helicopters were responsible for both offensive and defensive operations, while light attack helicopters, utility helicopters, and transport helicopters played a supporting role.
Just to wrap things up, more than a dozen helicopters fired over 100,000 rounds of bullets of different calibers, but at most killed a few hundred people below.
Honestly, this is already a great deal, considering that conventional ammunition is the least valuable thing on the battlefield compared to rockets and programmable munitions.
It takes 250,000 bullets for a US soldier to eliminate one enemy. Suppression fire and daily training are the main sources of ammunition consumption. In a match like this where the enemy is being easily defeated, the ammunition consumption is actually not high.
Or, more efficiently, after clearing this area, the second-line squadron was divided into two groups: those with enough ammunition joined up with the Hind squadron that had completed field reloading.
Those who run out of ammunition return to the outpost to replenish their ammunition and fuel before returning to relieve another group.
This relay-style combat helps maintain firepower; the current concern is running out of ammunition.
At night, the cold wind at high altitude quickly cooled the scorching gun barrels, and the machine gunners at the hatches of the Sea Knight and the Black Hawk replaced the machine guns with large ammunition boxes with a capacity of several thousand rounds.
Utility helicopters and transport helicopters have enough space to carry ample ammunition, unlike light attack helicopters which have very little space.
However, since the entire operation was conducted from the air, these helicopter units did not deploy a single paratrooper to the ground. Therefore, even though so many people were killed, there were still a couple hundred who escaped.
Some of them were terrified, while others remained resolute and continued advancing towards the border. A second and third line of fire awaited them.
Xia Yu would not allow Kenniya to become chaotic if they were paid to do the work. These die-hards should just stay put!
"Duka"
"boom"
Old Deer Tiger's machine gun turret roared and blasted a pickup truck full of people to pieces.
The two Sparrowhawk Bs and two CH-4s had used up all their ammunition, but they hadn't exhausted the remaining pickup trucks of the Zumari Youth Team. This extremist organization of several thousand people still had some foundation.
But it doesn't matter. If drones don't work, there are still attack helicopters for concentrated fire defense.
After firing all four HOT-3 rounds, Xia Yu flew into the range of the machine gun turret and opened fire.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"
Four or five RG-7VL armor-piercing rounds were used as cover for an FN-6 missile, but the distance was still a bit far, so they didn't ask for friendly fire support.
"Puff puff puff puff"
Xia Yu launched a round of decoys directly before maneuvering out of the missile seeker's field of view.
"boom"
The missile that arrives after the detonation of the heat decoy will execute a self-destruct sequence after losing its target.
"Flying Squirrel, shoot him down!"
"call out"
One of the Bluearrow 7 engines on the outermost hull of the Longbow Crossbow ignited, and the truck sped toward the pickup carrying the anti-aircraft gunner.
Like the RPG-7, the mainstream Manpads nowadays are reusable launchers, while the missiles are consumables.
If we don't destroy this air defense unit immediately, the enemy might pull out their spare ammunition and fire another shot, which would be troublesome.
"boom"
Amid the explosion, the red hellfire accurately hit its target, and the remaining personnel, who were also soft targets, jumped out of the vehicle, left the mountain road, and rushed into the forest.
"Knock knock knock"
Two Mi-24P cannons opened fire, and high-explosive shells blasted empty pickup trucks into fireballs.
Even if you can't kill them, you should destroy their vehicles.
After doing all that, it's time to hunt.
The four doe planes maintained their formation and charged towards the fleeing soft targets.
The complex terrain reduced their efficiency, but the strong love challenging work. The remaining fuel and resupply ammunition were enough for them to continue high-intensity combat for another half hour.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"
Both sides exchanged rocket fire, interspersed with man-portable air-defense systems and air-to-ground missiles, but how could sporadic ground-based counterattacks compare to the firepower of aerial artillery?
The battlefield situation was developing in a one-sided direction, and the inability to concentrate the use of the FN-6 had no advantage whatsoever. The weapons that the Kumari Youth Team had acquired at great cost did not play their ideal role.
It can only be said that extremist organizations are ultimately just extremist organizations, and no matter how hard they try to militarize themselves, it will be in vain.
If you encounter other PMC companies, you can hide if you can't beat them, but if you run into a concentrated attack, you're doomed.
Hiding away won't save them from death either. Trying to make their deaths more meaningful by negotiating with the client won't work either. Their only fate is to be buried in the vast mountains of Dongfei, becoming nourishment for plants and wild animals.
Abdi hiding in the tunnel
A skeleton in a tomb!
Years ago, he was blacklisted by Jihuo Defense, and the gears of his fate began to turn to the countdown.
"Team C, report the situation!"
"Team E, report the situation immediately!"
Abdi called several groups of people repeatedly without receiving a response, and a bad feeling began to creep into his mind.
Unfortunately, he dared not send anyone away from the stronghold again. Time passed by, and before he knew it, dawn had broken.
"Chief, our men died a terrible death!"
As dawn broke, a patrol team ran back from outside, reporting the news with terrified expressions.
Electromagnetic interference disrupted communications, so they had to run back and personally report what they had seen and heard to their leader.
Because they had planned their hiding place in advance, the helicopters did not spot them, but intense gunfire continued into the middle of the night.
On the way back, I passed by the battlefield and was horrified by the horrific scene. Being riddled with arrow-shaped shrapnel and small-caliber bullets was considered relatively good.
The most gruesome were those who died from homemade bombs exploding, or from machine gun bullets and anti-tank missile shrapnel; their bodies were scattered in pieces, impossible to piece together.
"This, how is this possible? I sent 1,500 people, and you're telling me they're all finished?"
Abdi didn't believe in superstitions, but then he thought of something and asked them a question.
How many helicopters did they deploy?
"More than 20. I counted them while wearing night vision goggles. There were more than 20 of them, big and small."
The patrol leader said with certainty.
"Some have cannons, some have rocket pods, but every helicopter has a Gatling gun, and the bullets are like rain."
As he spoke, he gestured, explaining that the trajectory of a tracer bullet was so conspicuous in the darkness that it made him tremble for half the night, fearing that if the trajectory veered in his direction, he wouldn't be able to return.
"Why didn't they use any of the more than 20 helicopters they had?"
Abdi's eyes widened in surprise; he felt like he'd been tricked.
There's no other reason than that tanks and infantry fighting vehicles can't be used in mountainous areas, so the main force in the second phase of the operation was changed to artillery and helicopters.
Old A knew that the previous deployments of Jihuo Defense involved four Mi-44 helicopters, and he was prepared for that, but he did not expect the other side to deploy more than 20 helicopters this time.
Now I can understand a lot of things. No wonder those strongholds were lost so quickly and so thoroughly, with not a single survivor.
Wow, they had so many helicopters!
They probably made their fortune in Afghanistan. Those damn Americans, couldn't you have destroyed all those helicopters more thoroughly?
The American said, "What can I do if I douse them with gasoline and burn them? That would be a complete falling out. They still have so many people here!"
"Wait a minute, are our anti-aircraft missiles not working?"
Abdi immediately thought of the FN-6 he had bought at a high price.
He was prepared that rockets wouldn't take down the helicopter, but what about all those man-portable air defense systems? Surely they should have achieved at least one kill?
"Useless leader, these guys are very experienced at dodging missiles. They're not afraid at all. They're using smoke and maneuvering to dodge all the missiles mixed in with the rockets."
After hearing this, Abdi finally gave up. To take down those helicopters that were more numerous than flies, portable anti-aircraft missiles alone were not enough.
He must buy short-range air defense missiles.
If I had known it would be like this, I would have been better off buying two sets of Arrow-10 from Su Dan!
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