280: Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight: Long-Eyed Cannon 280: Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight: Long-Eyed Cannon Daylight had come, and the Skull Gang’s attack was progressing extremely smoothly; nearly all the units had arrived in Zone AA at a pace more akin to marching than fighting.
The so-called Zone AA was the key target that Gao Yang and his group had planned to seize from the beginning.
After confirming that Zone AA and the Mokadi Faction’s core control area largely overlapped, all the troops had already advanced toward Zone AA.
By dawn, they had already exchanged fire with the Mokadi Faction’s elite forces.
After the Skull Gang’s unstoppable advance reached the areas near the port of Bosaso, their momentum was finally checked.
But now, the gang had the numerical advantage, with nearly a thousand people willing to join the Skull Gang in attacking the last area controlled by Mokadi.
By ten in the morning, the battle was still raging.
The soldiers of the Skull Gang had been fighting continuously for over eighteen hours without rest, but their high morale meant they didn’t need rest, and they were fully capable of taking over Bosaso in one fell swoop.
The Vulture Mercenary Group had inflicted heavy casualties on the Instruction Platoon: eighteen dead, twenty-two seriously injured, and twelve lightly wounded who were unable to continue fighting.
The Instruction Platoon had been reduced by more than half, whereas the entire regular army had suffered only thirteen fatalities.
The deaths in the Instruction Platoon were higher than all the other units combined.
Fortunately, the only real threat on the Mokadi Faction’s side was the Vulture Mercenary Group.
Despite the Instruction Platoon’s grave losses, they had virtually annihilated the Vulture Mercenary Group.
After the battle, they found sixty bodies belonging to the Vulture Mercenaries, along with four seriously wounded.
Although a few had fled, there was no longer any need to worry about the Vulture Mercenary Group posing a threat.
The Instruction Platoon had suffered heavy casualties, but they still needed to play a pivotal role, so Gao Yang simply used the entire Seventh Platoon to reinforce the Instruction Platoon.
Now, the reinforced Instruction Platoon was attacking a street junction.
If they could take the junction, they would directly face the area where Mokadi was hiding.
However, Gao Yang had not yet ordered a full-on assault, as he was waiting for the news from the landing troops.
Gao Yang wanted to order all the units to launch a simultaneous assault when the landing troops began their attack on the docks.
But getting the ship to the designated position and pulling three platoons from different units had delayed matters, so by the time the reinforced Eighth Platoon and some heavy firepower were boarding the ships, it was already late.
With his binoculars in hand, Gao Yang watched anxiously.
The Instruction Platoon was fully capable of taking the entire street junction on their own, but had to wait for news from the landing troops before launching the general attack.
As Gao Yang anxiously awaited news, the voice of Mu He, the captain of the Eighth Platoon, finally came through the earpiece.
“Reporting, Commander, we have entered the harbor area, encountered no attacks, and will soon be able to initiate the attack.
Awaiting your orders,” Mu He reported.
Gao Yang immediately responded loudly, “Attack immediately, with the utmost speed, attack now!
Do not let any ship escape!”
Mu He, the captain of the Eighth Platoon, had been a pirate for a long time and was now in charge of launching the landing operation.
While it was uncertain if he could accomplish the task given to him, Gao Yang had no other choice.
After ending the call with Mu He, it wasn’t long before Gao Yang heard explosions in the distance.
He knew Mu He’s mortars and rocket launchers had fired, and this was the moment Gao Yang had been waiting for.
Over the radio, he shouted, “All units, go on a full-scale offensive, take down Zone AA as fast as possible!
Be advised, if you meet strong resistance, call for support immediately!”
Following Gao Yang’s command, the battle began.
Mortars furiously bombarded the street junction in front of Gao Yang, and after Li Jinfang let out a bellow, the soldiers of the Instruction Platoon charged in skirmish lines of three men each toward the junction, a mere two hundred meters away.
As two squads from the Instruction Platoon approached the junction, the mortars shifted to shooting over them.
With just one charge, the squads reached the defensive position at the junction.
Several trios supported one another and took the position there in less than three minutes.
Once the junction was secured, the Instruction Platoon immediately began shooting at the enemy forces on the adjacent streets.
The heavy machine guns left by the enemy proved to be very useful, now repurposed by the assault teams of the two squads to fortify what had become their own position.
Upon securing the corner, Li Jinfang immediately ordered the rest of the soldiers to rush forward.
They needed to spread out from the corner down the side streets, which could quickly penetrate the enemy’s last line of defense.
Li Jinfang sent out two platoons, as the street could not accommodate many people at once.
An overly dense formation would be disadvantageous if everyone were sent in.
After watching the two platoons spread out for attacks on both flanks, Gao Yang shouted urgently, “Let’s go up.”
Then Li Jinfang waved his hand, and the remaining soldiers of the Instruction Platoon surged toward the street corner.
At that moment, Gao Yang also charged out with his rifle, flanked by Li Jinfang, Glolov, Frey, and Bruce at his side.
They were leading the remaining forces of the Instruction Platoon, ready to pierce the enemy’s heart like a dagger.
As they were about to reach the corner, Gao Yang heard a voice that was familiar yet distinctly different.
Then, Glolov bellowed with all his might, “Get down!
Mortar!”
Upon hearing Glolov’s voice, Gao Yang dove to the ground, and almost at the same time, the others around him also lay flat on the ground.
Following a blast, Gao Yang saw a heavy machine gun position controlled by the Instruction Platoon at the street corner was hit directly by a shell, and the four or five soldiers hiding behind the machine gun bunker were thrown into the air like rag dolls.
“82mm mortar, 2B14, the enemy’s mortar!”
Actually, Glolov didn’t need to shout; Gao Yang and the others already knew it had to be the enemy’s mortar because all of the Skull Gang’s mortars were 63-type 60mm mortars made in Huaxia, with both the power and sound vastly different from the enemy’s mortar, not to mention the shells were already falling down.
Only twenty or thirty meters away from the street corner where Gao Yang and the others were lying down, when he saw a heavy machine gun position blasted sky-high by a shell that landed bang on target, Gao Yang couldn’t help but be astonished because the enemy’s mortar was too precise.
Before Gao Yang could even get to his feet, there came another whistling sound from above, dragging out a long tone.
Then, another shell fell straight into another machine gun position’s trench fortification.
An explosion followed, and the second machine gun position, with its men and guns, was blown skyward.
Too precise, the first machine gun position hadn’t been hit by lucky chance.
A cold sweat soaked through Gao Yang’s back in an instant.
Precision mortars like these were an infantryman’s nightmare.
This time, Glolov bellowed, “Spotter-guided mortars!
The enemy has spotter-guided mortars!
Charge through, quick, charge through, staying here means waiting for death!”
Gao Yang suddenly scrambled up from the ground and continued running wildly towards the street corner.
Now, not knowing where the enemy’s mortar fire was coming from, their only hope was to take out the enemy’s mortar crew or mortars as quickly as possible.
If they stayed put, another shell would mean they were all done for.
When Gao Yang and the others reached the street corner, Gao Yang looked both ways but didn’t see any mortar.
It was at this moment that another shrill scream sounded from above and then, a shell exploded among the group of people who were attacking down the side street—and it exploded right in the most densely packed area.
Seeing where the shell had landed, Glolov’s face turned pale, and he immediately bellowed, “Run back, run back, damn it!”
Glolov, who had the most experience among them, had been through countless battles where his comrades used mortars to brutally pummel the enemy, as well as many moments when they themselves were viciously hammered by enemy mortars.
Therefore, Gao Yang never doubted Glolov’s judgment.
He turned and ran back, while not forgetting to signal to the soldiers who were still confused about the situation.
After running back just over ten meters, Glolov suddenly shouted from behind Gao Yang, “Get down!”
As soon as Gao Yang had thrown himself to the ground, a shell landed.
He felt the earth shake violently beneath him, and then a shell exploded less than ten meters in front of him, once again in the densest part of the crowd.
Gao Yang was stupefied.
The enemy’s rate of mortar fire wasn’t very fast, but it was frighteningly accurate.
Each shell was detonating in the most lethal places.
Gao Yang had never seen mortars cause such deadly devastation before.
“Run, keep running!”
After hearing Glolov’s words, Gao Yang gritted his teeth and continued sprinting forward, but this time no more shells fell.
As they managed to get fifty meters away without any more shells falling and judging by the sounds of explosions, the enemy had shifted their bombardment targets to the people still fighting in the street.
Almost simultaneously, Li Jinfang shouted for the crowd still gathered to disperse, while Gao Yang yelled into the radio, “The enemy has mortars, watch out for artillery strikes, spread out, don’t cluster too closely!”
Rushing to speak after Gao Yang had finished, Glolov said urgently, “The enemy has spotter-guided mortars, we can’t go on like this.
Judging from the sound of the mortar and the time gap before the shells land, the enemy’s mortars are hidden in the building area, far from us, so they must have an observer.
Moreover, the observer can’t see us from here.
Otherwise, the shells would have already hit.
God, they have planned their sectors of fire in advance and are hitting us with spotter-guided mortars just by relying on data provided by the observer.
What kind of gunner is this!”
Li Jinfang also approached Gao Yang, his expression urgent, “Either kill the enemy’s spotter or take out the observer; otherwise, we can’t fight.”
What Glolov called spotter-guided mortars, or what Li Jinfang referred to as “man-hunting mortar,” both meant extremely precise mortars.
Shells fired by a mortars expert seemed to have eyes, searching for targets, which is why they were referred to as spotter-guided or man-hunting mortars; in any case, both terms meant the same thing.
It didn’t really matter what they were called.
Having a mortars expert who could fire man-hunting shells on your side was a boon to the infantry, but if the enemy had such a mortars expert, it was an absolute nightmare.
Gao Yang said soberly, “It’s definitely another mercenary group.
They won’t have too many people, and they’ll definitely be Caucasians.
Find their observer, kill their observer!” (To be continued.
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