594: Chapter 589: The Great Cannoneer 594: Chapter 589: The Great Cannoneer The intense artillery barrage caused some trouble for Gao Yang and his team, but as they were the ones firing, it was the British who were in real trouble.
Gao Yang decided to cease the artillery fire to clear the visibility and take out the enemy’s tanks, but before he could issue the order, the British tanks charged out of the sand and dust with an unstoppable momentum.
Gao Yang wanted to destroy the British tanks, and the British were even more eager to destroy his artillery positions, and definitely much more urgently.
A Chieftain tank was the first to emerge from the area not covered by sand and dust, and as soon as it had visibility, it opened fire, the shells bursting among the artillery positions.
A second platoon tank also charged out, this time a T-55, and similarly, as soon as the second platoon tank emerged from the sand and dust, it immediately opened fire too.
Dissatisfied, Gao Yang roared into the radio, “Fire!
Fire!
Third row, are you just watching a show!”
Amid Gao Yang’s roaring, the first anti-tank missile was finally launched, taking a soaring and diving trajectory straight towards the Chieftain tank before plunging onto its turret with a loud bang.
The Chieftain tank came to a halt, and simultaneously, a second anti-tank missile was fired, targeting the T-55, and likewise hit the turret.
Following a loud explosion, the T-55 lingered for a moment before two more significant detonations occurred inside the tank; its ammunition cooked off, blasting the tank turret into the air.
The T-55 turned into a pile of burning scrap metal, but the charging Chieftain tank, after pausing for a moment, astonishingly started moving again; however, this time it was not advancing but retreating at full speed.
The anti-tank missile failing to destroy the Chieftain tank was not particularly surprising; the Chieftain’s armor protection was far superior to that of the T55, and though the anti-tank missile’s warhead, an armor-piercing shell, was powerful, many factors could diminish its effectiveness, such as the angle at which it struck the tank armor, significantly reducing its destructive impact.
It’s quite possible that the tank’s armor was not penetrated or that even after penetration, the crew inside did not sustain fatal injuries and still had the capacity to drive the tank back, but regardless, it’s not extraordinary for a Chieftain tank to survive a hit from a missile without being completely destroyed.
The Chieftain tank quickly retreated back into the sand and dust zone, rendering the anti-tank missiles ineffective once more.
In the brief exchanges, much could be discerned, such as the Chieftain tank’s inability to accurately fire in the sandstorm, concluding that the Chieftain is an old model lacking thermal imaging but still had quite effective protection.
Although one tank was destroyed, the situation remained unclear; this battle was not easy to fight.
If the Chieftain tank’s armor could not be penetrated from the front, then attack from the thinner side or rear armor.
Anti-tank missile deployment and movement were time-consuming, but since the missiles were now ready and the enemy tanks within range, there was no need to move.
Gao Yang urgently commanded through the radio, “Artillery cease fire, anti-tank missiles prepare to attack, don’t worry about wasting missiles, we must take out the enemy tanks.”
With the artillery silenced and anti-tank missiles standing by, Gao Yang continued digging his shelter desperately, waiting for the sand and dust to dissipate.
But by the time Gao Yang’s shelter was adequate to cover him, the pervasive sand and dust had mostly cleared, no longer affecting the visibility.
Gao Yang looked up and saw that he had lost sight of the tanks, the enemy tanks had fled.
Upon realizing the enemy tanks had retreated, Gao Yang immediately said, “Instruction Platoon, first and second rows continue to maneuver, third row stand by on the spot, missiles ready to fire at any time.”
After speaking through the radio, Gao Yang waved his hand and said, “Go!”
The Satan Mercenary Corps continued to advance; being the eyes of a military unit is no easy task, and seeing more often means getting closer, which in turn means more danger.
The freshly dug shelter had to be abandoned before it could be used, but such things are not a big deal on the battlefield.
The Satan Mercenary Corps started moving towards the position they had just bombarded, not moving fast, with each person maintaining at least twenty meters from each other, advancing slowly in a skirmish line.
After what felt like an exceedingly long march, Gao Yang climbed atop a small sand dune that had been thoroughly turned by artillery fire, and with visibility restored, Gao Yang just took a glance forward and commanded in a deep voice through the radio, “Instruction Platoon’s first and second rows, occupy the woodland to my right, establish anti-tank positions, third row advance, follow-up forces keep up, our enemies have set up their defenses on the second dune, coordinates B4, begin artillery preparation, rockets three rounds test fire, fire!”
With the map in hand, Gao Yang had a detailed understanding of the terrain around Gesale.
Therefore, before reaching Gesale, he had already set the coordinates with Zhou Zhou using satellite and military maps.
It didn’t matter that the artillerymen didn’t know; as long as Zhou Zhou knew, that was enough.
After waiting for several dozens of seconds, following three rocket blasts, three columns of smoke from the explosions appeared in Gao Yang’s field of vision.
If it were artillerymen commanded by Glolov, Gao Yang wouldn’t even think about over-the-horizon shooting, but with Zhou Zhou there, it was possible, and so Gao Yang now assumed the role of an artillery observer.
As soon as he noticed that the impact point of the rockets was very accurate, Gao Yang immediately said, “Full firepower with the rockets, a concentrated round of fire, now!”
Accompanied by the whooshing of rockets, another round of artillery fire came.
Other than feeling exhilarated, Gao Yang had no other sentiment in his heart.
Playing with artillery supremacy was simply thrilling.
No matter how high the quality of the individual soldier, once a barrage is sent over, they are all done for.
It’s only in a place like Somalia that concentrating 107mm rockets and 60mm mortars can give you the feeling of playing with big artillery.
In countries with even a bit of strength—105mm, 122mm, 152mm, 155mm, 203mm—various calibers of howitzers can teach you what real artillery is in minutes.
As for mortars, they’re not even worth mentioning, too insignificant, and rockets, only Huaxia and Russia can use rockets on a large scale meaningfully.
In front of these two countries, playing with artillery supremacy is simply seeking trouble; even America has to stand aside.
Whether artillery supremacy is considered outdated or not, in a place like Somalia, on the battlefield faced by the Skull Gang, artillery is synonymous with invincibility!
While Gao Yang was observing the effects of the bombardment, the other members quickly checked the position and, after summarizing, Li Jinfang swiftly reported the enemy’s casualties to him.
“Report, about sixteen enemy corpses found, no wounded detected, the corpses are mainly Caucasian, likely British, but it’s not possible to make a definitive judgment because the bodies are mostly in pieces.”
Upon hearing Li Jinfang’s report, Gao Yang couldn’t help but smile.
It seemed the first round of artillery had indeed given the enemy a huge surprise.
Although there were approximately sixteen corpses, intact bodies and wounded were surely taken away; only the uncollectible remains were left behind.
Conservatively estimated, the enemy casualties were at least between thirty to fifty people.
The British were all veterans; they wouldn’t huddle together to take a shelling.
So to cause such significant casualties was beyond Gao Yang’s expectations.
However, it also indirectly proved how fierce the Skull Gang’s artillery fire had been.
Who could have expected that pirates in Somalia would know how to use heavy artillery?
Not anticipating this, they got what they deserved.
Anyway, the British certainly hadn’t expected to encounter massive artillery fire.
If they had had even the slightest preparation, they wouldn’t have suffered so much in the first round of fire.
The enemy had fallen back to their second line of defense, and it was certainly done in haste.
Gao Yang could see the retreating tanks, but the tanks also took cover behind the sand dunes on the second defense line.
Taking advantage of the enemy being suppressed by the artillery once more, Gao Yang urgently said, “Advance the mortars for indirect firing.
The enemy lacks artillery support, but we must be cautious of their tank guns and armored vehicle machine guns.”
Before Gao Yang’s orders had finished, he saw five BMP-2 armored vehicles appear on the enemy’s second line of defense, and then they started firing at their position.
The enemy’s remaining two tanks also elevated their guns and began barraging the artillery positions that were a significant threat to them.
Gao Yang’s men had been careful not to be too exposed from the start.
As soon as they spotted the enemy’s armored vehicles moving, they immediately fell back.
By the time the 30mm machine guns on the armored vehicles started to roar, they were already behind the sand dunes, at least shielded from the enemy’s direct fire.
Plans cannot keep up with changes, especially on the battlefield.
The sudden transition to a firefight with heavy weaponry on both sides was a result completely unexpected by the British.
Gao Yang, however, was at least somewhat prepared for it.
Even though the progress wasn’t very smooth, Gao Yang couldn’t suppress an impulse to laugh.
He had prepared a major artillery force to give the British a huge surprise and decided to make artillery the key to victory.
Now, Gao Yang felt a strong sense of a scheme being successfully executed.
Hiding behind the sand dune and sighing with satisfaction, Gao Yang spoke into the radio, “Three Cannons, let the artillery continue, slow down the firing rate, but don’t stop.
You can go for some spreading fire, don’t be too regular.
Yeah, the best scenario is making them feel unsafe to stay in one place.”
After giving the artillerymen their orders, Gao Yang immediately said on the Instruction Platoon’s frequency, “Instruction Platoon, keep an eye on the enemy’s movement, establish anti-tank positions as soon as possible, but do not fire without confidence.
Aim to destroy the enemy’s tanks when you open fire.
As for the armored vehicles, as long as they don’t make an assault, we can hold off for the time being.”
No sooner had Gao Yang finished speaking than the commander of the Instruction Platoon urgently reported, “Report, the enemy infantry has mounted an attack under the cover of armored vehicles, heading in your direction, please instruct.”
(To be continued.
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