617: Chapter 610: The Final Assault 617: Chapter 610: The Final Assault Justin had not received a detailed map of the minefield.
In fact, the British didn’t have one either.
The British simply laid mines according to a general area and considered it done.
They knew where the minefields were, yet even they dared not enter.
Logically, during mine laying, one should record the positions of the mines to facilitate their removal after the war.
However, logic is just that, logic.
If that were actually practiced, the world wouldn’t be left with so many minefields that were decades old and still deadly.
The British would fight a battle and then leave, unconcerned with the fate of the locals, so long as their own forces did not step on the mines.
For Gao Yang, knowing the safe areas was all that mattered.
The task of mine removal after the war wasn’t his responsibility.
There were no mines on the beaches of Gazaley City, nor outside the city to the northeast.
The British were too pressed for time to lay mines everywhere.
The elongated Gazaley City had two directions from which to launch an attack, and that was enough.
The supply ship of the Skull Gang arrived first with fresh water, food, and most importantly, shells.
Distributing these supplies from sea to land, and then to each artillery position took a considerable amount of time.
The ship of Uriyangko arrived later.
Although it carried less cargo, fuel and ammunition were not things that could be directly transferred from a large ship to the shore.
Therefore, barrels of fuel and ammunition for helicopters were first transferred to smaller boats, then slowly taken to shore, which also took a lot of time.
The whole night was spent preparing for the imminent general assault, engaging nearly all who were not on combat duty.
Having two helicopters was indeed very useful, but servicing them was also quite troublesome; Uriyangko brought with him twenty ground crew members just for that purpose.
Helicopters do not require an airport; a flat piece of land is sufficient for take-off and landing.
However, proper ground maintenance, refueling, and rearming are also essential and must be handled by experienced professionals.
Using armed helicopters in combat isn’t something just anyone can do; it usually requires the resources of a nation and at least a substantial wealth, or a large company like EO from South Africa, with the capability to afford helicopters.
The impoverished should discard the very thought.
Speaking of which, if you use a helicopter, even if you don’t prepare an airport and settle for any flat piece of ground, you still need a fuel truck, right?
And where does the fuel in that truck come from?
Helicopters consume aviation kerosene, and Uriyangko had certainly prepared and brought it along.
If Gao Yang were in charge, he wouldn’t even know where to buy aviation kerosene.
So, while purchasing an armed helicopter is not too expensive, and acquiring the accompanying weapons and ammunition is also manageable with some financial strain, maintaining it and providing logistical support is where the real difficulty and expense lie.
This time, bringing the armed helicopters to the battle meant doing without fuel trucks; fuel had to be manually pumped into the helicopter tanks, which was very slow and dangerous.
This method could be tolerated in an emergency but would be unbearable long-term, essentially ruling out the option of relocating the base.
Having helicopters meant they could only be stationed in one location, and constructing a base for maintenance and storage required additional personnel.
Given the capabilities of Satan Mercenary Corps, owning their own armed helicopter was out of the question.
Even if Grand Ivan gave them one for free, they couldn’t afford it.
Otherwise, Gao Yang would have happily accepted it with a smile.
With no equipment, refueling and arming the helicopters had to be done manually.
Virtually none of the auxiliary mechanical facilities were available.
When the ground crew disembarked, it was already midnight.
In a rush to save time, they barely had a moment to drink water before they began refueling and arming.
The artillery units were already in place, and the attack forces had deployed.
The dawn was breaking, and everyone eagerly awaited the helicopters to take off; the general assault could not begin until they were in the air.
Finally, Gao Yang heard the noise of the propellers and saw the helicopters appear in the sky.
Shortly after, he heard Uriyangko’s voice.
“Report, Lightning is in position.”
“Report, Thunderbolt is in position.”
Uriyangko personally piloted the helicopter codenamed Thunderbolt; the other was codenamed Lightning.
All members of Satan were positioned northeast of Gazaley City, the primary direction of attack, where Uriyangko would maneuver in this airspace to provide cover for the attacking troops.
The other helicopter would provide support from the sea and cover for the troops attacking from the safe passage in the southwest.
The helicopter codenames were chosen casually, solely to distinguish between the two.
This made calling for support and commanding them more convenient.
Taking a deep breath, Gao Yang spoke into the radio, “Prepare artillery for fifteen minutes!
Fire!”
Now that all radio equipment shared a frequency, once Gao Yang gave the order, the artillery preparation began immediately.
The artillery fired, continuously bombarding the pre-set coordinates with shells, while the helicopters began to seek and neutralize threatening targets.
Additionally, the helicopters’ excellent visibility also allowed them to guide artillery directly to the targets.
After a continuous bombardment of fifteen minutes, which blasted everything visible at least once, and as the artillery sounds punctually ceased, Gao Yang immediately ordered, “Attack!”
The first wave of the attack formation swiftly commenced their action.
One platoon from the Instruction Platoon, along with the first and second platoon of Gazaley, launched the attack from the northeast.
The third platoon launched an attack from the southwest through a safe passage.
The fourth platoon, taking speedboats from the sea, created the illusion of a landing.
However, if they encountered fierce opposition, they would retreat to a safe distance.
Of course, if they did not meet strong resistance, the feint would turn into a real attack.
The Satan Mercenary Corps did not join the first wave of the attack.
Leading the first wave, who would definitely suffer the most casualties, were just the ten members of Gao Yang’s team.
Despite their strong combat power, their involvement in this large-scale battle would not be greatly effective but might likely make them targets for enemy snipers.
Now, the real responsibility of the Satan Mercenary Corps was to attack fortifications.
After the first wave of troops pressed forward and assessed the enemy’s firepower, the Satan Mercenary Corps would lead the reserve forces to follow up.
If the vanguard encountered points they couldn’t overcome, only then would the Satan Mercenary Corps and the reserve forces attack to dislodge these tough spots.
Their role was to command and then act to eliminate enemies that the Skull Gang couldn’t handle.
The northeast direction of Gazaley was supposed to be manned and defended by local pirates; it should have been the weakest defensive spot of Gazaley.
If it were just those pirates, a charge by any group of the Skull Gang’s regular forces could captively take Gazaley.
However, with many British present now, who might have already swapped with the pirates or reinforced the defenses in the northeast, so Gao did not believe it would be easy to break through from the northeast.
He had also prepared for significant casualties among the vanguard.
Two platoons plus one squad was already a large number considering the region available for attack.
Stationed at a distance of one thousand five hundred meters, Gao Yang, holding a telescope, checked on the progress of the vanguard while Cui Bo was by his side, ready to shoot, and Glolov was also prepared with a machine gun.
Of course, there was also Tommy, who now had plenty of ammunition, ready to provide covering fire for the attacking troops.
The attack was initiated at a distance of one thousand five hundred meters.
The vanguard’s attack speed was not fast.
Bending their waists, they trotted toward the Gazaley city area.
When they were about one thousand meters away from Gazaley, the city’s garrison began firing.
The enemy fired from a distance, which pleased Gao Yang because this indicated that the enemy was incompetent.
At that distance, only heavy machine guns could threaten the attacking troops, but with the enemy’s light and heavy machine guns and rifles firing together, it only showed those incompetent pirates were wasting bullets.
The attacking troops approached within less than two hundred meters before they would charge, overwhelm the enemy, and break through their line.
And now, it was time for the covering units to open fire.
Once the enemy opened fire, their positions were exposed.
Uriyangko and others in the air waited just for that moment.
The cannon and rocket fire towards heavy machine gun positions started immediately, while Tommy and Glolov, not to be underestimated, of course along with the artillery, simultaneously bombarded the enemy’s exposed positions.
Cui Bo fired too, but at a distance of one thousand five hundred meters, he was just joining in the commotion.
After a fierce hammering with guns and explosives, the enemy had mostly ceased fire; the vanguard marched almost leisurely to within less than five hundred meters of the enemy line, a dangerously close range.
Less than five hundred meters from the enemy’s position, now coming within the effective range of automatic rifles, Gao Yang’s heart began to tense.
Whether the enemy was strong or weak would now become apparent.
The vanguard’s tactical actions increased, and their assault speed picked up.
At this moment, Gao Yang saw several men in the foremost position continuously fall.
Encountering casualties was inevitable, and meeting enemy snipers had been anticipated, but seeing four men fall in succession made Gao Yang clench his teeth tightly because the fallen were the very ones who should not, could not fall—they were all commanders.
“Report!
Enemy sniper!
Second platoon’s platoon leader dead, squad leader acting as platoon leader!”
“Report, Instruction Platoon’s third squad leader dead!”
Just like that, the vanguard lost a platoon leader and three squad leaders, one of whom was a leader from the Instruction Platoon.
Before the attack, Gao Yang had ordered all officers to remove anything that distinguished them from ordinary soldiers, but some of their habitual actions still exposed their identities, such as gesturing commands which snipers absolutely wouldn’t overlook.
“Thunderbolt reporting, no enemy sniper positions detected!”
Cui Bo also shouted, “Not found!”
Gao Yang sighed quietly.
There were too many enemy snipers; this battle was really going to be tough and, indeed, frightening.
(To be continued.
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