It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 264 | My name is Magnetic Rod! (Two-in-One)

A red signal flare pierced the night sky, and the idle Imperial Russian soldiers looked up in the direction of the sound.

Before they could react, a barrage of gunfire erupted simultaneously, instantly killing the exposed artillerymen.

"Enemy attack!"

"what?"

"Damn Americans are charging in!"

"Where did they come from?!"

When forming the assault team, Shang Ke repeatedly emphasized that the essence of special operations lies in surprise and speed, avoiding any stalemate, and always remembering that the assault team is just an elite light infantry.

Therefore, the assault team moved swiftly, and after the battle began, they rushed into the artillery positions like a dragon emerging from the sea.

Someone triggered the tripwire flare, and the flare that shot into the air instantly illuminated the area in white!
The Russian soldiers reacted quickly, and the machine gun emplacements on the flanks of the artillery positions spewed out conspicuous tongues of fire, spraying out a series of deadly bullets!
The first few assault team members were hit by bullets one after another, and the rest were pinned down and unable to move forward or backward.

Seeing this, Shank immediately shouted, "Grenade launchers! Take out that machine gun! Enemy armored vehicles might come to reinforce from the eleven o'clock direction! Get ready!"

Using the bushes as cover, the two grenade launcher teams, carrying rifles, jogged towards a low-lying area.

Mount a grenade, pull back the bolt to load a blank round, pull the pin on the grenade, and aim!

Two crisp gunshots rang out, and two grenades flew at a slow speed toward the machine gun emplacement that was firing wildly. The two explosions blew the enemy there to pieces, and the firing point immediately stopped.

If given the opportunity to snipe, a sniper might be able to take down firing positions, but he simply couldn't handle the heavy machine guns of the Imperial Russian forces.

As is well known, Russian-made heavy machine guns have a unique design – a heavy machine gun shield. Although the shield is not thick, it is made from scraps of tank armor steel, which has excellent bullet resistance and can be immune to infantry and machine gun bullets.

【Picture】

After eliminating the deadly flanking fire threat, dozens of assault team members stormed into the position in the blink of an eye.

With only Mosin-Nagant carbines and Tokarev pistols, how could the Imperial Russian artillery possibly fight against heavily armed commandos?

In this firefight environment, the Thompson submachine gun had a significant advantage. Although the fifty-round drum magazine was bulky—weighing five pounds when fully loaded, plus the submachine gun itself weighing seven and a half pounds, for a total weight of twelve and a half pounds, it was still incredibly powerful.

With a rate of fire of 700 rounds per minute, a magazine capacity of 50 rounds, the stability of spray fire due to its heavy weight, and the powerful stopping force of Colt large-caliber pistol bullets, it is simply a deadly weapon for close-range combat.

Such terrifying automatic firepower unleashed a bloodbath on the artillery positions!
The Russian artillery's weak defensive firepower was negligible; they were often stunned by a single grenade thrown at them, and then killed by a hail of bullets.

In just two or three minutes, most of the artillery position was wiped out!
The second-in-command, Warrant Officer Garcia, was a small, frail woman among the Americans, and the heavy Thompson submachine gun was too much for her.

Therefore, she was the only one carrying a Winchester M1905 automatic rifle, a civilian carbine that fires .32 caliber bullets and has a muzzle energy of only 960 joules, making it not very powerful.

However, this weakness was not obvious in her hands. In any case, she would just keep hitting the chest and head, and the result would be either death or maiming.

As Garcia and her companions fought their way through, they unknowingly became separated from the others.

At that moment, the sound of engines came from the left. Two Russian-made armored vehicles were seen driving from the camp behind the artillery position, firing as they sped along.

It turned out that the Russian Empire had not been too careless. Brigadier General Voronov had already dispatched two armored vehicles to the area to reinforce the security of the coastal artillery positions in order to prevent harassment by the retreating American troops.

Unfortunately, Brigadier General Voronov did not expect that the force that launched the night attack on the artillery position was not a group of stragglers, but a genuine elite marine!

And the people who led these attackers are the very same people who caused our great motherland so much suffering.

Shang Ke couldn't help but click his tongue and mutter, "Damn it, two of them came at once!"

To facilitate the operation, the commando team did not bring heavy anti-tank guns. The two armored vehicles provided cover for each other, making them more difficult to deal with.

"Don't expose yourselves to the flares! Throw a few smoke grenades!" Just as he was about to send a squad to flank to the left under the cover of smoke grenades, suddenly, a dazzling light flashed!
An armored vehicle burst into flames, and the crew members, engulfed in fire, staggered and abandoned the vehicle, howling and rolling on the ground.

In that direction, a commando excitedly tossed aside the disposable rocket launcher's barrel, which was made of thin rolled steel plates, and exclaimed with delight, "This thing is so useful!"

"Run!" Garcia said as she accurately took down several enemies who were fleeing in panic dozens of meters away.

The remaining armored vehicle was no match for the enemy, and the Imperial Russian artillery was in an uncontrollable rout as the soldiers realized that fighting these ferocious attackers on their artillery positions was tantamount to suicide.

At Shang Ke's command, the group immediately began to destroy the howitzers at each gun position.

Open the breechblock and stuff the thermite into the breech; the intense heat melts the breech in the blink of an eye!

Someone asked, half-jokingly, "Sir! Doesn't this count as damaging valuable property?"

While looking at the compass, Shank humorously replied, "At least not for Zhong and the United States."

Then, he gestured and gave the order: "The cannon battalion is a mile away. We have to go. The enemy is on guard. It's going to be a fierce battle!"

Special operations are very difficult, and he considers himself to be only mediocre at best. This time, he is pioneering a new approach by dealing with the unsuspecting Imperial Russian artillery units, which can be considered as a way to get things started.

The night raid on the first artillery position was not too difficult; the assault team suffered only eight or nine casualties but killed or wounded many enemies and destroyed more than a dozen howitzers there.

The ensuing battle was as difficult as he had anticipated.

Because of the warning time, the enemy defending the second artillery position was prepared, and a barrage of fire from light and heavy machine guns rained down, keeping the assault team hundreds of meters away.

Two or three flares floated in the night sky like lanterns, illuminating the earth brightly, leaving everyone with nowhere to hide.

Shang Ke launched two consecutive attacks, both of which failed, resulting in the loss of more than ten men.

At 22:30, the Swordfish (SS-193) submarine, which had suffered a mechanical failure en route, arrived late, bringing with it more than thirty assault team members.

Even so, progress remains minimal.

This is the limitation of special forces capabilities.

A commando carrying a radio ran up to Shank and shouted, "Sir, the naval commander told us they won't wait any longer."

Shang Ke clenched his fist, clicked his tongue in frustration, took a deep breath, and turned to shout at the crowd, "Listen up, everyone! We don't have time! We have to find a way to take down this artillery position... or at least disrupt them!"

He then asked, "I need a few people to do some high-risk work, a life-or-death situation. Who is willing to volunteer?"

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At the same time. South of New York.

A small fleet consisting of six destroyers and the light cruiser HMS Helena is sailing slowly.

The fleet maintained strict blackout control and kept a low profile. All seven warships were temporarily painted in an unconventional dark blue, making them appear like ghosts in the night.

Colonel Lopez stood quietly on the bridge, raising his binoculars to gaze into the distance. He could see faint lights flickering on Staten Island, indicating that a battle was taking place there.

Forty-nine-year-old Captain Lopez is a gentlemanly middle-aged man known for his calm and collected character in the Atlantic Fleet. He has served in destroyer and cruiser units since graduating from the Annapolis Naval Academy.

Today, he is tasked with commanding an extraordinary evacuation operation that will determine not only the lives of thousands of soldiers but also the fate of the American Army.

Are a few thousand veterans really that important? Perhaps this is one of the many differences between the Navy and the Army?
Although he was skeptical, Colonel Lopez agreed that even if it was just to save his brothers, it was worth the risk.

The light cruiser HMS Helena and two destroyers built during the interwar period (Mahan-class) provided cover, while the remaining four older European-era destroyers (Clemson-class) were responsible for evacuating the garrison.

The evacuation process must be carried out with utmost care and as quickly as possible; any negligence could lead to irreparable mistakes.

Operation codename: Magic Tide.

Colonel Lopez glanced at the time and asked, "Has the commando team not taken care of the second target yet?"

The adjutant shook his head helplessly and said, "Not yet, Colonel. Brigadier General Shang said that their attack on the second artillery position has been hampered and they are trying to find a solution."

“The night is short, we can’t wait any longer. Let them try to mark the exact location of the target, then we will launch an artillery barrage.”

"Yes!"

Colonel Lopez's request was quickly rejected by Mr. Shang.

It's so late at night, and the battle is raging, how could anyone possibly mark a target?

Moreover, even if smoke canisters were deployed, with such low visibility, the fleet would be unable to perform accurate ranging. A slight error, even a difference of 'hundred meters,' would be insufficient to destroy those fortifications.

Colonel Lopez paused for a moment, then decisively ordered, "The Princeton and Cassin will accelerate toward Staten Island and bombard targets on the shore to cover the fleet's passage through the channel."

At his command, the two destroyers immediately accelerated.

The Princeton and Cassin quickly increased their cruising speed from 11 knots to 27 knots and bravely approached Staten Island, lowering the muzzles of their 127mm guns, ready to fire directly at any moment.

Upon discovering the presence of American naval vessels, the well-prepared Imperial Russian artillery reacted swiftly, firing several flares into the sea.

In an instant, the silhouettes of two destroyers appeared on the deep sea.

The officers shouted orders, commanding their men to turn the cannons around and fire at the two targets according to the pre-calculated parameters.

“Boom—boom boom boom—”

The thunderous roar of cannons shook the heavens!

A dozen cannons fired fiercely in unison, and soon a forest of water columns rose up near the two destroyers. Two and a half minutes later, when the Cassin fired its first retaliatory shell, it was also hit by a shell.

A 107mm shell hit the bow, penetrated the anchor chain compartment, and exploded. Immediately afterwards, another shell struck the midship deck and shattered, coming within seven or eight meters of the Mk15 quadruple 533mm torpedo launcher.

The Cassin was immediately engulfed in multiple fires.

This is one of the major advantages of coastal defense artillery. While target warships still need to be measured on the spot, coastal defense artillery has already recorded the firing data and is waiting for the target to come to them.

"Damn it! Why the rush?"

Shank, of course, witnessed all of this. He muttered a few complaints, then turned around and reminded them again, "The Navy is already risking their lives. This is the last chance. You must go all out!"

The entire commando team held their breath and waited.

The light and heavy machine guns on the other side were still firing intermittently, maintaining a suppressive effect.

At this moment, the Russian soldiers noticed that the assault team had fired several more smoke grenades into the open area in the middle.

"Master, it's another smokescreen; they haven't given up yet."

"So what, you foolish Americans, respond to their stubbornness with bullets!"

About twenty or thirty seconds later, a faint engine sound reached my ears, which sounded rather strange.

Not long after, two trucks suddenly emerged from the thick smoke and rushed straight towards us!
The assault team member driving the truck slammed on the gas, then shifted into neutral, pushed open the door, jumped out, rolled a few times, and lay down on the spot.

"Surprise! You damn idiot!"

The truck's windshield was shattered instantly by a hail of bullets, but its momentum continued as it crashed into the artillery position. The two trucks gradually slowed down as they slid, and finally exploded with a bang!
"Boom! Boom!!!"

The explosion was so violent that the ground trembled!

More than a dozen oil drums flew into the sky, and countless burning gasoline splashed everywhere, like a rain of fire.

My name is Magnet Rod!
Art is an explosion! What a magnificent sight!

Shang Ke's lips involuntarily curled upwards.

Before he could give the order, the highly motivated crowd spontaneously rose to their feet, shouting as they charged towards the sea of ​​fire...

Shang Ke breathed a sigh of relief.

The improvisational approach really worked – because this was a coastal artillery position, not a defensive line built by field troops on the main battlefield, and there were no trenches or various obstacles, which made this approach feasible.

He told the commando carrying a radio beside him, "Have the fleet cease fire immediately to avoid friendly fire."

On the bridge of the USS Helena, the officers looked at each other in bewilderment.

The two explosions just now startled everyone. No one knew what had happened. Some people thought that the destroyer's shelling had detonated the enemy's artillery ammunition depot.

At that moment, a captain strode over and said excitedly, "Colonel, good news! The assault team has breached the position and they demand that we cease fire immediately."

“Okay, order the Princeton and Cassin to cease fire temporarily.” Colonel Lopez asked, “Inquire with the commandos if they can confirm an enemy ammunition depot explosion.”

The captain shook his head, his expression strange, a half-smile on his face, and replied, "They just used a little 'special method' to give the enemy a surprise."

(End of this chapter)