Middle Eastern tyrants

Chapter 18 The Defense of Nukoshir (Part 1)

38th Armored Division, Zion, 7th Armored Regiment.

Colonel Avi's troops were deployed in a wedge formation on the back of the dunes, with thirty-one Chieftain tanks shut down and silent, their gun barrels uniformly raised to a safe angle.

The colonel climbed the hill himself, where he could faintly hear sirens several kilometers away.

Zion's officers love to lead the charge, perhaps because they've been doing too well on the front lines. Whether it's dangerous or not is another matter, but it certainly boosts morale.

"The Shuangzhi people heard our shelling."

Colonel Avi took out his binoculars and looked toward the Nukoshir outpost. He could already sense the surging soldiers at the outpost in front of him.

"Vehicles numbered 3-7 from the 3rd Company have fallen behind," the communications soldier reported, handing over a handwritten note. "The left drive wheel is broken, and the mechanic says it will take at least two hours to replace it."

Colonel Avi glanced at the note and casually stuffed it into the packaging paper of the gun barrel cleaning rod.

"Tell the third company commander that if his tank can't make it into the first wave of attack, he'll have to carry a rifle and be an infantryman himself." He lifted his tank helmet to wipe his sweat, revealing the sunburnt skin on his shaved head. "We're not waiting for them, we're launching the attack now!"

"I heard that the outposts in Shuangzhi provide iced cola to the soldiers. That's better treatment than what we get," a tank commander interjected over the radio.

"After all, they're rolling in money!"

"That's right! Even their king uses a toilet made of pure gold!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Laughter came from the soldiers over the communications channel.

"Alright." Colonel Avi smirked, picked up the radio, and said, "Tell the lads we're going to the outpost across the way for some cold drinks in three hours!"

Yehena followed closely behind Lu Lin, never leaving his side.

Lu Lin turned around and advised, "Didn't we agree? You should go back and stay with the propaganda team. It's not safe for me here."

Yehena raised an eyebrow: "This is wartime! My mission is to protect your safety!"

Lu Lin couldn't dissuade her, so he had no choice but to follow her.

He turned and picked up the radio: "Tell Ahmed that I want to personally command the artillery positions!"

"Lieutenant Colonel, shall we test fire a round?"

Lu Lin switched to the eagle's perspective, and as the focus shifted forward, he saw the armored formations on the back of the sand dunes.

The chieftains, all of whom were uniformly dressed, stood out because their turrets were topped with large bumps.

On the sand dune, a conspicuous red highlight caught his attention.

This target even comes with Phnom Penh!

His years of gaming experience told him that this was definitely a valuable target, and most likely the enemy commander!
"Are all officers in Zion this brave?" Lu Lin's orders were anything but ambiguous.

“听我的命令！方位2-6-5-0，距离7000米！坐标NK-742893，重复：NK-742893！”

The artillery positions, consisting of M101 and M114 howitzers, immediately opened fire (that was Lu Lin's impression). The 155mm howitzers drew deadly arcs in the air, and the shells did not hit the ground until more than ten seconds after the shells fired.

However, the first round was a bit off-target, landing about 100 meters to the west of the target, and the sand pillar that was blasted up was more than ten meters high.

Lu Lin thought to himself that it was a pity, as the eagle's perspective could only provide a field of view and markings, and he could only estimate the shooting distance and angle himself.

The loud explosion clearly startled the Zion commander on the other side. In the hawk's vision, Lu Lin saw the commander being tackled by a group of guards and pinned to the ground in the sand.

"Serves you right for showing off!" Lu Lin laughed heartily, then issued another order into the communicator: "Azimuth correction 2-0, concentrate fire!"

"Damn it! Are you trying to crush me?!" Colonel Avi spat out sand and cursed, "This is an enemy test firing, you bunch of idiots!"

The adjutant's lips moved: "We did it all according to the Officer's Handbook."

Colonel Avi nearly choked on his breath upon hearing this. "Does the officer's handbook say you should crush your own commander?" He brushed the sand off his clothes, somewhat exasperated, and said, "They're testing the range and accuracy of the mortars!"

"But shouldn't the firing be calibrated after the test firing?" the adjutant asked, puzzled.

"They'd have to find us first!" Colonel Avi said proudly. "No Arab country has radar capable of detecting ground troops! Unless they have eyes in the sky!"

"I see." The adjutant expressed his admiration.

Colonel Avi sighed, "Once you've participated in more decent battles, you'll be able to judge the enemy commander's intentions through artillery fire! You might even be able to tell what type of artillery the enemy is using just by the sound of the shells hitting the ground!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a grenade landed near the reconnaissance vehicle he was riding in, and the massive explosion flipped the UN-made "Henry Pig" off the road.

"Fuck me!"

Colonel Avi ran faster than a rabbit. With a nimble roll, he came to the chief's side and then lay down in a standard shock-absorbing position.

The air pressure generated by the landing of the howitzer caused him to lose his hearing immediately. He saw his adjutant's lips moving but could not hear anything. If it weren't for the natural shock absorption provided by the sand, his internal organs would have been ruptured long ago.

The continuous roar of artillery fire struck the armor of the Chieftain tank like hail hitting glass.

"How did they pinpoint our exact location?!" Colonel Avi was both shocked and furious, utterly baffled.

Was it really just good luck?
The shelling lasted for several minutes. It took Colonel Avi a while to get up from the ground. He was covered in sand, which was two feet high. He looked like a mummy that had just been unearthed.

He leaned against the side armor of the tank and then vomited violently.

However, the armor of the Chieftain tanks was not damaged, although a few had their tracks blown off.

Its 120mm armor thickness makes it immune to most artillery fire, but the people inside will likely suffer internal injuries.

"Deploy smoke bombs! Everyone back off!" he shouted.

"They're still alive?"

Looking at the still lively and energetic Mark, Lu Lin thought to himself that this guy was really tough.

Zion's armored forces began to retreat, leaving behind many anchored chieftains on the dunes, presumably with their tracks or transmissions blown off.

The M114's 155mm howitzer couldn't penetrate most of the chieftain's armor, but it was far too easy to deal with the mortal engineers.

Lu Lin had no intention of engaging Zion's armored forces head-on, after all, Masil was a cautionary tale.

On the battlefield in the Sinai Peninsula, Masr lost less than 1,000 of his 2,500 tanks, more than half of them, while Zion only lost a few dozen tanks. The casualty ratio was appalling.

A direct confrontation would be unwinnable, so Lu Lin focused his artillery fire on the engineers and logistics personnel who lacked armor protection.

Especially those Zion oil tankers—Zion relied on this mode of transport for 70% of its oil supply throughout the war. Once fuel supplies were cut off, their tanks became a bunch of immobile iron turtles.

"Lieutenant Colonel, did we hit it?" the platoon leader of the Second Artillery position asked over the radio.

"Who knows?" Lu Lin said, "Let the reconnaissance platoon take the maintenance crew up there tonight. Maybe they'll find some treasure!"

(End of this chapter)