Middle Eastern tyrants

Chapter 221 The War Begins (Part 4)
After several hours of intense fire, Captain Harry led the Hammerhead Battalion to the front lines of the city of Hatzor.

Their goal was to completely eliminate the remaining enemy forces within Hatzor's territory, paving the way for the main force to follow.

Looking around, the entire city was shrouded in an environment that was hard to tell whether it was a thin fog or gunpowder smoke. The walls were gray-black, the ground was gray-black, and even the air and sky were gray-black and shiny, as if this place had become a dead city.

The streets were littered with bomb craters and building debris. Many buildings collapsed during the bombing, and many were reduced to mere walls. As far as the eye could see, there was only ruins.

"Attention all units."

Captain Harry's voice came over the radio: "Infantry platoons advance, in squads, taking turns providing cover along the ruins on both sides of the street. Tank platoons follow in echelons spaced fifty meters apart, providing direct fire support for the infantry. Tank commanders must keep a close watch on the direction of the targets indicated by the infantry."

"receive."

After the order was given, the entire Hammerhead Battalion began to advance deeper into the town. The infantrymen, their backs bent, moved swiftly with their guns as they followed their line of sight, weaving through the ruins. The tank tracks creaked over the rubble, their turrets slowly turning, searching for any threat.

Harry stood in the conductor's seat, half his body leaning out of the cabin, trying to penetrate the suffocating fog. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a shadow flickering in the window of a half-collapsed two-story building to his right.

Harry didn't hesitate at all: "Gunner, armor-piercing shell, gray two-story building ahead, right window!"

"Armor-piercing rounds loaded!" the loader responded.

"aim!"

"Fire!"

"boom--!"

The Chieftain's L11A5 120mm rifled gun recoiled violently, with huge bursts of fire and thick smoke erupting from both sides of the muzzle brake, causing the entire vehicle to shake violently.

Immediately afterwards, the shell precisely penetrated the window and exploded inside the building, with brick and stone debris gushing out from the door and window openings.

"Driver, advance, flank to the left, keep the turret pointing at the target!"

Harry directed the main gun to continue aiming at the small building that had collapsed halfway.

The second blast was even more muffled. The high-explosive shell exploded at the base of the wall, and the upper structure collapsed completely with a groan, raising clouds of dust.

Immediately afterwards, faint Hebrew curses could be heard from the ruins, but they were met with a barrage of fire from a coaxial machine gun.

The violent firepower suppressed the sound.

Harry was used to this; years of war had given these veterans of the Dual Will a wealth of experience, even surpassing that of most Zion veterans.

Lu Lin has been promoting "experience exchange meetings" in his unit, which has enabled many excellent experiences to be quickly disseminated throughout the unit. This mentoring approach has also led to a rapid improvement in the overall quality of the soldiers in Shuangzhi.

The infantry squad behind tried to move forward to search, but Harry stopped them, saying, "Don't risk it, visibility is obstructed, I can't see you."

Almost instantly after he finished speaking, the sound of machine gun fire came from the depths of the fog, but most of the bullets hit the broken walls high up, and the trajectories were scattered.

"Attention all personnel, enemy unit, 11 o'clock position."

Harry immediately ordered, "I can't see any muzzle flash, gunner, use sound to locate the source!"

The chieftain's turret began to slowly rotate to the right, while the vehicle continued to move.

Just then, a shell landed ten meters to the left front of the tank with a sharp whistling sound and exploded.

A massive fireball soared into the air, its shockwave carrying fragments and rubble that pounded against the tank's armor with a loud clang. Nearby, burning tree trunks were snapped at the base, flames roaring overhead.

"High-explosive shell! It's a tank!"

Captain Harry did not retreat back into the turret, as that would diminish his awareness of the battlefield—even though it would greatly increase the risk of being hit.

He first called the rear command post via radio: "Command post, this is Hammerhead-1. We are engaged in firefight with enemy armored units in the central area of ​​Hatzor City. Requesting continued pursuit and annihilation of the target."

"Copy that, stay safe."

"clear."

His years of experience commanding tanks allowed him to quickly identify the source of the gunfire and machine gun fire from the earlier sounds: it was a Centurion's Vickers machine gun and an L7 rifled cannon.

Harry felt a chilling excitement: "All crews continue the pursuit! Hammerhead-5, Hammerhead-6, spread out to the left and right flanks and attempt to outflank! Hammerhead-7, advance with me head-on, watch out for crossfire, prioritize attacking the flanks!"

So the three Chieftain tanks began to advance in a fan shape. The streets were narrow, with ruins on both sides, and the space for maneuver was limited.

"Driver, proceed at low speed, zigzag maneuver, loader, armor-piercing rounds ready." Harry's eyes were pressed against the binoculars, trying to catch a glimpse of the ghostly target in the fog.

"Hammerhead-5 reports: No target detected."

"Hammerhead-6 reports, the street on the right is blocked by collapsed buildings and cannot be passed." The voices of comrades could be heard over the radio.

The enemy tank was obviously moving, but the sound was muffled. Harry judged that the enemy was about two or three hundred meters away. After the last shot, the enemy stopped firing, obviously trying to conceal their position.

"Gunner, watch out at the ten o'clock position, there are bushes."

The gunner slowly moved the scope.

Suddenly, a dazzling light appeared in the fog directly ahead!

"Get out of the way!" Harry shouted.

Almost instinctively, the driver yanked the control lever, causing the tank to shake violently.

Almost simultaneously, a piercing metallic scraping sound came from the front left side of the vehicle, accompanied by sparks flying everywhere.

The centurion's shell grazed the chieftain's brow armor and flew out, leaving a deep scratch.

"We've been grazed! A ricocheted shell off the upper glacis armor!"

"Hold on," Harry's voice remained calm and composed: "It's the one that's given us away, gunner. Directly ahead, about two hundred meters away, armor-piercing shell!"

"aim!"

"Fire!"

The chieftain's main cannon roared again, its shells shooting into the mist and piercing a distant crumbling wall, but without the solid feel of hitting the target.

"Loading complete!"

"Keep searching!"

The tanks moved through the ruins, their turrets constantly rotating. The engine sound seemed to be moving to their left.

Harry gave the order over the radio: "Hammerhead-5, move toward my nine o'clock position. It might be trying to flank us."

"Received, hammerhead-1."

The tense standoff lasted for several minutes, with both sides using the ruins and thick fog to maneuver, like two blind men exchanging gunfire in a maze, each shot a test and a gamble.

Just then, Harry, who was leaning halfway out of the turret, felt a gentle breeze.

He decisively ordered: "Halt! Stabilize the turrets! Watch out for enemy targets!"

Sure enough, a brief breeze stirred up and dispersed some of the thick fog, revealing a blurry tank outline in the distance. The tank was also off, with half of its body hidden in the bushes.

"Gunner! Armor-piercing rounds! Enemy tank at 150 meters to the left front, behind the broken wall!"

The gunner completed aiming almost as soon as Harry gave the bearings.

"aim!"

"Fire!"

"boom!"

The shell arrived instantly with a near-straight trajectory. This time, the sound of impact was completely different.

It was a dull, deafening roar, the sound of metal being forcibly torn apart and internal ammunition being detonated. A massive fireball erupted from the junction of the Centurion's turret and hull, followed by a violent secondary explosion that blew the entire turret several inches off its side before it drooped precariously. Flames quickly engulfed the wreckage.

"Target destroyed!" the gunner reported excitedly.

Harry confirmed the pile of burning scrap metal through his binoculars. "Hammerhead-1 calling all units, enemy tank destroyed. Infantry advance, clear the surrounding area, be careful."

"receive."

"Hammerhead-5 received."

A brief response came through the radio.

Harry slowly sat back in the car and closed the canopy. The cramped space was filled with the pungent smell of burning propellant and the acrid smell of burnt metal.

He continued to issue orders: "Loader, reload with one armor-piercing round; driver, continue along the original route."

(End of this chapter)