Starting from the deputy company commander of the Soldier Assault Team

What awaited them was only the whistling Mi-17s and the falling simulated rockets and simulated 250-kilogram aerial bombs.

Chi Chi!

Red smoke rose from the bodies of everyone in the entire 77th Regiment Command.

Immediately following, the coordinates of the First Battalion Command, the Second Battalion Command, and the Third Battalion Command were accurately hit by Mi-17 and Mi-171 missiles, and thick smoke billowed up.

Liang Xi and Mi Yangfei exchanged a glance and quickly ran out of the command tent, with even the usually composed political commissar Zhou Junlin following closely behind.

What came into view were smoke canisters dropped by the helicopter to simulate artillery shells, with yellow and white smoke blending together, mixed with plumes of rising red smoke.

They knew perfectly well that those were the soldiers and various weapons and equipment of their 77th Regiment who were presumed dead.

"It's over," Commander Liang Xi stared blankly at the scene.

Chief of Staff Mi Yangfei and Political Commissar Zhou Junlin stood there watching this scene, their fingers trembling slightly.

……

Eight helicopters are busy firing machine guns and dropping bombs here.

One of the Mi-171s, serving as the command aircraft, flew straight towards the 77th Regiment's howitzer position, where an observation post was located on the outskirts.

It would be too slow for him to run back, so the idle command aircraft went to pick him up himself.

Not only here, but there's another mortar buried outside the mortar position not far from the front line, which Yuan Lang also needs to retrieve.

Five minutes passed quickly.

Zhang Anbang put away his binoculars. "Let's go. Target: open area in the northwest mountains, coordinates: 4-532, 68145."

The words had barely left his earpiece when Yuan Lang's voice, tinged with a hint of mockery, came through simultaneously: "Sharp Knife, Eagle Flock strike complete. All command posts and artillery positions have been confirmed destroyed. Infantry company strikes are still ongoing."

Everything is expected to go smoothly. Thank you for your hard work. Time to go home and get some sleep. That's all.

Zhang Anbang chuckled and spat out the hay in his mouth. "Roger that, Eagle's Nest."

Zhang Anbang finally breathed a sigh of relief, threw away the hay in his mouth, stretched, and a smile appeared on his face. "Received, Eagle's Nest, over."

"Brothers, let's retreat!"

Qi Huan also put away his binoculars, and the entire Third Squadron quietly got up and began to evacuate along the concealed route from the high ground.

Soon, the group of more than twenty people quickly disappeared into the mountains and forests.

……

After bombing the command post, the four helicopters turned around and quickly headed towards the forward infantry camp of the 77th Regiment.

Now the infantry of the 77th Regiment are facing even more attacks.

Charge? Concealment? Trench? Fortifications?

There was no difference whatsoever under the ground attack of eight helicopters.

As for shooting down a helicopter?

In reality, using either rifles or sniper rifles is an extremely difficult and low-probability event.

Modern helicopters are not that fragile. They are armored, and their engines, fuel tanks, and rotors are bulletproof. Even if they are hit by several or dozens of rifle shots, they can still fly.

As for why it's described as a low-probability event rather than a zero-probability event...

It's because in extreme situations, it really can be shot down. For example, if the helicopter is hovering at a very low altitude and the cabin door is open, hitting the pilot, avionics, tail rotor, or other vital parts can be done.

In reality, there are confirmed instances of weapons being shot down or destroyed.

In 90, a Gazelle helicopter from the United Kingdom was targeted by IRA forces using 7.62mm automatic rifles near the border of Northern Ireland.

The light, unarmored, low-altitude, and low-speed Little Lamborghini was hit by continuous fire, causing damage to its hydraulic/oil circuits, resulting in a loss of power and an emergency landing. The unit survived.

In 91, during the El Salvadoran Civil War, an old, unarmored UH-1 Huey utility helicopter belonging to the US Army was shot down by FMLN guerrillas using rifles and machine guns.

In 93, in Mogadishu, Somalia, Somali militia, primarily using RPG rocket launchers and secondarily using AKs, shot down two U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters and damaged three others.

In 03, Iraqi forces/militia used 23mm anti-aircraft guns, AK rifles, and RPGs to concentrate fire on a group of US AH-64D Apache aircraft, resulting in the crash of two planes and severe damage to 27 others.

In 2016, in Michoacán, Mexico, a flour trafficking syndicate used a Barrett anti-tank missile to precisely hit the rotor blade of an unarmored police helicopter, causing it to crash and killing all five people on board.

Looking at these confirmed kill records, the shootdowns were either carried out by unarmored individuals flying at low altitudes, or by rocket launchers or anti-aircraft guns as the main weapons, with rifles only firing in tandem.

So this is really unreliable.

Such behavior is encouraged during exercises, and hit detection is simulated.

When the helicopter dives and hovers at low altitude, and soldiers board it using rope ladders, infantrymen aim their rifles at the helicopter and fire long bursts or tracer rounds. As long as the laser simulation device receives a signal and the determination is successful, the helicopter is shot down.

Unfortunately, the soldiers of the 77th Regiment, who had never experienced such an exercise before, were stunned by the helicopters. Before they could react and concentrate their fire on the helicopters, they were already under fire from four helicopters.

In addition, the four returning helicopters continuously launched rockets and dropped bombs, and soon the infantry of the 77th Regiment was almost completely wiped out.

The army aviation pilots had a great time, firing for a full eight minutes, and didn't even bother to go to the designated airspace for circling and waiting.

At 6:09, eight helicopters, in pairs, headed towards the designated rendezvous point.

……

On the open mountain forest on the northwest side of Hill 034, Zhang Anbang and his men from the Third Squadron had just finished assembling the orange facets of the signal cloth into a T-shape when the roar of a helicopter came from overhead.

In the barren, yellow forest, an orange T-shaped formation stood out so conspicuously that eight helicopters soon appeared overhead.

Because the Z-9W helicopters only had one side for easy access to the hatch, they could only lower one rope ladder at a time. The first two Z-9W helicopters to arrive were Zhu Yejin and Xu Yuanzhou, who each climbed one ladder quickly.

The Mi-17 and Mi-171 have hatches on both sides that can be opened, and two rope ladders can be lowered at the same time, allowing four people to board at a time.

More than twenty people filed up, and all of them finished in less than ten minutes. As the rope ladder was retracted and the hatch was closed, the Mi-171, which served as the command aircraft, also returned after connecting with the two observation posts that had been lowered.

However, Yuan Lang couldn't return to the base with them yet; there was still work waiting for him.

……

Outside the 77th Regiment's command post, communications staff officer Cui Xiaoke, his steps heavy, found Regiment Commander Liang Xi, who was still outside. "Reporting to the Commander, the exercise command has given orders."

"Read it," Liang Xi, the commander of the 77th Regiment, said in a somewhat indifferent tone as he lit a cigarette.

After all, given how well the exercise has progressed, the commands from the exercise command are obvious to anyone.

"Yes, Commander. According to the exercise command, our 77th Regiment's command system is paralyzed, all heavy equipment is destroyed, and our manpower has been almost completely annihilated. We have no ability to continue fighting."

This exercise has ended, and the Blue Team has won.

The command further ordered that all personnel of the 77th Regiment cease all combat operations on the spot, regroup, and await further orders.

Commander Liang Xi waved his hand casually, "Understood. Go and reply. The entire 77th Regiment will resolutely carry out the order, assemble on the spot, and await further instructions."

"Yes, sir," communications staff officer Cui Xiaoke saluted and turned back to the command post.