"IED!"
"Contact, Contact!"
"KIA, KIA!"
"Taking fire!"
The radio channel plunged into chaos in an instant, with various tactical communication terms interweaving and filling everyone's hearing.
As per procedure, the infantry of the lead forces were to conduct detailed searches and reconnaissance of the surrounding buildings and streets at each location they passed, ensuring safety before notifying the following troops to advance.
Previously, Major Lonnie had particularly emphasized the need for the lead Sword Company's armored platoon to shell the surrounding buildings indiscriminately to ensure no ambush was present before advancing.
However, unexpectedly, even with such caution, they couldn't avoid triggering a trap.
What utterly destroyed their armored command vehicle wasn't an RPG rocket but an IED, a roadside explosive device pre-planted nearby.
The location of this IED was particularly ingenious, neither above the road surface nor simply buried in a dug hole—such thods would have been easily noticed by patrolling soldiers.
mbers of the Ard Organization within the city cleverly planted the IEDs under manhole covers and in roadside drainage ditches.
Mosul, as the second largest city in Illiguo before the war, had quite well-developed urban infrastructure.
The advantage of planting IEDs under manhole covers and in roadside drains was that it didn't require breaking the ground or digging holes to hide them, making it difficult for patrolling soldiers to find explosives hidden in those nooks and crannies.
After all, no one would lift each manhole cover to check for traps inside—that wasn't the treatnt for a presidential motorcade, nor was there enough ti or energy for such ticulous searches.
This move brought a great risk to the troops entering the city to clear it.
Especially today, buoyed by the good news sent back by Song Heping and his team last night, the coalition troops attacking Mosul were in high spirits, and their march from entering the city to the Crossroads Area I was remarkably smooth, with few encounters with resistance.
In the eyes of Major Lonnie and Brigadier General Yue Ke, this was due to last night's precise bombings causing severe damage to the Resistance Organization inside the city, leading to their morale collapse, hence the fleeing of ard elents in the city today.
In this, they were not wrong.
Starting last night, indeed, many ard personnel in Mosul City put down their weapons, changed into civilian clothes, and evacuated Mosul through various ans.
However, this was not out of fear.
It was a strategic retreat to preserve their strength.
If they could not hold on, they would not continue to defend stubbornly.
Having defended Mosul for more than half a year, the coalition forces were worn out, and so were the mbers of the Ard Organization inside the city.
Today, the city's Ard Organization planned to fight for one last day.
They left a third of their forces to resist and focused them near several key traffic arteries, with only small squads sent out to make token raids in other areas.
Their ultimate goal was to make the coalition forces let down their guard and gradually move into the ambush circle they had set.
At this mont, the M4 armored command vehicle lay like an overturned giant turtle, belly up in the middle of the crossroads.
The bombs in the roadside drains began to explode one by one.
The patrolling soldiers who couldn't take cover in ti were instantly blown into the air.
Several Humvees close to the roadside were torn in half by the violent explosion, as these vehicles didn't have much anti-mine capability. Their glass and armor could withstand 7.62 caliber bullets, and even attacks from individual 12.7 caliber rounds, but the chassis was their fatal weakness.
The explosion then triggered a chain reaction of the ammunition on board.
Bullets scattered like fireworks in all directions.
Several soldiers, on fire all over, struggled to climb out of the vehicle. In agony, they pleaded with their comrades, "Please end it for !"
"Please kill !"
The I-section intersection instantly turned into a living hell.
The unexploded Bradley Fighting Vehicles' M242 chain guns on top frantically spit out flas, their operators no longer knowing where to shoot.
All they could do was keep firing.
That's right.
The sound of gunfire gave them a semblance of safety.
They poured large-caliber fire at every building in sight chaotically.
Boom boom boom—
Boom boom boom—
However, due to panic, many shells mistook their own vanguard troops for targets ahead.
It is known that the Bradley Fighting Vehicle's turret is equipped with three weapons: Tao's Anti-Tank Missile Launcher, a 7.62mm caliber M240C machine gun, and a M242 25mm chain gun.
According to international conventions, a weapon classified as a gun usually has a caliber of no less than 25mm.
The M242 chain gun's caliber is precisely 25mm, with a maximum firing rate of 200 rounds per minute. Its depleted uranium penetrator rounds can not only pierce the main armor of BMP-1/2 infantry fighting vehicles but have also been recorded piercing the main armor of T-55 tanks during sustained fire.
Therefore, when the Bradley M2s at the rear indiscriminately opened fire in utter disregard, those armored vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles of the sa unit that had crossed the intersection and pushed forward hundreds of ters suffered unwarranted misfortune.
As the troops at the intersection were being attacked, the vanguard units were also subjected to a fierce attack by militants.
The militants, who seed to have disappeared earlier, suddenly erged from all around, seizing the mont when coalition troops were in chaos to launch attacks from various directions.
"Take a detour! Take a detour!"
The voice of the company commander from Warrior Camp D Company was filled with fear.
But soon, with a blast, the channel fell silent.
"The company commander's vehicle has been hit!"
In the Bradley Fighting Vehicle behind the battalion command vehicle, the vehicle commander saw that Major Lonnie's command vehicle had flipped over and was lying on the road. He imdiately ordered the two soldiers sitting inside: "Go and check right now, get the Major into our vehicle, we need to evacuate at once, otherwise we're all going to die here..."
Before he could finish, an RPG rocket ca flying and hit the Bradley Fighting Vehicle right in the nose.
The M2 infantry fighting vehicle's frontal upper armor and top armor are made of multi-layered Aluminum Alloy, the turret's upper front and top parts above the vehicle's lower front armor are steel armor, while the vehicle's rear and vertical armor on both sides are spaced armor. The vehicle's armor can withstand 14.5mm bullets and 155mm artillery shell fragnts.
The RPG's aim was off, hitting the angled armor and deflecting away.
But this still gave the vehicle commander quite the scare.
"Hurry up! Hurry up! We've got to get out of this damn place!"
He shouted as he opened the door, almost kicking his two subordinates out.
The two US Army soldiers ducked out of the armored vehicle, surrounded by smoke and blasts of fire from explosions, and saw their wailing brothers lying all over the ground, feeling their legs shaking.
Having besieged Mosul for so many days, this was the first ti they had encountered such a dire situation.
The two, clutching their rifles, stuck to the right side of the rear of the Bradley Battle Car, observing for a long ti but not knowing where to shoot.
Because they couldn't see the enemy at all, they could only hear bullets from different angles pinging off the vehicle's armor.
"What are you dawdling for?! Go save the company commander! I'll cover you, move it!"
Having said that, he commanded his own infantry fight vehicle to start bombarding continuously with the roof-mounted chain gun—though he didn't actually know where to aim.
Because even the vehicle commander couldn't see the enemy.
The only benefit of firing was to provide so psychological comfort to his two subordinates, making them feel they were covered.
On seeing this, the two unlucky ones had no choice but to grit their teeth and go for it.
"Peter, you go first, I'll follow!"
Sergeant Ronnie gave the order to Private First Class Peter.
Inside, Peter cursed, thinking the vehicle commander's pushing you, so you're pushing ?
Fuck your mother, why don't you go first?
But orders are orders, and with gritted teeth, Peter howled and charged out.
He was fast, almost wishing he had a couple more legs from his parents.
Very quickly, he reached the side of the M4 Armored Command Vehicle.
Looking at the steel beast now belly up, Peter imdiately beca frantic.
He tried pulling on the vehicle's door.
It wouldn't budge.
This panicked him even more.
After all, standing here without cover, it would just take one bullet to end his life.
"Ronnie! Ronnie!"
Suddenly, he realized that his superior, Sergeant Ronnie, was nowhere to be seen.
Turning back, he found Ronnie still hiding at the rear of the Bradley Battle Car, holding his weapon as if aiming everywhere yet firing not a single shot.
"OH! SHIT! Ronnie, Get over here and help!"
He was gritting his teeth, his face contorted with anger.
This motherfucker...
You sure have it easy as a superior!
I'm risking my life, and you're just hiding there giving orders!
And you damn well told to go first!
Go your mama!
On seeing this, Ronnie felt that leaving Peter struggling alone there was not really an option.
The vehicle commander began bellowing again.
This ti he drew his pistol.
"Ronnie! What are you doing still at the back of the vehicle! If you don't co now, I'll shoot you myself!"
With a hard heart, Ronnie crouched low and charged forward, finally reaching Peter's side.
"Dammit! Did you not eat breakfast or what!?"
He lent a hand and then shouted loudly, "One! Two! Pull!"
Together, they managed to wrench open the rear iron door.
"Cough, cough, cough—"
Upon opening the door, they heard violent coughing from inside.
They saw their unit commander, Major Lonnie.
"SIR! Hurry and get out of here!"
Ronnie, eager to take credit, spoke first.
"I'll take you back to our vehicle!"
At that mont, Lonnie's face was covered in blood, and his waist hurt fiercely; he didn't know where he was injured.
"Help ... I think my back is broken..."
Ronnie and Peter didn't hesitate, they lifted Major Ronnie up to retreat back to their vehicle.
After only two steps, Peter collapsed to the ground.
He didn't even let out a scream.
Looking down, he saw a bullet hole near his knee on his thigh, going straight through his camouflage uniform.
"Ah—"
It took two seconds before he began to feel the pain.
An uncontrollable kind of pain.
He rolled onto the ground and started to wail.
Seeing this, Ronnie had several options flash through his mind in a re second—should he save Peter, or should he save the Major.
But he made his choice quickly.
"Peter, hang in there! I'll co back for you!"
Having said that, he ran off with Major Lonnie.
Thud—
Ronnie felt as if a heavy hamr had struck the left side of his body, a massive impact causing him to stagger and fall to the ground.
As he fell, Major Lonnie also hit the ground.
Ronnie looked down and almost cried.
That bullet was just too damned crafty, too damned bizarre!
It had passed right below his right abdon, just a tad below the ascending colon.
The bullet had pierced his pelvis, grazed his colon, and exited through the abdominal cavity, leaving Ronnie feeling like a deflating balloon, blood spurting out.
The most crafty part was that the location was right at the lower edge of the bulletproof vest, unprotected, and this shot wouldn't kill Ronnie as it hadn't hit the artery in the thigh.
Only, it really hurt…
"Ah—help ..."
He began rolling on the ground, his cries as piercing as a nightjar in the dead of night.
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