Chapter 1167: Artillery fire
The shells fell on the ground like raindrops.
In just a moment, it was like thousands of cannons were firing at the same time. The deafening roar was accompanied by the air waves of the explosion, carrying the soil that was rolled up to a height of ten feet. One by one, the shells were everywhere on the positions of Mount Kumqat. In just a few minutes, the overwhelming roar enveloped the entire Mount Kumqat.
Mount Kumqat, located at the junction of Iraq, Syria and Turkey, is four or five hundred meters high and controls the border area of the three countries. Not far below the mountain is the Tigris River flowing through.
The joint forces chose this place as a breakthrough point, and they must take Mount Kumqat and tear open one end of the Iraqi defense line. As long as they take the second line of defense, the Feshchabur Mountain Line of Defense, the joint forces can drive straight into Iraq without having to pay attention to other lines of defense in the Kurdish Mountains.
The distance between the two lines of defense is thirty or forty kilometers, and the middle area is a plain, which is Silopi.
Of course, the joint forces can also break into Syria and pass through Syria, so that they can attack Iraq's Dahuk Province and Nineveh Province without having to fight mountain battles.
However, Syria has mobilized 150,000 troops to deploy on the Turkish-Iraqi border, and the Arab coalition has also stationed 150,000 troops on the border, and they are all elite troops. Once the joint forces forcefully pass through, they are likely to encounter attacks from the Syrian army and the Arab coalition, thus triggering a war between the joint forces and the entire Middle East.
That is, it is possible to trigger the start of the S3 season, and the joint forces' supreme command does not dare to take this risk.
In the pit island, the fierce artillery fire shook the oil lamp from the box, fell to the ground and went out, and the cupboard made of ammunition boxes hanging on the wall hole fell to the ground with a "swaying" sound, and the fragments were all over the ground. A gust of wind blew in from outside the tunnel, blowing the soldier's hat off.
In just a moment, the deafening roar filled the eardrums. In the sky, American fighter planes appeared, but the fierce artillery fire on the ground had made the soldiers in the tunnel completely unable to hear. One by one, incendiary bombs fell from the sky on this 500 square kilometers of land.
The flames lit up the night, and the shock wave spread far and wide. You can clearly see through the tunnel entrance that the entire Kumchat Mountain is illuminated by the flames of incendiary bombs.
Thick smoke billowed, and the smoke was filled with gunpowder. In this sea of fire, the joint forces' artillery shells fell on Kumchat Mountain like raindrops.
In the pit island and the air-raid shelter, Iraqi soldiers opened their mouths one by one.
The terrifying explosion density was no less than that of three or four strings of thunder cannons. Sitting in the tunnel was like being in a drum. With the fierce artillery fire, the whole body shook from the inside out, and the top of the head was a falling sand and gravel.
Iraqi soldiers held their guns, squatted on the ground, opened their mouths, listened to the continuous roar above their heads, and waited quietly. Their faces were firm, and there was no fear.
Since the outbreak of the Iraq War, the joint forces have launched countless exploratory attacks on the Iraqi defense line, including air bombing, artillery bombing, and special operations.
But there has never been such a fierce air strike and artillery bombardment as today!
From outside the tunnel, the wind with gunpowder smoke kept blowing in, whirring, and extremely pungent.
The artillery fire above their heads kept falling on the high ground of Mount Kumchat and exploding on various positions. The roaring artillery fire shook every soldier in the tunnel and hit every soldier's heart.
At the headquarters of the Northern Theater of Iraq, Rashid had received news that the joint forces had launched an attack.
The direction of Mount Kumqat was suddenly bombarded with unprecedented artillery and air bombardment, which started at 3:30 in the morning and lasted for more than 20 minutes. The roar of artillery fire has basically destroyed most of the surface fortifications.
The headquarters of the Northern Theater of Iraq was brightly lit, and Rashid and others stayed up all night.
The mercenary group was working on the topographic map, and the computer showed satellite maps and the mobilization of joint forces.
"We suggest that the defenders of Mount Kumqat keep calm and wait until the enemy's bombardment ends, and immediately organize troops to counterattack and defend the position of Mount Kumqat!" A middle-aged man from the mercenary group said in a deep voice: "At the same time, we should also remind the defenders in other areas to pay attention to the possibility of the enemy's attack at any time!"
"In addition, we must prevent the enemy from airborne troops!" The middle-aged man said with a serious face.
Now Iraq has few air defense weapons and almost all aircraft have been lost.
In this case, it is basically unable to stop the enemy's airborne troops!
But measures can be taken to quickly surround and annihilate the enemy's airborne troops.
Rashid issued the order. He had great prestige. Half of the troops in the northern theater were his own troops, all of whom were elite. In addition, his prestige in the Iraqi army made it possible for him to enforce his orders.
At this time, at Mount Kumqat, the planes of the joint forces continuously dropped artillery shells and napalm bombs, incendiary bombs, and fuel-air bombs from the sky. The artillery fire of the joint forces covered the entire Mount Kumqat.
There were 5,000 guard troops stationed at the entire Mount Kumqat, and there were continuous reinforcements behind them.
The artillery fire continued to vent. It was difficult to hear people talking in the trenches, tunnels, and air-raid shelters. The artillery fire was extremely fierce. From the beginning of the bombardment to now, there was no pause. The observers on the front line observed with the help of the flickering fire of the artillery fire that the enemy began to move towards Mount Kumqat with the strength of two battalions. They were divided into two routes, one on the west side and the other on the north side.
As for the south side, this is the rear of the Iraqi army, and the east side is another defensive position of the Iraqi army, which is enough to block the narrow valley.
As the enemy troops appeared, the artillery fire began to extend backwards, clearing the offensive curve for the infantry.
The observers understood that this was a probing attack by the enemy;
Observers report intelligence.
At the same time, observers in the rear also observed the enemy's figure through the flickering light of artillery fire. They continued to advance, and the enemy's artillery fire continued to extend to the rear.
Finally, we entered the shooting range.
The Iraqi army began shooting, firing rifles and machine guns.
Whether it can be shot or not is hard to say. War is like this. 100 bullets may not hurt a person, and 10,000 bullets may not kill a person.
Especially at this night, we can only judge with the help of the flames on the ground and the tongues of flames fired by the enemy.
The entire terrain is conducive to the defenders, and Iraq has laid landmines in the front. If an unlucky person steps on the mines, the mines will explode.
Although the previous large-scale shelling and aerial bombardment by the US military caused some landmines to detonate, there were still landmines that were not detonated.
Then when the enemy troops entered the range of the grenades, the Iraqi soldiers took out the grenades, removed the fuses, and threw them downwards.
Grenades continued to explode, and some unlucky American soldiers were blown away.
These Iraqi soldiers carry four grenades with them, not to mention a grenade box that can be replenished at any time. (End of chapter)