Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 198 Ambush
"IED!"

“Contact! Contact!”

"KIA! KIA!"

“Taking fire!”

The radio channel instantly fell into chaos, with various tactical communication terms intertwined and filling everyone's ears.

According to regulations, when the vanguard infantry passes through each location, they should conduct a detailed search and reconnaissance of the surrounding buildings and roads, and then notify the follow-up troops to follow up after ensuring safety.

Prior to this, Major Longni had specifically emphasized that the armored company of the Scimitar Battalion in the front should carry out indiscriminate artillery bombardment on the surrounding buildings to ensure that there were no ambush armed forces before advancing.

However, what was unexpected was that even with such caution, the trap could not be avoided.

What completely destroyed their armored command vehicle was not an RPG rocket, but an IED roadside explosive device that had been buried nearby.

The location of the IED this time is particularly clever. It is neither on the road surface nor simply buried in a pit.

This is because it is very easy to be detected by searching soldiers.

Members of armed groups in the city cleverly buried IEDs under sewer manhole covers and in roadside drains.

Mosul, the second largest city in Ilgau, had quite complete urban construction before the war.

The advantage of burying IEDs under manhole covers and in roadside drains is that there is no need to damage the ground or dig pits to bury them, making it difficult for searching soldiers to find explosives hidden in those corners.

After all, no one would lift the manhole covers one by one to check whether there are traps inside. This is not the treatment given to the presidential escort convoy, and there is not enough time and energy to conduct such a detailed search.

This move brought great risks to the troops entering the city to clear out the enemy.

Especially today, encouraged by the good news brought back by Song Heping and others last night, the morale of the coalition forces attacking Mosul was high. From entering the city to the intersection of Zone I, the march was quite smooth and they rarely encountered any ambush.

In the view of Major Lonnie and Brigadier General York, this was because last night's precision bombing had dealt a heavy blow to the resistance organizations in the city, causing their morale to collapse, so the militants in the city fled today.

They were not wrong in this.

Since last night, many armed personnel in Mosul have indeed laid down their weapons, changed into civilian clothes, and evacuated Mosul through various means.

However, they did not act out of fear.

It is a strategic retreat to preserve strength.

If you can't hold on, don't hold on.

After holding out in Mosul for more than half a year, the coalition forces are exhausted, and the members of the armed groups in the city are also extremely tired.

Today, armed groups in the city plan to fight their final day.

They left one-third of their forces to resist and concentrated them near several key transportation arteries, and only sent small teams to the rest of the areas to carry out symbolic harassment.

The ultimate goal is to make the coalition forces relax their vigilance and gradually enter the ambush circle they have set.

At this time, the M4 armored command vehicle was like an overturned giant turtle, lying on its belly in the middle of the intersection.

Bombs in roadside ditches began to explode one by one.

Those search team members who had no time to dodge were instantly blown into the air.

Several Hummers near the roadside were torn in half by the impact of the violent explosion. These Hummers did not have much lightning protection. Although their glass and armor could withstand 7.62 caliber bullets and even some 12.7 caliber ammunition attacks, their chassis was their fatal weakness.

The explosion then triggered a chain reaction among the ammunition on board the vehicle.

Bullets flew like fireworks.

Several soldiers, covered in flames, struggled to climb out of the vehicle. They cried out in pain and pleaded with their comrades: "Please give me a quick death!"

"Please kill me!"

The intersection of Zone I instantly turned into a living hell.

The M242 machine guns on the tops of the Bradley infantry fighting vehicles that had not been blown up were spitting flames wildly, and the operators had no idea where to shoot.

All they could do was keep firing.

That's right.

The sound of gunfire brought them a sense of security.

They frantically poured heavy-caliber artillery fire on every building within sight.

Everything——

Everything——

However, due to excessive panic, many shells accidentally hit the vanguard troops in front when fired forward.

It should be noted that the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle is equipped with three weapons on its roof: a TOW anti-tank missile launcher, a 7.62mm M240C machine gun and an M242 25mm chain gun.

According to international practice, weapons that can be called cannons usually have a caliber of no less than 25 mm.

而M242型机关炮的口径恰好为25毫米，其最高射速可达每分钟200发。该炮发射的贫铀穿甲弹不仅能够击穿BMP-1/2步兵战车的主装甲，甚至曾有过在连续射击时击穿T-55坦克主装甲的战例。

Therefore, when the Bradley M2 infantry fighting vehicles in the rear were firing crazily and recklessly, the armored vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles of the same unit that had passed the intersection and advanced hundreds of meters forward suffered an unexpected disaster.

Just as the troops at the crossroads were attacked, the vanguard troops were also attacked fiercely by the militants.

The militants who seemed to have disappeared before suddenly emerged from all directions and launched attacks from different directions while the coalition forces were in chaos.

"Take a detour! Take a detour!"

The commander of Company D of the Warrior Battalion, who was at the forefront, was filled with fear.

But soon, with an explosion, the channel fell silent.

"The battalion commander's car was attacked!"

In a Bradley infantry 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 immediately ordered the two soldiers sitting in the vehicle: "Go over and take a look immediately. Get the major into our vehicle. We must evacuate immediately, otherwise we will all die here..."

Before he could finish his words, an RPG rocket flew over and hit the front of the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle directly.

The front upper armor and top armor of the M2 infantry fighting vehicle are made of multi-layer aluminum alloy. The front upper and top of the turret and the front lower armor of the vehicle are steel armor. The rear and side vertical armor of the vehicle body are spaced armor. The armor of the entire vehicle can defend against 14.5mm bullets and 155mm artillery shell fragments.

The RPG rocket lacked accuracy and hit the sloped armor, bouncing off.

But this also gave the driver a fright.

"Hurry up! Hurry up! We have to get out of this damn place!"

He roared and opened the car door, almost kicking his two soldiers out.

Two American soldiers crouched down and got out of the armored vehicle. They saw smoke all around them, flames from explosions everywhere, and brothers lying on the ground wailing everywhere. They felt their calves shaking.

After so many days of siege on Mosul, this is the first time we have encountered such a tragic situation.

The two men held guns and stuck to the right side of the rear of the Bradley fighting vehicle. They observed for a long time but didn't know where to shoot.

Because they couldn't see the enemy at all, they could only hear the sound of bullets flying from different angles hitting the car body.

"What are you still hesitating about?! Go save the battalion commander! I'll cover you, come on!"

After saying this, he directed his infantry fighting vehicle to use the roof-mounted chain gun to start bombarding continuously - in fact, he didn't know where to hit because the commander himself couldn't see the enemy.

The only benefit of firing was that it gave his two men some psychological comfort and made them feel that they were protected.

Seeing this, the two unlucky guys had no choice but to go ahead.

"Peter, you go first and I go last!"

Corporal Ronnie gave orders to Private First Class Peter.

Peter felt like thousands of horses were running through his mind, thinking, the driver forced you, but you forced me?

Fuck you, why don’t you do it first?
But military orders were as firm as a mountain, so Peter gritted his teeth and rushed out with a roar.

He was very fast and hated his parents for not giving him two more legs.

Soon he arrived at the M4 armored command vehicle.

Looking at this steel monster with its chassis facing up, Peter suddenly became a little crazy.

He tugged at the car door.

Not open.

This made him panic.

After all, there is no cover here, and one bullet can take your life.

"Ronnie! Ronnie!"

He suddenly discovered that his superior, Corporal Ronnie, was missing.

Looking back, Ronnie was still hiding at the rear of the Bradley fighting vehicle, holding a gun and pretending to aim everywhere but not firing a single shot.

"OH! SHIT! Ronnie! Come help!"

He grimaced, his face distorted with anger.

This is crazy...

It’s easy to be a superior like you!

I'm risking my life, and you're hiding there giving orders!

And you still let me go up!

Damn it!

Ronnie took a look and felt that it was not a good idea to let Peter struggle there alone.

The captain started roaring again.

This time he drew his pistol.

"Ronnie! What are you still doing at the back of the car? If you don't get on, I'll kill you!"

Ronnie could only harden his heart, crouch down and rush forward, finally running to Peter's side.

"Damn it! Didn't you eat breakfast?!"

He offered a hand and then shouted, "One! Two! Pull!"

The two of them worked together and finally opened the iron door at the rear of the car.

"Cough cough cough-"

As soon as I opened the door, I heard a violent coughing from inside.

The two men saw their battalion commander, Major Lonnie.

"SIR! Get out of here now!"

Ronnie took the initiative and spoke first.

"I'll take you back to our car!"

At this time, Ronnie's face was covered in blood and his waist was in severe pain. He didn't know where he was injured.

"Help me... My waist seems to be broken..."

Ronnie and Peter carried Major Ronnie without any explanation and retreated to their own car.

After taking two steps, Peter suddenly fell to his knees.

He didn't even scream.

Looking down, he saw a bullet hole on his thigh near his knee, which had penetrated his camouflage uniform directly.

"what--"

It took two seconds for him to start feeling the pain.

The kind of pain that is uncontrollable.

The man rolled to the ground and began to wail.

Seeing this, Ronnie had several options in his mind in just one second - to save Peter or to save the major.

But he quickly made his choice.

"Peter, hang on! I'll be back for you later!"

After saying that, he grabbed Major Lonnie and tried to escape.

puff--

Ronnie felt as if his left side was hit hard by a hammer. The huge impact made his body tilt and he fell to the ground.

He fell to the ground, and Major Lonnie followed him.

Ronnie looked down and almost burst into tears.

This shot is so fucking tricky and so fucking bizarre!
The bullet passed through his lower right abdomen, slightly below the ascending colon.

The bullet penetrated his pelvis, grazed his colon, and shot through his abdominal cavity, making Ronnie feel like a deflated doll with blood gushing out.

The most tricky thing is that that position is exactly the bottom edge of the bulletproof vest, which is not protected, and this shot will not take Ronnie's life because it did not hit the artery in the thigh.

It just really hurts...

“Ah—help…”

He began to roll on the ground, his cries as shrill as a cuckoo in the night.

　Explanation of US military terminology:
　　IED! — Roadside bomb;
　　Contact——firefight, enemy detected;

　　KIA——Killed in action

　　Taking fire
　　Take a detour = go around and take another route
　　
　
(End of this chapter)