Chapter 10: Spear and Shield

  "Three rows attention, look for hidden locations, quickly deploy air defense radar and missile positions, pay attention to the deployment of fake targets."

  "Roger that, roger that, executing immediately." The squad leader replied.

  "Commander Cheng, this is Lin Yi, I have a suggestion." The voice of Lin Yi came through Commander Cheng's earpiece.

  "Lin Yi, you said," Cheng Feng replied.

  "Commander, can we use the anti-aircraft missiles on the Indian military's position to attack their armed helicopters? Their identification system needs to identify friend or foe, so we'll have a few seconds of initiative," Lin Yi replied.

  "Will you use the Indian Army's anti-aircraft missiles?" Cheng Feng asked in puzzlement.

  "Don't worry, this is my specialty. I've dealt with the US military before, so this will be a piece of cake." Lin Yi replied confidently.

  "Commander, take a look at our situation. I'll start the engine first and then launch, once the Indian armed helicopter sees me launching from this side, it will definitely identify and avoid us. At that time, you let the three rows of soldiers give a burst of fire, it won't have enough time to react. I think this should be able to take it down." Lin Yi continued to add.

  "That's good Lin Yi, but you guys need to be careful. I'll watch you launch first and then follow up afterwards. Pay attention to safety and complete the task as soon as possible before returning. What's the situation with casualties on your side?"

  "Don't worry, Commander Lin. No one was killed, basically just minor injuries, only one serious injury, nothing to worry about."

  "Alright, be careful, once you're exposed, retreat immediately," Cheng Feng ordered.

  "Yes, Commander. I'll go prepare now." Lin Yi closed the system after finishing speaking.

  "Third squad, third squad, do not launch your anti-aircraft missiles. Wait for Lin Yi and the others on the high ground to launch their missiles first, then you can fire together." Cheng Feng said into his headset. He immediately relayed this message to the leader of the third squad.

  "Third row received, third row received." The voice of San Piao came through the earpiece.

  Loosen the transmitter, and Cheng Feng thought about Lin Yichu's words in his heart. Ah, this kid really has two hands, using Indian military missiles to attack Indian armed helicopters, which is an excellent idea.

  In the armed helicopters of the Indian military, the identification of friend or foe on the data link must be prioritized for defense based on the existing air defense missile data of our side. They can immediately identify our air defense missiles and take corresponding countermeasures. As for their own air defense missiles, that's a different story.

  Of course, if you don't know how to operate it, there's no way, because in this system's automatic settings, it won't fire at its own side's armed helicopters or armored systems, unless manually activated to disable its internal identification system, then this missile can become a powerful tool for us. Once Lin Yi's idea is feasible, not to mention being able to shoot down 100%, but at least it can cause confusion in the Indian military's armed helicopter fire control and defense systems, gaining a few seconds of initiative. It's no wonder the battalion commander said that he must be assigned to our vanguard company.

  "Boom, boom, boom." The tank troops began to drop smoke bombs, which also meant that enemy planes were approaching the strike distance. With the 161, 164, 167, and 169 tanks firing smoke bombs, Cheng Feng's area was shrouded in thick smoke. This new type of smoke had no unpleasant odor and did not harm the human body, while also having the effect of reducing laser and radar detection.

  The smoke billowing out of the smoke generator enveloped the entire area, but this did not affect Cheng Feng's view from inside. The new material coating on the tank shell had a shielding effect, so after long-distance driving, the temperature of the new tank engine was lower than that of an ordinary family car. This greatly reduced the possibility of being detected by enemy air-to-ground and ground-to-air missile radar. All these modern technologies combined to provide the ability to counter enemy missiles.

  Cheng Feng turned his head to check the team preparing for air defense, and before departure, he saw that the radar system of several anti-aircraft armored vehicles had been turned on. The tank commander had activated the air-to-air radar, and the radar on top of the vehicle began to scan back and forth at 180 degrees towards the front. At the same time, the vehicle-mounted surface-to-air missiles were also powered on. A missile on a nearby tank "hissed" after being powered on.

  Three rows in the right wing of the position, an anti-aircraft position was built. Two radars have been turned on and the missile system that is interconnected has also been powered on, ready to be launched at any time. The main shooter is in place, while the deputy shooter is checking the line conditions. The aiming hand on one side is nervously comparing the data collected by the radar with the data transmitted from the front.

  On the other side of the three rows, four soldiers had already turned on the power switch of the shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile, and the rhombus-shaped position was in a hidden position with nearby objects, wearing goggles. Several soldiers in the second row also climbed onto the top of the tank and infantry fighting vehicle, opened the ammunition box of the high-altitude machine gun, and the single chain of the high-altitude machine gun was slightly swaying, it seemed that everything was ready, just waiting for the Indian military's armed helicopter to arrive.

  At this time, a faint sound of helicopter rotor blades cutting through the air came from the sky, Cheng Feng picked up the display in front of his chest and saw two small dots rapidly approaching himself, while the radar prompt tone in the earpiece was also telling Cheng Feng that the Indian military armed helicopters were about to reach the attack area.

  Cheng Feng turned his head and saw a small warrior next to him holding the anti-aircraft missile launcher, his hand slightly trembling. Cheng Feng knew that as an armed helicopter known for its tank-killing abilities, one aircraft used properly could easily take out a tank company, not to mention two sorties as mentioned in the intelligence report.

  Cheng Feng still remembers many years ago watching a video of the US military using armed helicopters to attack tanks in Iraq, which was also the first time in the world that armed helicopters were used as ground targets, especially against the king of land warfare, tanks. In that war, the US military's armed helicopters used weapons including machine guns, rockets, and guided missiles, such as "Hellfire". Combined with low-flying A-10 ground attack aircraft, they quickly took out over 2,000 Iraqi armored vehicles in a short period of time. Iraq's armored troops didn't even get to see what the enemy looked like before being taken out, mostly by having their turrets blown off.

  To know that in combat, the attack helicopter's destruction rate for targets is about 17 times its own production cost before being destroyed. So this high destruction rate also determines the decisive role of armed helicopters on the battlefield. At the same time, the brilliant results achieved by the US military in using large numbers of armed helicopters in Iraq at that time also made some weapons and defense experts think that armored vehicles should exit the historical stage.

  Indeed, in a certain sense, the emergence and application of armed helicopters is like the disappearance of cavalry due to the emergence of heavy machine guns in those years. Tanks and armored vehicles were at a disadvantage from the start in this game, and such results once affected the national defense and military concepts of some countries, and tank development was even stopped in some countries. Of course, we know that the development of things has always been a natural law with spear and shield.

  After the large-scale use of armed helicopters in war, many countries invested heavily in technology and finance to develop a series of countermeasures against armed helicopters. For example, anti-aircraft missiles are a good choice, and armed helicopters can also be used to counter armed helicopters. As modern warfare develops, there are increasingly more ways to counter armed helicopters. On the battlefield, no weapon is invincible forever. The final decisive factor is not the weapon itself, but the person who operates it, which is an eternal law.