Chapter 174
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Chapter 174: The Turmoil Caused by the Russian "Caviar"
Uncertainty hung in the air as the gunfire between the invaders in black night combat uniforms and the base guards quickly subsided. The entire air force base immediately declared a state of martial law. All armed personnel began a thorough search of the base, dismantling timed bombs and rooting out any infiltrators.
Injured personnel received swift medical attention, but the casualty report on the Pakistani side was devastating. The invaders fared little better; the counterattack from the Chinese side, especially Lin Mo’s, was ferocious, with nearly half of the invaders left dead, none wounded.
Five "Kua Fu" warriors, along with a guard unit, defended the Chinese volunteers, remaining safe. Only two soldiers suffered minor injuries from bullet trajectories, and they had expended some ammunition, but their equipment remained unharmed, leading to minimal overall losses.
One soldier complained about his new bulletproof vest being punctured with some holes, while the others stated they were in good spirits.
As dawn broke, the traces of battle were visible everywhere, chaos and destruction scattered about. The landscape was blackened, some fires raged on, flickering with red-orange flames. Several large warehouses suffered collateral damage and were badly charred. A few FC-1 Fighting Dragons and Mirage III jets were blown to pieces, and one Q-5 was crushed under a collapsed hangar, leading to significant losses.
People had to be cautious as they walked; the ground was littered with round bullet casings, and the Persian Cat command center had piles of them like small mountains. It took half the night to clean them up; if someone stepped on one carelessly, they would surely slip and fall.
Having not slept all night, Lin Mo set his helmet aside and eagerly fiddled with over a dozen confiscated TAR-21 Tavor assault rifles.
This new rifle developed by the Israeli IMI was designed without a stock, much like China’s Type 95, but due to high costs, it had not been officially adopted by the Israeli military. Even the export models were limited to elite forces and special units.
Amid the chaos of last night, the gold giant dragon had sneakily gone out to forage for wild food, but little did it know how it would be accounted for in the invaders’ reports.
However, the gold giant dragon was still quite cautious, avoiding anything too obvious that might draw attention. The Peshawar Air Force Base was a haven for fighter jets, so even a fierce gold giant dragon would be overwhelmed by a group of aircraft.
It felt impossible to truly confront them! Looking at the aerial weaponry, the little dragon’s heart shook in fear; it had been frightened by the gunfire.
Living such a shadowy existence, sneaking meals just to fill its belly was already hard enough, but the occasional feast left the gold giant dragon very satisfied.
Back in the Su Lan Empire’s Dragon Knight Corps, things had not been like this, with plenty of metal resources available. The gold giant dragon had also started to care about a balanced diet.
“Where on earth did this greedy creature learn that term?”
"Up all night?! Hurry and get some rest!" Captain Feng found Lin Mo, who was busy handling the rifles.
Seeing the young man handle these weapons, Captain Feng knew he not only enjoyed raiding but also liked to bring spoils back to the base. He picked up one rifle and pulled the bolt, “Good rifle; do you like it?! If you do, tidy it up later and take it back when the mission’s finished.” Captain Feng winked at Lin Mo.
“Sure!” Lin Mo smiled brightly; weapons were always a soldier’s best friend. Bringing them back as gifts would surely be the most valuable presents.
A TAR-21 Tavor assault rifle’s export version retailed for over $1,000; gifting these would certainly be generous.
“It is likely that last night’s attack was connected to the Indians, as their special forces recently procured a batch of TAR-21s. Expect the Pakistani side to launch a retaliatory operation soon. The main fuel depot at the Peshawar Air Force Base was bombed, but they should restock fuel this afternoon and have a mission later tonight.”
Captain Feng was quite informed. By examining the invaders’ weaponry, he had guessed the attackers’ identities, which was all predictable. The collaboration between China and Pakistan was enough to stir the Indian side into a rage. They could hardly swallow this humiliation without striking back.
Last night’s attack not only delivered a severe blow to the Pakistani Air Force but also served as a warning to the Chinese volunteers not to meddle in affairs beyond their reach.
“Well done! Dragon Knight!” Colonel Ali smiled and gave Lin Mo a thumbs up, speaking in Mandarin.
Colonel Ali, the liaison officer who had been unable to leave due to the ambush, finally stepped confidently out of the Persian Cat command center. He had spent the night anxiously worrying but was relieved to see that the Chinese volunteers were unharmed and could maintain 100% combat effectiveness. He also caught sight of the advanced digital individual armor they carried, especially in team combat scenarios where their combat power was far beyond mere addition.
“Good morning, Colonel Ali.” Lin Mo greeted after Captain Feng introduced them.
He began to pack the spoils, dismantling the rifles into parts and organizing them into bags for storage, seeking the quartermaster to arrange for safekeeping. With Captain Feng’s approval, it didn’t seem like they had to surrender those rifles. Surely, the higher-ups wouldn’t miss a few guns; even if kept, they would be useful for the gold giant dragon’s snacks.
Was he raising a dragon or a dog?
Perhaps even Lin Mo himself was unsure.
He reminisced about the powerful 9mm “bottle opener” that Da Li from the First Squad had. With an effective range of 1,200 meters, anyone struck by that caliber would be in big trouble. The bullet would penetrate the first layer of armor and ricochet between layers, utterly destroying the internal organs. Its lethality surpassed even that of dumdum bullets.
Last night’s assault inflicted severe damage on the Peshawar Air Force Base, resulting in around a hundred casualties, especially with the main fuel depot blown up. Tons of fuel turned into flames, scorching everything within a 500-meter radius. By noon, they fought the fire with firebombs and helicopters spraying firefighting agents, among other efforts, to finally control the blaze.
Several fighter jets were destroyed, and more than a dozen jets sustained varying degrees of damage, mainly affecting the base’s A-5 comprised of the 16th "Black Panther" Squadron and the 26th "Black Spider" Squadron.
The 81st "Kangaroo" SAR helicopter squadron, responsible for battlefield rescue, was not within the focus of the attacks, so none of their helicopters were harmed.
Heavy security was placed at the hangars of the newly transferred 9th "Heron" anti-air/attack F-16 squadron and the FC-20 planes temporarily assigned to the Chinese volunteers from the Azrael Squadron; thus, they were not compromised. However, the overall damage to the base was significant. After hours of inspection, over twenty invaders were confirmed dead, and three severely injured were captured, while an estimated eighty others managed to escape, with nearby army and special forces participating in a massive search.
In contrast to the Chinese pilots’ dormitory, guarded safely by their own soldiers, the Pakistani pilots suffered tremendous losses, with one pilot dead and over ten injured, jeopardizing nearly half of their squadron’s operational capacity, even with intact aircraft; only two-thirds could barely get airborne.
The fully intact Azrael Squadron from the Chinese volunteers had now become a key force at the Peshawar Air Force Base, a clear case of “what you sow is what you reap.”
While cleanup crews worked hard to restore order, everyone else busily prepared as the Pakistani forces, upset from being caught off guard, braced for retaliatory action. A-5 fighter jets were rolled out, and besides a reserve for defenses, all available aircraft were put into play.
Data from the Persian Cat command center and the Pakistani command center flowed swiftly, closely tracking information from special reconnaissance soldiers and coordinating with the army to formulate combat plans.
Suddenly, Lin Mo’s gold giant dragon watch alarm rang, waking him from a daze; it was already 6:30 in the afternoon!
“Dragon Knight! Dragon Knight!” Someone knocked vigorously on the dormitory door with a thick Russian accent.
“Okay, I’m coming!” Lin Mo leaped out of bed, swung open the door, and found the Russian volunteer, comrade "Caviar," from the A-5 Wild Wolf Team of the Azrael squadron.
With his pressure suit neatly donned, the excited Russian was babbling energetically, “There’s a mission, a big mission! Hurry, let’s go teach those ‘Indians’ a lesson!”
This Bearded Squad Leader hadn’t been able to contain his excitement, as his team had been on aerial patrol while the knight and ghoul squads were responsible for the FC-20s. Now it was finally his A-5 Wild Wolf Team’s turn to act, and he was practically bouncing around like a wolf waiting for dinner, rallying the pilots to prepare for launch.
“Alright, just give me a moment!” Lin Mo returned to his room, donned the "Kua Fu" individual combat armor, splashed cold water on his face, and grabbed his helmet.
The Russian “Caviar” had turned into a neighborhood committee member, knocking on every door. He even knocked on the guard unit’s dormitory, waking up soldiers who had not slept all night and were irritated by the disturbance. “Caviar” quickly realized he needed to stop bothering everyone.
