Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 665 - 658: Finish the Fight Before Sunset

Chapter 665: Chapter 658: Finish the Fight Before Sunset

In the afternoon, Baiyue and her group finally rushed back. It had to be said that with the assistance of Fulajie’er and Feng, Baiyue had been extremely efficient, mapping out all the nearby anti-aircraft defense positions in just a few hours and roughly sketching the contour map of the hill.

According to the intelligence they gathered, there were a total of five anti-aircraft defense positions in the area. The one the Advance Team had destroyed was the main anti-aircraft position at the top of the hill, equipped with two 88 mm high altitude cannons. The remaining defense positions were located on the northern slope of the hill, but no traces of large-caliber high-altitude cannons were detected.

The situation was precisely as they had speculated: these people only had two 88 mm high-altitude cannons, primarily for use against high-speed reconnaissance aircraft, while the remaining positions were only equipped with 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons.

Furthermore, due to not being the primary positions, the number of anti-aircraft cannons deployed at these other positions was only half that at the main position, with generally just two to three 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons per position.

Such firepower could pose a certain threat to low-speed transport planes, but was completely ineffective against high-speed warplanes.

The operational philosophy of the Ronisca air fleet came from Earth, so although reconnaissance and transport aircraft seemed to be of the same type, their combat doctrines were entirely different.

The reconnaissance aircraft, or more specifically, high-speed reconnaissance aircraft, were modeled after Earth’s high-speed fighter jets. Although they were ostensibly reconnaissance aircraft, they could also be used as ground-attack aircraft, hence one could see their parallels to Earth’s attack aircraft.

The transport planes, on the other hand, were modeled after Earth’s helicopters, primarily transport helicopters. Although these were also fixed-wing aircraft, they were built with less consideration for aerodynamics and more towards maximizing their payload and quick takeoff and landing capabilities. Hence, they were far slower compared to reconnaissance aircraft.

As such, 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons could be used to bring down transport planes, while 88 mm high-altitude cannons with fragmentation warheads creating a barrage of metal in the sky were needed to take down reconnaissance aircraft.

Therefore, the 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons on these defense positions primarily functioned as supplemental firepower, while also targeting any slow-flying reinforcements. As for dealing with airships, the cannons were more about the intent than the capability.

As mentioned before, most of the Dwarves’ commercial airships were converted from active-duty airship models. With the Ronisca Air Force having ruled the skies of Otherworld for over a hundred years, the greatest threat chiefly came from the ground. As a result, both their military and civilian airships had thick armor on the underside, far from being penetrable by a mere 20 mm anti-aircraft cannon.

However, airships ordered by non-Ronisca races, as they could not directly purchase converted models of active-duty airships, had to be freshly designed and manufactured according to civilian standards. Consequently, the undersides of these airships were often extremely fragile, with some even made of ship timber. To the 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons, these were ripe aerial targets.

Generally speaking, commercial airships converted from the primary airship models of Ronisca could only be purchased by their own race of merchants, and outsiders were not qualified. Of course, there were exceptions for nations or organizations in good standing with Ronisca, such as the Headquarters, although they had not made such large-scale purchases due to their lower demand.

Luo’er believed that if they were going to fight alongside the air force, they needed to act swiftly. Once the air fleet descended to their bombing trajectory, they would be completely exposed to the ground anti-aircraft defenses. Regardless of whether the enemy had high-altitude cannons that could threaten the airships, all defense positions needed to be thoroughly obliterated as quickly as possible.

There might not be any particular strategies required as the air fleet would be providing artillery support. However, speed was essential. The Advance Team had to swiftly eliminate enemies at each position, then move on to marking the next target until all positions were cleared.

In other words, after the air fleet provided artillery support, the Advance Team had to quickly assess the damage to determine if a second round of artillery fire was needed. Once they confirmed that the position had been utterly destroyed, they needed to swiftly clear the battlefield, search for prisoners, and then move on to marking the next position.

The optimal time for each task should be controlled within ten minutes, so they could eliminate four air-defense positions in about an hour and withdraw to the air fleet before it gets dark.

According to the plan, Luo’er made the following adjustments: First, Baiyue and Tangmo, as well as Fulajie’er, formed a sniper team to look for a high point and assess the condition of the wreckage. Since Fulajie’er was not a professional observer, Baiyue mainly observed and Fulajie’er performed aerial reconnaissance to supplement and notified the search team at all times. Meanwhile, Tangmo acted as Baiyue’s assistant.

After the sniper team confirmed the extent of the wreckage, the three men of the advance team, together with Feng, formed a search team to briefly search the position for possible living captives. At this time, the sniper team moved to the high ground near the next anti-aircraft position to continue guiding the fire attack from the air fleet.

The main reason for this arrangement was to maximize the capabilities of Fulajie’er and Feng; Fulajie’er could supplement Baiyue’s vision, and Feng’s perception could play a role in the dangerous search operation.

Since the Nightingale and Tangmo had established a messenger magic connection beforehand, Luo’er gave Tangmo the signal flare and ammunition directly. Hence, she had the capacity to independently guide firepower attacks without Luo’er’s approval.

After the grouping was completed, the advance team quickly determined the attack sequence and set up several temporary gathering areas.

"Remember, as soon as the air fleet enters the bombing orbit, immediately fire a signal flare to guide the firepower attack. Once the plan begins, everyone must go all out, without pause, and complete it in one go," Luo’er said, looking seriously around at everyone.

The bombing orbit generally refers to altitudes below 500 meters. Ronisca’s air fleet would precisely attack the ground from this height.

The bombing orbit had been constantly adjusted. Thirty years ago, the bombing orbit of Ronisca’s air force was typically between 100 and 150 meters. The reason for this height was mainly the undeveloped artillery technology; the accuracy of the shells was quite moving from afar.

However, with the improvement of Ronisca’s artillery technology, particularly the threat brought about by ground firepower, the bombing orbit of the air carrier has been continually raised. Especially the concept of space carriers, which has directly elevated the bombing orbit to the highest point of 500 meters.

In some respects, the development of Otherworld may not fall far behind Earth — it may even surpass it in certain areas. However, this doesn’t change the fact that Otherworld is in the feudal medieval times, where many people still live in poverty and ignorance to this day.

"It’s now three in the afternoon. We leave now, aiming to reach the main base on the hilly highland by five o’clock. Then we’ll call in the air fleet to directly begin the attack and aim to end all battles before sundown and bring any possible captives back to the air fleet," Luo’er looked at his pocket watch and continued to address everyone.

At Luo’er’s command, the advance team began to organize their equipment and replenish ammunition, and then they set out the way they came. Wang Xu’s reinforcements helped Luo’er significantly, as before the arrival of the air fleet, his mind was occupied with ideas on how to escape and deploy more people to conquer the enemy’s air defense position.

With the help of the air fleet, Luo’er’s problems were solved immediately. Although he had said before that helping the air fleet was just out of goodwill, and the Advance Team only needed to capture some living captives for intelligence.

But in reality, eradicating the air defense positions is also an indisputable duty of the advance team, as the transport plane was shot down while transporting the advance team. To say otherwise would be unjustifiable in both emotion and reason.

However, Luo’er believed that as the captain of the advance team, his primary concern should be the interests of the advance team. As for matters of larger scope and complexity, he would leave it to the top brass to worry about, as he currently had no plans to enter the core power at headquarters.