Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 361 - 345 Fierce

Chapter 361: Chapter 345 Fierce

They had a cannon, so of course they had to fire it.

The tank cabin was already extremely cramped, and now with two dead bodies inside, squeezing in three more people meant that even turning around was difficult.

But they couldn’t stay outside the tank either, otherwise they’d be targeted by armored vehicles.

Donkey knew a lot, but he really didn’t know how to operate a tank, and as for Feng Biao, it was his first time inside one.

Extremely crowded and with distorted movements, but that didn’t hinder Gao Yi and the others from firing the cannon.

The turret rotated, and it was unclear which loader had pressed what, but the tank slightly trembled and after rocking back and forth a bit, Donkey loudly exclaimed, "Good! A direct hit!"

Missing that shot would have been much harder than hitting it, because the armored vehicle had moved between the two tanks, using the destroyed one as a cover against the high altitude shots.

Then, Gao Yi and the others fired almost point blank at the armored vehicle.

The cannon shell casing automatically ejected, falling into a frame behind the bolt.

"Reload! Reload!"

The loader, now promoted to gunner, began shouting, but Gao Yi and Feng Biao looked at each other.

How to reload?

"Pull this!"

The loader had to guide them through the process even amidst the chaos, and Gao Yi pulled a lever next to the bolt, which then smoothly opened.

Feng Biao pulled out a cannon shell from behind, handling it easily, but flipping the shell head backwards proved to be particularly strenuous.

Mainly because the space was too small and too cramped.

Gao Yi took the shell from Feng Biao’s hands, carefully aligned it with the cannon barrel and pushed it in, forcing the bolt to automatically lock.

The tank cannon began to rotate again, searching for the second still-moving armored vehicle.

"Fire!"

"No, no, don’t fire!"

Donkey and the loader got into a dispute, and Gao Yi was surprised that the loader, who had just been captured and immediately defected, dared to refuse Donkey’s command.

The loader cautiously said, "If we destroy this armored vehicle, can you guys not kill me?"

"Okay, you’re free! We absolutely won’t kill you!"

Gao Yi immediately agreed to the loader’s request.

The loader swallowed and urgently said, "Watch me, watch me, watch me..."

This situation should be the simplest for a tank gunner by now.

After all, the armored vehicle seemed oblivious to the fact that its rear was on fire, and its own comrades had turned against them.

Everyone quietly awaited the loader’s performance, but the loader wasn’t quick to fire. Instead, he waited for the armored vehicle to suddenly stop, then abruptly fired.

The shell struck right at the rear of the armored vehicle.

Though the shot was slightly off, hitting the target was what mattered.

Suddenly, all threats had vanished, the enemies were gone.

"Hit them!"

The loader cheered jubilantly.

Gao Yi felt somewhat dreamlike at the moment, as if things weren’t quite real.

Donkey also seemed dazed. He looked at Gao Yi, then at the bodies piled under their feet that couldn’t be pushed out, and suddenly asked, "What about the driver?"

Gao Yi immediately responded, "The driver is dead!"

With that, Gao Yi looked at the loader, amiably saying, "Tell us, how did the driver die."

"Suddenly there was an explosion, and then the commander ordered to reverse and leave, but the driver didn’t respond. They were in it together, then the commander crawled into the driving compartment to check and came out to tell them the driver was dead, probably a heart attack."

The loader smoothly finished speaking, hesitated for a moment, then continued, "I think the driver was about sixty years old; it’s normal for him to have a heart condition. But most importantly, I wasn’t part of their crew. They were short-handed in their vehicle, so they pulled me in to load the shells."

Donkey said gravely, "Russian tanks have automatic loaders, a crew of three."

"Yes, yes! They needed a loader, and I speak Russian and English, so the commander let me come."

Donkey suddenly gesticulated, then said to Gao Yi, "Now we can control this tank. If we can drive the tank out, then the outside threat..."

Donkey really wanted to drive the tank out and confront the enemy.

Gao Yi hesitated and said, "All the external sighting equipment on this tank is broken. Can we win a tank battle with a fully equipped tank? Besides, all the opposing crews are aces."

While Gao Yi didn’t understand tanks, he knew that a tank with complete sighting equipment and one without are entirely different concepts.

The former is the king of modern land warfare, and the latter, at best, is a steel coffin.

Donkey was somewhat torn, but this time, Feng Biao decisively said, "Let’s go. Ace crew or not, it’s better than getting hit in the building."

After saying this, Feng Biao earnestly added to Gao Yi, "Staying inside the tank is the safest, better than staying in the building. Do you understand?"

Donkey immediately said, "I can drive the tank! I’m headed to the driving compartment! You guys move the bodies out."

After that, Donkey stood up to make room, and several people together lifted and pushed the commander’s body out of the tank cabin, followed by the gunner’s body.

During the body removal, it was apparent that the commander was quite short, at most 1.7 meters, and the gunner’s height was probably around 1.6 meters.

By comparison, the cabin space of the M1A2 tank is really quite large; if it were a T72 or some similar tank, adding three more people inside would indeed be impossible.

Behind the commander’s seat was a small door, which when opened allowed access to the driving compartment.

The driver had to lie down to operate the tank, and the turret needed to rotate ninety degrees to access the separate driver’s cabin door from above, but it was too dangerous to go outside the tank now, so it was best to enter through the emergency passage inside the turret.

However, pulling the driver’s body from the seat was a difficult process.

Donkey removed his bullet-proof vest and helmet, then he squeezed through the narrow passage.

After some struggle, Donkey said over the radio, "Rotate the turret, I need to push the body out."

The turret rotated and Donkey opened the cabin door from the inside, pushing the driver’s body out with difficulty. Then he closed the door again, panting, "All right, now I can drive the tank. I can operate it through the observation window, but my night vision device doesn’t work well in here; it’d be best if you could guide me."

At night, it was very dark outside, and driving the tank with just the night vision device on his head was very impractical.

Then, the simplest solution was for the commander to expose himself.

This is why so many tank crews during World War II liked to drive with the hatch open—it was terrible to drive using just the tank’s observation windows and very inefficient.

Now that the space inside the tank turret was considerably wider, Gao Yi looked at Feng Biao and said, "Should I take the commander’s seat?"

To observe by sticking out, it had to be the commander.

Feng shook his head, "No, I’ll be the commander. You handle loading the shells. I’ll direct where to drive; you wouldn’t know."

Gao Yi hesitated and said, "Just don’t commandeer the tank and run away... The others, they’re still here."

Feng was momentarily speechless, and Gao Yi whispered, "You aren’t really planning to do that, are you?"

"We wouldn’t leave without calling them down."

Feng grumbled dissatisfiedly, then he added, "Besides, others are driving the tank."

Why Donkey was eager to drive the tank was exactly because he feared Gao Yi and his group would take it and flee.

Driving a severely damaged tank against two tanks and several armored vehicles was a risky affair.

But at this point, even engaging the enemy outside in a tank was better than letting the enemy bombard the building unopposed.

Even deterring the enemy would be beneficial.

Feng half emerged from the turret, looked around, then said into the radio, "This is Warhammer Mercenary Group. Listen up, everyone. We’ve taken control of the tank and are initiating an attack. War Axe Mercenary Group and Lego Mercenary Corps, coordinate and watch out for friendly fire. Copy?"

It was essential that all allies were informed and confirmed before proceeding, as Feng didn’t want to be exposed and get shot by friendly fire.

A heavy machine gun could not damage a tank, but killing an exposed person was easy.

A person from the Lego Mercenary Corps responded urgently on the radio, "Lego copies, requesting support. We are being attacked by armored vehicles; the situation is extremely critical, requesting support!"

"War Axe copies, we can deploy infantry with rocket launchers to support the battle, over."

By comparison, the advantages were clear.

War Axe had only a few men left and, spotting an opportunity, was willing to join the battle with rocket launchers.

Lego, having run away once, must have had a special reason for Gao Yi to care about their fate.

Feng looked at Gao Yi and suggested, "Let’s go rescue Lego, a diversion instead of a frontal assault."

Communication was an advantage for the Chinese, a few words and it was understood.

Rescuing the Lego Mercenary Corps and diverting the enemy’s attention from the office building to the factory was incredibly simple, but explaining this in English would take much longer.

Gao Yi instantly agreed, "Okay, a diversion, good."

Feng quickly instructed into the radio, "Reverse, straight back."

The tank jolted for a moment, then began moving straight back, retreating several meters. Feng said, "That’s enough, turn to the right."

The tank stopped, turned left half a circle, then stopped again and started turning right.

It seemed Donkey wasn’t very proficient just yet.

Feng urgently said, "Forward, forward, slightly to the left, I see the enemy’s armored vehicle now, stop."

The tank halted and Feng withdrew back into the turret, "Target the armored vehicle, how are you aiming this?"

The gunner began maneuvering the gun barrel, while Feng again leaned out, "A little to the left, a bit more, another bit... good, aligned."

The gunner had a sighting scope, but it was utterly useless in the dark for locating and pinpointing the enemy’s position, so Feng had to direct the aim at the armored vehicle first.

The gunner struggled to search for the armored vehicle in the pitch-black sight.

Gao Yi, getting impatient, whispered, "Should we fire a test shot?"

Feng, equally anxious, said, "Shoot what...?"

Feng hadn’t finished speaking when the loader fired, following Gao Yi’s suggestion.

Mainly because when Gao Yi boarded the tank, he left a heavy psychological impact on the loader.

With a boom, the cannon recoiled, and the shell case automatically ejected. Gao Yi quickly grabbed another shell, but before he finished loading, he heard Feng exclaim in astonishment, "Damn! That hit?"

Aligning left to right was fine, but the vertical alignment wasn’t guaranteed. A slight deviation in elevation meant the shell could either fly over the armored vehicle or hit the ground prematurely.

Hitting the target with just a rough aim was akin to hitting a fly in the air with a single bullet.

Feng urgently shouted, "Reverse, reverse! Quick, quick!"

The single shot had indeed destroyed an armored vehicle and that was sure to catch the enemy’s attention.

The loader turned to Gao Yi and shouted, "You’re incredible!"

The tank was driven by Donkey, commanded by Feng, and the cannon was operated by the captured loader. Then he praised Gao Yi for his brilliance.

Donkey also said through the radio, "Incredible! Truly incredible!"

Well, since it was Gao Yi who captured the tank, praising him was indeed fitting.