Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 383 - 365: Hit Wildly and Randomly

Chapter 383: Chapter 365: Hit Wildly and Randomly

"American Stinger, Russian Needle-S, and now a French Mistral."

The so-called influence was manifested here, Grasse provided American missiles, Sherkin procured two sets of Russian missiles himself, and Marina supplied the Mistral.

We were still missing the UK’s Starlight Portable Air Defense Missile, as well as Northeastern University’s Vanguard, Red Blossom, and the FN Series.

Three out of the Five permanent, that should be enough.

The British’s sudden interference certainly escalated things, but it didn’t make it too complex, it was merely a jump from targeting one helicopter to seven.

When Gao Yi and his powerful backers were determined to shoot down the US helicopter outside the embassy, adding a UK one into the mix was inconsequential.

One or seven didn’t matter anymore.

The French changed their usually slow and flamboyant attitude, but this might be related to the fact that all the people who came belonged to the French Foreign Legion. Within an hour after hanging up the phone, a team of people of diverse skin colors, none of whom looked French, arrived.

No need for chatter, no need for pleasantries, this wasn’t the time to socialize. Just establishing unified communication was enough; not making contact was the best choice.

"You go to the northwest corner; fire the missiles as ordered. After firing, withdraw immediately, do not engage with anyone, and avoid conflicts if intercepted. Tell me, and I will arrange a safe exit for you."

Gao Yi gave a few instructions to the reinforcements sent by Marina and then entrusted one direction of the air defense to the Mercenary Group carrying four air defense missile launchers.

Six plus four, Gao Yi now had ten portable air defense missiles on hand, capable of launching ten missiles at the first opportunity; and with the reserve munitions for the Stinger, he had fourteen missiles.

The issue was that reloading reserve missiles and launching them again would take time, and the helicopters’ low-altitude flight would hardly leave good visibility or a chance to re-aim and fire the missiles.

Overall, it was still ten against at least seven.

One must remember that portable air defense missiles aren’t infallible; this power balance left Gao Yi feeling uneasy, but at least on paper, he was stronger than Freedom Wind.

He no longer counted on Shaman.

It wasn’t that Shaman wasn’t capable or willing, but who would prepare portable air defense missiles at an embassy?

Such missiles posed too great a threat to low-flying and taking-off or landing aircraft. The US always strictly regulated and controlled these weapons. In Baghdad, it was much easier to find a rocket launcher, or even cannons than portable air defense missiles.

Two hours passed.

"The helicopters have taken off. Unless something unexpected happens, the British are headed towards the embassy and are expected to arrive in fifteen minutes," Grasse said as he called, his tone filled with helplessness. They did their best to stop and delay the British helicopter’s takeoff, but now, the British helicopters had finally taken off.

"Understood. What about the CIA’s helicopters?"

"They’re still on our air base tarmac. I thought they would be pre-positioned in downtown Baghdad, but they deliberately landed at our airport," Grasse said with a hint of anger, interpreting this as a provocation from the CIA to the Pentagon.

I’m landing at your airport, I’m sitting under your nose, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

"Uh, the CIA’s aircraft have taken off, with seven in formation."

In formation, they lined up and headed straight for the embassy.

Not even during the Malvinas War did the British lose seven helicopters.

One was destroyed yesterday, six flew today; the British put their helicopters on display, challenging Gao Yi to dare to shoot them down.

Gao Yi found it odd, "Don’t they know I really dare to shoot?"

Grasse whispered, "The British are betting you don’t have the capability to shoot down seven helicopters, the CIA is betting you don’t dare to shoot down these seven. That’s my guess."

"Alright, got it."

Gao Yi hung up the phone.

Honestly, he was still a bit nervous on the inside, but thinking about it, since he was already at odds with the CIA, and ever since Panetta took charge and Freedom Wind held full authority, Gao Yi would have to lay low. So, in that case, he might as well shoot.

It’s not like the British would launch an expedition, or could they possibly launch a nuclear bomb?

Gao Yi hung up, looked over at Donkey, and said, "They’ve taken off; they’ll be here in fifteen minutes."

Donkey spoke softly, "Missile systems are on; preheating the seeker heads yields better results. Give the order, everyone to their posts, get ready to fire."

Preheating was a loose term, but it meant getting the systems ready.

Gao Yi picked up the radio and said seriously, "All units, take your positions. Missiles systems on, wait for my order to fire."

After speaking, Gao Yi took a deep breath, then awkwardly twisted his neck before saying to Feng Biao, "Not bad with the commands, right?"

"The orders weren’t quite accurate, but as long as everyone understood, that’s fine."

Gao Yi had two missile firing teams right in front of him.

The missiles were always stored in the back seat of the vehicle. Upon Gao Yi’s order, teams of two took the air defense missiles out of the car; one person shouldered the missile, powered it up and the seeker head began to work.

There were no planes in sight yet. When they appeared, and the missile seeker heads locked onto them, their chances of a hit would increase significantly.

Grasse called again.

"The flight formation is flying at ultra-low altitude, but they haven’t changed course. They know they’re being monitored and can’t hide, so they’re not bothering with evasive routes."

Flying evasive routes meant seeking out weak points in air defense to enter through.

Gao Yi was unphased, as he didn’t know whether shooting down ultra-low flying helicopters was difficult or easy.

The moment was upon them; Gao Yi began issuing orders, though not quite competent or reliable as a commander, when suddenly he received another call.

"I don’t know if it will make it in time, but I’ll try not to disappoint you."

The call was from Shaman, with a light and somewhat smug tone, then he whispered, "Receive the missiles. I hope you have enough shooters."

Shaman had said a sentence and then hung up the phone. Then, while Gao Yi was still puzzled, Lin Xianghua suddenly exclaimed, "Someone is coming!"

A large box truck was approaching, but in front was a pair of desert-camouflaged Humvee armored vehicles, each with a machine gun mounted on top. Looking further, behind the truck followed two more Humvees.

Humvees of the Iraqi Defense Army, escorting two civilian trucks.

Gao Yi had a bold idea in his mind, but before he could verify it, the fast-approaching convoy stopped. Only the trucks stopped, though; the four Humvees turned around and left without even pausing.

A man dressed like a local Iraqi driver rushed over. He sprinted towards Gao Yi and said urgently, "I’m here to deliver, you guys unload quickly, quick, am I on time?"

While speaking, the driver also glanced at his watch and then said with great annoyance, "Four minutes late, damn, four minutes late."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, but Feng Biao immediately said joyfully, "The delivery... is it missiles?"

"I don’t know what it is, I don’t care what it is, please just confirm the time for me, hurry up and unload."

Gao Yi swallowed his saliva and commanded, "Go and unload."

The truck doors opened, revealing stacks of boxes piled half as high as a person, with just enough space at the back to stand.

"One hundred and twenty boxes in total, no need for a signature, just confirm the time, I’m only four minutes late, do you agree?"

The driver urged Gao Yi to confirm the time without asking for a signature.

Gao Yi didn’t know the specific cutoff time, so he just nodded and said, "Mm, I’ve confirmed the time."

The driver immediately ran back to the cab, overjoyed, while Feng Biao, who had opened one of the boxes, shouted, "FN-6! All of them!"

Portable air defense missiles, the FN-6 missile, export model.

Each box contained a launcher and a missile, one hundred and twenty boxes in total, meaning one hundred and twenty sets of missiles.

Who wouldn’t love such a substantial support?

Gao Yi pointed at the truck and shouted, "Everyone gets one, hurry, move it!"

The missiles were timely delivered, but there wasn’t enough time for more people to come and get them.

Initially, there were only two sets of missiles available to Gao Yi, but now he had many people at his side. Now the subordinates of Sherkin didn’t need to act as backup shooters or visual spotters scanning for aircraft anymore, each person was equipped with antiaircraft missiles.

It didn’t matter if they knew how to use them; carrying the missile and pressing the firing button aimed at helicopters was simple enough for everyone to manage.

As soon as a box was offloaded, it was opened, and the missile was loaded into the launcher, powered on, the system checked, and then the shooter was ready to fire.

"Stand further back, the rocket exhaust can hurt you!"

Sherkin’s men had to act as firing directors, because Gao Yi and his men really didn’t know how.

"Aim the scope at the target, the seeker head will lock on automatically, damn, stand further back... do not turn around carelessly."

Gao Yi received a missile and hoisted it onto his shoulder.

It was fun, something he had never played with before, and out of curiosity, he really wanted to press the firing button to see what would happen.

The helicopters arrived.

Flying at extremely low altitudes, in formation, a long line of aircraft flowed into the Embassy District.

He had thought this phase would take a long time, but in just two minutes, Joelson urgently spoke through the walkie-talkie, "Only two helicopters touched down, and four people boarded. I don’t know which aircraft holds the target..."

Not all seven helicopters had landed, but it didn’t matter.

Using the outer helicopters as meat shields to protect the ones inside? No problem.

No tactic mattered, no conspiracies mattered.

Whatever, just fly; Gao Yi would just shoot.

"The aircraft are coming out!"

"Wait until they leave the Embassy District before firing, wait until they’re outside then fire..."

The aircraft did not leave from Gao Yi’s direction. They flew at an extremely low altitude, just ten or so meters from the ground, at most no more than thirty meters, making it difficult indeed to target from Gao Yi’s position, as the helicopters were visually obscured.

But still, it didn’t matter, because Gao Yi had already surrounded the embassy; it was futile no matter which direction the aircraft flew off in.

"Fire!"

"Four missiles, all hitting the target..."

"Forcing them to increase altitude..."

"Target spotted! Five o’clock position! Extremely low altitude, full speed..."

Sherkin’s men continued to direct, but Gao Yi had already turned around. Shouldering the missile, his scope locked onto the rapidly flying helicopter, which was at rooftop height but was now out of the Embassy District’s protective cover and could be locked on.

The missile emitted beeping sounds, indicating a lock.

Gao Yi immediately pressed the firing button.

As a newcomer, his shooting was chaotic; a dozen missiles were fired almost simultaneously. There was no sequence of targeting and firing, nor were there different targets distinguished; just shoot as soon as you see them.

A dozen trails with white smoke blasted into the air, with almost no deviation, streaming from behind and surging towards the low-flying helicopters.

The helicopters flying at ultra-low altitudes had no room for maneuver, and dodging was not an option.

Military helicopters are equipped with flares for countermeasures, but the flares from helicopters flying at ultra-low altitudes barely started glowing before falling to the ground, too close to the surface to be effective.

Boom, boom, boom, the sound of explosions rang out densely.

Sherkin’s men lamented, "Such a waste, firing wildly..."

Gao Yi threw the launcher to the ground and shouted, "We have plenty of missiles, fire! Don’t let a single one fly away!"