Chapter 120: Habbaniya Air Base
Instead of staying inside the sturdy basement, Nuri went outside, where his guards were fighting the army outside.
"Nuri is the scum of our Iraq, careerists!" Outside, the people of the 1st Division were shouting: "He conspired to assassinate our King Ghazi, and even betrayed our Iraqi interests to the British!" Whether you choose to die with Nuri or stand up is up to you! ”
The rumor that Nuri had assassinated King Ghazi spread throughout the country, and, looking at the army outside, the guards had little confidence, and some of them were already beginning to waver.
I definitely can't beat it, it's really better to surrender, and it's good to stay out of it.
Only some of Nuri's diehards, still holding on, are staring at their side, and if anyone dares to run away, then shoot immediately!
"Don't listen to outsiders!" At this moment, Nuri came out, and he said to his guards: "King Ghazi died in a car accident, and I am also very sad for his death, and besides, I also tried my best to assist the son of King Ghazi, how could I assassinate the king!" ”
At this time, Nuri stood behind the guards, and anyway, through the wall, he didn't have to worry about being sniped by his opponent.
"Now, there are rebels outside, and if you leave now, then I can intercede with the king and forgive you for this rebellion." Nuri said: "Whoever dares to shoot at the Prime Minister's Office will be the sinner of Iraq, and his whole family will be punished as he deserves!" ”
Nuri has already begun to threaten the people outside, although it will not scare the other party for a few words and let the other party leave, but at least it can delay time and wait for reinforcements!
Unfortunately, he still underestimated his opponent.
"Quick, dodge, dodge, howitzer, ready!"
When he heard the noise outside, Nuri's face changed drastically, and he spread his legs and ran towards the basement.
"Boom, boom!" There was a huge explosion outside, and in this terrible sound, the wall was blown open, and even the building of the Prime Minister's Palace was blown to the ground!
The other party was just surrounding, and they didn't attack immediately, they were just waiting for the field artillery behind to drag over, and they didn't hesitate to use field artillery to hit the Prime Minister's Office!
The wall was blown down, the wounded guards let out screams, and outside, the infantry of the 1st Division could not wait to start charging inside!
Camille brought, of course, the most determined personnel, so that they would not be fooled by a few words from Nuri, they had already decided that Nuri was the murderer of King Ghazi!
Inside Baghdad, artillery rumbled and chaos was formed.
Outside of Baghdad, ninety-seven kilometers, the small town of Habbaniyah.
This is the home of the British Royal Air Force, and historically, it was only a flight training school, and the planes in the base are all old goods, 9 Glasgow "Gladiator" biplane fighters, 1 Bristol "Burlingham" bomber, 26 speed "Oxford" trainers, 8 Ferry "Gordon" trainers and 30 Hawker "Odoxes" trainers.
However, it is different now, as Britain continues to lose ground in the Middle East, this is the main base of the British Air Force, with more than 5,000 soldiers and more than 100 modern fighters in the base, most of which are exported from the United States, most of them, P-40.
This improved fighter on the basis of the P-36 has good performance, especially fast delivery, so it won the contract of the US Army Air Corps and exported it in large quantities.
And the British Air Force called this aircraft "Mohawk", they are quite satisfied with the performance of this aircraft, in air combat, at least will not be completely inferior, can have a battle with the German BF109, against the F190, it is slightly worse, but experienced pilots, can also win.
Now the horn of urgency is sounded throughout the airbase.
Rashid's coup d'état was courageous, and there is almost no possibility of failure, it is just icing on the cake, but the facts have proved that the Iraqis really have no talent for war, and even a coup d'état is not fully prepared.
For example, now, the attack on the British base has been temporarily increased, but their coup d'état has not been launched at the same time, and when the chaotic infantry division went to surround the Prime Minister's Office, the British air base here has already received a message for help.
Although it was dark at night, they also began to prepare, the lights of the entire base were shining, and on the tarmac, one after another P-40 fighters were preparing for departure.
Wait a few more hours and it will be dark, and before dawn, they will be able to take off and expel the rebels who are outside the Prime Minister's Palace!
And some of these pilots, who have the ability to fly at night, can't wait to take off immediately.
Pilot D-F. Hatachy, carrying his flight helmet, came to the side of the plane and watched the ground crew make nervous preparations for takeoff.
As a fighter, the main armament of this aircraft is two Browning M2 heavy machine guns with a caliber of 12.7 mm in the nose, plus two Browning M1919 machine guns with a caliber of 7.62 mm on the left and right wings.
Although the most commonly used caliber in the UK is 7.7 mm, it is too late to replace this batch of aircraft, anyway, now the British support is the United States, and it is enough to directly send them 7.62 mm bullets.
At the same time, if necessary, such an aircraft can carry a 1,000-pound bomb under the fuselage, and two triple rockets can be added to the wings.
Now, their mission is to support Baghdad and disperse the rebels, in which case their planes must be equipped with ground-based weapons.
Originally, the plane was full of fuel, and the machine gun was full of bullets, so now it's a bomb! On the trolley, the ground crew loaded more than 400 kilograms of bombs onto the belly of the aircraft, and then loaded them with rockets.
Just as the ground crew was retrofitting, Hataki couldn't wait to climb onto the plane and prepare for takeoff.
When his cockpit canopy was snapped up, Hatache had already started the engine, the fighter held its head high, slid towards the runway, and then, increasing the throttle, the liquid-cooled engine burst out with 1150 horsepower, the P-40 slid up on the runway, the speed was getting faster and faster, he gently pulled the lever, and the P-40 pulled up easily.
By the light of the moon, there can be a vague visibility of several hundred meters, which is enough, and when it arrives in Baghdad, the two sides exchange fire, it must be brighter, Hatache pushed the operating stick, wanting to fly in the direction of Baghdad, at this moment, he suddenly heard an anxious cry in the headset.
"Kingfisher, Kingfisher, quick, northeast of the base, find the rebels coming towards us!"
Almost at the same time, Hatache saw a fire in the distance on the ground, it was artillery fire!
"Boom!" The mechanized brigade arrived first, and the leading Renault FT17 tanks, launched the first round of shelling towards the airfield.