Seeing the Arab militants on the opposite side set up a position to storm villages and towns, Major Iskan, commander of the "Mohammed" battalion of the Irish Foreign Legion, who was watching the battle from the rooftop of a residential building, couldn't help but frown. www.biquge.info Although the Arabs were vulnerable in the offensive and defensive battles over control of the ranches, the destructive power of this group of armed thugs should not be underestimated.

After a while, I could only hear a muffled "bang" in the night sky, as if someone had uncorked a wine bottle, and then there was a low screech that was completely different from the flight of ordinary cannonballs. Major Iskan didn't move or change his form, but took a deep breath and stared intently at the northern part of the town of Amona. In the blink of an eye, a large-caliber mortar shell fell into the village, and in the sight, the thick darkness suddenly jumped into a dazzling flame, and a deafening explosion followed. Such a powerful explosion must have shattered countless window panes in an instant......

"Sultan's Hammer of Death......"

The familiar voice caused the former Ottoman Guards officer to mutter to himself. The recognized origin of the mortar of modern construction is the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, the inventor of which was the Russian artillery captain Leonid Nikolayevich Gobiato. Catalyzed by the two Balkan wars and two world wars, mortars became an essential standard weapon for armies of various countries, especially the Soviet Russian and Ottoman Turkish armies, which were simple in structure, easy to operate and inexpensive in cost. In the 30s, armed conflicts broke out between Russia and Turkey in the Caucasus region with complex terrain, and the armies of both sides were equipped with a large number of mortars, which were rare in the world in terms of their models and specifications. After that, the Ottoman Empire was mired in a long civil war, and mortars continued to be the favorite tactical weapon of the warring parties. The mortars used by the Arab thugs on the other side were the 120mm heavy mortars installed by the Ottoman army, which were more powerful than the 76mm barreled guns, and were given the formidable nickname "Sultan's Hammer of Death". The gun was specially designed by German engineers hired by the Ottoman military, and its weight is only six or seven times that of ordinary artillery, and a 4-5 person mortar crew can transport a complete set of equipment ammunition on foot, and can project shells weighing more than ten kilograms to three or four kilometers away, and can carry out continuous and rapid fire on the battlefield, which is very suitable for providing fire suppression for infantry.

The first shots were fired within the town, and the Arabs fired indiscriminately at a rate of 7-8 rounds per minute. Small half of their mortar shells hit the buildings in the town, the rest landed on the roads and open spaces between the buildings, and all but a few unexploded stink bombs burst out with the power they deserved. Although the buildings that were hit did not collapse directly, either the roof was blown off, or the outer wall was blown out of a large hole, and two of them were on fire, and the people in the house were probably not in good condition, and those that fell outside the building, even if they did not cause human losses to the guards and ordinary residents here, must have had a strong mental and psychological impact and deterrence on them.

As heavy mortars relentlessly ravaged the Jewish village, two truck-mounted 12.7mm machine guns opened fire. This kind of bulky and heavy guy has more than 30 kilograms of gun alone, the mobility is far less than that of general-purpose machine guns, and the range and power are not as good as small-caliber machine guns, among the army powers, only Soviet Russia, Japan and the old Britain are equipped with a large number of armies to deal with enemy infantry, light armored vehicles and low-altitude flying combat aircraft, and after the sunset of the British Empire, many of the weapons and equipment of the British army have become cheap goods in the arms market, and some of them have been transferred to the Middle East battlefield and used by Arab forces to fight against the Ottoman army.

Major Iskan did not want to let the enemy's rapid fire continue to ravage the village, and he used the radio walkie-talkie brought by the headquarters to give an order to the mortar group: "The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th mortar groups, fire at 34 degrees west-north and 45 degrees in elevation, corrective fire!" ”

The four three-man mortar teams that were instructed took less than 10 seconds to adjust the firing parameters and immediately conducted the first round of firing. They used the 80mm mortar of the Irish Army's finalized equipment in 1940, not to mention that the caliber of this mortar was much smaller than the heavy mortars of the old Ottoman army, but thanks to the development of gunpowder technology and the technical improvement of the shell structure, this 60mm mortar exceeded the "Sultan's Hammer of Death" in the firepower projection per unit of time, and the maximum range of the standard blasting projectile was 3300 meters, which was slightly inferior to the 120mm heavy mortar designed by the Germans for the Ottoman army. The improvement in shooting accuracy can largely compensate for this gap caused by different weight classes.

Instead of shelling the town of Amona at the maximum range of 120-mm mortars, the Arab militants parked trucks loaded with mortars and heavy machine guns on a hillside about two kilometres from the center of the town, a manifestation of their serious lack of military literacy. The first mortar shells fired by the defenders flew over the trucks and landed among the Arab riders who were waiting for the order to attack, causing a commotion among them. The mortar and heavy machine gunner on the truck saw that the other party's fire could cover their position, and they were so frightened that they hurriedly urged the truck driver to retreat, but before the truck could retreat, the defender's shells came one after another, and soon one of them landed next to the truck loaded with heavy mortars, not only swept the window glass clean, but also cleaned up the driver and some of the mortarists in the car, and the survivors jumped out of the car in a panic and fled.

The heavy mortars were dumbed in one round, and instead of retreating, the Arab militants were driven by the leaders to move to the flanks, and two trucks loaded with heavy machine guns followed the riders to the flanks and fired at the buildings on the edge of the towns and villages. With trucks as vehicles, large-caliber heavy machine guns are really powerful against irregular forces, and debris is flying everywhere in the rain of bullets.

Cheered by roaring machine guns, the Arab riders then charged from the northwest and southeast directions of Amuna, and their commanders probably thought that the Jewish militia had concentrated their fire on the front, and the flanks and rear were relatively empty, but they did not know that this move put themselves in danger!

Major Iskan picked up the radio walkie-talkie: "Attention to the squads defending the target villages and towns, first put the enemy into range, organize crossfire to annihilate it, and at the same time pay attention to protecting the mortar group!" The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd mortar groups were responsible for supporting the left flank, and the 4th, 5th, and 6th mortar groups were responsible for supporting the right flank, firing freely! ”

As soon as the words were spoken, a huge fireball rose from the northeastern hillside, and the detonated ammunition was scattered like festive fireworks - the Arab truck with heavy mortars was finally hit directly.

Major Iskan did not speak, but quietly watched the familiar picture, some of which were pleasant, some painful. He wondered more than once that if the Ottoman Guards had the equipment and combat level of his current group, would the outcome of the Turkish Civil War have changed?

Against the backdrop of the continuous explosions of 80-mm mortar shells, the strange cries of the Arabs gradually became clear. The Jewish militia, who were in the direction of the opponent's attack, had been impatient to open fire, but the sound of hand rifles seemed scattered and helpless in the noisy battlefield.

At this time, the signal corps reported: "Sir, Colonel Bitten calls! ”

"Sir, Colonel Bitten is calling you!"

The Turk smiled contemptuously, walked over to the communications soldier and picked up the headset and microphone, and just as he opened his mouth to utter a syllable, he was interrupted by the anxious voice of the other party: "Major Iskany, what are your soldiers waiting for?" Wait for those Arabs to rush in and turn the whole of Amona into a refugee camp? Did your soldiers forget to bring their bolts? ”

Major Iskan did not get angry, but responded mockingly: "Dear Mr. Colonel, is there something wrong with your ears that you can't hear mortars?" ”

The voice on the other side hesitated for a moment, then continued to say in a questioning tone: "But your mortar did not stop the Arabs!" Do you think they'll turn around and retreat at the last minute? ”

"Honorable Colonel, as a commander, you should be patient in this situation." As he spoke, Major Iskan turned his head to look at the approaching Arabs outside the town, and said, "Please wait another ten seconds!" ”

The commander of the Tel Aviv Jewish "Flying Army" fell silent for a moment, presumably counting down the ten seconds. As a result, before ten seconds arrived, the northwest was the first to burst into dense gunfire, and then the southeast suddenly burst into gunfire, more than 100 assault rifles, semi-automatic rifles, and more than a dozen machine guns all fired, and the momentum and damage far exceeded 1,000 rifles!

"A brutal and merciless slaughter began." Major Iskan said coldly, "Honorable Colonel, with all due respect, after this battle, the war between you Jews and Arabs will be in full swing. Judging by today's situation, your soldiers are still far from the standard of actual combat and need to redouble their efforts to devote themselves to training. ”

The other side didn't speak, I don't know if they were observing or thinking.

Major Iskan did not put down the headphone microphone, but waited very patiently for Colonel Bitten to reply. The town seemed to be littered with gunfire, but on closer inspection, there were almost no shots fired in the center of the town, meaning that the Arab riders were unable to use their speed to force their way through the defenders' resistance. After about two or three minutes, the gunfire changed from dense to dense, and Colonel Bitten spoke: "Thank you, Major Iskander, thank you and your soldiers, I heard your reminder, we will seriously reflect and take measures." ”

"That's good!" Major Iskan said lukewarmly, "I hope that the enemy will be like a mustard in front of you, and that you will not be regarded as a mustard by the enemy!" ”

(End of chapter)