Chapter 2468: Chapter 2444: Blooming from the Center
A crescent first-quarter moon hung in the sky. Not full, but very bright.
A moonless, windy night is the time for killing; with a bright moon overhead it’s definitely not a good moment to launch a night raid, but the bright moonlight was a useful supplement for reconnaissance.
The drone had dual low‑light and thermal imaging cameras; with the help of the bright moon, every detail of Ohalaham Village stood out, presented extremely clearly on the monitor.
Ohalaham Village was an oasis in the desert. On all sides of the village stretched unbroken desert—no fields, nothing—except for a major highway linking Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Long, long ago, Ohalaham Village had been a vital trade relay station in the desert. Like all ancient desert villages that had once prospered, Ohalaham Village had long since declined, but traces of its old glory were still faintly visible. Now only a few hundred villagers remained, yet the village covered a very large area.
The highway ran south to north, passing by Ohalaham Village. Thirty kilometers beyond the village lay the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and another thirty kilometers past the border the highway connected to Highway 15, the most important road in southern Saudi territory.
Inside and around the village there were plenty of open spaces where helicopters could land. The drone’s reconnaissance quickly made a discovery: several helicopters were parked to the northwest of the village. From the drone’s feed it was clear that area was a paved hardstand, probably once a parking lot for large trucks.
Because of their different sizes, the Black Hawk Helicopters and Longbow Apaches were easy to distinguish.
"Northwest, we have two Longbow Apaches and two Black Hawks, protected by a surrounding wall. No guards observed."
But only four helicopters had been found; eight were still unaccounted for. The drone kept its altitude and continued to circle above Ohalaham Village. Soon, five more helicopters were spotted on the east side of the village.
"Three Black Hawks, two Apaches, on the eastern end inside the village. Surrounded by buildings, with guards present."
Intelligence indicated there were twelve helicopters in total. Nine had now been located, but the remaining three still hadn’t been found.
They searched the entire airspace over the village and still couldn’t find the last three helicopters. At this point Jansen whispered, "Boss, those three helicopters may already have left, but they could also be hidden. I’m going to lower the drone’s altitude."
"Drop altitude. Be careful."
The drone continued to search. Finally Jansen spoke, slightly excited: "In the central area of the village, on the square of the prayer site, I’ve found a suspected target under simple camouflage. There are guards. At least four human‑shaped thermal sources around it."
Although helicopters could land almost anywhere in the desert, they still needed suitable spots for long‑term parking; you couldn’t just leave them in the sand all the time. So the twelve helicopters had been dispersed to different stands. Now, all twelve had finally been found.
Finding the helicopters didn’t mean reconnaissance was over. The next focus was on the distribution of enemy Sentinels. Under the search of the compact thermal imager, as long as they weren’t extremely well hidden, they were easy to pick up.
In war, people are the most important factor, but the changes brought by technology are growing larger and often decisive. A strong army equipped with the right high‑tech gear is like a tiger given wings.
Gao Yang committed all the helicopter parking locations to memory, then carefully studied the already spotted Sentinels. After mulling things over for a moment, he finally returned to the main group.
The situation was tricky. It was time to lay out a concrete action plan.
Once everyone had huddled together, Gao Yang held up the freshly captured images and whispered, "The helicopter positions are a bit of a problem. The helicopters to the northwest and east are on the outskirts of the village, but they’re both protected by walls, so the Anti-tank missiles can’t hit them directly. As for the three helicopters in the center of the village, we can only infiltrate and destroy them from close range. If the fight starts outside and we still haven’t taken out those three in the village, the enemy will have plenty of time to react."
Glolov said quietly, "We’ll have to split up. Three assault teams, hitting at the same time, so they have no chance to respond."
Peter also said quietly, "Exactly, we can only split up, but we must open fire simultaneously. We’re short on manpower. Once we disperse, the difficulty goes way up—but it’s not impossible."
Gao Yang thought for a moment, then said, "Little Fly, Pigeon, and Wild Duck form one team, with two Anti-tank missile launchers and six Anti-tank missiles, to hit the western‑northwestern helicopter landing zone—the easiest target.
Big Dog, Worker Bee, Big Bird, Fat Cat, and Clumsy Bear—you five carry all remaining Anti-tank missiles and the Anti-aircraft missile, and attack the helicopter landing zone on the east side of the village. If you pick your firing positions well, those five helicopters can be destroyed.
I’ll go with Toad, Tyrannosaurus, Skunk, Fox, Panda, Turtle, Porcupine, and the three‑man Black Demon team. The eleven of us will split into two or three assault teams, infiltrate the village, get close to the parked helicopters, and use any method necessary to destroy the remaining three helicopters at close range.
Finally, Rabbit and Crow will stay outside the village to provide cover and security."
After laying out his personnel assignments in one breath, Gao Yang whispered, "Anyone have objections or suggestions?"
Glolov said in a low voice, "It’s too dangerous. This plan carries a high risk. I recommend attacking from the perimeter and pushing in gradually. Even if a few of them slip away, we should go with a safer plan."
Tarta said with disdain, "There’s nothing dangerous about it. You’re just too timid."
Glolov snapped, "You!"
Glolov was furious at being called timid, but he knew this was no time for a shouting match. He forced down his temper and said quietly, "Drop the macho talk. You don’t get to judge my courage. If you’re that confident, then spell out your idea."
Tarta smiled. "It’s simple. We just do what Ram said: split up and act in parallel. Relax, with us in the lead we’ll definitely get into the village and wipe out all the helicopters in one go—easy. Buddy, no offense, but you’re forgetting something. The enemy are Saudi Arabia troops led by a prince. You really think they can fight?"
Glolov thought it over for a long moment, then finally nodded. "Fine. I agree we can go with this plan. But three men in the northwest group is too few. That team needs reinforcing—at least one more."
Gao Yang pondered briefly, then said to Yake, "You’ve been off the battlefield for a while. You’re not the best fit for an assault team. Go help hit the northwest helicopter landing zone. We have to make sure we strike simultaneously. Once the attack kicks off, the assault teams in the center of the village will be in real danger. At that point, the two outer groups will fight inward, the assault teams will fight outward, and we’ll bloom from the center. That’s it."
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