Chapter 1547 - 1256: "Arrow-2" Shoulder-Fired Anti-Aircraft Missile (2)

Sanders' heart turned completely cold.

He should have thought of it long ago.

How could Song Heping, this local bigwig, genuinely help these "outsiders"?

Using others to kill is what these local bigwigs are best at.

Relying on Song Heping is a dead-end road!

"Baghdad! Thunder Command Center! This is Checkpoint Four! Hulmatu reinforcements are unreliable! Repeat, unreliable! Our casualties continue to increase, the frontline is about to collapse! We desperately need any possible support! Where is the air support?!"

Sanders shouted almost in despair.

"...Checkpoint Four, hold on. 'Quick Blade' squadron is about to enter your airspace. We will try to provide fire support. Additionally, a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) has departed from Baghdad, but the estimated arrival time is one hour..."

One hour?

Sanders laughed bitterly.

By the time they arrive, there probably isn't much left to do but collect our corpses!

At that moment, the sound of rotor blades came from the night sky, getting closer!

"Helicopter! It's our helicopter!"

Inside the checkpoint, the nearly hopeless mercenaries burst into cheers.

Even though they knew it was just a general helicopter with a door-mounted machine gun, in this desperate situation, any outside help was like the last straw for a drowning man.

Sanders quickly raised his head, and through the smoke, saw two black silhouettes approaching rapidly at low altitude from the direction of Baghdad.

They were two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, without the rocket pods and missile racks like those of armed helicopters, only with M134 "Minigun" rotary machine guns or M240 general-purpose machine guns mounted on the doors on either side of the fuselage.

"Attention all units! Identify the helicopters! Use all tracer rounds to indicate to the pilots the main attack direction of enemy forces and the position of gaps! Avoid friendly fire!"

Sanders immediately ordered.

Instantly, the rifles and machine guns at the checkpoint began firing tracer rounds frantically at the enemy swarming through the gaps, the dense tracers like red whips lashing into the darkness, clearly delineating the battle line and the most densely packed enemy areas.

The two Black Hawk helicopters did not hesitate, they lowered altitude, flying directly over the checkpoint and began circling around it.

One of the Black Hawks started attacking first.

Its side faced the ground, the right door wide open, a burly machine gunner wearing windproof goggles and noise-canceling headphones, secured firmly inside the cabin by safety belts, held the grip of the M134 "Minigun" tightly, aiming the six-barreled grim death nozzle at the hell below.

"ZzZzZzZzZzZz-----!!!"

The M134 rotary motor started, and the six barrels began to spin madly.

The next moment, a scorching stream of steel formed by countless 7.62mm bullets was unleashed to the ground at a terrifying rate of over 3000 rounds per minute, like a fiery whip!

This was the ultimate metal storm of the industrial era!

An absolute show of overpowering force!

Pupupupupu----!!!

Wherever the bullets rained, the scene was one of destruction.

The charging 1515 armed fighters were like being thrown into a giant meat grinder.

The dense bullets hit the ground, raising a dust storm.

Any flesh hit by this fiery whip was instantly torn apart, disintegrated!

Limbs flew, heads exploded, bodies were riddled like sieves or even severed in two!

Blood and flesh rained down on the scorched earth, instantly turning the area dark red.

The machine gunner calmly moved the gun a bit, hot shells streamed down like a sweltering copper rain.

On the ground, the originally madly charging 1515 armed group showed gaps under this sudden attack, their offensive temporarily halted.

The other Black Hawk joined the attack too, using an M240 machine gun, its rate not as high as the M134, but the stopping power of the 7.62mm full-power rounds was equally astounding, the bursts more precise, specifically targeting small groups of enemies and RPG-launching threats.

"Well done! Keep it up! Suppress them!"

Inside the checkpoint, the mercenaries' morale soared, seizing the chance to open fire on the enemy dazed by the helicopter's attack, reinforcing the fragile frontline.

However, the fearlessness of the 1515 fighters meant that even facing aerial assault, they didn't collapse.

Almost simultaneously with the helicopter attack, the ground suddenly lit up with tracer trajectories representing light weapon fire, streaming like red rivulets back against the air towards the two Black Hawks.

Bullets hit the helicopters' armored underside and rotor blades, producing sharp metallic sounds. While unable to directly shoot down these sturdy flying machines, they posed immense psychological pressure and the threat of stray shots.

More dangerous were the RPGs!

"RPG! Nine o'clock! Helicopter be careful!"

A mercenary on the rooftop hysterically shouted loudly over the radio.

On the ground stood a fighter kneeling, having already shouldered an RPG-7 aiming it at the low-flying Black Hawk with the M134!

ZzZzZzZzZz----!

The gunner on the Black Hawk also noticed the threat, immediately turning his aim, and the hot rain of bullets crashed down like a giant hammer where the RPG shooter was.

The shooter and several around him were instantly turned to mush, the rocket veered off course, exploding in the air at a distance.

But more RPG shooters emerged from different corners.

Rockets with flaming tails traced chaotic paths through the air, although hitting a moving helicopter was extremely difficult, each launch sent everyone's hearts to their throats.

One rocket even skimmed the helicopter's tail rotor, giving the pilot a cold sweat.

The fire support from the helicopters was powerful but also brief and risky.

They couldn't stay airborne for long, ammo was limited, and exposed to dense ground fire posed high risk.

Their presence was more a shot in the arm temporarily delaying the checkpoint's fall but unable to fundamentally change the tide.

Sanders looked at the Black Hawks maneuvering aerially amidst ground fire, at the enemies below temporarily suppressed but not yet annihilated, listening to the radio's update on Hulmatu reinforcements still "forming up," knowing he and his men weren't out of danger yet.

Song Heping's scheming was like a cold poison snake wrapped around his heart.

"Everyone! Hurry up and resupply ammo, rescue the wounded! The helicopters won't hold for long! The next wave of attack is coming soon! We have to rely on ourselves!"

Sanders' hoarse voice sounded again amidst gunfire, carrying a determination nearly numbed.

His worries quickly became reality.

Just as the Black Hawk equipped with the M134 completed another strafing run, pulling up its nose, preparing to veer for another round of attack——

Suddenly, the situation changed!

At the southeast of the checkpoint, about 400 meters away in the shadow of a hill, a weak but distinct white-hot pinpoint of light different from RPG tail flames flashed brightly!

The light was very brief but carried deadly precision.

"Missile! Heat flare!!"

The mercenary on the rooftop observing immediately identified this as a rocket completely different from an "RPG," instinctively thinking of a shoulder-fired missile, his warning piercingly sharp enough to cut through all the noise.

But, it was too late.

The missile, likely an old Soviet-manufactured "Arrow-2" shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, at that moment was trailing a long, dazzling white smoke trail at speeds far exceeding an RPG, targeting one of the low-flying helicopters!