nyslfriends #435 - Quick response
#435 - Quick response
In mid-July, bad news arrived from Rhodesia: a team transporting agricultural machinery had been hijacked by tribal forces a little over a hundred kilometers outside Harare!
"The current situation is that the Rhodesian local authorities say the matter is very troublesome. The Bantu tribe has about 500 people, and according to intelligence, they possess at least 50 Enfield rifles. It's uncertain whether these armed elements have other weapons. The local garrison is hesitant to act rashly, and these tribes are entrenched in the mountains, making them very difficult to find. After discussions between the two countries, we have secured the opportunity to send a small force of no more than 50 people for joint rescue operations." When Staff Officer Ye brought this bad news, Ren Zhong was discussing the latest plan for the first-generation frontline support attack aircraft based on the A4 attack aircraft with the main person in charge of the Aviation Research Center.
Since the engine and airframe designs are already available, the current first-generation Q-5 attack aircraft has passed flight tests. Now, the main focus is on avionics and weapon configuration. The project leader is hesitant about whether to add air combat capabilities, i.e., equipping it with air-to-air missiles and radar.
According to Ren Zhong's understanding, this should be a purely frontline assault fire support weapon, with everything based on striking the ground, serving as the true main force for aerial firepower output. Therefore, the weapons should mainly consist of cannons, bombs, and rocket launchers, but the choice of rockets should also consider the need to destroy ground armor.
In a full-fuel state, it can carry 2.5 tons of ammunition with a range of over 3,000 kilometers. For frontline support, only half-fuel is needed, and the weapon load can reach 4 tons with a combat radius of about 800 kilometers. In terms of current combat range and intensity, the Q-5's attack capability in frontline support mode is very considerable. After all, the ammunition carried by the Q-5 is delivered very accurately onto the enemy's head, which is much more accurate than artillery bombardment.
At the same time, this light ground attack aircraft has very low requirements for field airports. It can take off and land on hardened dirt runways of just a few hundred meters. There are no restrictions on deployment to the battlefield. It can be put into combat anywhere. The support capability for brigade-level and above combat is imaginable. You should know that Ren Zhong initially wanted to include this aircraft in the army aviation sequence, forming the main force of the army's forward aerial firepower output together with armed helicopters.
However, researchers at the Aviation Research Center believe that this aircraft could be considered for export in the future. Even with propeller fighters still in service, the Q-5's air combat capability surpasses the P-51D Mustang fighter without any problem. Therefore, the air combat capability should be retained as much as possible to facilitate future exports.
What the project team said also made sense.
Ren Zhong was discussing the possibility of realizing later modifications with him.
Staff Officer Ye's news made Ren Zhong directly stop this topic. After all, Staff Officer Ye's matter was more urgent now.
"How are the people? Is everything okay now?" Ren Zhong asked. He didn't expect trouble to come so quickly.
"The people are still fine. Lin Zonghan has already arrived in Harare. According to the news he sent from the local authorities, the tribe is demanding a ransom of 50,000 pounds," Staff Officer Ye replied.
"In that case, let's not delay. Let Li Yunlong select personnel and choose 50 people from the Rapid Reaction Force to set off immediately," Ren Zhong said without hesitation. "Before that, coordinate with the foreign affairs department for temporary stops and refueling in Colombo. If it's fifty people, we can send a Y8 transport aircraft, carrying 5 Cheetah all-terrain vehicles and 5 aerial trikes. The Rapid Reaction Detachment will immediately depart from Yanshan Base to Southern Base, then resupply once at Southern Base, and then refuel again in Colombo before flying directly to Harare."
Ren Zhong had long anticipated and prepared for the situations that might be encountered when farming in Black Africa. The biggest combat target of the Rapid Reaction Force trained by Li Yunlong was these ignorant tribal bandits.
Although Ren Zhong doesn't know how well Li Yunlong has trained the Rapid Reaction Force, at least they won't be worse than the soldiers of the Independent Regiment back then.
After all, the current nutritional status, training level, and weapons and equipment are completely different. Any platoon pulled out from Li Yunlong's troops can fight tough battles.
However, this kind of hostage rescue operation requires more than just strong combat capabilities. The requirements for the small detachment are even higher.
"I knew Brother Ren would have a solution," Staff Officer Ye said with relief. "When Brother Ren said to let this kid Li Yunlong form a Rapid Reaction Force, some of us didn't understand what the use of establishing such a force was. After all, we have reconnaissance detachments and special forces. Why build a Rapid Reaction Force? Now, the role of Brother Ren's Rapid Reaction Force is demonstrated."
Although the higher-ups intended to dispatch special forces when they received this news, Staff Officer Ye still insisted on asking Ren Zhong first.
Because Ren Zhong had previously asked Li Yunlong to apply for the construction of a small-scale Rapid Reaction Force, Staff Officer Ye didn't have much impression, but he could understand what it was for just by hearing the name. So, asking Ren Zhong here wouldn't delay things. He didn't expect Ren Zhong to recommend this small unit without hesitation.
Staff Officer Ye didn't understand what Li Yunlong and the others were doing, but he understood that Ren Zhong wouldn't aimlessly.
Li Yunlong's request to personally lead the Rapid Reaction Detachment to rescue the hostages was ruthlessly rejected. In the end, Zhou Lei, the commander of this Rapid Reaction Force, led the detachment to set off.
The improved Y-8 transport aircraft, after replacing with 4 WJ-5 turboprop engines, has increased its effective range to 6,500 kilometers with full fuel, and its maximum flying speed exceeds 500 kilometers per hour. After foreign affairs coordination, the detachment's route changed from flying directly from Yanjing to Colombo, reducing one takeoff and landing time to save as much time as possible.
5 Cheetah all-terrain vehicles and 5 aerial trikes that had been turned into parts were taken care of by a Y-8 transport aircraft along with 50 Rapid Reaction Detachment members. After a day and night of continuous flight, they landed at the airport in Harare.
"Comrade Zhou Lei, you've worked hard all the way. Thank goodness you finally arrived." As soon as the plane came to a stop, Lin Zonghan greeted them and reached out to shake hands with Zhou Lei, who was walking in the front. "This is Captain David Cobus of the Rhodesian local authorities, who is cooperating with our operation. We have prepared a room at the airport as a temporary combat headquarters to facilitate our rescue operation command in Harare."
"Hello, Captain Cobus, I am Zhou Lei, the major in charge of this rescue operation," Zhou Lei said directly to Captain Cobus in English, surprising Captain Cobus. He obviously didn't expect that a major randomly sent by Dongda could speak English.
According to Ren Zhong's requirements, team leaders and above in the Rapid Reaction Force must know a foreign language, English, French, or Portuguese or Spanish are all acceptable, because the original intention of this Rapid Reaction Force is to be global-oriented.
"Hello, Major Zhou Lei, welcome to Harare, but obviously this isn't the time for us to sit down and chat. Let's talk as we walk. Once we reach the temporary operations command, we can use the map to brief you on the current situation."
Captain Kobus quickly regained his composure and gestured for Zhou Lei to follow.
Zhou Lei and the three squad leaders followed him to the command post, while the rest of the team busily unloaded equipment.
The equipment support team in the detachment skillfully began reassembling the aerial tricycles that had been disassembled into parts.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner in preparation for combat.
"The tribe that kidnapped the engineering machinery team is called the Karibu tribe. They live in the jungle more than a hundred kilometers north of Harare, living by hunting.
He served in the local defense force for 3 years and has a certain military capability.
It is said that the Karibu tribe's armament was completed under his efforts.
They use the property from robberies to find ways to buy weapons, and then use stronger force to rob more property.
We have dispatched several armed forces to encircle them, but they move too fast in the jungle, and our missions have always failed."
Kobus did not shy away from the difficulty of the opponent, and briefly introduced the opponent's situation.
Of course, they are not very clear about it, after all, the situation of these tribes is not fixed in one place, and it is even more difficult for someone to infiltrate the tribe to find out specific information, so there is no information about their lair, and they do not know how many people and guns they have, so they can only give a general range of their activities.
For Zhou Lei, this battle is a tough one, because in an unfamiliar place, facing unfamiliar opponents, and having to successfully rescue the hostages, it is simply a hell-level challenge.
"Comrade Zhou Lei, we have a total of fifteen engineering team employees, all of whom have been kidnapped.
It is worth noting that our group of employees are retired personnel, so in the process of their being kidnapped, they may have left some clues, please pay attention to this."
The detail that Lin Zonghan secretly introduced to Zhou Lei's ear made Zhou Lei, who was originally very embarrassed, perk up.
"Captain Kobus, do you have anyone who knows the language of the Karibu tribe? I think if there is a chance, we can have someone who knows the tribal language to communicate with them."
Zhou Lei and the three squad leaders carefully looked at the map, making sure to remember the key points in their hearts, Zhou Lei said to Captain Kobus.
"I do," Captain Kobus said, "So I will be with you for this rescue."
The aerial tricycle squad set off first, flying directly to the target area.
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Five communication team members quickly set up satellite communication and battlefield radio communication systems at the airport to ensure connection with the radio equipment carried by each squad and the rear command post.
Lin Zonghan and the communication team were in the temporary command post at the airport to fully guarantee the communication work and coordination and liaison work of the detachment.
Now the rapid reaction force's communication is divided into internal squad communication and inter-group communication.
The internal squad uses walkie-talkie communication built into the helmet, which can basically talk to each other within ten kilometers, while the squads use the squad's radio telephone, and after using multi-level hopping, it can support 3-level signal relay hopping to support voice calls within a range of 200 kilometers.
In this way, after the entire detachment enters the target area, it basically ensures unobstructed communication.
The mountains and forests of Rhodesia are different from the airtight jungles of Southeast Asia.
There are generally no dense bushes under the trees, and elephants and other large animals can come and go freely.
Zhou Lei led his men to drive Cheetah all-terrain vehicles without needing roads, directly galloping in the mountains and forests, quickly approaching the target...
Xiang Yunrong of the aerial squad led 5 aerial tricycles and arrived at the target mountainous area in only 40 minutes.
They dispersed into a line with an interval of about 500 meters, lowered their altitude to about 100 meters in the air, and carefully observed.
This way, a line can cover an area of about 3 kilometers at a time.
Because of the high vantage point, the Karibu tribe still has more than 500 people after all, and the traces of their activities will not be too small, so Xiang Yunrong's squad quickly discovered their traces.
Several small dome thatched huts like mushrooms were found in the mountainous area, as well as livestock fences made of stones.
"Report, Falcon 1 has discovered traces of a suspected tribal residence, with a total of fifteen dome-shaped buildings and a livestock fence."
"Report, Falcon 2 has discovered traces of a tribal residence, with a total of ten dome-shaped buildings."
On the other side, Zhou Lei and two squads driving Cheetah all-terrain vehicles, led by Captain Kobus, rushed to the place where the engineering team had an accident, and quickly found hidden orientation markers here.
Combining the information reported by Falcon, Zhou Lei confirmed that the people from the engineering team were indeed taken by the Karibu tribe.
Since the direction of their foothold was reported from the front, Zhou Lei and the others directly entered the wilderness and headed straight for the target.
As expected, they also found more directional markers left by the engineering team on the road.
Captain Kobus watched the convoy head in one direction almost without hesitation, feeling a little confused, not knowing how Zhou Lei and the others were sure that it was in this direction.
However, the Cheetah all-terrain vehicle's powerful off-road performance had already conquered this old soldier from John Bull's family.
This car, which looked a bit strange and even ugly, seemed to be a Jeep, but it was different from a Jeep.
Kobus had driven a Willis Jeep and knew that with the off-road capability of a Willis Jeep, it would not be able to pass in such a place.
But this detachment from Dongda seemed to have no such problem.
The places where elephants could walk, this off-road vehicle could go.
Captain Kobus was sure that if he found the people from the Karibu tribe, driving such an off-road vehicle, the other party would definitely have nowhere to escape.
Two legs can't outrun these four wheels.
The four heavy machine guns on the car looked even more unapproachable.
If the Karibu tribe resisted with arms, I'm afraid their demise would not be far away.
Captain Kobus didn't have much affection for this notorious tribe either.
In fact, if they encountered each other in battle, they would either arrest the other party and send them to jail, or kill them on the spot.
There was almost no third way out.