Mercenary's War

Chapter 2426 - 2402: Decisive Storm

The explosion in Sanaa City is extremely powerful, it couldn’t have been caused by shells, but it’s possible it was a self-detonation. However, after witnessing seven consecutive violent explosions in Sanaa City, everything has become certain."It’s an airstrike!"

Gao Yang’s voice sounded a bit shaky; he was very excited because Shah had finally officially joined the war.

Shah had been gathering troops and had amassed a large number of ground troops on the northwest border of Yemen, but the whole world thought it unlikely that Shah would deploy ground forces; the gathering was to deter the Houthis Armed Forces, and they wouldn’t directly engage in the short term.

However, conducting airstrikes by aircraft was in line with most people’s expectations. In the end, Shah had to make a statement, but no one expected it to be so soon.

Cui Bo and Yuri both looked at Gao Yang. They halted their shooting training because the airstrike on Sanaa indicated the dramatic change Satan had been waiting for had finally arrived, and surely there would be lots for them to do.

"What are you looking at me for? Did the bombs fall on our heads? Can we fly back to the city now? Keep shooting!"

After shouting twice in dissatisfaction at Cui Bo and Yuri, Gao Yang praised contentedly, "Just look at Crow; the explosions happening far away get no unnecessary attention or reaction from her. That’s the quality a sniper should have."

"You don’t know she’s a freak."

Cui Bo retorted dissatisfiedly to Gao Yang, but he still obediently resumed shooting.

Gao Yang could no longer observe their shooting results, so he pulled out the walkie-talkie and said in a deep voice, "Fox, tell me where the airstrike hit, and also inform Pigeon to contact me as soon as possible."

"Fox received, over."

Gao Yang picked up the satellite phone and called Salim. After Salim answered, Gao Yang asked unhurriedly, "Hey, my brother, the city was hit by an airstrike, are you alright there?"

Salim’s voice sounded a bit anxious as he shouted, "I’m fine, but one of our missile depots was hit by an airstrike. Damn Shah heretics got detailed intelligence. Everything is destroyed, and many people died. I need to rush over to assess the situation and coordinate the aftermath."

"Alright, then I won’t disturb you. Stay safe, my brother."

Without a doubt, the Houthis Armed Forces would no longer be able to use the newly received batch of anti-aircraft missiles, and Gao Yang felt quite sorry about that.

Iran had just sent over the anti-aircraft missiles to guard against Shah airstrikes, but the batch was accurately bombed and destroyed just three days after its arrival. It appears that Houthis Armed Forces’ confidentiality work was seriously lacking.

After hanging up the phone, Gao Yang said to Joseph, who was squatting beside him using observation binoculars, "Porcupine, do you think the airstrike used a laser-guided bomb or JDAM?"

"It’s hard to say. We can’t ascertain what kind of bomb was used from here. The ground damage effects are also hard to judge from, and I haven’t received professional training in this area, so I can’t provide you with a valuable analytical answer."

Gao Yang sighed and said, "There were only six explosions, and several key targets were accurately destroyed, so it surely was precision-guided. Whether laser-guided or JDAM, there’s not much of a difference."

Just after speaking, Gao Yang shook his head and said, "No, there is a difference, a significant difference."

JDAM is the acronym for Joint Direct Attack Munition, which is an upgrade of ordinary aerial bombs with a GPS guidance kit. It’s less precise than laser-guided bombs, but its advantages are being cheaper and less affected by weather conditions.

There’s no need for excessive explanation about laser-guided bombs, but laser guidance itself has two methods: one is using the bomb-carrying aircraft’s onboard laser designator to guide the target; the other involves ground personnel using a laser designator to guide the target.

This means if Shah used laser-guided bombs, then there might be Shah’s Special Forces providing ground guidance in Sanaa City, as ground laser designating is the most precise method, enabling Special Forces to confirm the target before guiding the bomb.

Taylor used to be a professional bomber designer, and ground guiding laser-guided bombs with a laser designator was one of his main tasks.

The reason Gao Yang asked Yake to have Taylor contact him is that Taylor could provide professional opinions and analyses.

Soon, Taylor was on the walkie-talkie, "This is Pigeon, receiving, over."

"Pigeon, did you hear the explosion?"

"Yes, the first explosion could only have been caused by a 2,000-pound bomb."

"I received information that the enemy conducted precision bombing, which can only be JDAM or laser-guided, which do you think it was?"

"I can’t determine for now; only by reverse inferring from the damage effects at the bombsite can one reach a conclusion, which isn’t very accurate. Generally, laser guidance is more precise, but in practical use, the difference between the two is very slight, making it easy to make wrong judgments based on this; it can only serve as a reference rather than a standard for judgment."

"Understood. Then were all the bombs used in the airstrike 2,000-pound bombs?"

"No, two 2,000-pound bombs were used; the rest were all 1,000-pound bombs."

"Understood, ending the call, keep the communication open. I might need to contact you again at any time, over."

After ending the call with Taylor, Gao Yang’s satellite phone rang, and it was Abdul calling.

"The Ministry of Defense of Shah just released a statement; the Shah Air Force carried out an airstrike on Sana’a, Yemen!"

"I know, I just witnessed the airstrike happen, and I was just about to call you."

"This time, Shah did quite a good job with secrecy. Although there were signs of engaging in the war, I didn’t expect them to actually conduct an airstrike so quickly."

Gao Yang glanced at his watch and said, "I watched the entire airstrike, and it has just ended four minutes ago. The Ministry of Defense of Shah released their statement so quickly—it seems they were well-prepared, releasing it right after the airstrike ended. Now I’m interested in more details about the airstrike."

Abdul said in a serious tone, "The operation was codenamed Decisive Storm, deploying four F-15E strike fighters that dropped eight bombs, achieving excellent effects. For now, that’s all I know. I’ll need to probe for specific details."

Gao Yang smiled and said, "Alright, give me the detailed results as soon as possible, buddy. Things have changed; you’ll need to take on part of the intelligence-gathering responsibility there. If you need manpower, just let me know, and I’ll find someone to assist, or you can find help yourself."

"Understood, you also need to be prepared on your end."

Gao Yang said casually, "The curtain has lifted; let’s put on a good show together."