272: Side Story ● Kmir's Gunshots 2

At daybreak, the high-altitude, biting cold wind of Kashmir remained bone-chilling.

Sentries at the India frontline positions wrapped their military coats tight, huddling inside the bunkers to keep warm by the faint glow of charcoal fires.

The front was deathly quiet, with only the wind howling, like the calm before a storm.

Suddenly, a low and dense humming sound came from the horizon, like a swarm of thousands of angry bees rapidly approaching.

"What is that sound?"

An India sentry poked his head out in confusion.

The next second, his pupils constricted sharply.

He saw that in the eastern sky, against a backdrop stained golden-red by the rising sun, appeared dense clusters of black dots.

These black dots rapidly grew larger, revealing the unique delta-wing configuration of the Sky Dragon UAVs.

"UAVs! Enemy attack!"

The shrill alarm had barely sounded before it was completely drowned out by the first wave of explosions.

"First wave, target the enemy frontline command posts, artillery positions, radar stations, and ammunition stockpiles. Fire!"

Colonel Ahmed calmly issued the order from inside the rear command vehicle.

Hundreds of Sky Dragon Mark I UAVs swooped down like vultures spotting prey.

The precision-guided bombs mounted under their wings detached, screaming with death as they struck their designated targets with pinpoint accuracy.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The continuous explosions instantly shattered the morning silence, and the entire earth began to tremble violently.

On the India positions, massive fireballs erupted into the sky, with billowing smoke rising straight to the heavens.

Earth-and-wood fortifications were torn apart like paper in the explosions, and reinforced concrete permanent fortifications collapsed and shattered under repeated hits.

"Mama!"

An India soldier had just run out of a bunker when he was blown away by the shockwave.

He traced a brief arc in the air before crashing heavily to the ground, falling silent forever.

The ammunition stockpile suffered a sympathetic detonation, leading to a series of even more violent explosions that bathed the entire hilltop in a deep red glow.

Shattered rifle parts, twisted helmets, and even limbs tossed into the sky flickered in and out of view amidst the flames and thick smoke.

"Second wave, target the enemy infantry assembly areas, communication trenches, and logistics hubs. Saturation bombing!"

Colonel Ahmed's voice remained completely steady.

More Sky Dragon Mark II UAVs joined the fray; they flew lower, dropping large quantities of cluster bombs and fuel-air explosives.

The explosions covered a wider area, and the terrifying overpressure and high temperatures wiped out the India soldiers hiding in foxholes and communication trenches in droves.

Screams, wails, and explosions mixed together to form a symphony of hell.

On the front, the already tenuous defensive system rapidly collapsed under such violent and precise strikes.

Communications were severed, command failed, and logistics were paralyzed.

The surviving India soldiers were stunned by this sudden steel storm.

They curled up in the ruined bunkers, listening to the deafening explosions outside and the dying screams of their comrades, their spirits on the verge of collapse.

"God is great! Is this... is this Pakistan's new weapon?"

A low-ranking India officer, his face covered in soot and his uniform in tatters, looked at the hellish scene outside, muttering to himself with eyes full of despair.

"We have absolutely no power to fight back..."

The UAVs circling in the sky were like tireless reapers, pouring out death round after round.

Bombs rained down as if they were free, turning the positions painstakingly constructed by the India military into a burning ruin.

Broken bodies, charred equipment, and deep craters were visible everywhere.

For the India military, this was undoubtedly a one-sided slaughter, a tragedy through and through.

At the frontline command post, Major General Arif calmly observed the results of the bombing through the high-definition images transmitted in real-time by the UAVs.

On the screen, the large swaths of India position symbols that were originally marked in red turned black, representing "destroyed."

"General, the UAV unit reports that the first and second wave strike missions are complete, with over 85% of designated targets destroyed."

"The enemy's frontline defense system is basically paralyzed, and we have observed signs of large-scale enemy routs."

The staff officer reported.

Major General Arif nodded, his face devoid of any joy, showing only the coldness of a soldier.

"Tell Rashid that the breach has been opened; it's time for his armored units to enter the field. Follow the plan: multi-pronged assault, deep penetration!"

"Yes!"

The Pakistan armored units, which had been waiting for a long time at the attack departure positions, received the order to advance.

The roar of engines instantly drowned out the sporadic explosions in the distance.

Major General Rashid sat in his Fierce Rhino Type III Tank command vehicle and roared into the radio.

"Attention everyone! This is 'Steel One'! Advance! Crush them! For Pakistan!"

"For Pakistan!"

The steel torrent began to surge.

Hundreds of Fierce Rhino Type II and Type III main battle tanks, like prehistoric beasts awakening, formed into an assault formation and kicked up clouds of dust as they charged toward the India positions, which had been left in tatters by the UAVs.

Following closely behind were even greater numbers of Fierce Tiger series armored personnel carriers, with Fierce Lion self-propelled artillery providing mobile fire support.

On the India positions, some lucky survivors who had escaped the UAVs' bombardment, or had only sustained minor injuries, were present.

They had just crawled out of the ruins, and before they could even celebrate their survival, they saw a scene that made their souls take flight in terror—

On the horizon, the Pakistan tank clusters were rolling over them with the force of a mountain landslide.

"Tank... tanks! The Pakistan tanks are coming!"

A soldier shouted hoarsely, his voice filled with fear.

The remaining India soldiers attempted to organize resistance, with sporadic anti-tank rocket fire and machine gun fire erupting from the ruins.

However, this appeared so pale and powerless before the Pakistan armored units.

"Attention, three o'clock direction, enemy resistance fire point! Armor-piercing shell, fire!"

A Fierce Rhino tank commander ordered.

"Boom!"

The tank turret rotated slightly, and an armor-piercing shell whistled out, blowing the machine gun bunker, built of sandbags and rubble, straight into the sky.

"Don't stop! Keep moving! Machine gunner, clear the flanks!"

Rashid kept urging them on over the radio.

The machine guns on the Fierce Tiger armored vehicles spat tongues of fire, and dense bullets swept across the position like a scythe, cutting down any India soldiers who tried to lift their heads to fight back or flee.

The Pakistan armored units didn't need to carefully distinguish where the remaining enemies were.

Their tactics were simple and brutal.

Any fortifications or bunkers they could see that might conceal enemies, regardless of whether anyone was inside, were first treated to a shell or a burst of machine-gun fire.

They possessed absolute firepower and armor superiority, so they didn't need to consider ammunition consumption at all.

Their mission was to crush, to completely destroy the enemy's will to resist with steel and fire.

A Fierce Rhino tank rolled over a collapsed trench without slowing down; the sound of bone-crushing under the tracks was teeth-grinding, but it did not stop, continuing its charge forward.

Behind them, they left behind a more thorough silence and destruction.