Zero Six Bravo by Damien Lewis

Author:Damien Lewis [Lewis, Damien]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Quercus Publishing
Published: 2013-05-01T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

From out of the dusk Grey saw a thick stream of fiery bullets arcing over the far edge of the lake bed and hammering into the centre of their position. For an instant he was aware of Sebastian perched atop the signals wagon, with massive flaming rounds pounding past his ears, and then the Pinkies on the far side of the wadi opened up in a barrage of answering fire.

Grey had recognized the sound of the enemy weapon instantly: it was a bloody great 12.7mm DShK, the Russian-designed anti-aircraft gun that can churn out 600 12.7mm rounds per minute. Known as the ‘Dushka’, meaning ‘sweetie’ in Russian, it can only fire on automatic, and it is a devastating weapon when targeting low-level aircraft. But it could also be used in a ground-attack role to tear vehicles apart, as it was now.

The 12.7mm bullets the Dushka fires are the equivalent of the .50-calibre round. They can chew their way through walls and trees, and would make mincemeat out of the soft-skinned Pinkies, not to mention their human occupants. If Sebastian took a direct hit from one of those big armour-piercing rounds it would rip his arms and legs from his body, or tear his head clean off.

In the first few moments of the surprise attack the wagons from Five and Six Troop held their fire. Positioned along the western and northern sides of the wadi, it was impossible for the men to get eyes on whoever it was attacking them. It was from Four Troop’s arc that the Dushka gunner was hammering in the rounds, and it was Four Troop’s responsibility to meet fire with fire.

There seemed to be a solid stream of fire smashing into the ground right in front of Reggie’s wagon. It was ricocheting into the air over the signals vehicle like some monstrous firework display. But this was no Guy Fawkes night, and these were no fireworks. Those rounds were designed to pulverize flesh and tear apart heavy armour, let alone a squadron of unarmoured Land Rovers.

Grey figured the Iraqi gunner had to be using one-in-two tracer rounds (one normal round per tracer round), which meant there were twice as many bullets as he could actually see hammering through the air. He hoped to hell Sebastian was going to get his head down, though the Pinkie offered precious little protection against such an onslaught.

Grey had no time to worry about that now. He was scanning the terrain to the southwest of their position, convinced that this was just the opening salvo in whatever the enemy might have in store for them. Sure enough, barely seconds after the first Dushka opened up, a second stream of tracer spat out of the darkness, this one hammering in towards them from the southern end of the wadi, which put Grey’s wagon directly in the line of fire.

The solid stream of rounds belched out of the dusk like a dragon’s scorching breath, pounding over the top of Grey and Moth’s position.

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