Chapter 94

Originally, according to Muhamed's plan, after he and Faisal disrupted the enemy's power supply, the two would jump onto the wall from the power supply vehicle and climb onto the enemy's roof. Then, they would enter from above, using force if necessary. Even if they only opened the skylight and threw a few grenades inside, they could eliminate the key figures inside.

However, after Muhamed destroyed the generator and killed the two guards, he did not continue with his plan when he jumped onto the roof of the vehicle. A few dozen meters away, another large object caught Muhamed's attention. The overall outline was that of an off-road truck, with huge tires and a dominant appearance, not much different from the generator vehicle. However, the contents of the truck bed made Muhamed's heart leap.

Two long tubes pointing upwards—what were they? Under the night sky, those two long tubes were so conspicuous that Muhamed immediately changed his plan.

Anti-aircraft truck!

In history, the Soviet transport units were constantly attacked by guerrillas, causing them great suffering. Even now, if you go to the Panjshir Valley, you can still see the abandoned truck wrecks on the rugged mountain roads, telling the stories of the past.

Tanks had good bulletproof capabilities, but their炮管仰角太小，即使看到了山坡上的游击队，也够不着，只能干瞪眼。而且，坦克是个喝油的怪兽，用坦克来保护运输部队的安全，非常不划算。

步兵战车省油，但是装甲太薄，127毫米的机枪弹就能穿透，而且，步兵战车的73毫米榴弹炮，面临着同样的问题，很多时候，步兵战车的机枪比榴弹炮更实用。

结果，苏联人发现另一种武器最好用，ZSU-23-4型“石勒喀河”自行高炮！这种自行高炮采用了四联装的23毫米高炮为武器，自动化程度高，而且，作为高射炮，仰角很高，当发现山坡上的游击队时，可以迅速从行军状态变成战斗状态，其实就是停下来跟着就开火，四管23毫米高炮，火力凶猛，炮弹飞上山头，直接就把游击队轰成渣了。

这种高炮保护了他们的安全，但还有一个问题，这自行高炮太贵重了，一辆“石勒喀河”自行高炮的造价是两辆T-62的造价，承担保护运输部队的任务，简直就是浪费，而且，每天的运输部队那么多，“石勒喀河”根本无力全部保护。

于是，苏联人想出了另一个简单易行的办法。从自己的武器库里，把老旧的双联装23毫米3Y-23型高射炮搬了出来，装到了卡车上，反正运输部队有的是卡车，而且，造价非常低廉，几乎就是废物利用。

这就是高炮卡车，当苏联的运输部队装备了这种土制的战车后，游击队面临的威胁顿时就大得多。

现在，正是苏联人发现T-62非常难用，同时寻找新武器的时候。这高炮卡车，说不定正是苏联人的一次尝试。

Muhamed thought about this as he led Faisal to run towards the truck.

There were no Soviet soldiers guarding this side. When Muhamed jumped onto the truck and lifted the tarp covering the long tubes, he smelled the scent of lubricating oil. Indeed, it was a 23mm anti-aircraft gun that had been repaired and was ready to go into battle!

Muhamed jumped into the operating position and skillfully turned the manual elevation and traverse mechanisms on the left side of the mount and the rear of the mount. This anti-aircraft gun was fully manually controlled, and the direction and elevation were adjusted by turning the wheels. At the same time, Muhamed said to Faisal, "Faisal, start the truck!"

However, Faisal did not jump down into the cab but anxiously said to Muhamed, "I don't know how to drive!"

Most of the Afghan guerrillas were illiterate. After training, they could use weapons, but many only knew how to lead a donkey. They did not know how to drive a truck.

Muhamed was speechless. He should have called Khwaja to come with him. Before they arrived, Khwaja had left the group and gone to the roof of a civilian house to serve as a sniper.

"Can you fire the gun?" Muhamed asked.

"Sure, where's the trigger?" Faisal asked.

Trigger? This isn't a gun! The battle had already started, and the situation was urgent. Muhamed quickly told Faisal, "This is the elevation and traverse mechanism. You control the direction and elevation by turning the wheels. The boxes on both sides are the ammunition boxes. Pull the loading lever here to load the shells. If you encounter a dud, you can also use this lever to remove it. This is the firing pedal. Step on it to fire."

As Muhamed spoke, he demonstrated to Faisal. This old 23mm anti-aircraft gun was almost identical to the 85-type 23mm anti-aircraft gun used by Eastern countries, one of the weapons copied by Eastern countries. Therefore, Muhamed was very familiar with its operation.

It all depended on Faisal's ability to understand. Time was short, and Muhamed did not explain how to use the dedicated sight to aim, as they were not shooting at planes.

Then, Muhamed jumped into the cab and turned the key.

What a good habit! During wartime, all vehicles had their keys in them, making it easy to start them at any time. With a fleet of dozens of vehicles, the keys could easily get mixed up.

"Vroom, vroom." As Muhamed turned the key, the engine roared to life, and black smoke billowed from the exhaust pipe. The truck began to vibrate rhythmically.

It started! Muhamed was delighted. Through the side mirrors, he could see the intense battle. Their side was temporarily stalled, and the Soviet counterattack was imminent.

There was no time to turn around. Muhamed pressed the clutch, shifted into reverse, and while pressing the accelerator, he released the clutch and the brake with one hand.

"Whoosh!" The familiar sound of air from the brake booster, and the massive anti-aircraft truck rumbled to life.

Driving is a skill that modern people must master, even though there are many reckless female drivers, there are also many skilled and experienced drivers.

Muhamed drove the truck, looking only at the side mirrors and relying on the starlight, quickly reversing. Then, he pressed the brake.

23mm anti-aircraft gun, roar!

As Muhamed drove the truck, Faisal continued to adjust the elevation mechanism, raising the gun barrel and then lowering it. He slightly turned the traverse mechanism to aim at the command post ahead.

The guerrillas guarding the area had already cleared a path. Faisal's foot slammed down on the firing pedal.

"Boom, boom, boom." The muzzles of the twin-barreled anti-aircraft gun continuously spewed flames, and 23mm shells flew out, tracing beautiful trajectories in the air.

To make it easy to use at night, the anti-aircraft shells were tracer rounds.

23mm tracer incendiary shells instantly hit the solid brick wall.

"Boom!" The brick wall was instantly torn open, creating a large hole over a meter in diameter. Bricks fell, and the entire wall collapsed.

"Boom, boom, boom!" 23mm shells continuously bombarded the area. The wall had already collapsed, and inside, three solid brick houses were riddled with large holes.

Kulikov crouched in the corner, listening to the anti-aircraft fire. All he could do was cover his ears.

Damn, these are 23mm shells!

This wall could only stop 7.62mm bullets. 12.7mm machine gun rounds would tear a large hole, let alone 23mm anti-aircraft shells! Even concrete walls couldn't stop these shells!

Moreover, these were high-explosive shells! The shell heads exploded, sending fragments flying inside the room. Those hit screamed and fell.

Damn guerrillas, how did they get that anti-aircraft truck? It had just been transported from the Soviet Union through the Panjshir Valley and had only been here for less than two hours!

Kulikov's frustration lasted only a second. Then, he saw the brick wall in front of him suddenly fly apart. He was shocked and didn't have time to retreat before he was blasted into the air by the flying bricks, shrapnel, and the shockwave from the explosion.

He looked at his body in shock, seeing that everything below his shoulders was gone. His arms were still weakly waving, but his head was moving farther away from his arms...

23mm high-explosive shells could easily tear a person apart, turning them into fragments!

"Commander!" a guard behind him shouted.

As he shouted, the entire roof collapsed.

Time seemed to slow down, as if a century had passed, but it was actually just a few seconds. Faisal kept his foot on the firing pedal and adjusted the traverse mechanism, sending shells from one side of the house to the other.

This was Faisal's most exhilarating battle. The houses in front of him seemed like paper. A single shell would create a large hole, and a few more would cause the entire house to collapse in front of him.

"Soviets! This is the fate of invaders!" Faisal shouted. At that moment, he didn't know that he had just eliminated the highest-ranking Soviet commander, the commander of the 108th Division. This was the highest-ranking Soviet officer to die since the end of World War II.

As Faisal enjoyed his moment, the other guerrillas climbed onto the truck. Muhamed shouted from the front, "Hold on!" and shifted into drive, and the truck lurched forward.

At that moment, "Rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat..." with the sound of gunfire, countless bullets flew from the side. (To be continued...)