It was the first time for me driving this new vehicle - and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. They look cool, are fast enough, pimpep up and ready for war.
We were provided a detailed map of the area. Recon flights earlier that week took some nice photographs for us grunts;
(click to enlarge)
Awesome, more fun driving in the pimp mobile. But, considering it's a 4km map with zig-zag roads and steep cliffs, it's best to keep your eyes on the road - and beyond. Especially since none of us had played the map before, so didn't know exactly where to go. And that is a big part of all the fun, you get to explore a map! Awesome stuff.
So there we were in Kilo 7, travelling south. After a while, we stumbled upon this nice town. It was quiet there. Perhaps a bit too quiet, but we went ahead anyway. Following the north side of the town, towards the west. Fortunately for us, we weren't ambushed, didn't even encounter one enemy soldier. We whiped the sweat of our foreheads and continued our journey.
When we arrived in Golf 9, we had to double check our map. Do we want to take this right turn, or is it possible to travel further south-west and cross the ravine later? Nobody knew. The right turn could be the wrong turn. Still it made the most sense to go there, if anything, we'd have to travel far north to get to where we wanted to be. We just took the right turn anyway (even if it could be the wrong one).
I believe it was around Foxtrot 4, when we had a clear visual of multiple IDF troops across the ravine. They were setting something up, but couldn't see it very well. Mortars? Anti-tank emplacement? The enemy troops were facing north / north-east, looking at something else - probably our teammates conquering the area around Echo 3.
Our squad leader gave the magic words "you're free to fire", so our gunner opened up. Scared shitless, the IDF troops dolphin-dived to safety, getting into cover. Every now and then, one of their heads would popup, after which we reopened fire. I don't think we hit them though, but at least it got their minds off our people!
After many bursts of fire and rage, we decided to continue our journey, as we were easy targets for enemy mortars or some hidden and dangerous IDF guy, carrying anti-vehicle equipment.
The guys that dismounted the vehicle to have a better look with their binocs got back in and we continued north - of course, keeping our eyes on that other side. The hills have eyes, evil sleeps there!
For what seemed to last an eternity without coming across any bridge or road, one teammember suddenly said "stop, I saw a road!". Awesome! We drove back a few meters, turned left and followed said road. It lead to the bottom of the ravine, which felt a bit awkward. The high cliffs right next to us made us feel (and look) very small. Driving further north, there was another somewhat hidden road (it felt hidden anyway). The road lead us to the top of the cliffs again, which was good.
After a few minutes, our squad leader asked us to stop. The squad disembarked and the gunner and me stayed in the vehicle. Slowly, we continued further south-east, to where we thought the antitank emplacement should be. And we were right. There it was, the feared IDF anti-tank equipment, locked and loaded. We opened fire to prevent our enemy from hurting our teammates, who were still involved in large firefights around Echo 3.
We also discovered an enemy firebase and lots of emplacements. A couple of troops were walking around. We took them out one by one.
In the mean time, our team had set up mortars. Other teammembers called for mortarstrikes on the antitank-emplacement, destroying it completely. After that, it was time for some pillaging and looting, so we destroyed everything with incendiary grenades. We felt victorious!
After this, we proceeded to Bravo 6, where we encountered dust. There was no living thing there - or at least not anymore. A friendly tank had arrived just before us, taking out an IDF APC. Perhaps they had encountered enemies, we didn't. We took the flag and saved the day...
...at least it felt like we did
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