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"When Company A launches the attack, we'll move into sniper positions, and your squad will be responsible for perimeter defense."
Vincent issued the order to Song Heping with a harsh tone.
"Understood, no problem, how much distance should we maintain?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Vincent said with dissatisfaction, "The optimum distance is 300 meters, don't you know that?"
Song Heping originally wanted to retort but thought better of it and let it go.
The distance for perimeter defense was not fixed; 300 meters was just a commonly used range. In actual situations, it would depend on the enemy's strength and the actual battlefield conditions.
"Understood," replied Song Heping with a calm response.
No sooner had they finished the conversation than Samir next to him started to badmouth Vincent with a look of disgust.
"Look at their tone of voice, they really treat us like a servant army!"
The 'servant army' he referred to was the Independent 1st Brigade of the Illigo Army, which had come to participate in the Mosul operation that day.
This brigade was the first army unit formed with the assistance of the Americans for the interim government. Before this, the Illigo Interim Government's military forces consisted of only the ICDC Civil Defense Force and the ISF Special Forces.
This operation in Mosul was the 1st Brigade's first regular combat mission; they had always been trained by the US Army and had never participated in official missions before. Mosul would be their maiden battle.
Working with Company A was a battalion-level unit from the brigade, which the US Army had given a nice-sounding name – Sword Battalion.
Song Heping could tell from the advancing formation just how crafty the Americans were.
They let the Sword Battalion take the lead.
It was obvious they were being used as cannon fodder.
"I think they took good care of us," Song Heping, however, had a different view, "It's still better than being sent to take the lead in front of Company A, right?"
"Absolutely!" Hunter, sitting in the back seat, said with a grin, "I just went to take a close look at the tanks of the Sword Battalion, and they're monkey model Abrams."
The Sword Battalion was currently equipped with American-made Abrams Main Battle Tanks, as well as Humvee armored vehicles.
If you were not an expert, at first glance, it would look just like a low-budget version of the US Army, with no substantial difference.
"Monkey model?"
Song Heping hadn't paid attention to the Sword Battalion's equipment before; he only noticed that their gear seemed similar to that of the American mechanized infantry battalion.
"Yes, all monkey models!" Hunter responded, "The old Americans wouldn't give the complete versions. Basically, any equipment given to the Illigo forces is a monkey model because, after all, it costs less. Besides, who knows the combat effectiveness of those servant armies?
If they end up throwing away complete Abrams tanks in a battle and they fall into the hands of militants, the US Army would not only lose face but also leak secrets."
Hunter wasn't wrong.
These tanks were hauled out of the American Nevada tank graveyard and refurbished, but they were just monkey models.
The monkey model Abrams tanks were reduced in both protection and performance compared to the same type of tank used by the US Army. The most obvious changes were the removal of the highly confidential depleted uranium armor, identification chips, advanced reading, writing, and communication electronics, etc., euphemistically labeled as simpler and easier to use.
"Do you think that thing can withstand an RPG?" Samir asked.
"For an old thing like an RPG, frontal defense is no problem," said Hunter, "but if the tanks enter the city, that's a different story. They'll probably get hit from behind by militants, which is why I think the tanks wouldn't dare enter the city.
They will likely stop at the edge of the city, everyone will disembark and enter on foot, leaving a portion of Bradley armored vehicles to follow as fire support."
Song Heping stuck his head out of the vehicle and looked ahead.
The convoy was long, snaking along the open dirt road leading to Mosul, with tanks at the forefront, followed by Bradleys and Humvees in the middle.
Their own SUV followed two Humvees from Seal Team, at the end of the convoy.
He subconsciously looked behind.
Ideally, there shouldn't be any armed personnel showing up behind them.
It would be best if they didn't show up.
Otherwise, their modified SUVs still couldn't withstand RPGs.
About fifteen minutes later, buildings appeared on both sides of the road.
The convoy began to enter the outskirts of Mosul City.
All the buildings Song Heping saw were damaged, with none intact.
Every wall bore countless holes and bullet marks, with many buildings even collapsing on one side, seeming ready to crumble.
Mosul was the political and economic center of Illigo's northwest region before the war and also Illigo's second-largest city. But the war had turned this once prosperous city into a ravaged shell.
The dawn's light cast patchy shadows on the buildings.
A woman carrying a bucket walked out of a dilapidated house and was stunned to see the armored vehicles passing along the road in front of her house; shortly after, a young girl appeared behind her, looking at the rumbling steel beasts with confusion.
The woman quickly dropped her bucket and ran back into her ramshackle house with her daughter, tightly closing the door that was actually quite superfluous.
Since they had entered the city area, the Warrior Camp and Sword Battalion convoys became more cautious, slowing their advance. The Humvee gunners on top were anxious, clutching their machine guns and constantly scanning the surroundings, fearing a gun barrel would emerge from one of the buildings and fire a few bullets to send them back home.
The radio became active at this point, with the Sword Battalion soldiers at the front of the convoy intermittently relaying the road conditions and surroundings ahead to Lieutenant Colonel Mandres in the command vehicle in the middle of the convoy through the radio.
Drones had already been deployed, circling overhead, providing real-time aerial reconnaissance for the ground troops, helping to avoid potential ambushes or traps.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—