Destroy Anti-Aircraft Artillery

Navigating the Korean People's Army (KPA) tank was much easier than I expected. I again was very thankful for Major Strickland's training from 2018. He certainly gave us a broad understanding of tank navigation. It was certainly the kind of training I never expected to use ... especially on what was supposed to be a simple, covert rescue mission of American scientists.

Crossing the railroad tracks noted in my last post brought me into another valley full of KPA tanks. This time, three Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns were hidden in the area as well. The guns are taking down our jets as they tried to survey the area. In addition to clearing out every enemy tank in view, the AA guns needed to be destroyed as well.

I hid my tank behind an embankment in order to survey the area on foot. After all, it is kind of tough to be stealthy in a huge tank.

I climbed the embankment and the view was also being enjoyed by two US Army soldiers, who were monitoring the area. They both had long-range rockets in hand. As I looked over the area, I noticed that a KPA Hummer was heading up the trail toward my tank. Not wanting to take any chances, I opted to drop two rockets on top of the Hummer as it approached. All looks clear and I've gotten a feel for the area - time to reboard the tank.

Back in the tank, it was clear that Strickland's Team Idaho provided excellent cover and eliminated about 75% of the KPA tanks in the valley. The rest were destroyed by myself and ground forces. Because I was driving a KPA tank, I took very little damage to my tank by the time I reached the first AA gun. I am pretty sure the KPA didn't realize I was an American soldier borrowing their hardware. At this point, I was kind of glad my USA tank was destroyed earlier ... still don't believe that Strickland would be impressed.

I drove right up to the first AA gun, which was buried in a block of large trees. When the KPA figured I was driving in to support their cause, they were shocked when the mortar shells hit their AA guns - destroying the area in a matter of only seconds. One AA gun was down, two remained.

I then noticed a lone tank facing in the opposite direction. Close to the tank were rocket launchers and explosive ammunition. I needed to get more rockets after using two shells on the Hummer, as noted above. The tank still contained KPA troops, but the troops guarding the area must have already vacated the site. I was able to stock up on ammo after planting two rockets into the rear of the KPA tank.



I returned to my tank and drove further down the path. The second AA gun was in range, but I could also hear a helicopter hovering above. I went cloak and verified it was guarding the second AA gun. There were also troops guarding the area as well - along with a mine field. So, first things first. I have to eliminate the helicopter, then the supporting troops and finally the second AA gun.

Since the area is lined with mines, there isn't an opportunity to use my tank beyond this point. Even though the tank is tough, a couple explosions from the under-carriage of the tank would certainly translate into the end of the tank - not to mention the end of Nomad and these blog entries that I trust everyone still enjoys reading.

I drove the tank around the other side of the rock, clearly out of view from the helicopter, AA gun and supporting KPA soldiers. I went cloak and climbed a nearby hill which gave me a decent view of the chopper. When the helicopter was facing my direction, I exited cloak mode until they noticed me on radar. If I was going to hit them with rockets, I had to have a pretty good shot. Also, once I start firing rockets, I am certain the ground troops will be heading my direction quickly. Showing myself to the chopper was certainly a way to get it heading in my direction.

The helicopter noticed me, I switched back into cloak mode and moved quickly about 40 yards away from my noticed position. Even if the KPA fired rockets at me, I was out of range from being hit - based upon the amount of trees in the area.

When the helicopter hovered close to me, I launched two rockets directly at the middle portion of the chopper. The helicopter exploded instantly and I dropped down and let my suit recharge. Once recharged, I went into cloak mode and surveyed the situation. As I expected, ground troops were now heading my way.



I used the silencer and sniper scope on the submachine gun to take out the troops one by one. A few troops passed my tank from the other side and were directly in my scope before they even pegged my general location. A couple of Hummers had guards manning their machine guns, who were also taken out as well.

I then moved closer to the AA guns. The guns were resting next to a large pond at the base of the valley. Ordinarily, this was probably a very quaint area for vacation and relaxation. Now, it had been transformed into the center of an epic battle. Between the AA guns and the water, a single KPA soldier remained. He was watching over the water and did not notice me until after the rounds began to soar in his direction.

With the area clear, I used a combination of explosive charges and my third rocket to destroy the second AA gun.



The last AA gun was on the other side of the pond. The KPA did not station any Zodiac boats in the area, but I did see a standard luxury boat near the second AA gun. So, I took the boat across the pond. As I approached the other side of the pond, I noticed the alert in my Heads-up display began to trigger a warning. So, I hopped out of the boat and swam to shore using cloak. I took a picture of the boat I used to cross the pond, for your viewing pleasure.



Yup. I am the proud owner of a lifted luxury boat. Perhaps when this is over, everyone can come out to the pond and take a cruise on my boat. We might even be able to ski off the boat as well. I don't know much about boats, so I could be wrong there ... I just know this boat was no Zodiac!

Another make-shift weapons supply was not far from the other side of the pond. So, I picked up another rocket launcher and filled up my ammo.

I climbed the hill under cover and arrived to the third AA gun. In fact, I didn't realize I was so close to the AA gun, until KPA soldiers came walking past me. They could not see me, but they did hear me. I quickly eliminated them before they were able to launch an emergency flare. That was a good thing, since I had absolutely no cover on the side of the hill.

Off in the other direction, I had to eliminate a ground-mounted machine gunner about 500 yards away. In order to pull off the long shot with my submachine gun, I had to lay flat on the ground and wait patiently for the shot to line up correctly. With the area pretty much clear, that set the path for the third AA gun to be destroyed. I took one last picture of the AA gun causing havoc in the area before launching two rockets at the guns.



The rockets hit the third and final AA gun and it was destroyed. Honestly, I expected to hear a radio alert indicating that a fourth AA gun had been discovered - as I noted in an earlier post - but that was not the case this time.

Instead, the radio call I received indicated that I needed to head to a higher elevation so that I could paint the munitions dump close to where the ground mounted machine gunner was located.

I have a hill to climb, but will be back in touch soon.

Nomad ... signing out.

Destroy The Munitions Dump

The Anti-Aircraft guns were destroyed and most of the area was clear. What remained was the Korean People's Army (KPA) munitions dump. My objective was to reach the highest elevated position in the area so that I could paint the target for our bombers.



The haul was not as long as the map shows, since I had zoomed in a bit earlier on my mission to pin-point one of the AA guns. Along the way I found a box of bananas and realized I was really in need of some food. So, I grabbed a vine of bananas and took them with me. There were bottles of water there too, so I grabbed a bottle in order to save my packed water supply.

Just like in Operation Goat's Milk, the painting process is pretty much uneventful when it comes to painting the target. I had already destroyed the watch tower at the position on the map, so I pretty much sat on the top of the grass and started the process of painting the target with my binoculars.

Once the target was painted, it was less than 30 seconds before I could hear the bombers approaching. I started peeling my first banana and watched from my safe distance as the bombers took their turn against the KPA.



A couple bites into the banana and I realized these bananas are way greener than I am used to eating. Still, it was food and I needed to keep my energy up. By the time the final bomb hit the area, I had eaten about three bananas and could not take it any more. I wished that Jester was here, because we talked about how I hated to eat green bananas when did a quick mission in Mongolia about a four months ago. Crud. Jester is gone too.

Before I could get too wrapped up about losing team members, I heard the VTOLs arrive with support to eliminate the rest of the munitions dump. Time to get moving.



I saw a VTOL land and received word that I needed to pick up a Gauss rifle for use on the mission. The craft was not too far from me and I was able to quickly drop the FY71 and begin carrying a Gauss rifle as well. I am not worried about losing the FY71 - since those things seem to be everywhere on this island.



My next stop is to assist the US Army to clear out the remaining KPAs at the munitions dump. I don't believe they want me using the Gauss rifle for that. In fact, as I walked I began to see the humorous side of the Gauss rifle itself.

You see, growing up as a kid, I first came to know about Gauss rifles by two sources. The first, was sci-fi movies. The second, was silly computer games I played as a kid. In both cases, to defeat the big boss ... or the world-ending alien, one had to obtain and learn to use a Gauss rifle.

So what was this Gauss rifle anyway? Well, the Gauss rifle was given one of it's names by the original creator, Carl Friedrich Gauss. Gauss is still referred to as one of the world's most influential mathematicians. He lived mostly in the 19th century, if my memory of history is correct. The gun is also referred to as a Coilgun, because it is a projectile weapon that uses multiple electronic coils to accelerate a magnetic projectile to high velocity.

What I still find extremely ironic is that I used these Coilguns or Gauss rifles playing video games as a kid. Now, the year is 2020 and I am using a real Gauss rifle to potentially save man kind. Talk about life imitating art!

I stowed the Gauss rifle for now and used my submachine gun to help clear out the munitions dump. We then focused on the road block leading out of the valley.



When the VTOL arrived to the road block, the situation for the KPA went from bad to uber-bad. About sixty seconds later, the path was fully cleared.

I am going to take one final look at the area, then see where we are going next. I am guessing it is time to head towards that mine. If you ask me, it is way PAST time!

I will be in touch soon!

Nomad ... signing out.