Two AC-130 planes and three F-15E strike eagles were forming to fly gently in our faces over the woods near the border between the Demonic Union and the Elsas Magic Empire.
"From Gratney 01 to HQ, we arrive in designated airspace, begging for instructions. Go ahead."
The two AC-130 (call sign Gratney 01, 02), which quickly marched out because a Parabellan infantry unit tasked with crushing Imperial Army stronghold positions that had been secretly built in the woods beneath them, struggled and requested air support, escorted to the AIM-9 side winder of the air-to-air missile and one platoon of F-15E (Vigas platoon) equipped with the AIM-120 AMRAAM and arrived in designated airspace, Gratney 01, the commander aircraft, contacted HQ.
"HQ Copy. Wireless to the Eighth Infantry Battalion currently engaged with the Imperial Army on the ground. Both Gratney 01 and 02 will be directed by the Eighth Infantry Battalion until the support mission is completed. Good Luck Over '
"Gratney 01, copy."
"Gratney 02, roger."
When communication with HQ went out, now communication with mixed gunshots entered Gratney 01.
"This is Lieutenant Colonel Morrison of the Eighth Infantry Battalion. There are many casualties following intense resistance from the enemy. Smoke the enemy's position, so blow it up!!
Gratney01, roger that.
Gratney 01, 02, who received a request from the eighth infantry battalion under attack for the Imperial Army, which was building a stronghold position in the woods, entered the support system.
And waiting for the coordinate designation from the 8th Infantry Battalion, several prominent colored smokes, such as red, green and purple, began to rise from the woods.
"This is Gratney01. I visualized the coordinates of the target. Initiate proximity air support now. Watch out for stray bullets."
"This is the Eighth Infantry Battalion, evacuation is already complete. Do it all you want!!
After the reply of the Eighth Infantry Battalion, the rain of three types of shells falls to the ground from two AC-130 aircraft that began to swirl left around a shitty color of smoke.
When the gunmen aboard the AC-130 send their gaze through the infrared sensor to a black and white screen that shows what's happening on the ground, and confirm the appearance of the enemy soldiers shown in white or black, they manipulate the joystick that manipulates the direction of the guns and pull the trigger.
Dokan and a special 105mm howitzer landed in the middle of an Imperial Army built-up position. The flames of the Red Lotus and the black smoke rise and wipe out the soldiers who were there completely from the world.
Go on Don!! Don!! and the shell released from the 40mm machine gun, like a drum struck, is lucky enough to hit the demon weapon and blow up the demon weapon.
When the driving sound of a unique motor echoes around, the 25mm Gatling cannon bullets lick the ground, ripping off the Imperial Army soldiers who had fought valiantly until earlier.
And by the time the two AC-130s had finished their third swivel, the Imperial Army position, where the 8th Infantry Battalion was struggling, had vanished without a trace, and the woods with many thin young trees were balding up like burning fields.
Afterwards, close air support was temporarily suspended because the forest became a burning field and the enemy soldiers were no longer visible, and confirmation of the presence or absence of the enemy was carried out by the 8th Infantry Battalion.
This is the Eighth Infantry Battalion. Confirm the extinction of enemy and enemy positions. Thank you for the support of Gratney 01, 02 '
"Gratney01, roger. End close air support. I'm going home."
It was time for two Gratney 01 and 02 planes to finish their assignments and point their necks at Dales base after receiving a report from the 8th Infantry Battalion confirming the positions of the vanished Imperial Army.
'Whoa!? What is it?
I heard a panicked voice of soldiers from the 8th Infantry Battalion from a radio that hadn't been cut off yet.
"What's up?
When the captain of Gratney 01, who responded to his voice, asked the 8th Infantry Battalion, the response came back from the Vigas platoon of the escort for some reason.
"Battleship 5 from just below, many Dragon Knights are rising!! Blake, Blake!!
Five battleships and their escort dragon knights have risen into the sky, unmasking cleverly when the captain of Gratney 01 turned his gaze to the ground in haste to report it.
"Chi!! This altitude is not good!! Full engine!! You're going to deviate!!
"Full engine!! It rises!!
"From Gratney01 to HQ!! Me, Enemy Battleship and Dragon Knight!! They sent reinforcements right away!! Repeat -"
The captain and deputy captain push the throttle lever into his ass as the correspondent makes a rescue request to HQ, forcing him to rely on an engine with more propulsion to try to ascend.
I suppose you thought the Eighth Infantry Battalion would be spotted and attacked by the AC-130 for approaching. The five battleships lurking near the base position strike one hand of escape for imperial territory at a glance as they ascend into the sky, and the dragon knights of that escort try to persevere in attacking the AC-130, which was descending into low altitude to provide close air support, in order to escape the battleship.
"Vigas platoon, free to use all uniforms!! Leave the battleship alone. Beat the Dragon Knight with the highest priority!!
"I understand!! Vigas Platoon 2 Engage!!
"Copy that!! Vigas Platoon, Unit 3 Engage!!
But as soon as the three F-15Es, the escort of the AC-130, dump the external fuel tank and lighten up, they attack the Dragon Knights with their necks.
But all of a sudden, due to the unexpected development of battleships and dragon knights appearing directly below, the Vigas squad, which fell into a crumbling melee, struggled with differences in relative speed, etc., but succeeded in eliminating all dragon knights without causing one scratch to the escort AC-130.
"Combat over!! Gather around."
Copy that.
Having accomplished the annihilation of the Dragon Knight, the Vigas Platoon will assemble in a trail formation at the AC-130 of the two planes that were asking about this.
"Each Machine Remnants Notice"
The captain of the Vigas squad inquires into the line plane.
"This is aircraft two, machine gun residue zero, air-to-air missile zero."
"As with aircraft number three, machine gun residue 0, air-to-air missile 0. Is the captain still there?
"I'm out of ammo too."
But it was good until I beat the Dragon Knight with the highest priority to defend the AC-130 and destroyed everything, but I ran out of bullets and the battleship remained intact.
"... don't run away"
"Yep. But it looks like you managed to take off the crisis."
I heard about the Vigas squad that was being exchanged on the open channel. I said as I watched the battleship where the captain and deputy captain of Gratney 01 fled.
"What happened to the rescue request?
"Yes, he said he would drop in relief as soon as he told him the battleship had come out, but he probably wouldn't make it. By the time the rescue troops arrive here, the battleships will be deep inside the empire."
"... it's kind of like letting them get away with it."
A demonic light shines in the eyes of the captain of Gratney 01, who listened to the correspondent and stared at the battleship with a staring face.
"... please don't do this, okay? I say weird things -"
The deputy captain, who noticed the glow of his eyes, called out to silence the captain, but blocked his voice and the captain let go.
"Oh, I've made up my mind!! Now we and Gratney 02 can engage enemy battleships in a shootout. Prepare everyone for battle!!
――――――――――――
"Ohh!! Now we and Gratney 02 can engage enemy battleships in a shootout. Prepare everyone for battle!!
"... ha!? Are you saying we're going to have a shelling fight in the air!! On this aircraft!?
As the engine sounded, the crew could not hide their surprise at the words of the captain, who had been passed through a radio attached to the helmet to which they were each wearing.
"Our captain does a lot of crazy things, too. That's Gratney. You want more enemies?
"I've never fought more shelling in the air than that."
"Good for you. It's my first experience."
"I'm not happy!! Such a first experience!!
Although I could see the crew complaining of bumps on board the AC-130, they were all ready to fight as the captain ordered.
"Captain... are you sure you want to do this?
"I will if I do it!!
There was no way to lend an ear to the deputy captain's words, and instead of lending them, the captain said, being firm on the contrary.
"Huh. I get it. Let's do it.... in the direction of 11 o'clock in front of the enemy, at a distance of 4000, on the run in a single longitudinal formation"
Understanding the captain's unchanging mind, the deputy shook his head, replacing his head and calmly informing him of the position of the battleship.
"All right, make a blow in the same sailing battle, then turn left. Retain in the Anti-Navigation War"
Copy that.
For convenience, I said with a smile like an evil kid when I said I had come up with a good idea of the captain looking at the five battleships that were running away laying a straight clean single longitudinal formation.
"... Hey, fire the flare"
"What? Why?
"This is crazy."
"... oh, that's definitely great for hanging out"
"Tell Gratney02 too."
Copy that.
At first, a simple and lucid reply came back when the deputy captain, who did not understand the captain's thoughts, asked the captain why he had released the flare.
And at the right time, you were surprised by the sight of Gratney 01, 02 releasing flares at the same time that even made you feel some sort of divinity. The formation of the enemy battleship collapsed a little.
"I knew you freaked out"
The captain said, laughing at Niyaniya.
"500 meters left from the enemy!! Line up!!
"Whoa, all hands ready for battle!! More than this, the plane will have a shelling battle!! Get in the mood!!
"" "'Answer!!
The captain who returned to me to report to the deputy captain will launch a breach into the crew. And then an unprecedented airborne shootout by the AC-130 began.
"Ready for left artillery!!... shoot me!!
Under the captain's order, shells were fired one after the other from two AC-130 aircraft towards the battleship.
"Shit hit me!!
Two 105mm grenades were firstly released from a distance of 300 meters on the rear-end battleship that became the first target, but this was flushed off by the wind.
"Because all the bullets were flushed... about this...?
"Ola, Ola, Ola!! Crash!!
However, the 40mm machine gun and the 25mm gatring gun shell, which were scattered all the time when the number of bad cannons continued to hit, hit the cannon row deck and mast on the side of the hull. Unfortunately, the 40mm machine gun shell struck directly at the base of the mast, causing the mast to break from the ground up and the lost propulsion. The battleship was rendered unnavigable.
Moreover, there was damage caused by incendiary shells from 25mm gating guns causing fires everywhere on the hull.
And the Imperial Army fleet was in a mess after the same fierce attack was made on the battleship that was sailing before and two AC-130 passes too far.
The rear-end battleship (Vessel 5) lost its mast, was unnavigable and flamed, and strayed in the air. The 105mm howitzer hit Vessel 2 or 4, and both ships turned into fireballs in the air, exploding and extinguishing. Vessel 3 devoured the 40mm machine guns, and the hull became full of holes, causing fractures everywhere, and at the end, the hull collapsed a thousand times in pieces. Ship number one, which was sailing the lead, was unluckily hit by a 25mm Gatling gun bullet into a gunpowder depot, which was slowly falling to the ground in flames as it repeatedly detonated.
"You don't need to flip."
"Yep."
The first airborne shootout by AC-130 ended in a one-sided game, stopping Gratney 01, 02 from flipping in view of the Imperial Army fleet's tragedy, returned to base with F-15E in a whim.
And the last time this battle was fought, the Imperial Army (a unit capable of taking organized action) was wiped out.