D Company departed Nui Dat at 11:00 on 18 August led by Smith. They were accompanied by a three-man New Zealand artillery forward observer party under Captain Maurice Stanley, making up a 108-man company. Already behind schedule and with B Company having been out for longer than expected, Smith wanted to relieve Ford and then follow the VC tracks to continue the pursuit that afternoon.[74][69] Opting for speed, he adopted single file, with 12 Platoon under Second Lieutenant David Sabben in the lead.[75] Despite the heat the company moved at a fast pace, traversing the low scrub, swamp and paddy fields as they closed in on B Company's position.
NEED FOR SPEED THE RUN PART 35 RAR.18
At 17:02, Smith reported D Company was running low on ammunition and required aerial resupply. With just three magazines carried by each rifleman, they were only lightly equipped prior to the battle. This was a standard load calculated on 1 RAR usage rates which had been enough during previous actions, but it proved insufficient for sustained fighting. Due to the thick vegetation, the ammunition boxes would need to be dropped through the trees, and intending on moving his headquarters behind a low knoll, Smith nominated a point 400 metres (440 yd) west. This position would afford greater protection, while the helicopters would be less likely to attract ground fire. Yet with their casualties now unable to be moved, D Company would have to remain where it was.[99] Townsend passed the ammunition demand to Headquarters 1 ATF. In response, Jackson requested two UH-1B Iroquois from No. 9 Squadron RAAF to deliver it; however, the senior RAAF officer at Nui Dat, Group Captain Peter Raw, was not prepared to risk aircraft hovering at tree-top height in the heavy rain where they would be exposed to ground fire, citing Department of Air regulations. Relations between the Army and RAAF over the use of the helicopters had become increasingly bitter in the preceding months, and were still tenuous despite recent improvements. Jackson requested American assistance, and when the US Army liaison officer responded more favourably, Raw felt no alternative than to accede to the original request, offering to effect the resupply instead.[107] By coincidence, two RAAF Iroquois were available at Nui Dat, having been used for the concert.[108]
3 Troop continued forward in assault formation, moving deeper into the plantation, with improved visibility allowing them to increase speed.[135] By 18:30. B Company was also drawing near on foot, and observed the VC moving around the western flank, likely to escape the APCs. Shortly after, they were accidentally engaged by the APCs and lost one man wounded.[136] After moving a further 200m, the relief force came out of the tree-line and were confronted by groups of 8 to 10 VC moving east, in total about 100 men, believed to be the lead elements of the force that had just been struck, now withdrawing after abandoning its attempt to outflank D Company. The APCs opened fire, engaging their flank with heavy machine-guns. A number were hit while others turned to engage the APCs as it closed with them. A 57 mm RCL then fired on one of the APCs at close range with the round narrowly missing and blowing apart a tree which fell across the vehicle.[137] The crew commander, Corporal John Carter, engaged the anti-armour team from the top of the APC as they reloaded, but his .50 calibre machine-gun jammed as they fired again, and he killed two of them with his Owen gun from just 15 to 20 metres (16 to 22 yd). The second RCL round subsequently detonated against the fallen tree, saving both the vehicle and its occupants. Despite being dazed, Carter killed three more VC soldiers as he scrambled back into the carrier, which was now without communications following the destruction of its aerial. By drawing further fire he allowed the remainder of the troop to advance.[138][139]
Is it time to upgrade or replace your rear derailleur? Do you sit awake at night worrying about what \\u2018tooth capacity\\u2019 is? Or have you ever simply wanted to know absolutely everything there is to know about buying a rear derailleur or thought which rear derailleur do I need? If so, you\\u2019ve come to the right place.\\nWhile we certainly don\\u2019t recommend you break out this hot derailleur chat at your next social appointment, this is undoubtedly useful information if you\\u2019re looking to buy or upgrade a rear derailleur.\\nWe must stress that this article only covers rear derailleurs because including front derailleurs would make this guide far too unwieldy. Otherwise, here\\u2019s everything you need to know about the rear derailleur.\\n\\n \\nRelated reading\\nRoad bike groupsets: everything you need to know\\nMountain bike groupsets: everything you need to know\\nBest road bikes: how to choose the right one for you\\nBest mountain bike: how to choose the right one for you\\n\\n\\n \\n Which brand of derailleur should I buy?\\n\\n \\n \\n \\n \\n \\n\\n \\n Dura-Ace 9100 is Shimano\\u2019s top-flight road groupset.\\u00a0\\n \\n Matthew Loveridge \\/ Immediate Media\\n \\n\\n\\n \\n \\n \\n\\n \\n Red eTap AXS takes SRAM\\u2019s top-slot on the road.\\u00a0\\n \\n Tom Wragg\\n \\n\\n\\n \\n \\n \\n\\n \\n And, finally, Record EPS 12 is Campagnolo\\u2019s premium road groupset.\\u00a0\\n \\n Immediate Media\\n \\n\\n\\n \\n \\n\\n\\n\\nWhich rear derailleur do I need? Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo are the three main players in the drivetrain market. \\nMicroshift, Box, Rotor, FSA and others all also make groupset components, but it would be beyond the scope of this article to cover all of these.\\u00a0\\nAs a general rule of thumb, it\\u2019s best not to mix and match drivetrain components from different brands. While things such as cranks, chains and cassettes are mostly inter-compatible between brands, generally speaking, shifters and derailleurs aren\\u2019t.\\nIn brief, Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo all use different cable pull ratios (the amount that a derailleur moves for every millimetre of cable pulled through by the shifter), and mixing parts will result in very poor shifting.\\u00a0\\n\\n Generally speaking, road and mountain bike groupset components will not work with each other. Various\\nHowever, it\\u2019s more complicated than that. Mountain bike groupsets and road groupsets, even when they\\u2019re from the same brand, typically use different cable pull ratios.\\n Ratios may also change as the number of gears changes, and there may even be pull ratio differences between different generations of the same gear model.\\u00a0\\nThere are, of course, exceptions, and there are lots of bodged, Sramshimpagnolo mashups that can be cajoled into working, but for the sake of simplicity, we suggest you stick to the same brand as your shifters when buying a rear derailleur.\\nHow many gears does my bike have?\\n\\n To work out how many \\u2018gears\\u2019 your bike has, count the number of sprockets on your cassette. Jack Luke \\/ Immediate Media\\nOnce you\\u2019ve settled on the brand, you must now determine the number of gears that your groupset has.\\nIf you are replacing an existing derailleur on a bike, simply count the number of cogs on your cassette and you\\u2019re good to go.\\nIf your drivetrain\\u2019s speed is an unknown quantity, you can count the number of steps that your shifter runs through and add \\u2018one\\u2019 to determine the number of gears your drivetrain has.\\nHow to replace a bike cassette\\nDerailleur compatibility explained\\n\\n Compatability across Shimano\\u2019s road and mountain bike groupsets is a little bit complicated. Steve Behr \\/ Immediate Media\\nAs a general rule of thumb, you shouldn\\u2019t mix and match groupset parts of different generations or mix mountain bike and road components, but there are a few exceptions. Below, we have broken down compatibility by manufacturer.\\nFor clarity, the following information is applicable to both derailleurs and shifters.\\nShimano derailleur compatibility\\nMost 8- and 9-speed Shimano mountain bike and road kit is inter-compatible because they both use the same cable pull ratio. This means that you can use an 8 -or 9-speed mountain bike derailleur with road shifters or vice versa.\\u00a0\\nThe only exception is pre-1997 9-speed Dura-Ace gearing, which won\\u2019t play nicely with anything because it uses a totally different cable pull ratio.\\u00a0\\nAlthough it initially doesn\\u2019t appear to be the case, the situation is a bit more clear with the newest generation of both Shimano road and mountain bike components. Bear with us\\u2026\\n\\n \\nShimano road bike derailleur compatibility\\nAll 11-speed Shimano road components are inter-compatible \\u2013 you could for example use a Dura-Ace 9100 derailleur with a pair of 105 7000 shifters\\nShimano\\u2019s 11-speed GRX gravel groupsets are also cross-compatible\\nAll 10-speed road components (except Tiagra 4700 and 10-speed GRX gravel, see below) are inter-compatible \\u2013 you could for example use an old Ultegra 6700 derailleur with old 105 5700 shifters\\nCurrent 9-speed road components are backwards compatible with older 9-speed road and mountain bike components, excluding the aforementioned exception\\n\\n\\n \\n The only exceptions to the above rules are Tiagra 4700 (and the associated RS405 hydraulic shifters) and GRX400 gravel mechs, which use the same cable pull ratio as current generation 11-speed road kit.\\u00a0\\nThis means you could, for example, use an 11-speed derailleur with 10-speed Tiagra 4700 shifters.\\n\\n \\nShimano mountain bike derailleur compatibility\\nAll 12-speed Shimano mountain bike components are inter-compatible \\u2013 you could for example use an SLX M7120 derailleur with an XTR M9100 trigger shifter\\nAll 11-speed Shimano mountain bike components are inter-compatible \\u2013 you could, for example, use a XTR M9000 derailleur with a pair of SLX M7000 shifters\\nAll 10-speed Shimano mountain bike components are also inter-co