blood of vietnam war

Chapter 140 Three Mine Clearance

Time passed by, and the soldiers and I were waiting anxiously in the grass.

What we care about now is not how many Yue devils we will encounter in this battle, or whether we can take this high ground... but whether the engineering troops have successfully cleared the mines.The reason is obvious. For us, landmines are far more terrifying than Yueguizi.

"Squad Leader Wei!" Company Commander Luo asked softly on the walkie-talkie: "How's the situation?"

Squad Leader Wei is the engineering squad leader who is conducting demining operations ahead. Although the coordination of various units of our army is not very good, the connection between the company and the engineers who are demining ahead can still be achieved.

Only by contacting the engineering unit can we know where the passage after demining is?Our army's communication equipment is backward, and the awareness of coordination is poor, but it is not stupid.

"Not very good!" Squad leader Wei's reply came from the walkie-talkie: "We have accelerated, but we have only advanced 20 meters, and there are at least 50 meters left..."

Company Commander Luo and I couldn't help but take a deep breath, there are still 50 meters... and the total attack time is only 10 minutes away from now!

Some people might say... Squad Leader Wei?Does that mean that there is only one engineer squad performing demining operations ahead?Is this number too small?Wouldn't it be faster if more people went up?

There is indeed only one engineer squad ahead, but if it is such a simple understanding, it is too much to take for granted. Sometimes the more people involved in demining, the faster it is. The reason is that our purpose is not to remove all the mines in the entire minefield. It is to create a safe passage in it... It is conceivable that in this case, if the people in front are clearing mines, no matter how many people behind them, they will not be able to help, and more people will increase the chance of exposure.

"Company Commander Luo!" After a pause, Squad Leader Wei's voice came from the walkie-talkie: "When the general offensive starts, our army will have 10 minutes to prepare for artillery fire. I plan to speed up mine clearance during this time. We brought ten A few detonating cords of more than [-] meters, please rest assured infantry comrades, we will definitely complete the task and will not hold you back!"

"Thank you, Comrade Engineer!" Company Commander Luo replied, and the worry on his face eased.

It should be said that Squad Leader Wei’s method is still feasible. At this moment, they have to hide the mines and can’t make any noise, so the speed of mine clearance is slow... But once our army’s artillery fires, the Vietnamese army must also realize that we The army is about to attack, so it doesn't matter whether it is exposed or not, and with the cover of the sound of artillery fire...the engineering troops can really let go of their hands and feet.

And I also know about the detonating cord... As the name suggests, the detonating cord is a rope that guides the explosion. It is a soft elastic rope filled with explosives.The drug core part of this kind of soft rope is generally equipped with explosives such as black sorkin or octokin, and the charge per meter of length is [-] to [-] grams.It is conceivable that when such a rope is launched and explodes on the ground...the nearby trigger mines and trip mines are likely to be detonated by the shock wave generated by the explosion, so a safe path is opened .

A fuse is more than [-] meters long, that is to say... If it goes well, it only takes a few more times to open a safe passage enough for our troops to charge.

Thinking of this, I felt a little more at ease, and just waited for the time for the general offensive to launch.

"Pass on the order!" Company Commander Luo looked at his watch, and said in a low voice, "Get ready for battle and wait for the order!"

"Get ready for battle and wait for orders!"

……

The order was passed on one by one, and the atmosphere became tense. Some soldiers checked their equipment for the last time, some soldiers began to throw away the leftover food, and some soldiers felt here and there but didn't know what to do... beside them There were heavy breathing sounds everywhere, and fortunately it was at night, and our army was lurking and running away from the high ground of the Vietnamese army, otherwise the Vietnamese army would have discovered these actions.

The night in Vietnam was already cold, but at this time there was a drizzle in the sky, which made the soldiers feel even worse.However, none of the soldiers said a word, because everyone knew that they were suffering now, but it was just the beginning.

Finally, the pointer pointed to one point, and three green flares rose into the sky...

Some people say why not red?Isn't it red in movies and TV?

Signal flares are generally divided into three colors: red, green, and white (yellow). Red and green are more commonly used for conspicuousness.Under normal circumstances, there will be green signal flares when preparing for artillery fire, and red signal flares will be used when commanding troops to launch a charge.Red is always used in movies and TV... It can only be said that it is for visual effects!

The sound of cannons soon rang out, and the shells hit the high ground of the Vietnamese army precisely, followed by a burst of earth-shattering noise... The barbed wire and wooden fences that the Vietnamese army had just laid were ruthlessly blown into pieces thrown into the air.

However, at this time, I didn't have the mind to pay attention to these things, or maybe it was because I had experienced several shellings before... so now I can concentrate on the engineering troops directly in front of me under this situation.

As Squad Leader Wei said before, the moment the artillery is ready is the time for the engineering troops to speed up their demining.Borrowing the flames from the shells, I could vaguely see through the binoculars that a dozen soldiers in front jumped out of their hiding places and moved forward quickly...

At this time, their demining speed was much faster. I saw them shooting with bamboo poles and exploding with grenades...but they advanced more than ten meters in a while, but I never saw them use detonating cords.

Just when I was wondering, Squad Leader Wei's shout came faintly from the intercom: "The thatch is too deep, the detonating cord cannot be fired! Repeat, the thatch is too deep, the detonating cord cannot be fired..."

This result seems to be unexpected, but it is also expected. The thatch in many places in Vietnam is mixed with kudzu vines. When these kudzu vines and thatch are mixed together, they will become a very tough net, so detonation It's normal if the cable can't be launched... Maybe some people will say, isn't it enough to launch it to a high place?Leaving aside that launching to a high place may be blocked by branches and trunks, it is also difficult to detonate a landmine buried in the ground when the detonating cord explodes at a high place. Such a result can only be futile.

The 10-minute artillery preparations will soon be over, and at this time the artillery fire has begun to extend deep into the Vietnamese army. When Company Commander Luo and I were in a state of anxiety, we heard the voice of Squad Leader Wei on the walkie-talkie: "Everyone is here! Yes! Time is running out, and now I order: the whole class is divided into four groups, with three people in each group, and the distance between groups is 15 meters, and we will walk out a safe passage for the infantry comrades!"

"What?" Hearing this, Company Commander Luo and I couldn't help but glance at each other, seeing shock in each other's eyes.

Use the human body to clear mines?I have only seen this story in movies. I once thought it was impossible, because I didn't believe that someone could be so stupid...but now it really appeared in front of me.

I raised the binoculars and looked towards the minefield, and sure enough, I saw that the engineering troops had been divided into several groups and continued to advance.The difference from before is that this time they are advancing faster, and they basically use bamboo poles to detonate landmines at close range...

Some people may say that the engineering troops use the human body to clear mines... so what is the difference from the infantry charging without clearing the mines?Isn't it the same as using the human body to break through a minefield?

Of course there is a difference, and it's a big one.The infantry pays attention to speed when they charge, and the formation is relatively dense. The explosion of a landmine will often injure several soldiers, and even slow down the infantry's charge... This is often fatal when there are Vietnamese troops defending.

But engineering demining is different. Just like the order given by squad leader Wei, the distance between groups is 15 meters, and there are only three people in each group... In addition, they have rich experience in demining, and they often have a sixth sense to know which troops There are mines, so the effect will naturally be much better than infantry.

However, even so, the engineering troops are flesh and blood, and they will also be killed and injured by landmines.

"Boom!" After a while, there was a loud noise from the walkie-talkie, followed by shouts from other soldiers: "Squad leader, squad leader..."

Obviously, it was Squad Leader Wei who was bombed by landmines this time.

But even as I said before, landmines often cause injuries but not death, so squad leader Wei did not sacrifice, and soon the voice of squad leader Wei came from the walkie-talkie: "The second group continues to move forward, every minute and every second Don't delay! Wang Jin, come and follow me behind your back..."

At this moment, I couldn't believe my ears. It should be said that Squad Leader Wei had already been injured by the blast. He had too many reasons to withdraw from the battle. No one would blame him, and even regarded him as a hero. ...However, he chose another path, a path that I can't even imagine.

"Boom..." Soon there were several loud noises again. In my telescope, the second group that just went up was blown to pieces. This time they encountered a series of mines... Wang Jin, who was watching Squad Leader Wei, was also blown away.

Soon I saw the third group make up...no one backed down.

When the third group fell in a pool of blood again, I heard Squad Leader Wei's order: "Comrades, there are only 20 meters left... Going forward is victory! I will climb ahead, if I can't do it, you can go up again, no matter what You have to complete the task too!"

As he spoke, he dragged his injured legs, crawled forward and rolled forward relying on the support of his hands... This time he only advanced four meters, and there was another loud noise...

"Squad leader!"

"Squad leader!"

……

After a burst of shouting, the fourth group of the engineering troops went up again...

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I would like to use this chapter to pay tribute to the engineering soldiers such as the squad leader Han of the ninth squad of a certain unit!During a demining mission, the squad used its own flesh and blood to open a 1-meter-wide and 72-meter-long passage in the minefield one minute before the general offensive was launched. (To be continued.)