Chapter 142: Minefield

Our company entered a combat position at about eleven o'clock that night.

The phrase "into a combat position" is simple to say, but it is actually quite difficult to do.

The reason why it is said that it is a great deal of trouble is that our army wants to launch a surprise attack on the positions of the Vietnamese army in order to achieve the goal of the suddenness of the whole battle.

However, the battlefield is like this, there is an attack and there is a defense. The troops on both sides are fighting with their lives, and the enemy certainly does not live long enough to earn a long life, and we can make a surprise attack a success casually, which is usually only easy to do in movies or television.

Especially our opponents...... The 316A Division of the Vietnamese Army is still a veteran who has been mixed on the battlefield for decades, and they have a set of methods to prevent the enemy from raiding.

The Vietnamese army's method is a combination of mines and observation posts.

Needless to say, landmines, just as we block our positions with mines when we sleep at night, the devils will also lay mines around the forward positions. Not only will this thing kill people or slow down the enemy's march, but more importantly, it will remind the Vietnamese army to prepare in advance.

However, this is not bad, and in the past two days, the artillery and sappers of our army have not been idle, and along the way, they either use artillery fire to open the way, or use sappers to clear mines at night, so it did not take long to finally open up a relatively safe road.

However, this is only a small road to the forward positions of the Vietnamese army.

Even more difficult to deal with were the forward observation posts of the Vietnamese army.

Having fought so many battles with the Vietnamese devils, I also know something about the forward observation posts of the Vietnamese army, and I know that this is not just a sentinel.

It has three main features:

First of all. It is mainly distributed in Xiangshang, an important party. In particular, certain sections, fronts and shallow depths of direct confrontation with the enemy. Staggered and overlapping posts are set up to overcome the effects of terrain occlusion and facilitate observation of enemy fronts, flanks and rear.

Second, these posts of the Vietnamese army usually choose a commanding height that is easy to observe, but they also avoid obvious salients and azimuths, and all camouflage fortifications and concealed roads are used at key posts, and sometimes false sentry booths are erected to practice suspicious tactics.

Again. These posts are generally equipped with walkie-talkies and radio stations, and the Vietnamese army is arranged to observe them in turn without interruption, and to register and report the enemy's forward military targets, personnel, military vehicles, and relevant signs on a daily basis.

To put it simply, in the short distance between our army and Sapa, there are dozens of highlands of all sizes, and even near the camp of our army, there are Vietnamese army observation posts. These observation posts are camouflaged and concealed...... As soon as our troops make the slightest move, they will report to the command through walkie-talkies or radio.

Of course, under our army's policy of clearing the wilderness, the observation posts near the camp no longer exist, but we still can't solve the observation posts that are far away.

The way the superiors deal with them is the Scouts.

Just when our army was making preparations for the war. Several companies of scouts have been sent out to the high ground to clear the highlands......

The best way to deal with lurking is to lurk, and our scouts often sneak into the high ground suspected of having a Vietnamese army observation post in the dark of night. Just wait for the Vietnamese army to come out of the observation post to observe or use the walkie-talkie Xiangshang class to report the exposed location before defeating the enemy.

However, even so, our scouts could not guarantee that all the observation posts would be cleared by them.

Thereupon...... In order to be able to hide the eyes of the Yue devils, the first batch of troops of our regiment only sent one battalion that night, and this battalion was divided into three groups at different times and entered the combat position through the same path that was considered relatively safe in advance.

The relative safety here means that the mines have been cleared and the observation posts have been cleared.

Some people may say that the observation post of the Yue devil was cleared...... Won't they report back to headquarters? Isn't that the same telling the Vietnamese army that we are going to attack?

The question is...... Our army's operation to clear the Vietnamese army's observation posts has been going on all along, and even our operations to clear the fields on the fortified walls are also clearing the observation posts. At the same time, the Vietnamese army has always known that our army will attack Sapa, but they don't know the exact time. In addition, when our scouts cleared the Vietnamese observation sentry, they often deliberately sent a few Vietnamese-speaking interpreters to pretend to return.

Of course, this has to be done by the scouts after getting the password from the mouth of the Yue devil...... That's not something I need to care about.

The goal of our battalion was the 119.7 heights in front of me.

The elevation of this high ground is not high, and the reason why it can become the main target of our army is that it is long and wide, like a latch in front of the several high ground behind it, and we will not be able to advance forward without occupying it...... So, without much thought, this high ground is our first goal.

The forces of our army were arranged in such a way that the first company was on the left flank, the second company was on the right flank, the third company owed one platoon to attack the front, and one platoon as a reserve.

Some people may find it strange that Weishenme will have fewer troops on the front?

Anyone who has fought with the Vietnamese devils knows that the Vietnamese army will generally place its forces on the anticline in order to avoid our artillery fire. Moreover, a large number of firepower points of the Vietnamese army are aimed at the front of the high ground, so it is very difficult to attack from the front, and if you want to take the Vietnamese position as quickly as possible and kill and injure it, you have to make a frontal feint and launch a surprise attack from the flank.

Such an arrangement is certainly correct, but the problems that come with it are...... Of course, the Vietnamese army also knew that the flanks would be their weak point, so they planted a large number of mines in the dead corners of the artillery on both wings.

"How's it going?" I cautiously climbed a few steps forward and asked the company commander.

"It's not good!" The company commander shook his head and replied in a deep and hoarse voice: "The engineer unit is demining, but there are too many mines laid by the Yue devils, and there are too many mines to be covertly cleared, so the speed is very slow...... You can only line up 10 meters in an hour! ”

"What? Can you only line up 10 meters in an hour? I couldn't help frowning when I heard this.

However, this also seems to be a normal thing, and it is not easy to clear mines in the dark, not to mention that they have to be very careful not to let the Vietnamese sentries find out......

"How long is the minefield of the more devils?" I asked again.

"It's not very clear!" Company Commander Luo shook his head: "But listen to the estimation of Comrade Sapper...... At least seventy meters away! ”

I couldn't help but sweat when I heard this, that is...... At least seven more hours!

I looked at my watch, and it was already half past eleven, and after more than seven hours, I was afraid that it would be dawn...... We lurked in the thatched grass around this high ground, and although it seemed fine, there were as many people as there was a battalion...... Our troops will not be like the Yue devils who will not make a sound even if they are wounded, as long as there is any person in this battalion who moves and catches them...... That means that our entire army will be exposed to the artillery fire of the Vietnamese devils!

So now we are facing a problem of either charging without clearing mines, or we can abandon the attack and go home......

It's just that neither of these options seems to end well.

Charging without clearing mines?

That means we're going to pay a lot of casualties...... In fact, casualties are still secondary, the lethality of mines is still not large, and stepping on it is generally to blow up a leg and make people only injured but not killed...... This is not to say that mines can't carry as many explosives to kill people, but they are designed to be that way.

Designed to be such a purpose...... On the battlefield, a wounded man is often more troublesome than a dead man.

If a soldier dies, then the others can completely leave him alone, and no one will blame them, at most they will drag the corpse after the battle. However, one fighter was wounded...... The others also left him alone, not to mention anything else, such a thing is enough to affect the morale of an army. Because the soldiers of the whole army will be thinking: If I am injured next time, will my comrades also leave me alone?

As a result, landmines are designed to target this weakness of human nature by blowing people up to the point where they can only injure people. To injure a fighter, two fighters must also carry him...... Not only would this slow down the troops, but it would also directly prevent the other two fighters from participating in the battle.

However, these are secondary, and more importantly, a significant part of our company is a new recruit, and I can't guarantee that they will continue to rush forward even though they know that there are mines ahead...... In fact, even a veteran I can't guarantee it.

In case they don't rush ...... That means that the Vietnamese army can shoot at us on the other side of the minefield, and the outcome of this battle can be imagined.

Do you want to go home?

That's even more impossible, not to mention that it will affect the morale of the soldiers, and the superiors won't allow us to do this! They will surely say, "How can there be no one who does not die in war?" If everyone retreats when they see danger and difficulty, then it's a fart! ”

However, the reality is ...... The scheduled start of the war was only one and a half hours away, and the demining was seven hours away.

"Can you use a mortar?" I say.

The benefits of mortars are...... There are basically no dead ends, and its trajectory is a parabola with a large curvature, and as long as the gunner hits accurately, even a trench can hit directly. And we now have a battalion mortar company, isn't it just right to use it at this time?

Company Commander Luo raised the binoculars and looked at it, and quickly shook his head again: "The bullet surface is too small, I'm afraid it won't play a big role!" ”

I raised my binoculars to take a closer look, and then I realized what Company Commander Luo was talking about, this high ground was as sharp as a knife edge facing our mountain ridge, and from our direction, we could only see a small piece of minefield...... In other words, the target of the mortar is only so large, unless the gunners of the mortar company are all sharpshooters, it is basically impossible to cover that area with artillery fire......

So Company Commander Luo and I fell into Jiaozuo again, and we didn't expect it...... This was the first battle of the attack on Sabah, and it put us in a dilemma. (To be continued......)