Chapter 143 Demining

As the minutes ticked by, the warriors and I waited anxiously in the grass.

What we are concerned about now is not how many Yue devils we will encounter in this battle, or whether we can take this high ground...... It's about whether the engineer unit has successfully cleared the mines. The reason is obvious, for us, landmines are far more terrifying than the devils.

"Squad Leader Wei!" Company Commander Luo whispered in the walkie-talkie, "How's the situation?" ”

Squad Leader Wei is the engineer squad leader who carries out demining operations at the front, and although the coordination of various units of our army is not very good, the connection between the company and the demining engineers at the front can still be achieved.

Only by having contact with the engineering units can we know where the demining passage is? Our army's communications equipment is backward and its sense of coordination is poor, but it is not stupid.

"It's not great!" Squad Leader Wei's answer came from the walkie-talkie: "We have already picked up our speed, but we have only advanced twenty meters, and there are at least fifty meters to ......."

Company Commander Luo and I couldn't help but gasp, there were still fifty meters left...... And the total attack time is only ten minutes away!

Some might say...... Squad Leader Wei? Does that mean that there is only one sapper squad for demining operations at the front? Could this be too small? Wouldn't it be faster if more people went up?

It is true that there is only one engineer squad ahead, but if it is so simple to understand, it is too much to take for granted, and the work of demining is sometimes not faster with more people, because our purpose is not to remove all the mines from the entire minefield, but to clear a safe passage in it...... As you can imagine, in this case. The people in front are demining. No amount of people in the back can help. More people will increase the chance of exposure.

"Company Commander Luo!" After a pause, the voice of squad leader Wei came from the walkie-talkie again: "When the general attack is launched, our army will have twenty minutes of artillery preparation, and I am ready to speed up the demining at this time." We have brought more than a dozen detonating cords of more than 30 meters, please rest assured that we will complete the task and will not hold you back! ”

"Xiexie you, Comrade Sappers!" 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 time, they can't make any sound because they want to conceal the mines, so the speed of mine clearance is slow...... However, once our artillery is fired, the Vietnamese army must also realize that our army is about to attack, and it doesn't matter if it is exposed or not, plus there is still the cover of artillery fire...... That engineer unit can really do it freely.

And I know that thing about the detonating cord...... As the name suggests, a detonating cord is a rope that guides an explosion, and it is an elastic cord filled with a violent explosive. The core part of this cord is generally filled with explosives such as black sokin or octokin, and the charge is 10 to 13 grams per metre length. One can imagine when such a rope is launched and blasts on the ground...... There is a high probability that the trigger and tripping mines in the vicinity will be detonated by the shock wave generated by their explosion, so a safety path will be opened.

A fuse of more than 30 meters. That is to say...... If all goes well, a few more times will open a safe passage enough for our troops to charge.

Thinking of this, my heart settled down a little, and I just waited for the time for the general attack to be launched.

"Pass the order on!" Company Commander Luo looked at his watch. Whispered backwards: "Prepare for battle, wait for orders!" ”

"Prepare for battle and wait for orders!"

……

The orders went down one by one, and the atmosphere became tense, some fighters checked their equipment, some soldiers began to throw away the remaining food, and some soldiers touched here and there and just didn't know what to do...... There was heavy breathing everywhere around him, but fortunately it was at night, and there was a section of escape between the lurking place of our army and the high ground of the Vietnamese army, otherwise I was afraid that these actions would be discovered by the Vietnamese army.

The night in Vietnam was already cold, but at this time, it was drizzling in the sky, which made the soldiers feel even worse. However, the warriors were silent, for everyone knew what they were suffering, but it was only the beginning.

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

Some people say that weishenme is not red? Isn't it all red in movies and TV?

Signal flares are generally divided into three colors: red, green, and white (yellow), and there are more red and green colors for conspicuousness. In general, green flares are used when preparing for artillery fire, and red flares are used when directing troops to charge. Red ...... are used in movies and TV It can only be said that it is for the visual effect!

The sound of artillery soon rang out, and one shell after another hit the high ground of the Vietnamese army accurately, with an earth-shattering loud bang...... The barbed wire and wooden fences that the Vietnamese army had just laid were brutally blown into pieces and thrown into the air.

However, at this time, I didn't have the heart to pay attention to this, or maybe it was because of the shelling I had experienced before...... So now it is possible to concentrate on the engineering units in front of you in this situation.

Just like Squad Leader Wei said before, the moment when the artillery fire is prepared is when the engineering troops speed up the demining. By the light of the shells, I could faintly see through the telescope that a dozen soldiers in front of me were desperately jumping out of the hiding spot and moving quickly......

At this time, the speed of their demining was really much faster, and I saw them shoot with bamboo poles and blow up with grenades...... It was only a little bit of a dozen meters, but I never saw them use the detonating cord.

Just when I was confused, there was a faint shout from squad leader Wei on the intercom: "The thatch is too deep, and the detonating cord can't be launched!" Repeat, the thatch is too deep for the detonating cord to fire......"

This result seems unexpected, but it is also expected, in many parts of Vietnam, the thatch is mixed with kudzu vines, and these kudzu vines mixed with thatch will become a very resilient net, so it is normal for the detonation cord not to be launched...... Some people may say, can't you just launch it from a high place? Not to mention that firing at a high altitude may be blocked by tree branches and trunks, and it is difficult to detonate a mine buried in the ground if the detonating cord explodes at a high altitude, so the result can only be futile.

Twenty minutes of artillery preparation was about to pass, and at this time the artillery fire had begun to extend to the depth of the Vietnamese army, and just when Company Commander Luo and I were anxious, we heard the voice of squad leader Wei on the walkie-talkie: "All of them!" Time is running out, now I order: the whole class is divided into four groups of three people each, the distance between the groups is fifteen meters, and we go out of a safe passage for the infantry comrades! ”

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

Demining with human bodies? It's a story I've only seen in movies, and I thought it was impossible because I didn't believe anyone could be so stupid...... But now it's really in front of me.

I raised my binoculars and looked into the minefield, and sure enough, the engineering units had broken down into groups and continued to advance. Unlike before, this time they moved faster, and basically detonated mines with bamboo poles at close range......

Someone might say that the engineering units used human bodies to demine...... So what's the difference with mines not excluding infantry charges? Isn't it the same as using the human body to break a way out of a minefield?

Of course, there are differences, and the differences are huge. Infantry charges quickly and in relatively dense formations, and the explosion of a single mine often injures several fighters and even slows down the infantry's charge...... This was often fatal when defended by Vietnamese troops.

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

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

"Boom!" After a while, there was a loud bang on the intercom, followed by the shouts of other fighters: "Squad leader, squad leader......"

Obviously, it was squad leader Wei who was blown up by the mine this time.

But even as I said before, mines often cause injuries but not deaths, so Squad Leader Wei did not sacrifice, and soon Squad Leader Wei's voice came from the walkie-talkie: "The second group continues to move forward, and it can't be delayed for a minute or a second!" Wang Jin, come and carry me behind my back......"

At this time, I couldn't believe my ears, it should be said that Squad Leader Wei had been injured by the explosion at this time, he had too many reasons to withdraw from the battle, no one would blame him for anything, and even regarded him as a hero...... But he chose a different path, one that I couldn't imagine.

"Boom ......" soon followed by a few loud bangs, and in my binoculars, the second group that had just gone up was blown to pieces, this time they encountered a series of thunderbolts...... Wang Jin, who was carrying squad leader Wei in the back, was also blown up.

Soon I saw the third group make up...... Not a single person retreated.

When the third group fell in a pool of blood again, I heard Squad Leader Wei's order: "Comrades, there are only twenty meters left...... To move forward is to win! I'm climbing in front, I can't do it, you guys go up again, you have to complete the task no matter what! ”

As he spoke, he dragged his injured legs and crawled forward and rolled forward with the support of his hands...... This time, only four meters had been advanced, and there was another loud bang......

"Squad leader!"

"Squad leader!"

……

After a shout, the fourth group of the engineer unit went up again......

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I would like to use this chapter to pay tribute to the engineer soldiers such as the Han squad leader of the ninth class of a certain department! During a demining mission, one minute before the launch of the general attack, the squad used its own flesh and blood to open a passage in the minefield that was 3 meters wide and 72 meters long. (To be continued......)