MANPADS, of course, I know...... This era has entered the era of missiles, and all kinds of missiles, such as surface-to-air, air-to-air, and air-to-ship missiles, are all being vigorously developed.

MANPADS are one of them...... The advantage of this missile is that it greatly enhances the air defense of the infantry...... What anti-aircraft machine guns, small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, etc., if you want to say that they are used to fight infantry by flat fire, they are really powerful...... On the battlefield in Vietnam, both the Vietnamese army and our army did this. But let's fight a fighter plane flying at high speed in the air...... The probability of shooting down the target can be said to be too small and too small.

In fact, not to mention high-altitude and high-speed fighters...... Even relatively low-speed helicopters are difficult to shoot down, as in the history of the war in Afghanistan...... Most of the helicopters shot down by Afghan anti-aircraft machine guns and small-caliber anti-aircraft guns were near the Soviet airfield, that is, those Afghan guerrillas secretly took anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns to the vicinity of the Soviet airfield and lurked near the helicopter in order to fight the helicopter...... It was knocked down with a "bang-bang" slam.

Of course, the question of whether the hero who shot down the helicopter will be able to come back alive after that is a big question...... After all, it was in the defense zone of the Soviets, and it was also in such a sensitive area near the airfield.

But that's not what Afghans are concerned about...... Because of their hatred for the invaders and their fervor of faith, the Afghan guerrillas did not hesitate to rush into the Soviet garrison with explosives on their backs and die with the enemy, let alone fight for a valuable helicopter gunship with their lives.

Other than that...... Anti-aircraft machine guns and small-caliber anti-aircraft guns are difficult to maneuver and replenish in mountainous areas, so they are not actually suitable for mountain air defense.

That's when portable anti-aircraft missiles were conceived...... It has a much higher hit rate than anti-aircraft weapons such as anti-aircraft machine guns, and it is convenient for maneuvering...... A missile is only a dozen or twenty pounds. An infantryman can carry it on his back. Even if it is an advanced missile, it can be said that it does not occupy the ...... Missiles are disposable. After the fight, throw the canister, grab the assault rifle and become an infantryman.

It's just sad that ...... In this regard, our country is still blank, our anti-tank missiles have just been equipped and are still of the first generation, not to mention this portable anti-aircraft missile.

That's why I'm going to talk about a bunch of difficulties in front of Smith and his party...... The purpose is to get them to contribute anti-aircraft missiles...... Isn't China and the United States a community of interests? Our difficulties are also their difficulties, so it is only natural that they provide some weapons and equipment.

But...... I was rather disappointed when the batch of MANPADS that Smith said arrived at our base......

"Which country's missile is this?" After watching a U.S. soldier test-fire a missile, I asked Smith with a frown.

Smith looked at me in surprise and replied, "Is this ...... British! ”

I knew what he was wondering about...... The instructions for the British missile and the American missile are both in English, and the average person will see at a glance that this is not the United States.

But I'm no ordinary person...... I know very well that the current missiles of the United States cannot be this kind of hand-guided.

"What model?"

"Blowpipe!"

"Weishenme doesn't use the American directly?" I asked, "Colonel Smith...... Do you think this kind of manual guidance is suitable for Afghan guerrillas? Can the Afghan partisans hit Soviet helicopters with it? ”

Because we have used the same hand-guided Red Arrow anti-tank missile. So the disadvantages of manual guidance are well understood...... The operation is quite complicated, and it is necessary to calculate the trajectory of the target and quickly calculate the position that the target is likely to reach after turning or changing, so it is difficult for a manually guided anti-tank missile to hit a moving tank, let alone a helicopter that moves irregularly in a three-dimensional manner in the air.

Smith cleared his throat and replied with some embarrassment, "That's right...... According to our intelligence, the Soviet-style Mi-24 has a strong jamming capability, while the hand-guided missile is almost immune to target interference, plus we don't know what the battlefield situation is, maybe this missile will be suitable? ”

I just smiled and didn't speak.

This is, of course, nonsense, what is not interfered with by the target...... This is the truth. But the problem is that the missile can't hit the flying target at all...... Do people still need to interfere? I don't know what the battlefield is like...... If you don't know the situation on the battlefield, you should know that few of the Afghan guerrillas are educated, so it will be difficult to learn how to operate this anti-aircraft missile!

Later, I learned that the U.S. government was keeping a hand...... They do have advanced man-portable anti-aircraft missiles. That is, the famous "Stinger" on the battlefield in Afghanistan (note: the original name of the Stinger missile was Red Eye, and the improved version of Red Eye was renamed "Stinger" in 72), but this portable missile is quite advanced for the United States, even if it is the United States' own helicopter or some fixed-wing fighters, it cannot be guarded...... So the American side is worried: what if such MANPADS are proliferated and fall into the hands of the enemy?

This may be quite large, considering that this Afghan guerrilla is not a fuel-efficient lamp...... There's a good chance that the new gadgets that are equipped in their hands will change hands and be sold. It is for this reason that the war in Afghanistan in history ...... It was not until '86 that the United States equipped the "Stinger" into the hands of the Afghan guerrillas.

And the facts have proved that the United States' fears are justified...... When the Soviet Union withdrew its troops, the United States regretted it and tried to recycle the "Stingers" that had been equipped into Afghanistan at a high price, but at that time, the Afghan army was already quite large, and it also knew the importance of the "Stingers", so naturally it would not do the kind of thing that would cost its life for money...... The absence of "Stinger" means that they are only abused in front of the enemy's air liliang!

"Alright! Thank you for your provision! "I still say thank you to Smith, no matter how bad the anti-aircraft missile is...... But something is better than nothing, at least the next time a Soviet helicopter hits our ambush, we won't have to rely on luck to shoot down one after a flurry of shots!

"Don't you need to be taught how to do it?" Smith asked.

"No need!" I said, "Most of my troops have fought hand-guided anti-tank missiles, and I watched you operate them again...... That shouldn't be a problem! ”

Smith couldn't help but be surprised when he heard this...... He also thought that our group of Chinese soldiers were a group of uneducated hillbillies!

As a result, this "blowpipe" anti-aircraft missile was quickly equipped with our troops...... As I thought, many of the fighters of the special service company were trained in how to use anti-tank missiles, so it didn't take long to master the art of using anti-aircraft missiles...... But it's exactly what I thought it was...... It is easy for our troops to master, but it is difficult to teach the Afghan guerrillas.

Of course, the guerrillas we want to equip are Hassan's team...... The main reason is that the US military does not provide us with many missiles, this batch is only a hundred, and we do not know when the next batch will arrive......

That's where Smith is great...... We were unable to equip the guerrillas in large quantities, so the guerrillas who had originally poured into the Chinese bases for training took a look at the situation...... There are training of anti-aircraft missiles at US military bases, but not at Chinese bases? So it will start to tilt towards the US military base again. After all, there is a rule in the Chinese base that they consider harsh...... Either join Hassan's guerrillas, or you can only get a month and a half of basic training.

But I understand that too...... It is likely to be a life-saving thing at a critical moment, although it is complex and not very accurate, but at least it will make the enemy helicopter a little jealous.

And that's what I'm hoping for...... Training ordinary Afghan guerrillas is actually throwing money and distributing equipment...... If there is no US military base, then we are naturally duty-bound for the sake of national interests, but now that there is a US military base, why only let us work?!

We ran into a lot of chicken ribs when equipping the Afghan guerrillas with anti-aircraft missiles......

First of all, this "blowpipe" anti-aircraft missile itself is a chicken rib...... If you don't have it, you don't even have the equipment to shoot down a helicopter, and sometimes you can't do anything even if the helicopter stops in front of you or overhead. Equip it...... And it is difficult to pose a threat to helicopters.

Secondly, it is also a chicken rib in the training of guerrillas...... If they do not train, it means that the guerrillas are less capable of fighting independently, because they basically have no air defense capability. Let's train...... It was also very difficult for the instructors in charge of training...... The language barrier requires a translator, and when it comes to manually tracking the trajectory of a helicopter, there is a calculation problem...... This is a big problem for the Afghan guerrillas, who do not even know a few large characters.

Zuihou had no choice but to ask the Afghan guerrillas to be able to fire...... As for whether the helicopter can be tracked after launch...... It depends on their own feelings and creations, anyway, even if they learn it, they don't have much chance of being able to hit, the point is to scare those Soviet helicopters...... Let them know that the partisans still have anti-aircraft missiles in their hands.

"Battalion Commander Yang!" Then Hassan walked up to me and said, "Just got news from Kabul...... It is possible that the Soviet army will launch a new round of sweeps again! ”

"Oh! So fast? "I couldn't help but be a little surprised when I heard that...... The second sweep was two months apart from the first, which means that the Soviet logistics should have accumulated two months to organize a sweep, but this time it was less than a month...... Could it be that the Soviets have already strengthened their defenses on the supply lines?

I found out later...... In fact, because of the trouble we made in Kabul last time, the first sweep of the Soviet army could not be completed according to Jihua, so this ammunition did not consume much, and because of the eagerness to save face, it can also be said to stabilize the morale of the army...... So I couldn't wait to start another sweep. (To be continued......)