"Battalion commander!" Staff Officer Wei quickly ran back and reported to me: "100 mortars are not enough, and we can only transfer two battalions of 100 mortars!" ”

"What? Only two battalions? Hearing this, I couldn't help frowning.

Although from the moment the order was given I knew that maybe there were not so many mortars left, especially 100 mortars.

The reason is simple, the mortar is a powerful support firepower for the infantry, and it is deeply trusted by the infantry.

The reason why it is trusted by the infantry is, of course, because it can be carried on its back. Those of us who have fought in the Yunnan region know that things like recoilless guns and bazookas are not as good as mortars, although they can also be carried on our backs. For example, the recoilless gun has high requirements for the firing position, which will bring great inconvenience to the shooter in actual combat, and the bazooka range is too close to play a role.

Only this mortar is long-range, easy to disassemble and assemble, and basically has no requirements for the firing place, so when the infantry charges, several are often needed to suppress the enemy's firepower.

Of course, 100 mortars are not really suitable for fighters to carry on their bodies to run to the front.

AS IT WAS SAID BEFORE, THE 100MM CALIBER MORTAR BODY IS TOO HEAVY. The total combat weight of this thing is 73 kilograms, and the gun body and the bottom weight of the gun carriage must be carried separately, and one shell weighs eight kilograms...... In other words, it was hard to carry such a heavy thing on your back and shoot two shots, and it was gone.

THEREFORE, THE FIGHTERS BROUGHT TO THE FRONT LINE GENERALLY LIGHT MORTARS, SUCH AS 60MM CALIBER AND 82MM CALIBER. And the 100 mortar, due to its long firing range, generally served the task of fire cover in the second line.

That is. Now the 100 mortars in the troops are afraid that they will have long been dispersed and replenished to the battalions to provide fire cover for the infantry. Now it's not bad to be able to mobilize two battalions of 100 mortars.

But two battalions ......

According to the words of 100 mortars concocted in a company of four. There were also only twenty-four in the two battalions.

The reason why a company is armed with only four is determined by the characteristics of 100 mortars. Although the 100 mortar is easy to use, but this thing is a bit up and down in terms of weight, if it is heavier and larger, such as the Soviet-style 150MM caliber mortar equipped by the devil, then needless to say, it is directly transported by car or towed by three wheels.

But the 100 mortar was not so heavy, and after the split, it was within the range of manpower. So this dismantling, coupled with the need to carry at least a certain number of shells, made it possible for a company to withstand the load of four mortars...... It is useless to equip a few more, you can't carry so many shells, otherwise there is a high probability that there will be no artillery on the battlefield.

But the twenty-four gates were too different from the two regiments I had requested.

But I thought about it...... I'm still thinking about the previous war!

It is indeed possible to concentrate two regiments of mortars, but we don't have to have so many, right? There is an artillery sighting radar, and we didn't use one battalion of long-range artillery to cripple two regiments of Yue Devils!

Thinking of this, I immediately nodded, and after looking at the map, I gave an order to Staff Officer Wei: "Immediately let the mortar units of these two battalions within three kilometers of Laoshan and prepare for battle, fast!" ”

"Yes!" Staff Officer Wei responded. The order was immediately conveyed.

The firing range of 100 mortars was six kilometers, the reason for which they were arranged at a distance of three kilometers from the old mountain. That's because the enemy we have to deal with is very likely not to be in Lao Shan, but hiding behind the slope of Lao Mountain, that is, the Vietnamese mortars in the blind spot of our army's long-range artillery fire, so it is necessary to throw a distance of three kilometers.

The battle turned out exactly as I imagined, and the heavy mortars of the Vietnamese army soon played their part.

Because I heard Chen Weihua's shout: "150MM mortar, azimuth 39 holes and 2 ......"

The response of the Vietnamese long-range artillery fire was a little slower than I expected, while the response of the mortars was much faster than I expected.

However, this seems to be normal, the Vietnamese army is accustomed to using artillery to fight guerrillas, so artillery such as large-caliber mortars, which have a fast rate of fire, a moderate firing range, and most importantly, can be quickly transferred, is naturally very suitable for them.

Compared with those howitzers, which need to be towed by cars at every turn and have long barrels that can be easily detected by the enemy, the 150 mortar only needs to be towed on three wheels, and there are no requirements for position, and you can even shoot a few shots on the road and then drag it away.

Therefore, after a period of application, this large-caliber mortar unit of the Vietnamese army has become another main force of the Vietnamese artillery.

"How!" I soon received a call from Division Commander Jiang: "Why is our army still bombarded by Vietnamese artillery?" What about the artillery sighting radar?! ”

In fact, the infantry had not yet begun to charge, but the mortar units on the front line were also cooperating with our artillery to bombard the Vietnamese fortifications and obstacles...... Long-range artillery fire is an indiscriminate carpet bombardment of the front line of the Vietnamese army, although its power is great, there will always be some places missing, so it is necessary for the front-line mortar units to make some supplements within the visual range.

These mortar units became the targets of the large-caliber mortars of the Vietnamese devils.

It is conceivable that our army is attacking the positions of the Vietnamese troops, and there are a large number of Vietnamese troops on the positions we are facing, and of course there are many soldiers in these Vietnamese troops who know how to calculate the coordinates and even have artillery observers in them. As a result, under the guidance of artillery observers, the mortar shells of the Vietnamese army were easily guided into the mortar positions of our army.

"Report to the Divisional Commander!" Thinking of this, I reported to Master Jiang: "We still need ......"

As I spoke, I turned my gaze to Staff Officer Wei, who understood, and immediately asked in the walkie-talkie for a while, and then quickly replied: "It will take fifteen minutes!" ”

"Division, we still need fifteen minutes to prepare!" I replied: "It is better to let the front-line mortar units not move for the time being, and it is not too late to do so after our troops have suppressed the mortar units of the Vietnamese army!" ”

Time is undoubtedly on our side now...... To put it simply, if we can successfully suppress the Vietnamese artillery, which of course includes long-range artillery and mortars. Then the Vietnamese army in the Lao Son area is almost a lamb to the slaughter. So a fifteen-minute delay isn't a big deal for us. Not to mention that there was still half an hour before the infantry charge.

Of course, Master Jiang also understood this, and only said, "I'm waiting for your good news!" He hung up the phone.

"One hundred mortars, three two eight holes, five ......," Chen Weihua continued.

"Write down all these coordinates!" My staff officer Wei said: "When the 100 mortars are ready, we will shoot them first according to these coordinates!" ”

"Yes!" Staff Officer Wei responded.

But although he responded, there was a strange expression on his face.

I knew what he was wondering about...... The large-caliber mortars of the more devils, as mentioned before, are all mobile guns that are easy to transfer.

Since it's a traveling cannon. So is it useful to mark these sittings? By the time we fought, wasn't the artillery of the Yue devils supposed to be transferred a long time ago?

But what Staff Officer Wei didn't know was ...... The artillery of the Yue devils, that is, the artillerymen of the 150 mortars, should be ecstatic at this time, because they thought that they had finally found a measure that could counter the "new telescope" of the Chinese army: it was safe to shoot in the dead corner of the artillery behind the anti-slope.

So there are always two sides to the story, and the fact that our army did not have 100 mortars ready was, of course, a mistake, which directly caused casualties among the first-line mortar units. But it also has the advantage that the Vietnamese mortar unit did not encounter any counterattack from our troops for a period of time, which is very different from the previous situation when its long-range artillery fire did not have a chance to fire a second shell.

It is precisely because of this that the Vietnamese army is convinced that our army's "new telescopes" have nothing to do with them, that is, they can rest assured that they can organize a large number of mortars and provide fire support to Lao Son in the dead angle of long-range artillery fire on the anticline.

That's a good idea, because that's what it does. The Vietnamese army only needed to arrange enough mortars and some artillery observers on Lao Son...... Then, no matter how our army's long-range artillery fire bombs, how it bombs, and how it provides cover, the Vietnamese mortars can cause a large number of casualties to our infantry.

But the wishes are good. The reality is cruel.

Under this misunderstanding, the Vietnamese army soon amassed a large number of heavy mortars on the anticline of Lao Son, and many of these mortars did not even bother to change positions...... To be exact, it was the Vietnamese army who thought there was no need to convert, anyway, the "new telescopes" of the Chinese soldiers could not see it!

I was able to make such a judgment, of course, because of the coordinates of the position calculated by the artillery sighting radar.

In the recorded series of artillery positions and the number of gates, we can simply classify them, that is, the positions are the same as one category...... Obviously, this category shows that the Vietnamese heavy mortars did not switch positions and fired continuously at the same location.

New coordinates are constantly being added, and this part is, of course, new mortars that have just arrived and are ready for battle.

Add up the number of these artillery fires and I get the number seventy-five.

Good guys, seventy-five heavy mortars, two mortar regiments are gone, no wonder the Yue devils are not in a hurry to replenish the gap in howitzers, these heavy forces are enough to make up for this gap!

What I don't know is that in fact, the Vietnamese army did not have so many heavy mortars in the direction of Lao Son before, but precisely because the two artillery regiments were disabled and could not be replenished for a while, they urgently pulled another heavy mortar regiment up to deal with the emergency.

What the Vietnamese commander was thinking was...... Since howitzers don't even have time to fire a second shell under the "new telescopes" of the Chinese servicemen, what's the use of replenishing more howitzers? It's not the same to let Chinese artillery be used as a target to bomb. It would be better to add some more convenient and maneuverable heavy mortars.

According to the Vietnamese commander, they want to use heavy mortars to develop a way to compete with China's "new telescopes", that is, to use heavy mortars to shoot a cannon and then immediately cover up.

This proved to be doable in hindsight.

The Vietnamese army's practice was to first dig a hidden artillery hole on the anti-slope plane, which was not too large and could just accommodate artillery and heavy mortars. During the operation, the Vietnamese army used manpower to drag the heavy force out, and immediately dragged it back to the Tibetan artillery hole after firing a shot......

It is conceivable that when the artillery is ejected and flying into the air, the artillery aiming radar also needs to detect and calculate, and after the number is obtained, our army will also notify the artillery position of the number of jùtong guò communication equipment, and in the process, the Vietnamese army has already dragged the heavy force back into the hidden artillery hole.

On the contrary, howitzers simply cannot do this because the gun body is too heavy to maneuver in such a short time.

It's a pity that the Vietnamese commander was indeed right in this idea, but now he was not ready for this war to suddenly break out...... Because this plan is still being prepared, the hidden artillery hole has not been excavated at all, and even at this time, the Vietnamese army thought that it seemed unnecessary to dig the hidden artillery hole, as long as it hid in the anticline!

But they soon learned that they were wrong, and very wrong!

"Battalion commander!" Soon Staff Officer Wei reported to me: "100 mortars are ready!" ”

"Good!" I nodded, and casually handed the coordinate record in my hand to Staff Officer Wei: "Take the battalion as a unit, type these coordinates again, and the repeated coordinates will be given priority!" ”

"Yes!" Staff Officer Wei responded, and immediately tore up the coordinate record in half and gave it to the two correspondents.

From this point, it can also be seen that Staff Officer Wei's quick reaction ...... If this task is given to ordinary people, then maybe you have to consider how to distribute it or how to coordinate with the artillery unit, after all, my request is to use the battalion as a unit, which means that the two mortar battalions have to fight in different places.

So there will be at least a few minutes to make some demarcation of these coordinates and establish contact with the two mortar battalions separately.

But this matter was resolved in a few seconds in the hands of Staff Officer Wei...... Tear the coordinate record in half and divide it among the two correspondents.

Although this distribution may be somewhat unscientific, since it is quite possible that one battalion will have a heavier task and another battalion will have a lighter task. But time on the battlefield is of the essence, so doing so is undoubtedly the best option.

So in less than a minute, Staff Officer Wei reported to me: "Ready!" ”

"Fire!"

As soon as I gave the order, 100 mortars fired rows of shells in the direction of the Vietnamese army.

Although the 100 mortars are inferior to the 150MM mortars of the Vietnamese army in terms of range and power, and even the Vietnamese army has an absolute advantage in numbers, the artillery battle is like this, it is often not to see which side's artillery is better, but to see who can accurately find the opponent's artillery position.

In this regard, our army obviously has an absolute advantage, because we have artillery sighting radar, which makes us invincible. (To be continued......)