Chapter 143: Demining

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

What we are concerned about now is not how many Japanese devils will encounter in this battle, or whether they can take down this high ground... but whether the engineers have successfully discharged the mines. The reason is obvious. For us, mines are far more terrifying than Japanese devils.

"Squad Leader Wei!" Captain Luo asked in a low voice on the walkie-talkie: "How is the situation?"

Squad Leader Wei is the engineer squad leader who performs mine clearance operations in front. Although the coordination between our troops is not very good, the connection between the company and the engineers who clear mine clearance in front can still be achieved.

Only when we have contact with the engineer troops can we know where the channel after the mine clearance is not? Our army's communication equipment is backward, and the coordination awareness is poor, but we are not stupid.

"Not very good!" Squad Leader Wei's answer came from the walkie-talkie: "We have accelerated, but we have only advanced twenty meters, and at least fifty meters..."

Company Commander Luo and I couldn't help but take a breath. There were still fifty meters... and the total attack time is only ten minutes now!

Maybe some people will say... Squad Leader Wei? Does that mean that there is only one engineer squad in front of medecline operations? Will this number be too small? Is there a little more people going up? Isn't it faster?

There is indeed only one engineer squad ahead, but if it is so simple, it would be too natural. Sometimes the more people are working, the faster the mines are. The reason is that our goal is not to eliminate all the mines in the entire minefield, but to discharge a safe passage therein... It can be imagined that in this case, the people in front are clearing mines. No matter how many people there are behind, they will not be able to help. More people will increase the chance of exposure.

"Company Commander Luo!" After pausing, the voice of Squad Leader Wei came from the walkie-talkie: "When the general attack is launched, our army will have twenty minutes of artillery fire preparations. I am going to speed up the mine clearance at this time. We have brought more than a dozen detonating cables of more than 30 meters. Please rest assured, the infantry comrades, we will definitely complete the task and will not drag you down!"

"Thank you, Comrade Engineer!" Corps Luo replied, and the concern on his face eased.

It should be said that Squad Leader Wei's method is still feasible. They are now unable to make any sound because they want to hide mines and cannot make any sounds, so the mine clearance speed is slow... However, once our army's artillery is launched, the Vietnamese army will definitely realize that our army is about to attack, and it doesn't matter whether it is exposed or not. In addition, there is also the cover of artillery fire... The engineers can really let go of their hands and feet.

And I also know about the detonation cable... Detonation cable, as the name suggests, is a rope that guides the explosion. It is an elastic soft cable filled with violent explosives. The core part of this soft cable is generally filled with explosives such as Black Sorkin or Oktokin, with a charge of ten to thirteen grams per meter. It can be imagined that when such a rope is fired and exploded on the ground... the triggering lightning nearby, tripping lightning may be detonated by the shock wave generated by its explosion, and then a safety trail will be split out.

A fuse is more than 30 meters. That means... if it goes well, just take a few more times and you can open a safe passage that is enough for our troops to charge.

Thinking of this, I felt a little calmer and just waited for the time when the general attack was launched.

"Pass the order!" Captain Luo looked at his watch and said in a low voice: "Be prepared for battle and wait for the order!"

"Be ready for battle and wait for orders!"

...

The orders were passed one by one, and the atmosphere became tense. Some soldiers finally checked their equipment, some soldiers began to throw away the remaining food, and some soldiers touched here and there but didn't know what to do... There were heavy breathing everywhere around them, and fortunately it was at night, and our army lurked and ran away from the Vietnamese high ground, otherwise these actions would have been discovered by the Vietnamese army.

The nights in Vietnam were already cold, so how could it be that the drizzle fell from the sky again, which made the soldiers feel even worse. However, the soldiers didn't say anything because everyone knew that the suffering they were suffering now was just the beginning.

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

Some people say why it is not red? Aren’t it red in movies and TV?

Signal flares are generally divided into three colors: red, green, white (yellow), and red and green are used to show their appearance. Generally speaking, there will be green signal flares when implementing artillery preparations, and red signal flares are used when commanding the troops launch a charge. Red is used in movies and TV... It can only be said that it is for visual effects!

The sound of cannons quickly rang out, and one round of cannonballs hit the Vietnamese high ground accurately. With a shocking loud noise... the barbed wire mesh that the Vietnamese army had just laid on it, the wooden fence was blown into pieces and threw it into the air.

However, at this time I didn't have the heart to pay attention to these things. Perhaps it was because I had experienced several shellings before... so now I can still focus my energy on the engineering troops in front of me in this situation.

As Squad Leader Wei said before, the moment of artillery fire preparation is when the engineers accelerate the mine removal. With the fire from the shells, I could vaguely see in the telescope that more than a dozen soldiers in front were jumping out of the hidden point and moving forward quickly...

At this time, their mine clearance speed was indeed much faster. They saw them slapped with bamboo poles and blew them with grenades... but in a while they advanced more than ten meters, but I never saw them using detonation cables.

Just when I was confused, the intercom vaguely heard the squad leader Wei’s shout: “The thatch is too deep, the detonator cable cannot be fired out! Repeat, the thatch is too deep, the detonator cable cannot be fired out…”

This result seems to be unexpected, but it is also expected that many places in Vietnam are mixed with kudzu vines. These kudzu vines and thatch will become a very resilient net, so it is normal that the detonation cable cannot be launched... Maybe some people will say, is it enough to just launch it at a high place? Not to mention that it may be blocked by branches and trunks when it explodes at a high place, and it is difficult for the detonation cable to explode at a high place to detonate mines buried underground. This result can only be futile.

The twenty-minute artillery fire was about to pass soon, and the artillery fire had already begun to extend into the depths of the Vietnamese army. Just when Company Commander Luo and I were anxious, we heard the squad leader Wei's cry in the walkie-talkie: "Everyone has it! There is not much time left. Now I order: The whole class is divided into four groups, each with three people, and the distance between groups is fifteen meters. We will walk out a safe passage for the infantry comrades!"

"What?" Upon hearing this, Company Commander Luo and I couldn't help but look at each other, and we were shocked to see each other in each other's eyes.

Using 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 would be so stupid... But now it really appears in front of me.

I raised my telescope and looked at the minefield. Sure enough, I saw that the engineers had already divided into groups to continue moving forward. Unlike before, this time, they were moving faster this time, and basically used bamboo poles to detonate mines at close range...

Some people may say that engineers use human bodies to clear mines... What is the difference between landmines not eliminated infantry charges? Isn’t it the same that they use human bodies to break out a way in the minefield?

Of course there are differences, and the difference is quite big. Infantry charges with speed and relatively dense formations. The explosion of a mine often hurts several soldiers, and even delays the charge speed of the infantry... This is often fatal when there is defense of the Vietnamese army.

But engineers are different from mine clearance. Just like the order given by Squad Leader Wei, the groups are fifteen meters apart, and each group has only three people... In addition, they have rich experience in mine clearance, and often have the sixth sense to know which units have thunder, so the effect will naturally be much better than infantry.

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

With a "boom!", a loud noise came from the walkie-talkie, followed by the shouts of other soldiers: "Squad leader, squad leader..."

Obviously, it was Squad Leader Wei who was blown up by the mine this time.

But even as mentioned before, landmines are often injured but not killed, so squad leader Wei did not sacrifice. Soon, the voice of squad leader Wei came from the walkie-talkie: "The second group continues to move forward, no matter how much you delay! Wang Jin, come over and follow me with me on your back..."

At this time, I couldn't believe my ears. It should be said that Squad Leader Wei was injured by the bomb at this time. He had too many reasons to withdraw from the battle. No one would blame him or even treat him as a hero... However, he chose another way, a path I could not imagine.

"Boom..." Soon there were a few loud noises. In my telescope, the second group that had just entered was blown away from blood and flesh. This time they encountered a chain of thunder... Wang Jin, who was carrying squad leader Wei behind, was also blown away.

Soon I saw that the third group was added... No one retreated.

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

As he said that, he dragged his legs that were injured by the blow, crawled forward with the support of his hands, and rolled forward... This time he only advanced four meters, and another loud bang...

"Squad leader!"

"Squad leader!"

...

After a scream, the fourth group of the engineers went up again...

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Chapter completed!