Chapter 72: Driving the cattle and stepping on the mine

We spent some time inserting warning signs on the minefield to the west to remind the first battalion that followed from behind, and the third battalion troops should pay attention to landmines.

After we took a break and we embarked on the road of marching again. Because we lost most of the guides, our marching speed was very slow. We walked forward for more than half an hour and only walked seven or eight miles.

In fact, the reason why our marching speed is slow is because I want to wait for the troops of the First and Third Battalions appropriately, and the other is because there are many landmines laid by the Vietnamese army along the way, and the soldiers must advance while detecting the mines, so the speed is naturally slow.

Speaking of which, the landmines of the Vietnamese army are really a headache. Those mines buried underground that can be probable with mine detectors are not scary. But the Vietnamese army is not fool. They will not bury such obvious landmines that can be probable in the middle of the road.

Their ways of burying landmines are all kinds of strange things, hanging on trees, buried on the side walls of roads, and hiding in the cracks of stones... In short, walking on this road is just a word, that is, try not to touch anything without touching it, and follow the footprints of the soldiers in front of you, try to follow the footprints.

Isn't this? A soldier wanted to lean on the stone and drink a sip of water, but with such a slight slightest press... he detonated the mine hidden in the crack of the stone. The soldier was not killed by the bomb, but by the gravel that exploded from the crack of the stone.

Another soldier walked to the side of the road to relieve his actions and moved the Teng strip in front of him away. As a result, there was another "boom". A landmine buried on the side wall blew him up and his intestines flew all over the ground...

The most troublesome thing is to pass through the grass. The soldiers always think that there will be no mines in the grass! The Japanese devils want to dig up the grass and bury mines, and there will always be traces on the grass, right? And such a large mine cannot be hung on the grass, right? As long as we don’t walk into the dense grass, what else can we do?

But the fact is not as simple as the soldiers imagined. I don’t know where the Japanese learned it from. They hung many small pieces of TNT explosives in the grass. This TNT explosive is powerful, and as long as a piece as big as a leather brush, it is enough to hurt a person. In addition, the TNT is light yellow, and it is impossible to see it when hung with a transparent fish thread on the grass roots...

At the same time, the mine detector has become a decoration. The mine detector can only detect the mines with metal shells. For such a tnt explosive block, it can only sigh at the thunder!

So although the soldiers were already moving forward carefully, seven soldiers were still bombed on the marching road within half an hour.

Compared to facing these mines, I would rather fight the Vietnamese army on the battlefield! Because when facing mines, the enemy can be said to have zero casualties, but we watched our comrades fall one after another without even seeing the shadow of our opponents. So this only makes me angry the more I move forward, but there is no way to deal with this problem!

"Damn the Japanese!" When another soldier was blown down by a landmine, the people in the hometown could no longer hold back their anger and cursed fiercely: "These guys are all cowards. If you want to fight, come out and fight me happily!"

"That's it!" Some soldiers responded: "What a good man to hide like a mouse!"

"Didn't we destroy one of their company just now? How dare they come out? If I dare to come out, I will tear him out!"

...

I couldn't help but feel a little funny when I heard the soldiers' complaints. In fact, what I said on the battlefield was only reality and interests. The Vietnamese army could use landmines to cause casualties to our army, so there would be no reason to use them. If they really came out to fight us with clear swords and guns, they would be fools!

However, the problem with this mine is really a headache. Although the casualties are not large, it seems that the soldiers have lost their minds.

It’s almost time to reach the 417th Highland and Kumashan Mountain. It doesn’t seem like a good thing to let the soldiers go up to fight with this mentality!

Just when I was worried, I turned a corner of the mountain road and saw an old Vietnamese man grazing cattle on a grass not far away.

So he frowned and thought about it, turned around and shouted to the side: "Hu Shaowen!"

"Come!" Hu Shaowen trotted all the way to me.

"You..." I raised my head to the cows and said, "Go and say to that fellow villager and lend him his cow to us!"

"Battery Commander! How much do you want to borrow?" Hu Shaowen asked hesitantly.

"all!"

"What? All?" Hu Shaowen's face soon showed a look of embarrassment: "Battery Commander, then...what if he doesn't lend it?"

"Don't lend it?" I glared at Hu Shaowen fiercely: "If he doesn't lend it, what is the gun in your hand used?"

Hu Shaowen was stunned for a moment, then stood up helplessly and replied: "Yes!"

"Captain Li!" Looking at the little guy Hu Shaowen, I knew that he couldn't bear to do such a thing, so I gave Li Zhifu another wink and said, "Take a few soldiers to drive the cattle, no one can be left behind!"

"Yes!" Li Zhifu responded very simply, clicked a few soldiers behind and followed.

The situation was indeed as I thought. Hu Shaowen was very persuasive, and the old man refused to "lent" the cattle to us no matter what he said. But this seemed nonsense. Vietnam is not a wealthy country. These dozen cows are a lot of property. Perhaps the whole village is waiting for these cattle to plow the land! Who would be willing to "lent" these cattle to us soldiers who look like cruelty!

In the end, Li Zhifu moved and pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the sky, "Bang bang bang bang!" After three strokes, the old man was so scared that he never dared to object again! He was also a smart person and knew that we were going to make up for this aura. If he objected again, the result would not be different except for losing his life.

Actually, I don’t want to do this. When I gave this order, I was thinking about a word "bullying the weak". This word made me feel very uncomfortable, especially when I saw the pitiful look of the old man, I felt even more disgusted. But these are nothing compared to the lives of the soldiers.

Since we entered the battle together, I have understood one thing: everything on this special battlefield is empty. Even if we don’t take their stitches and threads to the Vietnamese people, they will never welcome us. Therefore, the real one is the lives of the soldiers. As long as it is beneficial to our troops and as long as it can save the lives of the soldiers, then morality, discipline, quality... go aside!

"Battery Commander!" After a while, Li Zhifu rushed back with the cows. He pointed to the cows and wiped their saliva and smiled: "Are we...hehe..."

"Yes, battalion commander!" Some soldiers also echoed: "We have been eating canned food these days, and we are tired of eating it. The battalion commander is thoughtful and we can have a tooth sacrificial sacrifice!"

"Take you so much!" I cursed with a wry smile: "You guys, you all day long, can you eat... Can these ordinary cows eat casually? Can you eat this borrowed thing just by saying that you can eat it?"

"Battery Commander..." Li Zhifu and the others were confused when I said this.

I smiled softly and said, "I just borrowed a few cows from my fellow villagers to lead the way. Do you understand?"

He ignored them and ordered on the walkie-talkie: "The reconnaissance forces stop advancing and come back and drive the cattle to walk in front!"

"Yes!" Yang Songjian, who was in the reconnaissance mission ahead, quickly responded.

"Oh!" The soldiers suddenly realized.

The hometown man smiled bitterly and whispered to me: "If you drive a cow and step on a thunder, just step on a thunder. Why do you say that you can borrow a cow to lead the way!"

I also smiled, as the saying goes, those who are close to Zhu are red and those who are close to Mo are black. After being with Captain Zhang for a long time, I have learned the official language and clichés before I knew it, and I can also say everything so well!

But all of this is not important, what matters is that I am right.

The effect of driving cattle and stepping on mines is very good. Of course, the soldiers do not drive the cattle forward slowly as usual. If they do that, once a landmine explodes, the cattle will soon flee in all directions due to fright.

Many of the soldiers came out of the countryside, so they knew this very well. So they thought of another way, which was to go up one cow and one cow, just like the "greasing tactic" we used on the battlefield. Only in this way can we achieve the greatest results with the lowest cost!

The soldiers also had a unique idea of ​​tieing a small canopy on the ox's tail, so that the ox would detonate as many landmines as possible when it was running. After all these were prepared, someone would pull out the army to stab the ox on the butt...

The painful cow ran forward along the mountain road as if it was crazy, because it had the characteristics of fast speed, thick skin, strong vitality, and often the branches behind it were the branches behind it, so few mines could blow it. So when it rushed down the road, we heard the mines explode in front of it, "boom...". It felt really good!

With these cattle, our march speed naturally became much faster. When we successfully reached the target position, High 417, we only took half an hour to see the Vietnamese defense line. At this time, our cattle still had four of them not used up.

"Battery Commander!" I took a few people to lie in the grass and observe the 417 Heights blocking in front of me. The deputy battalion commander slowly climbed up and asked: "Zhu Jixing has measured it, and I'm sure this is the 417 Heights!"

"Well!" I nodded. The 417th Highland has arrived, so it is not far from Kouma Mountain. Once Kouma Mountain is hit, you can look down at Lang San from a high place.

Speaking of which, when many people hear the place name Lang Son, their first reaction is that it should be a mountain. Actually, I thought so the first time I thought so, and later I realized that it was not.

Lang Son is a city in Vietnam. The terrain is a basin, surrounded by various highlands on all sides, including 536 highlands, 445 highlands, 461 highlands, Ba Waishan, and the 417 highlands and Koma Mountain we are going to attack. These highlands guard the main transportation routes of our army to Lang Son City, and are also the main barriers to protect Lang Son City. Once our army attacks these highlands, long-range weapons can directly attack Lang Son City. Therefore, capturing these peripheral highlands is undoubtedly the key to attack Lang Son City.

But we all know this, but the Vietnamese army also knew it. So in order to defend Lang Son, the gateway to the capital Hanoi, the Vietnamese army mobilized heavy troops to defend the outer edge of Lang Son City. Just like the 417 highland I see now, the trenches were full of fully armed Vietnamese troops running back and forth.

The other troops of our division seemed to have arrived at their destination one step earlier than us, which can be seen from other directions that the sound of gunfire was tightened.

The upper left of the 417 highland is 800 meters high, and the upper right is the 536 highland. Both highlands are higher than the 417 highland. Even if the Vietnamese army loses this highland, it will be easy to retake it. Moreover, the highland is relatively in front and is easily attacked by the enemy, so generally speaking, such a highland does not require too many troops to be deployed!

But I observed here for a long time and knew that like a high ground, the Vietnamese army also arranged at least one battalion of troops. This was a strange phenomenon for the Vietnamese army with insufficient troops, but it also showed how much importance Yue attaches to Lang Son's defense.

"Battery Commander!" Zhou Changxiang raised his telescope and observed for a while, then asked in a low voice: "Do you want to report to the regiment headquarters?"

I hesitated for a while and then replied: "Let's wait! After we figure out the enemy's situation, we will report the details to the regiment headquarters!"

"Yes!" Zhou Changxiang responded, as if he was a little surprised.

I know why he was surprised. Generally, at this time, we have confirmed that the high ground in front of us is the 417 high ground, so we should report to the regiment headquarters that we have arrived at the destination and ask our superiors to instruct the next action.

But I didn't do this because I was worried... What if the regiment commander Zhang was so angry and ordered us to take the lead in launching an attack on the 417 Highlands? Not to mention that there is a battalion of Vietnamese troops on the 417 Highlands, and there are also Guma Mountain and 536 Highlands to protect it from the left and right! Any of these two highlands can hit the shells condescendingly to the 417 Highlands. Without other forces to cooperate with me to take a battalion troops to attack, it would be tantamount to seeking death!

So, the best way is to delay! Fortunately, I will also be an official voice, so the situation needs to be clearly detected before reporting it clearly!

Climbing back to the army from the grass in the highlands, I summoned the company commanders in front of the map, but after looking at the map for a while, I couldn't understand where it was. By the way, although I was a road blind, I was also a regiment commander on the battlefield of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. I was also a person who had commanded several battles on the map, but I couldn't understand the map... It was completely different from the actual terrain!

So I had to push the map to the side, picked up a branch and drew it on the ground: "This is the 417 highland, and there are three triangular highlands arranged on the front, and our location is here..."

I pointed to the three high grounds and said, "We temporarily group these three high grounds into No. 1, 2, and 3. The fourth company is responsible for defending No. 1, 5th company is defensive to No. 2, and the sixth company is defensive to No. 3..."

"Battery Commander!" Listening to my order, the instructor was a little surprised: "We are here to attack the enemy, why are we still defending?"

I looked at the sky and replied, "It's going to be dark. Flying in the water is the most popular trick for the Japanese devils! They won't be there to wait for us to attack, not to mention that our army has just arrived at the front line, and is not familiar with the terrain and the enemy's situation, and is not stable. This is a great opportunity for them to sneak attack our army!"

"Oh!" After hearing this, everyone realized it and couldn't help but nodded in agreement.

I pointed to the sketch on the ground and continued: "Each company has built field fortifications and laid mines on each high ground, especially the narrow valley between the high ground and the high ground. We must arrange sentries and troops to prevent the Vietnamese army from attacking in the dark, and be sure to complete the task before dark. The command tonight is... to drive cattle and step on mines. Is there any problem?"

"No problem!"

"Make sure to complete the task!"

...

The soldiers responded and scattered their own fortifications to be built.

After arranging these, I picked up a flat stone and sat down, took out a can of beef from my backpack and pried it open and chewed it out. After a whole day of busyness, I really felt a little hungry, so I ate it in less than a while.

Just after eating, a correspondent ran up and reported to me: "Battery Commander, the troops of the First Battalion and the Third Battalion are coming!"

"Um!" I raised my telescope and looked back. It was really! I didn't expect that their movements were so fast. As soon as we reached the front, they followed. After thinking about it, I felt so stupid. We walked in front and drained all the landmines. It was strange that they were so unhappy that they were following behind!

"Battery Commander!" At this time, another correspondent ran up to report and said, "Captain Zhang asked you to go there, saying that... went to the regiment headquarters for a meeting!"

Meeting! Hearing this, I couldn't help but curse in my heart. I didn't know where the regiment headquarters was, so I had a meeting! With the character of Captain Zhang, I think I'm studying the combat plan again! I'm going to fight now, and I'm more anxious than anyone else!

As expected, when I took the deputy battalion commander and asked a few soldiers to find the regiment headquarters, I found that the battalion commanders of the other two battalions were already waiting inside.

As soon as I saw me walking in, Commander Zhang nodded at me and said anxiously: "Our regiment has arrived at the destination two hours later than planned. The 638th regiment has launched an attack on Komashan on the front, but our roundabout troops have not even captured the 417th Hike! The superiors ordered us to immediately attack the 417th Hike with one force as planned, and the rest cooperated with the 638th regiment to attack Komashan flanks..."

"Captain!" Hearing this, I couldn't help but stand up and said, "I think it's not suitable for attack now. We are not very familiar with the battlefield situation, terrain, and enemy situation. We should have a familiar process for the troops! Moreover, it will soon be dark now, and it will be even more unfavorable for our army who are not familiar with the terrain!"
Chapter completed!