"Captain!" After a moment of silence, I asked: "The mission of our combined battalion is..."
Although I have my own ideas, I am not responsible for this battle. The current combined battalion is just a unit transferred to the command of the 703rd Regiment, so I am not suitable to speak on this occasion.
"That's right!" Commander Shen replied: "Before your synthetic battalion arrived, we had already launched several attacks on the main peak of Kulin Mountain, but all failed. After the war, we made a summary and felt that the main reason was The terrain of this mountainous area is complicated with dense forests and dense grass. For example, our army attacks the main peak 1705.2 along the heights 14, 15, and 16. However, it takes three or four hours for our army to reach the front of position 14. This determines that our army cannot Carrying heavy equipment and too much ammunition, and in the process, our army would continue to be attacked by small groups of Vietnamese troops, so by the time we arrived at the front of position 14, we were already exhausted, not to mention that more than half of the ammunition was lost, and At this time, the Vietnamese troops on Highland 14 were waiting for us to attack. Needless to say, the result was that although our army had the fire cover of long-range artillery, it was difficult to move forward. Once, it took heavy casualties to capture Highland 14, but it was difficult to move. It was quickly snatched back by the enemy due to lack of ammunition!"
I can understand what Commander Shen said. First of all, our army will definitely have an advantage in artillery. There is no doubt about this.
For example, the artillery firepower of our army in the direction of Kuolin Mountain is currently in place. In addition to the regimental artillery of the 703rd Regiment, superiors have also strengthened our artillery twice.
For the first time, two 122MM howitzer batteries, two 107MM rocket launcher batteries, and one 85MM cannon battery were strengthened. Then it was felt that these artillery units were not enough, so an artillery battalion and an artillery company were strengthened.
In other words, even though our army is only attacking Linshan with one regiment, there are nearly a hundred artillery pieces behind this regiment, and this does not include small-caliber artillery such as mortars.
Therefore, the Japanese are definitely at a disadvantage when it comes to artillery.
However, artillery is indeed important in war, but it does not mean that artillery has the advantage to win the war, especially in mountainous battles with complex terrain.
Just like Commander Shen said just now, our commando team was harassed by the Japanese Japs along the way. After two or three hours, we climbed to the enemy's forward position and were tired and out of ammunition before we even started fighting. How could we attack the enemy? attack.
"Have you ever tried lurking?" I asked.
Ambush is a tactic commonly used by our army, and of course it is also a tactic commonly used by the Vietnamese army. Since this is a battle in a terrain with deep forests and dense grass, we can secretly lurk to the Vietnamese army’s forward positions, and then wait for the artillery’s coordination to take down the enemy in one fell swoop. Isn't it an enemy position?
"Of course I tried!" Commander Shen nodded: "But the hidden sentries of the Vietnamese army were very tightly distributed along the way. In addition, there were landmines everywhere, so our army was discovered by the Vietnamese army several times in stealth but failed!"
I am not surprised by this answer. The enemy's ability to hide in the forest is beyond words. It is not easy for our army to hide their secret sentry. Of course, if Chen Yiyi or Chen Qiaoqiao are allowed to go all the way, It is still possible to lead the way, but the risk is quite high.
"This is our plan!" Commander Shen continued: "We heard that the Heping Battalion has a helicopter unit, so we hope that the Helicopter Battalion's helicopter unit will help our troops enter the Vietnamese army's forward positions and then attack the Vietnamese army. The position provides cover."
"Hmm!" Commander Shen said this and I understood Commander Shen's plan.
To be honest, this plan is indeed feasible. Having helicopters covering our commandos will reduce a lot of interference along the way... Helicopters have rocket launchers, anti-aircraft machine guns and even snipers. These firepower can not only greatly reduce our army's ammunition consumption, It can also provide early warning for our army, and even airdrop equipment or supplies when necessary.
This is also the benefit of helicopters. If tanks are the king of land warfare, then helicopters should be the king of such harsh environments, especially mountain warfare.
The reason is very simple. For example, the main peak of Koulin Mountain is more than 1,700 meters. Even if the mountain at such a height is not harassed by the Vietnamese army, and there is no Vietnamese army in other highlands to block it on the way, it would be difficult to climb up this mountain in full force. Five or six hours. But for a helicopter, it's just a few minutes of climbing.
but……
After looking at the terrain map on the table, I frowned and said to Commander Shen: "Captain, I think it will be difficult to implement this plan!"
"What's the difficulty?" Captain Shen was obviously not very satisfied with my answer.
I pointed to the map and explained: "First of all, the Kulin Mountains are densely forested and grassy. It is easy for the ground troops below to hide, but it is difficult for the helicopter to find the target when looking down from above. But this is not the main reason. Even if we cannot find the target, we can't find it." Attacks can be carried out according to the instructions of the ground troops or according to the enemy's firepower characteristics. What's even more deadly is that from the 14, 15, and 16 heights all the way up to the main peak of Kuolin Mountain, the straight-line distance between the highlands is not the same. It’s not far away, but the height difference is huge. So this will cause a problem. When our helicopters provide cover for ground troops, they will be flanked by enemy fire or even attacked from above because of this height difference.”
Hearing this, Commander Shen couldn't help but reveal a thoughtful look on his face. This was something he didn't expect, but it wasn't surprising since he had no experience in using helicopters!
"You must know that the protection of our helicopters is not good!" I continued: "The protection characteristic of helicopters is that the armor at the bottom is thick and the armor in other directions is thin. If it is hit by side fire or top-down fire, even if it crosses Even our helicopters can’t stand the AK47 in the hands of the Japanese. Not to mention that the Japanese have a large number of anti-aircraft machine guns, rocket launchers, recoilless rifles and small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery!”
Hearing this, Captain Shen couldn't help but frowned again. It was obvious that he knew what I said made sense, which meant that the problem was still not solved.
"What's the situation in the First Battalion now?" I asked too eloquently.
Commander Shen glanced at Deputy Battalion Commander Chen standing nearby, sighed and said, "We have lost contact with them. The situation is not optimistic."
"So... how is the leader going to deal with this matter?" I asked carefully.
"Yeah!" The regiment leader hesitated for a moment, glanced at Deputy Battalion Commander Chen again and gritted his teeth before replying: "There will always be a time when we have to face this problem. The facts are very clear. Trapped in the valley between Highland 27 and the main peak, this valley can be said to be almost undefeable. They are obviously encircling the point for reinforcements, hoping that we will continue to invest troops in and affect our army's response to the entire battle. ,so……"
Having said this, the regiment leader looked at Deputy Battalion Commander Chen with an apologetic expression: "Deputy Battalion Commander Chen, I hope you can understand our difficulties. For the sake of the overall battle situation and the lives of other soldiers, I have to give up the first battalion! "
"Captain!" Deputy Battalion Commander Chen replied excitedly: "We don't want to drag down other troops, nor will it affect the overall situation. I just hope that the regiment commander will agree to let us go up and let our first battalion rescue them. Even if we die in the hands of Yue Japanese, we will admit it..."
"Damn it!" Deputy Battalion Commander Chen interrupted the regiment leader: "Aren't your battalion soldiers of the 703rd Regiment? Are your lives not lives? You don't want to drag others down and it doesn't affect the overall battle!"
"Captain! Is there nothing we can do?" Deputy Battalion Commander Chen was still unwilling to give in: "That's more than 200 people!"
"If you have a way, you should tell me about it!" Captain Shen replied angrily: "Aren't they my soldiers? I won't worry if they are surrounded? If you have a way, you still need to tell me... …”
The regiment leader seemed to be holding back his anger these days, so he couldn't hold back his curses and vented his anger on Deputy Battalion Commander Chen.
I can understand the mentality of the group leader. The most difficult and stressful thing now is actually the group leader. If we save him, we will push more people into the fire pit. If we don’t save him, we will be burned again. The soldiers and monsters under his command are unkind and risk dissatisfaction with people's hearts. I think this is one of the reasons why Captain Shen's eyes are red and his mental state is not good.
"Captain!" I said, "I don't think it's appropriate to give up those six platoons like this! During this period, the superiors are focusing on building the image of the army among the people, that is, emphasizing scientific and rational use of troops, and trying their best to In exchange for the greatest victory at the smallest cost, if these six platoons are surrounded and annihilated by the Japanese, even if we finally win, I'm afraid..."
"I know this!" Commander Shen interrupted me impatiently: "The situation is now like this. It is the lesser of two evils. We can only put them aside temporarily, otherwise what else can we do? ?!"
"There is a way!" I said.
"Well, tell me!"
Commander Shen and Deputy Battalion Commander Chen both looked at me in unison, but their gazes were a little different. Commander Shen treated a dead horse like a living horse with a listen-and-see attitude, while Deputy Battalion Commander Chen seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw and was full of expectations.
"This is what I think!" I said: "As the leader just said, it will take more than three hours for us to reach position 14, which means that we are a direct threat to the main peak of Kulin Mountain, so this The Vietnamese troops on the main peak must not be very alert!"
The truth is actually very simple. There are other positions blocking the front, and there are also a lot of open and hidden sentries. Every step the Chinese soldiers take is under their control. So what do they have to worry about on the main peak? Don’t worry and wait!
"You may be right, but what's the use to us?" The leader asked without thinking, "Do you still want to capture the main peak directly?"
"Yes! I just want to capture the main peak directly!"
My answer left both the regiment leader and Deputy Battalion Commander Chen dumbfounded.