Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Secret Order is, of course, a password! But what should it be? It needs to have a specific meaning, something that ordinary people wouldn't guess.
I thought for a moment; terms like "advance" or "light" were too weak. Last year, Drill used "Long Live the Revolution" as a password—whoever came up with that must have been out of their mind! This time, we need something special.
I looked around and suddenly noticed Pudding bouncing around in the driver's seat. Aha! I turned to him and said, "The password is Pudding! The counter-password is 'crow'! Anyone who can't answer will be shot. If there are no issues and the southern line is peaceful, once Drill is over, we'll come back to pick you up."
Second Squad Leader suddenly asked, "Doesn't the Red Army have bridge Engineers? What if they break through here? What will Third Squad Leader do?"
I gave them a meaningful look. "I can guarantee that crossing the river from here has been surveyed and approved by higher-ups. This means that the water flow and distance are suitable for the Mechanized Unit to cross quickly. Therefore, the enemy won't choose a longer route either; they will also opt for this spot. If the Red Army has broken through here, what can Third Squad Leader do?"
Third Squad Leader stood at attention and replied, "We will resist to the death! Buy some time!"
I smiled mysteriously. "Third Squad Leader, actually you have a better option."
Everyone looked at me curiously. "Later on, other units' Engineers will also cross using our Floating Bridge. You should ask them to place two Dynamite Packs under the bridge—one at each end—and attach detonators. If the Red Army attacks, you can pretend to resist for a while before retreating across the river, exposing the bridge to lure them into crossing from above. With a ready-made Floating Bridge, only a fool would build another one; this saves time. Leave one person hidden to observe while you blow up the bridge—detonate both ends. Ideally, take out their command vehicle!"
They looked enlightened. "Wow, what a brilliant plan!" "Commander, I didn't realize you were so cunning!"
I chuckled; deception is part of warfare—having an extra backup is always good. "Third Squad Leader, do you have confidence in completing this mission?" I asked seriously.
"Yes! I swear to complete the mission!"
I smiled in satisfaction and then directed everyone to set up the Underwater Floating Bridge. The construction of the Floating Bridge went quickly; we finished in less than half an hour at Xiangjiang, and this river was even easier.
After setting up low-brightness guiding lights on both sides of the Floating Bridge, I reported our progress to Instructor. He ordered us to cross immediately and head to the pre-set position at the Beachhead for fortification.
Before leaving, I left two machine guns, one cannon, and plenty of ammunition with Third Squad Leader and Class Leader of the Twelfth Squad. This was actually part of my Unintentional strategy, but who would have thought that this seemingly casual arrangement would later influence the outcome of a battle?
After making arrangements, we continued on our way to the designated position and finally arrived at around four in the early morning.
The coastal area was hilly with small valleys between mountains—wide enough for three or four trucks side by side. Beyond this Passage, we reached the beach.
At summer's edge, dawn was breaking; the beach was not large—less than two kilometers long—and both sides were blocked by cliffs.
We parked our vehicles a little way from the shore and began unloading various equipment. At that moment, Instructor approached with Eyewear Expert.
"Commander, gather all the Squad Leaders and line them up in front of the equipment. The expert will provide temporary guidance and instruction," the Instructor commanded.
"Understood!" I immediately blew the whistle to announce a meeting for the core team while the others rested in place.
As I watched everyone gather, the expert surprisingly stepped forward, adjusted his glasses, and was about to start speaking. It was clear he had never worked at the grassroots level; he didn't even wait for my report. However, I was glad to step aside.
"Everyone, ahem." The expert cleared his throat. "Now, I will explain the use of the equipment. The obstacle equipment is actually quite easy to use. Once I clarify the principles, you will naturally know how to set it up."
People began whispering among themselves, and the Instructor coughed loudly to quiet them down, though some still murmured.
"I'll first give a general overview so everyone has an understanding." Once he got into his area of expertise, the expert seemed to transform into a more confident person. "As you all know, we are playing the role of the Blue Army in this anti-landing exercise. The Whitened forces are mimicking our military to provide a simulated enemy for the Red Army. Over more than fifty years of hard work, our military has established various types of obstacles around the beachheads and support points in both mainland and offshore areas, with a depth usually ranging from 400 to 500 meters and sometimes reaching 800 meters. The Taiwanese Military's anti-landing obstacles have effectively combined early setups with last-minute arrangements, manual placements with natural formations, and firepower with obstruction. This creates an organic combination of obstacles and firepower—firepower covers obstacles while obstacles supplement firepower, integrating firepower, fortifications, and barriers into one cohesive unit. Based on their effective range, these can be divided into three obstacle zones: Underwater Obstacle Zone, Water's Edge Obstacle Zone, and Beachhead Obstacle Zone. Of course, due to the temporary nature of this drill, we can only attempt to simulate these three zones."
Everyone listened attentively; after all, it involved our profession and we would soon have to get to work.
"Alright, let's go through them one by one. First is the Underwater Obstacle Zone, primarily used to destroy larger landing craft or impede their transfer during landing operations. It is typically set up 8 to 1 nautical miles beyond low tide and consists of basic minefields, forward minefields, and coastal minefields. The main obstacles include various sea mines, floating barriers, and wrecks. This part doesn't require much attention; technically it is an early setup that command has assumed exists in the first two minefields. Therefore, landing troops must follow complete mine-clearing procedures; however, later on, engineers will handle setting up coastal minefields."
"The Water's Edge Obstacle Zone is also usually established and includes steel fences, iron stakes, rail barricades, 500-pound explosive mines, and anti-landing sea mines. Engineers will also set these up later on."
At this point, Xuanhua shouted out loudly, "Report Leader! If we don't have to do this or that, what are we here for?!" Laughter erupted around us.
"Good question," Glasses replied without getting annoyed. "Next comes our task: the Beachhead Obstacle Zone! This zone is mainly used to inflict casualties on enemy landing troops and hinder or destroy their landing equipment to prevent them from rushing ashore and expanding their landing area into deeper territory. It is usually set between the high water line and forward positions and consists of multiple lines of different obstacles. So Whitened forces are about 100 meters out in front of you in that passage; within that distance you need to set up: pyramids, obstruction trenches, barriers walls, barbed wire fences, caltrops, steel hedgehogs, iron fences, knife ridges, thorn bushes, fire barriers, anti-air drop triangles, artificial cliffs… and so on."
"Wow! That's a lot!?" Sheng Xiong exclaimed in surprise.
"The obstacles we brought include pyramids, barbed wire fences, caltrops, steel hedgehogs, iron fences, and anti-air drop triangles; you'll have to dig the obstruction trenches yourselves."
As Glasses opened a box behind him and began demonstrating how to use each item—most of which were ready-made products—it became clear that it was all about how effectively they could be arranged for maximum obstruction. In essence: you must use your cunning to create as much trouble as possible for your opponent; the more trouble you can cause them—the better!
With expertise comes passion; watching Glasses speak enthusiastically while the soldiers listened intently made me sigh in admiration.
When Glasses finished his presentation, Jinghe suddenly interjected: "Leader! What if we work hard setting up these obstacles but the enemy doesn't land here?"
Glasses paused for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "That's not something I've considered; I'm just following orders from above to construct these obstacle positions."
The Instructor scolded, "Where is all this nonsense coming from? A soldier's duty is to obey orders. Get to work on the obstacles! Hurry up and disperse to get it done!"
I quickly directed everyone to start collecting equipment and begin the obstacle setup. After a bumpy night, we were all feeling a bit sluggish, especially since this was just an unimportant Landing Point. Fortunately, the area wasn't large. Following Glasses' deployment plan, we began laying obstacles from the beach slowly towards the shore, leaving a section clear for the Engineers to lay mines later.
By this time, it was already brightening up. The Instructor urged everyone to work faster; after all, the Drill would start at 1 AM, and every obstacle he could set up would increase our chances of winning. Just as we were busy, another group of troops arrived behind us in trucks. They got out and started shouting along the shore. The soldiers on guard used Walkie-Talkies to call me and the Instructor, informing us that they were from the Engineer Company, here to lay various mines.
Like us, they were also a detached Unit, consisting of about thirty or forty people led by a Deputy Company Commander. Their vehicles were loaded with all kinds of mines: Sea Mines, Anti-Tank Mines, and individual Landmines—several trucks full! This drew the attention of our soldiers on the shore, who crowded around to watch, causing a bottleneck that made unloading difficult.
Feeling a bit embarrassed as if our people had never seen such things before, I hurried over to apologize. Fortunately, Deputy Company Commander Cai Jun was understanding. Upon learning my identity, he offered me a cigarette. "Let them take a break for now; we’ll need your Assault Boat later to help us lay mines at sea."
"That sounds good; we'll do our best to cooperate," I replied respectfully as I took the cigarette and placed it behind my ear.
"Let's help each other out. Once you finish your tasks, our team will need to lay mines on the Beachhead. Make sure to keep your distance and stay safe!" Cai Jun said casually.
This should be Glasses' beach minefield. Typically, these are mixed in between frontline fortifications or laid on easily accessible Beachheads (with one tank mine buried for every four anti-infantry mines). Since the Drill starts at night, there are also illumination mines and chemical mines involved. It was quite an experience; I learned a lot and saw many things I hadn't encountered before. It was definitely worthwhile, I thought to myself.
(To be continued; more exciting developments tomorrow!)
Comment 0 Comment Count