The mountain road was rugged and seemed to be the same everywhere, but the guerrillas walked very easily. If it weren't for the heavy shells on their shoulders, they could almost walk at full speed.
Finally, after walking for an hour in the bare mountains, Khwaja said, "We're here."
A cave appeared in front of us. The entrance of the cave was almost vertical and was blocked by the mountain on the opposite side. It was almost impossible to detect from the air. This natural cave was the natural base of this guerrilla force.
"Herman, go to the back mountain to get some water and cook dinner." Khawaja said to a guerrilla.
"Yes." Hermann took out a large iron bucket from the cave and ran towards the back mountain.
The terrain here is concealed. Even if the Soviets wanted to come and clear out the enemy, they would be unable to attack because the roads are too rugged and the armored troops could not get in. Moreover, there is a water source in the back mountain, so this base is a very good choice.
Muhammad couldn't help but admire in his heart. If the guerrilla team he used to be in also had such a base, they would not have been wiped out, with only himself and Durani escaping.
"Move all these shells inside," Hewaja said, and then he turned to Muhammad, "Sir, we have brought all these shells to the base, but we don't have any tank guns, so we can't use these shells. What do you think?"
Khwaja believed Muhammad's achievements only after he saw them with his own eyes. Otherwise, he would not have asked his men to carry so many artillery shells back. In his opinion, these artillery shells were of no use.
"Captain Hewaja, please don't call me instructor, just call me Muhammad." Muhammad said: "Believe me, these shells are our most precious treasures."
After that, Muhammad unfolded a map he carried with him, looked at it carefully, and said, "There is a sentry post 20 kilometers west of us. You all know about it, right?"
Of course they knew about this outpost. After the Soviets took control of Jalalabad, in order to deal with the guerrillas, they began to gradually build outposts outwards with the city as the center.
This outpost was newly built at the mountain pass. When the guerrillas entered and exited the mountain area, they had to take a detour from a small road and walk dozens of kilometers of mountain roads before they could return here.
If we could take down that outpost, things would be much more convenient.
Moreover, each outpost stored a certain amount of weapons, ammunition, food, fuel and other supplies for the Soviets to use in encircling and suppressing the guerrillas.
Until now, the Soviets were convinced that they would win an easy victory in the fight against the guerrillas, but they did not know that Afghanistan was becoming a quagmire that would sink the Soviet army and completely bury the Soviet empire.
There was a platoon of soldiers guarding the outpost. Although there were not many of them, the crossfire of their machine guns made it very difficult to attack the place by force.
Guerrillas are guerrilla fighters, and violent attacks are not their strong point.
When Muhammad mentioned this, it seemed that he was going to attack that outpost, and immediately, Khwaja became interested.
"Mhammad, how can we take down this outpost?" asked Khwaja.
In fact, Muhammad naturally knew that it was very difficult to attack this outpost. However, if he came here and wanted to gain the leadership of this guerrilla force, he had to fight a few beautiful battles to convince these people.
Undoubtedly, attacking this outpost is very attractive.
"I have a plan," Muhammad said.
When he finished speaking, Hewaja's eyes lit up and he couldn't wait to lead the team out immediately. However, he had to find out the situation there first.
Soon the aroma of rice wafted over, especially during today's battle, when we seized several cans of caviar from Soviet tank soldiers. Spreading the caviar on the flatbread and then putting it in our mouths was simply delicious.
After Muhammad finished eating, he began his own practical action.
A large group of people gathered around and watched Muhammad carry the shell out.
For these guerrillas, this artillery shell is still a new thing, but Muhammad is very familiar with the structure of this artillery shell.
In front are the warhead and fuse, and in the back are the propellant and primer. First, you need to remove the fuse and primer, and then it will be absolutely safe.
These things are actually very simple.
Seeing Muhammad trying to dismantle the shell, the guerrillas who had just surrounded him immediately retreated subconsciously. They knew that once that thing exploded, the power would be extremely huge.
"You are too close." Muhammad said, "This is a grenade. If this one explodes, it will collapse the entire cave. If you want to retreat, just retreat to the back mountain."
After hearing what Muhammad said, two guerrillas immediately turned around and walked back. After taking two steps, they found that no one responded. Looking back again, they saw that the others had surrounded them again. Their faces immediately turned red and they followed suit.
If no one else is afraid, why should I be afraid? Besides, looking at the instructor's expression, I know he is confident.
With God's blessing, nothing unexpected will happen. The two of them mustered up their courage and came over.
Muhammad was certainly confident, he knew that the shell would not explode at all.
Of course, to be on the safe side, Muhammad still had to remove the fuse first. Besides, if he wanted to transform it into a roadside bomb, he had to modify the fuse.
Muhammad deliberately dismantled the shells here with such fanfare. He wanted to teach these guerrillas how to do it. After all, he was an instructor.
Muhammad exerted force with his hands, and with a squeaking sound, he twisted a cone-shaped object out of the top of the bullet.
"This thing is the fuse. Without it, the shell won't explode." Muhammad showed the unscrewed fuse to the others. Suddenly, everyone's eyes widened. Fuze? The shell exploded entirely with it?
Then, turning the shell over, Muhammad unscrewed the primer at the back again.
"This is the primer. Similar to a bullet, the firing pin hits the primer, the primer ignites the propellant, and pushes the bullet out." Muhammad unscrewed the primer and showed it to these people again.
There are admiring eyes everywhere.
"Instructor, I didn't expect that you could even dismantle this shell." said Durani on the side.
"Durani, dismantle another one using the method I just used," said Muhammad.
Demolishing the shell? Hearing what Muhammad said, Durrani was shocked: "I, I..."
In front of so many people, I can't say that I don't dare, but if this thing explodes, no one here will survive.
"Don't worry. With my guidance, nothing will go wrong. These shells will become bombs under our control." Muhammad said, "We will let them explode when the Soviet convoy passes by."
The reason why Muhammad had to take these shells was because he knew their functions. Although they could not be used for firing, they were the best choice for making roadside bombs.
Most of the tank shells were armor-piercing shells, which were made purely for hitting armored targets and could not explode. Therefore, Muhammad did not intend to bring out the armor-piercing shells at the time, but later he had an idea and used all of them when laying booby traps. Although the warheads could not be used, the propellants in the shells could also produce huge power. The dozen or so armor-piercing and armor-fragmenting shells were enough to give the Soviets a hard time.
Good things should be kept for later use. This type of grenade relies on explosion to kill the enemy. These thirty grenades will become thirty powerful roadside bombs.
The modification was also very simple. Although Muhammad did not have a suitable time fuse at the moment, nor did he have the mobile phone fuse commonly used in later generations, which would explode when the mobile phone rang, even the most primitive method of connecting wires to detonate the explosives and then detonating the grenade was simple and effective.
Of course, this requires removing the fuse and taking out the explosives and batteries inside it.
Although dismantling a shell sounds dangerous, in reality, as long as there is no mechanical failure, there is no danger at all in dismantling a shell.
The fuse of the artillery shell is very safe. Only when it is fired in the barrel and is subjected to a large acceleration will the safety of the fuse be released. Under normal circumstances, even if it is not transported carefully and falls from a vehicle, it will not explode.
Durani finally accepted the instructor's order and carefully dismantled another shell.
Originally he thought it would be very difficult, but when Durany easily unscrewed the fuse and primer of the shell, he felt a great sense of accomplishment.
It's that simple!
"Everyone has seen it, right? All similar shells, from mortar shells to aircraft bombs, have the same structure. In the future, if we encounter these shells, we must bring them back. We don't have heavy weapons, and these shells are our gifts to the Soviets," said Muhammad.
"Then how can we detonate these shells?" a voice asked, and Muhammad looked and saw that it was Hermann.
Herman finally mentioned the key point, which was also of concern to the other guerrillas. Even the guerrilla leader Khwaja was watching attentively.
"What you are going to learn from me next is to dismantle the fuse, remove the explosives and batteries inside, and extend the wires. In this way, we only need to see the enemy entering the range of our bomb ambush from a distance, connect the wires to the battery, and we can detonate our bomb." Muhammad said.
Now, in the absence of other materials, this method of detonation is the simplest.
Seeing that everyone was watching attentively, Muhammad had a sense of accomplishment. Although removing the fuse was more dangerous than removing the shell, with Muhammad's dexterous hands, nothing was impossible.
That night, many people couldn't sleep. They were recalling each step one by one. Tomorrow, they would personally practice and transform the remaining shells. From then on, they had a new trick to deal with the Soviets. Even tanks that could not be penetrated by powerful bullets could be destroyed in this way!