There were three machine gun bunkers in total, two of which were controlled by guerrillas. Although the other one was controlled by Soviet soldiers, it was later killed by Muhammad.
This outpost was taken down cleanly and neatly, and the next thing to do was to clean up the battlefield.
Just as Durrani was about to stand up and leave the machine gun bunker, he was grabbed by Muhammad.
"Da, da, da." At this moment, a sound was heard not far above the head, and with the sound, one side of the machine gun bunker was hit and dust flew up.
There is someone above! Muhammad hid behind the machine gun bunker, not daring to show his head. He knew that the position was the top of the sentry post, where the searchlight was.
There are three machine gun positions outside, and the searchlight is at the top, so there must be a sentry post. In this way, the bullets can follow wherever the searchlight goes.
Moreover, because that position is the highest, it also poses a threat to the three machine gun positions. The bunkers of the machine gun positions were built to fire outward, so the outside bunkers are very thick, but the back is almost undefended.
It was a blind spot, and although Khawaja was an excellent sniper, he was unable to do his job in that position.
Durani came back from the brink of death, but he still felt inexplicably panicked. If he had not been pulled back by the instructor, he would have been dead by now.
"What's wrong? Are you scared?" The voice came to my ear again.
"I'm not afraid." Durani said. What's there to be afraid of? If it weren't for the instructor, he would have died many times. "I'll go up and kill that Soviet guy."
"No, bravery is not impulsiveness," Muhammad said. "Protect yourself first, then you can strike the enemy."
After that, Muhammad said again: "What a pity, it would be great if there was a mortar."
In this blind spot area, direct-fire weapons have great disadvantages, but mortars, with their curved trajectory, are very effective in dealing with such targets.
Unfortunately, suitable weapons are not always available. Many guerrillas still use the outdated Efield rifle. They are lucky to have an AKM. They don't even have a rocket launcher to deal with tanks, let alone a mortar.
Throwing a grenade, even if you can't reach it, is still a big risk.
Muhammad had just finished speaking when he heard Durrani say, "Instructor, I know where there are mortars. I'll get them for you."
After saying that, Durani bravely jumped out of the shelter and ran forward.
He is courting death! I just said that I should protect myself first. How come Durrani doesn't know how to hide? Moreover, if you want to run, you have to dodge left and right, not run in a straight line. Running in a straight line on the battlefield is simply courting death.
Dulaney didn't care about anything else. He took two steps at a time and ran in front of the truck.
Some guerrillas had already scattered, but a few remained on the side of the truck, using it as cover to fight against the shooter overhead.
"Unload one of the mortars from the truck." Durani said, jumping onto the truck nimbly.
There was a mortar on the truck! Durrani made this discovery on the way here. He opened the box on the bumpy truck and found a cylindrical object inside. He knew it was a mortar.
Durani didn't know how to use the mortar. He only knew how to use a gun, and he wasn't very skilled at it, so he also learned how to use a rocket launcher. As a result, he was shot down last time. This mortar was an even new thing to him, and he had no idea how to use it.
Although Durani didn't know how to use it, he knew that the instructor had great powers. Even tank shells could be turned into powerful roadside bombs. Operating this mortar must be a piece of cake for him.
This truck was closest to Muhammad's machine gun position, and judging from the gunshots, there were no more than two shooters on top of the post, and the shooters' main attention was on the machine gun position, so they did not see Durani carrying something out of the opened box in the car.
Another guerrilla fighter, Hermann, followed behind Durani and carried out a box of shells. When the two heard bullets firing in another direction overhead, they ran towards the machine gun bunker.
"Be careful!" Muhammad saw two people running towards him carrying things and was worried about their safety.
Sure enough, the shooter above noticed the difference in the whereabouts of the two people here, and immediately turned the gun around.
There was no time to hesitate. The machine gun in Muhammad's hand once again spit out flames and shot towards the top of the outpost.
Although it is a blind spot and your bullets cannot reach there, but shooting there can also force the other party to temporarily give up shooting.
"Clatter..." The metal bullet chain made a sound and kept entering the machine gun, and the bunker of the sentry post was covered in dust.
"Ga..." Suddenly, a sound came into Muhammad's ears, and then the machine gun in his hand became silent.
Oops, it's jammed! Because no one was holding the ammunition belt, this damn machine gun had a problem at the most critical moment.
"Bang, bang, bang." A few bullets were fired, and Muhammad saw Durrani fall down.
At the last moment before falling, Durani threw the mortar he was carrying with all his strength.
Fortunately, Hermann carried the box of shells into the machine gun bunker and sat down, thus avoiding the bullet.
Although Durani fell, Muhammad did not hesitate at all. Mourning his comrades was something to do after the war. Now, the most important thing was to take down that sentry post!
"Hurry, open the box and take out the shells." Muhammad said as he picked up the mortar thrown by Durrani.
Muhammad was a little amused.
What Durrani threw over was just the barrel of a mortar.
Just by looking at the barrel, Muhammad could tell that this was the most common 82mm caliber M1937 mortar used by Soviet infantry.
The Soviets have always been artillery-oriented. Even the infantry is equipped with a large number of mortars. Therefore, it is not surprising that the supplies carried in this truck include mortars.
There is no innovation in the technology of mortars, except for the different calibers. Therefore, this type of mortar has been in service since World War II.
This 82mm caliber mortar can fire up to three kilometers away, which is enough range to deal with the sentry post above your head.
However, what this blind soldier Durani carried over was just a cannon barrel!
A mortar is not just a barrel, it also needs other accessories. However, this mortar weighs more than 100 kilograms, and Durrani can't carry it alone.
According to the organization, a gun-mortar squad usually has two guns, and five people for each gun. One person carries the gun, one carries the gun carriage, one carries the base plate, and two carry the ammunition. After entering the position, choose a solid place, level it simply, and then place the base plate and hammer it firmly; then connect the gun barrel and the base plate, one person holds the gun barrel, and one person installs the gun carriage and sight. After the installation is completed, it is time to shoot. One person is responsible for observation and command, one person is responsible for aiming and adjusting the shooting distance, one person is responsible for loading ammunition, one person is responsible for handing over ammunition, and one person is responsible for opening the ammunition box.
Now, Durrani simply opened the box containing the mortar barrel and thought it was a mortar. Little did he know that without the gun mount and the base plate, the gun could not be used.
These people still need to be trained well.
If it were someone else, this mortar would be really useless. Fortunately, Muhammad has a trick.
At this moment, the sentry post above their heads was pressing down on them, so they couldn't raise their heads. If they charged forward, there would definitely be casualties. If they didn't charge forward, as time passed, if the Soviet reinforcements arrived, they would be in trouble.
Below this machine gun position was a huge piece of granite, which was absolutely solid. Muhammad raised the gun barrel at an angle to the ground and aimed at the sentry post that was still firing.
Everything depends on experience. Muhammad's hands at this time carry too much hope.
"Fire the shells," said Muhammad.
Hermann had already opened the gun box, grabbed a shell, and was about to let go of the shell along the barrel.
"Wait, install the fuse!" said Muhammad.
Just now, Muhammad's attention was focused on how to aim, relying entirely on experience and using his hands. This was actually the first time for him.
As a result, after aiming carefully, he saw that the top of the bullet in Hermann's hand was still empty.
Install the fuse? When Hermann heard what Muhammad said, he remembered that he had just opened the shell box and there were a few small gadgets inside, and he suddenly realized what was going on.
Fortunately, Muhammad had taught them how to dismantle a shell a few days ago, and this thing is basically the same.
Hermann quickly put the shell back on the ground, took the fuse out of the box and screwed it on.
"Let it go," said Muhammad.
As soon as Hermann loosened his hand, the shell slid into the barrel.
These were the most crucial few seconds. Muhammad maintained the elevation of the gun barrel with both arms, as steady as a rock.
He seemed to be able to feel that after the shell entered the barrel, it slid down like a child on a slide. It reached the bottom in less than a second. At this time, the chrysanthemum felt a pain. Its bottom hit the firing pin at the bottom of the barrel heavily. The collision made the shell angry, the primer was fired, and the propellant at the tail of the shell began to burn violently. Muhammad could almost feel the barrel expand. Then, he heard a "boom" and the shell flew out of the barrel. Although Muhammad was prepared, the moment the shell came out, the airflow still made him feel like a small boat in a storm, and he was almost overturned to the ground. The roar of the shell made his ears ring all the time, and he could hardly hear the voice of Hermann next to him.
This simple launching method is similar to that of a grenade launcher. Although Muhammad had launched mortars in this way in his previous life, the maximum caliber was no more than 60 mm. Now, launching this 82 mm caliber mortar in this way is very risky.
The shell flew past, carrying Muhammad's expectations.