It wasn't until Song Heping arrived at Cook Oil Field that he understood what kind of days Lars had spent before the handover.
Just after arriving, he saw workers from Wood Company clearing the debris in front of a collapsed tower.
Looking around, he saw traces of artillery fire everywhere.
After asking the engineering supervisor, he learned that the Free Army had launched a fierce attack on this place two days ago, even employing heavy artillery for intense bombardnt.
Song Heping noticed so shell remnants on the ground, so he picked one up to inspect.
"These are pieces of Katyusha rockets."
After examining the fragnt, Song Heping handed it to the cook.
The cook was Russian, and he couldn't be more familiar with these things.
Russian markings were still visible on them.
"Yes... it's Katyusha."
Song Heping said, "You understand why I must eliminate the Free Army, right?"
He pointed around and said, "This place still hasn't recovered. If production is restored, these areas will be filled with flammable and explosive materials. A few Katyusha rockets could co over, and the consequences would be unthinkable. It could all burn down to ruins, and if an oil well is hit, the fire could be neverending."
"True..." The cook had to admit it was a fact.
Especially since artillery strikes are hard to defend against.
Katyusha may be antiquated, with a maximum range of only 8.8 kiloters, but the problem is its high mobility. You can move it to any spot within ten kiloters of the oil field, fire a salvo in 15 minutes, and then they just run with their hand-towed launchers, making them impossible to find.
Suddenly, the cook understood that Song Heping's level in military operation was too high.
He saw the crux of the issue at a glance.
There was simply no way to stop these bastards from wreaking havoc.
Better to go on the offensive than to passively take hits.
If you want to cause trouble, I'll just uproot you entirely.
The newly recruited local rcenaries had already been positioned in an enhanced platoon.
Their equipnt had also arrived.
Second Platoon, made up of local rcenaries, was stationed at Cook Oil Field.
Three infantry squads, equipped with AK47 assault rifles, PRD light machine guns, and RPG rocket launchers.
Each squad had a machine gun group, ard with Desheka heavy machine guns.
Besides, artillery positions were established within the oil region.
The enhanced platoon had a 107 rocket artillery battery and a 120 caliber mortar battery under its command.
Each platoon had 5 military trucks for transporting soldiers for maneuvers.
A small ammunition depot was set up within the oil region, sufficient for the platoon to fight a small-scale battle for a week.
The complete configuration of the infantry platoon adopted the traditional three-three system, completely formulated by Song Heping's tactical approach.
A few people went to inspect the platoon and found the newly recruited soldiers gathered around the artillery and heavy machine guns in front of the barracks, pointing and discussing them.
When Song Heping arrived, Second Platoon's commander, Ahd, blew the whistle.
All local rcenaries ca running over to assemble and form ranks.
After forming ranks, the over forty-year-old Ahd, with a pair of graying sideburns, ca over to report to Song Heping, "Boss, Second Platoon is assembled. What are your orders?"
Song Heping walked up to a 120 mortar, lifted the muzzle cover, inspected the bore, and then asked Ahd, "Are the weapons all functional? Stuff like maintenance, you don't need to talk about it, right?"
Ahd hurriedly replied, "Of course not, boss. Second Platoon is all veterans. We're all trained for this. We don't need orders to maintain them, I'll make sure it's done."
"Guns and cannons alike, they must be cleaned every day." Song Heping stuck to his own forr principles, "The gun is the soldier's second life. I don't think I need to repeat that to you. Right now I just want to test how familiar you are with using these weapons, as you claim. Let's do this, bring so targets and drive out the trucks; we're heading to the field for a trial."
"Yes, boss!"
Ahd turned and ran to lead the team.
Watching Ahd's obedient manner, the cook asked Song Heping with a smile, "This guy seems pretty good, looks a bit like a soldier."
"A forr captain of the governnt army." Song Heping said, "After the military was disbanded, he was at loose ends at ho. He's a bit old for a bodyguard, and no one wanted him; I thought his experience was okay. He participated in the first Gulf War, has combat experience. Age is just a number, after all."
Song Heping actually didn't reveal the deeper aning behind appointing Ahd as the platoon leader of Second Platoon.
The batch of 300 newly recruited local rcenaries was partly recruited by Samir, and partly through a recruitnt advertisent model by Ferrari.
When Song Heping made the staffing list, he put the people recruited by Samir in First Platoon and those recruited by Ferrari in Second Platoon.
Ahd and Samir did not know each other.
His salary was not as high as Samir's either, being only one thousand US dollars a month.
Although that was considered a high salary in Illiguo, it was like comparing a mosquito to a bull when compared with Samir's pay.
Currently, the "Musician" Defense Company had 350 local rcenaries; if they were all recruited by Samir, it would form an overwhelmingly dominant power.
As a child, Song Heping had read in history books that emperors would not allow a single overwhelming power to exist within their courts.
It was necessary to divide the power into factions to maintain a balance among them.
The consequence of one dominant power ant exposing oneself, susceptible to subversion.
Samir was originally a local faction, while his own Defense Company was driven by interests, fundantally differing in direction from Samir.
It was essential to prepare for this conversation in advance; being well-prepared was the key to long-term stability and peace.
In the end, leadership tested one's skill in employing people; mismanaging personnel ant that even the strongest leaders could end up in a dead end.
Xiang Yu was a good example.
He never lost a battle.
But he never won in strategy.
In the end, he had no choice but to commit suicide on the banks of the Wu River, leaving the fruits of victory for Liu Bang to reap.
Half an hour later.
On an open space not far from Cook Oil Field, Song Heping and the cook each looked through a telescope at a target in the distance.
Bang, bang, bang—
Bang, bang, bang—
The sound of gunfire was incessant.
This was already a distance of 200 ters.
The target was a half-body silhouette.
Song Heping watched one bullet hole after another appear on the target, then put down his telescope and said to the cook, "You see, the individual quality of these seasoned soldiers is not bad; they basically don't need to be retrained."
The cook also put down his telescope, "Their marksmanship is quite good."
Ahd ran over to report, "Boss, everyone's done shooting. Are you satisfied with the results?"
Song Heping nodded, "The marksmanship is good for infantry. Try the cannons now. Go to a distance of 3000 ters and draw a circle, then set up the artillery position here. Let your soldiers target practice with the cannon. I want to see how professional your artillery is."
"Yes!" Ahd was full of confidence and saluted Song Heping, "Don't worry, 3000 ters is no problem! The soldiers in the mortar platoon are all handpicked by . They were all artilleryn before, and so of them have experienced real combat with ! Back then we fought together all the way to Kowe..."
"Okay, okay."
The cook stopped Ahd from continuing to boast.
"A hero doesn't brag about past bravery, weren't you guys still bombed into dogs by the US Army later on?"
Ahd's face imdiately turned red.
Song Heping shot the cook a look.
There are so things you just don't talk about.
This cook...
Shows no rcy to those he looks down on.
Such a temper!
"Ahd, go set up the target circle. I want to see if you guys can actually operate the cannon."
"Yes!"
Ahd saluted once again.
He felt that Song Heping was much better than this bald guy beside him.
This baldy really is nothing good.
Once the targets were set up, Ahd had people build a mound of stones inside the target circle to simulate a bunker.
"Distance 3100 ters—"
"Reference mortar, high explosive killing bomb, fire one!"
Boom—
Following the command of the battery leader.
A 120 caliber mortar shell was fired.
Everyone quickly shifted their gaze towards the distance, and the infantry spectating also stared at the obscure slope where the target circle was located.
After a while, a burst of flas shot up to the right side of the target circle on the slope.
"It's off."
Cook grinned and said, "I told you not to brag, see, you shot it crooked, didn't you?"
Song Heping remained silent.
Because this model of mortar was old and not advanced.
The key was that they used an old-fashioned abacus to calculate the firing paraters, and the distance was estimated by sight, said to be 3000 ters, but because it was on a slope, there were so changes to the paraters.
That battery leader just had the reference mortar fire one shot, actually it was a test fire.
In a battery, one is the reference mortar, and test firings are always done by the reference mortar, then the commander would adjust the calculations according to where the shell landed.
First shot hitting the target isn't unheard of, it could happen with an expert or, like the US Army, using a computer to calculate the trajectory, which dramatically increases the success rate.
Cook didn't understand these things; he thought that every shot must hit otherwise it's inaccurate.
Sure enough, the battery leader calmly re-calculated after observing the point of impact.
"Direction to the right 002, sight unchanged, firing three with one shot!"
Hearing this command, Song Heping knew he was confident in his calculations, otherwise he would not have ordered a full battery salvo.
Boom—
Boom—
Boom—
Three shells were fired.
Everyone's necks and eyes once again followed the rough direction of the shells towards the distance.
Bang—
Bang—
Bang—
The center of the target circle was hit three consecutive tis with explosions.
All shots in the salvo hit.
Cook didn't make any sarcastic comnts this ti and said, "That's acceptable."
Ahd ca forward to claim credit: "Boss, are you satisfied with that?"
Song Heping shook his head: "It's passable, but not impressive. You need to intensify your training..."
Cook nudged him with his elbow and said, "Munitions are expensive."
Song Heping replied, "We bought a lot this ti. Can you stop being so stingy? If you're reluctant even to use shells for training, the mortar in your hands is just scrap tal!"
Ahd said, "Although it wasn't a first-shot hit, it was still very accurate."
Song Heping didn't say a word, went straight to a 120 mortar, then disassembled the stand, pulling the barrel out from the baseplate, and walked to the side. With his hands cupped together, he grabbed the barrel and used the baseline on the muzzle to align with the distant target circle.
Then he lifted the barrel high...
Everyone around Song Heping stared, dumbfounded.
They had no idea what the boss was trying to do.
"Boss..."
Ahd thought the boss was angry and about to smash the mortar.
Thud—
Song Heping slamd the barrel vertically downward, embedding the bottom of the barrel directly into the ground.
Afterward, he pushed the barrel forward horizontally with both hands. After pushing it forward, he stretched out a finger, rested it on the edge of the muzzle, and slowly pushed it forward a tiny bit more...
Everyone present watched this scene as if they were witnessing a magic show, completely clueless about what Song Heping was doing.
Finally, after making his adjustnts, Song Heping yelled, "Charge number 2, high explosive bomb."
Ahd personally ran to the ammunition box, took out a shell, screwed in the fuse, pulled out the safety pin, and attached two propellant charges to the tail before running back and handing the shell to Song Heping.
Song Heping, holding the barrel with his left hand, took the shell with his right, and then gently placed the shell into the barrel...
"What's he doing?"
Cook asked Ahd.
Ahd shook his head.
As the shell nearly fully entered the barrel, Song Heping finally gently released his right hand.
The mortar shell hissed as it slid into the barrel.
Cook exclaid, "My goodness!"
Boom—
The mortar shell was fired upon hitting the bottom and flew out.
A cloud of smoke rose beside Song Heping; the barrel was driven straight into the ground by the recoil force, burying at least one-fifth of its length.
Everyone stared intently at the distant target circle.
Bang—
Shortly after, an explosion appeared in the target circle.
"It actually... hit..."
Ahd was like in a dream, unable to help but rub his eyes.
Is this even possible?
A single barrel?
A direct hit!?
This is crazy…
Song Heping stopped performing and told the rcenaries nearby, "Dig out the barrel."
Back in front of everyone, Song Heping asked, "You see that?"
"We saw it. Boss..."
"You realize the difference now?"
"We do..."
"You all convinced?"
"Convinced..."
"Good. Now train properly."
After finishing his speech, Song Heping turned to Cook and said, "Co on, let's head back to the oil field."
Once in the car, Cook was still reminiscing about that thrilling shot.
He couldn't help but ask Song Heping, "What kind of magic did you just use? Directly shooting without a stand? And without calculating firing elents?"
"What's so strange about that?" said Song Heping. "It's a simple thing."
"What's that shooting thod called?"
"It's called expedient mortar firing," Song Heping teased Cook. "You want to learn? I'll teach you!"
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