Song Heping's fingertips unconsciously tapped on the command console, producing a dull tapping sound that matched the rhythm of his inner anxious drumming.
On the big screen, the lights representing enemy truck artillery flickered like ghostly flas. Each brief pause indicated that the front line would soon endure another round of precise and deadly steel rain.
They hit and run, elusive in their movents, rendering traditional counter-artillery thods clumsy and ineffective against these "battlefield eels."
"Mobile artillery group... over fifty vehicles... fighting this battle is damn frustrating!"
Jiang Feng slamd a fist on the table, almost knocking the water cup over.
Song Heping did not respond.
His gaze remained locked on those lights, as if he wanted to engrave their existence into his mind.
However, visual fatigue caused his sight to drift unexpectedly, sweeping across the corner of the command post — where several spare hexacopter reconnaissance drones sat quietly, their streamlined hulls shimring coldly in the dim light.
At that mont, two completely different images collided fiercely in his mind like lightning from different spaces —
In Daguge City previously, drones carrying bundles of Dinar bills dropped them precisely amid the cheers of the militian, a scene full of absurd vitality. And just yesterday, during his inspection of the artillery positions, observing the artilleryman who was small in stature but adept at handling the easily lifted 80mm mortar shells...
"Payload... airdrop... shell..."
Fragnts of thought fused instantaneously under pressure!
A dazzling lightning of inspiration abruptly cut through the fog of tactics!
"What if instead of firing shells from tens of kiloters away and needing artillery adjustnts and loading to launch..."
Song Heping muttered to himself, yet his eyes quickly beca sharp and bright, as if two clusters of blue flas ignited deep in his pupils.
He suddenly turned to Jiang Feng:
"We let our 'shells' fly over by themselves?"
Jiang Feng was stunned by the inexplicable words: "Fly over themselves? Old squad leader, what do you an?"
Song Heping spoke quickly, carried by a barely contained excitent: "Rember how we scattered money in Daguge? With the payload capacity of our drones here, lifting an 80mm mortar shell is more than feasible! Why not turn our drones into flying mortars?! We are the artillery positions ourselves, mobile and airborne!"
He virtually lunged at the whiteboard, grabbing a marker as its tip screeched against the board, swiftly sketching a simple battlefield posture map and a drone attack illustration:
"You see! No matter how fast the 1515 truck artillery runs, it draws lines on a two-dinsional ground! Our drones maneuver in three-dinsional space! We possess an absolute height advantage and visibility advantage, coupled with a speed advantage! We don't need to calculate complex ballistic variables, weather corrections, nor worry about it running out of range — our 'shell carriers' can follow it throughout the process! From the mont it fires to when it flees, we are like a falcon stalking a hare, until we find the best attack position for a deadly strike!"
Jiang Feng was completely shocked by this fanciful yet fundantally problem-targeting bold conception.
But only a few seconds of amazent, his eyes then erupted with the sa fervent glow of excitent, as if seeing a way out amidst adversity!
He knew Song Heping too well; this old squad leader might appear silent at tis, but his tactical thinking often broke boundaries sharply!
"I get it! Use drones carrying mortar shells, flying directly overhead, like high-altitude rocks falling down?! That's... that's like giving mortars wings!"
"Exactly! Just like a slow missile that can fly on its own, constantly tracking and locking onto the target!"
Song Heping nodded emphatically, beginning to systematically explain his theoretical basis:
"First, it's technically feasible! Our current hexacopter drones can bear loads over 15 kilograms, while a full 80mm mortar shell weighs only 4 to 5 kilograms, plus a simple chanical release device — just modify the device used to scatter money before, at low cost, mature technology, more than sufficient!"
"Second, the tactic is highly sudden and psychologically intimidating! All enemy attention and air defense plans are devised against distant artillery fire and potential high-altitude aircraft! They would never anticipate the fatal blow coming from low-altitude, slow, 'small planes' they usually disdain! This could catch them off guard, inflicting a devastating psychological impact on their artillery once successful! Once they realize these flying little things carry shells, rely seeing drones hovering overhead would deter them from stopping to set up artillery!"
"Third, the cost and efficiency are exceptionally high! Even if the enemy uses machine guns or anti-aircraft guns to shoot down our drones, it simply costs a drone and a shell. But if we hit them, replacing an enemy truck artillery and a trained artillery crew, the deal is exceedingly profitable! Moreover, we can deploy multiple drones simultaneously to form a 'swarm' attack wave, leaving them nowhere to hide and defenseless!"
"Fourth, most critically — operators can visually identify targets using real-ti high-definition images relayed by drones, autonomously choosing the optimal ti and angle for shell release, even anticipate movent routes for adjustnts! This equates to equipping every inexpensive mortar shell with an intelligent guidance system! Its precision far exceeds conventional artillery coverage!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers