Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 168 The Frogman Special Forces Make Their Debut

Indeed, Wang Gensheng did conduct an experiment when teaching the cavalry regiment to swim, shooting pottery jars into the water with a gun to demonstrate this method to the soldiers.

If you encounter an enemy while crossing a river, quickly dive underwater to avoid them.

That's why Duan Peng has this misunderstanding, thinking that the power of a bomb will also be weakened underwater.

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Just as Wang Gensheng had finished preparing the underwater bomb and was about to dive into the water with the bomb and a 500-meter-long thin hemp rope, Duan Peng spoke up:

"Commander, let me do it! You're the commander. If something happens, who will lead our special cavalry regiment?"

Wang Gensheng waved his hand and said regarding Duan Peng's volunteering:
"Alright! I'll go first this time. I came up with this idea, so naturally I should be the first to implement it and see if there are any oversights!"

After saying that, Wang Gensheng strapped the bomb to his body and put on a pair of mittens, which are also called hand webs, and like foot webs, they are used for swimming.

It can increase the area of ​​the palm, thereby increasing the efficiency of the palm in paddling.

In addition to hand and foot flippers, Wang Gensheng also prepared a rubber tube more than three meters long for breathing underwater, so that he would not have to surface for air frequently, thus reducing the chance of being discovered.

Old Man Ji also knew the importance of Qin Shi Huang's attack on the port, so soldiers guarded three kilometers on both sides of the coast, for fear that someone would break into the port and blow up the ships.

For most people, three kilometers might seem like the limit, but for Wang Gensheng, three kilometers was just a warm-up.

Although the seawater was a bit cold at night, Wang Gensheng's physical condition was such that he didn't feel too much of a chill, especially since he was constantly exercising.

From the moment Wang Gensheng went into the water to his infiltration into the harbor, and then to the placement of twenty boxes of TNT explosives on the hull, the entire process went incredibly smoothly, and no one was discovered.

Then, despite the loud explosion, the explosives installed on the keel caused the entire ship to lurch upwards, creating a large hole in the cabin.

Large amounts of seawater began to flood into the ship's hold, and as the hold filled with water, the thousand-ton ship sank in the port of Qin Shi Huang in less than half an hour.

Looking at the ship sinking into the water, Wang Gensheng realized that he had underestimated the power of explosives detonating underwater. A ship weighing over a thousand tons was so easily sunk by a 20-kilogram explosive.

This success was not just about destroying a single ship; more importantly, it increased the chances of successfully defending Dongbei, allowing the relief forces to suffer fewer casualties.

It's important to understand that the reason Lao Ji's troops are fighting so fiercely is largely due to their reliance on sea freight for supplies.

Wang Gensheng's bombing was tantamount to cutting off Lao Ji's maritime supply lines. While it might not have completely blocked them, it certainly caused significant damage.

Moreover, Wang Gensheng could conduct nine more such explosions, because he had nine more boxes of TNT explosives.

The news that a thousand-ton warship had been destroyed during the Qin Emperor's raid on the port was quickly learned by Lao Zi.

In response, Lao Zi immediately dismissed and investigated the guy in charge of Qin Huang's security. But even so, he couldn't stop the bombings from continuing. The very next night, Wang Gensheng was dispatched again. In addition to Wang Gensheng himself, he selected eight good swimmers from the special cavalry regiment to carry bombs to the port of Qin Huang's.

With nine explosions, all the slightly larger transport ships docked at Qinhuangdao Port were blown up.

Without Qin Shi Huang's maritime supply depot, things became extremely difficult. After all, weapons and ammunition relied on maritime supplies, and most importantly, food was essential.

After all, Lao Ji mobilized more than a million troops to seize Dongbei!

Therefore, Wang Gensheng's actions greatly hindered the Lao Ji troops' intention to seize Dongbei. This was not until Wang Gensheng reported his intelligence about blowing up Qinhuangdao's port ships and transport ships.

Du Yiman, the cavalry regiment's telegraph operator, quickly received a commendation from headquarters, which also expressed approval of Wang Gensheng's actions.

Unfortunately, the military rank system is not currently in effect, so Wang Gensheng remains in the directly subordinate cavalry regiment of the General Headquarters, and his position is still far below that of Li Yunlong, who has become the Lion Commander.

Of course, now it's not just Li Yunlong, Ding Wei and Kong Jie are already at the level of lion chief.

Later, as the Liberation War progressed, they would become army commanders, and Wang Gensheng would probably still be a cavalry regimental commander.

Wang Gensheng was helpless about this, after all, he couldn't very well create a cavalry lion or a cavalry army!
In fact, a special cavalry regiment of one or two thousand people is already the limit. If it is expanded to tens of thousands of lion-class troops, or even 30,000 or 40,000 army-class troops, then covert operations cannot be guaranteed.

Wang Gensheng simply didn't want to expand, but Duan Peng said with some distress:
"Why is it just a commendation? Why not promote the captain? After all, the captain came up with a new combat method! With this method, what does it matter if it's an old, worn-out ship? We still managed to sink it!"

Wang Gensheng was speechless at Duan Peng's words:
"Promotion? How do we get promoted? Our cavalry regiment only has about two thousand men. What, do you want us to be promoted to cavalry lions or something?!"

"But we've destroyed so many of Old Jai's transport ships and warships! And our commander has invented new methods for dealing with ships!"

In response to Duan Peng's words, Wang Gensheng said:

"Alright! This tactic isn't something I created, and this method of diving to ambush ships isn't my invention either! I heard from storytellers that this method already existed in the Song Dynasty. Back then, to deal with the Song Dynasty ships that were besieging them, some of the heroes of Liangshan dived into the water and punctured the bottom of the ships, causing them to leak and become silent! Of course, modern iron ships won't work, so that's why I thought of using explosives to blow them up!"

That's right. Wang Gensheng didn't say that he was inspired by foreign frogman special forces. Instead, he said that he was inspired by the ancient people's ship-carving techniques, which is why he thought of using explosives to blow up enemy ships.

After all, he was just a shepherd boy from Wangjia Village. If he said he knew a few words, he could fool people by saying what the village elders had taught him.

However, if he were to reveal that he learned the tactics of foreign frogman special forces, it would raise suspicions, since Wang Gensheng had never studied abroad and the channels for obtaining information were very limited at that time.

Therefore, after thinking it over, Wang Gensheng could only come up with this explanation to fool people. No one doubted Wang Gensheng's explanation; on the contrary, they all looked at him with admiration.

Wang Gensheng ignored the admiration of the crowd, because he was currently thinking about the history and equipment of the frogman special forces.

(End of this chapter)