Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 272 The Cold Waiting

However, this cannot be blamed on the US military. Although mechanized units even have infantry traveling by truck, in reality, it is not so easy to move forward in places with thick snow.

Tanks with tracks are fine, but troop transport trucks with wheels are a different story.

The thick snow made it impossible for the truck's wheels to gain any leverage.

If you drive a little faster or press the accelerator too hard, you'll end up skidding in place.

Even worse, there are no uphill sections; if you encounter even a slightly steep uphill section, you're doomed.

Of course, the only reason to blame this is that all the troop transport trucks are rear-wheel drive.

Driving in snowy weather presents more challenges for rear-wheel-drive vehicles compared to front-wheel-drive vehicles. This is mainly because the slippery road surface on snow reduces friction, and since the driving force of a rear-wheel-drive vehicle comes primarily from the rear wheels, oversteer is more likely to occur when driving on snow.

The difference lies in the drive system: front-wheel drive vehicles transmit engine power to the front wheels, while rear-wheel drive vehicles transmit it to the rear wheels. Therefore, in snowy conditions, rear-wheel drive vehicles are more prone to oversteer due to slippery surfaces.

In addition, due to the different weight distribution, rear-wheel drive cars typically have more weight concentrated at the rear, making the rear wheels more prone to losing traction on snow. In contrast, front-wheel drive cars have a more balanced weight distribution, resulting in greater stability on snow.

When driving in snowy weather, you can try starting from idle. First, release the brake to let the engine idle, then release the clutch to slowly start the vehicle. If the rear wheels get stuck in the snow, you can slowly accelerate. Once the vehicle has a little forward speed, stabilize the throttle until it can move normally. If the rear wheels slip, stop accelerating immediately, release the accelerator and press the brake to prevent the vehicle from sliding back and forth. After a while, reverse and try starting again.

In addition, maintaining a safe following distance is crucial when driving on snow and ice, as braking distance increases. Using snow chains can improve a vehicle's traction on snow and ice, thereby enhancing driving safety.

Wang Gensheng's car before his time travel was a rear-wheel drive vehicle, so he was very afraid of snowy weather.

Fortunately, the US military has a considerable number of tanks, so when encountering uphill sections or other terrains that wheeled vehicles cannot navigate, the US military will use tanks to tow these trucks.

Of course, this would also severely slow down the army's advance.

Meanwhile, the commander of the Ninth Army Corps was getting impatient. It was freezing cold, and the reinforcements to Chaozhou only had so much food. They were waiting to resupply after defeating the American army.

Therefore, it was decided to launch the attack on November 27th.

Anyway, the area around Changjin Lake is a good place for an ambush. There is only one road, so it is very difficult for a car to turn around.

During this short waiting period, most of the more than one hundred soldiers from the Seventh Company actually learned basic skiing.

Such a learning speed naturally surprised Wang Gensheng a little.

I didn't expect these people to learn so quickly.

Of course, during this period, other units of the Ninth Army Corps also arrived at the Changjin Lake area one after another.

Upon seeing Wang Gensheng and the others, the 89th Lion asked in bewilderment:

"How come you're moving so fast? We haven't even arrived yet! You've already gotten here! According to the route, you should have traveled at least a hundred kilometers more than us!"

When the lion chief of the eighty-nine lions was puzzled, Wu Qianli smiled and said:
"Lion Chief, we actually owe this to Wang Siling. If it weren't for the fact that every one of their Marines knows how to ski, we wouldn't have been able to move so fast!"

The lion chief of the eighty-nine lions was taken aback upon hearing this and said:

"Skiing, what is skiing? Does it literally mean sliding on snow?" "Yes! That's right, it means sliding on snow. But to ski on snow, you need to use special tools like skis to increase the surface area on the ground so you don't sink into the snow."

As Wu Qianli spoke, he even put on skis and demonstrated for the leader of the Eighty-Nine Lions. Wang Gensheng watched Wu Qianli ski. Although he looked a little rusty, he was already able to ski steadily.

At least it can stop steadily and make a smooth turn without crashing into the mountainside.

Upon seeing Wu Qianli's performance, the leader of the Eighty-Nine Lions' eyes lit up and he said:

"Wu Qianli, you just learned to ski, right? How difficult was it? By the way, how much faster is skiing compared to regular marching on snow?"

Wu Qianli thought for a moment after hearing this before replying:
"Chief, skiing is much faster than walking on snow, especially with this half-meter-thick snow. If you can march 20 kilometers a day on this, that's already quite impressive, but skiing can easily make you 100 kilometers a day."

When our 7th Company came from Dayudong, it was over 200 kilometers! But Wang Siling's Marines carried us and arrived at Changjin Lake in just two days! So skiing is at least four or five times faster than walking!

As for whether skiing is easy or difficult to learn, that varies from person to person! Of the more than one hundred soldiers in our Seventh Company, some mastered the basics of skiing in just half a day, while others couldn't even ski after three or four days!

After hearing Wu Qianli's words, especially after not being able to ski for three or four days, the leader of the Eighty-Nine Lions gave up the idea of ​​having all the lions learn to ski.

There was no other way; there wasn't enough time for all the Lion Warriors to learn to ski, so they had no choice but to give up.

In the end, the Lion Chief could only sigh and say:

"It seems there's no other way! Wu Qianli, you guys in the Seventh Company need to learn from Wang Siling!"

Wu Qianli naturally assured everyone that he would definitely learn it.

After the leader of the eighty-nine lions left, Wang Gensheng said:

"Now that you've almost learned how to ski, we should get each of you a pair of skis."

That's right, the skis that Wu Qianli and the others used to learn to ski were naturally provided by the Marine Corps. The original intention was to test whether they could learn before the war started, but now it seems that they are all quite talented and have actually learned.

So now we need to get them skis; we can't just use the Marines' skis!
So they had to cut down trees to make skis, but it's a bit of a shame that the standard US military weapon, the Garand rifle, doesn't include a bayonet.

That's right, the bayonet was not standard equipment on the Garand rifle, because the US military's combat philosophy during World War I had found that bayonet fighting was not the best option, so the bayonet was removed when the Garand rifle was designed.

Therefore, Wang Gensheng had no choice but to borrow bayonets from other units to cut down trees and make skis.

There was no other way; Wu Qianli's Seventh Company, which had been flanking the enemy, had also switched to fully armed American weapons.

Of course, skis made under rudimentary conditions are not as good as skis that the Marines have carefully crafted by carpenters in the country.

Of course, having something is better than not having it. At least having skis can make marching faster and save energy.

On the third day after the skis were finished, the planned attack date finally arrived, which was November 27th.

(End of this chapter)