Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 278 Grenade Launchers for Mortars

Therefore, in war, being able to eliminate an enemy with ten bullets is considered an ace. However, in most cases, even if you fire a whole magazine of thirty bullets, you might only suffer a minor injury, or even miss completely.

Just as Wang Gensheng picked up the cooled-down M2 heavy machine gun from the snow, ready to continue the fight, he discovered that the battle was almost over.

Because Wang Gensheng planted landmines along the retreat route, none of the Polar Bear Regiment managed to escape; they were all surrounded.

Of course, the Polar Bear Regiment called for air support before being wiped out. It was already night, and the US military at that time had not yet invented low-light aiming that could see the ground at night, or passive infrared aiming, so there was no way to drop bombs at night.

Especially in mountainous areas like Changjin Lake, where towering mountains abound, if large bomber squadrons fly too low in an attempt to see the ground clearly, such as at a height of one or two hundred meters, they will ultimately crash into the cliffs.

However, in order to carry out nighttime air bombing, the US military devised a method: first, using small reconnaissance aircraft to drop smoke signal flares.

Then the larger bombers followed used the smoke signal flare to carry out bombing. After all, compared to large bombers, small, low-speed bombers are not only more agile, but can also fly lower, which allows them to see the ground situation better.

Low speed, low altitude, and agility naturally make it the perfect choice for launching signal flares at night.

However, Wang Gensheng had also seen the movie "The Battle at Lake Changjin," so when the small reconnaissance plane came over, he didn't hesitate and, within his 650-meter mental detection range, accurately shot down the low-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

With the reconnaissance plane destroyed, the signal flares were not dropped, and the bomber formation at an altitude of several thousand meters naturally had no target to bomb.

Thus, Wang Gensheng and the eighty-ninth lion were naturally able to clean up the battlefield and collect their spoils with peace of mind.

Even Wang Gensheng himself started looking for 12.7mm bullets for the M2 heavy machine gun. There was no other way; only Wang Gensheng, Duan Peng, and Wei Dayong in the entire Marine Corps used the M2 heavy machine gun. The rest, such as the assault team, were all equipped with M3 submachine guns or Thompson submachine guns. As for the fire support group, they had grenade launchers, mortars, and light machine guns.

After the battle, Wang Gensheng's ammunition was almost exhausted. If he didn't replenish his ammunition soon, he would have to fight the American soldiers with his bare hands or by throwing knives.

Of course, although Wang Gensheng's physical fitness improved and the power of his throwing knives increased, even to the point of being comparable to the power of a pistol bullet, they were still far inferior to the power of an M2 heavy machine gun bullet.

Furthermore, the M2 heavy machine gun can fire four to five hundred bullets per minute, which is equivalent to eight or nine bullets per second. No matter how Wang Gensheng throws them, it is impossible for him to throw eight or nine throwing knives in one second.

Moreover, bullets are much easier to find on the battlefield than throwing knives, especially when fighting against wealthy forces like the US Army. Sure enough, Wang Gensheng quickly found six metal ammunition boxes specifically for M2 heavy machine guns.

These ammunition boxes contain 12.7mm heavy machine gun bullets for the M2 heavy machine gun, each weighing twenty kilograms. While a single 12.7mm bullet only weighs about 120 grams, and 100 bullets would only weigh 12 kilograms, the metal belts and the metal boxes themselves account for a significant portion of the weight. Therefore, under normal circumstances, Wang Gensheng would only carry five ammunition boxes, not more. Of course, even if he only carried five, his soldiers would help carry them, while Wang Gensheng himself would only carry two, since he was wearing full body armor!

Therefore, it is impossible to carry five 20-kilogram ammunition boxes while carrying a 38-kilogram heavy machine gun.

However, after looking at the more than twenty ammunition boxes he found, Wang Gensheng thought for a moment and decided to let the fire support team take them. After all, the fire support team had almost run out of ammunition for their grenade launchers after the battle.

Therefore, seeing the 60mm mortars found by the Polar Bear Regiment, they decided to use these 60mm mortars to replace the 50mm grenade launchers, since it was impossible to replenish the Japanese grenade launcher ammunition on the Chaoguo battlefield.

Therefore, Wang Gensheng's method of using war to sustain war was to replace the Japanese 50mm grenade launchers with the US army's 60mm mortars.

The 60mm caliber is the smallest caliber mortar in the US military's arsenal, and its designation is the M19 mortar.

This mortar is actually an improved version of the Fagiano Brandt mortar.

The mortars developed by the French Brandt Arms Factory were best-sellers in the international arms market in the early 20th century due to their excellent quality.

In 1935, the factory successfully developed the M1935 60mm mortar. This weapon was of superior quality and was therefore purchased by many countries. At that time, the United States was not as technologically advanced as France in mortars and could only import them from France.

In the late 1930s, the United States' military industry developed rapidly, and it was naturally unwilling to continue importing mortars. Therefore, it obtained a license from the Brandt Arsenal and, starting in 1938, the Rock Island Arsenal began to copy the M1935 60mm mortar. In January 1940, the 60mm mortar copied by the Rock Island Arsenal entered mass production and was equipped by the US Army, designated as the M-2.

The gun is 730 mm long, weighs 19 kg, has a muzzle velocity of 158 m/s, a maximum range of 1840 m, and a minimum range of 91 m. It has a 14-degree azimuth range and an elevation range of 40-85 degrees. It can fire various types of shells, including high-explosive shells, white phosphorus smoke shells, and illumination shells. The high-explosive shell weighs 1.38 kg and has a maximum rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute.

The U.S. Army's M-2 60mm mortars were equipped in infantry company platoons, with four mortars per platoon. A total of 4 of these mortars were produced, and they were widely deployed by U.S. Army infantry and Marine Corps infantry units to fill the firepower gap between hand grenades and 81mm mortars. However, the M-2 60mm mortar's service life was short-lived, and the U.S. Army had already begun developing a new 60mm mortar.

In 1942, the 60mm mortar developed and produced by the Walter Fleet Arms Factory began to be issued to the troops, designated M19, to replace the M-2 60mm mortar. The M19 has a barrel length of 762 mm, a total weight of 20.5 kg, a muzzle velocity of 160 m/s, a maximum range of 1,800 m, and a minimum range of 200 m.

The M19 mortar is simple in structure and easy to maintain. Its relatively simple structure reduces the likelihood of malfunctions, making maintenance and upkeep more convenient. The breech is screwed to the rear of the barrel, and the firing mechanism is housed in the firing sleeve within the breech. This design reduces the number of parts, lowers the failure rate, and improves reliability.

Furthermore, the M-19 mortar is easy to carry and suitable for various battlefield environments. It comes in two versions: a standard version and a portable version. The standard version has a steel barrel, a bipedal mount, a square base plate, and is operated by two people. The portable version has the same barrel and a slotted base plate, and uses a pull-type breechblock. Weighing less than ten kilograms, it can be operated by one person. Due to its simple structure and ease of carrying, the M-19 is better suited to complex terrains such as mountains and jungles, improving troop mobility and combat efficiency.

(End of this chapter)