Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 301 Mine Detector

So on the first night, under the cover of darkness, Wang Gensheng began to lay landmines towards Gutuli, one kilometer away from Shuimen Bridge.

Of course, Wang Gensheng's mine placement was also very particular; it wasn't just randomly placed, but rather an anti-tank mine was placed every twenty meters.

They laid the two hundred anti-tank mines they brought over a distance of four kilometers, but of course, two hundred anti-tank mines were not enough to stop Smith's retreating troops.

So, in between anti-tank mines, Wang Gensheng began setting up mines modified from pineapple grenades.

Of course, in order to make the grenade explode quickly, Wang Gensheng had already had the delay fuse of the pineapple grenade removed before setting it up.

This way, the grenade will explode immediately upon being triggered, eliminating any delay in detonation.

As for detonation, a two- or three-meter-long rope is tied to the safety pin of the grenade, and then the other end of the rope is secured with a tree branch or stick.

Next, dig a small hole where the rope passes. If you step into the hole, the rope will pull the safety ring on the grenade, thus firing it.

Moreover, because the rope is two or three meters long, it can also effectively avoid mine detectors or mine-clearing rods.

As for the mine-clearing rod, it was a hardcore physical method of mine clearance before the advent of mine detectors. You should know that in 1939, when World War II had just broken out, the German army basically only had the simplest tools to detect landmines, and that tool was the mine-clearing rod.

It was actually just an ordinary iron rod, used to detect landmines by poking the ground diagonally forward and relying on sensation and unusual sounds. Sometimes, if such a tool was unavailable, a rifle with a bayonet strapped to it had to be used instead. Later, an upgraded version of the mine-detecting iron appeared: the mine-detecting rod, but it was still just an iron rod.

The so-called upgrade is simply to lengthen the existing structure, so that soldiers can stay further away from landmines, and even if the target is accidentally detonated, the main upward shock wave and fragments will pose less of a threat.

For example, the Type 39 mine-detecting rod was once standard equipment for German military engineers. It was designed in two sections: the front half had a pointed tip, and the back half was hollow. When not in use, the front half could be inserted into the back half with the pointed tip facing backward for easy transport. When needed, it was removed and attached to the back half with the pointed tip facing forward. Later, the Germans further extended the mine-detecting rod and added a hook, calling it a mine-detecting fork. It could easily push obstacles aside during mine detection to better search for mines hidden underneath.

The German military has strict regulations regarding the use of this equipment by engineers to clear minefields. Before commencing operations, several basic principles must be understood:
First, if the minefield is on a highway, a safe passage of one car width should be cleared along one side of the road.

Secondly, for minefields in the wild, a safe path at least three meters wide must first be cleared.

Third, cleared mine-free zones along roads and in the field must be clearly marked. Uncleared areas must also be marked with sticks, ropes, etc., and sentry posts may be set up if necessary. Fourth, buried landmines can often be detected by their color and shape, which differ from their surroundings. Sometimes, even careless camouflage can expose them.

Fifth, tripwires and snares used to trigger landmines can be identified by the lines on the ground. Before clearing them, be careful not to cut taut lines; only slack lines can be used to ensure the fuse is released and the mine's triggering mechanism is engaged. In suspicious situations, tie a rope to the tripwire, then take cover behind a bunker and pull the trigger to detonate.

Article 6. Upon discovering a landmine, remove the camouflage before detonating it, provided there is no immediate danger. When clearing mines laid by friendly forces, if it is clear from the mine-laying plan that these mines do not have pull-type or shear-type fuses that can be triggered by picking them up, they can be picked up and removed. When removing them, first remove the camouflage and cut the fuse to the "safe" position. After inserting the safety hook, these mines can be reused.

Each soldier in the mine-clearing team is equipped with a mine-detecting rod and many small flags or other tools for marking landmines. In addition, two of them carry a roll of white bandage and nails or thread to secure the bandage, which are used to mark the cleared safe zone.

Before entering a minefield, everyone must use a mine detector to gently probe the ground ahead to search for targets. Once a mine is detected, it can be marked with a small flag or other aids such as tree branches. It is crucial to note that shovels must never be used as a substitute for a mine detector to probe the ground!
Each person's mine detection width is one meter, and the left and right boundaries of the road need to be extended outward by half a meter. Therefore, it takes five people working at the same time to clear a four-meter-wide road.

However, as the war progressed, rudimentary tools such as mine detectors and mine detector rods, which relied on the most primitive and purely mechanical principles, quickly became unable to meet the needs of the battlefield. Therefore, it became inevitable to replace them with new electronic mine detectors that utilized the principle of electromagnetic induction.

Of course, the more crucial point is that this hardcore physical mine clearance method is too unsafe and too exhausting for the mine clearance soldiers. Sometimes, if not handled properly, the mine clearance rod might accidentally hit the trigger of a landmine, resulting in the loss of one or even several mine clearance soldiers.

Therefore, in April 1940, Dejun proposed the development of a wheeled mine detector. According to the requirements, this was a device that could be pushed around, operated by only one person, and capable of detecting landmines one meter ahead.

The development of this equipment was led by the Fifth Division of the Weapons Test Bureau and undertaken by Rheinland. It weighs 23 kilograms, has a detection depth of 40 centimeters, uses the principle of electromagnetic induction, uses sound signals as target identification markers, has a battery life of 20 hours, requires only one person to operate, and is operated by pushing and carrying.

This was the earliest electromagnetic mine detector.

Because of its deep detection range, enabling it to find targets buried deep in the sand, and the rapid progress of Rheinmetall's research and development, which quickly produced the first batch of prototypes, the North Philippine theater of war in 1941 became the preferred location for its combat testing. There, it performed exceptionally well, so much so that the British troops who captured it greatly admired it.

Structurally, the main body of the equipment is a cart, with a frame consisting of two parts that extend forward and backward around the wheel axles. A probe is mounted at the front of the cart and is protected within a long, narrow sleeve. The pulse signals generated by the probe are transmitted via wires fixed to the frame to a receiver box containing a receiver, battery, and switch.

Because it uses the principle of electromagnetic induction, it can only be used to detect landmines containing metal components. The detector can locate the target by listening to the sound pulses emitted through an earpiece. Its unique feature is that soldiers can use it in an upright walking posture, or, for safety reasons, bend the vehicle body to use it in a prone or crawling position when enemy activity is detected. Notably, in order to control the overall weight and save costs, plywood is used for the two wheels, and it is also equipped with rubber tires.

In addition, a long, narrow container filled with white dye is installed above the front probe, which continuously sprays dye to mark the path it travels during its movement. The trolley-type mine detector can be disassembled, packed into a shipping container, and quickly and easily reassembled upon arrival at the front lines.

(End of this chapter)