Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 316 Retreat Overnight
Although helicopters are slower than human transport, they are still much faster. However, the H5 helicopter that Wang Gensheng captured had limited capacity; after Wang Gensheng boarded it, it could only transport 500 jin (250 kilograms) of goods at a time.

Of course, while Wang Gensheng was transporting explosives, Duan Peng, Wei Dayong, Li Xiu, Baili Xiu, and other key members of the Marine Corps were digging pits and laying landmines on the road near Xingnan Port at Shuimen Bridge.

Of course, to disrupt mine clearance, there were still a dozen or so hand grenade-type landmines, along with a heavy anti-tank mine.

So Wang Gensheng spent most of the night in the helicopter, making about twenty round trips and bringing five tons of explosive materials to the area.

Although the H5 helicopter can reach a maximum speed of 170 kilometers per hour, Wang Gensheng only dares to fly it at a speed of 140 or 150 kilometers per hour.

Therefore, being able to make about twenty transport flights a night is already pushing the helicopter's capacity to its limit.

However, when Wang Gensheng looked at the additional three kilometers of mine-prone road, he sneered inwardly, thinking, "Does Smith think he's so resourceful and good at mine clearance?"

If Smith could clear a four-kilometer-long mine in three days, then Wang Gensheng could also clear a three-kilometer-long mine in one night.

Moreover, Wang Gensheng inquired about the marching speed of the 26th Army. In just two more days, the 26th Army would be able to catch up with Smith's Marine Corps and encircle them.

As expected, after Smith developed the unmanned tank mine-clearing method, the mine-clearing speed increased once again. That very afternoon, Smith arrived at Watergate Bridge with Marine Corps 1 and 7th Infantry Lion.

To make it easier to fill the large craters created by artillery shells and mines, Smith even equipped the tanks with bulldozer buckets, turning them into bulldozers. Under these circumstances, even the speed of filling the craters was several times faster.

However, when Smith arrived at the Watergate Bridge, which had been completely destroyed by his own ship's guns, he did not use tanks or bulldozers to fill it, since the pit at the Watergate Bridge was simply too large.

So Smith called for the airdrop of the steel suspension bridge, just like in the movie. Soon, steel bridge components, each weighing a ton, were dropped onto the Watergate Bridge. In no time, a steel bridge, more than ten meters long and capable of supporting tanks like the Pershing, weighing more than forty tons, was completed.

Just when Smith thought he could safely retreat across the water gate bridge today, a loud thud shattered his beautiful illusion.

That's right, the muffled sound was Wang Gensheng pulling the trigger, detonating the shell that landed on the mountain above the Water Gate Bridge—the 406mm naval gun.

The malfunctioning naval gun shell was detonated by Wang Gensheng using a high-explosive shell. Because it penetrated more than ten meters into the mountain, the explosion sounded muffled. After all, the shock wave generated by the explosion was absorbed by the rocks of the mountain, which naturally resulted in a muffled sound.

Just like blasting a mountain in a quarry, with the sound of the explosion, a large amount of rubble collapsed from the mountain and instantly buried the newly erected steel bridge, along with the tanks traveling on the bridge.

Upon seeing this, Smith's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He realized that it would be impossible to clear out these hundred tons of rubble without spending an entire night.

Despite having bulldozers converted from tanks, clearing such a large amount of rubble wouldn't be easy. But the real worry was yet to come! Just last night, Wang Gensheng had laid a three-kilometer minefield on the road behind the Shuimen Bridge, meaning there was no possibility of passage even tomorrow or the night after, let alone tonight.

Of course, there is another way to get through quickly: have Smith completely abandon the tanks and transport vehicles, and then have the US soldiers walk around the road on foot. This way, they can quickly cross the three-kilometer-long minefield.

Even if the snow makes it difficult to walk, it's still possible to cover three kilometers in half a day. However, if the US military chooses to abandon heavy weapons and rely solely on the light weapons carried by the soldiers, the threat to the reinforcements will naturally become much smaller.

"Si Ling, the 26th Army just replied. They will be able to reach Shuimianqiao tomorrow, and they will be able to launch a full-scale encirclement and annihilation operation against the Marine One Lion and the Infantry Seven Lions tomorrow night!"

Wang Gensheng was naturally overjoyed to hear this news, because this time it was definitely secure, and Smith would not run away like in the movie.

After all, clearing the rubble covering the bridge and clearing the three kilometers of minefield road behind it are not things that can be done in a day or a night.

Just as Wang Gensheng was feeling happy, the scouts Smith had sent out to investigate the road conditions ahead returned and reported that there were also minefields on the highway ahead.

Upon hearing this news, Smith's face naturally turned terribly grim. Smith understood why the reinforcements were fighting so desperately to block him; there must be a large force coming from the rear, which was why they had laid minefields and blown up bridges.

After taking a few deep breaths, Smith finally gritted his teeth and did something that surprised Wang Gensheng, yet was also quite reasonable. Smith, with a grim face, said to his advisor:
"Have all soldiers abandon vehicles and proceed on foot. Abandon all artillery that requires truck towing and only carry the 60-caliber mortars that we can carry! As for tank crews, if they don't want to become enemy spoils along with their tanks, then make them get out of the tanks and stop them!"

In response, the staff officer of the Marine Corps said:

"But if we lose these heavy equipment, we'll lose our firepower advantage..."

However, Smith interrupted him before the staff officer could finish speaking:
"The scouts told me there are at least several kilometers of minefields along the road behind the Water Gate Bridge. So, sir, if we continue to hold onto this heavy equipment, when do you plan to retreat to Hung Nam Port? Besides, how many tanks do we have left? We've already completely destroyed over forty tanks, and there are still over twenty tanks with their tracks blown off that haven't been repaired. How many tanks do we have left to clear mines? And the reason we haven't been attacked on a large scale yet is because the enemy's main force hasn't caught up. Once they do, it will be our death!"

"But·····"

"No buts! So what if we have heavy equipment? Our elite Polar Bear Regiment has plenty of heavy equipment, but what was the result? We were still completely annihilated! Obey orders! I am the Lion Commander!"

Under Smith's strong pressure, the entire Marine Corps began a foot retreat.

(End of this chapter)