Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 333 Various Grenade Throwing Techniques

However, this was more suitable for the Chaozhou reinforcements' night fighting tactics, since the Chaozhou reinforcements chose to launch their attacks at night when they did not have air superiority.

Even under a full moon, visibility at night is only about 100 meters, so grenades are more suitable for the reinforcements to play a greater role in close-range night raids.

Therefore, in history, after discovering the great role of hand grenades in the operations of the Korean War Aid Army, the Chaozhou Army first adopted a tiered hand grenade reserve system in the spring of 1951 during the battle in the Shangganling area.

That is, three reserve lines were set up at a distance of 500 meters, 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters from the front line, and each reserve line was equipped with a different number of hand grenades.

This stockpiling method ensured sustained combat capability. In one counterattack, a company threw over two thousand grenades in just four hours, achieving astonishing results.

By 1952, the grenade equipment system of the troops aiding Chaozhou was quite complete. Specialized training systems for grenadiers were established at all levels of the army, and throwing techniques were continuously improved based on combat experience.

After all, compared to live-fire training, grenade throwing training is more effective and consumes less energy.

There was no way to simulate the recoil and shooting feel of firing a gun, even if you practice aiming by hanging bricks. So hanging a gun in the air for ten days or half a month was not as effective as firing a hundred or so bullets. But there weren't enough bullets on the battlefield at that time, so where would you find so many bullets for live-fire practice?

However, grenade throwing is different. As long as the fuse is not pulled, there is no difference in effect between throwing a real grenade and throwing a fake grenade.

If it can be thrown into enemy trenches or bunker firing ports on the training ground, it can be thrown into trenches and bunker firing ports on the battlefield as well.

This is similar to Wu Wanli, who practiced skipping stones at home until he got a feel for it. Even if he had never been on the battlefield, he could still hit the target under the tense conditions of the battlefield. After all, this feel, muscle memory, and subconscious reaction are effects that require hundreds or thousands of repetitions of practice.

Furthermore, their performance will not be affected by factors such as environmental stress, since it has already become an instinctive reaction.

Of course, the aid-to-Korea army not only worked hard on grenade throwing, but also made breakthroughs in throwing techniques. On the Chaozhou battlefield, the aid-to-Chaozhou army creatively developed grenade airburst technology.

That's right, it's the technique used in the movie "The Battle at Lake Changjin" where Wu Wanli timed the grenade's detonation perfectly, throwing it over the enemy's head before it exploded.

However, only a few dare to hold onto a grenade in their hand and count down the seconds without throwing it in the tense battlefield environment.

In a tense environment, your perception of time becomes less accurate. You may not know if half a second, a second, or even two seconds have passed. Sometimes, you may think two seconds have passed, but in reality, only a second or even half a second has passed.

Therefore, even though many daring soldiers have tried airbursts, such as Chu Yunfei leading his soldiers to perform airbursts during the War of Resistance against Japan, successfully repelling the attack of Yamamoto's special forces, a single soldier would not dare to do it.

Thus, the double-fuse technology was developed to achieve airbursts. During the Third Campaign, a unit of the 42nd Army, while attacking the Jinliangli Heights, discovered that the US army had constructed multiple layers of trenches on the hillside, making conventional grenade throwing ineffective. A squad leader in this unit pioneered the "double-fuse" technology in actual combat. By adjusting the fuse length, the grenade detonated about two to three meters above the ground, significantly improving its lethality against enemy troops inside the trenches.

Unlike holding the grenade and counting down the seconds to time the explosion, directly shortening the fuse is safer than counting down the seconds to time the explosion. For example, shorten the fuse time of a hand grenade to three seconds.

Hand grenades typically explode at a distance of 25 to 30 meters, as it takes about half a second from pulling the fuse to throwing the grenade. Since the average flight speed of a hand grenade is about 10 meters per second, it will explode in about two and a half seconds. Therefore, as long as the throwing distance is controlled properly, an airburst can be safely achieved without needing to count down the seconds.

This technology was quickly adopted by the troops. The army aiding Chaozhou established a special grenade tactics research group to systematically summarize the methods of using airburst technology.

It was discovered that in nighttime operations, airbursts not only cause casualties but also produce significant illumination, which helps subsequent troops observe the terrain and enemy situation.

For example, during the Battle of Shangganling, the assault troops of the 15th Army used this technique to successfully break through the US army's deep defense system.

In addition to the airburst method, in early 1952, the troops aiding Chaozhou also developed special throwing techniques for night combat.

By wrapping fluorescent tape around the wooden handle of a grenade, the grenadier can accurately judge the throwing trajectory at night. This is similar to a pull-out grenade, except that pull-out grenades add incendiary agents to the bullets, while this involves wrapping fluorescent tape around the wooden handle of the grenade to confirm the trajectory and thus judge the accuracy of the throw.

It can even be used as a guidance grenade. For example, if a bunker is discovered and a single grenade cannot eliminate it, a fluorescent grenade can be used to guide other soldiers to throw it.

Moreover, the soldiers of the aid-to-Chaozhou army also developed the "chain throwing" technique, in which multiple soldiers throw in a predetermined time sequence to create a continuous explosive suppression effect.

For example, during the Battle of Shangganling in October 1952, a certain company threw more than 600 grenades at the US army positions in 40 minutes, creating a grenade storm example.

In addition to throwing techniques, there is also a constant innovation in throwing techniques that utilize special terrain.

For example, in mountain warfare, the troops supporting Chaozhou invented the "ricochet method," which involved using rocks to bounce grenades into enemy fortifications.

Just like using ricochets to kill the enemy, for example, when facing a US military firing position, you can block the enemy's blind spot from the side, throw a grenade from the side onto the wall of the firing port, and then use the ricochet force to bounce it into the US military bunker.

This way, you don't have to throw grenades while under fire from US machine gun positions.

By 1953, the grenade tactics system of the troops aiding Chaozhou was quite complete. They had not only mastered various individual throwing techniques, but also formed a complete tactical coordination system. In the Battle of Kumsong, the troops aiding Chaozhou creatively combined grenade tactics with artillery assaults, forming a "continuous wave" attack pattern.

The first wave of grenade throws created chaos, exposing all of the enemy's key firing positions.

Then the second wave of artillery fire strikes key targets, destroying important firing points, and then the third wave throws grenades again to clear the remaining firing points.

Finally, a general offensive was launched. This tactical combination nearly collapsed the US military's defense system. Of course, this tactic can also be considered a form of infantry-artillery coordination, allowing artillery to play its due role.

(End of this chapter)