Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 371 Next up is air-ground coordination
At sea, the Russian Pacific Fleet was still in full-speed pursuit, but as the night passed and the next day dawned, they were surprised to find that they had actually lost track of their target!
"Damn it, launch the shipborne helicopters and search for the target. Find out where it is!" Nikolai said angrily.

"We were subjected to strong electromagnetic interference, and even if our helicopters took off, they would get nowhere."

"Really? Hmph, those Americans dare to say they didn't do it? Yesterday, they were doing the same thing—using electromagnetic interference!" Nikolai gritted his teeth. "Then we'll wait. We'll wait until the satellites search for the target before we give chase!"

"Yes."

Time slowly passed, and Nikolai became agitated again. He paced back and forth on the bridge: "Hmph, it turns out that our strength is still too weak. If we bring over the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser, we will have enough combat power!"

"General, our heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers can only carry Yak-38s. Moreover, after testing, the Yak-38s cannot take off normally in tropical regions. Due to the severe problem of deck erosion, this type of aircraft has not been deployed on our medium aircraft-carrying cruisers. Most of them are deployed on land."

Nikolai's expression was complicated: "Yes, it would be great if we had developed a carrier battle group as powerful as theirs sooner, but... if we wait a few more years, we'll definitely have even more powerful and modern carriers! Over the years, our navy has taken many detours..."

At sea, nothing could be found; the American carrier strike group seemed to have vanished, and the fleet was also wandering aimlessly on the ocean.

Moscow.

"Marshal Gorshkov, please stop staging this yourself! This attack was entirely your own doing. We, the U.S. Navy, have been playing along for a long time, and it's time to call it a day. If this continues, it could easily escalate into a full-blown conflict!"

Gorshkov stared at Arthur Hartman, the American diplomat in the Soviet Union, his face contorted with rage: "What did you say? We staged this ourselves? It was clearly you Americans who attacked us! This is the kind of outrageous act that will drag the whole world into hell! Although none of our warships were damaged, our base was destroyed!"

These Americans are the ones crying wolf! This is outrageous, absolutely outrageous!
"Are you trying to bully us because the Red Navy is weaker than yours? Don't forget, in the South Atlantic, your supercarrier fleet was destroyed by supersonic anti-ship missiles, while our Soviet arsenal..."

His mention of it only made things worse, as it caused Arthur Hartman's expression to darken: "Hmph, you keep saying that what happens in the Atlantic has nothing to do with you, but you were the ones who released those supersonic anti-ship missiles, weren't you? Even though those warships have been leased to Britain, they are still the property of our US Navy!"

Gorshkov shook his head: "No, no, I didn't say that."

"Hmph, you've already admitted it!"

Gorshkov, though furious, was also clear-headed: "Fine, so this is your retaliation?"

Regardless of whether the anti-ship missiles were launched by the Red Navy, the Americans were convinced they were responsible, so they bombed Cam Ranh Bay as retaliation? This makes their motives even clearer!
Upon hearing Gorshkov's words, Arthur Hartmann became even more convinced that it was the Russian bear who did it last time—those damned guys!
However... the US Navy really can't defend against them. Those supersonic anti-ship missiles are too powerful, and even Aegis warships can't stop many of them! Although it won't be as bad as the British Navy, that's only because there aren't enough missiles being fired.

Just thinking about the overwhelming missiles... made his back break out in a cold sweat.

This time we must back down and give way to the angry Russian bear. We will continue to research advanced air defense systems and strive to intercept the Russian bear's supersonic anti-ship missiles!
Meanwhile, Gorshkov was also having second thoughts. The last incident wasn't actually the work of the Red Navy, but the Americans had assumed it was. Now, with their fleet sailing deep into the ocean, they were easily outmaneuvered by the Americans.

Now is not the time to start a war!
Afghanistan alone is enough to give them a headache!

How to do?
Gorshkov gritted his teeth: "This time, you must compensate us for our losses. We have already invested more than 80 million rubles in Cam Ranh Bay! You must compensate us for that amount."

"Hmph, you staged this whole thing and now you want us to compensate you? That's going too far! We won't give you a single cent! If you're going to compensate us, you'll have to compensate our fleet first! One aircraft carrier and four destroyers, even if they're secondhand, are worth eight hundred million dollars!"

"Fine, you're still not willing? Then let's calculate it again..."

The two sides then engaged in a heated exchange of words.

East, capital, Princess Tomb, airplane building.

"The operation was supposed to last seven days, but it's only been two days. It seems like there's nothing left for us to bomb," Air Force leader Wang remarked with a sigh.

“Who said there aren’t any?” Old Lin said. “Tomorrow, we’ll test new tactics again.”

"What tactic?"

"Of course, it's air-ground coordination," Old Lin said. "Ground soldiers, holding handheld terminals, call in our fighter jets to launch precision bombing raids on the areas that need to be bombed!"

The Air Force has already demonstrated its formidable power in the bombing operations of the past two days, completely destroying the enemy's strategic targets and potential. Next, it's time for air-ground coordination!

In later generations, if American ground forces were threatened, they would immediately call for air support, and within minutes, air power would arrive and bombard the enemy to wipe them out.

The Eastern army, when faced with danger, would take matters into their own hands, relying on their fearless spirit to destroy bunkers one by one with explosives and grenades...

In the past, there was no other way but to risk one's life for victory. Now, with this capability, we can use high technology to eliminate the enemy!
"Old Lin, how is that possible? How can the ground directly call our fighter jets in the air? Do they use radio? Wouldn't that cause chaos?"

"Old Wang, the Beidou terminal has a short message function, didn't you know that? The ground just needs to edit the target information into text and send it to the aircraft, isn't that enough?"

In this era, let alone WeChat, there isn't even a regular text message. Even though mobile phones have started to be manufactured, they only have the most basic call function, not much different from a radio. After all, mobile phones originated from military radios.

Therefore, ordinary people would never think from this perspective.

Sometimes, things are actually quite simple; a simple text message can solve the problem!

In the south, on the Laoshan front.

A company under the 40th Division of the 14th Army.

"Company Commander, what is this big lunchbox?" Platoon Leader Ma Qinghua asked curiously, looking at the large, dark-colored container with buttons and a small screen on it.

"This thing is a high-tech product developed for us by Northwestern Polytechnical University. Our air force has won many battles these past two days thanks to it. Now, we also need it to deal with the enemy on the other side!"

"Rely on it?" Ma Qinghua asked curiously, "What can this thing do? Can it compare to our Type 66 mortar?"

The Type 66 152mm howitzer is a deadly weapon on the front line. When it fires, it bombards everything in its path, and the monkeys will be crying for their parents!
Ever since the 14th Army went to the front line, they have been thinking about how to capture Laoshan. After all, anyone with a little military knowledge can tell at a glance how important Laoshan is.

Laoshan is no ordinary mountain; its main peak reaches a height of 1422 meters! Standing on the summit, one can look north to overlook vast villages and fields to the east, and south to monitor an important transportation route for the monkeys—a highway from Laozhai to the provincial capital of Hejiang.

It can be said that Laoshan is a strategic location that military strategists must fight for!
However, this mountain is not easy to attack. The slope is steep, the vegetation is dense, and there are large rocks everywhere. Moving here is like climbing a ladder to heaven. Even just climbing the mountain is not easy, let alone marching. Carrying ammunition boxes up is a nightmare, let alone charging up with a submachine gun.

For the defenders, it's easy. They just need to build bunkers on the mountain and provide cross-cover to make the attackers pay a heavy price.

To take Laoshan, most people believe that the strategy should be to first use 66mm artillery for widespread fire, then charge up and take out the bunkers one by one, using small-scale, high-frequency attacks to gradually weaken the enemy's defenses until the entire hilltop is captured.

Doing this will inevitably result in some casualties, but... we are not afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice in order to defend our motherland! The company not only wrote a petition, but also a letter written in blood!

Now, we actually have to rely on something the size of a lunchbox?

"It's much more powerful than the 66mm gun. Can the 66mm gun even destroy the enemy's strong bunkers?" Company Commander Han Chengqun asked.

Everyone shook their heads. The 66mm cannon was powerful, but it wasn't omnipotent. When fired directly, it could at most destroy a meter-thick reinforced concrete fortification, as had already been proven on the battlefield against the monkeys.

Therefore, the monkey-shaped fortifications on the other side were all over a meter thick, precisely to avoid being blasted into the air by the Type 66 artillery. "This lunchbox, can it really destroy the most solid fortifications?"

"It can't, but it can call in fighter jets from the rear to bomb the enemy's fortifications. What we need to do is use this little box to determine the target's location!" Han Chengqun said, "Now, we..."

"Reporting to the platoon leader, please assign this task to the first platoon. We have two high school students in our platoon who will definitely be able to operate it!"

"Reporting to the company commander, please assign the task to the second platoon!"

"Reporting to the company commander, although our third platoon only has junior high school students, our learning ability..."

Han Chengqun glanced at them, and then... took out... a whole bunch of things from the box behind him!

"In order to know the target coordinates more accurately, we cannot calculate them precisely in the gun scope. Therefore, we need to send someone to the place that needs to be bombed, and then... carefully observe the numbers displayed on the screen, record them, and send these numbers back to the rear after we return!"

This isn't true air-ground coordination yet. It's impossible to call in fighter jets immediately if we're attacked here. However, this is only the first call. To avoid being bombed, we have to take it slowly. Once we're more proficient, we can bomb at any time.

Now, let's do a task first, and while we're at it, practice how to operate this big lunchbox!

Although there are high-precision military maps, they can't be accurate to the meter. Only later vehicle-mounted digital maps can achieve that. Right now... the technology is still not advanced enough!
Artillery shelling involves first marking the target on a military map, then calculating various firing parameters, followed by a test shot. The forward observation post confirms the impact point, and then errors are corrected to ensure an accurate hit on the target.

Actually, the requirement issued from above was that after determining their own position using satellite terminals, they should then mark the target position based on experience and calculations from equipment such as artillery scopes, without risking getting too close. However, once the troops got their hands on the bombs, they heard that the bombs could be used for bombing with accuracy down to the meter level. So what else was there to say? They had to provide the Air Force with this level of precision and not let a single bomb go to waste!
Without the air force, they would have had to make huge sacrifices to destroy the bunkers! Right now, it's just reconnaissance; the army needs the most precise coordinates!
As night deepened, small teams set off along the front lines of the firefight.

They bent over and moved slowly through the dense bushes.

Along this stretch of road, they had been subjected to artillery fire, and the landmines had already been detonated. Their greatest danger was when they reached the other side and approached the bunker; they needed to be extremely careful...

Ma Qinghua carried the lunchbox-shaped object on his back and walked at the front, his eyes full of excitement.

Although they went together, their platoon had the most important task: to determine the exact coordinates of Songmaoling Heights, which was the most important height in front of Laoshan!
Step by step... Ma Qinghua walked very carefully. After passing through the safe area, he took out a metal detector from his back.

No need for small wooden sticks anymore, we can use high-end modern equipment!

Leave if it's safe; if it's unsafe, put up a small flag to mark it so it'll be easier to return later.

Suddenly, he felt something hard under his feet. Ma Qinghua looked down, took out pliers from his pocket, and pulled the bamboo skewer off the ground.

In the early battles, these bamboo skewers buried underground pierced the feet of countless soldiers. Now, everyone wears shoes with steel plates on the bottom, so they are not afraid of being pierced by bamboo skewers at all; it just wastes some time.

Teams of soldiers, one after another, slowly made their way toward their goal.

Inside the bunker on Songmaoling Heights.

"Come on, have some canned food. This is the best Soviet Tusanka canned food!" Commander Nguyen Thanh Van, who was guarding the bunker, said.

"Commander, is this the last box?"

Ruan Qingwen was taken aback, then shook his head: "Of course not, the rear is organizing a transport team to deliver supplies to us, and the next batch of supplies will arrive soon."

"How is that possible! Our supplies were destroyed two days ago. We have nothing now!"

When the rear was bombed, the defenders on Songmaoling Heights were in the worst situation, because it was precisely the time to send them supplies!

Their current supplies will only last a week, and since they know the supplies will arrive soon, the good stuff, such as canned meat, has already been used up.

just now……

This is the last box of canned meat left! Each class will only get one can at most, not even enough for one piece of meat per person! So, are we going to have to rely on compressed biscuits? That stuff is absolutely awful!

"That's right, our supplies were bombed, so the Soviet Union is sending us the next batch by air, very soon."

"Airlift? How is that possible? Their planes are everywhere in the sky now. We don't dare to fly over them at all. If a transport plane dares to come over, it will be bombed."

"Li Qingming, what do you mean by this? If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will kill you for undermining morale!" Ruan Qingwen said, reaching for his waist.

“Kill them. I didn’t want to fight anymore anyway. I’m exhausted from all these years. We fight the United States because of their aggression, but why are we fighting the people on the other side?”

"Of course, it's for the development of our monkey kingdom!"

"No, it's just for the ambitions of certain people. The people on the other side were originally our friends..."

boom!
Gunshots rang out. Li Qingming looked at the large hole in his chest, wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent. However, there seemed to be a hint of mockery on his face.

Even if I die now, it'll only be a few days sooner. The enemy will attack soon, and you... will all die! Did you think this was the Maginot Line and it was safe?

Outside, Ma Qinghua, who was cutting the barbed wire, nearly dropped the pliers. "Damn it, what's going on in there?" The sound came from inside. No one on his side was injured. In this darkness, unless the other side used flares, they wouldn't be able to spot them crawling forward.

Ignore him, keep going!

Since the power plant and supply warehouse were all destroyed, even the fuel for the temporary generators had to be used sparingly. The barbed wire fence was not electrified, so the operation was very simple.

Barbed wire, the last layer of protection!

After Ma Qinghua finished cutting, he looked down at the box he had brought and first recorded the data on it. Actually, pushing it another twenty meters would take him to the main bunker.

After recording the data, he handed it to the person next to him, and then continued crawling forward, little by little, until he reached the bunker.

The other side's defenses are really too lax.

Record the data again, and you're all done!
Boom!
Just then, a corpse was thrown out from inside the bunker and landed near him.

That's... a lieutenant from a monkey? Is there infighting among these monkeys?

Ma Qinghua was overjoyed. It seemed that the monkeys' morale had been severely damaged. Next, if their side launched another precise bombardment, perhaps the monkeys would completely collapse?

By then, we can take Laoshan without losing a single soldier!

Let's see how it goes tomorrow. If the outer areas are all blown up, we'll make our way to the main peak of Laoshan tomorrow night!

(End of this chapter)