Chapter 189: Engineers? We're hitting the engineers!

"What the hell?"

"They have plenty of shells—are they just bored?"

"Our position is clearly here, so why are all the shells landing over there?"

In the early hours, bursts of mortar shell explosions heralded the battle's start.

One or two hundred meters ahead of a certain defensive position of the Second Battalion, white smoke suddenly rose.

Seeing this stray bombardment landing like it was aimed at a grandmother's house, the few soldiers stationed in the abandoned civilian house behind the defensive position looked puzzled.

This defensive position lies on the second line of defense, in area A of the three areas labeled A, B, C, and there are four people.

They are Chen Panpan, Liu Ziqiang, Sun Chen, and the squad leader leading them is Lu Yang.

Lu Yang half-crouched behind the windowsill on the second floor, looking through his scope at the distant spot where white smoke drifted, and said: "They're not firing randomly; they're using 82mm mortars to probe whether that area has anti-personnel mines."

Chen Panpan wondered: "At that distance, how can you tell it's an 82mm mortar?"

Hmm.

"Why not 60mm or 100mm caliber?" Liu Ziqiang asked.

Lu Yang: "The 60mm is a light mortar, mostly for individual soldiers and squads, long-ranged but limited in power."

"The Eighth Company is a mortar company; the 100mm caliber is too powerful, belonging to battalion-level firepower, and they don't have many of them."

"The 82mm and 60mm calibers are the most common, but judging by the blast sound and smoke effect, it should be a medium mortar; using it for preliminary probing attacks to clear mine obstacles is appropriate."

"We've buried large numbers of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines ahead of our position; if they aren't cleared, the enemy won't dare send armored vehicles and tanks charging..."

Liu Ziqiang nodded thoughtfully: "Ah, that's how it is; I thought they were just shooting wildly because they couldn't find a target."

Chen Panpan's eyes lit up with excitement: "Who knew warfare had so much to learn? Yesterday's drill, I followed the squad leader in a charge, and before I even realized what was happening, I got blown up."

"That was probably a 60mm mortar blast; I don't think the coverage was especially large."

Lu Yang, while constantly observing the distance through his scope, replied quietly: "In war you can't just rush in; the more chaotic things get, the more you need to see the situation clearly. This is the first barrage; next will come the second and third, slowly advancing toward our outer position."

"When they get close to our outer position, the engineers will go crazy clearing mines; our only means of protection are anti-tank mines and a few anti-tank guns."

"If the minefield is cleared, once the enemy tanks launch a charge, our position will be quickly overrun; so, stay alert..."

Liu Ziqiang and Sun Chen had taken part in drills before, but each time they were merely assigned to a fixed position or given a fixed task.

Even so, many times they weren't even sure what they should be doing, or what had happened ahead.

All they could do was wait for the squad leader's order: charge when told to charge, withdraw when told to withdraw, fire when told to fire.

But Lu Yang is truly different; he tells you the current situation and exactly what you should do.

Just Lu Yang's battlefield analysis and insight are beyond what an ordinary non-commissioned officer can grasp; at minimum, one needs officer-level ability.

However, they currently can't confirm whether what Lu Yang says is true.

The enemy commander isn't an idiot; his attack plan should be thorough, not something easily guessed, right?

Just then, the second barrage arrived in the distance as scheduled.

Judging by where the shells landed, the second barrage had indeed advanced somewhat, and the third followed closely.

After the three rounds ended, gunfire suddenly came from the forward position.

"Enemy, the enemy is attacking!"

Chen Panpan jumped in fright, quickly crouching on the ground, afraid that showing her head would get her instantly killed.

Their location isn't too far from the outermost position.

Because it was dark and the view was open, the superiors had them guard this abandoned two-story building.

Anyone who dared hide here in daylight would surely be greeted by enemy mortar fire.

Liu Ziqiang asked: "Brother Yang, should we shoot?"

Sun Chen: "Should we lend a hand? If the outer position is breached, we're in trouble."

Lu Yang looked at the two of them: "It's so dark, can you even see the enemy?"

The two immediately fell silent; they could barely make out a tree a hundred meters away, let alone gunfire two or three hundred meters off.

Even if they fired, at best they'd be spraying wildly; hitting the enemy would be pure luck.

In fact, this is the norm on the battlefield; often nobody sees anything, yet hundreds of rounds are fired.

But Lu Yang is the exception—he could shoot, yet he chose not to; because this wasn't an enemy attack, just a probe.

As the team's sniper, he must be patient, playing the long game to catch a big fish.

As expected, due to visibility issues, the friendly troops' marksmanship up front wasn't very good.

Seeing this, the enemy also sent more people forward to probe the attack, about two squads' worth.

However, those enemies in the rear wore gear that seemed quite different from regular soldiers.

Lu Yang couldn't see them in perfect detail, but he could make out their general outlines—they looked relatively bulky, with helmets sporting goggles, and a few were carrying toolboxes.

"Engineers, they're all engineers!"

"What?"

Liu Ziqiang and the three others basically couldn't see anything, but Lu Yang could see it clearly.

Lu Yang, without hesitation, grabbed the radio, pressed the button, and shouted into it.

"Company Commander, Company Commander, this is Lu Yang; the enemy's probing attack has mixed in a lot of engineers!"

"Their numbers are under twenty, they're approaching one of our anti-tank minefields, all have entered our firing range—request permission to open fire!"

In the makeshift company headquarters built with camouflage netting, Ma Qing'an, upon receiving the message, immediately felt energized.

"Permission to fire—don't let a single engineer get away!"

"Yes!"

Having received permission, Lu Yang immediately pressed his eye to the scope.

Engineers are still relatively easy to distinguish, especially those few carrying toolboxes.

In Lu Yang's eyes, they were nothing but glaringly obvious live targets.

The trigger was pulled, and with a bang, an advancing enemy engineer's head smoked and he died instantly.

Just as he was dazed, a dazzling white little sun suddenly appeared in the sky.

The blinding light made him unable to open his eyes; he could only shield them with his arm.

"Illumination round!"

An illumination round shot into the sky, and the enemy engineers preparing to sneak mine clearance were instantly exposed in the open.

At that moment, not only did the friendly troops on the outer perimeter clearly see the position of this group, but Liu Ziqiang and the others saw it as well.

"Take action!"

At Lu Yang's command, Liu Ziqiang and the others opened fire with their assault rifles.

At a distance of about two hundred meters, the assault rifles' aim might be a bit off, but Lu Yang's sniper rifle never missed.

With the illumination round's light, he could aim with even greater ease and composure.

Lu Yang aimed at an engineer crawling on the ground, seeking cover, and fired a shot.

After taking him down, he quickly swung his muzzle and spotted a guy crouched on the ground who seemed to have started mine clearance; another bullet followed.

In just a short moment, six or seven enemy soldiers had fallen under his gunfire, and without exception they were all engineers responsible for mine clearance.

"Sniper, there's a sniper!"

"Retreat, fall back!"

The enemy soldiers shouted in panic and retreated hastily.

As the illumination flare in the air was about to die out and the light dimmed, Lu Yang aimed at an engineer holding a toolbox and fired another shot.

With a buzzing vibration, the distant engineer's body twitched, and a smoke representing death immediately rose above his head.

"Damn, I was zigzagging, how could he still hit me?"