Chapter 82: Insufficient mm Firepower

Jiang Anguo put down the binoculars and handed them to Xiao Si.

Shi Xiaomao was truly accurate: five shells, three landed relatively close, one landed far away, and another landed a bit farther than the three close ones.

You could say four out of five hit.

This is a godlike artilleryman!

Jiang Anguo felt he had made a huge profit, too profitable.

"Shi Xiaomao," Jiang Anguo called.

"Yes," Shi Xiaomao snapped to attention.

Jiang Anguo was pleased; Shi Xiaomao did have training experience. "Shi Xiaomao, from now on, you are the deputy company commander of the Artillery Company."

"Yes," Shi Xiaomao saluted Jiang Anguo.

"Lower your hand, remember, this is a combat zone; saluting officers is prohibited. You just joined, so I won't punish you this time," Jiang Anguo said.

"Yes, sir."

"Sir, may I use this 75mm field gun?" Shi Xiaomao asked.

Jiang Anguo nodded and said, "Of course. As deputy commander you have the right to use it, but when fighting the devils, don't let me down, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

Turning his head, Jiang Anguo said to Xiao Si, "Xiao Si, give the organization chart of the Artillery Company to Shi Xiaomao."

In a formal appointment, Jiang Anguo naturally wouldn't call Shi Xiaomao by his other nickname, Keluobo; basically everyone in the unit gets a nickname.

Shi Xiaomao widened his eyes in disbelief: this company has 198 men, all equipped with 105mm howitzers, a total of six 105mm howitzers.

Plus eight 81mm mortars; that's the Artillery Company's setup.

The second Artillery Company is purely 105mm howitzers, six in total.

Jiang Anguo's battalion has twelve 105mm howitzers.

"Sir, these are all ours," Keluobo's surprised expression pleased Jiang Anguo.

Jiang Anguo smiled, "Of course, each company also has a communications soldier attached to the artillery unit; once support is needed, your firepower must be in place."

"Yes, sir."

Shi Xiaomao was about to salute when Jiang Anguo stopped him, "Remember, on the battlefield, no salutes are needed."

"Yes, sir."

Jiang Anguo patted Shi Xiaomao's shoulder and said, "Do well. First go learn about your unit, and don't hoard knowledge—pass the techniques to the soldiers under you. Watch your arm, seize the time to rest well; war is coming soon."

Jiang Anguo didn't think Shi Xiaomao would be a good commander, but it didn't matter; with Jiang Sanpao paired with Shi Xiaomao, Shi Xiaomao would surely be the best gunner in the whole unit.

"Yes."

As he left, Jiang Anguo also took two cans from Xiao Si's backpack—a beef can and a yellow peach can—and handed them to Shi Xiaomao.

It was clear Shi Xiaomao was a foodie; the unit was hard, a full meal was already good, dreaming of beef was fanciful.

In the wounded soldiers' camp, Shi Xiaomao had his happiest moments, because since enlisting he had never had such good food.

Shi Xiaomao being able to study abroad shows his family was well-off; giving that up to enlist shows his patriotism.

Jiang Anguo, from Shi Xiaomao's surprised expression, realized he hadn't done enough; he hadn't built real confidence in his troops.

"Meng Fanle, issue the notice: organize all companies to come to the Tank Company and the Artillery Company for a tour," Jiang Anguo ordered.

Only after the soldiers of Chanda see this heavy firepower will they understand they are not cannon fodder but a main force.

Indeed, Jiang Anguo was right; after a day of tours, everyone discussed how many devils could be wiped out with a single barrage—those barrels were thicker than thighs, many soldiers even touched the tanks and howitzers.

Even Meng Fanle was entering the Tank Company and Artillery Company for the first time.

The firepower of a single company was indeed impressive; everyone was incredulous.

Moreover, Jiang Anguo promised that whenever a hard assault mission arose, calling for artillery would be answered instantly.

When had they ever had such treatment? It's unimaginable—company-level units could call for artillery support.

Jiang Anguo also exchanged manpower with two companies, one being the Anti-Aircraft Company, which he hadn't anticipated or considered.

Not only does the camp need air defense, but also the southern hill positions require it.

If possible, moving the anti-air guns up the mountain would give a wider view, though the steep, high terrain makes it hard to haul them up.

Another issue is the kitchen squad; the original thirty‑plus men were clearly insufficient, the cooks couldn't stop for a day.

People were near exhaustion, and that was with only one meal a day.

At night each company handled its own rations; the dry food was issued, each pack containing a small amount of alcohol that could be ignited for heating.

Now it can become a cooking company, and She Pigu and Ma Dazhi were honored with promotion; they are now lieutenant company commanders.

The deer that Huang Ping shot earlier, even when Ma Dazhi roasted it, no one was interested; there simply wasn't much meat.

Jiang Anguo realized the soldiers also disliked chicken; any meat with bones was unwelcome, even luncheon meat tasted better than chicken.

Therefore, Jiang Anguo arranged special rations; nobody minded, some even joked about the battalion commander loving bones.

Pork and beef are delicious, but they leave the mouth full of oil.

After some inquiries, Jiang Anguo learned:

All subordinate companies reported that the 50mm mortar firepower was insufficient, so Jiang Anguo acted decisively, swapping every 50mm mortar for the United States M2‑60mm mortar; with just two figures, it completely outclassed Germany's 50mm mortars.

It's not that the 50mm mortar is bad; it actually suits the Chinese Army well.

Yet Jiang Anguo still pursued perfection; the M2 mortar's maximum range is 1,840 m, and the whole gun weighs 19 kg.

The Type‑36 50mm mortar weighs 14 kg in total.

Thus, regardless, any country's 60mm mortar surpasses a 50mm mortar.

In terms of convenience, the 50mm mortar may still be less handy than Little Japan's grenade launcher, which is already operable by a single soldier.

Mortars provide fire coverage, but only when you can afford it.

The most important role of mortars is clearing fire points, such as enemy machine‑gun positions, allowing effective mortar use.

Removed all the mm Mortars of every company and equipped them all with M2 mortars.

The entire company's long‑range firepower also increased linearly, and each company now has five M2 mortars, plus one 81mm mortar.

In other words, a company of 160 men already fields six mortars.