The next morning, it was a ten-kilometer long run as usual.
Wang Ke ran back with the whole platoon, and it was just getting light. On the small stone bridge at the intersection leading to Longquanzhuang. Wang Ke pointed to the white poplar trees beside the bridge and said with a smile: "Are you still energetic? Who can climb up? Look at the old stork's nest above."
"Platoon leader, let me try." Niu Suozhu spat into the palm of his hand, jumped up with his feet, and climbed up. This kid had practiced martial arts for a few days before joining the army, and was relatively dexterous in the reconnaissance class.
But crawling and crawling, it was less than ten meters before he slipped down.
"Let me try." Xue Lin from the wireless class started to use the stupidest method in his hometown, twisting his legs and climbing up. But the tree was too thick and it was impossible to climb up.
"I'll do it." Xiao Gao from the telephone class stood up. Although he was taller than Xue Lin, he was more agile. He rotated his hands, just like walking, moving left and right, and climbed up "squeezing".
Next, around the tree, four of the telephone class got up, two of the reconnaissance class got up, and none of the others could get up.
"Comrades, don't underestimate tree climbing. Everyone in our command platoon must be able to climb trees."
As soon as Wang Ke said the words, the whole platoon was stunned.
Gu Maolin said: "Platoon leader, we've been doing this for a long time. Why don't you take us to play? Isn't this part of the training?"
"Gu Maolin is right! Comrades, our training content in the future will not only include the content in the lesson plans, but also include content that is not in these lesson plans. For example, breaking doors and locks, climbing trees and walls, riding horses to chop firewood... In a word, We have too much to learn." Wang Ke looked serious, and the whole group was speechless.
"Let's go. After we come back from the long run, everyone will climb trees here. Those who can't climb must learn how to climb at least twice a day."
"Yes!" The command platoon returned to the station and got busy.
After breakfast, the company concentrated on studying military topography.
At the entrance of the village, Wang Ke took the remaining four people from the reconnaissance squad and met with the old platoon leader Hu Zhijun. Unexpectedly, deputy company commander Lu Zeran also came with a belt, a water bottle on his back, and a tree stick in his hand.
"Hello, deputy company commander." Wang Ke raised his right hand and gave a military salute.
Deputy company commander Lu Zeran handed the stick to his left hand, and returned Wang Ke with a military salute with his right hand, and then said: "Commander platoon leader, I will study with you today. It seems that the knowledge of actual combat training in the army is really great." .”
"Platoon leader, let's go." Wang Ke asked the old platoon leader Hu Zhijun.
"Set off."
"Let's go." Wang Ke waved his hand back.
This time the reconnaissance team did not go through the grassy beach and the swamp, but directly bypassed the elephant's leg-like cliff from the left, and followed a path up the mountain from the junction of the cliff root and the unknown highland. Today they want to explore all of this ridge covered with pitch pine. At least try, how can the artillery company penetrate from here while carrying equipment?
This ridge is about ten kilometers long, and the mountain has been covered tightly with pitch pine for hundreds of years.
Pinus tabulaeformis is also known as shortleaf pine and red bark pine. If it grows on the plains, this tree can reach a height of more than 20 meters. The bark is grey-brown and split into irregular scales. The old tree has a flat top and thick branches. But on this mountain, the pitch pine here can grow up to three to five meters long. Like the pitch pine next to the imperial mausoleum, it spreads out in all directions in twists and turns.
This way of growing allows most of the pitch pines to intersect with each other. Climbing under the tree is too low; climbing over the horizontal branches is too high. Squeezing between trees, I couldn't take more than two steps before I got stuck.
When the command platoon passed through here that day, they suffered a big blow. Along the ridge, I climbed for a while, jumped for a while, my face was scratched for a while, and my clothes were torn for a while.
When they reached the ridge, Hu Zhijun stopped. Even in broad daylight, let alone midnight, you would not be able to pass smoothly.
Note that although the thorny hairs of the pitch pine may prick your hands and face, they are not really like needles. People can still bear it. The key is those tree trunks, twisted and twisted like beards.
The bow deceives the ape and the arm is weak in autumn, the sword weeps and the beard is frosty at dawn.
"Commander platoon commander, what should we do if we encounter this kind of terrain?" Not far away, deputy company commander Lu Zeran and veteran platoon leader Hu Zhijun stopped. Let’s not talk about carrying equipment. Just climbing one tree after another makes it difficult to walk fast.
As we said before, these old pitch pine trees have flat tops and thick branches. It twisted and spread out in all directions, intertwining with trees. Climbing under the trunk is too low, but climbing over the trunk is too high.
"This is simply a natural barrier and barbed wire!" Gu Maolin shouted. He was particularly upset today. As soon as he went up the mountain, the clothes on his shoulders were scratched.
"Platoon commander, let's take a break?"
Wang Ke did not follow the words of deputy company commander Lu Zeran, but looked around, pointed to a relatively empty place, and said to the old platoon leader Hu Zhijun.
"Okay. Let's take a break and let's discuss it. If we interrupt like this, we will definitely not be able to leave."
Four people from the reconnaissance squad, plus Wang Ke, veteran platoon leader Hu Zhijun and deputy company commander Lu Zeran, came to the open space. Everyone sat on the floor. Although it is morning here and the sun has already risen high, on the top of the mountain, you can only see the sunlight on the tops of the treetops, and this open space is eerie.
Although the tree is not very tall, it is still three to five meters high. It seems to have grown specifically to shield people.
"Damn it, I've never seen a tree like this before. It doesn't grow upwards, but grows sideways." Gu Maolin was still scolding. His clothes were scratched when he crawled under the trunk just now.
"Old problem, trees still grow upward, but just like you, when they reach a certain height, they don't want to grow anymore." Sweet potato Liang Xiaolong interjected. At this time, he deliberately wanted to tease Gu Maolin and started calling him his nickname. "Old problem" means veteran.
"Wherever they grow upward, they basically grow sideways." Gu Maolin was unconvinced and pointed at the trees.
The two were bickering here, and Wang Ke was thinking with his chin in his hand.
This kind of terrain is an extremely special terrain. If it is encountered on a future battlefield, it will be very difficult to climb over just a few kilometers of ridges without a few hours of crawling.
Frankly speaking, when trees grow upward, they always grow upward, but they don’t grow taller. In addition, the tree crown is larger, heavier, and drooping, forming a special landform. Not only does it block the way forward, but it also blocks the view of the surroundings. If the troops really want to conduct interleaved training here, they must find a solution.
"Command the platoon commander, have you found any good solution?"
The old platoon leader Hu Zhijun came over and asked Wang Ke. When he saw Wang Ke holding his chin in his hand, he knew that Wang Ke was thinking of a solution.
Wang Ke didn't answer. He suddenly lowered his body and crawled down the mountain from the ridge. After a few vertical movements, he came to a place seven or eight meters below and stood on the hillside to watch.
At this time, when everyone looked at Wang Ke, it was hard to see him. They could just barely see a figure through the cracks in the trees. The old platoon leader Hu Zhijun followed and came over.
"What did you find? Command the platoon commander."
"Old platoon leader, look at these trees." Wang Ke pointed at the trees and said to the old platoon leader Hu Zhijun.
These pitch pines grow on the hillside and are still growing tenaciously upward. They are just taller than the trees on the ridge. However, due to the slope, the crowns on the upslope side are piled on the slope, while those on the downslope direction , the tree crown is also low-hanging, covering the tree crown below, forming waves upon waves.
After watching, the old platoon leader Hu Zhijun also discovered the clues. "Commander platoon commander, you mean..."
"Yes, it's easier to get through on this half-hill than on the ridge. Especially on the downhill side of the tree, the space is much larger, at least two meters high."
"What if we walk from the superposition of tree crowns?"
"No, that would be too slippery." Wang Ke immediately rejected Hu Zhijun's suggestion. Why is it called pitch pine? Those needle-like pine tree hairs, if you step on them, it will be like stepping on watermelon rind, which is very slippery.
The old and new command platoon leaders discussed it there, drilled a few more trees on site, and finally decided on the insertion plan.
"Platoon commander, do you want to talk to all the comrades in the artillery platoon about this?"
"No. They have to find the correct answer by themselves, and we just set up difficulties." Old platoon leader Hu Zhijun replied, and then walked up with a smile on his face.
"Lao Hu, how are you? Have you found a solution?" Deputy company commander Lu Zeran got up from the ground as soon as he saw the two people coming up. This journey is indeed not easy.
"We have found a way, but we need to set up a training subject at this place so that the artillery squad can learn to locate fixed points." After the old platoon leader Hu Zhijun finished speaking, Niu Suozhu immediately took out the map and marked the location.
"Wait a minute, how did your reconnaissance squad find this location?" Deputy Company Commander Lu Zeran was curious, because on this ridge, surrounded by pine trees that blocked the sky and the sun, nothing could be seen, except barely. Is the position of the sky above your head determined based on the clouds in the sky?
"Deputy company commander, there is so much knowledge here. It's so simple to derive another unknown coordinate based on two known coordinates." Since he is training outside, Niu Suozhu doesn't have so many rules.
"What are the two known coordinates?" Deputy company commander Lu Zeran looked around. Except for the crown of the pine tree, there were only the branches of the pine tree.
"One is the eagle's beak, and the other is the elephant's leg we just touched." Niu Suozhu pointed in two directions. Deputy company commander Lu Zeran looked up and realized that he had been fooled.
"Nonsense! Do you have clairvoyance? Where is the eagle's beak? Where are the elephant's legs?"
"Report to the deputy company commander, the elephant's leg is in our one o'clock direction, and the eagle's beak is in our eleven o'clock direction. And we are now about 860 meters away from the elephant's leg. Considering the terrain, this place is definitely right. ." When Niu Suozhu saw that Lu Zeran was serious, he didn't dare to joke anymore, and immediately tightened his chest and said.
"Just go ahead, Niu Suozhu, how do you know we are 860 meters away from the center point of the elephant's leg?"
"Lao Lu, what Niu Suozhu said is right, it should be about 850 meters. We just walked all the way and we all memorized the steps." The old platoon leader Hu Zhijun stretched his head to see Niu Suozhu's position and told the deputy company with satisfaction Changlu Zeran said.
"Have you all memorized your steps?"
"Yes!" The five soldiers in the reconnaissance squad responded together as they stood at attention.
"I am eight hundred and seventy meters." Digua Liang Xiaolong pointed at his position, which was almost the same as Niu Suozhu.
"Gu Maolin, where's yours?" Deputy Company Commander Lu Zeran still didn't believe it. He looked at Gu Maolin's and it was almost a pinhole away.
"Deputy company commander, in future wars, the soldiers of our reconnaissance squad must not turn around at any time and must remember the path they have taken. Come on, deputy company commander, you can go up that tree and you will definitely be able to go in that direction. , I saw the eagle's beak." After Wang Ke finished speaking, he climbed onto a pitch pine tree and climbed up to a tree branch a few meters high. Sure enough, he could vaguely see the eagle's beak.
