activa-t Chapter 375 Danger is coming!
Chapter 375 Danger is coming!
The third phase of the large-scale retreat was not simply a retreat.
While retreating, we can systematically remove and destroy the enemy's military bases, arsenals, bridge hubs, and mining facilities that we didn't have time to blow up before.
They dismantled and brought back to China all the heavy machine tools, generators, and even complete sets of fertilizer equipment that my country had previously provided to Vietnam.
Those that couldn't be moved were blown up on the spot, leaving behind twisted pulleys and charred oil pools. The parts were carefully disassembled and taken away, leaving only a pile of scrap metal.
Zhong Yuemin's reconnaissance squad received an important new mission: to cooperate with the engineering corps to completely destroy the massive, modern phosphate mine in Gantang, which produces 500,000 tons of phosphate annually.
This factory was a mainstay of Vietnam's export earnings and a symbol of the enemy's once-proud industry.
Standing on the high ground at the edge of the factory area, overlooking the sprawling factory buildings, towering ore dressing towers, and complex pipeline network below, even Zhong Yuemin, who was used to the brutality of battlefields, couldn't help but feel a strange unease.
This is not a battle, but the end of a massive industrial creation.
"Hurry up! According to the blueprints, put all the explosives in place for me, including all the load-bearing columns, the bases of key equipment, and the power center!"
Although Zhang Haiyang still had reservations about the retreat order, he carried out the mission without hesitation, directing his team members and the cooperating engineering squads to work busily inside and outside the huge factory.
Man Tun and several strong soldiers were responsible for moving the boxes of explosives to the designated location.
Ning Wei, along with several agile men, inspected the detonation wire connections at each detonation point to ensure everything was foolproof.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of saltpeter and machine oil. Inside the factory, the crushers, flotation machines, and drying kilns that had once roared to life and brought enormous wealth to Vietnam now stood like monstrous beasts awaiting their fate.
Some large, precision components that could not be taken away were brutally cut open by technicians with gas cutting torches or smashed with sledgehammers, leaving only twisted metal and exposed cables.
The placement of explosives and the laying of wiring at various key points throughout the factory area alone took up most of the day.
As the setting sun dyed the horizon a blood-red hue, the preparations were finally complete.
All personnel evacuated to a safe distance, and the engineering company commander in charge of the demolition solemnly handed the detonator to Zhong Yuemin, which was a recognition from his superiors for his and his squad's contributions in this operation.
Zhong Yuemin took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over his team members who also looked solemn, and then took one last look at the vast factory area that appeared exceptionally quiet in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Without hesitation, he pressed the detonation button.
“BOOM!!!!”
The first loud bang came from the ore dressing workshop, and the tall factory building seemed to have been stripped of its bones, slowly collapsing in the billowing smoke and dust.
Then, it was as if the prelude to death had been ignited...
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"
A series of deafening explosions rang out! The crushing section, flotation workshop, thickening tank, drying kiln, power station... the entire core area of the phosphate mine was shattered as if by an invisible giant foot.
A massive fireball, carrying debris and metal parts, soared into the air, its thick black smoke billowing and shooting straight into the sky, obscuring the light of the setting sun.
The earth trembled violently, and the powerful shockwaves, even from a great distance, stung people's cheeks and made them almost unable to stand.
Standing beside Zhong Yuemin, Zhang Haiyang gazed at the "gold mine" reduced to ruins in the explosion and flames, and murmured:
"Damn it... Now, the monkeys are probably going to cry their eyes out in the toilet... They won't be able to smell the phosphate fertilizer again for at least three to five years."
The explosions, which lasted for several minutes, gradually subsided, leaving only the crackling of burning building debris and occasional sounds of collapse.
All that remained before my eyes were broken walls, twisted steel frames, and billowing smoke.
This phosphate mine, once a symbol of wealth and industrial power, has become a shocking ruin.
Zhong Yuemin slowly released his grip on the detonator, turned around, and stopped looking at the ruins.
"mission completed."
His voice was calm, yet carried a hint of heaviness from having accomplished a momentous mission.
"Clean up the equipment and prepare for evacuation."
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The wheels rolled over the rubble and craters of the old city streets, moving exceptionally slowly.
Zhong Yuemin's squad and a platoon of infantrymen who had retreated with him squeezed into the back of a Liberation brand truck.
The continuous fighting and long march had left everyone exhausted, and with the outline of their homeland now visible across the Red River, their tense nerves unconsciously relaxed a little.
The truck bumped along the narrow, ruined streets. On either side, hardly a single intact building could be found; the broken walls cast long shadows in the setting sun, making the scene exceptionally desolate.
Some seemingly ordinary people were trudging through the ruins; most were elderly people, women and children, and some appeared to be disabled or had difficulty moving.
They looked at the retreating team with numb or fearful eyes.
Our army is disciplined and has always had a policy of treating prisoners of war well and not harming civilians. Although the soldiers remained vigilant, they did not harbor much hostility towards these "civilians." Some soft-hearted soldiers even showed sympathy in their eyes when they looked at the emaciated old people and children.
Just then, an elderly woman with gray hair and a hunched back, carrying an old bamboo basket and leaning on a rough wooden cane, walked unsteadily from the side of the street and headed straight for the slowly moving truck.
He kept muttering to himself in Vietnamese, his face full of pleading, bowing and nodding repeatedly to the soldiers in the truck bed, his hands clasped together as if begging for food.
The old woman's appearance did not raise much alarm; what threat could such a frail-looking old woman pose?
Sitting on the outermost side of the truck bed, Wang Tiezhu looked at the old woman's pitiful appearance, his heart softened, and he waved his hand, saying:
"We...have run out of food..."
Even so, he still subconsciously rummaged through his half-empty food bag and pulled out a shriveled white steamed bun wrapped in oil paper. This was something he had saved from lunch to eat when he was hungry.
"Here... take it."
Wang Tiezhu handed over the steamed bun.
A fleeting, almost imperceptible glint flashed in the old woman's cloudy eyes. She stretched out her withered hand and gratefully accepted the steamed bun, muttering even more urgent words of thanks.
He pretended to put the steamed buns into the vegetable basket he was carrying, leaning forward slightly and getting closer to the truck bed.
Everything happens in the blink of an eye!
Just as the steamed bun was about to be placed into the basket, the old woman's hand, which had been resting on her cane and seemed to be hanging limply, suddenly pulled a dark, metal lump from under the basket with a speed completely out of character for her age and condition.
It was a Soviet-made F1 hand grenade with the safety pin already removed!