America's Mountain Soldiers: The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) - купить в электронном или бумажном виде

America's Mountain Soldiers: The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) (Concord Colour 3004)
By Samuel M. Katz
Publisher: Concord Publications 1995 66 Pages
ISBN: 9623617143
PDF 57 MB
FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 1992: On a snow covered peak surrounded by pine trees and dusted with the white remnants of an upstate New York winter's storm, two soldiers, conveniently camouflaged by their white coveralls, patiently awaits the order to fire. The soldiers are an anti-tank team, expert sharpshooters with their M47 Dragon Medium Anti-Tank Guided Weapon, and have been laying in wait in the snow for nearly four hours. Their Dragon ATGW is lethal against armor, and the approaching tank's only hope in eliminating the threat is to locate the Dragon team, and obliterate it with a burst of fire from its 105mm main armament gun. But the Dragon team has an edge—they are invisible. These soldiers are experts in winter warfare, and can function freely in five feet of snow and in sub-freezing temperatures. As mountain troopers expected to operate in the winter, these men are also expert in utilizing the geographic and climatic conditions (snow, rain and ice) in their surroundings to their maximum advantage—they can turn a beautiful snowfall into a convenient and indistinguishable veil of camouflaging cover; they can live in the woods and survive in the elements without supply or outside assistance in the most frigid of temperatures; and, they can turn a storybook snow covered hill or forest into a lethal field of fire. Most importantly, they are expert in becoming invisible—a most valued combat skill when part of a unit trained to fight in small components. Although a two-man Dragon team is no answer to advancing armor, this team is meant to stalk, harass, and destroy; in high snows and narrow mountain ravines, two-man anti-tank teams can be as effective as a full division of armor, especially a team, trained to march dozens of kilometers in high snows with speed and stealth, and also armed with 84mm AT-4s slung across their backs. As the tank, a remote controlled armored mock-up, advances through the narrow mountain road, the order to fire is given. The trigger is depressed and the Dragon launched in a furious explosion; the gunner's white winter smock catches fire from the blast but it is extinguished by the cooling snow. In a trail of destruction, the warhead hits the vehicle and erupts in a powerful explosion. Yet even before the "tank" is completely devoured by flames, the tank-killer team has picked up its gear and slinked silently Into the treeline toward their next ambush. This exercise is nothing special for them—after all, they are veterans of the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). One of America's finest.