Clearing the mines
Given the mines are easily triggered and confined to a small impact area, would an option to the soldiers to have thrown the many stones available to them ahead and clear a path or even shoot a path through the mine field?
shareIf you were already IN the minefield, would YOU want them blowing up?? Besides, firing at rocks is not very sensible as ricochets could kill you.
Having said that, it is disgusting that all they had were a couple of soldiers lying on their bellies with knives as the only form of mine detection. As they said earlier in the film, they were so under-resourced they didn't even have ammo.
I think they did a good job with the resources they had... Lying on the floor may sound primative and painstaking but it worked
shareIt takes a little weight to set them off, and it's hard to see them after being covered with sand from wind and washout. It's hard to tell if they've all been blown as well - it's the last one you didn't get that kills you. Using a knife, or wood if the soil is soft, to find the body is old school, but works. The trigger on the old USSR mines is on top, so if you can dig down a few inches and hit the base to find it - you should be OK. I've walked up to mine fields, but never had a reason to cross, lol.
Minefields in areas like this are a big problem. It's easier to mark them and move the trail. The locals know where the fields are located whether marked or not - they will mark them if paid, it's the best option. The land is filled with miles of nothing.
During the Arab Israeli conflict in the Sinai minefields were set up and then forgotten about as the battle lines moved back and forth over the years. Which ever country occupied the land would pay the Bedouins to mark the locations by building posts out of rock or barrels and running a strand of wire around them. This was an ongoing business for them - during occupation transitions the Bedouins would go out at night and remove all trace of the wire, basically to get paid to put them back up by the new occupiers. Both the Israelis and the Egyptians paid to have the same minefields marked multiple times. Pretty constant cash flow for the Bedouins.
These guys were lucky. The Soviets had a few types of mines. One type we called bouncing betties. Made to bounce up about 4 feet before detonating - to hit everyone at chest and head level and keep feet intact.
Wasn't the lack of resources due to them being on a relatively safe detail? At least one fella was wandering around in swimming shorts and a t-shirt, so it seemed that they weren't expecting much in the way of action. Mines must be extremely rare too -- and as such there'd be limitled call for equipment to clear them. Far more likely would be lone IEDs, and even they would be unlikely to turn up in a dry riverbed. Seemed more like bad luck combined with an unusual situation were much greater factors than a paucity of resources.
...here is little Effie's head
whose brains are made of gingerbread