1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 273 Action Begins

During the first half month of 1628, the entire crossing group was busy completing preparations for the next overseas military operation, which was no less busy than the period before the start of the black soil port colonization operation in July last year.

Most of the more than 20 sailing ships under the Ministry of Shipping have assembled at Shengli Port and Heitu Port. For this reason, the two routes between Shengli Port and Guangzhou and Heitu Port have been temporarily suspended.Not all of these ships will be put into action, but in the transportation plan made by the Ministry of Shipping, a few ships are specially reserved for maneuvering in case of emergency.

There are still more than [-] tons of coal stored in Shengli Port. Even if the coal transportation route of Heitu Port is temporarily suspended, there is no need to worry about the shortage of coal in the local area within two months.In Guangzhou, since a large number of merchants have recently prepared their own ships to cross the sea to trade in Shengli Port, there will be no major problems in the transportation of goods in the short term.Due to the limited production of local industrial products, ships returning to the mainland from Victory Port generally have a large number of empty spaces.The base camp can also temporarily rent space from some closely related merchants to ship the materials to be sent to the Guangzhou Office.

The carpentry workshops and shipyards in Victory Port worked all night, 24 hours a day, to add armored deck mounts to these cargo ships.Due to technical reasons, those ships moored in the black earth port cannot be modified during wartime, and can only be used as a pure means of transportation.But from another point of view, even if all the cargo ships can be modified, there are not so many gunners available.Up to now, the number of qualified gunners who have entered the formal establishment is not many, and even a group of rookie gunners who are still in the training period have to be temporarily requisitioned for this operation. Combat tasks will be completed by the newly formed artillery company.

It is also worth mentioning that the Military and Police Department once again recruited militiamen from the region at the beginning of the new year, and released the inherent quota restrictions in the past. ".In particular, the Li and Miao ethnic groups and the newly arrived North Vietnamese immigrants, under the conscious policy guidance of relevant departments, regard enlisting in the army as the only way to make a fortune, and their enthusiasm for joining the army is very high.In just five days, four companies of reserve personnel were added to the subordinate establishment of the Military and Police Department, and even Yan Chujie, who has always been unsmiling, has become much more relaxed recently.

However, not all of the personnel recruited this time will enter the militia, but at least one-third will be diverted into the security department—that is, the police system that is already in the final preparation stage.With the rapid increase of the population in the control area, the original security team is not suitable for both the number of personnel and the management authority, and the Military Police Department also believes that it is time to separate the functions of the army and the police.Of course, this kind of split is not to separate the police department from the current military and police department, but to adjust the internal administrative structure. An independent department-level unit will be added below the ministerial level to give the police system more internal functional authority.Of course, this institutional adjustment will have to wait for a while, and a decision will be made at the First Anniversary Conference in two and a half months.

On January 1, all levels of the Ministry of Military Police and the Ministry of Shipping began to hold mobilization meetings and made final arrangements for the action plan.The army appointed Yan Chujie as the commander-in-chief of this operation. Harugong, who had been unknown until now, unexpectedly defeated many competitors to take the post of deputy commander-in-chief, while Wang Tom, who had been very popular before, served as the chief of staff. Fully responsible for the communication between the military and the Ministry of Shipping.The other deputy commander-in-chief fell on Qian Tiandun of Heitu Port. As a candidate who was regarded as a future star by the Military and Police Department and the chief officer of the Heitu Port Garrison, it was understandable for Qian Tiandun to take this position.

At this time, it would definitely not be appropriate to hide the truth from the people below that they are conducting military exercises nearby. After all, going out this time is not something that can be returned in two or three days.The new statement is that "there will be a joint military exercise with Annan's friendly forces on the coast of Annan", and the specific location and time of the exercise will not be announced until after the troops leave.

Under the supervision of the Executive Committee, the propaganda department also began to spread the word to the local people about the importance of maintaining trade with Annan.The Executive Committee believes that when the local people realize that the stability of the North Vietnam region has played a role in promoting the economic development of the Victory Port area, they will be able to understand and support the Haihan militia's military intervention in North Annan.

In the past few days, Mu Xiabai and Feng Annan, who arrived in the warring area as the advance team, also continued to send briefings back to the base camp on the battle situation on the front line and the construction of the temporary base of Yong'an Port.

As long as the weather is fine, the South Vietnamese army has maintained a frequency of attacking the North Vietnamese defense line at least once a day.With the gradual increase in casualties of the North Vietnamese regular army, defense strength and morale are also showing a downward trend.After all, being so passively beaten every day, it would be difficult for any army to maintain high morale and combat effectiveness for a long time.During the battle that took place on January 1, the South Vietnamese infantry had even scaled up the wall of the last line of defense. If Zheng Bai hadn't personally commanded it, the enemy might have directly breached the mountain defense line.But even if this wave of offensive was held in the end, the North Vietnamese defenders paid the price of thousands of soldiers casualties, while the South Vietnamese army saw the hope of breaking through the defense line, and from this day onwards further increased the attack on the mountain defense line. .

According to Zheng Bai's own estimation, the combat limit of the North Vietnamese defenders is probably around the end of the month. At that time, the morale and supplies of the North Vietnamese Army will fall into a low ebb. Once the mountain line of defense is breached, the North Vietnamese Army is very likely to collapse. From now on Between the battle zone in the north and the Shenglong Mansion in the north, there is no natural danger like this place to defend.The advance team's suggestion to the base camp is that it is best to have one's own reinforcements in place before the end of the month, lest the war situation develop to the point where it cannot be controlled.

On the other hand, the construction project of the advance team in Yong'an Port is also in progress.Zheng Bo kept his word, and promised that the [-] civilian workers assigned to the advance team would be in place the next day. Under the command of the engineers, they began to build the seaside trestle bridge and wharf, leveled the foundations required for the construction of warehouses and camps, and built two places next to each other. The southern mountain pass was built with basic fortifications.But because these peasants lacked enough iron labor tools, the progress of the project can only be described as slow, and this was a situation that the advance team did not expect when they went south.However, after hearing the news, Heitu Port has urgently recruited [-] civil servants engaged in infrastructure construction, brought a large number of tools and building materials, and rushed to Yong'an Port by boat for support.

The two companies from Heitu Port have completed their assembly and material preparations, and have arrived at the Tu Son Peninsula in two large ships. They are currently taking the time to conduct joint training exercises with the North Vietnamese firearms troops in the training camp.The rest of the ships have basically been refurbished, with supplies and crews ready, and they can set off from Black Earth Port at any time.During the expedition led by Qian Tiandun, Zhou Hengxing, the head of civil affairs, will temporarily serve as the head of the local military.It stands to reason that this position should be concurrently held by the local chief executive, but the Executive Committee believes that Gu Kai's pacifist philosophy can easily make him make a wrong judgment on the situation in this position, and after careful consideration, he still handed over this temporary authority to Zhou Hengxing.

Gu Kai did not show any dissatisfaction or resistance to this job arrangement. After all, he will not continue to work in the position of Heitu Port. The preparation work of the judicial department is waiting for him to go back to take charge of the overall situation, and his future career direction is also uncertain. It's not in the small place of Heitu Port.And he knew very well that the Executive Committee's favorite candidate for Heitu Port's successor was Zhou Hengxing, who had outstanding comprehensive abilities.It will also be beneficial for Zhou Hengxing to get familiar with the affairs of other departments earlier, and it will be good for him to successfully take over Gu Kai's position in the future.

On January 1, the preparatory work for the base camp finally came to an end, and the Executive Committee issued an order to the Military and Police Department to start the "Full Moon Operation"-the so-called "Full Moon" is just a homonym for direct access to aid Vietnam.In the afternoon of the same day, the Executive Committee announced that the Shengli Port area had entered a state of combat readiness. After 18:[-] p.m., a curfew was imposed on the port area. All non-duty personnel, including the crossing people, were not allowed to enter and leave at will. until the troops return.

Doing so will definitely affect the business of various fronts in the port business district that has just started to operate, but it is indeed a helpless move.After the militias went out, the local defense had to be borne by the original security team and some militia reserves, and the pressure on public security would be greater.The Ministry of Military and Police believes that a short-term curfew will help maintain local law and order, and the executive committee also agreed to this approach after weighing the pros and cons.

Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping, who smelled the wind, offered to help the executive committee maintain local law and order, but the executive committee had no intention of letting them intervene.These two guys are all looking at money. No matter how obedient they are, they are people outside the system to the executive committee and cannot be fully trusted.The task that the executive committee can assign to them is to let the inspection department act as a front on the port wharf, and the navy's warships maintain a frightening cruising density in the offshore waters outside the Shengli Port. This is the current limit. .

On the morning of January 1, the weather was fine.When the sky was just dawning, the military barracks on the east bank of Victory Harbor had completed the team assembly, three infantry companies, one artillery company, and a comprehensive company composed of engineers, signal soldiers, medical soldiers, cooking soldiers and ordnance repair personnel, plus The two hundred civilian men in charge of logistics and transportation constituted the main force of this cross-sea expedition.If you count the officers who led them across all levels, the total number has exceeded 19, plus the fighters and civilians who will go to the war zone from Heitu Port, as well as the crew and sailors on many ships participating in the war, the number of people dispatched this time The total number of personnel exceeds 800, including about 800 combat personnel, and the scale is also the largest in foreign operations since crossing.

For the sake of confidentiality, no grand departure ceremony was arranged at Shengli Port for this expedition. All combatants will board the ship directly at the camp wharf.Of course, this conscious low-key handling does not mean that the executive committee does not pay enough attention to it. On the contrary, all the executive committee members in Shengli Port have come to the camp dock early to practice for the soldiers who are about to go out.

As the actual helm of the Crossing Group and a powerful figure in the military and police department, Tao Donglai also delivered an impromptu impassioned speech to cheer up the soldiers of the militia: "...the significance of this operation is very far-reaching. Our Haihan militia The first battle since its establishment is very likely to start in this operation! Everyone has received training here ranging from half a year to several months. Have you formed combat effectiveness? Have you become a member of the South China Sea region? The strongest team, I believe everyone can prove this to the Executive Committee!"

It was not until this time that Tao Donglai mentioned to the militia soldiers for the first time that "fighting may break out" in an official capacity, but the militia soldiers who were already in a state of excitement did not pay much attention to the meaning of this sentence. wearing something.Even if a few smart people noticed this detail, there is no chance for them to regret it now.Military orders are like a mountain, and whoever wants to retreat before the battle at this time can only be dealt with by military law.

Although the Executive Committee has great confidence in the combat effectiveness of the militia, it does not have much confidence in the mental state of the militia.After all, these militiamen were on the battlefield for the first time, and the Executive Committee was very worried that letting them know the news in advance would increase their psychological burden, coupled with the need for confidentiality, so they began to reveal the truth of the matter little by little before departure.

After Tao Donglai's speech, a simple flag-presenting ceremony was held. Tao Donglai handed over the red flag symbolizing the crossing of the regime to the commander-in-chief Yan Chujie.Since the Haihan Militia will not reveal their identities on the battlefield during this operation, there are no words or patterns on the military flag, but even so, it also attracted cheers from the militiamen who lined up to watch the ceremony.

After the process was completed, each company boarded the sailboat one by one under the command of the officers.In addition to the muskets on their shoulders and the bayonets on their waists, the militiamen also carried a backpack containing a thin cloth blanket, a tin lunch box, a cowhide water bag, and ammunition for combat. , and a small amount of wound medicine, matches and other items.

The equipment of the crossing officers is much more advanced, basically all the armaments and weapons collectively purchased by the organizing committee before the crossing.There are more than [-] time-traveling people accompanying the team this time, and all the officers at the first level of the company platoon are served by the time-traveling people.In addition, personnel in special departments such as communications and medical treatment are also led by the cross-travelers.The bearded Johnson with his family was once again left in the base camp to look after the house, while the carefree old Morgan brought his belongings and cheerfully led a group of medical students to go out with the team.Wu Zhuo, who has already served as the director of communications of the Ministry of Information Industry, was also transferred back to the Military and Police Department this time, and was responsible for the maintenance and use of the radio station with the army.

For this reason, the Ministry of Shipping allocated six large ships to take up the task of transporting personnel and materials from Shengli Port, and the "Discovery" and "Flying Speed" also participated in this military operation together as a maritime fire support unit and a fast liaison ship. .The relevant materials had been loaded onto the ship as early as the night before. Apart from the combatants, there were only some poultry and livestock on board this morning—this is probably what the Ministry of Agriculture can do for this expedition. the greatest contribution.In order to avoid the strong smell of these chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep from causing trouble to the soldiers during the voyage, the Ministry of Shipping also specially used a ship to transport these live animals and some combat supplies, and the relevant preparations were done extremely carefully. up.

At [-] o'clock in the morning, all the personnel had already boarded the ship. With Yan Chujie's order, the ship weighed anchor, unmoored, hoisted the sails, and slowly left the pier, heading for the exit channel in the south.

The itinerary of this fleet is still to arrive at Yinggehai, which is 130 nautical miles away from Shengli Port and located in the southwest corner of Hainan Island.After staying in the local area for one night, set off to the west and go straight across the sea to Yong'an Port, which is located behind the war zone.The straight-line distance of the latter part of the voyage is about [-] nautical miles. The Ministry of Shipping estimates that it will take about two days, depending on the specific conditions at sea.

At this time, another group of troops from the North Vietnamese side had already boarded and set off on the Tushan Peninsula.Compared with the fleet departing from Shengli Port, the fleet heading south from the Tushan Peninsula is much larger, because this fleet not only transported three companies of Haihan militia soldiers, but also the North Vietnamese On the one hand, there are more than [-] trained troops, as well as a small number of supply and logistics personnel.With such a large number of personnel, the required living supplies, military supplies, and various combat supplies are not a small amount. The Ministry of Shipping has mobilized a total of [-] ships for this purpose, and barely completed the shipment task at one time.

Just two days after the militia set off, the Executive Committee announced a very shocking news to the local people: a merchant ship belonging to the Haihan Executive Committee was ransacked by the South Vietnamese rebels off the coast of Annan, and several crew members were killed. The boat was also badly damaged.At present, the executive committee has issued an order to let the militias who went out to sea for training cooperate with the North Vietnamese rebel army to carry out military retaliation against the South Vietnamese rebels.

Of course, no commercial ships were actually looted by the South Vietnamese rebels. If the South Vietnamese rebels had such capabilities at sea, they might have bypassed the mountain defense line and attacked the northern plains.The Executive Committee made up this reason only to have a more plausible reason for participating in the war. If you say anything about long-term interests, the overall situation, and the vision of development to the public, most people will definitely not understand it. , I am afraid that it will be counterproductive and cause unnecessary anti-war sentiment among the people.As for the people in Shengli Port or Black Earth Port, due to the very limited sources of news channels, it is impossible to verify the authenticity of such news.

(End of this chapter)