1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 278 Selecting the Landing Point

After the interrogation was over, Qian Tiandun asked someone to send a summary of the compiled results back to the Yongan Port Command through the radio.Although there is not much information obtained, part of the South Vietnamese military situation can still be deduced from the limited information.For example, from the scale of South Vietnam's military food delivery, it can be inferred that the South Vietnam Army's current deployment in the area north of the Zhengjiang River will be about 4 to [-] troops. Advantage.However, judging from the opponent's continuous replenishment of troops to the theater, there may still be tens of thousands of troops in the area south of the Zhengjiang River, but they have not yet invested in the front battlefield at one time.

Qian Tiandun and others speculated that the South Vietnamese Army did not put all its troops into the theater, but still adopted refueling tactics even after gaining an advantage in the battle situation. The fundamental reason may be that the supply capacity was insufficient, which was a last resort.

Judging from the confession of the captives, Donghai, located [-] miles south of the Zhengjiang River, is currently the rear base camp of the South Vietnam Northern Expedition. Food, grass, soldiers, and supplies are all concentrated in Donghai and transported northward.But starting from Donghai, you have to cross Hengshan and Zhengjiang, and then reach the front theater. This supply line of more than [-] miles has mountains, waters and swamps. The traffic conditions are very bad. With the organization and transportation capabilities of South Vietnam, it is estimated The size of the existing frontline army is already the limit of the supply capacity.If more troops were put on the front line, the South Vietnamese army might collapse due to supply problems.

"This is the shortcoming of not being able to transport by sea!" Sun Changmi pointedly pointed out the biggest problem of the South Vietnamese army: "If they could have a fleet like ours, the defense line of North Vietnam would have been breached long ago."

"This is probably the reason why the Annan Civil War has been fought for decades, and in the end we still have to maintain the dividing line of Hengshan and Jiangjiang." Qian Tiandun stared at the map and added: "Look, whether it is from north to south or from south to north , The side that crosses this dividing line will face the problem of supplies, and if this problem cannot be solved, the battle will not be able to continue with the upper hand."

"Is it possible to think that even if the North Vietnam's mountain defense line collapses, the South Vietnam Army will have difficulty maintaining an overly long supply line, and it is very likely that they will stop the Northern Expedition by themselves in the end." Wang Tom put forward a new view.Prior to this, the general view of the Military and Police Department was that once the North Vietnamese defense line was breached, the terrain of Yimapingchuan in the north was likely to be pushed straight to Huanglong by South Vietnam and pushed all the way across.But judging from the situation obtained by reconnaissance, it seems that it is not that simple to push it to Shenglong Mansion.

"It's hard to say. If the South Vietnamese army can find a way to collect food on the spot after the fight, then the North Vietnamese may really be unable to hold back. But if the North Vietnamese clear the country in advance and don't give the opponent a chance to raise food and grass on the spot, then the South Vietnamese army will indeed It is very likely that we will be hindered by the supply problem." Qian Tiandun pondered: "But we can't take this risk, no matter whether the South Vietnamese army has the ability to directly overthrow the North Vietnamese regime, as long as there is a rout on the North Vietnamese side, the result is definitely not in line with Our interests, so this battle must be fought.”

"I think we can look at the current situation from another angle." Xie Chun also joined the discussion: "Regardless of whether South Vietnam or North Vietnam, their shipping capacity is very poor. In fact, we only need to control the sea power to basically control it. The trend of their civil war."

"After all, you just want to expand the scale of Heitugang Shipyard?" Sun Changmi immediately pointed out Xie Chun's real purpose: "The executive committee must approve this matter in principle, but I'm afraid it can't be given. There is too much practical help in Heitu Port, because the shipyard in Shengli Port also has a big expansion plan in the first half of the year, and the executive committee can only give priority to the needs of the base camp.”

"Then what should we do at Heitu Port? We can't just stop at the level of building a few fishing boats, right?" Xie Chun obviously couldn't accept the news.

"My personal suggestion is..." Sun Changmi pondered: "You can think of a way from the Lianzhou government. The coastal cities of Yong'an, Qinzhou, and Lianzhou over there must have many shipwrights, and they can be targeted. Sexually introduced."

Xie Chun frowned, and did not continue to argue with Sun Changmi on this issue.Since the Black Soil Port has the ability to produce blood, the base camp has not supported the Black Soil Port as much as before. However, the autonomy given to the Black Soil Port is indeed very large. Not only can it introduce immigrants independently, but it also has the right to cooperate with North Vietnam and even the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. Trade on your own.Even the military power most valued by the Executive Committee and the Military and Police Department has opened the back door to Heitu Port, allowing the local people to organize militia groups for training.The main purpose of the base camp to grant these autonomy to Heitu Port is to hope that Heitu Port can be self-reliant and solve some basic development needs on its own-of course, as long as the Executive Committee gets stuck in the supply of industrial products, especially military supplies, it will not be afraid of Heitu Port Hong Kong can turn the world upside down.

"There is no rush for shipbuilding. Let's think about the direction of reconnaissance tomorrow." Tom Wang said something fair and brought the topic back to business: "According to the situation of our reconnaissance today, Zheng Jiang Between the south and Dong Hoi, there are at least tens of thousands of South Vietnamese troops. I think if we continue to go south, we may be discovered by the South Vietnamese troops.”

Qian Tiandun pointed to the map and said: "Even if we want to start a sabotage war, we will use the Zhengjiang line as the main battlefield. The purpose of the operation is to destroy the opponent's supply line. I think the area on the north side of the Zhengjiang river should be the main reconnaissance target. After all, if we want to open up a second battlefield, the troop projection distance achieved by sea transportation should not be too long."

Early the next morning, after packing up, the fleet pulled anchor and sailed slowly north along the coastline.From the coast where the camp was camped last night to the battle zone, the distance is only about ten nautical miles.

In order to cover their tracks, after a certain voyage, the fleet turned to the open sea, keeping a distance of four or five nautical miles from the coastline, so as not to be discovered by the South Vietnamese army on land.

At a distance of about ten miles from the South Vietnamese frontline barracks marked by the advance team, observers on both ships noticed through binoculars that small-scale barracks began to appear on the coast.These camps stretched all the way to the north, and the density increased the further north they went.

"Pay attention to the mountain pass in the northwest. That's the first line of defense that the North Vietnamese Army was breached at the beginning of the month." Qian Tiandun held a telescope in one hand and a walkie-talkie in the other. communicate.

The mountain pass mentioned by Qian Tiandun is located about six or seven miles south of the mountain defense line, another mountain almost parallel to the mountain defense line, extending from the inland to the east to the sea.It's just that there is a gap more than one mile wide in the middle of this mountain, which is far less steep than the current line of defense.It is no wonder that the North Vietnamese army retreated here and failed to hold on for ten days before being breached. Now there are a large number of South Vietnamese troops stationed on the north and south sides of this mountain pass.

"This checkpoint is only a few hundred meters away from the sea, I think I can use my brain here." Tom Wang replied on the walkie-talkie.

"I'm afraid it will be difficult." Qian Tiandun is not very optimistic about this: "Our militia plus the North Vietnamese trained troops have more than 1000 actual combatants. More than 1000 people need to maintain a 800-meter-wide front. The difficulty is too great. You must know that we have no chance to slowly dig trenches and repairs in that place. As soon as we land, we will face [-] to [-] troops attacking from the north and the south, which is really too risky."

"Then let's continue to look. I remember that there is another candidate site in the north." Tom Wang also felt that what Qian Tiandun said was reasonable, so he did not insist on his opinion.

The fleet continued to travel north, and soon saw the candidate site mentioned by Wang Tom.This is a triangular sandbar facing the sea surrounded by two hills with an altitude of over 200 meters. The only opening to the inland of the sandbar is on the west side, and the west of this 600-meter-wide pass is the main force of the South Vietnamese Army. The location of the camp.The distance from the sea to this narrow pass is about [-] meters, and there are not too many obstacles on the ground. If you land from here, it is indeed easy to control the west pass.In terms of geographical structure, this place is similar to the Yongan Port built by the Military and Police Department in the rear. Both are seaside beaches surrounded by hills and mountains, and both have natural gateways for the construction of fortifications.

"This place is not bad!" Qian Tiandun exclaimed after seeing the actual terrain here from a distance from the boat: "With such terrain, the South Vietnamese Army can only feed bullets with human lives!"

"If there is a fight with the South Vietnamese Army in this place, I'm afraid they won't hide the Musketeers anymore." Wang Tom also agrees with Qian Tiandun's point of view.

In the current mountain battle, the South Vietnamese Army has never put precious firearms troops on the battlefield, because the offensive and defensive battles of mountain positions are indeed not suitable for musketeers to exert their combat effectiveness.But if the battlefield is changed to a flat place, there is no reason for the South Vietnamese Army not to sacrifice the sharpest weapons in their hands.

And two or three miles north from here is the mountain defense line built by the North Vietnamese Army.After inspecting this area from the sea, the reconnaissance team was not in a hurry to return to Yong'an Port, but chose to sail eastward, and stopped behind the faint island in the outer sea. Wang Tom and others planned to sneak in after dark. Further reconnaissance ashore.

It is not appropriate to use Qian Tiandun's special warfare company for such small-scale infiltration and reconnaissance.However, Qian Tiandun didn't intend to just sit idle, but proposed to act together with Wang Tom and others.Although there were voices of opposition, who believed that the two senior commanders should not go deep into the dangerous area at the same time, Yan Chujie, who was sitting in the rear, finally made a decision and agreed to their application for action.

After nightfall, "Flying Speed" turned out from behind Wanyue Island and sailed slowly towards the coast.Nearly two hours later, the "Flying Speed", which was traveling all the way in the dark, completed this short voyage and arrived at the target location.

The South Vietnamese Army did not choose to station troops on this sandbar near the sea. After the "Flying Speed" approached the shore, it unscrupulously opened the search equipment to confirm the coastal terrain, anchored near the shore, and then several people boarded the rubber inflatable boat. Paddle to shore.

Morgan lowered his voice and said, "I never thought that one day I would sneak into Vietnam in a rubber boat in the middle of the night."

"You're not the only one who has this kind of thought!" Qian Tiandun also responded with a suppressed voice.

Under the moonlight, it is difficult for the naked eye to see the black rubber boat that rises and falls with the waves.After arriving at the beach by the sea, Qian Tiandun and Roger, who were sitting in front, jumped into the water, grabbed the handle of the bow with their hands, and dragged the rubber boat to the beach to run aground.Several other people also went down to the shore at this time, and they lifted the rubber boat to the land together to avoid being swept away by the waves.

"Bring on night vision goggles, check your weapons, and march along the foot of the hill at intervals of five meters, paying attention to cover before and after." Tom Wang issued an action order as the commander.

Soon the heavily armed detachment was heading west inland along the hills surrounding the sandbar.They first had to confirm the location of the South Vietnamese military camp, which was suitable for their own side to build a defensive position, and then find the shortest landing route from the beach to the predetermined position when they returned later.

The defense of the South Vietnamese army camp was obviously worse than the squad had expected in advance, and there were no early-warning secret posts outside the camp area—perhaps they also believed that it was impossible for the North Vietnamese army to cross the sea and launch a surprise attack from their own rear.

The detachment confirmed the location of the South Vietnamese army camp, and then conducted reconnaissance on the area of ​​the expected position. The whole process did not disturb the South Vietnamese army at all.After completing the scheduled tasks, the team carried out a comprehensive survey of the landing area in a calm manner - the lack of rush is what the headquarters said afterwards, and the real reason was the delay in operations caused by poor visibility at night .

After completing all the reconnaissance work, the team rowed the rubber boat to board the "Speed" again, and then notified the "Discovery" waiting in the open sea.The two ships did not delay here any longer, and after rendezvous they sailed north toward Yong'an Port overnight.

"How is it?" Yan Chujie opened the curtain of the tent and walked in, asking Qian Tiandun and Tom Wang who had just returned to Hong Kong.When he was woken up by the orderly just now, he checked that the time was four o'clock in the morning. At this time, except for a few security personnel, the entire Yong'an Port was still asleep.

"The No. [-] alternative location is slightly different from the information we have, but we think it fully meets the operational needs, and we can consider using the No. [-] alternative location as the second battlefield." Qian Tiandun reported concisely.

"It's normal to have discrepancies. The maps we have are after all centuries. In such a few hundred years, the coastlines of these coastal areas will definitely change." Yan Chujie looked at the two of them under the light. With a tired face, he stopped talking and called the orderly in: "Go and tell the kitchen to make some hot food and bring it over, hurry up!"

"Let's talk about our reconnaissance of this area first!" Qian Tiandun was still in the excited stage at this time, and he spread out the map and began to explain to Yan Chujie.

"The width of this pass is only 200 meters, which is only about a quarter of the width of the No. [-] alternative site in the south, which means that we can invest four times as many troops in the defense line of unit length. And you don’t need to worry about being attacked.” Qian Tiandun pointed to the map and explained: “The South Vietnamese military camp is still some distance away from this pass, and the pass is right behind their main camp. If we move fast enough and covertly, we may be able to It will not be discovered by the other party until the fortifications are built."

"What if the opponent chooses to attack from the north and the south?" Yan Chujie asked.

"This possibility is unlikely, because there is a flat offensive channel at the bottom of the mountain to attract their attention. I am afraid that they will not use this route to climb the mountain before they have suffered pain. We will establish an early warning observation post at the commanding heights, and if necessary We retreated to the coast, relying on the beachhead and the artillery cover of the ship to attack the opponent. This area is too small. Although the South Vietnamese army is large in number, the attack surface that can pose a threat to us is very limited." Wang Tom immediately answered Yan Chujie question.

"In addition, while we open up a second battlefield to attract South Vietnam's attention, we can also go to their rear to attack the supply line." Qian Tiandun added: "Based on what we have learned, we can speculate that the food and grass gathered by the South Vietnamese army on the front line There are not many, and their transportation capacity is limited. Once there is a problem with the supply line, it will soon cause a chain reaction and affect the combat effectiveness of the front troops. At that time, my company will be sent to fight for the river for three to five days, and their logistics supplies will be cut off. The South Vietnamese Army had a hard time."

"However, there is one thing we have to prepare in advance. The beach in this place is shallow and not suitable for building a pier. We may need to choose a floating trestle as our landing method." Wang Tom reminded: "The trestle is from Daben. Half-finished, but the bridge boats may have to be requisitioned to the North Vietnamese."

"We will communicate this matter with the North Vietnamese side as soon as possible after dawn." Yan Chujie nodded and wrote down the matter: "In addition, the North Vietnamese side has agreed to send a group of spearmen to cooperate with our actions. But where are the specific arrangements for these people? On board, still coordinating with the Ministry of Shipping.”

After Zheng Ting and others arrived at the front line, they immediately proposed to Zheng Bai that at least 1000 spearmen should be deployed to cooperate.Of course, what these spearmen really need to cooperate with is not the Haihan militia, but the trained troops of North Vietnam.In the combat method designed by the Military and Police Department for this trained unit, spearmen are indispensable. However, due to the hasty departure, the North Vietnamese side did not equip this unit with corresponding spearmen. Temporary deployment of staff.

However, the base camp has made sufficient preparations for this. It has even prepared more than 1000 wooden iron-pointed spears more than four meters long in advance. It is enough to contribute people and efforts—this is probably one of the reasons why Zheng Bai agreed so readily.The only thing that made the headquarters a little uneasy was that this temporarily deployed spear unit had never been trained with the North Vietnamese musketeers. The first time they cooperated, they would go directly to the battlefield. The combat effect might not be ideal.

(End of this chapter)