1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 280 Building a Position
After reaching the coast, the big ship slowly stopped, while the engineers rowed the small boat to the coast with oars.Each small boat carries several prefabricated standard springboards, and these boats have undergone simple modifications, adding iron parts to the hull to fix the springboards.Engineers only need to align the punched holes on these springboards with the raised parts of the iron parts and put them down to fix the position, and the removal is also very simple, just lift the springboard and remove it.This structure was tried out during the rehearsal at the base camp, and then some small modifications were made according to the actual situation, so that the engineers could assemble it on various small boats they found temporarily, and it would not be affected by the ups and downs of the waves. This leads to loosening and slipping of the fixed part.

After these small boats entered the predetermined position, the engineers retracted the oars, pushed out the gangplank on the boat, and began to build pontoon bridges between the small boats.Harugong, the deputy commander of this combat operation, is in charge of commanding the operation of the engineers.Although the cavalry company under his command also followed this time, due to the short period of formation and the small size of the army, the cavalry company did not undertake the combat task of directly facing the enemy.Harugong didn't want to sit in this seat and do nothing, so he took the initiative to take over the command of the engineers. He was in charge of commanding and coordinating the construction of pontoon bridges, construction of fortifications, and camping in the early stage of landing.

I have to say that the arduous training during this period still played a role. Although the engineers were actually fighting for the first time, the whole process of building the floating trestle was relatively smooth.In just 10 minutes, the first trestle was built first.This trestle bridge is more than 20 meters long, and five small boats are used as piers in the middle. The bridge deck is made up of three two-foot-wide wooden springboards, and its load-bearing strength is enough to bear the transportation of 12-pound army guns.

After the first trestle was built, the people on the ship immediately began to land.First of all, all kinds of materials for building fortifications carried by multi-functional carts were transported to the shore through the floating trestle. The peasants pushed the carts to go ashore quickly, and then sent the cargo and carts to the predetermined position according to the road signs left by the vanguard. .

After that, three similar floating trestles were built from south to north at intervals of 5 minutes.Two of the trestles are responsible for unloading various combat materials, while the two trestles to the south are docked with troop carriers. The soldiers of the participating troops climbed down from the rope net on the side of the ship, and then quickly transferred to the shore through the trestle.

At [-] o'clock in the morning, the first batch of landed civilians and engineers had arrived at Qian Tiandun's location, and quietly began construction to build a defensive position.At this time, the sky was already dark, and even without the use of binoculars, the South Vietnamese army camp two miles away could be observed with the naked eye.The terrain between the defensive position and the South Vietnamese army camp was flat, except for some bushes, there was not even a stretch of woods. This was the point that the headquarters was most worried about—if the South Vietnamese army discovered the existence of the landing force early in the morning, they would immediately organize If the offensive is to carry out a rush attack, the vanguard troops who have neither a defensive position to rely on nor heavy fire support may not be able to carry it.

Fortunately, no such situation has happened so far. The teams observing the enemy's situation at the commanding heights on both sides of the north and south will report the situation to their companions in the positions below through walkie-talkies every 2 minutes.The battalion patrols of the South Vietnamese Army only circled at a distance of [-] meters near the camp, and had no intention of increasing the scope of reconnaissance at all, and they obviously would not notice that a large group of people were sneaking two miles to the east. Building fortifications.

What the Executive Committee designed was a defensive line at the narrowest point of the pass, recessed towards the coast.The outermost layer is an area composed of several concertina wire fences, deer villages, and Juma. Several obstacles are intersected to form an obstacle zone with a width of about six to seven meters, which is enough to delay the opponent's offensive when it launches an impact.And these obstacles are all semi-finished products from the big base operation. The civilian husband transports them to the predetermined location with a multi-functional car and assembles them directly before dropping them on the position.

The second obstacle behind this obstacle zone is the trench that the civilians are desperately digging. The headquarters once hoped to dig this trench to at least two meters wide and one meter deep before the battle, but the engineer who used to be an engineer Qiao Zhiya rejected this possibility—without the help of construction machinery, it is impossible to complete such a large amount of excavation within two or three hours by manpower alone, and it is estimated that two or three days are about the same.Therefore, in the end, the headquarters could only compromise with reality, and changed the construction standard of the trench to a very vague statement of "the depth that can effectively block the enemy".

The third line of defense is a simple defensive wall composed of multifunctional carts and a large number of prefabricated wooden boards. This defensive wall can effectively defend against the shooting power of arquebus guns at a distance of [-] meters. As for the bows used by the South Vietnamese Army No problem.If there is enough time, the folks will use the earthwork excavated from the trenches outside the defensive wall to reinforce the wall to further increase the defensive power.

There will be a movable gap in the wall every 40 meters. If necessary, the multi-functional cart at the gap will be removed, and the artillery positions behind will be exposed.There are a total of five such artillery positions along the entire defense line, each with four to six artillery pieces.Of course, the monkey version of the artillery exported to North Vietnam will not be arranged together with the original genuine ones used by the Haihan militia.This is not because there is any secret to defend against the North Vietnamese military, but purely out of combat effect considerations - the monkey version of the artillery is not as good as the original version in terms of range and accuracy, and the same aiming method will have different shooting effects, while The observation, aiming and command of the artillery unit this time are all in the charge of passing through the officers. If the two types of artillery are mixed, it will easily cause confusion in the shooting effect.

Thanks to the prefabricated design, this simple defensive wall can also be erected very quickly.According to the speed calculated when the base camp organized military exercises, with sufficient supplies and manpower, the construction of the 10-meter-long defensive wall only takes about [-] to [-] minutes.And if you build a traditional log wall, you have to dig out the trench first, and then bury it, which will take two or three times as long.

Compared with the previous exercises, this combat operation added a new defensive device behind the wall - the ceiling.This is also a new gadget that the base camp rushed to make based on the battle reports sent back from the front, and it can basically only be used for position defense warfare.The structure is very simple, just a wooden shed supported by several wooden pillars. Its main function is to prevent the opponent's bow and arrow troops from being thrown.Its coverage is specially calculated for the range of the South Vietnamese archers to ensure that the bows and arrows of the South Vietnamese Army will not cause large-scale damage to their own positions.Later, when the civilian husband is free, a layer of floating soil will be added to the wooden shed to prevent opponents from using rockets to attack.

During the offensive and defensive battle on the mountain defense line, the tactics of the South Vietnamese army to kill the North Vietnamese army by throwing arrows in a dense manner left a deep impression on the military observers of the advance team.Compared with the worthless peasants and soldiers in North Vietnam, the soldiers of the Haihan militia who have invested heavily are all treasures. The military and police department also tried every means to reduce the casualty rate, providing as much as possible on the basis of existing technology. Give soldiers better protection.

Due to the particularity of the weapons and combat methods currently used, the defense methods of the military and police department are still relatively biased. Whether it is a defensive wall or a ceiling, they are mainly aimed at the collective combat environment, not at individual soldiers.In the eyes of the North Vietnamese military officers, the commoner rattan helmets of Haihan soldiers should be because they are extremely confident in their combat capabilities, and they don't need protective measures such as iron armor at all.

At [-]:[-], the seagoing ships had already returned to the two small offshore islands to start the second round of transportation.In this second round of transportation, in addition to a large amount of combat materials, the frontline headquarters is also included.The command staff headed by Yan Chujie will all be transferred from Hunguo Island to the land to direct the battle on the front line.Although this approach is extremely risky, it also reflects that the military and police department has enough confidence in its own strength-if you still haven't had the strength to defeat a group of monkey soldiers after traveling for more than half a year, then don't even think about it What kind of global hegemony, daydreaming like "there is only one China in the world".

After about 10 to [-] minutes, a group of South Vietnamese soldiers patrolling outside the camp finally noticed the sound coming from the direction of Linhai Mountain Pass in the east—more than [-] civilians and engineers were rushing to dig trenches and build fortifications in front of the camp. , the crackling noise has spread downwind to the west.

At this time, the entire defensive position had begun to take shape, [-]% of the surrounding obstacle laying work was completed, [-]% of the wall was completed, the trench was being excavated, and nearly half of the planned area of ​​the rear ceiling was built.Five companies out of the seven companies under the Haihan Militia have reached the front line, and [-]% of the North Vietnamese Confederate Army's total of more than [-] combat troops are in place.The remaining personnel are also in the process of being transported from the island to the land, and it is expected that the landing will be completed within an hour.

The patrol team that discovered the abnormal situation had a chance to interfere with the process of the landing force building a defensive position, but then they made a huge mistake-the officer leading the team did not send someone back to the camp to report in time, and He brought the team directly towards the position, probably wanting to confirm what happened here first.

"Attention base, attention base, this is Lookout Post No. 800, a group of South Vietnamese troops are approaching the base on foot from the west, about 20 meters away, with about [-] people... equipped with four archers, no guns or the like arms."

The radio station at the headquarters sent a warning from the early warning post on the nearby hill, and Yan Chujie immediately issued an order to the combat troops on the front line: "A patrol team from South Vietnam is approaching us. Prisoners are the priority. Eliminate, don't let them go alive!"

"It's time to do something!" Qian Tiandun put down the walkie-talkie and immediately asked several platoon leaders to call the special warfare company to gather.Since the opponent is only a patrol team of 20 people and has no firearms, it is perfect for his own special warfare company to fight.

After the follow-up troops arrived at the position, Qian Tiandun's special warfare company had already given up the frontal position to other combat troops, while his own troops gathered in the dense forest at the foot of the mountain to the north.After getting the order to attack, the special warfare company slowly marched northwest along the mountains from the forest.

Under the command of the lookout post on the top of the mountain, the special warfare company avoided the route of the South Vietnamese patrol. More than a hundred soldiers hid in the forest, silently watching the group of South Vietnamese soldiers approaching from a distance of about [-] meters. Go east.

Such covert operations are one of the daily training subjects of the special warfare company. The soldiers have already done many such forest marching, concealment, and lurking drills in the dense forest of Cat Ba Island, and they are also familiar with it. During this period, no one made a sound.It wasn't until the South Vietnamese army walked out for a while that Qian Tiandun gave the order to outflank. Hundreds of soldiers slowly walked out of the dense forest from their hiding places, and outflanked the South Vietnamese patrol.

At first, the patrol did not find that its back road was blocked, and continued to move eastward.When they passed through the last piece of bushes that blocked their view, they suddenly found a low wall nearly five feet high in front of them not more than forty or fifty feet away. Hundreds of people were silently digging trenches in front of that wall. .And behind the low wall, several wooden watchtowers could be faintly seen being built.Although the other party did not show any banners, it is clear that these people do not belong to South Vietnam.

"It's not good!" After the thought flashed through the mind of the South Vietnamese officer who led the team, he immediately subconsciously prepared to send someone back to the camp.The South Vietnamese army never thought that the North Vietnam would have the ability to send troops to the battlefield by sea, and built such a large-scale fortification in this place overnight. Could it be that the North Vietnam invited some kind of masters with magic skills to help them fight?But when they tried to return the same way, they found that they had been blocked by a group of troops wearing green shorts and holding muskets.

The officer leading the team naturally recognized the uniforms of the North Vietnamese Army. The group of people who appeared in front of them were not dressed in North Vietnamese Army uniforms, and all of them were equipped with muskets.He also didn't care to find out the background of the opponent, he was very clear about the power of the musketeers, and at this moment, the most important thing was to convey the military information back to the camp, so he immediately ordered to disperse and break through.

There is nothing wrong with this order itself, but when it comes to a special warfare company, it just happens to be an enemy.The distance between the two sides was already extremely close. If he ordered a collective charge, the special warfare company, which was still in marching form, would not have time to launch a combat front. In addition, it was the first actual combat, and they might be able to make some money back after fighting. .But such a dispersion would completely expose one's own shortcomings to the opponent.The number of the special warfare company is nearly ten times that of this patrol team. Under the circumstances that the individual soldiers are stronger than the opponent, how could there be any fish that slipped through the net?

The officer leading the team was pierced by Qian Tiandun's bayonet in the shoulder socket as soon as he met him, and fell to the ground. Then a few militiamen came up and immediately twisted his arms, stripped off his armor, and tied him from behind.

And the other people who tried to escape didn't have any chance at all. They were quickly caught up by the militia, and then several bayonets greeted them together, and they lost their lives one after another without even a chance to struggle.

The only injury in the special warfare company was that a militiaman was shot in the thigh by a South Vietnamese archer who was stubbornly resisting. Fortunately, he did not hurt the vitals. He returned to the camp for a minor surgical operation to take out the arrow, but I am afraid that he will not be able to participate in the follow-up battle. .However, compared to being hit by an arrow in the thigh, the South Vietnamese archer's fate was much more tragic. Before he could shoot the second arrow, he was surrounded by a whole squad of militiamen and stabbed him in all directions with bayonets.

The entire combat process lasted less than 3 minutes and ended, and the result was unsurprisingly one-sided.The special warfare company wiped out the South Vietnamese patrol team without firing a single shot, and once again demonstrated its strength in front of colleagues in the military and police department.

In the previous reconnaissance mission to the south, the North Vietnamese military was not able to witness the performance of the special warfare company, but this time they actually saw how the Haihan soldiers fought.The entire patrol team was cleaned up cleanly by these Hai Han soldiers in a short time, and this result also gave the North Vietnamese Confederate Army, who was still a little uneasy, a little more confidence.

Although the screams of the South Vietnamese patrol were unavoidable during the fight, the special warfare company still relied on this battle to help its side win another half an hour of precious time.By the time the lookout post reported that the South Vietnamese Army camp in the west had dispatched an organized unit to the defensive position, 06% of the combat units had already landed, and the Congregation Army and the Haihan Militia had already lined up and formed groups. It was just after 30:[-] in the morning when we started to enter the combat position.Apart from the relatively shallow trenches, the fortifications have also been arranged in various ways, and even a nine-meter-high watchtower at the rear of the position has also been put into use.

The large number of prefabricated parts used in the landing construction is the main magic weapon for the Haihan militia to build a defensive position in just two or three hours.The North Vietnamese officers who witnessed the whole process had nothing to say except admiration.Such design and construction capabilities are completely unimaginable for the current North Vietnamese army.It seems that these things are not complicated, and it seems that the North Vietnamese can also build them if they really want to build them, but this kind of creativity and synergy is something that the North Vietnamese army does not have.

Some North Vietnamese officers even thought to themselves, if the Shanghai Han militia were the North Vietnamese Army, how should they prevent the opponent from landing from sea to land?With the current state and combat level of the North Vietnamese Army, can it compete with the coastal militia near the shore?
"All the construction workers in front have returned to their positions, and all the troops are ready for battle!" The latest order issued by the headquarters indicates that the long-awaited battle will finally start.

(End of this chapter)