1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 281 Take the lead

According to observations from the observation post on the top of the mountain, there are about 500 troops sent by the South Vietnam Camp this time. This is no longer a patrol team, but a real combat force.But judging from the scale, they probably still didn't take the enemy's appearance on the east coast seriously. They might think that this was just another intrusion and harassment by a small group of North Vietnamese troops.

As for the defensive position, the headquarters has arranged for the firearms troops of the North Vietnamese Confederate Army to enter the front line.To deal with the unprepared South Vietnamese troops, the command believed that the Confederate Army equipped with muskets was sufficient.Of course, just in case, the headquarters still mobilized three companies of the Haihan militia as a reserve force behind it. If the combat situation of the Allied Army is not good, the reserve force will immediately step forward to take over the position.As for the artillery unit, it is still in the process of intense weapon assembly and will not be put into use until later.

As for the more than 1000 spearmen that the headquarters asked for from Zheng Bai, they will not be used in positional warfare for the time being. A more complete camp was built on the beach.There are more than 3000 people from the coalition forces of the two sides and the civilian husbands crowded into such an open area. If the camp is not properly arranged, it will inevitably cause confusion to the follow-up combat command.

After the South Vietnamese troops entered the visual distance, they were also stunned by the line of defense that appeared here overnight.But this time the South Vietnamese commander did not make any more mistakes. After being shocked, he immediately sent someone back to the camp to report and asked for more reinforcements.According to their experience in many battles with North Vietnam, this line of defense, which is less than a hundred feet wide and five feet high, may not be as easy to conquer as it seems.

What's more, behind the low wall of the village, a banner with the word "Zheng" has been displayed, indicating that this army that seems to have fallen from the sky is from the opponent in the north.Moreover, the opponent spent a great deal of effort building fortifications here, and apparently withdrew without intending to show their face. The two sides will inevitably fight here next.

"Calm down, don't panic, just do everything according to your usual training!" Mu Xiabo said to them in the formation of the North Vietnamese Confederate Army: "You have received the best training and have the best weapons. Dealing with these primitive troops will be as easy as chopping melons and vegetables! My only request to you is to obey orders! Before the commander gives the order, no one can open fire at will!"

After Mu Xiabai and Feng Annan were transferred from the Cliff Office to the Tushan training camp, they served as instructors in the camp. Most of the officers in the North Vietnamese training troops were brought out by themselves.Although they haven't been together for a long time and have no confirmed master-apprentice status, and the two parties belong to different interest camps, they have lived in the army together for several months, and there are still some comrades-in-arms.As for Mu Xiabo, he also hopes that the North Vietnamese trained troops can show their level in this battle and achieve better results-this is not only an affirmation of the work of the military advisers, but also Let the North Vietnamese regime have more trust and dependence on the military aid of the crossing group in the future.

After Mu Xiabo finished training, he called Zheng Ting to his side: "Little General Zheng, I will leave it to you to command the next battle against the enemy!"

Zheng Ting looked a little anxious, but he still puffed out his chest and said, "Mu Instructor, please help us fight for our army!"

The South Vietnamese army did not stay on the periphery for too long, and did not intend to continue to wait for reinforcements from the battalion, so its commander gave an order to attack.However, from Haihan's point of view, this attack is probably more of a tentative nature - the enemy troops marching towards the defense line are only about [-] people, and they obviously intend to weigh the opponent first before making any plans.

"Array!" Zheng Ting cheered up and gave instructions to the troops under his command.

The North Vietnamese trained troops totaled more than 192 people. Among them, the Musketeers were organized into five square formations, each combat formation consisted of 24 people. During combat, they were divided into eight rows for rotating shooting, maintaining the continuous fire output of [-] guns.At this time, three of the phalanxes are deployed on the position. During combat, the salvo can reach a firepower output of thousands of rounds per minute. The headquarters believes that with such a level of firepower, even if the South Vietnamese troops in front of them directly launch the entire army Assault, there is only the end of delivering food.

The vanguard of the South Vietnamese troops were mainly sword and shield soldiers. They did not rush to charge, but walked slowly, carefully guarding against possible bow and arrow attacks ahead.However, they marched from a distance of 500 meters to 200 meters, and they could almost see the densely packed heads behind the opposite wall, but they were not attacked by the opponent. This made these South Vietnamese soldiers very uneasy, and they could not guess the opponent. What tricks are you playing.

At this time, there was a rapid drumbeat from behind, which was a signal urging them to move forward.These South Vietnamese soldiers had no other choice but to grit their teeth and speed up their pace and rushed to the opposite defensive position.

"Raise the gun!"

Zheng Ting gave an order, and densely packed gun barrels protruded from three directions of the defensive wall, pointing at the South Vietnamese soldiers rushing across.Zheng Ting was not in a hurry to give the order to fire, but waited until the opponent ran within a hundred meters before he waved the command knife vigorously: "Fire!"

With crackling and bangs, a puff of smoke rose from the top of the defensive wall, and the North Vietnamese soldiers who had finished firing immediately raised their guns and retreated from the queue, giving their positions to those who came up from the back row.

The South Vietnamese soldiers who rushed to the front fell down almost instantly, but most of the South Vietnamese soldiers did not realize what happened at this time, and they still did not stop their charge.

"Fire!"

The North Vietnamese soldiers in front of the second platoon also finished shooting, knocking down several more South Vietnamese troops who were charging.Although the firing rate of the arquebus is only between [-]% and [-]%, this firing rate is enough to deal a heavy blow to the unprepared South Vietnamese soldiers.The wooden shields in their hands couldn't stop the bombardment of musket bullets at this distance, and the unlucky leading officer was unfortunately shot and fell to the ground in the first round of shooting, making the stormtroopers headless.

At this time, some people have discovered that the weapons used by the North Vietnamese army on the opposite side are not the bows and arrows they used to see before, but the frightening muskets. ?
Before they could recover, the bullets fired by the third row were already flying in the air.Although the muskets exported by the Crossing Group to North Vietnam are all performance-castrated monkey versions, the accuracy and lethality within [-] meters are still quite strong. As long as a certain firepower density and shooting frequency are maintained, it is basically impossible for a small number of infantry Complete a successful [-]-meter charge.

When the first round of eight-platoon shooting was completed, it took only a little over half a minute, and the stormtroopers on the opposite side were already in a state of retreat at this time, and the South Vietnamese soldiers who survived in the back had changed from the rear to the front, regardless of any military orders. , and fled back desperately.

The North Vietnamese soldiers behind the defensive wall were also excited by this victory, and fired another round at the enemy's back.In the end, those who managed to escape the effective range of the Musketeers were probably only half of the original troops.In this wave of tentative offensives, hundreds of South Vietnamese soldiers were brought down only tens of meters outside the defensive wall.

As the enemy retreated, more than 30 North Vietnamese infantry rushed out from behind the defensive wall.They were not going to chase down the retreating enemies, but came out to attack the dead and wounded enemy troops in front of the position and cut off their heads.The way of recording merit in the North Vietnamese Army is still the traditional way of recording merit by the head. This time, it only took a few moments to chop off hundreds of heads in one breath. It is definitely the best in the recent battle between the two sides.

Regarding the "barbaric" approach of the North Vietnamese Army, the headquarters held an attitude of neither supporting nor opposing it.Out of more practical considerations, the headquarters did not intend to accept the wounded from South Vietnam, which would undoubtedly be a "waste" of its own limited medical strength.And maybe in the end, the headquarters also needs to ask for some heads from the North Vietnamese side, and bring them back to Luo Shengdong, Wei Ping and others for military merit.

The first contact battle ended with a complete victory for the North Vietnamese side. According to the count of the infantry team who went out to cut off their heads, the total number of enemies killed in the previous battle was 120, and 17 people were captured in addition-these prisoners were very minor Those who were slightly injured and unable to walk were all repaired on the spot.If it weren't for the fact that North Vietnam now needs a large number of people to be handed over to the crossing group as an exchange condition for military forces, most of these captives would not have a chance of surviving.

The only wounded soldier on the North Vietnamese side was because he was too nervous to reload the ammunition, which caused the chamber to explode.However, such a small episode was quickly left behind by the joy of winning the first battle. Could there be any dissatisfaction with a casualty rate of more than 100?
"It was a good fight." Mu Xiabo, who witnessed the whole process, affirmed Zheng Ting's command and the performance of the North Vietnamese Army, but he still had some unspoken subtext in his heart-at a distance of less than 100 meters. It took [-] rounds of bullets to bring down more than [-] people when the opponent was unprepared. It seems that the combat effect of the Musketeers is still relatively limited.

Of course, it is obviously biased to attribute such results only to the musketeers. The North Vietnamese army used muskets for combat for the first time. The arquebus they used had defects in firing rate, loading speed and accuracy, and the opponent The timely retreat had a certain impact on the final result.If it is an army with more combat experience, this record will definitely improve.

After the South Vietnamese Army suffered such a boring loss, they did not dare to challenge again, but immediately sent a second group of sergeants to return to the camp.

"Base, base, this is Lookout Post No. [-]. I have good news for you. The hornet's nest has been pierced!" Roger was lurking in a tree on the top of the hill in the south, while observing the South Vietnamese army camp with a telescope. In the middle of the situation, he reported to the command post at the foot of the mountain through the radio.

The North Vietnamese army landed on the coast southeast of the camp to build fortifications, and an unknown number of musketeers appeared. After these two news reached the South Vietnamese army camp, they immediately aroused strong reactions.

According to the trend of the previous battle situation, the generals of the South Vietnamese Army believed that it was a certainty to take down the mountain defense line within five days. Therefore, they were already studying how to continue marching north after breaking through the mountain defense line.But I never imagined that the North Vietnamese army, which seemed to have no resistance to resistance, actually came up with a secret move, landed behind their own side, and even set up camp as if they were about to fight a big battle.What puzzled them most was how could the NVA suddenly have a musketeer unit?
The South Vietnamese side had been secretly planning for two years to form a musketeer unit, and it took half a year to form an army. It was not until the counterattack two months ago that they showed their fangs, and the North Vietnamese army was beaten back again and again.Ordinarily, under such circumstances, if the North Vietnamese Army had similar troops, they should have been fighting on the front line of the Zhengjiang River long ago. Why did the defenders here have to struggle for a month before showing up until now?

It is not that the South Vietnamese Army did not have spies in the north, but they had never heard of the firearms troops in the North Vietnamese Army. The only information they knew was that two to 3000 reinforcements seemed to have arrived from the north a few days ago.But in the eyes of South Vietnam, such a small amount of reinforcements has been difficult to affect the course of the war - of course, this view excludes the possibility of musketeers.

And the location where the North Vietnamese army appeared was not uncommon. According to the previous investigations of the South Vietnamese military, the area of ​​the beach was not too large, and it was impossible to accommodate a large number of troops to land, at most only a few thousand people.But no matter what, the South Vietnamese Army must not sit back and watch a North Vietnamese armed force threaten them from behind. Otherwise, even if the mountain defense line is laid down, there is no way to continue marching northward with peace of mind.After a simple balance, the generals of the South Vietnamese Army decided to pull out the nail on the back first, and then consider attacking the mountain defense line.

Since there were Musketeers in the North Vietnamese Army, the South Vietnamese generals who knew the strength of the Musketeers decided not to make small troubles, but to go to war and directly destroy this stronghold.So the South Vietnamese barracks immediately began to mobilize troops, making a mess.

The defensive positions of the Haihan army were not idle either. Except for the camp that was being built in full swing at the rear, hundreds of civilians were cooperating with the artillery to assemble dozens of artillery unloaded from the ship to the gun mounts.

Yan Chujie was in charge of the artillery command this time, but before the artillery entered the position, there was a little trouble in assembling it.

For the convenience of transportation, the artillery used by the army adopts a detachable base. The gun body and frame can be separated for easy shipment and transportation. Installed on a makeshift turret for shooting.However, the North Vietnamese civilian husband who was in charge of unloading the ship at the time of landing obviously did not understand Haihan’s cargo loading and unloading procedures, so he mixed and stacked the unloaded artillery parts together. There are some small differences, so the artillerymen have to spend time distinguishing the artillery accessories of different specifications from the mountains of materials on the beach, and then assemble them.

Such a one-point-one-installation was delayed by at least half an hour, which was simply an accident level for the combat plan formulated by the headquarters.Yan Chujie scolded the officer in charge of commanding the civilians from the North Vietnamese side, and finally had to take a few people from the headquarters to go into battle in person during the interval between battles, and command the civilians to assemble the artillery.

Compared with the busyness of others, the special warfare company, which had been in the limelight before, fell into a state of doing nothing at this time.According to the original arrangement, the missions of the special operations company were basically reconnaissance behind enemy lines and surprise attacks. As for the errands of offensive and defensive positions, the headquarters did not intend to hand over to Qian Tiandun's company. Combat is not their forte.

So after the official battle started, the special warfare company was immediately withdrawn from the line of fire by the headquarters, and the latest order given to them was "rest and stand by".

"Captain!"

"What's the matter?" Qian Tiandun looked at the map in his hand, and without raising his head, he could hear Gao Qiaonan calling him.

"Annan's fighting power is far inferior to ours. Why did the headquarters let them fight on the front line, but arrange us to rest?" Gao Qiaonan seemed a little dissatisfied with the arrangement of the headquarters: "Shouldn't we be the ones to demonstrate Haihan's force? I I think it’s the best choice for us to fight against the South Vietnamese Army! Doesn’t the company commander have any other ideas about the arrangement of the headquarters?”

"Squad leader Gaoqiao, as a soldier, it is his duty to obey orders. All Haihan soldiers must obey the orders of the headquarters, including you and me." Qian Tiandun said to Gaoqiaonan very seriously: "Even if you don't understand , You must also follow the orders! In our Haihan army, there will be no such practices as the upper hand, if you have similar thoughts, you’d better put it away for me as soon as possible! Your current identity is a Haihan soldier, isn’t it The samurai of Japan’s shogunate, figure out who they want to pledge allegiance to!”

"Yes!" Gao Qiaonan hurriedly replied: "I will serve the executive committee all my life, please don't doubt my loyalty, company commander!"

Qian Tiandun saw that his attitude was quite upright, so he relaxed his tone a little and said: "In the battle plan arranged by the headquarters, our mission is to fight behind enemy lines, and this is not our position. A few days ago we took a boat south Those areas that went down for reconnaissance are the next targets."

Takahashi Minami's eyes lit up and said, "Does that mean we will have other combat missions?"

"Of course." Qian Tiandun nodded and said, "We're not here to catch a few tongues and kill one or two patrols and we're done. The next combat mission we have to complete will directly affect the future of the battle. But we have to wait until the position here can be stabilized before we can get away and do other things. Don’t worry, first look at the combat methods of the South Vietnamese Army, which will also be beneficial to our subsequent operations.”

(End of this chapter)