1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 285
"The rebel army has never used this kind of trebuchet on the battlefield before." Zheng Ting said with certainty to the several Haihan officers in front of him: "In the past, they mainly used bows and arrows, supplemented by a small amount of artillery as a means of long-range attack. This is also the first time I have seen a trebuchet like this."

Yan Chujie and the others nodded slightly, which also proved their point of view from the side—these trebuchets were probably also technology provided by the South Vietnamese military advisers, and their purpose was to supplement the long-range attack methods for attacking the coalition defense line.There were not many artillery pieces in the South Vietnamese Army, and these trebuchets were produced in a hurry after many days of truce, probably in the hope that they could be used together with the artillery to destroy the defensive walls of the coalition forces in the shortest possible time.It's just that the other party didn't expect that there were not only four guns behind the defensive wall of the coalition position, but more than forty guns!
Some of these artillery pieces are monkey-style artillery exported to North Vietnam, including the four small artillery pieces used a few days ago.In addition, the expeditionary force also brought several original genuine Haihan guns, and they could even disassemble the ship guns from the "Explorer" if necessary.There are so many artillery pieces that it is even difficult to deploy them on a defense line that is only 200 meters wide, so the artillery deployed on the defense line only accounts for half of the total.

If the South Vietnamese army only launched an attack with limited artillery, then the coalition forces would perform their tricks to the end, revealing only a few cannons to compete with the opponent, and slowly knocking out the opponent's artillery with the advantages of range and accuracy.But since the South Vietnamese Army has come up with the idea of ​​using trebuchets to supplement the lack of long-range firepower, and it has already threatened the safety of the militia soldiers, the coalition forces can no longer hide it, so they simply bared their fangs, taking advantage of the fact that the South Vietnamese Army did not return. When the smell is too strong, hit it hard.

The South Vietnamese army did not expect that after fighting for so many days, there were still so many big killers hidden in the opponent's position, which was useless. middle.As for the limited artillery, under the concentrated fire of the coalition artillery, they were called out one by one before they even had time to resist.

Faced with such a situation, the commander of South Vietnam was not stupid enough to continue to attack, but immediately ordered the rear team to change to the front team, and all members retreated.The musketeers in the South Vietnamese Army retreated before even showing their fronts.

"General Yan, I beg you to chase after me!" Zheng Ting saw that the South Vietnamese army was already unable to withstand the artillery fire after the start of the battle. It seems that this posture is planning to withdraw. It would be a pity if such a great battle situation is not grasped. , hurriedly asked Yan Chujie for orders.

Naturally, Yan Chujie would not object to this suggestion. Now that the opponent's tricks have exposed the firepower in advance, it is not easy to take advantage of the momentum of this battle to wipe out the opponent's musket troops, but the coalition forces have made preparations for this for so long. You have to collect some interest.The headquarters did not forget to notify the mountain positions in the north to cooperate with the coalition positions to launch a counterattack against the South Vietnamese Army.

So after a lapse of two months, the North Vietnamese Army finally had the opportunity to launch an active counterattack on the battlefield. The garrison troops at the two positions attacked the retreating South Vietnamese Army from the east and north respectively.For the South Vietnamese Army, the situation in the north was a little better. After all, the North Vietnamese Army stationed in the mountains had reached the end of its strength, and now it was not too strong to fight back.On the contrary, the army chasing from the east caused the South Vietnamese army a headache. They were almost all musketeers, falling behind not too far away. When the troops behind the South Vietnamese stopped, they also stopped, and then there was a volley of guns. After the fight, the troops were turned on their backs.If you plan to charge forward and fight recklessly, there are still spearmen lined up in a neat square beside them, and skirmishers wanting to charge into the formation is really a desperate way to fight.

The only good thing for the South Vietnamese Army is that their camp is not far from the battle site, and large troops can retreat to the camp in one go.As for those heavy equipment such as shield vehicles and trebuchets, no one cared about them when they were fleeing for their lives, and they were all abandoned on the battlefield.

The North Vietnamese Army, which only had infantry, was not overwhelmed by the temporary advantage, and went directly to attack the camp of the South Vietnamese Army. The counterattack troops in both directions stopped at a distance of about 500 meters from the enemy camp. .

With advanced communication tools, although the two troops were separated by a South Vietnamese camp, their actions were very synchronized. After driving the South Vietnamese troops back to the camp, they began to station and rest in place, as if preparing for the next attack. prepare for.

But after the South Vietnamese army was tense for half an hour, the coalition forces did not launch an attack. Instead, a lot of civilians came and started digging ditches in front of the formation, as if they were about to build fortifications and set up camp.In particular, the coalition forces on the east side quickly removed the defensive wall at the rear and transported it to the front for re-building, allowing the South Vietnamese army to see how to build a solid defensive wall in the shortest possible time.

Only one hour later, even the artillery was transported to the newly opened front line, and began to enter the newly dug artillery positions one by one, and the muzzle was aimed at the South Vietnamese battalion.The terrain here is much wider than the previous coalition positions, and the artillery that was not used before can now be spread out to scare the South Vietnamese army.

The North Vietnamese Army in the north did not have such sharp methods, but with their large number of people, they quickly stabilized their positions. The civilians in the rear began to transport timber continuously, and they rushed to the deer village to reject horses on the spot, digging Front trenches.

If they really wanted to fight the South Vietnamese army, the main force of the North Vietnamese army probably had little chance of winning. After nearly two months of struggling in a defensive state, most of them had reached their limit.But the coalition command did not intend to let the main force of the North Vietnamese Army participate in the battle. Their task was to put up a good posture and put enough pressure on the South Vietnamese Army from the north.

The South Vietnamese army really wanted to touch the enemy in the north, but facing the fangs of the mysterious army on the other side, no one dared to act rashly at this juncture, and then mentioned the matter of sending troops to attack—the army in the east could at most With two to 3000 people, there are so many guns and artillery. Who knows what powerful things will be hidden behind the army formation in the north.It is impossible to say that as soon as one's own army goes out, it will fall into the pit dug by the other party again.

The generals of South Vietnam already understood that North Vietnam had set up a huge trap for them to fall into this time, but when this trap started, no one was able to say clearly.If it is said that the North Vietnamese had already been arranging this situation when they retreated from the Hengshan line of the Zhengjiang River, then the sacrifices they made were too great. During this period of time, more than ten thousand North Vietnamese troops were killed and captured. It is impossible for the official to be stupid enough to fish with such a big bait.What's more, when the mountain defense line was on the verge of collapse several times, the North Vietnamese did not see this large-killing army to save the war situation.

But if the deployment had only recently begun, then North Vietnam's actions would have been too swift.From projecting troops from the sea, quickly building defensive positions, to harassing the rear, and a large number of new-style troops equipped with guns and artillery, if you choose any of these things, it will take at least a few months to prepare.However, the performance of North Vietnam seems to be ready to fight a war of annihilation from sea to land. If this is not a long-planned trap, it is difficult to explain these unreasonable phenomena.

Even if their brains are open, it is hard to imagine that North Vietnam, which is in trouble, can actually attract a strong foreign aid, and this foreign aid has indeed spent a lot of time and investment in preparing for this battle.However, whether it was the preparation work or the actual combat process, the combat capability of this expeditionary army was indeed far from comparable to the other two armies on the battlefield.

The overlapping of these contradictory phenomena made it difficult for the commanders of the South Vietnamese Army to judge what kind of battle situation the North Vietnamese side was laying out.Although there is a musket force in one's own battalion, the number of cannons is far less than that of the opponent. Pulling them out to fight recklessly may only increase casualties.

The opinion of the "military advisers" from the West in the South Vietnam Battalion was more direct. At this time, we can no longer love to fight, and we should immediately arrange for the army to retreat south.These South Vietnamese generals may not have realized what it means for the opponent to have a large number of artillery in their hands, but the "military advisers" have already felt the signs of failure.It's just that this opinion was not adopted by the South Vietnamese generals. They thought that at least they had to wait and see what the North Vietnamese would do next.If the troops are withdrawn before the battle, who will bear the responsibility of avoiding the battle?Who dares to carry it?
Seeing that the South Vietnamese army did not retreat in a hurry, but was huddled in the camp, the coalition command immediately felt relieved.The officers were worried that they would scare away their opponents after exposing their strength, but it seems that the South Vietnamese army did not realize the dangerous situation they were in. I am afraid that there is still a certain fluke mentality, thinking that they can fight the coalition forces.That being the case, the headquarters will not miss the second opportunity to attack the opponent. If it can be grasped properly this time, the final result may be better than the previous positional warfare plan.

In the current battlefield situation, the coalition forces blocked the direction of the South Vietnamese Army from the northwest and southeast.Now around the South Vietnamese Army, the gap left by the coalition forces in the northeast direction leads directly to the sea, which is equivalent to a dead end.To the west are mountains stretching for more than ten miles, which are basically virgin forests.The only way to survive is the road to retreat in the south. Although it is still under the control of the South Vietnamese Army, it is already within the range of the coalition artillery.

Of course, if the South Vietnamese army really dared to fight and rushed directly to the north, it might also overwhelm the defense line of the North Vietnamese army and enter the hinterland of the North Vietnamese army across the mountains.But even if they rush over, the supply of these tens of thousands of people is still a huge problem, and the coalition forces in the rear can cut off their long supply lines at any time.What's more, thirty miles north of the mountain line of defense, there is another defense site, Yong'an Port, which is under construction.As an insurance measure set up by the headquarters, the terrain there is also easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if the South Vietnamese army breaks through the mountain defense line, it will be dragged to death near Yong'an Port and cannot continue to advance north.

Since the South Vietnamese had chosen to defend to the death, the coalition forces calmly built positions and deployed defensive measures to prevent the South Vietnamese army from suddenly launching a counterattack.The headquarters kindly ordered that all the coalition forces have a lunch at noon to reward them for their heroic battles before that.After a leisurely lunch, the headquarters issued an order to attack the South Vietnam Camp.

At this time, the headquarters no longer intends to keep hiding, and directly pushes all the artillery to the front line.More than forty cannons showed their muzzles on the front line together, even if they didn't fire, they already had a great deterrent effect.It was not until this time that the South Vietnamese Army finally realized that they had missed the best time to retreat.

Due to too many artillery pieces and not enough gunners, the headquarters had to call all the half-baked trainee gunners on the "Discovery".Of course, at a distance of 500 meters, the target is a military camp that stretches for several miles. Even if you shoot with your eyes closed, you won't miss too much, and a trainee gunner is enough.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Yan Chujie announced the start of this round of offensive with the first shell from the gun emplacement.Dozens of artillery roared one after another, and the thunderous roar could be heard even ten miles away.Under such power, not to mention the South Vietnamese army that was huddled in the battalion, even most of the soldiers in the coalition army turned pale and trembled, even the militiamen from Heitugang were no exception.Only the militiamen who have been stationed in Victory Port for a long time are relatively normal, because during each artillery drill, the general militiamen are also divided into periods and batches to participate in the observation, so as not to panic because of the sound of artillery on the battlefield.Judging from the current performance, the training arranged by the Military and Police Department is undoubtedly effective.

Zheng Bai also heard the sound of intensive artillery from the southeast from the position a few miles away. Although he had known the command's battle plan in advance through Feng Annan, the sound of artillery in the air still made him feel a little inexplicable. The fear of - such intensive artillery fire, the South Vietnamese rebels must not be able to bear it, and I am afraid that they will not be able to bear it either.

The life of the South Vietnamese army was indeed not easy. The first round of artillery fire smashed a section of the wall facing the coalition army to pieces, and the shells flew into the camp, often bringing blood and flesh along the way.This kind of force was simply beyond human ability to resist, so the South Vietnamese Army had no intention of resisting, and soon the South Vietnamese Army stationed in this area retreated westward, wishing to be as far away from the artillery fire of the coalition forces as possible.

After ten rounds were fired, the artillery fire stopped, and the gunners at each battery position re-calibrated the shooting angle according to the latest instructions from the headquarters. The lookout post could easily observe the shooting effect from a high place. The battalion has already begun to retreat, so it is natural to extend the shooting to its depth.

There was a moment of peace in the South Vietnamese barracks, but no one could relax.Many people's legs and feet were still trembling, and their minds were full of the scene where their companions were torn apart by shells just now.Although the number of damage caused by these hundreds of shells was not particularly large, the effect was astonishingly good. The large barracks in the southeast quickly fell into chaos after the first round of artillery strikes.Under the unilateral long-range fire attack, the generals of the South Vietnamese Army really had no better way to deal with it other than issuing military orders such as "stand firm" which had no practical effect.

Soon a new round of extended fire sent shells to areas where the first round could not reach, quickly causing a new round of killing and confusion in the battalion.The South Vietnamese army's countermeasure was to continue to retreat, trying to avoid the range of the shells as much as possible.

If they were facing invisible lead bullets, the South Vietnamese soldiers still had the courage to charge, but in the face of such shells that could tear their bodies apart, no one could muster up the courage to charge.Almost everyone was praying in their hearts not to be hit by the flying shells, and no one thought about how to fight back.

Of course, the officers are still unwilling to be beaten, but the problem is that it is almost impossible to organize a decent counterattack under such intensive artillery fire. The soldiers are busy flocking to the west to avoid the shells. All the organizational systems have been disrupted. The officers Even if you want to organize your own subordinates, you can't find anyone.

After going back and forth like this, after three consecutive rounds of shooting, the artillery fire stopped.Zheng Bo hurriedly asked Feng Annan why the headquarters stopped the attack, and Feng Annan's explanation made Zheng Bai feel dumbfounded - the number of shells is limited, so it has to be used according to calculations.

Feng Annan was not joking with Zheng Bai, but the truth.Among the materials carried by this expedition, the artillery shells alone weighed more than 20 tons. It sounds like a lot, but the artillery brought this time is also quite a lot. There are only a few dozen rounds spread on each artillery. .The army's artillery is equipped with a little more shells, and the "Discovery" has been wandering south for two or three days, and less than half of the shells it is equipped with are left.If the attack is launched at an average frequency of ten shells per hour, the shells can be shot out in basically one day, and this is obviously not a situation that the command headquarters is happy to see.

The combat effect that the headquarters hopes to achieve is to use shelling to destroy the opponent's will to resist, instead of using shells to kill every enemy one by one.After all, the artillery is only a long-range fire force, and the final combat mission must still be handed over to the infantry.

In the afternoon of that day, the coalition forces were not in a rush to attack, but continued to deploy troops and generals to move the position forward as a whole, while improving the peripheral fortifications.The South Vietnamese Army also took advantage of this gap to rush to treat the wounded and repair the damaged fortifications.However, before nightfall, the coalition forces took advantage of the setting sun to attack the South Vietnamese camp a few more times, and knocked down a large area of ​​the wall that had just started to be repaired, and the engineers and civilians who were under construction were also unlucky.Now, no one in the South Vietnam Battalion went to repair the incomplete wall, only a small number of skirmishers were deployed to guard near the gap, in case of a sneak attack by the coalition forces.

"Keep an eye on the other side! Their only chance is to launch a night attack tonight!" Mu Xiabo made a request to the secret sentry soldiers who were in charge of early warning on the periphery, and at the same time sent the most powerful militiamen from the first company to the second company. Transferred to the position to be responsible for night guards.

That night, the South Vietnamese Army, which was about to jump over the wall in a hurry, lived up to expectations and launched a surprise attack, but what greeted them was a dense row of lead bullets from the opposite position.

　It's already the end of the month, readers, check your account to see if there are any monthly tickets that you forgot to cast, don't waste them.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)