1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 349 Attack on Hoi An City

The 24-pound artillery on the bow of the "Explorer" roared, and the heavy shell rushed out of the barrel at a muzzle velocity of 450 m/s, smashing a big hole in a gray masonry building on the bank with the Nanyue King's flag hanging on it. .Of course, this was not random shooting by the artillery on the ship. In fact, Qian Tiandun had already identified this target when he came for reconnaissance last time - the naval government office on the wharf outside Hoi An City.

It is said to be "Yamen", but it is actually a place where sailors go ashore to rest and officers drink tea and chat.Of course, from a military point of view, it also plays the role of a command organization—and this is the main reason why it was first targeted by the Haihan warship and was forcibly demolished by artillery fire.

It has to be said that the demolition efficiency of artillery fire is very high. By the time of the third shot, the shell hit a load-bearing beam in the house after penetrating the wall, and then the building immediately collapsed in half. When the smoke and dust cleared, then There are no people in the area. It is estimated that as long as they are not buried in the house, everyone has fled into Hoi An city.Although only the ship "Explorer" was firing and attacking, the defenders in Hoi An obviously did not have the awareness to stand up as cannon fodder, and did not organize an organized defense force on the pier, and did not give the Haihan militia a slap in the face. The login caused trouble.

"Heitu Port Special Forces, prepare to land!" Seeing the mess on the pier, Qian Tiandun shook his head slightly and gave orders to his team.The Heitu Port Special Operations Company will serve as the vanguard to establish a position on the riverside wharf and cover the subsequent landing of troops and supplies.

Compared with the harsh natural environment during the previous landing operation near the Zhengjiang River, the landing difficulty index of Hoi An Port is astonishingly low.Hoi An has been the most prosperous seaport in South Vietnam in recent decades. There are neat piers and trestles on the banks of the inland rivers here, which are very convenient for the attacking fleet to land on the shore.During the process, there is no need to build facilities such as floating bridges, and the materials can be hoisted directly from the boat to the river bank, which greatly saves labor and time.The only thing that makes the military feel a little regretful is that the forced demolition by artillery fire just now scared away all the people near the pier, so that now there is no way to temporarily recruit some civilian workers.

Of course, not everyone has fled back to Hoi An City. In fact, the local Portuguese Chamber of Commerce is set up outside Hoi An City.Eduardo de Oliveira is the president of the local Portuguese Chamber of Commerce. When the first cannon was heard on the Thubon River, Eduardo, who was eating, thought it was some kind of illusion: "Bento, go out and see Is it going to rain?"

Bento, the servant, went to the door and looked at the sky, then turned around and reported, "Master, the weather is fine and it doesn't look like it's going to rain."

At this moment, there was a second cannon fire, and Eduardo threw down the lamb chops in his hand, wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, "You idiot, didn't you hear the thunder in the sky? What are you? Blind or deaf?"

Bento turned his head and glanced outside the house again, then turned his head in horror and said, "Master, it's not thunder, it's artillery!"

"Cannon? Where did the cannon come from? Our two armed merchant ships set off from Hoi An to Manaca two days ago. Does anyone else have cannon in this place?" Eduardo threw down his napkin and stood up: "You What the hell is this bloody idiot talking about!"

Eduardo went to the balcony and looked at the river, only to see the scene where the third shell of the "Explorer" collapsed the naval government office on the bank at a distance of 50 meters.

"My God! It's the enemy! There are enemies attacking Hoi An!" Eduardo turned around and rushed into the house in a flexible manner that was completely inconsistent with his fat body: "Damn Bento, go and gather people! Call everyone Get your muskets ready!"

While the Portuguese chamber of commerce was in chaos, the Haihan militia was proceeding to land in a calm and orderly manner.As a compulsory course for the militia, the amphibious landing was almost considered a forte of the Haihan militia, not to mention that the battlefield in front of them didn't even have an opponent, so it was a barrier-free landing for the soldiers.

"Are we taking it too easy?" Qian Tiandun asked in confusion, looking at the troops marching to the shore in an orderly manner.

"It seems... Nanyue didn't respond at all! Could it be that they were just huddled in the city and waited for us to fight?" It was also the first time Wang Tom participated in this kind of siege battle, and he didn't have corresponding experience to refer to.

When the officers made the combat plan in advance, they had already considered the difficulties that might arise in various aspects, such as the blocked landing, the enemy's stubborn resistance, etc., but they never considered that there was no resistance at all during the landing process. this situation.As for the defenders retreating into the city for defense, the officers were not worried at all—for the dominant attacker, a motionless target was easier to deal with.

"Then do you want to clean up the targets outside the city one by one?" Qian Tiandun continued to ask.

In the original plan, the primary target of the militia after landing was the enemy army, but now it seems that the enemy army is unlikely to show up on its own initiative, so Qian Tiandun considered whether to clean up some targets outside the city first—— Various chambers of commerce, firms, and warehouses lined up on the several-kilometer-long riverside wharf, many of which were included in the looting list.

"No hurry, let's attack the main city first!" Tom Wang thought for a while, shook his head and said, "If we go to clean up places like this outside the city now, we will definitely meet certain resistance. Why don't we take down the main city first and turn around?" If we clean up the outside of the city, it may have a better deterrent effect, and we will encounter less resistance."

"Sounds very reasonable." Qian Tiandun didn't insist on his opinion, nodded and went ashore to direct the troops to assemble.

Hoi An City is located on the north bank of the Qiu Pen River, and the city wall on the south side is only about one mile away from the river bank. At this distance, even the naval guns on the "Explorer" can hit the city wall by adjusting the angle.However, Wang Tom did not intend to let the naval guns undertake the task of siege. This time they brought a special siege weapon developed by the military industry department-mortars.

Large-caliber mortars were not uncommon in combat in this era. In fact, mortars that fired stone bullets had appeared on the battlefield as early as the 13th century. There were many general artillery used by the army in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. They all belong to the category of mortars.Compared with long-barreled artillery, short-barreled mortars are much less difficult to cast, and the gun body is much lighter than traditional artillery of the same caliber.Of course, due to its gun body, the accuracy and range cannot be compared with traditional artillery, but to deal with such a large target as the city wall, the mortar gun is enough.

This time, the Haihan militia brought ten 48-pound mortar guns, each of which weighed more than 700 kilograms, and had a range of more than 1000 meters. up.

Of course, in order to achieve a better shooting effect, the closer the distance, the better, and ordinary army guns must take on the role of fire cover at this time.In addition, Tom Wang also brought ten imitation Whitworth rifles this time—although they have not yet been finalized, the military industry department has decided to call them "[-]-style sniper rifles."However, due to the limited number of trial products, ordinary militiamen will definitely not be able to take the turn this time. Only a few officers who pass through the army can try this powerful old-fashioned rifle with their own hands.If any unlucky ghost sticks his head out on the city wall later, that head is likely to face concentrated fire from several sniper rifles.

It took nearly two hours for the siege troops to unload personnel and supplies, establish a defensive position on the river bank, and set up guards on the river, before they drove into the city of Hoi An calmly.Although the officers didn't mean to be eager for success, they didn't plan to waste time playing tricks to persuade them to surrender - if the South Vietnamese officials guarding the city really surrendered directly, it would not be very fun.

The infantry began to dig pits and set up artillery positions about 300 meters away from the city wall. By this time, the defenders in the city still seemed to have no intention of opening their doors to fight outside the city.By the time the gun positions were set up and the artillery began to enter the field, it was already noon.However, the artillerymen had enjoyed lunch in advance before that, and this time was just right to move around.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, under the order of Wang Tom, more than 20 large and small artillery pieces on the position began to attack Hoi An City.In an instant, smoke and dust rose from the top of the city, and it was not difficult for the South Vietnamese soldiers hiding behind the wall to feel the impact of the huge mortar shells hitting the city wall.Although the officers tried to drive the soldiers to the top of the city to defend, but when several unlucky ghosts were torn to pieces by the shells flying randomly in the air, the most combat-minded people also silently shut their mouths.

Although Hoi An City has a thousand-strong army stationed there, its strength is not consistent with the status of this seaport city.Not to mention artillery, this army is not even equipped with matchlock guns.Due to limited financial resources, there were only 2000 troops in South Vietnam that could be armed according to Portuguese standards, and these new troops were deployed near the Zhengjiang Hengshan line of defense in the north to guard against possible attacks by the North Vietnamese army at any time.The long-range weapons in the hands of the Hoi An defenders are only a few dozen bows, but with the level of firepower they are currently suffering from, they have no strength left to resist.

"God..." Eduardo, who was watching the battle at the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce two miles away, muttered to himself, his hand holding the matchlock could not help but tremble slightly.Although the members of the Chamber of Commerce quickly assembled and formed an armed defense force of 130 people, it was obviously a daydream to use these people to drive away the terrifying army outside Hoi An.

The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce is a two-story masonry building with a back-shaped structure. The function of a fortress was added at the beginning of the design. If necessary, the entire Chamber of Commerce can be transformed into a fortress immediately, and the musketeers can Shooting condescendingly through various windows on the second floor is enough to defeat the attack of thousands of cold weapons.

But no matter how strong the house is, it cannot be compared with the city wall of Hoi An City. Seeing that the city wall of Hoi An was crumbling under the bombardment of artillery, Eduardo was keenly aware that if the opponent wanted to attack the chamber of commerce, it would take one round of attack The house can be demolished into a piece of rubble, and the courage to resist that he had worked so hard to muster dissipated almost instantly.

Eduardo slowly put down the arquebus in his hand, and called the servant Bento to his side with a concealed movement: "Listen Bento, I want you to get the horses ready, and put away the silver coin box in my house." , we have to get out of here!"

Bento bowed and asked, "Sir, how many horses do we need to prepare?"

"If you can keep up with the running speed of the horse with the silver box, you only need one! You idiot!" Eduardo was angry and anxious, but he didn't dare to yell loudly, for fear of being heard by others.

Although the battlefield in Hoi An City was fought in full swing, so far there have been no major casualties.The defending officers in the city were secretly thankful that they did not lead the army impulsively to attack, otherwise they would have been turned into meat slag under the intensive artillery bombardment.Only a handful of unlucky ghosts became victims of this seemingly endless bombardment.

And another thing that makes the defenders feel lucky is that the attacking party doesn't seem to have arranged spies to cause chaos in the city in advance. So far, there has been no major chaos in the order of the city.Except for the military personnel, the people basically returned to their homes and closed their doors, secretly praying that this disaster would pass quickly.

Although at the beginning of the enemy's landing, the defenders in the city had already sent messengers asking for help, but in fact they did not give much hope to the reinforcements.The nearest large garrison to Hoi An is in Hue Province, 200 miles away, and half of the distance in the middle is rugged mountains. five days.And if the opponent bombards Hoi An City for several days in a row, I'm afraid the whole city will be bombarded to pieces.

And the most terrible thing is that although the defenders send people to ask for help, they don't know the origin, purpose, and strength of the opponent. If you go out and ask for reinforcements like this, the possibility of the envoy being beheaded as a liar is estimated to be higher than that of calling for reinforcements. more likely.The active defenders in the city began to wonder whether they should try to go to the other side of Hoi An City, because the opponent did not surround the city, and at least there was a chance to escape from another direction when the city was broken.

The defenders with all kinds of thoughts did not worry about it for too long. After an hour and a half of intermittent bombardment, the south gate of Hoi An City collapsed together with the gate tower, forming a 20-meter-wide wall in the south of the city. There was a big gap, and other parts of the southern city wall also collapsed and cracked, and the defenders couldn't even climb the city wall to defend.At this point, for the militia, the defense in the south of the city has basically been broken.

In fact, if you want to break through the city wall of Hoi An, the Military Commission can come up with at least five or six more time-saving and labor-saving methods-such as planting explosives at night and directly blowing up the city wall.But after weighing, finally chose the solution of winning by brute force.The purpose of doing this is to test the effectiveness of mortars as a siege weapon in actual combat, and at the same time summarize a set of combat plans for mortars to attack the city.Secondly, it is also an additional training with live ammunition for the artillery. After all, this unit consumes too much, and it is impossible to use live ammunition all the time in normal training. Instead, the battlefield is a rare opportunity to practice.Of course, the most important thing is that the opponent of South Vietnam is too weak to cause trouble for the militia, and all arms can safely conduct drills on the South Vietnam battlefield.

"Infantry!" Seeing that Hoi An's city walls finally collapsed as expected, Wang Tom gave the order calmly: "After controlling the city defenses, don't kill casually, and allow the captives who surrendered."

The one who led the charge to the front was still the attacking Takahashi Minami. To some extent, he had even become the image spokesperson of the militia charge.And Gao Qiaonan's own legendary experience also gave him a group of imitators and followers within the militia—especially those Annan-born young people who joined the army in order to obtain the naturalized native place. A template for success.After all, from a prisoner's counterattack to becoming an officer, this kind of performance is not something that everyone can do. Coupled with the bravery and courage shown by Takahashi Nan on the battlefield, it makes the young people of the militia feel passionate and fight for victory. follow suit.

After the city wall was blown down, the defenders in the city finally organized a wave of resistance in the face of the surging enemies. Unfortunately, after being swept away by the shotgun shells of the short-barreled flintlock guns, the South Vietnamese soldiers quickly lost the courage to resist. , and began to flee to various parts of the city.

Gao Qiaonan had received Qian Tiandun's instructions beforehand, so he was not in a hurry to chase down the defeated army. Instead, he led his troops to control the gap in the city wall and waited for the follow-up troops to arrive.After fighting many battles, Gao Qiaonan also began to gradually understand the combat philosophy of his superiors-the Haihan people did not aim to kill in battle, but to strive to achieve tactical goals with the least loss and the highest efficiency.For example, in the plan to attack Hoi An City, there were no clear requirements for killing the enemy. Instead, quite a lot of detailed arrangements were made for how to control the situation after the attack on Hoi An City.

The implementation of this battle plan requires the division of labor and cooperation of each company. It may be a little complicated, but it is actually very simple-the people in the city can let them escape, but the supplies in the city cannot be easily let go.

After the Haihan militia entered the city, the strategic targets they wanted to control were the city's government agencies, granaries, the locations of various chambers of commerce and large commercial firms, and finally the entire city to wipe out the remaining South Vietnamese military personnel.

The more sensitive thing in this process is the handling of Chinese businessmen. Most of these Chinese businessmen who have taken root in Hoi An have already had inextricable connections with the local area, and a considerable number of them even support the existence of the South Vietnamese regime. There is a conflict of fundamental interests.However, their Chinese identities made the militia have to be cautious in their actions. After all, the crossing group still used the banner of descendants of Han people. If these people were dealt with too harshly, it would be hard to guarantee that they would not be accused of "murdering compatriots" after the news spread. Class black pot.

(End of this chapter)