1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 388 The Vanguard
How to command the militia troops to launch an attack on Hue, the capital of South Vietnam, from sea to land? The deduction basically takes all kinds of situations into consideration.The navy in South Vietnam no longer has much wealth, and they can't play too many tricks. How could Haihan's side not be wary of such a traditional tactic like fire attack.Although Wu Sen and his colleagues had made up their minds to die, Hai Han did not intend to give them a chance to die in battle right now.

After the two fleets from Sanya and Heitu Port met off the coast of Hue, they directly formed formation and sailed into the mouth of the Xiangjiang River. Put down personnel and various combat materials.

Qian Tiandun and the Heitu Port Special Operations Battalion led by him landed first, and set up two lines of defense around the landing site.The peasants followed the steps that had already been practiced and began to set up camp on the river bank.

For the officers and soldiers of the South Vietnam Navy who were preparing to launch a desperate attack upstream, the move of the Haihan militia was undoubtedly far beyond their expectations.In the perception of Wu Sen and other South Vietnamese military officers, whether the Haihan militia raided Dong Hoi or Hoi An, they would attack land targets immediately after clearing obstacles on the water like a thunderbolt.The Haihan Militia, which had an absolute advantage on the water surface, suddenly gave up this combat method and chose to launch an attack from land instead, which made the South Vietnamese navy at a loss as to how to deal with it.

"My lord, do we still fight?" Seeing Wu Sen standing at the bow of the boat for a long time without making a sound, his soldiers stepped forward and asked softly.

"Fight...how can we fight!" Wu Sen came back from his contemplation, and immediately became angry: "You didn't see that they have already arranged so many small boats around the periphery, even if we kill them now, it will be very difficult for us to fight." Rush to their warship!"

Haihan's fleet this time is not limited to large warships with powerful firepower. The Ministry of Shipping has also specially refitted a number of small ships suitable for inland navigation and hauled them here with large ships.These small boats equipped with two power systems of sail and paddle are more flexible in action, and are more suitable for daily patrol and security and some less intensive transportation tasks on the Xiangjiang River, which is only about 300 meters wide.Of course, the weakness of this kind of ship is also obvious, that is, the lack of firepower. Because the hull is too small, the ship is not equipped with heavy weapons such as artillery, and the firepower can only be achieved by rifles.However, in the battlefield environment of constantly changing positions on the river surface, the actual lethality that the few rifles on the ship can cause is very limited.

At the same time as the large ships docked, a dozen or so small boats had already formed formation on the river, covering the landing point from the outside.Although the number is not large, it is already an insurmountable obstacle for the South Vietnamese Navy, which is short of major generals.

The Nanyue Navy currently has only fifty or sixty ships in total, and there are only a dozen ships at the mouth of the Xiangjiang River. It is very difficult to bypass the interception of the opponent's small boats on the not wide river, and Wu Sen is not half sure about it. .Wu Sen is not afraid of death, but if the opponent's big ship cannot be hurt, then the sacrifice made by this suicide charge is really not worth it.

"Continue to monitor the enemy's movements, quickly send people back to Hue City, and inform the commander-in-chief of the situation here!" Wu Sen hesitated for a moment, and finally issued an order.

If there are dozens of ships in hand, Wu Sen will probably order an attack immediately, leaving no time for the opponent to land calmly.However, more than half of the dozens of remaining ships of the Nanyue Navy are still upstream near the city of Hue, responsible for transporting personnel and materials on both sides of the Xiangjiang River.Gathering the navy's ships to launch an offensive is not something that an officer of Wu Mori's level can decide. All he can do is to report the situation and wait for the superior to make a judgment on the battle situation before issuing an order.

However, from Haihan's point of view, no matter how the opponent responds, it cannot prevent the own side from implementing the combat plan step by step.Tons of combat materials were continuously hoisted ashore, and migrant workers pushed large flatbed trucks back and forth, and under the command of the foreman's copper whistle, various supplies and ammunition were transported to the newly planned material storage area.Another group of migrant workers is leveling the foundation and driving load-bearing wooden piles into the soil, preparing to build a temporary warehouse for storing materials here.In terms of building a temporary base, the logistics department has accumulated enough experience after many operations. Whether it is a warehouse or a barracks, a large number of prefabricated parts are used for construction. Although this will greatly increase the pressure on the transportation link, but The precious time that can be gained on the front line is well worth it.

"Stop!" Takahashi Minami raised his clenched left hand, signaling the team behind to pause.He took out a hand-drawn simple map from his backpack and began to check the surrounding terrain to confirm his location.

This is a new map that he received from the combat staff after arriving at the Xiangjiang Estuary and landing. The content is the topography of the area from the Xiangjiang Estuary to Hue City.The [-]-mile area near the sea is all plains, and there are no obvious landmarks on the map. The only reference point is probably the Xiangjiang River next to it. on the road.The reconnaissance team led by Takahashi Nan not only has to find out the marching route for the follow-up large troops, but also chooses suitable locations along the way to set up strongholds near the river, blockade and control the river from the river bank, so as to reduce the defense of the downstream station pressure.

After Gao Qiaonan came to North Vietnam, he also learned a lot from Qian Tiandun. Learning to read military maps was one of the new skills he mastered.This is not an easy task for a person with almost zero cultural foundation. It took Qian Tiandun half a month to teach him just to understand the scale on the map.Gao Qiaonan himself once wanted to give up this painful learning process, but when Qian Tiandun told him that this was a necessary skill to be promoted to a senior officer in the future, Gao Qiaonan decided to master this advanced technology no matter what.

Throughout the second half of last year, Gao Qiaonan devoted most of his energy to the training of field reconnaissance subjects.Now not only can he understand maps of various scales, but he can even complete simple map drawing work himself, so Qian Tiandun can safely entrust him with the task of reconnaissance.

According to the actual comparison, Gao Qiaonan believes that although the map depicts the topography and landforms is very simple, but the accuracy is very high, far exceeding the level of drawing that the special warfare battalion can master.According to Gao Qiaonan, the only reconnaissance company deployed by the Haihan Militia in Annan is the reconnaissance company under the Special Operations Battalion, but this map is obviously not the work of the reconnaissance company. It is hard to imagine how the staff in Sanya drew it Such a detailed and accurate topographic map.But from another point of view, this seems to once again show the tall image of the executive committee being omnipotent and the militia army invincible. For such a matter of course, Takahashi Minami did not go any further. Think about it.

According to the map, Gao Qiaonan judged that his current location was seven or eight miles away from the landing point. In front of him was a small tributary of the Xiangjiang River marked on the map, with a width of about 40 to [-] meters. From what he observed Judging from the situation, there is no passable bridge on the river, and one or several pontoon bridges must be erected to pass through here. Of course, this kind of thing does not need Gao Qiaonan to worry about, since it is marked After crossing this small river, the staff must have prepared corresponding plans and tools for crossing the river.

What Gao Qiaonan needs to do is to confirm the terrain here and choose the most suitable place for the follow-up troops to cross the river.In addition, since the surface ships required for crossing the river must come up from the downstream, controlling the river surface from the tributaries to the mouth of the Xiangjiang River has become a combat goal that must be completed.Gao Qiaonan used his thumb to make a simple judgment. The width of the river here is only about 200 meters, and it also has a certain arc. A fire blockade line was set up on the shore, which can completely control the river surface-the cannonballs equipped by the army artillery can be fired at this distance, which is enough to sweep the opponent's small fishing boats to pieces.

As the sun sank to the west, the Nanyue navy boats on the river slowly retreated upstream.Although he knew that the opponent might not be eager to launch an attack by water, the cautious South Vietnamese navy generals did not dare to keep their limited water surface forces close to the opponent for the night.Gao Qiaonan stood among the dense calamus bushes on the bank, watching the opponent's boat slowly sailing upstream. Although the two armies had not officially fought, in Gao Qiaonan's eyes, these people were almost all It is no different from the dead.

In the early morning of the next day, two flat-bottomed inland river cargo ships towed a string of small boats and appeared at the river branch that Gaoqiao Nan had scouted the day before.The two large ships were loaded with materials, weapons, and engineers needed to build the pontoon bridge and firepower points, and a string of small boats towed behind were the piers for the pontoon bridge.As for the combat troops stationed here, they are marching by land.

It is far easier to build a floating bridge on such a small tributary river with a gentle flow and a small river surface than on the coast. All the components are prefabricated with standard sizes, and the construction is not difficult without external interference. Not too much, the engineers only took a little over an hour to build two five-foot-wide pontoon bridges on the river, and their load-bearing capacity was enough to allow the 48-pound large-caliber mortars used in the siege to pass through the bridges smoothly. .But at this time, the sky was just getting brighter.

At this time, the [-]st Battalion and [-]nd Company of the militia regiment stationed here had also arrived. After a short rest, the soldiers immediately devoted themselves to the work of building firepower strongholds.The attack direction of this firepower point is not only on the Xiangjiang River, but also must take care of the pontoon bridges erected on the tributaries, so the firepower output points are divided into east and south directions.Soldiers used sabers to cut off some calamus that grew too luxuriantly and blocked the view on the river bank, and then used sacks of soil to build artillery emplacements and parapets to cover the infantry.

"Commander Yu, congratulations on being promoted again!" Gao Qiaonan took the initiative to greet Yu Tiezhu, the commander of the second company.

The two of them knew each other well. When Gao Qiaonan was working as a coolie in the labor camp, Yu Tiezhu had just joined the military militia and had practiced in the labor camp for a period of time. At that time, the two had known each other.Later, Gao Qiaonan was appreciated by Ren Liang, and he recommended him into the militia as a soldier, and the two became colleagues. During the aid to Vietnam in January last year, the two also fought side by side and both received post-war awards. Victory and awards.Later, they participated in the military officer training class in Shengli Port, and the two became students at the same time again, and they could be regarded as classmates.

"Commander Gao, let's be happy together!" Yu Tiezhu also noticed that Gao Qiaonan's collar badge had been changed from platoon commander to company commander, and thought to himself that this guy is not slow to be promoted.

"I have reminded you several times, my surname is Gao Qiao, not Gao." Gao Qiaonan protested.

"Okay, I remember." Yu Tiezhu patted Gao Qiaonan's shoulder condescendingly, and replied perfunctorily: "Don't pay attention to such details... I always feel uncomfortable when I come to this place! "

"Maybe it's because of the calamus!" Gao Qiaonan pointed to the dense calamus by the river and said, "I heard from Chief Qian that this place was called Xiangjiang before I came here. The fragrance is lingering all year round."

"Is it fragrant? I don't think it's because I'm used to smelling the fishy smell of the sea!" Yu Tiezhu laughed, and then returned to the main topic: "Apart from sending boats to monitor the water, has Nanyue discovered What are they doing on land?"

"I haven't encountered any South Vietnamese troops from yesterday to now. I guess they heard the news that we came to the door, and they all huddled in Hue City and dared not come out!" Gao Qiaonan's face was full of pride for the enemy. Disdain and strong self-confidence.

"Then you will continue to go forward today?"

"Of course! Our task is to find out the deployment of the South Vietnamese army. Seven or eight miles south of here is the city of Hue. If there are no accidents, we will encounter the South Vietnamese army within today. "When Gao Qiaonan said this, there was no tension on his face, but he was full of desire for fighting.

However, the encounter with the enemy came sooner than Takahashinan expected. At [-] o'clock in the morning, when Takahashinan gathered his men to prepare to set off, the early warning post in the south sent out a warning signal.

"Hey, here we come!" Gao Qiaonan sent someone to inform Yu Tiezhu, who was still directing the construction of the artillery emplacement, while he himself led the team across the newly erected pontoon bridge to the position on the south bank of the Xiaohe River.

The enemy army that appeared in Takahashi South's field of vision was not large, only two to 300 people. From the perspective of organization, it was estimated that it was only a peripheral patrol team.The leading officer of this unit probably didn't expect to find the outpost of the Haihan people here. After a short moment of astonishment, he immediately urged his soldiers to attack.

However, if this small army of purely cold weapons wanted to attack Gao Qiaonan's position, it was basically equivalent to delivering food to the door.Although the reconnaissance team led by Takahashi Minami had less than half of the opponent's manpower, after completing three rounds of firing at close range, the number of people on both sides immediately changed to the same level.The South Vietnamese soldiers who had seen the terrible fighting power of the Haihan militia quickly switched from charging to fleeing, and fled south in a panic.From the South Vietnamese army's attack to the U-turn and escape, the entire battle process did not exceed 3 minutes, and there were no casualties on Haihan's side.Tie Zhu arrived in a hurry with two platoons of reinforcements, and Gao Qiaonan was already directing his men to clean up the battlefield.

"It's not kind!" Yu Tiezhu clicked his tongue repeatedly: "You don't even leave any food for brother, your appetite is really good enough!"

"You really can't blame me." Gao Qiaonan said with an innocent face: "I fired three rounds of guns, and then these monkeys turned around and ran away, and they couldn't even catch up! If the enemies we have to deal with this time are all With this level, it probably won’t take a few days to take Hue City!”

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy." Yu Tiezhu was not as blindly optimistic as Gao Qiaonan, shaking his head and said: "Judging from the pre-war preparations this time, the chiefs of the staff department are not sure about a quick battle. There are much more supplies than the previous expeditions to Annan. And this time the shipment has not yet been completed, and the fleet will return to Sanya immediately after unloading the goods for the second shipment. In my opinion, there is no one in this trip to Hue Ten days and a half months may not be able to finish the work."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing. If we fight a few more times, we will have more chances to make meritorious deeds." Gao Qiaonan couldn't help but tell the truth.

"Your point of view is unacceptable. If the officers hear it, they will definitely say that you have a problem with your thinking and attitude!" Yu Tiezhu complained with a smile.

The results of the battle were quickly counted. In the less than 3 minutes of the battle just now, the South Vietnamese troops who launched the attack were killed 37 people on the spot, and a dozen others were injured in varying degrees.Gao Qiaonan and Yu Tiezhu each selected a few prisoners with minor injuries for surprise interrogation, and then checked the results of the interrogation. Sure enough, these soldiers were just scattered troops sent to patrol the nearby area.

However, from the situation explained by the captives, both of them found a noteworthy piece of information, that is, the South Vietnamese defenders built a large area of ​​fortifications outside the city of Hue. According to the calculation of time, it was almost from the time when South Vietnam sent envoys to Hue last year. Construction started at the same time as the Victory Port peace talks, and it seems that the South Vietnamese court had done their homework early on for this battle.The quick decision Takahashi Minami expected was basically impossible to realize.

However, the two of them will not have the slightest doubt about the final victory. With the current strength of the Haihan militia, no matter how prepared the South Vietnamese Army is, it is impossible to overthrow the sky. Just a little longer.The combat plan that the Military Commission and the General Staff have already formulated will continue to be implemented step by step.

(End of this chapter)