1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 390
"This is to fight a protracted war with us!" Yan Chujie made a very clear judgment on the intention of the South Vietnamese defenders.

"It's not a bad thing, anyway, we didn't intend to make a quick decision this time." Tom Wang looked very relaxed.In this attack on South Vietnam, the main task of the navy was to block the coastline in the early stage and clean up the Xiangjiang River.According to the combat plan, after cleaning up the remnants of the South Vietnam Navy on the Xiangjiang River, some of the navy's combat ships will return to Sanya ahead of schedule to supplement the currently relatively empty maritime defense forces in the base camp.For Wang Tom, the combat tasks he needs to undertake as a naval commander this time are not onerous, and most of the future combat periods can only play a supporting role.

"It's no longer intuitive enough to rely on the militiamen to scout on the front line. I'll take my equipment and go to the south tomorrow morning and get some video data back." Qian Tiandun couldn't sit still after staying in the base for a few days. : "The equipment I applied for in the report last time, have you brought it this time?"

"Don't worry, in such a big battle, the executive committee will definitely not be stingy on small details." Yan Chujie nodded and replied: "The two octocopters in stock have been brought over, just to take pictures of the enemy position."

The zone defense positions that the South Vietnamese army painstakingly built, as well as the corresponding deployment and mobilization of troops, have no secrets at all in front of the traversers who have three-dimensional detection methods.Aircraft equipped with video recording equipment can clearly take pictures of the distribution of defenders' positions from high altitude, and then the frontline command can use this as a reference to formulate corresponding offensive tactics.It can be said that the official battle has not yet begun, and Haihan's side has won half of it first.

Attacking Hue City is the first priority of the entire combat plan, but it is not the only combat goal.How to eliminate as many South Vietnamese forces as possible in a short period of time is also one of the goals of the military's operation.Taking South Vietnam as a long and narrow coastal terrain with a north-south span of more than a thousand miles, the combat cycle required to flatten the entire territory will definitely be quite long. The combat plan formulated by the staff does not intend to attack towns one by one, but Turn the city into a bait to lure troops stationed across the territory of South Vietnam to come to the rescue, and then destroy its main force by encircling the points to fight for aid.

Destroy the main force of the South Vietnamese army near Hue City, and then take down the small imperial court in Hue City. The combat mission of the Haihan Militia will be successfully completed.As for the rest of the cleaning and finishing work, there is no need for the Haihan militia to do it in person.With the current strength of the North Vietnamese Army, it should be sufficient to slowly wipe out the remaining resistance forces in the South Vietnamese area.

Of course, the process is simple to say, but there are still many problems that need to be solved one by one in the specific implementation.It is necessary to exert sufficient military pressure on Hue City, and to allow those in power in the city time to transfer troops from various places back to Hue City to participate in the decisive battle. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the deployment of its own troops. Commanders still need to take good care of it.

On February 27, the main force of the Militia Army, which had completed its rest at the Xiangjiang Estuary Temporary Base, began to march inland.Since in the past few days, almost all the patrols sent by the South Vietnamese Army were wiped out by the black soil port special forces who went out for reconnaissance, so the main force did not encounter the enemy during the march.As for the combat supplies, they passed through more convenient rivers and were sent directly to the front-line positions.In order to protect the cargo ships transporting supplies, the Navy dispatched four "Explorer-class" warships and more than ten small inland river patrol boats to set up a defense line on the river less than five miles away from Hue City.

What Hai Han didn't know was that after the death squad led by Wu Sen was wiped out without fighting back, the Nanyue Navy no longer had any plans to fight.In the past two days, all the ships have gathered on the river outside the city of Hue, rushing to transport supplies and soldiers into the city from the south bank.Of course, due to the tragic experience of Wu Sen's team, the few remaining soldiers of the Navy inevitably escaped a lot in the past two or three days, which made the morale of the Navy fall into an irreparable crisis. In the trough, if another officer ordered to go to war, the rest of the people might really disperse.

However, this situation will not last for too long. As long as Haihan finds out that the South Vietnamese side is retreating, they will soon send ships to block the river outside Hue City and cut off the connection between the two sides.As for the surviving troops of the navy, the only chance of survival is probably to retreat to the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River, far away from the warships of the Haihan Militia.

After investigation, the headquarters selected an area near the river five miles north of Hue City to build a front-line camp. It was almost directly under the eyelids of the South Vietnamese Army.Under the cover of the infantry formation, the civilian men unloaded various tools and components needed to build a position from the cargo ships docked on the river bank, and began to build and construct on the river bank under the watchful eyes of the South Vietnamese Army in the distance.

For the defenders, it was obviously not a comfortable thing to sit and watch their opponents build a camp under their noses. Whether it was due to tactical considerations or a matter of face, the South Vietnamese Army had to make a gesture.

So the South Vietnamese army sent a team of thousands of people to rush to the position of the Haihan militia, but this kind of harassment seemed somewhat perfunctory.After the infantrymen shot and killed 200 or 30 people at a distance of [-] meters with new rifles, this force quickly chose to withdraw and retreated to the formation.

"You want to lure us to chase after you!" Facing the enemy's performance, Qian Tiandun commented very rudely: "The acting skills are too poor, even if you want to use it as bait, you have to attack once and then retreat. What do you mean by running in one lap?"

"These monkey soldiers can use their brains in battle, but they are unlucky, and they met us this time." Yan Chujie put down the binoculars in his hand, and then said: "The Vietnamese defeated the army of the Ming Dynasty because they relied on This trick of luring the enemy into the depths wiped out tens of thousands of Ming Dynasty troops in that battle, and it has been regarded as a classic example since then. Considering that our army is only a few thousand people, they must use the old method Try again."

The South Vietnamese army's lure action did not achieve any effect. The militiamen took no time to build a position at the predetermined location, built a large camp, and even had time to build a temporary dock on the nearby river bank to facilitate the docking of cargo ships.The militia was not in a hurry to launch an offensive to Hue City, because they had to wait a little longer, so that South Vietnam would have enough time to bring back all their main forces from the northern defense line to participate in the decisive battle.

At present, part of the main force of the South Vietnamese army is still facing the North Vietnamese army across the river at the Donghai defense line. However, after the Haihan militia landed from the coast near Hue, most of the Hue city has issued an order to the front line. It will take at least five or six days for the battalion to rush back.And these foreign troops who rushed back to the "King of Qin" were also the targets that the Haihan militia wanted to eliminate. Instead of going through mountains and rivers to fight one by one, it is better to guard the bait of Hue City and wait for work to eliminate these troops.

On March [-], two "Explorer-class" warships boldly sailed into the waters of the Perfume River outside the city of Hue, but the resistance scene expected by the combatants on board did not appear. Dozens of ships on the river acted in unison. The bow of the ship desperately sailed upstream, without any intention of resisting.The Haihan militia successfully controlled the Xiangjiang River outside Hue City almost effortlessly.And this change also caused a small shock in the city of Hue, because it meant that all supplies and support from the south of Hue were cut off.

However, since there are several forts on the city wall near the river in Hue City, the entire river is basically covered within the range of the forts, so Haihan did not let more warships enter this water area rashly. Only two ships were kept for taking turns cruising on this section of the river.

On March 800, the Hai Han militia army launched its first offensive from the north to the South Vietnamese Army positions outside Hue City.However, this attack was basically tentative in nature. The infantry held the formation, and the artillery set up a position at a distance of [-] meters, and bombarded several targets identified by aerial photos on the South Vietnamese side.

The artillery equipped by the South Vietnamese Army did not have lightweight field artillery, but basically large-scale city defense artillery arranged on the city wall of Hue. Therefore, it was almost powerless to fight back against this kind of long-range attack by the militia, and could only helplessly. Watching several masonry bunkers on one's own side being destroyed abruptly by shells.However, because Haihan's attack targets were very concentrated, the South Vietnamese Army was able to evacuate the troops from the dangerous area in time. Therefore, although Haihan's shelling achieved the combat goal, it did not actually kill many South Vietnamese soldiers.

Although the South Vietnamese side does not have much ability to fight back, the Haihan militia also has no way to maintain this offensive for too long, because such shelling tactics consume too much ammunition, and they were destroyed in about an hour. One hundred shells, and these ammunition cannot be resupplied locally, and must be transported from the headquarters by ships.Although there are sufficient ammunition in the combat materials shipped in the early stage, the military dare not squander it recklessly. After all, no one can guarantee the timeliness of shipping. If the supply of ammunition is cut off, the local militia troops will be in danger immediately. among.

Although there was no way to maintain a high-intensity firepower strike frequency, even such a round of intensive shelling had already caused quite a shock to the South Vietnamese Army.As for the atmosphere in Hue City, the atmosphere is even more tense. Ordinary people don't know how the battle outside the city is progressing, and they can't see where the Haihan militia has advanced. They can only hear the rumble of artillery from outside the city.

The Haihan militia was not in a hurry to send infantry to clear the positions of the South Vietnamese army, but continued to launch a round of shelling every half a day, waiting for the South Vietnamese reinforcements to come back with peace of mind.

On March 7000, the reconnaissance troops on the periphery sent back news that about [-] to [-] South Vietnamese troops were marching in the direction of Hue City, less than [-] miles away from Hue City.On the same day, the Hai Han Liaison Office stationed in the Dong Hoi camp in the north also sent a telegram that the North Vietnamese Army had launched an offensive as scheduled and successfully breached the Dong Hoi defense line.The small number of South Vietnamese troops currently stationed there have begun to retreat southward, and the North Vietnamese army is also pursuing them.

On March [-], the reinforcements who had been ordered to rush back finally arrived at Hue City, but at this time they did not know that the Dong Hai defense line had been breached, and the remaining troops that had retreated south had already withdrawn to the vicinity of Quang Tri City.

The next day, after confirming that the army that had withdrawn to Hue this time was already the largest armed force of the South Vietnamese court in the area north of the Xiangjiang River, the frontline headquarters finally started to take action.

The main force of the first battalion and the second battalion of the militia all concentrated in the area near the river in the northeast corner of Hue City, and launched an attack on the South Vietnamese Army's position.The Haihan Navy also got a rare opportunity to play at this stage, using artillery fire from the river to support the army's attack.

The South Vietnamese Army's position on the Linjiang side was mowed down by more than forty artillery pieces for half an hour, and there were hardly any objects over two feet high left on the ground.At this time, the infantry lined up in a neat rectangular array, marching in unison towards the plowed position.

The generals of the South Vietnamese Army had no way out at this time, and had to mobilize troops from nearby positions to fill the gap. However, the rifles fired by the Haihan militia dealt a heavy blow to the South Vietnamese Army again. Hundreds of soldiers fell ruthlessly. under the gun.It wasn't until this time that the South Vietnamese generals suddenly discovered that all the preparatory work they had done before had not played much practical effect under the blow of absolute firepower superiority.

The South Vietnamese defenders had to use the forts on the wall at the northeast corner of Hue City in advance to prevent the Haihan militia from continuing to advance.However, this futile struggle did not delay the Haihan militia for too long, and soon the Haihan militia's six 12-pound army guns pushed to the front line and began to shoot at the forts on the city wall.

As the two sides fired at each other, the advantages of Haihan's artillery in terms of range and accuracy quickly became apparent.Although the fort on the city wall is condescending, its range is still not as good as the artillery of the Shanghai Han people. The fort fired at the maximum firing angle is still 40 meters away from the artillery positions on the Haihan side.However, the Haihan Artillery quickly achieved a hit. In the third round of shelling, a shell hit the crenel of the city wall fort. Several of the gunners were beaten to death.

After several rounds of calibration, the accuracy of the Haihan artillery became more and more scary. Several shells hit the position of the fort. If it were not for the cover of the crenel, the entire artillery position would have been blasted into the sky. .When the South Vietnamese artillerymen fought with trepidation, the opponents loaded and aimed calmly, without worrying that shells would fly to their positions.

The South Vietnamese army launched several rounds of counterattacks against Haihan, but the result was only more sacrifices. The positions occupied by Haihan not only failed to be regained, but tended to continue to expand.After holding on to the fort on the city wall in the northeast corner for more than an hour, a shell finally hit the barrel directly, sending the cannon flying and knocking over two gunners, who vomited blood and died on the spot.

However, before it got dark that day, the Haihan militia that had already occupied the position silently withdrew back, seeming to be worried that if they stayed overnight in this unsheltered position, they would be attacked by the South Vietnamese Army.

The South Vietnamese Army dispatched troops overnight and took this position back.However, such occupation does not have much practical significance. Since all the defensive facilities on the position were destroyed by the Haihan militia in the battle the day before, it must be too late to repair overnight. In the end, the South Vietnamese army could only quickly Reluctantly added some simple devices such as Luzhai Juma to the position.

Naturally, these things did not play much role in front of the Haihan militia who opened the way with artillery fire, and they were blasted to pieces by the shells as soon as they started fighting.And the speed of the Haihan militia's occupation of this riverside area was much faster than yesterday, and it took less than half of the previous time.

After the militia occupied the position this time, they were no longer eager to expand their position. Instead, a large number of militiamen and cargo ships on the river followed up, and immediately built a position in the occupied area.

This comparison can show the gap between the two sides in terms of civil engineering construction technology.It took the South Vietnamese army more than four months to build the current defensive position, while the engineers and civilians of the militia only took half a day to build a large area in the Linjiang area in the northeast corner of Hue City. position.Of course, compared to the complete defensive facilities in the South Vietnamese position, the Haihan militia is still very simple. Basically, it is a defensive wall made of sand bags, multi-functional flatbed cars and other components, and a shallow trench is dug on the outside. , Planted stakes and pulled barbed wire.However, relying on sharp weapons, the Haihan militia was able to cope with the counterattack of tens of thousands of South Vietnamese troops by relying on such crude fortifications.

On March 400, the South Vietnamese Army launched the largest counterattack since the start of the war, intending to remove the position of the Haihan militia, which was only [-] meters away from the city wall.

The South Vietnamese army launched a tidal charge to the Haihan position with a unit of thousands of people, hoping to rely on the superiority of its troops to smash the crude defense line of the Haihan militia.But this tactic of trying to win by numbers has been proven to be unworkable several times in the past, and this time is no exception.

The lethal cannonballs spewed out from the muzzle, tearing gaps in the charging South Vietnamese army.The deafening sound of artillery and the splashing of flesh and blood were enough to drive the South Vietnamese soldiers in it crazy.In just one morning of fighting, the corpses of the South Vietnamese army piled up in a large dense mass in front of Haihan's position.Although it is too late to count the results of the battle, Yan Chujie, who has been commanding the battle on the front line, estimates that at least 3000 enemy troops were killed or wounded during the two-hour battle.

(End of this chapter)