Chapter 269 Attack and Defense Battle
Feng Anan still wanted to argue, but Mu Xiabai stopped him with his eyes. At this time, it was more important to do business first, and there was no need to argue about these meaningless things. Wearing a suit of armor means that you can't move easily at most, but that's no big deal. However, Mu Xiabai did not forget to remind Zheng Bai that he must keep the secret of Haihan military aid internally and not leak the news in advance.
Zheng Bai also ordered the preparation of chariots and horses. The North Vietnamese Army's Chinese camp was still eight or nine miles away from the current defensive position. Of course, friendly generals could not be allowed to walk over on foot wearing full armor - Zheng Bai took out the two sets of armor. Weighing more than twenty kilograms, wearing this thing over mountains and ridges is no easy task.
The armor of the North Vietnamese Army lieutenant generals is very similar to the Ming Dynasty. They are all iron armor with a front placket. The workmanship is not bad, but the protective measures of ordinary soldiers are almost zero. They are all single-layer cloth and cotton. He didn't even have armor, and the only equipment that could be called protective was probably a small bamboo or rattan hat on his head. Junior officers were slightly better off and could wear a two-piece iron vest to protect their chest and back.
As for the weapons used, in addition to the regular army, which was relatively neat, the peasant soldiers who were temporarily recruited to fight almost all brought their own weapons, so there were all kinds of strange things. There are even many people who hold bamboo spears, which is to sharpen one end of the bamboo and roast it on the fire to harden it.
Such an army is almost purely consumable. When encountering unfavorable conditions in a war, its combat effectiveness drops extremely quickly. This is probably an important reason why the North Vietnamese army brought more than 100,000 troops to the southern expedition. As a result, after losing several battles in succession, the number of troops was directly halved. Of course, for a country like Annan that has been at war all year round, the lower the cost of maintaining the army, the better, so that it can have the capital to fight its opponents for a long time. The advantage of farmers and soldiers is that the costs of maintaining and using them are very low. , and it can withstand consumption-after all, just go back and levy it again. If we really want to maintain a combat force of 100,000 people all year round, there is no need to fight at all. The military expenditure alone is enough to directly bankrupt those in power.
This situation also existed in South Vietnam. Therefore, when South Vietnam attacked the defense line here, it also used a large number of peasant soldiers, hoping to use its strength advantage to weaken the will of the defenders to fight.
Zheng Bai personally accompanied them and explained the battle situation to Mu and Feng along the way. It took about an hour to arrive at the combat position. The current defense line of the North Vietnamese Army is built on a mountain ridge that runs east-west and leads directly to the sea. On this mountain ridge, which is about ten miles long, there are simple fortifications built by the North Vietnamese Army almost every 100 meters, and there are about a hundred troops stationed there. , during which various roadblocks such as pits, trenches, and deer villages were used to fill the gaps. Walled cities were specially built at several key mountain passes to increase defense strength. If you look down from the air, this line of defense is simply a miniature version of the Great Wall.
Mu and Feng noticed that although the average altitude of the mountain range was only a little over a hundred meters above sea level, the south-facing side of the mountain was steeper. The South Vietnamese army almost had to look up at a 45° angle to attack the defenders on the mountain range. The difficulty of combat is self-evident. Even the troops who use matchlocks are quite restricted when they arrive here - the shooting angle is large, the lethality is limited, and they will be covered by bows and arrows shot from top to bottom.
In fact, after the first few attacks, the South Vietnamese army saw that the results were extremely limited, and they basically gave up the idea of using musketeers to attack this front, and planned to use peasant soldiers as cannon fodder to fill the holes.
Zheng Bai took them to a hill near the seaside. This is the highest point of the entire defense line, with an altitude of about 200 meters. Although Mu Xiabai and Feng Anan were soldiers, they were still out of breath when they climbed up the mountain wearing more than 20 kilograms of armor and carrying a large bag of equipment. Zheng Bai wanted his soldiers to carry the two bags for them, but Mu and Feng did not agree - one of the two backpacks contained short-wave military radios and batteries, and the other contained firearms and other military equipment. They must not be careless. Put it in the hands of outsiders.
Because the terrain is the highest, the possibility of direct attack here is relatively small. However, the North Vietnamese army still built a small military station on this hilltop, stationed seven to eight hundred people, and gathered some supplies and weapons to provide timely support to nearby defense points according to war needs. Judging from the deployment of defensive positions, Zheng Bai does have two skills as a commander.
After Mu and Feng rested for a few minutes, they asked Zheng Bai to let the soldiers retreat to a farther place first. Although Zheng Bai was a little confused, he thought that the document from the north required him to cooperate with the Haihan people as much as possible, so he agreed to the request immediately.
After all the idle personnel around him had retreated a distance, Mu Xiabai opened his backpack, took out two military binoculars, and started visual reconnaissance to the south with Feng Annan.
The Military and Police Department, like other departments, purchased a large amount of special equipment before crossing over, and binoculars were naturally one of the important military supplies. However, as professionals, there are still some people in the military and police departments who have spent their own money to buy better personal equipment instead of using stocks purchased at public expense. For example, the wealthy North American gang headed by Tom Wang are equipped with all-purpose Nighthawks produced by Steiner. The ones used by Mu Xiabai and Feng Annan were domestically produced Boguan telescopes, which were also high-quality military versions. According to the evaluation after use by senior Morgan and Johnson, their quality was slightly better than the M22B telescope equipped by the US military.
Zheng Bai saw the two of them holding a strange object in front of his eyes, and was confused for a moment. But he could understand more or less the content of the conversation between the two.
"At two o'clock, 1,500 meters away, there is an enemy military camp. Judging from the size, it should be just an outpost camp."
"Yes, judging from the enemy's position layout, the enemy's camp should be behind the hill on the left side of the outpost camp, about... about 2,200 meters away from our location."
"Our army artillery is definitely out of reach at this distance, but there is hope that we can hit this outpost camp."
"At such a long distance, there is no lethality if we barely hit it. It seems that just defending is not enough, we still have to find a way to attack."
The two discussed for a while, then put down the binoculars and began to spread out the map for marking. Zheng Bai went up to look at it for a while and found that the places they marked were the enemy's military camps in the distance. Even the enemy's Chinese military camp seven or eight miles away was marked in detail. He couldn't help but be surprised: "How did you two learn the details of each other's military formations?"
After Zheng Bai retreated here, of course he did not blindly defend. He still sent many spies along the western mountains to explore the vicinity of the South Vietnamese garrison camp. It took him a long time to figure out the location of the opponent's Chinese army. And the two generals Haihan had only spent about half a stick of incense here, but they had already discovered the location of the opponent's military camp. What's the reason?
After Mu Xiabai and Feng Annan exchanged glances, they responded to Zheng Bai: "General Zheng can try our good stuff."
Feng Annan gave Zheng Bai a demonstration and handed him the telescope. Zheng Bai uneasily put the telescope in front of Feng Annan's posture, and soon his hands began to tremble uncontrollably: "This... what kind of magic is this? You can see the vegetation several miles away so clearly!" ”
Feng Annan was afraid that he would drop the telescope to the ground, so he quickly reached out and took it back: "This is not a magic spell, this is a telescope made in Haihan."
"Telescope? A good thing, a good thing..." Zheng Bai, as a general who led troops, of course immediately realized the role this thing could play on the battlefield. He looked at the telescope in Feng Annan's hand eagerly and muttered. : "Your army has this weapon, Ruan Ni will be defeated!"
"You will know who is invincible only after fighting." Mu Xiabai was not fooled by Zheng Bai's flattery and immediately brought the topic back to business: "General Zheng, please confirm and take a look at the enemy's positions and positions we have sketched. Is there anything missing in the military camp? ”
Zheng Bai's face turned red, but fortunately his skin was dark and it couldn't be seen: "I'm not afraid that the two generals will laugh at me. The military information we currently have is probably not as detailed as the two generals' drawings on this picture."
< br>
Mu Xiabai raised his eyebrows, but didn't pay much attention. After all, the North Vietnamese Army's reconnaissance capabilities and methods were very limited. How much could be observed with the naked eye alone? As he was about to speak, he heard the sound of drums coming from the plain to the south.
"Ruan Ni's army is about to launch an offensive again!" Zheng Bai immediately regained his composure when he heard the sound of the drum, called his soldiers over, and gave orders to prepare for war.
"I want to go to the front to supervise the battle. Please stay here and don't move around!" Zheng Bai hurriedly said goodbye to the two of them, and then left with a group of soldiers.
It was the first time for both Mu and Feng to watch the large-scale military operations of this era at close range. They were very curious and picked up the telescope again to observe the battlefield situation. The gate of the camp they thought was an outpost camp opened, and soldiers ran out and moved Juma and Luzhai away from the door. Then a wave of South Vietnamese soldiers poured out of the camp in a mess.
Then groups of soldiers came out from behind the hills on the left side of the camp and began to line up next to the hills. It looked like there should be as many as three to four thousand people. However, Feng Anan only watched for a moment, then put down the telescope impatiently: "Is this formation too slow? By the time they line up and start attacking, I'm afraid the sun will go down!"
Mu Xiabai responded with a smile: "Although combat in the cold weapon era also paid attention to military formations, the requirements for formations were not so strict. These armies must have not received special training. How could they be like our militia? Form an attack formation in a short time.”
It took about ten or twenty minutes before the chaotic group of soldiers finally formed a military formation. However, judging from the inconsistent military uniforms and weapons, it was inferred that these South Vietnamese soldiers were not regular troops, but temporary peasant soldiers.
"The regular army is coming out." Mu Xiabai greeted, and Feng Anan quickly picked up the telescope again and started to look: "Where are they?"
"At the very back of the military formation."
Unless Mu Xiabai looked carefully, Feng Annan really didn't pay much attention to the small group of South Vietnamese soldiers arrayed behind the peasant soldiers, but it seemed that this regular army had no intention of leading the charge.
"It should be the war supervisory team." Mu Xiabai deduced: "These farmers and soldiers should not have a strong will to fight. If there is no war supervisory team watching from behind, they will just run away beating people."
As they spoke, the drums sounded again, and the cowering peasants and soldiers finally began to advance towards the mountains where the North Vietnamese Army was located. The distance from where they gathered to the foot of the mountain was only about one mile. The South Vietnamese army moved forward slowly and in no hurry to launch a charge. After reaching the foot of the mountain, they still had to climb uphill for about four to five hundred meters before they could reach North Vietnam. The army's defense line is bound to be insufficient if you charge too early.
The North Vietnamese Army has also begun to deploy troops and generals according to the opponent's advance route, gradually gathering troops to a section of the mountain that may be attacked. In particular, the archers stationed at various strongholds in the mountains were all rushing towards the assembly point in groups. As long-range strike firepower, they had always been a very important defensive force in the mountain positions.
"The commanders in South Vietnam are not just for a living!" Mu Xiabai couldn't help but muttered as he held up the binoculars.
After the first wave of farmers and soldiers set off, a second wave of troops was gathering at the location where they had just assembled. It seemed that South Vietnam did not place its hope on being able to push back the mountainous positions with a wave of farmers, but We plan to use wheel tactics to carry out the attack. Even if we cannot defeat them, we must put enough pressure on the North Vietnamese Army.
Feng Anan also muttered when he saw this: "But North Vietnam's position advantage is too obvious. If they attack from bottom to top like they do, how many people will have to die before they can attack!"
"That's not necessarily the case." Mu Xiabai retorted after carefully observing the terrain: "Even the defense of a city wall several feet high can sometimes be breached. What's more, there is no city wall here at all, just a hillside, and the defense line is long. If the opponent has enough troops and uses multiple points of attack, it will be very difficult for North Vietnam to defend it.”
Before Mu Xiabai finished speaking, he saw a South Vietnamese troop appearing on the right side of the hill, and began to advance slowly towards the mountain defense line.
"Old Mu, you are really a crow's mouth!" Feng Annan couldn't help but sigh when he saw this.
The two attack routes of the South Vietnamese Army were about two miles apart. In this way, the two defense lines under attack could basically only take care of themselves, and had no time to take care of and support friendly forces that were far away. However, standing on the top of the highest mountain, Mu and Feng could also see that thousands of soldiers on the North Vietnamese Army were moving from the camp in the rear to the defensive position on the top of the mountain. The South Vietnamese Army wanted to break through this The defensive line is not that easy either.
The South Vietnamese army that first arrived at the foot of the mountain did not stop to readjust the team. The commander directly issued the order to attack. Thousands of soldiers accelerated their pace and began to advance up the mountain.
At this time, the shortcomings of North Vietnam's defensive positions began to appear - the hillside was completely covered by dense forests, and the opponent had excellent natural protection at this distance. Only the trees within about thirty to forty meters of the final approach to the defense line were cleared by the North Vietnamese in advance, leaving an unhindered view of the attack. This is not because North Vietnam is lazy and unwilling to continue cleaning up, but because the South Vietnamese army left many guerrilla posts in the dense forest to snipe at the North Vietnamese logging personnel. After several small-scale tug-of-wars, the safe distance was finally only Can it remain at this level?
Although the North Vietnamese Army could defend from a high position, due to the obstruction of dense forests, the effective range of long-range firepower was only a short distance outside the defense line. The South Vietnamese Army also made full use of this feature, slowing down its advance at the edge of the dense forest, and regrouped - placing a large number of archers behind the infantry who were about to charge into the battle.
Even though they were several miles away from the fighting zone, Mu and Feng heard three very clear drum sounds, and then saw through the telescope that South Vietnamese soldiers poured out of the woods and rushed towards the North Vietnamese defense line. Behind them, a large wave of archers took up their positions and began to launch projectile attacks towards the North Vietnamese defense line.
The priority shooting target of the North Vietnamese archers must be these infantrymen who are rushing over. A wave of condescending arrows shot out from the gap between the village wall and the fortifications, knocking down the dozens of people rushing at the front to the ground. But at the same time, the bows and arrows fired by the South Vietnamese archers also fell from the sky, causing some damage to the defenders hiding behind the wall. Although the assembled defenders held many shields, some people continued to be hit by arrows and fell to the ground. The South Vietnamese infantry continued to rush upward regardless of casualties, seemingly with the intention of attracting firepower.
"This is really exchanging human lives!" Mu Xiabai, who witnessed a cold weapon war for the first time, couldn't help but sigh.
At this time, Feng Annan was holding a digital camera that had been replaced with a telephoto lens, focusing on filming the battle scene in the distance. Their reconnaissance as an advance team is not just about drawing maps to see the enemy's situation. This kind of first-hand information about the battle between the two sides is also very important. When the frontline command headquarters formulates a specific combat plan, these image data will be a very important reference.
At the same time that the first wave of South Vietnamese attacks was launched, the second wave of attack forces had also arrived at the foot of the mountain and began to slowly advance up the mountain, while the third wave of attack forces had been assembled and ready to set off. The South Vietnamese army on the other attack route also arrived at the scheduled position at this time and was adjusting the archer troops in preparation for launching an attack.
This attack mode undoubtedly caused greater casualties to the South Vietnamese army, but the South Vietnamese commanders seemed to have identified this method and planned to exchange the superiority of troops for an advantage in the battle situation. After three rounds of shooting by the North Vietnamese archers on the defense line, two to three hundred South Vietnamese infantrymen had fallen to the ground. However, there were still more infantrymen desperately rushing towards the defense line, because only face-to-face fighting could avoid one-sided defeat. ranged strikes and look for opportunities to survive this battle.
(End of chapter)