Chapter 271 Landing Exercise
Early the next morning, Mu and Feng found Zheng Bai and asked him for a group of civilian workers to build docks and camps in the rear. Zheng Bai readily agreed to this and immediately assigned a thousand civilians to their command. However, when discussing the allocation of combat tasks, the two sides had different opinions.
Zheng Bai hoped that the Haihan Army could assist the North Vietnamese Army in defensive operations on the mountain defense line, but Mu and Feng believed that they should go directly from the sea to the side and rear of the South Vietnamese Army to harass and attack its rear route.
Feng Annan said: "General Zheng also said yesterday that the stalemate in the war is not good news for you, but to repel the offensive of the southern rebels, it is not enough to just hold this line of defense. We still have to find a way to take the initiative. That’s it.”
Zheng Bai shook his head and said: "It is indeed a good idea to take the initiative, but whether it is feasible depends on the strength comparison between the two sides. The reinforcements you sent are only a thousand people. Even if you are brave and good at fighting, how can you deal with dozens of times the enemy? Take a detour. Behind enemy lines, if the war goes wrong, it will be difficult to withdraw! Even if Ruan Ni now has the advantage, he would not dare to bypass this line of defense from the sea and attack my back. You two should think about it again. "< br>
"There are more than a thousand people. The group of people from your training camp in Tushan will also join us." Mu Xiabai took over the conversation and said: "Our combat plan is not isolated. The ships are armed to a certain extent and can provide artillery cover near the shore if necessary to allow the troops on the shore to withdraw smoothly."
Mu Xiabai is not bragging. The Executive Committee and the Ministry of Shipping have been constantly modifying the ships in their hands. One of the key points is to install gun emplacements on the ships. After the mechanical repelling gun mounts were finalized and mass-produced, these 400-material sea-going ships collected in the early stage were all modified, and standard reinforced bases were installed on the decks. During wartime, only the gun mounts needed to be fixed. By sending additional gunners on board, it can immediately transform into an armed merchant ship. Of course, due to limited displacement and the original hull structure and deck layout, it is impossible to turn it into a professional gunboat like the "Discovery". Generally, at most, two guns are installed on each side. The single combat capability of this kind of ship is not high, but if it forms a fleet of a certain size, its firepower output cannot be underestimated.
However, the tactics of infantry and artillery coordination have only been practiced at the Victory Port training camp for a few preliminary exercises so far. Even several senior officials of the Military and Police Department will not know what effect it will have when it is actually used on the battlefield. Not completely sure. As for more advanced amphibious cooperation operations, warships covering army landings, etc., not to mention in this era, even hundreds of years from now, they will be extremely difficult combat subjects. If they are not operated well, the troops will be in chaos during the operation. The possibility is also very high.
However, the fighting areas between North and South Vietnam are close to the coast. In addition to weapons, another obvious advantage of the Haihan Militia is the maneuverability of the sea. If you want to make full use of both advantages, you can search for fighter planes by landing on the beach. The fighting method is almost the only option.
In order to avoid such tragedies from happening, the Military and Police Department is also conducting very targeted combat training. However, in order to prevent the residents of Victory Port from panic, the location of the training exercise was arranged on the Luhuitou Peninsula southwest of Victory Port.
After several ships arrived at the beach on the east coast of the Luhuitou Peninsula, a dozen small boats slid by human power quickly rushed to the shore in front and stopped one after another. The engineers on the ship quickly drove wooden piles at the bow and stern of the ship. These wooden stakes were driven into the shore through specially made holes in the ship's plank to secure the boat. At the same time, the boats were connected with wooden planks. It only took about twenty minutes to build several simple floating trestles.
The armed militia soldiers immediately climbed down from the rope net on the side of the ship and landed in groups. The soldiers who landed first quickly formed a formation on the shore. Under the command of the commander, the engineers immediately began to build fortifications, while the musketeers formed a formation to shoot at the imaginary enemy on the opposite side. At the same time, the army guns and ammunition that were split into several parts such as the gun body, gun mount, and wheel hub were also hoisted to the floating trestle. They would be transported to the shore on a small flat two-wheeled trolley. After simple assembly, You can start attacking immediately.
It is worth mentioning that this two-wheeled vehicle is a multi-purpose tool specially developed by the woodworking workshop in accordance with the requirements of the Military and Police Department. In addition to being a transport tool for military supplies on the battlefield, it can also be transformed into a stretcher to take on the task of quickly transporting the wounded. Only a strong civilian can quickly transport at least two wounded people who have lost the ability to move. . In addition, in an environment similar to beach operations, the landing force lacks the protection of frontal shelters in the early stage, so it is not easy to build temporary positions. The two-wheeled vehicle solves this problem extremely well - as long as the vehicle is erected, the special poles at the bottom of the vehicle are opened from the back and placed on the ground, the two-wheeled vehicle will immediately transform into a vehicle about one meter wide and one and a half meters high. of floor-to-ceiling shield walls. The musketeers can hide behind the shield wall and confidently and boldly use their firepower advantage to shoot at the enemy.
If the opponent wants to destroy this kind of shield wall at a long distance, they can only use heavy weapons such as artillery or trebuchets. No matter what kind of weapon the opponent chooses, its range and accuracy will definitely be far inferior to that of the militia. If artillery fire is exchanged, the party that suffers will definitely not be the militia.
The woodworking shop also put a lot of ingenuity into designing this two-wheeled vehicle, such as making the distance between the two wheels slightly lower than the width of the vehicle body, so that it can be seamlessly connected when converted into shield wall mode. Effect. The bottom panel of the car body is made of dense sandalwood. Although it increases the weight of the car body to a certain extent, the thick wood board is enough to withstand frontal crossbow fire. It also has good protection against matchlock bullets at a distance of 100 meters. ability. The wooden wheels are intentionally widened to prevent the body from sinking quickly on soft surfaces such as sand.
If I had to find fault, it would probably be that the lack of shock absorption system will greatly shorten the service life of this kind of load-carrying trolley. But this is not because the Executive Committee is stingy, but because the delivery time required by the Military and Police Department is too urgent, and there is no time to install special shock-absorbing devices for the production of this small car. However, this is not harmful. Anyway, this batch of vehicles is only experimental. After practical application on the Annan battlefield, the relevant departments will definitely make further improvements to the design plan.
The Military and Police Department placed an order for two hundred cars in one go, but judging from the current production progress, it is still unknown whether the woodworking shop can complete the delivery before the troops are dispatched. This is not to say that the woodworking workshop is not trying its best. Cai Hongzhan, the workshop director, has not left the factory for four or five days in a row, and his workers are working in three shifts, rushing to make orders all the time. The order that the woodworking shop needs to complete this time is not just for 200 multi-purpose vehicles. They also need to complete 1,500 spear shafts, a large number of ship spare parts, and produce Type 27 flint for the musket assembly shop. The production tasks are extremely heavy, such as firing gun butts, cooperating with the shipyard of the Ministry of Shipping to renovate existing ships, etc.
Thirty-five minutes into the landing exercise, the first batch of six artillery pieces that landed had been loaded and fired their first shells. At the same time, the two fifty-meter-wide defensive fortifications constructed by multi-functional vehicles have also been completed. Two companies of musketeers are stationed behind the two fortifications. The intensity of firepower can completely repel thousands of cold soldiers. Weapon infantry assault. Artillery was placed in the middle and flanks of the two lines of defense, further strengthening the firepower output. At this time, the defense fortification constructed by the multi-functional vehicle has another advantage - it can move very conveniently with the trend of the battle, fully covering the advancement or retreat of one's own troops.
Tao Donglai, who was standing on the bow of the "Exploration", put down his telescope and said to Yan Chujie next to him: "The process went smoothly, but I think the speed of action needs to be further improved. Do you understand what I mean?"
Yan Chujie nodded and said: "There is no external pressure in the current exercise. If we are attacked by the enemy during the actual landing, the landing speed will definitely be much slower than now."
Tao Donglai said: "Our troops have no mobility advantage on land, so the landing site we choose cannot be too far away from the enemy. In this way, there is a high possibility of being discovered by the enemy when landing. Therefore, All extreme situations must be considered in advance.”
After the basic defense line was established, engineers and civilians in the rear quickly transferred various supplies from the ship to the shore. Under the command of the commander, the engineers quickly deployed two intermittent barbed wire defense lines along the outer edge of the shield wall to block off areas that were easier for infantry to break through and blind spots for firearms troops to shoot. This kind of bellows-shaped barbed wire completely draws on the shape of later generations. It is very convenient to arrange and collect. As a tool to block roads, its effect is no worse than traditional tools such as Jumaluzhai. The only regret is that due to the production process and cost, it is not yet possible to mass-produce razor wire mesh with steel blades. Fortunately, there was still a batch of razor nets in the inventory of crossing supplies. They were only used for a period of time during the early stages of the landing when Base No. 1 was not yet completed. All of them were allocated to the Military and Police Department for this big operation.
After the two lines of defense were built, the engineers in the rear began to build the wall and set up tents with great fanfare. More of the village walls used by the landing troops also drew on the design of the multi-functional trolley, using prefabricated structures. After digging shallow trenches on the ground, the walls were buried in rows, and the rear was supported by poles and earth bags. , naturally connected with the musket and artillery positions. In just two hours, the landing troops had completed the basic defense line construction and camp establishment. This achievement cannot be said to be the best among the armies of the same era, but in terms of quality, the reliability of this beachhead is no less than that of the positions that the troops of the same era spent ten times the time to build.
The military and police officials who visited the exercise also applauded and fully affirmed the outstanding performance of the militia soldiers. Tom Wang sincerely praised: "Lieutenant Gu is really good at leading troops! Compared with the landing battle hundreds of years later, it can be said that the only thing we lack is a dedicated landing craft."
"There is still one parked in Victory Port. Do you want to drive it across the sea to scare those monkey soldiers?" Tao Donglai joked.
Tom Wang shrugged and said: "If the executive committee can grant me all the diesel in stock, then I will be happy to complete this task."
On January 7, 1628, the Executive Committee passed a resolution to foretell the recent large-scale military operations to the local people in the name of "overseas garrison defense mobilization and maritime military exercises."
This resolution was made after careful consideration by the Executive Committee. Recently, all units have been working overtime to produce military supplies, and militia soldiers have stepped up drills. All this must be hidden from the eyes of those who are interested. If the Executive Committee has remained silent on this, it will be It will make local people suspicious. And if we directly announce the use of foreign troops, there seems to be no grand reason - we can't say that our purpose in fighting this war is to control Annan, right?
And there is another drawback that the Executive Committee has to guard against. After the large-scale mobilization of local armed forces, there will inevitably be a certain gap left. If this news gets out, it might attract pirates and other coveters. Although Luo Shengdong, a bodyguard with a formal national license, was invited to come over, the combat effectiveness of Luo Shengdong and his gang was also very worrying, and they could only be used as a facade. Therefore, when the Executive Committee announced the news internally, it did not specify the exact scope of the mobilization of the militia and the location of the maritime exercise training. Even among the militia, ordinary militiamen did not know the true purpose of this so-called mobilization of military exercises.
As for when the truth will be announced to the local people, the Executive Committee believes that this will depend on the progress of the operation. According to the plan of the Executive Committee, this military operation is not only to interfere with the domestic political situation in Annan, but also to use military victory to boost the morale of the people in the controlled area and increase the naturalized people's support for the crossing regime. sense of identity.
On January 10, Schneider and Li Nai returned to Guangzhou together. Li Nai really wanted to stay in Victory Port, because he had already seen that the Haihan people were not joking this time, and they were probably really going to fight a certain force outside. Of course, the target of this battle will definitely not be the Ming Dynasty, because almost all the sailors in Yazhou Water Village were moved here by Luo Shengdong, who clearly wanted to take on the task of looking after the house while the Haihan Militia was out. Li Nai really wanted to get further information as soon as possible, but his father Li Jifeng would be celebrating his sixtieth birthday soon, and he, as the youngest son, would definitely have to go back to show his filial piety, so he could only leave Victory Harbor in frustration. As for "Fu Ruifeng"'s business in Shengli Port being managed by his own staff, and Wei Ping, his "partner", taking care of it on his behalf, Li Nai was very relieved.
Schneider also took on another new task during this trip, which was to rely on the Guangdong Office in Guangzhou to open a bank account that could deposit and redeem money in Guangzhou and Shengli Port to facilitate sea trade between the two places. ——The real purpose is of course to gradually promote the advanced financial system of Chuan Chuan Group to the outside world, and slowly influence Daming's attitude towards Haihan through economic support.
This universal deposit and exchange plan was originally planned for the middle of 1628 or even the second half of the year, because the large amount of money exchanges must require the crossing group to have a large amount of precious metals in hand that can be mobilized at any time. Starting from October, the Ministry of Finance has started to pilot the deposit and redemption business in Yazhou relying on the Yazhou Office. Because all aspects of the relationship in Yazhou have been properly handled before, and several regular trade customers are also familiar with it, the operation has been relatively smooth, and there have been no problems so far.
In recent months, the progress made in the arms trade has greatly exceeded previous expectations. The trade of various industrial products has also continued to expand in scale. Hundreds of thousands of taels of cash have poured into the pockets of the Crossing Group. After this battle, North Vietnam had to pay at least more than 100,000 taels of "labor fees" to the Crossing Group. The financial management headed by Schneider believed that the time was ripe to establish a deposit and exchange institution in Guangzhou and could pay for it in advance. Implemented.
The cargo ship that went north with Schneider this time contained a total of 150,000 taels of cash silver and 2,000 taels of gold. This was also the largest movement of money after time travel. For this purpose, the executive committee also specially dispatched a squad of armed soldiers. Personnel are escorted with the ship. However, in order to avoid attracting the attention of interested people, the executive committee only sent Ning Qi as a representative to see him off at the dock.
Yu Dashan also took leave early that day and went to the pier to see his son off. At this time, Schneider returned to Shengli Port to report on his work, and Yu Xiaobao was also lucky enough to come back and enjoy his first family leave in his life. The long green cloth gown he wore when he left Victory Port last time has been replaced by new satin clothes this time. Under Wang Cai's persuasion, Yu Dashan finally spent "a lot of money" to buy good fabrics. Made a new outfit for my son.
Seeing that his son had grown a lot after being in Guangzhou for three months, Yu Dashan was both pleased and reluctant to give up. He stuffed the packed package into Yu Xiaobao's hands: "This is your favorite dried squid and mango." , there are three milk candies in it, but they are rare. Your father shamelessly asked the chief for them, so save some!"
"Dad, you can buy dried squid and other things in Guangzhou, so there is no need to prepare them specially. Also, stop asking the chief for things in private, it will have a bad impact!" Yu Xiaobao said angrily.
Yu Dashan lowered his voice and said: "There is also a twenty-yuan coupon for you in the package. When you arrive in Guangzhou, ask Mr. Shi to change it into silver for you. If there is a suitable girl, you can book the marriage as soon as possible. You I also know that there are not many girls in Shengli Port, and even the leaders have not yet arrived. I don’t know how long it will take for people like us to go there.”
"Dad, you..." Yu Xiaobao didn't know whether to be angry or laugh.
(End of chapter)