Chapter 385 Suspicious Object
"So this is South Vietnam's current naval force?" Qiao Zhiya put down the telescope and said to himself in disbelief.
There were several small boats floating on the sea about three nautical miles away. If it weren't for the help of telescopes to confirm that the South Vietnamese military flags were flying on these boats, Qiao Zhiya would have found it hard to believe that the men driving these dilapidated fishing boats were actually South Vietnamese regular troops. When the Haihan Militia sent troops to fight for the Yangtze River a year ago, he also participated in it. At that time, although South Vietnam's surface forces were weak, they still had some ships with a displacement of more than fifty tons. One year later, the decline of South Vietnam's military strength can be reflected in the ships used. Counting on these small ships to stop the Haihan militia's offensive from the sea is basically the same as trying to use a mantis as a chariot.
Probably because they knew that their strength was too far behind their opponents, these South Vietnamese boats did not dare to get too close to Haihan's fleet, but just watched and monitored from a distance. And Qiao Zhiya has no interest in commanding the fleet to destroy these poor small boats. The ammunition required to sink these small boats is definitely more valuable than the targets themselves. Using large ships to deal with them is really not worth the gain.
"The two largest shipbuilding bases in South Vietnam, Dong Hoi and Hoi An, were both destroyed by us last year. Hoi An Port could carry ships with more than ten people at that time, and almost all of them were towed back to Sanya by us. Now Tieliang Port and Yingge The fishing boats and small cargo ships used in the sea salt field are basically the trophies dragged back from Hoi An at that time. "Wang Tom said proudly: "With us suppressing it, South Vietnam does not have the extravagant hope of restoring the shipbuilding industry to its previous level. ”
"It's useless even if it returns to its previous level!" Qiao Zhiya raised his finger and pointed at the surrounding warships: "Although our lineup is not strong yet, it is more than enough to defeat them!"
Qiao Zhiya's statement is not an exaggeration. Although the combat ships currently account for only half of the fleet sent to block the waters near Hue Province, looking at the entire Indo-China Peninsula, no maritime force can compete with this fleet. It is comparable to several warships.
On January 24, the Haihan fleet, which had been doing nothing offshore, finally formally used force when it intercepted a South Vietnamese ship. Instead of stopping and surrendering after the warning bombardment, the ship tried to continue fleeing. As a result, it was caught up from behind by two "Exploration Class" warships, and was caught in the middle and suffered two rounds of shelling. The second round of shelling hit the ship's stern rudder, causing it to slowly stop.
However, faced with the flanking attack of two Haihan warships, the crew of this ship actually tried to use bows and arrows and matchlock guns to carry out a desperate struggle. This move made Qiao Zhiya, who personally directed the pursuit on the warship, furious and ordered the warship to fire again. So after two more rounds of shelling aimed at the side of the ship from a distance of only more than ten meters, the restless opponent finally gave up resistance completely.
Qiao Zhiya took out his special HK416 automatic rifle and put it on his body. He was about to board the ship to see the situation in person, but unexpectedly, he was blocked by a man.
"Why are you stopping me?" When Qiao Zhiya saw that it was Xie Li, the first mate of the militia on the ship, he didn't pay much attention. As he asked, he waved his hand to signal him to get out of the way.
"Captain Qiao, according to the provisions of the Maritime Operations Regulations, you are not allowed to leave the command ship during combat unless the ship is in danger of sinking." Xie Li stood there without even moving, with no intention of getting out of the way.
Qiao Zhiya couldn't help but feel dumbfounded. There was indeed such an article in the "Regulations on Maritime Operations" formulated by the Military Commission, but he never thought that a naturalized civilian officer would use this as an excuse to block his actions. According to the combat regulations formulated by the Military Commission, all Haihan officers are not allowed to board enemy ships first to perform search or combat missions when the enemy's situation is unknown. When this happens, naturalized officers are obliged to stop and block them. From this point on, From a perspective, there was nothing wrong with Xie Li's actions, and Qiao Zhiya could not accuse him of such actions using reasons such as "disobeying orders."
This is not only for the safety of the time travellers, but also for the sake of the entire naval combat system. Among the time-traveling members of the military, the vast majority are from the army, and very few can serve as naval officers. Most of the captains in the naval fleet are now naturalized civilian officers, and only a few senior command positions are held by time-traveling officers. It is a severely scarce resource. This is also an important reason why Wang Tom reported to the Executive Committee to ask for people, and the Executive Committee finally agreed to transfer Qiao Zhiya to the Navy.
If something happens to these senior officers while performing their missions, it is not just a matter of their personal life safety. In serious cases, the entire combat system will be affected, such as the radio stations needed to maintain contact at sea, some advanced navigation tools, Highly confidential sea charts, the military commission's combat plans, etc., these things can only be mastered by time-traveling officers. Once there is a loss of personnel, it will inevitably affect the execution of combat missions, so in "Sea" There are relevant provisions in the Combat Regulations to restrict certain risky behaviors of senior officers.
"Actually, there is no danger now. Look at the ship across the way." Qiao Zhiya pointed at the South Vietnamese sailboat that had been beaten to pieces and defended his behavior: "You said that this ship is already broken like this, how can it still be there?" What risk? ”
"Captain Qiao, I am only acting in accordance with the Maritime Operations Regulations. If you insist on taking action, I can only report your actions to Major Wang later." Xie Li responded in a neither humble nor arrogant manner.
Qiao Zhiya had to look at the first mate on his ship with admiration. When he set out, he only knew that Xie Li was a Ming army soldier from Yazhou Shuizhai, and it was Luo Shengdong who recommended him to Wang Tom. It was said that he had some real ability, but his personality He was too upright and offended many people in the army. Now it seems that it is not clear whether he has real abilities, but his straightforward character seems to be real. Qiao Zhiya has participated in several military operations since time travel, and has never seen such a stubborn naturalized civilian officer who dared to contradict his superiors.
Of course, Qiao Zhiya was not worried about the trouble he would bring to herself after snitching on Tom Wang, but if this kind of thing could be avoided, it would be better to avoid it as much as possible. Before setting off, Wang Tom had specifically reminded him that as a senior cadre who was airborne, his every word and deed would be magnified and observed. Naturally, his naturalized militiamen would not say anything, but what cannot be ignored is that there are still dissidents within the group. Few people have been looking at these members with overseas origins through colored glasses. Once they make mistakes, they may be magnified as black spots. Even if the executive committee can not be biased, it will inevitably have an impact. to his personal image and even the reputation of the North American Gang.
Considering these problems, Qiao Zhiya could only shrug helplessly and said: "Okay, you are right. I will hold on here and won't go anywhere."
In fact, if we follow the rules of combat regulations, it is indeed not Qiao Zhiya's turn to take the lead in this matter. Each warship is equipped with a certain number of armed infantry. The "Exploration-class" has two squads, while the "Exploration-class" with a larger hull has a reinforced platoon. The main task of these infantrymen is to board captured enemy ships to take control in naval battles, or to perform small-scale landing missions on coasts, islands and other environments. If we look at the classification of military services in later generations, these infantrymen can barely be classified into the ranks of the "Marine Corps" - this is also one of Wang Tom's ideas for the naval service structure.
Soon the sailor threw an iron hook tied with a cable, hooked the side of the enemy ship, and then slowly closed the distance between the two ships. After the distance was close enough, the sailors laid planks with fixtures on the reverse side on the sides of the two ships, forming a direct passage to the other side's deck. Although the passage is only two feet wide and is constantly bumping and undulating under the action of the waves, the specially trained infantrymen have quickly jumped onto the deck of the enemy ship one after another by stepping on the planks.
The deck was full of shipboards shattered by shells, and a few obvious pools of blood showed that someone had been injured in the previous shelling, but the empty deck showed that most of the injured had returned to the cabin and hid— -This means that the other party has not really given up resistance completely.
To deal with this situation, the navy has already made corresponding plans. It will no longer be injured by enemies hiding in the cabin due to lack of preparedness like it did when catching pirates near Wanshan Port in the past. The two squads of militiamen quickly formed a firing array on the deck and fired two rounds of fire at the closed hatch. The two wooden hatches were immediately riddled with holes. Then the officer ordered bayonets to be fixed, and two strong soldiers came forward with special door-ramming stakes. The iron stakes weighing a hundred kilograms hit it, and the split hatch door was opened in one fell swoop. Militiamen with rifles swarmed in and stabbed anyone who tried to resist with a bayonet.
The weak resistance in the cabin was quickly suppressed by the armed militiamen. Under the command of the militiamen, the surviving prisoners carried the corpses in the cabin to the deck one by one. When it was bombarded previously, two of the crew members on the ship were killed on the spot and several others were injured. Afterwards, they hid in the main cabin and were shot by muskets from outside and injured several others. Then the militiamen rushed in and stabbed a few more. , the final result was that ten of the twenty-seven people on the ship died, and there were six other injured of varying degrees of severity. Only eleven people survived intact.
Like the previous captured South Vietnamese merchant ships, the militiamen also found seven boxes totaling more than 13,000 taels of silver on this ship. There was also a smaller box containing more than 40 two-finger-wide silver bars. Refers to thick gold bars. However, the militiamen soon discovered something unusual - several of the prisoners were dressed in obviously higher-end clothing and did not look like ordinary sailors. The militiamen who boarded the ship quickly fed back this information to their own warships. Qiao Zhiya really wanted to go over and interrogate the prisoners in person, but seeing Xie Li staring at him, he had to give up this unrealistic idea for the time being and return to the ship to report the news. The militiamen asked: "Can the ship still be taken away?"
"The stern rudder has been broken into pieces by our shells, and the lower cabin is also seriously flooded. If we want to take the ship away, it will probably take one to two days to repair it."
"Then transfer the supplies and prisoners to our ship as soon as possible, and scuttle the ship during the evacuation." Qiao Zhiya did not hesitate and immediately issued the order. Although there is no need to worry about encountering any opponents in this sea area, it is not worthwhile to waste a day or two just for such a broken ship, and Qiao Zhiya does not have the patience to wait any longer. Of course, the most important thing is that Qiao Zhiya wants to interrogate these prisoners as soon as possible. The other party's behavior is really suspicious.
The militiamen and sailors spent an hour clearing the enemy ship, transferring the materials and personnel on the ship, and then dug through the bottom of the ship and released water to let it sink slowly. The corpses of the crew members and the three seriously injured people on the ship became The ship's grave goods. After completing these things, the two Haihan warships slowly turned around and headed south back to their base.
"Those who want to live must honestly explain the situation." Qiao Zhiya stared at the prisoners on the deck with their hands tied behind their backs and knelt together, and threatened fiercely with a straight face: "Anyone who wants to play tricks on me, I guarantee that he will You won’t see what it looks like when the sun sets today!”
After Qiao Zhiya's eyes scanned the prisoner, he picked the target: "Bring this guy to the front!"
Two militiamen stepped forward and pulled a young man up and dragged him to Qiao Zhiya. As soon as the militiamen let go, the young man collapsed in front of Qiao Zhiya.
"If I'm not mistaken, the fabric you are wearing should be damask from Yongfeng Cloth Co., Ltd. in Guangzhou. This is not a fabric that ordinary sailors can afford!" Qiao Zhiya squatted down and gently picked up the man with his hands. The clothes on his body said: "Tell me, who are you? Why are you on this ship?"
It's not that Qiao Zhiya is well-informed, but that "Yongfeng Cloth Co., Ltd." happens to be the first mainland cloth merchant to cooperate with Haihan, and is also one of the shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa". This kind of damask is sold in Shengli Port The sales were very good, and many time-travelers bought and customized one or two sets of clothes. Qiao Zhiya had a set of pajamas made of the same fabric in his wardrobe.
After Qiao Zhiya finished speaking, he saw that the man didn't react at all. He slapped his forehead and said, "You must not understand what I said. Who, come and translate it!"
At that moment, a soldier from Annan came forward and translated these words in Annan's spoken language. After hearing this, the man's expression changed, but he did not answer. Upon seeing this, Qiao Zhiya said: "Ask other people, if they are willing to stand up and testify his identity, they can live."
Sure enough, a few prisoners were ready to take action after hearing about this condition, but they seemed to be afraid, and no one stood up to challenge it. Qiao Zhiya was not a soft-hearted person. Seeing that good talk didn't work, he immediately issued a new order: "Tell them that if they don't tell them, they will be thrown into the sea one by one!"
Qiao Zhiya waited for his men to finish translating, then pointed at a wounded person and said: "Throw one down first!"
This unlucky guy only injured his arm, so he was able to follow the others out of the scuttled sailboat when he was transferred, and did not become a burial object. However, he did not expect that even after arriving on this ship, he could not end his misfortune. Qiao Zhiya was used as a tool to scare the monkeys. Several militiamen came up, raised their hands and feet, and lifted the guy to the side of the ship. They shouted and threw him out with all their strength. The man was heard shouting in the air, and then fell into the sea with a splash. His hands were tied behind his back, and there were external injuries on his body. If he fell into the sea like this, he would definitely die.
Qiao Zhiya didn't say anything, and just stared at the frightened prisoners quietly. After waiting for a full minute, Qiao Zhiya pointed to the next one and said: "Throw it on!"
The man he pointed at immediately shouted, and the militiaman in charge of the translation immediately reported: "Report to Captain Qiao, he said he is willing to recruit!"
"If you don't eat the toast, you'll have to drink it as a penalty!" Qiao Zhiya couldn't help but proudly showed off a slang he had just learned.
The lucky man who rescued a life from the gate of hell was like pouring beans through a bamboo tube, and told Qiao Zhiya everything he wanted to know. The young man who Qiao Zhiya saw was indeed no ordinary person. He was Nguyen Chu, the fifth son of Nguyen Tong, the powerful official who currently controls the power in South Vietnam. The mission of Ruan Zhu's boat trip this time was to go south to Batavia and ask for help from the local Dutch. In other words, he was prepared to spend money to hire the Dutch to intervene in the Annan Civil War.
After experiencing several battles, South Vietnam has fully realized the gap in combat effectiveness between its own army and the Haihan Militia. At this time, South Vietnam's most important foreign aid, the Portuguese, gave up under pressure from Hai Han. Not only did they withdraw all mercenaries and military advisers, but they also completely terminated the arms trade. South Vietnam gained a little breathing space from Hai Han through peace talks in the second half of last year. However, the leaders also knew that this temporary peace would not have much effect on the prospects of South Vietnam. They wanted to continue to maintain their rule. We can only try to get the Haihan people to completely withdraw from Annan.
Relying on your own strength alone will definitely not be able to achieve such an effect. The leaders of South Vietnam know this very well. In addition to the betrayed Portuguese, what other forces in this region can compete with Haihan? There are not many answers to choose from. One is the Ming Dynasty in the north, and the other is the Dutch in the south.
It is definitely not practical to choose the Ming Dynasty. First of all, the Haihan people are now claiming to be the people of the Ming Dynasty, and they have a very good reputation in Guangdong and Guangxi. Both the government and the people have a good impression of Haihan's existence. If an envoy is sent to seek help from the Ming Dynasty officials, not only will the effect be disastrous, but if not careful, it may have the opposite effect and give the Haihan people more of a sense of presence.
Comparing the two, the South Vietnamese court decided to send an envoy to seek help from the Dutch in the south, and Nguyen Chu was the one who took on this task.
(End of chapter)