Chapter 386 Get ready
During this period, the largest colonial institution of the Netherlands in the Far East was the East India Company, and the East India Company's headquarters was located in Batavia, the western end of Java Island, south of the Indochina Peninsula, about 1,400 nautical miles away from Hue. Objectively speaking, the East India Company is indeed stronger than the declining Portuguese. Not only does it have a more powerful maritime armed force, but the area actually controlled in the Far East and Southeast Asian waters is also much larger than the Portuguese.
Batavia's location not only controlled the Sunda Strait, an important waterway from the Indian Ocean to the Java Sea in the Pacific, but also posed a sufficient threat to Manchuria to the north, which was still under Portuguese control. Although the Portuguese were the first to discover the Spice Islands in Southeast Asia, the Dutch came from behind. After establishing a colonial base in Batavia, they quickly controlled the Savu Sea, Banda Sea, and Maluku Sea areas west of Java Island, and would be rich in The Spice Maluku Islands were brought under their rule, but the Portuguese, who entered these waters before the Dutch, were severely squeezed out, and in the end only a small island of Timor was left in their hands.
In addition, the Dutch established a stronghold in Taiwan before the Portuguese and Spanish, and controlled the waterways leading to the northern part of the Ming Dynasty, North Korea, and Japan through the Taiwan Strait. The benefits that this area brought to the East India Company were even far greater than those of the Spice Islands, enough to make other competitors from Europe jealous.
Judging from the current distribution of the Dutch East India Company's strongholds in the Far East, there is a lack of a reliable transfer station on the nearly two thousand nautical mile route from Batavia to Taiwan Island, and the Indochina Peninsula is located exactly in the middle of this long route. It is undoubtedly an excellent choice for establishing a stronghold. Previously, the South Vietnamese court chose to cooperate with the Portuguese. At the request of the Portuguese, this cooperative relationship was highly exclusive. Therefore, the Dutch did not get the opportunity to establish an exclusive stronghold here. However, if there is an opportunity to change this situation, , the Dutch will definitely not let it go easily.
At present, the Portuguese's global competitiveness is declining, while the Kingdom of Spain has focused its main attention on the European battlefield and has no time to take into account the changes in the situation in the Far East. Given time, the Dutch will definitely be able to gain a strong enough position in the South China Sea. Sea control - of course, the premise is that there is no unplanned force like Haihan in this time and space.
The South Vietnamese court chose to ask for assistance from the Dutch. Whether it was in exchange for money or ports in Indochina, the Dutch would definitely be happy to see it happen. As for whether the Dutch will make other demands or even threaten them after they come in, the South Vietnamese court, which is eager to reverse the unfavorable situation, can no longer care about so many things - there is only such a life-saving straw in front of it, and there is no other choice. Used to hesitate.
The Hai Han fleet began to blockade the waters off Hue Province in early January. This made the South Vietnamese court, which had enjoyed a short armistice period of more than two months, suddenly become nervous. All the ships sent to the Ming Dynasty to purchase arms never returned. It is obvious that These ships are in danger. The South Vietnamese court knew that sending envoys to Haihan to negotiate peace was of no use, so they had no choice but to use their last resort and send people to Batavia to bring in reinforcements. In the view of the South Vietnamese court, only the strong intervention of the Dutch can probably make these crazy Haihan people suspend their military operations.
However, this last struggle was of no use. Not only the Dutch armed merchant ship that came from Batavia to investigate the news was forced away by the Haihan fleet, but even the special envoy sent by South Vietnam was captured by the Haihan warship that blocked the outer sea. Got it right.
After Qiao Zhiya completed a simple interrogation on the ship, he knew that he had committed a crime by mistake this time. If the ship really managed to slip out of the blockade and go to Batavia, and the Dutch accepted the exchange terms offered by the South Vietnamese court to intervene in the Annan Civil War, the situation would inevitably change dramatically. Although the Haihan Militia will not retreat due to this, all previous combat plans will definitely have to be overturned. After all, the Dutch's maritime strength is several orders of magnitude higher than that of South Vietnam. If the militia navy wants to confront them, it cannot be careless at all. The timetable for ending the Annan Civil War will definitely be greatly delayed as a result. This time, the capture of the South Vietnamese envoy at sea basically eliminated this possibility.
The warship carrying the South Vietnamese special envoy Nguyen Chu returned to the temporary camp on Cham Island the next morning. The first thing Qiao Zhiya did after landing was to find Wang Tom and report the harvest of the previous day. He did this not because he was eager to show off his merits, but because he wanted Tom Wang to review the details, the credibility of the matter and possible changes in the situation.
Wang Tom first carefully examined the autographed letter of the South Vietnamese puppet emperor and the seal of the special envoy Nguyen Chu that the militiamen had seized from the ship, and then compared it with the confession obtained by Qiao Zhiya, basically ruling out the possibility that this was a hypothetical plot by South Vietnam.
"But according to the prisoners' account, Hue Prefecture had sent an envoy to Batavia a month ago, but the level was not as high as Ruan Zhu. The two Dutch armed merchant ships we expelled a few days ago were very Maybe they came to Hue to negotiate terms. Do you think the Dutch will insist on getting involved?" Qiao Zhiya is not very confident about the current trend of the situation.
"The possibility is very small." Wang Tom shook his head and said: "The reason why Hue Prefecture sent a special envoy of Ruan Zhu's level is probably to prepare to sign an agreement with the Dutch. But if no heavyweights from South Vietnam are present, the Netherlands will People probably would not take risks and choose to send troops rashly. South Vietnam has never been the traditional territory of the Dutch. Without the presence of senior figures in South Vietnam, it would be difficult for them to trust the South Vietnamese court, which has always cooperated with the Portuguese. "
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Tom Wang's analysis undoubtedly hits a key point in the relationship between the two parties - the Dutch and the Portuguese have always been competitors, and the coastal ports of South Vietnam have been controlled by the Portuguese for a long time, and the Portuguese have also been They are all guests of the South Vietnamese court. Now South Vietnam suddenly changes direction and actively seeks cooperation from the Dutch. From the perspective of the Dutch, this will definitely cause great doubts. Who knows whether this matter will be between South Vietnam and the Portuguese. What about a trap they made together?
In addition, it is no secret that the Portuguese and the Haihan people have opened bilateral trade at this time, and the Haihan people intend to overthrow the regime supported by the Portuguese. Batavia's decision-makers will definitely be concerned about Annan's complicated plan. The situation is confusing. Before they really understand the relationship between the three parties, they probably will not easily consider sending troops as the last option.
"The envoys sent by South Vietnam should have informed the Dutch about the complete withdrawal of the Portuguese from Annan, but if you were a Dutch, would you believe it?" Wang Tom smiled and said: "The savior chosen by South Vietnam was the right one. People, but the key is that this savior will not trust them at all. Without a special envoy like Ruan Zhu to go to Batavia to prove the sincerity of the South Vietnamese court, the Dutch would not risk sending troops. "
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After hearing Tom Wang's analysis, Qiao Zhiya felt that it made some sense, so he changed the subject and asked: "Then do you think Ruan Zhu's special identity can be put to use for us? For example, take his life. Go threaten Ruan Tong?”
"This probably won't have any practical effect." Wang Tom shook his head slightly and said: "Ruan Tong sent him to Batavia, in addition to acting as an envoy, he probably also had the intention of sending hostages to the door, otherwise the South Vietnamese court would still What can we use to exchange for the trust of the Dutch? There will be no substantial difference between Ruan Zhu in our hands and Ruan Tong in the hands of the Dutch.”
"That's it..." Qiao Zhiya was inevitably a little disappointed. Although it was a credit to him to capture the South Vietnamese envoy, if he could use this prisoner to make more fuss, there might be more gains, and Wang Tom's opinion This possibility is obviously denied.
"Lock up everyone first, maybe they can be used for something later." Seeing Qiao Zhiya's disappointed expression, Wang Tom didn't want to hit him again.
So Ruan Zhu, the second-generation South Vietnamese official, and his crew were imprisoned in a temporary prison on Cham Island. Before the two sides officially started the war, Haihan had already captured hundreds of prisoners of various identities. Of course, adhering to Haihan's philosophy of making the best use of everything, these prisoners cannot just sit back and enjoy themselves, but have to personally build the prison cells in which they are imprisoned.
During the blockade of the South Vietnamese coast by the Haihan warship, the shipping route from Victory Port to Cham Island also became busy. Many cargo ships kept traveling between the two places, transporting large amounts of war preparation materials from Victory Port to Cham Island. The forward base on Po Island. Since the number of combatants in this combat plan has far exceeded that of last year, the planned combat time will be relatively longer, so the required combat supplies have also increased a lot. The Military Commission decided to transport some combat supplies to the forward base before the war began to avoid the situation like last year, when ammunition was already relatively tight at the end of the battle. Moreover, North Vietnam's maritime transportation capacity is insufficient. It is difficult to expect North Vietnam to perform well in transporting materials and personnel. Haihan may even have to use some ships to help North Vietnam transport troops.
Beginning in early February, North Vietnamese troops gradually concentrated on the Dong Hoi line, confronting nearly 30,000 South Vietnamese defenders across the Dong Hoi River. The North Vietnamese army was not in a hurry to launch an attack on this natural defense line, because according to the battle plan drawn up by Hai Han, the first place to attack was not Dong Hoi, but Hue in the south. At that time, the militia will take the lead in launching a landing offensive on the coast of Hue Province, and the only thing the South Vietnamese court can do, which has become a frightened bird, is to transfer troops from the northern defense line to strengthen defense. By that time, it will be much less difficult for the North Vietnamese army to advance south across the natural defense line than it is now. It may even be possible to follow the South Vietnamese army's retreat and march all the way south without the need for large-scale operations.
On February 14, the main force of the North Vietnamese Army took the lead in completing the assembly on the north bank of the Dong Hoi River. The nearly 50,000 troops were divided into five battalions and were deployed along the 20-mile-long Dong Hoi River. This was already dispatched. It took more than 90% of North Vietnam's regular troops to achieve this effect. Most of the garrison troops in the northern cities were mobilized south. Thang Long Mansion and even the Imperial City garrison mobilized half of their troops to go south to participate in this attack. In addition, the number of civilians who were drafted to the front line for this battle was said to be around 50,000. Almost 100,000 people are stationed here. Even if there is no war, the materials consumed by people eating and chewing horses every day is a huge number. It is no exaggeration to say that North Vietnam has regarded this war as a gamble on the fate of the country and bet almost all the chips in its hands.
On February 17, the Black Tu Port Special Operations Battalion, led by Qian Tiandun himself, boarded a fleet of seven troop transport ships and five supply ships and arrived at the southeastern part of Dong Hoi, located about 10 kilometers outside Guangzhi City. An uninhabited island 15 nautical miles away - this is also one of the islands closest to Hue in the South Vietnamese controlled area. It is nearly 100 nautical miles away from Cham Island, where the advance fleet of the base camp has set up an advance base. One north and one south are just opposite Hue. Huafu is sandwiched in the middle.
A total of more than 800 combat personnel were dispatched from the Heitu Port Military Region this time. Qian Tiandun almost pulled out all his elite troops. Yong'an Port and Tushan Port only had one platoon of recruits each stationed, while Heitu Port had It simply handed over the full power of defense to the reserve militia and police forces.
On February 18, the first batch of militia army troops departing from Sanya arrived at the temporary base on Cham Island after nearly three days of wandering at sea. A day and a half later, the second batch of main troops also arrived here smoothly. The small harbor in the west of Cham Island was filled with large and small ships. The arrival of more than 2,000 combatants made the small residential area on this small island seem overcrowded. Multiple troops arriving here at the same time were not even able to assemble on the shore at the same time and could only land in batches.
On February 19, Yan Chujie, the commander-in-chief of the Hai Han Militia who personally supervised the war, also took the "Lightning" and escorted the last batch of combat materials before the war to Cham Island. This also meant that this campaign jointly initiated by North Vietnam and Hai Han A military operation against the South Vietnamese court is about to begin.
The night Yan Chujie arrived at Cham Island, he held a pre-war preparation meeting to learn about the rest and preparations of various troops. However, the Black Tu Port Special Warfare Battalion in the north was too far away from Cham Island, so no one was sent to attend the combat readiness meeting. They only briefly reported the situation through the radio.
"...All the troops participating in this battle from Sanya have arrived at Cham Island. During the march, a small number of soldiers suffered from strong seasickness because they were not accustomed to the sea conditions. However, the field hospital was set up this morning and began to receive treatment. Those patients who are acclimated. The inventory of combat supplies is still being carried out. It is expected that this work will be completed by tomorrow morning at the latest." Wang Tom, as the person in charge of preliminary combat preparations, briefly reported the current situation to Yan Chujie.
Yan Chujie nodded and said: "We don't have much time to rest and recuperate. Today we received a telegram from the Donghai Camp Liaison Office. The North Vietnamese generals are urging us again."
"They are not afraid that we will not take action, but they are afraid that they will not be able to afford the consumption of the 100,000 people in Donghai if it continues like this." Wang Tom responded with a smile.
Haihan dispatched less than 5,000 people, but the supplies required were already an extremely staggering amount. The number of North Vietnamese combat troops and civilians on the front line of Dong Hoi is nearly 100,000. It takes a long time to supply the supplies they consume, which is enough to put North Vietnam's logistics department on the verge of collapse.
"As long as you understand." Yan Chujie stretched out two fingers and said: "Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we will rest for two more days. At six o'clock in the morning on the 22nd, the operation will officially begin."
However, the space for activities on Cham Island is too limited. All the troops can only take turns to use the same open space if they want to gather as a whole team. The so-called combat preparation time can really only focus on rest, and at this time it can be obvious See the difference between new recruits and veterans.
All soldiers who have been in the army for more than a year and have participated in the Vietnam aid operation in January last year, the battles of Lijiazhuang and Dangan Island in May, and the attack on Hoi An in August are basically in a calm mood. They have faced enemies several times their own on the battlefield, and have personally experienced the battle process of defeating more with less. They know that the army they belong to has very terrifying combat effectiveness. Setting foot on the battlefield in South Vietnam again is, at best, just another battle to defeat the opponent. There is really nothing to be nervous about. Instead of worrying about what will happen after setting foot on the battlefield, it is better to calculate how much bonus military pay you can get after completing this combat mission.
The soldiers who graduated from the new barracks and entered the militia after August last year obviously did not have it so easy. Although officers and veterans had repeatedly told them before that, all enemies who dared to go against the Haihan militia were just chickens and dogs. They will all fall to their knees before the invincible firepower output of the Haihan Militia, but before witnessing the legendary "crushing battle" of the Militia with their own eyes, the recruits still cannot avoid feeling nervous and anxious. And if this nervous emotion is not handled well, it is very likely to turn into a fear of war.
The solution for this problem at the top of the military is to allow grassroots officers to do as much psychological counseling as possible, and on the other hand, to increase publicity about post-war calculations of military merit and military pay, so as to divert the attention of recruits from the unknown war situation as much as possible. Move up and away. As long as the battle begins, these recruits will naturally grow up quickly after experiencing the baptism of war. Then, like these calm veterans now, they will feel lucky and proud to serve in an invincible army.
After two days of rest, on the morning of February 22, the militia soldiers began to board the ship in batches and embarked on the journey. At the same time, the generals in the North Vietnamese camp who received the news of the departure of the Haihan Militia finally breathed a sigh of relief. The attack of the Haihan Militia meant that the defenders on the south bank of the Dong Hoi River would soon be withdrawn to the rear. order. As long as the North Vietnamese army crosses the Donghai River in front of them, there will be no natural chasm ahead that can stop them.
(End of chapter)