Chapter 390 Battle
"They want to fight a protracted war with us!" Yan Chujie made a very clear judgment on the intentions of the South Vietnamese defenders.
"It's not a bad thing, anyway, we don't plan on a quick victory this time." Wang Tom seemed very relaxed. In this attack on South Vietnam, the main task of the navy was to block the coastline and clean up the Xiangjiang River in the early stage. However, in the actual attack on the inland city of Hue, the role that the navy could play was actually minimal. According to the combat plan, after clearing the remaining South Vietnamese naval forces on the Xiangjiang River, some of the navy's combat ships will return to Sanya in advance to supplement the base camp's currently relatively empty maritime defense force. For Wang Tom, the combat tasks he needs to undertake as a naval commander this time are not heavy. In the future combat period, he will probably only play a supporting role.
"Now it is no longer intuitive enough to rely on militiamen to conduct frontline reconnaissance. I will take the equipment and go south tomorrow morning to get some imaging data." Qian Tiandun had already been unable to sit still after staying at the base in the rear for a few days. : "The equipment I applied for in the report last time, did I bring it with me this time?"
"Don't worry, for such a big battle, the executive committee will definitely not be stingy about small details anymore." Yan Chujie nodded and responded: "The two octocopters in stock have been brought here, just in time to take a shot at the enemy. ”
The joint defense positions that the South Vietnamese army painstakingly built, as well as the corresponding deployment and mobilization of troops, have no secrets in front of travelers with three-dimensional investigation methods. Aircraft equipped with video recording equipment can clearly take pictures of the distribution map of the defenders' positions from high altitude, and then the frontline headquarters can use this as a reference to formulate corresponding offensive tactics. It can be said that Haihan’s side won half of the battle before the official battle even started.
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 effective forces in South Vietnam as possible in the short term is also one of the goals of this military operation. For a coastal terrain like South Vietnam, which spans more than a thousand miles from north to south, the combat period required to push 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 to attack towns one by one. The city was used as bait to lure troops stationed in various parts of South Vietnam to come to rescue, and then the main force was eliminated by encircling the points for reinforcements.
After destroying the main force of the South Vietnamese army near Hue City, and then taking away the small court in Hue City, the combat mission of the Hai Han Militia will be successfully completed. As for the remaining cleaning and finishing work, there is no need for the Haihan Militia to do it personally. With the current strength of the North Vietnamese Army, it should be enough to slowly clear away the remaining resistance forces in South Vietnam.
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 the unwilling faction 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 temporary base at the mouth of the Xiangjiang River, began to march towards the inland areas. Since in the past few days, almost all the patrols sent by the South Vietnamese Army were wiped out by the Black Tu Port Special Forces who came out for reconnaissance, the main force did not encounter enemy troops during their march. As for combat supplies, they passed through more convenient rivers and were sent directly to frontline positions. In order to protect the cargo ships transporting supplies, the Navy dispatched four "Exploration-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 Haihan didn't know was that after the death squads led by Wu Sen were wiped out without any chance of fighting back, the South Vietnamese Navy had no plans to fight again. In the past two days, all the ships have gathered on the river outside Hue City, 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 in the past two or three days, which put the morale of the Navy into an irreparable state. In the trough, if another officer ordered to go to war, the remaining people might really disperse in a rush.
However, this situation will not last long. As long as Hai Han discovers the retreat of South Vietnam, ships will soon be sent to block the river outside Hue City and cut off the connection between the two sides. As for the remaining troops of the navy, their 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 along the river five miles north of Hue City to build a frontline camp. This place was only about a kilometer away from the South Vietnamese Army's joint defense formation outside the city. In terms of combat status, This was almost directly under the nose of the South Vietnamese Army. Under the cover of the infantry formation, the civilian workers unloaded various tools and components needed to build the position from the cargo ship docked on the river bank. Under the gaze of the South Vietnamese Army in the distance, they began construction on the river bank.
For the defenders, it was obviously not a comfortable thing to sit back and watch their opponents build a camp under their noses. Whether it was for tactical considerations or face issues, the South Vietnamese army had to make some gestures.
So the South Vietnamese army sent a team of a thousand people to attack the Haihan militia's position, but this harassment seemed a bit perfunctory. After the infantry used new rifles to kill twenty or thirty people at a distance of two hundred meters, the unit quickly chose to withdraw its troops and retreated into the formation.
"You want to lure us to chase!" Facing the enemy's performance, Qian Tiandun commented rudely: "The acting is too poor. Even if you want to use it as bait, you have to attack once and then retreat. This is a trap on the outside." What’s the point of just running in one lap?”
"These monkey soldiers are pretty good at using their brains when fighting. It's just that they were unlucky. They met us this time." Yan Chujie put down the telescope in his hand and took over the conversation and said, "The Vietnamese defeated the Ming Dynasty army because of this. This trick of luring the enemy deep into the army killed tens of thousands of Ming Dynasty troops in that battle. It has been regarded as a classic battle by them since then. Considering that our army only has a few thousand people, they must use the old method. Let’s try again.”
The South Vietnamese Army's actions to lure the enemy did not have any effect. The militia group took their time to build positions and camps at the predetermined location. They even had time to build a temporary dock on the nearby river bank to facilitate the docking of cargo ships. The militia were not in a hurry to launch an offensive towards Hue City because they had to wait a little longer to give South Vietnam enough time to mobilize all their main forces from the northern defense line to participate in this decisive battle.
At present, part of the main force of the South Vietnamese Army is still confronting the North Vietnamese Army across the river at the Dong Hoi defense line. However, after the Hai Han militia landed on the coast near Hue, Hue City has probably sent an order to the front line, but the army has to move from the Dong Hoi altitude. It would take at least five or six days for the battalion to set out and rush back. These foreign troops who rushed back to the "King Qin" were also the targets that the Haihan militia wanted to eliminate. Instead of traveling across mountains and rivers to fight them one by one, it was better to guard Hue City as a bait and wait for work to eliminate these troops.
On March 1, two "Exploration-class" warships boldly sailed into the waters of the Huong River outside Hue City. However, the resistance scene expected by the combatants on board did not appear. Dozens of ships on the river acted in unison and turned around. The bow of the boat headed upstream with all its strength, without even the thought of resisting. The Hai Han militia successfully controlled the Xiangjiang River outside Hue City with almost no effort. 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 facing the river in Hue City, the entire river is basically within the range of the forts. Therefore, Hai Han did not allow more warships to enter this water area rashly. Only two ships are left to take turns cruising on this section of the river.
On March 2, the Hai Han Militia Army launched its first offensive from the north towards the South Vietnamese Army positions outside Hue City. However, this attack was basically of a tentative nature, with infantry holding down the formation and artillery setting up positions at a distance of 800 meters, bombarding several targets identified through aerial photos in South Vietnam.
The artillery equipped by the South Vietnamese Army does not have lightweight field artillery. They are basically large city defense artillery arranged on the walls of Hue City. Therefore, they are almost unable to fight back against such long-range attacks by the militia and can only watch and watch. Watching several of our own masonry bunkers being destroyed by artillery shells. However, because Hai Han's attack targets were very concentrated, the South Vietnamese Army was able to evacuate the troops from the dangerous area in time. Therefore, although Hai Han's bombardment achieved the combat goal, it did not actually kill many South Vietnamese soldiers.
Although South Vietnam did not have much ability to fight back, the Haihan militia also had no way to maintain this offensive for too long, because such artillery tactics consumed too much ammunition, and they were defeated in about an hour. One hundred rounds of artillery shells, and these ammunition cannot be supplied locally and must be transported from the base camp by ship. Although there is sufficient ammunition in the combat supplies shipped in the early stage, the military does not dare to squander it wantonly. After all, no one can guarantee the timeliness of sea transportation. If the supply of ammunition is interrupted, the local militia troops going to the local militia will immediately be in danger. among. Although there was no way to maintain a high-intensity fire 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, it is even more tense. Ordinary people have no idea how the war is progressing outside the city, and they cannot see where the Hai Han militia is advancing. They can only hear the rumble of cannons coming from outside the city.
The Haihan Militia was not in a hurry to send out infantry to clear the South Vietnamese army's positions. They just continued to launch artillery bombardments every half day, waiting for the South Vietnamese reinforcements to come back.
On March 5, the peripheral reconnaissance troops sent back news that a South Vietnamese army of about 14,000 to 17,000 people was marching towards Hue City, less than fifty miles away from Hue City. On the same day, the Hai Han Liaison Office stationed at Dong Hoi Camp in the north also sent a telegram stating that the North Vietnamese Army had launched an offensive as scheduled and successfully broke through 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 6, the reinforcements who hurried back after receiving the order finally arrived in Hue City. However, at this time, they did not know that the Dong Hoi defense line had been breached and the remaining troops that had withdrawn southward had already withdrawn near Quang Tri City.
The next day, after confirming that the troops withdrawing to Hue this time were already the largest armed force of the South Vietnamese court in the area north of Xiangjiang, the frontline command finally began to take action.
The main forces of the first and second battalions of the militia were all concentrated in the northeast corner of Hue City, near the river, and launched an attack on the South Vietnamese Army's positions. 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 strafed by more than forty artillery pieces for half an hour, leaving almost nothing more than two feet high on the ground. At this time, the infantry lined up in a neat rectangular array and marched towards the plowed position.
The generals of the South Vietnamese Army had no retreat at this time and had to mobilize troops from nearby positions to fill the gap. However, the rifle rotation fire of the Hai Han Militia once again dealt a heavy blow to the South Vietnamese Army. Hundreds of soldiers fell mercilessly. under the gun. It was only then that the South Vietnamese generals suddenly discovered that all the preparations they had made before this did not have much practical effect under the attack of absolute firepower superiority.
The South Vietnamese defenders had to use the fort on the wall in the northeast corner of Hue City in advance to prevent the Hai Han militia from continuing to advance. However, this futile struggle did not delay the Haihan Militia for too long. Soon the Haihan Militia's six 12-pound army cannons were pushed to the front line and began to fire at fixed points on the forts on the city wall.
As the two sides exchanged fire, the advantages of Haihan's artillery in terms of range and accuracy quickly became apparent. Although the city wall forts are condescending, their range is still not as good as the artillery of the Shanghai Han people. The forts fired at the maximum firing angle are still thirty or forty meters away from the artillery positions on the Haihan side. However, the Haihan artillery quickly achieved a hit. In the third round of bombardment, a shell hit the crenellation of the city wall fort. Although it did not hit the target directly, the rocks that flew out after the crenel was shattered by the shells scattered the surrounding areas. Several gunners were beaten to pieces.
After several rounds of calibrated firing, the accuracy of the Haihan artillery became more and more frightening. Several rounds of artillery shells hit the location of the fort. If it were not for the protection of the crenels, I am afraid that the entire artillery position would have been blasted into the sky. . While the South Vietnamese artillerymen responded tremblingly, their opponents were loading and aiming in a leisurely manner, without having to worry about artillery shells flying to their location.
The South Vietnamese army launched several more rounds of counterattacks against Hai Han, but the result was only more sacrifices. Instead of recapturing the positions occupied by Hai Han, they tended to continue to expand. After holding on for more than an hour, the fort on the northeast corner of the city wall was finally hit by a cannonball directly in the barrel, knocking off the cannon and knocking over two gunners. They vomited blood and died on the spot.
However, before dark that day, the Haihan militia that had occupied the position silently withdrew again. It seemed that they were also worried that they would be attacked by the South Vietnamese army if they stayed in this unprotected position overnight.
The South Vietnamese Army deployed troops overnight and occupied this position again. However, such an occupation no longer has much practical significance. Since all the defense facilities on the position were destroyed by the Haihan militia in the battle the day before, it was definitely too late to repair them overnight. In the end, the South Vietnamese army could only quickly Reluctantly, some simple devices such as Luzhai and Horse Rejection were added to the position.
Naturally, these things did not have much effect in front of the Haihan militia that opened the way for artillery fire. As soon as the attack started, the city was smashed to pieces by the artillery shells. The speed at which the Haihan militia invaded and occupied this riverside area was much faster than yesterday, taking less than half the time it took before.
After occupying the position this time, the militiamen were not in a hurry to expand the position. Instead, a large number of civilians and cargo ships on the river followed, and they immediately built a position in the occupied area.
This comparison can reveal the gap between the two sides in civil engineering construction technology. It took the South Vietnamese Army more than four months to build the current defensive position, but it only took half a day for the engineers and civilians of the militia to build a defensive position in the Linjiang area in the northeast corner of Hue City. position. Of course, compared to the various defensive facilities in the South Vietnamese positions, the Haihan Militia seems to be very crude. It is basically a defensive wall made of sand and soil bags, multi-functional flatbed trolleys and other components, and a shallow trench is dug around the periphery. , planted wooden stakes and pulled out 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 with this simple defense.
On March 8, the South Vietnamese Army launched the largest counterattack since the war began, intending to overthrow the Hai Han Militia's position, which was only 400 meters away from the city wall.
The South Vietnamese army launched a tidal wave charge towards the Hai Han position in units of a thousand men, counting on relying on their superior strength to break down the crude defense line of the Hai Han militia. But this strategy of trying to win by relying on numbers has been proven to be unworkable many times in the past, and this time is no exception.
Hugely lethal shotgun shells spurted 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 inside them crazy. In just one morning of fighting, the corpses of the South Vietnamese Army were piled up in a dense mass in front of the Hai Han position. Although it was too late to count the results of the battle, Yan Chujie, who had been commanding the battle on the front line, estimated that at least more than 3,000 enemy troops were killed and wounded in the two-hour battle.
(End of chapter)