Chapter 396: Attacking the Imperial City
"This is a strategic reserve. If you use it, you will lose it. Are you really sure you want to use it here?" Qian Tiandun questioned: "We can't make TNT in a short time, right?"
"Large-scale production is definitely not possible at this stage, but it can be prepared in small quantities in the laboratory. Trinitrotoluene is not a rare thing." When it comes to chemical issues, Qiao Zhiya can be regarded as an authority in the headquarters. : "Sulfuric acid and nitric acid can now be produced in Shengli Port on its own. Toluene is a little more troublesome. It has to be extracted from the coal tar sent from Black Earth Port. Basically, it can only be done in the laboratory, and the production capacity is very small. It is used for making detonators. Mercury fulminate is not a problem. It was trial-produced last year, but the stability during use is not very good. The chemical industry department has been trying to improve it. ”
"How is the cost of this thing compared to the earth-explosives currently used?" Yan Chujie immediately became excited. If the Haihan Militia can install TNT as a regular combat readiness material, then the tactics that can be used in battles will be even richer.
"It can't be compared for now. The cost of laboratory production is too high, and the output is very small. I also want to mass-produce this thing as soon as possible, but I'm afraid it won't be possible in the short term." Qiao Zhiya also seemed very regretful about this, but he was very He quickly brought the topic back to business: "I carefully observed the structure of the Peace Arch on the battlefield today. In fact, it is much easier to blow up the Peace Arch than to blow down the city wall. There are three door openings under this tower, and the stress-bearing structure is stronger than the city wall. It is much weaker. As long as you find the right location for blasting, the amount of explosives required is actually not very large.”
Yan Chujie shook his head and said: "The problem is how do you go over to the construction site to arrange explosive sites? Not to mention the defenders on the tower, there is a moat in between. Do you want the militiamen to carry rafts to fill the river? And ours Engineers and soldiers may not understand things like force-bearing structures.”
"Ordinary engineers definitely can't do this kind of technical work..." Qiao Zhiya looked at Yan Chujie and said, "Leave this matter to me personally!"
"It seems that you have already prepared a plan of action!" Qian Tiandun responded with a smile: "Then how do you need us to cooperate with you?"
"Send someone outside the city to pick up the things on the boat and deliver them over as soon as possible. I'll pick a few engineers who know how to use water. We'll start tonight. If everything goes well, we can probably finish the preparations in one day tomorrow." Qiao Zhiya said confidently said.
Three hours later, several figures slipped silently into the moat outside the imperial city from the darkness. The moat of the Imperial City is only ten meters wide. There was originally a two-section bridge outside the Peace Gate. The outer section had fixed piers and deck, and the inner section was a suspension bridge that could be raised. However, before the Royal Forest Army withdrew into the Imperial City, they did not forget to dismantle the fixed section of the bridge deck. Now even if the suspension bridge could be lowered, it would not be able to reach the other end of the river bank. At this time, the other side of the closed city gate should have been covered with wooden pillars supporting the gate, and maybe the other end of the doorway was blocked with stones, so they didn't have to worry about the gate suddenly opening and being rushed out by the defenders. in force.
After slowly swimming across the river, these people climbed up the river bank and entered the gate of the Imperial City's Heping Gate. After putting down their burdens, they swam back to the other side gently. These people walked back and forth in the moat twice before transporting all the things they needed to the gate of the tower, and then lurked quietly.
After dawn, the Haihan Militia troops outside the city aimed several artillery pieces at the city tower, firing one every few minutes. Although the small-caliber artillery used by the army could cause very limited damage to such a large building, the deterrent effect of this attack was very significant. Soon the defenders on the tower chose to evacuate this too obvious target position. , leaving only a few sentries on the walls on both sides of the city tower to monitor the movements of the enemy troops outside the city.
Of course, the few people in the city tower cave were not idle. They were taking advantage of the bustle outside to dig holes in the city wall with hand drills and plant explosives. According to Qiao Zhiya's rough estimate, they need to place dozens of detonation points under the tower to make the tower collapse after the explosion. It is not an easy job to make so many holes in the stone bricks by hand, but it is also a last resort. If you use a chisel to hit hard, the sound will be difficult to hide from the defenders on the city wall.
The militia troops outside the city were not idle because of this. Except for some people who continued yesterday's forced demolition operations, various companies were ordered to start cleaning up some government agencies in the occupied areas. The Six Ministries, Dutong Mansion, Imperial College, Qintian Prison and other institutions under the South Vietnamese imperial court are all outside the imperial city, and there are many things that the executive committee is interested in in these institutions. In addition, there are various royal relatives and senior officials in the city. The residences of powerful people were naturally the focus of raids - the material rewards issued by the militia after the war basically came from confiscating homes in Hue City. Even if the Haihan militia did not attack these places, they would not let them go when the North Vietnamese Army came in after the city was broken. The Military Commission insisted not to cooperate with the North Vietnamese Army in attacking the city, so it was more or less the idea of entering the city to eat alone.
With the guidance of the local leading party, the troops performing tasks basically no longer need to take chances by mistake, and the efficiency of house raids has also become very high. Although the militia has strict regulations that prohibit soldiers from concealing their personal belongings during this process, everyone's enthusiasm for carrying out this kind of task is obviously much higher than that of forced demolition - watching boxes of gold, silver and jewelry being loaded onto trucks and transported outside the city , thinking that they would receive their own share of dividends after the battle, almost everyone was as motivated as clockwork.
At the same time, it was not just the militia that was making a fuss in the city of Hue. Thousands of South Vietnamese stragglers who had succeeded or failed were doing the same thing in the other half of the city. Since the militia troops did not have enough troops to surround the imperial city, some of the defenders could still maintain contact with senior officials in the city on the other side of the imperial city. However, some of the troops that were dispersed during the previous siege have become headless flies. At this time, as long as someone takes the lead in causing rebellion, others will immediately follow suit. The rebels did not let go of their courage at first, and just broke into ordinary people's homes and looted them. However, the riots soon escalated out of control. The rich families in the high-walled compounds were obviously more wealthy, so they naturally became the rebels. The main target of their robbery.
"Have our people begun to attack Xicheng?" Qian Tiandun put down his binoculars and asked Yan Chujie with some confusion. In fact, there is no need to use a telescope. With the naked eye, you can see black smoke rising from many places in the western city area, and you can faintly hear the shouts of killing coming from the wind.
Yan Chujie shook his head and said: "They are not our people."
"The North Vietnamese Army invaded by themselves?" Wang Tom asked in shock. Yesterday, after he delivered the materials needed for blasting from outside the city, he stayed at the forward position and never left.
"Probably not. If they want to attack the city, they will at least give us a warning in advance." Although Yan Chujie was not sure what happened in Xicheng, he could guess to some extent: "Eighty percent of it was caused by the South Vietnamese defenders themselves. There should be a lot of people who want to make a profit at this time. It’s better to let them make a fuss, so that no one will interfere with what we want to do.”
The level of trouble caused by the rebels in the city was far more serious than the Haihan officers imagined, so much so that the senior officials of the Ruan family in the palace had to order the surviving troops in the Xicheng area to quell the rebels - if these people were not stopped as soon as possible, they would Then even if the Haihan people cannot capture Hue City in the end, the city will be destroyed in the hands of the rebels.
In the afternoon, an even more incredible situation occurred in the city. A large number of people fled from the west city and poured into the eastern city controlled by the Haihan Militia to escape the rebels. Although this area is already an "enemy-occupied area" to the local people, it is obvious that the social order here is better than that in urban areas controlled by South Vietnam's own army. Except for a few powerful families, ordinary people were basically safe as long as they did not actively attack the Haihan militia, and they were not robbed by the militia. Of course, a large part of the reason for this is that the militia's military strength is really limited, so they can only Prioritize the looting of those wealthy families pointed out by the leading party.
Most of the soldiers who made trouble in Xicheng had seen the power of the Haihan Militia, and they actually gave up the pursuit of these people with a tacit understanding and controlled their scope of action beyond the defense lines of the Haihan Militia. The few rebel soldiers who didn't see the signs quickly retracted their claws after eating the rifle bullets of the militia, not daring to provoke this difficult opponent again.
This unreasonable situation made the officers on the Haihan side dumbfounded. They should obviously be playing the role of unjust aggressors in this war, but why did the orange color change halfway through the war and become ordinary citizens? The guardian of?
After nightfall that day, the engineering team that had been working under the Heping Sect for a day finally sneaked back to their own camp safely. Qiao Zhiya collapsed on the chair when he returned to the headquarters tent, not even having the strength to change out of his wet clothes.
Upon seeing this, Wang Tom quickly asked the orderly to get dry towels and clothes, and together with Qian Tiandun, he helped him up and took off his clothes. After a while, Morgan came in with a bowl of hot ginger soup: "You will feel better after drinking this. This is a unique recipe taught to me by Major Gu Wei."
Qiao Zhiya changed his clothes, drank ginger soup, and slumped on the chair for a while before he regained his strength. He shook his head and said, "I have never been so tired since time travel. I was even more tired when I was digging sand to build a settlement in Victory Port." It's easy now, I really underestimated the amount of work this time." Qiao Zhiya said, spreading his hands and showing them to everyone. Both palms were red, and there were blood blisters in several places. It could be seen that he had been doing this for a long time. It was really tiring coming down.
"How much has been completed now? How about I take over for you, and you can be responsible for technical guidance. I still have the skills to install explosives and detonators." Qian Tiandun volunteered.
"No need." Qiao Zhiya shook his head slightly and said, "Everything has been arranged, and I have brought back the blasting fuses. The explosives have not been used up, but the electric detonators we brought before crossing have been used up this time and there is basically nothing left. That’s right, if you want to do this kind of thing again, you can only use earthen detonators.”
Yan Chujie asked in a deep voice: "Are you sure there is no problem?"
"If the tower cannot be blown down, I, Qiao Zhiya, will go back to Tian Duquan's laboratory immediately!" Qiao Zhiya couldn't help grinning while swearing, because at this time, Morgan was using medical equipment to treat the blood on his hands. Bubble.
"Everyone, let's prepare separately!" After Yan Chujie got the affirmative answer, he asked everyone to start preparing for the offensive that would be carried out in the next day.
"Wait, do you want to notify the North Vietnamese Army?" Qian Tiandun asked.
Although the military advisory group sent by North Vietnam has been placed outside the city and has not even been able to enter the city until now. All the battlefield information they have learned comes from the oral descriptions of the Haihan Militia Liaison Officer, but it seems that the launch will take place tomorrow. It's time for a general attack, and it seems a bit unreasonable if we don't say hello to our allies.
Yan Chujie hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "Then say hello to them, but it's too late today, let them know tomorrow morning!"
In accordance with Yan Chujie's order, the liaison officer woke up the officers of the North Vietnamese Military Observation Group at dawn the next day and informed them of the upcoming general attack on the Imperial City today. The hurried military observation group sent people on horseback to the North Vietnamese Army station in the west and passed the news to coach Zheng Bai's desk. Nearly two hours had passed.
When Zheng Bai made a scene in the camp and scolded the Haihan people for playing tricks, the Haihan militia's position outside the imperial city had entered the final stage of preparations for war. Two days of continuous demolition work has achieved remarkable results, clearing out an open space with a width and depth of more than 300 meters outside the Peace Arch. Now this open space is densely covered with nearly forty artillery pieces of different calibers, ranging from the 3-pound cannons equipped by the Black Earth Port Special Operations Battalion to the 48-pound mortars specially used for sieges, almost including all the current Haihan civilians. All specifications of artillery that have been fielded by the regiment's army.
This situation certainly attracted the attention of the defenders on the city wall, but now they could only stare. According to the images captured by drones from high altitude yesterday, the defenders in the city have already dismantled several cannons arranged on the other side of the city wall, but they have to transport them to the Peace Arch and re-erect the forts, and It is not a task that can be completed in a short time. No matter whether they use equipment such as bows and arrows or trebuchets in the city, their range cannot reach the Haihan position. Therefore, when the Haihan people set up artillery positions outside the city, the defenders had no practical response measures available.
At this time, in a private house just across the moat from the Peace Arch, Qiao Zhiya was waiting for orders from the headquarters. No one noticed that there were several black lines as thick as a little finger extending from this house into the moat, and the defenders on the tower did not even realize that they were standing on top of a large explosive pack.
At nine o'clock in the morning, after everything was ready, Yan Chujie gave an order to Qiao Zhiya through the walkie-talkie. After Qiao Zhiya pressed the detonator, he heard a series of explosions coming from the downstairs of Hepingmen City, although it was not as good as the blasting of the outer city wall a few days ago. It was such a big battle, but the effect of this explosion far exceeded the last one. The tower, which was more than ten meters high, began to collapse before the blasting sound ended. About five seconds later, the tower, which was more than thirty meters wide, completely collapsed into a pile of rubble. Dust and smoke flew into the sky. The sight of both armies was completely obscured.
After a few minutes, the dust dispersed, and the scene in front of them shocked both warring parties. Just as Qiao Zhiya expected before the action, after the city tower collapsed, both sides inside and outside the city could clearly see each other through this gap. From the artillery position on the Haihan side, they could clearly see the ground for about two miles. The Nanyue Imperial Palace buildings outside, as well as the panic-stricken defenders inside the city.
"Aim at target No. 1 and fire!" Following the officer's order, the artillery on the artillery position began to roar one after another. The shells flew over the collapsed towers with a screaming sound, and hit the palace in the middle of the imperial city. architecture.
Almost at the same time that the Peace Gate tower collapsed, the defenders in the imperial city began to lose the will to continue to resist, because anyone who is not blind can confirm that the surrounding city walls can no longer protect themselves and this shaky regime. . A large number of defenders began to choose to flee to the west, because there was no trace of the Haihan people outside the city wall there, and they still had a chance to escape.
When the Haihan militia began to build a pontoon bridge on the moat, the defenders showed no resistance at all. The civilians confidently and boldly connected the wooden rows on the river. The militia infantry followed step by step. When the shells returned, While flying in the air, the soldiers of the militia had already rushed across the pontoon bridge and stepped on the ruins of the collapsed tower.
"The city is broken! The Haihan people are coming in!"
Following the shouts of some defeated soldiers, the defenders in the city quickly lost their will to resist and began to flee. This allowed the militia to not encounter much resistance when entering the imperial city. Almost all the sober-minded defenders chose to flock to the city gates in the other three directions, which were the doors of escape for them.
"Disperse the companies and control the predetermined areas!" Yan Chujie can only issue combat orders to the officers through the walkie-talkie. After the Haihan Militia Army entered the imperial city, it was difficult to cover everything. They could only occupy some important targets first and try to control the leading figures of the Ruan family.
However, among the rebellious army, it was not easy to capture the leader of the Ruan family, and Yan Chujie did not want to pursue him too fiercely and cause a backlash from the defenders. After much consideration, Yan Chujie decided to leave this piece of fat to the North Vietnamese army who set up a perimeter outside the city.
About half an hour after the Hai Han militia invaded the Peace Arch, the west gate of Hue City suddenly opened, and thousands of remaining soldiers rushed to the plains to the west, hoping to escape into the Truong Son Mountains.
(End of chapter)