Chapter 283 Breaking Attack

After paying a new price, the South Vietnamese army finally reached the edge of the coalition position, but at the same time they also realized that this North Vietnamese army that appeared on the seaside like a divine general was not easy to deal with. Not only did it have a large amount of equipment

They have sharp muskets and incredibly lethal artillery. If you want to defeat the enemies here, you may not be able to rely solely on traditional infantry.

At noon that day, the observation post on the top of the mountain reported the latest discovery - several dressed-up foreign devils appeared among the South Vietnamese Army. Although these people were wearing South Vietnamese Army uniforms, they were still exposed through the telescope. Analysis by the command headquarters

Later, I thought that this was probably the instructor or commander of the South Vietnamese musketry unit. He probably appeared here as a "military advisor" or something like the "Haihan Military Advisor" who provided military assistance to North Vietnam. These foreign devils

The purpose of appearing at this time is self-evident, it must be to observe the combat performance of the North Vietnamese musketeers and prepare for the next battle of the South Vietnamese musketeers.

"If we catch those foreign devils later, we have to investigate their origins!" Mu Xiabai was very excited when he learned that the target had appeared: "Find out where their lair is, and while we have ships and soldiers, go there

Give him a pot!"

"Don't get too excited. Our supplies and transportation capacity are not enough to support frequent large-scale maritime maneuvers." Harugong poured cold water on him at the right time.

Although the Maritime Department provided full support to the expeditionary force this time, the consumption of mobile operations along the coastline for a long time is still considerable. In addition, if it is too far away from the North Vietnamese controlled area, there will also be supply risks. Moreover, the sea

The Han militia regiment has little training in amphibious operations. If the boat ride takes too long, it will seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the soldiers. In order to allow the soldiers to maintain sufficient physical strength to participate in the battle after landing, the headquarters also specially sent the combat troops in advance this time.

The purpose of transporting them to the offshore island in one day is to give them one day to recover. The overall combat plan formulated by the headquarters also uses "small groups to harass and destroy, and large groups to garrison and attract" as this

The basic combat policy of this time is not to directly launch large forces into areas behind enemy lines.

During the confrontation between the South Vietnamese Army and the coalition forces, Qian Tiandun and his special operations company had arrived at Zhengjiang again by boat. The "Exploration" slowly went up the river bank and arrived at the tributary junction of the upper reaches of Zhengjiang at noon.

Two waterways, one south and one north, meet here. The one to the north is the main river of Zhengjiang, and the one to the south crosses the Hengshan Mountains and leads to the coastal plain south of Hengshan. The South Vietnamese Army supplies a large amount of water.

Some of them pass through this waterway and cross the Hengshan Mountain to the river bank north of Zhengjiang. The target of the special operations company this time is to effectively attack the supply fleet on this waterway and temporarily block South Vietnam.

Army supply lines.

The "Discovery" turned into the southern tributary at the fork of the river and continued upstream. The river here is much narrower than downstream, and the widest point is only nearly two hundred meters. But this is quite consistent with "

"Discovery" and the special operations team's combat needs, the artillery on the ship and the special operations group's muskets can completely cover the entire river surface, and can make full use of one's own weapon advantages.

After two hours of marching upstream of the tributary, they had entered the Hengshan area, and continuous hills and mountains began to appear on both sides of the river. According to the information obtained from previous interrogations of the prisoners, the South Vietnamese Army had not deployed garrison troops on both sides of the river, because so far,

They all think that North Vietnam does not have enough strong water forces to invade this area.

Qian Tiandun's special battle company disembarked at a river with a 90-degree bend and began to build fortifications on the slope of the bank. The width of this river was only 130 to 40 meters, and the ships coming upstream

Before turning this sharp corner, you couldn't observe the scene on the river. When the other party found that he was intercepted, he had no time to escape.

After the special battle landed on the shore, the "exploration number" of successful weight loss also seemed a lot light. On the river, I traveled back and forth and waiting for the fighter.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the team sent to the upper reaches for reconnaissance sent back news that a fleet of seven ships was heading downstream. The displacement of these ships was about thirty or forty tons, which was similar to that of the "Discovery".

It was just a small boat. Judging from the draft of the ship, it should be fully loaded with cargo. Qian Tiandun immediately ordered a gathering and notified the "Exploration" to prepare for battle.

This unlucky fleet had just sailed through the river bend when they saw a strange-looking large ship appearing on the river ahead. Before they could recover, the large ship had already revealed its claws menacingly.

Compared with yesterday's three-round miss, today's gunners on the "Discovery" worked hard to save face. In the second round of bombardment, two shells hit the South Vietnamese fleet at a distance of fifty meters.

The head boat hit two large holes in its ship's side.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the fleet behind them quickly moved to the west bank in an attempt to avoid this strange ship falling from the sky. But what they did not expect was that enemy troops were also ambushed on the west bank. Under the fire of more than a hundred flintlock muskets,

Under the fire, the staff on the ship's deck was swept away within ten seconds, and the lost -control ship soon tied to the West Bank River Beach.

The entire river is only more than a hundred meters wide. If these South Vietnamese ships want to avoid the heavy firepower of the "Discovery", they will have to avoid land attacks from the west coast. Soon, two more ships were seriously damaged by land and water attacks.

It began to capsize, and another boat saw that the situation was not good, and took the initiative to move to the west bank and chose to surrender. The two boats at the end tried to turn around and escape upstream, but the river here was a sharp bend, and the river was narrow, so it was not easy to turn around and go back.

easy?

The "Discovery" quickly caught up and quickly took care of the two ships. The entire battle lasted only half an hour. Three of the seven South Vietnamese ships were sunk, three wounded, and one surrendered. More than 30 people were captured, and none of them were captured.

It can run out of the ambush circle, and the casualties in the sea and Han are zero, and the opponent even ended even if the opponent's resistance did not have time to make it.

After a simple inventory, it was discovered that these ships were carrying grain. After the special operations company directed the prisoners to transfer some of the grain to the river bank, they mercilessly scuttled all the ships on the river bank.

The interrogation of the prisoners resulted in a small gain. The boss of one of the ships took the initiative to confess. Later, a troop transport fleet would pass by to fight for the north bank of the river. So the special operations company that had just relaxed again

Quickly regroup and prepare for the next wave of battle.

More than an hour later, as expected, another fleet of five ships arrived at the river bend. They were also attacked head-on by the Discovery without any suspense. However, this time the troop transport ship obviously had a certain ability to fight back.

, a number of archers on each ship swarmed onto the deck, using arrows to launch counterattacks at the "Discovery" and the special operations company on the shore.

This time, good luck could no longer protect the Haihan Militia. One soldier was shot directly through the neck by a cold arrow, becoming the first combatant to die in this cross-sea battle. In addition, three soldiers were injured by arrows. In addition, "Exploration"

Two crew members on the "No. 1" were also unfortunately hit by arrows. Fortunately, their injuries were not life-threatening.

After the "Exploration" damaged two ships and caused them to roll, the other three ships had already rushed downstream under fire. Qian Tiandun issued a pursuit order to the "Exploration" to ensure that these ships

They were also wiped out on the river.

So the "Exploration" slowly turned around on the river, and then pursued it all the way until Zhengjiang before sinking the last ship. However, it was not certain whether any of the people who fell into the water would swim to the north bank of Zhengjiang. Five South Vietnamese ships

In the end, only thirty-seven people were captured on the warship. According to the results of the sudden interrogation, this fleet transported a total of more than 500 combat personnel, and most of them were sent to the bottom of the river to become water ghosts.

As the commander of the raids behind enemy lines, Qian Tiandun was not very satisfied with the results. Although the two battles did effectively kill and injure enemy personnel and hit the opponent's limited water transportation capabilities, from the perspective of the combat process, there was a huge

With superior firepower, this special operations force failed to produce the expected results. Although the shooting launched by the musketeers from the shore could effectively hit the deck personnel of the enemy ship, the damage to the ship was almost zero, and it could only scratch the surface.

Although the artillery fire of the "Discovery" is fierce, the gap caused by the too slow shooting frequency is enough for the opponent to take the opportunity to slip across the river. The lethality of the solid shells to personnel is of course an indiscriminate hit, but the impact on ships is

But it depends on luck to a certain extent. The troop carrier that was sunk in the end did not start leaking water until it was hit by at least seven or eight cannons. Before that, the effect of the strikes was just holes in its hull.

There are just a few transparent holes, which have no impact on its navigation performance at all.

In addition, after two consecutive blocking battles, even if the roar of artillery fire did not spread too far, the opponent would definitely notice the abnormality of the loss of twelve ships in one day. Qian Tiandun estimated that the opponent wanted to keep this precious ship

Lifeline, this river will be cleared the next day at the latest. Judging from today's combat process, the combat capabilities of this special operations force are still insufficient when dealing with enemies with a large difference in strength. After fighting with Sun Chang

After discussing with Mi, Qian Tiandun decided to temporarily evacuate this water area and return to the area near the sea outlet - if the situation changes, he can at least leave calmly by sea.

Qian Tiandun's judgment was indeed correct. Although the artillery fire did not disturb the South Vietnamese army in the distance, the two fleets lost contact for no reason, which quickly attracted the attention of the South Vietnamese army. In the evening, he patrolled along the Zhengjiang River.

The South Vietnamese patrol team found several drowning bodies on the shore. After the test, it was found that it was the person who lost the team.

If one ship and two ships capsized and sank, it could be explained as an accident, but the two fleets totaling twelve ships and hundreds of people disappeared silently on the Zhengjiang River. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Taking the accident as an explanation, the senior leaders of the South Vietnamese Army also realized that this was most likely the North Vietnamese invasion through waterways, trying to use this combat method to destroy their own logistics supply lines.

So in the next day, the South Vietnamese army organized thousands of people to sort out the water supply line along the Zhengjiang River. As a result, a large number of South Vietnamese soldier corpses were found in the coastal river. But South Vietnam felt

The restless thing is that the invisible opponent has not been able to find it, and it seems to disappear into the air out of thin air.

Of course, the "Exploration" did not disappear out of thin air, it just returned to the sea early. In order not to be blocked by the opponent in the upper reaches of the Zhengjiang River, Qian Tiandun decisively chose to temporarily avoid it. But this strategy did not mean the attack of the special operations forces.

In this regard, the opposite is the opposite that after a day of the morning, the "Exploration" appeared on the coast of the cave and sea coast of 15 nautical miles south of the river.

Before the dozens of South Vietnamese troops guarding the pier could figure out what was going on, they discovered numerous gun muzzles sticking out of the large ship that had entered the harbor. After a burst of gunfire, the special operations company chose to land directly at the pier.

.

"The first platoon will guard the dock, the second platoon will follow me to the warehouse to see what can be moved, and the third platoon...the third platoon will burn all those ships!" Qian Tiandun quickly issued a combat order after landing: "

The action should be fast! We will evacuate after 20 minutes! "

Most of the supplies brought by the South Vietnamese Army from Hue were first transported to Dong Hoi, where they were then divided by land and water for transportation to the front line in the north. Therefore, there were a lot of supplies stored in warehouses built on the shore, including many.

Poultry and other meat.

The reason why the special forces dared to land and fight here was because they learned from the prisoners that the South Vietnamese camp in Dong Hoi was quite a distance from the port. Because the South Vietnamese army did not have the ability to project troops by sea, they basically transported troops

Through the land, there are no large -scale garrison points near Donghai Sea Port, and the defense of the port itself is relatively loose.

The defenders quickly organized a counterattack, but the charge of these unarmored infantry was in vain in front of the flintlock guns. After leaving more than 30 corpses, including the commander, the defenders finally dispersed.

, gave up the idea of ​​taking back the dock.

"Burn everything that cannot be taken away!" Qian Tiandun issued the order without mercy. After destroying the port, it would take at least ten or eight days for South Vietnam to rebuild this supply point, and

During this period, the supply of tens of thousands of people in front will definitely be greatly affected.

More than a dozen warehouses and more than 20 ships on the entire pier were all burned to the ground by the special forces in the morning. By the time the South Vietnamese army, who were several miles away, came panting to the pier, this place had long been transformed into a

A sea of ​​​​fire broke out, and the special operations force who took the opportunity to plunder a handful had already set sail and left Donghai Port.

After the "Exploration" sailed more than ten nautical miles to the open sea, you could still see the billowing smoke rising from the direction of Donghai Port when you looked back. Sun Changmi handed the ship over to Xie Chun for control, and went to the deck with Qian Tiandun to count the items.

The spoils of several raids.

First of all, there are various swords, guns, bows and arrows, and a number of armors and helmets. These things are definitely not attractive to the Haihan militia who use standard equipment, but they can be given to the North Vietnamese Army as a favor later.

Secondly, there are various food supplies. Due to the limited loading capacity of the "Exploration", the plundering in Zhengjiang and Donghai did not actually take away too many supplies. Only about one ton of food was loaded on the ship.

, and then there were some live poultry used to supplement the meat. Since there was no preservation method on the ship, Qian Tiandun had to give up his original plan to kill a few more pigs and bring them on board. But even so, within the next three or four days, there would be

It can basically guarantee that all combatants have meat to eat every meal.

Finally, there were the silver coins seized in the two battles. Two boxes of silver ingots were found on the warship Zhengjiang, containing about 5,000 taels of silver. They were probably military rewards for the frontline combat troops. During the battle in Donghai, soldiers also came from various places.

Nearly a thousand taels of loose silver and a small amount of copper ingots were found through this method. As for the iron coins of small denominations, they were not recovered as trophies at all.

Since Heitu Port has also implemented circulation notes as the main currency, there is no way to use silver money in the local area. Therefore, no one has been found to take advantage of the chaos to embezzle the loot. Moreover, Qian Tiandun has clearly stated in the combat discipline announced before going to war.

Anyone found with money hidden on their body after the war would be treated as trophies of war - their status as naturalized citizens would be revoked, they would be demoted to labor camp prisoners, and they would be punished by spending at least two years in a labor camp.

"The harvest is not bad! After two or three days of hunting, you can get several thousand taels of silver. A few more attacks will be enough for your company for a year, right?" After counting the spoils, Sun Changmi stood up and patted the sticks on his body.

Dust: "Why don't we just continue going south and grab it all the way?"

"That's not good." Qian Tiandun shook his head and said: "It takes almost a day's journey from here to the south to get to Guangzhi, and Guangzhi City is located inland, dozens of miles away from the sea. We don't need to take such a risk.

The risk is huge. The purpose of our operation is to interfere with the opponent's supply line, and there is no need to specifically increase the combat radius. We will now return to the coalition position and brief the headquarters on the combat situation over the past two days."

"I listen to you!" Sun Changmi patted Qian Tiandun on the shoulder and returned to the bridge. Qian Tiandun's command in the past few days has fully proved his military capabilities, and Sun Changmi also knew that he was not

Professionals, it is better to follow the opinions of professionals when making decisions on this kind of combat direction.

During the two or three days when the special operations team went south to fight, the South Vietnamese Army did not stop attacking the coalition positions, but it never sent the mysterious musketry unit to join the battle. The headquarters believed that this might be because of its own defensive strategy and

The fortifications made the opponent's military advisers suspicious, and they were always trying to confirm their own military strength and layout. After all, the consumption of field battles and positional battles are two different things. As long as the opponent's brain is not burned out, they will not use field battle strategies to attack their own side.

A strong defensive position.

The secret battles on the two mountain ranges in the north and south have become more and more frequent. It seems that South Vietnam has also noticed the benefits of the two commanding heights and is trying to seize these two strategic locations where they can have an overview of the overall situation by sending additional troops.
Chapter completed!