Chapter 356 Tug of War

If the combat effectiveness of a team is simply measured by the level of amphibious landing warfare, then the Haihan militia, which was fully trained according to the mature tactics of later generations, can be regarded as the best in the world in this era. And the officers all learned from Haihan's

The New North Vietnamese Army naturally learned and inherited this glorious tradition, and its combat capabilities in this field were much stronger than its opponents. When the second batch of artillery was unloaded at the beach, the soldiers were pushed into the position of the gun emplacement in a hurry.

At that time, it already indicated that the balance of victory in this battle began to tilt towards the North Vietnamese side.

Although the North Vietnamese court had to bear a heavy debt burden in order to arm the New Army, the performance of the New Army on the battlefield proved that the previous efforts were worth it. After all, you get what you pay for, and they were equipped with a large number of Haihan weapons and accepted the

The new army with Haihan-style military training was significantly superior to its opponents in terms of combat effectiveness. With a beachhead of less than a thousand people, it withstood an attack by the South Vietnamese army of nearly ten thousand people.

Although there are some troops in the South Vietnamese army equipped with muskets and artillery, and they have also received training from Western-style armies, their weapons and equipment are indeed inferior to their counterparts in the north. After all, their backup, the Portuguese, are very advanced in the field of military technology.

There is still a big gap with the Hai Han Group that has opened the golden finger. Whether it is the number of weapons held or the performance of the weapons themselves, the North Vietnamese Army has shown an overwhelming advantage, so that the officers of the South Vietnamese Army had to supervise

The infantrymen armed with cold weapons launched a desperate charge towards the beachhead, trying to make up for the disadvantage in weapons with the advantage of troops.

But this attempt is obviously difficult to work. In the face of the new artillery shells that the North Vietnamese Army spent a lot of money to buy, the infantry charge did not achieve any actual results except sacrificing lives to refresh the opponent's record. Compared with the South Vietnamese Army's charge during the battle,

Among the soldiers who fell in droves, the proportion of North Vietnamese soldiers who were hit by sporadic shells and lead bullets was much smaller, and the casualties were less than one-tenth of those of their opponents.

After an hour of high-intensity offensive, the South Vietnamese commander finally angrily issued an order to suspend the attack. At this time, there were about seven or eight hundred South Vietnamese troops killed in front of the formation by North Vietnamese gunfire.

Many wounded soldiers who were too injured to return to the camp on their own lay in the wilderness and groaned and screamed, making both warring parties truly feel the cruelty of the war.

In contrast, the wounded soldiers on the North Vietnamese side were much luckier. At least they fell on their own positions and could receive relatively timely treatment. Most of the wounded soldiers who lost the ability to move were carried back.

Fighting for the ship on the north bank of the river, this is not entirely due to the officers' compassion or concern that the groans of the wounded soldiers will affect the combat effectiveness of the troops. A large part of the reason is because the beachhead area is limited and cannot accommodate a large treatment area for wounded soldiers. If

If the wounded soldiers are not transported away, there will not even be enough space for the newly landed troops to assemble the entire team.

The North Vietnamese Army prepared nearly a hundred boats for this crossing of the river and landed. One round trip could transport two thousand soldiers to the south bank. Although the efficiency was still not very high, fortunately, the estuary where the Zhengjiang River entered the sea was not wide.

It took less than half an hour for the soldiers to get on and off the boat and the boat to go back and forth on the river. When the South Vietnamese army suspended its offensive, nearly three thousand North Vietnamese troops had landed on the south bank of the river by ship, including two

Thousands of new troops used Haihan matchlock guns, and sixteen 6-pound cannons responsible for fire support.

However, Zheng Ting, who was commanding the landing operations on the front line, was not relieved that he had repelled the South Vietnamese Army's offensive. The South Vietnamese Army's resilience in the battle exceeded his expectations. Although there were heavy casualties, there have been no casualties so far.

Give up the intention of fighting for the river defense line, and instead seize the time to mobilize more troops in the rear to plan the next offensive.

Zheng Ting was not very distressed about the dead and wounded soldiers. He just spent more time recruiting and training them again. However, after inspecting the artillery positions, Zheng Ting still inevitably had a headache. The two hundred new artillery shells he purchased were

Two-thirds of them had already been defeated in the first round of fighting, and it was difficult for them to survive another intense battle.

There is no Haihan military adviser on the beachhead, so Zheng Ting can only solve this embarrassing situation by himself. He does regret it now. He should have listened to Qian Tiandun's advice and spent money to buy more artillery shells. Of course, at present

It’s not that we can’t fight without new artillery shells. There are still plenty of old-fashioned solid artillery shells, but the killing efficiency at close range is far less than that of the new artillery shells. Moreover, there are more than ten 12-pound guns on the north bank of the river, among which

The range can completely cover the front of the beachhead, and it can also provide certain fire support across the Zhengjiang River when necessary.

But in this way, the efficiency of killing enemies will be greatly reduced. At close range, the effect that one round of new artillery shells can achieve with old-fashioned solid artillery shells may take ten rounds. It seems that some savings are made in the procurement process, but in actual combat

But it required more ammunition to be consumed. Zheng Ting was also a little confused, wondering which type of ammunition would be more cost-effective in future battles.

In fact, when Zheng Ting went to Yong'an Port to purchase new ammunition, Qian Tiandun had already discovered a misunderstanding in Zheng Ting's understanding, but from his perspective, he did not point it out to Zheng Ting. This misunderstanding was that General Zheng Ting

The combat effectiveness of the rogue bandits who besieged Lijiazhuang was overestimated and was directly equivalent to that of the South Vietnamese army. But in fact, there is still a certain gap in the combat effectiveness between the two. After all, one is a regular army and the other is a bandit. In the face of battle casualties,

The endurance is not always at the same level.

The rogue bandits who besieged Lijiazhuang were quickly defeated when faced with intensive artillery fire. This was directly related to their loose organization and combat experience. After all, the South Vietnamese army had undergone formal training, participated in combat all year round, and deployed

The troops on the Zhengjiang defense line were not weak in the first place, and naturally they would not lose their fighting courage as easily as Zheng Ting expected.

At noon that day, the South Vietnamese army organized another attack. Zheng Ting did not hesitate to order all the new artillery shells on hand to be fired. After an hour of fighting, the South Vietnamese army was still unable to break through the fire defense line of the beachhead position.

, and then retreated again after paying the lives of nearly a thousand soldiers. The North Vietnamese Army inevitably suffered certain losses. Even two North Vietnamese officers who had gone to Victory Port for training with Zheng Ting were unfortunately fired by the South Vietnamese Army.

He was hit by a stray bullet and died of his injuries on the spot.

In the afternoon of the same day, the "South Vietnamese Navy" who rushed from the upper reaches after receiving the news also participated in this chaotic battle. Because in the battle half a year ago, the surface troops deployed by the South Vietnamese court on the front line suffered a heavy blow during the Hai-Han Battle.

After the devastating blow to the ship, the South Vietnamese Navy was in a state of collapse. So far, it only has six or seven ships. Facing nearly a hundred North Vietnamese troop transport ships that are constantly shuttling on the river, there is nothing the South Vietnamese Navy can do.

It seems a bit weak.

Regarding the possibility that the troops crossing the river would be attacked by the South Vietnamese navy on the river, the North Vietnamese officers had already prepared a response plan when formulating the combat plan before the war. After the crossing operation began, upstream of the North Vietnamese crossing point

Several artillery pieces have been deployed on the north bank of the Zhengjiang River, about a mile away. The purpose of these cannons is very clear, which is to prevent South Vietnamese ships from coming down from the upper reaches to join the battle. The center of the river here is less than a hundred feet away from the river bank, and it is completely covered

Within the range of artillery fire, it was enough to cause fatal blows to ships on the river. In order to ensure nothing went wrong, after the artillery was placed in place, two rounds of calibration fire were even carried out to ensure the location of the impact point.

Sure enough, after the South Vietnamese navy appeared on this section of the river, they were greeted by artillery fire from the north bank. Under the concentrated fire, the two South Vietnamese warships at the front were penetrated through the belly of the ship and began to take in water, while the following ones

Some of the shipping routes behind were blocked by it, and some tried to get closer to the south bank to avoid the artillery fire from the north bank. There was chaos on the river.

In the chaos, two more ships were hit by artillery shells continuously and turned crookedly towards the south bank. Seeing that it was impossible to continue the battle. In the end, only one warship was able to break through this fire blockade and remain unscathed.

, and the North Vietnamese Army had received the early warning and was already prepared. Seven or eight ships quickly moved in and surrounded the enemy ship in a boarding battle. There was basically no possibility of its escape.

After eliminating the threat on the water, it was difficult for the South Vietnamese Army to find any practical way to prevent its opponents from expanding their positions on the south bank of the Zhan River. As of dark, the North Vietnamese Army had transported nearly 5,000 combat troops.

The troops crossed the river and basically completed the planned battle plan.

"The army is still different after our training!"

In the North Vietnamese camp on the north bank of the Zhengjiang River, Mu Xiabai and Feng Annan were exchanging their experiences of watching the battle today. Since they spent the most time dealing with the North Vietnamese military, it was logical that they acted as military advisers this time and went to the front line to observe the North Vietnamese initiative.

initiated this cross-river battle.

Feng Annan said: "As long as the North Vietnamese army learns our tactics and is equipped with our weapons, it will be almost sixty-seven points as strong as the militia. It should be enough to fight the South Vietnamese peasant army."

"Don't underestimate the peasant army in South Vietnam. They have been fighting for a whole day. At least we can't fight with this kind of casualty rate now." Mu Xiabai sighed. Although they did not go to the beach on the south coast.

position, but watching the battle through telescopes on the north bank, I knew to some extent the course of today's battles. The South Vietnamese army was able to withstand casualties without retreating, which was a little beyond their expectations.

"Qian Tiandun was right. He said that South Vietnam would have to fight at Zhengjiang for at least two to three days before South Vietnam would retreat." Feng Anan recalled Qian Tiandun's prediction before they went south, and sighed: "But if South Vietnam is here,

If they retreat, it will be difficult for them to have natural dangers that allow them to organize a defense line. Maybe North Vietnam will really have the opportunity to go straight to Hue Prefecture in one go!"

"Difficult!" Mu Xiabai shook his head disapprovingly and said: "A war is not just about the victory or defeat of this battle. I would say it to be extreme. Even if South Vietnam adopts a non-resistance policy from now on, you let the North Vietnamese army go south directly.

Try it? It’s nearly four hundred miles from Zhengjiang to Hue, and it’s hard to solve the problem of combat supplies for tens of thousands of people."

"Didn't they borrow so many small boats from us? They could have used the boats to transport grain, grass and baggage from the sea and follow the army southward!" Feng Annan refuted Mu Xiabai's statement.

"It's not that easy!" Mu Xiabai shook his head and said: "If they can master land and sea amphibious warfare so smoothly, then they don't need to ask us to teach them how to fight. The crossing point on the river is only more than 300 meters wide.

, finding some amateur sailors can also be competent for the task of rowing across the river. But if you want to go by sea, and you have to keep the fleet formation from being too dispersed, then it is not a task that amateurs can complete. In my opinion, then

The most likely change in the war situation is that the South Vietnamese army will gradually retreat, but it will be difficult for the North Vietnamese to take advantage of the victory and pursue it."

As soon as it got dark the next day, the fighting between the two sides resumed. Perhaps aware of North Vietnam's superiority in artillery fire, the South Vietnamese army did not launch another mindless human charge today. Instead, they changed their combat methods and set up at a distance of about one mile.

After acquiring artillery, they began to engage in long-range bombardment with the North Vietnamese Army. I don’t know what methods the South Vietnamese Army used, but they actually brought in more than a dozen artillery pieces overnight, and the gap in long-range firepower with their opponents was also reduced a lot.

In artillery training at this distance, the new artillery shells purchased by North Vietnam basically had no room for use - in fact, the two hundred rounds on hand had been fired in the previous day's battle, and now there was no room for them to play.

The artillery exported to North Vietnam by the Crossing Group does not have a particularly big advantage over the artillery in the South Vietnamese Army in terms of range. Judging from the current distance between the two sides, it can be said that the artillery of both sides is within the range of the other side.

In this way, it was a matter of hard work, and it all depended on who could remove the opponent's artillery position faster. Both sides unanimously adopted the method of concentrated fire, focusing on a certain artillery position on the opponent's position. So the artillerymen almost all

If you can see the opponent's artillery shells flying from the sky from your own gun position, the only thing you can do is to pray that the artillery shells fired by your own side can knock over the opponent as soon as possible.

At this time, the advantage of the Haihan artillery in shooting accuracy is revealed. The North Vietnamese side focuses on the opponent's artillery position. It only takes an average of two to three rounds of shooting to hit it, while the other side needs to focus on the North Vietnamese artillery.

position, it required at least five rounds of shooting. It was not until the fifth artillery piece in South Vietnam was destroyed that a gun position on the North Vietnamese position was finally hit by three artillery shells at the same time, causing the six gunners and the artillery to be scrapped.

The commander of the South Vietnamese Army obviously realized that such a confrontation could not defeat the enemy, so he could only order the artillery positions to retreat further. Naturally, the North Vietnamese Army, which had gained a victory, would not wait for an opportunity to slip by, and immediately sent engineers to the defense line.

Excavate and arrange new artillery positions in front, allowing the artillery positions to continue to advance southward.

In the next few days, this step-by-step advance operation was very difficult. North Vietnam spent a lot of manpower and material resources, and finally built a large camp on the south bank of the Zhengjiang estuary and deployed 8,000 troops. However,

A few miles south of the main camp is the military camp built by the South Vietnamese Army based on the mountains of Hengshan. According to the reconnaissance situation, the number of troops is at least three times that of the North Vietnamese camp. It seems that South Vietnam still has no plans to

Abandon this line of defense easily. Although the North Vietnamese Army has the advantage, corresponding troubles have also begun to appear. The pain of transporting grain and grass supplies across the river half a year ago has now been transferred to the North Vietnam.

Due to the lack of decisive external assistance like the Haihan Militia, the North Vietnamese Army's southern expedition went relatively smoothly at the beginning. However, after the actual fight over the river, it fell into stagnation due to the army's lack of mobility.

Situation. Going forward, we have to enter the Hengshan Mountains area, which runs east-west and spans seven or eight miles from north to south. If the army wants to enter the mountainous areas to fight, supply is an extremely troublesome problem. With the existing supply capacity of the North Vietnamese Army, it is obviously not possible.

Satisfactorily solve this shortcoming.

As the top commander of the frontline troops, Zheng Bai has also realized this situation, but now that he has taken action, he can only continue to fight even if the battle situation is not going well, because the North Vietnamese army cannot abandon their current position and retreat to the north bank of the Zhengjiang River.

, it is also impossible to maintain a very expensive outpost position on the south bank of the Zhengjiang River for a long time. The minimum for this battle is to at least drive the South Vietnamese Army to the south of Hengshan, and the North Vietnamese Army can control the key passes in the Hengshan Mountains before the war can be stopped.

Take a break.

On September 8, the North Vietnamese Army took the initiative to launch its first offensive southward after crossing the river. It opened the way with artillery fire, supplemented by an infantry phalanx advancing slowly, and attacked the South Vietnamese Army camp from the front. After paying nearly a thousand casualties,

The North Vietnamese Army finally broke through the South Vietnamese camp and captured the largest South Vietnamese stronghold in this area.

However, the battle did not end. Nearly 20,000 South Vietnamese troops fled into the mountains south of the camp. Although most of these South Vietnamese troops lost their structures and became rioters, they still caused great harm to the enemies who pursued them.

Trouble. It is difficult for infantry using muskets to form an effective fire output formation in the mountains, and their combat effectiveness is affected by the environment and cannot be fully exerted. Therefore, the suppression of the rebels in the mountainous areas progressed very slowly. It was not until mid-September that groups appeared in Hengshan

There were fewer and fewer South Vietnamese troops, and resistance gradually became sporadic. The North Vietnamese army's camp also moved from the north bank of Zhengjiang River to the foot of Hengshan Mountain, and controlled most of the key passes in the Hengshan area.

Since there was no danger to defend, the South Vietnamese army was reluctant to withdraw its troops to the south at this time. Their assembly point will be Donghai Port, forty miles south of Hengshan. However, the North Vietnamese have basically no energy left to fight again.

They continued to fight south. During the more than ten days of fighting, although the North Vietnamese army successfully pushed the front more than ten miles south and broke through the defensive chasm of Hengshan Zhengjiang, it also cost more than 2,000 people.

casualties. The most critical thing is that the frontline troops are almost running out of food and military expenses, and they have to stop for rest.
Chapter completed!