The special forces do not occupy the national army and do not have an official number, so they are generally referred to internally by the name of the commander.

Hu Shengxiang's squadron was subordinate to the Second Brigade, and according to the battle plan, he was to lead four detachments to block a former Gaotai unit that was being trained in the C-31 area.

Four detachments of 49 men marched southeast from the No. 1 pick-up point, wading through a chest-deep, fast-flowing mountain stream in the pouring rain, and walking into a bush soaked and cold.

It is easy to expose your whereabouts when you walk on the main road, and it is not easy to be found when you walk here, but this road is intertwined with vines and thorns, and the troops are difficult to walk, and every step forward must be cut through thorns with machetes. After nearly an hour and a half of arduous trekking, we finally arrived at the designated location.

Hu Shengxiang immediately ordered the troops to rest in hiding on the spot for 10 minutes, eat something and drink some water to replenish their strength, and seize the time to check their weapons and equipment. Then he took four detachment leaders to the side of the gentle slope with the top soldiers and approached to reconnoiter the enemy's situation.

The enemy was stationed in a stronghold 300 meters to the southeast, and at first glance it was clear that it was a stronghold left by the French army, because there were many strongholds in Vietnam.

The French carefully selected and built such a stronghold on the route through which most anti-French armed activities were carried out, and had the effect of monitoring the enemy in the rugged mountainous area. Unfortunately, these strongholds were remote, isolated and in poor condition, and eventually became the target of Viet Minh's attacks, and now they are occupied by Viet Minh.

It is said to be a stronghold, and it is indeed a fortress.

It is triangular in shape, with 2 on each side. The earthen wall is about 5 meters high and about 80 meters long. Strong vines and thorns. Shooting positions, battlements and part of the walls that collapsed by the rains of the rainy season. Apparently it has been repaired, and the difference in color can be seen through the telescope.

"Intelligence shows that there are about 600 people inside, and there are no heavy weapons, so how do you say to fight." Hu Shengxiang put down the binoculars, looked at his watch and asked.

A detachment leader quickly looked around and said with a determined expression: "Our task is to block the attack for 30 minutes, not to attack the fortified positions or destroy the enemy, and the terrain is favorable to us." You can set up two machine-gun positions on this side and on the opposite side, and plant 4 Claymore anti-personnel mines on each side of the road, and the others will set up an ambush in the grass over there. ”

With the overwhelming firepower of the squadron, it is absolutely no problem to take the opponent by surprise.

The key is to be alone and carry a limited amount of ammunition, and if you use fire without restraint, everyone's ammunition will be out of order after 90 seconds of firing.

Not only to delay the enemy forces, but also to buy time for the brother squadron to carry out the rescue and raid on the Vietnamese G command. And think about how you can evacuate safely. After all, no one knows whether the helicopter is reliable or not, and no one dares to guarantee whether the two "big bananas" can deliver the ammunition needed for the evacuation road in time.

Hu Shengxiang weighed it. Shaking his head, he said: "We are not a regular army, and we are not fighting positional warfare, as long as we gain enough time, there is no need to stay here and spend time with them." ”

"Layers of raids, echelon evacuation?"

"Hmm."

Hu Shengxiang nodded, and resolutely ordered: "Fang Tai, your detachment is setting up an ambush here, just like Lao Lu said, with a machine gun on one side, and mines on both sides of the road, they will fight when they come out, and withdraw after the battle, save ammunition, don't fall in love with war; Lao Lu, you set up a second line of defense over there to take Fang Tai's evacuation.

The others followed me to the north, choosing a vantage point to set up the third and fourth lines of defense, keeping a distance of about 800 meters between each line. rush, just give them a head-on blow. detour, just catch up and bite hard. Repeat it a few times, and half an hour will pass. ”

Bullets don't have long eyes, and they will kill people if they hit hard.

It's best if you don't try hard, the four squad leaders looked at each other and smiled, no opinion.

Although he never took a unit composed of remnants of the Gaotai Sect and You Yong in his eyes, Hu Shengxiang still reminded him very seriously: "Be careful, don't be dumpling in the gutter." ”

"Captain, don't worry, they don't have a chance."

As soon as they finished speaking, the signal soldier suddenly cautiously touched it, leaned into Hu Shengxiang's ear and whispered: "Captain, the command headquarters ordered, the attack time is delayed by 50 minutes." A new frequency was given to allow us, the signal corps, who had been trained in LOC, to be ready to call for air cover. ”

LOC is the English abbreviation of air-ground liaison officer, and the special forces do not have a special air-ground liaison officer, but the squadron-level signal corps have all received air-ground liaison and artillery fire control training, and are proficient in military terminology and can accurately report the coordinates and directions of air raids and artillery targets.

It is very necessary to train in artillery fire control, and to guide the shelling of the 105th howitzer battalion of the 5th Infantry Division during the round battle in the area of Cape Parrot, and correcting the impact point is one of the main combat tasks.

The brand of the tactical zone air team is quite loud and the specifications are very high, and the commander is a brigadier general, but there are not many planes, and they are still those rags of the officer training team of Phu Quoc University of Technology. Therefore, when the signal corpsmen with a high school education or above were asked to receive air-ground liaison training in a centralized manner, many commanders, including Hu Shengxiang, thought that it was too advanced and that it was not necessary at all.

He felt incredulous and asked incredulously, "Is there really air support?" ”

The signal corpsman said excitedly: "Yes, the command also specially reminded in the telegram that smoke bombs should be economized and used at critical times." ”

"Did you say that it was the national army or the American army?"

"National-Army."

Hu Shengxiang's heart, which had just warmed up, suddenly cooled by half, and blurted out: "The national army still forget it, we will fight our honest battle honestly, and we don't need air cover or any air support." ”

For so many years, the Nationalist Air Force has been living under the wing of US military advisers.

It is said that many pilots have only a junior high school education, and there are very few who have participated in actual combat like former Chief of General Staff Nguyen Van Thanh, and not many have even undergone rigorous training like Nguyen Gao Qi. Flying a transport plane is fine, but fighting a war is a different matter, and in the words of an aviation instructor of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, the pilots of the national army are still at the level of junior aviation schools.

In fact, not only the Air Force, but also artillery.

For fear that they would smash shells on friendly troops during combat or training, the fuses of some howitzer units were to be kept by American advisers. Apply a fuse to shoot a shot. Before firing, the consultant must first confirm the lower angle.

Detachment Captain Fang Tai thought so. nodded again and again: "The captain is right, forget about the air cover of the national army, don't die in the hands of Yue G by then, but they will blow up the bones." ”

As they feared, many Air Force pilots were willing to show their faces, but feared that they would be self-defeating without the guidance of American advisers.

In an office at Tan Son Nhat Air Base, Nguyen Gao Qi, who had just finished making a phone call to Bien Hoa Base, was confronted by a group of colleagues and subordinates who were undecided. Eyebrows fluttered and said: "Everyone, don't miss the opportunity and never come again, the Air Force wants to raise its eyebrows, only gamble!" ”

"Colonel Qi, I'm not worried about the commander, nor am I afraid of Ngo Dinh Diem, it's a big deal to fly the plane to Can Tho, with Mr. Min here, what can they do with me? It just feels too rushed, and the air-ground coordination. No kidding. ”

Relations between the Air Force Command and the General Staff have always been tense. The rank of commander of the Air Force is only colonel. He was never considered a member of the military's decision-making hierarchy. Except for aircraft equipment information, the Army's General Staff never provides tactical information.

In the command structure of the entire national army, the commander of a tactical zone can even have full command over the air units attached to his or her defense zone. Since the commander of the tactical zone can exercise command over the air force, the air force has become a subordinate unit of the army and cannot fight independently from the command of the army.

Therefore, these "arrogant men in the air" are highly paid, but their status is very low.

Ruan Gaoqi didn't want to disappoint Li Weimin, let alone miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so he tried his best to persuade him: "Isn't it just air-ground coordination, what's there to worry about?" The 4th Tactical Region Air Force has FAC (Air Traffic Control Officers), who have participated in real combat in Algeria, and the ground forces have LOC (Air-Ground Liaison Officers), which is not for us to fight blindly. ”

It's not the same with air command and ground guidance, and one pilot eagerly asked, "Has the FAC arrived?" ”

"They have observation planes and liaison planes, I have arranged the time, they take off from the airstrip of the 5th Infantry Division's defense area, and rendezvous with our formation over the C-63 area, listen to them when they arrive, absolutely no problem."

Considering the lack of experience in close-range air-to-ground support operations for these people in front of him, Nguyen Gao Qi added: "If you don't have confidence in yourself, leave a little more safe distance when dropping bombs and diving and strafing." The squadrons at the Bian and the base have already said that they will take off on time at 4:35, and it's up to you now. ”

The officers of the Shaozhuang faction were not only dissatisfied with the Wu Dinh Diem brothers' efforts to run the world, but also thought that the Die Diem brothers were not effective in paying G.

Thinking that this time it was the Southern Bureau of the Workers' Party of North Vietnam, the Southern Command of the North Vietnamese People's Army, and the B2 Theater Command that he had to deal with, a pilot was full of blood, clenched his fists and said: ", why don't you do it, I'll fly the No. 12 plane." ”

"I've got the gas filled, I'm reloading, go check it out."

"Yes!"

……

Ruan Gaoqi's appeal was beyond imagination, and after receiving a call from the Johor Son No. 1 base, Li Weimin couldn't help but smile and said, "Everyone, it seems to be a big trouble this time." One T-28 squadron, three F8F squadrons, and the three B26 bombers that the French army asked for when Nguyen Van Xin didn't leave to participate in the operation. Even the newly formed 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron couldn't sit still and wanted to follow behind to join in the fun. ”

The combat effectiveness of the Air Force is known even to the captain of a squadron of the special forces, and the top brass sitting here knows it even better.

No one expects them to be able to create many big results, they just need to be able to create chaos for Vietnam G, anyway, they have already transferred air force units around the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff and the Air Force Command, and they don't care about one more squadron.

Wu Andong laughed and said, "Since they are willing, let them join in the fun." The more people involved, the better, and only in this way can the law not be held accountable. ”

Yu Guanghe reminded with a smile: "The 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron is equipped with H-19 helicopters, which has just been formed for less than three months, has not yet formed combat effectiveness, and is being trained as an American aviation consultant. Moreover, the base is far away from the border, beyond the combat radius, and it is impossible to fly there at all. ”

"How did the helicopter of the air force fly over?"

"In the name of aerial investigation of water conservancy and forest resources, the air team set up two temporary supply bases in Xining and Guazhaiyi, and sent fuel and spare parts in advance, so there was no problem of not being able to fly."

"Didn't enter Cambodian airspace."

"Nope."

Wu Andong asked: "Then why don't you fly more and transport more people?" ”

A layman is a layman, and without waiting for Yu Guanghe to speak, Li Weimin took over the conversation and said: "Anton, tanks have motorcycle wear and tear, and helicopter engines have the same service life. And it can only transport a dozen people at a time, and if it is all airlifted, it is not cost-effective to count the fuel and loss. ”

Wu Andong then understood, stretched his waist and said: "Okay, we have done everything we can, let's see them now, just wait for their good news." ”

Li Weimin finally came up in distress, yawned and said: "I am on the flight at 9:45 a.m., according to the battle plan, if everything goes well, they can solve the battle before 6 o'clock, and they can withdraw to the Vietnam-Cambodia border before 9 o'clock." "Chairman, you have to go far away, go and sleep on your arm first, and I will inform you of any news." "Okay." (To be continued.) )