When you think of Vietnam, most people think of a hot and humid rainforest, guerrillas in hats and rubber shoes, helicopters and Wagner music.

This impression is largely correct -- because many weapons and equipment will fall into the dilemma of reduced effectiveness or even complete ineffectiveness when they reach the battlefield in Vietnam. In addition to the hard-working guerrillas of North Vietnam, only the whimsical gadgets of helicopters could run happily.

Because of this, later generations called the Vietnam War a war of helicopters and partisans, which seems to have nothing to do with the magnificent ironclad torrent of the Soviet-German war.

However, this idea is one-sided.

In fact, Vietnam's terrain includes all terrain from coastal lowlands to rugged mountainous areas, and the selection of combat equipment and the use of tactics in such complex terrain will be greatly limited by the terrain.

The North Vietnamese Workers' Party members were not made of special materials, the guerrillas were not flesh and blood, and the helicopters were no omnipotent.

Li Weimin clearly remembers that in the Vietnam War in another time and space, from the main battle tank weighing 50 tons to the temporarily modified armored truck, the evacuation of a wide variety of armor was the main reliance of the soldiers on both sides of the war. Although those armored forces were never used intensively throughout the war, it is an indisputable fact that thousands of armored weapons were distributed throughout the battlefield.

The North Vietnamese ultimately wreaked a devastation blow to the Saigon government not by the guerrillas, but by a traditional combined force of armor, artillery, and infantry.

As a prescient and energetic person, Li Weimin did not want to repeat the mistakes of the past, so when he took over the defense of the six provinces, the Industrial Investment Company spent a huge amount of money to form the 27th Division, an armored force unprecedented in the history of Vietnam.

The reason why the United States is willing to provide military aid is that the "industrial investment department" can recruit sufficient high-quality soldiers and be able to bear the military expenses needed to maintain the operation of the troops. It has a lot to do with the "great development of the southern region," which has achieved initial results.

In order to connect the industrial villages scattered in more than a dozen cities in the lower six provinces, the Jinou Peninsula is like a large construction site, and infrastructure construction such as roads and bridges is being built everywhere. After the 27th Division has formed its combat effectiveness, it can use the newly built highway transportation network to put it into use in any county (county) of the lower six provinces within 24 hours, and it can give full play to the advantages of mechanized troops.

North Vietnam's position of reunifying Vietnam by force and imposing its Soviet-Russian political system will not waver.

There are no eggs under the nest. Running the six provinces well and turning the Jinou Peninsula into a large rear area is only part of the strategy of the "industrial investment system". Sooner or later, the troops of the "industrial investment system," including the 27th Division, will have to move north to fight for the survival of the entire interest group.

In view of this, Li Weimin said in a kind and seductive manner: "Ladies and gentlemen, the three main divisions have been reorganized in accordance with the plan of the military advisory group, and almost all of their equipment comes from US assistance, and they will be trained under the guidance of US advisers for a period of time in the future. In the future, he will even be under the command of the US Military Aid Command in Vietnam and participate in some military operations outside the defense zone.

However, it can be seen from the combat experience of the 5th Division in the past few years that the US military may not be applicable to Vietnam. Therefore, you must not stick to the rules, still less blindly follow them, but study your own methods of operation, training, and logistical supply in the light of reality, and sum it up in four words -- mobile and flexible!

Killing chickens can only be reduced to pieces against small groups of guerrillas. The troops must be able to spread freely, and the commanders at and above the company level must be able to take charge on their own. At the same time, it is necessary to put it away. In the event of a large-scale operation, the regimental units must be assembled in the shortest possible time. The combat command is to complete the deployment in the shortest possible time. ”

The Yugo-SLA guerrillas and the infiltrated North Vietnamese People's Army rarely organized attacks on the regimental scale or above, and only a handful of them were above the battalion level, and they were habitually broken into pieces, usually small units of ten or twenty men, disguised as peasants, and attacked in all directions.

Only small units can be used against small units. Otherwise, they will fall into a situation of being beaten passively or exhausted. All of you have participated in the round battles in the Parrot Horn area and the Zhensha area, and they all agree with the big boss's views.

Li Weimin paused, and then said: "The 27th Division is a mobile strategic force, and its main task in the future is to train so as to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. At the same time, it is also a training base for armored forces in the whole tactical zone. It is necessary to continuously train and supply armored combat and technical personnel for the 25th and 26th Divisions, the industrial village security forces, and the militia self-defense forces.

The 25th and 26th Divisions should not only carry out regular training such as infantry and artillery coordination, infantry and tank coordination, air-ground coordination, landing, air-ground coordination, landing, air-to-ground coordination, and night combat, but also conduct targeted combat training in mountain warfare, jungle warfare, and swampy areas like the 5th Infantry Division.

Logistics departments should draw up supply plans for complex terrain, such as requisitioning inland river vessels and using a water network extending in all directions to deliver troops, weapons, ammunition, and other war materials to the front line. Another example is the formation of mule and horse transport teams, which dismantle 75 mm guns, 120 mm mortars and heavy machine guns, and send them to trucks with ammunition to the mountains that cannot reach the mountains. ”

Ding Huimin's "thief's heart does not die" and he couldn't help but say: "If the US side can entrust the logistics and supply business of the US troops stationed in Vietnam to the enterprises in the industrial villages, our air force can set up a transport aircraft wing and a helicopter wing, which can not only airlift or air-head combat units, but also airdrop combat materials." ”

The air fleet must be expanded, otherwise Israel, Taiwan and South Africa will be entrusted with training so many pilots and ground crews. It's just that in the next period of time, the company will put resources on promoting the political and economic reform of the six provinces, and further increase investment in infrastructure construction, so that it will not be able to squeeze out so much money for the time being.

Li Weimin nodded slightly, and said to Ruan Zhiren and Chen Runwei: "When it comes to the aviation team, we also have to form our own paratroopers. Now there are no transport planes and helicopters, and there is no budget, but some preliminary work can be done. ”

Ruan Zhiren snuffed out his cigarette and said thoughtfully: "You can start with the special forces, the two Hmong brigades that have just been formed, and then add two training subjects of parachute and abseiling. ”

The air force has several transport planes and helicopters handed over from the Reserve Officer Training Team of Phu Quoc University of Technology, and there is no problem in training with the large forces and with the training of the special forces.

Brigadier General Li Yongliang, commander of the special operations of the Fourth Tactical Region, agreed without hesitation: "Yes, we have instructors in this area, and as soon as the other subjects are finished, we will immediately organize parachute and abseiling training." ”

Chen Shiguo asked curiously, "General Liang." How many special forces do we have now? ”

"Including the two Hmong brigades that have just been formed, there are three brigades in total. The brigade is organized at the battalion level, but it does not have as many personnel as the regular troops. A brigade has four squadrons, and a squadron has four detachments, each with 9 to 12 personnel. There are 18 commanders, deputy commanders, operational staff officers, intelligence staff officers and internal service officers, and 27 instructors. There are 496 front-line combatants, and the entire unit has a total of 542 people. ”

The size of the unit is small, and I didn't have a chance to report just now.

Li Yongliang did not want to miss this opportunity to let the bigwigs know the achievements of the special forces, and said excitedly: "From the establishment of the unit the year before last to the present, all the detachments of our unit have been taking turns to cooperate with the 5th Division and the militia self-defense force in the Parrot Point and Zhensha areas to fight against the Yuzhan Liberation guerrillas.

It penetrated into enemy-controlled areas more than 180 times, attacked more than 90 guerrilla camps, warehouses, field hospitals, and other targets, and fortified almost every three days, killing and wounding more than 1,400 enemy troops and capturing more than 120 people. More than 400 weapons of various types were seized......"

The two Hmong brigades have just been formed, which means that all the results have been achieved by one brigade, and we have to admit that the special forces are the most powerful units in the "industrial investment system".

Wu Andong and Li Weimin glanced at each other and asked in a low voice: "General Liang, are all members of the Hmong brigade from the Hmong tribe?" ”

"That's a good idea, but it's not."

Yesterday's plenary meeting just mentioned the issue of nationalities and called for national reconciliation and national unity.

Li Yongliang didn't want to leave the impression that the bigwigs were not highly politically conscious. Hurriedly explained: "The commanders of the brigade, squadron and detachment are all drawn from a brigade, and there are Chinese. There are the Yue people. The wireless communication corps and ambulance corps of each detachment were also selected from various units, and only the riflemen, machine gunners and grenadiers were Hmong brothers. ”

Chen Runwei smiled and added: "The young people of the Hmong ethnic group have a strong physique, strong folk customs, and have lived in the dense forests of the mountains since childhood, and many of them used to hunt for a living, and their ability to survive in complex terrain is stronger than that of ordinary soldiers. The best warrior at all. ”

"So the American side recruited 13 battalions at once."

Li Weimin smiled and said meaningfully: "The budgets of other troops are basically like this this year, and the special forces can appropriately add a part." If there is a qualified source of soldiers, another brigade can be formed. ”

Waiting for this sentence, Li Yongliang smiled excitedly: "Yes!" ”

"Then there is the troop mentality. The Fourth Army was formed on the basis of the Security Department of the Industrial Investment Corporation, and there was no political and war department. With the expansion of the size of the armed forces, political and war work must be put on the agenda. ”

The national army is ideologically confused, full of internal contradictions, and full of hills.

Officers and soldiers did not know who they should be loyal to, and they did not know what they were fighting for, so much so that a few officers got together and whined a few words to launch a coup d'état.

Chen Shiguo did not want the armed forces of the "industrial investment department" to also have these problems, and said with deep understanding: "What the chairman said is extremely true, Huang Yishan, deputy director of the company's planning department, can be appointed as the director of the political and war department, and he has a set of propaganda. ”

It is really troublesome to grasp the thinking of officers and men and organize cultural and recreational activities.

All along, the planning department of the industrial investment company was in charge of all this work, either sending a projection team to the basic company to show films, inviting movie stars and singers from Saigon to work in the army, or organizing students to engage in social activities in the army. Now it has been formalized and a special person is in charge, and Ruan Zhiren and Chen Runwei cannot ask for it.

The two of them had no opinion, and Li Weimin would not have an opinion, so he put down the cup and continued: "The last is the construction of the reserve, Director Luo, your security department cannot be lax because of the Fourth Army." The defeat was like a mountain, and if the Nationalist army could not withstand it, we would face hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese troops. In other words, the real main force is not the Fourth Army, but your Security Department. ”

Luo Xiaozhang was about to get up, and Li Weimin motioned for him not to stand, while continuing: "Therefore, you must work closely with the Fourth Tactical Zone and the management committees of various industrial villages to accept, resettle, and use retired officers and soldiers, and form several more reserve divisions as soon as possible with the cooperation of the staff of the tactical zone.

It is necessary to coordinate well with the management committees of various industrial villages and enterprises, stagger the time, and ensure that reservists participate in military training one day a week and a 20-day off-the-job training once a year. It is necessary to give full play to the enthusiasm of female compatriots and include female compatriots between the ages of 18 and 35 in the reserve plan. ”

The reserve construction plan of the "industrial investment system" is largely borrowed from Israel.

The industrial villages have always been under closed management, and the public security in the industrial villages has always been good, with social stability, education and medical facilities, abundant commodities and daily necessities, and a living standard much higher than that of ordinary citizens in Sai Kung and other cities. Under the publicity of the company's planning department for several years, even ordinary workers have a strong sense of superiority and pride, and have a certain sense of belonging to the company.

The chaos outside, the explosions here in the news, the assassinations there, and the coup d'état in Saigon today gave those who were better off a strong sense of crisis, very supportive of the reserve plan, and convinced that "national defense is survival."

The workers' thinking is "progressive", and the enterprises are very cooperative.

Compared with other work, this work is much easier to do, Luo Xiaozhang is full of confidence: "The chairman can rest assured that the security department will never lag back." As long as an order is issued and a mobilization order is received, we will be able to complete the reorganization of the troops within 12 hours and complete all preparations within 24 hours. ”

As the commander of the Fourth Tactical Region and the commander of the Fourth Army, Ruan Zhiren understood the importance of the reserve better than anyone else, and introduced sideways: "Chairman, Mr. Guo, General Qin, Chairman Dong, not only do we not plan to abolish the reserve officer training team of the University of Technology, but we also want to expand the scale of training, and set up a senior officer training class, two special training classes for middle-level officers, and a training regiment dedicated to training junior officers and non-commissioned officers.

The 25th, 26th, and 27th Divisions, at the company level and above, are all assigned one officer and three officers, and one officer and two officers at the platoon level. In the event of a major war, we will be able to transfer officers at all levels and grassroots backbones from the active forces as in Soviet Russia and rapidly expand the number of infantry divisions by nine infantry divisions. ”

The tactical zone will be equipped with officers and combat backbones, and the industrial village will provide a source of troops, so that it will be possible to have 12 divisions in the shortest possible time.

Li Weimin nodded, and said with a solemn face: "Everyone, twelve divisions and more than 100,000 troops sound like a lot, but it is far from enough to resist the full-scale invasion of North Vietnam. To prepare for the worst, it is necessary to draw up a set of practical mobilization plans and rationally allocate troops.

In this regard, we should learn from the Japanese army, for example, the 25th, 26th, and 27th Divisions will be the 'main divisions', and the planned nine reserve infantry divisions will be the 'regular divisions'. Other reserve forces formed with the industrial village security team as the backbone and the temporarily reorganized militia self-defense force can be used as 'garrison divisions' to maintain law and order in the defense area.

In addition, fighting the war is to fight logistics, and finally set up a special team to include transportation and warehousing companies such as Greater China Shipping, Vung Tau Ocean-Going, Phu Quoc Airlines, Daxing Automobile Transport, Boliu Logistics, Saigon Yunda, etc., and several major medical groups such as Nghe An, Fude and Canton are all taken into account.

Investigation and study, organization of drills, precautions, the formulation of several sets of logistics plans, and the use of all available forces to ensure the supply of logistics materials and the rescue and transport of the wounded needed by the large corps for operations. (To be continued.) )