With so many people alone, no one knew whether the operation would succeed or even whether the troops would be safely withdrawn.

In order to achieve the goal of rescuing prisoners of war and attacking the Vietnamese headquarters, Gui Thanh Son and Le Vinh Liang could ignore the impact and unscrupulous means, but Li Weimin and Wu Andong could not, not only to consider the safety of so many people, but also to take into account the reaction of the Cambodian side after the failure of the operation.

I'm going to fly to the United States tomorrow, and now I'm sleepless all night.

Wherever there is a big operation, the Underground Command will be activated, and the same will be true tonight. Not only Li Weimin and Wu Andong came, but even Huang Duqing, who had just stepped down as prison director, came to the war room with Zhang Yinggui, former commander of the 5th Infantry Division and current member of the National Assembly, who was inspecting political reform in the SAR, to wait for the latest news from the front.

As the name suggests, the participating troops took the defense area of the 5th Infantry Division as their base, entered the Parrot Point area from Yongshaoyi, passed through Chai Zhen, Kampong Dara, Derodi Bure, Kele, Mai Mo and other places in Cambodia, and went around from the left side to the back of the liberated area of Vietnam, launched a sudden blow, and then withdrew from the original road.

Admittedly, Mr. Lee was prescient.

If Su Youcai had not been allowed to go to Cambodia a few years ago to establish a secret Chinese organization, and if he had not made the decision to let the Chinese living in the Parrot Point area join the "Khmer Rouge" immediately, the left-hook operation would not have been realized at all, at least the people and equipment would not have been transferred to the past as quietly as they are now, let alone be assisted by the Cambodian rebels.

Zhang Yingguizai carefully studied the map for a while, then suddenly turned around and asked, "Our attack route should be the supply line of the North Vietnamese Headquarters, right?" ”

As soon as there is a major military operation, an instructor of the reserve officer training team of Phu Quoc Institute of Technology. will become a strategic command officer.

Training Captain Yu Guanghe played the role of operational staff officer. Pull out a large-scale map. "It's very close, but it doesn't coincide, and the intelligence shows that this section of the Hu Zming trail is south, and they want to avoid the Saigon River, so as not to use the river to attack their communication lines." ”

"Has the National-Army ever used the river?" This is directly related to the suddenness of the battle, otherwise Zhang Yinggui would never have asked such a question.

Yu Guanghe shook his head: "No, the national army lacks inland river ships, see our fourth theater to form an inland river ship unit." On more than one occasion, Hu Jinquan of the Navy raised the importance of equipping inland river warships with the Ministry of National Defense and the Military Aid Command, and even suggested to President Ngo Dinh Diem that he should squeeze out a little budget to purchase patrol boats, but he was rejected. ”

Wu Andong didn't know much about the Wu Dinh Yan brothers, shook his head and sighed: "He is used to the United States asking for aid, and thinks that the United States should bear all defense expenditures, and he has no concept of spending money to purchase equipment." ”

"There are so many pies in the sky, you know that you want this and that, no wonder Americans are more and more disgusted with him."

Huang Duqing smiled, and suddenly said thoughtfully: "Mention the equipment." Our equipment is still too backward. If there is a brigade of transport aircraft, there is a well-trained paratroopers. Airdropped behind the enemy at the same time as the attack, Li Yongliang was not under such pressure, and the troops in his hands would not be so tight. ”

It is indeed ironic to think that tens of thousands of troops can be mobilized, but only a few hundred can be put into the battlefield.

Yu Guanghe thought so, and couldn't help but turn sideways and say: "If there is no transport plane, it is okay to have helicopters, if the army aviation brigade can be formed, there are twenty or thirty helicopters, and it is absolutely no problem to drop one company at a time." ”

There is no doubt that this is said to yourself.

Li Weimin nodded slightly, yawned and said, "I will fight for it when I go to Washington this time to see if I can finalize the military aid." In fact, the reason why Li Yongliang was allowed to take this risk had a lot to do with winning military aid. After all, you need to help others, and you have to have some achievements. ”

The clock pointed to 3:45 a.m., and a captain officer walked briskly from the telecommunications room. Take out a pen and mark it on the map at the No. 2 contact point.

"Mr. Report, the 5th Division Detective Team has arrived at the predetermined position, 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and the 4th Squadron of the 2nd Special Forces Brigade is heading to the target area as planned."

According to the previous introduction, after the 2nd Brigade arrives at the target area, it will undertake the tasks of rescuing prisoners of war, raiding the Vietnamese G Headquarters, and receiving the landing of the 3rd Brigade.

There are only more than 40 people in total, and they are fighting in the nest of Yue G, Zhang Yinggui is really worried about them, and can't help asking: "What about the other three squadrons of the second brigade, are they also planes landing?" ”

"Three more squadrons have already set off."

Yu Guanghe realized that there was a mistake in the introduction just now, and hurriedly added: "Intelligence shows that in the C-56, C-73, and C-89 areas, there are a local unit, a unit that has returned to Luning for training, and a unit that has been integrated by the Gao Dai Sect. They were closest to the Southern Command, and in order to ensure the success of the operation, three more squadrons had to move forward to these positions to intercept them. ”

"Do you know how many there are?"

"The three forces together are about 1,000 people, but they are poorly equipped and have insufficient ammunition."

Li Weimin sat up straight, stared at the map and asked, "Colonel, how many troops are there in the village where the Southern Command is located?" ”

Yu Quang Hoa carefully studied Le Vinh Liang's battle plan and replied without hesitation: "There is the location of the Southern Bureau of the North Vietnamese Workers' Party, the North Vietnamese Headquarters, and the B2 Theater Command. However, in terms of intelligence, logistics, propaganda, and training units account for a large proportion, and there are only two guard companies in well-trained combat units.

If the timing is right, if the first follow-up personnel can complete the landing at the time of the attack, then it will be not four detachments that will be able to fight the Vietnamese G guard troops, but seven detachments.

In addition, it can be basically determined that the other side has no air defense units, and as long as the three squadrons that are responsible for the blocking task can withstand it, the air force will be able to complete the second or even third landing and send the four squadrons of the three major squadrons to the designated positions within half an hour after the battle begins. ”

The first step is to send the three special forces teams to the battlefield, and after the air force has completed the landing mission, it has to travel back and forth between the Satun camp and the various blocking positions to increase fire support and transport ammunition and wounded to the three squadrons of the second group carrying out the blocking mission.

There are only two helicopters that actually have to pick up the girders, and God knows how many sorties they will fly after dawn.

Seems to know that the boss is worried. Yu Guanghe hurriedly added: "Chairman." The Air Force was involved in more than two helicopters. Observation and general liaison aircraft, which have been transferred to the defense area of the 5th Division, will take off fifteen minutes before the start of the operation to provide aerial reconnaissance for ground forces. ”

Lieutenants are all enemy troops, and they are useful for reconnaissance, they can throw bombs, they can dive and strafe, and they can provide air fire support to relieve the pressure on the ground troops.

Just when Li Weimin felt that he couldn't do without a decent air force, a staff officer suddenly walked in with a blue face. solemnly replied: "Chairman, captain, the embankment police station has just forwarded a piece of information that in order to strengthen the military strength of the south, the North Vietnamese People's Army has sent a battalion to the B2 theater, the number is unknown, and the number of personnel and equipment is unknown. According to the departure time, the battalion should have arrived near Satun. ”

There was already a shortage of troops, and now another battalion has emerged.

Li Weimin realized the seriousness of the problem and did not want the front-line troops to be copied. He immediately ordered: "Immediately report to General Liang." Tell him that it's okay if the operation fails. But the troops have to bring me back. The battle had not yet begun, and the enemy did not know anything about the actions of our troops, so it was recommended to suspend the operation and withdraw by the same route. ”

The plan was not as good as the change, and this battalion suddenly appeared and seriously threatened the safety of the raiding troops.

After receiving the information, Li Yongliang was also taken aback.

It is easy to abort the operation and order the troops to withdraw the same way. The critical day will soon dawn, and once the peasants in the "liberated areas" are discovered, their lone army on the Vietnam-Cambodian border is likely to be surrounded and intercepted by the North Vietnamese People's Army and the Cambodian government army.

What's more, too many resources were used for this operation, Li Yongliang didn't want to give up halfway, gritted his teeth, pointed to the map and said resolutely: "Staff Officer Liu, cancel the combat mission of the Ninth Squadron of the three major teams, and order the Ninth Squadron to quickly rush to the D-13 and D-35 front-line reconnaissance as a unit to ensure the safety of our flanks." ”

"Yes!"

"Staff Officer Wu, immediately call back to Mr. Min and the headquarters, more than 500 officers and men of the Second Brigade of our Special Forces, the Detective Team of the 5th Infantry Division, and the Khmer Guerrillas have already entered the country, and no matter whether they withdraw immediately or hide on the spot, there is no guarantee that they will not be discovered by the enemy. Rather than exposing his whereabouts and being surrounded and intercepted, it is better to act according to the original plan to catch the other party off guard, and then use its chaos to quickly get out of the ......"

A layman cannot command an insider.

Once the task is given and the operation begins, not to mention Li Weimin, even Nguyen Chi Nhence and Tran Yun Wei will not easily interfere with the front-line commanders.

Li Yongliang has made up his mind, and everyone can only accept this fact. Just when they were anxious, the staff officer sent another urgent telegram from Can Tho.

"Chairman, General Ren and Chief of Staff Wei believe that the disparity between the forces of the enemy and us is too great, and even if the operation is successful, the troops will not be able to break away smoothly, and I sincerely ask you to contact the Ministry of Defense or the Military Aid Command as soon as possible, if the paratrooper brigade can be put into battle, the battlefield situation will be greatly improved.

If the Ministry of National Defense prevaricates, it can retreat to the next best thing and seek fire support from the Air Force, and the observation and liaison planes of our air force can provide guidance to the Air Force. If the Air Force is unable to dispatch, it can also seek help from the Military Aid Command, because three battalions of the special forces directly subordinate to the US side have received parachute training and are strong in combat, which can greatly relieve the pressure on our troops......"

There are only a few hours left until dawn, not to mention that the Saigon side and the Americans will not necessarily help, and even if they will, they will not be so efficient.

Li Weimin weighed it up, got up suddenly, and said: "Secretary Sun, immediately contact Ruan Gaoqi and tell him that after dawn, I will launch several waves of air strikes against the Vietnamese G in the Luning area, bombers, attack planes and fighters, what do I want, please find a way to arrange it." ”

Bypassing the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff and the Air Force, and directly mobilizing troops, what is the difference between this and a coup d'état?

Wu Andong was stunned and was about to speak, Li Weimin shook his head and said, "Anton, I can't take care of so much now." As long as the North Vietnamese Command is eliminated in one fell swoop, the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, and the United States will not have any opinions. ”

"What if the operation fails?"

"Let Ruan Gaoqi carry the black cauldron, he has this awareness, and he may have wanted to do it a long time ago. For other people who participate in the operation, they ask for money to give money, they want to come to the six provinces, we welcome, and if they want to go abroad, we will arrange for them. ”

The boss is domineering, Yu Guanghe reacted, and hurriedly said: "Time is urgent, I will contact General Li Liangquan and ask the aviation team to formulate a battle plan immediately." (To be continued.) )