Since the first use of shotguns in the Battle of Lijiazhuang last May, the massive lethality of this new type of artillery shell at close range has made it widely popular with the army. Since the Executive Committee's review of military spending has always been relatively strict, the Military Commission has also adhered to the line of elite troops, and the Haihan militia is often at an obvious disadvantage in terms of strength when fighting, so it must rely more on the advantages of weapon performance and tactical formulation and execution to achieve victory. In addition to the new breech-loading rifles, shotguns that can be fired from the Army's existing artillery are also heavily relied upon by the Army.

"The first company of the second battalion retreated to rest, and the second company of the second battalion entered the combat position!"

Following the order of the herald, the combat company, which had been holding its position for a morning, began to retreat in an orderly manner, with other companies taking their place. The withdrawn troops first had to check their guns, clear their chambers, count and replenish their ammunition, and then immediately eat to replenish their energy and seize the time to rest.

The artillery positions were in a constant shortage of personnel, and there was no way to replace them, so they also took advantage of the gap between the fighting and stopped to rest for a while. However, their treatment was much better than that of ordinary infantrymen, and the hot meals were already divided and carried directly to the gun emplacements by the people. In order to ensure that the nearly 3,000 combatants of the front-line troops could eat hot food on time, Heitu Port began to hoard coal in Yong'an Port as early as the end of last year, and then arranged for two cargo ships to be responsible for transporting coal from Yong'an Port to the war zone after the war.

Although this method of logistical supply may seem troublesome and costly, it has a very practical effect on ensuring the combat effectiveness of combat units. The amount of fuel that needs to be consumed every day for such a few thousand people to eat is not a small amount, and if there is no stable logistics support, it will be a big mess. What's more, the South Vietnamese army had already cut down all the trees within 10 miles outside the city, and it was impossible to find fuel from local materials.

The more than 100 artillery cadets who accompanied the team took advantage of the armistice to begin the work of cleaning and scrubbing the barrels and counting the replenishment of ammunition. Each of them was selected from among the new recruits at the end of last year, and they were flexible and bold enough. Their professional skills training was also taken over by Portuguese military advisers hired from Macao last year, and the speed of artillery training has also doubled compared with the previous increase in the number of instructors. On this expedition to South Vietnam, the Military Commission also included them in the list of battles, on the one hand, to see the real battlefield, and on the other hand, they can also be added to the regular army when necessary. Although the observation skills of these students may not be very strong, they are not much of a problem when used as loaders.

In the afternoon of the same day, the South Vietnamese Army launched two more offensives, but under the long-range fire of the Hai Han militia, they could only return in vain, and only increased the casualties by several hundred. Before nightfall, the South Vietnamese Army finally gave up the position near the river that they had fought for two days, because this place was completely shrouded in the range of the Hai Han militia, and there was no shelter for the troops stationed on this position to block the enemy's firing vision, and it was as defenseless as meat on a chopping block.

However, although the offensive of the Haihan militia was quite smooth, not all of them were under control, and uncontrollable factors were still objective. At the operational meeting of the front-line headquarters that night, the atmosphere was very solemn.

"Is there a possibility of large-scale rain in two days?Is this thing 50% reliable?" Qiao Zhiya asked in a questioning tone as he looked at the latest report in his hand with a frown.

"If there is a scientific basis, I'm afraid no one can come up with it now, after all, there are no meteorological satellites in the sky now. This is only an inference based on the synthesis of various information, and can only be used as a reference. Qian Tiandun didn't seem to be in a hurry, it seemed that he had already understood the contents of the report.

The weather forecast comes from the back office, and the sources of information are varied. There are speculations made by meteorologists in the military based on changes in cloud cover and air pressure, reference information provided by soldiers of Annamite origin who are familiar with the weather in Indochina, and even confessions from captured prisoners - in early March, there were always several heavy rains that lasted for many days in the area around Hue Province. These inferences, which are not supported by a number of figures, are naturally not very scientific, but no one can deny that the possibility of such a change in weather is objective.

As far as the Haihan militia is concerned, which is equipped with firearms on a large scale, the rainy weather is undoubtedly the objective factor that most restricts combat effectiveness. Although the muskets used by the militia are now loaded with breech loading and fired by fire caps, there is still a high possibility that the gunpowder will not be fired due to moisture in rainy weather. Not to mention artillery packed with gunpowder, if the rain is too strong and the cannon tube is flooded, then it will not be possible to fire the cannon at all. And if you want to start hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, then the Haihan militia is really not enough to see.

"It is better to believe what it is than to believe it, we do not fight unprepared battles, whether it rains or not, full preparation is the foundation of our invincible position. Yan Chujie quickly decided on this matter: "The staff also has a combat plan to deal with weather changes before departure, and it is enough to adjust tactics according to the plan." The relevant materials will be loaded overnight and transported to the front-line positions early tomorrow morning, and it is necessary to ensure that the combat effectiveness of the front-line troops is not affected by the weather!"

Although the rainy season in the Indochina Peninsula is from May to November, and it has not yet entered the real rainy season, the General Staff still took into account the uncertain factor of weather changes when formulating the combat plan, and formulated a corresponding combat plan. Although the musket artillery currently listed does not have the performance of being used in the rain, it is still possible to ensure the environment in which the weapon is used through some simple technical means.

To put it bluntly, this so-called technical means is actually nothing mysterious, it is nothing more than building a rainproof shelter on the position to block the rain falling from the sky as much as possible. At the time of departure, the logistics department prepared a large number of tarpaulin canopies and cloaks in the combat materiel, in order to meet the needs of the weather in case of unexpected needs. After more than ten days of fighting, these things finally came in handy.

The next morning, the South Vietnamese army, who was observing the enemy's situation on the castle tower, found that the Haihan people had no intention of continuing the offensive today, but had started construction on their own positions, digging ditches and burying piles.

The misty South Vietnamese Army couldn't understand it, but the Haihan militia knew very well why they were doing these things. Qiao Zhiya, who was an engineer when he was in the army, personally instructed the people and sappers to dig drainage ditches on the position, so as to ensure that several major fire output points would not be flooded by water on rainy days. Needless to say, the wooden stakes buried in the ground were used to build a canopy.

Soon, a canopy was erected with tarpaulins above the fire output point, and at this time, the South Vietnamese army, which had been in the fog on the city tower, finally figured out that the Haihan people were building rainproof facilities. The South Vietnamese Army, which was also aware of the signs of a change in the weather, chose to lie dormant on this day, and quietly watched as the Haihan people continued to expand the area covered by the canopy on their positions. There are not so many firearms in the South Vietnamese army, and the impact of rainy weather on combat effectiveness will definitely be less than that of the opponent, so instead of launching an attack now, it is better to wait until it rains, and maybe the firearms that the Haihan people rely on to become famous will lose their effect, and they will be easily taken down at that time.

By the time the sun had set, a canopy of tarpaulin canopies had appeared on the periphery of Haihan's position, covering all the fire output points below. As for the camp enclosed in it, there is not much change, because the texture of the military marching tent is originally a waterproof tarpaulin, and it is enough to dig a deep drainage ditch outside the tent.

At noon on March 10, the sky suddenly became gloomy, thick dark clouds hung over Hue City, and the wind gradually increased. Seeing that the heavy rain is coming, the Haihan position is busy, making final preparations for the upcoming weather changes.

"Here's another rope to reinforce it!" Qiao Zhiya pointed to a canopy and instructed the foreman behind him. As the person in charge of the construction of rainproof facilities, Qiao Zhiya is still checking and filling in the gaps in the position, striving to be foolproof.

In addition to the wooden stake supports, the tarpaulins were also tied to large iron nails that were nailed into the ground one foot with ropes to prevent these tarpaulins from being blown away by the strong wind. All kinds of war materials, especially guns and ammunition, are wrapped in tarpaulins and stored under the canopy to prevent them from being affected by water and moisture.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, after a burst of thunder that resounded in the sky, the soybean-sized raindrops finally fell from the sky and crackled on the canopy. Almost all of the officers looked up at the sky, as if trying to see with the naked eye how much rain was above them.

However, until everyone's necks were already sore, the rain did not decrease at all, but continued to increase. If it weren't for the widening and deepening of the drainage ditch on the position in advance, I am afraid that at this time it would already be a piece of Zeguo. But even so, this torrential rain has already made the warring parties lose the possibility of starting a war at this time, and the only thing to be thankful for on the Haihan side is that this torrential rain did not come at the same time as a strong wind, otherwise it is difficult to say whether these canopies reinforced with ropes on the position will stand the test.

Until it was dark, because the rain had not decreased, the South Vietnamese army did not choose to attack, and it was considered another day to delay if it was not dead.

By noon on the 11th, the rain had finally subsided, and the South Vietnamese Army had seized the opportunity to launch another attack on the Haihan position. However, to the despair of the South Vietnamese Army, the weapons used by the Hai Han militia were not greatly affected by the sudden heavy rain, and the artillery and muskets still successfully fired without accident, beating the South Vietnamese army that launched an attack in the rain to the point of a wolf howl, and almost at the same time as the militia opened fire, it retreated, and only launched a round of attacks before it was terminated. And because the surrounding terrain had become very muddy, the militia was not in a hurry to continue to advance the front, so the day's fighting ended here.

Fortunately, this heavy rain came to an end after this **, and the officers of the militia finally did not have to worry that the rain would continue to delay the progress of the war. On the morning of the 12th, the militia infantry launched a new round of attacks on the mud, and continued the battle line along the bank of the Xiang River towards the city wall of Hue City. The South Vietnamese troops, of about 2,000 men, who were trying to stop the militias, had to give way under the collective fire of muskets.

However, the command of the South Vietnamese Army did not have no way to think about it, and took advantage of the truce in the middle of the two days to transport several cannons from the city wall in other non-combating directions, and set them on the northeast corner battery that had been bombarded by concentrated fire before, and counterattacked the militia infantry outside the city. It has to be said that this trick was also a little unexpected by the militia commanders, after several shells flew into the infantry array of the militia and smashed several soldiers, the officer quickly ordered the infantry team to retreat to a safe distance, and then mobilized artillery to fight.

Due to the muddy ground, it took a lot of effort for the heavy artillery to push up to the front line, although it was only a few hundred meters away, it took a dozen guns a full two hours to get all in place, and then a concentrated attack was carried out on the northeast corner battery. The artillery on the city wall suffered from the range and could not compete with the Haihan artillery outside the city, so they could only be beaten passively in a depressed manner.

It is worth mentioning that the 48-pounder siege mortar that had just arrived in the line of fire just before the heavy rain was finally on its debut in this battle, and quickly reimbursed one gun and seven gunners on the fort of the city wall with a single accurate hit. By the time it got dark, the intense artillery strikes had completely silenced the northeast corner battery again, but the offensive that Haihan was trying to launch had not made any real progress.

But just one day later, the shape shì took on a new twist. The North Vietnamese army, which had pursued all the way from the north, directly skipped Quang Tri City without fighting, and had already marched to a place less than 20 miles west of Hue City, and sent the vanguard to make contact with the Hai Han militia that attacked the northeast corner of Hue City.

The total strength of the North Vietnamese army that crossed the cave south and pursued it this time exceeded 40,000, and although there were inevitably a considerable number of peasant soldiers with low combat effectiveness, there were also 4,000 people, and they were completely based on the Haihan combat system. About 10,000 of this army remained in the north to besiege Quang Tri City, while the rest of the troops marched south under the leadership of the North Vietnamese general Truong Bai and rushed outside Hue City.

Zheng Bai led his army south in such a hurry, and even skipped the siege of Quang Tri City without attacking, on the one hand, because the merit of attacking Hue City could not be missed, and on the other hand, he was also a little afraid that the Haihan people would loot Hue City after breaking through it, just as they did in Hoi An.

This kind of thing is not impossible, and with the style of the Haihan people, they will probably be happy to carry all the wealth in Hue City back to Qiongzhou Island on ships. And now the North Vietnamese court has regarded the South Vietnamese region as its own, and naturally does not want to let the Haihan people eat alone in Hue City - every tael of silver in this city will be the property of the North Vietnamese court in the future!

Zheng Bai sent people to contact the Haihan militia, first, to inform the allies that our army has arrived, so don't mess around, and secondly, he also wants to ask for some supplies from the Haihan side. The North Vietnamese army was anxious to come over and participate in the attack on Hue City, and the speed of the southward movement was so fast that it took only two days to rush over 120 miles, so that all the logistics and supplies were left far behind. At present, the military rations carried are only enough for three days, and the ammunition reserves are quite limited, so I am afraid that it will not be enough to fight high-intensity battles.

In response to the request of the allies, the front command still generously agreed to help, and was willing to temporarily provide some military rations and war supplies. Of course, this kind of aid in the line of fire is not gratuitous, and the value of every grain of rice and every bullet will be included in the military settlement of both sides after the war. In addition, the transportation capacity of materials must also be solved by the North Vietnamese side, and the Hai Han militia will not use limited manpower to wipe the North Vietnamese army's ass.

However, due to the unexpected arrival of the North Vietnamese Army, the command had previously drawn up a plan for fighting alone, which also required minor adjustments. Although it is not difficult to take Hue City alone, since the allies' troops have arrived nearby and have shown a strong willingness to participate in the war, it is not easy for Haihan's side to make the food too ugly. As for how to reap the benefits after the city is broken, it seems that now it can only take one step at a time. However, even if the North Vietnamese Army participated in the siege, the command was convinced that it would be impossible for them to break through the city defense before the Hai Han militia.

On 15 March, the military chiefs of the North Vietnamese and Hai Han sides met in a small village 15 miles north of Hue City. This area has long been cleaned up by the Haihan militia, so neither side has too many armed entourages, so Yan Chujie only brought Qian Tiandun plus a guard platoon by his side. After meeting each other, the two sides exchanged a few brief greetings and informed each other of their experiences and achievements since the beginning of the war. The Hai Han militia smoothly advanced the battle line outside Hue City to less than 300 meters from the city wall, and killed and wounded more than 4,000 South Vietnamese troops in the battle that lasted more than 20 days. The achievements of the North Vietnamese army are also worth boasting, they defeated the 8,000 South Vietnamese troops who remained in the local area in the battle of crossing the river in Dong Hai, and pursued the defeated troops all the way to Quang Tri City, and finally fled into Quang Tri City with less than 1,000 defeated soldiers, and the rest were either killed in battle or became prisoners of the North Vietnamese army. Although the city of Guangzhi has not yet been taken, the defenders in the city are less than 3,000 people, and there is no real threat. Zheng Bai plans to take out part of his forces to attack Quang Chi after he conquers Hue, which should be a sure thing.