.

On May 14, the Marines launched a full-scale attack.

The third land combat brigade advanced straight westward. After the second land combat brigade struck south for ten kilometers, it also turned westward and headed side by side with the third land combat brigade.

On this day, the battle in the direction of the landing field reached its first peak.

After the 23rd Division and the 25th Division were dispatched, Mu Haoyang asked Yang Yufang to dispatch all the air forces to continue bombing two reinforcements.

Starting from 9 a.m. on the 14th, the air strike has not been interrupted.

Subsequently, the "Architecture" sent by Zhang Yuting also joined the battle and bombarded the Vietnamese army with large-caliber electromagnetic cannons from more than 100 kilometers away.

It can be said that it was the fierce air strikes and artillery fire that shattered the fighting spirit of the Vietnamese army.

After several rounds of attacks, by the evening of that day, the Vietnamese reinforcements were already defeated.

To the south, on the high-level highway from Donghe to Donghai, the destroyed Vietnamese troops stretched for several kilometers, and the Vietnamese soldiers with morale collapsed fled everywhere. To the north, on the highway from Hejing to Donghai, there were abandoned vehicles and the bodies of Vietnamese soldiers everywhere.

War is cruel, and the backward side can only be passively beaten.

In order to defeat the two Vietnamese second-line reserve divisions, the Chinese Air Force and the Navy dispatched 1,800 combat aircraft and dropped more than 5,000 tons of bombs in ten hours during the day. On some battlefields, fighter jets carrying out support missions also fired ground targets with machine guns.

Such a large amount of dispatching momentum not only shows that China's air power is strong enough, but also shows a problem.

The Chinese Air Force and Navy lack combat aircraft for close-range ground support

In the eyes of many people, in the era of advocating precise strikes, attack aircraft that were heavily armored, hovered at ultra-low altitudes, fought with bombs, rockets and artillery no longer had any use. However, in some special circumstances, attack aircraft that specializes in ground strike missions are still valuable.

The problem is that the Chinese Air Force does not have dedicated attack aircraft.

After the Q-5 was retired, the Chinese Air Force did not develop attack aircraft, but focused on multi-purpose fighter aircraft, hoping to replace attack aircraft with multi-purpose fighter aircraft. In addition, the Army was also equipped with armed helicopters, which could replace attack aircraft to a certain extent to perform close-range ground strike missions.

However, in this battle, multi-purpose fighters proved not suitable for close-range air support missions.

For example, in the morning of the 14th, an air force j-22 was shot down by a large-caliber anti-aircraft machine gun of the Vietnamese army while performing a close-range ground strike mission. At that time, after dropping all bombs, the fighter received a fire support request from the Marine Reconnaissance Force, entered an ultra-low altitude, and used machine guns to strafuse an infantry unit of the 24th Division. As a result, he was hit by an anti-aircraft machine gun when he changed the attack route.

It is undeniable that the j-22 is a very advanced fighter.

According to the Air Force's combat code, when there is no absolute necessity, the j-22 must keep the altitude above 5,000 meters to avoid entering the strike range of small-caliber anti-aircraft weapons. Most of the time, the j-22 does fly in medium and high altitudes and rarely enter ultra-low altitudes.

But there are always unexpected situations on the battlefield.

At ultra-low altitude, the j-22 is not stable enough and lacks sufficient protection. Not to mention small-caliber anti-aircraft guns and large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns can shoot it down.

If it was not j-22 but q-5 that was performing the support task at that time, it would definitely be another situation.

Not to mention, the heavy armor of the q-5 is enough to resist small-caliber anti-aircraft shells with a caliber of less than 23 mm, let alone anti-aircraft machine guns.

In addition to battlefield survival rate, combat efficiency is also a problem.

Take the US military's A-10c for example. When it is full of ammunition, it can patrol the battlefield for two hours and provide air support to nearby ground forces at any time. Not to mention, the seven-barrel Gatling cannon can destroy most ground targets and even penetrate the top armor of the tank. In comparison, the j-22 carries up to four bombs in the internal bomb bay, and can only carry eight bombs with an external pylon. The battlefield patrol time will not exceed one hour, and the ground targets that can be deployed to strike are only half of the a-10c.

Of course, there are also differences between multi-purpose fighters and attack aircraft in other performances.

For example, the attack aircraft has a slower flight speed and better maneuverability at low altitudes. For example, the turning radius is smaller and can conduct a second attack on the same target at a faster speed. The multi-purpose fighter aircraft has a faster flight speed and is not agile enough at low altitudes, making it difficult to conduct multiple attacks on the same target.

Compared with later wars, if the Chinese Air Force had an attack aircraft similar to the A-10c at that time, the combat dispatch momentum of May 14 could be reduced by at least one third. While maintaining the dispatch momentum, the ground strike capability could be increased by at least fifty%.

Of course, it is not only fighter jets, but also bombers that can handle ground strike missions.

The most important bombing during the day on May 14th occurred in the afternoon...Around the day, eight H-22 strategic bombers of the Air Force carried out a carpet bombing on the 23rd Division of the Vietnamese Army gathered on the road, dropping nearly 200 tons of bombs in two minutes, and annihilated thousands of Vietnamese troops in one fell swoop.

In terms of efficiency, this bombing was not high, but it was of great significance.

You know, this is the first time that h-22 has participated in actual combat.

This battle opened a new era, that is, China became the third country to have strategic bombers after the United States and Russia.

Using h-22 to perform tactical bombing missions seems a bit overkill.

This iconic bomber has a combat radius of 4,500 kilometers and a maximum load of 27 tons. It can carry nuclear bombs to perform strategic bombing tasks and can also carry conventional ammunition to perform conventional bombing tasks. Under normal circumstances, when performing conventional bombing tasks, the main ammunition of the H-22 is air-launched cruise missiles and guided bombs, especially outside defense ammunition equipped with gliding bomb wings.

However, in this bombing, the eight bombers used non-guided bombs.

It is not that the non-guided bombs are cheaper, but that the Air Force does not understand the performance of the H-22, so it arranged a relatively simple task.

In terms of psychological attack, eight bombers dropped 200 tons of bombs to the same target, which was definitely more useful than dropping hundreds of guided bombs to dozens of targets. At least in this bombing, all the surviving Vietnamese officers and soldiers collapsed, and some even took the initiative to surrender to Marine Scouts.

This battle also shows that the h-22 has full combat capabilities and can perform more advanced strike missions.

By May 15, the two additional divisions sent by the Vietnamese army and the 24th Division guarding Guangping Province all collapsed, and the Marines encountered almost no organized resistance on the ground battlefield. Even after several ground battles, most of the time, the Marines issued support requests, and the Air Force and the Navy came forward to resolve the problem.

By the morning of May 16, the Third Land War Brigade had reached the Vietnam-Lao border.

In the afternoon, the Second Land War Brigade completed the assault operation.

Pang Yuelong is expected to take ten to twelve days of combat operations and it will be completed within five and a half days.

The smoothness of the attack was far beyond Mu Haoyang's vision, and the Vietnamese army did not enter the jungle to fight guerrilla warfare as they imagined.

In fact, there are not many jungles in Guangping Province.

Before the outbreak of the war, Guangping Province was the main rubber planting area in Vietnam, with output accounting for 40% of the country and dozens of rubber gardens were distributed. In addition, Guangping Province is also a major grain-producing province in central Vietnam, with nearly one million mu of rice fields and an annual rice production of nearly 1.5 million tons.

Obviously, plantations and rice fields are by no means good places to fight guerrilla warfare.

Given that the Marines' offense was very smooth, Mu Haoyang adjusted his combat deployment on the same day, allowing the engineering battalions of the Second Land and Third Land Brigade to arrive ashore in advance.

In order to speed up the deployment of engineers, the two engineering battalions will first open a field airport near Donghai.

Subsequently, the engineering battalion of the Fourth Land War Brigade and most of the engineering equipment will be sent over by transport aircraft. If the project progresses smoothly, several engineering battalions will be drawn from the Army.

Speaking of engineering troops, Mu Haoyang has no need to worry at all.

The Army has a total of 180 engineering battalions, and in addition, the Second Artillery, Navy and Air Force has more than 100 engineering battalions, and the total strength of the engineering troops is more than 400,000. During peacetime, these engineering troops are mainly engaged in military-related construction work, such as building roads and railways in remote areas, building field airports in mountainous areas, etc. In the "China" project, the military's engineering troops were all trained.

It can be said that the Chinese military has the world's first-class engineering force.

In terms of engineering equipment, it will naturally not lag behind. According to standard equipment, the Army's engineering battalion has at least 200 vehicles and construction equipment of various types, which is more than the US military's engineering battalion. Most of them are manufactured according to military standards and can adapt to harsh battlefield environments.

Interestingly, the Chinese military vigorously built engineering troops not targeting Vietnam.

After the First Indian Ocean War in 2027, the Chinese army strengthened the construction of engineering troops, mainly targeting future wars with India. You should know that whether in the eastern border areas or in the western border areas, the environment in the border areas between China and India is very harsh and the basic conditions are very bad. Only some major projects can be carried out during peacetime, so a sufficiently powerful engineering force must be prepared for the wartime.

In accordance with this requirement, the strategic delivery capabilities of the Chinese Air Force have also been highly valued.

Although the Chinese Air Force is not as good as the US Air Force in terms of total transport aircraft and transportation capacity, the Chinese Air Force attaches more importance to air operations under harsh conditions. For example, in the Chinese Air Force, both main transport aircraft have the ability to take off and land on earth runways, and do not need to be maintained when transporting materials and soldiers to the front line, and can ensure more than ten consecutive flights.

Using the power of printing to deal with Vietnam is definitely a waste of money.

On May 18, the field runway began to be used.

On the same day, eighty transport planes arrived and brought the engineering battalion of the Fourth Land War Brigade and the engineering equipment required by the three engineering battalions.

On this day, the last unit of the 24th Division of the Vietnam Army surrendered.
Chapter completed!