.Chapter 26 Reason

When the Vietnamese army attacked Guangping Province, Mu Haoyang's first strategic goal was achieved.

According to the war plan he formulated, he captured Guangping Province. The tactical purpose was to cut off the north-south transportation artery of Vietnam, and the strategic purpose was to force the main force of the Vietnamese army to go south. To this end, when the Marines attacked Guangping Province, Mu Haoyang asked Zhao Yuanren to send the 41st Army to Cambodia and let the 42nd Army mobilize combat, and set out to send troops from Cambodia and attack the Mekong Delta.

As long as the main force of the Vietnamese army goes south, there will be problems with the defense deployment in northern Vietnam.

By the 21st, the Vietnamese army had invested seven divisions, three of which were the main divisions that guarded Hanoi and the coastal defense, while the Vietnamese army had only five main divisions in the northern region.

Tactically speaking, the time is ripe for launching a large-scale ground attack.

On the 21st, Zhao Yuanren also proposed to launch a ground attack and promised to conquer Hanoi within five days and sweep the Red River Delta within ten days.

However, Mu Haoyang did not approve Zhao Yuanren's combat request.

It was not that he did not believe in Zhao Yuanren, nor that the army was not prepared. By the 20th, the 13th Army and the 14th Army of the Chengdu Military Region had completed the offensive deployment, and the logistics support work had been fully in place. Five divisions of the two armies could launch an attack within eight hours after receiving the order.

What made Mu Haoyang decide to wait and see is a strategic issue.

Mu Haoyang has not made a decision on whether to fight Hanoi first or Ho Chi Minh City first. Although many people at that time believed that Hanoi should fight Hanoi first and then Ho Chi Minh City, as long as possible, Mu Haoyang planned to fight at the same time and did not give Vietnamese authorities any chance.

If you want to attack Ho Chi Minh City, you have to wait until May 30th.

The 42nd Army can arrive in Cambodia as soon as possible on May 27, then complete the deployment in 48 hours, and then complete the offensive preparations in 24 hours. In other words, the 42nd Army can only reach combat status on the morning of May 30.

In addition to troop deployment, logistics support is also a big problem.

Before this, Mu Haoyang did not regard the use of Cambodia as a key point, but hoped that after capturing Guangping Province, he would draw a land brigade to open a landing ground in the Mekong Delta, and then the army would undertake the main combat tasks, so he paid more attention to mobilizing the landing fleet.

As a result, when the vanguard of the 41st Army had arrived in Cambodia, logistics support failed to keep up.

In the most optimistic estimate, the combat supplies of the two armies will not arrive until the end of May, and the Cambodian Army is responsible for logistics support.

The question is here, that is, whether the Cambodian Army can transport combat materials in place in time.

Mu Haoyang had no great hope for the Cambodian Army, so he made a request to Huang Zhibo, drawing engineering troops from the Jinan Military Region and the Nanjing Military Region to be responsible for logistics support.

In the Chinese Army, engineers are not only responsible for building bridges and roads, but also for transportation tasks if necessary.

What the two armies need is the troops that transport materials. The army itself has a logistics support force that can complete most of the logistics support work, but does not have enough transportation troops to deliver the combat materials hoarded in the rear to the front line, so logistical support is needed.

In this way, it will be at the earliest until early June, about June 4th, before launching a ground attack on the south.

That's why Mu Haoyang decided to wait a little longer and strive to launch a ground attack on the north and south lines at the same time, and to capture two core areas of Vietnam at the same time.

Wait a minute, there are also political considerations.

Although before this, the Chinese Ministry of Defense had announced that the landing in Vietnam was to combat Vietnam's expansion ambitions and prevent Vietnam from making a comeback, which was of a defensive counterattack nature, if it continues to fight and expands ground war, it is not a defensive counterattack, but an attack.

Politically speaking, it is invading Vietnam.

Obviously, China needs a more adequate reason to expand ground wars.

Whether this reason can be obtained is not to see how the Chinese army fights, but to see whether Vietnam will make mistakes, that is, whether it will bypass Guangping Province through Laos.

If so, then China has reason to expand ground war.

What Mu Haoyang had to do was to force Vietnam into a dead corner, make the Vietnamese army completely desperate on the front line of Guangping Province, and turn its attention to Laos.

The Vietnamese army entered Laos, which was equivalent to invading Laos.

Obviously, time is beneficial to Mu Haoyang.

By May 23, the seven Vietnamese military advisors heading south suffered heavy casualties. According to rough statistics from the Marine Corps, more than 20,000 Vietnamese officers and soldiers were killed in battle alone. Because of the continuous high-intensity bombing, most of Vietnamese infrastructure was destroyed, many seriously injured Vietnamese soldiers were not treated in time, and the actual casualties were far more than 20,000. According to statistics from the Vietnamese army, at least 40,000 were lost in these three days of battle.

Including the combatants who lost their combat effectiveness due to injuries, the seven Vietnamese military advisors basically lost their combat effectiveness.

At that time, on the north bank of Guangping River, there were more than 500 tanks and tanks that were blown up, and they stretched for several kilometers at three main river crossing sites.

The counterattack was frustrated, and the Vietnamese army either continued to increase its troops or gave up.

Obviously, giving up is the worst choice.

On the morning of the 22nd, the main force of the 41st Army arrived at Sihanoukville Port and drove to Swift Ridge accompanied by the Cambodian Army.

This is the protruding part of Cambodia, and Chibo Town, southeast of Swift Rieng, is only 60 kilometers away from Ho Chi Minh City.

With the assault capabilities of the 41st Army, you can reach the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City in at most two days. Because there is a straight road, the Chinese army does not have to worry about logistics support. If it can capture a port near Ho Chi Minh City, such as Vung Tau Port, the Chinese army can also establish a maritime supply line.

Obviously, the Chinese army's attack on the Mekong Delta is about to begin.

The Vietnamese authorities can only do two things: one is to accelerate the speed of war mobilization in the southern region and arm more combat personnel; the other is to accelerate the opening of north-south transportation lines and send additional main forces to the south.

The problem is that it is impossible to have any good results when attacking Guangpingxi, which is guarded by the Chinese Marine Corps.

On the night of the 22nd, the Chief of Staff of the Vietnam Army proposed to go through Laos, bypass Guangping Creek, and then encircle and suppress the Chinese Marine Corps with troops from the south and north.

This proposal was immediately strongly opposed by US military advisers.

There is only one reason: the Vietnamese army's entry into Laos will only worsen the situation and will provide China with a reason to expand the scale of the war.

But without relying on Laos, the Vietnamese authorities could only watch the Chinese army sweep across the Mekong Delta.

In the next two days, with the support of two new infantry divisions, the Vietnamese army continued to attack Guangpingxi, with no gains except for the number of casualties that increased by thousands.

On the 25th, the Vietnamese authorities approved the operational plan of the Army Chief of Staff.

That night, the first Vietnamese ground force crossed the old border line at night and occupied the town of Bandala in Ganmeng Province.

Mu Haoyang received the news around 1 a.m. and immediately called Zhao Yuanren and Yang Yufang over.

"The Lao authorities have asked us for help, and General Huang also approved the dispatch of the 15th Airborne Army." Mu Haoyang pointed on the map and said, "The first task is to regain Bandara and prevent the Vietnamese army from continuing to advance. Before the airborne troops are deployed, the Air Force must concentrate its efforts to block the border area of ​​the Vietnam-Laos."

Yang Yufang nodded and said nothing.

"If necessary, you can use incendiary bombs and cluster bombs." Mu Haoyang glanced at Yang Yufang and said, "The bombing should be concentrated on the Vietnamese side to minimize the losses suffered by Laos."

"Cluster Bomb?" Yang Yufang frowned.

Mu Haoyang nodded without explaining much.

As early as more than 20 years ago, China signed an international convention banning the use of cluster bombs. However, the United States has never been a party to the convention, so China's attitude towards whether to use cluster bombs is relatively ambiguous. Generally speaking, cluster bombs are within the ban.

"Laos is not the focus in ground combat." Mu Haoyang glanced at Zhao Yuanren and said, "You decided how to fight, but don't send the main force over. The main task of the airborne troops is to consolidate Laos' border defense line, and the ground attack must still be carried out in the way previously determined."

“No big problem, when will it start?”

"In a few days." Mu Haoyang lit a cigarette and said with a smile, "Mr. Huang mentioned this specifically, so that we can delay the ground attack at least forty-eight hours."

"Why?" Zhao Yuanren was a little confused.

"Vietnam's invasion of Laos is the main reason for us to launch a large-scale ground war, so the government needs two days to complete its political preparations."

"this……"

"We must fight, so you don't need to worry." Mu Haoyang patted Zhao Yuanren on the shoulder and said, "The performance of the Vietnamese army was much worse than we expected, so I think it is capable of launching an attack in both directions at the same time. You have to modify the combat plan and take a look at it as soon as possible."

Zhao Yuanren was stunned and then realized. "No problem, I will definitely hand it over to you the day after tomorrow."

"I only have one problem." Mu Haoyang paused for a moment and said, "If the battle starts in two days, that is, in the early morning of the 28th, will the 41st Army have the ability to capture Ho Chi Minh City?"

“It’s definitely OK.”

"So sure?"

"Just attacking Ho Chi Minh City, the 41st Army is enough. If you want to capture the entire Mekong Delta, you must send the 42nd Army as soon as possible."

"Then let's fight Ho Chi Minh City first."

Zhao Yuanren nodded, indicating that he understood Mu Haoyang's meaning.

"The offensive operation in the north should also be aimed at capturing Hanoi as its main purpose, and then attacking the coastal defense and other places." Mu Haoyang took a few puffs of cigarettes and said, "As expected, after we occupy Hanoi, the Prime Minister will definitely arrange for a more prestigious Vietnamese to go back."

"Support the pro-China regime?" Yang Yufang asked.

"It's almost the same. When we control the Red River Delta and the Mekong Delta, the war will be over."

Yang Yufang smiled and shook his head, not saying anything more.
Chapter completed!