Chapter 266 Military Aid Conditions
It can be said that the effect of this military parade far exceeded the expectations of the Executive Committee and the Military and Police Department. On the one hand, the morale of the militia soldiers was boosted. On the one hand, it is truly gratifying to receive such enthusiastic support from the local people. Of course, this kind of reaction from the people is not just a simple group effect, but also comes from their deep-seated identification with the management of the executive committee and the local social system. This also fully proves the period since time travel. The role played by various civil affairs measures.
"The people's support can be used!" Even the oldest Mr. Yuan Ruoxiu was moved by the previous lively scene and continued to sigh after returning to the conference room.
"The common people's support for the militia is so high, which can reduce a lot of resistance to our plan to send troops." Yan Chujie also smiled in a rare way. As the head of the military and police department, what he is most worried about is not the danger of cross-sea operations, but that this decision will be opposed by the local people.
"Now all we need is to wait for news from North Vietnam." Tao Donglai also agreed with Yan Chujie's view. Since there is no local public pressure, the last obstacle to sending troops is the attitude of the North Vietnamese regime.
The sailboat Gu Kai and Qian Tiandun were traveling on was still dozens of nautical miles away from the Tushan Peninsula at this time. According to the original flight schedule, we should have arrived at our destination by this time, but due to poor weather conditions on the way, we had to change the direct route to Tushan Peninsula and stopped at Fushuizhou Island for a day to escape. wind and rain. Fortunately, this small delay would not delay the business. When they set off, the base camp had already contacted the garrison on Fushuizhou Island through the radio, asking Mu Xiabai and Feng Annan to contact the North Vietnamese special envoy first to express the willingness of the Executive Committee Resolution to send troops to help North Vietnam resist attacks by "southern rebels".
The special envoy sent by North Vietnam to Tu Son training camp to mobilize troops obviously did not have enough authority to handle affairs. Hearing the news, he did not dare to make a decision. He quickly sent someone to ride back to Thang Long Palace to report that the Hai Han people were willing to send troops. Helping was something the North Vietnamese regime had never thought of before.
The journey back and forth was more than two hundred kilometers, so when the people from the Zheng family hurried from Shenglong Mansion, Gu Kai and Qian Tiandun had just arrived at the dock of Tushan Peninsula. The two sides arrived at the training camp almost one after the other and began to negotiate on Haihan's dispatch of troops.
The representative sent by the Zheng family this time is still Zheng Zha, who had dealt with Tao Donglai before, and his father, King Zheng Zha of Qingdu, is currently dispatching troops and generals near Shenglong Palace, preparing to personally lead the team south. This is probably also directly related to North Vietnam's current unfavorable situation on the battlefield.
Zheng Zha seemed relatively calm and greeted Qian Tiandun and others one by one. Except for Zheng Zha, who had met Qian Tiandun once, it was the first time for Gu Kai, Mu Xiabai and Feng Annan to meet them. Seeing that the leader surnamed Tao didn't come last time, Zheng Zha felt somewhat relaxed.
"Mr. Zheng, we have learned something about the fighting situation of your army in the south through envoys before. But we have reservations about your intention to transfer this group of people from the training camp to the front line to fight. Although these soldiers They have been equipped with the weapons we provided, but they have not been exposed to them during the training period. Their actual combat effectiveness may not meet your expectations. The effect of forcing them to the battlefield may not be good in order to avoid something we don't want to see. Given the situation, we have decided to send a certain number of military advisers to assist you in attacking the rebels in the south." Gu Kai got straight to the point and stated his intention.
Zheng Zha is not a fool. Of course, he can imagine that the reason why the Haihan people offered to help is not because they are bored, but because they must have some exchange conditions to negotiate with their own side - just like the last time they bought arms from them, the result was After much discussion, the Haihan people rented a large piece of land in the northern bay. Fortunately, the area there has no actual value. If the Haihan people are willing to dig coal there, then it is good enough. Thang Long Mansion seems to have no actual losses. As for things like immigration, that's not a problem. It just so happens that Thang Long Prefecture has a large number of idle people who don't know how to deal with it. If we don't find a way to evacuate, something will happen sooner or later. From this perspective, the immigration request put forward by the Haihan people actually solved a problem faced by Thang Long Province.
But doing business is one thing, sending troops to help fight the war is another. Zheng Zhu asked cautiously: "Mr. Gu, what are your conditions?"
Gu Kai smiled and said: "There must be several conditions. After all, our soldiers have to cross the sea and consume a lot of money. You must make some compensation."
Zheng Zha nodded and said: "If it's military expenses, that's easy to say. We are willing to pay 20,000 taels of silver and ask you to send troops to drive away the southern rebels."
Gu Kai coughed dryly: "Twenty thousand taels...I'm afraid that's not enough."
Zheng Zha was stunned for a moment, then asked: "I wonder how many troops you plan to send?"
"Less than a thousand people." Gu Kai also knew that the conditions he was going to raise might make the other party a little uncomfortable, so he simply stated the number of troops to be dispatched a little vaguely.
"This... is only a team of a thousand people, 20,000 taels of silver is not enough?" Zheng Zhu felt unbelievable: "Mr. Gu may not know that in our battle in Annan, 20,000 taels of silver is enough to raise an army of nearly ten thousand people. .”
"The quality of the army is different." Qian Tiandun interjected: "Mr. Zheng, since you are willing to open this training camp and transfer soldiers and generals to learn advanced tactics from us, it is already very capable. That explains the problem. In our view, the army of ten thousand people is just tens of thousands of farmers. Whether it is combat skills or fighting will, it is still far from the requirements of a professional army. I can say this bluntly. This kind of troops are just like chickens and dogs in front of our army."
Zheng Zha's face turned red and he said: "We can recruit one hundred thousand troops in Shenglong Mansion. Even if our combat strength is not high, we will still have strength in numbers..."
"Mr. Zheng, fighting is also about feasibility. Even if you can recruit so many soldiers temporarily, do you have so many officers to command? Or should you break up all your existing troops and send them as commanders? Then how much combat power do you think your army of 100,000 people can have?" Qian Tiandun bluntly pointed out the fallacy in Zheng Zha's remarks: "Besides, each of 100,000 people only eats half a catty of rice a day. That's 50,000 kilograms of grain. In terms of combat needs, at least ten and a half days' worth of military rations would have to be stored. I don't know if so much grain would have to be transported from Shenglong Palace to a war zone 800 miles away. How does Mr. Zheng plan to solve this transportation problem? Will he recruit tens of thousands more civilians to transport food? ”
"You...you..." Zheng Zhao pointed at Qian Tiandun and wanted to continue to argue, but these combat theories were his weaknesses. He would make many mistakes if he said more. If he continued to talk, he would be caught by Qian Tiandun again. loopholes.
"Okay, okay." Gu Kai lost no time in jumping out to sing: "Lieutenant Qian didn't mean any harm. He just wanted to explain to you the disadvantages of recruiting troops from the private sector temporarily. Mr. Zheng, recruiting troops from the private sector is not only inefficient, but also The combat power is worrying. Even if they are forced to go to the battlefield, it may not be able to reverse the situation of the war. On the contrary, it may consume a lot of materials in vain. As for the negative impact this kind of conscription will have on the people, I think even if I don't talk about it, Zheng The gentleman should also have a good idea.”
Of course, Zheng Zha knew the disadvantages of temporarily recruiting troops from the people. These farmers and soldiers could be used for a while if the battle went smoothly. And because this kind of conscription is almost universal, all men of suitable age are forcibly conscripted into the army, which can easily trigger civil unrest among the people. However, the war in the south is now tense, and recruiting peasants and soldiers has almost become the last option for North Vietnam. Even if they know that there are various disadvantages, they can only bite the bullet and go for it.
Zheng Zha snorted, but did not express his attitude towards Gu Kai's statement.
Gu Kaihe and others were very good people. They thought that if you didn't defend yourself, you would be acquiescing. He then continued to persuade: "Although the army we sent is small in size, it is all elites. Not to mention peasant soldiers, they are your regular army. That strength is still far behind. Moreover, except for military rations, other combat materials are prepared and transported by ourselves, all of which do not need to be handled by you. Just imagine how much this 800-mile transportation line can save you. The cost of sending troops is definitely not cheap, but it is certainly expensive!" Zheng Zha pondered for a moment before asking again: "How do you calculate your military expenses?"
There is a door! Gu Kai suppressed the secret joy in his heart and calculated with his fingers for Zheng Zha: "The military expenses required by our troops are mainly divided into three parts. The first part is the shipping expenses. We need to transport the personnel and materials of the combat troops across the sea. To come over, at least seven or eight large-scale ships must be dispatched. During the battle, these ships must be on standby near the shore in case they need to maneuver at any time after the battle. Transporting people and materials back, so the freight is not negligible. By the way, if you really plan to send all the soldiers from the training camp to the front line, then we can send sea ships to transport them at the lowest cost. According to cost calculation, it only takes two or three days to reach the war zone, which is definitely much faster than marching by land.”
"The second part is the cost of our soldiers' garrison, including the material consumption and military salary of our soldiers during the garrison. This is a very reasonable cost, so I won't explain it more. The third part is the cost of participating in the war. If If our personnel directly participate in the battle, combat rewards must be distributed to the combatants, and the ammunition consumed must also be included in this part of the cost. Of course, if our personnel are injured or killed during the battle, then the subsequent pension costs will be incurred. It must also be calculated." Gu Kai finished explaining the calculation rules for military expenses in one breath, and then observed Zheng Zha's face in order to adjust his next strategy.
Zheng Zha curled his lips and asked with obvious displeasure: "Mr. Gu, have you calculated the approximate number?"
Gu Kai nodded and responded: "If it is only stationed and not directly involved in combat, the daily military expenditure of our unit is about five thousand taels. Considering the good cooperative relationship between us, this figure is already inclusive. Including the cost of shipping, there is no need to calculate the shipping costs separately during the war. If you directly participate in the war, you must add the costs I just mentioned..."
Zheng Zha couldn't help but take a breath of cold air as he listened - five thousand taels a day! This is still the cost of garrisoning. If you directly participate in the war, it is not surprising that the opponent will immediately double this number. Last time, the always smiling Tao leader also put forward a lot of harsh conditions. The Haihan people are really of the same origin in this regard! It seems that Lieutenant Qian introduced him just now that Mr. Gu seems to be Chief Tao's cousin? Wait, I seem to understand something...
Seeing Zheng Zha's ugly face, Gu Kai comforted him: "Mr. Zheng, don't think that five thousand taels a day is expensive. Can you buy the peaceful attitude of the southern rebels with five thousand taels of silver? Can it buy victory on the battlefield?" ? This is not the first time we have done business. The previous transaction was at least hundreds of thousands of taels, right? Did I make any false claims about my products? "< br>
Zheng Zhuo shook his head and said: "That's not true. Your things are indeed worth the money. There has never been any deduction in the transaction. You have also tried your best to train our soldiers. I know all this."
"That's it!" Gu Kai continued to persuade: "We will not ask you to pay for a long time in advance. If you are willing, you can pay it day by day. If you feel that our army is not worth this You can terminate this cooperation at any time if you buy a few thousand taels, and you can't be fooled if you buy a few thousand taels. If you miss our proposal this time, where can you temporarily organize a fighting force? The army comes out to stabilize the overall situation? ”
Zheng Zha thought to himself, what you say sounds nice, but in fact it doesn’t leave anyone a way out. You have to pay day by day. Our Zheng family is not so stingy as to be stingy! If you really want to do this, how can you hold your head high in front of the Haihan people and negotiate conditions in the future?
At that moment, Zheng Zha shook his head and said: "What Mr. Gu said is indeed correct, but the price you proposed is too high. I apologize that I cannot agree with it."
Gu Kai asked reluctantly: "What price does Mr. Zheng think is reasonable?"
Zheng Zha was silent for a long time this time before he said: "If you can reduce the previous price by half, then I can agree to this immediately."
"If the price is halved, then the number of troops we send will also be halved." Qian Tiandun responded to Zheng Zha without showing any weakness: "Mr. Zheng probably forgot one thing. What is urgently needed to add support to your civil war now is not We, but you. If the South Vietnamese army can really push northward, how much actual damage will it cause to us? We are just businessmen. What we can sell to you will also be sold by then. To the new people in power. If you feel that continuing to fight will not turn the tide of the war, you might as well consider your options first like we did..."
"That's enough!" Zheng Zha's face turned red again, but this time it turned red more because of anger: "No matter what, there is no way Ruan Ni can continue to advance north! Even if I, the Zheng family, fight to the last soldier, I will never compromise with Ruan Ni!”
"Mr. Zheng, we admire your courage very much, but in addition to courage, what war requires is also sufficient strength. In our opinion, the army currently controlled by you already lacks the ability to reverse the situation. The strength of the battle situation. Even if you bring all the musketeers here onto the battlefield, you may not be able to defeat your opponent. After all, judging from the current battle situation, the opponent's musketeers have formed an army much earlier than you. It's just that It’s just that I haven’t used it yet.”
"It's probably those hateful Western priests who are behind this!" Zheng Zha had no doubt at all that the Haihan people would sell the same weapons to the south. In his opinion, the most hateful ones were those who sold muskets to the southern rebels. There are Westerners in the army - there have always been businessmen and missionaries from the West operating in Hoi An, and there must be some outsiders among them who are interested in interfering with the civil war in Annan.
Of course, when Zheng Zha thought this way, he selectively forgot about the negotiating opponent sitting opposite - when it comes to intervening in the civil war in Annan, the Haihan Group is the real "conspirator", and has even involved the South Vietnamese regime and the The areas under the control of the Champa State were designated as strategic targets for future occupation. This kind of foresight based on the historical accumulation of hundreds of years in the future is far inferior to those missionaries and businessmen operating in South Vietnam, and those involved have never imagined the true purpose of the Haihan people's involvement in this matter.
In Zheng Zha's view, Gu Kai's lion's big mouth is very consistent with the Haihan people's usual business behavior - looking at everything from a businessman's perspective and calculating everything in terms of money. This group of greedy Haihan people proposed this military aid plan The biggest purpose should be to make a fortune from the Annan Civil War. For Zheng, although the price quoted by the Haihan people is high, it is not unaffordable. In fact, the daily consumption of tens of thousands of North Vietnamese troops stationed in the war zone is no longer a small amount.
But no matter what, Zheng Zha couldn't agree to Gu Kai's offer right away. Otherwise, how could the two parties discuss business in the future? Haihan said as much as he wanted, so where should the North Vietnamese Zheng family put their face? Therefore, regardless of Gu Kai's persuasion, Zheng Zha just insisted on the price issue and refused to let go.
After talking for an hour, Gu Kai took the initiative to ask for a break. Zheng Zha was just about to discuss it with his staff, so he agreed.
After Zheng Zha left the stage, Qian Tiandun said: "It seems that Zheng Zha has no objection to our sending troops. His concerns should mainly be for economic reasons."
"The money issue is easy to talk about. After all, our real purpose is not just to obtain economic benefits from this war. When appropriate, we can just make a step back." Gu Kai is obviously very satisfied with the current progress of the negotiations: "Even if Let’s take a step back. The money we earned from sending troops this time is enough for your military and police department to enjoy themselves!”
(End of chapter)