Chapter 354 Changes in North Vietnam
Enrique did not stay too long in Wanshan Port. After a brief meeting with Chen Yixin, he hurriedly set off back to Macau. The news of the destruction of Hoi An City in Annan shocked the Macau Council. They never expected that the Haihan people would take the initiative to attack South Vietnam again after half a year, and directly destroy the most important seaport city in South Vietnam. Although some people still had some doubts about the authenticity of the news that Enrique brought back, just three days later, a messenger from Hue confirmed what Enrique said.
The South Vietnamese courier informed the Macau Council of the situation in far more detail than Enrique knew, and the severity of the matter exceeded the Council's previous judgment. The entire city of Hoi An was reduced to ruins due to war and riots. Ninety percent of the surviving residents of the city fled the place, while the rough Hai Han people took away most of the wealth in the city as the victors. Thousands of people in Hoi An died in wars, riots and the subsequent spread of epidemics. The city basically has no possibility of reconstruction and recovery. The local Portuguese Chamber of Commerce President Eduardo suggested abandoning the city completely and temporarily leaving Portugal The people's residence in South Vietnam was moved to Hue. As for the maritime trade business, due to the destruction of the port, it will not be able to recover in the short term. Fortunately, the last batch of Portuguese cargo ships just set off from Hoi An, and it will be at least two or three months before they return, so the situation is not that bad. Especially urgent.
Faced with this situation, the council had to reconsider Enrique's proposal to establish a trading station in Victory Port and establish trade relations with the Haihan people.
Although the Portuguese suffered significant economic losses in South Vietnam, the property taken away from Hoi An by the Hai Han people was nothing compared to the interests of the colonies throughout East Asia. Nowadays, more and more Ming merchants are more inclined to transport export goods to Victory Port on Qiongzhou Island for sale. The Portuguese must also consider shifting the procurement location of some bulk goods from Guangzhou to Victory Port - after all, that place is The free port is said to have no tariffs. Even if freight is included, the purchase cost of many goods is lower than that in Guangzhou.
Enrique's description of Port Victory also made the council very tempted. It is a port with complete facilities, smooth operation, perfect management and strong defense. Most goods produced in southern China can be purchased locally without terrible tariffs. , it is simply a trading paradise for businessmen. Enrique believed that compared to the professionalism of Victory Port, Hoi An Port, which the South Vietnamese court was proud of, was simply a rural place. He even suggested that the elders of the council have the opportunity to go to Victory Port to experience it for themselves. Western, but it can still be called a comfortable and noble Hai-Han style life.
Enrique was somewhat arrogant when he went to Port Victory. In his opinion, although the Haihan people had some ability in trade, they were still barbarians living on the island and could not compete with the civilized world of the West. Than, but the reality slapped him in the mouth mercilessly. Although the life of the Haihan people cannot be said to be luxurious, it is certainly beyond the reach of the Portuguese in Macau.
After returning to the smelly port of Macau, Enrique soon began to miss the clean living environment of Port Victory. Although the Haihan people's house was a little simple, there were absolutely no fleas on the soft big bed, bathroom and toilet. They are all cleaned up, and there won't be mountains of garbage piled up everywhere on the streets, emitting a stench without anyone cleaning them. As for the food, it cannot be compared with the Haihan people. All three meals here are tasteless and unpalatable. Only a few people are qualified to enjoy dishes with expensive spices. The Haihan people have different meals for each of their three meals a day, and their use of seasonings and spices is simply luxurious. The aroma of the meals is difficult to replicate here. Enrique attended the event on the first night after arriving in Port Victory When I took the feast, I almost swallowed my own tongue.
Even the Haihan militiamen stationed at Wanshan Port can enjoy convenient hot showers and three hot meals a day. This is completely different from the Portuguese understanding of joining the army. Enrique was not worried that the Haihan people's plan to recruit mercenaries would be difficult to realize, because their treatment of soldiers was simply difficult to provide elsewhere. Even serving as a soldier for His Majesty the Great King Felipe III on the mainland is not as good as the living conditions of the Haihan militiamen on an unknown island. As long as the mercenaries understand the treatment that the Haihan people can provide, they will definitely rush to serve the Haihan people.
After several days of study, the council agreed in principle to several suggestions put forward by Enrique, namely establishing trade relations with Haihan, setting up a commercial station in Victory Port, and providing artillery instructors to Haihan. But there was one thing that the Council was unwilling to change its attitude easily, and that was the protection of Portuguese interests in South Vietnam.
In order to support the Nguyen family in South Vietnam, Portugal has invested a lot of resources and provided various assistance in the local area. It has also spent a lot of money, and there are nearly a thousand Portuguese residents in the area. If it is because of the words of the Haihan people, Just withdraw, where is the dignity of the Portuguese Empire? Although Portugal was annexed by Spain in 1580, the Portuguese in Asia have no intention of easily changing their nationality, and still insist that they are Portuguese nationals.
Of course, it would be an extremely irrational choice to go to war with the Haihan people, who had considerable combat power, over South Vietnam. The Council would not make such a low-level mistake. The Haihan people have fully proven their strength in recent battles, and the Council does not want to have a head-on confrontation with such an opponent on the battlefield because of the South Vietnam issue. In the final analysis, the Macau Council still hopes to reach a face-saving solution to the South Vietnam issue with Haihan, at least not allowing the Portuguese to withdraw from the Indochina Peninsula as losers.
Enrique could only secretly complain after hearing this decision, which meant another long and difficult negotiation with the Haihan people. The Haihan people had expressed to him their attitude on the South Vietnam issue many times before, that is, the Portuguese must first completely give up their interest demands in Indochina, completely withdraw from the Annan Civil War, and ensure that they will not participate in it in the future. Possibility of continuing negotiations. If the Portuguese are unwilling to agree to such conditions, then the Haihan people may not give the Portuguese prisoners a chance to be free next time they launch a war.
However, the next step of negotiations means that Enrique can temporarily leave Macau and enjoy a comfortable life in the scenic Port of Victory. From this perspective, the council's stubbornness has a positive side - at least for Enrique personally.
However, while the Portuguese Council in Macau was still struggling with the South Vietnam issue, the situation in South Vietnam took on new changes.
On the day when Wang Tom led the Hai Han militia army to conquer Hoi An City, the Vinh An Port base in the north also received the telegram notification sent by them. Since this operation also included the North Vietnamese Army's support on the Hengshan defense line, the news was not concealed from the North Vietnamese. Soon the frontline leading general Zheng Bai also knew about it.
The North Vietnamese Army's Chen Bing was on the front line fighting for the river, originally to attract South Vietnam's attention so that the militia army could free up their hands in the south to clean up Hoi An City. But Zheng Bai, who was leading the army, did not completely regard this strategy as a performance. In his opinion, the imaginary is the real thing, and the real thing is the imaginary. If there is a suitable opportunity, then he can directly lead the army to attack the natural danger. , taking advantage of the situation to expedition south.
However, limited by the communication methods of this era, the news of the fall of Hoi An was transmitted from the incident site 600 miles away to the South Vietnamese military camp on the Zhengjiang front line. A full eight days had passed. This news caused quite a shock in the South Vietnamese military camp, because all South Vietnamese people knew very well what the fall of Hoi An meant to the South Vietnamese regime - it was not just economic losses.
Due to the mountainous terrain of Indochina, almost all towns in South Vietnam are concentrated in coastal areas. Even Hue, the capital, is only twenty miles away from the coastline. Since the Haihan Army has the ability to capture a "major town" like Hoi An in one day, it can be said that the entire South Vietnamese city was almost completely exposed to the gunfire of the Haihan people. Dong Hoi, which was attacked in the first half of the year, and Hoi An, which was attacked this time, were both captured by the Hai Han army that came across the sea. However, there is no army on the thousands of miles of coastline in South Vietnam that can compete with them. combat surface forces.
Hoi An City fell so quickly that Hue Prefecture also fell into a certain degree of panic after receiving the news. They didn't know whether the Hai Han people would choose to leave after they succeeded, or whether they would lurk somewhere in the open sea and take advantage of their unpreparedness. It's time to launch an attack on Hue Prefecture - judging from the firepower possessed by the Hai Han people, the walls of Hue Prefecture may not be able to stop them. So a transfer order was sent to the front line of Zhengjiang, and part of the army was to be transferred south to support Hue Prefecture.
However, this time the military movement was too loud and could not be hidden from the North Vietnamese spies. After the news reached Zheng Bai, he decisively decided to take advantage of this opportunity to launch an attack on the Zhengjiang defense line and cause the South Vietnamese a little pain.
At present, the first batch of North Vietnamese officers sent to Port Victory for training have all returned. After returning home, these people immediately became the backbone of the New Army, and Zheng Ting also continued to serve as the commander of the New Army. According to the combat methods they learned in Haihan, Zheng Ting organized a group of officers to hold a pre-war staff meeting to discuss combat plans. As the top local military officer, Zheng Bai naturally attended the meeting. He was very interested to see how much skills these young men had learned from the Haihan people after going to Victory Port for several months.
The biggest difference from the past pre-war preparation meetings is that the New Army headquarters has more detailed maps and a sand table model based on the map - this large sand table includes the Zhengjiang Hengshan area. After being made in Victory Port, it was shipped back for assembly. The materials are mainly clay and moss, and its size and proportions are completely derived from the satellite maps in the Haihan database. The simulation is extremely high. Every checkpoint, military camp, warehouse, etc. of the South Vietnamese defenders was even made based on the information provided by North Vietnam. , embodying details that Zheng Bai had never dreamed of before. Of course, this sand table is not provided free of charge. For this reason, the North Vietnamese court needs to provide an additional thousand immigrants with clean wealth and good health to Haihan Fang, which is of great value. However, after Zheng Bai saw the sand table with his own eyes, he believed that the cost was worth thousands of dollars. With such a detailed sand table, at least thousands of soldiers could be saved from paying innocent lives when formulating a battle plan.
The reason why the battle for the river can become a natural chasm is largely because traditional river-crossing operations lack long-range weapons to protect the troops crossing the river, and it is difficult for the river-crossing troops on ships to effectively attack the defense forces on the shore. , it is easy to be attacked by the defending party halfway across the river, so both sides have been stationed on the north and south sides of the river for a long time to form a stalemate. Last year, the South Vietnamese army secretly crossed the river from the upper reaches of the Zhengjiang River and succeeded in a sneak attack, which almost caused a major rout of North Vietnam. Since then, both sides have deployed a large number of sentries in the upper reaches. It will be difficult to rely on sneak attack tactics to compete for the crossing point.
However, it was not in vain that the trainee officers went to Victory Port to study for several months. The courses they learned during their stay in Victory Port were very targeted, and almost all were training programs designed for them by the Military Commission based on the imaginary enemy of South Vietnam. As for the subject of cross-river operations, they are naturally taught - of course, what they can learn is basically just to deal with "primitive" troops like the South Vietnamese Army. If they want to use the same tactics to deal with armed forces in the future, If the Haihan militia has reached its teeth, it is really asking for death.
"Judging from the combat methods taught by the instructors, the most suitable way to fight for the river is to use artillery cover and forcefully cross the river." Zheng Ting pointed at the sand table model and talked: "I have been patrolling along the river bank in the past two days. "The Zhengjiang River forks in many places at its mouth. The river is not too wide. The widest point is only over a hundred feet, and the narrowest point is only about forty feet. The flow speed is not fast, and the conditions for crossing the river are fully met."
"But don't forget, we don't have many ships available at the moment." Zheng Bai reminded in a deep voice: "If we cannot carry a large number of soldiers across the river in a short time, the soldiers who land first will most likely be defeated by the opponent due to their inferior strength. Eat it. As for the artillery cover you mentioned, it can only be used before landing. After you land, when the enemy troops come up and the two sides are fighting together, how can you still use artillery fire? "
"We can mix artillery and infantry to cross the river. After landing, we can directly deploy the formation and bombard the enemy." Zheng Ting paused and said, "Father, I don't know. The Haihan people have recently developed a kind of artillery shell. Its bullets are packed with thousands of iron seeds, and one shot can damage a large area. The lethality at a distance of 40 to 50 feet is far better than that of a bow and arrow. It is specially used to deal with dense enemy formations in close combat. In Panyu, Guangdong, I have personally seen the Haihan militia use this kind of artillery shells to deal with local bandits. One shot can knock down dozens of people. If the opponent's formation is dense, you don't even need to take aim, just aim in the general direction and fire. .”
Zheng Bai twisted his beard and responded: "It seems that our army has never purchased the artillery shells you mentioned."
"The Haihan garrison in Yong'an Port must have this. We can contact them and ask them to sell some to us." Zheng Ting knew the style of the Haihan people and immediately came up with an idea.
Zheng Bai nodded and said: "That's feasible, but I don't know how much this shell is worth. It should be the same price as the previous ammunition, right?"
Zheng Ting coughed dryly and lowered his voice: "The price quoted by the Haihan people for this new type of artillery shell is twenty-two rounds..."
"What?" Zheng Bai was so shocked that he almost jumped up from his chair: "Isn't this ten times more expensive than before? Haihan people are so open-mouthed!"
Zheng Ting asked Wang Tom as early as when he was watching the battle in Lijiazhuang whether this new type of artillery shell would be sold to the outside world. At that time, Wang Tom only quoted him the price, but did not explain whether it would be sold or not. Instead, he asked him to return to Victory Port. Go find someone from "Haihan Military Industry" and ask. After Zheng Ting inquired in many ways, he finally got the letter from Bai Kesi: it could be sold, but the price could not be negotiated, and the 100-piece sale would not be retail.
Of course, Zheng Ting would not spend his own money to buy the Haihan people's high-priced artillery shells, so after finding out more about it, he stopped for the time being. However, when Zheng Ting made a battle plan for the first time after returning to China, he thought that this kind of artillery shell could play a role in the battle, so he proposed it to his father.
Zheng Bai said angrily: "Although I have never seen the kind of cannonball you are talking about, this artillery can shoot stones and iron nails. It is not a new method. The Haihan people just replaced it with iron seeds and tried to wrap it up." , what’s the reason to sell it at such a high price?”
Zheng Ting shook his head and said: "My child thought so at first, but after watching the actual drill, I realized that there is a big difference between the two. Thinking about the method of loading stones, the range is only about ten feet at most. If it is farther away, it will fall to the ground, killing people." The range is extremely limited, but this Haihan-made cannonball can travel five times farther, and the iron seeds can still penetrate the body and injure the second person. The child has seen this power with his own eyes, and it is definitely not fake. Moreover, the stone-filled iron can still penetrate the body and injure the second person. The method of nailing is determined by the gunner. The loading weight and range are not fixed. However, the Haihan artillery shells are made according to standards. Each shell is of general weight and can be used universally with existing artillery. It’s expensive, but it’s reasonable.”
Zheng Bai was silent for a long time before he said: "In the past, our army did not have such Haihan firearms. They could still go into battle to kill the enemy and cut off rebellion. Now that you have returned from training, your desire to fight has not diminished. This is a good thing, but as long as you are single-minded, I don’t think it’s appropriate to rely on the Haihan people’s firearms to gain victory. What should I do if Haihan uses this to threaten our country?”
"If we had used firearms to fight earlier, our army would not have been defeated by the South Vietnamese rebels last year. Father, have you forgotten last year's tragedy?" Zheng Ting said angrily: "How can I not know that the Haihan people only sell weapons and do not pass on information?" The craftsmanship is based on evil intentions, but now that the north and the south are divided, we must first settle the internal affairs. Only when the South Vietnamese rebellion is eliminated can the court have the confidence to bargain with the Haihan people!”
Zheng Bai was silent for a long time before he said: "What you said makes sense, then go and ask the Haihan people for help according to your wishes!"
(End of chapter)