Chapter 371 The Tragedy of South Vietnam
October 13, 1628, Yinggehai Wharf, Qiongzhou Island.
"Don't stop, line up and follow the signs!"
Policemen in black uniforms and rattan helmets waved wooden batons in their hands to guide the immigrants who had just disembarked from the boat to move forward so as not to block the dock bridge and block subsequent unloading flatbed carts. There are directional signs with red arrows at regular intervals on the roadside, guiding migrants to the camps that have just been put into use.
In fact, these immigrants were still somewhat uncomfortable with the unique police system under Haihan's rule. Most of the places where they lived in the past were rural areas, and it was rare to see county police officers. Unlike under Haihan, where you could see police officers in black uniforms maintaining law and order everywhere. In the past, you could do anything and say anything without any scruples, but under the rule of the Executive Committee, you are no longer so free. Those who disobey the instructions of the civil affairs cadres or make malicious comments about the executive committee may be punished by these black-clad policemen, which may range from being slapped with a baton to being directly arrested and imprisoned for three to five days.
Of course, there are some tough guys who did not recognize the authority of these men in black at the beginning and tried to resist to protect their own interests. However, the security police quickly used shields and batons to help these itchy guys loosen their bones. After more than a dozen troublemakers were imprisoned in the horrifying forced labor camps, the behavior of the new immigrants became much more well-behaved.
Fu Li stood on the side of the road, with both hands on the cowhide armed belt around his waist, looking at the immigration team passing by with an expressionless expression. He had been assigned to the security force before the military and police department was established. After the military and police department was split into two at the annual meeting, he was naturally assigned to serve in the newly established police department. In view of Fu Li's special status and his good performance, the senior management was not stingy in promoting him. He currently serves as a squadron leader in the police force and has a team of fifty people at his disposal. Command, considering the nature of the police force as a violent institution, its power is not small.
After living with the Haihan people in Victory Port for more than a year, Fu Li has already distinguished himself from the traditional Li people in appearance and clothing. Not only has he cut off his shoulder-length hair, removed his earrings and other accessories, and his speech He also behaves more like an authentic Haihan person, and even his accent has begun to change to standard Haihan Mandarin. If his dark complexion hadn't revealed his identity, it would have been hard for anyone to believe that a year ago he was still an ordinary boy in a Li village.
Looking at the entire naturalized citizen system, Fu Li should be considered the youngest cadre - he turned sixteen only a few months ago. The only naturalized citizen who is closer to him in age and has been favored by the executive committee is his good friend Yu Xiaobao, who is one year older than him. At present, Yu Xiaobao is still working in the General Office of the People's Republic of China, but his position has been promoted from the handyman last year to the person in charge of the external reception desk, specifically responsible for the work of welcoming people and sending them there. Although he does not seem to have the same scenery as Fu Li in uniform, However, this job has a large contact area, and the personal relationships that can be established can also play a significant role in promoting Xiaobao's future development.
This time the executive committee decided to open up a colonization site in Yinggehai, and Fu Li was also entrusted with the important task of leading a team here to maintain security and order in the area. Now, no matter which system you are a naturalized citizen, you are very aware of the hiring habits of the Haihan leaders. Any naturalized cadre who is named to lead the team for foreign affairs basically means that promotion is imminent. Therefore, after the police department's transfer order came down, colleagues all expressed their congratulations to Fu Li in advance.
However, Fu Li himself knew very well that this task was not as simple and easy as it seemed, because Ren Liang had talked to him before and pointed out to him the difficulties that might arise in the work.
The biggest problem is the gap between ethnic groups. The people assigned to settle in Yinggehai this time are almost all new immigrants from the mainland. However, more than half of the police responsible for maintaining public order here are of Li and Miao ethnic origin. The relationship between the Han people and the Li and Miao people in this era was definitely not as harmonious as in later generations, and there were some hidden dangers. One of Fu Li's tasks is to blur the differences between ethnic groups as much as possible, enforce the law impartially, and prevent local people from developing too much resentment against law enforcers because of ethnic issues.
The second issue is local security defense. The Executive Committee has been slow to implement the Yinggehai immigration project. The main reason is not the long distance or the harsh natural environment, but the lack of key nodes required for military defense in the terrain. The entire seaside area of more than ten miles is completely flat. There is no cover, and landing can be achieved at any point on the coast. If you want to achieve a more reliable defense, you can only build a large bastion similar to Victory Fort, and this cost is something the Executive Committee is not willing to bear - in fact, the Executive Committee does not even plan to send a militia group to Taipei. multiple people, instead leaving the main local defense to the police department.
The reason why the Executive Committee has such an arrangement is mainly because after the current territory expansion, there are more and more strategic nodes that require military garrison, and the existing militia establishment is also becoming more and more fragmented, which is not consistent with The military's conception of local garrisons. In view of the current overwhelming superiority of the Haihan Navy in the Beibu Gulf, the military believes that the possibility of being attacked by the sea at Yinggehai is very slim. The actual role of stationing troops there is limited. Rather than deploying troops in salt fields, Where there is little defensive pressure, it is better to go north or south to control more overseas strategic nodes.
This opinion of the military was recognized by the Executive Committee, so Fuli and his brothers must take on additional defense tasks. If this place is really invaded by foreign enemies, then their group of policemen must respond immediately Organize defense forces to resist. Of course, the Executive Committee would not just let them fight off the enemy with wooden batons, and specially issued them dozens of short-barreled shotguns newly produced by "Haihan Ordnance Industry". However, these rifles are usually locked in the weapons warehouse, and only at special times can the local Haihan cadres grant them the authority to use the weapons.
"Don't stop, follow the signs and go forward!" Seeing that the team suddenly slowed down, Fu Li shouted loudly: "Don't wait around, it's almost dark!"
Under the urging of the police, the first batch of a thousand immigrants finally entered the camp before it became completely dark. Although there is no budget or time to build a large-scale bastion like Fort Victory, the facilities that the immigrant camp should have are still very complete, such as peripheral wooden walls, isolation trenches, wells, public toilets, etc. The residences of the immigrants are still the unique boat-shaped houses in Qiongzhou. However, the current boat-shaped houses have been greatly improved by the Ministry of Construction. They use prefabricated standard components, which are not only faster to build, but also easier to maintain daily. convenient.
After the immigrants settled in, the logistics department first distributed dinner. However, the police team led by Fu Li could not stop and rest at this time. They had to patrol outside the camp and then allocate night duty positions and manpower. Consider finishing today's work.
Early the next morning, the shrill reveille woke the immigrants from their dreams. From today on, they can no longer continue to live idle lives, but must start using their own labor force to contribute to Haihan's career.
Anxi and his entourage did not live in a boat-shaped house, but in a prefabricated house specially prepared for Haihan cadres. Although there are already mature operating procedures for salt farm construction, Anxi still believes that he needs to see it in person before he can feel relieved. This time, under Anxi's strong advocacy, the production supervisor of Yinggehai Salt Field is no longer a time traveler, but a native-born local naturalized citizen Jiang San Jiang Kaishen.
Jiang Kaishen's working relationship had already been transferred from the salt field and went to work in the civil affairs system. But this time when planning the Yinggehai project, Anxi came forward to bring him back and entrusted him with important tasks. Because of this appointment, Jiang Kaishen suddenly stepped from the third-level labor to the fourth-level labor, becoming one of the few senior naturalized cadres under the executive committee.
Jiang Kaishen himself was naturally grateful for such a promotion. Although he had no education, he also knew that it was an excellent opportunity for him to follow a nobleman like Anxi, so he was determined to perform well in his new position in the new salt field.
"Mr. An, this is the first phase of our planned construction site." Jiang Kaishen hunched over and stood next to Anxi to introduce the construction situation in front of him: "The first phase of the project has a salt drying pond with an area of 300 acres, and the construction period is 20 Days, but after looking at the construction schedule, the villain thinks that the construction period can be shorter and can be completed in only fifteen days.”
An Xi coughed and said, "Stand up straight and speak. Also, don't be a villain. It sounds uncomfortable." "Yes, yes, yes, villain... I remember it." Jiang Kaishen responded hurriedly. .
"It is a good thing to be able to shorten the construction period, but the labor sentiment of the new immigrants must also be taken into consideration. These people have just come from the mainland and do not understand our labor policies very well. If you ask them to work overtime, there must be a reasonable reason." It’s just a matter of reason. I don’t want these people to resist the work arrangements of the salt farm because of the heavy labor burden. Do you understand what I mean?” Anxi naturally understood that there was some intention in Jiang Kaishen’s suggestion. As for what he wanted to do, How to shorten the construction period? I don’t know if I can only ask the people below to work longer hours.
Jiang Kaishen's head bent lower: "Yes, yes, I understand."
"Do you still remember the two requirements I told you before?" Anxi then asked.
"Remember, remember, Mr. An's teachings will naturally be remembered." Jiang Kaishen said quickly: "Mr. An said that quality and quantity must be maintained in the production and construction of salt farms. Quality first, then quantity. I have always kept it in mind."
All one thousand immigrants assigned here were put into the salt farm construction project. They need to build an astonishingly large sun-salted salt area in the inland salt lake tidal flat area here, and then use the unique high-concentration salt water here to produce high-quality and low-cost sea salt.
The subsequent construction of the immigration camp is also in progress. Before the end of the year, the executive committee will arrange for three to four thousand immigrants to settle here, expand while producing, and complete the main construction project of the Yinggehai Salt Field within next year. .
While the construction project of the Yinggehai Salt Field was in full swing, Portuguese merchant ships from Macau also sailed into the Sanya Port for the first time. The main mission of this two-masted sailing ship in Sanya is to complete the first arms transaction after the two parties signed the cooperation agreement, including 500 Type 27 matchlock guns and 20 Haihan artillery pieces, as well as corresponding supporting ammunition and maintenance Accessories. In terms of transaction amount alone, this transaction is not large. Every order Fujian Xu Xinsu places with Haihan far exceeds the transaction amount. But from a political perspective, this transaction means that both parties have completely abandoned their previous hostile attitude and turned to the direction of achieving win-win cooperation through trade.
But some people are happy while others are worried. While the executive committee members and the Portuguese toasted to celebrate, South Vietnam was already in the most difficult situation at this time.
Since the fall of Hoi An in August, the Nguyen court in South Vietnam has been facing constant troubles. The destruction of Hoi An City caused the interruption of import and export trade, which has greatly affected the economic situation in South Vietnam. It has also caused turmoil in the ruling area. The powerful and senior officials are worried that the Haihan army will raid Hue from the sea.
After hurriedly repatriating some troops from the northern front, before they could settle down, the North Vietnamese army suddenly launched a large-scale cross-river operation. This time, the garrison troops deployed at the Zhengjiang Hengshan defense line failed to stop the North Vietnamese attack. They retreated again and again under the fierce artillery attacks, and finally lost the natural moat defense line that South Vietnam relied on the most.
This time the front moved southward, which was no less unfavorable than the previous two years. At least at that time, South Vietnam still had the strength to organize a strong counterattack and successfully drove the North Vietnamese army back to the area north of Zhengjiang. But this time it is a bit more difficult to reverse the unfavorable situation again. This is not only because South Vietnam has lost a large number of elite troops in successive battles, or the destruction of Hoi An in the south has caused a great economic recession, but more importantly, the Portuguese, who the South Vietnamese court has always relied on, It even unilaterally announced the termination of all military cooperation.
All Portuguese instructors stationed in the South Vietnamese Army evacuated, and all Portuguese craftsmen who repaired muskets and artillery for the new South Vietnamese Army evacuated. Even the Portuguese envoy stationed in Hue actually left Hue after announcing the decision from the Macau Portuguese Council. Huacheng. As for the Portuguese businessmen who were doing business in various places in South Vietnam, they also began to sell off their assets and left South Vietnam by boat.
Even if you wanted to hide this kind of news, you definitely couldn't. The evacuation of the Portuguese caused great panic to the South Vietnamese government and the public, and various rumors began to appear. Some people say that the Portuguese chose to actively avoid and give up the South Vietnam because they were afraid of being beaten by the Haihan people. Some people also say that the Portuguese and the Haihan people have colluded together, and the next step is to jointly send troops to attack South Vietnam.
South Vietnam would be unable to withstand Hai Han's attack alone. If Portugal was added to the attack, there would be no need to think about the outcome. As a result, South Vietnam quickly fell into chaos, and some nobles had begun planning to flee. Some even sent envoys to sneak into North Vietnam secretly through the mountains to discuss surrender. Ordinary people did not have so many options to think of, so they could only choose to go south to Champa or go north to surrender to the Thang Long government.
In such a chaotic situation, the Champa Kingdom in the south suddenly emerged as if deliberately joining in the fun. The envoy from Champa announced to the South Vietnamese court that the Champa State did not recognize its current status as a slave state and would use force to regain all the territory occupied by South Vietnam in the past hundred years.
The Champa Kingdom's announcement was no joke. Before South Vietnam's ministers could discuss a unified response, Champa declared war. The South Vietnamese ministers were very surprised to find that the weapons used by the occupying troops were exactly the same as those of the North Vietnamese army!
In addition to the fact that the combat level is obviously very amateurish and far inferior to the well-trained New North Vietnamese Army, this is simply a replica of another New North Vietnamese Army. The army sent to deal with the Champa Kingdom was defeated in the first battle. Only less than 300 of the 5,000-strong army retreated to Quy Nhon in the south alive. As for why such a situation occurred, the officials of the South Vietnamese court were not fools, and they quickly figured out the key - the hateful Haihan people must have intervened again!
The South Vietnamese court was surprised to find that before they knew it, the Haihan people on the island far across the sea were supporting two armed forces on the north and south sides of South Vietnam at the same time, and successfully drove away their only ally. This left Hue Prefecture in an isolated and helpless situation.
Although the South Vietnamese imperial court still has 70,000 to 80,000 troops under its command, it is really difficult to say how much fighting will the army still has under the current situation. If these troops are forced to go to the battlefield to fight against the North Vietnamese, Champa and the Haihan people who may appear at any time, there may really be a situation that collapses at the drop of a hat.
It is almost a consensus that there is no debate on this point. But if they surrender directly to the North Vietnamese court, the ruling Nguyen family will not be willing to do so. Moreover, they also know very well that direct surrender will not win the Zheng family's forgiveness. The result waiting for them is, if not beheading, at least the entire clan will be exiled. And for them, how could such a result be any different from death?
In this desperate situation, the last way out that the South Vietnamese court could think of was to sue for peace - but the object of this peace was not the North Vietnamese court, but Hai Han, who had great influence on North Vietnam. .
Naturally, there is no direct connection between South Vietnam and Hai Han. After the Battle of Hoi An, almost all Chinese businessmen in South Vietnam withdrew, and no Chinese businessmen were willing to take the risk to stay here. Finally, after begging grandpa and grandma everywhere, I finally found a Portuguese trading company that was preparing to leave South Vietnam and go north to Macau, and asked them to take their special envoy to Sanya, the hometown of the Haihan people, to see if they could get a chance to breathe.
(End of chapter)