Chapter 354 Changes in North Vietnam

Enrique did not stay too long in Van Son 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 have some doubts about the authenticity of the news that Enrique brought back, it only took three days.

Afterwards, a messenger came from Hue Province to verify what Enrique said.

The South Vietnamese messenger 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 Hoi An city was reduced to ruins due to war and riots, and the surviving residents of the city

Ninety percent of the capital fled the place, and the rude Hai Han people took away most of the wealth in the city as the victors. Thousands of people in Hoi An died in the war, riots, and the subsequent spread of the disease. The city was basically

There is no possibility of reconstruction and recovery. The local Portuguese Chamber of Commerce President Eduardo suggested abandoning the city completely and temporarily moving the Portuguese residence in South Vietnam to Hue. As for the maritime trade business, due to the destruction of the port, it will not be possible in the short term.

It would be impossible to recover. Fortunately, the last batch of Portuguese cargo ships had just departed from Hoi An, and it would be at least two or three months before they returned, so the situation was not particularly 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 heavy economic losses in South Vietnam, the property taken away from Hoi An by the Haihan people was nothing compared to the interests of the colonies in the entire East Asia region. Nowadays, more and more Ming merchants are more inclined to export

When the goods are shipped to Victory Port on Qiongzhou Island for sale, the Portuguese must also consider shifting the purchase location of some bulk goods from Guangzhou to Victory Port - after all, that place is a free port that claims to have no tariffs. Even if freight is included, many goods

The procurement cost is also lower than 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, and there are no terrible tariffs.

, it is simply a trading paradise for businessmen. Enrique believes that compared to the professionalism of Victory Port, Hoi An Port, which the South Vietnamese court is proud of, is simply a rural place. He even suggested that the elders of the council have the opportunity to go

Come to Shengli Port to experience for yourself the Hai-Han style life that is different from the West, but can still be called comfortable and noble.

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 Western civilized world.

Although the life of the Haihan people cannot be said to be luxurious, it is certainly beyond the reach of the Portuguese people 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 everywhere on the streets, emitting a stench that no one cleans. As for the food, it can’t be compared with the Haihan people. All three meals here are useless.

The taste is unpalatable, and only a few people are qualified to enjoy dishes with expensive spices. However, the Haihan people have different meals three times a day, and their use of seasonings and spices is simply luxurious.

The aroma of the food here is difficult to replicate here. When Enrique attended the reception banquet on the first night after arriving in Victory Port, he almost swallowed his 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

I am not worried that the Haihan people's plan to recruit mercenaries will be difficult to realize, because their treatment of soldiers is simply difficult to provide elsewhere. Even if they serve as soldiers for His Majesty the Great King Felipe III in the mainland, they cannot compare with the Haihan militia.

The living conditions on an unknown island are good. 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.

The Council of Ministers was unwilling to change its attitude easily, which was to protect the interests of the Portuguese 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 local area. If it is because of the Haihan people's words

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 have considerable combat power over South Vietnam. The Council will not make such a stupid mistake. The Haihan people have fully proven their strength in recent battles.

Strength, 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 letting the Portuguese be the loser.

Withdrew from Indochina.

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 their attitude to the South Vietnam issue to him many times before, that is,

The Portuguese must first completely give up their interest demands in the Indochina Peninsula, completely withdraw from the Annan Civil War and ensure that they will not participate in it in the future, then it is possible to continue negotiations. If the Portuguese are unwilling to agree to such conditions, then the Haihan people will

I am afraid that when the war was launched this time, the Portuguese prisoners would not be given a chance to be freed.

However, the next step of negotiations means that Enrique can temporarily leave Macau and enjoy a comfortable life in the beautiful Port of Victory. From this perspective, the stubbornness of the council has also played a positive role.

One 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 new changes.

On the day that Wang Tom led the Haihan militia army to break through Hoi An City, the Vinh An Port base in the north also received the telegram notice sent by them. Since this operation also included the support of the North Vietnamese Army on the Hengshan defense line of Zhengjiang, this news

They did not hide it from the North Vietnamese, and 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. It was originally intended to attract the attention of South Vietnam so that the militia army could free up their hands in the south to clean up Hoi An City. However, the leader Zheng Bai did not completely regard this strategy as a performance.

, in his opinion, what is imaginary is what is real, and what is real is what is imaginary. If there is a suitable opportunity, then one can directly lead the army to attack the natural dangers and take advantage of the situation to advance 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. And this news caused a stir in the South Vietnamese military camp.

It was quite a shock, 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 "Hoi An City" in one day,

"An important town", then it can be said that the entire South Vietnamese city was almost completely exposed to the gunfire of the Haihan people. Dong Hai, which was attacked in the first half of the year, and Hoi An, which was attacked this time, were both attacked across the sea.

It was conquered by the incoming Haihan Army, and there was no surface force that could fight it on the thousands of miles of coastline in the entire South Vietnam region.

The city of Hoi An fell so quickly that Hue Prefecture 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 was time to launch an attack on Hue Prefecture - judging from the firepower possessed by the Hai Han people, the city walls of Hue Prefecture might not be able to stop them. So a transfer order was sent to the Zhengjiang front line, and some troops were sent south to return reinforcements.

Hue Province.

However, this time the military mobilization 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 Jiangjiang defense line and cause some suffering to the South Vietnamese.

At present, the first batch of North Vietnamese officers sent to Victory Port for training have all returned. After returning to the country, these people immediately became the backbone of the New Army. Zheng Ting also continued to serve as the commander of the New Army. According to their experience in Haihan

After learning the combat methods, 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, and he was very interested in taking a look.

, these young students went to Victory Port for a few months, and finally learned some skills of the Haihan people.

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 were mainly clay and moss. Its size and proportions came completely from the satellite maps in the Haihan database. The simulation was extremely high. The above was even made based on the information provided by North Vietnam.

Every checkpoint, military camp, warehouse, etc. of the South Vietnamese garrison is reflected in 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 this sand table with his own eyes, he believed that this

The cost is worth tens of thousands. With such a detailed sandbox, at least thousands of soldiers can be saved from paying innocent lives when formulating combat plans.

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. In this way

, it is easy for the defending party to cross the river and attack, so both sides have been stationed on the north and south banks of the Zhengjiang 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 successfully attacked, almost causing a major rout of North Vietnam. Since then, both sides

With a large number of sentries deployed upstream, it would be difficult to rely on sneak attack tactics to fight 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 of them were training programs designed for them by the Military Commission based on South Vietnam's imaginary enemy. As for crossing the border,

Subjects such as Jiang's combat 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 in the future to deal with armed to the teeth

The Haihan militia group is really seeking death.

"Judging from the combat methods taught by the instructors, the most suitable way to fight for the river is to use artillery fire 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 the mouth of the sea. 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 surge up and the two sides engage in a melee, 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. Boy.

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 kind of 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 well, and he 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 taels per round..."

"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.

He went to ask someone from "Haihan Military Industry". After Zheng Ting inquired in many ways, he finally got the letter from Bai Kesi: it can be sold, but the price cannot be negotiated, and the 100-piece sale will not be retailed.

Of course, Zheng Ting would not spend his own money to buy the high-priced artillery shells from the Haihan people, so after he inquired about it, he stopped for the time being. However, when he made a battle plan for the first time after returning to China, Zheng Ting thought that this kind of artillery shells could play a role in the battle.

Only then did he mention 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 the 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 the distance, and the iron seeds can still penetrate the body and injure the second person. This child has seen this power with his own eyes, and it is absolutely untrue. And the stone-filled iron

The method of nailing is determined by the gunner's own estimation. The loading weight and range are all uncertain. However, the Haihan artillery shells are made according to standards. Each shell is of general weight and can be used universally with existing artillery. Although this thing

It’s expensive, but it’s reasonably expensive.”

Zheng Bai was silent for a long time before he said: "In the past, our army did not have such Haihan firearms, which 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 just rely on the firearms of the Haihan people to gain victory. If Haihan uses this to threaten our country in the future, what should we do?”

"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 spread propaganda?

The craftsmanship is based on ulterior motives, but now that the north and south are divided, we must first settle the internal affairs before resisting foreign aggression. Only when the South Vietnamese rebellion is eliminated will the imperial 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!"
Chapter completed!