Chapter 397 The difference between inside and outside

For a commander who leads tens of thousands of troops in combat, the most terrifying situation is not how powerful the enemy is, but the lack of external information that prevents him from clearly seeing the trend of the battle, making reasonable judgments in a timely manner, and taking effective responses.

Measures. After Zheng Bai led his army south to the outside of Hue City, he faced this situation that made him very depressed.

Although the battle plan agreed upon with Hai Han at the end of last year was for "the two armies to join forces in Hue to attack Hue City together," the current actual situation seems to be slightly different from the agreement at the time - this "reunion"

"It has already arrived, but "joint attack" seems to be still open to question.

For the North Vietnamese court, the significance of conquering Hue was not only to realize the political unification of Annan, but also the wealth in Hue city was an important means to save its fiscal deficit. Before Zheng Bai sent his troops south, the Qing capital king Zheng Jie gave Zheng

Bai issued a secret order, asking him to collect as much gold and silver treasures in the city as possible after conquering Hue and transport them to the north. After the end of the Civil War, the military expenses that the northern court had to pay to the Hai Han Militia were bound to be a considerable amount, and

At this time, the national treasury had already been exhausted. Whether it could avoid owing Haihan a huge debt again would depend to a certain extent on how much oil and water the Southern Expedition army could scrape from the South Vietnamese controlled areas.

But it was obvious that North Vietnam was not the only one eyeing Hue City. After Zheng Bai led his army southward, he found that his allies had the same idea. The Haihan people asked North Vietnam to deploy their troops in the area west of Hue City, saying that in order to prevent

The remaining soldiers fled into the mountains, but he couldn't wait to launch an offensive on Hue City alone. Zheng Bai believed that this was completely a manifestation of the Hai Han militia's desire to live alone. The military observation group sent to carry out surveillance missions in the Hai Han Army returned.

The information is basically relayed from the liaison officer of the Haihan side, often with only a few numbers, only descriptions such as "Today's battle is very fierce, and the two armies are attacking and defending each other" or "Our army killed more than a thousand enemies in front of the formation".

There was no mention of the specific progress of the siege at all.

Of course, Zheng Bai was not a fool. He knew that the observation team he sent there would never have the chance to watch the battle on the front line, so he sent many spies to the areas around the Haihan Militia-controlled area to inquire about information. However, the information fed back from various channels was mixed.

It is not consistent, and it is difficult to judge whether it is true or not. There is news that the Hai Han militia is attacking the northeast corner of Hue City for days, but no substantial progress has been made; there is also news that the Hai Han militia has broken through the city wall and entered the city, and has even secretly occupied the Royal Palace.

City; there is even more exaggerated news, claiming that Haihan has accepted the peace terms proposed by the South Vietnamese court, and the two sides have secretly reached an alliance under the city, and may counterattack at any time.

Regarding these completely different statements, Zheng Bai could not judge whether they were true or false for a while. According to his own judgment, all of this information was inaccurate. The fierce artillery fire of the Haihan people attacking Hue City in consecutive days shook the city for miles. This offensive

It cannot be faked, and it is unlikely that there has not been any progress. But if the Hai Han people have occupied Hue City, then there has not been a large number of defenders fleeing from Hue City. In recent days, there have been a small number of stragglers quietly.

He sneaked out of Hue City and tried to escape, but was captured by a patrol of the North Vietnamese Army. After interrogation, it was confirmed that the Hai Han people had indeed invaded the city, but the war situation seemed to be still at a stalemate.

Judging from the frequency of deserters, the Haihan people should not have captured the core area of ​​​​the city, and the defenders have not completely given up resistance, which made Zheng Bai feel a little relieved. If this situation can continue for a while, in fact,

Zheng Bai is happy to see the result - the strength of the Hai Han militia is too strong, and it is actually good for North Vietnam to let them lose more in Hue City. Moreover, Hue City is so big, Zheng Bai also

I don't quite believe that with the existing strength of the Hai Han Militia, they can completely control the city defense after capturing Hue.

As for the rumors that the Haihan people were negotiating peace with the South Vietnamese court, Zheng Bai didn't believe it at all. He knew that the Haihan people were not a good person. They spent so much effort destroying various seaports in South Vietnam and driving away the Portuguese. Now,

With victory already in sight, how could South Vietnam be tempted by some conditions offered by South Vietnam? Besides, could North Vietnam not be able to offer conditions that South Vietnam could offer? Comparing the two, the Haihan people would definitely choose allies with strong ties.

, rather than an opponent who has been fighting for more than a year.

According to Zheng Bai's estimation, after the Haihan people invaded the city, they were bound to encounter a crazy counterattack by the defenders who were forced to a desperate end. As long as they fought for a few more days, the Haihan militia would suffer more casualties, and Yan Chujie would naturally have to take the initiative to invite them.

He sent troops to assist. But what he did not expect was that an organized leading party actually appeared in the city, and took the initiative to seek cooperation with the Haihan people, allowing the Haihan militia to easily control a small part of the city and set up forward positions relatively smoothly.

In an area only one mile outside the imperial city.

When the situation developed to this point, the final outcome had basically been decided. The defenders did not know the actual strength of the Haihan Militia. They only knew that the enemy had advanced half of the city after breaking through the outer city and arrived outside the imperial city.

.As soon as the news spread, it was quickly interpreted by some of the defenders as "our dynasty is about to end", which then led to large-scale rebellion in the city and the loss of organized resistance. This also reduced the power of the Haihan people in disguise.

Otherwise, if the tens of thousands of defenders in the city really want to overwhelm the militia army and fight to the death, not to mention that they will not be able to fight, but the militia will inevitably suffer more casualties and consume ammunition and supplies.

It will also delay their attack on the imperial city.

When Zheng Bai received the news that the Haihan Militia was about to launch a formal attack on the Imperial City today, the first thing he thought of was to send troops to attack the West City. Since the defenders in the city wanted to resist the Haihan Militia's offensive against the Imperial City, they were bound to

There is no way to allocate too many troops to defend the outer city. If this opportunity is seized well, then the North Vietnamese Army should still be able to enter Hue City before the Hai Han Militia breaks through the imperial city. With its own strength advantage, at least Hue City

You can even pull a large portion of the fat piece of meat into your own bowl.

Zheng Bai immediately raised his account and mobilized troops, preparing to arrange an attack. However, the North Vietnamese army had just finished gathering its troops, and before they had time to pull the troops out of the camp, the gates of Hue West City suddenly opened, and thousands of South Vietnamese troops

They surged out and rushed towards the Beiyue camp.

At first, the North Vietnamese thought it was the defenders taking the initiative to attack, but they soon discovered that something was wrong - the South Vietnamese army did not march in the proper military formations, it was almost a chaotic swarm, and this was obviously not their normal behavior.

Combat level. Zheng Bai made a judgment after personally confirming that the South Vietnamese Army was not launching an attack, but running for their lives!

The emergence of this situation probably means one thing, that is, the Haihan militia has broken through the imperial city!

The anxious Zheng Bai wished he could immediately let his tens of thousands of troops fly into Hue City with wings, but his reason told him that he could not let go of these rebel soldiers who had abandoned the city and fled, because the big shots of the Ruan family were likely to

Mixed in these rebels. If they escape, it will be equivalent to leaving behind troubles. Maybe they will organize a new resistance army further south in a month or two. Moreover, Zheng Zhi originally gave

Among the tasks he assigned, the first priority was to capture the core members of the Ruan family, and the second was to control the wealth in Hue City.

"Line up! Stop these rebels. No one can escape! But if there are resisters, kill them!" Zheng Bai did not hesitate for too long before making a decision. No matter what the situation in the city was, he must first seize the necessary ones.

Only those who arrest him can do it. The blame for not grabbing the money can be passed on to the unkind Haihan people, but if the city is destroyed but no one is arrested, then Zheng Bai, as the commander-in-chief, will have to bear the blame.

For these deserters, the several-mile-wide defense line on the plain was simply an insurmountable chasm. After the hundreds of rebel soldiers rushing at the front were knocked down by the intensive musketry fire of the North Vietnamese Army, the advancing speed of the rebel army behind them was almost

It immediately slowed down. A South Vietnamese officer on horseback began to yell and organize the surrounding soldiers to form a military formation. However, in such a chaotic situation, it is really difficult to maintain military discipline in the chaotic army.

Things. Except for a small number of imperial guardsmen who protected the nobles from withdrawing from the imperial city, most of the other South Vietnamese troops had actually lost their original organization at this time, and there was no effective command at all.

Zheng Bai didn't have the patience to wait for these rebels to slowly reorganize on the plains. Entering the city now a moment later may mean that there is less oil and water to be scraped out of Hue. As for the North Vietnamese court, the Nguyen family is in power.

The life or death of the enemy was not important, as long as the person was left behind, Zheng Bai decisively ordered the artillery to aim at several places in the enemy's formation where military flags were held and start bombarding them.

The sharp artillery fire quickly dispersed the few organized troops among the South Vietnamese deserters, and the rebels who fled in panic did not have any heavy weapons that could compete with them - when they were fleeing for their lives, who could care about those

Cannons weighing hundreds of kilograms were brought out.

"Pass my order, the cavalry battalion will attack and drive the enemy southward!" Seeing that his own army had gained an advantage with long-range weapons, Zheng Bai issued a new combat order.

The size of the cavalry battalion of the North Vietnamese Army was not large, with less than 500 horses, and the horses were all of the relatively short Yunnan breed. They were very suitable for carrying heavy loads, but they were not very useful as charge horses.

In terms of horse breeds alone, it is actually not as good as the Haihan Cavalry, which currently has less than 50 horses. However, this unit has the advantage in the current situation and the battlefield terrain is relatively flat. It can play a lot of roles on the battlefield.

Remarkable effect. Hundreds of cavalry were ordered to attack, killing the South Vietnamese soldiers who tried to flee to the north one by one, and drove the South Vietnamese deserters to the south bank of the Xiangjiang River like sheep.

But although this process was relatively smooth, the battle to suppress the deserters did not end in a short time, because deserters continued to pour out of the city, and later even the North Vietnamese cavalry units that rushed too far south were killed.

Caught in the middle. By the time the North Vietnamese army's infantry and cavalry cooperated and forced most of the deserters to the banks of the Xiangjiang River, it was already noon, and by this time, almost three hours had passed since the Haihan militia entered the imperial city from the Peace Arch.

"What a good thing! Put it away and be careful not to get hurt!" Yan Chujie praised while carefully handing a blue and white porcelain vase to the militiaman next to him.

"Is this bottle valuable?" Qiao Zhiya looked at the militiaman with a blank expression as he took out the bottle as if it were a treasure and asked Yan Chujie.

"Well, it's very valuable." Yan Chujie nodded and said, "That's a blue and white vase with lotus pattern from the Xuande period. They were all supplied as tribute to the palace and are not available on the market. Look at this, it's blue and white, sea water and white dragon.

The patterned flat pot is also from the official kiln...and this seawater banana leaf patterned statue, this dragon patterned bowl...tsk tsk, I really found a treasure this time! Move them away, move them all away!"

"I didn't realize that Mr. Yan was an expert on porcelain!" Qiao Zhiya couldn't help but admire him when he saw that he spoke clearly and eloquently.

"Experts can't say for sure. In fact, I have made up for it recently." Yan Chujie said with a smile: "Since the attack on Hue was decided at the end of last year, this guy Ning Qi has grabbed me and forced me to make up for my lessons and made up for my cultural relics.

Knowledge. He said that there are many valuable and good things in Hue city, and he is afraid that if we don’t know the goods, it will be a pity if we regard them as ordinary pots and jars and smash them."

In addition to being supplied to the palace, the fine porcelain produced by the official kilns of the Ming Dynasty also had another important destination: as gifts to some servant countries. During Zheng He's seven voyages to the West in the early 15th century, Annan and Champa were both Zheng He's ships.

The team visited the area many times. At that time, these two countries each obtained a lot of exquisite porcelain from the official kilns of the Ming Dynasty. These collections in Hue City are all genuine goods with well-documented origins. Ning

Qi had already greeted Yan Chujie and told him to collect as many good things as possible and transport them back to Victory Port.

Although these porcelains are not as valuable at this time as they were in later generations, and can often fetch tens of millions or hundreds of millions at auctions, they are still rare and rare objects among the people, even if they are used to display in some external places.

Displays in places, such as the Guangdong Office, Haihan Bank, etc., will still have a significant effect on improving your personality.

In addition to these porcelains, there are also many exquisite handicrafts from the Ming Dynasty in the palace, as well as calligraphy and painting works by famous people. Although this is just a small court in a quiet corner, it is still a powerful party, and with the sea between it and the Ming Dynasty

The trade has always been close, and a lot of good things have been collected. Although Yan Chujie spent two months cramming in his knowledge of cultural relics, he still only recognizes objects by looking at pictures. He can generally tell one, two, and three things after seeing pictures and materials.

If he has never seen it, he can only rely on imagination. It is difficult for him to identify things like calligraphy and painting. Although there is the author's signature and seal on the back, most of them are words, numbers and the like. Yan Chujie does not recognize a few of them at all, so he can only

Let the soldiers collect all these things and transport them away.

Cultural wealth is important, but to the Haihan militia, the most important thing is more practical things like gold, silver, and jewelry. After all, when the dividends were distributed after the war, they couldn't bring vases, plates, banners and the like.

Although the militiamen were sent out with currency notes, they still needed to use real money as bank reserves. Several big guys from the Military Commission had already calculated this before the war. If this trip could not be made from Hue,

If you can't make a hundred or ten thousand taels of silver out of the city, then it's really a failure.

However, when they were cleaning out the Treasury of the Ministry of Finance the day before, the scene almost made Yan Chujie and others feel heartbroken. The official treasury of the Nanyue Imperial Court contained less than 50,000 taels of silver and only more than 3,000 taels of gold. Such a small amount of money

Even the exchange center of Haihan Bank in Victory Port couldn't compare. Looking at the empty warehouse, several senior officers at that time were a little suspicious that the expected gains from this cross-sea operation before the war were a bit too high.

It is not surprising that such a situation occurs. At the beginning of last year, the Hai Han militia destroyed Dong Hai Port north of Hue. In the second half of the year, it turned Hoi An south of Hue into ruins, and successively destroyed the two largest ports in South Vietnam.

After the seaport, the Portuguese chose to withdraw from South Vietnam, and the Haihan militia blocked the waterway from Hainan to South Vietnam. Various factors caused the maritime trade business under the South Vietnamese court to be greatly affected, and the trade volume shrank to only one or two percent of the original.

At the same time, the huge military expenditures have not decreased at all. In order to maintain the military confrontation with North Vietnam, the South Vietnamese court could only squeeze out military expenditures as much as possible from fiscal expenditures. This led to the rapid emptiness of the national treasury, even if the Haihan Militia

If we don't attack Hue at this time, as long as this situation continues for a few more months, the South Vietnamese court will also fall into bankruptcy.

Fortunately, the raids on the homes of powerful families in the city did not disappoint the military brass. Only at the home of Ruan Tong, who was in charge of the commercial power in South Vietnam, the militiamen confiscated 130,000 taels of silver and more than 7,000 taels of gold from the underground bank.

Two, hundreds of kilograms of various kinds of jewelry and jade, and hundreds of handicrafts. The valuable goods copied by this family alone are enough to load more than twenty carts. Yan Chujie couldn't help but sigh, this South Vietnam is in the same vein as the Ming Dynasty.

It has also managed to "hide wealth among the people". The national treasury is empty, but all the powerful people are extremely fat. Seeing that the country's political power is about to collapse, these people are still reluctant to use the money for military operations. They deserve to be invaded now.

The reader copied everything.

With such an example in front of them, the militiamen became more enthusiastic about raiding homes. On the day before they attacked the imperial city, the Haihan militia seized property from the homes of wealthy families in the city, with the value of gold and silver alone exceeding one million taels.

This also gave Yan Chujie plenty of time to slowly appraise the various art collections in the Nanyue Palace after entering the imperial city, so as to show off his humanistic and artistic accomplishments.
Chapter completed!