In the early morning of January 4th, Saigon, French Annan Governor's Palace.
This is a two-story white building in the French classicism style, with exquisite exterior decoration and carvings, and a baroque-style doorway. It was first built in 1868, and has since been repaired many times and added auxiliary facilities, covering an area of
With a height of 120,000 square meters, the entire building complex seems to be cohesive and magnificent. It is a landmark building in Saigon in this era.
There are fifty-two halls in the Governor's Mansion, large and small, which can meet various needs such as banquets, entertainment, residence, study, and military command.
At this moment, in the small conference room on the opposite side of the library on the first floor, there are the Governor of French Annan, Jules Brevière, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army of French Annan, Boulle, the Navy Commander Gergier, the Commissioner of Cochin China Borg, and the President of Credit Agricole
Bruce, Economic Commissioner Burton, Intelligence Commissioner Carey and twelve French military generals stationed in areas around Saigon are holding a meeting.
"Colonel Carey, where are the abominable Chinese troops marching now? Also, where is our powerful French ocean fleet? Why haven't we arrived at the Bienshui Port in Vinh City to pick up the increasing threats from the Chinese?
The second division?" Governor Jules Brevier asked with a frown.
Intelligence Specialist Carey pushed away his chair and stood up, turned around and took two steps, came to the curtain wall hung with snow-white curtains, opened the curtain, raised his baton, and pointed to the north of the large hanging Annan map:
"Currently, about a dozen mechanized divisions of the Chinese army are attacking Thanh Hoa City, and their forwards have pushed towards the Yanzhou Bay line of Xiangshan. If they were not busy establishing a military control commission and a garrison headquarters to take over local power, I estimate that their main force would have advanced by now.
To Vinh City. The Chinese know how to promote public opinion and exaggerate their aggression into a war of national liberation, but the stupid Annan people still believe this..."
At this point, Carey smiled bitterly: "In fact, it's not just the Annamites, but also the French. Because the Syrian government treats yellow people, white people and even black people equally, it declares that private property is sacred and inviolable, and it also
Troops were sent to protect various French estates to prevent possible attacks by Annan people on French immigrants. Their soldiers were polite and responsive. The transport truck of a coffee plantation outside Nam Dinh was broken down. I tried to ask for help, and they immediately sent
After the repairs were completed, they politely left without even taking a sip of water. Their soldiers also informed that after the new regime is established, credit unions will be established in every region to provide agricultural machinery and tools, low-interest loans and other services to help people develop production.
After experiencing the initial turmoil, the French in the Tokyo area were all calmly waiting for the handover of power. In the past few days, the broadcast signal of the French government has covered the entire Tokyo area, and one of the channels has also opened an hour of French news broadcast. They
The government promised that in the future, the French will have all legal rights and interests, and can also organize political parties to participate in politics. In response to the current situation in Annan, the Syrian government has made many attractive development plans, saying that it will strive to achieve "electric lights upstairs and downstairs" within five years.
With the advent of telephones, every family has the ability to buy motorcycles and cars. Now the Annan and French people in the northern Annan region are beginning to look forward to a better life in the future!"
"I knew those guys were unreliable. Most of those who were willing to leave their homes and come to the Annan colony to colonize were losers in political struggles and bankrupt businessmen, farmers, and handicraftsmen. They came to Annan and established themselves and their families through decades of business.
Our industries have already taken root in this land, and they are naturally unwilling to follow us, resulting in the property being confiscated by the Chinese and leaving us with nothing. Everyone, I suggest that we also follow the 'scorched earth' strategy adopted by the Nanjing National Government when fighting against Japanese aggression.
Destroy all the plantations, mines and factories, and evacuate all French immigrants to Cochin China, where they will hold on tight and wait for domestic reinforcements to arrive!" Colonial Economic Commissioner Burton said angrily.
Navy Commander Rear Admiral Gergier frowned: "It is easy to destroy but difficult to build. Do you know how long it takes for a rubber forest to mature? If it is really a 'scorched earth', then what is the use of France taking back this land? Don't mention this.
Well, let's listen to Kaili's report on the movements of our fleet! Damn it, on the afternoon of the day Hanoi was abandoned, General Kinsol said that he had led the fleet to leave Haiphong Port. Why has there been no movement until today? Even if it is a turtle,
Isn’t it time to climb to Vinh City?”
Carey shrugged: "Only God knows where our ocean-going fleet is now... General Kingsol called and said that when they evacuated Haiphong Port, they took away the naval base garrison and a large number of base facilities.
The entire fleet was severely overloaded and could not pick up people in Vinh City. They had to go to Saigon first, drop off their things, and then go north to Vinh City and Da Nang. Every time we sent a telegram to inquire, the fleet replied via telegram that it was on its way to Saigon.
.....I think they will be arriving in the next two days."
Major General Boulle, commander-in-chief of the French Annan Army, complained angrily: "However, my soldiers cannot wait that long... Annan has a total of two infantry divisions, two independent brigades and an artillery division. But it has three
The artillery division of the field artillery team and the two howitzer teams have now become empty frames, because all their artillery has been handed over to the Annan army stationed at the Lao Kai defense line on the Sino-Anti border. They are stranded in Saigon waiting for artillery to be sent from China for reorganization.
Troops... Alas, no one expected that the defense line, which had been worked so hard for many years, and so many artillery pieces, failed without even lasting a night. It is really heartbreaking. According to the French news of Radio Syracuse
, this was called an extremely difficult battle by the Chinese army. The total number of people they died in the battle was less than 500, which shows the powerful attack power of their troops.
"At present, our army has one division each in Vinh City and Da Nang, and there are more than 100,000 unreliable Annan Army. If they can all be safely withdrawn to Cochin China and rely on the mountains to the north of the Mekong River plain for defense, then we can add
With France's powerful navy blocking the sea, there is still something to be done, otherwise, we will just wait for the Chinese to rush in and take care of us one by one!"
Bruce, the president of Credit Agricole, who was in charge of the financial power of French Annan, was very dissatisfied and almost roared: "Damn it! France is in a mess now...On New Year's Day, the fascists in Paris
The political party "Fire Cross" actually held a grand parade to celebrate Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland, calling it another major victory for fascism! At first, the parade was normal, but under the encouragement of a large number of excessive slogans, the thugs began
They stormed the Bourbon Palace, trying to enter the parliament building and control the members who were meeting, in order to establish a German-style fascist regime. Fierce exchanges of fire broke out between the thugs and the guards, resulting in thousands of casualties. Later, the "Fire Cross" retreated from Paris.
They began to disperse to various places, colluded with various fascist parties to stage riots, and attacked the government and military camps. The atmosphere in France was unprecedentedly tense.
"Taking advantage of the turmoil of the right-wing forces, nearly five million workers across France also went on strike yesterday. Under the banner of 'anti-hunger, anti-oppression', they protested against factories and companies arbitrarily laying off employees and cutting employee wages. They also protested against the current implementation of
The ten-hour working day of the Communist Party of China is a cruel oppression of workers; and what about our government? Due to Daladier’s compromise with the Nazi regime in Munich, there were serious divisions within the ruling Popular Front, the Socialist Party, the Bouvet Party and other left-wing
There is strong opposition from the parties, and Daladier is currently busy quelling the internal divisions and is extremely worried. I guess it is difficult to expect the arrival of reinforcements in a short time!"
Bruce had a wide network of contacts and sources of information far wider than the colonial officials here, so no one doubted the authenticity of his words.
Credit Agricole is a unique existence in French Annan. It was founded in 1875 and specifically operates financial services in French Annan. At the end of the last century, its business expanded to China, and its Shanghai branch focused on import and export.
Mainly deposits, secondarily deposits. It issues banknotes, controls trade and finance between Yunnan and other places with Yunnan as the center, and woos the Beiyang government to establish the Sino-French Industrial Bank, a joint venture between China and France.
In the year of the Northern Expedition, the French "Crédit Agricole" set up a branch in "Xiying" (now Xiashan) in Guangzhou Bay (now Zhanjiang) to issue currency in the Guangzhou Bay colony on behalf of the French government. At that time, it was called Vietnam
Paper money was used to redeem French commercial silver dollars, and the residents of Guangzhou Bay called it "Annam paper", "Saigon paper" or "Western currency". These Vietnamese banknotes issued by the French "Crédit Agricole" once became the official currency of Guangzhou Bay.
Currency. However, among the people, because the economic development of Guangzhou Bay at that time relied on the mainland's economy and was very closely related to the mainland market, and the French colonial authorities did not specifically formulate and promulgate the standard currency system of Guangzhou Bay, there were two problems in the currency circulation basin.
Two completely different currencies coexist and circulate in their respective circulation areas.
The French stipulated that all financial taxation, economic transactions, and currency receipts and payments that occurred with the French colonial authorities in Guangzhou Bay should be based on "Saigon paper". What are the various taxes and fines paid by the merchants in Guangzhou Bay?
Rice tax, land tax, business tax, cowhide tax, market tax, etc., as well as all police, security, and health fines must be paid with "Saigon Paper". In addition, the postal and telecommunications fees used at the Postal and Telecommunications Bureau are collected by the Electric and Lighting Bureau.
Electricity bills, etc. also had to be paid with "Saigon paper". The funds and wages allocated by the French colonial authorities to the grassroots administrative agencies that served them were all allocated in Vietnamese dollars.
Due to its control over the currency issuance of France's Asian colonies, Credit Agricole was rich and wealthy, but as An's troops moved south, everything was about to change. No wonder its president, Bruce, was furious.
All the colonial officials sighed, with a sad feeling that they were at the end of their rope.
The Third French Republic is like a freak, with numerous political parties and constant disputes. There are numerous examples of one political party excitedly forming a cabinet and announcing the establishment of a government, only to collapse a week later. All kinds of policies were announced as soon as they were released.
The abolition left people at a loss as to what to do. The French Annan colony was facing a critical moment of life and death. Originally, all parties should put aside their disputes and join hands to deal with the outside world in a unified manner. However, in fact, including Prime Minister Daladier, they also made up their mind to stabilize the internal affairs first.
After resolving the internal disputes, let’s consider other issues, not to mention those careerists in the opposition who are eyeing political power.
This is also the most important reason why France worked so hard to build up unbreakable national political blockade chains around Germany after the European War, but was removed one by one by Hitler and even its own motherland perished. France's political internal strife
It's too serious. There are hundreds of political parties on the left, right and center. They all take turns to take charge. When the government is firmly established and the relationship between top and bottom is straightened out, and then we go back to deal with some key issues, we find that things are different and people are different.
It is difficult to restore the old appearance.
Governor Jules Brevière felt agitated. He stood up and walked to the window, opened it and enjoyed the sea breeze. Suddenly he found that in the direction of the port area, the lights were messy and the ship's whistle was short and unusually noisy. He immediately frowned.
Navy Commander Rear Admiral Gergil called over, pointed to the port area and asked what was going on?
Gejir was also a little confused. He hurriedly came to the phone and called the military port terminal. The operator on the other side of the phone may have been too excited. He stuttered and replied that a huge ocean-going fleet had entered the port, and the accompanying transport ship was carrying a lot of cargo.
Things are being unloaded as soon as possible.
Upon hearing this, Gergier felt calm. After putting down the microphone, he strode up to Governor Jules Brevière and said, "Sir, it's General Kinsol's fleet that has arrived at the port. It is estimated that under the pressure of the Chinese, he
All the tables, chairs and benches in Haiphong Port were moved to Saigon. With the powerful anti-aircraft firepower of General Kinsol's ocean-going fleet, the Chinese bombers no longer have anything to worry about. Tomorrow I can lead the fleet north to attack Vinh City and Xian
Hong Kong's troops were sent to Cochin China to delay the Chinese troops' southward movement for as long as possible, waiting for reinforcements to be dispatched after the domestic political strife ended."
"The powerful French Ocean Fleet, which can be said to be invincible except Japan in the Far East, has finally arrived!"
After Jules Brevière finished talking, he breathed a long sigh of relief. He added many attributes to the ocean-going fleet, which made his sense of security suddenly increase and his mind became much more stable. He returned to the conference table and sat down, saying:
"It's been terrible recently. The stupid and barbaric natives, for some reason, suddenly went crazy. There are riots and riots everywhere. According to reports from our allies, the rebels in British India are showing signs of converging. They are taking advantage of the city.
In the complex terrain, they faced off against the British and Indian troops. On one side, they divided their forces to form small groups of guerrillas and attacked army camps, arms warehouses and field hospitals everywhere. The British troops suffered heavy losses. It is said that even the luxuriously decorated Governor's Palace in Delhi was damaged.
It was burned down by the guerrillas.
"Due to being unable to hold off for a long time, the British commander who led the team beat and scolded the Indian soldiers. As a result, the two Indian divisions that besieged Chittagong the day before yesterday were seduced by the rebels and mutinied, killing their superiors and those who were on the mission with them.
British soldiers opened the prison, released many imprisoned Congress members, and formed an independent national government on their own. If it were not for the internal disagreements among the top Congress leaders in the Chittagong area, I suspect that the situation in the region has been completely corrupted! And the British
In Myanmar and Malaya, the rebels have established national independent governments, which is exactly the same as our situation in Annan. I don’t know when this terrible independence trend will subside!”
The colonial officials were horrified after hearing this. They had been paying attention to the Annan War recently and had little understanding of what was happening in the outside world. Now after listening to Governor Jules Brevier's explanation, they realized that the surrounding situation had deteriorated to this point. If the British
After suffering a disastrous defeat in Asia, France will be unable to survive alone. Failure will be a matter of time.
Borg, the commissioner of Cochin China who had served as the consul in India for many years, comforted:
"Don't worry, based on my understanding of the political landscape in India, with the existence of the Congress Party, a political party that advocates peace, the situation in India will not get out of control. The British are really wrong, and they actually put a leader like Gandhi who advocates 'non-violence'
If you arrest people and leave the mob outside, aren't you asking for trouble for yourself? I think the British will soon discover the mistakes they have made and release those pacifists. Those Congress people, like
It is a fire extinguishing agent, and the situation in India will calm down soon."
"If that were the case, it would be great!"
Jules Brevière was quite convinced of the judgment of professionals and said with a smile: "As long as the matter in India can be solved satisfactorily, it is only a matter of time before Burma and Malaya are pacified. We will wait for our British allies to free up their hands.
, things in Annan will also turn around. In any case, France is the world's largest army power. I don't believe that a mere local warlord in China really has the strength to confront the five million French army. After the local political environment stabilizes,
Simply sending hundreds of thousands of people will be enough to defeat our opponents. Believe me, as long as we get through this period, everything will be fine!"
"I'm convinced of that!"
Intelligence Commissioner Carey smiled mysteriously: "Sir, I have a good news to report - our intelligence system has contacted some rebel leaders in Hue City. Many leaders of Annan's political parties actually do not approve of the invitation.
The Chinese army sent troops. They believed that if Annan was placed under the control of France, their country would have a day of true independence, but if it was placed in the hands of the Chinese, everything would be over!
"I have made a promise to those people. If I can launch a mutiny in Hue and regain control of Emperor Bao Dai, let Emperor Bao Dai publicly declare the so-called national liberation cause of the Chinese army. In essence, it is just a violation of Annan's sovereignty.
Brutal trampling is naked aggression, calling on all Annan people to rise up against Chinese rule. Then, we can not pursue the past things, Nguyen Phuc Vinh Thuy will still be his king, and the leaders of various parties will also be reused by our colonial government.
Participate in the local assembly, help the colonial government exercise its administrative power over the local area, and slowly improve the people's livelihood in Annan. When the political and economic development reaches a certain level, we will officially transfer power to the Annan people.
"Those rebel leaders are very interested in this. As the Chinese army moves south day by day, the time and space they can control is constantly decreasing. When hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops enter Hue, everything will be over, so they are working together in series.
, the operation will be launched in the next two days. Since our army has retreated to Da Nang and Vinh City, the Hue rebels have broken away from contact with our army. They are generally full of optimism and believe that our defeat is only a matter of time. Now
The defense of Hue City was relatively lax, which created the necessary conditions for them to act.
"My lord, colleagues, if those Annan people can really succeed, then the Chinese army's so-called national liberation reason will no longer be tenable. The originally dangerous situation will also take a major turn for the better, in line with international public opinion.
With the pressure, it is said that the Nanjing government may not order the warlord leader to withdraw his troops, and then we will happily have control over the central and northern areas of Annan!"
All the participants were refreshed when they heard this, and warm applause soon broke out in the conference room.
At this time, on the street outside the Governor's Palace, a series of anti-aircraft artillery vehicles painted in camouflage colors unique to the Anjia Army appeared, rushing to the main street intersections. After arriving at the destination, the muzzles of the anti-aircraft machine guns were laid flat and aimed at
There were empty streets. Farther away, the French military camp, arms and material warehouses, telegraph and telephone buildings had been occupied by the Anjia army in silence. The entire Saigon had been quietly replaced.