1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 350: Racking Hoi An
After this kind of siege battle has won the victory, if the subordinates are not strictly restrained, it will easily turn into a chaotic robbery.Although the Haihan militia has strict military regulations, no one can guarantee that the soldiers can withstand the temptation of wealth. In this war-torn environment, as long as a few people take the lead in causing trouble, it is easy to form a group effect.

Although the essence of this military operation is to come to Hoi An to rob, the Military Commission will not be happy to see the militia soldiers become a group of unorganized and undisciplined robbers—even if it is robbery, there are professional and amateurs. It is also a professional army and cannot lose its basic constraints.Before the war, in addition to the repeated emphasis on military discipline by the officers, they also made more detailed arrangements for the situation after the city was broken.

According to the battle plan, Ancheng is roughly divided into east and west cities according to the central axis. The east city is in charge of the troops of the base camp, and the west city is in charge of the black soil Hong Kong militia.The two urban areas are divided into several areas, and the control of these areas will be subdivided to the company level.In this way, any situation in any area can be quickly traced to the commander.

As for what attitude the Chinese businessmen all over the city of Hoi An should adopt, the Military Commission also gave the bottom line-see if the other party is actively hostile to the militia army.If someone can't see the situation clearly and wants to jump out to die, then the militia can just use force to suppress it without too much scruples.However, in principle, certain protection should be given to Chinese businessmen who are willing to cooperate, because these businessmen are very likely to transfer their bases to Sanya, which is on the rise, after Hoi An City is destroyed.

As for businessmen of Annan nationality and other nationalities, they can only hope for luck, because they will be the main targets of looting in this military operation.According to the predictions of Zhan Gui and Qian Tiandun, after the capture of Hoi An, wealth worth at least several 10 taels of silver can be searched here, and the executive committee has already made a decision, and Hoi An will get half of the spoils The discounted price will be returned to the military as an additional military subsidy for this year.The officers had already received this news before they set off, and they had already made preparations to make the sky of Hoi An three feet high.

After Gao Qiaonan handed over control of the southern city wall with the follow-up troops, he took his assault platoon straight to the government office in the north of the city.The defenders in the city have hardly organized a decent resistance since the moment the city wall collapsed, and sporadic resistance in front of the heavily armed Haihan militia is simply killing people. A wave of salvo took away.

Although Gao Qiaonan's action speed is already very fast, the officials in Hoi An City are obviously not bad at escaping. When Gao Qiaonan led his troops to arrive, the people in the yamen had already run away. There is an empty courtyard left.

However, Gao Qiaonan was not very interested in arresting South Vietnamese officials. His task was very simple, that is, to take down the government office and ensure that the items in the government office were intact.There may not be much property in this government office, but the written materials that record the local people's sentiments are something that the Executive Committee values ​​very much. In particular, the military must bring them back to Shengli Port, so as to prevent them from entering Zhongnan during this period. Western forces on the peninsula can have a more intuitive and profound understanding.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the militia had basically controlled the city of Hoi An, and put all the main city gates under control. The remnants of the South Vietnamese soldiers in the city were also arrested and killed. in the city.However, judging from the current battle results, most of the garrison in the city chose to flee Hoi An after the city was broken, and only a few diehards and unlucky ghosts who did not have time to escape from the city were killed and arrested.

Although a section of the city wall was bombarded by heavy artillery, the buildings in the city were not affected much.The whole thing happened so quickly that the city fell before most of the residents even figured out what was going on.But in this way, the trembling people hiding at home were easily brought under control, and the entire city of Hoi An did not fall into chaos due to the war, which greatly facilitated the militia army's takeover of the city.

After controlling every throat area in the city, the remaining thing is to go through the house-to-house checks, arresting those who should be arrested, and raiding the houses of those who should be ransacked.Of course, the targets outside the city have not been ignored. For example, the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce, located two miles west of Hoi An, has already been surrounded by Wang Tom himself with a company.

According to the reconnaissance results of Qian Tiandun's last visit to Hoi An, there are at least four to five hundred Portuguese permanently stationed there. Most of these people are businessmen and sailors. Although they are not as powerful as the Chinese businessmen, their armed level is much higher. Yu Hua not only possessed a large number of muskets, but also built a fortress-like building outside the city in the name of the Chamber of Commerce.Since the South Vietnamese imperial court relied on the Portuguese in terms of military affairs, it has always turned a blind eye to these behaviors suspected of exceeding the rules, and will not take the initiative to interfere.

But the Haihan Militia Army will not be as easy to deal with as the South Vietnamese. A large part of the reason for sending troops to Hoi An this time is to attack the Portuguese forces in South Vietnam.Even if the Portuguese are not exterminated, at least they must be withdrawn from the Indochina Peninsula to pave the way for the executive committee's strategic plan.Qian Tiandun asked someone to take a tin horn, and began to shout at the Portuguese Guild Hall to persuade them to surrender.

But the Portuguese obviously didn't intend to open the door and surrender immediately. In fact, their desire for war seemed to be stronger than that of South Vietnam.Several Portuguese held muskets and fired from the second floor of the hall towards the surrounding militia positions.Although with the accuracy of arquebus, sporadic shooting is unlikely to hit the individual target accurately from a hundred meters away, but this act of death has successfully aroused Wang Tom's anger.He ordered the termination of the capitulation, and pushed four 6-pound army guns to the front of the formation, aiming at the gate of the guild hall.

Following two roars, the wooden gate of the guild hall was instantly shattered into a pile of fragments, and one could even faintly hear exclamations from the guild hall.Wang Tom did not immediately order to stop the shelling, but aimed the artillery at the gate and continued to fire shells into the hall.After 10 minutes of continuous bombardment, the Portuguese finally raised a white flag in the wreckage and chose to surrender. The 48-pound mortars were pushed to the position. No one would be so naive as to think that the building of the guild hall was stronger than the walls of Hoi An City. If they did not surrender, they might be buried in the rubble next.

Eduardo, the president of the chamber of commerce, still failed to escape the catastrophe. He asked his servant Bento to prepare the fleeing horses and money an hour in advance, but when he finally sent everyone away and was about to run away, he found that That servant who was usually so stupid and frighteningly sneaked away from the back door of the guild hall with his silver box and mount!
And this is not the end of Eduardo's nightmare. After surrendering to the attacking army on behalf of the local Portuguese, he knew that the army attacking Hoi An was his old enemy, the Hai Han.Wang Tom, who accepted the surrender on behalf of the Haihan Militia Army, also announced that all Portuguese who surrendered will be guaranteed personal safety, but at the same time as the price of their armed resistance, the Haihan Militia Army will seize their local property.

This move made Eduardo and other Portuguese businessmen suddenly feel sad. As veteran colonists who have robbed the world, they certainly understand that the Haihan people did not want to seize their property because of the resistance of the Chamber of Commerce, but they were determined to rob One hand—the victor can always find many reasons for looting the defeated party.But they have already chosen the road of surrender, and the vast majority of people do not have the courage to carry out any form of resistance. What's more, Wang Tom also announced that any form of resistance will be used as a riot, and the only end of the riot is to be punished immediately. hanging.

But the spirit of fighting for death is really innate in people. Even though the Portuguese are already facing such a passive situation, there are still some daring people trying to stir up a little splash.Five Portuguese hiding in the warehouse next to the guild hall tried to sneak attack on the militia soldiers, but unfortunately their figures were exposed a little earlier, and they were quickly pinned to the ground by the militia soldiers swarming up.

So Wang Tom's warning was immediately fulfilled, and the five Portuguese were immediately divided by hanging for the crime of rioting.Due to the haste of the incident, the militia soldiers did not even set up the gallows, and directly completed the execution by using the big tree by the roadside.

Seeing the five corpses hanging in the air, Eduardo protested tremblingly: "Your acts of barbarism will be punished!"

Of course, although Eduardo can speak a little Chinese because of business reasons, he still tactfully expressed his anger in his native language, so as to avoid provoking the Haihan people to suffer unnecessarily.However, his plan was not successfully completed. As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the dark-skinned Haihan officer respond in Portuguese: "If you don't want to end up in the same way, you'd better shut up right away!"

Wang Tom was a person who participated in several round-the-world sailing races. He has been to countless places. He is proficient in several of the most widely used languages ​​in the world. His language ability is basically second only to the international giants in the group. Lie to Schneider.Eduardo was startled, quickly lowered his head and shut his mouth, secretly thinking about how to save his life from the hands of the Hai Han people.

The post-war liquidation in Hoi An City was not as easy as outside the city. When the local merchants found out that the enemy occupying Hoi An City was about to carry out large-scale looting, many people still broke out their last courage and chose to resist. The act of using the mantis' arms as a car is really limited. Apart from delaying the progress of the militia's house raids, it is just adding a few hanged corpses to the street.

Occasionally, there are people who rely on the deep house and compound and want to carry out a stubborn resistance. The militia can quickly dispatch a light 6-pound gun to bombard the gate.In the face of a well-trained army, this amateur level of resistance is simply a farce.

The local Chinese businessmen soon realized that the Chinese-speaking army seemed to be deliberately letting them go, and almost all the raids were against Annan's businessmen.At this time, as long as people with good brains, they will naturally choose to be a quiet bystander and not actively provoke the Haihan militia.Of course, there are also a few smart people among them who have thought that after this army leaves, Chinese businessmen and locals may have great conflicts because of this difference in treatment, and this conflict is likely to affect them in the future. Live and do business here.

As of the evening of that day, the militia army had confiscated more than 40 tons of grain inside and outside the city of Hoi An, and the value of gold, silver and precious metals had exceeded 30 circulation certificates. There were also various goods piled up in the mountains. Due to the large quantity, it is temporarily impossible to count the specific number. .In addition, all the boats on the Qiupen River Wharf were temporarily requisitioned by the militia, preparing to transport all kinds of materials seized from the city.In this siege battle, more than 20 local people died at the hands of the Haihan people, and about one-third of them died during the suppression stage after the city was broken.On the other hand, Haihan's casualties were much less. Only three people were killed in battle and more than [-] people were injured, and they took the city of Hoi An.

After nightfall, the militia army escorted all the Portuguese captured outside the city to the city for detainment, and Qian Tiandun also carefully sent sentries to the south, west, and north, although the South Vietnamese army was unlikely to be in such a short period of time. He rushed to Hoi An for reinforcements, but it is always right to be prepared.

The suppression operation continued on the second day. The militia army temporarily recruited [-] civilians in Hoi An City to carry the spoils piled up in the mountains onto the ship.There are not only various handicrafts and weapons brought by Western merchants, but also locally produced spices, rare wood, jewelry and ivory, as well as silk, porcelain, sugar, etc. trafficked from Ming Dynasty.Even people like Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom who don't value money very much can't help but lament the rich harvest of this trip.

"Nanyue is much richer than Beiyue!" Qian Tiandun shook his head again and again, "If Nanyue had joined us first, maybe he would have hired us to fight to Shenglong Mansion long ago!"

"That's impossible. After all, we've been eyeing the coal in Heitu Port from the very beginning, and Nanyue doesn't have the coal we urgently need." Wang Tom shook his head and denied Qian Tiandun's conjecture: "Nanyue's money also takes a certain amount. Geographical advantages, Western merchants want to trade in Daming, they almost have to pass through the Indochina Peninsula back and forth, this city of Hui’an is a must pass, and it will naturally prosper. There are no popular shipping routes in the border of North Vietnam, and there is no natural good port. Simple farming The economy will certainly not be able to compete with South Vietnam's maritime trade to make money."

"Demolishing Hoi An City is basically demolishing the cornucopia of South Vietnam!" Qian Tiandun also agreed with Wang Tom's views on Hoi An, nodded in agreement and said, "I heard Zhan Gui say that Hoi An is just a place. , There are about several million taels of silver in circulation every year, without the economic pillar of maritime trade, it may be difficult for South Vietnam to continue the civil war."

"We ransacked Hoi An this time, and this place won't be able to regain its vitality for at least two or three years." Tom Wang smiled and said, "But now the military expenditure is much more sufficient. Some plans that were shelved before are now Finally, the conditions can be implemented.”

In fact, the military's development plan can be simply summed up in two words - military expansion.Although the current establishment of the Haihan Militia has expanded five times compared to the same period a year ago, including the number of trainees who are still in the training period, there are more than 2000 people, but in the eyes of the officers, the existing establishment is far from enough Especially for special arms like artillery, there is a huge demand gap.According to the military's plan, within this year, an independent battalion will be retained in Heitu Port and Shengli Port. At the same time, the navy will complete the formation of the first fleet, and the replacement of various armaments and weapons must also be carried out as soon as possible.

In the coming time, the Haihan militia will gradually expand the scope of control to Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang coasts in the northeast and the Indochina Peninsula in the south through sea routes, and these actions require a large number of combat troops to achieve.And every military expansion means sky-high military spending and endless bargaining on the Executive Committee.This time, being able to get an extra military fee for the military through combat operations is even more meaningful to the officers than receiving military merit awards.

The military officers will not be complacent because of the little achievements they have made in the Indochina Peninsula and the Pearl River Estuary, because they are very clear that they have not yet fought against a truly powerful opponent, and the expansion of the crossing group will inevitably have The day when you face a powerful enemy appears.All they can do now is to make as much preparation as possible before that day comes.

Every time the ships on the pier were filled, they would sail to Cham Island under the escort of the warships. After the boats docked at the island's harbor, the crew returned to Hoi An by warships.The distance between the two places is less than twenty nautical miles, which is not too much trouble.Due to the fact that there are too many ships "requisitioned" in Hoi An this time, the sailors and crew brought by the militia army are not enough. In addition to temporarily hiring people locally, an urgent call was sent to the base camp yesterday, asking them to send them quickly. A group of sailors came to steer the boat.It is said that two catamaran sailing boats set off from Victory Port early this morning, carrying more than a hundred sailors to rush to the rescue. If all goes well, they will arrive in Hoi An in about two days.

It was not until August [-] that the militia finally loaded all the spoils on board.Before leaving, they did not forget to bury gunpowder in many places on the city wall of Hoi An, and they blew up several city walls arbitrarily.If South Vietnam is unwilling to give up the port of Hoi An and wants to continue to engage in maritime trade here, then they must either build taller and thicker walls, or risk being ransacked at any time, and continue to do business in this windy city. buy and sell.

"This is really a tragedy!" Eduardo, who had not regained his freedom until the Haihan people retreated, looked at the ruined city of Hoi An, feeling gloomy in his heart.

(End of this chapter)