1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 354
Enrique did not stay in Wanshan Port for too long. After a brief meeting with Chen Yixin, he hurried back to Macau.The news of the destruction of Hoi An City in Annan shocked the Macao Council. They never expected that the Haihan people would take the initiative to attack South Vietnam again after a lapse of half a year, and directly destroyed the most important seaport city in South Vietnam.Although some people still had certain doubts about the authenticity of the news that Enrique brought back, but only three days later, the messenger who came from Hue Province verified what Enrique said.

The situation that the South Vietnamese messenger informed the Macao Council was far more detailed than what Enrique knew, and the severity of the matter also exceeded the previous judgment of the Council.The entire city of Hoi An was reduced to ruins due to wars and riots. Ninety percent of the surviving residents in the city fled the area, while the brutal Hai Han people took away most of the wealth in the city as victors.Thousands of people died in Hoi An due to wars, riots, and the subsequent spread of the disease. The city has basically no possibility of reconstruction and recovery. The local Portuguese Chamber of Commerce President Eduardo suggested that the city should be completely abandoned and the Portuguese People's residence in South Vietnam was moved to Hue Province.As for the sea trade business, due to the destruction of the port, it will not be able to recover in the short term. Fortunately, the last batch of Portuguese cargo ships just set off from Hoi An, and it will be at least two or three months before they return, so the situation is not too bad. Very urgent.

Faced with such a situation, the council had to reconsider Enrique's proposal to establish a commercial station in Victory Port and establish trade relations with the Haihan people.

Although the Portuguese suffered major economic losses in South Vietnam, the property looted from Hoi An by the Hai Han was nothing compared to the interests of the entire East Asian colony.Nowadays, more and more Ming merchants are more inclined to ship export goods to Shengli Port on Qiongzhou Island for sale, and the Portuguese must also consider shifting the purchase location of some bulk goods from Guangzhou to Shengli Port—after all, that place is The so-called free port has no tariffs, and even if the freight is included, the procurement cost of many commodities is lower than that of Guangzhou.

And Enrique's description of Victory Port also moved the council very much. A port with complete facilities, smooth operation, perfect management, and strong defense can purchase most of the goods produced in southern China locally, and there is no terrible tariff. , is simply a trading paradise for businessmen.Enrique believed that compared to the professional level of Victory Port, Hoi An Port, which the South Vietnamese court was proud of, was simply a rural place. He even suggested that the elders of the council have the opportunity to go to Victory Port to experience it for themselves. The West, but it can still be called a comfortable and noble Haihan style of life.

Enrique was more or less arrogant when he went to Victory Port. In his opinion, although the Haihan people have some ability in trade, they are barbarians living on the island after all, and they must not be able to compare with the Western civilized world. Bi, but the reality slapped him mercilessly.Although the life of the Haihan people is not luxurious, it is definitely beyond the reach of the Portuguese in Macau.

After returning to the stinky port of Macau, Enrique soon began to miss the clean living environment of Victory Port. Although the houses of the Haihan people were a bit shabby, there would be no fleas on the soft big bed, bathroom and toilet They are all cleaned up, and there will be no piles of rubbish piled up like hills everywhere on the street, emitting a stench and no one to clean them.As for the food, they can’t even compare with the Haihan people. The three meals here are all tasteless and unpalatable meals. Only a few people are qualified to enjoy the dishes with expensive spices.However, the Haihan people have three different meals a day, and their use of seasonings and spices is simply luxurious. The aroma of that kind of food is difficult to replicate here. Enrique participated in the During the banquet, he almost swallowed his own tongue.

Even the Haihan militiamen stationed in Wanshan Port can enjoy convenient hot showers and three hot meals a day, which is completely different from the Portuguese's understanding of serving in the army.Enrique was not worried that the Haihan people's plan to recruit mercenaries would be difficult to realize, because their treatment of soldiers was simply impossible to provide elsewhere.Even serving as a soldier for His Majesty King Felipe III at home is not as good as the life and treatment of Haihan militiamen on an unnamed island.As long as the mercenaries understand the treatment that the Haihan people can give, they will definitely rush to serve the Haihan people.

After a few days of research, the council agreed in principle to several proposals put forward by Enrique, namely establishing a trade relationship with Haihan, setting up a commercial station in Victory Port, and providing Haihan with artillery instructors.But there is one thing that the council is unwilling to change its attitude easily, and that is the protection of the interests of the Portuguese in South Vietnam.

In order to support the Nguyen family in South Vietnam, Portugal has invested a lot of money in various resources and assistance in the local area, and there are nearly a thousand Portuguese permanent residents in the local area. If the Haihan people say a word If you withdraw, what is the face of the Portuguese Empire? Although Portugal was annexed by Spain in 1580, the Portuguese in Asia did not intend to change their nationality easily, and they still insisted that they were Portuguese nationals.

Of course, it would be an extremely uncalm choice to go to war with the powerful Haihan people for the sake of South Vietnam, and the council would not make such a low-level mistake.The Haihan people have fully proved their strength in the last few battles, and the council does not want to face such an opponent head-on on the battlefield because of the South Vietnam issue.In the final analysis, the Macau Council still hopes to reach a solution to the South Vietnam issue with Haihan that can save face, at least not to allow the Portuguese to withdraw from the Indochina Peninsula as a loser.

After hearing this decision, Enrique could only complain secretly, which meant another long and difficult negotiation with the Haihan people.The Haihan people have expressed to him their attitude on the South Vietnam issue many times before, that is, the Portuguese must first completely abandon their interests in the Indochina Peninsula, completely withdraw from the Annan Civil War and ensure that they will not participate in it in the future. Possibility to continue negotiations.If the Portuguese are unwilling to agree to such a condition, then the Haihan people may not give the Portuguese captives a chance to be free the next time they start a war.

However, the next negotiation means that Enrique can temporarily leave Macau and go to the beautiful Victory Port to enjoy a comfortable life.From this perspective, the stubbornness of the council also has a positive effect-at least for Enrique personally.

However, while the Portuguese Council in Macau was still struggling with the South Vietnamese issue, the situation on the South Vietnamese side had a new change.

On the day Wang Tom led the Haihan militia army to break through the city of Hoi An, the Yongan Port base in the north also received a message from them.Since this operation also included the support of the North Vietnamese Army on the defense line of Zhengjiang Hengshan, this news was not concealed from the North Vietnamese side, and soon the front-line leader Zheng Bai also knew about it.

Chen Bing of the North Vietnamese Army was fighting on the front line of the river, originally to attract the attention of the South Vietnamese, so that the militia army could free up their hands in the south to clean up the city of Hoi An.However, Zheng Bo, the leader of the army, did not mean that this strategy should be carried out as a show. In his opinion, if there is a suitable opportunity, he can directly lead the army to attack the natural danger. , Taking advantage of the situation to make a southern expedition.

However, limited by the means of communication in this era, the news of the fall of Hoi An spread from the scene of the incident 600 miles away to the South Vietnamese barracks on the front line of the Zhengjiang River. It has been a full eight days since the incident.And this news caused a lot of shock in the South Vietnamese military camp, because all South Vietnamese people knew very well what the fall of Hoi An meant to the South Vietnamese regime-it was not just an economic loss.

Due to the mountainous terrain of the Indochina Peninsula, almost all towns in South Vietnam are concentrated in the coastal areas. Even the capital, Hue, is only twenty miles away from the coastline.Since the Haihan army has the ability to take down such an "important town" as Hoi An in one day, it can be said that the entire city of South Vietnam is almost exposed to the guns of the Haihan people.Donghai, which was attacked in the first half of the year, and Hoi An, which was attacked this time, were both conquered by the Haihan army who came across the sea, and there was no army on the thousands of miles of coastline in the entire South Vietnam region that could compete with one of them. combat surface forces.

The fall of Hoi An was so fast that the Hue government also fell into a certain degree of panic after getting the news. They didn't know whether the Hai Han people would choose to leave after they succeeded, or lurk somewhere in the open sea, taking advantage of their unpreparedness. It's time to launch an attack on Hue Prefecture - Judging from the firepower possessed by the Haihan people, the city walls of Hue Prefecture may not be able to stop them.So with a transfer order, they went to the front line of the struggle for the river, and some troops were to be transferred south to help Hue Prefecture.

However, the military mobilization this time was too big to hide from the North Vietnamese spies. After the news reached Zheng Bai, he decisively decided to take this opportunity to launch an attack on the Zhengjiang defense line and give the South Vietnamese people a little bit of trouble.

At present, the first batch of North Vietnamese officers sent to Victory Port for training have all returned, and these people immediately became the backbone of the new army after returning home, and Zheng Ting also continued to serve as the commander of the new army.According to the combat methods they learned in Haihan, Zheng Ting organized a group of officers to hold a pre-war staff meeting to discuss the combat plan.As the highest local military officer, Zheng Bo also attended the meeting. He was very interested to see how much these young men had learned from the Haihan people after going to Shengli Port for a few months.

The biggest difference from the previous pre-war preparation meetings is that the headquarters of the new army has a more detailed map and a sand table model based on the map-this large sand table that includes the Zhengjiang Hengshan area is After being made in Victory Port, it was shipped back for assembly.The material is mainly clay and moss, and its size and ratio are completely derived from the satellite map in the Haihan database. The simulation is extremely high. It even made every checkpoint, barracks, warehouse, etc. of the South Vietnamese defenders based on the information provided by the North Vietnamese side. , showing details that Zheng Bai never dreamed of before.

Of course, this sand table was not provided free of charge. For this reason, the North Vietnamese court needed to provide Hai Han Fang with an additional [-] clean and healthy immigrants, which was very valuable.However, after seeing the sand table with his own eyes, Zheng Bai thought that the cost was worth a thousand dollars. With such a detailed sand table, at least thousands of innocent soldiers could be saved from dying when formulating a battle plan.

The reason why fighting for the river can become a natural barrier is largely due to the lack of long-range weapons to protect the crossing troops in traditional river crossing operations, and it is difficult for the crossing troops on board to form an effective attack on the defensive troops on the shore. , it is easy to be attacked by the defensive side halfway, so the two sides have been stationed on both sides of the river for a long time to form a stalemate.Last year, the South Vietnamese army successfully sneaked across the river from the upper reaches of the Zhengjiang River, which almost caused a major defeat for the North Vietnam. Since then, both sides have deployed a large number of guard posts in the upper reaches of the river.

However, it was not in vain for the officers to study in Shengli Port for a few months. The courses they studied during their stay in Shengli Port were very specific, almost all of which were designed by the Military Commission according to the imaginary enemy in South Vietnam.As for the topic of crossing the river, it is naturally among the teachings-of course, what they can learn is basically only to deal with the "primitive" troops of the South Vietnamese Army. If they want to use the same tactics to deal with armed forces in the future If you go to the Haihan militia in the teeth, then you are really looking for a dead end.

"Judging from the combat method taught by the instructor, the most suitable way to fight for the river is to cross the river under the cover of artillery fire." Zheng Ting pointed to the sand table model and talked eloquently: "I have been patrolling along the river bank for the past two days. However, the Zhengjiang River diverges in many places at the mouth of the sea, the river is not too wide, the widest part is only over a hundred feet, the narrowest part is only about forty feet, the flow is not too fast, and it is fully qualified for crossing the river."

"But don't forget, we don't have many ships available at the moment." Zheng Bo reminded in a deep voice: "If a large number of soldiers cannot be carried across the river in a short period of time, the soldiers who landed first are very likely to be defeated by the opponent because of 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 rush up and the two sides fight together, how can you still use artillery fire?"

"We can mix artillery and infantry to cross the river. After landing, we can directly spread out and bombard the enemy." Zheng Ting paused and said, "I don't know my father. The Haihan people have recently developed a kind of artillery shell. Its bullets contain thousands of iron seeds, and a single shot can injure a large area. The lethality at a distance of forty or fifty feet is far better than that of bows and arrows. It is specially used to deal with the dense formation of enemy troops in close combat. Boy In Panyu, Guangdong, I have personally seen the Haihan militia use this kind of shells to deal with local bandits. A single shot can knock down dozens of people. If the opponent's formation is dense, you don't even need to watch and aim. Just aim at the general direction and fire. .”

Zheng Bo responded with a nudge: "It seems that our army has never purchased the shells you mentioned."

"The Haihan garrison in Yong'an Port must have this item. We can contact them and ask them to sell some to us." Zheng Ting knew the style of the Haihan people well, and 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 Haihan people's quotation for this new type of shell is 20 taels a round..."

"What?" Zheng Bai was so surprised that he almost jumped up from his chair: "Isn't this ten times more expensive than before? Haihan people are like a lion!"

Zheng Ting had asked Tom Wang whether this new type of shell would be sold to the outside world when he was watching the battle in Lijiazhuang. Ask someone from "Haihan Military Industry".After Zheng Ting inquired many ways, he finally got a confirmation letter from Beks: It can be sold, but the price cannot be negotiated, and the 100 rounds will be sold or not.

Zheng Ting, of course, would not pay out of his own pocket to buy the high-priced shells from the Haihan people, so after inquiring clearly, there was no further comment for the time being.However, after returning to China for the first time to formulate a battle plan, Zheng Ting thought that this shell could play a role in battle, so he proposed it to his father.

Zheng Bo said angrily: "Although the old man has never seen the kind of shell you mentioned, it is not a new technique to fire stones and iron nails. The Haihan people just replaced it with iron seeds and tried to wrap it up. , why sell it at such a high price!"

Zheng Ting shook his head and said: "I thought so at first, but after seeing the actual practice, I realized that there is a big difference between the two. Thinking about the method of loading stones, the range is only ten feet at most, and it will fall to the ground after a little further, killing people. The range is extremely limited, but the shells produced by the Haihan people can shoot five times the distance, and the iron seeds can still pass through the body and hurt the second person. This power is witnessed by the child, and it is absolutely true. And the stone-filled iron The method of nailing is all estimated by the gunner himself, the loading weight, the shooting range, and there are no fixed numbers, but the Haihan shells are made according to the standard. Expensive, but expensive for a reason.”

Zheng Bo was silent for a long while before he opened his mouth and said: "In the past, our army did not have such Haihan firearms, they could still go into battle to kill the enemy and eliminate rebellion. Now that you have returned from training, you still have the desire to fight. This is a good thing. I just want to rely on the Haihan people's firearms to win, but this old man thinks it's inappropriate. If Haihan uses this to threaten me in the future, what should I do?"

"If we had fought with firearms earlier, our army would not have been defeated by the South Vietnamese rebels last year. My lord father, have you forgotten the tragedy of last year?" The art of manufacturing is ulterior motives, but now that the North and the South are divided, the internal affairs must be settled first before the South Vietnamese rebellion is eliminated, and the imperial court will have the confidence to bargain with the Haihan people!"

Zheng Bo was silent for a long while before he said: "You are right, then go ask the Haihan people for help according to your wishes!"

(End of this chapter)