Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 353 Supporting Hanoi
At the end of February 1881, a courier from the Governor-General of Hanoi arrived in Cam Pho, the capital of Quang Ninh Province, and informed Mei Dongxing and others that French troops were stationed outside Hanoi.

"Hanoi is in crisis. After the Governor-General rejected the unreasonable demands of the French, the French bandit leader Li Weiye became angry and dispatched 200 marines and the ironclad warship Military Music from Haiphong Province to reinforce Hanoi. Now the total number of French troops and Annan rebels gathered outside Hanoi is nearly . In addition, Li Weiye sent an ultimatum to the Governor-General, demanding that the Governor-General disarm the Hanoi garrison within three days and hand over the three provinces of Hanoi, Quang Ninh and Lang Son to the French army!
The French are arrogant, and the Governor-General does not want to be humiliated, and has sternly rejected their demands. However, the French are well prepared to come to Hanoi this time. The Governor-General is worried that it will affect the national affairs, so he specially ordered me to come to meet you gentlemen and ask you gentlemen to send troops to rescue Hanoi City for the courtesy and respect that the country has shown to the Tang people in recent years. When the French withdraw their troops and the crisis in Hanoi is resolved, the Governor-General will personally commend you for your achievements! "

"What is the situation in Hanoi? How many troops are there? What is the condition of the soldiers' weapons and equipment?"

"I dare not deceive you, my lords. The tax revenue in the northern part of our country is
They were all controlled by the French. The total likin tariff paid by Hanoi Province each year was about 30 silver dollars, but the Qing government could only obtain 10 silver dollars of it, and the rest was all controlled by the French and the rebel forces affiliated with the French.

The tax revenue and grain income of Hanoi Province was insufficient, and every time the officers and soldiers were called up to suppress the rebellion, the local people had to cope with it.
The Governor-General is in charge of the military affairs of Hanoi and Tây Sơn Provinces. Although he has more than 10,000 soldiers, the soldiers he recruited are all local civilians. They fight in wartime and cultivate the land when there is no war. The army is not strong enough. In peacetime, they can still deal with bandits. However, Li Weiye's troops stationed outside Hanoi are all equipped with foreign guns and cannons, and their armor is sharp. It is difficult to win with the more than 10,000 armed civilians in the city alone. "

"The Annan army was weak and could not even suppress the local rebel forces. It was no wonder that the French pressed forward step by step, intending to bring the entire Annan under their colonial rule."

Mei Dongxing secretly felt sorry for the Annan government. The country had an army of more than 100,000, but was helpless against the invasion of several thousand French colonial troops. If it were not for the Nanyang Corps helping the Annan government to quell the rebellion, the French would probably not have to attack, and the Nguyen Dynasty would have been destroyed and overthrown in the internal peasant uprising.

"Hanoi, Quang Ninh, and Lang Son are all one. Our armies will not sit idly by and watch Hanoi fall into danger. Please report to Governor Huang that within two days, I will personally lead the armies of Quang Ninh and Lang Son to support Hanoi. Governor Huang is also requested to be firm in his determination to defend the city and resist the enemy. Do not make a move to sacrifice your life for the country lightly, which will cause the country to lose a great minister and general."

Even though they looked down on the Annan government, considering the objective reality that the interests of both sides were consistent, the Nanyang Army still needed to lend a hand to Hanoi at the critical moment.

"Come here, select a few good horses from the army, and send two people with the messenger back to Hanoi to show Governor Huang that our army is determined to support the Hanoi defenders."…………

After sending off the messenger asking for help from Hanoi City, Mei Dongxing summoned the main officers of the Nanyang Army to discuss response plans.

"The total number of French colonial troops stationed in Annam is about 3000. According to the intelligence obtained by our army and the information provided by the Annan messenger, the French troops gathered in the northern provinces should be around . The number of French troops on the front line is equivalent to the strength of our regular army."

Mei Dongxing said solemnly, "The French colonial government still has more than 2,000 colonial troops in the southern region. If the war in the north reaches a stalemate, the Governor-General of Cochinchina, Lu Mei, may take the risk and dispatch the southern garrison to board the warships to launch a surprise attack on our base in Quang Ninh Province.

The French have a maritime advantage in the South Seas. Before sending troops to support the Annan garrison in Hanoi, our army needs to leave behind necessary troops to guard against the French threat from the sea. "Among the more than 3200 French colonial troops stationed in the north, the 900 marines have the strongest comprehensive combat effectiveness. The French marines are all composed of white soldiers. The rifles and artillery they are equipped with are slightly better than ours in terms of weapon performance.
However, apart from 900 marines, the remaining 1300 Annamese colonial troops and 1000 black colonial troops were generally equipped with old-fashioned breech-loading rifles. The soldiers lacked combat skills and weak fighting will. With equal strength, they were no match for the regular army of the Nanyang Corps.

Therefore, I believe that the focus of our army's operations should be on dealing with the enemy's marines. We should try to concentrate our superior forces, use Hanoi as bait, encircle and destroy part of the enemy's marines in the Hanoi area, and force the Cochinchina colonial government to delay or abandon its plan to invade northern Annam by force. "

Exploring France's military strength in the Nanyang region has been the focus of the Military Intelligence Department's intelligence work in recent years. Using the Chinese and overseas Chinese scattered throughout the Nanyang region as cover, Liang Xing obtained a lot of military intelligence about the number of French colonial troops and the distribution of garrisons.

"I agree with Minister Liang's opinion. The French colonial rule in Annam is nothing more than a set of mutual blackmail. They use the Annan rebels to help the French govern the people in the occupied areas. Then they draw a group of black troops from the African colonies and take advantage of the violent temperament of black soldiers who often harass the Annan people to create conflicts between the Annan colonial army and the African colonial army, thereby preventing the two colonial armies from merging and maintaining the stability of French colonial rule.

However, the Annan colonial army and the African black army, which relied on the French to bluff, were only cannon fodder after all and could not pose a significant threat to our army.

Most of the marines under Lu Mei were deployed to the northern region to carry out armed deterrence against the Annan government. The French colonial army left in the six southern provinces had only 300 marines. Even if they attacked Quang Ninh Province from the sea, there was no need to worry too much. The 1000 regular troops and 1500 militiamen left to garrison in various places were enough to deal with possible attacks by the French.
The remaining 2000 Nanyang Corps main forces and 1500 militia troops can join Lu Zhiping, Li Yasheng and other Chinese armed forces, and steadily move towards Hanoi. After contacting the Governor of Hanoi, they can make further arrangements based on the reaction of the French army. "

"The central government's focus is on the mainland. Annan is thousands of miles away from the mainland. If the scale of the war expands, it will also be disadvantageous to the Nanyang Army."

Mei Dongxing combined the two people's suggestions and made a response decision. He said, "The main purpose of the march to Hanoi is to strive for peace. If the French insist on provoking a war, the Nanyang Corps, from top to bottom, must not hesitate and must be determined to strike hard at the enemy.
Although the Nanyang Army hopes for peace and stability in the Nanyang region, peace is not gained by retreating and making concessions, but by fighting. Only by hurting the enemy and making the French feel the consequences of bullying the Nanyang Army step by step, will they face up to the courage and strength of the Nanyang Army and the Han soldiers. Only then will we have a chance to force the French to sit at the negotiation table and exchange what they want with equal conditions, rather than simply relying on guns and cannons to rob! "

Mei Dongxing stood up and said firmly in a sonorous tone, "The situation in Hanoi changes three times a day. To prevent accidents, I have decided that all the expeditionary forces must assemble and set out before noon tomorrow. At the same time, I order Lu Zhiping, Li Yasheng and other armed forces to quickly advance towards Hanoi and meet up with our main force nearby. All armed forces must arrive at the designated meeting point within three days. Those who fail to arrive within the deadline will be punished for the crime of delaying the opportunity to fight!"…………

The various Chinese armed forces in northern Annam have a total of more than 4,000 people. These Chinese armed forces usually receive supplies of food, weapons and supplies from the Nanyang Corps, as well as training from the Nanyang Corps instructors. Therefore, although they are distributed in various provinces in northern Annam, they are directly under the command of the Nanyang Corps. Once faced with the threat of foreign war, the Nanyang Corps will also mobilize the Chinese armed forces hidden in various places to launch attacks on the enemy.

(End of this chapter)