The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 326: The Xing Tang Army Has Sufficient Firepower

With Deng Chenchang, Mo Zibu's plan to take Beihe began to improve.

Now that I think about it, it was really a pity to kill a bunch of high-ranking officials in Beihe.

At present, the population of mainland China has not exploded rapidly. Among the two provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, Guangdong has a population of only about 20 million, while Fujian has a population of around 13 million.

Of the total population of 33 million, only 2 to 3 million can leave. If the number exceeds this, there will not be too many people going to Southeast Asia.

Because as long as people can make a living in their hometown, even if they are from Guangdong or Fujian, few of them would want to leave.

Therefore, it would be great if we could gather hundreds of thousands of people who also believe in Confucianism from Beihe to settle in Nanyang.

So, after two days of in-depth discussions with Deng Chenchang, Mo Zibu immediately appointed Deng Chenchang as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, the Beihe Transport Ambassador, and the Supervisor of the Beihe Prison Supervision Affairs.

Deng Chenchang understood immediately that the purpose of being the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was not to give him control of financial power, but to facilitate the registration of the people in Beihe.

The Beihe Transport Ambassador hoped that he could sort out the financial framework of Beihe after the occupation. After all, King Mo could not be like Lord Zheng, who collected taxes in most areas in a way that was similar to the tax farming system.

Being in charge of supervising all matters related to the Beihe Prison meant that he was required to kill people. Anyone who opposed the Han-Yue pronunciation or the household registration system would be in big trouble, and Deng Chenchang could largely decide who would be in trouble and who would not.

After figuring out Mo Zibu's true intentions, Deng Chenchang immediately began to submit the first batch of letters of allegiance.

This person is indeed talented. He is not bragging when he says that he has gathered a large number of talented and learned people from humble backgrounds in Beihe.

When Mo Zibu's army stopped at Chengrong City in Nghe An Town, Deng Chenchang introduced more than 20 talents to Mo Zibu.

You know what, these poor scholars from Beihe are basically distant descendants of the major clans. Although they are not famous for their achievements, they have good basic knowledge and understanding. Most of them can use swords and guns, and some of them are even good at horse riding.

Moreover, they brought a lot of intelligence to Mo Zibu, because in Huang Tingbao's Beizheng Army, a large number of auxiliary soldiers and civilian laborers were served by these people's fellow villagers and relatives.

Some people even served directly as the lowest-level clerks in the Beihe Army, doing some writing and calculations and managing conscripted laborers.

With these people, Mo Zibu immediately began to set up an intelligence system against the Beihe Army, slowly clearing the fog of war in front of him.

This also gave Mo Zibu a preliminary trust in Deng Chenchang's talents. If used well, this man would indeed be a good cruel official and capable minister.

February 1775, 2, the 4th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, was the fifth day of the first lunar month and the beginning of spring.

With the help of Deng Chenchang and others, Mo Zibu ordered the Palace Security Department to set up a relatively efficient intelligence network, and then the army began to set off.

At this time, more than three months had passed since Mo Zibu sent out his troops. The battle line had been pushed northwards for about 400 miles, but only a few towns had been occupied.

This is the characteristic of Annan. The terrain is long and narrow. People often travel a long way, but in fact they don’t achieve much results, and the logistics are also very long.

This is the reason why the Zheng Dynasty in the north and the Nguyen Dynasty in the south could not do anything to each other in history.

When it came to Mo Zibu, Nghe An warriors continued to attack the supply lines of the Xing Tang army from all directions, so that Mo Zibu could only rely on sea transportation for half of his transportation capacity.

At the same time, the vanguard of the army, including the civilian laborers, had no more than 10,000 people, but the troops responsible for ensuring logistics and clearing out the troops that harassed the Nghe An warriors also numbered about 10,000.

A large number of elite soldiers of the Xing Tang Army were forced to play a game of cat and mouse with these local warriors in the jungles and bushes of Nghe An.

On the 13th day of the first lunar month, Wu Wenyong's vanguard army arrived at Yanzhou Prefecture.

Yanzhou was a military prefecture established during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty and was under the jurisdiction of the Annan Protectorate. Even after the Jinghai Army established itself, its name was not changed.

This city is very famous in Annan. It is the birthplace of Dinh Bu Linh, the founding king of the Dinh Dynasty who succeeded Ngo Quan. The famous Nguyen Ai Quoc was a native of Dien Chau.

On the 14th day of the first lunar month, Wu Wenyong crossed the Yanshui River. The Beihe Army in Yanzhou City had already evacuated, and after a brief resistance by hundreds of rural militia groups, the entire city surrendered.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, Mo Zibu arrived in Yanzhou. At this time, the Palace Security Office summarized the news from the north and also passed it to Mo Zibu.

Reinstein unfolded the map and pointed at Thanh Hoa Town and Xijing City. "Your Majesty, I suspect the enemy is planning a decisive battle with us in Thanh Hoa. They are frantically reinforcing Thanh Hoa City and the fortifications on both sides of the Ma River."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I agree with General Rui's opinion. Huang Tingti is currently stationed at Xijing, upstream of the Majiang River, with an army of 20,000.

Huang Tingbao led the main force to defend the inner city of Thanh Hoa, claiming to have an army of 300,000, which was probably an exaggeration, but there were 50,000 combat troops and over 100,000 auxiliary troops and civilian laborers, so it should be there.

Chen Lian said in a deep voice, his eyes fixed on the location of Xijing on the map. "I suspect Huang Tingti must have a number of inland warships. If we focus on attacking the inner town of Thanh Hoa downstream, he will use his large ships to sail downstream and will likely intercept us while we are crossing the river. If we focus on attacking Xijing, they will reinforce Xijing through Majiang and other directions."

Mo Zibu frowned. "Are Xijing's city defenses very strong? Are they sure we won't break through quickly?"

"It's very strong!" Chen Guangyao replied in a deep voice. "Xijing was rebuilt after Le Loi's rebellion to consolidate the rule of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. Before that, Xijing was the capital of the Ho Dynasty founded by Hu Quy Ly. The city has high walls and is nestled against the mountains and rivers, making it extremely difficult to capture."

"Then there's no escaping. These guys are planning to confront us from Xijing to Nghe'an. They might even hold out until the rainy season, leaving us stuck. If they get hit by a plague in the army or a logistical breakdown, that'll be their chance."

Mo Zibu understood Huang Tingbao and his men's plan, which was indeed a method of luring the enemy deep into their territory, clearing the countryside and using the weak to defeat the strong.

Unexpectedly, Huang Tingbao is quite pragmatic and is willing to give up even Nghe An.

"Guangyao, I'll leave the Dragon Flag Regiment to you and give you 3,000 auxiliary soldiers. You'll be responsible for clearing out these rats in Nghe An Town and ensuring the safety of the logistics supply lines.

Ryan, you lead the First Regiment of the Republic, the Western Volunteer Regiment, and 10,000 auxiliary soldiers and civilians from the northwest, surround Xijing, and bombard it with more artillery. You must put enough pressure on them.

"Leave only 30,000 of the remaining main forces with me to focus on the attack on Thanh Hoa. The remaining civilians will retreat south and arrange transportation in sequence to reduce logistical pressure. Let us first test the combat capabilities of Huang Tingbao and his men."

Everyone tacitly agreed not to mention the navy, because at that time, there were neither steam engines to drive warships nor Armstrong breech-loading guns that were more accurate, more powerful, had a longer range, and more flexible angles.

Without a steam engine, power would have to rely solely on natural forces such as wind and water power and human power.

At this time, the trade winds had not yet blown, and the large ships of the Xingtang Navy, which were at least several hundred tons, would run aground and become targets if they sailed into inland rivers with unfamiliar hydrology.

Without breech-loading guns, the naval guns' inflexibility in accuracy and angle will greatly reduce their power. Although the caliber is large, it is difficult to crush land targets.

This is also the reason why the British and French navies at that time still had a certain fear of the Qing navy. The Qing navy may not have a good ability to go to sea, but the navy ships plus coastal defense artillery are still very threatening.

Therefore, the navy at this time could attack targets on land, but it was generally limited to large seaport cities, such as Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Ningbo.

Their ports are spacious, their hydrography has long been understood, and there are many places available for temporary docking to allow the army to go ashore and assist in capturing the artillery batteries.

However, in Annam, apart from international seaports like Hoi An, there are not many good ports in the Bac Ho area.

This is not because the terrain of Beihe River limits the existence of a good port, but because the successive Zheng lords of Beihe River also understood that danger comes from the sea.
Therefore, Beihe basically deliberately suppressed the development of maritime trade, did not build wide ports, and did not dredge the river channels into the sea on a large scale.

I can't beat you, so I can just not open the door.

Therefore, it is not a good option to use the navy to attack Thanh Hoa Outer Town directly from Majiang at this time. At least a certain degree of control and hydrological survey must be carried out before the navy boats can go upstream to cooperate with the army.

On the 20th day of the first lunar month, the army continued to march north. After Ryanstein conquered Kuizhou Prefecture in the northwest and established a small military station, the army began to approach the upper reaches of Majiang River and launched a siege on Huang Tingti in Xijing.

Mo Zibu personally led the main force, totaling 15,000 combat soldiers, 9,000 auxiliary soldiers, and 10,000 civilian laborers, a total of 34,000 people, to the northeast towards Thanh Hoa Town.

They successively occupied Qiongliu and Jingjia prefectures, and then approached the inner town of Thanh Hoa.

The intelligence brought by Deng Chenchang was very accurate. At that time, Thanh Hoa Nei Town had gathered 55,000 combat soldiers and more than 80,000 auxiliary soldiers and civilian laborers, claiming to have a total of 300,000 people. They were distributed in the cities and forts along the river, mainly Thanh Hoa Nei Town, on the north bank of the Majiang River.

In addition, on the south bank of the Majiang River, there is a huge fortress called Dongshou Fort.

To the right of Dongshou Fort is the spacious Longshan Bamboo Forest Zen Temple, and to the left is the tall Immortal Cave.

The fortress is located at the intersection of Longshan and Xianren Cave. Behind the fortress is the only wooden bridge on the Ma River - Thanh Hoa Bridge, which allows easy transportation between Thanh Hoa Town and Dong Tho Fort.

"What a natural barrier!" Mo Zibu rode his horse to a high place and looked down. Dongshou Fort was built with stone slabs and rammed earth. It was like a giant Buddha, sitting heavily on the main traffic road.

The hills of Longshan Bamboo Forest Zen Temple on the right are very undulating and the army cannot deploy at all. The Immortal Cave on the left is high and dangerous and cannot be passed at all.

Therefore, if Ma Jiang wanted to attack the inner town of Thanh Hoa, the only option was to storm Dongshou Fort.

"Motherfucker!" Mo Zibu couldn't help but curse. "You're tough, huh? I want to see how tough you are."

"Send a message to Fragosse. Tell him to find a way to get the fleet to dock at Qiongliu Prefecture. Select five thousand strong civilians and have them bring the Jingning's thirty-six-pounder cannon ashore. I'll kill you with my bombardment!"

(End of this chapter)