The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 327: The Time to Achieve Success
The outer town of Thanh Hoa at that time was actually not the location of the Thanh Hoa city in later Vietnam, but was Dong Shou Fort on the south side of Ma River, which later developed into Thanh Hoa City.

The wooden bridge behind Dongshou Fort, which was later renamed Qinghua, is also very famous.

Later, during the Vietnam War, the US military carried out more than ten intensive bombings, causing the bridge to collapse. However, the North Vietnamese side was always able to repair it quickly with the support of Chinese engineers.

The two sides fought back and forth several times, so that the Thanh Hoa Bridge, which was repeatedly destroyed in the war but quickly repaired, became a symbol of the unyielding spirit of the Vietnamese military and civilians in their fight against the US military.

In the inner town of Qinghua, Huang Tingbao was under great pressure.

King Jingdu Zheng Sen was no fool. He certainly noticed Huang Tingbao's abnormality and was well aware of the small movements of the three prefecture armies.

Although both of them tacitly agreed not to mention anything, because they still needed the soldiers of the three prefectures and the warriors of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An to fight for their lives.

But the rift had already formed, and King Jingdu Zheng Sen did not dare to anger Huang Tingbao at this time, but it was still okay to make some small moves on military rations and civilian laborers.

Even a few days ago, Zheng Sen sent all of Huang Tingbao's family members into the palace on the pretext that the queen had summoned them.

Huang Tingbao was so desperate that he wanted to cry but had no tears. He actually didn't want to rebel, but if he didn't rebel, the people below him would not follow him.

Not only is he being roasted on the fire, but his family has also become hostages. So these days, Huang Tingbao has been thinking about how to avoid becoming Guo Wei.

"Brother, news has arrived from my second brother that the thief, the French general Ryan, has led 20,000 troops to the outskirts of Xijing and is continuously overseeing the construction of warships in an attempt to cross the river. It's said that there are dozens of cannons defending the shipyard alone, and their firepower is so fierce that our small boats dare not approach."

Ruan Wenhui held the news that Huang Tingti sent from Xijing, and his face looked very heavy. This was too abnormal.

"Why did the thief Mo put so many cannons in Xijing? Does he want to take over Xijing first with a small force?" Huang Tingbao muttered to himself twice, then quickly shook his head.

"Mo Thief wouldn't be so stupid, right? Xijing City's walls are so high and thick, even higher than Qinghua Inner Town. The floating bridge over the Ma River has long been dismantled, and all the fishermen and boats in the surrounding area have been moved away. If he wants to cross the river, he needs to build a boat from scratch. How long will it take?"

Nguyen Van Hue also couldn't figure out what Reinstein was doing, because Huang Tingti of Xijing had already controlled Majiang and had an inland fleet.

Reinstein's newly built warships were so clearly intended to cross the river. Even if Huang Tingti did not harass him, it would take more than three months to accomplish his goal.

But three months later, the rainy season will have already arrived. By then, the roads will be muddy and the rain will be heavier. Not only will transportation be extremely inconvenient, but the Xing Tang Army's guns and artillery firepower will also be difficult to fully utilize, which will be meaningless!
"Where's Dongshou Fort?" Huang Tingbao was most concerned about his own area. "It's said that the bandit Mo's red sun and moon flag has already arrived. Even if the foreign general Rui En doesn't understand the severity of the rainy season in the southern part of the country, he, who was born and raised in the south, wouldn't be too confused."

Nguyen Van Huy couldn't help but shake his head. "The southern bandit army south of Majiang hasn't made much movement except for clearing the countryside."

"How strange!" Huang Tingbao felt panic in his heart. "Ah Hui, I'm afraid Ruan You can't handle it. Why don't you go to Dongshou Fort? Be careful. We must not lose this place."

Nguyen Van Hue nodded. Nguyen Youzheng had just returned from the front line and had just gained Huang Tingbao's trust. His prestige had not yet been established, and he was indeed unable to control his subordinates.

The two were discussing when they suddenly heard a deafening burst of artillery fire, like thunder suddenly striking from the sky.

Huang Tingbao took the lead and rushed out. When they reached the city wall of Qinghua Inner Town, they saw smoke rising from Dongshou Fort on the other side of Majiang River in the distance. In the shadows, many people were running and shouting, and the huge roar also came from there.

"Not good!" Nguyen Van Hue shouted, "The Mo thieves have brought the navy's heavy artillery ashore!"

Nguyen Van Hue guessed correctly that I, King Mo, focused on killing the Nghe An warriors in the occupied areas in order to transport the artillery safely.

After receiving the order from Mo Zibu, Major General Fragosse immediately mobilized thousands of laborers and dug a dock on the seashore of Qiongliu Prefecture.

Then, thousands of laborers pulled the Jingning to the shore, and then unloaded ten 36-pound cannons and eight 36-pound howitzers.

This 2.8-pound cannon has a caliber of about centimeters, a length of nearly three meters, a weight of tons, and a shell weighing more than kilograms.

Although transportation is very difficult, once it is transported at all costs, its power is far beyond that of a 3,000-jin or 5,000-jin cannon.

It can even be said that the Qing Dynasty's largest 7877-jin (-jin) Wucheng Yonggu Dajiangjun cannon is a level lower in power than this thing.

"Bang!" A massive projectile weighing nearly thirty pounds whizzed towards Dongshou Fort, like the arrival of an alien demon. Ruan You felt as if the entire city wall began to tremble under the huge impact.

A cloud of dust flew up, and he looked closely. He saw that a huge pit of five or six feet, or less than two meters, was smashed into the left wall of Dongshou Fort. With the pit as the center, cracks were spreading to the surrounding areas of the loess wall.

boom!
Another shot was fired, this time it was fired relatively high and hit the upper edge of the city wall directly, immediately splashing smoke and dust all over the sky.

Countless pieces of gravel mixed in the rammed earth were splashed out, shooting everywhere like bullets, hitting the surrounding soldiers with blood all over their faces and screaming in pain.

"Let's prepare for a chaotic battle after the city is broken!" Nguyen Van Hue ran over and saw the dozen or so terrifying cannons on the opposite side, which made his back chill.

Only then did I understand that to the enemy, the strong city that we relied on as a shield was just that.

. . . .

The night is dark, the moon is dark and the wind is strong.

Li Bao devoured a large horse meat bun in two or three bites. When he was about to get more, he suddenly found that the dustpan was empty. He gasped and looked around in surprise.

Not far away, dozens of Guiren Huiliang soldiers under his command, also known as auxiliary soldiers, were gathered together and eating.

One of the fat guys was the most exaggerated. He grabbed four fist-sized buns in each hand, taking a bite with the left and the right. His cheeks were swollen and his face twisted rapidly, just like a squirrel.

And the most amazing thing is that he can eat so fast and still keep his mouth full. He can grab the buns with both hands and still find time to pick up his iron armor and gulp down the rice soup.

"Damn, they are all reincarnated ghosts who died of starvation!" Lei Ahu sighed, walked to sit next to Li Bao, and casually handed a bun in his hand to Li Bao.

"Back then, I followed the king from outside Nghe'an City just for a good meal. During that meal, I ate three kilograms of rice and drank an entire pot of fresh fish soup by myself. If Earl Haiyang hadn't stopped me, I would have died of my excess."

Li Bao took the bun without hesitation and started to bite into it. He was very afraid of being hungry, so even though he had no worries about food and clothing now, even if he was full, he still couldn't help but want to have a big meal when he saw the food.

There were rustling sounds coming from afar, as well as suppressed human voices and the sound of heavy objects falling. These were the Beihe soldiers of Dongshou Fort who were taking advantage of the night to repair the gaps in the city wall that had collapsed during the day.

Lei Ahu kicked the big butt of a sergeant who was concentrating on eating. A firing cannon was embroidered on the collar of the sergeant's battle uniform. He was an artillery sergeant, or to be more precise, a cannon captain.

The artillery commander was about to explode when he saw that it was his captain. He knew what was going to happen and immediately grumbled and pointed at a few people, then tiptoed forward under the cover of night.

Everyone crouched down and walked carefully for forty to fifty steps, and the wall of Dongshou Fort in the distance was already in sight.

The artillery commander, along with several artillerymen with military ranks, dug out a covered 24-pound mortar from a buried pit.

The sturdy man who had eaten fifteen big buns by himself just now also came. He put on the iron helmet that had been filled with rice soup on his head, leaned against the mortar body, took a deep breath, and pushed hard with his cheeks flushed. He actually pushed the three or four hundred kilograms of cannon forward by himself.

"Good job, Fat Elephant. It's not in vain that he ate so much food from the king." The artillery commander couldn't help but admire him in a low voice.

This strong man named Fat Elephant was slow in reloading his gun, and he couldn't run fast when he went up to kill people. He was also easily targeted because of his large target. He looked strong, but was useless in fighting.

As a result, he was repeatedly pushed back by the grenadiers and chasseurs, and finally even the officers of the line infantry were unwilling to accept him.

But who would have thought that once they got to the artillery, they would be like a fish in water.

This guy can do the work of three people and is stronger than a mule. He can push a mortar that usually requires two people and a mule to move by himself.

Others would be exhausted after carrying a dozen or so shells, but Fat Elephant could carry thirty shells by himself without taking a break.

This... this is really a natural material who can do the hard work of an artilleryman.

Aiming, loading, the fuse began to burn, and the Beihe soldiers on Dongshou Fort screamed, and the sound suddenly became louder.

"Boom!" A cannon roared past. Mortars, with their parabolic trajectory, were best suited for hitting targets on top of the city walls.

The twenty-four-pound mortar had a shell that was bigger than a human head. It whizzed past and instantly knocked the people and horses on the city wall to the ground, causing them to scream in agony.

"Damn it, it missed!" However, the artillery commander was very dissatisfied. This shot only hit three or four Beihe soldiers who were providing cover, but did not hit the civilians who were repairing the gaps on the city wall.

"Come again, I will kill you all!" Since he was exposed, the artillery captain didn't pretend anymore. He even ran forward a few steps holding the rattan shield, and took more precise aim in the sparse moonlight.

"Boom!" The shot was extremely accurate, and the shell directly hit the civilians who were dumping stones on the city wall.

In an instant, three or four civilians around turned into a ball of blood mist, and then the shell hit a long stone heavily. The stone flew up and then fell down quickly, making the surrounding civilians scream.

"Hahahaha, come again, come again!" The artillery commander was completely excited. He commanded his artillerymen to continue firing while shouting.

One shot, two shots, three shots.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the earth shook a few times.

The artillery commander stared at the distance in amazement, and saw that under the bright moonlight, the gap that the Beihe civilians had worked so hard to build collapsed under the impact of the two magical shells!
Inadvertently, this 24-pound mortar became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"Fat Elephant, it's up to you, follow me!" Captain Lei Ahu ran over, his eyes shining, pointing at a six-pound field gun parked in the distance and shouting.

"Aoao!" The fat elephant suddenly roared twice towards the sky, and then rushed forward like a giant beast, with blue veins bulging on his thick black thighs. He and Lei Ahu pushed the six-pound field gun and rushed towards the gap that had just appeared, howling.

Li Bao also drew his thick-backed broadsword and pushed the messenger beside him back, "Go tell the captain, the 37th and 55th companies are going first."

Then he looked at the soldiers around him and shouted, "Perform meritorious service to the king. Today, follow me to close the gap!"

(End of this chapter)