America 1869: A Doppelganger Every Day

Chapter 135, Part 1: The French Invasion and the Cochinchin Uprising

1873 11 Month 5 Day.

The French Imperial fleet landed in northern Vietnam.

The Franco-Vietnamese War broke out as a result.

If history had followed its usual course, the French army would have been defeated this time.

Although the French army suffered defeats on the battlefield, it achieved great diplomatic success, thoroughly penetrating its influence into the central and northern regions of Vietnam.

This laid an important foundation for France's later complete colonization of Cochinchina.

But then, an unexpected turn of events occurred in this war.

With the landing of the French imperial army, the King of Jiaozhi could not sit idly by and wait for his doom.

He not only arranged for his soldiers to fight against the French Empire, but also contacted the Black Flag Army, Yellow Flag Army and several other rebel forces within the country, inviting them to join him in resisting the French invasion.

These rebel forces outwardly agreed and even began to take action.

However, when the French army actually attacked, none of these rebel forces made a move.

Even the army fighting against France retreated immediately from the start.

The result was that the French army advanced rapidly, reaching Hanoi without much resistance along the way.

The famous general Nguyen Tri Phuong of Jiaozhi led his army to resist, but was unfortunately captured and died of starvation.

Hanoi fell, and France occupied a portion of northern Cochinchina.

Under these circumstances, the French naval commanders abandoned their original plan and prepared to take over the central and northern parts of Cochinchina in one fell swoop, so another army headed directly towards Hue.

Their initial policy was to force Jiaozhi to cede some power so that they could gradually erode Jiaozhi's influence.

But the fact that Jiaozhi's resistance was so weak gave them hope.

Therefore, a large number of troops marched into the territory of Jiaozhi.

Along the way, although they did not cause much harm to the common people, in order to better control the occupied areas, they carried out brutal suppression of some rural landlords and local influential people.

They supported another group of people who were willing to obey them to take charge of the region.

At the same time, in order to collect a large amount of resources, the exploitation of the people has not been reduced.

In this situation, Nguyen Phuc Thi, who was located in Hue, became anxious.

If this continues, the entire country of Cochinchina may become a French colony.

"We should seek peace with France now. We can't let them continue like this. If they do, we won't be able to hold onto Jiaozhi. We can concede some of our interests, as long as they are willing to stop their attack."

Since King Nguyen Phuc Thi of Jiaozhi had said so, many of his civil and military officials agreed with the plan.

But just as they were preparing to sue for peace, an unexpected event occurred.

The newly appointed commander of the Hue garrison in Jiaozhi, Nguyen Thanh Thai, had managed to integrate 2 troops from the surrounding area and had purchased a large amount of equipment from an unknown source. He immediately took control of Hue and brought all the princes, nobles, and civil and military officials under his command.

They then moved all the high-ranking officials of Cochinchina, including the king, to the largest square in Hue.

"Many of you people in Jiaozhi may not know who I am."

"Let me first state my identity."

"I, Nguyen Thanh Chye, am from a branch of the Nguyen family. If it weren't for an accident, I wouldn't be able to become this general."

"But now that I have become a general, I must be responsible for the people of Jiaozhi."

"Just recently, our King of Jiaozhi and his ministers, both civil and military, were discussing how to sell out Jiaozhi's interests in exchange for a short-term peace."

"They want to let those French devils roam freely in the land of Jiaozhi."

"They want to give the French people a higher status so that they can step on our heads."

"They want to make the people of central and northern Jiaozhi, like those in the south, slaves of the French."

"I stood up for the freedom of the people of Jiaozhi, so that they would not be enslaved by others."

"I stand here today for one thing only, and that is to protect the interests of the people of Jiaozhi."

"Therefore, I hereby declare the abolition of the privileges of the King of Jiaozhi and the sons of all princes, ministers, and nobles."

"From today onwards, I will be in charge of Jiaozhi."

"At the same time, in order to better protect the interests of the people of Jiaozhi, and also to drive the demons of France out of Jiaozhi."

"This general has established contact with all the armies in Jiaozhi, including the Black Flag Army, the Yellow Flag Army, and some other rebel armies."

"We will jointly establish the Jiaozhi General's Mansion."

"Next, we will drive the French out of Jiaozhi as quickly as possible."

"But to avoid us, the sons of the royal nobles and officials, stabbing us in the back while we fight these white devils of France, we imprison them first, and then release them after Jiaozhi is completely stable, so that they can live like everyone else as ordinary people."

2

After this speech, all the princes, nobles, and sons of officials in the capital were arrested.

At the same time, the assets were confiscated and used to pay military expenses, purchase food, and buy weapons.

The same thing happened in various parts of Jiaozhi.

Starting a few years ago, Li Changsheng's clones began infiltrating the Heaven and Earth Society.

The rebel forces in Jiaozhi consisted of several factions, including the Black Flag Army, the Yellow Flag Army, the White Flag Army, and others, all of which were forces formed after the reorganization of the Heaven and Earth Society.

During this reorganization process, Li Changsheng's clones, with the financial and weapon support provided by their other clones, successfully gained control of the army.

Most of the leaders of these forces are clones of Li Changsheng.

Even if that's not the case, over the past year, Li Changsheng's clones have cooperated with each other and successfully replaced the original leader.

Now that the General of Jiaozhi has completely taken control of the capital, the forces of the rebels in various regions have begun to expand outwards.

The main areas of expansion were the territories of local clan officials in Jiaozhi.

During their expansion, they arrested all the wealthy and powerful people in the area.

The reason is the same as before: to better deal with the French devils and prevent them from stabbing us in the back.

Meanwhile, generals in various regions were also replaced by Li Changsheng's men.

It can be said that in a short period of time, Li Changsheng's clones have taken control of most of the northern and central regions of Jiaozhi.

Most importantly, using the French army as a pretext, they quickly formed an alliance and jointly recognized Nguyen Thanh Thai as the General of Jiaozhi. Under Nguyen Thanh Thai's leadership, they began to counterattack France with the weapons and equipment provided by the Far East.

France was able to enter Vietnam because of its advanced weaponry, and it was also because the warlords in various regions did not stand up to oppose France that they were able to enter Vietnam smoothly.

Now, all the warlords, led by Li Changsheng's clone, have begun to fight back, and France is no match for them.