America 1869: A Doppelganger Every Day

Chapter 140

There was extensive reporting within Jiaozhi (Vietnam) regarding this victory in the Eastern French War.

At the same time, the formation of the First Fleet of Jiaozhi gave the people of Jiaozhi a strong boost of confidence.

And Li Changsheng also jumped out at this time.

As one of the most active Chinese people internationally, Li Changsheng offered his analysis of the war.

[On the question of the final ownership of Jiaozhi.]

[The reporters at the Chinese American Daily have provided comprehensive coverage of this war and the previous Koh-i-Cambodia War of Independence, so I have firsthand information about this war.]

Over the past period, our Chinese American Daily has provided extensive coverage of this war.

Finally, I came to a conclusion.

This war of independence between Vietnam and Cambodia was by no means a simple war of independence.

First, we must establish that this war was initiated by France's desire to completely conquer Vietnam.

Before France conceived of this idea, Vietnam maintained its previous peace. However, after France took action, the Vietnamese general stepped forward, as did the Cambodian general. Various local militias, armies, and warlords also joined the coalition.

They expelled all the French from the country in the shortest possible time and reclaimed the territories that were rightfully theirs.

[Later, together with the Far East Navy, they defeated the French Navy, and simultaneously declared Jiaozhi and Cambodia as tributary states of the Qing Empire and protectorates in the Far East.]

As we all know, this newly established country in the Far East, or rather, the other side of the "one country, two systems" framework of the Russian Empire, possesses land power that we don't know the extent of, as it hasn't been demonstrated, but its naval power is undoubtedly unprecedentedly strong.

They possessed the most advanced ironclad steamships in the world, and the longest-range and most powerful cannons in the world!

You mentioned that while the Far East's naval power may not be the strongest globally, it certainly ranks among the top in East Asia.

According to my information, Vietnam and Cambodia have jointly assembled an army of 8 and a navy of 2.

The two countries have a combined army of 10.

In addition to this 10-strong army, there is also a reserve force of 20, responsible for local security and defense.

]

[This means that the two countries could assemble an army of 30 within a short period of time.]

That's not all.

Because it became a protectorate in the Far East, the Far East could provide at least half of the weapons and equipment for these 30 troops—all of which were the most advanced artillery and grenades.

One thing is certain: even if the French army were to invade Jiaozhi again, they would certainly not fare well.

Even if they could defeat the First Fleet of the Far East, the newly formed Liuzhou Fleet, and the Jiaozhi Fleet, they would be doomed to failure once they landed.

[And this is just a hypothetical scenario.]

Realistically speaking, the French navy might not necessarily be able to defeat these three fleets.

The most likely scenario is that both sides will suffer heavy losses. However, according to our understanding, the Third and Fourth Fleets of the Far East have already headed south. When the French fleet arrives in Cochinchina, one or two more fleets will be added to the Cochinchina region.

At that time, the French fleet might have been easy prey for them.

From these two points, it is clear that the region of Jiaozhi (northern Vietnam) is destined never to become a French colony again.

It seems the Far East benefited the most from this, as it gained the colony of Jiaozhi (Vietnam).

[The fact that Vietnam and Cambodia are essentially in a semi-independent state is a good thing for the people of both countries.]

[Just look at the people of the Far East and Ryukyu, and you'll know that even as a protectorate of the Far East, their lives are still better than those of people in other countries.]

On the surface, it appears that the Far East, Vietnam, and Cambodia benefit.

However, we should not overlook one issue.

Only the Qing Empire could truly bring this to fruition.

Without the consent of the Qing Empire, the "one country, two vassal" policy in Jiaozhi (Vietnam) could not have been implemented.

Why did the Qing Empire agree to this?

The reason is simple: this matter only brought benefits to the Qing Empire, with no drawbacks; in fact, the Qing Empire was the biggest beneficiary.

If the Far East was the northeastern gateway of the Qing Empire, and Ryukyu was the eastern maritime barrier, then Jiaozhi (Vietnam) was the southern gateway of the Qing Empire.

I've analyzed the events of recent years and discovered something quite interesting.

The Qing Empire had previously ceded most of the Far East to Russia. However, not long after this cession, the "Going to the Northeast" movement and Far Eastern colonization began.

In just a few years, the Chinese population in the Far East has grown to over 40 million. Even though the Far East is still nominally Russian territory, it can be considered a Chinese-majority country.

[In this way, it would be very difficult for the Far East to attack the Qing Empire, and it would instead block the Qing Empire's northeastern gateway, making it very difficult for any invasion from the northeast.]

Similarly, last year, the Qing Empire and the Far East jointly colonized Ryukyu, thus developing this eastern bulwark of the Qing Empire.

The result was that Xiaoxing could not annex Liuqiu, and other countries also found it difficult to regain control of Liuqiu from the Far East.

Although Ryukyu was colonized, it remained relatively independent and was still a tributary state of the Qing Dynasty.

In other words, over several years, the Qing Empire sealed off the northeastern gateway and established a bulwark in the east. Looking back at Jiaozhi now, we can see that the Jiaozhi affair was certainly part of another plan by the Qing Empire.

I call this blocking the southern gateway.

[By examining the contracts signed between the Qing Empire and Liaodong, Jiaozhi (Vietnam), and Cambodia, we can identify some issues.]

The Qing Empire did not gain much from this affair; the majority of the benefits in Jiaozhi and Cambodia were obtained by warlords and generals in the Far East and the region.

The Qing Empire's requirements were very simple: simply promote Han culture in both countries and use Standard Mandarin and simplified Chinese characters.

Of course, there are other clauses, but they are not very important; this is the most important one.

[While possessing formidable power, they also became branches of the Chinese nation. Coupled with their original subordinate relationship, it was destined that Jiaozhi and Cambodia, like Liuqiu, would not take action against the Qing Empire.]

In this way, the Qing Empire once again blocked the southern gateway.

In just a few years, the Qing Empire completely reversed its original disadvantages.

If we think along these lines, then the Qing Empire will continue to use this strategy to block access from other directions.

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