Master Yuan, start!

In this time and space, after seeing the achievements of the Social Revolutionary Party founded by Yuan Shikai in opposing the Manchus and revitalizing the Han people and establishing the Republic, Pan Peizhu began to want to imitate it, just like in the original time and space.

It just so happened that Yuan Shikai intended to export revolutionary ideas abroad, so Phan Boi Chau took the initiative to cooperate. After returning to China, he founded the Vietnamese version of the Socialist Revolutionary Party.

With the help of the Chinese Social Revolutionaries, Phan Boi Chau and others successfully established a base in the rural areas of Tonkin where French rule was weak.

Moreover, according to Yuan Shikai's instructions, they imitated the actions of the Red Confucian Society outside the Great Wall, distributed land in the base area, incorporated the people under their rule into the Production and Construction Corps, and completed the rural transformation.

Although the place is not big, only half of a county town, there is no doubt that these things have allowed the Vietnamese anti-French patriots who have been rootless and drifting for a long time to truly see the hope of restoring their country.

Vietnam's anti-French movement in the late 19th century was always a self-entertainment of a small number of elites, while the peasants in the vast rural areas were indifferent to overthrowing the French.

However, if we establish a base area according to the Chinese method and divide the land, things will be different.

In order to protect the land allocated to them, these farmers firmly supported the anti-French actions of the Vietnam Socialist Revolutionary Party.

Before this, these anti-French patriots had never seen expressions of support on the faces of Vietnamese farmers.

Therefore, Pan Peizhu believed that he could not give up this opportunity no matter what!

This time he returned home to find his former anti-French colleague Nguyen Sinh Huy and asked him to go to the Tonkin base to study and prepare for the establishment of an anti-French base in his hometown of V'an.

"Brother Chaonan, I understand." Ruan Shenghui nodded heavily:

"I will join the Socialist Revolutionary Party right now and go to Hanoi with you to start a revolution!"

Chapter 430: Turn the Situation Around

Although Zhennan Pass is an extremely important place, it has been renamed many times. The pass was first built in the Han Dynasty and was originally named Da Nan Pass. Because it is located on Jinji Mountain, it is also called Yongji Pass.

During the Yongle period, it was called Zhenyi Pass, and during the Xuande period, it was renamed Zhennan Pass, hence the name.

In a parallel universe, at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhennan Pass was renamed "Munan Pass". Later in 1965, the word "Mu" was considered too obscure. In order to support the North Vietnamese brothers in their anti-US war and to highlight the friendship between class brothers, it was changed to the simple and easy-to-understand "Friendship Pass".

On the left side of the Zhennan Pass Tower is the city wall of Zuobi Mountain, and on the right side is the city wall of Youfu Mountain, which are like a giant python connecting the foothills of two mountains, making people feel daunting when looking at it from the bottom of the mountain.

However, under the continuous bombardment of the French artillery regiment, the Zhennanguan tower, which originally looked majestic, has been severely damaged.

Even inside the city wall, which covers an area of ​​only two standard football fields, many shells fell and the ground was full of holes.

The spring breeze from the South China Sea landed in the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam, and blew northward to Jinji Mountain and into Zhennan Pass.

Liu Yongfu, commander of the Black Flag Independent Brigade, his two military advisors, Lu Yongxiang and Chen Guangyuan, and Liu Zhong, along with a number of high-ranking officers, sat on the ground in the city wall covered in dust from artillery shells, their faces filled with worry.

Liu Yongfu glanced back at the dejected soldiers dressed in Lingnan New Army uniforms squatting in the corner of the city wall and said:

"My two staff officers, Zhennan Pass has recently gathered some defeated soldiers from the west. They say Pinger Pass has been breached and the French are advancing towards Shuikou Pass.

Of the three passes and sixty-four passes in Guangxi, Zhennan Pass is the most important, but other places cannot be left unattended!"

Shuikou Pass, Pinger Pass and Zhennan Pass are three important passes guarding the important traffic routes on the China-Vietnam border, and are collectively known as the Three Passes of Guangxi.

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The Qing Dynasty once used these three pass cities as the center, supplemented by large and small mountain passes, to build a defense system called Three Passes and Sixty-four Passes.

The French army did not gain any advantage at Zhennan Pass. While continuing to maintain the offensive, they also divided their troops to the west and achieved a breakthrough elsewhere.

Most of the troops stationed in these places were originally from Guangxi Qing troops, who were later incorporated into Li Hongzhang's army and given the organization of the Lingnan New Army.

Although the organization was changed, the people remained the same and the weapons had not been replaced. In addition, they did not have a full advantage in terrain, so they found it difficult to resist the fierce offensive of the French army.

After hearing Liu Yongfu's question, Lu Yongxiang, one of the Black Flag Brigade's garrison staff, could only smile bitterly and say:

"Brigade Commander Liu, it's hard for us to protect ourselves, let alone send troops to support us. What's more, even if we send troops to support us, we can't spare many bullets.

The Gatling Gun consumes a lot of bullets, and the stockpile is getting increasingly tight. If we use it every day to repel the enemy, I'm afraid that in a few days, the soldiers on the front lines will be out of bullets."

Since France declared war on China, the Black Flag Independent Brigade has never received any supplies from the sea.

The French Far East Navy blockaded the coastline and sent warships to patrol the Leizhou Peninsula and the coast of Qinzhou and Lianzhou day and night, resulting in the interruption of the supply line that relied on ships to transport weapons and ammunition.

Fortunately, during the period when he was ordered to station at Zhennan Pass, Liu Yongfu used the name of the Black Flag Independent Brigade of the Third South Military Region of the National Revolutionary Army to ask for the ammunition in stock from Qinzhou, Lianzhou and Taiping Prefectures that had already captured or surrendered.

Moreover, in order to maintain firepower, Liu Yongfu chose to concentrate all the 7.62mm bullets in the hands of all soldiers and give priority to supplying Green rapid-fire guns.

Fortunately, the Gatling gun was copied from the Gatling machine gun, and the Gatling gun originally supported 7.62mm bullets, so it is compatible.

But even so, it is still a drop in the bucket.

After all, no matter how much stock there is, no matter how much it is concentrated and used economically, it cannot stop the bullets firing like a stream from Zhennan Pass.

Hearing Lu Yongxiang's description, Liu Yongfu's gray hair trembled in the wind, and he said in a hoarse voice:

"How many bullets do each of the soldiers guarding the front lines have left?"

Lu Yongxiang looked at the dilapidated scene inside the city wall and replied, "The closer we are to the foot of the mountain, the more bullets we have. We have about 30 bullets in our hands. Those on the mountainside have about 20 bullets. Those defending the city wall have only 10 bullets.

As for the soldiers inside the city wall, they only had 5 rounds of ammunition for the time being, and the rest were piled next to the two Gatling guns for use.

Most soldiers, because they value bullets, will wait until the enemy is within three hundred or even two hundred steps before they open fire.

Even though the Vietnamese native skirmishers formed by the French were not very effective, under their repeated attacks, coupled with a shortage of ammunition, our army suffered heavy casualties, especially the old Black Flag Army.

Most of the Black Flag Army were grassroots people who were dissatisfied with the rule of the Qing Dynasty and chose to become bandits to resist tyranny.

Some of the older ones even participated in the Taiping Rebellion, the Du Wenxiu Uprising in Yunnan, and the Tiandihui Uprising in Guangdong.

The so-called Old Black Flag Army refers to the soldiers who were dismissed and sent back home by the Qing Dynasty after the Battle of Zhennan Pass between Qing and France.

These soldiers were both lucky and unlucky.

They are lucky because, just like in history, Liu Yongfu in this time and space also fought bloody battles in Taiwan, but the enemy was not Japan, but France.

Before the Qing Dynasty ceded Taiwan, in order to consolidate border defenses, Liu Yongfu was transferred to Taiwan by the Qing court, just like in the original time and space, and stationed in Tainan to guard against French invasion.

After the French army landed, Liu Yongfu led the newly recruited Black Flag Army to fight to the death and continued to fight the French army in Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua and Chiayi.

But the Qing Dynasty eventually chose to sign a treaty, giving up Taiwan and "permanently leasing" it to France. The Black Flag Army under Liu Yongfu lost the support of the Qing court, and most of his newly recruited subordinates died in battle, and he himself only escaped with his life.

Therefore, compared to the Black Flag Army who died on Taiwan Island, these old Black Flag Army soldiers were lucky.

However, they are unfortunate.

Because the newly reorganized Black Flag Brigade caught up with the French's desperate attack in front of Zhennan Pass.

Zhennan Pass fell into such a dire situation that even some noise appeared among the newly reorganized Black Flag Army.

A considerable number of the old Black Flag Army felt that Yuan Shikai, like the Qing Dynasty, was deliberately sacrificing their "miscellaneous troops" in order to eliminate hidden dangers, which was why they were reluctant to send troops to provide assistance.

Some people even met with Liu Yongfu in private and advised him to "make plans early" and not be deceived and lose his life.

Liu Yongfu naturally believed in Yuan Shikai and the strength of the National Revolutionary Army. He did not think that Yuan Shikai, who had hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, would play any tricks against his small Black Flag Army.

Otherwise, why would Yuan Shikai provide money and guns to help him return to his hometown to recruit soldiers when he was in Jiangning?

But now, seeing the newly formed Black Flag Army about to suffer a repeat of being cut off from food and ammunition and dying on the battlefield, Liu Yongfu couldn't help but howl to the sky, filled with grief:

"Two staff officers, when will the reinforcements arrive?"

Seeing Liu Yongfu asking questions, several small Black Flag Army leaders nearby also turned their eyes to Lu Yongxiang and Chen Guangyuan.

It is always said that reinforcements are coming, but where are the reinforcements?

In fact, the Battle of Zhennan Pass should not have been so difficult and forced into a defensive situation.

Originally, after the National Revolutionary Army broke through the Hunan and Jiangxi defense lines and entered Guangzhou, they could take advantage of the situation to divide their troops into Guangxi and consolidate the border defense.

At the beginning, that is indeed what was done.

But who could have imagined that Guangxi, which was originally thought to have been conquered by the edict, would encounter twists and turns.

Li Jingyi, the governor of Guangxi, gathered his own troops in Guilin and raised the banner of anti-French resistance, but he only obeyed orders and not announcements.

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As a last resort, the detachment of Wang Zhanyuan's troops that the National Revolutionary Army had originally planned to send to the Sino-Vietnamese border had to turn its guns north, intending to capture Guilin and then head towards Zhennan Pass.

Unexpectedly, the French offensive was so fierce.

A lot of time was wasted going back and forth.

Due to the rugged terrain and numerous mountains in Guangxi, even after Wang Zhanyuan's troops pacified Guizhou and marched south overnight, they could only barely cross Liuzhou.

It is still 600 miles away from Zhennan Pass.

However, this was the National Revolutionary Army closest to Zhennan Pass. The remaining troops were either in Guizhou, Chongqing, or in southern Jiangxi, southern Hunan, and Guangdong.

Even though the troops sent to eastern Guangdong were ordered to support Zhennan Pass, in terms of absolute distance, Wang Zhanyuan's troops heading south from Guizhou were closer.

But the Black Flag Army in Zhennan Pass is already in a dead end. Can they really hold on until the day when survival comes?

...

Just as Liu Yongfu was sighing to the sky, several Vietnamese soldiers from the Black Flag Army appeared inside the city wall. They were sweating profusely, but with happy expressions on their faces, they hurried to the three of them.

"A large quantity of ammunition has been sent from the south?!"

When Liu Yongfu heard that Phan Boi Chau and other Vietnamese Socialist Revolutionaries could bypass the French defense line, pass through the small path on the Sino-Vietnamese border, and go to the Guangxi side to provide supplies to Zhennan Pass, the worries that had been lingering in his heart were swept away.

"Even with a hundred precautions, there will always be loopholes." Liu Yongfu listened to the words of several Vietnamese soldiers. His eyes lit up as he listened.

"The French blockaded the Qinlian coast and refused to allow civilian ships to pass. Little did they know that the supply ships had already bypassed Vietnam and landed right next to their territory!"

Liu Yongfu was extremely excited, and many Black Flag Army generals beside him also had tears in their eyes, because they knew that they had not been abandoned.

Liu Yongfu stood up with a swish, clenched his right fist, and said loudly:

"Send the message down, saying that reinforcements are coming and that advance ammunition supplies have already arrived at the city gate.

Order all the generals to go to the interior to collect ammunition and withstand the French offensive!"

"The situation is about to be reversed!"

Chapter 431 What’s the Price?

The night is dark and the water network is dense.

Wang Zhanyuan's National Revolutionary Army, dressed in thin clothes, continued to march along the jungle paths in the winding mountains of the Sino-Vietnamese border.

Since its entire territory is located south of the Tropic of Cancer, Vietnam can be called a country with a completely tropical climate.

The most prominent feature of the tropical climate is that the temperature in the coldest month is above zero degrees.

Therefore, although it is late winter and early spring now, northern Vietnam is not cold at all. Instead, the temperature feels very comfortable.

Therefore, even with only a single layer of clothing on their bodies, sweat would still seep out of the soldiers' backs after a long journey.

"Comrades, after crossing the Shiwan Mountains, we will advance northward along the Fangchenggang River, enter the Tonkin region of Vietnam, and strike directly at the French army's rear!"