Looking at the map, Emperor Yang realized that it seemed like he should attack Vietnam at this time.
In fact, there are many Vietnamese exiles in China now, hoping to seek help from His Majesty the Emperor to save their country from the clutches of the French. For example, Ruan Shansu, who was defeated and fled to China in 1888, he
In the past two years, he has been lobbying the cabinet and Congress in Beijing, hoping to obtain military support. Because there are too many complicated things to build the country, neither Li Hongzhang nor Liu Kunyi gave him any specific commitments. There is even a Vietnam in China.
The exile regime, headed by the self-proclaimed King of Vietnam, Zun Shishuo, is currently settled in Lianzhou. The Guangdong Provincial Government gives him two thousand yuan a month to support him, but only in a civilian capacity, and neither the cabinet nor the Congress will interfere.
But in the army and universities, those young people who grew up under the education of the history of foreign invasion of China written by Emperor Yang himself have begun to clamor to regain suzerainty over Vietnam. Even after North Korea was annexed to China, some people began to
It advocates that Vietnam should be annexed according to the North Korean model. There are actually some Vietnamese students among them. Several of them went to China to study from Vietnam. They also formed a Xingyue Association among their classmates and wrote to the Chinese government strongly demanding that Vietnam be transformed in the same way that North Korea was transformed.
.
It should be said that China is fully capable of recapturing Vietnam. China has the strongest force in Asia in terms of navy and army. As for the French force in Vietnam, to be honest, one division is enough to push it. As for the navy,
Although the total tonnage of the French Navy still exceeds that of China, most of them are old battleships, especially offshore defense ships that are not suitable for ocean operations. Their combat effectiveness is not at the same level as the Chinese Navy with perfect battleships.
The only thing worthy of praise is that France currently has the largest diesel engine destroyer fleet in the world. In order to fight against the huge British fleet across the strait, and the rising German and Italian navies around it, the French have built and purchased all of them in recent years.
More than seventy diesel-engine destroyers have completely armed their coastline with torpedoes.
These things are indeed scary in Europe, but when compared to the Chinese Navy, which also has almost fifty diesel-engine destroyers, there is nothing to show off. Even if the Chinese Navy now has a large number of warships deployed in Hawaii and the Americas, the French Navy has nothing to show off.
Capable of provoking.
In addition, the French rule in Vietnam itself is also very unstable. Huang Huatan still occupies Anshi. He used guerrilla warfare to defeat the French army's many previous attacks. Now he just has to cease the war. By default, he is against
It was only under the control of An Shi. Vietnam's Thanh Thai Emperor Nguyen Phuc Chiu was not a fuel-efficient lamp. He kept making small moves in private and tried to get rid of the control of the French. His court was also filled with reformers who hated the French, such as force.
Under such circumstances, it can be said that it is easy to retake Vietnam. There is no pressure on the military, but it needs to be carefully studied politically. This is the first time that China has shown its fangs to a real power. It is also the first time that China has shown its fangs to the old order.
An open provocation is completely different from beating up the United States.
"Damn it, just be provocative. That's what I did. Who can do anything to me?" Emperor Yang quickly made up his mind and muttered to himself viciously.
"Go find Ruan Shanshu, that's right. Don't take him to the palace, but take him directly to the Fengtai Camp. In addition, order the Guards Division to prepare for a firepower demonstration and show off all the good stuff for these guys to see."
Then he said to Yuan Shikai.
The chief attendant naturally understood his intention and quickly went to find Ruan Shanshu with a smile.
Ruan Shanshu, who had been in exile in China for more than ten years, was so excited that he could hardly speak when he heard that the emperor had summoned him. He quickly dressed up, followed the attendant to the royal car that came to pick him up, and came to Beijing with the mood of a pilgrimage.
The Fengtai Camp outside the city has now been converted into the military camp of the 1st Guards Division. A large airport was built next to it in accordance with the emperor's requirements. The Royal Army's aviation school and more than 20 training aircraft are stationed here.
The firepower demonstration requested by Emperor Yang was held here. When Ruan Shanshu arrived, everything was ready for the Guards Division. This division was Beijing's garrison division. The division commander was Caiyi's brother Han Ye, and the newly-organized Army field force.
Similarly, it has two infantry brigades and one field artillery brigade. The artillery brigade has a 155mm heavy artillery regiment, 16 howitzers, eight cannons, and two 105mm artillery regiments. It also has a mix of cannons and howitzers, because
To scare people, all seventy-two cannons belonging to the artillery brigade are now mounted together.
Looking at the forest of gun muzzles in front of him, Ruan Shanshu's legs were shaking as he walked out of the car. He followed Yuan Shikai cautiously and slowly walked to Emperor Yang. Before he could speak, he subconsciously knelt down.
Looking at the guy in front of him, Emperor Yang almost couldn't help but laugh. Although he knew that Vietnamese official uniforms were very traditional at this time, he didn't expect them to be so traditional. These were completely opera costumes! But they seemed to be better than those on the stage.
The official uniform is shorter, and when worn on the dark and thin Ruan Shanshu, he looks a bit like wearing a crown.
"Mr. Ruan, it doesn't have to be like this. This kind of etiquette is no longer popular in China. Someone will move a seat for Mr. Ruan. We just want to watch their training together today." Emperor Yang said amiably, and Yuan Shikai quickly helped Ruan Shanshu up.
Then an attendant brought over a chair. Of course, like the generals who came to watch the firepower demonstration, they were both much shorter than Emperor Yang. Sitting next to this guy made people feel funny no matter how they looked at it.
However, Ruan Shanshu did not feel this way. It was such an honor for the emperor to grant him a seat, so that he did not dare to sit down, and only dared to sit half-ass. As a result, this kind of humble behavior made him make a big fool of himself. When he was seventy-two
When the two heavy cannons roared at the same time, the loud noise like the earth was shattering was so frightening that he sat down on the ground. Fortunately, the emperor was holding up the binoculars to see where the shells would hit, so he laughed to himself and quietly got up.
Seventy-two heavy artillery poured shells at a distant mound at the fastest rate of fire. Hundreds of rounds per minute were ravaged wildly, so that the small mound with a radius of one mile was completely submerged in the explosion of fire. The terrifying shells
The sound of the gun being discharged, the soul-stirring sharp whistling, and the huge explosion were torturing his ears all the time. In the end, he even involuntarily covered his ears and let out a hysterical scream, which made Yuan Shikai next to him scream.
Roll your eyes.
Fortunately, after more than ten minutes, this terrible firepower demonstration finally ended, and then the gunpowder smoke in the distance slowly dissipated. The originally lush mounds of trees had been completely obliterated by the artillery fire, and only a piece of charred land and still fire could be seen.
Burning wood residue.
"Not bad, the training level is not bad!" Looking at this scene, Emperor Yang nodded with satisfaction, and then discussed military issues with Han Ye and a group of generals from the Army Department, and then a brigade of infantry carried bayonets.
Rifles lined up in front of them, and the forest of bayonets reflected a dazzling white light. Deafening slogans and uniform steps echoed through the sky, and a majestic and majestic atmosphere rushed towards their faces.
Immediately afterwards came the shooting performances, including light and heavy machine guns, submachine guns, and even standing volleys from rifles that had actually been eliminated long ago. This tactic is still very good at bluffing people. Finally, there were performances of unarmed combat, stabbing confrontation, and throwing.
It took three hours of hard work on precise shooting of cartridges and mortars before it was over.
After it was over, it was not over yet. Immediately afterwards, Emperor Yang led a group of people to inspect the military camp, and even went to the soldiers' restaurant to eat with the soldiers. Of course, Emperor Yang would not eat differently alone. He would eat whatever the soldiers ate.
What, although Ruan Shanshu's life is not too bad, in his opinion, the food these soldiers eat can still be considered luxurious. There is no shortage of fish, meat, and vegetables. However, the staple food is not steamed buns, but relatively hard flatbreads.
, another person adds an egg soup, and by this standard in Vietnam, even officials cannot eat it every day, and it can be seen from the expressions of the soldiers when they eat, it is obvious that they do not like this kind of food very much.
.
In just half a day, Ruan Shanshu fully understood the power of the Heavenly Kingdom, so much so that he began to return to Beijing. He was still a little distracted. Of course, he was not qualified to ride in the same car as the emperor, so he followed him back to the palace, and then
After waiting anxiously for almost half an hour, I was finally summoned by His Majesty alone.
"Mr. Ruan, I am not a person who likes to talk nonsense. I must get Vietnam back. Not only Vietnam, but also Cochin. I also want to get it back. But what to do with it after I get it back, I am still thinking about it. Vietnam
Unlike North Korea, the North Korean royal family is unconditionally loyal to China no matter what the circumstances. Their current generous treatment is exchanged for loyalty. But the Ruan family is different. First, the throne was obtained through rebellion, and then by coercing the then Qing emperor.
After that, there was no real loyalty, and now he is willing to be a puppet of the French. It is difficult for me to have any favorable impression of such a vassal king, so in my opinion, turning Vietnam into a province, maybe
It's the best choice." Emperor Yang said seriously.
"Your Majesty, the king of our country is completely involuntarily. Forced by the French's power, he has to make concessions with them, but privately he still loves the heaven." Ruan Shanshu quickly knelt down and lay on the ground and said. In fact, he had already made peace with him.
Nguyen Phuc Chiu got in touch and could be regarded as the secret envoy of the Vietnamese royal family.
"Then show your loyalty!" Emperor Yang said majestically. (To be continued...)