At the end of the dynasty, the government's armaments were lax and official corruption was serious. Through the hands of several Chinese businessmen, Sun Bin bribed several officials in Guang'an Province by sending 7,000 taels of silver. The large and small peasant armies scattered in Guang'an Province turned a blind eye to the Annan government.
With one eye closed and indulged in indulgence, they quickly gathered in the Ha Long area.
If you have money and food, you won't panic. The northern part of Annam was driven out like ducks by the Qing army. When they heard that there was plenty of money and food in the Ha Long area, the homeless Chinese nearby came in droves.
More than ten days after the news spread, not only the large and small Chinese forces in Guang An rushed to Ha Long to seek refuge, but also Chinese from Lang Son, Bac Giang, Hai Duong and other nearby areas.
The increasing number of concentrated Chinese has attracted the attention of officials in Annam, a nearby province. At the junction of Quang An Province and other provinces, conflicts continue to break out between the Annan garrison and Chinese armed forces.
The number of Chinese who gathered exceeded Sun Bin's expectation. As a last resort, Sun Bin once again spent money to manage the Annan garrisons in various places, and at the same time spread the news that he would temporarily stop recruiting Chinese.
Thanks to the efforts of both parties, a large-scale influx of people to Xi Long lasted for nearly a month, and the total number of Chinese exceeded 10,000.
Most of the more than 10,000 Chinese who defected were fleeing peasants living in villages, and the smaller half were the remnants of the peasant army who resisted the Qing Dynasty.
The war between Guangdong and Guangxi lasted for more than ten years and has not subsided. First there were large-scale armed fights between the natives and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the peasant armies in the separatist areas continued to engage in tug-of-war and guerrilla warfare with the Qing army. People living in Guangxi, Guangxi and Guangxi provinces
The people should not only worry about the peasant army being encircled by them, but also be prepared for the harm caused by the Qing army.
Bandits passed by like combs, soldiers passed by like grates, and the Qing army's military discipline was extremely poor. Every time they fought, they inevitably harmed the local people. Therefore, the border farmers who could not survive between the Qing army and the peasant army left their hometowns and fled to Annan to avoid the war.
There were many Chinese peasants of all ethnic groups fleeing Annan. After Wu Yazhong's peasant army was defeated by the Qing army, Liu Yongfu, Huang Chongying and others raised a recruitment banner and quickly gathered a new force.
Liu Yongfu, Huang Chongying and other peasant armies did not have a stable source of money and food, and the number of strong soldiers under their command could only be maintained at a basic level. Sun Bin was different. In order to obtain a sufficient number of immigrants, Li Mingyuan allocated 3 million in the first batch
Two taels of silver will be used as funding, and there will be further investment in the future.
Among the various units of the Qing army, Zeng Guofan's Hunan army was the most generous. Each soldier was given forty taels of silver a month, and after a year plus rewards, there were five or sixty taels, which was enough for the soldiers to live a sufficient life and escape from homelessness.
Naturally, the requirements for young and strong soldiers of the Chinese refugees in the Annan area are not as high as those of the Huai army. Qualified soldiers are temporarily given two taels of silver per month. At the same time, as long as they are selected, they are immediately given five taels of silver to settle down, while the Chinese refugees who do not join the army are given full meals.
, waited for the arrival of the transport fleet two months later, and then left Annan.
After layers of selection, the thin and older Chinese were eliminated, and a total of 1,500 qualified young people were obtained. Some of the remaining 13,000 Chinese who were not selected were shipped to Natuna Island, and the rest were repaired nearby in Halong.
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Among the 1,500 young men and women, there were 300 Yao and Zhuang mountain people. Sun Bin organized these 300 people into a separate mountain camp, with Chen Shangfa as the battalion officer. The remaining 1,200 people and 300 National Defense Force soldiers were mixed into a mountain camp.
A regiment, with Ah Chen as the commander, Chen Zongbai, Ye Chenglin, and Wu Fengdian as the commanders of the three battalions under its jurisdiction.
The First Nanyang Regiment of the National Defense Forces, Independent Mountain Battalion, two temporarily organized troops numbered 1,800 soldiers, plus the 300 militia troops remaining on Natuna Island, the total strength of the National Defense Forces in Nanyang exceeded 2,000.
A month passed in a busy manner. During this period, Ye Chenglin met with Wu Yazhong and took the messenger sent by Wu Yazhong to visit Liu Yongfu and Huang Chongying. After seeing Wu Yazhong's handwritten letter to the two of them,
After the letter, Huang Chongying and Liu Yongfu, no matter what they thought in their hearts, agreed to follow the advice of their old master, make peace, and stop attacking each other.
After traveling to three places, when Ye Chenglin came back, the work of recruiting diaspora Chinese had been completed, and the young man who had recovered after a week had begun formal training.
In the coastal area of Ha Long, the area of the original dilapidated village has expanded more than ten times, and the wasteland has been flattened into a training ground. Sun Bin pointed at the young and strong soldiers who were training and said: "This is what I and a few brothers came to recruit in January."
Fifteen hundred young men, what do you think of them, Brother Ye?"
"I haven't returned in a month. I don't want you to recruit a young army. After a little training in the future, it won't be difficult to surpass Leader Wu's troops." The young men on the wasteland trained hard, and Ye Chenglin unconsciously combined them with Wu Ya.
His subordinates compared and praised him.
"Although Leader Wu's troops have been battle-hardened for a long time, they are not regular field troops after all. The troops we want to train are targeting the Qing army, and they may fight against the French army in the future, so Brother Ye needs to take a longer view. Two months from now
Some National Defense Force officers will arrive in the transport fleet, and Brother Ye will gain a lot from communicating with them."
"Brothers from the National Defense Force have been fighting in South America for more than a year. The opponents we fought against were American foreigners, and their combat experience is not comparable to mine. Next time they arrive, I will ask my husband to help introduce them, so that I can learn from them."
Ye Cheng said humbly.
"Know heroes and cherish heroes. Brother Ye fought bravely. When the brothers from the National Defense Forces from South America arrive, they will definitely be willing to discuss their combat experience with Brother Ye."
Times make heroes. Ye Chenglin was confined to the mountainous area of northern Annan and had little reputation. However, Sun Bin was very optimistic about his future and believed that he would soon find his place of use after joining the National Defense Forces.
After talking with Ye Chenglin for a while about recruiting new young people, the two walked to a high slope.
"The nearby 30 square kilometers of land have just been purchased from Annan officials. From now on, this will be our stronghold in Annan."
"Although thirty square kilometers of land is not small, there are more than 10,000 Chinese who have defected to us. It is very difficult to feed more than 10,000 people in this small area."
Ye Chenglin was an armed leader occupying a small piece of land a month ago. He knew the difficulty of supporting an armed force, so he quickly pointed out the disadvantages of developing here.
"Brother Ye is right. Halong is close to the Haiphong, the gateway to Annam. If there is too much noise here, it will arouse the vigilance of the Annam court, so we need to find another place as an immigration base."
"Has Mr. Sun chosen a place?" Ye Chenglin asked.
"Yes, brother Ye, guess where it is?"
"Immigration has to be transported by sea. The main ports in northern Annam are Haiphong, Halong, Kam Phuc and Mong Cai. Excluding Haiphong and Halong, Kam Phuc and Mong Cai are left. Sir, I want to choose between these two places.
One place as a base?”
Ye Chenglin lowered his head and thought for a while before answering.
"It's right or wrong. Not only Kam Phuc and Mong Cai need to be controlled by us, but also the three provinces of Haining, Bac Giang, and Lang Son will be fully occupied in the near future. Otherwise, we will only occupy dozens or hundreds of square kilometers of land.
When will we be able to complete the tasks assigned by the Crown Prince?"
Rio Grande do Sul needs not tens of thousands of immigrants, but millions or more. Li Mingyuan does not have time to immigrate slowly. Sooner or later, if he wants to obtain a large number of immigrants, he will have a conflict with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so he occupies the Annan border with the mainland.
Province is an indispensable part of the overall situation.
"Is Mr. Sun's move to occupy the three provinces of Annan too big at once? Although the Annan army is not strong enough, the King of Annan will definitely ask the Qing army for help. As a result, our army will be on both sides, and the situation will be very dangerous."
"The plan to occupy the three border provinces will be advanced step by step. What we have to do now is to occupy Hai'an Province first, and then make the next step of planning after conquering all the Han forces in Annan."
"There are millions of Han people in Annan. If we unite all the Han forces and His Royal Highness provides weapons and ammunition, we can fight them even if the Qing army goes out to attack."
After hearing Sun Bin's explanation, Ye Chenglin put aside his unnecessary worries and agreed.