Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Nanyang Forces Shrinking
"Everyone, news just came from home. The British signed the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro with us. We won the Argentine War."
In the fortress on the main island of the Natuna Islands, Mei Dongxing introduced, "South America is the foundation of the country. The efforts made by the Nanyang Army and the Taiping Society in the East Indies and the Malay Peninsula are all in service of the local strategy. Argentina won the war.
According to the "Rio de Janeiro" agreement, the government decided to withdraw the 1,500 troops stationed in Songkhla, and the number of troops stationed in the Natuna Islands will also be reduced to less than 400. From next year, the total number of regular troops stationed in Nanyang will be reduced from the current
The number of people was reduced from 5,000 to less than 3,000, and the number of militia armed personnel was reduced to 3,500.
All in all, with the end of the Argentine War, the country's development focus will shift back to its homeland. In terms of overseas forces, it will focus on developing Congo colonies and opening up transit points in the South Pacific. In terms of the Southeast Asia region, the main goal will be immigration transportation and transfer. In the future, the Taiping Society will
The goal of the activity will also change from organizing Nanyang Chinese to compete with local indigenous people to consolidating the economic and political interests of the Chinese in the area. Without the consent of the local central government, the Taiping Society is not allowed to start conflicts with foreigners without authorization. The Taiping Society's various regional branches will be transferred to
Underground activities, leaders of regional branches who have been targeted by foreigners have withdrawn from their local posts, and those who have not been exposed continue to act in a low profile..."
After Mei Dongxing introduced the Han army, intelligence agencies and other forces, and the focus of future operations in the Nanyang region, he continued, "The date for His Majesty's proclaimed emperor and coronation has been officially determined to be December 26. At that time, the Han Kingdom will be officially restructured into the Han Empire.
On the day after the enthronement and proclaiming of emperor ceremony, His Majesty will officially marry Miss Wu and Miss Zhang as queen and concubine. Before the proclaiming of emperor ceremony can be held, Nanyang must resolve the issue of the indigenous chiefs' separatism in Songkhla in advance. General Wang and
I myself will take a steamship and take the South Pacific route to return home before November. Therefore, time is tight. In the past half month, within the Nanyang Army, we must coordinate and handle the withdrawal and transfer time of the Natuna Islands as soon as possible, and there can be no delay.
event."
"Lord Mei, Songkhla has jurisdiction over five provinces. Among them, Songkhla has an area of 7,393 square kilometers, Pattani has an area of 1,940 square kilometers, Yala has an area of 4,521 square kilometers, Narathiwat has an area of 4,475 square kilometers, and Kelantan has an area of 14,900 square kilometers.
Square kilometers!
The total area of the Songkhla region, including the four prefectures, one state and five regions, is only 33,229 square kilometers! The total population is more than one million. With the strength of the troops that the Nanyang Army can currently mobilize, it can easily solve the separatist forces within Songkhla.
But the main factor that determines the political stability of Songkhla is not within Songkhla, but in the hands of Thailand and the British Malay colonial government."
Liang Xing led the intelligence collection work in the Nanyang region and had his own understanding of the situations in various countries in Nanyang.
"On the Malay colonial government side, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Frederick, was an ambitious politician. From his actions in promoting the establishment of a British garrison in Negeri Sembilan and the introduction of Indian colonial troops, it is not difficult to see that his purpose was to expand the Straits
The territories directly under the colonial government, in the Malay Peninsula and North Borneo, the areas south of North Borneo and across the Malay Peninsula were all under the rule of the Dutch. The Dutch were allies of the British government and did not have the instructions of the London government. Frey
Derek did not dare to seize the Dutch colony,
Excluding the territories controlled by the Dutch, the Straits Settlements government had only one expansion direction on the Malay Peninsula, which was the Songkhla area straddling the Straits Settlements and Thailand. Songkhla was a small land and the people were weak, so Lord Wu's men could obey the command.
, there are only one or two thousand mobs equipped with cold weapons and a small number of obsolete muskets. Even if our army replaces Lord Wu and eliminates the internal separatist armed forces, after the withdrawal of Han military uniforms, Songkhla's existing military strength alone cannot guarantee its independence and independence.
Safety."
"Last year, General Wang and General Chen deployed a total of 80 grassroots officers as military instructors to train the troops directly controlled by the Lord of Songkhla for about one year and three months. So far, about 500 Songkhla troops have passed the training
After the assessment, the standards for becoming an army have been met. Among the remaining 1,500 people, 800 who failed have been eliminated and 1,300 newly recruited people are undergoing the second phase of training. It is expected that the acceptance into the army will be completed by the end of next year.
According to the instructions of General Wang and Mr. Liang, when selecting the Songkhla troops for training, the majority of them were young and middle-aged Chinese. Therefore, among the two batches of Songkhla troops, Chinese account for about 85%.
Although the results cannot be compared with the local regular army, the trained Songkhla New Army is not without its ability to fight when it once again faces local armed provocations from the British colonial army."
Li Wencai has been working hard in Songkhla for more than a year. He does not think that the Songkhla army, which is also a Chinese laborer, will be too far behind the regular army of the Nanyang Army after being trained by the grassroots officers of the Nanyang Army.
"In addition to management and training issues, the main factor limiting the combat effectiveness of the Songkhla Army is the lack of standard weapons and equipment."
Wang Dashan agreed with Li Wencai's point of view to a certain extent and said, "At the end of last year, upon General Li's application, the Nanyang Army took out 200 imitation Dresser rifles and 20,000 rounds of supporting ammunition from the reserve weapons depot and delivered them to the Songkhla Army for use.
The total number of muskets equipped by the Songkhla army is about 300. With 300 old-fashioned rifles against the British colonial army equipped with new breech-loading rifles, the Songkhla army is at an inherent disadvantage.
.”
"There are no mature military factories in the Nanyang region. The weapons and ammunition needed by the Nanyang Army and the militia are all shipped from the mainland. The distance between the two places is long, and it takes four months to go back and forth. The weapons and equipment equipped by the Nanyang Army itself are in various branches of the National Defense Forces.
The troops are all at the lowest level, and it is impossible to provide sufficient weapons supply to the Songkhla army."
"The central government is already aware of the situation in Nanyang. After the British lift the blockade on the mainland, the central government is preparing to organize a large fleet of transportation and supply ships to be sent to Nanyang. This fleet will carry 2,000 of the latest local supplies.
, 2 rifle ammunition production lines and some other supplies and commodities.
From the list of weapons and ammunition, 500 Hanhua 1878 rifles, 4 Gatling hand-cranked machine guns, 6 75mm field guns, and 2 105mm howitzers will be deployed in the Songkhla area, and in order to prevent the two attacks in northern Annan
The province was occupied by the French, and rifle and ammunition production lines would also be placed in the Songkhla area."
"Master Liang, Songkhla's two thousand troops cannot use so many weapons, right?"
Chen Xingui said in confusion.
"Songkhla region now only has more than 2,000 troops. After eliminating the internal separatist forces, at that time, facing the pressure from the British and Thailand, the number of troops will almost expand to about 3,500 to 4,000 people. The demand for weapons, equipment and ammunition will be greater than
It has now more than tripled in size.”
Liang Xing explained, "Furthermore, the situation in the Annan region is getting worse and worse. According to the analysis of the local central government, the British will annex the entire Annan region in the next two or three years. Based on the current development situation of the local area, there is no way to stop the French."
With the action of annexing the Annam region, when the French occupied the entire Annam, the Nanyang Army could no longer retain its presence in the two northern provinces of Annam. At that time, Songkhla was our last stronghold in the Nanyang region, although we promised the British to evacuate the Songkhla garrison.
, but it does not mean giving up management and support for Songkhla.
The 1,500 troops stationed in Songkhla can be withdrawn. At the same time, the local and Nanyang legions will once again select a group of outstanding officers to enter the Songkhla New Army as Nanyang Chinese, and then the command of the Songkhla New Army will be in our hands.
.
Brother Li, yesterday I sent a telegram to the General Staff, recommending you to serve as the next commander of the Nanyang Army. Your responsibilities remain unchanged for the time being. You will continue to be responsible for coordinating and controlling the training affairs of the new Songkhla Army, and the Nanyang Army in the two provinces of northern Annan.
It will be temporarily managed by Chen Zongbai."
"What about General Wang?"
"His Royal Highness sent a telegram and appointed me as the commander of the Third Division. From now on, the affairs of the Nanyang Army will be entrusted to Brother Li."
Wang Dashan handed over his hand to Li Wencai. After being polite, he suggested, "I heard that King Rama V of Thailand has taken some measures to reform and strengthen the country since he succeeded to the throne. After Brother Li took over as the commander of the Nanyang Army, he stopped being wary of the Straits Settlements."
The government cannot relax its vigilance against Thailand even with its armed provocations."
"General Wang and Mr. Liang thought of going together."
Liang Xing took over and explained, "Rama V was born in 1853 and ascended the throne as the King of Thailand in 1868. He was only one year younger than His Highness. Two years after he ascended the throne, he began to visit and inspect foreign countries, including Singapore.
, East Indies, India and other countries,
After taking office in 1873, he embarked on domestic reforms. In the second year, he overcame all objections and abolished the slavery system, stipulating that all Thais born after 1868 were free citizens. He also followed the Meiji Restoration and German reforms in Japan.
A new army of 6,000 people was built domestically to curb the land invasion of Thailand by Britain and France.
The land of four Songkhla provinces and one state managed by King Wu is located in the middle of the Malay Peninsula, far away from the control of the Thai government. It has been ruled by the Wu family for more than a hundred years. After the Thai king completes the training of the new army, it is very likely that he will first
The use of troops in Songkhla established political authority by lifting the military separatist situation in the Songkhla area, and provided political and military prestige for subsequent reforms.
Thailand's strength in the Malay Peninsula exceeds that of the Nanyang Army. In order to avoid Thailand's influence on the next action, I think that after the combat operations to eliminate the armed separatist forces, Lord Wu should come forward and send a representative to the Bangkok Palace to meet King Rama V.
On the one hand, it shows the armed strength of the Wu family and dispels Rama V's bad intentions towards Songkhla. On the other hand, it temporarily stabilizes Rama V, showing that the Songkhla regime is dominated by the Thai royal family and has no desire to separate and stand on its own.
Arrangements were made to negotiate between Thailand and the Straits Settlements Government, retain the autonomous status of the Songkhla region, and provide time for the local area to arm and support the Songkhla regime."
