Master Yuan, start!

Wang Zhanyuan originally wanted to take all his troops to support Zhennan Pass.

But when he arrived in Nanning, he received a telegram from Yuan Shikai on behalf of the Central Military Commission, suggesting that the route could be taken through Vietnam. After reading it, he decided to divide the troops instead.

A part of the troops carried ammunition and supplies and went to Zhennan Pass in the southwest to provide support.

The main force turned southeast, intending to cross Fenmaoling in the south of the Guangxi-Vietnam border and encircle the French army attacking Zhennan Pass from within Vietnam.

Fenmaoling belongs to the China-Vietnam border in the 21st century, but in 1898, it still belonged to Vietnam.

The reason why Yuan Xiangcheng chose to divide his troops was that he changed the original plan of "going to Zhennan Pass to relieve the siege" to "the plan of surrounding the French army at the three passes of Zhennan".

Novel Jun 966?91025*

It was because after he received the news that the Vietnamese Socialist Revolutionary Party had established a base and successfully supported the Zhennan Pass garrison, he keenly realized a phenomenon that he had overlooked.

That is, Tonkin, Vietnam, which is the large area in the north centered on Hanoi, is a weak area under enemy rule.

This enemy refers to both the French and the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam, which was subservient to France.

Many Chinese people's impression of Vietnam is that it was originally a Miao people of China. After the Five Dynasties, the military governors proclaimed themselves kings and split from the Han territory.

This is indeed the general process of Vietnam's independence over the past thousand years. This was mostly the case with the Dinh Dynasty, the Pre-Lê Dynasty, the Tran Dynasty, and the Late Lê Dynasty in Vietnamese history. They established their capitals in Hanoi, and their territories, centered on the Red River Plain, continued to expand southward.

However, the Nguyen Dynasty was different.

First of all, the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty was Hue. If North and South Vietnam are divided according to the 17th parallel north, Hue is south of the 17th degree, making it the capital of the south.

Secondly, the Nguyen Dynasty was able to succeed by borrowing the military power of the French. It started its army in Saigon, the southernmost part of Vietnam where the Mekong River meets the sea, and fought all the way northward to unify Vietnam.

Therefore, judging from the location of the capital, the center of the Nguyen Dynasty's rule was in the south, not in the north.

After this idea came to his mind, Yuan Xiangcheng immediately recalled more evidence.

In 1867, after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the remnants of the Nian Army were successively suppressed, the domestic unrest in China gradually subsided and order was gradually restored in various places. The Qing Dynasty dispatched a large army to besiege a group of rebel militias in Guangxi.

As a bandit, Liu Yongfu knew that he could not gain a foothold in the country, so he led his Black Flag Army to flee to Vietnam and openly cultivated land in Bao Thang, more than 100 miles away from Hanoi. The Nguyen Dynasty had no intention of expelling him.

8 When the Qing Dynasty asked Vietnam to send troops to the country to suppress Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army bandits, the then Vietnamese Emperor Nguyen Hong Nhan readily agreed and acted as if he could come and go as he pleased.

The fact that the Nguyen Dynasty could openly allow foreign troops to be stationed in Hanoi shows that it did not focus on the north.

7 Although the Qing Dynasty and France went to war later, the Black Flag Army was incorporated into the Qing Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty was unable to station troops in Hanoi.

But these actions all prove one thing, that is, the Nguyen Dynasty did not attach importance to the area around Hanoi.

Kill 9]?6]二790-swamp shu.

In fact, from the time it unified Vietnam from south to north, the Nguyen Dynasty only took a few decades to fully govern the entire northern Vietnam.

France's rule over Vietnam became tighter towards the south and looser towards the north.

The temple was made possible by the French colonial rule and the state institutions of the Nguyen Dynasty.

The reason why the Vietnamese Socialist Revolutionary Party was able to establish a base on the Sino-Vietnamese border and distribute land in a short period of time without arousing the vigilance of the French colonial authorities was due to this loose governance system.

The feudal court naturally lacked a mass base in rural areas, and as for the French colonial institutions that remotely controlled the court, they were even further away.

In most cases, as long as they can ensure marching discipline and prevent falling behind or getting separated, local Vietnamese people will not choose to inform the colonial authorities.

Therefore, after receiving the news, Yuan Shikai asked the staff of the Central Military Commission to quickly check the map and begin discussing a new offensive.

Yuan Xiangcheng's plan was to send the main force to support Zhennan Pass, and to send a small force to advance into Vietnam to harass the French flank and rear, thereby reducing the pressure on the front battlefield.

But in the end, after understanding the situation, the staff decided to take bold action, taking advantage of the local advantages of the Vietnamese Socialist Revolutionary Party, sending the main force into Vietnam, and then sneaking around behind the French army in front of Zhennan Pass without anyone noticing.

It has to be said that this was an extremely risky sudden move, but Yuan Shikai still decided to support it.

If an army wants to grow, it cannot just fight steady battles, but must dare to achieve victory by surprise.

In the Battle of Huai River, although the National Revolutionary Army had a huge advantage in manpower, it always fought in a very rigid manner, and had to advance slowly one city at a time. It did not dare to boldly cross the enemy city and attack the rear.

There is nothing wrong with advancing step by step, but what Yuan Shikai admired more was the flexible and maneuverable fighting style of the Red Army in history.

...

With the help of the Vietnamese people in Guangxi and the Vietnam Socialist Revolutionary Party, Wang Zhanyuan's main force marched at an extremely fast speed.

They soon went upstream from the Fangchenggang River and arrived near the source of the river in Vietnam.

With the help of local people, secluded paths were pointed out. It was late winter and early spring, and nothing had yet grown. Looking around, there were mountains and water, but a lack of vitality.

However, among the green mountains and clear waters, the deep blue marching troops added a few lively atmosphere to the silent deep forest.

The footsteps of Chinese soldiers once again set foot on this homeland that they had been separated from for thousands of years.

Although the people here look the same as those in Guangxi and have similar accents, the efforts of the Central Plains dynasties to regain this land have always failed.

But now, the National Revolutionary Army came not as conquerors, but as liberators.

In the mountains and forests, the Vietnamese people leading the way wore conical hats and straw sandals. They kept pointing their arms forward and looked back at the National Revolutionary Army behind them from time to time, their eyes full of anticipation.

For thousands of years, they have hoped that any Chinese who set foot on Vietnamese territory would lose.

But this time, they sincerely hope that the Chinese can win and help the people here overthrow the French colonists who oppress them.

However, they have not yet realized that everything is subject to the principle of equal exchange.

Use the power of the Chinese to drive out the French.

So, what is the price?

Chapter 432: Night Attack Success

The dense fog enveloped the entire Sino-Vietnamese border, reducing the visibility of the French guards stationed on the periphery to a minimum.

The relationship between the hinterland of Guangxi and the Red River Plain of Vietnam is somewhat similar to that between the Sichuan Basin and the Guanzhong region.

After entering Shu, everyone said that if they could take Jiange, they could go straight to Chengdu.

Similarly, if we start from Zhennan Pass and capture Lang Son, we can reach Hanoi in one day.

Moreover, in addition to the sea route, there have been two routes from Guangxi to Vietnam since ancient times, which are quite similar to the Shu Road.

One is a mountain passage in the central part between Zhennanguan and Liangshan, and the other is a plain passage heading south along the coast in the east.

The French deployed heavy troops in these two places, one for attack and one for defense. They attacked the central channel with all their might, while taking a defensive stance on the southern channel, waiting for further developments before making changes.

As for the blank area of ​​about 300 miles in the middle, due to the obstruction of the Shiwan Mountains, the French relaxed their vigilance and only deployed a small number of sentries for patrol, with most of their attention focused on the two passages.

The French did not expect that while the Black Flag Brigades were openly fighting fiercely with them at the Second Pass of Zhennan, secretly, the National Revolutionary Army had already taken a detour through the mountain paths, preparing to launch a surprise attack from behind.

As the saying goes, fight openly at Zhennan Pass and secretly cross the Shiwan Mountains.

France extended his two strongest fists, exposing his soft abdomen.

What was even more deadly was that it was not the French army but the Vietnamese who were defending the abdomen.

In order to consolidate their rule in the local area, European colonists not only sent troops from their homeland, but also often recruited troops locally in the colonies.

The British established the Anglo-Indian Army in India, and the French also established skirmishers in Indochina.

The full name of the Skirmishers Regiment is the Indochina Skirmishers Regiment, or the Tokyo Skirmishers Regiment.

Thanks to France's tireless missionary work in Vietnam since the end of the 18th century, many believers have been cultivated in Vietnam.

Most of the Vietnamese among these skirmishers were Christians who believed in Jesus. They welcomed the arrival of France and lacked loyalty to the Nguyen Dynasty.

Of course, having a favorable impression of France does not mean that one has learned the French combat level.

At this time, Nguyen Sinh Minh, the commander of the Tokyo Skirmishers who stayed behind in Lang Son, did not realize that danger was coming.

He felt that the louder the artillery fire in front of Zhennan Pass, the safer Lang Son would be.

Zhennan Pass is only a few dozen miles away from Lang Son, so it naturally became a supply point for the front-line artillery positions.

Early every morning, Lang Son in the rear would send a large number of artillery shells to the Zhennan Pass front line.

This kind of logistical work was impossible for the proud French soldiers to do, so it had to fall on the Vietnamese.

After the delivery, the commander of the skirmish group, Ruan Shengmin, felt that he had completed his daily task. He lay down in the camp and began to sleep soundly.

At this time, the National Revolutionary Army had already passed through the mountain paths and set foot on the land of the Red River Plain.

Lang Son is a county that is mainly mountainous with a relatively rugged terrain, but the central area is a small basin like a valley.

There is also a city here, which is said to be a defensive fortification built by successive Vietnamese kings to prevent the Northern Dynasties from moving south.

However, under the ravages of time, many parts of the city wall have collapsed, and the earthen wall that was originally ten feet high has been reduced to only one person's height.

After the establishment of the Nguyen Dynasty, the relationship with the Qing Dynasty was not bad, so the city walls were not reinforced.

When the French arrived, they had no intention of building a city.

So the city of Liangshan has survived like this until now.

At this time, the division commander Wang Zhanyuan personally led the team and sneaked in with the commander of the spearhead battalion. Through the telescope, they slowly observed a gap in Lang Son City and looked at the ammunition depot in the city from afar.

“I repeat, this battle is not primarily about killing the enemy; we must do our best to destroy any remaining enemy ammunition, and never lose sight of priorities.

It's 4 o'clock in the morning. Pass the order down, check the explosive packs strapped to your body again. Once the fire is opened, be sure to throw them with maximum arm strength! "

"Yes!"

After dozens of National Revolutionary Army soldiers crawled towards the Lang Son position in the rear, an explosion marked the beginning of the National Revolutionary Army's counterattack.

The morning mist was hazy, and most of the Tokyo skirmishers defending the periphery had just fallen asleep.

They transported a batch of ammunition supplies to the Zhennan Pass front line overnight, and at this time, they were in a deep sleep just like the commander.

The soldiers in charge of patrolling also focused their attention on the direction of Zhennan Pass in the north where artillery fire was raging, and did not expect anyone to come from the rear.

A moment later, a round of dynamite was thrown over the low wall of Lang Son City, detonating a small ammunition depot in the corner.

"Come on!"

Hearing the explosion, the commander of the spearhead battalion suddenly jumped up from the ground and ran towards the gap in the city wall like a fly.

The soldiers of the Tokyo Skirmishers, awakened by the explosion, hurriedly crawled out of the camp without even having time to put on their shoes. Several Skirmishers officers also came out with them.

Even if their combat instincts were not sharp, they knew they were facing a night attack. After seeing the flames around them, the Vietnamese finally remembered the training techniques the French had taught them.

Lang Son City is the fifth ammunition storage point of the Eighth Route Army, so it is naturally necessary to have six heavy firepower three-dimensional weapons.

They rushed into the position quickly, hoping to take advantage of the favorable terrain and use the machine guns on the high platform to resist.

But before the Vietnamese could climb onto the platform and lift the canvas of the Hatch Case M1897 machine gun, several tongues of fire came out of the darkness and a bullet took their lives.

"Shh!"