Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 181: Power Doubled
In July 1869, envoys from the Hue court arrived in Kam Phu, the capital of the newly merged Quang Ninh Province, and officially announced the enthronement of Sun Bin and his Chinese troops.

After a complicated ceremony, the envoy who conferred the title and Huang Jiyan's representative said with a smile: "Your Majesty and the Prince Consort do not select talents based on their backgrounds. Lord Sun has been granted an official position in the imperial court. You must gather troops as soon as possible to help the imperial court army suppress the rebellion!"

"Your Majesty and Lord Huang have shown great kindness, and I will certainly do my best to fight for the country. The two thousand grains for the war have been prepared. As long as we receive the order from Lord Huang, the troops can set out to suppress the rebellion."

Since he occupied someone else's territory and became an official under the Hue court, Sun Bin naturally had to adapt his speech to the rules of the Annan officialdom.

"Haha, Your Excellency, the Prince Consort has a good eye. He really didn't misjudge Lord Sun." The envoy was very satisfied with Sun Bin's performance and said, "The remnants of Xie Fengwen's rebels that wreaked havoc in the northern part of the country four years ago have revived. Five days ago, they joined forces with the remnants of the Le Dynasty and attacked Shanxi Province together. The governor of Shanxi Province has few soldiers and generals, and the troops have suffered heavy losses since fighting the rebels. So Lord Huang ordered me to convey the order. Tomorrow morning, the governor will select a general to lead the Guangning troops to rush to Shanxi Province to provide assistance."

The messenger took out Huang Jiyan's handwritten letter and handed it to Sun Bin, saying, "The country is in a turbulent time. General, you have thousands of powerful troops under your command. You should focus on state affairs and don't let Mr. Huang down."

"I understand." Sun Bin replied indifferently, somewhat absent-minded about the messenger's repeated knocking.

After taking a quick look at the contents of the letter, Sun Bin arranged for the envoy to rest somewhere else and summoned the main generals in the army to discuss important matters.

Halong was too small and too close to Haiphong Province to be suitable as the command center for the Chinese troops’ occupied areas. Therefore, after Quang Yen and Ninh Hai, the main force of the troops quickly moved to Cam Pha.

The Chinese troops left in Halong had only a temporary camp, which was easy to relocate. It took only seven or eight days to transfer the main personnel and troops to the new capital.

A solemn and dignified government office was filled with more than 30 officers of various ranks. Except for generals such as Ye Chenglin and Chen Shangfa, most of them were the leaders of the peasant army who had recently defected.

After the Chinese troops swept through several coastal provinces in northern Annan, more than 40 large and small armed forces came to join them. Among the peasant army, some had as many as 300 to 500 people. For example, Huang Shouzhong, who belonged to the same camp as Huang Chongying, decisively left Huang Chongying's army after learning that the leader of the Chinese troops was also a member of the Tiandihui, and led 800 of his men to join them.
The smaller the group, the fewer the the number of people are. They are usually refugees. In order to protect themselves, they train dozens of young and strong men and use the name of the peasant army to intimidate other forces.

There are more than 3,000 young and strong armed men who have just joined the Chinese army.
It was impossible for so many people to join the regular army. The Hue court organized a force of 3,000 people for the province of Quang Ninh. Sun Bin did not intend to train the troops completely according to the indicators given by the Hue court, but he also did not intend to train too many troops.

The newly merged Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces had a combined area of ​​only 1.4 square kilometers. Fourteen thousand square kilometers of land could not support a large-scale force armed with modern weapons. Therefore, after careful consideration, Sun Bin decided to reorganize the troops in the occupied area into people, of which main forces would continue to use Dreiser rifles, and the remaining would be temporarily equipped with captured old-fashioned muskets and cold weapons, and would be armed after the transport fleet arrived.

In the government hall, Sun Bin took off his Annan official uniform, changed into a retro Ming-style long gown and sat in the main seat.

"You are all trustworthy heroes. I am glad to be able to join the Wehrmacht!"

"Master Sun, may I ask if the National Defense Army refers to the Guang'an troops?"

"The National Defense Force includes the Chinese troops in Guang'an Province, and the Chinese troops in Guang'an Province are just one of the troops in the National Defense Force."

Sun Bin said something a bit garrulous, and then said: "All of you brothers are heroes who are against the Qing Dynasty. Many of you are also aware of my past identity. I have called you all together today. First of all, I have one thing to tell you. The Guang'an Chinese troops are subordinate to the Taiping Army. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Prince Li Mingyuan seized the base in South America last year and re-established the country on December 1 last year. Sun and the 600 brothers who first arrived in Nanyang were sent by His Royal Highness the Prince to return to Nanyang to recruit all the anti-Qing people and build a strong Han country together!"

"No wonder I saw that the troops under Lord Sun were so powerful. I didn't expect that they were the Taiping Army of the Heavenly Kingdom! Lord Sun is meticulous in his actions. If he hadn't told us today, we might not have known about it!" A tall and strong man in his twenties said in surprise.

"For the sake of the overall situation, I didn't tell you the truth before. Please don't blame me, brothers." Sun Bin said with a smile and bowed.

"The Tartars are wreaking havoc in the Central Plains, and corrupt scholars and scum are helping them suppress anti-Qing patriots. The situation in the Central Plains and Annan is dangerous. Lord Sun should be very careful and cautious. All brothers understand Lord Sun's painstaking efforts."...

After hearing Sun Bin's explanation, the former peasant army leaders sitting in the government office expressed their understanding.

“Even though all of you brothers know the true identity of the Guang’an Force, Sun will announce the next thing.

Before the mission to Nanyang, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince authorized me to handle Nanyang affairs with full authority and to form the Nanyang National Defense Force based on actual conditions.

Now our army has nearly 300,000 Chinese civilians in Annan alone, more than 100,000 young and strong Chinese, 3,000 peasant armed forces, and 1,800 regular troops.

We have more than 10,000 square kilometers of land in Quang Ninh and Lang Son under our control. The Hue court ordered us to send troops to encircle and suppress the rebels. 1,800 regular troops are not enough, so all the young and strong peasant soldiers in the occupied areas must be reorganized, and the weak ones must be eliminated to form a regular force of 4,000 people. "

"Lord Sun, you must have a plan in mind for summoning us here. Just announce it directly."

"Okay! No more polite words, Huang Shouzhong, Xiao Zhangsan, and Li Tianxi, listen to my orders!"

"I am here!" "Appoint Huang Shouzhong as the commander of the Fourth Independent Battalion of the Nanyang National Defense Army, Xiao Zhangsan as the commander of the Fifth Independent Battalion, and Li Tianxi as the commander of the Sixth Independent Battalion. Each battalion will command 400 soldiers. After the meeting, Liang Xing will allocate soldiers to each unit!"

"I accept your orders!"

"Ye Chenglin, Chen Zongbai, and Wu Fengdian, their positions will remain unchanged, and each battalion will be expanded to 700 people."

"Leader!"

The three of them stood up and said with joy on their faces.

Although the positions of Ye Chenglin and the other two did not change, the number of soldiers under their command nearly doubled, and their status in the Chinese troops under Guangning Province was still much higher than that of Huang Shouzhong and other subsequent defectors.

"Huang Hong, Zhang Shiliu, Zhu Zhi, Huang Wan..." Sun Bin read out the names one by one and announced their new positions.

After a while, the appointments of all the people in the hall were announced. Sun Bin glanced at the officers in the hall of the great official office and said, "Officers above the regimental level have important duties. Their appointments require the consent of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so no new regimental units will be established for the time being. The National Defense Army's Nanyang Unit will temporarily maintain a unit organization of one regiment, three independent battalions, and one mountain battalion. Brothers, please be responsible after taking over your new positions. After I contact the Crown Prince, I will readjust your positions based on your training unit's performance and military exploits!"

"I understand." The thirty or so officers below replied in unison.

"That's all for the reorganization of the troops. Ye Chenglin, Huang Shouzhong, and Chen Shangfa, you stay here. The rest of you can go back and select soldiers first."

Sun Bin kept the three people and waited until everyone else left. He opened a map of the southwest of the mainland and pointed to the border area between Yunnan and Guizhou provinces and said, "In mid-June, General Li Wencai, who had fought with His Royal Highness Yi Wang Shi, led his Taiping Army and joined forces with the Miao Army of Liu Tiancheng, Jin Gangan and others to fight a fierce battle with Guizhou Admiral Zhang Wende in Yang'an, annihilating more than 6 Qing troops in one fell swoop and successively occupying more than ten surrounding cities.

Affected by Yang An's defeat, the Tartar court ordered the withdrawal of Feng Zicai's main force from the Gui army to reinforce the Qing army in southern Yunnan. Therefore, the Gui army is temporarily unable to intervene in the Annan rebellion. Our army must seize the opportunity when the Qing army is weak to eliminate the unstable forces in Annan and unify all the Chinese forces in Annan! "

Ye Chenglin and Huang Shouzhong looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes.

"Sir Sun, our army has just swallowed up the two provinces of Quang Ninh and Lang Son. If we send a large number of troops to unite other Chinese forces, I am afraid our foundation will be unstable. Sir Sun, please be cautious!" Huang Shouzhong advised.

"To unify the Chinese forces, we don't necessarily have to resort to violence. We can achieve our goal by supporting a peasant army leader who understands the overall situation and takes office."

"Lord Sun wants to instigate Wu Yazhong's subordinates to replace him?" Ye Chenglin said with some understanding.

"Yes, after the leaders of the various peasant armies under Wu Yazhong occupied Gaoping Province, they gained a stable base. Wu Yazhong's insistence on attacking Taiping Prefecture and rebuilding the Great Cheng Kingdom has caused dissatisfaction among many of his subordinates. As long as there is a suitable opportunity, and several major peasant army generals take the lead in opposing it, Wu Yazhong will definitely be driven out of office in disgrace!"

"Wu Yazhong is different from our anti-Qing brothers. He and his son are Zhuang chieftains in Taiping Prefecture. They took advantage of the Heavenly Kingdom Uprising to occupy Taiping Prefecture and claim to be the overlord. They are not the same kind of people as us. Driving him out of office can prevent our anti-Qing brothers from making unnecessary sacrifices." Ye Chenglin said.

“The Chinese armed forces in Annan are scattered, and the tens of thousands of young and strong men under Wu Yazhong are an important force. We cannot let them go to waste just because of Wu Yazhong’s ambition.

Brother Ye, you went to Wu Yazhong's armed garrison last time. This time I plan to send you to contact his generals. Are you willing?"

"I will follow your instructions, sir!"

"Very good. Brother Ye's troops will be temporarily handed over to Chen Zongbai for command. They will follow Brother Chen to suppress the Annan rebels. Brother Ye does not need to worry about the situation of his troops. Brother Chen will take good care of the brothers in the first battalion."

"Brother Zong Bai is decisive and steady in commanding operations. I am not worried." Ye Chenglin said with a smile.

Arranging Ye Chenglin's task, Sun Bin looked at Huang Shouzhong, "Brother Huang is familiar with the environment in the southwest region. Is there any problem in letting Brother Huang contact General Li?"

"It is my great honor to meet the famous general who defeated the Qing army with my own eyes!"

"The mission you two are carrying out this time is of great importance. Please be careful along the way and do not let the enemy discover your flaws."

"Thank you for your reminder, sir. I will be careful later."...

(End of this chapter)