Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 361 French Response
After the Hanoi War, there were two different opinions in the French government and military on how to deal with Annam. Some people, led by the new Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Jules Ferry, advocated the expansion of the Annam incident and preferred to continue to dispatch troops from Europe to support the Cochinchina colonial government.

However, some military personnel, led by naval commander General Miller, believed that the results of the Battle of Hanoi showed that the Nanyang Army had combat effectiveness that was no less than that of the Cochinchina colonial army. The Nanyang Army was equipped with sophisticated muskets and artillery, had ample reserves of strategic materials, and its main force numbered as many as 10,000 people. If the French army made a comeback, the Nanyang Army would still be the biggest enemy of France's occupation of Annam.

Miller and other naval commanders proposed to the French government that the plan of annexing Annan be completed in two steps.
First, it sent about three to four thousand French troops to support Saigon and stabilize France's rule in the Nanban area. At the same time, in the negotiations with the Han Dynasty, it showed its willingness to compromise and agreed to some of the conditions proposed by the Han Dynasty, exchanging some small islands in the South Pacific for the northern part of Annam occupied by the Nanyang Corps, thus peacefully resolving the biggest obstacle to the French colonial government's occupation of the entire Annam.

Secondly, after reaching an agreement with the Han Dynasty, it gradually expanded its influence to the Hue court, supported pro-French ministers, and selected some of the Annan royal family who could be used as puppets, so that when the time was right, the Cochinchina colonial army would come forward to support them in replacing Emperor Tu Duc and becoming the new king of Annan.

The proposals of Miller and other naval generals were not recognized by Prime Minister Jules Ferry. Several senior naval generals were also attacked by government officials and lost the opportunity to lead troops to support Annan.

On April 4, as Foreign Minister, Jules Ferrier conveyed to the Han Dynasty the three conditions for peace talks and a ceasefire:
1. France and Annam are countries with diplomatic relations. The two countries have established formal trade treaties and tariff rules. The Chinese side forcibly interfered in the relations between France and Annam and instructed the Chinese army to attack the Cochinchina army. This was the first provocation and the Chinese side should pay compensation and apologize to the French government and return the customs taxes, overseas Chinese assets and other property and materials that the Chinese army had privately detained.

Second, France and Annan have close cooperation, and the Annan government has essentially accepted the protection of the French government. Under the current circumstances, Han China cannot restrict or block France's right to protect Vietnam.

3. The Han Dynasty withdrew the Chinese troops stationed in Annan.
The Hongji Coal Mine and other mineral resource areas will be placed under the jurisdiction of the Cochinchina government. As a reciprocal condition, the French government is willing to negotiate with the Han government to resolve the sovereignty issues of French Polynesia and the Congo region.

The French intended to use the form of a treaty to complete the annexation of the entire territory of Annam in one fell swoop, and in the peace treaty, they attributed the responsibility for starting the war to the Han Dynasty, denied the justice of the Nanyang Army's fight against the invasion of the French colonial Army, continued to believe in the military power of the French army, and implemented further fraud and extortion policies against the Han government.

In order to achieve the above goals, the French cabinet ordered Major General Lisby, commander of the China Sea Squadron, to lead the main force of his fleet to the Annam waters to carry out maritime deterrence against the South China Sea Corps and assist the French Expeditionary Force in its offensive against northern Annam.

In early May, the French expeditionary fleet arrived in Annam. According to the instructions of the French government, the three giants, including the expeditionary commander Copi, the commander of the Chinese naval fleet Lisbie, and the commander of the Nanban garrison, Bohua, met in Saigon, the seat of the Cochinchina Colonial Governor's Office, to discuss the military plan on how to occupy Annam.

Nanban commander Bo Hua believed that: "Hue is the source of conflict and struggle, from which (all) orders to continue fighting in the Beiban area and calls for assistance from the Nanyang Army were issued.

Once the Hue government is defeated, the resistance in northern Annam will lose its leader, which will lead to the rapid disappearance of the Annamite’s will to resist. As for the Nanyang Army, after Annam surrenders, it will lose the support of the Annamite government and lose the motivation to continue resisting.”

The three major leaders of the Cochinchina colonial government exchanged views on solving the Annan issue and reached a consensus, deciding to implement a two-pronged, two-pronged attack plan.

That is, Lispi led 7 ships and 1000 French marines to capture Hue, and Bohua led more than 2000 French soldiers, 600 Algerian soldiers, and 1700 native Annan soldiers to attack the Nanyang Army and the Beiban areas defended by Huang Zuoyan. Learning from Li Weiye's lesson of underestimating the enemy and being annihilated, Bohua constantly sent small forces to test the Nanyang Army's troop deployment before launching attacks on the provinces occupied by the Nanyang Army.

For example, on May 4, French soldiers drove three armed ships, one with three masts and two with half masts, into Ruixiangshe, a city under the jurisdiction of Shanxi Province. The Nanyang Army had two small gunboats stationed there, and they immediately opened fire. The gunboats had a displacement of only 150 tons, and the gun positions were not large, weighing only 100 kilograms. They fired five shells in a row, hitting the bow of the three-masted ship and injuring three French soldiers. The remaining ships fled in panic.

On the ninth day, another three-masted ship sailed straight for Danfengkou under the jurisdiction of Shanxi Province. The people of Annan were panicked. Many people were afraid of the harm caused by the French army, so they moved to Hanoi and other areas with their families.

On the tenth day, two French ships sailed up the river, intending to attack the capital of Shanxi Province. The Chinese army intercepted them at Shangchishe, and the ships turned back when they reached Zuofeng.

On the morning of May 15, the Chinese army received information that the French were attacking from Nanban. They had no more than 500 men, mostly Hakka warriors and Christians, and very few French soldiers. The Chinese army sent out the fourth company to ambush the enemy in different directions, and sent a strong force to lure them out first. Later, the Chinese army led the third company with more than 500 people to meet the enemy head-on, killing 400 of them and forcing the rest to flee in panic.

After several such attempts, Bohua had some understanding of the Nanyang Army's defense and combat effectiveness.

On May 18, Bo reported to the French government on the situation of the Nanyang Corps' defense positions, saying: "The enemy's southern defense line starts from Hanoi Province, passes through Hung Yen Province, Thai Binh Province, and Haiphong City in an arc-shaped defense line, and the northern defense line runs from Thai Nguyen Province to Bac Kan Province and Lang Son Province. In Hanoi and Haiphong, there are many military fortresses surrounded by trenches and isolation walls. Artillery positions are set up in coastal and riverside areas, which can fire at gunboats sailing along the river.

The road from Ninh Binh to Hanoi is in excellent condition and is completely passable. The road from Nanning to Hanoi is slightly worse, but it is also passable. The road quality of other roads is poor, but it is not impassable..."

Bohua believed that the troops he currently had were not enough to ensure victory in the battle, and he needed some time to prepare.

However, because he was eager to retaliate against the Nanyang Army, Courbet, who had long been unable to contain himself, was very dissatisfied with his behavior.

He pointed out to Bo Hua: "Our indecisive attitude, our long stay behind the fences and trenches, has caused great damage to our prestige, which has been severely damaged by the unfortunate events in Hanoi; any delay in advancing will be regarded by our enemies as a sign of weakness. I implore the general to speed up the plan to retake Hanoi in order to restore the reputation and image of the Cochinchina Governor's Office in Europe."

Under such pressure, Bohua had to promise to immediately resume the offensive against northern Annam after the second batch of 1700 African colonial troops arrived in Annam for nearby support.

(End of this chapter)