Father of France

Chapter 153 The East Wind Prevails Over the West Wind

“We can also see from the past history the determination of the Vietnamese people to resist foreign enemies.”

Koman recited the prepared remarks in a lukewarm manner, saying things like that the Vietnamese people have always been a resilient nation and will surely stand among the nations of the world in the future. He was just being polite and had no other intentions.

After listening to Koman's polite words, Wu Tingchu got even more into the mood, crying his eyes out. In fact, Koman was just being polite, but Wu Tingchu didn't know he would go on and on.

Taking advantage of a casual remark by Coman, which touched upon the fact that Vietnam had once faced overwhelming odds, Ngo Dinh Chu, whether to garner nonexistent sympathy or something else, focused on describing the unspeakable crimes committed by the 700,000 Ming troops within Vietnam.

"So many people!" Koman picked up a glass of juice with an incredulous look on his face. Based on his understanding of the Ming Dynasty's conquest of Jiaozhi, this dynasty did not have the ability to mobilize an army of 700,000.

"For thousands of years, they have invaded us with overwhelming numbers. More than a hundred years ago, taking advantage of internal problems in our country, 200,000 troops burned, killed, and looted in northern my country." Wu Tingchu still seemed indignant when mentioning this, and it's unclear whether he was referring to a monk or a bald man. He was holding a Qing Dynasty-style compliment on France.

Koeman was well aware of the self-comforting spirit of certain colonies who, when unable to win in a direct confrontation, resorted to veiled criticism of imperialist powers. However, he was more interested in how much exaggeration there was in the historical records of Vietnam regarding the scale of the war.

Koman thought for a moment and figured Wu Tingchu was referring to the Qing-Viet War. With a hint of skepticism, he asked, "Two hundred thousand? The Eight Banners Army?"

Seeing that Wu Tingchu was practically swearing an oath, Coman chose not to believe him. He remembered that the Qing-Viet war was not even a minor part of the Ten Great Campaigns; it seemed to be just a casual battle fought by more than 10,000 Green Standard Army soldiers in northern Vietnam, which did not attract the attention of Emperor Qianlong.

The numbers of 200,000 Eight Banners troops and 700,000 Ming troops startled Coman. Such figures should have appeared more than a thousand years ago, and after the Song Dynasty, such numbers were rarely seen in historical documents.

Such figures are even less likely to be related to the Qing army. Emperor Qianlong clearly distinguished between soldiers and civilians. If we follow ancient standards and include the laborers conscripted by the Qing court for the battles of Greater and Lesser Jinchuan, then historical records would show that Emperor Qianlong dispatched 600,000 troops to attack Greater and Lesser Jinchuan.

By ancient standards, this was perfectly acceptable, since Emperor Qianlong paid the laborers anyway.

This emperor firmly believed in one thing: money was more effective than anything else. Conscripting labor was not as effective as giving money.

Therefore, compared to the Great and Small Jinchuan Confederations where the Red Army once crossed snow-capped mountains and grasslands, the Qing-Viet War, a marginal event from the Qianlong era, made it difficult for Koman to believe the Vietnamese stance represented by Ngo Dinh Chu.

Of course, Coman soon realized that Ngo Dinh Chu's words were not without merit, because Ngo Dinh Chu claimed that the entire Vietnamese population was mobilized for war, and that a three-million-strong army had withstood the invasion of the northern neighbor.

Once this number comes out, figures like 700,000 or 200,000 seem much more normal. The only question now is, how come the three million Vietnamese troops disappeared when the French expeditionary force arrived?
If Coman continued, fearing that figures from Indian religious texts might appear, he had to bring Wu Tingchu back from the past, reminding him that we should learn from history and focus on the present.

France simply didn't have the right time to implement its own order. Otherwise, Corman would have made Wu Tingchu realize that, unlike the British pursuit of truth or the German exploration of the origins of all things in ancient Greece, the true path for French civilization is destruction.

It's a pity that the same lofty ideals as those of the great Eastern powers were defeated by the inactive British during a crucial period before the establishment of modern civilization.

Koeman had already made up his mind that he would trample the British underfoot and ensure that Britain would never be able to rise again.

“We are trying to improve the status of the Indochinese Catholic community, and this must be brought to the attention of the Vatican. The initial idea is…” Koman is preparing to give Wu Dinh Chu a hand and make him the Archbishop of Hue.

That's all we can do for now. Although in Italy, through his investigation of child molestation, Koeman gained some understanding of the filth and corruption hidden in Italy, right under the Vatican's nose.

However, being a cardinal is still not enough. A cardinal is the highest-ranking clergyman under the Pope, and the difficulty of the position is incomparable to that of a purple archbishop.

To be honest, the religious scandals that Coman knew about were not enough to produce a cardinal in French Indochina. Once you reach the level of a cardinal, you can elect a pope within a small circle as long as you reach the age.

Although the Pope is no longer the all-powerful representative of God in the Middle Ages, he still wields enormous influence in many countries.

The emergence of a cardinal can have an impact on many countries that are not particularly large, perhaps even more significant than that of a presidential election.

He revealed the benefits he was going to give Wu Tingchu, which made this devout follower of God overjoyed. He immediately regarded Koman as someone of equal status with God, saying, "Thank you so much."

"The country's assistance to Mr. Wu is also in the hope that he can play a positive role in this reform and arming of Catholics." Koman said in a tone that suggested the country would not place its expectations on Wu Tingchu for nothing. "The glory of God in the East depends on Mr. Wu. Atheists have already posed a major threat to the Christian world."

After seeing the other party off, the Governor's Office had another matter to discuss with Coman. French Indochina was recruiting and selecting air force pilots. After passing the selection, they would be sent to Marrakech in Morocco for a year of basic training, then to the Avod Air Base in France for two years of further training, and then to Algeria for five months of bombing and firing training.

The reason Koeman was made aware of this was twofold: firstly, he hoped to gain the support of the Army General Staff, and secondly, Koeman himself came from an Algerian overseas province.

It has been almost four months since Koman came at the beginning of the year, and half of the Christian immigrants from the Middle East have already immigrated to North Africa.

“General Juan will definitely support it. Whether it’s an overseas department or French Indochina, they are all part of the French Empire.” Coman defended the reputation of the French Commander-in-Chief in Algeria.

“The army is always more trustworthy than the government, so there’s no problem.” Dachanliu didn’t mention the current left-wing coalition government at all, because Paris was currently in the midst of political struggle.

This struggle was primarily between the ruling left-wing coalition and the People's Republican Movement. Although both the coalition and the People's Republican Movement supported parliamentary systems and were not fond of the presidential system advocated by de Gaulle, the two political forces supported different forms of parliamentary system.

The left-wing coalition wants to pass a new draft constitutional amendment to promote a unicameral parliament and establish absolute parliamentary dominance in France.

The People's Republican Movement, led by George Pidul, supported a more balanced bicameral system of National Assembly and Republican Senate, which was similar to a two-camera system.

Because of the parliamentary system, the three major parties are now fighting again, forming a coalition government. This alliance is a continuation of the post-war spirit of "national unity," but internal contradictions are becoming increasingly acute.

According to current news from Paris, the three major parties are still deadlocked over whether to have a unicameral parliament or a bicameral parliament, and have decided to hold a referendum next month to resolve the issue.

The political struggle between the three major parties left Dachsilau full of complaints, which led him to tell Coman that the army was more effective than the government. He was still quite dissatisfied with the French Communist Party because, on the issue of French Indochina, the French Communist Party had always advocated dialogue rather than using force to resolve the issue.

Facing the Viet Minh, which also had strong Soviet influence, Ta Shanliu did not believe the Viet Minh leaders' sugar-coated bullets of goodwill toward the United States. Instead, he was full of suspicion about the local party, the French Communist Party, which was also a communist party.

Just as disagreements arose in France regarding a parliamentary system, Italy's first post-war local elections were also underway.

This local election, which was also considered a bellwether for Italy's future, was held in 2,400 municipalities across 43 provinces. The U.S. military was deployed to monitor the election results.

The Italian Socialist Party and the Italian Communist Party, like the French Socialist Party and the French Communist Party, formed a left-wing coalition to jointly address the general election. Their opponent was the Italian Catholic Democratic Party, which shares the same ecological niche as the French People's Republican Movement.

The countries home to Europe's two largest pro-Soviet parties experienced remarkably similar developments over a few months.

The election results were quickly announced, with the Italian Socialist Party and the Communist Party of Italy winning 50 percent of the vote. They gained an absolute advantage, especially in the Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, and Umbria regions known as the "Red Triangle," as well as industrial cities such as Turin, Milan, and Genoa.

For example, in Bologna, the left-wing coalition won about 60 percent of the vote; in Florence, the Italian Communist Party became the largest party.

In two elections held in France and Italy around the same time after the war, the left-wing coalition won with 50 percent of the vote.

If the US could have underestimated the enemy during the first victory in France, then the victory of the left-wing coalition in Italy clearly tells the US that the left-wing forces in Western European countries are greater than the US imagined.

Although the Italian Catholic Democratic Party was stronger than the French Popular Republican Movement, it only won 35 percent of the vote, far behind its opponent.

If this situation continues, Italy will become a republic led by a left-wing party before the actual parliamentary elections, breaking away from the US's vision and becoming a Soviet political ally in Western Europe, just like France.

This put unprecedented pressure on Americans who had just listened to Churchill's Iron Curtain speech. The East Wind prevailing over the West Wind was no longer a hypothetical question, but a real threat that was unfolding.

(End of this chapter)