Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 658 Asking for help
After France declared war on the Far East, a significant upheaval broke out within Cinecitt. Under the pretext of defending the king, they launched separate uprisings from Nha Trang and Hanoi, attempting to launch a pincer attack from the north and south to relieve the king trapped in Hue.

The southern rebels, near Saigon, were directly suppressed by the local Undead Legion, while the north was handed over to local armed forces, namely the Black Flag Army, White Flag Army, Yellow Flag Army, and Red Flag Army.

These four armies were all rebel forces that fled to Vietnam after the Taiping Rebellion failed. After reaching a garrison agreement with Iran, they settled down in the border region with the Far East.

As time went on, the four armies gradually abandoned their counterattack objective and began to live in the local area instead.

The four banners tacitly divided their defense zones and spheres of interest. The Black Banner Army was the strongest, controlling the upper Red River trade route from Lao Cai to Yen Bai, guarding the Yunnan border, and was the most valued by Iran.

The Yellow Flag Army occupied the high plains of Ha Giang and other areas, facing the border between Guangdong and Guangxi, forming a strategic triangle with the Black Flag Army. The White Flag Army and the Red Flag Army were slightly weaker, controlling the hilly areas surrounding Lang Son and Dien Bien Phu respectively, serving as depth and supplementary forces.

They no longer use the banner of God the Father and God the Brother, but instead claim to be protectors of the borders and people. Their core mission is to eliminate bandits, suppress anti-Iranian rebellions, and resist the infiltration of the French and their proxies from the Lao direction.

Iran provided them with obsolete Dreyse needle rifles, standardized ammunition, and even a small number of light artillery pieces. This gave them localized firepower superiority over the Nguyen Dynasty's Vietnamese army and the French colonial forces. Commanders of the Immortal Legion would come periodically, ostensibly to observe, but in reality as instructors and supervisors, teaching them how to use maps, conduct basic infantry-artillery coordination training, and reorganize them according to Iranian doctrine to ensure their command structure was compatible with Iranian standards.

Iran provides weapons and funding; in return, they offer controlled border instability and inexpensive military services. After all, why not control the north at minimal cost?

After the uprising broke out in the north, Iran ordered four armies to suppress it, promising them all the spoils and keeping nothing for itself.

The White Flag Army was the first to act, and they were also the least disciplined group. From the very beginning, they were looting everywhere, and then they were brutally beaten by the loyalist army.

In contrast, the Black Flag Army's methods were much more sophisticated. Besides using force to suppress dissent, appeasement and division were also key policies. By winning over internal swing voters and recruiting prisoners, the Black Flag Army increased its strength to 18000 men.

The Black Flag Army was also one of the first armies to be formally incorporated into the military. They were not part of the Undead Army, but they would obey the orders of the legion commander. They received an annual salary of 40 rials and were also involved in operations along the Far Eastern border.

The Saigon Governor's Office tacitly approved of this, as long as the rebellion could be quelled and their rule could not be affected, they let them be.

A series of resolutions from the Far Eastern court were quickly relayed to the Qinistan and Iranian embassies. They proposed hiring the Iranian Far Eastern Fleet and local troops to fight against France. Each soldier could receive between 30 and 150 taels of silver depending on their rank. Those who were seriously wounded or disabled in the war could receive 400 taels of silver, and those who died in battle could receive a pension of 260 taels of silver.

Of course, they also thought that hiring a navy was too difficult, but the imperial court could fund the purchase of ships and hire officers and soldiers to help, which should be feasible.

However, the Far East still wanted a peaceful resolution, so its highest authority issued an order to Li Hongzhang: negotiate. According to the Far East's proposal, they agreed to open Qiongzhou and Zhanjiang prefectures and pay France 300 million taels of silver in reparations. But France refused. That wasn't what they wanted.

The French parliament passed a resolution to allocate an additional 2900 million francs to the military and to send another 1.5 expeditionary troops. General Courbet, commander-in-chief of the French expeditionary force, led 13 ships and 6000 French soldiers in a formal attack on Mawei, Fujian.

Guo Songtao, the Chinese ambassador to Iran who had received a declaration of war from the Far East and France, was ordered to negotiate with Iran. He went to the Prime Minister's Office to meet with Prime Minister Musharraf and discussed the issue of mercenaries and the purchase of warships and supplies.

“Your Excellency Prime Minister,” Guo Songtao said, his tone tinged with obvious anxiety, “France, with its wolfish ambitions, has committed heinous crimes on our territory. Our court is determined to fight to the end, but our coastal defenses are weak and our weaponry is outdated. Therefore, we earnestly request assistance from our friendly nations.” He presented a detailed list, “This is the list of military supplies that our country wishes to purchase from your country, as well as matters concerning the hiring of naval officers and soldiers to assist in training and combat.”

Prime Minister Musharraf took the list and carefully reviewed it. It listed Iranian-made Shahrbaz-class protected cruisers, a large quantity of standardized rifles, field artillery, and ammunition. The employment terms detailed salary, compensation, and other benefits, offering very favorable terms.

“Mr. Ambassador,” Musharraf put down the list, his expression calm, “Iran and your country are friendly neighbors with frequent trade relations and deep ties. We share your indignation at France’s aggressive actions. In principle, we are willing to consider providing assistance.”

"However, as you know, our country is currently at war with Russia in Europe, and our main fleet must be deployed in the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea. Directly dispatching large warships or entire fleets to intervene in the Far East conflict would be beyond our capabilities and could easily trigger a direct conflict with France, which is not what our country desires."

"However, our country can send a group of retired or reserve naval officers, sailors, and artillery engineers to your country on a personal employment basis or as technical consultants. They can help your country operate, maintain, and even guide the construction of new ships. As far as I know, your Fuzhou Shipyard has a prior cooperative relationship with our country, and this move can enable it to quickly achieve combat capability."

Guo Songtao is a shrewd man; he knows that this is the biggest promise Iran can make in the current complex international environment.

Negotiations were conducted simultaneously in Tehran and Shanghai. The Iranian side demonstrated remarkable efficiency, driven by both the substantial trade interests with the Qing Dynasty and its strategic will. The first batch of tens of thousands of rifles and dozens of cannons were quickly loaded onto merchant ships flying the Iranian flag, which set sail from Bandar Abbas and Bushehr, bound for the Iranian concession wharves in Shanghai.

Regarding the hiring, the Undead Legion will handle it. The Undead Legion is willing to send 20000 men, along with the Black Flag and Red Flag armies, totaling 46000. This sum will certainly be substantial.

To demonstrate its sincerity, the Far East directly provided 100 million taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue and ordered all provinces to quickly raise 400 million taels in preparation for unforeseen circumstances.

This caused another uproar, with the four provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangsu, Hebei, and Zhejiang being assigned a task of 280 million taels of silver. The burden was too heavy, but there was no other way but to do it.

(End of this chapter)