In the counterattack plan formulated by the Ming army, in addition to the southward movement of the Qiongzhou army, there is also the most important link, which is that Bai Wenxuan's army attacked Guangxi through Annan, which caused the Qing army's backyard to catch fire, and the Qing army in Guangdong fell into a two-way attack. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

After years of war, Annan has long been impoverished. However, the people of Annam are strong and able to fight well, as the saying goes, the poor mountains and bad waters make the people bad, and the strong Annan itself is divided into three countries, and can also use troops abroad, and fight Lancang (Laos), Cambodia and Siam are bitter, as if they are the small overlords of the Indochina Peninsula.

When Myanmar was the strongest, it couldn't do anything to Annan.

If Bai Wenxuan wanted to use Annan, he was also worried that the Annan people would use this as an excuse to stop the Ming army.

Last time, Wang Xinyu and Bai Wenxuan took advantage of the contradictions between the Three Kingdoms of Annan and the Zheng clan of Annan to rescue Guo Zhiqi and others, sent troops to Annan, and rescued Guo Zhiqi and a group of Ming ministers.

The Dayue Kingdom, which once rampaged in the Indochina Peninsula, was taught a hard lesson, but that time it also used the Annan soldiers, the armies of the Mo clan and the Ruan clan, and the contradictions between the Li clan and the Zheng clan, so that the Annan people fought with themselves, and the Ming army got a cheap advantage from it.

But now that the situation in Annan is relatively stable, Bai Wenxuan took advantage of the excuse that Annan doesn't know what will happen.

Song Chen, an agent of the Qiongzhou Army who was beside Bai Wenxuan, said confidently: "The marshal only needs to send troops, and in the name of the Nanyang Company escort team, the Annan people dare not do anything." ”

"Does Nanyang have such a high prestige in Annam today?" Bai Wenxuan asked puzzled.

Song Chen smiled: "We developed coal mines in Annan, bought a large amount of grain from Annan, and led the people of Annan on the road to prosperity." The life of the people of Annam is much better than before. The people of Annam also know that their good days today are brought to them by our Nanyang Company. People's character is easy to move from thrift to luxury, and from luxury to thrift. Do you say that they should give up their good days and do something to our Nanyang people, and they want us to divest their capital? ”

Before, Annan was indeed poor, and the financial income of the Li Dynasty was only two or three hundred thousand taels of silver a year, so much money had to maintain the expenses of the imperial court, to raise the army, and to guard against the Mo family, and to fight with the Ruan family, it was really difficult for the Annam court, I don't know how to save this money to be enough.

After the Ming army united with the Mo clan and the Ruan clan to defeat the Zheng lord and drive away the so-called "station emperor" Zheng clan, the Ming army itself did not take advantage of the danger to become the station emperor, but supported the Li clan so that he, the "sitting emperor", could sit firmly.

However, on the other hand, the Ming army used the excuse that the Mo clan and the Ruan clan wanted to prevent the resurgence of the Zheng clan, so they provided them with weapons, which were actually used to contain the Li clan. At the same time, the Nanyang Company also entered Annam, opened branches, opened mines, and purchased grain, so as to control Annam Li Shi economically.

The Nanyang Company did not have many troops stationed in Annam, and the official company escort, which was actually the regular army, only had about 2,000 people. However, every branch, as well as every mine and factory, has its own recruited escort team, which is actually a security team. Although their combat effectiveness cannot be compared with that of the regular army, it is enough to suppress the locals.

Da Viet Guohong Kai City, an emerging port city in Annam, has a beautiful scenery, known as the Halong Bay of Guilin on the sea, and Quang Ninh is rich in coal, making it the largest coal export port in Annam.

The Nanyang Annam Coal Company was stationed here, where 1,000 soldiers were stationed in the official company guard, and the coal branches and mining areas also recruited additional guards.

Coal is a very important resource for the Qiongzhou army, and Qiongzhou has a large number of iron ores, but there is a lack of coal mines. There are steel mills on both Luzon and Dongfan Islands, but there is also a lack of coal mines, and the coal used by the Qiongzhou army to produce weapons is currently imported from Annam. It was precisely because of the coal mines in Annam that the supply of weapons to the Qiongzhou army was ensured.

From the wharf to the mine, there is a smooth cement road, so that the road will not be muddy on rainy days, and the road surface will not be easily crushed by the wheels. Although the wooden wheels rub against the road surface for a long time, the cement will eventually wear out, but once a year maintenance can ensure the smooth flow of the road.

After the coal was excavated, it was loaded onto a cart, pulled by mule, and pulled to the seaside dock.

The people who worked in the mines were divided into underground miners and surface workers, and the underground miners were all composed of prisoners, most of whom were prisoners of the Qing army, and some of whom were sent from Dongying. The so-called Toei prisoners were some low-ranking soldiers such as ashigaru and iron gunners captured by them in their own civil war, and they were sold to the Nanyang Company and sent to the Annam Coal Mine to dig coal.

The so-called ashigaru is Japan's pikemen, belonging to the lowest class, and the status of those Japanese samurai who came from generations of samurai families is incomparable, originally they were almost like slaves, after the defeat and capture, the winning Japanese samurai family could not afford to raise so many slaves, many were killed.

But now the Japanese samurai family had a way to make a fortune: sell these captive pariahs to the Nanyang Company.

Japan has little land, although there are gold and silver mines, but gold and silver cannot be eaten, and the Manchu Qing Sea ban, Japan can hardly buy enough grain with gold and silver. Selling the captives eases the burden on the samurai family and earns food.

In fact, the purchase of Japanese prisoners was also one of the terms of trade between the Nanyang Company and the Satsuma Domain, Japan lacked food and steel, but Japan had a large number of copper, silver and gold mines. The Satsuma clan needed to obtain fine armor, a large amount of pig iron, and a large amount of grain, all of which the Nanyang Company could provide.

One of the conditions on which the Nanyang Company wanted to sell them these supplies was that the Satsuma clan sold the captives to itself.

Merchant ships bound for Japan were laden with grain, pig iron, cotton, silk, and tea, and ships returning from Japan were laden with brass, gold, silver, and prisoners.

In fact, the purchase of prisoners not only provided cheap labor for the coal mines, but also played a role in reducing the Japanese population. Selling a large number of young Japanese men to Annam will not be visible in a short period of time, and after a long time, there will be a shortage of men in Japan, and eventually the country will lose its combat effectiveness.

At present, Japan seems to be relatively friendly to the Ming Dynasty, but Wang Xinyu, who understands the later history, must secretly pit Japan and subdue Japan to be obedient.

In the mines of Annam, it was the prisoners who worked in the mines, and those who worked on the surface were generally hired Annam locals, and although the wages were not high, they were much better than the local farming life in Annam.

The coal mine is surrounded by a wooden fence, and there are wooden towers on all four corners of the mine, and there are people standing on them to keep watch. There is also a barracks in the mine, where about 100 to 200 mine guards are stationed. The so-called mine guards were recruited by the mine owners themselves, from the Chinese in Nanyang, or paid to hire Qing prisoners who had been released from prison.

This mining area is an ordinary mining area in Quang Ninh, and more than 200 soldiers of the mining area are stationed here. The mine owner Zhao Hansheng was more willing to spend money, and did not hire the cheapest Sulu native soldiers, nor did he hire ordinary Nanyang Chinese, but spent a relatively high price to hire Qing prisoners who were released after completing their sentences.

Whether they were prisoners of the Eight Banners of Manmeng or the Green Battalion, after several years of labor reform, they all sharpened their idea of getting rich by robbery, and turned into self-reliant laborers, and the discipline of collective production also made them qualified company guard soldiers.

Because these people have seen blood and have rich combat experience, the price of hiring is more expensive.

"Shopkeeper, some locals have rebelled!" On this day, someone suddenly came in to report to Zhao Hansheng.

Zhao Hansheng stood up: "Send out a beacon signal immediately!" Get the convoy ready for battle! ”

It is not uncommon for Annam locals to raid coal mines, as most of the people of Annam are lazy and try to gain ill-gotten gains through looting.

There were more than 2,000 locals in Annam, and the Annamite people were strong in combat, and many of these mobs were once soldiers for Lord Zheng. Zheng Zhu was defeated that year and fled to the mountains northwest of Annam. The mountainous areas in western Annam were barren and could not support so many people, so some of the guerrillas scattered and fled to the people, losing their source of livelihood.

After Zheng Zhu was expelled, he did not give up, and often secretly instigated the locals of Annam to cause trouble for the Nanyang Company.

This time, more than 200 veterans of the former Zheng Zhu mobilized the locals and gathered more than 2,000 people to storm the nearby coal mines. Some coal mines that were reluctant to spend money on the convoy were breached, the mine owners were killed or taken hostage, the silver and silver tickets in the coal mines were looted, and the coal mines were destroyed.

"They've robbed several mines." Ilde reports to Zhao Hansheng.

Ilder was a man of eight banners, worked on a Luzon farm for two years after being captured, and is now a lieutenant in the mine guard.

Zhao Hansheng sneered: "Those mine owners are reluctant to spend money, and they want to save the salaries of a few escort teams, but now that they are better, they are even dead, so what's the use of so much money." ”

More than 200 soldiers of the mining area were quickly organized, and among these guards were 100 musketeers, all of whom were the original Qing army of the Green Battalion or the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty, as well as 50 pikemen, 50 archers, and 10 sword soldiers.

Hordes of Annam mobs stormed the wooden fence of the mining area, and at that moment, fifty archers opened their bows and fired rows of arrows at the Annam mob rushing outside the wooden fence.

"Whoosh" feather arrows burrowed into the crowd, and these Annam mobs did not have any armor on their bodies after all, and they were shot by arrows and fell in a pool of blood on the spot.

"Fire!" One of the escort officers shouted.

A hundred musketeers stuck out of the wooden fence with the barrels of their guns with black holes and aimed them at the influx of the Annam mob.

The guns roared, the platoons of guns fired, and the musketeers, who were divided into three rows and fired in turns, kept firing, and the gunfire did not stop for a moment, and the bullets were fired at the mob, hitting the Annanites with urine in the ass.

"Bang bang bang" Gunshots rang out from the Annanite side, and several clouds of white smoke rose from the crowd of the Annam mob.

Bullets were fired at the wooden fence, and some of the bullets hit the wooden fence and were blocked. However, a few bullets passed through the gaps in the wooden fence and wounded the convoy musketeers behind.

"These Annamite people, they also have bird guns!" Zhao Hansheng scolded.

"Give us the Annan Bird Hand!" Ilder Road.

More than 50 archers of the original Eight Banners immediately stepped forward, stretched out their bows and arrows, and shot arrows at the Annan musketeers hidden in the crowd. The bow and arrow have a long range and a high rate of fire, and these archers were originally sharpshooters, and after two rounds of feathered arrows, many Annan musketeers hidden in the crowd were shot over.

The number of the Annam mob was so great that a mere 100 musketeers and 50 archers could not stop the march of more than 2,000 mobs. Soon the mob rushed to the wooden fence and prepared to chop it with their axes.

"Thorn!" Zhao Hansheng roared.

Fifty pikemen stabbed their spears through the cracks in the wooden fence, and the Annamites outside fell one by one. Their axes and machetes were too short to chop the people on the other side of the wooden fence; Some of the Annamites armed with pikes and spears were saddened to find that their pikes and spears could not reach their opponents.

The miners were also organized, and some Japanese ashigaru were also given weapons, and their specialty was to use spears, with spears in their hands, to assassinate them from the wooden fence outside, killing the Annamite people outside.

Most of the Annam mob was originally ordinary peasants, although the Annamite people were not afraid of death, but they continued to shoot muskets, and after getting closer, they were stabbed by spears indiscriminately, only seeing their own casualties, but not causing casualties to their opponents, which made the Annamite people collapse in anger, and some people began to turn around and flee.

"Don't run! Press it up! The Annanites who took the lead shouted anxiously.

But after all, these Annam mobs were ordinary peasants with no military training, and after the casualties reached more than 10%, they had long lost the courage to fight, and no one dared to lean against the wooden fence.

At this moment, someone suddenly shouted: "Si Wei is here!" ”

Siwei is the official escort force of Nanyang Company, and those troops that are being militarized are simply a group of bloodthirsty demons in the eyes of the people of Annam! Each of the guards had several lives in their hands, and these people usually looked fierce. Now there was a riot, and they pressed over in a formation with weapons, so that the Annan mob collapsed in one fell swoop.

The convoy of seven hundred companies, with three hundred pikemen in front and four hundred musketeers in the back, lined up in a neat phalanx, advanced step by step.

"Bang bang bang" muskets roared, constantly outputting firepower.

The Annan mob fled in all directions, and those who could not escape were knocked down by bullets fired from behind.

"Kill!" A cavalry captain drew his saber and pointed forward.

Fifty cavalrymen came out and slashed the fleeing Annamites from behind. The horses galloped past, and the Annamites who were caught up were either beheaded or trampled to pieces by the horses' hooves.

Watching the escorts slaughter the Annan people like chickens and dogs, Liu Qi snorted coldly: "Wait for the mob, don't do your best!" The old man's war elephants are useless! ”

The Nanyang Company escort team based in Hongji even has ten war elephants. In the previous suppression of a larger riot, the convoy had used war elephants. (To be continued.) )