Chapter 167: Cochinchina

What Liu Yinguang didn’t know was that Liu Yu was already troubled by this issue.
“Where should the attack cutoff line be set? It can’t be in Saigon—I don’t have the strength for that.”
Liu Suiyun’s words immediately drew responses from the group of advisors: “I suggest taking control of Ha Tien Province is enough; we already have sufficient advantages.”
“I think we should advance from Yonglong, aiming to seize two provinces first, before preparing to defeat the French forces that come to attack.”
The advisors discussed the Black Flag Army’s next plans at length. Different from the French’ expectations, Liu Yongfu’s southern advance wasn’t aimed at Thuan Hoa but rather to free up troops to deal a heavy blow to Cochinchina.
“When will the French forces landing near Thuan Hoa be able to disembark? Who should hold them off—Liu Yinguang or Liu Yongfu? That’s an entire brigade.”
“Liu Yongfu has seven battalions with strong combat capabilities. It would be better to let Liu Yinguang hold them off while Liu Yongfu takes a big bite of the enemy forces.”
“Let the French be too strong—Liu Yinguang’s battalions, being relatively new, will suffer heavy losses.”
Over there, Liu Suiyun looked up and said to Liu Yu, “Send an experienced unit to Thuan Hoa—they lack such core forces right now.”
“Send one experienced unit,” Liu Yu replied calmly. “If we’re to advance into Cochinchina, we need to bring some strength with us.”
In the Black Flag Army, experienced unit commanders were rare—they were the backbone of combat strength, reliable in critical moments. Out of twenty unit commanders, only about half were experienced, which was already a considerable number.
In 1949, Chen Geng once told his subordinates that despite his powerful force consisting of three infantry armies, nine infantry divisions, and twenty-seven infantry regiments, he still relied on four infantry regiments in critical battles. Whether during the War of Resistance or the Liberation War, these four regiments were the cornerstone of General Chen’s strategy. One of them was the 109th Infantry Regiment of the Red Army, and the famous 772nd Regiment during the War of Resistance.
Liu Suiyun also smiled, “That works! We must deal a heavy blow to the French colony in Cochinchina anyway.”
For the Black Flag Army, after establishing control over Central Vietnam, their next step was to target Cochinchina, the French’s most cherished colony.
Cochinchina, as referred to by Vietnam, included the six provinces of Binh Dinh, Gia Dinh, Dinh Xuan, Yong Long, Chau Doc, and Ha Tien. After the Second Opium War, it became a French colony.
After unrestricted plundering by the French, this colony experienced distorted prosperity. The French bourgeoisie seized everything on this land, and it also served as the starting point for the French to conquer all of Vietnam.
Without Cochinchina, the French would have to launch attacks from their homeland, thousands of kilometers away. Yet most of Li Weiyeh’s forces and the reinforcements they received came from Cochinchina. To this day, Cochinchina remains an essential part of France’s colonial dreams in Indochina.

The indigenous troops recruited in Indochina were precisely the Vietnamese forces the French relied on the most for their combat strength. The support they provided to Central and Eastern Vietnam went beyond manpower; almost half of the logistical supplies came from this colony. The French colonists in Indochina were also the most fervent proponents of this war. They would never forget the huge profits they reaped after conquering Indochina—although the French government didn’t earn much, they did profit greatly, with the fertile lands they acquired equivalent to an entire province in France. Now, Liu Yu narrowed his eyes and studied the map, ready to take action against these fertile lands. “Is it still not enough?” Some voiced objections. “With just one old battalion, we need a seasoned commander like Xi Liu to head south; otherwise, it will be difficult for a single French brigade to secure Liu Yongfu’s rear.” They weren’t particularly familiar with the Indochina colony. Although they had drawn some basic military maps and sent spies to operate there, along with scattered small units sent south to clear paths for the main forces, they still felt fear toward this colony. There, the French had firmly established their rule—any Frenchman could walk freely without hindrance, while Vietnamese officials and civilians were loyal to the French. This was very different from the situations in North and Central Vietnam. But Liu Yu overruled the objections: “What’s there to fear? Even a single old battalion commander can slip into the belly of the Iron Fan Princess. Moreover, this time we have the strength of six infantry battalions heading south.” “But the French are strong too…” According to the intelligence Liu Suiyun had received, the defending forces in Indochina were considered formidable. The French troops in this colony, after several deployments, now numbered about five or six infantry battalions, one of which was the Foreign Legion. As for the indigenous troops, although many had been sent to Eastern Vietnam, there were still twelve indigenous infantry battalions, along with numerous police and local forces—far exceeding the Black Flag Army in Central Vietnam. Such a large force was built on the foundation of the colony’s financial collapse, but regardless, the defense line established in South Vietnam seemed impregnable, with the entire region becoming an enemy of the advancing Black Flag Army. “Each province has police forces established by the French, with nearly twenty infantry battalions. Additionally, the old Vietnamese special units were retained by the French as their local forces,” said a staff officer, pulling out a notebook. “To completely defeat the French forces in Saigon, at least twenty battalions are needed.” “Twenty battalions probably won’t suffice; we need twice as many troops,” Liu Suiyun added. “Is sending Liu Yongfu there too reckless?” “Who said Liu Yongfu is going?” Liu Yu spoke up. “Let him enjoy establishing his own territory in Central Vietnam. This time, let Yin Gong go instead.” “Ah? His new battalion commanders?”

“This is Yin Gong volunteering to take on the task himself; I think that’s great too,” Liu Yu said straightforwardly. “Winning a battle in Cochinchina will be enough to keep Paris awake at night.”
“But there are twenty infantry battalions there!”
“We have seven battalions—six new ones and one old one. I’ve decided to send Li Qiu’s Zhou Chu Battalion south, along with an additional engineering company and an artillery company.”
Li Qiu’s battalion was relatively new among the Black Flag Army, and most of its members were defected French soldiers. Many of them were from South Vietnam and longed for home, making them useful in this situation.
“Li Qiu? How can we use him?”
Liu Suiyun expressed great distrust toward this traitor who was the first to surrender to the Black Flag Army in an organized manner. “That’s Cochinchina!”
“As long as we win, it will become our territory,” Liu Yu said with astonishing confidence in this southern campaign. “With seven infantry battalions, we can easily defeat the defenders in any province of Cochinchina.”
Liu Suiyun raised another question, “What about sending another infantry battalion to Hanoi?”
Over the past month, the Black Flag Army had dispatched four organized battalions and three makeshift units to Cochinchina, then moved two smaller battalions toward Taiyuan. Now, they were sending another full infantry battalion and two special forces companies away. “We can’t keep putting pressure on Hanoi in the short term.”
“Just keeping pressure on Saigon is enough!”
He thought of the spring offensive in 1969—the Americans simply couldn’t understand how, after countless brilliant victories, the North Vietnamese forces could keep moving back and forth outside Saigon, with even the U.S. embassy and the U.S. military command in Vietnam becoming battlefields. This caused a huge stir domestically, as the Americans couldn’t believe they could win this war.
When the flames of a colonial war reached the outskirts of Saigon, the French naturally couldn’t believe they could win either. They had to face reality—even if the Black Flag Army suffered some losses in this battle, Liu Yu was prepared for that.
“We will win this war.”
Liu Yu always held the highest authority within the Black Flag Army, and his word was law.
With those words, everyone understood that Liu Yu’s determination was unshakable, and they began preparing to send Li Qiu’s battalion south.
Liu Suiyun then turned to the map, concerned about another issue: “The French’ strategic intent is clear—they’re targeting Binh Ninh.”
“The staff believes they’ll send an infantry brigade to attack the Qing forces in Binh Ninh. What should we do once the battle starts?”
“Tang Jingsong has already taken an entire regiment to Taiyuan.”
After Tang Jingsong’s two small battalions arrived in Taiyuan, they were immediately expanded into a three-battalion regiment. Together with the four existing battalions there, the Black Flag Army now had seven battalions on the flanks of Binh Ninh.
However, Tang Jingsong’s reinforcements were turned away by Xu Yanxu. But the Qing soldiers were very interested in buying large quantities of military supplies. Tang Jingsong managed to acquire enough weapons to form an entire brigade. In addition, a large batch of military equipment, including 3,000 rifles purchased by the Trade Bureau from Hong Kong, was delivered smoothly to Taiyuan under the cover of the Silver Bullet Offensive.

The second batch of military supplies delivered by the Trade Bureau has also set off. However, given the situation, they plan to take a detour via Qiongshan, avoiding Beining and heading straight for Taiyuan.
Liu Yu continued, “We must first ensure the safety of Taiyuan, and then the stability of Beining. If Beining falls, we will have to advance there…”
Liu Suiyun asked, “Should we give any instructions to Tang Jingsong?”
“Let him handle it as appropriate.”
Liu Yu’s gaze turned north.
Liu Suiyun asked, “Should we temporarily withdraw our forces from Hanoi, considering so many troops have been moved away?”
“Fight hard! This is our best chance.” Liu Yu was clear about his thoughts: “By the end of this year, we’ll see France crying.”