Chapter 190: Choices for Coastal Defense

“It has been confirmed that the Qing troops approaching near Beining total eighteen battalions, including ten battalions of Wang Debang’s Chu forces, five battalions of Ding’s forces, and three battalions of Guang forces. Additional reinforcements include sixteen battalions led by Su Yuanchun, bringing the total to about thirty-four battalions…”
Several staff officers marked on a large-scale secret military map the locations where each Qing battalion had arrived. If Pan Dingxin or Wang Debang had seen this map, they would be shocked—even they could not keep track of their troops so clearly.
The Black Flag Army had complete knowledge of everything regarding the Qing forces: “Compared to the troops sent to assist Vietnam, the newly arrived Qing forces are more combat-effective and arrogant. Their firearms have improved significantly; old-style weapons like muskets and matchlock guns are rare. Initially, it is estimated that one battalion of our Black Flag Army can match three Qing battalions…”
Although the staff officers knew a lot about the Qing forces, they were still unsure of their true combat strength. Moreover, the Black Flag Army had expanded rapidly over the past few months, forcing them to make relatively conservative estimates: “However, considering that most of the infantry units deployed in Taiyuan and Beining are small battalions or reorganized from local Vietnamese forces, with weaker combat capabilities, the staff believes an additional entire brigade is needed in this area.”
One brigade consists of two regiments and six battalions. Despite the Black Flag Army’s continuous expansion, Liu Yu outright rejected this suggestion: “Under the current circumstances, we can only move troops toward Hanoi; it’s absolutely impossible to withdraw forces from here!”
The French were the Black Flag Army’s greatest enemy, and Liu Yu was well aware of this. The staff officer then presented their opinion: “If we cannot deploy troops from Hanoi, the staff believes the four newly mobilized independent battalions should also be sent to Taiyuan…”
Now, with control over a vast area and abundant human and material resources, the Black Flag Army’s mobilization capacity had reached a level that even the French found astonishing. Not only could they replenish the losses of their existing units, but they could also mobilize a new battalion every week. In fact, within just one month, Liu Yu could mobilize four infantry battalions, and if the war situation became urgent, this rate could double at the cost of wasting resources.
“The French are constantly sending more troops to Hanoi. We must break this deadlock before they achieve a balance in offensive and defensive capabilities!”
Liu Suiyun did not speak from the perspective of the combat department. Instead, he voiced support for Liu Yu: “Once Hanoi falls, everything will be easier to handle!”
Ye Chenglin had remained silent until now, but upon hearing this, he couldn’t help but say, “If that’s the case, why not go all out to attack Hanoi?”
The battle had lasted nearly a month, with the siege of Hanoi ongoing. Although the Black Flag Army had achieved significant victories, repeatedly defeating the defenders of Hanoi, it was obvious to anyone that their tactics often relied on trickery. Though they paid a high price, many battles were launched by peripheral forces like the Flower Among Flowers Sect with the Black Flag Army’s support, while the Black Flag Army itself usually focused on maintaining a favorable combat ratio and only intervened when it could reap a huge profit.

If the Black Flag Army were determined to attack Hanoi at all costs, not to mention just one Hanoi, even two Hanois could be taken. The result of such battles would be that the French forces in Hanoi would grow weaker, while the Black Flag Army, armed with a large amount of captured supplies, would become overwhelmingly strong. According to Ye Chenglin, the only option was to launch a full-scale assault, even at the cost of everything, as capturing Hanoi could change the entire course of the war. However, Liu Yu had his own views: “Seeing that the French are suffering greatly in Hanoi, why do they still insist on adding more fuel to the fire? How many French have died this month? How many of us have died?” Not to mention those killed in battles on land, even those who died during transportation could form an entire infantry regiment. Liu Yu said to his subordinates, “We must fight desperately! But not at any cost. We must remember that there’s still a sword hanging over Binh Dinh…” “As for this dying city of Hanoi, I’ll personally send it to hell…” … Haiphong is now the busiest military port in all of Asia, with soldiers constantly transferring from large naval vessels to inland ships, shouting loudly. Over the past month, the main forces of the French Indochina fleet and the Chinese naval fleet have been useless, serving merely as transport ships. Among them were the latest ironclads and cruisers, but due to their deep draft, they were completely useless on this battlefield. Their few inland ships, meanwhile, suffered heavy attacks from the Black Flag Army, resulting in massive losses. To put it exaggeratively, it’s a miracle that these ships can even stay afloat. Torpedo boats and motorboats were brought in from the homeland, and many small ships were purchased from Hong Kong, but the French were unable to deal with such a large number of damaged ships. Neither Haiphong nor Saigon could handle such a task. They originally planned to repair these ships in Hong Kong, but soon some Chinese workers there realized these ships were meant for fighting against the Black Flag Army, and just as in history, they staged a resolute strike. In history, only a few French ships were damaged, not to the point of being fatal, but now the damaged ships forced to beach themselves posed a threat to the entire port. Given this dire situation, the French had to contribute significantly to the construction of the Hong Kong colony. They gathered every inland ship available in Hong Kong, even some outdated steamships. “This is simply an impossible task. We must wait for reinforcements from the homeland…” An angry naval officer said, “Even Napoleon couldn’t accomplish such a difficult mission!” Major General Mason, as head of the naval command, was also troubled by the unreasonable orders from home: “We must complete this mission!” As the situation in Hanoi grew increasingly tense, the cabinet, acting in a desperate manner, ordered the French naval forces in Haiphong to organize another rescue operation that could completely resolve the battle.

They even spent a huge amount of money to rent two luxury British cruise ships to urgently transport thousands of French soldiers to the coastal port.
“In such narrow waterways, we need to transport five battalions of infantry to Hanoi, including their equipment—this is simply impossible…”
Although some well-equipped gunboats, like the Doulat, could carry an entire battalion at once, most of these gunboats had been lost in previous French transport operations, with two even completely destroyed.
Now, whether it was gunboats, gunships, or transport ships, many were makeshifts purchased from Hong Kong—simply put, they were unsuitable.
Transporting five infantry battalions along with their equipment could already be considered an ambitious task even at sea, let alone in inland rivers.
Major General Mason said helplessly, “But Paris has issued the final order: all reinforcements must reach Hanoi by the 22nd, and we must succeed at all costs!”
He realized the enormity of this task. Although the Anglo-French fleet had faced a similar difficult mission twenty years earlier—to secure passage along the Yangtze River—they had engaged in numerous gunfights with the Taiping Army’s fortifications.
Yet compared to that, those battles could almost be called a vacation, a leisurely one. The Taiping Army only had some old-fashioned artillery with little destructive power, but the Black Flag Army was different—they had a full range of artillery.
From 37-mm autocannons, 40-mm mountain guns to 90-mm cannons, they possessed every type of conventional artillery used by the French army and navy, and they had even remanufactured some of these guns, making them deadly threats.
A single shell could severely damage or even sink an entire warship, and the Black Flag Army’s torpedo boats posed a terrifying threat as well—rifle bullets, grenades, and even explosive charges could heavily damage transport ships.
This short inland transport mission had already cost the French army and marine troops an entire infantry battalion, and Major General Mason felt he would have to endure such suffering again.
“With five infantry battalions, we’re likely to lose at least one of them.”
This was the greatest helplessness of soldiers, but they had no choice but to carry out the mission. One officer suggested, “Can’t we send reinforcements by land?”
“There are too many Black Flag Army troops along the way. Five infantry battalions may seem many, but they could easily be wiped out by the Black Flag Army in open combat before reaching Hanoi…”
“I think we should give it a try!”
Major General Mason reluctantly revealed the truth: “We’ve already tried. It resulted in heavy losses; we just haven’t made it official yet.”
Not long ago, they organized a combined land-sea reinforcement effort for Hanoi, but were attacked by the Flower Sect near Hanoi. Based on past experiences, the French thought they had a decisive advantage over the Flower Sect’s warrior-priests, but this time they suffered heavy losses of 400 men.

Soon the French realized that all their strongholds near Hanoi, including the irregular armed groups that had once been close to them, had turned to the Black Flag Army due to the evolving situation. It was very likely that they were already exhausted from these irregular forces’ guerrilla tactics before even encountering the Black Flag Army itself.
“We must provide support by water…”
It wasn’t just Hanoi that wanted to end this war; similar calls were rising in Cochinchina and Huế as well.
The French forces were suffering continuous losses in this war, with military expenses far exceeding even the Cabinet’s most pessimistic estimates. But the casualties were what truly troubled the leaders in Paris.
Not long ago, the Navy and Army jointly devised a bold strategy: sending an entire army group to Vietnam. However, such a large force couldn’t arrive all at once and could only be sent in batches.
Yet even these reinforcements couldn’t make up for the huge losses on the three battlefields. While the French forces in Central and South Vietnam were gradually weakening, those in North Vietnam were constantly suffering heavy losses.
No matter how many reinforcements arrived, they would be quickly depleted by frequent battles. General Maison once privately told his confidants, “If this continues, I estimate that by the time the army group commander lands, his guards will be the only force left…”
This wasn’t an exaggeration. Over the past month, the French forces across Vietnam, including indigenous infantry, had lost over 15,000 men, with more than half of those being French troops.
Considering that this didn’t include the losses of the Ermingarde and Nigeri brigades, General Maison felt there was no strength left to continue the war. But like Goubert, he was helpless—knowing something was wrong yet continuing anyway.
“Hanoi isn’t short of ammunition, food, or courage. The only thing lacking is soldiers…”
After painful deliberations, Maison made what he considered the wisest choice: “We must send troops first!”
“Pure infantry?” An officer already guessed Maison’s plan. “But Hanoi lacks ammunition!”
In previous supply missions, the entire fleet was enormous. It had to transport not only the infantry and their equipment but also heavy supplies to Hanoi, so that once the troops landed, they could immediately become combat-ready.
“Apart from 120 rounds of ammunition and rations for each soldier, they don’t need anything else—no artillery or anything else… Hanoi has already prepared everything for them!”
“Why?” An officer didn’t understand such a risky move. In his mind, such troops would lose most of their combat effectiveness.
“Send them on fast gunboats to cross the Black Flag Army’s blockade as quickly as possible and reach Hanoi!”

Major General Mason was well aware that the fleet’s size could be greatly reduced if no supplies or heavy equipment were carried. He had completely abandoned those slow ships and decided to use gunboats and warships for this transport mission; any transport ship that couldn’t keep up with the speed would be abandoned.
“All I need to do is get the troops to Hanoi!”
Given the command’s decision, all the officers stopped insisting on their own views. They understood why their commander had made such a choice.
Their hearts were filled with anger!
Damn those Black Flag troops—hiding in alleys to attack others isn’t any real skill. If they had the guts, they should bring their troops to the beach and fight head-on!
But war is never fair, and they could only hide their anger deep inside.
No one knew whether such a transport would succeed.