Chapter 120: Planning

Fights between sects are always filled with covert tactics. While the Catholic Church sowed discord within the Huajian Sect, the Huajian Sect also had many pawns among its followers.

Before the Battle of Hanoi, the Hanoi diocese’s pawns could only operate at the middle and lower levels. But after the battle, over half of the Catholic diocese’s forces in Hanoi were eliminated, forcing them to quickly promote Vietnamese believers to fill the gaps. As a result, more than fifty of the Tokyo native infantry were pawns of the Huajian Sect—this unit being the strongest among them.

There were thirteen Huajian Sect members in the unit, including a promoted sergeant-major. Including their friends and relatives, nearly one-third of the unit’s members were infiltrated. Now was the time for the Huajian Sect to reap the benefits.

The Huajian Sect mobilized three hundred warriors, while Shen Sheng’s independent battalion sent 150 soldiers. Taking advantage of the scorching weather and the defenders’ focus on escaping the heat, they used insiders to capture the newly formed Tokyo native infantry unit, with only a few soldiers escaping.

Faced with the superior enemy forces, the native infantry fired barely a hundred shots. Once their commanding officer was killed, the entire unit surrendered without resistance.

Shen Sheng was satisfied with the capture. He said to Sister Teresa, “As agreed, Madam! One hundred and seven rifles—seventy for you and thirty-seven for us.”

Sister Teresa was generous: “We need to hand some over to the headquarters, so we’ll adjust the count. You can have forty Remington rifles, along with all the pistols.”

Shen Sheng had always been polite to Sister Teresa. He knew well that she was Liu Yu’s mistress, so he decided to give as much as possible without harming himself. Forty rifles were more than enough for him.

Both the Huajian Sect and the independent battalion had fewer people than weapons. If necessary, Sister Teresa could mobilize five hundred nurse-warriors, while the independent battalion had 300 members, but only 200 were actually armed. With forty rifles, Shen Sheng could arm the entire battalion.

He could also use this opportunity to organize the independent battalion into two companies and one elite direct-platoon, with plans to expand further, as he still had 100 spots left.

Sister Teresa added, “In a few days, the righteous warriors in Hanoi will bring their weapons and surrender. We hope you’ll make things convenient for them. Of course, we won’t let you suffer losses either.”

Shen Sheng, a veteran of the Heaven and Earth Society, understood the situation well: “I’ll ensure they hand over both themselves and their weapons to you.”

Sure enough, after the Tokyo native infantry unit was disarmed, Major General Hōkawa decided to enforce stricter discipline. But before he could act, the native infantry began to defect in small numbers—two or three at first, then four or five. They took military supplies and rifles and left their posts, heading south. Once back with the Huajian Sect, they would become respected warrior-priests.

They even took away the pay that General Boisgelin had just given them. Those who joined the operation were opportunists from the indigenous infantry. The Hoa Kien sect offered a reward of thirty taels of silver for each Remington rifle, and there were also high prices for ammunition, uniforms, and other military supplies. All this even tempted some Catholics, and to some extent, the Hanoi diocese held Boisgelin back. Due to insufficient weapons in the diocese, Boisgelin prioritized arming the indigenous infantry, leaving the diocese at a severe disadvantage in firepower against the Hoa Kien sect. By late July, over 150 indigenous infantrymen from Tokyo deserted with their weapons; the largest group numbered fifteen. More than half of these weapons fell into the hands of the Hoa Kien sect. Yet for Boisgelin, such losses were not fatal. During this period, the indigenous soldiers he recruited not only filled the gaps caused by casualties and desertions but also allowed him to form an additional indigenous infantry company. The Yellow Flag Army even reached a strength of a thousand men. As long as there was enough pay and weapons, there was no shortage of troops in Tonkin, and desertions gradually decreased, with only those truly loyal to France remaining. He was unaware that this included deeper spies planted by the Hoa Kien sect, but he was overjoyed. Not just for these reasons, but for the sake of victory—a victory before a great battle. Since the Battle of Chi Lang, the French declared complete victory in every battle they fought. Even in the Battle of Chi Lang, where Li Weiye’s forces were annihilated, reports sent back to France claimed, “Although we suffered heavy losses, many deaths, and significant losses of weapons, we thwarted their plan to wipe out Li Weiye’s detachment, preserved our strength, dealt a heavy blow to the enemy, and achieved ultimate victory.” As for the glorious Defense of Hanoi, it was a battle worthy of being recorded in French military history—everything was a victory. But this was the first time the French achieved a true victory, not against the Black Flag Army, but against the Vietnamese. Almost as in history, on July 19th, the French forces under Nam Dinh achieved a decisive victory. Faced with thousands of Vietnamese troops besieging Nam Dinh, they used 100 Marines, 100 indigenous soldiers, and 300 Catholic militia members armed with Remington rifles to crush the Vietnamese forces. The Vietnamese left 200 corpses on the battlefield and abandoned six cannons, while the French lost only three men killed and eight wounded—most of the casualties were Vietnamese. General Boisgelin read the report happily: “Although the Vietnamese have become bolder in fighting us, their combat capability is still negligible.” This first complete victory made General Boisgelin extremely pleased: “This is the beginning of our rule over Vietnam. Order the navy to prepare immediately for patrols upstream of the Red River.” Yet in the eyes of Ho Ro Han, such a victory meant something entirely different: “I must say I underestimated General Boisgelin’s stupidity. He is simply incompetent. Such a victory is utterly insignificant.”

Rear Admiral Gobat complimented with a smile, “As I’ve said before, the outcome of this war will be decided in Hue, not in Tokyo.” On military matters, the two of them shared the same view—that Hue was the key. Once the Vietnamese government surrendered, the remaining Black Flag Army and Qing forces in Vietnam would be unable to hold out on their own. A larger force would be enough to drive them out of Vietnam. However, He Luoheng wasn’t aware that, just as he was no longer a mere soldier, Gobat also had his own plans. But what the chief envoy wanted was to conquer the entire Vietnam. “I’ve achieved such victories dozens of times already ten years ago under General Anye. When we conquered Nanning back then, we had only over twenty soldiers, while the enemy had several thousand. Yet not a single one of our soldiers died.” He Luoheng always kept the memory of that Nanning campaign in mind and used it as a standard to evaluate all of Bo Sla’s military actions in Hanoi. Soon, he labeled Bo Sla as unqualified. “We’ve confirmed that the Vietnamese emperor is dead, but no new emperor has been chosen yet. This is the perfect time to act. But what has Bo Sla given us?” The chief envoy was extremely dissatisfied. “Apart from some insignificant victories in Nanning, he refuses even to dispatch a single company of French troops. He always claims too many soldiers have died from heatstroke, and he comes up with more excuses—such as the troops not being properly equipped, needing rest, requiring marching drills, or even claiming a shortage of troops. Yet he has forces dozens of times larger than General Anye’s.” Anye had controlled four provinces in North Vietnam with just two hundred soldiers, while now General Bo Sla needed thousands of troops to control just three cities in North Vietnam, and those were merely simple strongholds. This filled He Luoheng with great dissatisfaction. “I don’t need his troops. I can borrow a battalion from the Governor of Cochinchina, and together with the Tokyo Fleet, we can conquer Vietnam.” For Bo Sla, it was a miserable July, just like the scorching sun. He had to take decisive action. On July 26, his naval forces suffered another heavy blow. The Shortgun was attacked by the Black Flag Army near the Four Pillars Temple. After being hit by several shells, it fled in haste, losing two sailors and injuring five. Yet he now had a clear understanding of the Black Flag Army’s deployment. But he had no interest in diverting troops to focus on Hue, because as a pure soldier, he was only interested in matters in the Tokyo area. Especially when the chief envoy and the commander of the Tokyo Fleet jointly requested troops to be sent from Cochinchina without placing them under his command, it infuriated him. He had friends in Paris too! Opposing everything just for the sake of opposing wasn’t a wise move for General Bo Sla. He quickly thought of a solution. “We will launch a full-scale attack on the Black Flag Army in Huaidu Prefecture around August 10. Before that attack ends, we won’t be able to divert troops to attack the fortresses in Hue.” This attack was already part of General Bo Sla’s plan; it was merely being advanced by a few days.

Given the relaxed situation in Nam Định and the vulnerability of the Vietnamese forces besieging Hải Phòng, Bo Hạc, without the consent of the Resident-General, had withdrawn troops from these two cities and left defense to the Catholic militias and colonial police. He was convinced that the Vietnamese army was weak and that the real threat lay with the Black Flag Army; this time, he intended to teach them a lesson in the general attack. Since the local troops stationed in Hanoi were weak, while the Catholic militias in Nam Định were more loyal and reliable, he specifically formed four companies of local infantry in Nam Định and sent them to Hanoi. In Hải Phòng, he also established two companies of local infantry for Hanoi. Before the Resident-General launched an attack on the fortress of Huế, he launched a general attack on the province of Huệ Đức. This was not out of impulse—Vietnamese people were not a threat; the Black Flag Army was the real threat. Even if the fortress of Huế was taken and Huế was conquered, the Black Flag Army would still not surrender. In Shanxi Province, Ye Mengyan’s status rose and fell with the power of the Black Flag Army and the Vietnamese authorities. The higher the status of the Black Flag Army, the higher his status; when the Vietnamese authorities became insignificant, Ye Mengyan’s role as an intermediary between the Black Flag Army and the Vietnamese authorities became almost unattainable. Although the Black Flag Army had advisors in every level of government, and government officials were replaced with those favored by the Black Flag Army, this was limited to Shanxi Province. Their control in Tuyên Quang and Hưng Hóa was much weaker. As for other provinces, although there were Black Flag Army troops, the Vietnamese government could still function normally. But after the war began, just as the French imposed military rule, the Black Flag Army also imposed military control in these provinces. The Vietnamese troops there dared not confront the Black Flag Army, and financial power was largely in the hands of the Black Flag Bank. As a result, the Black Flag Army roughly controlled the government but not completely like in Shanxi. Thus, Ye Mengyan’s role became even more important. After entering Shanxi with the Xiliu Camp, he was responsible for coordinating between the Xiliu Camp and the Vietnamese government. Now, the Black Flag Army was led by the Xiliu Camp. Often, many orders had to be conveyed through Ye Mengyan, and even the weaker Vietnamese officials could accept some of them. Gradually, he acquired the status of an imperial envoy. Yet he was well aware of where his power came from and that his position was not irreplaceable. That’s why he waited for over an hour in the afternoon sun before being received by Liu Yu. “I greet you, Lord Commander. If you have any orders for the provincial officials in the south, please entrust them to me; they will surely do their best!” Ye Mengyan maintained a proper posture. Upon entering the room, instead of wiping off his sweat, he knelt directly in front of Liu Yu. Liu Yu sat at his desk, which was covered with many documents. He casually picked up one and asked, “Some say the provincial officials in the south have become unstable recently?” “The soldiers and civilians of Đại Việt have always been loyal to you, sir. It’s just that…” Ye Mengyan carefully chose his words, “Shanxi has advisors stationed there, and Hưng Hóa and Tuyên Quang have received your kindness. But in other provinces, we, the Black Flag Army, only have a few troops. Fearing foreign invasions, we have repeatedly requested that you send advisors there.”

In fact, the Black Flag Army and the Vietnamese government are completely opposed on this issue. It’s only because of France, such a powerful enemy, that the two sides have not openly clashed. Liu Yu nodded and said, “I’ve called you here to discuss an important matter with you.”
Ye Mengyan remained kneeling on the ground. He knew well that he could at most endure kneeling for a few hours here, but once he left, he would become a truly important person, enjoying endless glory and wealth.
“Whatever task my lord has, I’ll take care of it!”
Liu Yu then asked, “What are your thoughts on the Southern Kingdom?”