Chapter 132: Progress

They pondered for a while and said, “Keep half of the money first. We’ll supply you with 300 Mauser rifles now, and we’ll gradually gather more later.”
1,500 rapid-fire guns was indeed an enormous number. Even with Huang Guilan’s handwritten note and Tang Jingsong’s personal letter, they still didn’t dare take on such a task.
However, 300 Mauser rifles were roughly equivalent to the armament of a battalion and was within their authority, with no significant impact on the overall situation. But when it came time to hand over the rifles, they replaced the Mausers with inferior Schnell rifles, increasing the quantity by 50.
He wasn’t sure what 350 rapid-fire guns meant within the Black Flag Army’s structure.
Ye Chenglin, however, was well aware of this. Smiling, he said, “Commander, your move is truly clever. Since we’ve received so many rapid-fire guns, Liu Yongfu’s attempt to obtain guns from Beining is now blocked for us.”
Those 1,500 rapid-fire guns were indeed Tang Jingsong’s idea. It was his attempt to undermine Liu Yu and turn Ye Chenglin against him. But following Liu Yu’s instructions, Ye Chenglin used his charm at a banquet, and Tang Jingsong, in a daze, agreed to provide 1,500 rapid-fire guns.
Tang Jingsong was a reckless man who acted without much planning but lacked neither determination nor foresight. As soon as he spoke those words, he regretted it. Where could he get 1,500 guns?
Even after making multiple trips to Beining and Qiongshan, he only managed to obtain 400 rapid-fire guns from Xu Yanzhu, keeping over 100 for his own elite battalion. But since he had made such a promise, he couldn’t back out easily. He could only mumble, “I do have a way to get the guns, but I’m worried that Governor Huang and Provincial Governor Xu will hold you back.”
A veteran like Ye Chenglin knew exactly how to handle such situations. He immediately said, “With just a letter from Brother Tang, I’ll go to Beining myself to get the guns.”
A letter? That was simple. Just wait for Beining to suffer in the cold! Obtaining military equipment from the Qing Dynasty’s arsenal was no easy task.
To his surprise, money could even move mountains. After some bribes, Huang Guilan, who was already dissatisfied with Xu Yanzhu—despite being a full-fledged governor in charge of an entire province, having his own troops controlled by this provincial governor—was delighted upon hearing that the Black Flag Army’s Xiliu Battalion wanted guns and offered many gifts.
Although he was idle, he wasn’t ignorant of the Black Flag Army’s internal affairs. He knew that the Xiliu Battalion stood apart, and Provincial Governor Xu was playing factions against each other. In that case, he and the Xiliu Battalion were allies. With Ye Chenglin’s promises of benefits, they quickly reached an agreement. Huang Guilan wrote a letter and even checked in later.
Ye Chenglin took 350 Schnell rifles directly, but the follow-up arrangements were handled by these clerks. They were experts at obfuscating matters in official documents. They split the 350 rifles into smaller batches—50 or 100 at a time—some of which were even distributed to battalion officers. Though they appeared to go to the Black Flag Army, they were claimed to be sent to another battalion and then loaned to them.

They did use a very good term: “borrowing.” Soon, all the Qing army units became generous. They recognized that the Black Flag Army was fighting hard but lacked firearms, so they lent their rifles to them and returned them all to the Qing army once the battle was over.

Thus, they also made things clear to Ye Chenglin: “1,500 rifles is too many to gather in such a short time, but another 200 should not be a problem. Those scholars know Governor Xu has his own opinions about the commanders, so they are simply asking for some money in front of the governor.”

Liu Yu was very generous: “Just take whatever money is needed! The key is to prevent Liu Yongfu and his men from getting those rifles.”

But he laughed again: “Even if I didn’t block this path, it would still be difficult for Liu Yongfu to gather weapons for three battalions!”

So far, if Liu Yongfu wanted to form six battalions—based on a small scale of 370 men per battalion—he still needed over 1,000 rifles, not to mention the fact that Huang Shouzhong also wanted to expand an infantry battalion.

A supply of 1,000 rifles was hard to obtain from the troops stationed in Guangxi, Vietnam. Even if Governor Xu were willing to provide them, Liu Yongfu lacked the cash.

Although Liu Yu agreed to cover the salaries for six battalions, it didn’t mean he was willing to provide their weapons. By now, Liu Yongfu’s resources were already depleted, and the Black Flag Bank still owed him a substantial amount. Moreover, the new battalions he recruited might not even belong to him.

So Liu Yu simply said to Ye Chenglin, “Since he’s willing to recruit three new battalions for us, I can’t refuse such an offer.”

Ye Chenglin thought of something else: “Commander, Ye Mengyan has already set off with the Paper Bridge Battalion and the Tiger Battalion, along with Liu Chengliang’s rear unit. Isn’t the frontline force too weak?”

Liu Yu laughed: “Ye Mengyan is aiming to take control of all provinces this time. Bringing more troops is a good thing. As for the French…”

“They suffered a heavy defeat in Huai De Prefecture, as you can see. In the short term, they definitely don’t have the energy to launch another attack.”

“The problem we’re worried about now is Liu Suiyun’s detachment near Shunhua…”

But Bo Hua didn’t think so. In just a few days, his troops had made significant progress in rebuilding. Although He Luomang’s campaign in Shunhua had consumed many resources, he could still retrieve Remington rifles from the warehouses to rebuild the heavily damaged Black Flag Army and indigenous infantry. Many troops had been replenished, and some lightly wounded soldiers had returned to the ranks.

More importantly, his men had achieved another glorious victory—a victory over the Vietnamese.

With just two French companies and some indigenous infantry, they captured Haiyang—the very city where Liu Yu had started his career. The Vietnamese offered little resistance and fled this important Vietnamese city amid artillery fire. This led Bo Hua to fantasize, “It would be great if all we encountered were Vietnamese.”

By capturing this important port city near Haiphong in the Dongjing region, the number of French strongholds increased to four. All of this helped dispel any doubts about the French after their defeat in Huai De.

“But most importantly, we need a perfect victory!”
All conditions were almost ripe—more reinforcements and an entire battalion had been sent in from home. As planned, the French mainland army alone in the Tokyo region would number six thousand. Due to several major setbacks, the French were sending troops to the Tokyo region at a much faster rate than in history.
A few days earlier, he had suffered a huge setback at Huaidu Fortress—a setback only Bohua himself knew the full extent of. Excluding the non-combat losses from the Leopard ship sinking due to severe damage, out of 4,500 troops, over 1,700 were killed or wounded.
Although the French lost only 262 soldiers killed and 407 wounded, the indigenous forces and the Yellow Flag Army suffered unprecedented losses. Reflecting on it later, Bohua couldn’t even understand how the Yellow Flag Army managed to hold on under such heavy losses.
Yet, more troubling than the large number of wounded in the right-wing column was the loss in the central column. Initially, the sudden artillery attack had cost the French dearly, but by seizing the opportunity for an infantry attack, most of the wounded were rescued, including those from the offensive battles.
In the battles near Wangcun, the right-wing column was routed, and near Sizhu Temple, the French suffered setbacks. But near Nakamura, it was a fatal factor—annihilation! The entire central column was devastated. Although the Black Flag Army also suffered heavy losses, it prevented the French from rescuing their wounded. Nearly two-thirds of the French casualties in this battle came from the Nakamura battle. As for the indigenous forces, their losses were so severe that they could hardly be rebuilt.
While other units suffered heavy losses but still had core members and many wounded who could be rescued, giving them time to return to duty, a devastating annihilation battle was different. Entire indigenous companies were wiped out, with only a few survivors. Even with large numbers of new recruits, the combat strength after reconstruction would still be greatly reduced.
But he firmly believed that with another French battalion as reinforcement, he wouldn’t make such mistakes.
He knew what words the Special Commissioner and the Tokyo Fleet Commander would use to attack him after the failure at Huaidu Fortress, but he would overshadow their performance in Hue with a perfect victory.
Hopefully, their battle in Hue would turn out as smoothly as they imagined.
…
Major General Gubao wanted to imagine the siege of Hue as smooth as possible. Though there were a few minor setbacks, he believed they wouldn’t affect the overall situation.
Currently, 1,000 soldiers and 11 cannons of various calibers were involved in the battle. But before fighting began, he had to bombard the village first.
He had carefully examined the Vietnamese village before him. As he had guessed, it could hold at most one infantry company. In fact, based on his observations, the defending forces in the village numbered no more than 100, with only one cannon.
That made things easier. So he immediately outlined the attack plan.

Now, one company will attack head-on, another will flank from the side, and a third will serve as a reserve force. In addition, there’s another company that will move around to launch a surprise attack from behind. This will be a perfect operation—the small force of the Xiliu Battalion will be quickly eliminated. Even many officers thought General Guiba was being overly cautious. But General Guiba, as a professional soldier, knew he was using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Facing such a small enemy force of less than one company, he still ordered the artillery to fire rapidly. Eleven cannons were positioned, and the artillerymen quickly found their targets through the telescopes: “Fire!” The power of these breech-loading guns was astonishing. With loud roars, the entire defensive position turned into a sea of fire, with countless shrapnel flying through the area. Unlike the Black Flag Army’s time fuses, the French had various types of fuses, including impact fuses. Their artillerymen were highly skilled, and the second shell hit the position accurately. “Boom!” The artillery fire hardly stopped. Cannons of different calibers poured all their firepower onto the defenders’ positions. Faced with such fortifications, General Guiba still ordered ten minutes of continuous bombardment. This displeased many officers—they thought the commander was being too cautious; just one cannon firing for a minute would be sufficient. After ten minutes of shelling, several areas of the position had become sea of fire. Wooden houses were burning fiercely, and many fortifications were destroyed. General Guiba then loudly ordered, “Attack!” An infantry company immediately rushed out of cover, formed up, and launched their first wave of attacks: “Be careful! The enemy has plenty of rapid-fire rifles!” But the soldiers seemed quite relaxed. After ten minutes of continuous artillery fire, the entire village had been hit by hundreds of shells, with traces of explosions everywhere. Even if any defenders remained alive, there were few left. They were relaxed, but they were clearly wrong! After advancing about sixty meters, the enemy’s firepower resurfaced. Their machine gun fire began to suppress the attackers, knocking down a dozen soldiers at once. “Charge!” The infantry continued to advance but stepped into the defenders’ minefield again. Two soldiers were blown apart, and 60-mm mortar shells came into play. One shell exploded among a group of infantry, wiping out half a squad instantly. Gunfire was everywhere, and the enemy’s firepower was intense. Only then did everyone appreciate General Guiba’s foresight. But they also had to admire the enemy force ahead—though they numbered only about fifty men, they still managed to hold their positions after such intense bombardment. The main attacking company and the flanking second company were both under heavy fire. The defenders’ Spencer rifles had a significant advantage in sustained firepower, successfully suppressing the fire of both companies. Casualties kept mounting, and screams could be heard even from behind.

The artillery prepared to fight again, but an unexpected attack struck them. Underestimating the Black Flag Army’s firepower, they decided to position themselves 500 meters outside the Black Flag Army’s positions. They thought that at such a distance, the Black Flag Army no longer posed a threat, but from time to time, mortar shells would be fired, disrupting their artillery fire. The most deadly threat, however, was the enemy snipers—periodically, officers, gunners, or observers would fall victim to their attacks. The enemy’s marksmen had astonishing skills; despite deploying large numbers of troops, they could always find their targets. Their targets weren’t just the artillery but also the two infantry companies attacking. The dark blue uniforms and red breeches provided the snipers with an almost divine advantage, allowing them to fire without pause, with nearly every shot achieving its goal. Seeing the artillery suffer casualties, they fired again, but their firepower was no longer as intense as before, and both infantry companies were under pressure. Many soldiers lay on the ground, exchanging fire with the Black Flag Army. What troubled them even more was that although the Black Flag Army had fewer troops, their firepower was not weaker, and their marksmanship was surprisingly precise. The soldiers in this platoon were all experienced veterans trained in rifle shooting. After the initial shock at the artillery, they fought better and better. Liu Pengcheng immediately changed his strategy. Instead of using any traditional Black Flag Army tactics, he adopted another method mentioned by Liu Yu. Though he only had the strength of one infantry platoon, he used 60-mm mortars as the core of his firepower, drawing a circle with their range to create a three-dimensional fire network. No matter which direction the enemy attacked, including from behind, they would face coordinated fire from mortars, Remington rifles, Spencer rifles, as well as grenades and landmines. Between various positions, engineers also set up numerous traps. This was a tactic specifically mentioned by Liu Yu, who hadn’t explained it in detail during training. But under the overwhelming force of the French army, Liu Pengcheng resorted to this tactic. Now, the French had to send in a third infantry company, which launched an attack from the right. Their progress was difficult, with heavy casualties at every step. Yet with three infantry companies attacking simultaneously—nearly six times the size of the defending forces—the French company could afford to sacrifice lives recklessly. They were almost ready to charge in formation. Their bravery paid off; after losing over 30 men, they reached the village entrance. Ahead lay a simple barrier, but the company commander rushed forward immediately. Along with a cheer from the entire company, the soldiers leaped over the barrier and charged in.

There was intense gunfire in front, but the soldiers were cheering. Only after the first dozen or so jumped over the barricade did the soldiers ahead shout loudly, “Stop! Stop!”
Looking through the barricade, they saw that, including the company commander, more than a dozen soldiers who had rushed into the village were either dead or seriously injured, suffering heavy losses. More soldiers continued to jump in due to inertia.
A lieutenant quickly realized the problem: the gap seemed to have been deliberately left by the defenders. The entire passage behind the gap was extremely narrow, allowing only three or four people to attack at once, making it an ideal target for fire.
After jumping over the barricade, they encountered a variety of Vietnamese-style traps—ranging from bamboo stakes to cesspits—forcing the attackers to pay a high price. But just as the lieutenant was about to speak,
a large group of soldiers had already jumped over the barricade and charged forward desperately. The whizzing bullets didn’t seem scary to them, but in the next moment, their opponents unleashed a barrage of grenades. They could only fill the gap with corpses.
Although the rear admiral was shocked by the enemy’s tenacity and the heavy casualties on their side, he had already resolved to use his ultimate weapon.
“Five-barreled autocannons, fire!”