Chapter 149: Double Good News

“Don’t tell me there are 65-mm shells!”
Gubao roared and demanded, “Are there 65-mm shells?”
The officer was terrified. Trembling, he replied, “The delivery list shows… there are… a hundred shells… among them, sixty 65-mm shells!”
“Damn it!” Gubao’s face turned blue. “Damn those Yellow Flag troops!”
If there was one type of ammunition Gubao feared losing the most, it was undoubtedly the 65-mm shells.
In the Battle of Zhiqiao, most of Li Weiyeh’s troops were wiped out, along with all three cannons they carried, two of which were 65-mm gunboats.
By definition, gunboats were not part of French warships’ main or auxiliary guns. They were mostly used for boarding actions and shore bombardment, and sometimes deployed on land to support battles. In short, they were not heavy artillery.
But once these guns fell into the hands of the Black Flag troops, things changed completely. Although they seemed to have only one intact 65-mm gun and not many shells, each engagement inflicted heavy losses on the French forces. To date, three surface ships had been sunk or severely damaged by these guns.
Though the 65-mm guns posed a great threat to the French, their limited ammunition—only about ten shells per firing—significantly reduced that threat. Yet now, sixty 65-mm shells had fallen into their hands at once, which was a disaster.
He could already imagine the infantry and ships facing attacks from these 65-mm guns during the general offensive in Shanxi in mid-November—that would be a catastrophe.
“Damn those Yellow Flag troops! I’ll send you all to the guillotine!” Gubao continued, “What else?”
“Seven thousand rounds of 1874-style rifle bullets, eight thousand rounds of 1878-style rifle bullets, and three thousand rounds of Remington rifle bullets…”
“Idiots!” Gubao snapped, slapping one of them in anger. “How did you handle this? Bissel didn’t order you to replenish shells or so much ammunition.”
“That’s what’s recorded on the delivery list. It was checked with Lieutenant Fussel, and that’s exactly the supplementary order he brought.”
Lieutenant Fussel had been hit by over a dozen Remington rifle bullets and lay dead. No one knew what had happened, resulting in the supplementary order issued by Major Bissel being altered. Not only was the number of rifle bullets doubled, but there were also added the 65-mm shells the Black Flag troops desperately needed.
“Because of your carelessness, we’ll lose at least another hundred French soldiers!”
But it was already a fact. Gubao couldn’t change anything. He simply shouted, “We’ll proceed with the original plan.”
…
Their suffering stemmed from the Black Flag troops’ joy. Liu Yu said cheerfully, “Great! With shells and French rifle bullets, nothing will be a problem.”

After several battles, many units were fully equipped with captured French rifles, but ammunition was in short supply—on average, each rifle came with only about twenty rounds. Now, these units could be fully combat-ready. As for those 100 shells, they were like a timely rain: “With these shells, all our artillery can participate in battles, unlike before when only one 65mm gun could do the job!”

Historically, the Battle of Shanxi broke out in December 1883. Liu Yu wasn’t aware that Gu Ba planned to advance this battle by a month, but he knew well that the decisive battle determining the outcome of this campaign had arrived.

Now, the Yellow Flag Army had brought over so much ammunition from France, which was a huge help to Liu Yu. Even more astonishingly, despite having only 420 men, they possessed 610 Remington rifles and 110,000 rifle rounds. Moreover, a significant number of these 420 men would have to be eliminated.

There were over a hundred Yellow Flag Army soldiers standing there, with Jing Shi Yi distributing their final pay—four large boxes of Mexican silver dollars each: “Fifty silver dollars per person; travel expenses are separate. Those with two rifles will get an extra 30 silver dollars, and those with more than 100 rounds of ammunition will also benefit…”

Although the Yellow Flag Army had risen in rebellion and joined the Black Flag Army, over a hundred of them didn’t want to continue fighting in the face of constant gunfire. They wanted to take advantage of the situation to make a fortune and return home to become small landowners. Liu Yu was more than happy with this.

He wasn’t short of reliable reinforcements—he lacked firearms and ammunition. If the Yellow Flag Army remained at its current size, it would be a complete independent infantry battalion. But after dismissing those over a hundred men, only 250 would remain, and he could easily dilute their strength by mixing in unreliable elements.

He believed it would take just a month for the Yellow Flag Army to fall under his control. Zhao Fuxing, their commander, also said with a smile, “Your subordinate greets the great marshal!”

He had already received Liu Yu’s promise—that, like Li Qiu, he would become a battalion commander of the Xi Liu Battalion. Liu Yu would ensure he had enough troops and paid them on time, replacing battalion commanders as needed, along with some other perks.

“You’ve done great service. Take your men and collect a month’s pay.”

Most of those who volunteered to be dismissed were new recruits. A few veteran scoundrels thought the situation was too dangerous—each battle resulted in thousands of casualties, and nine lives wouldn’t be enough. They preferred to take the money and go home to live comfortably.

Zhao Fuxing regretted that so few people volunteered to be dismissed. The Yellow Flag Army was made up of a chaotic mix of people brought in by Qiao Erchi. He couldn’t command them effectively except for his own loyal followers. Now that they had joined the Black Flag Army, he was prepared to start over.

But now, thinking about the reinforcements Liu Yu would provide, he knew he would surely gain an advantage in the battalion and felt slightly relieved.

It wasn’t until the payment was completed that Zhao Fuxing was assigned to rest in a barracks near the old camp. The Black Flag Army had already prepared a welcome banquet for them—ten pigs had been slaughtered.

Liu Yu didn’t attend the banquet. With some rare free time, he still had to deal with the piled-up paperwork. Jiang Ningxue could help with some of it, but she had too many tasks to handle and couldn’t fully serve as Liu Yu’s secretary.

As for the staff department, it now existed only in name; a few people were temporarily assigned from the officer training squad, but they were not yet proficient in their duties. Only two of the original staff members remained, while the rest were sent to the troops as commanding officers by any means possible. As a result, Liu Yu now had to deal with hundreds of documents every day from the commander. Thinking of this, he sighed and rode his horse toward the governor’s residence. After walking a short distance, Ye Chenglin appeared and said, “Commander, great news!” “Indeed, great news! We only need to send some well-trained reinforcements and a group of officers to gain an entire infantry battalion for free.” Liu Yu was also very pleased about the Yellow Flag Army’s surrender: “Our chances of winning the battle in Shanxi have increased again.” “Commander!” Ye Chenglin raised his voice, “Don’t you know? Sui Yun and Cai Yunnan have led their troops back.” “What!” Liu Yu immediately turned his horse around. “Where?” Sui Yun and Cai Yunnan had sent people to report that they were safe, but due to the large amount of baggage and non-combatants, the entire force didn’t arrive in Shanxi until now. As soon as they saw Liu Yu riding toward them, they immediately saluted, “Reporting to the commander! After traveling thousands of miles and facing fierce enemies, we have fulfilled our mission!” Liu Yu dismounted, took their hands, and said, “Good! Good! Good! It’s great that you’re back. I was extremely worried after you left for three months.” Indeed, Liu Yu had sent forces equivalent to two infantry battalions to the completely unfamiliar Shunhua when he only had four infantry battalions—purely a bold gamble. But seeing this long convoy and the countless water buffaloes drinking there, he knew he had won, and a decisive victory at that. With these two infantry battalions joining the battle in Shanxi, his chances of winning increased even further. Sui Yun quickly reported on the unit’s combat situation. His example of using one infantry battalion and newly recruited reinforcements to defeat an enemy force excited Liu Yu: “Excellent! This is truly a classic example for our Black Flag Army!” “Hmm, your forces in Shunhua are now fewer. Excluding the wounded, there are less than a hundred veterans, right? We still need to strengthen them.” He turned to Cai Yunnan and asked, “Sui Yun is right. Our strength in Central Annam is too weak; we must strengthen it. At least one full regiment is needed. Your Hanhai Battalion should assign another mixed infantry company, along with artillery and engineers, to prepare for another advance southward.” Thanks to the tiered mobilization system in the Xiliu Battalion, there were specialized new recruit battalions in the rear responsible for training new soldiers. Additionally, a mixed infantry company could form by drawing half a platoon from each old battalion, followed by sending in well-trained new recruits southward, so the combat strength of the original Hanhai Battalion wouldn’t be significantly affected. Cai Yunnan was also eager: “I will definitely select the best soldiers. If we can’t take down the Hanoi Battalion, our Hanhai Battalion’s troops can still capture the Shunhua Battalion.” But he mentioned something else: “The French currently have only 600 troops in Shunhua and can’t afford to guard the villages and remote provinces. This is the perfect time to gather forces. Who should lead the reinforced company southward?” After thinking for a moment, Liu Yu said, “Liu Yingu has done well this time. Let him take overall responsibility. If he can capture a regiment, I will appoint him as its commander.”

Over there, Liu Suiyun lowered his voice and said, “Commander… there’s something else I need to mention. This time in Thanh Hóa…” His voice grew even quieter. “I arranged a marriage on your behalf and brought back seven women.” “Huh? Are you confused?” Liu Suiyun raised his voice instead. “They can handle the paperwork for you.” “What?” It was Liu Yu’s turn to be surprised. “What women?” “The concubines of that bastard Emperor Tự Đức—each one young and beautiful, with stunning looks. They’ve been handling his documents for years and are very skilled at it.” “Sigh… Aren’t you afraid Ning Xue will shoot you? Besides, it’s not a good reputation to have.” “They’re all virgins. Moreover, they brought four million taels of silver as dowries.” “Four million taels?” Liu Yu’s hands almost went weak. “Or forty thousand taels?” “Four million taels! That’s still an underestimation. That bastard Emperor Tự Đức is extremely wealthy. Now he’s giving us a discount. We also paid a lot for ammunition in Thanh Hóa this time.” Liu Yu said without hesitation, “Good! I agree!” … Time passed swiftly, and battles continued to unfold across Vietnamese soil. Throughout October, although there were no major battles between the Black Flag Army and the French, there were several skirmishes on a daily basis, and several battles at the battalion level as well. For the French army, the casualties over the month were significant, but continuous reinforcements from home turned those losses into just numbers. If ten thousand French troops in the Hanoi area at the end of September had already prompted Gouraud to prepare for action, by November the total number of French troops had reached its peak. Excluding naval forces, the ground forces alone numbered 27,000, of which 15,000 were troops brought in from home and Algeria. There were 2,000 native Annamese infantrymen, 5,000 native Tonkinese infantrymen recruited locally in North Vietnam, 5,000 Catholic militias and colonial police equipped with Remington rifles, while the main French forces were stationed in the Hanoi area. Eighteen thousand soldiers were enough to deal with any enemy threat. Although the Huajian Sect and Shen Sheng’s independent units had over a thousand troops each, they were completely driven out of the vicinity of Hanoi. This didn’t include the small fleet of Cochinchina—without mentioning the ironclads and cruisers tasked with coastal blockades, there were dozens of ships of various sizes operating on the Red River for combat and transportation purposes, with nearly 2,000 crew members. In addition, Gouraud took advantage of a loophole in the resolution. The resolution only specified a limit of 15,000 ground troops but didn’t mention personnel from naval forces landing on land. Thus, after reinforcements arrived, another regiment-sized landing force was formed. However, since these people weren’t qualified infantrymen, Gouraud assigned them to guard duties while they trained. All of this greatly expanded the French-controlled area. In particular, the forces centered around the Bissell Detachment entered Shanxi Province several times, engaging in fierce battles with the Black Flag Army.

After entering November, the French began using local indigenous troops to deal with the Huajian Sect and Shen Sheng’s independent battalion, which had been pushed back dozens of kilometers, while more troops were sent toward Shanxi. Fighting intensified immediately; both sides no longer limited themselves to search operations at the platoon level, deploying reinforced companies or even battalions into battle. The French even committed an entire Algerian infantry regiment to expand their control area. Under such pressure, the Black Flag Army gradually retreated upstream. They had now largely left Ha Nam Province and were resisting in their old stronghold of Shanxi Province. Any military observer could clearly see that a decisive battle in the Sino-French War was approaching, and several English-language newspapers in Hong Kong provided comprehensive reports on the situation. Gobat sat at his round desk reading these reports, seeing no possibility of his own failure. In the Far East, France had never deployed such a large force—even not during the two campaigns to attack Beijing—purely due to repeated disastrous failures. Parliament and the cabinet harbored mixed feelings toward Vietnam; they wanted to become a second “British Empire” at a minimal cost. But after several defeats, they became furious and bet everything on the table. A French parliamentarian received a daily allowance of 25 francs, totaling 9,000 francs per year, while cabinet members received even more. Yet they were not waging war for these allowances. If they conquered Vietnam, they could gain rewards a hundred or even a thousand times greater than those allowances. Deals were always possible in Parliament and the cabinet. Gobat’s French friends had introduced several of their acquaintances, who would take Vietnam’s most valuable minerals and lands from Gobat as a fitting gift for bringing the general commissioner back to his country. People could never tolerate shattered dreams, so Gobat received far more reinforcements than in history. But he knew clearly he could not go on like this. Neither Parliament nor the cabinet had enough patience, and the problems Gobain had feared had emerged. Since taking office, his military expenditures in two months had amounted to 25 million francs, and the upcoming battles in Shanxi would surely cost at least another 5 million francs. If the battles did not go well, the cost could reach 15 million francs. Even without major battles, maintaining the troops stationed in Vietnam required daily expenditures of over 200,000 francs. Although France was a country capable of paying 5 billion francs in war reparations within three years, this did not mean that a war costing 100 million francs per year had no impact on its economy. It had to win. He already had all the resources he needed and couldn’t see why he would lose. Even the small mortars widely used by the Black Flag Army were hastily produced by France’s military industry based on descriptions from soldiers. Though bulky and using black powder, they were only distributed to indigenous infantry companies, allowing them to engage in artillery battles against the Black Flag Army.

As for the captured unexploded shells of the Black Flag Army, they were also sent back to the homeland in October, but they had little value—it was the French who first used picric acid in history, in 1884. Even if the analysis of the shell components could have been completed in 1883, it would only have advanced the French use of picric acid in combat by a month or two at most.
The rear admiral was unaware of all this; he merely guessed whether the Navy Ministry would grant him the rank of general if he captured the city of Shanxi—a rank equivalent to that of a marshal in the Old Republic and Empire.
So, upon thinking of this, he filled in the dates in his battle plan: “We will begin operations on November 12th, aiming to capture Shanxi on the 13th. Given the potential for heavy casualties, two hundred body bags and five hundred hospital beds must be prepared.”
After filling in the battle dates, his gaze crossed the Red River to look toward Shanxi.
There were only 35 kilometers from Hanoi to the provincial capital of Shanxi, yet France took a full year and eight months to reach it.