Chapter 168: Ready

Near Thanh Hóa.

Bắc Hà could be considered one of the most important strongholds of the French in Indochina. With a half company of French troops and over six hundred Vietnamese auxiliary forces, the Black Flag Army was rarely seen in the surrounding dozens of kilometers. To such an extent that the local French commander claimed, “If the Black Flag bandits want to capture Bắc Hà, they’ll have to suffer ten thousand casualties.”

During this major attack by the Black Flag Army, Bắc Hà had held its ground until now. In earlier battles, they had dealt significant losses to the local Black Flag forces, but now the entire Bắc Hà was on the verge of collapse under the bombardment.

In the past two days of fighting, the defenders of Bắc Hà had repelled the Black Flag Army’s attacks several times. Traces of battle could be seen on the city walls, with bloodstains everywhere. Yet, under the fierce assaults, the defenders had lost their initial vigor.

The soldiers of the Vietnamese indigenous forces, seeing the situation turning unfavorable, began to leave one after another, dropping their weapons. They heard that handing over their guns to the Black Flag Army would not only spare them execution but also earn them rewards from them.

“Boom… boom…”

Artillery shells rained down on the city walls like hail. The Black Flag Army had invested heavily—both captured steel cannons and various mortars were used in the attack, leaving the French mountain guns with no chance to be utilized.

Smoke and gunfire filled the air; several positions had been leveled, with only a few survivors shouting for reinforcements.

“Has any aid from Thanh Hóa arrived? Has any aid from Thanh Hóa arrived?”

Meanwhile, the indigenous infantry also knelt on the ground, raising their hands to the advancing Black Flag Army and handing over their weapons. “We surrender! We surrender!”

It wasn’t their war—they were just paid to fight and didn’t need to go to such extreme lengths. The small number of French troops were constantly rushing to help, facing attacks from the Black Flag Army on every front.

The combat strength of the Black Flag Army before them wasn’t particularly strong, but they launched their attack with six infantry battalions and a large number of artillery pieces, overwhelming the defenders.

By now, they had lost nearly half of their troops, with over thirty killed alone. Although the Black Flag Army had lost over eighty men, they only had 170 men inside the city. The remaining indigenous forces had poured in like an avalanche.

As casualties mounted and the situation grew more difficult, the Black Flag Army, unafraid of losses, sent more and more infantry companies into battle. More and more Vietnamese mercenaries surrendered. Then, a massive explosion erupted on the city walls.

It was the Black Flag Army using high-explosive charges to blow them apart. The entire city wall was covered in dark clouds, and almost the entire French platoon stationed there was killed or injured. Then, the Black Flag Army rushed upward along the breached path.

The tricolor flag fell, replaced by the banner of the Thin Willow Camp.

Liu Yin Gong inspected the battlefield with enthusiasm: “Good! Very good!”

Six hundred guns were captured, and four hundred Vietnamese soldiers were taken prisoner—excellent results. Although 300 men had been killed in the battle, the captives alone could make up for those losses, especially since he had already prepared 600 replacements.

Liu Yongfu was sighing, while Liu Yinggong had found fatty meat to eat, but he had to deal with a tough challenge: “We also lost over 400 men this time.” With the support of an entire brigade, the French finally mustered the courage to launch a full-scale attack in an attempt to rescue the reinforcements at Beihé. In Liu Yongfu’s view, capturing a city was like gnawing on hard bones, while attacking reinforcements was like eating fatty meat. Yet an entire French brigade was by no means the fatty meat he expected, and faced such a powerful enemy, he couldn’t just turn and leave. Liu Yinggong was leading six infantry battalions in a fierce attack on Beihé. If he left, those six battalions would suffer at least half their losses, so he had no choice but to press on with the rescue mission. There were many dangerous moments, heavy casualties, and aside from a few rifles, they gained no spoils. The People’s Liberation Army preferred capturing cities over rescuing reinforcements for the same reason—rescue missions caused heavy losses with few gains, and troops had to stay put, while capturing cities meant getting fatty meat and many spoils, with the option to withdraw at any time if the situation turned unfavorable. Wu Fengdian, a calm man, couldn’t help but say a few words: “Yuanting, be more careful in command—don’t let our old Black Flag Army troops suffer losses.” He had finally risen to the rank of regiment commander, but his status was much lower than before, largely because Liu Yongfu had sacrificed his interests. As a brother-in-law, he had always been gentle, but now he too had to speak up: “If we managed our troops better, we wouldn’t be in such a passive position.” Meanwhile, Liu Yinggong, having found fatty meat, smiled like a fox that had eaten an old hen: “Slight losses are inevitable. General Liu’s men are all experienced veterans, and I’ve prepared reinforcements as well.” As Liu Yongfu’s confidant, Lian Mei was slightly dissatisfied with Liu Yongfu’s command: “We need to be more careful next time.” Liu Yinggong then spoke up: “The commander gave me an order—together with Yuanting, we’re to prepare to head south to Cochinchina.” “Hm?” Liu Yongfu, with his conservative peasant mindset, said, “Let this great achievement go to younger brother Liu.” “The Seven Stars Brigade has a large force and many combat-ready battalions,” Liu Yinggong said seriously. “Moreover, they have better mobility than our newer battalions.” “There aren’t many combat-ready battalions either, and besides, we suffered heavy losses in this rescue mission…” Wu Fengdian muttered a few curses: “Did his losses stay low?” Yet he also felt apprehensive about continuing south. Further south lay Cochinchina—not the lawless Central Vietnam, but a French colony in Cochinchina that had been under French rule for twenty years. It was said that even the French farms there had local militias organized by the French, with considerable combat strength. Although a single infantry brigade could open up Central Vietnam, if Liu Yongfu led one south, seven infantry battalions might not achieve much. As for Liu Yinggong heading south, it would also be tragic: “Younger brother Yinggong, maybe we should negotiate with the commander again and set clear rules.” “It’s already decided—seven infantry battalions, plus another experienced veteran from the north. We’ll start the attack immediately after resting,” Liu Yinggong said seriously. “After I leave, Central Vietnam will be left to General Liu and all of you.”

He was quite happy to hand over his long-established base to Liu Yongfu. Before heading south, Liu Yongfu’s biggest concern was Liu Yinguang competing with him for power. To his surprise, Liu Yinguang was decisive and pragmatic—truly a man of character. “You seven battalions heading south? That seems a bit few in number. Do you want me to send Lian Jincheng with you?”
“No need. Apart from one more reinforcement battalion that will follow later, I won’t take any of my local troops… Well, each combat zone has left a battalion as a mobile force.” Liu Yinguang was also straightforward: “But we still need your support.”
“No problem! It’s just that without your strong troops, we’ll find it a bit hard to handle the situation.” Wu Fengdian replied quickly, “The French have sent an entire infantry brigade to Thanh Hóa.”
Liu Yongfu, however, was optimistic. His control over Central Cochinchina was quite good—there were troops when needed, food when required, and pay available. He even had plenty of extra rifles. Although Liu Yinguang had moved south and taken away many of the core troops, it didn’t greatly affect the overall situation between China and Vietnam. On the contrary, once Liu Yinguang left, Central Cochinchina would be entirely under Liu Yongfu’s control, allowing him to fully experience the feeling of establishing his own government there. “Just ask for whatever support you need.”
Over there, Liu Yinguang remembered something else: “The commander ordered that after the seven battalions head south to Central Cochinchina, the remaining vacancies should be filled by the troops left behind.”
This meant leaving the seven infantry battalions in Liu Yongfu’s hands. Delighted, Liu Yongfu asked, “What about equipment?”
“Rely on your own efforts,” Liu Yinguang replied, dousing his enthusiasm: “At most, the north can provide equipment for half a battalion; the rest will have to depend on the old general.”
Anyway, the organizational structure was in place, and pay should not be a problem—only equipment was a hassle. After these battles, quite a number of guns had been captured, but Liu Yongfu estimated that at most two infantry battalions, along with most of their equipment, were still unprovided for.
However, Lian Mei said, “We can seize the guns from the local infantry. I’ll cover the equipment for three battalions.”
Like Wu Fengdian, Lian Mei had been promoted to battalion commander, and he became eager at the idea of expanding the infantry battalions.
Liu Yu knew well that once Liu Yinguang left, a single brigade wouldn’t be enough to handle things in Central Cochinchina. But besides Liu Yongfu, who would take over as the second-in-command after Liu Yinguang left? That was still a big question. Lian Mei wanted to prove himself: “Let’s see if there’s a chance to expand a regiment and maybe even become a brigade commander.”
“Great!” Liu Yongfu was pleased. “Battalion commander, do your best!”
…
“Do your best!” Gu Bá said with narrowed eyes, “The bright days of French soldiers have returned. Our reinforcements have already landed in Haiphong.”
“Three battalions are coming to Hanoi to support our battles. The battalion commander is an old friend of ours—first in the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, an outstanding commander of a light infantry battalion.”
“But I must temporarily part ways with you all. I will announce this turning point in the war to Paris with a glorious victory in Bắc Ninh.”
“This time, we’ll use three entire regiments and 26 cannons to attack Bắc Ninh, seizing this most important stronghold of the Chinese army and cutting off their supply routes to the Black Flag Army.”

“The task for Hanoi is to exhaust the enemy forces facing us as much as possible. The enemy has been fighting continuously for over four months and has kept sending troops to other fronts, leaving them exhausted. They no longer have much strength left.”
“After capturing Bắc Ninh, I will lead my troops to fight alongside you again,” said Guoba with a smile. “I believe that because of this victory, our country will surely send us reinforcements in the form of an entire army.”
“That’s the only way we can win.”