After the war in Hanoi, two different opinions emerged in the French government and the military on how to deal with China. Some people, led by the new prime minister and foreign minister, Joufferi, advocated the escalation of the Annan incident and preferred to continue to transfer troops from Europe to support the colonial government in Cochinchina.

However, some soldiers led by the admiral General Ling Miller believed that the results of the Battle of Hanoi showed that the Nanyang Corps had a combat effectiveness that was not inferior to that of the colonial army in Cochinchina, that the Nanyang Corps was equipped with sophisticated muskets and artillery, that it had abundant reserves of strategic materials, and that its main force numbered as many as 10,000 people, and that if the French army made a comeback, the Nanyang Corps would still be the biggest enemy of the French occupation of Annam.

Miller and other admirals made a proposal to the French government, advocating the completion of the plan to annex Annam in two steps.

First of all, a French army of about 3 to 4,000 troops was sent to support Saigon to stabilize French rule in the Namsaka region, and at the same time, in the negotiations with the Han side, it showed its sincerity in compromising and agreed to the conditions put forward by some Han sides, in exchange for some small islands in the South Pacific region in exchange for the northern part of Annam occupied by the Nanyang Army, so as to solve the biggest obstacle to the French colonial government's occupation of the entire territory of Annam in a peaceful way.

Secondly, after reaching an agreement with the Han side, it gradually expanded its influence to the Hue court, supported the pro-French ministers, and selected a part of the Annam clan that could be used as puppets, so that at the right time, the Cochinchina colonial army would come forward to support it to replace Emperor Duc and become the new king of Annam.

The ideas of the admirals such as Miller were not approved by Prime Minister Jofferry, and several senior admirals were attacked by government officials as a result, so that they lost the opportunity to lead the army to support Annan.

On April 7, in his capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joufferi conveyed to the Han side three conditions for a peace truce between the two sides:

1. France and Annam are countries with diplomatic relations, and the two countries have established formal trade regulations and customs rules, and the Han side forcibly interfered in the relations between France and Annam, instructed the Chinese Legion to attack the Cochinchina army, and provoked it first, so it should apologize to the French Government for compensation and return the customs revenue, overseas Chinese assets, and other property and materials that the Chinese Legion had privately withheld.

2. France and Annan cooperate closely, and the Annan government has in essence accepted the protection of the French government. Under the present circumstances, the Han side could not restrict or hinder France's right to protect Vietnam.

3. The Han side evacuated the Chinese troops stationed in Annam,

The Hongji Coal Mine and other mineral resource areas will be placed under the jurisdiction of the Cochinchina Government, and as a reciprocal condition, the French Government is willing to negotiate and resolve the issue of sovereignty over French Polynesia and the Congo with the Han Government.

The French intended to complete the annexation of the entire territory of Annam in one fell swoop in the form of a treaty, and in the peace treaty, the responsibility for starting the war was attributed to the Han side, denying the justice of the Nanyang Army to resist the aggression of the French colonial army, continuing to be superstitious about the force of the French army, and implementing further fraud and blackmail policies against the Han government.

In order to achieve the above objectives, the French cabinet ordered Rear Admiral Lisby, commander of the Chinese naval detachment, to lead the main force of the fleet under his command to rush to the waters of Annam to carry out maritime deterrence against the Nanyang Corps and assist the French expeditionary force in the offensive operations in the northern area of Annam.

In early May, the French expeditionary fleet arrived in Annam, and according to the instructions of the French government, the commander of the expeditionary force, Gu Pi, the commander of the Chinese naval fleet, and the commander of the defenders of Nansaka, Bo Slip, met in Saigon, the seat of the colonial governor's palace in Cochinchina, to discuss the military plan of how to occupy Annam.

"Hue was the source of conflict and struggle, and from there orders were issued to continue fighting in the Beisaka area and to request assistance from the Nanyang Corps," said Nam Ban Commander Bo Slip

of the appeal. Once the Hue government is defeated, the resistance in northern Annam loses its leadership, which will lead to the rapid disappearance of the will to resist of the Annamite people. As for the Nanyang Corps, after Annan's submission, without the support of the Annam government, it will lose the motivation to continue resisting. ”

The three giants of the colonial government of Cochinchina exchanged views with each other on the settlement of the Annam issue, and then reached a consensus and decided

Implement a two-pronged, two-way attack plan,

That is, Lisby led 7 ships and 1,000 French marines to capture Hue, and more than 2,000 French soldiers, 600 Algerian soldiers, and 1,700 Annam indigenous soldiers attacked the Nanyang Army and the areas of Kitasaka defended by Huang Zuoyan.

Drawing the lesson of Li Weiye's carelessness and the annihilation of the entire army, Bo Hua constantly sent small forces to test the deployment of the Nanyang Army before launching an attack on the provinces occupied by the Nanyang Army.

For example, on 4 May, French soldiers drove three armed steamers, one with three masts, and two with half masts, into Ruixiangshe, which was under the jurisdiction of Shanxi Province. The gunboat, with a displacement of only one hundred and fifty tons and a small gun emplacement, only one hundred pounds, fired five shells in succession, hitting the three-masted bow plates, wounding three French soldiers, and the remaining ships fled in a hurry.

On the 9th, another steamer with three masts sailed up, straight to the west of the mountain

The province is under the jurisdiction of Dan Phong Kou, and the people of Annam are panicked, and many people are afraid of the scourge of the French army, so they move to Hanoi and other areas with their families.

On the 10th, two steamers of the legal person sailed on board, intending to invade Shanxi

Provincial capital. The Chinese army intercepted at Shangchishe, and its ships turned back when they reached Zuofeng.

In the early morning of 15 May, the legal person sent out from Minamisaka to commit the attack, and there were no more than 500 of them, most of whom were Keyong and religious people, and there were very few French soldiers. The Chinese army sent four companies out to ambush them on different routes, and the strong army rushed to meet the lure first, and then led the three companies of more than 500 people to meet the attack head-on, annihilating 400 enemies, and the rest fled in disarray.

After several such temptations, Wave Slip had an understanding of the defense and combat effectiveness of the Nanyang Legion.

On 18 May, Po Slip reported to the French government on the defensive positions of the Nanyang Corps, saying: "The enemy's southern defensive line starts from Hanoi Province and passes through Hung Yen Province, Thai Binh Province and Hai Phong City as an arc defensive line, and the northern defensive line runs from Thai Nguyen Province to Pekan Province and Lang Son Province. In Hanoi and Haiphong, there were a number of military forts, surrounded by trenches and separation walls, and artillery batteries were set up along the coast and along the river, which could be shelled at gunboats traveling along the river.

The road from Ninh Binh to Hanoi is in excellent condition and is completely passable. The road from Nanning to Hanoi is a little poor, but it is passable, and the other roads are of poor quality, but they are not impassable......... "Bo Hua believes that the troops at his disposal are not enough to win the battle, and he still needs some time to prepare. However, Guba, who was agitated by the spirit of revenge, was dissatisfied with his behavior, and pointed out to Bo Slip: "Our indecision, our long stay behind the fences and trenches, has brought great damage to our prestige, which has been seriously damaged by the unfortunate events in Hanoi; Any delay in advancing forward would be seen by our enemies as a sign of weakness, and I implore the general to hasten his plan to retake the city of Hanoi in order to restore the reputation and image of the Governor's Palace in Europe. ”

As a result of this pressure, Bo Slip had to promise to resume the offensive in the northern part of Annam as soon as the second batch of 1,700 African colonial legions arrived in Annan.