"Sir." A squad leader ran over and reported, "Annam people have been spotted ahead, about a few hundred, moving towards us. ”

"All assemble at the gates of the city, and hold on no matter what." Gao Chen grabbed his gun and ran to the front with the team leader.

In the open space at the city gate, a simple bunker had been constructed from some messy things, and more than 70 special combat personnel were staring nervously ahead with rifled guns.

The sound of footsteps and shouts was getting closer and closer, and under the torches, about two or three hundred Annan soldiers with weapons were running towards this direction.

Gao Chen visually measured the distance: "First row, fire." ”

More than thirty rifled guns were fired, and several Annam people on the opposite side were hit. The Annan people stopped, no one thought that at a distance of more than 200 meters, the opponent's fire gun could actually hit them.

But the Annamites only stayed for a short time, and then continued to rush with their weapons raised.

"The second platoon fired." Gao Chen gave another order.

Gao Qiang led the rest of the special combat team members to rush over: "Sir, the city wall and the city gate have been cleared, there are no Annan people, I have left a few people at the city gate." ”

"Reload the shell." Gao Chen said to Gao Qiang after giving the order, "We must stay here, it may take some time for reinforcements to arrive, and we must not let the city gate be lost." ”

"Humble duty understands." Gao Qiang also picked up his gun, "Brothers, reinforcements are coming, we have nothing to fear, hold on." ”

Nearly a hundred rifled guns fired in turns, and the Annamite were suppressed, and the range of their muskets and bows was far inferior to that of rifled guns.

Gao Chen breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately, there were not many Annan people who came.

"Sir." The captain of a squad suddenly shouted, "The Annamites have increased their troops. ”

Gao Chen looked into the distance, and hundreds of Annan people ran over from the rear, seemingly pulling two small cannons.

Gao Chen's heart was nervous for a while, if the Annan people opened fire, he would not be able to stop it at all, why hadn't the reinforcements arrived yet.

There was a sound of horses' hooves at the gates of the city, and dozens of cavalry entered the city. Because of the raid on Hoi An, there were only 50 cavalry in the first batch sent by Han Wantao, and these 50 cavalrymen were the first to get off the ship.

"Sir." The cavalry captain came to Gao Chen's face, "Chief Ye is directing the infantry to land, and he will come over soon." ”

"Lieutenant." Gao Chen didn't bother to say anything else, and pointed ahead, "The Annanites are placing artillery, and I order you to go and destroy his artillery immediately." ”

"Yes, sir." The cavalry captain turned over his horse and drew his Cossack scimitar, "Cavalry, charge." ”

The 50 horses rushed at the Annamite by surprise, and the rifles rang out together with the thunder. The city gate is a relatively narrow place, which is not very suitable for cavalry combat. The cavalry rushed back and forth, pushed to the two guns and turned back.

Gao Chen put a snack, and without artillery, he was not afraid that the Annan people would rush over, because they would not be able to rush at all.

The two sides fired at each other for a while, and Ding Jun led a battalion of about a few hundred people into the city.

"Sir, the lowly position is now under your command." Ding Jun saluted Gao Chen.

"I command." Gao Chen was also not polite, "Ding Jun, lead your people to rush over, annihilate the Annan people on the opposite side, occupy the Hoi An subordinate government, and capture their top officials." ”

"Yes, sir." Ding Jun led hundreds of soldiers with rifled guns and slowly began to advance.

The sky was slightly bright, and Ye Zhan had already entered the city with two regiments. The gunfire in Hoi An gradually subsided, and the city was full of Yulin soldiers armed with rifled guns.

"All the people are not allowed to come out of their homes." The soldiers in Yulin Bay were posting notices to keep the people back to their homes, and there was no one on the street except for the soldiers.

Ye Zhan stood in the subordinate office in the center of Hoi An City: "Ding Jun, is the whole city occupied, where are their officials?" ”

"Back to sir." Ding Jun replied, "Hoi An City has been fully occupied, most of their officials have been arrested, and they are now being detained, does the chief need to be questioned?" ”

"What can I ask?" Ye Zhan said with a smile, "Find someone to watch them, Chief Han, they will be there soon, let them ask." ”

Han Wantao and Xu Lang were busy for several days after entering the city, and they didn't bother to go up to interrogate these captured South Vietnamese officials. All the artillery of the 1st Division was placed on the top of the city, and more than 6,000 soldiers were stationed in the city. Han Wantao and the others discussed it, and asked Zeng Guangxian to lead six warships to cover those Daming Fu ships to return to Jinpu and take Lin Zhaolong's second division. Xin Jiaju and An Yuhang stayed in Hoi An City with the remaining six warships, led by the Pearl. Han Wantao was worried that South Vietnam would send warships to attack Hoi An, so he kept the Pearl as well.

Xu Lang has not been idle in the past few days, and asked Gao Chen to go separately to invite the representatives of merchants from all over the country to the subordinate government, especially the Ming merchants, Japanese merchants and Western merchants, for the locals of South Vietnam, they have not been invited for the time being.

Xu Lang briefly told these merchants about his intention to capture Hoi An, of course, he couldn't tell them too much detail. Xu Lang just told them that this battle had nothing to do with them, and Hoi An City would continue to maintain its original appearance, how to do business and how to do business, and hoped that business would be bigger.

After three days of martial law, the Yulin Army took control of all of Hoi An. Ordinary people in Hoi An City were allowed to go out again, and shops in various households also reopened their doors for business.

In the beginning, the people and merchants were so afraid to open the streets. But food always has to be eaten, silver is always earned, and some people are starting to go out with courage. There was no one else on the street except for the soldiers of the Yulin Army patrolling, not to mention that these soldiers spoke kindly, bought and sold fairly, and did not interfere with anything. Gradually, there were more and more people on the streets, and more and more shops were opened, and Hoi An City returned to its former hustle and bustle.

Everything was calm for the time being, and Han Wantao and Xu Lang remembered that the South Vietnamese officials who were arrested had not yet been tried.

Several officials were brought to Han Wantao and Xu Lang, Han Wantao didn't know these people, but Xu Lang recognized Ruan Youyi among these officials at a glance.

"Mr. Nguyen, don't come unharmed." Xu Lang grinned and grabbed Ruan Youyi.

Ruan Youyi also recognized Xu Lang, and there was an anger on his face: "Why did General Xu come to attack Hui'an City again." We had an agreement a few years ago, we have given up Brother Pulian to you, and you also promised not to help Zheng Jie, why do you want to regret it now. ”

"No, no." Xu Lang still smiled, "Mr. Ruan, don't get me wrong, I didn't come to Hoi An this time to help the Zheng family, but for the sake of Da Ming and Annan." ”

"Jokes." Ruan Youyi sneered, "The general actually said that he was taking my Annan city for the sake of my Annan, and I have never heard such strange arguments." ”

"Mr. Nguyen." Xu Lang pulled Ruan Youyi to sit down, "Back then, the First Emperor of the Great Qin Dynasty established Xiang County in Annam, and after the two Han Dynasty and four hundred years, this place has always been under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains Dynasty. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Jing Navy Festival envoy was set up here. It was only in modern times that Annan became independent from China, so Annan is actually a part of Chinese culture. ”

"Nonsense, nonsense." Before Xu Lang could speak, Ruan Youyi stood up angrily, "Although my Annan country is small and weak, how can I be subservient to others, what is the reason for the general to say this." ”

Xu Lang saw that his fallacies and heresies did not say that Ruan Youyi was moved, so he changed the topic: "Mr. Ruan, let's not talk about this for now." However, I clearly told Mr. that we will definitely lay down Fuchun this time. Sir, think about whether to cooperate with us or fight against us. ”

Ruan Youyi flicked his sleeves and left the room, walked to the door and turned around and said: "The country is ruined, and the family is ruined, and the only way to die is to die for the country." ”

Xu Lang didn't expect Ruan Youyi to suddenly say such a sentence, and hurriedly called Gao Chen over: "Find someone to watch him immediately, don't leave him for a moment, don't let him die, this person is of great use to keep." ”

"My subordinates understand." Gao Chen said yes and went out.

Xu Lang then turned his head to the other Vietnamese officials in the room: "Everyone, there are some things that we can talk about. ”

Before coming to Hoi An this time, Xu Lang discussed with Zhang Guodong and others that they wanted to control Vietnam without arousing too much disgust among the Vietnamese, because the purpose of Yulin Bay was to recruit troops in Vietnam. Therefore, the Special Committee's decision is to use local Vietnamese officials or to use them as the main thing, and it is not appropriate to use any coercive measures against those who resolutely do not cooperate, and just let them go home.

Xu Lang expressed this to these Vietnamese officials, saying that all people can be retained, and what they have done is still what they are doing, and maintaining the prosperity and stability of Hoi An is the most important thing. At the same time, in addition to the original salaries of these officials, Yulin Army will also give them another salary. For those who are unwilling to continue to hold official positions, they can leave their posts and go home, and Yulin Army will still provide them with money to support their families.

Regarding his identity, Xu Lang said that it was true that the Yulin Army was the Ming Army, but this time it was also in cooperation with the Zheng family, and the Ruan regime in the south was likely to be unprotected. Xu Lang promised that whoever cooperated with the Yulin Army, the Yulin Army would definitely ensure their official position and safety, and Zheng Jie would not do anything harmful.

After some agitation and inducement, more than half of the officials said that they could cooperate with the Yulin Army, and only a few officials insisted on going home and quitting.

Han Wantao asked about the current situation in South Vietnam, and then asked these people to go back, and from tomorrow they will still go to the subordinate government to work, and the Yulin army will withdraw from the subordinate government to set up a military headquarters elsewhere.

Now that both Nguyen Phuc Yuan and Tao Vu Ci have passed away more than two years ago, the Southern Nguyen clan has been replaced by Nguyen Phuc Yuan's son, Nguyen Phuc Lan. Han Wantao was very satisfied with the successful capture of Hoi An this time, and he made another suggestion to Xu Lang, whether he could ignore Zheng Jie in the north, and the Yulin army would lay Hue by himself to control the whole of South Vietnam.

Xu Lang opened the map of Vietnam and thought about it carefully, he did not disagree with Han Wantao's opinion, it would be better if he could control South Vietnam alone. But Xu Lang is now worried about two things, one is that if he turns against Zheng Ji again, what will happen to Mu Suide and those Ming merchants in Shenglong Mansion, Xu Lang doesn't want to see any danger to them. In one case, Xu Lang has been worried about Tao Min in the north, and Tao Min must be prevented from taking down Japan, and this needs to be resolved as soon as possible in Vietnam. Once he and Zheng Jie, maybe the war in Vietnam will drag on. Xu Lang felt more and more that the plan was really not changing fast.

"Wan Tao." Xu Lang looked at the map for a while, "The situation in Vietnam is like this now. We have no way to control North Vietnam, although the Mo Dynasty in Gaoping, and the protectors of Xuanguang Town, Wu Degong and Wu Gongpi, both have a population of 100,000, they are all in the north, and we can't control them, and Zheng Jie won't let us control them. If the South Vietnamese side is defeated, Zheng Jie can let us recruit more than 10,000 troops, but this 10,000 troops is not enough, we must recruit at least 20,000 or 30,000 troops in Vietnam. ”

"I know what you're talking about." Han Wantao said, "Our purpose is the population, we can't turn against Zheng Jie, we can't control South Vietnam, so what should we do." ”

"Wan Tao, look at this." Xu Lang moved his finger to Puriange's position, "To the north of Puriango is the Champa Kingdom, with a population of 100,000, and to the south is the Mekong Delta, with a population of almost 100,000. If we can control these places, we will have a population base of 200,000, and according to the ratio of 10%, we will have 20,000 soldiers, which is almost enough. And in this way, we will control the southernmost tip of the whole of Vietnam, so that we can also grab some people from Cambodia at any time. ”

"But can Zheng Jie's agree to our occupation of southern Vietnam?"

"Zheng Jie shouldn't have any opinions, as long as we defeat Hue, destroy Nguyen Phuc Lan, and then hand Hue into Zheng Jie's hands, he should be able to agree to give us the south and Hoi An."

After Xu Lang finished speaking, he looked up at Han Wantao: "Wantao, the matter in Vietnam is easy to solve, but what I am most worried about now is Japan." If nothing else, Tao Min should have gathered his army by now, and it is likely that he has already been dispatched. If Tao Min really occupies Japan, don't forget that Japan has a population of 10 million, and he can immediately turn against Huang Taiji, I don't dare to imagine what the consequences will be. ”

"Xu Lang." Han Wantao didn't understand, "Isn't it good for Tao Min and Huang Taiji to turn their faces, if he can destroy Huang Taiji, wouldn't it save us trouble." ”

"Wan Tao, don't think so." Xu Lang said, "If Tao Min replaces Huang Taiji, it will be even more terrifying." For the benefit of their Manchus, in order to fight against the coming colonial era, Tao Min will definitely destroy the Ming Dynasty and move into the Central Plains. Japan, Korea, the Northeast, plus Mongolia, we can't stop him, and the Ming Dynasty can't stop him. ”

"I see what you mean." Han Wantao said, "So the Vietnamese side must fight quickly." So, you make a detailed plan, and let's discuss it. If there is no problem, execute it while sending a letter to home. ”