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Chapter 1484 Raid in the Night

In the early morning of January 4, Saigon, the French Governor's Palace of Annam. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

It is a two-storey white building in the French classicist style, with a beautifully carved exterior decoration and a baroque porch. Built in 1868 and later renovated and supplemented with ancillary facilities, it covers an area of 120,000 square metres.

The Governor's Palace has 52 large and small rooms, which can meet various needs such as banquets, entertainment, residence, study, military command, etc.

At this moment, in the small conference room on the other side of the library on the first floor, the French Governor of Annam, Jule. Brevier, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army of Annam Boole, Commander of the Navy Gergil, Commissioner Borg of Cochinchina, President Bruce of Crédit Agricole CIB, Economic Commissioner Bolton, Intelligence Commissioner Carey, and 12 French generals stationed in the area around Saigon were holding a meeting.

"Colonel Carey, where is the abominable squadron marching now? Also, where is our mighty French ocean-going fleet? Why has it not yet rushed to the border water port in Vinh City to pick up the second division, which is increasingly threatened by the Chinese? "Jule. Governor Brevier asked, frowning.

Intelligence Commissioner Carey pushed his chair and stood up, turned around and took two steps to the curtain wall with snow-white curtains, pulled back the curtains, raised his baton, and pointed to the northern part of the large map of Annan that was hanging:

"At present, about twelve mechanized divisions of the squadron have captured Thanh Hoa City, and its forward has been forced to the front line of Yanzhou Bay in Xiangshan. Chinese know how to propagate public opinion and exaggerate their aggressive actions as a national liberation war, but the stupid Annan people still believe in this set of ......"

Speaking of this, Carey smiled bitterly: "Actually, it's not just the Annan, even the French." Because of the attitude adopted by the Syrian government to treat yellows, whites and even blacks equally, it declared the sanctity of private property, and also sent troops to protect the various French estates to stop the possible impact of the people of Annam on French immigrants. Their soldiers were polite and responsive, and when a transport truck broke down on a coffee plantation outside the city of Nanding, they tried to ask for help, and they immediately sent someone to repair it, and without even taking a sip of water, they politely said goodbye, and their soldiers also told them that after the new regime was established, credit unions would be established in each region to provide businesses such as agricultural machinery and low-interest loans to help people develop production. After the initial turmoil, the French in the Tokyo area calmly awaited the handover of power. In the past few days, Syria's radio signal has covered the entire Tokyo area, and one of the channels has also set up an hour-long news broadcast in French, and their government has promised that in the future, the French will have all the legal rights and interests, and they can also organize political parties to participate in politics. In view of the current situation in Annam, the Syrian government has made many very attractive development plans, saying that it will strive to achieve 'upstairs and downstairs electric lights and telephones' within five years, and every family can afford to buy motorcycles and cars. ”

"I knew those guys couldn't be trusted. Most of those who were willing to leave their homeland and come to the colony of Annam to reclaim were the losers of the political struggle and bankrupt merchants, peasants, and craftsmen who came to Annam, and through decades of operation, had their own and their families' industries, and had already taken root in this land, and naturally did not want to follow us, resulting in the property being confiscated by the Chinese and having nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, I suggest that we also follow the 'scorched earth' strategy adopted by the Nationalist Government in Nanking in resisting Japanese aggression, destroy all plantations, mines, factories and enterprises, and evacuate all French immigrants to Cochinchina, where we can defend them and wait for domestic reinforcements to arrive! Colonial Economic Commissioner Bolton said indignantly.

Rear Admiral Gergil, the commander of the Navy, frowned: "It's easy to destroy, but it's hard to build, do you know how much time it takes for a rubber forest to mature?" If it's really all 'scorched earth', then what's the use of France taking back this land? Don't mention that, let's listen to Carey's report on the movements of our fleet! What the, on the afternoon of the day I lost Hanoi, General Kinsol said that he had already led the fleet out of Haiphong Port, why hasn't there been any movement until today? Even if it's a turtle, it's time to climb to Rong City, right? ”

Carey shrugged: "Where exactly is our ocean-going fleet now, only God knows...... General Kinsol called and said that when they evacuated Haiphong Port, they took with them the garrison of the naval base and a large number of base facilities, and the entire fleet was seriously overloaded, and it was impossible to go to Vinh City to pick up people at all, and they had to go to Saigon first, drop off their things, and then go north to Vinh City and Da Nang. Every time we went to the telegram to inquire, the fleet replied that it was on its way to Saigon...... I think in the next day or two, they should be there. ”

The commander-in-chief of the French army in Annam, Major General Bour, complained angrily: "But my soldiers can't wait that long...... A total of two infantry divisions, two separate brigades and one artillery division were stationed in Annam. However, the artillery division, which has three field artillery teams and two howitzer teams, has now become an empty shelf, because all their artillery has been handed over to the Annam Army stationed in the Laokai defense line on the Sino-Angolan border, and is waiting for the artillery to be sent from home to reorganize the troops...... Alas, no one expected that the defense line, which had been painstakingly operated for many years, and so many artillery pieces, would fail without even holding out overnight, which is really distressing. According to the French news of Syrian Radio, this was called an extremely difficult battle by the squadron, and the total number of people killed in their battle was less than 500, which can be seen from the strong attack power of their troops.

"At present, our army has one division in Vinh City and Da Nang, and more than 100,000 not very reliable Annam troops, if all of them are safely withdrawn to Cochinchina, relying on the mountains north of the Mekong Plain for defense, coupled with the powerful French navy blockade of the sea, there is still something to do, otherwise, just wait for the Chinese to rush to the door and clean us up one by one!"

Crédit Agricole CIB, the president of Crédit Agricole CIB, who was in charge of the financial power of French Annam, was so displeased that he almost roared: "Fuck me! It's a mess in France right now...... On New Year's Day, the fascist party 'Fire Cross' in Paris celebrated the German annexation of the Sudetenland, calling it another major victory for fascism! At first, the procession was normal, but under a large number of radical slogans, the mob began to storm the Palais Bourbon, trying to enter the parliament building and control the parliamentarians who were meeting, in order to establish a German-style fascist regime. After a fierce exchange of fire between the rioters and the guards, which resulted in thousands of casualties, the 'Fire Cross' did not withdraw from Paris and began to disperse to various places, colluding with various fascist parties to stage riots and storm the government and military camps, and the atmosphere in France was unprecedentedly tense.

"Taking advantage of the riots of the right-wing forces, nearly five million workers across France have also gone on strike since yesterday, and they have protested against the arbitrary layoffs and cuts in wages in factories and enterprises under the banner of 'anti-hunger and oppression', and at the same time protest that the ten-hour working day is now in place as a cruel oppression of workers; As a result of the compromise of the Nazi regime in Munich by Daladier's loser in Munich, which led to a serious split within the ruling Popular Front, which was strongly opposed by the Socialists, the Bouvet Party and other left-wing parties, Daladier is now busy quelling the internal split, and I reckon it is difficult to count on reinforcements anytime soon! ”

Bruce was well-traveled, and his sources were far wider than those of the colonial officials present, so no one questioned the veracity of his words.

Crédit Agricole CIB is a unique presence in French Annam, established in 1875 to carry out the financial business of French Annam. At the end of the last century, its business expanded to China, and the business of the Shanghai branch was mainly import and export deposits, followed by deposits. It issued banknotes, centered on Yunnan to manipulate Yunnan's trade and finance with other localities, and co-opted the Beiyang government to establish the Sino-French Industrial Bank, which was jointly run by China and France.

In the year of the Northern Expedition, the French "Crédit Agricole CIB" set up a branch in "Xiying" (now Xiashan) in Guangzhou Bay (now Zhanjiang) to issue currency on behalf of the French government in the colony of Guangzhou Bay. These Vietnamese banknotes, issued by the French "Crédit Agricole CIB", once became the official currency of Guangzhou Bay. However, among the people, because the economic development of Guangzhou Bay at that time depended on the economy of the mainland, and the relationship with the mainland market was very close, and the French colonial authorities did not specially formulate and promulgate the standard currency system of Guangzhou Bay, there were two completely different currencies in the currency circulation basin, and they coexisted and circulated at the same time in their respective circulation fields.

The French stipulated that all financial taxes, economic dealings, and money and silver receipts and payments with the French colonial authorities in Canton Bay should be subject to the "Saigon Paper." Merchants and citizens of Guangzhou Bay must pay "Saigon paper" for all taxes and fines, such as rice and grain tax, land tax, business tax, cowhide tax, market tax, etc., as well as all fines for violating police, public order, and hygiene. In addition, the postal and telecommunications credit charges used at the Post and Telecommunications Bureaus and the electric lighting fees collected by the Electric Light Bureaus are also subject to the payment of "Saigon Paper". The funds and salaries allocated by the French colonial authorities to the various grass-roots administrative institutions serving them were allocated in Vietnamese currency.

Crédit Agricole CIB was rich enough to control the currency of France's colonies in Asia, but with the An army moving south, it was no wonder that its president, Bruce, was furious.

The colonial officials sighed and sighed, and they all had a sense of desolation at the end of the road.

The French Third Republic is like a freak, with many political parties and constant strife, and there are countless examples of a party that has formed a cabinet and announced the collapse of the government a week after its formation, and the various policies that have been abolished just after they have been released, leaving people at a loss as to what to do. At the critical moment of life and death in the French Annam colony, all parties should have put aside their disputes and joined hands to unite with the outside world, but in fact, including Prime Minister Daladier, he also made up his mind to settle the internal situation first, and then consider other issues after resolving internal disputes, not to mention those careerists in the opposition who are eyeing the regime.

This is also the most important reason why France worked hard to establish an unbreakable national political blockade chain around Germany around Germany after the European War, but it was uprooted by Hitler one by one and then even its own motherland was destroyed.

Drew. Governor Brevier felt irritated for a while, stood up and walked to the window, pushed it open, and enjoyed the sea breeze, when he suddenly found that in the direction of the port area, the lights were messy, and the steamer's whistle was short, which seemed to be extremely noisy, and immediately frowned and called the commander of the navy, Rear Admiral Gergil, and pointed to the port area to ask what was the matter.

Gegil was also a little puzzled, and hurriedly came to the phone and called the military port wharf. The operator on the other end of the line, perhaps too excited, replied with a bit of a stutter that the huge ocean-going fleet had entered port, and the accompanying transport ship was loaded with many things, and was now hurrying to unload the cargo.

When Gergill heard this, he was relieved, put down the microphone, and strode over to Jule. In front of the Governor of Brevier: "My lord, it is General Kinsor's fleet that has arrived. It is estimated that under the pressure of the Chinese, he moved the tables, chairs and benches of Haiphong Port to Saigon. With the powerful anti-aircraft fire of General Kinsol's ocean-going fleet, the Chinese bombers have nothing to worry about, and tomorrow I can lead the fleet north, take the troops of Vinh and Da Nang to Cochinchina, delay the speed of the squadron to the south as long as possible, and wait for reinforcements to be sent after the domestic political turmoil is over. ”

"The mighty French ocean-going fleet, which can be said to be invincible in the Far East except for Japan, has finally arrived!"

Drew. With a long sigh of relief, Brevier added a number of words to the ocean-going fleet, which made his sense of security and his mind much more stable, and he returned to the conference table and sat down, and said:

"It's been terrible lately, stupid and savage natives, for some reason, all of a sudden they've gone mad, and there have been riots and riots everywhere. According to the reports of our allies, the rebel forces of British India showed signs of confluence, and while taking advantage of the difficult terrain of the city to confront the Anglo-Indian troops, they also divided their men and formed small guerrilla detachments, attacking the army camps, munitions depots, and field hospitals, and the British suffered heavy losses, and it is said that even the lavishly decorated Governor's Palace in Delhi was burned down by the guerrillas.

As a result, the two Indian divisions besieging Chittagong the day before yesterday were bewitched by the rebels, mutinied, killed their superiors and the British soldiers who were on their mission, opened the prison, released many of the imprisoned Congress members, and formed an independent national government on their own. If it weren't for the disagreement among the top members of the Congress Party in Chittagong, I suspect that the situation in the area would have been completely eroded! There are also British Burma and Malaya, where the rebels have formed a national independent government, which is the same as the situation in our Annam, and this terrible wave of independence will not be able to subside! ”

The colonial officials were shocked to hear this, they had been following the war in Annam recently, and had little understanding of what was happening in the outside world. As soon as Governor Brevier explained, he realized that the situation in the surrounding area had deteriorated to this point. If Britain suffers a crushing defeat in Asia, France will also be unable to stand alone, and defeat is a matter of time.

Commissioner Borg, who served as a consul in India for many years, comforted:

"Rest assured, with my understanding of India's political landscape, with the existence of the Congress Party, which advocates peace, the situation in India will not get out of control. The British really made a mistake and actually arrested a leader like Gandhi who advocated 'non-violence' and left the mob outside, isn't it asking for trouble for themselves? I think soon the British will find out what they have done and let those pacifists out. Those Congress people are like a fire extinguisher, and it won't be long before the situation in India will calm down. ”

"In that case, it would be even better!"

Drew. Brevier was quite convinced of the professional's judgment, and said with a smile: "As long as the affairs of India can be satisfactorily resolved, it is only a matter of time before Myanmar and Malaya are pacified." When our British allies have their hands freed, things will turn around in Annan. In any case, France is the world's largest army power, and I don't believe that a small local warlord in China really has the strength to confront the five million French army, and after the local political environment is stable, sending a few hundred thousand people at will will be enough to solve our opponents. Trust me, as long as you get through this time, everything will be fine! ”

"I'm convinced of that!"

Intelligence Commissioner Carey smiled mysteriously, "My lord, I have good news here - our intelligence system has been in contact with some of the rebel leaders in Hue City. Many leaders of Annan's political parties are actually not in favor of inviting the squadron to send troops, they believe that if Annan is placed under French control, their country and nation will have a truly independent day, but if it is placed in the hands of the Chinese, then everything will be over!

"I have made a promise to those people, if we can launch a mutiny in Hue, regain control of Bao Da in his hands, and let Bao Da openly declare the so-called national liberation cause of the squadron, the essence of which is nothing but a gross violation of the sovereignty of Annam, is a naked invasion, and calls on all Annamite people to rise up against the rule of the Chinese, then, we can not pursue the past affairs, Nguyen Phuc Vinh Swe is still his king, and the leaders of all parties will also be reused by our colonial government and participate in local councils, Help the colonial government to exercise the administrative power over the local area, slowly improve the livelihood of the people in Annam, and when the political and economic development reaches a certain level, we will formally transfer the power to the people of Annam.

"Those rebel leaders are very interested in this, as the squadron goes south day by day, the time and space they can dispose of, is constantly decreasing, and when hundreds of thousands of squadrons enter Hue, then everything is over, so they are connected up and down, and they will launch an operation in a day or two. Since our army had retreated to Da Nang and Vinh City, the Hue rebels had disengaged from contact with our army, and there was general optimism from top to bottom, believing that our rout was only a matter of time, and now Hue City was relatively lax in defense, creating the necessary conditions for them to take action.

"My lord, colleagues, if those Annan people can really succeed, then the so-called national liberation reason of the squadron can no longer stand, and the originally dangerous situation will also take a major turn, and under the pressure of international public opinion, it is not necessary that the Nanjing government will order the warlord leader to withdraw his troops, and then we can happily have control over the central and northern regions of Annan!"

When all the participants heard this, their spirits were lifted, and the conference room quickly burst into warm applause.

At this time, on the street outside the governor's palace, there were anti-aircraft gun trucks painted in camouflage that were unique to the An Jiajun, and they rushed to the main street intersections. Farther away, the French barracks, munitions and supplies warehouses, telegraph and telephone buildings, had been quietly occupied by the An Jia army, and the whole of Saigon had quietly changed owners.