Chapter 4 Annexation of Laos and Cambodia
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Because China has long emigrated millions of Han Chinese to Korea and Vietnam, and Korea and Vietnam have been subjugated to China for hundreds of years since ancient times, so North Korea and Vietnam were transformed into provinces by China in 1904, which did not cause much popular resistance. Watermark Ad Test: Watermark Ad Test
After Korea and Vietnam (i.e., Annam) were included in China's territory, plus most of the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as the Far East and Kyushu regions became the territory of the Republic of China, and the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the Bohai Sea all became China's inland seas.
Song Xiaofei's next step was to control Southeast Asia, seize Laos and Cambodia, and drive the French out of Asia, so that Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia could be merged into one region, so that Vietnam would not be threatened by the French and the British.
At this time, Southeast Asia, the British controlled Burma, Malaysia, etc., Siam (Thailand) is a semi-colonial country, according to the second Anglo-Siamese Treaty in 1855 and the Franco-Siamese Treaty in 1856, Britain and France enjoy consular jurisdiction in Siam, the tariff on goods of the two countries shall not exceed 3%, citizens of the two countries can freely enter Siam, and warships can freely sail into the mouth of the Chao Phraya River to Bangkok.
France controlled Cambodia and Laos. Cambodia is located in the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia, the capital of Phnom Penh, is an ancient civilization with a long history, founded in the second half of the 1st century AD. From the 9th century to the 14th century, the Angkor Dynasty was at its peak, with a strong state and a developed culture. The world-famous Angkor civilization was created. But in 1863, it was occupied by French colonists. Laos, on the other hand, was taken by France from Siam in 1893.
After China transformed Vietnam into a province, its territory bordered the three vassal states of Siam, Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Champasak. China proposed that these three small countries had also paid tribute to Annan. Territorial claims were made against the French. At that time, Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Champasak were the three major cities in Laos. Among them, the population of Vientiane is only 100,000, and many of them are overseas Chinese. Many of these overseas Chinese have lived here since their ancestors, many shops on the street are in Chinese and Laotian with signs, and most of the overseas Chinese women wear "sarongs" that local women love, making it difficult to tell whether they are overseas Chinese or local. The French turned a deaf ear to this reasonable demand of China. Moreover, China transformed Vietnam and Korea into provinces, strengthened its military strength against the two colonies of Laos and Cambodia, and mobilized more than 30,000 troops of three army corps to garrison it.
Song Xiaofei invited the British ambassador to China, Zhu Erdian, to the presidential palace to test the attitude of the British government, Britain and France in the 19th century on the Indochina Peninsula fierce competition, at this time in North Africa and other places There are many conflicts of interest, so the British government is neutral to China to take back Laos and Cambodia.
Zhu Erdian said to Song Xiaofei: "Old friend. In fact, China could have a better reason to send troops to Cambodia and Laos. Although the French had de facto dominion over Indochina, the royal families of the previous kingdoms were retained as puppets. There were several wars against French rule in French Indochina, but they were all conceded by the Governor of French Indochina. Morality. Larsen cracked down. It would be just if China started this war. Britain can help China blockade the Mekong. ”
Song Xiaofei laughed, understood the voice of Zhu Erdian's words, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, the squadron will not directly clash with the French ** team, and we will send some volunteers to help the local people get rid of the rule of the French." ”
After the meeting, Song Xiaofei gave Zhu Erdian 50,000 silver dollars and asked him to lobby the British government to support China. Zhu Erdian touched his beard and said with a smile: "Don't worry, the president." ”
In the early morning of February 16, 1905, the 31-year-old division commander Wu Peifu personally led two brigades of 5,000 new troops to launch a feint attack in Vientiane. And Jiang Baili led 5,000 new troops to ambush in the woods outside the city. Judging from the information gathered from all sides, in the early hours of the morning, the main force of the French garrison will pass through here and rush to Vientiane for reinforcements.
At that time, there was silence in the valley, and the night dew hung on the dry branches, and no one could have imagined that a fierce battle would break out here. More than 5,000 new troops were lying in hiding places, dozens of mountain guns had already been calibrated according to the terrain to shoot at Zhuyuan, and the 20 or so "Flying Dragon" machine guns had been replaced with tripod heavy barrels, and the golden bullet chains were pulled out of the bullet boxes, and the Chinese soldiers were full of confidence. You must know that this new machine gun, using the principle of air conduction, is similar in structure to the Browning machine gun, with a simple reciprocating piston instead of a swinging rod, the structure is simpler, the rate of fire can be adjusted between 200 and 600 rounds per minute, and the performance exceeds that of most of the two machine guns at that time, Maxim and Hatch Cash.
Jiang Baili was wearing his military uniform, and he deliberately hung a command saber on his waist, but he was faintly worried, trying to suppress his nervousness, this was the first time he commanded such a large-scale ambush battle, and this was not the best ambush position, he tried his best to set up an ambush here.
Moreover, it was a crucial battle that would determine the fate of Laos. If the main force of the French army in Laos can be annihilated here and Vientiane can be taken, then Luang Prabang and Champasak will be just around the corner. Coupled with the riots on the Cambodian side, the French army in the entire "Indochina Federation" was only 30,000 people, and it was difficult to form a joint force scattered and stationed at various key points. However, if something happens in this battle and this French army cannot be destroyed, then Wu Peifu's army will be attacked from the back. Therefore, fighting this battle well is the key.
At dawn, the east is covered with red clouds, and the sun is about to come out. A cool breeze blew, and suddenly a large flock of birds in the forest flew up and spread their wings to the sky.
"Here it is, here comes the French!" A young sentry came panting and reported to Jiang Baili.
Jiang Baili's whole body was excited, and he hurriedly raised his monoculars to observe the mountain road in the north. Sure enough, a large team of French ** teams appeared, and they lined up in a very scattered formation, cautiously groping their way forward. Apparently. This was an outpost of the French army. Their commander seemed calm, and he was so unhurried in the rush of 100,000 to the aid of Vientiane.
"Herald! Everyone was calm. Wait for orders. The French did not all enter the encirclement, and no one was allowed to shoot! Jiang Baili held the binoculars and gave an order in a low voice.
After half an hour, the French outpost platoon did not see any danger. An officer waved back. A large number of French troops appeared on the mountain pass.
The French did not expect that Jiang Baili still had a set of tactics in the use of troops. The best ambush position on. Jiang Baili did not arrange for hidden soldiers, and these troops did not rush to the position until after the guns were fired. Hence the sentries of the French army. After completing the fumbling mission, boldly march to a place that does not seem too dangerous.
Jiang Baili nervously observed with a telescope, and the people he took into his eyes were more than 3,000 people and seven or eight battalions.
"Order the first and second columns to immediately sneak up and occupy the high ground, and immediately launch an attack in ten minutes." Jiang Baili threw away the binoculars, pulled out the command saber on his waist and ordered.
About seven or eight minutes later, on the top of a hill about three hundred meters north of the command post. There was a burst of machine gunfire with a bang. Forthwith. Rifles and mortars opened fire, gunshots and explosions rang out, and the tranquility of the valley was suddenly drowned out by these earth-shattering sounds.
The French army had already unconsciously relaxed its vigilance after passing through the most dangerous heights. At this very moment, bullets, shells, and grenades suddenly flew sideways and exploded in the crowd, and the narrow mountain road immediately became a hell for the French.
The squadron condescendingly fired fiercely with machine guns and rifles, and at the same time threw grenades, the new weapons of the time, and the bullets and shrapnel flew towards the French troops like heads, and for a time the dense gunfire and explosions were earth-shattering, and the blood and flesh of the French soldiers without shelter flew sideways, and the corpses were lying all over the hillside. The corpses of the French soldiers were crowded all over the ground, and there was no space for them to put their feet down, which was the mountain road to hell. Chinese machine guns fired at the French troops, and the French soldiers were shot down like mowing grass.
The French Gallic soldiers were not vegetarians, and after a short period of confusion and casualties, they immediately rushed down the mountain road, each finding natural cover and shooting indiscriminately at the highlands and jungles on both sides. A battalion of French troops, under the cover of heavy machine guns, stormed the high ground of the squadron, trying to seize this high ground.
"Heavy machine guns, immediately go to the high ground to suppress the French fire." Jiang Baili shouted.
After the three heavy machine guns reached the high ground, the French troops of about 600 men had been effectively suppressed, and the ten mortars "pompon" each fired about a dozen shells in more than half a minute. When the French artillery fire weakened slightly, Jiang Baili issued a new order to fire on the mountain artillery. In this battle, the French suffered a crushing defeat, with nearly two thousand dead.
In Vientiane, Wu Peifu's troops also used a secret weapon: the Wright brothers' newly developed military aircraft, equipped with machine guns and bombs. The whole campaign was like a live-fire drill of the squadron, comprehensively reviewing the power and reliability of the squadron's new technology and equipment, and testing the commanders of various services under the condition of air-ground coordination, bombing of strategic points, and infantry air support. Two bombers took to the air and bombed in parallel at an altitude of 2,500 meters, raining tons of bombs on the French positions. The sea of fire, the waves of air, the sound of violent explosions, and the ghostly howls of the French army foreshadowed the tragic fate of the French army.
There were also dozens of tanks, combat vehicles, and self-propelled guns that raised bursts of yellow ground dust, the roar of engines, the sound of crawlers, the sound of artillery ground bombardment, and the roar of machine guns.
The French army soon withdrew from Vientiane, and then the squadron occupied Luang Prabang and Champasak. At the same time, Liu Yongfu led 30,000 Black Flag troops to attack from all sides of Vietnam and occupied Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and the remaining 3,000 defenders of France surrendered.
In just two months, the French army lost Laos and Cambodia one after another, and domestic public opinion was in an uproar. The enormous pressure caused by the Khumbu cabinet, coupled with the betrayal of the Radical Party and the Socialist Party, forced him to resign. Morris. After succeeding as prime minister, Ruvier sought international diplomatic solutions to the problems of Laos and Cambodia.
But Song Xiaofei knows that war is never an end, but only serves politics. Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang has been busy since the start of the Sino-French war, and he wants to use diplomatic and economic means to assist politics during the war, enhance China's international status, and obtain maximum benefits for China. He maneuvered among the ambassadors of various countries, saying that the squadron did not directly participate in the war with France, and said that it was just some volunteers, such as the Black Flag Army, which was not controlled by the Chinese government, who were helping the local people to fight for independence, "That is the national issue of the indigenous people, and China and foreign nationalities should not intervene in it, so as not to worsen the situation." ”
At this time, China has enough strength, and diplomacy has confidence, and many countries, such as Britain and the United States, actually know that the French have suffered a dumb loss, but they turn a blind eye, pretend not to know, and continue to woo China. China has reciprocated, for example, by supporting Britain's annexation of Egypt. The French had to bow their arrogant heads and sit down to negotiate with the Chinese.
After the Chinese occupied Laos and Cambodia, they merged with Vietnam and quickly immigrated a million Han Chinese, making them Chinese provinces. At this point, China's land area has reached 16 million square kilometers, spanning the Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the Bohai Sea have all become China's inland seas, and the Mekong River has also become China's inland waters. In these places, Chinese citizens are classified as first-class citizens, and many overseas Chinese doing business have become local councilors.