After defeating the main force of the Nam Nguyen Navy Division off the coast of Da Nang, the Combined Navy pursued the fleeing enemy ships and slaughtered Da Nang again without stopping. After a fierce battle, the allied forces captured Han Island, the northern barrier of Da Nang, and the fleet drove into the port waterway and bombarded the batteries of Marble Mountain and Phuoc Xiang Mountain along the coast.

Da Nang Bay is horseshoe-shaped, with a mouth facing northeast. It is nearly 15 kilometers long from north to south, about 11 kilometers wide from east to west, and the water depth is mostly more than 10 meters. There is Han Island as a barrier in the north of the mouth of the bay, and there are Marble Mountains and Fuxiang Mountains as cover along the coast, and the situation is very dangerous. Da Nang is not only easy to defend and difficult to attack, but also close to Hue, and its geographical location is also extremely important.

In fact, the annihilation of the main force of the Nam Nguyen Naval Division has basically achieved its goal, and the ships anchored in Da Nang can no longer pose a threat to the South China Sea Fleet or the Trung Family Naval Division. However, in order to achieve political and economic goals, the coalition forces still made a vigorous attack posture.

Two days later, before the Nam Nguyen regime in Hue could make a decision, the United Navy had sent hundreds of warships north to Rili Haimen. After a not-so-fierce naval battle, a Nam Nguyen naval division stationed at Ri Lihai Gate was almost wiped out.

During Truong Nguyen's long war, Nam Nguyen relied on the topography to build two main fort lines, spanning several miles of flat land between mountains and seas. The first line of defense was Changyu Fortress (in present-day Phong Loc District, Quang Binh Province, the city wall was located south of the Zhengjiang River, stretching for 11 kilometers from the sea to Cong Shan Mountain. The second line of defense is the Changde Fortress, in which the fortress located in Rili is more than 3,000 zhang long and is built by the sea.

During the Second Trễn War, the Trần Clan broke through the Nguyễn Clan's first line of defense, stationed troops at Rili Estuary, and launched an amphibious assault in an attempt to detour the Nguyễn Clan's city fortifications. However, in the Battle of Rili, the Zheng clan was defeated by the Nguyen clan and returned with a heavy defeat.

First, it attacked Da Nang and coerced Hue, the political capital of Nam Nguyen; Then attack the Rili Sea Gate and make an alliance with the Zheng family. The action of wanting to break through the base and go south. The intention of Zhu Yongxing and the General Staff Department was to take advantage of the situation and take advantage of the current hostility of Zheng Ruan to obtain the greatest benefits at the lowest cost.

Of course, Zhu Yongxing hopes that Zheng Ruan's confrontation can last longer, which is more conducive to fishing in troubled waters and benefiting both sides. So. This attack on Nam Nguyen Shui Shi was not notified to the Zheng family in advance.

But Nan Ruan would not think so, the most powerful sailors were hit hard, the Rili Sea Gate was being shelled, and the Ming army sailors still had the movement to enter Da Nang and plough the courtyard to sweep the caves. If the Zheng army launches another offensive, it will attack the Ming army by land and water, and the situation will be critical.

The whole territory of Annam is bordered by the sea, and the terrain of Nam Nguyen is even narrower, and it has lost its sailors. It can be said that there are loopholes everywhere, and it is impossible to prevent them.

The South China Sea Fleet, together with the Zheng Family Naval Division, was the strongest navy in Asia at that time. And after the Nam Nguyen Navy Division was repeatedly attacked, the remnants of the ships are now unable to resist even the South China Sea Fleet. When Nam Nguyen sent a peace envoy, in Zhu Yongxing's view, the war had already come to an end.

The goal of dominating the Beibu Gulf has been achieved, and how much can be extorted from Nan Ruan. It can be regarded as an unexpected bonus. So far, the United Navy has captured nearly a hundred large and small ships. Hundreds of large and small artillery pieces were captured. Although there are losses of their own, the price is completely worth it compared to the victory.

"Oh, the Zheng clan has also sent an envoy, hoping that we can fulfill the covenant and join forces. Fight Nam Nguyen together? Zhu Yongxing pondered for a moment and asked, "In addition to asking for the fulfillment of the contract, do they have any other conditions?" ”

"The Zheng family is willing to bear the military salaries, food and grass needed for our army's operations." Yi Cheng shook his head with some disdain, he knew Zhu Yongxing's mind quite well, if the Zheng family offered very generous conditions. Zhu Yongxing is not without the possibility of changing the plan, but now Zheng's conditions obviously cannot satisfy Zhu Yongxing.

"It's just military salaries, grain and grass-" Sure enough, Zhu Yongxing shook his head slightly, showing a dissatisfied expression, paused, and waved his hand: "Change the conditions of the Zheng family, and then reveal them to Nanruan." Whichever side gives more, we will lean towards whichever side. ”

If Nan Ruan doesn't know the current affairs, even if the time is not very ripe now, Zhu Yongxing will join forces with the Zheng family to break the balance of Zheng Ruan's confrontation and let Zheng Ruan's two families fight to the death. In this way, Zheng's strategic focus was concentrated in the south, providing an opportunity for the Ming army to attack Annam again in the future.

"Nan Nguyen should agree to our conditions." Yi Cheng guessed and said, "Two million taels of silver, they can definitely get it." ”

"It's not that simple." Zhu Yongxing touched his chin and sneered: "I'm afraid it will make everyone in Guangnan complain, well, this is also beneficial to us." ”

The long-term war between Nam Nguyen and North Trung caused the tax of Quang Nam to increase again and again, reaching 50 to 60 percent, and the people were miserable. And Nam Nguyen's system of money and fortune caused officials to quickly fall into the abyss of corruption.

Unlike the court of the Lê Dynasty, the Nam Nguyen officials' fortunes came directly from the people. The Nguyen lord divided a number of households into a certain official, and this part of the household provided income exclusively to the official. In other words, a significant number of Nam Nguyen residents do not pay taxes directly to the Nguyen lords, but accept demand from officials on demand. Lord Nguyen also asked the officials to pay him taxes, which made the burden of the people who supported the two masters at the same time even heavier.

Not only that, but Nam Nguyen's atmosphere of selling officials and lords can be called amazing. Before an official takes office, he spends a lot of money to buy a letter of appointment, an official seal, and pays tribute to his superiors and lords. And lower-level officials who buy official positions with money may not have the income of the people who have been sealed to pay less than the taxes they have to pay. Therefore, it is almost impossible to be an official in the Nam Nguyen system, and it is almost impossible to have a clean breeze on both sleeves.

If it was said that Lord Ruan paid out of his own pocket, Zhu Yongxing would definitely not believe it, not that he did not believe that Lord Ruan did not have the financial resources, but concluded that Lord Ruan was reluctant and would definitely pass on the burden to the officials below. As for the officials, they will make the people who divide the feuds bear this cost.

There is no doubt that the people, from the Nguyen lord to the officials at all levels, openly regard the people as arbitrary objects of exploitation. And when the people's tolerance limit is close to the critical point, it means that the Nguyen regime is nearing its limit.

Zhu Yongxing had already regarded Annan as a bag, and the more corrupt he was, the more likely he was to show signs of chaos, which was the most beneficial to him. The operation was ostensibly to dominate the Gulf of Tonkin, sweep away threatening enemies, and extort money. On a deeper level, it is part of the grand strategy of annexing the whole of Annam.

From the perspective of the development of Mekong Province and other overseas places, this battle has a bit of a meaning of "fighting with one punch, lest a hundred punches come". Nan Ruan was hit hard, then Zhenla would not dare to act rashly, and even Bei Zheng would continue to be a minister, and he would not dare to disagree. Whether it is to win a stable environment for development, or to continue to seize overseas land, this victory is very meaningful. (To be continued......)