Deng Zixuan led his troops to land in Thanh Hoa, and the French did not know about it. The commander of the French army was alone and spoke highly of Riverley's successful achievement of strategic military objectives. At the same time, he ordered the merchant fleet to carry 2,000 French soldiers and a large amount of military supplies to the port of Haiphong to replenish the Rivelly headquarters. Since Vietnam is a long and narrow country from north to south, with a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers from north to south, land transportation is not as convenient and labor-saving as sea transportation, so the French army has very little transportation on land.

Deng Zixuan led his troops to occupy Ningping, and there were only more than 40 French officers and soldiers stationed in Ningping. Just when Deng Zixuan occupied Ningping and assembled, He Meng, deputy commander of the 2nd Brigade of Annan, led the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade to change its equipment in Xialong, and then moved north according to the combat Jihua. The aim was to take the first place to take coastal defense and prevent the French from escaping by water.

The troops arrived at the periphery of Haiphong and ambushed in the Miling on the north side of the port, and occupied the port of Haiphong. At noon that day, in a broad-leaved forest, He Meng was looking at the map, which was a military topographic map of Haiphong Port. Lu Changlin, the commander of this kung fu regiment, hurriedly walked over and said, "Deputy brigade commander, the reconnaissance detachment is back." He Meng was shocked when he heard this: "Let them come over on time!" After a while, several men dressed as fishermen from Annam appeared.

After listening to the scout's report, He Meng immediately convened an operational meeting of officers at and above the company level. "Great news for the brethren, as soon as we arrived here, we received a report from carrier pigeons that Commander-in-Chief Deng had landed in Thanh Hoa in the south." Everyone was very excited when they heard this, and everyone couldn't help but make noise when they turned their heads and ears. He Meng deliberately paused to make everyone happy. Seeing that it was almost over, He Meng coughed, and everyone stopped talking.

"The Commander-in-Chief's strategic intent is very encouraging, which is to eat all the French troops that invade the north cleanly and completely. According to the operation, the commander-in-chief led his troops to land in Thanh Hoa and went north, completely blocking the way for the French army to flee south, and our surprise attack on Haiphong was to implement the tactic of closing the door and beating dogs. At present, under the lure of our enemy to penetrate, the French army is divided into 4 large parts. Haiphong, Hanoi, Liangshan, Nguyen. According to the Commander-in-Chief's Operations, our troops first took Haiphong, and then moved westward to assist the Commander-in-Chief in eliminating the French army in Hanoi. ”

He Meng glanced at everyone and continued: "In the second step, Brigade Commander Leng Yifei led the 4th Brigade to block the retreat of the French army in Liangshan after changing clothes in Xialong, and after our troops completed the Battle of Hanoi, they went north to converge with the brigade headquarters to outflank the enemy in Liangshan. After the commander-in-chief led his troops to complete the battle of Hanoi, he waved his troops directly into Taiyuan, and we basically fought like this. Later, Lin Xiong led the 4th Regiment out of Xuanhua to encircle the enemy in Taiyuan, and I can tell you that now the French army has become a turtle in the urn, and it is impossible to escape. ”

According to the reconnaissance situation, the French army currently has 20 warships in Haiphong, three warships are staying at berths, and the rest of the warships are anchored on the sea. In addition, there were a large number of French merchant ships in the port. According to the investigation, there are more than 400 French officers and soldiers in Haiphong, mainly distributed in the city. In the battle, the commander of the army led a battalion to attack the warships and merchant ships on the docks, and tried to capture the French ships. In order to prevent the shelling of French warships on the sea, it was necessary to use French prisoners as shields to prevent the shelling of French warships. ”

He Meng continued: "I will lead the 2nd and 3rd battalions to deal with the French army in the city. The action started at 9 o'clock this evening, everyone checked the table, and then began to prepare. The officers took out their pocket watches and looked at them, and then began to divide up and prepare. The waiting time seemed to be very slow, He Meng fell asleep, and when he woke up, he found that it was not yet dark. At about 8 o'clock, the troops began to move quietly.

A group of black shadows appeared on the north side of the dock, and their scattered formations quietly outflanked them from north to south. At this time, many of the French warships on the sea were still drinking and having fun, and some of the battleships even heard the sound of music. "Commander, there is still a quarter of an hour until 9 o'clock, and the reconnaissance situation during the day has changed, and there is one less battleship on the dock and one more merchant ship." A subordinate reported in the dark.

The regiment commander Lu Changlin said to the battalion commander: "Start the action on time at 9 o'clock, you lead your troops to deal with the French merchant ships, and I will lead the team to deal with the two warships moored at the dock." With a wave of his hand, the soldiers rushed to the dock. The vigilance of the French warships was not high, and for a long time, the French warships were rarely attacked on the docks, so the French did not even have a sentry on the deck of the battleship. "Commander, you see, there are ladders on the battleship, it's providence!" A company commander whispered.

"The French are drinking and merry-making on the battleship, without any defense, taking as many prisoners as possible, and if there is resistance, they will be eliminated, understand?" "Understood!" The company commander waved his hand, and the soldiers touched the two battleships, and suddenly, a crisp gunfire rang out in Haiphong City, which was very piercing in the night sky, and then sporadic gunfire began to sound, followed by fierce gunfire and explosions that woke up the sailors on the battleship.

The French sailors climbed onto the deck to look in the direction of the gunshots, and this look naturally spotted the soldiers who were sneaking up. A sneak attack was no longer possible, and the soldiers quickly reached for grenades and threw them on the deck of the battleship. With the sound of violent explosions, the French sailors scurried with their heads in their hands. The soldiers took the opportunity to board the battleship and began a hand-to-hand battle. At this time, the French warships on the sea were also awakened, and the machines began to roar. It is very interesting to say that it is surprising that one of the warships moored on the dock turned out to be a command ship. The French warships on the sea did not know the truth and lost their command, so they could only flee to the open sea at full speed.

He Meng led two battalions to deal with the French army in the city. First of all, the French sentries guarding the city gates were eliminated without alarming the French army. Then the two battalions of soldiers went straight to the barracks of the original Annan army in the city. In the dark, He Meng concisely arranged the combat mission and said: "In order to cause a shocking effect, we do not attack from the gate, the 2nd battalion from the left and the 3rd battalion from the right, respectively, blew up the wall, and then quickly rushed in, taking advantage of the French army's lack of reaction, killing him on his back." ”

"I'm afraid!" A gunshot pierced the night sky. Everyone was shocked and didn't know what was going on, it turned out that a soldier had gone off due to excessive nervousness. The plan to blow up the wall was too late to be implemented, because the French sentry in the gate watchtower spotted someone sneaking up and started shooting. "Attack the gate now!" He Meng gave a decisive order, he quickly took off the rifle behind his back, raised his hand and shot the French sentry on the guard tower and fell down.

A few minutes later, grenades exploded at the gates, and the soldiers rushed into the barracks through the smoke of gunpowder. The barracks are fronted by a playground, and the barracks are arranged in rows on one side. The French army had not yet reacted to the sudden change, and the 2nd Battalion was on the left and the 3rd Battalion was attacking on the right. Approaching the barracks of the first platoon, the French came to their senses in the room and began to resist. The soldiers, apparently well-trained, attacked forward in front, with the covering group acting as cover. No sooner had the French soldiers fired their first shots, and then they were hit heavily by the covering group.

This effort rushed out of the barracks behind the French soldiers, and before they could see which god it was, they were hit head-on by grenades. The French soldiers had never fought at night, let alone encountered such an opponent, and some were stunned. After several tosses, the French commander decided to shrink his forces, and all the French officers and men shrank to a courtyard behind the barracks. This courtyard is where the former officers of the Annan Army lived, and it is a small courtyard. Soon the small courtyard was surrounded.

In order to reduce casualties, He Meng ordered the attack to be halted and the courtyard was besieged. I don't know French, and I try to shout, but the people inside the shouting must not understand. There was no choice but to hold on. There was no suspense, and He Meng decided to attack again at dawn to avoid unnecessary casualties. Come to the playground in front of you, and there will be bright torches lit on the playground. There were many corpses and wounded soldiers of the French army lying on the ground, and many of the wounded soldiers were in agony and screamed. "Report to the deputy brigade commander, 33 French soldiers were killed and 48 wounded!" An officer reported.

"Immediately bandage the wounded soldiers, and then carry them to the barracks." He Meng remembered Deng Zixuan's words and decided to treat these wounded French soldiers. This made the French soldiers stop screaming and become very honest. At dawn, the surrounded French army did not move, He Meng came to the courtyard to check, "Deputy brigade commander, just use explosives to blow up the gate and rush in to solve the battle!" "2 Battalion Commander, please. It would be foolish to increase unnecessary casualties at such a point.

He Meng pondered for a while and said, "The French army doesn't know the truth, so let's try a few grenades!" "After a while, several grenades were thrown into the yard, and with a few explosions, a puff of gunpowder rose. There was a chaotic movement in the courtyard, and after a while a white flag stretched out. He Meng ordered to stop throwing grenades. Apparently the French commander inside thought that the army outside was too strong. Especially the clothing and weapons of the army outside are something they have not seen before.

A few minutes later, the courtyard door opened, and first out of Limian stepped out a soldier with a white flag on his gun. Then a tall French officer came out from behind, this guy was holding an armed belt, a pistol, and a command knife. Behind them were French soldiers with rifles held alof. On the barracks playground, He Meng's team accepted the surrender of the French army, and although the two sides did not understand the language, they both understood the meaning. He Meng judged that he was a major by the rank of this French officer.

Presumably, when the major saw a mighty army standing in front of him, he was afraid that his brain was starved of oxygen, and he was in a state of confusion from beginning to end. He Meng was very polite, and personally accompanied the major to inspect the neatly arranged French fallen soldiers, and then inspected the wounded soldiers who were treated. He Meng didn't expect that this French major actually stretched out his thumb, and his expression seemed to appreciate without any angry expression. The battle on the dock had long since ended, and He Meng came to the dock to inspect.

From a distance, there were no French warships on the sea, and there were two captured warships and several French merchant ships on the dock. The detained French sailors squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands, silently waiting for the choice of fate. "Reported to the deputy brigade commander, the battle went very well, two French battleships were captured, one of which was a command ship. Three more French merchant ships were captured. 265 French sailors were captured, and most of the French merchant ships were blacks, numbering about 300 people. The French casualties and sailors were ・・・・・・. ”

"Alright, I want to know, where are all the French warships?" He Meng interrupted Lu Changlin's report. "At daybreak, the French warship wandered in the open sea for a while, fired a few shots, and then vanished. The commander and officers of the French battleship, imprisoned in the warehouse. "It's good to check it out. You prepare, leave a battalion to guard Haiphong and take prisoners, and then we quickly advance towards Hanoi. ”