"This is the South Vietnamese Leading the Way Party!" Several people present exchanged glances with each other, and the same thought flashed through their hearts.

At this point in the battle, as long as you are not a fool, you can basically see the direction of the shape. Under the onslaught of the Haihan people's strong ships and artillery, the small court of South Vietnam was already in danger, and even the possibility of seeking peace had long been lost. Even if they were able to withstand the attack of the Haihan people and the old enemy of North Vietnam this time, what about next time? The Haihan people will launch a large offensive in half a year on average, and such a short period of time is not enough for South Vietnam to heal its wounds, and both military and financial resources have long been in an emergency, and the reason why they have been able to hold out until now and have not collapsed is actually only because most of them have no way to retreat at all, and can only fight the trapped beasts.

Ordinary people and soldiers at the bottom have no independent choice, they can only be at the mercy of those in power at the top, even if they want to escape from this battlefield. And some people in the middle and upper echelons of the power pyramid still have life-saving cards in their hands that can be played. Although it seems a little late to jump out and become a leading party, it is not completely hopeless. At least in Ruan Jinggui's opinion, this matter can still be brought out to negotiate with the Haihan people.

Although Nguyen Ching Gui has no official status, he went to Sanya, the stronghold of the Haihan people, on the mission of peace talks last year, and had relatively in-depth contact with the Haihan people. Nguyen Ching Gui believes that the combat power of the Hai Han militia is indeed strong, and it is not comparable to the current South Vietnamese army, but judging from his experience and experience in Sanya, such a strong combat power is also exchanged for huge investment, and it is completely a heavenly soldier piled up with silver.

Although the advantages of this force are prominent, the shortcomings are also obvious, the investment is so great that the Haihan people cannot expand its scale, and the resources required to maintain cross-sea operations are even greater. This also explains why the first two times the Haihan people crossed the sea to fight in South Vietnam, and why they took the initiative to withdraw their troops in the face of victory—if they did not withdraw their troops and continue to fight, it would be difficult for the Haihan people to balance the combat consumption of this army overseas with the wealth they had captured.

Nguyen Ching Gui believes that the same is true for the Haihan army to attack Hue this time, and the scale of the Haihan army's dispatch this time is far greater than the previous two times, and the cost of its battle will inevitably be greater. According to the combat method of the Haihan people, fighting an extra day probably means an extra consumption of tens of thousands of taels of silver, and this does not count the loss of personnel in the war.

Before Ruan Jinggui said his true intentions, he also specially confirmed whether the Haihan people had the idea of negotiating peace, and Yan Chujie's unsparing answer made him feel at ease. If the Haihan people are willing to negotiate peace for money, then there is no need for him to show all the cards in his hand.

However, for the Haihan side, whether to choose to cooperate with the Belt and Road Party, the conditions that need to be considered are not only to reduce material consumption or personnel loss, but more importantly, whether this choice will have an adverse impact on the post-war situation in Annan and whether it will interfere with the implementation of Haihan's strategic intentions on the Indochina Peninsula. Yan Chujie pondered for a moment before responding: "When Mr. Ruan speaks of the Ruan family, does he mean the entire clan or a part of the people?"

From 1558, when Nguyen Huang, the son of Nguyen Gan, the minister of the Lê Dynasty, left the town of Hue, the Nguyen clan began to operate their own forces in the southern region of Annam. From 1593 to 1600, Nguyen Huang fell out with Zheng Song, the "Marshal of the Metropolitan Governor's Father", King Binh Phuan, who was in charge of the government at that time, and sent troops to guard Quang Nam, no longer obeying the orders of the court of Thang Long Province in the north. Although Nguyen Huang later married his 'daughter' to Zheng Song's son, Zheng Jie, who is now the de facto ruler of the North Vietnamese regime, and the two families formed an in-law, the situation of confrontation between Zheng Nguyen was actually formed at this time.

Nguyen Huang died in 1613, and now the actual rule of the south is in the hands of his son, Nguyen Phuc Yuan, the Duke of Nhon Quoc Nguyen. The South Vietnamese envoy Nguyen Zhu, who was captured by the Haihan warship off Hue a while ago, was the son of Nguyen Phuc Yuan's cousin Nguyen Thong. And Nguyen Ching Gui himself is also a side descendant of the Nguyen family, although he did not enter the officialdom to develop, but he is still a member of the privileged class in South Vietnam. In the eyes of the Haihan side, the South Vietnamese diehards who have always been against themselves are, of course, headed by the Nguyen clan, and the surrender faction that Nguyen Ching Gui now represents should also be members of the Nguyen clan, and the two factions in this family should still need to be treated differently.

When Ruan Jinggui heard Yan Chujie's question, he knew that there was a 'door' for this matter, but he still had a bargaining mind and asked, "Can General Yan say it clearly, how is the whole clan, and what about some people?"

"It's very simple, if the whole clan doesn't have to talk, some people can still discuss. At present, the Haihan side has a winning position, and Yan Chujie is not afraid to make his words clear: "You have been fighting with the north for so long, and in the end, someone has to come out and bear the charges." It is impossible to get all of them forgiven, and the last chance was given to you five months ago. As for those in your family who are willing to surrender and assist our army in taking Hue City, then we will also regard it as an example and give them some care after the war. ”

Ruan Jinggui hurriedly asked, "Can General Yan explain in detail?"

"'Sex' life and family property can be saved, so don't think about other things. Yan Chujie was not interested in bargaining with Ruan Jinggui slowly, but just gave a rough solution.

At present, the Nguyen family controls almost all aspects of politics, military, commerce, culture and education in South Vietnam, and even if some members of the Nguyen family are allowed to avoid this catastrophe, the Haihan will definitely not sit idly by and watch them continue to control these areas after the war.

"Then as General Yan said, a word is a certainty!" Ruan Jinggui was actually very worried that Yan Chujie would regret it, so he hurriedly finalized the matter.

"Okay, let's get down to business first, how do you guys lead the way...... Oh no, help our army take Hue City?" Yan Chujie waved his hand and motioned for Ruan Jinggui to quickly show his hole cards.

Ruan Jinggui flipped his hand, took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his sleeve, and slowly spread it out on the table: "General Yan, please look, this is the defense map of Hue City!"

Several people who had been sitting next to the side to watch the negotiation immediately stood up and walked over to look at the picture that Ruan Jinggui had taken out. Compared with the military map drawn by the Haihan, this map is undoubtedly very rough, with only a rough outline of the city, and then some places are marked with dry branches.

Ruan Jinggui pointed to the map and explained: "The places marked by these cadres represent different garrison units. The number A is the Imperial Forest Army, with a strength of 8,000, all of which are deployed around the imperial city, and this number B is the army that has retreated in the broad sense, with a strength of 4,000, and it is deployed to defend the western city......"

Ruan Jinggui was like pouring beans from a bamboo tube, and told all the deployments of the defenders in the city one by one. Everyone also listened very carefully, because Hue City had been closed long before the start of the war, and the information in the city could not be collected at all, and the Hai Han militia was now guarding the northeast corner and did not rush to launch an offensive into the city, and a large part of the reason was also because they did not 'feel' the deployment of the defenders for the time being, and did not dare to launch rashly.

Hue City is different from the layout of the city in the general cognition, because it is located in the developed area of the water system close to the Xiang River, this city introduced several waterways when it was built, in addition to the two moats around the city outside the city, there is also a small moat outside the imperial city in the city, in addition to a waterway from west to east in the city runs through the whole city, connecting the moat outside the city, and dividing Hue City diagonally into two large blocks: northwest and southeast. The urban area now occupied by the Haihan militia belongs to the northwest plate, while the imperial city is located in the southeast plate.

Ruan Jinggui's finger crossed the river on the map, and explained: "There are six bridges on this waterway in the city, and if your army wants to attack the imperial city in the south, it must first occupy these key points of 'communication'. The two bridges to the north are to be guarded by our men, so that your army will be able to pass through Guò to the city to the south without having to attack them. Once the waterways are breached, the defenders of the southern city will have only two ways to go, either retreat into the imperial city and hold on, or they can only abandon the city and flee! No matter which one you choose, I believe your army can easily deal with it. ”

Yan Chujie did not rush to reply this time, but whispered a few words with Qian Tiandun, Wang Tom, Qiao Zhiya and others, and then said to Ruan Jinggui: "The matter is important, please Mr. Ruan go outside to rest for a while, and let us discuss and discuss before replying." ”

After Nguyen Ching Gui was taken out by the militia, several high-ranking people in the tent immediately began to study a new combat plan. There are not too many doubts about the reliability of the information that Nguyen Ching Gui said, because even if this information is false, with the strength of the South Vietnamese defenders, it is difficult to dig a pit and set up an ambush for the Hai Han militia on such a small battlefield in the city. Of course, the most important thing is that at this stage of the war, South Vietnam has no chance of winning, everyone thinks that the Nguyen clan cannot still be monolithic, and they are willing to fight to the end with Haihan, and there are always some people with active brains who will jump out to do things like Nguyen Ching Gui. If anyone dares to play 'tricks' with Haihan in this kind of thing, then I am afraid that after the war, he will be the first to be pulled out and executed.

As Nguyen Ching Gui said, if the defenders rely on the waterways in the city to resist, the offensive efficiency of the militia will inevitably be greatly affected, and if they can control the bridges and passages on the rivers in the city, it will undoubtedly greatly speed up the capture of the city. After discussing for more than an hour, everyone invited Ruan Jinggui in, agreed with him on the time of action and contact information, and asked people to send him out of the camp.

On March 21, the Haihan militia, which had been dormant for two days after the breach of the city, suddenly launched an offensive at dawn and launched an attack along the eastern wall to the south.

A ten-man musket formation was responsible for clearing the way in front, and the few defenders who dared to come out to stop were quickly exhausted by the dense barrage of buckshot. After advancing two miles to the south, they reached the location of the river channel in the city. The bridge on the river was covered with barricades, and two 'guns' were erected on the opposite bank, and from a distance you could see at least a thousand defenders on the other side of the bridge crowding the streets. If you want to take this place hard, it is indeed not a battle that can be solved in a moment and a half, maybe the defenders will see that the situation is not good, and directly use cannons to shoot at the bridge piers, then it will be really troublesome.

"Show the flag!" Qian Tiandun, who led the team, ordered: "The musket team has suspended the attack!"

A red flag was waved in the militia camp, which was the agreed signal of action, and what Nguyen Ching Gui said should see this signal and immediately take corresponding action.

After waiting for a while, a red flag was also raised in the defenders camp on the opposite bank, and then a group of soldiers ran up the bridge and began to clear the various obstacles arranged on the bridge deck. After the defenders cleared the bridge deck out of the passage, a young officer came out of the camp and crossed the bridge alone to the Haihan formation.

"Under the Black Flag Army, General Nguyen Vhuom!" the dark-skinned officer reported to himself before the battle.

"I am Qian Tiandun, the commander of the Heitugang Independent Battalion of the Haihan People's League. Qian Tiandun also stepped forward and arched his hand in the same way: "General Ruan, according to the prior agreement, your army now needs to disarm and surrender and accept the arrangements of our army." ”

Ruan Wenwen responded: "I will fulfill the agreement in the next meeting, and please also ask your army to treat my subordinates well, and don't hurt their 'life'!"

"Don't worry, our army has always done what it says, as long as your subordinates are honest, I guarantee that they will be safe and sound, and they will all be released unconditionally after the war!" Qian Tiandun patiently fed Ruan Wenwen with reassurance.

Ruan Wenwen nodded, then turned around and waved his hand to the other side of the river, and then said to Qian Tiandun: "Please cross the river and surrender!"

"Takahashi Minami!"

"Here!"

"Cross the river with a company, collect weapons, and control the troops!"

"Yes!"

Takahashi gave a military salute and crossed the river with a group of militiamen, and began to clear the weapons of the defenders and drive the surrenderers together. This was the first time since the start of the war that the South Vietnamese had surrendered in formation, and it could be regarded as a precedent in the history of foreign wars by militia groups. Later, the captives would be taken outside the city to be held in makeshift camps. Although it is inevitable that these soldiers will be prisoners for a period of time, if nothing else, the 'lives' of these captives have been saved.

"What do you call General Ruan and Mr. Ruan, who came to the peace talks two days ago?" Qian Tiandun noticed that the names of the two people seemed to have something to do with each other, so he took advantage of the time to clean up the prisoners and asked with interest.

"It's my brother who is negotiating peace with your army!" Ruan Wenwen did not hide it at all, and directly explained his relationship with Ruan Jinggui.

"You two brothers know what is right...... Well, there will be a chance to make a comeback in the future. Halfway through Qian Tiandun's words, he suddenly felt that it seemed a little sarcastic, so he quickly stopped.

Ruan Wenwen glanced at Qian Tiandun, and said in a deep voice: "My brothers are not greedy for life and afraid of death, but they don't want to increase the number of murders, so these good sons and daughters gave their 'lives' in vain. After this battle, my two brothers will be regarded as traitors by the local people, and it is impossible for them to be used by the court in the north, and most of them will not even be able to keep their foothold!"

"The world is so big, as long as you have the ability, where can't you go?" Qian Tiandun said with a smile: "Your brother is a smart person, even if he can't stay in Annan, he will find another way out, and if he can't do it, he can also consider helping us do things." ”

"You and I are hostile, how can you use my two brothers? General Qian Mo is joking!" Ruan Wenwen obviously didn't think there was any feasibility in Qian Tiandun's statement.

"The change of dynasties, the latecomers use the generals of the previous dynasty, there are countless such things, there is nothing strange. Just like after the city of Hue was captured, would it be true that the imperial court in the north would kill all the officials in the south? No, after the killing, where would they find so many people who were familiar with geography and people's conditions to fill the vacant positions, and the vast majority of grassroots officials would still be retained, just to change the boss. Qian Tiandun looked at Ruan's scriptures with a look that he didn't understand, so he nodded to him again: "If you two brothers don't have the surname Ruan, it will not be difficult to arrange an errand for you locally after the war." However, considering the feelings of the court in the north, it is better for you to leave here and develop somewhere else. ”

Qian Tiandun's simple words were not casual words, but he really wanted to attract people to join the gang. The Haihan had great plans in the Indochina Peninsula, and four large ports of Da Nang, Quy Nhon, Cam Ranh, and Vung Tau had been planned just south of Hue. And the best candidates to do this kind of thing are businessmen and retired officials, in other words, people who know how to manage and can operate.

After the fall of the small court of South Vietnam, a number of officials and businessmen with their interests will certainly be cleared out of the field to make room for the forces of the north to intervene and take control. In Haihan's view, these liquidated personnel can be hired on the basis of merit, especially the relevant personnel of the Ruan family, because of political reasons, there is no way to get a chance to develop in Annam, and these people can be completely co-opted for their own use. Like Ruan Jinggui and Ruan Wenwen brothers, who are activists in the leading party, Qian Tiandun naturally would rather kill by mistake than let go, and pour a dose of ** soup first. As for how much effect this can receive, Qian Tiandun will not '' this heart, after all, his main business is to fight, and the person in charge of political work should be responsible for the matter of recruiting surrendered personnel, and if he manages too much, it will cause unnecessary trouble. After waiting for about half an hour, the surrender was finally over, but fortunately, the whole process was very smooth, and there were no clashes in the process of collecting weapons and concentrating the surrendered soldiers, so quiet that the nearby South Vietnamese defenders did not notice that there was a problem here. This made Qian Tiandun's perception of Ruan Wenwen a little higher, it is definitely impossible to inform his subordinates in advance of this kind of voluntary surrender, so as not to leak the news, if it is not for the absolute control of his subordinates, the process of surrender probably cannot be completed so smoothly, so it can be seen that this Ruan Wenwen should still have some ability.