As the midpoint of the voyage between the Strait of Malacca and the 'Gate' of Australia in China, the importance of the coastal ports of Indochina to the Portuguese is self-evident, and they have put a lot of effort into establishing a new colonial base on the Indochina Peninsula.

The Portuguese also had a lot of brains about who to choose as a partner on Indochina. The major powers on the eastern shore of the Indochina Peninsula were the Thang Long regime in the north, the Hue regime in the south-central Nguyen clan, and the Champa state in the south. Although the Champa people are still actively participating in the war between Siam and the Malays, their strength is too weak, and the Portuguese are not interested in 'spending' precious resources to support such a declining dynasty.

Among the north and south sides of Annam, the northern Zheng clan, which occupies the Red River Delta, a treasure of grain production, is undoubtedly stronger than the southern Nguyen clan, but the only problem is that there is no suitable natural harbor in their territory, and they are not on the traditional shipping route, but there are several port cities in the area controlled by the Nguyen clan in the south, and there are traditional trading ports such as Hoi An, which are just at the midpoint of the shipping route. In contrast, the Portuguese naturally chose the South Vietnamese court as a partner.

The Portuguese, who wanted to gain more in South Vietnam, had to make sure that the South Vietnamese regime would not fall, so they sold large quantities of arms to South Vietnam and helped train new units to use firearms - just as the Crossing Group had done in North Vietnam. The Portuguese were optimistic that with their military assistance, South Vietnam would be able to wipe out the Trung forces in the north in three to five years at most.

Half a year ago, this mysterious force appeared on the battlefield of Annam, and the South Vietnamese troops, who had already won the victory, were powerless to fight back with heavy artillery fire, and the South Vietnamese lost more than 20,000 men in more than ten days of fighting. The new-style army, which South Vietnam was proud of, was also beaten to the ground, and if it had not been retreated in time under the advice of the Portuguese officers, it might have been brought to the end by the Haihan people on the battlefield on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

Although South Vietnam lost badly in this battle, the Portuguese knew very well that North Vietnam was already at the end of the crossbow, and did not take the strength of South Vietnam in one go, and the key to the matter was the Haihan people who suddenly jumped out to participate in the civil war in Annam. However, fortunately, the Haihan people did not seem to have any intention of fighting, and did not pursue the South Vietnamese army south after driving them back to the south of the Zhengjiang River, which made both the Nguyen and the Portuguese breathe a sigh of relief. Half a year passed, no new war broke out between the north and the south, and a large number of Haihan goods began to appear in the South Vietnamese market, and everyone seemed to gradually forget the threat of the Haihan, and the Portuguese in South Vietnam slowly lost the motivation to retaliate against the Haihan.

However, at this time, the Haihan people, who had disappeared for half a year, actually killed again, and this time they directly killed Hoi An City, the hinterland of South Vietnam, the area with the highest concentration of Portuguese. It only took a little more than half a day for the Haihan people to capture the city of Hoi An, which was defenseless, and then it took several days to empty the city, and they did not forget to tear down the city wall when they left.

The Portuguese, led by Eduardo, could actually understand what the Haihan people meant by doing this -- Hoi An was the most important commercial city in South Vietnam, and destroying it would be equivalent to ruining the cornucopia of South Vietnam, and without Hoi An City, South Vietnam would hardly have enough financial resources to continue to maintain the situation of confrontation between the north and the south.

And the purpose of the Haihan people is not only that, Eduardo also noticed that the local Annam merchants and Western merchants were almost all spared, and suffered from the raid of the Haihan militia army, but most of the Chinese merchants avoided this disaster, as long as they could prove that they had the origin of the Ming Dynasty, almost all of them were not damaged in this disaster. The Haihan people seemed to be defending the Ming people by doing this, but Eduardo understood that this was a ruthless move -- the Chinese merchants were already the richest and most powerful force in Hoi An at this time, but how could the others be willing to watch them safe and sound? These Chinese merchants had the same appearance and spoke the same language as the foreign enemies who invaded the area, and it was almost a sure thing that the locals would be regarded as accomplices of the Haihan people after the war. If they want to live an easier life in the future, I'm afraid they will have to think about leaving here as much as possible.

After the Portuguese came to Hoi An, the Chinese merchants fought the most fiercely, both openly and secretly. Compared with the Portuguese who came here halfway around the world, Chinese businessmen settled in Hoi An much earlier, and almost controlled more than 70% of Hoi An's foreign trade. The Portuguese had to compete for a larger market share, but on the other hand, they could not offend the Chinese merchants who were able to transport rare goods from the Ming Dynasty. However, even the Portuguese, who were bent on fighting for control of Hoi An, did not want to drive the Chinese merchants out of Hoi An completely, because the result of that would inevitably hurt the Portuguese would also hurt their own interests. However, the Haihan militia did not have such scruples, and one move of 'wanting' to capture the past has already caused the status of Chinese businessmen in Hoi An to fall instantly. Although the Chinese businessmen did not lose their money, they did lose the social foundation on which they took root.

The 'chaos' came faster than Eduardo expected, and less than an hour after the Haihan fleet left Hoi An Harbor, a 'commotion' broke out in the rubble and ruins of Hoi An.

Some of the local merchants and civilians who had suffered losses in the looting rallied to ask for an explanation from the unscathed Chinese businessmen. The verbal denunciation soon lost control and turned into a big 'chaos' fight. However, the Haihan people may have expected such a situation, and before leaving, they sent a lot of swords, guns, sticks and sticks confiscated in the city to the local Chinese merchants, and the weapons in the city had already been confiscated by the Haihan militia, and the local forces besieging the Chinese merchants could not find weapons for a while, so they could only pull bricks and stones in the ruins to use, and both sides had their own casualties in the fighting.

The battle soon spread from one or two Chinese merchants who were attacked to the entire city, and many Chinese chambers of commerce in the city became Chinese refuges, and thousands of Chinese merchants who settled in Hoi An had to huddle together to keep warm and defend themselves against the attacks of the local population. By the evening of the same day, the number of people killed in the fighting between the different camps had risen to more than 100, and the withdrawal of the Hai Han militia had not brought peace to Hoi An, but had instead led to further violent clashes.

The next day, the 'chaotic' battle in the city continued, with more casualties than on the first day, and many former business partners turned against each other during these two days, and there were even many cases of relatives breaking up. Merchants from Western countries have taken a more sensible approach to hiding outside the city, and most of them have realized that no matter who wins or loses, the Annam and Chinese in the region are already in a state of fire and water, and there is probably no way to coexist peacefully in the future. And the prosperity of Hoi An City in the past is likely to be restored because of this new hatred.

In the early morning of the third day, several large Chinese merchants began to organize themselves to break through to the outside of the city, retreat to the river in the face of brick and stone attacks, and began to board ships to evacuate Hoi An City. As for the places they can go at present, there are probably only two ways, either to return to the Ming Dynasty, or to go to the territory of the Haihan people to make a living.

During the occupation of Hoi An by the Haihan militia, almost every Chinese merchant came to visit the Haihan officers, who not only persuaded the Chinese merchants not to oppose the Haihan militia, but also left them nautical charts so that they could leave Hoi An if necessary and settle down at Shengli Harbor on Qiongzhou Island. Of course, it's best to evacuate with the vigilante fleet, and get a free escort along the way.

But in the end, only a very small number of discerning people realized the changes that were about to take place in Hoi An City, and chose to pack up their family property and evacuate Hoi An with the Haihan militia. The vast majority of them lost their property and even their relatives in this 'riot' and 'chaos', and they couldn't record this hatred on the head of the Haihan militia, after all, it was not the Haihan who did evil in these two days, but the locals who had already turned red-eyed.

The Portuguese guild hall was not attacked by the local mob, of course, this is not because they have any high majesty, but because their property has also been robbed by the Haihan people, and even the guild hall has been demolished, and now there is no oil and water at all. Except for the more than 2,000 catties of grain that were "merciously" left behind by the Haihan militia when they evacuated, the Portuguese in Hoi An can be said to have nothing left, and even their boats on the dock were all taken away by the Haihan people in the name of requisition. According to Eduardo's estimates, the direct economic losses of the Portuguese in this disaster alone were at least more than 200,000 taels of silver. If you want to count the entire city of Hoi An, it is difficult for Eduardo to calculate how much the Han people made in this sale.

But one thing is certain: Hoi An, which has lost its great wealth and Chinese merchants, will soon become a dead city. Not to mention that the South Vietnamese court did not have spare money to rebuild Hoi An City, and even if it did, it would be difficult to restore the prosperity of Hoi An City in the past.

Eduardo also knew that the council of Australia was in contact with the Haihan, but it was clear that this contact did not change the attitude of the Haihan towards South Vietnam, and may even have been regarded as a sign of weakness by the Haihan. Eduardo believed that after the sacking of Hoi An, the various measures taken by the Portuguese in the country, including military aid to the South Vietnamese court, had become of little significance. However, he could also feel that the Haihan people did not have the malice to kill their side, except for the first few unlucky ghosts who committed suicide, the Haihan people did not abuse or kill any Portuguese again.

Of course, the most important thing was the direct statement of the Haihan officer, and Eduardo remembered that the Portuguese-speaking officer had said to himself before leaving, as long as the Portuguese stayed out of the matter and no longer interfered in the domestic affairs of Annam, then everything was negotiable. However, if they chose to continue to support the South Vietnamese court, there was no guarantee that the Haihan side would not take some necessary measures against the Portuguese in the future.

As for what kind of necessary means, Wang Tom did not say clearly, but Eduardo himself could guess a few points. Since the Haihan people planned to completely cut off the financial route of the South Vietnamese court, it was naturally not enough to cut off the Chinese merchants, and they must find a way to get the Portuguese to withdraw from this chess game. Tom's words are both a warning and a reminder. Since the Haihan people have the ability to fight across the sea, then the entire east coast of Annam can be regarded as their attack range, and South Vietnam cannot come up with a decent maritime defense force, unless the Portuguese send their own fleet to help them out, otherwise South Vietnam will not want to have a maritime port city like Hoi An in the future.

Would the Portuguese send their own fleet to fight the Haihan for the benefit of South Vietnam? The answer, of course, is no. Although Eduardo himself was sacked quite a bit of 'flesh' by the disaster, he still did not think it was enough to justify putting Portugal in a state of 'belligerence' with the Hahan. Although it was already known that the Haihan had a certain ability to fight at sea, and had successfully penetrated into the upper reaches of the Zhengjiang River and the coast of South Vietnam in January, he believed that it was necessary to raise his understanding of the military strength of the Haihan to a higher level.

Although Eduardo had never seen a Haihan warship before, he was also a man who had set foot halfway around the world, and he could still see the combat potential of a fleet. The warships of the Haihan people are not the rough and clumsy style of the Ming Dynasty, the appearance is simple and bright, similar to Western-style sails, but there are significant differences in appearance, this kind of warship is not an ordinary civilian ship at a glance, or even a modified from a merchant ship, but a warship designed for sea battles. In other words, the Haihan people are not joking, this is not a 'private' armed force of a non-governmental organization at all, but a real army!

The Portuguese had only a small military advisory corps in the Annam region that served the South Vietnamese court. But this team was based in Hue province to the north, and the distant water could not save the fire - of course, even if they did, Eduardo did not think that they would be able to resist the nearly 1,000-strong Haihan militia on a frontal battlefield. As for the navy, there is no need to count on it, there is no Portuguese navy in the east of Manraka, only seven or eight armed merchant ships will regularly escort delivery ships on the Far East route of Macao's 'Gate'-Hoi An-Manraka-Goa, and the armed merchant ships do not seem to have any advantage in dealing with the warships of the Haihans.

Of course, the Portuguese who were able to colonize the world did not have warships in their hands, but they were a little farther away. The nearest naval force to Hoi An at present was stationed in Goa, on the west coast of India, from where the voyage to Hoi An was more than 6,000 nautical miles, and it took the ships about two months to arrive, and the Governor of Goa could never have allowed his precious warships to travel so far to fight a naval battle with unknown objectives and uncertainties for the loss of a group of merchants.

Even if it is won or lost for the time being, the military expenses for sending warships to travel so far are an extremely terrible figure, and the local Portuguese merchants in Hoi An were looted this time, and they could not scrape together the money to move the troops in a short time. If you take 10,000 steps back, even if you can scrape together the money to buy the governor of Goa to send troops, this time and forth, plus the delay of various affairs in the middle, it will be about half a year before the rescuers come here, and what scale will the navy of the Haihan people develop into at that time, and whether their own navy can beat them, no one dares to fight this package.

Eduardo wasn't just a sakebag either, and he quickly made the decision accordingly. First of all, send an envoy to Hue Province to report to the military advisory group, informing them of the disaster that had occurred in Anthanh, and then send a boat from Hue Province to the north and south to report the news to the stronghold of Ao 'Gate' and Manraka, and then send a ship from Manraka to Goa to complete the relay -- all the ships that were slightly larger in Hoi An Harbor and could go to sea were taken away by the Han people and Chinese merchants, and now it is not easy to find a boat to cross the Thu Bon River, and if you want to report the news, you can only go around in a big circle.

The second was to organize the local Portuguese to temporarily avoid the riots in Hoi An - after the evacuation of most of the Chinese merchants, Hoi An had completely lost its social order, and people began to kill each other for the limited food and ownerless wealth in the city. Some stragglers who had fled from Hoi An City and entered the mountainous areas in the northwest returned to Hoi An City after the departure of the Haihan People's League, but these people did not play a role in maintaining order, but quickly joined the riots and rushed to the front line.

Things have developed to this point, and all the discerning people know that Hoi An City is completely finished. Even die-hards like Eduardo, who had been staunch supporters of the South Vietnamese court and had persuaded other businessmen to provide military aid to South Vietnam, had to change their minds and consider how to find another way out. It is not only a question of whether it is necessary to choose another site to build a trade port, but also whether it is necessary to consider whether it should continue to support the South Vietnamese court and choose a path to continue to work against the Haihan people. The Hai Han people have made it very clear that the conflict of interests between South Vietnam and the Hai Han is irreconcilable, and if the Hai Han people destroy the first one in a trading port like Hoi An, the same thing will definitely happen again. If the South Vietnamese court did not have the ability to protect itself, then the end of building another trading port would probably be the same here. What's more, after the news of Hoi An spreads, there will probably be no more Chinese businessmen from the Ming Dynasty to settle in South Vietnam. It wasn't until five days after the Haihan people evacuated Hoi An that the rescuers from Hue Province in the north finally appeared. It's just that they came too late, and the city of Hoi An that they saw was completely in ruins. This former trading port endured a series of violent baptisms such as bombardment, blockade, raiding, demolition of city walls, riots, arson, and looting in the space of ten days, and the South Vietnamese generals who led the team could not even believe what they saw.