The Haihan had only arrived on Qiongzhou Island for a little over a year, but they had already established a number of colonies and expanded at an astonishing rate, an efficiency that would have put the Portuguese, once proud of their global colonization, to shame...... For more up-to-date chapters, visit wèn:.

Portugal was one of the first European countries to colonize Asia, and in 1498 Gagama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to Calicut, a port on the southwest coast of India, where he established a stronghold and was appointed the first Viceroy of India. However, more than 100 years later, apart from Goa on the west coast of India, the main Portuguese colonies in Asia have only added a few places such as Manchuria, Timor and Ho Kiang O. Comparing the speed of expansion of the Haihan, Enrique felt that the successive governors of these Asian colonies should have been hanged.

Of course, Enrique, who is familiar with the history of Portuguese colonization, is also well aware that his country's process of colonizing in Asia is fundamentally different from that of the Haihan, who can be described as "gentle" in comparison.

When da Gama first arrived in India, he was rejected by the locals because of his tough attitude, so he ordered artillery attacks on the locals and took many hostages. More often than not, the Portuguese fleet played the role of robbers, slave hunters, and criminals, rather than an advanced civilization that brought good news to the backward regions.

The 16th-century Mughal historian Talis wrote about the actions of the Portuguese at the time: "Pirates from Rakhine, on the northern coast of Burma, both Portuguese and locals, used to come to Bengal by guò to rob by water. They took the men they caught, pierced their palms, pierced them with thin rattan sticks through the 'holes' in their palms, and crumbled them into a pile and locked them below the deck of the ship. They leave some of the raw rice behind every morning, just like we feed the 'chickens'......"

Although the Portuguese themselves saw their trip to Asia as a new crusade to spread Catholic teachings, they tried to force people to convert their religion through massacres, tortures, extortion, etc., which also 'provoked' strong religious hatred among the locals.

Of course, this situation is not all his own fault in Enrique's view, because the domestic base is weak, and it is unable to continue to provide manpower and financial resources for overseas bases, and the position of the Portuguese in Asia is being replaced by the Dutch and British, so that many Portuguese have to engage in piracy, or take over some small transactions that other European countries do not bother to do. The rule of the colonies, due to the limited manpower, could only be carried out in a more simple and crude way.

And Enrique's approach to colonization is undoubtedly much more sophisticated than his own methods. The living conditions provided by the Haihan people to their subordinates were far better than they were before they came to Shengli Port, and they had a well-developed civil administration system to manage the increasing number of immigrants.

Although this method of using favorable conditions to attract immigrants was very effective, Enrique also knew that Ho Kyong O or other Portuguese colonies could not be imitated - for the simple reason that it would take too much money and materials to do so, and it would certainly not be able to sustain such a large scene without sufficient financial resources. Of course, even with such financial resources, the dignitaries would never 'waste' a single silver coin on the people and slaves who were like ants.

The new State Guest House, built on the slopes of Phoenix Ridge northwest of Victory Port, opened in June, and Enrique was fortunate to be one of the first guests here. He had long heard that the Haihan people lived in luxury, but it was only after living here that Enrique understood the true meaning of this statement. In addition to the eye-catching glass windows, what caught his eye was that the bathrooms were full of ceramic fixtures, with wall tiles, wash basins, 'flush' toilets, and hot showers that served eight hours a day, and Enrique felt that any one of these things would be enough to make the hillbillies in Ho Jing O marvel - although he couldn't help but sigh when he first saw them.

The three meals a day are also hearty, the staple food is rice, the 'meat' is mainly seafood, and sometimes there are 'chicken' ducks and the like. Enrique was more sensitive to taste, and he was able to pick out the flavors of a variety of spices from the meals served by the Haihan people, which he knew meant that Tao Donglai was not bragging. And such a meal in Europe must be enjoyed at least by the middle aristocracy. If it weren't for something, Enrique would have really wanted to live in Port Victory for a few months and enjoy this rare life.

One morning, Enrique was awakened from his sleep by a commotion. He got up and walked to the window, opened the curtains and looked out, from which he could clearly see the beautiful scene of the entire Victory Harbor. But when he saw the scene on the dock, he immediately fell asleep.

"Koko, you idiot, get up!" Enrique kicked the black slave sleeping on the ground.

The black slave rolled over and hurriedly helped Enrique put on his coat and put on his boots.

"Grab my hat, now let's go to the docks!" Enrique didn't bother to double-check his dress, and went out of the 'door' in a panic. The servant Koko didn't even have time to put on his shoes, grabbing Enrique's hat and following quickly.

Enrique was so anxious because he saw a large number of armed men gathering on the docks to board the ships, and five warships, one large, four and five small, plus at least four supply ships, were preparing to leave the docks.

If it had been a few days earlier, Enrique would not have been alarmed by such a scene, because the Haihan people liked to gather troops for various exercises without warning. But yesterday, by chance, he heard two locals talking to each other, saying that they were about to go to sea to fight in Annam.

Enrique, of course, was well aware of the attitude of the Haihan people on the issue of the civil war in Annam, and if the Haihan sent troops again, then it would be self-evident who they planned to deal with. Enrique wanted to go to Tao Dong again today to talk about South Vietnam, even if he couldn't organize the Haihan, but at least he had to try to leave more buffer time for his own family, so as to reduce the economic losses of the Portuguese in South Vietnam as much as possible. But what he didn't expect was that the Haihan people actually said that they would do it, and they just heard the rumors yesterday, and they were ready to set off today.

In fact, the preparation period for this war was not short, and the Central Military Commission had already put forward a plan for a sabotage campaign against the port cities of South Vietnam in early June, but due to various objective reasons, this plan was postponed until late July before it entered the implementation stage. Prior to this, the various departments and 'departments' had already made preparations for war, and were waiting for the Executive Committee to issue the final order. The operation will be commanded by Navy Captain Wang Tom and will lead a nine-ship flotilla from Victory Port, with Captain Qian Tien Dun of the North Vietnamese Military Division as the second-in-command, leading the Black Soil Port Special Operations Force from North Vietnam. The two forces were to meet near Hoi An in South Vietnam and then launch an assault on Hoi An City.

"Tao ...... Mr. Tao, you ...... This is to ...... What are you doing?" Enrique, who was out of breath, rushed to the dock and immediately questioned Tao Donglai.

"You see, send troops!" Tao Donglai's face was calm: "The allies of North Vietnam have applied for assistance to us, and from our point of view, there is no reason to refuse them. So we decided to send troops to strike at the rebels in South Vietnam. ”

"You're provoking a new round of war!" Enrique retorted.

"No, we are hastening the end of the civil war in Annam, destroying the rebels in South Vietnam, and Annam will be able to buy peace and unity. Tao Donglai was not taken seriously by Enrique's rebuke at all. This kind of trick of thieves shouting to catch thieves, Tao Donglai watched the spokesman of the lighthouse country perform countless times before crossing, and his cheekiness is far beyond Enrique's reach.

"If you think what we are doing is wrong, then you can take a boat to Annam now and stop this war from happening. Yan Chujie was not as deep as Tao Donglai's city mansion, so he immediately launched a counterattack: "As long as you let the Ruan family surrender the city, then we can ensure the personal safety of his family, so that unnecessary killing can also be avoided, do you say?"

Enrique was dumbfounded, not knowing what to answer. How could it be done if he went to Annan to be a peace envoy to persuade these families to lay down their arms? This is not a dispute that can be resolved by paying money and apologizing, but a war for the power of a country, whether it is the south or the north, and those in power will certainly not give up the power in their hands -- even if they have to pay thousands of 'lives' for this, in the eyes of those in power.

"What you can't get on the battlefield, don't expect to get it back by mouth!" Yan Chujie looked at Enrique's deflated appearance, and his mood finally improved, but he still didn't forget to taunt him again.

When Enrique heard this, he suddenly realized why the attitude of the Haihan people was so tough, after all, it was because of the force in their hands. If South Vietnam can have a good role on the battlefield, then the Portuguese mediation may play a role. However, the combat strength of the Hai Han militia is obviously much higher than that of the South Vietnamese army, and it is indeed too simple to simply rely on mediation at the negotiating table to stop the offensive of the Hai Han people.

Enrique glanced at the Haihan warship that was slowly leaving the dock, and the sailors and crew members stood in a row on the side of the ship, raised their right hands to salute the Haihan military salute to the send-off team on the dock, and the people who saw them off also responded with enthusiastic cheers. It didn't look like a fleet on a long voyage at all, but rather an ordinary patrol at sea, and Enrique understood that this was because the local people had a high level of confidence in the combat effectiveness of the Haihan militia, because this army had never lost a battle since its inception. The militia participated in the war half a year ago, and finally won a lot of war dividends for Victory Port, and now in the war against South Vietnam, the people must be sure of the outcome of the victory.

"Is there no other solution to this qiē?" said Enrique, frustrated.

"Perhaps, but that's not what we want. Tao Donglai looked at the distant sail shadow, and answered without looking back.

Ten days before the Haihan troops were dispatched, the North Vietnamese army had already begun to make large-scale troop movements on the line of fighting for the Heng Son in accordance with the prior agreement. Thousands of North Vietnamese troops were added to various checkpoints, which also aroused the vigilance of the South Vietnamese army. In order to prevent the North Vietnamese Army from breaking through this defensive line, the South Vietnamese Army began to mobilize troops from Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces to assemble to the north. South Vietnam even transferred 5,000 troops to the 'Gate' and stationed them in the 'Dong' Sea, which was last attacked by the Hai Han militia from the sea, in case the heavy grain and grass transported to the front line were damaged by the enemy. However, what they did not expect was that this time the opponent did not have the idea of attacking the 'hole' sea at all, but set the target in the hinterland of South Vietnam, which was far away from the 'engagement' war zone.

On the same day that the naval units departed from Shengli Harbor, the special operations unit of Heitu Port, which had been assembled in Yong'an Harbor, also boarded the ship and headed south. The voyage from Vinh An Port to Hoi An is almost the same as that from Victory Port to Hoi An, so the two sides agreed to meet directly in Hoi An without having to make the fleet from the base camp go around the north.

After the end of the war in January, the Black Soil Harbor Special Operations Company was commended for its outstanding performance in battle, and the Military Commission also gave the green light to Qian Tiandun's plan for expanding the army. After half a year, the special operations unit of Heitu Port has changed from one reinforced company to three reinforced companies. If it weren't for the lack of artillery on the North Vietnamese side, Qian Tiandun would have wanted to add an artillery company to upgrade the special operations unit to a battalion-level unit.

At present, the main source of special operations troops is still North Vietnamese immigrants, and more than 80 percent of the soldiers are from Annam. The training place of this unit was not in the port of Heitu, but on the island of Cat Ba, across the sea from the Tu Son Peninsula. The training environment of this unit is much more difficult than that of the base camp, and the corresponding ability to survive and fight in the field is also much stronger. But compared to the base camp, this unit had much fewer combat opportunities.

Several military operations of the Central Military Commission in the mainland area were all carried out by transferring troops from the base camp to participate, but because the distance between the port of Heitu was too far, there was basically no share. Although the opponent in the south was weak, without the direct order of the Executive Committee, Qian Tiandun did not dare to lead his troops south to start a war on his own. As for the sporadic pirates in the Beibu Gulf, they have long been cleared out by the special warfare company, and now there are no more pirates from Heitu Port to Lianzhou Mansion and Leizhou Mansion on the Ming side.

Therefore, this time there was a new combat opportunity, and Qian Tiandun also attached great importance to it, and began to conduct special training more than a month in advance. After returning from the reconnaissance operation in July, Qian Tiandun also used the information at hand to build a simple training ground in Yongan Harbor to simulate street fighting after the invasion of Hoi An. With the new short-barreled smoothbore shotgun provided by the Ministry of Military Industry, the special operations unit is also like a tiger with wings, and they are waiting to do a big job after going south.

On 2 August, Qian Tiandun, who had made a big circle at sea, finally waited for the main fleet of the base camp. The two fleets met in the open sea about 40 nautical miles from Hoi An, and then Qian Tiandun boarded the "Expedition", the flagship of the operation, in a small boat.

The specific battle plan had already been drawn up, and the main purpose of this meeting was to finalize some details after the landing. Tom Wang and Qian Tiandun are both veterans who have participated in many military operations, and their understanding and attitude towards this battle are relatively consistent, so they quickly completed the talks and determined the combat process.

In the evening of the same day, the fleet sailed into the port of Cham Island, which was only ten nautical miles from Hoi An. The militia on board took control of the fishing village on the island with lightning speed, and temporarily detained more than 20 fishermen together. In order to prepare the soldiers for optimal combat condition, the next day did not rush to attack, but rested for a whole day, and it was not until the dawn of the sky on August 4 that the fleet left Cham Island and sailed west to the mouth of the Thu Bon River.

Such a fleet of ships with a gross tonnage of more than 3,000 tons sailing on the sea is inevitably very eye-catching. Hoi An was the most prosperous trading port in South Vietnam, and there was a constant stream of ships coming in and out of the mouth of the Thu Bon River, and it was not long before someone discovered this fleet of unknown origin. Of course, no one was really aware of the danger at this time, because no one could have expected that a large rear area like Hoi An would also be attacked—and that attack would come from the sea, which had traditionally been regarded as a natural barrier by South Vietnam.

When the fleet entered the mouth of the Thu Bon River, someone finally noticed that something was wrong: "This is not a merchant ship, this is a war ship! Look at the gun window on the side of the ship!"

Some of them rushed to the mouth of the sea in an attempt to escape the area where they were about to be attacked, while others rushed to the pier outside Hoi An in order to warn the city before the enemy arrived. But it is a pity that this warning came too late, and it was only about 5 nautical miles from the mouth of the Thu Bon River to Hoi An City, and this time was not even enough for the defenders to mobilize their forces - of course, perhaps Wang Tom and others wished that the defenders could concentrate their forces together, so that they could directly come to the pot with a fierce artillery attack.

Although the South Vietnamese also placed some armed men and boats on the Thu Bon River, compared to the invaders who broke into the Thu Bon River, the boats of the South Vietnamese sailors were simply small sampans, and they did not even have the courage to approach the opponent. The only South Vietnamese warship that somehow rushed over to stop the convoy was directly crushed by the "Expedition" and turned into a pile of debris floating on the surface of the river without any suspense.

"All gunners enter the battle position, open the gun window, and prepare for battle!" Wang Tom Tong Guò walkie-talkie gave the order to the warships in the ranks.

"The infantry inspect their weapons and prepare for the landing!" Qian Tiandun also gave orders to his subordinates. Ahead, you can already see the riverside wharf outside Hoi An City, as well as the local people fleeing in panic on the wharf. So far, it seems that no local garrisons have been seen in formation. "Open the cannon, tell them, we're coming!" Tom put down his binoculars and gave the order to the artillerymen on the second deck.