Taiyuan, Yue King's Palace.

"We must strike first, smash the current position of the French Expeditionary Force with thunderous and resolute actions, and break into Hanoi in one fell swoop, otherwise it will be seriously disadvantageous to us if the confrontation continues, the division veterans are tired, even if it is a tiger, there are times when they take a nap, not to mention our weak side."

Major General Li Xuanzhu has a majestic beard at the corner of his lips, and he looks more mature, a little older than the 33-year-old.

This middle-aged general, who fought all the way with the rise of the Ocean Kingdom, has experienced countless bloody battles and accumulated extremely rich practical experience in his more than ten years of military career.

With a slender baton in his hand, he pointed to a large map of the Vietnam operation and continued;

"Your Majesty;

I remind Your Majesty of the topography of Hanoi, which the French have dug up a piece of the southeastern part of Beiqi, from which it is possible to attack Thai Nguyen Province smoothly to the north, Shanxi-Province to the northwest, Quang Ninh Province to the southwest, and the entire hinterland of the Viet Nam Province is exposed to the Hanoi defensive line.

With our limited forces, we have to defend everywhere, but in fact we cannot defend everywhere, and the strategic situation is extremely unfavorable.

As of now

The French Expeditionary Force has amassed a group of 16,400 heavy troops in Hanoi, and there are as many as 33,000 Vietnamese servants, posing a substantial threat to the security of Vietnam, leaving us less and less time.

We must understand that as a world power, the foreign legions in the French Expeditionary Force are first-class in terms of combat effectiveness and equipment, and their strength far surpasses ours.

The failure of the mediation between the great powers in Singapore means that the pace of war is getting closer and closer, and we should not have unrealistic illusions about peace, but should prepare for a war for the founding of the country.

At this moment, we must have the determination to break the cauldron in order to be able to put it to death and come back to life. ”

At this closed-door highest-level military meeting, sitting in the middle was naturally Gu Zhiwen, the king of Yue, his face was much thinner and darker than last year, and it seemed that the pressure was very high during this time, which made him restless.

In addition to the members of the Military Observation Corps led by Major General Li Zhuzhu, there were also Lieutenant General Fan Dong Zhang, chief of staff of the Vietnamese Army, Major General Gu Zhilin, commander of the First Division, Major General Chen Qiang, commander of the Second Division, Major General Zheng Qiang, commander of the Third Division, Xu Shaozu, general of the Black Flag Army, Li Ping, Governor of Guangxi, Duan Qirui, General of the Guangdong Army, and other senior members.

After listening to Major General Li Xuanzhu's analysis, the scene fell into a deathly silence, and everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to King Gu Zhiwen, only he could make this important decision of whether to fight or not.

It can be seen

King Gu Zhiwen was under heavy pressure, and his spirit seemed to be a little sluggish, and in the face of an existential crisis, not everyone had the courage to fight to the death.

Hesitation for a moment

Gu Zhiwen asked in a dry tone; "General Li, can the Ocean Kingdom give strong military aid?"

"Your Majesty, all the assistance you can get is here, please understand that this is a war of the Yue Kingdom, not a war of the Ocean Kingdom, the Ocean Kingdom has supported everything that can be done, and it is up to the people of the Yue Kingdom to win the victory together."

Major General Li Lianzhu's answer obviously could not satisfy Gu Zhiwen, and his eager gaze turned to Li Ping, the governor of Guangxi, only to see that the other party shook his head silently, and he looked at Duan Qirui, the general soldier of Guangdong, and Duan Qirui simply looked out the window with a disdainful expression.

For this indecisive lord of the country, he was also speechless.

it!

Don't you know that we are now officials of the Great Qing Kingdom, just help secretly.

If we let the court know that we dare to get involved in this matter, I am afraid that the Tongzhi Emperor will be scared of the corpse, and Gu Zhixue, who is in the capital, will be imprisoned immediately, and Gu Yanchuan, the governor of Liangguang, will not do it, strip off the flower feather on the top, and be convicted of the crime.

Don't doubt the strong reaction of the Manchu court, they are now frightened birds, and they can definitely handle this ruthless attack.

Take the French for fools, I'm afraid they will die an ugly death.

People have to die more than people, and goods have to be thrown away!

Compared with His Majesty Li Fushou, the lord of the Great Ocean Kingdom, the performance of Gu Zhiwen, the king of the Yue Kingdom, was really turned into scum in seconds, if it weren't for the great help of the Ocean Kingdom, and the guns and equipment and the help to train the army, the Yue Kingdom who was a fart, wash and sleep early.

Gu Zhiwen himself didn't have the embarrassment of begging people everywhere, he took it back with a disappointed gaze, and said with a heavy heart; "General Li, the French are not easy to mess with, how can they end up when they start a war and provoke it?"

"If you don't fight, then you will die, and I will not be accompanied by you again." Major General Li Xuanzhu's tone was also unkind.

If it is according to his vision

This war should have been fought a long time ago, instead of waiting for the French expeditionary force to increase again and again, this king Gu Zhiwen has always been indecisive, and the patience of Major General Li Xuanzhu is about to be exhausted, and he wants to pick a son and quit.

"General Lee...... No, in this time of crisis, why should General Li abandon me! ”

"Your Majesty, the decision of war or peace is in your hands, if you don't have the determination to fight to the death, the Yue Kingdom will die, we are the active soldiers of the Ocean Kingdom, that is, we are ordered to help you, etc., we will do our best. However, it is not ridiculous that Your Majesty is pushing left and right, but it seems that we are instigating the sovereign to go to war for our own selfish interests, trapping His Majesty the King in an unkind and unjust situation, and pushing the Yue Kingdom to the brink of peril? ”

"Ah, General Li is too worried, this king has no such intention."

"There is no need to discuss this issue, let's leave first, and if Your Majesty has made a decision, you can inform us."

After Li Xuanzhu finished speaking, he put down the baton in his hand, picked up the military hat and put it on his head, and strode away with Lieutenant Colonel Bian Chunsong and others, leaving only the stunned King Gu Zhiwen and the others.

Guangxi Governor Li Ping gave Duan Qirui a look, and the two also stood up one after another, arched their hands and left.

What are you doing here?

His Majesty the King had a serious dependence, and he was originally a middle-aged person, so he was not able to convince the public, which made them quite unoptimistic about the future of the Yue Kingdom.

With the current situation facing Vietnam, it can be said that it is as dangerous as an egg.

His Majesty hesitated again and again, and missed the opportunity to attack first, so that the forces of the French expeditionary force could be gathered, and at this moment they were already facing the edge of the cliff, and one step back would be a catastrophe.

In the final analysis, I am still afraid of foreigners in my heart.

In the opinion of Duan Qirui, the general soldier of Guangdong;

In any case, the starting point of everything must be the safety of the kingdom, even if the French expeditionary force is strong and fights first, there will be no complaints if it is defeated.

Victory, the border can be pushed south to a place in the geographically narrow province of Ha Tinh or Quang Binh, where the width is only about 40 to 50 kilometers, from which a strong defensive line can be established and the foundation for the long-term peace and stability of the kingdom can be established.

Even if the French occupied the Kingdom of Laos, they would not be able to take advantage of its geographical position to attack the Kingdom of Vietnam from the flank.

This is because in the territory of the Kingdom of Laos, there are tropical rainforests, rivers and rivers, in addition to the Mekong River, the Red River and other large rivers, there are countless small rivers and streams, most of which flow from north to south, cutting the tropical rainforest into irregular strips, and there is no road connection at all.

If the French army wanted to attack from the flank, it would have to overcome the aforementioned harsh tropical geography and cross swamps, streams and tropical jungles to fight its way out, and it could only succeed, not fail.

Because there is no way out, no food, no drink, and being driven into the tropical jungle again is faced with only a dead end.

As for saying that the French will be furious after the victory, then it doesn't matter what happens to the country.

After relieving the kingdom's imminent existential crisis, the Yue Kingdom can recharge its strength and take advantage of its advantageous geographical position to wait for the enemy to attack.

If you can win once, you can win a second time.

The biggest crisis of the Yue Kingdom now is that there is no port, and all military supplies need to be transferred from Guangzhou Prefecture for thousands of miles, which is the biggest drawback of the kingdom.

If the battle of Hanoi can be won and the border can be extended south to the geographically narrow province of Ha Tinh or Quang Binh province, the port of Hai Phong can be well protected in the rear.

Then, the continuous flow of supplies from Hai Phong Port can reach Hanoi in close proximity, and the military supplies arriving from the Ocean Kingdom and the immigrants arriving from the mainland can all enter through the port, which is of great social and military significance.

Gu Zhiwen fully understood all this, but he just couldn't make up his mind.

When everyone finished hula-la-la, he was a little dumbfounded.

Lieutenant General Fan Tongzhang, Chief of Staff of the Army, was born in Lianghuai Jinshi, and was also a protégé of Gu Yanchuan, a famous family in Gusu City.

He took a deep breath with a solemn expression and bowed his hand; "Your Majesty, you should continue to suffer from it!"

"Your Majesty, please." All the generals saluted in unison.

King Gu Zhiwen, who was sitting in the middle, looked at the generals and was in a state of confusion, but this decision was as heavy as Mount Tai, and he couldn't open his mouth.

In the past few years in Beiqi

Governor Gu supported Gu Zhiwen's lineage, invested almost all his property and belongings, and was also burdened with a huge debt of millions of taels of silver, and finally pulled the scene of the Yue Kingdom, and once defeated, it was all in vain.

Facing such a behemoth as France, Gu Zhiwen was really scared, and in his heart he felt that the chances of winning the war were too slim.

Think about it, even the Manchu court army can't defeat it, and if a small country like Yue Guo wants to confront it, how much pressure is there?

It's hard to make this determination!

He was originally a scholarly man who traveled in the mountains and forests, and after traveling in Australia, he had undeserved ambitions, and then due to fate, he embarked on this difficult road of independent statehood step by step.

So, his mind is now messed up and he can't make any decisions at all.

"Your Majesty, why don't you call and ask the king of the Ocean Kingdom?"

"Ah...... Yes, yes, send a telegram quickly. ”