The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 314: Destroying a Country in Ten Days (Part )

February 1733, 2, Nanping (now Cam Ranh, Vietnam).

Governor-General of Annan Kuang Wenhuan walked into the conference room. He paused for a moment at the door and glanced at the military and political officials sitting inside. He saw that they were still whispering to each other, discussing their respective matters at hand. Some of them were even smiling and looked relaxed, without any tension before the battle.

Kuang Wenhuan frowned, his face darkened, and he slowly walked to the top seat, stood there motionlessly, looking at everyone with a cold expression.

The buzzing noise in the conference room gradually died down and finally fell into silence, and everyone's eyes shifted to the face of the Governor.

"A call from Chang'an..." Kuang Wenhuan continued to stand there, holding a telegram in his right hand, his face solemn, "Your Majesty, the Cabinet, and the General Staff jointly sent an order. After receiving the telegram, the Annan Headquarters Operation Command will be established immediately, and Benxian will be the commander-in-chief of the operation. The Annan Governor-General's District and the Runzhou Governor-General's District will also be put into wartime status."

Upon hearing this, the military and political officials present were startled, and then subconsciously restrained their smiles, straightened their sitting postures, and looked at the Governor-General intently.

The establishment of the Annan Operations Command means that His Majesty the Emperor, the Cabinet and the military have reached a consensus and are ready to use force against Annan.

The entire Annan territory has entered a wartime state. If anyone neglects state affairs or offends his superiors, he will be directly punished by military law.

"In order to ensure the smooth progress of the war, I will now announce several temporary appointments." Seeing that all the military and political officials present were breathing hard and looking at him respectfully, Kuang Wenhuan felt extremely satisfied. "General Qiao Rulin, the commander of the Annan Fleet, will be the deputy commander-in-chief of the headquarters' combat command. He will command all water vessels in the region, including the Annan Fleet, Champa, Ha Tien, Guangnan and other vassal states' naval vessels, as well as various types of merchant ships that have been temporarily requisitioned. They have the right to act at their own discretion during the war."

"Annam Garrison Commander Luo Yunzhou is the deputy commander-in-chief of the headquarters' combat command, commanding all land combat forces in the region, including the garrison 2nd Mixed Regiment, the 7th Mixed Regiment, and two battalions of the 19th Mixed Regiment in Luzon, as well as the army troops of Champa, Ha Tien, Guangnan and other vassal states. He also has the right to act at his own discretion during the war."

"Lieutenant Guo Ziqi, the commander-in-chief of the Annan region's military police, is the chief of public security at the headquarters' combat command. He is in charge of the military police, police, and militia in Annan and Runzhou, and is responsible for local peacekeeping and public security. If there are any crimes, they can be dealt with according to military law."

"Xie Mingxun, the General Manager of the Civil Affairs Department of the Annan Governorate, is the General Manager of Logistics of the Headquarters Operations Command. He is responsible for the unified dispatch and transportation of military supplies for Annan, Runzhou, and local vassal states. During wartime, he has the right to requisition any personnel and supplies under his command and dispose of them at his convenience."

"Captain Chen Tieping, the commander of the Black Guards of the Annan Governorate, is the chief intelligence officer of the headquarters' combat command. He is responsible for intelligence collection and analysis during wartime, and provides detailed and reliable intelligence support for the military's combat plans."

"..."

After Kuang Wenhuan announced the personnel appointments, he looked at the two senior generals of the army and navy with a burning gaze and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty's order and the General Staff's order have instructed that this war will go all out to destroy Annan as quickly as possible, disintegrate its resistance, and end the entire war before Qin can make any response. Here, I would like to ask you two, how long will it take to completely destroy Annan and end the entire war?"

"The General Secretary is asking about the destruction of Annan?" Annan Garrison Commander, Army General Guangwei (Major General) Luo Yunzhou and Navy Commander, Zhenguo General (Lieutenant General) Qiao Rulin looked at each other and asked in return.

"Yes, it is to destroy Annan, not to defeat it."

"Judging from the military strength we have in the Annan region, I believe that Annan can be destroyed in two months." Luo Yunzhou estimated in his mind and said a time that he thought was safe.

"No!" Kuang Wenhuan immediately shook his head and said, "Two months is too long. It goes against the overall operational requirements of His Majesty and the General Staff."

"..." Luo Yunzhou seemed a little embarrassed.

Once a war breaks out, various unexpected situations will arise and problems will arise one after another, and not all of them will evolve and proceed according to the pre-planned combat plan.

With the military strength in the Annan region, it would not be very difficult to defeat Annan, but the combat requirements sent from the mainland were to destroy the country and cut off its supply of energy, in order to swallow up the Annan Le Dynasty.

This involves some consideration of the combat capability of the Qi army and the commander's battlefield adaptability.

"How long do you think it will take to destroy Annan?"

Please give me a deadline and I will figure out if I can do it.

"One month." Kuang Wenhuan said, "And I hope that it will not take more than one month for us to capture Dongjing City (now Hanoi, Vietnam), end all the wars, and then free up the necessary troops to move to Liang State to respond to possible military intervention from Qin State."

"Since the General Constitution has made this request, I will do my best to end the war in Annan within a month." Luo Yunzhou took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "But I need more troops."

"Okay." Kuang Wenhuan nodded with satisfaction. "In addition to the two mixed regiments and two battalions under your command, I will recruit another 6,000 local soldiers from Annan and Runzhou. By then, Ha Tien will provide five battalions with more than 2,000 soldiers, and Champa will provide eight battalions with more than 3,200 soldiers. In this way, the size of the army directly under your control will reach more than 18,000, which should be sufficient. In addition, after receiving the order from the headquarters' combat command, Guangnan and Liangguo will also use all their national strength to launch an attack from the north and south of Annan at the same time. Under this situation, even if Annan resists stubbornly, how long can it stop me?"

"The commander-in-chief is right. We are all willing to obey your orders and do our best to live up to your majesty's high expectations."

"Okay, let's discuss how to coordinate and cooperate with each other, how to launch the attack, and when to launch the thunder strike. ..."
-
February 2, Hexian Port.

Several long lines of soldiers stretched from the dock to the depths of the harbor. Under the guidance of officers, they carried muskets and bags and boarded the four large ships anchored on the shore.

The towering steam cranes continuously lifted bags of heavy materials, which were then loaded onto ships with the cooperation of the dock laborers.

Countless freight carriages were constantly transporting back and forth, unloading teams of soldiers and military supplies at the docks.

The whole port was bustling with activity.

"It's just the end of the New Year, and we haven't had a break yet, but we have to go out again." Yang Ke'an, the commander of the 1st Mixed Brigade of the Ha Tien Army and the Zhaoxin Lieutenant (Colonel), looked at the slowly moving troops and smiled bitterly. "Why, you can't bear to part with the new Cambodian beauties at home?" General Guangwei (Major General) Cen Zhengjie, the deputy chief of staff of the Ha Tien Army, lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, and then asked with a smile and teasing.

Last year, when the Ha Tien Kingdom divided Cambodia with the Runzhou Governorate of Qi and the Champa Kingdom, in addition to suddenly increasing its territorial area threefold, it also gained a large population and resources, which enabled the overall strength of Ha Tien to increase rapidly.

These soldiers reaped a lot from this division. Not only did they fill their pockets, but they also captured many Khmer noblewomen and girls as concubines, keeping them in their rooms and playing with them at will.

I thought everyone could spend a comfortable year in peace and slowly digest the newly occupied territory. But I never expected that at the end of the year, the Governor of Runzhou of Daqi, His Royal Highness Prince Min, was unexpectedly stabbed to death on a ship by an Annan spy, which immediately shocked the entire Central and Southern regions.

Everyone was thinking that Qi would definitely send troops to attack Annan to retaliate against the other party's act of riding on their faces. As a vassal of Qi and close to Annan, Hexian would definitely send troops to follow.

Sure enough, the State of Qi issued a second-level war mobilization and required the Kingdom of Hexian to make corresponding military preparations and take the next step according to the requirements after receiving specific instructions from the mainland.

As a result, the army of the Ha Tien Kingdom, which had just participated in the Cambodian military operation, had to stop all rest and enter a state of combat readiness, ready to be called up by the Qi State at any time.

Yesterday, the Kingdom of Ha Tien received a combat order from the Governor-General's District of Annan, requiring that the troops that were called up to fight must be transported to Xinzheng Port in Lang Quoc (now Hongji Port in Vietnam) within ten days to assemble and wait for orders.

Therefore, the troops and supplies assembled in Ha Tien and Sapo (now Sihanoukville, Cambodia) began to be loaded immediately, without any delay for fear of missing the agreed date set by Qi.

"General, is Qi's attack on Annan a large-scale or small-scale one this time?" After Yang Ke'an and Cen Zhengjie joked for a while, he came closer and asked cautiously.

"Whether it will be a big fight or a small fight may depend on the intensity of Qin's interference." Cen Zhengjie thought for a while and said with a smile: "However, in my opinion, Qi may just want to teach Annan a lesson, force the other party to cede some land, pay some compensation, and demand some commercial benefits. After all, the Annan Li Dynasty is a regional power and a powerful country, and it is also a vassal of Qin. Qi may not necessarily kill it."

"General, King Min was assassinated by an Annan spy, and the entire Central and Southern China region is on the brink of war. The city of Nanjing should not have learned of this news by now, right?" Yang Ke'an rolled his eyes and seemed to have thought of something in his mind.

"Well, it will take Nanjing at least a month and a half to receive the news. If Qin is a little slower in reacting, it may take more than two months."

"General, do you think it is possible that Qi had already defeated Annan before Qin could react, and even directly destroyed the Li Dynasty and cut off its national defense, leaving Qin no chance to interfere?"

"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Cen Zhengjie was stunned, his eyes widened. "Oh, you know what, this is really possible! It has only been more than a month since King Min was assassinated, and Qi has decided to send troops. At this time, the Qin court probably knows nothing about it. ... If we act quickly enough, Qin will really have no time to react."
-
November 2th, Guangzhou.

Zhang Bolin, the left-wing commander of the Guangzhou Navy of the Qin Dynasty, walked into the meeting room of the Governor's Mansion, bowed to the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Lin Chenglong, and then sat down on an empty chair on the right. He glanced at the more than ten civil and military officials present, with a puzzled expression on his face.

What was going on? The Governor of Guangdong, the Military Commissioner of Guangdong, the Prefect of Guangzhou, the Customs Inspectorate, the Standard Battalion of the Governor's Office, the Guangzhou General and other court officials were all present, and they all looked solemn, as if something big had happened.

"General Zhang, has the navy heard about what happened in Annan recently?" Lin Chenglong asked in a deep voice.

"Annan?" Zhang Bolin was stunned for a moment, looking at Lin Chenglong puzzledly, "What does the General Secretary refer to?"

"I heard that half a month ago, two Qi warships intercepted an Annan merchant ship off the coast of Guangzhou. Do you know the reason?"

"Oh, I heard about it." Zhang Bolin suddenly realized, "More than ten days ago, two Qi warships did intercept a merchant ship from Annan. My navy officers and soldiers went forward to inquire, and the Qi people said they were investigating bandits, so they seized the ship and the people and towed them back to Annan. What, does the general have any questions about this?"

After hearing this, Lin Chenglong's face became even gloomier. He stared at Zhang Bolin and asked again with suppressed anger, "Then have you received the news that the Governor of Runzhou, Qi State, His Royal Highness Prince Min, was stabbed to death on the ship by Annan's secret agents?"

"I heard about it..." Zhang Bolin saw the governor's uneasy look and couldn't help but feel worried. "When our navy ships patrolled the surrounding waters to investigate smuggling, we heard many sailors and merchants on merchant ships discussing this matter. I think this is an internal affair of Qi and has nothing to do with our Great Qin. I am happy to watch the excitement in Qi. So,..."

"So, you just ignored it and never reported this important news to me?" Lin Chenglong asked sternly, "Do you know how serious this matter is and how serious the matter is? Humph... If it weren't for the report from the Customs Superintendent's Office yesterday that Qi merchants in Guangzhou were secretly purchasing large quantities of cloth, medicinal materials, tents, horses, livestock and other military supplies, I would still be kept in the dark about Qi's actions and know nothing about it! You..., you... are neglecting military affairs and even delaying important military opportunities!"

"General..." Zhang Bolin was a little panicked, "What do you mean? Could it be... Could it be that Qi wants to use force against our Great Qin? How is this possible?"

"General Zhang, Qi State does not intend to use force against our Great Qin State, but wants to conquer Annan." Guangdong Governor Chen Jingfu could not help but stroke his forehead, feeling a little speechless.

If this Guangzhou Navy Commander was not the nephew of Concubine Jin in the palace, given his conduct and ability, he would have been reported and dismissed from office long ago.

"Ah?" Zhang Bolin was surprised. "The Qi people are going to fight again? Didn't they just join forces with a few small southern vassal states to swallow up the Kingdom of Brunei? This... why is there no peace at all?"

"How stupid!" Lin Chenglong looked at Zhang Bolin angrily, and felt his temples throbbing non-stop. "Such a rough man, who is ignorant of practical matters and has been doing nothing, actually managed to steal the position of the general. It is a shame for officials like us. After this matter is settled, I will definitely write a letter to severely criticize you!"

"..." Zhang Bolin felt very ashamed and angry when he heard this.

So, calling me here for the meeting was to give me a lecture and embarrass me among my fellow officials?
This old man is really hateful!
"General, we have already reported the matter of Annan to Nanjing via an express route of 600 miles. I believe that Your Majesty and the cabinet will certainly attach great importance to it and make necessary responses. They will never let Qi invade Annan and destroy the vassal state of our Great Qin." Chen Jingfu comforted.

"I hope so." Lin Chenglong sighed, "If Annan is defeated by Qi, then my Great Qin will still have some prestige."

(End of this chapter)