Chapter 350: Looting Hoi An

This kind of siege war can easily turn into a chaotic robbery after the attacker has won the victory. If the restraint on the subordinates is not strict, the Haihan Militia Group has strict military regulations, but no one can guarantee that the soldiers will

Being able to withstand the temptation of wealth, in this war-torn environment, as long as a few people take the lead in causing trouble, it is easy to form a group effect.

Although the essence of this military operation is to come to Hoi An to rob, the Military Commission will not be happy to see the militia soldiers turn into a group of unorganized and undisciplined bandits - even if it is robbery, there are professionals and amateurs. Anyway, the Hai Han militia

It is also a professional army and cannot lose its basic restraints. In addition to the officers repeatedly emphasizing military discipline before the war, they also made detailed arrangements for the situation after the city was broken.

In the combat plan, Hoi An City is roughly divided into two cities along the central axis. The east city is responsible for the troops from the base camp, and the west city is responsible for the black soil port militia. The two urban areas are divided into several areas, and the control of these areas will be

It is subdivided to the company and platoon level. In this way, if any situation occurs in an area, it can be quickly traced to the commander.

As for the attitude that Chinese businessmen all over Hoi An City should take, the Military Commission also gave a bottom line - it depends on whether the other party is actively hostile to the militia. If someone cannot see the situation clearly and wants to jump out to commit suicide, then the militia does not have to worry too much.

, just use force to suppress it. However, in principle, certain protection must be given to Chinese businessmen who are willing to cooperate, because these businessmen are very likely to move their base to Sanya, which is on the rise, after the city of Hoi An is destroyed.

go.

As for Annanese and businessmen of other nationalities, they can only hope for good luck, because they will be the main targets of this military operation. According to Zhan Gui and Qian Tiandun's predictions, after the capture of Hoi An, they can at least

Wealth worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver was seized here, and the Executive Committee has already made a decision. Half of the loot obtained in Hoi An will be returned to the military at a discount as an additional military subsidy for this year. The officers before departure

Having already received this news, I have already made preparations to make Hoi An City three feet taller.

After Takahashi Nan handed over control of the south city wall to the follow-up troops, he led his assault platoon straight to the government office in the north of the city. The defenders in the city hardly organized any decent resistance from the moment the city wall collapsed.

The sporadic resistance was simply a loss of life in front of the heavily armed Haihan militia, and the fate of individual die-hards was to be taken away by a wave of close-range musket fire.

Although Gao Qiaonan's action speed was already very fast, the officials in Hoi An City were obviously good at escaping. When Gao Qiaonan led his troops, all the people in the yamen had already fled.

An empty courtyard is left.

However, Gao Qiaonan was originally not very interested in arresting South Vietnamese officials. His task was very simple, which was to capture the government office and ensure that the items in the government office were intact. There may not be too much property in the government office.

However, the written information that records local people's sentiments is something that the Executive Committee values ​​​​very much. It specifically urged the military to bring it back to Victory Port in order to have a more intuitive and profound understanding of the Western forces that entered the Indochina Peninsula during this period.

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At two o'clock in the afternoon, the militia had basically controlled the city of Hoi'an, and had put several main city gates under control. The remaining South Vietnamese soldiers in the city were also captured and killed, and no formal garrison was found in the city.

In the city. However, judging from the current results, most of the garrison in the city chose to flee Hoi An after the city was broken. Only a few die-hards and the unlucky ones who had not had time to escape from the city were killed and captured.

Although a section of the city wall was collapsed by heavy artillery, the buildings in the city were not greatly affected. The whole process happened so fast that most residents did not even understand what was going on, and the city had already fallen. However, in this way

Come, the people hiding and shivering at home were easily controlled, and the entire Hoi An City did not fall into chaos due to the war, which greatly facilitated the militia army to take over the city.

After controlling various choke points in the city, the only thing left is to conduct house-to-house inspections, arrest those who should be arrested, and search the homes of those who should be searched. Of course, targets outside the city have not been ignored, such as those located two miles west of Hoi An City.

The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce has been surrounded by a company led by Tom Wang himself.

According to the reconnaissance results of Qian Tiandun's last visit to Hoi An, there are at least four to five hundred Portuguese people stationed in the local area. Most of these people are merchants and sailors. Although they are not as powerful as Chinese merchants, their level of armed force is much higher.

The Chinese not only owned a large number of muskets, but also built a fortress-like building outside the city in the name of the Chamber of Commerce. Since the South Vietnamese court relied on the Portuguese for military purposes, it had always been suspicious of these behaviors that exceeded the rules.

He turns a blind eye and does not actively interfere.

However, the Haihan militia army will not be as easy to deal with as the South Vietnamese. A large part of the reason for sending troops to Hoi An this time is to attack the Portuguese power in South Vietnam. Even if the Portuguese are not completely exterminated, at least they must withdraw from the Indochina Peninsula.

, paving the way for the executive committee's strategic planning. Qian Tiandun had someone take a tin trumpet and began to shout to the Portuguese Guild Hall to persuade them to surrender.

But the Portuguese obviously did not intend to surrender immediately. In fact, their desire to fight seemed to be stronger than that of the South Vietnamese. Several Portuguese held muskets and fired at the peripheral militia positions from the second floor of the guild hall. Although

Due to the accuracy of the matchlock gun, sporadic shooting was unlikely to accurately hit an individual target a hundred meters away, but this act of seeking death still successfully aroused Wang Tom's anger. He ordered to terminate the persuasion to surrender and put four 6-pound army cannons

Pushed to the front of the formation, aiming at the door of the guild hall.

With two roars, the wooden door of the clubhouse suddenly collapsed into a pile of fragments, and you could even faintly hear the screams coming from the clubhouse. Wang Tom did not immediately order to terminate the bombardment, but let the artillery aim at the door.

, continued to fire artillery shells into the guild hall. After ten minutes of continuous bombardment, the Portuguese finally waved a white flag among the ruins and chose to surrender. This was not because they were afraid of fighting, but because they saw what was happening outside the guild hall.

The attackers have already pushed the 48-pound mortar for siege into the position. No one is naive enough to think that the building of the guild hall is stronger than the city wall of Hoi An. If they do not surrender, they may be buried in the rubble.

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Eduardo, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, failed to escape the disaster in the end. He asked his servant Bento to prepare the escape horses and money an hour in advance. However, when he finally got rid of everyone and prepared to run away, he discovered that

The usually stupid servant sneaked out of the back door of the club with his silver box and horse!

And this was not the end of Eduardo's nightmare. After surrendering to the attacking forces on behalf of the local Portuguese, he learned that the army attacking Hoi An City was the old enemy Hai Han people. And Wang, who accepted the surrender on behalf of the Hai Han people's army,

Tom also announced that all Portuguese who surrendered would be guaranteed personal safety, but at the same time, as a price for their armed resistance, the Haihan Militia Army would seize their local properties.

This move made Eduardo and other Portuguese businessmen feel like they were bereft. As veteran colonists who had looted all over the world, they certainly understood that the Haihan people did not want to seize their property because of the resistance of the Chamber of Commerce, but they had already made up their minds to rob them.

A handful - the victorious party can always find many reasons to loot the defeated party. But they have already chosen the road of surrender, and most people do not have the courage to carry out any form of resistance, not to mention Wang Tom at the same time

It was also announced that any form of resistance would be regarded as a riot, and the only consequence of the riot was immediate hanging.

But people's spirit of seeking death is really innate. Even if the situation faced by the Portuguese has been so passive, there are still daring people trying to stir up some trouble. Five Portuguese hiding in a warehouse next to the guild hall tried to attack the militia soldiers.

They carried out a sneak attack, but unfortunately their figures were exposed a little early, and they were quickly pinned to the ground by the militia soldiers who rushed forward.

So Wang Tom's warning was immediately fulfilled, and the five Portuguese were immediately hanged for the crime of rioting. Due to the haste of the incident, the militia soldiers did not even build a gallows, but directly used the big tree on the roadside to complete the execution.

Execution.

Seeing the five corpses hanging in the air, Eduardo protested tremblingly: "You will be punished for your barbaric behavior!"

Of course, although Eduardo also spoke a little Chinese for business reasons, he still cleverly expressed his anger in his native language to avoid irritating the Haihan people and causing them unnecessary suffering. However, his plan did not

Unable to finish it successfully, as soon as he finished speaking, he heard the dark-skinned Haihan officer respond in Portuguese: "If you don't want to get the same fate, you'd better shut up right now!"

Tom Wang had participated in several round-the-world sailing races and had been to countless places. He was proficient in several of the most widely used languages ​​in the world, and his language ability in the group was basically second only to the international giants.

He lied to Schneider. Eduardo was startled and quickly lowered his head and shut up, secretly thinking about how to save his life from the Haihan people.

The post-war liquidation in Hoi An was no easier than outside the city. When the local businessmen discovered that the enemies occupying Hoi An were preparing to carry out large-scale looting, many people still had the last courage to choose to resist. However, this kind of

The act of using the mantis' arm as a vehicle has limited effect. Apart from delaying the progress of the militia's house raids, it only adds a few hanging corpses to the streets.

Occasionally, there are families who rely on their deep residences and want to put up a stubborn resistance. The militia can quickly mobilize light 6-pound cannons and bombard the gates. In the face of a well-trained army, this kind of amateur-level resistance

It's just a farce.

The local Chinese businessmen soon realized that this Chinese-speaking army seemed to be consciously letting them go, and the house raids were almost always targeting Annan merchants. At this time, anyone with a good mind would naturally

They chose to be a quiet bystander and did not take the initiative to provoke the Haihan Civilian Army. Of course, there were a few smart people among them who had already thought that after this army left, the Chinese businessmen and the locals might be in trouble because of this difference in treatment.

A huge contradiction will arise, and this contradiction will most likely affect their life and business here in the future.

As of the evening of that day, the militia army had confiscated more than 40 tons of grain in and outside Hoi An City. The converted value of gold, silver and precious metals exceeded 300,000 currency notes. There were also various goods piled up in the mountain. Because the quantity was too large, it was temporarily impossible to count the details.

In addition, all the boats on the pier of the Thu Bon River were temporarily requisitioned by the militia to transport various materials confiscated from the city. In this siege, more than 700 local people died at the hands of the Haihan people.

About one-third of them died in the clearing-up stage after the city was broken. The casualties on Haihan's side were much less. They only paid a very small price of three people killed in battle and more than 20 people injured.

Captured the city of Hoi An.

After nightfall, the militia army escorted all the Portuguese captured outside the city to the city for detention, and Qian Tiandun also carefully sent out sentries in the south, west, and north directions, although it was unlikely that the South Vietnamese army would be able to do so in such a short period of time.

We will rush to Hoi An for reinforcements within a few days, but it is always good to be prepared.

The suppression operation continued on the second day. The militia army temporarily recruited 1,400 civilians in Hoi An City and carried the loot piled into the mountains onto the ships. There were various handicrafts and weapons brought by Western merchants, as well as locally produced products.

Spices, rare wood, jewelry ivory, silk, porcelain, cane sugar, etc. trafficked from the Ming Dynasty. Even people like Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom who don’t attach much importance to money can’t help but sigh.

The harvest from one trip is huge.

"South Vietnam is much richer than North Vietnam!" Qian Tiandun shook his head repeatedly and said: "If South Vietnam had approached us first, they might have hired us to fight to Thang Long Palace!"

"That's impossible. After all, we were eyeing the coal in Heitu Port from the beginning. South Vietnam doesn't have the coal we urgently need." Wang Tom shook his head and denied Qian Tiandun's conjecture: "South Vietnam also has a certain amount of money.

Geographical advantages. Western merchants who wanted to trade in Daming had to pass through the Indochina Peninsula almost all the way back and forth. Hoi An City was a must-stop place, and it naturally prospered. There were no popular shipping routes or natural harbors in North Vietnam. It was purely farming.

The economy certainly cannot compete with South Vietnam’s maritime trade in making money.”

"Demolishing the city of Hoi An is basically demolishing the cornucopia of South Vietnam!" Qian Tiandun also agreed with Wang Tom's view of Hoi An, nodded in agreement and said: "I heard Zhan Gui say before that Hoi An alone is

, there are probably millions of silver coins flowing every year, and without the economic backbone of maritime trade, South Vietnam would probably have a hard time sustaining the civil war."

"We looted Hoi An this time. This place will not be able to recover for at least two or three years." Wang Tom smiled and said: "But now the military expenditure is much sufficient. Some of the plans that were shelved before are now

Finally, we have the conditions to implement it.”

The military's development plan can be simply summed up in two words - military expansion. Although the current establishment of the Haihan Militia has expanded five times compared with the same period a year ago, including the number of trainees who are still in the training period, it has exceeded two

Thousands of people, but in the view of the officers, the existing establishment is far from enough. Especially for special arms such as artillery, there is a huge gap in demand. According to the military plan, it will be at Black Earth Port within the year.

Victory Port each retains the combat establishment of an independent battalion. At the same time, the navy needs to complete the formation of the first fleet, and the replacement of various armaments and weapons must also be carried out as soon as possible.

In the coming time, the Haihan Militia will gradually expand its control area through sea routes to Fujian in the northeast, the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the Indochina Peninsula in the south. These actions require a large number of combat troops to achieve. And each time

An expansion of the military means sky-high military expenditures and endless bargaining on the executive committee. This time, being able to obtain an additional military expenditure for the military through combat operations is even more meaningful to the officers than receiving military merit awards.

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The officers will not be complacent because of the little achievements they have achieved in the Indochina Peninsula and the Pearl River Estuary, because they all know that they have not yet fought against a truly powerful opponent, and the expansion of the power of the Crossing Group will inevitably lead to

The day will come when they face a powerful enemy. All they can do now is to make as many preparations as possible before that day comes.

Every time a ship on the dock is filled, it will be escorted by warships and sail to Cham Island. After docking the ship in the island's harbor, the crew will take the warship back to Hoi An. There is a journey between the two places.

The distance between the trip and the trip is less than twenty nautical miles, which is not too troublesome. Since there are so many ships "recruited" in Hoi An this time, the sailors and crew brought by the militia army themselves are completely insufficient.

In addition to hiring people, an urgent call was sent to the base camp yesterday, asking them to quickly send a group of sailors to sail the boats. It is said that two catamaran sailing ships set off from Victory Port early this morning, carrying more than a hundred sailors.

Emergency, if everything goes well, we can arrive in Hoi An in about two days.

It was not until August 8 that the militia army finally loaded all the spoils of war onto the ship. Before leaving, they did not forget to plant gunpowder in many places on the Hoi An city wall, and brutally blew up several walls.

. If South Vietnam is unwilling to give up the port of Hoi An and wants to continue to engage in maritime trade here, then they will either build a higher and thicker city wall, or they will risk having their homes raided at any time in this drafty city.

Keep doing business.

"This is really a tragedy!" Eduardo, who did not regain his freedom until the Haihan people retreated, looked at the ruins of Hoi An City, and his heart was filled with gloom.
Chapter completed!