It is unfortunate for Annan that now is the strategic blank period of the empire.
The Japanese side has already won, and only the follow-up work is left.
Although the dispute between the north and Russia has begun, with the arrival of the long winter, the National Defense Forces can only stay dormant for the time being, and everything must wait until the severe cold passes.
On the Central Asian side, the National Defense Forces have just taken over the Western Region. The progress is too fast and needs enough time to digest, otherwise they will not dare to march rashly.
Although Europe is valued by the empire, it is beyond its reach. Even if it sends an ocean fleet there, the empire can only instigate the situation and cannot take the lead.
The war against Spain in the New World was still being prepared.
This place is too far away from the mainland, and the mobilization of relevant personnel and materials cannot be completed overnight.
Even in the most ideal situation, it will not be possible until next year.
Therefore, Annan became the only focus of the empire at the moment.
In addition, Annan is right at the doorstep of the empire, so it shouldn’t be too convenient.
In order to end things once and for all, the empire took action with a thunderous force. The 15th Division and the 1st Marine Division attacked from the south and the north, followed by two security divisions to calm down the place.
Although more than 200,000 troops were mobilized, in fact the empire made a huge profit from this battle, and the treasury did not even spend a penny.
The reason is that the enthusiasm among the people for sending troops to Annan is very high.
Annan was very close, so the empire's merchants knew Annan's situation well.
Fertile land, dense population, and natural location all contain massive wealth.
When the empire launched the battle to recapture Annan, merchants became active.
Unlike the previous feudal dynasties, the empire did not like to eat alone, and was also willing to let the people participate.
Whenever the National Defense Force captured an area, the dispatched officials, with the cooperation of the army, would brutally clean up the local landowners and gentry.
There is no room for negotiation on this point.
The gentry and landowners in Annan also wanted to repeat the practices of the Yongle period. On the surface, they welcome the arrival of the empire and profit from it. Behind the scenes, they encouraged people to resist and tried to eat both sides.
Today's empire is already familiar with how to deal with such newly occupied areas.
What do ordinary people know?
They are also the objects of oppression and exploitation, and have always suffered.
Whether the empire comes or not, their lives are the same, with no hope.
On the contrary, they will be bewitched by local gentry and landowners because of the same ethnic group and language, and they will pass on their dissatisfaction with life to the empire.
The Ming Dynasty was so distressed in Annan that it had to withdraw its troops in the end.
Because the Ming Dynasty's court also belonged to the landlord class, it was unable to see the essence of it, but the empire was different.
The emerging bourgeoisie is already full of hostility to the landlord class that occupies the means of production. If it can be wiped out quickly, then what are you waiting for?
Compared with ordinary people, eradicating the local landlord class means that the local area has lost the soil for resistance.
Although the landlord class was powerful and the unrest caused by its unwillingness to perish was more serious, it was only temporary.
With the powerful military support of the National Defense Forces, the empire was not afraid of unrest at all. On the contrary, it was able to completely eliminate the landlords and gentry through fighting.
Furthermore, Annan's landowners and gentry did not know much about the empire and were not prepared at first.
The officials of the empire took full advantage of this information gap, and used lightning-fast methods to deal with the situation, giving no time for the landlords and gentry to react or respond.
Large numbers of landowners and gentry were eliminated, low-status businessmen were supported, and oppressed peasants benefited. Annan quickly began to change.
People are the same everywhere.
When you get benefits, your butt will change quickly.
The vast wealth seized from the Annan ruling class was carefully and properly handled by imperial officials.
Large-scale assets were either resold to imperial businessmen or jointly owned by imperial businessmen, thereby receiving benefits paid by imperial businessmen, which were converted into military expenditures for the National Defense Forces.
Imperial merchants have long coveted Annan's wealth, how could they let go of this opportunity?
Those who are strong will fight alone, while those who are not strong will join forces and form a group company to end up.
For example, Chaoshan businessmen united and purchased 45% of the equity of Da Nang Terminal from the government, which also earned the government 1.8 million yuan.
This business alone completely offset the military expenditure of the First Marine Division.
In addition, local governments in Guangxi and Yunnan even organized the purchase of approximately two million acres of farmland in the Red River Plain.
These cultivated lands have effectively solved the dilemma of insufficient cultivated land in Yunnan and Guangxi provinces.
It is foreseeable that for a long period of time in the future, these two provinces will not have to worry about food just by relying on these cultivated lands, thus solving the country's big trouble.
Large assets could only be acquired by imperial merchants, while the land was presided over by officials and distributed to the people of Annan.
As soon as this killer weapon was used, the Annan people's hostile attitude towards the empire quickly disappeared.
After all, for the people, land is their lifeblood.
Owning land means owning a way to survive.
In particular, the empire is exempt from agricultural taxes and only needs to pay one-tenth of its output every year, and the rest is its own.
This kind of good thing has never been thought of before.
It cannot be said that the people of Annan are greedy for profit and have no country in mind. In fact, in this era, except for China, people in most areas have no concept of home and country.
Coupled with frequent changes in political power and constant oppression, ordinary people live in a state of confusion and only focus on their current way of survival.
Whoever can give them a way to survive is their father!
An empire founded on commerce did not have a high desire for land, so it could allocate certain resources to these people, and they immediately became one of the rare kind-hearted people in this era.
The people of Annan looked at the land that belonged to them. Of course they were unwilling to return to their previous poor life, and they immediately became the most loyal supporters of the empire.
And with such strong civilian support, how could the empire's progress not be smooth?
On May 15th, Ruan Jun finally came back after traveling thousands of miles.
They did not stop in Da Nang (at this time Da Nang was still in the hands of the Nguyen family, but had been sold by the empire), but rushed southward, hoping to regain the lost land as soon as possible.
Seeing the exhausted enemy troops approaching, Hao Huaqing almost fainted from laughter.
"Immediately send a message to Deputy Commander Murong Fu and ask him to attack Da Nang with the cooperation of the Nanyang Fleet. The rest of the troops will go forward immediately. I want to have a showdown with the Nguyen army in Quang Ngai."
Tang Wenhuan, the former commander of the 1st Marine Division, has been appointed as Deputy Minister of the Navy, and Hao Huaqing feels that he can take a step further.
Destroying Ruan's army was his battle to become famous.
