Hi everyone,
So, I was reading around for my podcast project (FR)
(shameless plug).
In the XVIIth century, Vietnam as a whole was very powerful. The riflemen were better trained than the Europeans, they had a good enough navy, their own foundry and a large, well trained population and militaries, based on rich deltas.
They also had a solid, modern state organised around the Chinese model.
However, for two centuries, they consumed themselves in civil war between the Trinh and the N'Guyen. So, what if one side got the upper hand?
The Trinh were traditionally the strongest, with a much larger population based in the Hanoi delta, but they had to face the Mac/Chinese in the North.
The N'Guyen had a massive wall at Dong Hoi as well as a stupidly high amount of artillery, giving them a defensive advantage.
Traditionally, the Vietnamese have been conquerors, preying on Champa/Cambodia.
So what if one side got the upper hand in the late XVIIth century (probably the Trinh if they get past the wall) and unifies Vietnam? They would need 10/20 years of consolidation but after that, do you think and they could go forth and conquer around?
Cambodia certainly seems like a juicy target