Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 363 Zhu Youdong's Killer Move
Although he was arrogant on the surface and his words were foul, Governor Xiong was still very cautious when it came to doing specific things.
After learning about the grievances between the three families in Annan, Xiong Tingbi arranged Liu Zhaosun's three towns in the center of the battle line, and then on the left were 10,000 soldiers from the Jingying, Tengxiang and four guards, and 20,000 from the Zheng family. On the right were 10,000 soldiers from the Liangguang Guards and 20,000 from the Nguyen Phuc family. As for the 1,000 people from the Mo family, Xiong Tingbi sent them to the rear to supervise the civilians from the Zheng and Nguyen Phuc families in transporting food and supplies.
Thus, the total number of Ming troops participating in the battle was 100,500. After the coalition forces were fully deployed, the entire battlefield was more than 10 kilometers wide. On May 20, the coalition forces approached the outermost trench outside the Saigon Fortress and completely surrounded Saigon from the north, west and east.
At this time, the nominal commander of the Saigon Fortress was Songtan, the cousin of Rajabudhu and the son of Egatosalud. When Rajabudhu swept across Southeast Asia, he always stayed in the rear to provide logistical support for his cousin. But now that the country is facing a crisis of national destruction, Rajabudhu dare not keep him in the country. So, he was kicked here.
Of course, Songtan was trained as a logistics officer since childhood . So, when it comes to fighting, the actual commander is Ah Xin, one of the three generals of the new army of Luoyafutu.
"General Axin, the Ming Kingdom has dispatched such a large army. What should we do?"
"Your Highness, according to the king's pre-arrangement, we should rely on the fortresses and trenches to try to wear down the enemy's manpower. When the enemy is exhausted and out of food, we will work with the king's reinforcements to completely annihilate the enemy."
"You mean, we don't have to go out to fight in the field for the time being?"
"Of course, the enemy has so many more people than us, and their morale is high right now. Going out to fight in the field at this time is not a good choice."
"Well, General Ashin, I'm not very good at military affairs. But I also know that the worst thing about defending a city is to defend it to the death. If there is no reinforcement from outside, what will happen to the morale over time?"
"Your Highness, the King has probably already told you. After our navy was defeated, the King needs to rush to build new warships in the country. This takes time, and we are the ones who buy time for the King. As for morale, you don't have to worry at all. Our soldiers are all Dai people, but now they are in the land of the Kinh and Khmer people. Once they are left alone, it is not a matter of dying without a burial place. Instead, they will die miserably. Therefore, you don't have to worry about them not fighting hard. According to the King's arrangement, we will hold out here for half a year, and he will lead a new army and navy in the country to rescue us."
Watching Ashin talking there, Songtan kept a smile on his face, but in his heart he felt contempt and ridicule for this Rājabudu general.
Haha, you still say I don't know military affairs? Now our navy has been defeated. For fortresses like Phnom Penh and Saigon, the land behind them is basically a deep mountain forest. The army can't get there on foot. Once the sea route is cut off, it will naturally become a dead end. We are all abandoned pieces!
However, this guy was promoted by my brother, and he is very loyal. He still believes that his king will not abandon him. Well, I will accompany you to guard the city for a while. After a long time, your mentality will naturally change.
As a prince who was in charge of government affairs at home while Rājabudu was fighting abroad and was therefore well versed in political tactics, Songtan's guess was undoubtedly correct.
In late March of this year, when the remaining Siamese fleet returned to Bangkok via the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan, Rajabuddha knew that something was wrong - the war was doomed to be lost!
However, even though he was doomed to fail, he was not prepared to sit there and wait for death, nor did he think of running away. Instead, he faced everything with even greater diligence.
First, he sent his cousin Songtan, whose prestige in the country was second only to his, to a place of death like Saigon - in order to prevent domestic public opinion from accusing him of persecuting the royal family, he did not hesitate to sacrifice 40,000 new troops.
Secondly, he urged the three major domestic shipyards to work overtime day and night to build new warships. In addition to the ten 1,000 -ton Spanish galleons in the early days, the Siamese Navy also escaped from Japan with six first-class warships and sixteen second-class warships. In Luoyafutu's view, as long as Saigon can hold on for a year, he can restore the number of naval forces to fifteen first-class warships and more than twenty second-class warships. With such a fleet, relying on the fortress artillery in the Gulf of Siam, it is possible that it will be able to compete with the Ming Navy again.
Finally, he disbanded all the most elite new troops directly under the royal family in the country and asked them to serve as officers in the remaining 120,000 old-style troops . At this time, the gun factory in Bangkok had reached a certain scale and was gradually replacing the equipment of the old-style troops.
Moreover, Luo Zhifutu still had some illusions at that time: no matter from the perspective of geography or history, the Ming Dynasty should first attack Japan and then Siam, right? And it would take at least three to five years to defeat Japan, right? At that time, Siam was already in a wartime economic operation mode. As long as Kaiyang could give him three to five years, he might not be without the strength to fight!
Unfortunately, Zhu Youdong’s first target was not Tokugawa Yoshinao, but him!
When Zhu Youdong was still the crown prince, facing the simultaneous invasion of the two countries, he had already decided on the national policy of attacking the south first and then the east. All war preparations were also carried out in accordance with this national policy. It would be quite troublesome to make a temporary change.
Not to mention, after Zhu Youdong ascended the throne, he learned about the existence of the system and that they could snatch each other's talents, so he drooled over Luoya Futu for a long time.
Other foreigners don't know the meaning of the seven stars of the Big Dipper, so how could Zhu Youdong not know? Even if he, as a modern person, doesn't know, how could the Imperial Astronomical Observatory not know?
Lian Zhen! No wonder Xu Xianchun described Siam as a country with good governance and honest officials in recent years.
This talent must be obtained as soon as possible!
…
June 10, 1618, northern Taiwan Island.
This place had just been named Taipei by Zhu Youdong. After Sun Chuanting arrived here by ship, he temporarily used it as the seat of Taiwan Prefecture.
"Eh? Captain Xu, aren't you in Annan? How did you get here?"
"Hahaha, Governor Sun, I am here on the orders of the Emperor to deliver the message to General Zhao."
"Ah? Deliver me an order? Captain Xu, do you want to deliver this order now?"
"Hahaha, of course we have to find a secret place. Well, Governor Sun, please come along as well. The Emperor has ordered that you can know about this matter."
So under the guidance of Sun Chuanting, the three of them came to a secret room.
"You two, the Emperor and the Cabinet have already agreed that General Zhao's Third Army will board ships in fifteen days and march straight to the Gulf of Siam!"
