Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 374: Blocking and Being Blocked
"I am Luo Xiong, your humble servant, here to see you, Marshal."
"Guerrilla Luo, how is your battalion's landing situation now?"
"Of the 1,200 soldiers under my command, 1,180 have returned to their base. There are still 20 that have not been found. I think they are mixed up in other camps."
After all, time was too tight. Zhao Lujiao landed on Taiwan Island in late February and set off in early June. In the three months, most of the time was spent training all soldiers in water skills. As for the beach landing, he originally thought that the target of this group army was Japan, and fighting Japan would be at least next year. So he didn't invest much time in the beginning.
After Xu Xianchun came to convey his order, Zhao Rujiao hurriedly changed the training outline and found a beach on Taiwan Island to practice how to land.
However, no matter how they were trained, the landing of the original 45,000 troops, now 75,000 troops, was an extremely huge project. Even after long-term and repeated training, there were still many mistakes when it came to actual combat. Not to mention that the 4th and 7th towns that came to support this time had no such experience at all.
As a result, the Ming army began to land at 6 a.m., and by 9 a.m., three hours had passed, and the entire Samut Songkhram landing site was still in chaos, as the Siamese side had not sent any powerful troops to harass.
Fortunately, Zhao Lujiao, who had foreseen this, had made special preparations.
"Guerrilla Luo, this is Captain Li Shi of the Imperial Guard. He was sent by Captain Xu to meet us at the landing and serve as our guide.
Li Baihu, this is Luo Xiong, a guerrilla who was a student of the Emperor's Fangshan School. He now leads a battalion of my Sixth Town. I have made preparations for this landing. The ship where Luo Xiong's battalion is located is the first of all the ships to dock. The other ships were at least fifteen minutes later than them, so their organization is basically complete and can set off at any time. "
After Luo Xiong and Li Shi greeted each other, Zhao Lujiao said, "From the perspective of Guerrilla Luo, due to the stubborn resistance of the Siamese navy, our army's plan to land simultaneously in Samut Songkhram and Chachoengsao has been ruined. Now 75,000 troops are concentrated in such a small place. If we really have to wait until all the troops are accounted for before setting out, I'm afraid it will be too late. So, please lead your battalion and follow this Captain Li to the northwest, choose a strategic location, and cut off the retreat of the King of Siam! In addition to your battalion, I will temporarily transfer 300 engineers from various units, 500 civilians, and 300 wheelbarrows to transport food for you."
"Yes, I will obey your command!"
"Yes." Patting Luo Xiong on the shoulder, Zhao Lujiao took a deep breath and said, "It is said that the King of Siam has 50,000 troops under his command, while you only have more than 1,000 soldiers, and you cannot carry heavy equipment for the sake of marching speed. So, if you are not careful, your entire army will be wiped out."
"Hehe~" There was no fear on the young face: "Marshal, I only have one request."
"You tell me."
"My brothers were in a hurry when they disembarked, so each of them only had five grenades. Then, could you please give the order to let the brothers who have already landed provide support first?"
"No problem." Zhao Lujiao immediately turned to the guards beside him and said, "Go down and supervise this matter."
"Luo Youji, I'll leave everything to you. Take care!"
"Take care, Marshal. I will start organizing the troops immediately and set out in twenty minutes. Captain Li, I'll leave it to you to lead the way."
Zhao Lujiao shook his head apologetically as he watched Luo Xiong and Li Shi hurried away. He then climbed a small mound nearby and looked out at the sea with his telescope: 22 Siamese warships were madly trying to rush over and bombard the troop transport ship, while Li Guozhu led more than 60 warships to build a solid barrier for his army soldiers. Now, the bombardment distance between the two fleets had been shortened to within 100 meters, and every shot fired would almost take away several lives.
"Marshal, there is another battalion in our town that has also been reorganized. The return rate of all soldiers in the battalion is over 90%. Should we send them out as well?"
"No." Slowly shaking his head, Zhao Lujiao said, "If we send one after we have dealt with one, wouldn't that be the tactic of adding fuel to the fire that the emperor talked about before? Besides, Bangkok is within reach now, and there are still 30,000 troops in the city."
After saying this, he stood on the small mound and shouted: "My guards, all go down and restore the organization of each regiment and battalion as soon as possible! It is now 9:15 a.m. local time, and I must see the Sixth Town restored to its original state at 11 a.m.!"
…
Just as the huge Ming army was busy trying to restore its organization as quickly as possible after landing, Supachai, who was in charge of Bangkok, and Lan Ya, one of the three major army generals under Rajabhatuddin, were also holding urgent consultations.
"Prime Minister, what should we do now? Chanrak has sent a farewell letter, and it seems that he is ready to die on the ship. But even so, I don't think he can stop the Ming army from landing. Now, our light cavalry in Samut Songkhram has reported that the Ming army is landing, and judging from its scale, the number of people is at least 50,000."
It's 75,000 people. Listening to Lan Ya's guess, Subachai quietly made a correction in his mind.
As an old minister of the previous dynasty, Supachai did not like Naresuan. In his opinion, this powerful ruler was too aggressive. He liked the previous Rājasthupta: recuperation, rectification of the administration, and appeasement of the people... Even when dealing with foreign countries, whether it was Chenla, Nanchang or Johor, politics and economy were the main focus, and military was secondary.
With such a wise leader, Siam was able to rapidly prosper in just twelve years. The country was in peace and harmony, and naturally became the overlord of Indochina.
However, since the king decided to attack the Ming two years ago, the fate of Siam has taken a sharp turn for the worse. This was extremely confusing and painful for Supachai.
Why would we want to provoke the Ming Dynasty? Is that something we can afford to provoke? Now, the Ming Dynasty's counterattack is so fierce and powerful that the entire country is about to be reduced to dust!
Therefore, I really didn’t express my intention to cooperate with Xu Xianchun just because I was afraid of death. Everything I did was to save this country.
"Hehe, General Lan Ya, what are you going to do?"
"Well... Prime Minister, what I want to do is, first, send out multiple waves of messengers to urgently inform the king who is away on the expedition. I have just done this. Second, I will personally lead the 30,000 troops in the city to attack the Ming army that is landing. Isn't there a saying in the Ming military tactics to 'attack them halfway across the river'? It is the right time to attack now!"
"General, if we attack at this time, what about the defense inside the city?"
"Hahaha, Prime Minister, why are you still concerned about Bangkok at this time ? If we sit in the city and wait for the Ming army to land before coming over... you saw the report sent by Prince Songtan about the Ming bombardment outside Saigon last month. We can't defend the city by just sitting there! Only by fighting back can we have a chance of survival."
Well, everything I do is for this country. It's better for Lan Ya to go out and fight, and die in the wild than to be buried with the 200,000 people in Bangkok.
Besides, what if this half-crossing attack really wins? As a Siamese, I'd better not be a traitor until the last moment.
After thinking it through, Subachai nodded heavily and said, "Well, General Lan Ya, I will give you half of the military token in my hand and transfer the command of the 30,000 troops in the city to you."
"Thank you, Prime Minister!"
