Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 609 The Magical Three Brothers
"Tick-tick, patter, patter, patter~"
Looking up at the sky, which was pouring rain again, the team leader Zhang Hong was too lazy to even shake his head. He tightened his hat and then carefully distinguished the river channel.
It is now August 16, 1632, a month after Liu Zhaosun's army arrived in Yangon. Two days before that, Major General Zhang Hong, commander of the Ming Marine Corps, led three marine regiments in more than 300 boats of more than 100 tons and sailed upstream at the mouth of the Hooghly River, a place called Calcutta.
In the 21st century, Kolkata is the third largest city in India, with a permanent population of over 15 million, second only to Mumbai and New Delhi. But in the 17th century...
This is the mouth of the Hooghly River, and it is also accompanied by a large swamp. In fact, in terms of history, this place did not develop rapidly until the second half of the 18th century, when British colonists landed here, drained the swamp, and built a river channel to prevent the Hooghly River from flowing freely.
Therefore, when Zhang Hong came here in 1632, the landform he saw was basically in its original state.
"Puh!" It was the rainy season, and besides the endless rainstorms, there were also strong winds. The wind and rain were sometimes mixed with mud and sand. After Zhang Hong spat out a mouthful of mud and sand, he yelled to the guide beside him: "How long will it take us to get out of this swamp?"
The guide was a dark-skinned Bengali named Dak. He was born near the Ganges Delta. When he was young, he was so poor that he went to Yangon to do business. He was recruited by Xu Xianchun. After many years, he was very familiar with Chinese. So even in the storm, he quickly replied: "General, we have been going upstream for two days. If God Vishnu bless us, we will be able to get out of this swamp in three days at most."
"Three more days..." Zhang Hong almost collapsed when he heard this: In the past two days, there was no way to make a fire and cook on the small gunboat that was already packed with people. The soldiers all ate the canned food they brought with them. Although the precision of the glass canning technology of the Ming Dynasty was very high, after the rubber plantation expanded and the rubber had a stable supply, the addition of rubber rings made the cans more airtight. However, after being hit by such heavy rain and having to eat cold food for a long time, Zhang Hong was really worried about the condition of the soldiers after they left the swamp area.
"Hey, Indians, do you have too much land to cultivate? The river estuaries and swamps and wetlands here can be fertile fields worth millions or even tens of millions of acres if we just narrow the river channels and drain the swamps! Are you just letting them go to waste?"
"...General, first of all, I am a Bengali, not an Indian. In fact, although this continent is called India by the Ming Dynasty, no one on this continent considers themselves Indian. Secondly, before becoming a small flag of the Nanyang branch of the Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei, I was just a Vaishya. As for the things you just mentioned, such as converging rivers and draining swamps, no one dares to do it unless the Brahmins say anything."
"You guys, no, you are now my people of the Ming Dynasty. Alas, I finally understand why the emperor wants us to come here. Such a good land was given to such a person!"
…
Three days later, as Dak said, as the vanguard of the vanguard, Zhang Hong's three Marine Corps finally walked out of the swamp area, and the Hooghly River changed from the turbulent river water and scattered river channels in the lower reaches to a gentle and friendly one. There was dry and solid land on both sides of the river, and it was no longer a swamp.
What is even more rare is that the Ming army, which had been beaten by strong winds and rain for five full days, finally saw the sun.
"Phew~ I finally see the sun, messenger!"
"General, please give the order."
"The first regiment advanced fifteen miles along both sides of the river and set up a cordon. The three battalions of the second regiment were responsible for collecting the boats, setting up camp on the south bank of the Hooghly River, baking clothes, making fires and cooking, and resting. The seventh battalion of the third regiment was responsible for guarding the camp. The eighth battalion counted the supplies and personnel. The ninth battalion was divided into two parts. One part took the camp as the center and conducted reconnaissance ten miles to the south and north to see if they could catch the tongue. The other part returned the same way after a short rest to lead the way for the follow-up main force."
"Yes, sir!"
Following Zhang Hong's order, the three Marine Corps quickly became busy.
…
Actually, Indians are not stupid. They don’t have too much arable land to cultivate.
They certainly knew that the land obtained after draining the swamps was good farmland, and they also knew that the delta area where the river estuary was rich in products and fertile land. However, without a strong centralized government to lead them in doing things, ordinary people were unable to effectively obtain the wealth of these places even if they realized it.
Of course, although it is impossible to drain the swamp, there is still good land on the edge of the swamp. The Indians are fully aware of this, so ordinary Indian people know to build their homes close to the edge of the swamp. Therefore, when Zhang Hong's troops walked out of the swamp area, his forward reconnaissance troops only walked two or three miles forward and found a very prosperous small village.
"Captain, should we charge in or go back and report first?"
"Report?" The man called the head of the group put down the telescope and turned around. "Look at your clothes. No, look down at what's underneath you. The two things in your crotch are swollen, right? Are you going to run back and report with swelling, or rush in to occupy this village and then bake yourself all over?"
"I understand. Please give the order, Commander."
"Execute Plan No. 3 in the training outline. The Second Battalion will encircle the enemy, and the First Battalion will attack head-on. MD doesn't know if the Third Battalion has gained anything on the other side of the river. Regardless, once the Second Battalion has encircled the enemy, have the battalion commander send a signal to our school."
"yes!"
As a brand-new combat unit, the officers of the Marine Corps have the highest academic qualifications among all the armed forces of the Ming Dynasty: all colonels and lieutenants are graduates of the Royal Military Academy or the Naval Academy. Therefore, perhaps this unit will be a little rigid in fighting, but when the chief officer clearly states which plan to use for the operation, the lower-level officers will execute the order with high precision.
Only thirty minutes after the regiment commander gave the order, the commander of the second battalion had already circled around the village without alerting the villagers. Then, as soon as the red flare was launched, the soldiers of the first battalion rushed forward: this unit, which had been soaked in the flood for five days and theoretically had more than 2,000 people, but in reality had no more than 1,500 people, successfully captured the village.
When the Ming soldiers launched the charge, some of the strong men in the village noticed something was wrong and bravely prepared to resist with their swords or spears. However, after the submachine guns of the soldiers in the front of the first battalion fired a burst of bullets and knocked down two or three "warriors" in the front, the enemy quickly became obedient.
"Captain, we have taken the village. We have driven back all the villagers who were fleeing everywhere."
"Okay, the Second Battalion will continue the outer perimeter security. The First Battalion will drive all the villagers to an open area in the village for centralized surveillance. Then, have the person in charge of their village come to see me."
"Yes, sir!"
After a while, a Bengali guide from the group came over with the village chief.
"Tell him that I am Lu Xiangsheng, the commander of the First Regiment of the First Division of the Ming Marine Corps. Your Mughal Empire killed my envoys without reason, and my emperor sent us to raise an army to punish you. Ask him to introduce the specific situation of this village to me, and what he knows about the surrounding area."
"...Captain, this old man said that this place is called Asansol Town, located on the edge of the west side of Bengal. Going northwest, it is Bihar. The core area of this town, that is, here, has more than 500 people living. The surrounding area is ten ditches, uh, converted into the measurement system of my Ming Dynasty, it is about ten miles. Well, within a radius of ten miles, there are more than 300 farmers scattered around. The Governor's Office of Bengal is in Dhaka City, but this place is too far away from Dhaka City . Patna City in Bihar State is closer to here. Starting from here, they usually walk for three to five days to get there. In addition..."
"in addition?"
"The old man said that they are Bengalis, not Mughals, and asked you, Captain, not to punish them."
"Hahaha, our school never bullies ordinary people. Tell him to bring the villagers to help our soldiers bake clothes, and provide firewood and basic ingredients. We have to make fire and cook by ourselves."
Because Bengal is close to Myanmar, there are many Bengalis in Yangon. Therefore, the so-called "locals" that Xu Xianchun has recruited for intelligence work against India in recent years are mainly Bengalis. Because of this, as soon as Lu Xiangsheng finished speaking, the Ming army's own Bengali guide also translated smoothly.
But after the other village chief spoke a lot in his phone, the guide's face quickly turned red. When he looked at Lu Xiangsheng, he looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, which made Lu Xiangsheng feel surprised.
"What's wrong? What did the other party say that you can't translate?"
"Captain, I understand what you said, but I'm afraid you'll be angry if I translate it."
"Tsk, our school is very tolerant, just turn it over! Hurry up!"
"Well, okay. The village chief said that your skin color is not white enough, and you are obviously a low caste. He is a Kshatriya and cannot follow your instructions. Moreover, our soldiers are not white enough, and I guess the people in the village are not willing to serve us."
"F*ck me!"
There is no doubt that as a scholar from the Jiangnan water town, Prince Lu used to have fair and tender skin. But who made him choose the Marine Corps after graduating from the military academy? The amphibious warfare required by this branch of the military requires a very high training intensity. Moreover, under the multiple effects of the scorching sun, the beach, and naked swimming, Prince Lu has long been a dark man.
Not only him , but all the members of the Marine Corps are charcoal!
Of course, after Lu Xiangsheng's soldiers showed their bayonets, the villagers still followed the Ming soldiers' instructions. But after encountering such a farce, Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to include a special report on it in his report.
"My dear division commander, I walked out of the swamp on August 19, the 14th year of Tianqi, and captured the town of Asansol... Hinduism has been spreading here severely, and the local people inexplicably worship people with white skin. In order to make our army progress more smoothly, I suggest that the division commander contact the rear and send officials with white skin to manage the affairs here..."
