The main commanders of the EU Army are almost all the top military strategists of this era. Therefore, they have long sensed that something is wrong with the Ming army opposite them.

However, as Ma Shilong analyzed at the Guilin Conference, on the one hand, we must further seize the wealth of Indochina to support war. On the other hand, we must continue to march in order to encourage the indigenous people in Indochina to rise up against the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, although we know clearly The opponent may be planning a counterattack, but Gustav, Wallenstein and others still frowned and led the army across the Shan State Plateau and continued to advance.

Of course, as an outstanding commander, although Gustavus was known for his bravery in battle and his preference to visit battle formations in person, this did not mean that he was a reckless man. On the contrary, after the main force entered the plains of central Siam, he consciously did not Zaiyi pursued Liu Zhaosun's large army, but led the main force of the EU army to turn south, along the Chao Phraya River, and advance towards Bangkok.

This made Liu Zhaosun very embarrassed: I want to lead you to the great plain between the Chao Phraya River and the Mekong River. What do you mean by ignoring me and heading south?

Therefore, Liu Zhaosun had no choice but to turn around and attack the EU's main force with inferior forces.

Early morning on August 5, 1641.

"Good morning, Your Majesty."

"Good morning, Chief of Staff, did you sleep well last night?"

"Well, it's not bad. Although Siamese women are ugly, their posture is low enough and they are obedient enough."

"Hahaha, I agree with you on this point."

After the simple greetings, Gustav sat at the head of the conference room and asked, "How much damage did the Chinese attack on us yesterday caused by Liu?"

"Your Majesty." A young staff officer stood up: "Yesterday, China's Admiral Liu launched at least 100,000 people to launch a large-scale attack on us. Our Durenni Army fought with them for a day and drove the enemy back. Preliminary statistics, Our number of casualties is around 3,000, and the enemy's number of casualties should be a little more than ours."

"Three thousand people are gone again." Gustav pulled his beard painfully for a while and said again: "Where are our reinforcements?"

"Your Majesty, our reinforcements now come in two ways. One way is to land from Yangon and cross the Rakhine Mountains and Shan State Plateau. Although this way is by land and takes more time, it is because we have telegraphs set up along the way. station, so the message transmission is faster. According to the telegram received this morning, there are three divisions and 45,000 reinforcements on this route. They have crossed the Salween River (Nu River) and will arrive in Chiang Mai the day after tomorrow."

"Well, after arriving in Chiang Mai? Can the Bin River (the upper reaches of the Chao Phraya River are called Bin River and Nan River respectively. After the two rivers merge, it is called the Chao Phraya River) provide inland shipping? The speed will be very fast. So, what about the other way? ?”

"I'm sorry? Your Majesty? There is another line of reinforcements, also three divisions? 45,000 people. They are transported by the navy and are preparing to land from Bangkok. This? Because there is no telegram? So I don't know where they are now."

"Damn it, hasn't decisive progress been made in wireless research on the mainland? Now that the telegraph is available, I suddenly feel that the troops who cannot send telegrams in time are not the troops under my command."

"Hahaha, Your Majesty? I feel the same way on this point. But what can be done? Those great scientists from the Academy of Sciences of Asturias? Even His Majesty Felipe has to be humble and tolerant when facing them."

"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, you are right. Well, praise our scientists and praise His Majesty Philip. Speaking of which, I am indeed very grateful? After all, after our troops suffered heavy losses? Replenishment from the rear came so quickly, already

Far beyond my imagination.”

Yes? When the EU Army first landed in Myanmar from India, it was equipped with half a million men. After half a year of fighting, its losses were not the 100,000 Liu Zhaosun estimated, but more than 135,000.

The reason why there is a large error? That is because Liu Zhaosun overestimated the other party's medical level by using his own medical level - in short, the Ming military doctors who studied under Zhu Youdong were able to rescue quite a lot of wounded, but the EU doctors

We just can't do it.

However, despite the loss of nearly one-third, due to the timely replenishment of troops in the rear, Gustav still had around 430,000 troops in his hands, excluding the six divisions still on the road.

The reason why the EU can replenish its troops so quickly is that it has control of the sea and can replenish a large number of troops through the Suez Canal, the Indian Ocean, and the Strait of Malacca. The most critical point is that the wealth gained from India and Southeast Asia is transferred back.

After Europe, it inspired a strong desire for aggression and expansion throughout Europe.

In the historical perspective, after Spain obtained a large amount of wealth from the American colonies, this wealth either became the pillar for the royal nobles to maintain their luxurious life, or became the endless military expenditure for wars with almost all countries on the European continent. In short, this money did not

It could not be converted into productivity, but it failed to benefit the domestic people. Instead, these precious metals flowed into other European countries in large quantities, leading to a price revolution. This caused a large number of small and medium-sized landowners in Spain to go bankrupt, farmers became increasingly poor, and the entire country fell into an irreversible depression.

decline.

And in this dimension, with Philip as a historian, Spain will certainly not make such a mistake.

During the thirty years he was in charge of this country, Philip managed the kingdom's finances very well. He invested a large amount of funds into various industries, thereby generating greater wealth. And as a time traveler, he himself has little interest in luxury and enjoyment.

, has always hated spending a lot of money on all kinds of boring drinking parties. On the contrary, he is extremely generous to his soldiers and citizens.

Just take this Indian expedition as an example. The families of those soldiers who died in the Indian expedition all received a pension of three hundred double columns: What is this concept? You know, even in Spain at this time,

A skilled worker working in a shipyard only earns fifty double pillars a year.

These were still those who were killed in battle. As for those who were injured and returned to Europe, the royal government allowed them to turn two-thirds of the loot into their own income. As a result, tens of thousands of wealthy small landowners were born.

There are so many people who get rich overnight, which greatly stimulates the middle and lower classes throughout Europe. Going to the Far East, you can make a fortune whether you live or die. It has become a consensus among European people!

Therefore, in mainland Europe, not to mention the reservists clamoring to go to the Far East. Even among those who tried their best to avoid military service in the past, many people licked their faces and found the military service bureaus in various places again: This,

Brother, I have become more ideologically aware recently, do you think...

Therefore, in the past six months, Gustav has successively received more than 60,000 reinforcements from the mainland, and 90,000 more are on the way.

"Dong dong" The two-meter-tall giant man lightly knocked on the conference table, which still made a loud noise. After successfully focusing the attention of everyone in the venue, Gustav cleared his throat:

"Everyone, it has been more than half a year since we landed in Myanmar, and now we have finally arrived in Siam. However, I believe you have all felt that the smell in the air is somewhat abnormal."

"Yes." Valenstein nodded heavily: "According to General Li Yongfang's introduction, China has completed the construction of two railways running through the north and south. Therefore, although China is very large, it requires a large-scale mobilization of troops.

Months are enough. And now, a full half a year has passed since we first fought against General Liu on the opposite side, and the other side has not yet sent a large-scale support force. Moreover, although General Liu's troops on the opposite side, although

He is not our opponent, but he refuses to retreat simply. And once we want to break away from him, he comes closer again, which is very revealing. In short, the longer this time lasts, the larger the scale of the counterattack planned by the opponent.

big."

"Yes, according to His Majesty Philip's instructions, the Chinese population is probably close to 200 million. God, such a country really wants to push their emperor into trouble, and it is not a problem to pull out five million troops... So,

Everyone, the theme of today’s meeting is, after we enter the plain area, the next direction of march, and how to deal with the enemy’s possible large-scale counterattack.”

"Your Majesty Gustav." Wallenstein stood up again: "According to the war chess deduction organized by the staff department in the past two weeks, we believe that if the Chinese want to launch a counterattack, they will only rely on General Liu's troops to attract us to

Deep in the plains of central Siam, and then oppress us with heavy troops from the north. The most extreme thing is for the enemy to come down from the Shan plateau and cut off our retreat."

"Yes, I deeply agree with this. So, if this is the case, our response measures will be very clear."

The two-meter-tall man stood up and walked to the large map hanging on the wall of the conference room: "I suggest that the main force of our army ignore the Liu Army in the east, but resolutely go south along the Chao Phraya River and penetrate Bangkok.

There, with the support of the navy, we can attack when we advance and defend when we retreat, and we are already in an invincible position."

"Your Majesty." A young staff officer raised his hand: "If we go south, what about Sukhothai, which has now openly raised its flag to support us?"

"Let their king come with us. We will use his name to liberate Ayutthaya and Bangkok. We want the Siamese people in the southern plains and port areas to see that their king is back."

"Understood."

"In addition, let King Sukhothai provide us with another departure fee and food, and tell him that Sukhothai will be occupied by the Chinese army soon. He can loot all the food and leave the hungry people to

The Chinese will take care of it. If he does not give us enough food and money here, it will be difficult for me to guarantee the maintenance of military discipline in our army after entering Bangkok. Once Bangkok is robbed by our soldiers, he will not be the king of Thailand.

Went down."

"Pfft~ I'm sorry, Your Majesty. Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will make King Sukhothai obey."

"Now to our south, that is, in the lower reaches of the Chao Phraya River, is there any force that can stop us from advancing?"

"According to the scout's report, two Chinese princes, the King of Zhou and the King of Tang, were entrusted to the south of us. Their two kings organized an army of 30,000 people to block Ayutthaya. However, the soldiers of this army,

The vast majority are Siamese.”

"Hahaha, I suddenly remembered the Chinese proverb that General Li Yongfang gave me, huh? What's it called? Oh, the mantis stretched out its arms to block the huge wheel. This is not bravery, but stupidity. Give our army the south side

He sent an order to his troops to defeat the resistance of the two overestimated princes as quickly as possible."

"As you command!"

"Send a letter to Major General Duleni. I will give him seven divisions to serve as rear troops to block the harassment of General Liu's regiment in the east. In short, we will go to Bangkok first, and after receiving naval support, we will make the next step according to the situation.
Chapter completed!