What on earth is Zhu Gaoxu going to do?" Wigrama Vardana frowned and looked at the map full of marks in front of him, muttering in a low voice. He looked at it for a while longer and asked the soldier who had just come to report the military situation to him.
He said: "Several monarchs from the Northern Army of the Ming Army did leave the military camp a few days ago, and not long after that, several people wearing the costumes of the monarchs (Princes of the Ming Dynasty) appeared in the military camp of the Southern Army?"
'Didn't I report to you once a few days ago? I said it repeatedly at that time, why do you ask me again now?'; the soldier thought impatiently. But on the surface he said very respectfully: "
Yes, Your Majesty. Both the Northern Army and the civil servants forced by the Southern Army have spies. From the 19th to the 25th of last month, the three monarchs did not appear in the Northern Army’s camp, and on the 20th of last month
From the 1st to the 23rd, three people wearing the monarch's clothes appeared in the military camp of the Ming Army's Southern Army. And according to the description of their appearance, they were very similar to those three monarchs."
"I know, you can retreat." After hearing this, Wigrama Vardhana thought for a while and said to the soldiers. He hurriedly bowed and retreated. After a while, two men wearing general armor
Walking in, he saluted him and said, "Chen Ketala Yasa has met your Majesty."
"Sit." Wigramawardana pointed to the chair and said this word. After he sat down, he said to them: "Look at this map."
Ketalayasa moved a chair to the table and looked at the map carefully, with a look of doubt on his face. "Your Majesty, I am very confused: What is the Ming army going to do?"
After Wigrama Vardhana learned that Zhu Gaoxu and others led troops to invade, he immediately sent people to negotiate peace with Veerabhmi and ordered the soldiers to prepare to move westward. Although Veerabhmi really wanted Wigrama Vardhana to be defeated
He was destroyed, but he still understood the truth of lips and teeth, agreed to negotiate peace, and led his troops back to his fiefdom.
Vigrama Vardhana immediately ordered the army to go west in turn: Ketala Yasa led 10,000 troops to fight against the northern army of the Ming army, Liang Jialiang led 8,000 people to fight against the southern army of the Ming army, and Vigrama Vardhana himself commanded
The main force of 50,000 then moved forward, and Ketanagala led 10,000 troops back to Bitter Orange City to garrison.
** After Jia Liang defeated the Ming army's southern forward led by Hua Ying in Wumiya, he did not pursue it, but garrisoned on the spot to reinforce the city; after Ketalayasa led his troops to defeat the Ming army's northern army in Bamalan
, not only did they not pursue, but they retreated to the gates of Pekalongan City to join the army led by Wigrama Wardana.
The invading Ming army retreated for a few days after being defeated on both sides, but began to take action again in early August. The southern army abandoned the entire city and was besieged by more than 30,000 people and more than 10,000 civilians.
Miyayou surrounded this small town and launched a fierce attack without caring about casualties; the Northern Army also mobilized all the troops in the rear, leaving only a few thousand people in Zhige City, and the remaining 20,000 people occupied it
Pamalan, posing as if to attack Pekalongan.
This puzzled Vigramavardhana. Of course, it was not the battlefield situation that puzzled him, that was clear; what puzzled him was the purpose of the Ming army in doing this.
If they were supported by Ming troops from the Central Plains or other vassal states, then this would be easier to understand from a military perspective: attracting the troops of Ketalayasa to fight them in the west, the Ming troops from the Central Plains or other vassal states would then follow
Landed in the east and captured Bitter Orange City in one fell swoop.
But it is incomprehensible from other angles. Wigrama Vardhana has also been a neighbor of Zhu Gaoxu for several years, and he has heard about the behavior of this unfriendly neighbor. In his opinion, Zhu Gaoxu is definitely not capable of doing this.
A person who sacrifices himself for others will definitely not do such a job where he suffers a loss and allows others to benefit. Even if the emperor of Yingtianfu in the capital of the Ming Dynasty issued an order, he would not carry it out seriously. So it is not reasonable. As for Zhu Gaoxu himself sending the order
The possibility of another army landing near Bitter Orange City was just as Zhu Gaoxu was always paying attention to Majapahit, Wigrama Vardhana was also always paying attention to Su Fan, and how many troops Su Fan could mobilize to attack Manchuria.
He knew very well about Boyi Kingdom that with at most two to three thousand people, it would be impossible to capture Kuju City.
It would be even more incomprehensible if the Ming army in front of them did not have the support of the Ming army from the Central Plains. The total strength of the Ming army was not as large as theirs, and even if their combat effectiveness was slightly stronger, they would not be able to win in this way.
The two of them gathered around the table and watched for a while, and then read the military information documents sent by the soldiers from beginning to end. Ketalayasa hesitated and said: "Could it be the troops of the Southern Army under the banner of Su Fan?"
Not all the soldiers here are Su Fan soldiers, but there are soldiers and horses from other vassal states?"
"This is not impossible. However, according to the news that Liang Jialiang came from Miyayu City after the Southern Army launched a fierce attack in the past few days and the secret reports from the Southern Army's informants, the generals in the Southern Army are all Su Fan.
The generals, names, and looks are all the same, and they do not appear to be incompetent in commanding the army. It is unlikely." Vigrama Vardhana analyzed.
"Is it possible that the Ming army was hiding its strength or had very powerful weapons in the past few days? Just waiting to fight with most of our army and suddenly use all its strength to defeat our army?" Ketalayasa asked again.
"It's unlikely. We all know the strength of Su Fan's army, and it won't suddenly become very powerful. You tested out the strength of the Northern Army in the battle at Bamalan, and it doesn't seem like they are hiding their strength.
As for the very powerful weapons, both you and **Jia Liang captured some Ming soldiers, and they did not find out during interrogation that the Ming soldiers had very powerful weapons. It is also impossible." Wigrama Vardhana analyzed again.
The two analyzed together for a long time and ruled out many situations. Ketalayasa finally said in an unbelievable tone: "In this way, there are only two possibilities. First, the Ming army came from the Central Plains but has not yet gone to war.
Especially many, just like the attack on Annan four years ago, hundreds of thousands of troops were sent, at least more than 100,000. Second, Zhu Gaoxu was very arrogant and believed in the combat power of the Ming army. He also extremely despised our army and believed that he could easily defeat our army.
"
"You are right. Now it seems that only these two situations are the most reasonable." Wigrama Varda nodded and said: "However, the former situation is not impossible, but if it really happens, even if it doesn't happen,
The troops dispatched from Guangdong and Guangxi will not stop at the Pearl River Estuary. Guangdong will also be required to supply a large amount of grain and vegetables. Not all grain and vegetables will be transported from Zhili. Taiwan Town, Fujian Province, Song Dynasty and other places cannot supply so much.
Grains and vegetables used by the army. But the people I sent to the Shipping Department in Baoan City have never reported that the Guangdong government purchased large quantities of grains and vegetables, so it should not be possible."
"So, is it Zhu Gaoxu who is so arrogant?" Ketalayasa said with an angry look on his face: "Zhu Gaoxu is so arrogant. Your Majesty, you must teach him a lesson! It is best to capture him alive and keep him in a painful prison.
In the prison of Orange City, Su Fan was asked to redeem him with 10,000 slaves, 10,000 female slaves and countless gold, silver and jewels! The kings of several other vassal states also did the same thing if they were captured."
"If this is really the case, then of course we must teach them a lesson. At least one king must be captured, and the vassal country must provide many slaves and treasures to redeem him."
"However, I always feel that Zhu Gaoxu doesn't think so. Zhu Gaoxu does think very highly of himself and has always looked down on the combat power of the armies of our Southeast Asian countries, but he is not arrogant to this extent. What's more, if he is arrogant to this extent
, why do you want to invite the other four vassals to send troops to join the war?" Wigrama Vardana said with a frown.
"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore," he said when he saw Ketalayasa was lost in thought again, "Since you can't understand it, let's stop thinking about it first. Let's keep the same in response to all changes, and then we'll see what the Ming army does."
Ketalayasa agreed, but suddenly thought of something and asked: "Your Majesty, the city of Umiyayu where **Jialiang and his troops were stationed was besieged by the southern Ming army. How to deal with it?"
"Let him hold on for another five days. If the Ming army still attacks as fiercely as in the past few days, then abandon the city and withdraw from the mountain road to the east. The gain or loss of one city or one place is not important."
...
...
"Your Highness, the remaining troops of Majapayi Kingdom have withdrawn from the mountain road to the east, and the people in the city have also fled." Hua Ying came to Zhu Gaoxu and reported.
"Understood. Order your officers and men to enter the city, search for food, property, etc., and be careful to prevent an ambush from the Majapayi who have not yet evacuated and escaped. Liu Du, lead your officers and men to demolish the west wall; Jin Xuan,
You lead your troops to gather together the soldiers who died in our army and burn them, put the ashes into earthen jars, and the dying Majapahit people can burn them at will and bury them." Zhu Gaoxu ordered.
Hua Ying and Liu Du agreed and took the order to retreat; Jin Xuan hesitated for a while, but finally retreated. Although he had been in Su Fan for several years, he had an expression that the soldiers could not be buried in peace, but burned to ashes.
There is still some resistance.
But Zhu Gaoxu had good reasons for burning the soldiers to ashes: First, if they were buried on the spot, the Majapayi people would dig out the corpses and humiliate them after our army withdrew; if they were brought back to Su Fan, the corpses would
It has long since become smelly and rotten. It may spread the plague, which is absolutely impossible. Secondly, Su Fan founded the country on Buddhism, and Buddhism advocates cremation rather than burial. Changing customs begins with the government. In the future, cremation will also be required after a hundred years!
Moreover, every time a general brought up the matter of burial, Zhu Gaoxu scolded the general who brought it up mercilessly. The scolding made Jin Xuan and others feel shadowed in their hearts and they did not dare to say such words in front of him again. So.
Jin Xuan could only silently accept the errands assigned to him.
"Your Highness, there are still no troops stationed in this city?" After Zhu Gaoxu finished his instructions, another general under his command, Cheng An, asked.
"No one left." Zhu Gaoxu said: "After transporting all the food and treasures in the city, we will all go north without leaving any soldiers behind."
"But, Your Highness," Cheng'an said again: "All the cities along the way have been abandoned. As a result, our army's supplies must be transported from Zhige City. If the Ketalayasa soldiers cut off this
If there is no access road, then our army will have no chance of running out of food."
"It's no problem." Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile: "After General Mia has raided the city, the whole army will go north to meet up with the Northern Route Army, and join forces to attack Pekalongan. That side is close to the sea, and there is no need to run out of food.
." He then murmured in a low voice: "I wish Vigramavardhana would send troops to cut off this passage. That way the battle would be much easier to fight."
"Your Highness, I think it is very inappropriate to combine the two armies into one place." Even though he had already heard him talk about his next plan, Cheng'an still advised him: "Your Highness, our troops will be divided into two groups to attack Majapahit.
The first is to feed the enemy and requisition more things from the local people; the second is to let Wigrama Varda not know whether we are strong or weak when taking back the troops, and divide the troops in every city for defense, so as to have
Plans for greater room for maneuver."
"If the two armies and horses are combined into one place, although the military strength will be stronger, the Majapahit Kingdom will not have to leave many soldiers to garrison everywhere. Most of the troops can be concentrated in Pekalongan City, and our army will be more likely to fall into the enemy's city.
It is small, and if you want to capture the city, you need to fight hard, and the losses will be huge, and the gains will not be worth the losses."
"If you are facing a strong army, what Ai Qing said is certainly true; but how can the soldiers of Manzha Boyi be called strong soldiers? If you can still defend yourself by hiding in the city, you will definitely lose in the field if you go out of the city!"
Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile: "The only way to attack the city of Pekalongan is to let Wigrama Vardana gather all the troops in the city. Now our army is in the Majapahit Kingdom, and the food has been obtained a while ago.
The Majapahit Kingdom's grain does not consume the domestic grain and vegetables; but the Majapahit Kingdom's troops are concentrated in Pekalongan City, consuming the country's grain. In this way, they only take advantage of it. Why not use troops like this?"
"Your Highness, the food obtained from the Majapahit Kingdom is not endless. What if it is used up?" Cheng'an asked again.
"If they are all used up, just send a few more soldiers and horses to 'requisition'; that's it. The main force of the Majapahit Kingdom's soldiers is in the city of Pekalongan. Even if some soldiers and horses are sent to regain the city on the west side of Java Island, there will be no people."
There will be more, and the troops sent by our army to collect food will definitely be able to collect food, so there is no need to worry about insufficient food." Zhu Gaoxu replied.
"But,..." Cheng An felt that it was not impossible to do this, but it would not be of any benefit to Su Fan. It was better to withdraw the troops. He wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by Zhu Gaoxu: "Cheng An, hurry up and lead your troops to watch.
Don’t let the captured civilians escape. Make sure there are at least 10,000 civilians. If there are not enough after counting, send troops to capture more from nearby villages."
"Yes, Your Highness." Cheng An glanced at Zhu Gaoxu's expression and knew that not only would his words not be useful, but would also make Zhu Gaoxu unhappy, so he could only agree to go ahead and carry out his order. 'After a few days, the army worked hard to no avail.
I will advise His Highness later.' He thought in his heart. (To be continued)