The process in the Western Regions is slow, but the battle in Annan is in full swing.

The Annan army would have little chance of resisting the current Ming Dynasty.

Basically, all the towns could not hold out against the Ming army for more than three days.

Probably the only factor that had a major impact on the Ming army was the weather.

The tropical climate is really too hot, especially when wearing armor, swords and other weights, which means that every soldier needs to carry more than 100 kilograms.

As a result, the marching speed became very slow.

Fortunately, due to the Ming Dynasty's support for the development of medical schools, this time when we came to attack Annan, we had a medical team of nearly a thousand people and brought enough medicinal materials.

What is different from the situation in the army is that these doctors not only serve the army, but are also responsible for collecting herbs in the surrounding area, or picking and recording unfamiliar herbs.

In the tropical rainforest climate, there are many types of herbaceous plants, and the categories are very complicated.

Which ones are poisonous, which ones are edible, and which ones have medicinal value, and in what aspects, this all requires a long-term testing process.

"Commander Ye, this doesn't seem to be a good idea. Our marching speed is too slow, and many soldiers are already suffering from acclimatization problems."

"Fortunately, the doctors have already prescribed medicine, and the brothers who were sick are slowly recovering."

"It's just that the weather is too hot, and many of our supplies are convenient to carry."

When Jingning Hou Ye Sheng heard the report from his adjutant, he nodded slightly.

Although the Ming Dynasty fought wars everywhere, it was the first time to fight in a tropical region like Annan.

When we were fighting in the north, it was extremely cold there, but here it was scorching hot.

The tropical monsoon climate of Annan had a significant impact on the Ming Dynasty's firearms.

Here, it basically rains heavily every two days, and it is very hot and humid.

It was hot and sunny in the morning, but then the cumulus clouds in the sky became thicker and thicker, and after noon, it began to rain heavily.

After an hour or so the rain stopped and we felt a little more comfortable.

During the march of more than half a month, it was rare to find two days without rain.

The heavy rain came quickly and went away quickly.

Fortunately, we had prepared enough oil paper to protect the gunpowder we carried.

However, in a humid environment, even if the gunpowder is not exposed to rain, it is difficult to keep it dry.

When we attacked a small village a few days ago, there was a problem of a large number of musket misfires.

After firing, the gunpowder cannot burn fully due to moisture, and it is also troublesome to clean up.

The weather alone almost made the Ming Dynasty's firearms useless.

Puding Hou Chen Huan no longer has the initial drive he had, and instead looks somewhat haggard.

It’s not that they couldn’t defeat Annan’s army, but their enemy was simply this damn weather.

Chen Huan, Marquis of Puding, relied on his good health and did not avoid the heavy rain, but still captured a town.

As a result, within two days, evil heat entered the body.

To put it simply, it is a wind-heat cold.

"Ahem, I finally understand how the Mongols attacked the small country of Annan. They sent hundreds of thousands of elite troops, but they were defeated."

"This is not a war, it's clearly a torture. For those who grew up on the grassland, the cold doesn't matter, but this heat is unbearable."

"If it weren't for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's foresight to arrange enough doctors for us, who knows how many brothers in our army would be left who can fight."

"This damn place is full of snakes, insects, rats and ants, which are so scary. A bug the size of a palm almost bit me. Given my current situation, I would rather give it away for nothing."

"Fortunately, we have tents with us. When we were asked to prepare these tents, I said that His Royal Highness thought that we rough people were too delicate and complained a few words."

"It turns out that this is saving our lives and the lives of our brothers."

Puding Marquis Chen Huan coughed while drinking the medicine prepared by the doctor.

The black potion was obviously very bitter, but Chen Huan didn't frown when he drank it. It was just that his voice became hoarse because of the wind-cold problem.

If you're not careful, your nose will run like water and you can only keep wiping it with cloth.

Before the Ming army of 300,000 set out to conquer Annan, Zhu Ying issued an order through the Royal Chamber of Commerce, requiring them to bring enough tents.

At that time, many people still had complaints in their hearts.

When marching and fighting, there is no place where they cannot sleep. It's not like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince came here by himself, so why would he bring a tent? Wouldn't that be a burden to the brothers?

The result is that up to now, everyone is thanking His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

There are too many poisonous creatures in this rainforest. The weather is so hot and humid that you can't wear any clothes when sleeping. You will be bitten by all kinds of things at night.

With the shelter of a tent, at least you can have a good night's sleep and feel energetic the next day.

I can’t imagine how we would survive without a tent.

Large-scale wind-heat colds are a great harm to the army.

What was the situation like with the 200,000 or 300,000 Mongolian cavalry back then?

Before they even arrived at the capital of Annan, a large group of people fell ill.

There were not many marching doctors here, and the mutual infection of wind-heat and colds directly bred a large number of viruses, leading to the outbreak of a small-scale plague.

Not to mention the war, being able to go back is a good thing.

The war horses living on the grassland are even more intolerant to the climate here. When a large group of cavalry comes, not to mention fighting, they are in torture at all times.

This situation, viewed from the perspective of future generations, seems somewhat incomprehensible.

After all, who would march with war horses in a tropical monsoon climate, or just use cavalry?

But in today's environment, people have a low level of understanding of the world, most people don't consider these factors, and there is no cultural teaching on this aspect.

Not to mention the Mongolians who are almost all illiterate.

Besides, those in power would never care about the living problems of the lower-level soldiers.

Once an order is given, just do it.

The result is naturally predictable.

Fortunately, most of the soldiers on the Ming side are from Guangxi and Yunnan. Although they are a little uncomfortable, they can still bear it.

"Gather the auxiliary troops of the army and have them assist the doctors in solving the logistical problems, especially paying attention to preventing the occurrence of plague."

"In fighting Annan, I think fighting is not the most important thing. What's important is how to get there."

Jingning Hou Ye Sheng looked at the lush jungle and the scorching sun above his head and said with a slight sigh.

Only when you are in such an environment can you know how difficult the problems you encounter are.

The Annan people's fighting power is just so limited, they are completely worthless. It's not easy to find someone in these jungles.

For the Ming Dynasty, Hu Jima is having a very hard time now.

The situation at the border was being reported continuously, casting a shadow over Hu Jima's head.

Climate is a natural barrier for Annan, especially in this era.

They had no fear of the Ming Dynasty's firearms. The heavy rain and humid environment were bound to have a great impact on the march.

This is very clear from the 50,000 elite troops stationed in Annan.

It took the initial Ming garrison almost half a year to slowly adapt.

Because he had sufficient understanding, Hu Jima dared to rebel against the Ming Dynasty so unscrupulously.

But now that he had to take steady steps, Hu Jima felt somewhat helpless.

Unlike the Mongols of the past, the Ming army had strong logistical support.

There will be no shortage of food, medicine, etc.

In other words, it was only a matter of time before the Ming army arrived at the royal capital in Hanoi.

Judging from the current situation, we will be able to reach the city wall of the Annan capital in Hanoi within a month.

The towns and cities ahead posed no danger to the Ming army.

Annan's troops were mainly deployed in two directions.

One is the imperial guards of the Annan court, and the other is the local army.

At present, the number of Annan's imperial guards is about 100,000. They are considered the backbone of the Annan army. Every imperial guard is a real combat soldier, not an auxiliary soldier.

The local army is very different from Annan’s central imperial guards.

At this time, Annan had a total of 19 routes, each of which was organized into an army and 20 front groups to maintain public order and capture bandits, commonly known as route troops.

Due to different geographical locations, Shannan Road had four armies under its jurisdiction, and Haidong Road had two armies under its jurisdiction. The commander of each route was called the general manager.

Among them are the royal and princely armies.

The royal army was developed from household slaves and royal servants. In a sense, their status was much higher than that of ordinary road troops.

Under normal circumstances, the number of staff is not large, but in times of war, a large number of noble slaves and guards will join in.

There were many chieftains in the Annan region, and the grassroots structure was mainly based on villages and communities. The soldiers mobilized during wartime were called local soldiers.

The status of the local soldiers was the lowest. They were not only needed to fight in wars, but also to be used as auxiliary troops.

It was similar to the Ming Dynasty’s garrisons. After the war, they would go back to farming and production.

The Ming army had already defeated the three armies of Annan along the way.

These three armies did not cause much casualties to the Ming Dynasty, but did capture tens of thousands of prisoners.

Now these prisoners are used to transport logistical supplies for the army and act as guides.

In the dense jungle, it is easy to get lost if you are not careful.

The warlord opera in Annan was actually the local army's disobedience to the Annan central court.

Hu Jima took advantage of the pressure from the Ming Dynasty to win over all the local troops.

These local military commanders are actually not stupid, and most of them do not want to go against the Ming Dynasty.

But now the Ming Dynasty's education has had a great impact on them.

For example, the Tay, one of the more powerful tribes that accounts for a larger proportion of the Annan population, is now very disgusted with the Ming Dynasty.

The Tay people are considered to be the native ethnic group of Annam and the local aboriginals.

The reason for this aversion was that 50,000 elite troops were stationed in Annan.

Because of the garrison reasons, according to the requirements of the Ming Dynasty, the rations of the Ming soldiers need to be supplied by Annan.

The Annan royal family had no choice but to increase taxes, which added a lot of burden to the people of Annan.

People with ulterior motives took advantage of this and stirred up hatred between the people of Annan and the Ming Dynasty.

This has led to the fact that some people in the Annan region are not very friendly towards the Ming Dynasty.

Now, most of Annan’s general managers have gathered in the royal capital.

Near the royal capital, there were nearly 400,000 Annan troops.

This is almost 80% of the military force in the entire territory of Annan.

It sounds like they have more than 100,000 troops than the Ming army, and they are fighting on Annan’s home turf.

But this did not give Hu Jima and other local warlords any sense of security.

Soldiers are completely different from each other.

Among the more than 400,000 Annan troops, more than half were counterfeit soldiers, skinny and bony, without even enough food, not to mention weapons and armaments.

I'm afraid that less than half of people can actually have a good knife in their hands.

There are still more than 100,000 central imperial guards in Annan, which is just barely comparable to the Ming army.

The key issue is that the generals of the Ming Dynasty are not comparable to those of their small place.

The weapons and equipment are even more overwhelming.

On the battlefield, it’s not just about how many people can fight.

In addition to weapons, there are also morale, military discipline, logistical supplies and other factors that enhance comprehensive combat effectiveness.

In the case of a head-on battle, no accidents will occur and Annan will inevitably be completely defeated.

Both Annan and the Ming Dynasty had a clear understanding of this point.

At present, Annan’s only reliance is the climate.

They hoped that just like the Mongols in the past, by the time the Ming army arrived, they would no longer have much combat effectiveness.

However, current intelligence indicates that this possibility may be very small.

The generals leading the troops of the Ming Dynasty were very steady and had no intention of rushing for success.

In the Prime Minister's Mansion of Annan.

Hu Jima gathered together with the local governors.

Since the Ming Dynasty's advance began, such meetings have been held almost every day.

Hu Jima did not mention going to the palace either.

The Royal Palace of Annan is currently under house arrest.

His rebellion this time was under the guise of driving out the Ming Dynasty and restoring the rule of the Annan royal family, not that he wanted to rebel and become an emperor.

The relationship with local warlords was a temporary alliance.

Of course, Hu Jima, who controls more than 100,000 imperial guards, is naturally the most powerful among them.

"Prime Minister Hu, the Ming army, according to current statistics, will only have less than a month to go."

"If we don't stop them on the way, do we have to wait until they reach the city before we fight back?"

"We sit here every day to discuss, but what results can we come up with?"

"In my opinion, it would be better to send a vanguard army to fight against the Ming Dynasty first."

After many discussions without any results, the patience of the local warlord's chief gradually wore out.

Coupled with the increasing pressure, the mood has become extremely irritable.

Finally, I couldn't help it and started to explode.

Soon after, more local managers expressed their dissatisfaction.

Hu Jima's eyes were gloomy. He knew that the local army wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to cause trouble and gain more benefits from him.