"Did they discover our ambush?"

"This is impossible. Absolutely impossible."

Lan Yu frowned, feeling extremely confused.

After setting up an ambush at Banpo, Lan Yu waited for the enemy's army to arrive.

If you want to lure the enemy's elite into the encirclement, you naturally need enough bait.

A kind man cannot command an army.

There is no war without casualties.

Lan Yu organized a team of 3,000 people to launch a surprise attack on the enemy.

The elite troops on Basong's side naturally stayed in the courtyard. Lan Yu went ahead to attack only the fragile local troops.

Although Southeast Asia is rich in food resources, these local soldiers are all skinny, with rusty swords in their hands. Most of them don't even have leather armor, and even their clothes are tattered, just like beggars.

In fact, beggar armies are a very common sight no matter where they are. Even when Zhu Yuanzhang was conquering the world, most of his men were beggars like this.

Even Genghis Khan's army was in a similar situation.

The majority supporting the minority is the mainstream of today's era.

Lan Yu's vanguard rushed into the local army and slaughtered them like crazy.

In terms of physical strength and equipment, this is not a battle of the same level.

No matter how powerful a dozen half-grown kids are, there is no way they can defeat a strong man with weapons.

The local troops did not dare to run away, as the elite troops from the royal capital were behind them to suppress them. Anyone who retreated without hearing the order would be killed!

Even so, the 3,000-man team was like a sharp sword, opening a gap in the local army.

But that's all. It's impossible to attack the elite troops in the royal capital later on. That would be tantamount to seeking death.

"retreat!"

Seeing that the elite troops from the royal capital were beginning to rush towards this side, the vanguard army immediately retreated.

This is just the beginning of the danger. Once the vanguard army is bitten by the elite troops of the royal capital, there will be huge casualties. Their mission is to lead the elite troops of the royal capital into the range of artillery as much as possible.

If nothing unexpected happens, this ambush is still very effective.

There was no way Lan Yu could win the battle, so all he had to do was inflict heavy casualties on the other side.

Even if it means losing dozens of artillery pieces.

The key to the power of artillery lies in the strength of gunpowder. Artillery alone cannot reach the range of Ming Dynasty artillery.

An accident happened.

When the vanguard army retreated, the elite troops of the royal capital had no intention of pursuing them, but instead stopped to reorganize.

The general leading the opposing army was not Basong.

However, after the meeting a few days ago, the generals of the Ayutthaya Dynasty now did not want to let their soldiers fight to the death with the Ming Dynasty.

What's the point of fighting a war if you won't get any credit even if you win it?

Each general of the Ayutthaya Dynasty was equivalent to a family, and many of the soldiers under his command were his own clansmen.

If they really went to fight with the Ming army, not only would their own strength be weakened, but they would also not gain any benefits.

The generals are not fools, so of course they would let others do such things.

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to pursue.

This situation made Lan Yu very distressed.

Because as the enemy's elite troops from the royal capital moved forward, they were gradually entering the ambush circle.

However, the enemy's advance troops naturally could not be elite troops, but local troops who were like beggars.

Lan Yu felt that it was a waste to use artillery to bombard these beggar soldiers.

After all, artillery is not cheap. If you count the number of local soldiers killed by artillery, they are not as valuable as the gunpowder.

The elite troops of the royal capital did not care at all about the casualties of the local troops.

"These despicable bastards, it is their honor to die here. Do we want our elite Royal Capital Army to confront them head-on?"

"These Ming troops are really powerful. They are just diplomatic missions. Aren't they the most elite troops of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Although these bastards have low combat effectiveness, this is too exaggerated. Even if my soldiers go up, they will have to pay several times the casualties to keep these Ming troops."

Westin watched the large-scale deaths of local troops without any emotional fluctuations.

He is a general of the kingdom and a noble aristocrat. How could he put himself in danger?

Instead, he had a very intuitive understanding of the strength of the Ming army, and his tone was full of admiration.

He often bought the Ming Dynasty's capital gazette, which is also a habit of many nobles nowadays. Almost all nobles can't help but envy the Ming Dynasty's wealth and prosperity.

However, most nobles still expressed doubts about the military strength disclosed by the Ming Dynasty in the official reports.

The main reason is that it feels too exaggerated and unreal.

But now, Westin felt that the news in the newspaper was true.

"Damn it! Any random delegation has the power to destroy a country. Damn it! How can the Ming Dynasty be so powerful?"

Westin suddenly realized that this was a very dangerous thing to do.

Will their current pursuit of the Ming Dynasty lead to retaliation from the Ming Dynasty?

This was already the case with more than 10,000 people. If there were tens of thousands more, the Ayutthaya Dynasty would have been destroyed.

Westin made up his mind that no matter how the Ming army charged, he would not fight back as long as they did not attack him directly.

Just let those bastards die.

The other side.

Lan Yu noticed something unusual.

"Our soldiers have already arrived in front of the enemy's elite troops, but they haven't made any moves and are instead in a defensive posture."

"The scouts reported that the enemy has a lot of muskets and cannons. Based on their attitude towards the local troops, if you really want to fight back, they will most likely open fire directly. This is obviously abnormal."

Lan Yu's words made the many marquises understand clearly.

Those who came with Lan Yu this time were all high-ranking members of the Huaixi Military Generals Group.

But no one expected that such a thing would happen during a simple trip to Zhenla.

Everyone had crawled out of corpses and was not at all unfamiliar with war.

If it had been any other garrison or ordinary diplomatic mission, they would have probably been wiped out when they were attacked along the coast.

Zhang Yi, Marquis of Heqing, Chen Huan, Marquis of Puding, Cao Zhen, Marquis of Jingchuan, Zhu Shou, Marquis of Zhuolu, and Xie Cheng, Marquis of Yongping.

This is a luxurious lineup of one duke and five marquises.

If any marquis was killed here, it would be a huge event.

The imperial court would inevitably send a large army to destroy the Ayutthaya Dynasty.

Even now, the Ayutthaya Sultanate must pay sufficient compensation for the losses. If the Ming Dynasty is not satisfied, the same outcome will occur.

As a vassal state, this is a serious crime of insubordination.

Of course, there are many such things in history.

It mainly depends on the situation of the Central Plains dynasty.

But the current Ming Dynasty obviously has a very strong deterrent effect on other countries, and it also has strong expedition capabilities.

In other words, the Ayutthaya Dynasty is currently in its heyday. If other countries were under the conquest of Lan Yu, they would probably have been fighting to defend their capitals.

"General, the enemy obviously doesn't want to fight us now. It seems that our ambush is no longer of much use."

"Perhaps we can retreat now."

Puding Marquis Chen Huan spoke.

He didn't want to waste any more time in the rain forest. He was old and had been infected with miasma a few days ago. He almost died. Fortunately, the doctor accompanying the army was very skilled and saved him.

Otherwise he would have been buried in a foreign land.

Apart from Lan Yu, the other marquises were also suffering. They were all getting older and were no longer in the same physical condition as they used to be.

"Yes, this jungle is really not a place for people to stay."

"It is obviously impossible to defeat them, and there is no point in wasting time. We are not well prepared this time. After all, we are just an envoy. We should report to His Majesty and send a large army to suppress them and let them know how powerful we are."

"I just didn't expect these foreign races to dare to attack us. If they had tens of thousands of soldiers, I would definitely destroy their capital."

Several marquises spoke up.

Lan Yu glanced at them and knew that he could not fight any further.

"Okay, let's retreat. They don't seem to dare to fight us. We can't let those artillery pieces go unused. Tell the brothers to take them away."

This decision was supported by several marquises.

Anyway, the other party doesn’t dare to really fight.

The news of the Ming army's gradual retreat soon reached the elite troops in the royal capital.

"Your Excellency General, it seems that the Ming army has already felt our intention," Westin reported.

Basong nodded: "These Ming troops are very strong and have a strong will to fight. Such an army is definitely a force that can fight a hundred battles."

"The Ming Dynasty was founded only thirty years ago, and many of their soldiers have experienced wars in troubled times, so it's not surprising that this happened."

"The enemy only has more than 10,000 people, yet they dare to set an ambush on us at this time. It is obvious that the title of Duke of Liang in the Ming Dynasty is not in vain."

After repeated attempts, if Basong still cannot guess that the enemy has an ambush, all the battles he has fought for most of his life will have been in vain.

At the same time, I felt a little scared.

If they had no intention of starting a war, this ambush would definitely cause heavy casualties to the elite troops of the royal capital.

The enemy's military quality was also clearly revealed when they fought against the local army.

They killed five or six thousand local soldiers, but not even a single corpse was left behind. This casualty ratio is simply exaggerated.

But this has a lot to do with the opponent's excellent leather armor.

Ordinary bows and arrows can almost penetrate the opponent's leather armor, and even if they are injured, the opponent's soldiers can quickly provide cover.

In a head-on battle, how could the skinny peasant army be a match for the strong soldiers?

In terms of height, each Ming soldier was a head taller than the peasant army on average.

If the elite troops from the royal capital do not take action, these peasant armies, no matter how many there are, will just be food for the hungry ghosts.

If we can hurt the other person, it is all thanks to the Buddha’s blessing.

Lan Yu knew that the other side was afraid to fight, so he simply pulled the cannon slowly.

With several thousand men supporting the battle, the peasant army on the opposite side did not dare to move forward.

With a difference of just a few hundred meters, they watched the Ming army slowly leave.

Basong's troops were like bodyguards. They took a few steps for every step the other side took, following behind the Ming army.

However, what both sides knew was.

In the nearby waters, a fleet of hundreds of ships has already arrived in the waters of Zhenla.

This was the Fujian Navy that Zhu Ying had ordered to come and support Lan Yu.

"Quick, look, that's our Ming navy."

The fleet led by Lan Yu soon discovered the existence of the Fujian Navy and immediately shouted with joy.

They had been docked at the seaside port of Chenla.

During this nearly two months period, Zhenla was naturally responsible for supplies.

The King of Zhenla, Canrepa Piyya, was naturally very grateful when he learned that the Duke of Liang of the Ming Dynasty had repelled the 100,000-strong attacking army of the Ayutthaya Dynasty.

Especially after knowing that Lan Yu directly retaliated against the Ayutthaya Dynasty, he integrated tens of thousands of troops to cooperate with Lan Yu's actions.

It’s just that Zhenla was indeed too corrupt, and their fighting effectiveness was far inferior to that of the regular army of the Ayutthaya Dynasty.

If we run into the opponent's elite troops from the royal capital, we will be on a completely different level.

Not only is there a difference in the individual quality and morale of the soldiers, but the difference in the generals is even greater.

It just serves the purpose of waving flags and cheering.

Historically, the Ayutthaya Dynasty easily conquered the capital of Zhenla, and then forced Zhenla to move its capital. In just a few years, it directly destroyed Zhenla.

The rule of the Khmer Empire truly came to an end in history.

Even if the Ming Dynasty intervened, Zhenla would only be able to survive today.

In other words, Zhu Ying wanted to leave Zhenla to his son, and at the same time regarded the entire Southeast Asia region as the granary of the Ming Dynasty and intervene in wars among countries.

Preserving Zhenla would be more beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, otherwise Chanlepopiyya would not even have the opportunity to reform.

…

The Ming Palace.

Huang Guan was sitting in the supervision supporting the ironclad ship and reporting the progress to Zhu Ying.

"According to His Highness' order, the shipyard is now working in three shifts, and the shipbuilding speed is extremely fast. It is now gradually approaching completion."

"Seventy percent of the hull armor has been completed. It will be fully completed by the end of this month. The rest is waiting for the steam engine to be installed."

In order to ensure the smooth production of the ironclad ship, especially the production of the propeller.

While the hull was being built, the carpenters were simultaneously producing a corresponding model.

The model is about the size of a calf. Except for the lack of a steam engine, everything else is restored in the proportions of a neat ironclad ship.

It has to be said that the carpenters of the Ming Dynasty were extremely skilled in their craft.

Zhu Ying also took the time to look at the wooden model and found no problems so far.

If there is a problem with the steam ironclad ship, it is most likely caused by the steam engine.

After all, after so many years of technological inheritance, Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding technology has reached the peak of sailing ships.

In order to ensure the progress of the ironclad ship, both the Research Department and the shipyard began to work overtime on a large scale.

There is still nearly a month left before the March deadline set by Zhu Ying. Judging from the current progress, it can probably be completed ahead of schedule.

Although the Crown Prince did not say there would be any punishment for failure to complete the task, no one dared to delay the construction period.

Zhu Ying was very happy to hear that it could be completed in just half a month.

"If everything goes well with the steam ironclad ship this time, you, Mr. Huang, will be the first to receive the credit."

Zhu Ying also sighed.

If Huang Guan had not suddenly taken action to complete the steam engine, it would not be known how long it would take.

Rubber makes steam engines run better, but it is not a necessary condition.

After all, the use of rubber took several generations of development before the steam engine appeared.

"It was all thanks to your Highness's guidance. I dare not take any credit for it." Huang Guan said with a bow.

He is naturally very concerned about the steam-clad ships now. In addition to the expectations of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Huang Guan is even more aware of how great an impact the steam-clad ships will have on the world once they are manufactured.

Even in the absence of wind, steam ironclad ships can easily navigate the sea, and their full armor can withstand most ocean dangers.

In terms of speed, there is no other ship in the world that can match it.

On the sea, if an enemy ship encounters a steam ironclad ship, it will be in a situation where it can neither defeat it nor escape.