If you want to take Timur, you must take India.

If you want to capture India, you must not give up the Siamese Peninsula.

Under Zhu Ying's order, Lan Yu, who had just defeated Zhenla, quickly assembled troops at the port of Zhenla, leaving only a small number of troops to rule Angkor.

The subsequent matters would naturally be managed by the imperial court sending troops.

The territory of Zhenla is actually not small now. It is more than ten times larger than Champa. In addition to Angkor, there are actually many other cities.

This is not important. Now that Zhenla has lost Angkor City, it can no longer gather enough troops. The separatist cities in various places are completely in disarray, and they do not have the courage to face the powerful Ming army.

When Angkor was captured and a large number of Cambodian nobles were massacred, the defenders of other cities immediately sent messages expressing their willingness to submit to the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

So we only need to send a small number of troops to take over.

In addition to Lan Yu's army, the armies of other dukes also arrived at the Zhenla port one after another.

Eight legions of the Zodiac Army have already made their rounds, and the remaining four legions are heading to Majapahit.

"Follow the order of the Crown Prince and conquer Siam!"

"Wei! Wei! Wei!"

Above the Zhenla port, 80,000 troops roared loudly, and these were real warriors.

Of course, the total number of troops was only 80,000, with about 50,000 auxiliary troops and 40,000 soldiers taken away from Zhenla, totaling 170,000 troops.

Long Dongqiang, Long Dongsheng and the other people from the Cao Gang stood behind Li Youwei, looking at the huge warships and the ironclad ships emitting black smoke in front of them. Only then did they realize that compared to the regular army, their gangs were completely inadequate.

At this moment, Long Dongqiang was most grateful that he did not choose to go against the Ming Dynasty, and his eyes revealed gratitude to his adoptive father Li Youwei.

Long Dongqiang's expression also became complicated under this shock.

However, compared with the princes and dukes like Lan Yu, they are not as good as them. Even Jin Kaishan, who is like a local emperor in Champa and Zhenla, is just a minion at this moment.

There is no way, the lineup of three dukes and five marquises is really too exaggerated.

Lan Yu, Xu Huizu, Li Jinglong, any one of them could easily crush Jin Kaishan in terms of status and position.

And this combined legion was obviously also controlled by Lan Yu.

Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong were equivalent to the left and right deputy commanders.

It can also be seen from the selection of candidates that the three of them are from the young faction. The older Fu Youde and Feng Sheng would find it difficult to withstand such hard work.

Although Chang Sheng is a founding duke, he is still in a state of decay.

Li Jinglong must participate, after all, he has been to the West and is familiar with the roads.

In fact, Li Jinglong is in a somewhat awkward situation now. In the past few years, he led the Ming fleet around and established good friendships and trade relations with some local countries.

He just came back from here, and when he comes again he will bring a large army.

This made him feel somewhat awkward.

But he had no choice.

When the Ming army arrived at the coast of Siam, the news quickly spread to the city of Ayutthaya.

Upon hearing the news, Ramati Bodhi immediately sent envoys to the Ming army to negotiate peace.

Unfortunately, he didn't even get to see him and was stopped outside the military camp by Lan Yu's soldiers.

The reason they didn't kill him outright was because it was in keeping with the custom of the Celestial Empire, a country of etiquette and courtesy, not to kill envoys.

At this time, the Ayutthaya Dynasty was still fighting with the Sukhothai Dynasty in the north. The war there was going very smoothly, and it might only take a few months to completely occupy the territory of the Sukhothai Dynasty.

Just to fight against the Ming army, Ramati Bodhi did not care about too much and quickly ordered all the troops in the north to be withdrawn, vowing to defend Ayutthaya to the death.

The Ming army had powerful firearms and although they were somewhat unsuited to the tropical climate, it had little impact in the short term.

The configuration this time was very rich, and the Ming Dynasty's fleet was available to provide transportation and logistical support at any time. Lan Yu did not take Siam seriously at all.

After landing on the seashore, they advanced all the way to the city of Ayutthaya without encountering any decent resistance along the way.

This also has a lot to do with Ramati Bodhi's defensive contraction.

After all, except for Ayutthaya, the defenses of other cities are weak, so withdrawing troops to defend Ayutthaya is the best option.

As a king who has fought for half his life, Ramati Bodhi naturally understands how he should do his utmost to fight against the Ming army.

In terms of military strength, Ramati Bodhi seemed to have some advantages. The Ming army did not even have 200,000 soldiers, while he could gather an army of more than 300,000.

But in terms of winning or losing, if they fight in the wild, Ramati Bodhi doesn’t even have a half chance of winning.

Ayutthaya was where all his hopes lay.

Ayutthaya translates to the City of Eternal Victory.

When Ramati Bodhi moved the capital here, he paid great attention to the defense of the city. The city walls were built with solid stones, and the city gates were made of the strongest wood.

Unlike the Ming Dynasty city, Ayutthaya's city walls have many pagodas and stone carvings of seated Buddhas, which appear very solemn from a distance.

“It’s all fancy!”

Lan Yu snorted coldly, then ordered the artillery to fire.

There was nothing good to talk about between the two sides.

In Lan Yu's heart, there was obviously some sense of revenge.

The Ming army immediately pulled out 500 artillery pieces and began bombing Ayutthaya.

The sky full of artillery fire fell towards Ayutthaya like raindrops.

It's not just the city walls that can be bombarded, but artillery fire can also directly hit the area inside the city.

The range of the Ming army's artillery was far higher than the city walls.

Of course, it is obviously very difficult to use artillery to directly blast open the city gate. Even though Lan Yu brought a large amount of artillery ammunition this time, although Ayutthaya City cannot be compared with Nanjing City, its thickness is similar to that of other cities in the Ming Dynasty.

Even though the Ming army's artillery had been improved and reinforced, and even the gun barrels were made of steel, and their power was more than ten times that of previous artillery, they were still unable to directly break through the city walls.

The thickness of the Ming Dynasty city walls is generally around 15 meters. The thickness of Ayutthaya city walls is a little thinner, but it is still at least 8 meters.

It is impossible for artillery to blast a gap in the eight-meter-thick city wall, and it is even more difficult to blast a gap in the city gate.

Even if the wooden gate was blown open, the soldiers in the city could pile up stones and wood to block the Ming army's attack.

With Ramati Bodhi fully prepared, it was obviously impossible for Lan Yu to capture the city in a short period of time.

Therefore, the Ming army's artillery fired directly at the city.

At this time, the Ming army had already begun to besiege the city. Even though Ramati Bodhi had more troops than the Ming army, he could only guard the city and not go out.

After a volley of artillery fire, the morale of the defenders in Ayutthaya city dropped. Although the casualties were not heavy, such a salvo of artillery fire was enough to cause a huge impact.

Those who were unlucky were killed directly by the explosion, and no one knew where the artillery would fall.

Most of the houses in the city were made of wood, but after a few rounds of bombing, most of the houses near the city walls collapsed.

The artillery bombardment lasted for half an hour before stopping. Lan Yu just sneered: "This is just a gift for you."

Afterwards, the Ming army began to manufacture siege equipment.

Whether it is a ladder or other equipment, it is naturally impossible to carry it during the march. Generally speaking, it is made on the spot.

This is the job of the auxiliary soldiers.

It is said that if you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools, and siege equipment is the most critical link.

There were still many trees near Ayutthaya, which provided the Ming army with a good environment for making siege equipment.

There are two main types of siege weapons made by the Ming army.

One is a conventional ladder, and the other is a new type of gun ladder.

The ladder is certainly not the simple long ladder shown in later film and television dramas. Such a ladder is not used to attack the city, but to commit suicide.

The real ladder is a triangular frame, with the right angle in the front slightly higher than the height of the city wall, and steps like stairs in the back.

The soldiers rushed up the stairs at the back and jumped into the city wall to fight with the defenders.

The gun ladder is a new type of siege equipment of the Ming Dynasty, similar to the cloud ladder, but the overall structure is much smaller.

What is mounted on the gun ladder is, of course, the cannon.

One is to cover the approach of the ladder, and at the same time it can also cause heavy casualties to the defenders on the city wall.

This type of cannon is relatively small, with a longer barrel than ordinary cannons, a bit like an enlarged version of the arquebus.

Similar to the relationship between bows and crossbows.

This is also because the gun ladder is made of wood, and the cannon will produce a strong recoil during firing, and the gun ladder will break due to not being able to withstand it. Therefore, under the guidance of Zhu Ying, the Ming Dynasty Scientific Research Department created this small cannon specifically for siege.

Lan Yu is not in a hurry at all. With strong supplies, logistics will not affect the siege.

There may not be much food in Ayutthaya, but it will definitely be enough to hold out for a few months.

And it was obviously impossible for Lan Yu to spend several months or half a year.

The role of the 90,000 auxiliary troops was demonstrated. They cut down trees and made siege equipment day and night.

A large number of ladders and gun ladders were constantly taking shape.

The Ming army originally came to attack the city, so they were well prepared in all aspects, including forcibly conscripting many carpenters from Zhenla and Champa.

As more and more equipment of the Ming army was manufactured, Ramati Bodhi was obviously a little panicked.

Looking at the various siege weapons outside the city that were taller than the city walls, Ramati Bodhi didn't know how long he could hold out.

Although Ramati Bodhi's army also had some muskets and cannons, these were not mainstream equipment and would not play a big role in such a war.

So Ramati Bodhi held court meetings every day and began to discuss countermeasures.

"Your Majesty, perhaps we should send troops out of the city to fight in advance while the Ming army has not yet perfected its siege equipment."

"We have more troops than the Ming army, they may not be able to defeat us."

A minister stepped forward and made a suggestion.

However, his suggestion was quickly refuted.

"If we want to fight outside the city, we should do it when the Ming army is preparing to attack the city. While we are fighting, we can also destroy their siege equipment and buy us more time."

The second minister's suggestion was obviously recognized by many people, but Ramati Bodhi on the throne remained silent.

Because these words are no different from nonsense. After almost a month of discussion, we are still talking about the same things over and over again. They don't make much sense.

"Has there been any news from the envoy from Dagula?" Ramati Bodhi asked in a deep voice.

The minister in charge of foreign affairs stepped forward and shook his head, saying, "There is no news yet."

This conversation has been going on for several days.

When he learned that the Ming army was launching a massive attack, Ramati Bodhi sent envoys to the Great Gula, which was the Baigu Dynasty.

Surrounding the Ayutthaya Dynasty, the Sukhothai Dynasty in the north was obviously unlikely to send troops to help it. After all, Ramati Bodhi almost destroyed the Sukhothai Dynasty before, and they were hoping that the Ming army would break into the city.

To the east is Zhenla, which is now under the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

The only source of external aid is the Baigu Dynasty in the west.

The Pegu Dynasty was a dynasty established by the Mon people after the collapse of the Pagan Dynasty.

Although Ramati Bodhi hoped to be rescued by the Baigu Dynasty, he actually knew that the possibility was not great.

After the collapse of the Pagan Dynasty, the Ava Dynasty was next to the Pegu Dynasty. The rulers of both dynasties were former high-ranking officials of the Pagan Dynasty.

The two sides have been fighting for many years for unification, and have been fighting for fifteen years.

In history, the two dynasties fought for a total of forty years, which is known as the Forty Years' War.

Of course, the Baigu Dynasty still had the military strength to support Ramati Bodhi. At that time, Ava also joined forces with Luchuan and Menggen to attack the southwest of the Ming Dynasty.

That was when Mu Ying died shortly after Zhu Ying arrived in Beijing.

However, they were defeated by Muchun's attack and suffered heavy losses, and finally surrendered to the Ming Dynasty.

However, just as Ramati Bodhi was muttering about the Baigu Dynasty, the envoy of the Baigu Dynasty had already arrived at the Ming military camp.

"The envoy under the command of King Rasudali pays homage to His Excellency the Duke of Liang of the Celestial Empire."

Lan Yu looked at the envoys from the Baigu Dynasty kneeling on the ground in the big tent, and a playful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The envoy who asked for help from Ramati Bodhi did arrive at the Baigu Dynasty. After all, the two countries were not far apart.

When the current king of the Pegu Dynasty, Rasudatari, learned that Ayutthaya was surrounded by the Ming army, he ignored the envoy's words about the principle of "the lips and the teeth are cold" and directly locked the envoy up.

Then he sent envoys to the Ming army to express the Baigu Dynasty's submission to the Ming Dynasty.

Rasudali was well aware of the power of the Ming Dynasty. The Pagan Dynasty was so powerful in the past, but it still fell under the iron hoof of the Mongols.

The Ming Dynasty, which defeated the Mongols, was obviously more powerful.

Although Luosadali had never fought against the Ming army, Ava, Luchuan, Menggen and others joined forces and suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Ming Dynasty, allowing the Baigu Dynasty to take over many cities of the Ava Dynasty.

If he goes to help Ayutthaya now, even if he manages to repel the Ming army once, what will he do if the Ming army turns around and attacks the Peku Dynasty?

In terms of military strength and comprehensive national power, Rasudatari believed that he was not as strong as the Ayutthaya Dynasty.

You, a country more powerful than mine, cannot resist the Ming Dynasty. Why do you think I dare to fight against the Ming Dynasty?

You must be kidding.

Luo Suo Dali decisively sold Ramati Bodhi, and asked the envoy to express that if the Ming Dynasty needed help, he was willing to mobilize all his troops to help the Ming Dynasty attack Ayutthaya.

You know, the shock of Li Jinglong's fleet sailing to the West is still deeply engraved in Luo Suo Dali's mind.