Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The Chinese are a minority in Ceylon, so we should win over other minorities.

For example, the Tamil people!

The Tamils ​​from South India have invaded Ceylon again and again since BC.

When the Chola Dynasty ruled Ceylon, the Tamils ​​became the upper class here, and forced the folk beliefs to change to Brahmanism.

Although Buddhism was restored when Ceylon was restored, the Tamils ​​on the island were not killed. The king even recruited a Tamil mercenary as a personal guard.

A few years ago, Parakalama killed the king and established himself, and began to massacre the Tamils ​​crazily.

Now in the entire Ceylon, only the puppet king and the Chinese territory allow the Tamils ​​to continue to survive.

The King of Ceylon and Xia Yuqing recruited Tamil soldiers at the same time - these guys may run away during the war, but they will never surrender to the enemy again, because once they surrender, they will be brutally killed!

Facing the pressure of more than 10,000 coalition forces, Xia Yuqing began to expand his entourage.

It can also be said to be a part of the army.

He expanded his thirty Tamil troops to one hundred and said to them: "If you win this battle, I will exempt your family from rent. Listen carefully, I am not reducing the rent, but exempting all the rent in your family! If you fight bravely and make great contributions, I will also grant such warriors land. It belongs to your own land! Shout with me, kill the enemy, kill the enemy, kill the enemy!"

The previous words were translated into Tamil by his attendants, and the two words "kill the enemy" are standard Ming official language.

"Kill the enemy, kill the enemy, kill the enemy!"

One hundred Tamil soldiers shouted excitedly, and their morale instantly became high.

Although the rule of Chinese such as Xia Yuqing was very cruel, at least they allowed the Tamils ​​to continue to survive.

If this place was captured by the coalition forces, the soldiers of Parakalama would definitely kill all the Tamils ​​or turn them into slaves.

Even if it was only for themselves, the Tamils ​​had to fight bravely.

What's more, Xia Yuqing also promised to exempt their family from rent, and reward them with some land if they made great contributions.

All five hundred Ming soldiers, like Xia Yuqing, returned to their own manors to recruit troops.

Didn't one die in battle and several died of illness? How could there still be five hundred soldiers?

Because their sons, or adopted sons, were already seventeen or eighteen years old and could fight, and inherited their father's military equipment.

In addition, many soldiers also took their sons and nephews to fight.

The first two groups of them who got married were the wives they had when they raided Liaodong across the sea. Most of the wives were Bohai people from Liaodong, and a few were Han and Khitan women.

The third group got married in Iwami Castle, and the wives were all Japanese women.

Xia Yuqing now has one wife and five concubines.

The main wife was a Bohai from Liaodong, and the other five concubines were all taken in from Ceylon.

Two concubines were daughters of Sinhalese nobles, with relatively fair skin, almost as dark as the natives of Nanyang. The other two concubines were mixed-race female slaves bought from the Chola Kingdom, which was also one of the sources of Li Bangyan's Bodhisattva Man. Another concubine was the daughter of an Arab merchant.

Over the years, not counting those who died young, Xia Yuqing has six sons and five daughters.

The eldest and second sons, both born to the wife of the Bohai clan, are 18 and 15 years old respectively. They will all participate in the battle this time.

"Brother Wang, Brother Gao, Brother Li," Xia Yuqing said to the treasure-hunting trio, "My navy is very weak. The enemy may attack from the sea. I rely on you three for the naval battle. I will definitely reward you handsomely later!"

Wang Chongdu smiled and said, "I heard that the enemy's navy was crippled by the envoys a few years ago. Even if it is rebuilt, how much can it recover? Our three ships are all medium-sized warships eliminated by the navy. His Majesty also allowed us to keep the artillery. The soldiers on the ship are also retired navy of the Ming Dynasty. The barbarian navy is no problem."

After a conversation between the two sides, Xia Yuqing soon led his troops to the battle.

Along the way, soldiers and troops continued to join with their troops, and Xia Yuqing decided to split his troops into two groups.

The detachment had fifty soldiers, as well as nearly a hundred of their brothers, sons and nephews, and hundreds of their Tamil troops. These people defended a castle in the northeast, and all the land east of the castle was abandoned.

The main force consisted of 420 soldiers, as well as more than 1,000 of their brothers, nephews, and 7,000 to 8,000 of their Tamil troops. These troops marched northward, and their combat objectives were not only to defeat the coalition forces, but also to kill the lair of Parakalama.

The manors of some soldiers of the above main forces and detachments were close to the front line, and they had not yet joined.

The remaining 30 soldiers, with their brothers, nephews, and troops, stayed in the Wangxiang Port Castle to prevent the enemy from stealing their homes.

The treasure-hunting trio also helped guard the house, mainly to guard against enemies at sea, and could also enter the castle for defense at critical moments.

As for the logistics civilians, they were all forcibly conscripted Sinhalese farmers - in fact, they were all tenants, and Xia Yuqing had confiscated all the land of the natives.

Six second-generation officials insisted on going to the war, and even brought their own followers with them.

On the march, Lu You asked Bai Shihou: "Brother Xue Pu is from a military family, what do you think of these Tamil soldiers?"

Bai Shihou smiled and said: "Not so good. They are all young and strong recruits from tenants, and most of them have never even been trained. They have no helmets, only leather armor. They have no bows and arrows, only swords and guns. In a real battle, they are not as good as the militia of our Ming Dynasty. But the morale is not bad. I heard that they were massacred a few years ago. If they can't win this time, they may not even have a chance to survive."

"It's good that they are willing to fight to the death." said one of Bai Shihou's followers.

This man is a real elite veteran of the Ming Dynasty. Although he is over forty years old and slightly disabled, his performance on the battlefield is absolutely amazing.

Fan Chengda quickly asked the veteran: "Can you win?"

The veteran said: "I heard that the natives on the island have no cavalry, and only some nobles have war horses. But the army commanded by Xia has more than a hundred cavalry. There are also dozens of muskets and four artillery. It is still an advantage in a real fight. ”

Xia Yuqing's war horse was originally a sick horse from the mission.

During the sea voyage, many excellent war horses fell ill and simply stayed on the island of Ceylon.

Among them are many of the best breeds of horses bought from Arabia and Seljuk. Over the years, some war horses have aged or died, but they have also given birth to more than 20 foals, some of which are ready to ride and fight.

Another day later, soldiers on the front line of the manor fled back with their families and tribes to join the main force.

Their manor has been occupied by the enemy, and everyone is clamoring to build a fort in the future.

Half a day later, the vanguard sent by Xia Yuqing sent back news that they had defeated a small group of enemies. The vanguard of the two armies engaged in an encounter. The Han cavalry rushed over and defeated the enemy on the seaside plain.

The main forces of both sides continued to advance and chose the same battlefield by coincidence.

It is the most open flat land within dozens of miles.

They set up camp and went to battle the next day.

The first ones to appear were their respective mage teams...

Didn’t Emperor Zhu consecrate five great Kasyapas in Ceylon?

The most ridiculous thing is that the mage leader brought by the enemy this time is one of the great Kasyapas conferred by Emperor Zhu.

Xia Yuqing, on the other hand, simply followed the local customs, after all, there are so many Tamil parts. Therefore, he also brought a Brahmin mage this time to specifically add combat buffs to the Tamil soldiers, and also add a few debuffs to the enemy soldiers.

I saw that both sides sent dozens of mages each. The one on the opposite side was a Buddhist monk. Xia Yuqing was a Brahmin monk.

Qi Qi'an was dumbfounded: "What kind of battle is this?"

Bai Shihou said: "There are shamans in the Jin Kingdom and magicians in Xixia. These two countries will also practice magic when they fight. However, there are very few magic practices before the battle. They are all before the war. In fact, the army of the former Song Dynasty also performed divination and sacrifice before going out. "

Both armies stood still, watching their respective mages chanting incantations in front of their formations.

The mages quickly finished their duel and each retreated to the rear.

The regicide Parakarama sent out a warrior who suddenly came to the front of the formation to challenge him.

This form of fighting generals in front of the battlefield not only exists in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but is also popular in all ancient countries.

The famous Persian king Darius III won a duel in front of the battle, and then led his army to victory in the battle. Xerxes appointed him as the governor of Armenia.

The Eastern Roman army also has many records of duels before the battle.

As for ancient China, "Zhishi" was popular in the pre-Qin period. You can challenge it alone or in a group, and battles between a tank group often break out.

Xia Yuqing looked at the Tamil soldiers in his army. He was afraid that morale would drop if he did not accept the duel, and he was also afraid that the generals he sent would not be able to win.

"Father, I'll go meet him!"

The eldest son Xia Xiliang volunteered.

Xia Yuqing did not agree immediately, nor did he refuse directly.

His eldest son is eighteen years old this year. He lived on Salmon Island when he was a child. His uncles and uncles were all villains who had eaten people. When I was a little older, I went to Shijian City and learned the skills from Emperor Zhu's adopted sons.

But he has never fought a decent battle, and he has only been with the army in the past few years to bully the small nobles on the island of Ceylon.

He knew that his son was good at martial arts, but he had too little actual combat experience and would overturn if he wasn't careful.

After thinking about it carefully, Xia Yuqing said: "You go out on horseback to fight. The enemy has no horses and can be captured by surprise."

Xia Xiliang immediately ran out on horseback, but due to his youthful nature, he dismounted halfway and wanted to win through a fair duel.

Xia Yuqing was anxious and angry, but it was too late, so he could only curse: "Asshole!"

But the soldiers under his command, whether they were Han soldiers or Tamil soldiers, burst into cheers.

Obviously, Xia Xiliang's move of abandoning his horse won the favor of all the soldiers - this favor was conditional. Xia Xiliang must win in a duel in order to continue to have it.

The enemy general is wearing leather armor, holding a shield in his left hand, a spear in his right hand, and a knife at his waist.

Xia Xiliang was wearing iron armor, carrying a bow and arrows, a long knife on his waist, and a long spear in his hand.

The two sides were dozens of steps apart. Xia Xiliang put his gun on the ground, took out his bow and arrow and shot.

The shot was accurate.

But it was too accurate, and it went straight to the enemy general's chest, but the enemy general blocked the arrow with his shield.

The enemy general was also startled and no longer allowed Xia Xiliang to shoot arrows. He immediately knelt down and ran towards him quickly.

Xia Xiliang shot another arrow, but this time it missed.

The main reason was that the enemy general was leaning down to kill him, his vital points were covered by the shield, and Xia Xiliang's shot aimed at his legs was dodged.

Putting away the bow and arrows, Xia Xiliang picked up the spear.

This is a four-meter lance, but the enemy general's one-handed spear is only over one meter.

Long weapons can bully short weapons at will, but the enemy general still has a shield in his hand. He also seemed to be very strong, and his shield fighting skills were extremely sophisticated. Xia Xiliang's shots were blocked several times, but instead the enemy general rushed in and stabbed him in the chest with a spear.

Both sides were stunned for a moment.

The enemy general was stunned because his attack could not break through the defense at all.

The armor worn by Xia Xiliang is an improved version during the Ming-Jin War. Xia Yuqing exchanged it for his son with a top-quality Ceylon ruby ​​- someone in the Ming Dynasty smuggled the old armor and put it into storage. It is recorded in the military's logistics accounts. Recorded as scrapped ordnance.

Xia Xiliang was stunned because he was approached by the enemy without knowing it.

He had practiced horseback archery since he was a child, and was more proficient in horse fighting skills, but he was not as good as the enemy general in foot fighting.

Xia Xiliang's reaction was also very fast. At this time, he was already at a medium distance. He quickly abandoned his long spear and drew his waist knife instead of retreating.

The enemy general was experienced in combat. He pulled out his spear and raised his shield to push Xia Xiliang away, who wanted to get close, so that both sides kept the best attack distance of the short spear.

"Beat the cheering drum!"

Xia Yuqing looked anxiously through the binoculars, fearing that his son would fail in a single fight.

If it weren't for Xia Xiliang's strong armor, he would have been killed by the enemy general at this time.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

The drums sounded loudly.

The enemy army also started beating drums.

Lu You said, "It's been a long time since China had a duel between generals, right? The last time it was popular was during the Five Dynasties."

Bai Shihou's veteran follower commented, "Xia Xiaolangjun is too inexperienced, and his weapon is not suitable for foot combat. He was too arrogant to abandon his horse. Fortunately, his armor is excellent and he still has a chance to win. Young people always have to suffer some losses to improve."

As he spoke, Xia Xiliang rushed forward with his knife again.

The enemy general stabbed with his spear, and although it hurt Xia Xiliang, he still couldn't pierce the armor.

The enemy general was already confused. He had never encountered such a duel. In panic, he retreated repeatedly with the reaction force of the short spear.

The enemy general retreated, and Xia Xiliang also retreated, quickly sheathing his knife and picking up the long spear on the ground.

He shook a spear flower and stabbed the enemy general in the face.

The enemy general raised his shield to block and rushed forward with his spear.

The long spear in Xia Xiliang's hand changed direction in the middle and stabbed the enemy general's waist.

The enemy general had never encountered such a gun flower technique, and was hit instantly.

Apparently, Xia Xiliang's spear was also specially made. The spear shaft was tough and elastic, and could be shaken by the arm to produce a gun flower. The spears of ordinary cavalry could not be made of composite materials. It took at least two or three years to make such a spear shaft.

The spear head pierced into the leather armor, and the enemy general suffered a severe blow to the abdomen.

The enemy general threw away his shield and retreated, holding the spear shaft and trying to pull it out. Xia Xiliang was relentless, holding the spear and rushing forward, stabbing the spear head deeper and deeper into the enemy's abdomen.

Finally, the enemy general fell down while retreating.

Xia Xiliang continued to exert force, and the spear head completely pierced into the abdomen. Then he drew out his waist knife, chopped it down fiercely, and then cut off the enemy general's head.

He went back and turned on his horse, carrying the head and rushed to the front of the enemy army, galloping back and forth in a show of force.

The cheers of his own soldiers shook the sky, but the morale of the enemy soldiers was greatly reduced.

Seeing his son win, Xia Yuqing finally felt relieved and said, "Send the flag and tell that bastard to come back quickly. I'm going to fire!"

Since the court left four cannons, of course they should be used reasonably.