Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Victory City is located in the center of Ceylon Island, 280 miles away from Mantai Port, which the Ming Dynasty had set its sights on.

Even the nearest Puttalam Port is 200 miles away.

Zhu Xiaozhong led his troops from Puttalam Port, where the route was not only closer, but also had fewer mountains along the way.

But there were still many rivers, lakes, forests and hills.

The new king, Parakalama, knew how to fight, and the Ming army was often attacked along the way.

Between the forests and hills, suddenly there were Ceylon soldiers rushing out. They shouted and shot arrows, but they collapsed every time and fled into the dense forest.

Zhu Xiaozhong could only let the soldiers march in armor, and did not pursue them deeply to prevent falling into the enemy's trap.

The Ming army went straight to Victory City.

In a dense forest, Parakalama had a stern expression and watched the Ming army push the artillery away.

His tactics were actually very simple, using elite soldiers to set up ambush circles and using garbage soldiers to defeat and lure the enemy. If there are more Ming troops chasing after them, then continue to run away and lure them. If there are fewer Ming troops chasing after them, then ambush and annihilate them in one go.

As a result, the Ming army did not chase after them at all!

Parakalama had feigned defeat to lure the enemy four times, each defeat more realistic than the last, but the Ming army did not chase into the woods.

"There are enough troops to defend the Victory King City, let's go to the port." Parakalama changed his method.

At Putalum Port, the Ming Dynasty only had 500 land forces stationed.

But Parakalama had 4,000 elite soldiers and more than 2,000 garbage soldiers. He had sent people to the port to observe secretly and believed that he would definitely win.

What's more, the local nobles in several cities north and south of the port had long been conquered by Parakalama. He had sent people to contact them in advance and could gather another 1,000 or 2,000 troops.

As long as the port was captured, a lot of wealth could be seized and the Ming army's retreat could be cut off.

And he could set up an ambush halfway and attack the enemy troops rushing back to rescue!

Two days later, the Ceylon army approached from the east, north and south, and the total force was close to 8,000.

…

Xia Yuqing was lying in the shade and taking a nap.

The climate of Ceylon Island is not bad. It is like summer all year round, but it is not hot, and the temperature difference between day and night is not big.

"Captain, there are enemies a few miles to the east!" A soldier ran over.

Xia Yuqing slowly opened his eyes: "What about the north and south?"

"No one has been found yet." The soldier said.

Xia Yuqing said: "Strengthen the vigilance, all wear armor."

Xia Yuqing went to inform Yingxuan and asked him to dispatch sailors to land and be ready to defend and counterattack at any time.

Everything was arranged, and Xia Yuqing continued to take a nap.

He came from Shamen Island. He had plundered southern Liaoning with the army and stationed in Lushun for a long time. He also fought several battles with Jurchen soldiers and Bohai soldiers. Then he was transferred to Iwami Castle, where he was stationed for several years, and his military rank had been promoted to the level of commander.

Although his military rank and position were promoted, he was still like a stepmother, and this time he was left on Ceylon!

Xia Yuqing was resentful, and very resentful.

Aren't they just exiles from the Song Dynasty who killed and ate many people? They didn't eat people in the Ming Dynasty.

The only thing to be thankful for is that the climate here is not bad, and the products are quite rich. It is not a wild place.

The highest peaks on the east, south and north sides are guarded by Ming soldiers.

They climbed to the treetops to observe with telescopes, and waved flags when they saw the enemy. The flags were too far away to be seen clearly, but the Ming army near the port always stared at the signal flags with telescopes.

Another day later, the signal flags in the north were waved in the morning, and the signal flags in the south were waved in the afternoon.

The Ceylon soldiers were in position on three sides and were about to launch a general attack.

...

That night, Parakalama received news one after another.

He said to the soldier who came to report the news: "Tomorrow morning, when the sun rises, I will send troops, and you will also go to the port at that time."

These thousands of Ceylonese soldiers were ambushed in the woods halfway up the mountain.

And on the top of the mountain where they were, there were always a few Ming soldiers hiding in the treetops and dared not move. They had been hiding for two days, eating, drinking, defecating and urinating in the trees, and sleeping tied to the trees at night.

It was these people who waved flags to send messages to the port.

Even Parakalama came here twice in person, climbed up and looked far to observe the situation at the port. The Ming soldiers hid on the king's head, urinated directly in his crotch, and the urine slowly flowed down the tree trunk.

The sun rose, and the Ceylonese soldiers went out.

But dozens of garbage soldiers were left to guard the food halfway up the mountain. There was not much food left, not even enough for the whole army to return to the Victory King City.

"Chirp, chirp!"

Zhu Yu imitated a few bird calls, and soon armor fell to the ground, and then several soldiers slid down holding the tree trunk.

They threw away the small sacks with great disgust, and the sacks were full of feces. The crotch of each person's pants exuded the smell of urine.

"Damn it, my whole body aches, I'm dying of suffocation!" a soldier complained.

Zhu Yu said: "Move your hands and feet and rest for a while."

Zhu Yu is also one of Zhu Ming's adopted sons. This group of people is very precious, because Emperor Zhu has long stopped accepting adopted sons.

After completing the mission and returning to the country, Zhu Xiaozhong, Zhu Yu and others will all be promoted. They can choose to stay in Luoyang as a general, or they can choose to lead troops on the front line.

"Pah!"

Zhu Yu stretched out his hand and slapped a mosquito to death.

They were smeared with medicine to drive away snakes, insects, rats and ants, but it was estimated that it had been ineffective for too long.

The soldiers began to stretch their limbs, and some even rolled on the ground.

Zhu Yu raised the telescope to observe and saw that the Ceylon soldiers were gradually going away.

After a while, Zhu Yu ordered: "Put on armor!"

Their armor had been tied to the treetops and hidden.

A total of six soldiers, after putting on their armor, quietly moved towards the hillside.

There were dozens of Ceylonese soldiers who stayed to guard the food. At this moment, they were lying or sitting crookedly, chatting and resting without any defense.

Six Ming soldiers raised their bows and arrows one after another.

The rainy season in Ceylon Island has passed for more than a month, and the humidity of the air is not high.

"Whoa!"

Zhu Yu blew the copper whistle, and six arrows were shot immediately, accurately hitting the six sitting enemies.

"Kill!"

Those Ceylonese soldiers were horrified and subconsciously got up and fled, thinking that they were attacked by a large army.

Zhu Yu led his men to chase to the bottom of the mountain, and then blew the whistle to withdraw the troops and return.

They took out flint knives to light fires, not only igniting the food and grass, but also burning dead branches and leaves.

"Cut some fresh branches and leaves to cover them, and create more smoke!" Zhu Yu shouted.

Not only here, but also in the mountains and forests in the north and south directions, smoke rose up in several places.

Parakalama was leading his army to approach the port, and suddenly heard his followers shouting: "Your Majesty, look!"

He turned around and saw that the forest where he hid his soldiers seemed to be on fire?

The Ceylon soldiers became a little panicked.

Parakalama drew his sword and shouted: "There are not many enemies in the port, kill them and rob all the wealth. As long as we capture there, there will be endless food!"

The king's prestige was very high, and the soldiers were no longer afraid, and followed him to speed up and rush to the port.

"Boom boom boom boom!"

The Ming warships in the port had already pointed their guns at this side, and even tested the guns a few days ago to determine the landing point.

The shooting was extremely accurate, and the shells fell in this area.

There was even a shell that flew over Parakalama's head, killing and injuring five of his personal soldiers.

"Magic, magic!"

"It's the demon Poxun who's leading his troops!"

"..."

Seeing that some soldiers had already started to flee, Parakalama shouted, "I have Mahakasyapa's blessing, so I'm not afraid of the demons. Follow me and we'll win. Kill!"

His supervising team also started to act, using swords to stop the fleeing soldiers from fleeing.

After finally gathering the fleeing soldiers, another round of bombardment began.

This time they couldn't hold on any longer. In fact, there weren't many casualties, but it was mainly because they couldn't overcome the fear in their hearts.

The soldiers standing on the roof of the port raised their binoculars and shouted, "The enemy is showing signs of collapse!"

"Get on the horses!" Xia Yuqing shouted.

These 500 soldiers from Shamon Island learned horse riding in Iwami Castle.

But the Japanese horses were too short. They could ride them in cloth clothes, but they couldn't ride them once they were in armor. Later, some southwestern horses were transferred over, and they were finally able to ride horses to fight.

At this moment, they were all riding good horses!

There were Arabian horses sold by Bedouins, Persian horses and Ferghana horses sold by Seljuks, and Rajput horses sold by Solankis (Indian Marwari horses are a cross between this type of horse and Arabian horses. Marwari horses have appeared at this time, but there are not many of them, and they are not for sale for the time being).

Many good horses from various countries have fallen ill while drifting on the sea, and this period of time is just right for them to be taken to the shore for recuperation.

All horses that are not sick are now being ridden out to fight.

Xia Yuqing, a former Song exile who was born as a poor scholar, is now wearing medium-sized armor and holding a long spear in the lead.

However, the Ceylonese soldiers only have a small number of war horses, all of which are ridden by middle and senior generals.

After two consecutive rounds of artillery fire, the Ceylonese soldiers' rout became more and more serious.

It was not long since Parakalama unified the entire island, and most of his main forces were defending the city. At this moment, many of the troops around him were from local nobles.

Seeing the Ming army rushing on horseback, the nobles led their troops to flee.

Parakalama was furious and could only lead his troops to fight.

The nobles could escape, but he could not.

Because he could ride away on horseback, but his soldiers had no horses to ride. If he escaped, the whole army would be wiped out.

"Your Majesty, leave quickly. There must be enemies in the forest behind you. If you don't leave, you will be attacked from both sides!" The personal soldiers begged bitterly.

"Your Majesty, run for your life. If your Majesty dies in the battle, the Victory King City will definitely be taken away."

Parakalama turned his head and saw that the fire in the forest where he hid his soldiers became bigger and bigger, and a large area was billowing with thick smoke.

The Ming soldiers were getting closer and closer, and more and more Ceylon soldiers were fleeing.

Even some of Parakalama's elite troops were taken away by the fleeing soldiers. It was difficult for the king to lead his troops to fight.

"Go!"

Parakalama turned his horse's head, waved his whip and finally fled.

The king fled for his life, and the whole army was defeated.

Xia Yuqing led his troops to chase them, hacking and killing the fleeing soldiers along the way. There were corpses everywhere in the mountains and plains, and many of them were so scared that they knelt down and begged for mercy.

On the north and south sides, there were still local noble armies.

The army in the north was so scared when they saw the fire behind them that they ran away directly and did not even approach the battlefield.

The army in the south was braver and continued to rush forward, but was shot by the muskets and crossbows of the sailors who came ashore.

Parakalama rode all the way back to Victory City, but met a soldier who came to report the news halfway.

"Your Majesty, Victory City is gone!"

"Why is it gone?"

"There is a magic that can bring down thunder on the opposite side, and they have been using iron thunder to hit the city wall for two days. The fake prince also shouted outside the city, saying that he would not pursue anyone's crimes except your Majesty's family. He also said that after he succeeded to the throne, he would promote Buddhism, renovate Buddhist temples, and invite many monks and scriptures from the Ming Dynasty. And... he also promised to let the monks become officials! The monks in the city were tempted and secretly instigated the two generals to rebel. There were iron thunders outside the city, and generals and monks in the city rebelled, so the fake prince led his troops into the city!"

Palakarama stopped his horse and stood still for a long time, then turned and ran towards his own dragon's birthplace.