On the banks of the river there was a sandy mudflat, nearly two hundred paces wide, and Ann himself walked around the beach, and sometimes his calves could sink into most of them, and he had to exert himself to pull his legs and feet out of the sand and silt. If people were to walk and trek on this beach, it would obviously be very difficult and slow.

This will definitely be the burial place of the Ming army.

Ahn had already placed a large number of crossbowmen at the front, approaching the river flats. Once the Ming army had landed on the shore and were trapped on the beach, the archers led by Ayn would continue to fire arrows and mercilessly shoot at the enemy who were as slow as lambs to the slaughter.

As the sun rises, the fog dissipates faster and the vision becomes clearer. An En clearly saw that many Ming soldiers on the other side were gathering on the flat-bottomed boat. He was a little excited, and he was looking forward to it.

As for the other Ming fleet in the north, An En didn't want to worry about it for the time being, he was full of the victory in front of him at this time, and he couldn't wait.

At this moment, there was movement on the large sea ship anchored in the middle of the river, and the sound of horns resounded in the early morning. Ahn looked intently and noticed a large ship changing its flag. The ships of the Ming army had already lowered their sails and their masts were bare, so they were very obvious when they changed their flags.

Ann didn't understand the sound of the trumpet and the words of the flag, and no one of them could understand it. The signal of each army is set by itself, and it is different.

After a while, several large boats lined up in the middle of the river began to beat dense drums. It sounds like some small drums, but they don't sound very loud, and they can only be faintly heard when people are a little farther away. But the tempo is fast, the rapid percussion makes people suspicious, and the drummer is just beating desperately.

Immediately afterwards, a whole row of wooden holes suddenly opened under the side of the ship, and many yellow things poked their heads out of the wooden holes. Ann suddenly felt that something was wrong, people were always afraid of things they didn't know much about. However, he quickly guessed that it was a firearm, and that firearms were also used in some parts of the Muslim sect in the west.

"Boom, boom!" Two thunderous bangs came. In a few moments, rows of firelight shone brightly on the sides of those big ships, and the dense cannon fire began to roar.

By the time Ahn heard the voice and looked back at the formation, the cannonballs had already entered the archers of the Chenla army. He didn't know what was happening, but there was a commotion in the crowd, as if the army had suddenly been cursed by witchcraft, and the people fled in panic.

The deafening artillery fire soon stopped. There was still a lot of noise in the air, followed by the great array of Zhenla troops on the riverbank, and the screams and shouts that could not be stopped. The big array was noisy and chaotic, and it was impossible to get along.

Ahn's mind went blank, and he hadn't recovered from the great contrast in his heart for a while. At his feet, he couldn't help but take a few steps back, staring in shock at the silhouette of the large ship filled with white smoke.

He stared blankly for a moment, then turned and hurried out of the riverbank. The entourage around him immediately nervously protected him back and forth.

The archers of the Chenla army were all retreating to the west, and the people suddenly rushed in one direction in a disorderly manner, and suddenly the crowd became very crowded. There was a lot of noise in the big array, and the noise was "buzzing". Behind the archers' formation, the war elephants were also frightened by the thunderous cannon fire and turned around to leave, while the mahouts were stopping the elephants.

An En walked back to the military formation, and finally came back to his senses, he shouted: "Order all troops not to panic, first stabilize their positions, line up and retreat!" ”

However, the situation seems to be worse, and after the guards went to convey the military orders to the local nobles, the chaotic situation still did not improve. For a while, Ann didn't have a good way.

At this moment, Ann suddenly saw a long line of dirt and blood mist suddenly appear in the wide crowd. Something bounced and shuttled across the ground at an indiscernible speed.

After an instant, there was a roaring cannon sound in the direction of the river behind him. A long series of bloody paths were pierced through the military formation, some people fell to the ground, and the people around them shouted loudly in horror and scurried everywhere. The atmosphere of panic and chaos was spread like a plague among the army by the cowardly.

Originally, some of the braver Zhenla warriors were not frightened and remained in place, but those slaves, some cowardly soldiers with incompetent leaders, ran around and crowded, crowding all the military formations of the Zhenla army.

Another burst of artillery bombardment came, and the enemy's artillery was able to adjust the distance and distance. This time the artillery bombardment hit the depth of the Jinla army. An iron bullet grazed the side of the elephant soldier, shattering the head of a soldier, sending blood splattered in the air. The elephant soldier was greatly frightened, and suddenly he went wild, and began to spread his legs and rush westward.

There was a chaotic crowd nearby, and the elephant soldier quickly knocked people down, and the heavy and huge elephant stepped on the soldiers on the ground, and suddenly there was a miserable scream that cracked the lungs.

Ayn held his breath, he didn't even see the face of the enemy soldiers, and the army under his command became the mess it is now. This battle is fought with a lot of grievances and grievances.

However, things have come to this, and there is nothing Ahn can do. Ann rushed to his army, which he had gathered from his own territory, and withdrew with him in the direction of the camp. It was only when he arrived at the camp, far away from the Ming army's naval guns, that he sent people to inform the various nobles and leaders to restrain the army from reorganizing.

It seems that the battle has not really started yet, but the Zhenla army has already suffered heavy losses.

As Ann retreated west with his army, corpses and wounded men screaming for help could be seen everywhere on the ground. There were not only casualties from naval artillery shelling, but also many people who were trampled to death and wounded by elephants and their own people.

In the morning, the losses of the Zhenla army must have been far more than that. Because the army is in disarray, many people will flee. In particular, the slave soldiers could not be caught for a short time after they escaped.

Most of the rebels may eventually be able to regroup, but it will take time. In the near future, the military strength of the Zhenla army will be greatly weakened.

When Ayn returned to the camp, he immediately sent a large number of guards and personal soldiers to find the generals of the various tribes and tell them to gather and put the army in order.

Again, however, things did not work out.

It is reported that on the tributary of the Dong Nai River in the north, the Ming army has landed from the ship and is heading south! When some nobles heard the news, they did not stop in the camp at all, but left behind their tents and all kinds of baggage, such as food, and ran straight to the west.

When Ann anxiously watched at the gate of the big camp, he saw that the military flag given by the king was dirty on the ground, and the flag was full of footprints. Enn was furious, and stood on the ground and cursed those nobles and tribal leaders, cowardly and incompetent.

He reorganized his men in the camp, and finally gathered a few nobles who were willing to obey his orders. The group gathered their troops and decided to retreat westward and leave the battlefield first.

Now, even if Ann doesn't want to escape, that's all she can do for the time being.

The army had discarded most of its baggage, and before there was time to pack up the tents, the generals took the remaining infantry and elephants and turned northwest. They had to move to Phnom Penh, the second largest city in Chenla, and cross the Mekong River near there before retreating to the Tonle Sap area, where they would be met by men and horses in the heart of Angkor Thom.

But before noon, Ahn's army encountered the Ming army. It is estimated that those enemy land soldiers landed from the tributaries of the Dong Nai River in the north, and finally intercepted the first part of the Chenla army.

The Ming people had no cavalry, as if they were in a hurry to pursue, and they did not have the terrifying artillery.

The nobles under Ahn Ann's command suggested that everyone disperse, flee separately, and meet again near the city of Phnom Penh. In this way, the enemy infantry has nothing to do with most of the soldiers of the Zhenla army.

However, this was certainly not the best solution, and if the army ran away after the defeat, the slave soldiers would take the opportunity to flee. When the main force of the Zhenla army returns to the royal city, I am afraid that even half of the people will not be there.

Ayn personally stepped forward to observe the enemy lineup. But between the rice fields and the bushes, those enemy troops formed a long column. It was all infantry, there was no baggage, and the number was not large.

As a famous warrior in the land of Jinla, An En has never been a hesitant person. He decisively decided: "We should gather our troops and repel this pursuer." Then he sent orders to all the troops, gathered men and horses, and stopped the rout. In this way we will at least greatly reduce the losses. ”

The few nobles who were still following him had long been frightened by the unheard-of battle. They believed that the Zhenla army was no match for the Ming army, and that their morale was also very low when they ran all the way here, and they should not fight again immediately.

But Ayn felt that he had great hope of repelling the enemy's pursuit with several times his strength. He resolutely gave the military order.

So after a while, a nobleman took advantage of An'en's inattention and secretly left with his own people.

Ann was furious, but she didn't change her mind. His eyes were bloodshot, and both eyes looked red and terrifying. He was so emotional that he couldn't control his voice, and his voice was a little hoarse and shouted: "Capture the enemy, all of them are whipped to death, and the Ming people must pay the price!" ”

He personally went to the ranks to boost morale and ordered them to gather into formation. After some rectification, Ahn finally got a formation of thousands of people. They chose a gentle slope with woods on the hill behind. The Jinla army lined up here, preparing to counterattack the enemy columns coming from the northeast.

The archers were at the front, followed by the dozen or so war elephants, and the infantry behind them. An En adopted the familiar attack method of the Zhenla army, first shooting with a bow and crossbow, and then charging into battle with elephant soldiers to cover the infantry to fight.

An En's command was originally the main force of the army of Zhenla Country, but the original huge army was only a few thousand people left in front of him. He was determined to restore his dignity here.

(Tianjin)