The calendar used by the Zhenla people is close to the solar calendar used by the Ming Dynasty. In November (in October of the lunar calendar), the climate is in the cool season; This is the hottest season in the dry season.

Even the Zhenla people, who are accustomed to the hot and rainy climate, also like the cool season.

In this short period of three or four months, the temperature is mild and pleasant, neither hot nor cold, and the rain is relatively minimal. Although it often rains at this time, it usually rains for a short time, and the ground damps and dries quickly, and the roads are not muddy.

But the army of the Ming Kingdom did not arrive at the beginning of the cool season. When the Ming army approached the Saigon area, it was already late November (the tenth month of the lunar calendar), and almost a month of good life was wasted. Both the Zhenla people and the Manchurian people speculated that it might be because of the storm and the delay in the advance of the Ming army.

Therefore, the envoy of Manthorn Jia on the Zhenla warship was very satisfied with this.

General Zhenla, at this time, can guess the mood of the envoy: the time left in the cool season is running out; Even if the Zhenla people fail to win on the battlefield, they will drag the Ming army in the Zhenla country throughout the cool season. The Ming army will not be able to continue its southward march at least this year, and perhaps it will not continue to invade the south at all for a few years; Because after the war is attrition, the Ming army is very likely to return.

And that's the worst-case scenario.

The Grand General had been standing on the deck, watching the scene ahead. His face was dark and shiny, shining in the sun.

The soft morning sun exposure didn't make him feel unduly uncomfortable. The temperature at sea is not high and the sea breeze is cool. Stable temperatures can't form hurricanes at sea, and the wind is very calm, making the sails very full and looking beautiful.

A little unsatisfactory was the fact that they swooped down from the southwest of Sai Kung Harbour in the direction of a headwind.

Originally, the monsoon in the ocean here does not prevail until December of the solar calendar every year, when the northeast wind prevails; However, this year's northeast monsoon seems to have come earlier. It's only late November, and the northeast wind is blowing over the ocean.

However, in this battle, such a thing as a tailwind or a headwind is the least important condition.

Because the coalition fleets were going to raid, not fight, as long as the wind could blow their fleets to Saigon, that would be enough. If both armies are prepared and set up a decisive battle, whether it is a headwind or a tailwind, the coalition forces are not the opponents of the Ming people. So even if it is a tailwind, it will have no effect on the coalition forces.

There is not a single enemy ship on the sea today. The general himself was watching, and ordered other ships to observe. Until now, the coalition forces had not seen enemy ships; The Ming people should have not noticed the movement of the coalition convoy.

Everything was perfect.

The general stared at the sea with a calm demeanor and took a deep breath against the wind. When he first went out to sea, he could smell the faint fishy smell of the sea breeze, but now he couldn't smell it at all.

The whole sea was covered with boats, mostly sampans, small in size, but many; Only in the fleet of the Manchurians, from time to time there was a large ship with soft sails. The Manchurians were Muslims who had contacts with the Sultanate of North India, Persia and other countries.

The shadow of the ship in the distance is very small, and between the many small boats, there is a large ship from time to time. The general looked at the past from a distance, and felt that the scene was like a large patch of ants, and from time to time there was a larger soldier ant among the worker ants.

At that moment, from the west side of the fleet, near the land, a small boat gradually shuttled by.

The boat slowly approached the general's flagship and tossed it with a grappling hook to settle its position. Then the big ship got on the side and threw down a rope ladder. In a few moments, a soldier climbed onto the deck below.

The soldier's forearms, head, and shoulders were covered with yellow bronze armor, and his robe was draped over his body, and his shoulders and chest were exposed to the sun, dark and strong. At first glance, this person is a person with a bit of status.

The military man walked over, faced the general and the envoy of Manchuga, and folded his hands to greet him.

"There's a tip." Junhan took out a bamboo tube.

The general waved his hand to tell the people around him to retreat, but he did not let the envoy leave. Now that the Zhenla people and the Manchurians have formed an alliance, there is no need for the Zhenla people to hide the envoy from the envoy in terms of military information.

"Good." After reading the secret report, the general said a short sentence. His expression was still calm and calm.

Subsequently, the messenger was allowed to read the letters. He didn't hold back his emotions, and soon a smile appeared on his face, and then he threw his head up excitedly and laughed. The general looked at him and smiled.

The secret report came from the Chenla nobleman An'en, who was the queen's own brother. The overall deployment and strategy of this war, Ayn came up with a lot of ideas, and he was the most supportive of this strategy. Therefore, the commander of the army on land was Ahn.

Ann sent the latest news.

The main force of the Ming army has come ashore, and the big camp is near the confluence of the Dong Nai River and the Qianjiang River (south of Hu Zhiming City). The Ming army was on the east bank of the Dong Nai River, and the Zhenla army was on the west bank of the river, and the two armies faced each other across the river, less than 20 miles apart.

On the east bank of the river, there were dozens of military camps in the Ming Kingdom. Those military camps were laid out along the edge of the rice paddies and in the woods, stretching for miles. The Ming army built ditch fortifications around the barracks, and the troops were stationed in the barracks, waiting for the fighters for the decisive battle. During this period, there were flags like clouds, and there were countless swords and guns.

Regardless of the risk of his life, Ahn bravely approached and watched in person. He estimated that there were a lot of troops in the Ming army's military camp, not 20,000, but more than 10,000! Even in the cool season, the Ming army was quite unaccustomed to the local situation, and lit a lot of herbal cigarettes in the barracks in order to repel mosquitoes. The unpleasant smell of grass smoke could be smelled two miles away.

"The vast majority of Ming people are at the confluence of the Qianjiang River and the Tongnai River." The messenger gasped, his face rotten from his smile and his breathing was affected. Finally, he calmed down from his extreme excitement.

The general was expressionless, but still echoed the fact: "Yes, it went well. ”

He put away the report and continued to watch calmly at the sea ahead. After a while, the general spoke again: "Everything is going well. ”

"It's, it's going so well." After the general finished reading this sentence, even he himself realized that it was a bit long-winded. He put it another way and said: "The army of the Great Ming Kingdom has just arrived, and it is not clear where our fleet at sea is. But they didn't even send a boat? For the past two days, we have not seen any enemy ships come out to search. ”

The messenger glanced at him and said, "The general is too cautious. ”

The general read the emissary's eyes and understood that he was indeed a very cautious and cautious man.

At that time, when discussing in the King's Hall, the person who insisted on passively avoiding the battle and hiding around Angkor Thom and not fighting was the great general. Now that the curtain of war has opened, he is ordered to lead the fleet to attack, which is not his own opinion; It was only because, in the end, the king adopted Ahn's opinion.

The voice of the messenger said, "The sea is so vast! Since the Ming people could not send out the entire fleet, they set up a wide formation to search for a large area; It is highly likely that they sent out a sporadic outpost and missed us. ”

The general turned his head to look at him and nodded slightly, feeling that it made sense.

The messenger added: "Before we set sail, we hid on the Mekong for a long time. Both sides of the Mekong River are covered with water, grass and jungle, and if the enemy army does not get close, they will not be able to find the warship. It has only been two days since the coalition forces went to sea, and it is possible that when the Ming people sent out the sentinel ship, it happened that it was not in these two days, and the time was missed. ”

The general nodded yes.

The fleet continued its detour, and in the afternoon they finally arrived at Saigon Port (near Vung Tau). The ships of the Ming Kingdom gradually revealed their shadows from the relatively calm arc-shaped sea level.

Although it was still far away, after a while, the great general could see that the countless warships had not raised their sails. The enemy ships were all stationary, floating in the bay. It seems that the people of the Ming Kingdom seem to have no idea about the arrival of the coalition fleet in advance!

At this time, a large number of warships of the Zhenla Manchu and Thorn Plus coalition forces were still drumming sails and continuing to advance.

The envoy pointed to the distance and said with a smile: "The enemy ships are still all moored now, and their situation is surrounded by land on three sides, and to the southwest is our fleet of warships; Can't run away! The enemy only discovered us temporarily, and the troops on the shore of the Qianjiang River were also far away from the water and could not save the close fire. ”

The general's eyes were round without blinking, and the big eyes on his black face were like torches, staring coldly at the herds of "prey" in the distance. On the surface, he still did not have the slightest mood swing, and he asked himself in a very gentle, cautious tone, "Can we strike?" ”

He may not be asking, but in a tense moment, carefully examining the battlefield again. The country is easy to change, and his cautious temperament is difficult to change.

The messenger said, "Of course, what are you waiting for? ”

This thorny envoy, who has always thought himself amused, often likes to make jokes that are not so funny, and then he jokes again: "The fat is in his mouth, and the general wants to give up, but are you willing?" ”

The general nodded slightly, and did not take his eyes off the front for a moment. At this time, he withdrew his gaze, looked around for a while, and then said unhurriedly: "The time has come." ”

The envoy of Manthorn was very emotional, and shouted loudly in the wind: "Until now, Ibris has come to the world, and he can't save the people of the Ming Kingdom!" ”

The messenger was right. The general looked up at the sun in the west, and estimated that it was less than half a day before it got dark; Most of the Ming troops on land could not have time to save the fleet, and the Ming fleet was all blocked in the bay, and they couldn't even escape.

They're dead. General Zhenla couldn't imagine what else the people of the Ming Kingdom could do.

The general's movements suddenly became powerful and rapid, and he suddenly turned back and said, "Order, the whole army will attack." Seize their ships and burn everything they have! ”