The graduation ceremony of the 16th cadet of the Army Non-commissioned Officer School ended.

In the dormitory of the college, Xue Cheng, a cavalry scientist whose ancestral home is Jiaxing, raised the mirror and carefully examined the brand-new epaulettes, he is now an army cavalry second lieutenant.

Xue Cheng opened the notebook presented by the head of state many years ago, which was full of the experience of the 4-year college career, which was Xue Cheng's hard work.

Xue Cheng gently stroked the handwriting on the title page.

"I'm a good man when I get sick, and it's a strange thing to die today, and I'm annoyed to make a big fuss."

In the year of Yi You, his father Xue Quji's last words to the Tatar surrender officials before his inauguration in Nanjing.

The children who were rescued from the battlefield have grown up.

Xue Quji closed the notebook and said silently in his heart, "Father, I will also be a good man like you." ”

Packing his bags and putting on his military hat, Xue Cheng took one last look at the dormitory where he had lived for 4 years and pushed the door out.

Cavalry artillery workers and surveyors left the academy one after another to report to their respective units.

Xingping Bo Gao Yuanjue was waiting on the playground, saw Xue Cheng, and hurriedly greeted him.

"Seiko, which unit are you assigned to?"

"The unit where we interned before, the 1st Cuirassier Regiment, what about you?"

The 1st Cuirassier Regiment was the most aristocratic and ladies-friendly unit of the Union Army.

Gao Yuanjue's expression seemed to be like a deflated ball, "I don't have troops, let me go back and inherit the territory." ”

Xue Cheng smiled, "Yes, Your Excellency the Earl, you have a direct territory as large as a county, which is really enviable. ”

"But I'd rather be a second lieutenant in the cuirassiers regiment like you."

"Are you afraid of going back and being controlled by the Lingtang? No kidding, you go back to the territory and maybe you can organize a battalion of your own. ”

"Unless a full-scale war with the Tatars breaks out, it's impossible, and I don't want to go back to Houjiang and deal with mud all day."

When Xue Cheng heard this, too, he also had a large manor in Taipei, and if Xue Cheng was allowed to return to the countryside after four years of military academy career, he would definitely not be willing.

The cadets of the Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy are inclined in their disciplines.

To enroll in the cavalry department, you must have family property, and the cavalry officers are almost all from noble backgrounds.

Artillery scientists were more of a factory owner and middle class, similar to naval officers, and were predominantly well-educated city dwellers.

There is no limit to the number of people who come from the infantry section, and there are many peasant children and selected soldiers.

In the eyes of the cavalry section, the artillery section can be socied, the infantry section has to be specifically divided into personnel, the surveying and mapping section is a group of nerds, and the engineer and baggage section is the most discriminated against.

In the eyes of the infantry section, only the infantry is a hero, and the cavalry section is a hole for the group to be everywhere and open the screen all day long. The artillery section is too mysterious, and the things it learns don't know what to say, and the perception of other subjects is the same as that of the cavalry section.

The artillery section said that I was not targeting anyone, I was saying that everyone in this room was rubbish.

The Workers hid in the corner and shivered.

The chain of contempt for the units in the academy is more or less the same.

Xue Cheng patted Gao Yuanjue's shoulder, "Brother, since the distribution order has been issued, there is no way to change it now." You're an earl after all, so let's go home first, and then slowly figure it out. ”

Gao Yuanjue sighed for a long time, and it could only be like this.

Two brothers at the academy separately.

The army is expanding on a large scale, and the demand for officers is very urgent, so there is no long vacation for these second lieutenants after graduation, and the local second lieutenants can go home for a short 20-day vacation, and the people in the overseas colonies have no choice.

Xue Cheng went directly to the army to report.

Gao Yuanjue rested in the capital for a few days, boarded a Canton ship, crossed the Gulf of Siam while the southwest wind was blowing, and arrived in Ha Tien four days later.

There are few winds and waves in the Gulf of Siam, and there are suitable airflows all year round.

With the Yongji River, which connects the Mekong River to the Gulf of Siam, the connection between the Hou River and the mainland has become even closer.

Merchant ships do not have to cross the Golden Ou Kok into the South China Sea to reach the mouth of the Mekong River, and can directly load and unload goods in Ha Tien, and the 300-nautical-mile voyage is located in the Gulf of Siam.

Gao Yuanjue changed to a flat-bottomed sand boat in Hexian, and before leaving, the port staff sent an order to Xingpingbo.

Li Jun, the governor of Houjiang, often wanted to see him.

The Governor of Houjiang is the supreme administrator of the whole province and has the right to supervise the local autonomy, and Gao Yuanjue does not dare to slack off.

A week later, Gao Yuanjue received a mission in the capital to organize a force in the territory, pay for weapons and military expenses, and follow the mission into Laos.

Gao Yuanjue was very excited, this was his dream task. What was more surprising was that his mother, Mrs. Xing, did not stop him from leading the troops in person, and the reasons that Gao Yuanjue had come up with on the road were all in vain.

Gao Yuanjue issued a conscription order in the family territory of Xingping Fort, and the Earl's Palace, the viscounts' and barons' mansions contributed a part of the military expenses, and the rest was raised by the soldiers themselves, and the weapons were provided by themselves.

Other Dominions of Houjiang have issued similar conscription orders, each of which has issued many conscription orders, and this is the second time that the whole government has been conscripted, and the last time was during the war with Spain.

The Dominion has the tasks of public security, border defense, and coastal defense, and it is impossible for all the reserve troops to go out on the expedition.

In the end, there were 1,000 soldiers gathered in the capital, plus 200 mercenaries hired by the Houjiang government, a total of 1,200 people.

Most of the Chinese soldiers wore the iconic Fan Yang hat, which was better than the iron helmet, which was easy to rust and shelter from the rain and sun.

The weapons were mostly light and heavy arquebuses, plus a waist knife, and soldiers who did not have pure cold weapons, these self-armed veterans and mercenaries were generally proficient in both shooting and hand-to-hand combat with swords.

The production capacity of flintlock smoothbore guns is fully supplied to the expanding army, and it is not available on the market. However, a small number of flintlock rifled guns have entered the market, and the rich will buy one.

The armor is mainly leather armor, and the iron armor has a small amount of equipment, and the reason for the small number is also because it is easy to rust.

Cai Yuanding led 1,200 troops, took a small flat-bottomed boat in the capital, carried a large amount of supplies, and set off with the caravan to Laos, along the Mekong River, up the mighty river.

Gao Yuanjue led the troops into battle for the first time, standing on the bow of the ship with high spirits. Several bigwigs of the family who actually commanded the expedition stood behind the young master with a smile, and Gao Yuanjue reminded them of Lao Xingping Bo Gao Jie.

The boat crosses the Phnom Penh three-way crossing.

The Tonle Sap River and Tonle Sap Lake regulate the amount of water in the Mekong River, and the river below the three forks is replenished by the Tonle Sap Lake during the dry season, allowing merchant ships to sail unimpeded.

On the river above the three forks, only bamboo rafts and canoes can pass during the dry season, and the fleet of the Houjiang expedition can only sail during the rainy season.

The fleet made a brief stop in the concession area on the left bank of the Mekong River at the mouth of the three forks, opposite the city of Phnom Penh, the current capital of Chenla.

Chenla was divided among the four kingdoms of the Federation, Siam, Quang Nam, and Laos, and the Gao barbarians lived under the oppression of several major mountains. The only reason for the existence of this puppet regime is simply to ensure the balance of the rights and interests of the four countries in Chenla.

Cai Yuanding briefly handed over to the federal envoy in Zhenla, replenished supplies, and continued northward, gradually stepping into the wild world.

The annual demand for Indian cotton cloth was 40,000 to 60,000 horses, and the Dutch unloaded them in Phnom Penh, and the trade routes behind belonged to the Federation and Lao merchants.

Continuing upwards, the Mekong River is lined with layers of rainforest, and tiger roars can be heard from the mountain valleys as Indochinese tigers assert their sovereignty.

The Mekong River meanders and is dotted with sandbars. The rainy season is the season when the rapids and shoals are the least, and only the most seasoned sailors dare to sail the river.

In some sections of the river, the soldiers can pass by paddling, but in more dangerous sections, the soldiers have to disembark and pull the fiber.

Below Kong Falls, most of the four thousand islands have sunk underwater. The Mekong River is an ocean here, with a width of 14 kilometers.

Kong Falls was an insurmountable obstacle and the fleet abandoned the boat to land.

Caravans from Laos were already waiting at the border pass.

Seventeen elephants, 200 two-wheeled ox carts, and 800 mules and horses stopped around the town, and from here, the Lao took over.

The Lao king of Suriawangsa once angrily rebuked the Siamese envoys, "If the merchants cannot be given the freedom of trade recognized by the world, then which country's rules and regulations are this?" ”

In the early days of Suryawangsa's reign, Siam allowed Laotian goods to go to sea via the Chao Phraya River, with the exception of that exception. It was only after the signing of the Phnom Penh Treaty that the freedom of navigation on the Mekong River was guaranteed by the Quartet that Laos gained the window it craved.

The Confederation strengthened Laos' position with a military pact.

Cai Yuanding knew very well that among the five countries of Burma, Siam, Laos, Quang Nam Nguyen, and Annam Zheng, Laos is the only landlocked country, with the weakest strength and the least confidence in national defense, and their greatest reliance is on rugged terrain and towering mountains.

Of course, the federation has to support the weakest countries, and Laos is now a hardcore ally of the federation, commonly known as Lao Tie among the people.

Soldiers helped the caravan unload the cargo, exchanging with Laos.

Laotian lead ingots, gold, shellac, benzoin, deerskin, and musk were loaded onto the returning merchant ships.

The soldiers dismantled the cannons, the heaviest cannon barrels were carried by elephants, wooden boxes filled with finished medicines, and goods such as saltpeter, guns, cotton cloth, silk and other goods were loaded onto ox carts and mules and horses.

On the rugged mountain roads of Indochina, a mule and horse can camel about 60 kilograms of cargo, and a bull can camel 60 to 100 kilograms. Elephants generally carry a weight of around 300 kilograms, and the largest bull elephant can camel the barrel of a 9-pound cannon.

The main means of transportation is the two-wheeled ox cart pulled by the buffalo, with a flat load of 240 to 360 kilograms, and the number of buffaloes in the Nanyang area is very sufficient.

The caravan carried a total of 52 guns, 6 9-pounder guns, 30 6-pounder guns, and 16 5.5-inch light howitzers.

Without a 4-pounder gun, in a given battlefield, a 4-pounder gun of more than 300 kg was no different from a heavier gun, and it was impossible to achieve rapid maneuver, and for offensive and defensive city warfare, the 4-pounder gun was obviously not as effective as a heavier cannon.

Cai Yuanding said goodbye to the Houjiang officials who commanded the fleet and led the army into the vast mountains.

A rainbow crosses the Kong Falls, and the intermittent Mekong River is 10 kilometers wide, rushing straight down, like thousands of horses galloping, whirling and whistling, the sound is deafening, and the scene is extremely spectacular.

Cai Yuanding first rode in an ox cart, these ox carts had no suspension and no axle box, and the body was directly on the wooden axle, which was very uncomfortable to bump all the way. Such an oxcart design is not so much to ease the hardship of pedestrians as to torture the buttocks.

Cai Yuanding secretly cursed, the Lao people's ox cart is more like a coffin than a means of transportation, the widest point is less than 1 meter, and only by curling up can you barely squeeze in.

The roads were bumpy, the wheels were often slippery, and many of the cars were pulled up by buffalo and soldiers instead of the wheels.

Cai Yuanding decided to get out of the car and walk.

The mountain road over Kong Waterfall is about 6 kilometers long and shuttles through the primeval forest.

The rainy season facilitates water transportation, but it makes climbing the mountains a nightmare. The short cattle lane has to stop many times to rest the cart, and it can't be completed in a day. The soldier took off his clothes and put his military shoes on his back, wearing only shorts and straw sandals, and he was still sweating profusely.

Cai Yuanding couldn't bear it, like a soldier, he took off only his shorts.

"High-ranking officials don't care about image like us."

One soldier said, eliciting a laugh without malice.

Cai Yuanding laughed, "20 years ago, I was just a big sailor on a big sailboat, and life in the Pacific Ocean was even more bitter than this. ”

The army had to go through great hardships to climb the mountain, and the rest of the road was only slightly less difficult.

In order to save the soldiers' physical strength, Cai Yuanding decided to rush only in the morning and graze cattle and horses in the hot afternoon.

At night, the camp is enclosed in a circle or triangle with ox carts, with livestock and goods placed in the middle of the camp and people sleeping on the periphery.

Soldiers cut off branches to serve as makeshift antlers. Wild boars, rhinos, and Indochinese tigers come out in herds and roar. In order to drive the beast away, the soldiers on duty had to shoot.

It is forbidden to break hands alone, and only a team of at least 10 people is allowed to enter the forest, and there must be a gun escort to do big things.

The rainy season is characterized by a sudden rainstorm without warning. During the day, no one cares about the rain, they all take a bath. Not at night, when soldiers cut down palm fronds to set up tents while camping. You can somewhat block out the raindrops, but you can still feel the rain running down your back.

Fortunately, the Nanyang soldiers were accustomed to such a life, and there were not many sick people, and the seriously ill ones were transferred to the ox carts.

Passing through a cattle lane leading to a lead mine, there is a lead mine in southern Laos near the Mekong River, which was one of the main sources of ammunition produced in the country in the early days of the federal state.

Lead deficiency is widespread in the Nanyang countries, with only Annam and Myanmar faring slightly better.

Lead coins have long been in circulation in Alakan, Mataram, Banten, Palembang and other countries, and the Netherlands and Britain have found it a lucrative business to transport lead to the South Seas.

The British supplied 100-150 tonnes of lead to Banten in 1636, and the Dutch supplied 153 tonnes of lead to coin minters in 1638.

The entire East Indies lead market was about 350 tonnes per year, with the Dutch controlling two-thirds of it.

After another 10 days, the team arrived at Savannak, another town born out of the verdant rainforests of the mountains for the exchange of goods.

Residents of the vicinity of Savannakhet enter the town in small boats at this time of year to sell grain and souvenirs to caravanserais.

The Mekong River's 500-kilometre stretch from Savannakhet to Vientiane has been restored to navigability, and Cai Yuanding has finally been freed from cattle drives, blood-sucking mosquitoes, Indochinese tigers and tropical rainforests.

Although it was only a large sampan with a bamboo hut, it was the greatest enjoyment for the soldiers.

The flotilla raised its sails and, with the south wind, slowly sailed northward.

It is impossible to sail at night, so you can only stop and camp, and it takes nearly 3 months to travel up the 500-kilometer river.

In October 1659, when the rainy season was coming to an end, Cai Yuanding arrived in Vientiane.