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Nanzhang Capital,. x

The Nanzhang Kingdom is now ruled by the most powerful king in its history, Suryawangsa. Suryawangsa defeated four other contenders five years ago to ascend to the throne in the south and unify Luang Prabang in the north. With his strong military prowess, Suryawangza has shown the people of the country that he is a worthy defender of a country that was once torn apart.

Vientiane's city area is 3.2 square kilometers, and the royal city guarded by the city walls is 0.3 square kilometers. This area is about three times the size of the former Pattani, and the city has 70,000 residents.

At the Royal Palace, Suryawangza asked his advisor, Giovanni, a Jesuit missionary from the Piedmont region of Italy. Maria. "Father Reyria, you suggest that I agree to the suggestion of the Siamese and Jincheng people to send an army with them?" ”

Giovanni: "Your Majesty, our country's outward passage has always been controlled by Siam and the Khmer. If we can take this opportunity to open up the navigation route of the Mekong River and ensure our navigation rights on the Mekong River, we can get more high-quality arms, and Your Majesty will no longer have to worry about the Burmese and the Zheng lord of Annam. ”

Deep in the interior of the upper Mekong River, Laos has long been isolated from the rest of the world. In 1641, the Dutch sent a caravan to Laos, and they arrived at this "land of shellac and benzoin" after great difficulty.

Giovanni. Maria. Rayia was the second group of Europeans to enter Laos after the Dutch. Unlike Dutch businessmen who only wanted to do business, the Jesuit friars came to preach, and Giovanni wanted to put down roots in Laos. As in other Nanyang countries, the Jesuit monks quickly approached the Lao court, and the geographical and scientific knowledge that Giovanni brought with him, especially the technological improvements in munitions manufacturing, was fatally attractive to any backward country.

Suryawangsa said: "In the past, our country also sent troops with Siam to attack Chenla, and even if it won the war, it was difficult to obtain practical benefits. ”

Seeing that Suryawangza was still hesitating, Giovanni moved out his proposal for road construction again, "Your Majesty, how did you think about my last plan to build a road near Kongfoss Falls?" ”

Suryawangsa frowned, "Priest, I already said last time, building a road is tantamount to giving the key to the country's gates to the enemy, once the country is opened, the enemy can drive them in at will, and now the cliffs of Laos can keep them out of the country. ”

In fact, Giovanni's plan to improve Laos' external traffic is a package of plans, including building roads near Khong Waterfall and building some dikes on the Mekong River to improve inland navigation.

The inland waterway shipping system of the entire Mekong River can be roughly divided into three sections, from the Kowloon River (the nine major estuaries of the Mekong River) to Phnom Penh, the four-way crossing, where sea vessels can pass. Phnom Penh is a port where sea vessels and river vessels intersect, from Phnom Penh to the Tonle Sap River, Tonle Sap Lake, navigable river vessels. Phnom Penh leads up to Kong Falls, a section of the river with shallows and rapids, and when the river is deep in the wet season, traffic there is mainly carried down by large canoes driven by paddles and 20-metre bamboo rafts.

Khong Waterfall is an insurmountable obstacle for boats and is the natural border between Laos and Chenla. On top of Khong Falls, the main navigation of the Mekong River is the 500-kilometre river from Vientiane to Savannakhet, which is the lifeblood of Laos and the core of the country's rise and national unity. The reign of King Suryawangsa was the golden age of Laos, and today several boats arrive in the lower reaches of the Mekong River every day. Many of these merchants came from Yunnan and Upper Burma in China. In Savannakhet, merchants engaged in the river transport trade disembark and disembark some of the boats, and board a caravan of ox carts waiting there, choosing to climb over Kong Waterfall or head west to Siam. Because of the tension with Chenla, most merchants would travel overland and go directly to Siam. They loaded deerskins, shellac, benzoin, musk and other forest products on ox carts, and on the return journey tens of thousands of horses of Indian cotton. In addition to these two main roads, at the southern end of the navigable Mekong River, in the city of Lakong, there is also a small road over the mountains and mountains to Vietnam, which can reach the port city of Chi Ying in 10 days. The voyage down the Mekong River is always pleasant, while the trip up the river is quite laborious, and it takes 3 months to board the boat from Savan Nakhet to Vientiane.

Starting from Vientiane, go north to Luang Prabang by land, and trace along the Mabang Road between the mountains and mountains, which is the Yunnan Province of China, Xishuangbanna. Mengla in Xishuangbanna is the burial place of Li Dingguo, the last pillar of optimus in the Southern Ming Dynasty. The Tusi of Xishuangbanna has close contacts with Luang Prabang, Laos, and has intervened in the Lao Succession War more than once.

Giovanni knew Suryawangza's worries, and he advised: "Your Majesty, Laos cannot be closed forever, and one day, we will open our doors to outsiders. Geography is not entirely dependent, and powerful enemy armies can overcome the difficulties caused by rivers and mountains. Rather than being forced to come to the door with the military, we should take a more proactive approach. The enemies you are worried about are none other than Chenla, Siam and Vietnam, Siam has the great enemy of Burma, Vietnam is now in the quagmire of division, and Chenla, after this blow, will most likely no longer be able to pose a threat. We are connected to the outside world through the Mekong, and we can get arms from Europe. Your Majesty, you know that at home you are not completely without enemies. Many of the feudal lords in the south and Luang Prabang were waiting for an opportunity. If we are to put an end to their delusions, we must all have overwhelming power in our country, and only arms can help you do that. ”

Hearing this, Suryawangsa was a little moved, "Father Leiria, I admit that what you said makes a lot of sense. I will send troops this time, and as for building roads, I will think about it again, and we will discuss it when the results of this war are out. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Giovanni withdrew from the court.

In Laos, Suria Wangsa was the most powerful feudal lord, but he did not have the absolute authority of the Chinese emperor. Suriyawangza was powerful because of the ability he showed to be supported by the feudal lords of the country. In addition to Suryawangsa, the second most powerful feudal lord in Laos was his prime minister and son-in-law, Phraya Mongzhan. Darla. The third was the feudal lord of Nakhon Phanom (now part of Thailand), which was traditionally the vice-king of southern Laos who ruled the southern tip of the Mekong River as far as Chenla. The current Southern Vice-King belongs to Suryawangsa's cousin, Prince Pu. Prince Pu was the loser in the battle for the throne with Suryawangsa, and now he is a vassal to Suryawangsa, but everyone knows that Prince Pu is always one of the protagonists of this game for the throne whenever he has the opportunity.

If he could follow up on this crusade against Chenla and push his forces deeper into the south, it would probably be a more important gain, thought to Suryawangsa in the palace. The king of Laos decided to send troops, 8,000 people, to be filled by the prime minister. Commander Darrah.

Siam, Songgarok Province. Originally known as Sukhothai, Songgarok was the first dynasty established by the Tai people. After Ayutthaya conquered Sukhothai and the Ayutthaya dynasty unified Siam, Sukhothai became the capital of the previous dynasty and had a political status that surpassed that of ordinary provinces.

Although Sukhothai was in the north of the city of Ayutthaya, in the first two invasions of Chenla, the commanders of the army were Song Galo Dashou and Phitsanulok Dashou bordering Song Galo, which is an inappropriate analogy, Song Galo Dashou is somewhat like the vice-king of Siam, but not so independent. Songgaro's most famous specialty is ceramics, and the finesse of top-notch Songgalo porcelain is no less than that of ordinary Chinese porcelain. Today, Songgalo Dashou is the younger brother of King Parasadong of Siam, Sri Sutama, and the most active promoter of this invasion of Chenla on the Siamese side.

Siam's economy and population are now tilting towards the lower Chao Phraya River due to the perennial war with Burma, and Ayutthaya and Bangkok are thriving as inland ports for sea vessels. However, in the northern provinces of Songgaro, the population continues to flow out, and the arable land has a tendency to be abandoned. Prince Sutama needed the wealth of Chenla to fill his treasury.

King Parasadon was not a very warlike monarch, and he did not send the main army of the kingdom. Prince Sutama had to rely on his own strength and the two provinces of Prachin and Nakhon Ratchasima in the east.

The brain-dead monarch of Chenla once took advantage of the fire to rob and took advantage of the opportunity of the destruction of the Ayutthaya Dynasty in Burma to occupy Prachinfu, and after the king of Nali Xuan accumulated enough strength, he defeated Zhenla in a war and recovered Prachinfu, and by the way, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, which originally belonged to Chenla, was also in his pocket.

The servant came in and reported to the prince, "Your Highness, the great guard of Prajin Province has sent news that the fleet of the people of Jincheng has arrived at the mouth of the Bang Pa Gong River as promised, and their vanguard has landed. ”

Even if he is an ally, it is impossible for King Parasadong to allow a foreign ** team to enter the core of the Chao Phraya River now. Through the mediation of Prince Sutama, the orderly army changed to river vessels at the mouth of the Bangpagong River in Prachinphu. Located in the eastern part of Siam, the Bang Pa Koong River flows into the Gulf of Siam independently of the Chao Phraya and Mekong rivers.

Prince Sutanma nodded slightly, "Get the war elephant ready, and we'll set off too." ”

The Songgar Lok province sent 4,500 troops this time and was the main force of the Siamese army. Prachinbu sent 3,000 troops, and Nakhon Ratchasima sent 2,500 troops, both of which were war soldiers and half of followers. The Siamese army had 300 cavalry and 16 elephants. Without the Central Army, in fact, the Siamese Army was very lacking in heavy artillery firepower, and according to the agreement, this aspect was provided by the Order.

A total of nearly 5,000 people were mobilized in Jincheng, including 2,500 army field troops and 7 volunteer battalions of 2,400 people. The personnel of the volunteer battalion are very mixed, the Portuguese battalion and the Che Chi Dan battalion both include many slave soldiers, the composition of the two Mon battalions is slightly better, and the Chinese, the Yue and the Medan elders each have a battalion. Each volunteer battalion is equipped with its own weapons and its own establishment, and the battalion is only given a name, which is not the same thing at all. The Mon people have a very large establishment, with more than 400 people in one battalion.

What was special in the volunteer army was the Chinese battalion, and most of the Chinese in Nanyang did not want to be soldiers. The leader of this Chinese battalion was called Hu, who was originally a hereditary deputy Qianhu in Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty, but because of a disagreement with the civil officials of the supervising army, he killed the civil officials on impulse and caused a mutiny. Now not only him, but even his brothers couldn't get along in the country, so Hu took his brothers to the sea, fought down for a few years, and also gathered a team of more than 200 people. It's just that the domestic routes are now controlled by Zheng Zhilong, and a small group of pirates can still survive, and slightly larger pirates will attract the Zheng family's warships. Hu felt that it was not a way to go on like this, so he went to Nanyang to try the opportunity.

Because most of the merchant ships went to China, the number of domestic transport ships in Jincheng was insufficient, and all the soldiers could not be transported at one time. The army was divided into two groups, and Holren led most of the field army and the Mon people first. The Order went behind with the Archon Guard and the remainders, and the heavy artillery was also in the back wave.

The fleet sailed north in September, which was the monsoon transition period, and the voyage from Jincheng to the mouth of the Bang Pak Koong River was nearly 600 nautical miles.

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