"It was reported that the reconnaissance post had found a large number of enemy troops approaching Thonburi, with a size of more than 10,000, and judged that they were Siamese troops attempting to recapture Thonburi. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Chang Bin was eating dinner, but he didn't expect that the Siamese would choose to attack at this time. He immediately put down the military lunch box and ordered: "All enter the battle mode, inform the navy to be ready, and I will fire at the Siamese as soon as they enter our established strike zone!" ”

Although Thonburi is the royal capital of Siam, the city is relatively small in size and relatively rudimentary in city defense. The day before yesterday, the Siamese withdrew from this place, which was equivalent to losing the entire city to the Tang people. The Datang Navy had previously fired indiscriminately at Thonburi, and the damage to the city and city defenses was relatively serious. At this time, there were still thousands to 10,000 Siamese in the city who had not had time to evacuate, and the Tang army did not take any more hostile measures except for the ban on travel.

The Siam Expeditionary Command divided the battlefield into a number of different areas, among which a large area outside the city was designated as a fire prohibition area, and once the enemy entered this area, the navy, as the main fire support party, would project a large amount of artillery fire to the area to protect the battlefield and block the enemy's entry.

Of course, because of the separation of a Thonburi city, the naval shelling is not so intuitive, and the accuracy can not be particularly guaranteed, the main role can be played by the two cruisers of the 203 mm heavy guns, these cannons with a range of 20,000 yards, is the best fire aid weapon of the Tang Army. Although the two cruisers could only provide eight heavy guns, this firepower was quite sufficient.

Frankly speaking, although the Datang Navy has the most advanced ships in the world at this time, its overall design capability is not high. When designing some relatively light or non-combat ships. The performance of Datang's shipbuilding industry is still satisfactory. For example, the Dragon-class gunboat, which was designed and immediately began to be built on a large scale. High speed, high reliability. And it also has an extremely considerable firepower and has received a large number of orders. In addition, such as the island and reef-class 10,000-ton transport ship, the role is huge, and it is also built quickly. However, the main combat ships of the Datang Navy have to be said to have such and such shortcomings.

The ironclad battleships of the previous generation were remodeled from treasure ships, and their combat power was left alone, while the Pinghai-class cruisers and Liberty Wind class frigates of this generation. Although it has been miraculous repeatedly, it is not without its faults. Datang Shipbuilding Industry has a lot of experience and design from later generations to refer to, but many things are also half-understood. For example, the Pinghai class, on the one hand, the navy wanted to obtain larger caliber artillery, so it went to the 203 level, on the other hand, Datang was not able to manufacture powerful steam turbines at that time, so it was necessary to limit the tonnage of the ship to make it faster, and at the same time, it could be regarded as saving expenses. In the end, the Pinghai-class cruiser with a displacement of 5000 tons. It was armed with up to 4 knapsack 203 mm turrets and 12 76 mm deck guns.

The boat pulls the cannon. Coupled with the foundation of the ironclad ship, the Pinghai-class cruiser was basically unable to fire four main guns at the same time, because the strong recoil generated by the shelling may affect the stability of the ship. Even the 76-mm deck gun, when it was in operation, caused a lot of problems for the deck of the ship. The workload of the maintenance and maintenance of the Pinghai-class cruisers is quite large, which also makes many logistics personnel complain again and again.

The free wind class does not have as many problems as the Pinghai class, but it still has its own shortcomings in seaworthiness and mechanical reliability.

The above defects are not fatal, and in many cases do not affect the operation, but they also reflect that although the starting point of Datang's shipbuilding industry is high, it is not so solid.

On the battlefield of Thonburi, the Phraya Suria faction led tens of thousands of Siamese troops, riding war elephants and war horses, and slaughtered them mightily. Although the Phaya Surian faction was extremely eager to fight the Tang army, he was not a disciple of Meng Lang. He is also a little jealous of the strength of the Tang Army. Thonburi has only been built for more than ten years, but because Zheng Xinnan fought in the north and south, he often used troops, and he was also extremely careful about the defense of this royal capital. The Siamese themselves were also good at architecture, and they built extremely strong cities out of brick and stone.

The Siamese city defense is similar to that of the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains, and it is obvious that they were also inherited from China, but their city walls also have some characteristics of their own, such as the female walls and arrow battlements on the Chinese city walls, which have become extremely large in Siam. These concave and convex wall structures, unlike Chinese women's walls, can even have defenders inside, and there is a cross-shaped hole in the top that can be observed or shot.

In the previous shelling, the Tang army accidentally destroyed a section of the city wall, and after the Tang army entered Thonburi, it did not have time to repair it. However, the Datang Marine Corps has established a machine gun base in the gap, which also has a strong defensive force.

The Phaya Surian faction observed that there were not too many Tang troops on the city walls, and even some of the walls were not repaired by the Tang people because of the previous bombardment.

"Our army was short of artillery and even less siege equipment, and now it seems that the Tang army does not have many troops to Siam, and it is a good opportunity for our army to recapture Thonburi. If our army can capture the city in one fell swoop and defeat the Tang people, even if there are still Tang warships in the water, there is also the capital to resist. "The Phraya Surian faction was considered from the morale of the Siamese army. Although the Tang army's attack on Siam aroused the will of some Siamese people to resist, if it has not been able to achieve victory, the people's hearts will inevitably be moved, and it will be even more difficult for Rama I to continue to lead Siam against the Tang Dynasty.

As long as you can win a victory on the battlefield, then it can inspire the Siamese people to resist. Rama I was able to unite the Siamese ministers and even mobilize the lower classes. As long as Siam is strong, the Tang people cannot stay in Siam for too long, as long as the Tang people leave, then Rama I will be victorious. Even from then on, Rama I was able to break free from the aura of his own king-killer, when Zheng Xin expelled the Burmese invaders, making his prestige rise to the peak. If Rama I was able to drive out the Tang, then apparently Rama I would be able to enjoy the same glory.

Having made up their minds, the Phayasuri faction immediately marched and prepared to attack Thonburi. He also has a lot of intelligence, and chooses the city walls that are not garrisoned by many Tang troops, as well as those positions that have broken gaps. It was only when his troops began to march towards the city walls that the sound of whistling cannons was heard, and then it turned into explosions! (To be continued.) )