Arakan country, outside Chittagong.

This port city is located at the junction of the South Asian subcontinent and the Indochina Peninsula. It has always been the core of exchanges between the South Asian subcontinent and the Indochina Peninsula.

A large river flows from the mountains to the north, and the river is wide and deep enough for seagoing vessels, forming an excellent inland harbor. Along this big river, the buildings with Tianzhu characteristics are densely arranged. In the port area, it looks like a mixture of civilizations. The True God Temple of the Tianfang Sect is dotted among them, and there is also the newly built Tiandao Temple, with Chinese-style houses and the white settlement of the Tianfang Sect built next to each other.

The port wharf is full of cargo warehouses, and merchant ships from various countries are moored everywhere on the sea. There were Arabic galleys from the Delhi Sultanate - most of them were owned by Arab merchants, for whom any kingdom under the rule of the true God was considered a motherland, and the Sultan of Delhi was also canonized by the caliph. All of these ships have now been detained, and all the Celestial Cultists in Jida City have been imprisoned together. It's not that Chen Huaiqing wants to adopt any policy of religious persecution, but that they are not allowed to report to the Delhi Sultanate.

There were merchant ships from the Kingdom of Pandia of Ceylon, a powerful nation straddling Ceylon and the southern tip of the Tianzhu Peninsula. It is an ancient country with a long history, and it is also a naval power on the small Western Ocean (the Indian Ocean is marked as the Little Western Ocean on the latest map published by the Ming Dynasty). However, the Pandian Kingdom was not the Kingdom of Ceylon, but was founded by the Tamils who embraced Brahmanism. All the merchant ships of the Pandian kingdom can leave, this is the suggestion of Kuma Zhiporo, for the Brahmin nations. For the time being, you can win over the alliance.

At present, there is only one enemy of the British king, and that is the Delhi Sultanate!

On the island of Ceylon. There is also the Kingdom of Ceylon, which embraced Matabutrava Buddhism, which was established during the reign of Emperor Ashoka. Needless to say, the Kingdom of Ceylon is also a weak country because of its Buddhist beliefs. If it weren't for the fact that most of the Tamil Pandia kingdom was trapped in the South Asian subcontinent, the Ceylon of the Buddhists would have ceased to exist long ago. The Buddhist kingdom of Ceylon and Bagan were allies, so there were also many Ceylonese merchant ships in Chittagong, and they were also free to travel freely.

In addition, there were also many Han merchant ships from the east of Malacca, all of which were large fortune ships that could carry four or five thousand stones. It is driven by a hard sail and has 12 long oars. This large sea vessel with a "pair of sails" is a favorite of the Han Chinese maritime merchants at the moment, with a large cargo capacity, fewer sailors, and a long oar can also pass through the Malacca windless belt relatively quickly (of course, not completely windless). The only weakness is the poor ability to defend oneself - because of the small crew, but now there is a way to overcome it, which is the escort ship group system. It is to form a certain number of merchant ships into a ship group, go to sea together, and then be escorted by warships sent by the Nanyang Fleet of the Ming Navy. This way, naturally, there is no need to worry about the threat of pirates.

To the east of Malacca. The convoy group was voluntary, but west of Malacca, where piracy was rampant, and the convoy regiment system was imposed on the Han Chinese maritime merchants. At present, the Han merchant ships in Chittagong were occupied after Chittagong. Escorted by the warships of the Nanyang Fleet, they were not carrying silk, porcelain, and tea, but brigades of invading troops and supplies.

Take a look at the number of merchant ships from various countries inside Chittagong. Know the important value of this port in the battle to conquer Tianzhu!

It is now the forty-second day since the "British army" captured Chittagong, and the landing battle forty-two days ago can be described as bloodless. The Arakanese army defending the city was no more than 2,000 men. They were all feudal armies of the Arakanese kingdom - the military system of all feudal states was actually the same, not supported by real estate (samurai, knights, government soldiers, military households, or whatever). They all linked military service to land) were mercenaries (who collected money to fight), and Arakan was no exception, and this small state between Tianzhu and Burma practiced a land-backed feudal military system. Because of the relatively long history, the military system is also corrupt, there is no combat effectiveness, as soon as the cannon goes off, a group of Arakanese lords will flee and go to the suzerain, the Great Burma.

The British king, Chen Huaiqing, did not allow his army to pursue eastward, believing that the ivory of the king of Bagan, that is, the elephant soldiers, would probably be delivered to his door, after all, Chittagong was a very rich harbor. If the army of the king of Bagan does not come, the British army only needs to continue to capture the coastal ports of Arakan and Bagan, and completely block Bagan's access to the sea. Without the income from the sea trade, the kingdom of Bagan could only slowly die in a financial crisis.

The British, Song, and Lü armies that arrived in Chittagong one after another in these days were not idle, and they successively occupied various strongholds in the northwest of Chittagong belonging to the Arakan Kingdom, and also occupied many islands in the Mekna estuary area in the Bay of Bengal.

At the same time, the British army also built three large star-shaped wooden forts on the west bank of the Chida River (Gornopuri River) as a fortress to protect the port of Chida.

In addition, Chen Huaiqing also recruited two or three hundred elephants (elephants are still a production tool, so there are quite a few of them, and it is not difficult to get them) through the governor of Chittagong (he has some foundation in Chittagong, and he naturally served as the first prefect), and organized a reconnaissance elephant troops. Search the west side of the Chi Tai River and wait for the elephants of the Great Burma Empire to arrive.

……

"Did you find anything?"

Li Sanfa, who had been promoted to lieutenant company commander, roared loudly. He was riding on a donkey, wearing only a single coat, covered with steel armor, without a steel helmet on his head, sweat running down his forehead and face, and his hair had been shaved. Not because he became a monk, but because he had too many lice, and was ordered by the medical officer with the army to shave his hair so as not to spread the disease - the biggest enemy in the battles of Tianzhu and Nanfan was not the natives who rode elephants with swords, but all kinds of infectious diseases!

Since the army went down to Nanfan, all kinds of epidemics in the army have not stopped! Fortunately, the British army inherited the Ming army and had the strictest epidemic prevention regulations, and any factors that could lead to the spread of the disease were brought under control. Infected soldiers were quarantined as soon as possible, and a large number of indigenous female slave girls who were resistant to tropical epidemics were trained as nurses, so that there was not much non-combat attrition.

However, the hospitals of the British brigades are still full of patients! The non-combat attrition of each company is more than 20%!

The company commander of Li Sanfa's Sword and Shield Company is now dying in the hospital, so he became the commander of the first company.

Soon after Li Sanfa became the company commander, three elephants and six indigenous people who raised elephants came to his company, all of whom were followers of Mahayana Tantra. Although the British officers did not look down on the fighting power of the elephants - in the battle on Java they found that the elephants were too timid and too easily frightened - but in the reconnaissance operation from the forest, the elephants were irreplaceable.

At this moment, the toad sat comfortably in the sedan chair on the back of the elephant, holding the telescope in his hand, looking around, and from time to time he kicked the natives in front of him twice - kicking the left side to the left, and kicking the right side to the right.

What you see through the telescope is a green forest. Arakan is a tropical rainforest terrainland, and there are no official routes, and the army of the Bagan Kingdom used to enter and exit by sea. Now that the sea route has been cut off by the Ming Navy, the Bagan army can only take the land route and come through the jungle.

And the army marched through the jungle, and in this era there was no other way, that is, to use elephants to open the way, and to bump out and step out of a passage. And it's not all seasons to pass through the jungle, it has to be before the annual rainy season arrives. That is, before the third and fourth months of the lunar calendar. Once the rainy season arrives, even if elephants open the way, it will be difficult for the Bagan army to reach it.

Chen Huaiqing's British army occupied Chittagong in early January, and it is now mid-February. For a month at most, if the Bagan army does not come, then it will have to wait until the end of the rainy season in September.

The forest is quiet, as if there is no wind, just an endless sea of green. It was a world of plagues, tigers, elephants and vipers, and indigenous barbarians.

Lai Toad's complexion is not very good now, he is dark and thin, and he looks a lot older. He just had a malaria bout! After vomiting and diarrhea for a while, he lay in the brigade hospital for four days before he survived the ghost gate, and recuperated for a few days before returning to the team to continue fighting for King Chen Huaiqing. However, the bones of this body have not fully recovered, and they are always a little weak. He found him an easy job and sat on the back of an elephant to reconnoitre. But one day, when I looked at the green forest, my eyes were dizzy.

I really don't know when I will become the legendary master? Lai Toad didn't hear the shouts of Splash Li, and was completely immersed in his own thoughts. The toad, who has never been sick since he was a child, has gained a lot of insight in the brigade hospital this time.

This human life is really as thin as a layer of paper! Say no, there is no more...... He didn't die on the battlefield, but he died on the pendulum!

This noble person is really not easy to be! I don't know if I have this life, I can survive until the day when I am successful and famous?

At this moment, the forest as seen through the telescope suddenly shook, as if a few trees had been knocked down, and many birds were startled.

Lai Toad woke up suddenly, took a deep breath, and looked intently. The movement in the distance grew louder and louder, and the frightened birds and finches became more and more, and the silent forest seemed to come alive, and the faint cries of wild beasts could be heard.

It's the cry of an elephant! Lai Toad can tell clearly, he rides elephants every day these days, and the most familiar thing is the roar of elephants.

The enemy is coming! The "ivory soldiers" of Bagan are here! (To be continued......)