Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 931 Sweet Victory

The howling was just the beginning, followed by screams and the dull sound of heavy objects falling to the ground. Bayon carefully raised his body and looked out from the loopholes in the parapet. He saw a mad elephant rushing through the Javanese crowd, leaving a mess wherever it passed. The elephant slaves tightly grasped the protrusions on the seats to avoid being thrown to the ground by the elephant. A group of Javanese soldiers raised their spears and drove the frightened elephants to avoid being broken through the ranks. At the other end of the battlefield, the Javanese elephant slaves used sharp iron spikes to pierce the necks of the frightened elephants under their crotches to prevent them from trampling their own ranks. The elephants that were pierced in the vital parts let out desperate wails and fell to the ground and died.

The Khmers on the city wall cheered, stood up, and shot more arrows and projectiles at the enemy's heads. The embarrassed Javanese were forced to raise their shields and retreat, leaving a mess on the ground.

"Win, win!"

Looking at his companions cheering for victory on the wall, Bayon realized how exhausted he was. He dropped his weapon, sat down on the ground, and looked around for something to drink, but found nothing. He was about to call his servant's name when he suddenly heard a thunderclap, followed by a second one.

Thunder? In this season?
Bayon looked up at the sky in surprise, but could not see any clouds. He thought he had heard it wrong, but at this time the third sound was heard, and more Khmer people also heard it, and people looked up at the sky in surprise.

"Damn it, is it going to rain?"

"The rainy season is still about a month away! But it would be great if it could arrive earlier!"

"Yes, if the rainy season comes, the Javanese will have to withdraw their troops!"

"Yes, no matter how fearless the Javanese are, they can't fight in the rainy season!"

People on the city wall were talking and laughing, their faces full of longing for the rainy season. In Southeast Asia, even the most brutal and powerful monarchs knew that wars could not be fought during the rainy season. The continuous rain would destroy roads and bridges, flood the fields, and the soldiers would be trapped in the mud and starve to death. As long as it started to rain, the war had to stop - until the next dry season came.

Bayon stood up from the ground and prepared to drink some water. Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind and his face changed drastically. He grabbed his servant and pointed to the flagpole not far away: "Climb to the top and see what's on the sea!"

The waiter responded, and he quickly climbed up to the top of the pole like a monkey, using his hands to block the glaring sunlight, and looked toward the sea. A few minutes later, he shouted to the bottom of the flagpole: "There is a ship on the sea!"

"What ship?"

"I don't know, some of them are Javanese ships! They are fighting!" The boy shouted as he watched, "That ship is amazing, it can spit fire, yes, fire! The Javanese ship is on fire, and people are jumping into the sea! It's amazing!"

"What, the Javanese ship was defeated!"

"Really? That would be great!"

The soldiers on the city wall cheered, and some climbed up to watch the naval battle. If the Khmer people could still win or lose against the Javanese in land battles, they were completely defeated in naval battles. Not to mention naval battles, the Javanese fleet even entered the Mekong River, went upstream, and burned, killed, and looted the Khmer villages on both sides. The Khmer people's shipbuilding and navigation technology were far inferior to the Javanese. They had been defeated by the Javanese in naval battles and were afraid of fighting. Now they heard that someone could beat the Javanese in naval battles, so they were naturally ecstatic.

"Look carefully, what flags are flying on the ships fighting the Javanese?" Bayon shouted.

"It's too far away, I can't see clearly!" The servant boy shook his head helplessly.

"Forget it, come down quickly!" Bayon called the servant and ran to the city! The servant followed Bayon with some disappointment: "Why don't you let me watch? I finally saw the Javanese fleet suffer!"

"Let's go to the dock!" Bayon said, "Get on the boat and take a closer look!"

"Ah!" The waiter was startled. "How can that be? I think the Javanese still have more boats!"

"I didn't say we had to get that close!" Bayon said as he walked quickly, "As long as we can see whose ship it is, that's enough!"

As they were talking, Bayon had already arrived at the dock. He picked up an eight-oared speedboat and jumped on board. The servant followed him helplessly. Bayon said to the boatman, "Hurry up, get out to sea!"

The long oars cut through the water, and the narrow boat broke through the lake and headed for the artificial canal leading to the sea not far away. Due to the obstruction of the land, Bayon could not see the fierce battle on the sea, and could only hear the thunderous sound of cannons from time to time. He could not help but feel extremely anxious, and stepped hard on the deck, urging the rowers to row faster. He was basically sure that it was a Tang ship, but seeing is believing. Besides, he didn't know the purpose of the Tang ship's trip and why it fought with the Javanese, but in any case, as long as he could involve the Tang people, it would be a good thing.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" Bayon shouted, "Don't delay. When you return, each rower will be rewarded with two bags of rice!"

At Bayon's urging, the boat rushed through the waterway and sailed into the sea. The oarsmen rowed the oars in accordance with the captain's whistle, and the servants pulled up their cloaks to block the splashing waves. Bayon stood at the bow and saw eight boats chasing and fighting each other. As they got closer, Bayon gradually saw that six of them were Javanese, and the style of the other two was something he had never seen before - slender hulls, sharp bows, these two boats were much faster than the Javanese boats, sailing like flying fish jumping on the sea, breaking through the waves. The party with the advantage in numbers was beaten by the other party and fled in panic, but could not get rid of the pursuit of the party with fewer numbers, so they could only hold on together. On the masts of the two new-style ships, Bayon saw familiar flags, red-edged white flags, with strange Tang characters in the middle, which should be the surnames of the Tang generals on the ship. Those were Tang ships! A huge joy surged through Bayon's body, and he said in a trembling voice: "Hurry, get over there!"

"Ah?" The captain thought he had misheard: "There's a war going on over there!"

"Let you pass!" Bayon shouted, "Those are Tang people's ships, and they are going to win!"

Bayon was right. Before his ship got close, the Javanese ships laid down their weapons and surrendered to the Tang people. Although the solid bullets fired by the short-barreled cannons on the Tang people’s ships were not enough to destroy the solid teak hull of the Javanese ships, the shotgun shells and flintlock rifles fired easily killed the Javanese on the deck from a hundred meters away. At this distance, the threat of Javanese bows and arrows to the Tang sailors and soldiers was only negligible. The sailors on the Javanese ships hid in the cabins, and as a result, no one was left to steer the ships. As long as the Tang people burned the sails and cables, the Javanese sailors and soldiers would be dead. It was impossible for such a large ship to sail back to the shore with oars alone. So before the boarding battle began, the Javanese surrendered to the numerically inferior enemy. ————————————————————

"These Javanese are really bullying the weak and afraid of the strong!" Jumong put down the telescope and sneered, "At first, they saw that we had fewer ships, so they kept attacking us. Now that they find they can't win, they kneel down too quickly!"

"Sir, in fact, no matter which nation, there are very few people who are willing to die!" Gu Jiaer smiled even sweeter: "But you can bring these ships and captives to the Khmer people, which will definitely leave a deep impression on their king!"

"That's a good idea!" Jumong laughed. He looked around and said, "Is this place called Water Chenla? It's a really good place, with fertile land and convenient transportation. No wonder the Javanese and Khmer people are fighting over this!"

"Yes!" Gu Jiaer laughed, "I have been to the ends of the earth, but I have never found a place as rich and beautiful as Shui Zhenla."

"Really?" Jumong looked at Gugal. "If I ask the Khmer king for a piece of land as a reward, do you think he will agree?"

"You want to gain a foothold in Water Zhenla?" Gu Jiaer looked at Jumong carefully and said, "Didn't you originally want to send troops to Linyi?"

"That's right, but you know I have many brothers, I have to consider them too!" Jumong said with a smile: "Look, there are actually a lot of empty lands here! Giving us a piece won't be a big deal for the Khmer king!"

"Although what you said makes sense, but..." Gujar paused for a moment: "The Khmer King is a proud man!"

"What do you mean?" Jumong asked.

"Let me put it this way. Although there is a lot of vacant land here, and there are many other kinds of people besides the Khmer, the Khmer king sees himself as the unique God King, so everyone here must pay tribute to him! And you, my son, are an official of the Tang Dynasty!"

"I understand!" Although Gu Jiaer didn't finish, Jumong already understood and nodded: "You are right, I will think about it carefully!"

"General, General! There are Khmer ships! They are approaching!"

"Hmm!" Jumong picked up the telescope and looked at the ship not far away. He soon recognized the man standing on the bow. "Is it Bayon? How come this guy is here? What a coincidence!"

"Baron?" Gugar's expression did not change.

"Yes, it's the secret envoy sent by the Khmer king to Jiaozhou!" Jumong put down the telescope and said to the sailor, "He's an acquaintance. Let him come on board later!"

Half a quarter of an hour later, Bayon boarded Jumong's ship. He looked around carefully, trying to find any traces of the Tang people's thunder power, but found nothing.

"It's true that we meet everywhere in life!" Zhu Meng smiled and said, "I didn't expect to meet you here!"

"Yes, my lord!" Bayon bowed deeply to Jumong, his forehead almost touching the deck of the ship. "We are not far from the city of Paratipat. When I heard the thunder, I thought that my Tang friend might be in trouble, so I sailed out to sea. I didn't expect that you had already eliminated the hateful Javanese bandits before I arrived!"

Jumong looked at Bayon and the boat he was riding. It was obvious that this guy came to test the wind direction instead of helping him, otherwise he would not have come with only one boat. However, he was too lazy to expose the other party's lies. After all, he still had to bargain with the Khmer king next, and it would be bad to tear his face off.

"I originally wanted to come here to discuss with your king about sending troops to Linyi, but I didn't expect the Javanese to be so overbearing!" Jumong smiled: "But it doesn't matter, anyway, I won't be the one who suffers in the end! By the way, is your king the one you mentioned--"

"Baratiba City!" Bayon continued Jumong's words: "Our king is not in the city now. He has returned to the capital to deal with some things. But please rest assured, when he learns that the Tang angel has arrived, he will come as quickly as possible!"

"Okay!" Jumong smiled, "I hope I don't have to wait too long. By the way, it seems that your war with the Javanese is not going very well! I only saw Javanese ships on the sea. Where are your ships? The one under your feet is not the only one left!"

"Prince Jumong!" Bayon suppressed the humiliation in his heart: "It is true that the current war situation is not so favorable, because in addition to the Javanese, our country has two other enemies in the north. However, the rainy season is coming, and the Javanese will have to withdraw their troops. When the dry season comes next year, we will prepare a new fleet in the south!"

"Really? That's great!" Jumong smiled and said, "I'm not the kind of person who wishes bad luck to my allies!"

"Of course, of course!" Bayon hurriedly said with a smile: "Prince Jumong, your qualities are greatly admired by me!" He paused for a moment and pointed to the northwest: "Baratiba City is not far from here. There is a very good dock in the city. Why don't you come with me and let us entertain you and your warriors!"

When Jumong's two boats and six captured Javanese boats slowly sailed into the lake where the city of Paratipat was located, it immediately caused a sensation. Many Khmer people driving small boats gathered around. They looked at the paintings on the Javanese boats in awe, which showed the Javanese defeating their enemies and winning the war time and time again. They gestured with their hands at the huge hull, the towering bow and the side of the boat. The Javanese liked to use teak to build their ships. This wood was not only extremely hard, but also not easy to rot. If a teak boat was well maintained, it would not be surprising to use it for hundreds of years or even longer. These boats were home, weapons, and even some kind of gods for the Javanese. Many people were born and died on the boats. Whenever a captain had his first boy, he would carve the boy's name on the bow, just below his own name; and when he won a victory, he would paint the scene of victory on the side of the boat. Each Javanese warship represented the glory and inheritance of a family.

"You said the Javanese would use a large sum of money to redeem the ship and the captives?" Jumong asked.

"Yes!" Gujar replied, "These six boats are all very good teak boats. The sailors and soldiers on the boats are all from big families. Losing such boats is not just a matter of money. As long as they can redeem them from you, the Javanese are willing to spend a lot of money!"