Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 918 0913 [The Prince's Restoration of the Country]

The Victory Royal City is located in the center of Ceylon Island, 280 miles away from the Mantai Port that the Ming Dynasty has set its sights on.

Even the nearest port of Puttalam is two hundred miles away as the crow flies.

Zhu Xiaozhong led his troops from Puttalam Port, where the route was not only shorter, but also had fewer mountainous areas along the way.

But there are still many rivers, lakes, forests and hills.

The new king, Parakalama, was a good fighter, and the Ming army was often attacked along the way.

Suddenly, Ceylonese soldiers rushed out from between the forest and the hills, shouting and shooting arrows, but they were defeated at the first blow and fled into the dense forest.

Zhu Xiaozhong could only let his soldiers march in armor and not pursue the enemy too deeply to avoid falling into the enemy's trap.

The Ming army headed straight for the Victory King City.

In a dense forest, Parakalama had a stern expression as he watched the Ming army push their artillery away.

His tactics were actually very simple. He used elite soldiers to set up ambushes, and used rubbish soldiers to defeat and lure the enemy. If there were more Ming troops chasing him, he would continue to run away to lure them. If there were fewer Ming troops chasing him, he would ambush and annihilate them in one fell swoop.

As a result, the Ming army did not chase them at all!
Parakalama had feigned defeat to lure the enemy four times, each defeat more convincing than the last, but the Ming army refused to pursue him into the woods.

"There are enough troops to defend the Victory Royal City. Let's attack the port." Parakalama changed his approach.

In Puttalam Port, the Ming Dynasty only had 500 soldiers stationed there.

However, Parakalama had 4,000 elite soldiers and more than 2,000 trash soldiers. He had sent people to the port to observe secretly and believed that he would definitely win.

Moreover, the local nobles in several cities north and south of the port had long been subdued by Parakalama. He had sent people to make contact in advance and was able to gather another 1,000 or 2,000 troops.

As long as we capture the port, we can seize a lot of wealth and goods and cut off the Ming army's retreat.

And he can set an ambush along the way and attack the enemy troops rushing back to rescue!

Two days later, the Ceylonese army approached from the east, north and south, and the total strength was close to 8,000.

……

Xia Yuqing was lying in the shade and taking a nap.

The climate of Ceylon is pretty good. It is like summer all year round, but it is not too hot, and the temperature difference between day and night is not much.

"Captain, there are enemies several miles to the east!" a soldier ran over.

Xia Yuqing slowly opened his eyes: "What about the north and south?"

"Not found yet." said the soldier.

Xia Yuqing said: "Increase the alert, everyone wear armor."

Xia Yuqing went to inform Ying Xuan and asked him to dispatch sailors to land and be ready to defend and counterattack at any time.

After everything was arranged, Xia Yuqing continued to take a nap.

He was from Shamen Island, and had joined the army to plunder southern Liaoning, and had been stationed in Lushun for a long time, and had fought several battles with the Jurchens and Bohai soldiers. He was then transferred to Iwami Castle, where he was stationed for several years, and his military rank had risen to the level of regimental commander.

Although his military rank and position were promoted, he still felt like he was raised by a stepmother, and this time he would be left in Ceylon!
Xia Yuqing was full of resentment, and it was a lot.

Aren't they just exiles from the Song Dynasty who killed and ate many people? They didn't eat people during the Ming Dynasty.

The only thing to be thankful for is that the climate here is pretty good and the resources are quite abundant, so it’s not really a wild place.

The highest peaks on the east, south and north sides were all guarded by Ming soldiers.

They climbed to the treetops and used binoculars to observe, waving flags when they saw the enemy. The flags were too far away to be seen clearly, but the Ming troops near the port kept staring at the signal flags with binoculars.

Another day passed, the signal flag in the north was waved in the morning, and the signal flag in the south was waved in the afternoon.

The Ceylonese soldiers were in position on three sides, ready to launch a general attack.

……

That night, Parakarama received news one after another.

He said to the soldier who came to report the news: "Tomorrow morning, when the sun rises, I will set out, and you will also attack the port at that time."

These thousands of Ceylonese soldiers were lying in ambush in the woods halfway up the mountain.

On the top of the mountain where they were, there were several Ming soldiers hiding in the treetops, not daring to move. They had been hiding for two days, eating, drinking, defecating and urinating in the trees, and sleeping tied to the trees at night.

It was these people who waved the flags and sent messages to the port.

Even Parakalama himself came twice to observe the port from a high place. Ming soldiers hid above the king's head and urinated directly in his crotch, with urine flowing slowly down the tree trunk.

As the sun rose, the Ceylonese soldiers set out.

But they left dozens of useless soldiers to guard the food halfway up the mountain. There was not much food left, not even enough for the entire army to return to the Victory King City.

"Choo Choo Choo!"

Zhu Yu imitated a few bird calls, and soon armor fell to the ground, followed by several soldiers sliding down holding onto the tree trunk.

They threw away the sacks with disgust, which were filled with feces. The crotch of each person smelled of urine.

"Damn it, my whole body aches and I'm suffocating!" a soldier complained.

Zhu Yu said, "Move your hands and feet, and then take a rest."

Zhu Yu is also one of Zhu Ming's adopted sons. This group of people is very precious because Emperor Zhu no longer accepts adopted sons.

After completing the mission and returning home, Zhu Xiaozhong, Zhu Yu and others will all be promoted. They can choose to stay in Luoyang as a general, or they can choose to lead troops on the front line.

"Snapped!"

Zhu Yu reached out and slapped a mosquito to death.

They had medicine applied on their bodies to drive away snakes, insects, rats and ants, but it probably became ineffective after too long.

The soldiers began to stretch their limbs, and some even rolled on the ground.

Zhu Yu raised his telescope and saw the Ceylonese soldiers gradually moving away.

After a while, Zhu Yu gave the order: "Put on armor!"

Their armor had been tied to the treetops and hidden.

There were a total of six soldiers, all wearing their armor, and quietly moved towards the middle of the mountain.

There were dozens of Ceylonese soldiers who stayed behind to guard the food. At this moment, they were lying or sitting crookedly, chatting and resting without any defense. The six Ming soldiers raised their bows and arrows one after another.

The rainy season in Ceylon has been over for more than a month, and the humidity in the air is not very high.

"Shut up!"

Zhu Yu blew the bronze whistle, and six arrows were shot out immediately, accurately hitting the six sitting enemies.

"kill!"

The Ceylonese soldiers were horrified and instinctively stood up and ran away, thinking that they were being attacked by a large army.

Zhu Yu led his men to chase the enemy down the mountain, then blew the whistle and returned.

They took out their flint knives and made fire, not only burning the food and grass, but also igniting the dead branches and leaves.

"Cut some fresh branches and leaves to cover it and create more smoke!" Zhu Yu shouted.

Not only here, but also in the mountains and forests in the north and south directions, smoke was rising one after another.

As Parakalama was approaching the port with his army, he suddenly heard his followers shout, "Your Majesty, look!"

He turned around and saw that the forest where he had hidden his troops seemed to be on fire?

The Ceylonese soldiers became somewhat panicked.

Parakalama drew his sword and shouted, "There are not many enemies at the port. Kill them and take away all the wealth. As long as we capture that place, we will have endless food!"

The king's prestige was so high that the soldiers were no longer afraid and followed him as they rushed towards the port.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Ming warships in the harbor had already pointed their guns in this direction, and had even conducted test firing a few days ago to determine the landing point.

The shot was incredibly accurate and the shells landed in this area.

There was even a cannonball that flew over Parakalama's head, killing and injuring five of his personal soldiers.

"Magic, magic!"

"It's the demon Bo Xun who's here with his troops!"

"..."

Seeing that some soldiers had already begun to flee, Parakalama shouted, "I have Mahakasyapa's blessing. I am not afraid of even the demons. Just follow me and you will win. Kill!"

His supervising team also began to take action, using swords and knives to stop the fleeing soldiers.

After finally gathering the fleeing soldiers, another round of artillery fire began.

This time they couldn't hold on any longer. In fact, there weren't many casualties, but it was mainly because they couldn't overcome the fear in their hearts.

The soldiers standing on the roof of the port raised their binoculars and shouted: "The enemy is showing signs of collapse!"

"Get on the horse!" Xia Yuqing shouted.

These five hundred soldiers from Shamon Island learned horse riding in Iwami Castle.

But the Japanese horses were too short. They could ride them even when they were wearing cloth, but they couldn't ride them once they were wearing armor. Later, some horses from the southwest were transferred over, and they were finally able to ride horses to fight.

At this moment, they are riding all good stuff!
There were Arabian horses sold by the Bedouins, Persian horses and Ferghana horses sold by the Seljuks, and Rajput horses sold by the Solangis (Indian Marwari horses are a cross between this type of horse and the Arabian horse. Marwari horses had already appeared at this time, but in small numbers, and were not for sale for the time being).

The good horses from various countries often get sick while drifting on the sea, so this period of time is just right for them to be brought ashore to recuperate.

All the horses that were not sick were now ridden into battle.

Xia Yuqing, a former Song Dynasty exile who was born into a poor scholar family, was now wearing medium-sized armor and holding a spear, leading the way.

However, the Ceylonese soldiers had only a small number of war horses, which were all ridden by middle and senior generals.

After two consecutive rounds of artillery fire, the Ceylonese soldiers' rout became more serious.

It was not long since Parakalama unified the entire island. Most of his main forces were defending the city, and many of the troops around him were from local nobles.

Seeing the Ming army charging on horseback, the nobles led their troops to flee.

Parakalama was so furious that he had no choice but to lead his troops and fight.

The nobles could escape, but he could not.

Because he was able to escape on horseback, but his soldiers had no horses to ride, if they escaped, their entire army would be wiped out.

"Your Majesty, please leave quickly. There must be enemies in the forest behind us. If you don't leave now, you will be attacked from both sides!" the personal soldier begged bitterly.

"Your Majesty, run for your life. If your Majesty dies in battle, Victory City will surely be taken away."

Parakalama turned his head and saw that the fire in the forest where he had hidden his troops was getting bigger and bigger, and thick smoke was billowing out of a large area.

The Ming soldiers were getting closer and closer, and more and more Ceylonese soldiers were fleeing.

Even some of Parakalama's elite troops were taken away by the defeated soldiers, so it was difficult for the king to lead his troops to fight.

"go!"

Parakalama turned his horse around, waved his whip and finally escaped.

The king fled for his life and the entire army was defeated.

Xia Yuqing led his troops in pursuit, killing the fleeing soldiers along the way. There were corpses everywhere in the mountains and plains, and many of them were so scared that they knelt down and begged for mercy.

And to the north and south, there were the armies of local nobles.

When the northern troops saw the fire behind them, they were so scared that they fled without even approaching the battlefield.

The army in the south was braver and continued to charge forward, but was shot at by the sailors who came ashore with their muskets and crossbows.

Parakalama rode all the way back to the Victory King City, but met a soldier who came to report the news halfway.

"Your Majesty, Victory City is gone!"

"Why not?"

"There is a magician who can bring down thunder on the other side. They have been using iron thunder to hit the city wall for two days. The fake prince also shouted outside the city, saying that he would not pursue anyone's crimes except your Majesty's family. He also said that after he succeeds to the throne, he will promote Buddhism, renovate Buddhist temples, and invite many eminent monks and scriptures from the Ming Dynasty. And... he also promised to let the eminent monks become officials! The monks in the city were tempted and secretly instigated the two generals to rebel. There were iron thunders outside the city, and generals and monks in the city rebelled, so the fake prince led his troops into the city!"

Parakalama stopped his horse and stood there for a long time, then turned and ran towards the place where his dragon was born.

(End of this chapter)