Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1237 Fierce Battle in Phnom Penh

The history of several countries in Southeast Asia is actually very interesting. Chenla was also a small overlord during the Angkor Dynasty, but then the capital Angkor was not defended, and it became a third-rate small country, basically no one can beat it.

But it is precisely because of its weakness that Zhenla knows very well that it must hug a thick leg, instead of being like Siam who thinks that he is not bad and wants to remain neutral, but he has no helper when he is beaten.

It's just that although Chenla found the thigh of the Ming Dynasty, the situation is still not optimistic. The reinforcements from the three countries of Guangnan were defeated by the Dutch, which made Chenla feel a little worried.

However, although King Chenla was a little worried, his determination to stand on the side of the Ming Dynasty would not change.

In addition to the strength of the Ming Dynasty, it is also due to the economic erosion of the Ming Dynasty in recent years. Now Chenla Kingdom produces almost nothing except rice and various fruits. Many materials such as cloth, porcelain, and iron are made of rice. Changing to the Ming Dynasty has formed a huge economic dependence.

Under this model, the Chenla Kingdom can only be close to the Ming Dynasty, and the Netherlands is just a second-hand businessman, and they produce nothing.

In fact, without the Dutch attack this time, the King of Chenla is also planning to ask for a vassal in the coming year to join the new tributary system of the Ming Dynasty and seek asylum.

Chenla is adjacent to Champa and is located to the west of Champa. If the Dutch wanted to fight Champa by land, they had to go through the country of Chenla.

In September, after a short rest in Siam, the Dutch entered Chenla and asked Chenla for an excuse and to provide food.

After being rejected, the Dutch went directly to Chenla, defeated the blocking forces of Chenla and Guangnan, beheaded thousands of people, and entered Phnom Penh.

At present, there are more than 2 allied forces formed by the Chenla Kingdom and the Guangnan Kingdom, who are hiding in Phnom Penh City and dare not fight.

Phnom Penh is the capital of Chenla and the largest city of Chenla. However, after the fall of the Angkor Dynasty, Chenla was a small country and poor. It was said to be the capital, but in fact it was not as big as a county in the Ming Dynasty.

The army in the city is about the same number as the enemy army outside the city, but the defense is under great pressure, mainly because of the gap in weapons. The Dutch use flintlock guns, they use matchlock guns, and the defenders have no cannons.

With the military strength of Chenla, it is natural that Phnom Penh City cannot be defended. The people responsible for defending the city are the troops of Annan Zhengzhu and Guangnan Ruanzhu. These two families have often fought before, so the troops still have some combat effectiveness.

Because Zheng and Ruan were at odds, they simply guarded a city wall each.

Nguyen Lord Nguyen Phuc was guarding the west city. He was hiding behind the wall and looking down. The Dutch camped in the rice fields and woods outside Phnom Penh. Sudanese soldiers in white or green costumes were lining up in the rice fields. 200 Many war elephants roam the rice fields and woods.

Outside the woods, three miles away from the city, more than 30 Dutch artillery were lined up, with their muzzles facing the city wall.

The soldiers on the city squatted on the wall, not daring to show their heads, and their morale was very low. Ruan Fubin couldn't help but feel a little regretful. The order given to them by the Ming Dynasty was to stick to Chenla and wait for the arrival of the imperial army. The main attack did not wait in Phnom Penh according to the order of the Ming Dynasty, but took the initiative to attack and was defeated by the Dutch, losing thousands of people. Among them, the Nguyen family lost the most, accounting for [-]% of the loss.

"Father, the Dutch's artillery is powerful, and panic has already appeared in the city. If the reinforcements don't come, the city will not be able to defend sooner or later!" Ruan Fubin's third son said worriedly.

Ruan Fubin frowned, "Da Ming agreed to arrive in Phnom Penh in early October, and now it is the end of September, and the reinforcements should be arriving soon. Besides, the king sent someone to Champa to inform Governor Qian, and someone should come over there soon. "

"Father, I'm not worried about Daming's reinforcements, I'm worried that Lord Zheng will slip away quietly!"

This is a problem, but Ruan Fubin quickly shook his head, "They dare not. Before the Li family used the title of emperor in private to designate the capital as Shenglong, they were reprimanded by Daming. Master Zheng hurriedly asked Li They were afraid of angering Daming when they went to the title of Emperor, and changed Thang Long to Hanoi. Now that Daming has just regained Shenjing, the king of Chu has entered the throne, and his martial arts is in full swing, Mrs. Zheng is even less impressed by Daming."

The two of them were talking, when suddenly there was a "dong dong dong" drum sound outside the city, and all kinds of birdsong came to the top of the city. If the enemy army is about to attack the city, immediately warn the soldiers to cheer up the soldiers."

The warning bell is ringing at the head of Phnom Penh City!when! '' sounded, and the soldiers of the Ruan family rushed to the top of the city, holding bows, arrows and firecrackers, and were ready for battle.

Outside the city, soldiers and war elephants from various sultanates formed many square formations and walked in the wilderness and waist-high grass.

This is different from the tens of 10 people roaring mightily on the Central Plains battlefield. The entire battlefield is very quiet, and the formation is not dense. There is a large distance between the phalanxes, but there is a different kind of chill.

Wood Housewell is the commander appointed by the East India Company. He is observing the top of the city with a binoculars. The sparse flags and the Ruan army who dare not show their heads make him full of contempt for the defenders.

After consecutive victories, the Dutch were full of confidence. The deputy commander of the Dutch army, Constantine Nobel, couldn't help laughing: "These yellow-skinned monkeys are really vulnerable. When we conquer Phnom Penh, the company should give us the property we get." We have a little more ratio."

As early as after defeating the Siamese army, Constantine wanted to directly attack Ayutthaya, seize the capital of Siam, and rob the property inside, but Wood did not agree. The Ming Dynasty once had the opportunity to occupy the city.

Wood is also more excited in his heart. Phnom Penh is the capital of Chenla anyway, and they will surely grab a lot of gold and silver if they fight it down.

"When Phnom Penh is conquered and Champa is conquered, as long as the company gives me 5000 people, I can conquer Guangzhou. The wealth there is enough for us to spend a few lifetimes." Wood also laughed.

"Your Excellency, the artillery team is ready!" A Dutchman suddenly reported.

Wood looked back and saw thirty nine-pound guns lined up in a rice field, and the Dutch had already lit the torches.There are no long-range weapons in the city, and the range of the earthen guns cannot reach the Dutch artillery array, so they are very leisurely.

"Order to fire! Give these natives some color!"

A whistle sounded, and a Dutchman standing in front of the artillery array waved down the red flag in his hand and shouted, "Shoot!"

The artillery positions of the Dutch suddenly burst into deafening gunfire, and thick white smoke covered the long front. The artillery mounts of each artillery retreated back, and iron bullets about ten catties rushed out of the muzzles and hit the city wall. Dust was flying in the sky, and countless gravel rose into the air and fell like raindrops, hitting Ruan Jun who was holding his head at the top of the city.

There are also cannons in Guangnan, but very few, and they are mainly old cannons from the Ming Dynasty. They have never seen so many cannons bombarding the city together. One by one, they squatted on the wall with their heads in their arms, letting the stones hit their bodies.

At this time, the Dutchman of each gun started to clear the barrel with a stick wrapped in a wet towel after firing a cannon. There was a slight sound of water vapor evaporating from the barrel. Iron bullets, the clearing Dutchman compacted the iron bullets with the towel-wrapped stick, the artillery adjusted its position again, and the second round of shooting came soon.

The Dutch moved skillfully, and quickly fired three rounds of artillery. As the shells flew out, the entire artillery array was shrouded in clouds of white smoke, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke.

On the city wall of Phnom Penh, there were constant sounds of bricks and stones collapsing, mixed with many screams and panic calls, and the city was in a mess, covered by dust.

At this time, the soldiers arrayed in the rice fields, under the command of the generals wearing Persian-style chain mail and turbans on their heads, the soldiers of each phalanx, carrying long ladders, began to rush towards the dust-covered city.

The soldiers of the Sultanate wore long robes and held scimitars, screaming loudly and advancing towards the city wall.

Ruan Fubin on the city patted the dust on his body, looked down the city, saw the scattered enemy soldiers rushing towards him, and immediately shouted: "Fire the arrows, shoot the blunderbuss!"

When the soldiers on the city heard the sound, they leaked half of their body after a while, and shot arrows down the city. They were not very organized, basically they shot freely, wherever there were more people, they shot.The soldiers of the Sultanate who charged under the city also charged in spread out, without any formation.

As the soldiers on the city wall began to shoot downwards, the running soldiers of the Sultanate were constantly hit by arrows and guns, straightened up and fell to the ground.

After the Ming Dynasty changed its army, it eliminated a large number of firecrackers, some of them were equipped with government soldiers, some were given to the settlements and chambers of commerce in Nanyang, and a large part were sold to the subordinate countries at a low price. North Korea ate the most, Ruan's I also ate three thousand rods.

The shooting on the city quickly suppressed the attack of the soldiers of the Sultanate, mainly because their siege equipment was only long ladders. Although the city of Phnom Penh was short, it was not easy to attack the city.

However, at this moment, three teams of Dutch musketeers, a total of 900 people, stepped on their feet and came to a place 150 steps below the city of Phnom Penh.

These Dutchmen fired as soon as they raised their guns, and the three rows fired in turn. Under the smoke, the bullets kept shooting towards the city.

The matchlock guns in the city had a slow rate of fire, and there was no organization. The Dutch shot in the first row, went up in the second row, and went up in the third row after the second row. Suppress Ruan Jun.

All of a sudden, there were screams from the top of the wall one after another, and people kept being shot and fell down from the top of the wall, and the defenders above dared not show their faces at all.

A Ruan Army musketeer loaded the ammunition and hid behind the wall with sweat on his head. He heard the sound of a row of muskets passing by, stood up with gritted teeth, and was about to shoot down the city. He opened fire, and the bullets made his body tremble, and he fell to the top of the wall screaming.

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(End of this chapter)