I want to be emperor

Chapter 599 The Unimaginable Battle of Thonburi
The Ayutthaya Kingdom has certain psychological expectations for the invasion of the Great Chu Empire. After all, last year, the Great Chu Empire sent a fleet to wander around and evacuate overseas Chinese, and also went to several major coastal ports of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. In a circle, not only the hydrological situation was surveyed, but also the naval strength of the Ayutthaya Kingdom and the situation of some coastal forts were found out.

These actions of the Great Chu Empire Navy basically made it clear that I am coming to beat you at the high-speed Dacheng Kingdom.

Otherwise, spying on all kinds of intelligence is fine, why is there a large-scale evacuation of overseas Chinese?

Therefore, since last year, the Ayutthaya Kingdom has been actively preparing for the battle. Regardless of whether the Great Chu Empire will come over in the end, it is always right to prepare in advance.

For this reason, the Ayutthaya Kingdom recruited troops to prepare for war, built ships, and built coastal defense forts. At the same time, it also contacted the Dutch and purchased matchlock guns, artillery and other weapons and equipment from the Dutch.

Its preparations can be said to be sufficient, and it is basically appropriate if it is used to deal with Western colonists!

But from the perspective of the Great Chu Empire, this kind of combat preparation is still not enough!
As far as their navy is concerned, they are still mainly offshore ships, and there are also many galleys, which seem to be good, but there are not many artillery pieces, and the overall scale is not too large.

In front of the huge navy of the Great Chu Empire, it is vulnerable to a single blow!
In fact, Southeast Asian countries are limited by their national power. Their navies are not large in scale and their technology is not good. They can't even stop the armed merchant ships of the Western colonists, let alone a large number of professional warships from the Great Chu Empire.

Four Jinling-class battleships swung towards Bangkok Bay, plus six cruisers and eighteen frigates, enough to sink all the small sampans of the Ayutthaya Kingdom on the sea!

It took only one day for the Great Chu Empire Navy to defeat the so-called fleet raised by the Ayutthaya Kingdom at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. More than 20 ships were destroyed or captured, and dozens of ships were forced to flee into the Chao Phraya River. Trying to continue to use the narrow space of the river to offset the powerful firepower advantage of the great sailing ships of the Great Chu Empire.

However, after the Chu navy defeated the navy of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, they did not foolishly send the main warships into the Chao Phraya River immediately, but instead covered the ground troops and started a large-scale landing.

When the landings began, a series of ground battles broke out between the two sides.

Compared with sea battles, this kind of ground battle makes the people of Ayutthaya Kingdom even more desperate.

In the battle at sea, the gap between the two sides can be seen, and even the Ayutthaya Kingdom can predict the strength and actions of the Great Chu Empire Navy.

This is why they decisively retreated to the Chao Phraya River after their defeat in the first naval battle.

Because they knew that even if they were unable to fight at sea, as long as they retreated to the river, it would be enough to stop the fleet of the Great Chu Empire from going up the river.

But the ground battle... The tactics and effects of the ground troops of the Great Chu Empire were completely beyond their expectations.

On the east bank of the Chao Phraya River estuary, the two sides fought on a large scale for the first time. More than 4000 people from the Ayutthaya Kingdom defended the city, but they couldn't hold on for even a day.

The Chu army simply used a batch of five-jin and nine-jin field artillery to blast their thin city walls to pieces...then covered the nine-jin light howitzer and the eighteen-jin light howitzer and carried out a large-scale attack on the defenders of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. covered bombardment.

Amidst the rumbling cannons, the Siamese army suffered heavy casualties without even seeing the infantry of the Chu army, and was finally forced to retreat!

And in this siege battle, the Chu army didn't even use large-caliber siege howitzers on a large scale... It's not that there were none, but these heavy siege guns were still in the port or on the mobile road,

The No.13 Division of the Chu Army and the Marine Corps just wanted to make a test attack first to see how strong the place is.

This was also a routine method used by the Chu army during the early period of the domestic unification war. First, they used tentative attacks to find out the opponent's situation, look for weaknesses, and provide favorable intelligence for the subsequent general offensive.

But what Chu Jun didn't expect was that the opponent's city wall was so unbeaten...

Casually using solid ammunition from field artillery can smash their city walls to pieces, and the opponent basically has no concept of guarding against grenades, and has not realized the preparation of sandbags, digging trenches, and anti-burst holes at all.

So much so that they were bombarded by a large number of lightweight grenades from the Chu army, that is, nine-pound grenades and eighteen-pound grenades, and there was simply not enough anti-gun fortifications to escape.

Ultimately resulting in heavy casualties.

So much so that the deputy commander of the Siam Expeditionary Force who led the army to launch the attack, and Major General Nie Hongyun, the commander of the No.13 Division of the Army who was in charge of all ground battles, were full of emotion...

Nie Hongyun is also a veteran who has gone all the way through the domestic unification war and has been on the Liaodong battlefield. In his concept, the city wall is seven or eight meters thick. If it is a military fortress, it will be more than ten meters thick every minute. There will be a large number of artillery fortifications and the deployment of a large number of light and heavy artillery.

In the past, the Ming army and the Eastern exile army used to play like this... Nima, every time the Chu army attacked their city, it was like smashing a tortoise shell. If you don’t get hundreds of artillery and heavy artillery that can fire grenades, it’s impossible. can't fight...

Because ordinary field guns can't hit the roots, at least the solid shells fired by the fourteen-pound cannon are needed, or direct shelling with howitzers is used to suppress the enemy's troops.

It's just that after going to Southeast Asia to fight a game, I found that the opponent's city wall is not good, and there is no need for heavy artillery at all.

"This expedition to Siam seems to be simpler than I expected!"

Nie Hongyun had basically figured out the situation on the ground through a siege battle.

Although the Siamese army on the opposite side also used guns, and there were a lot of them, they all used matchlock guns and the number of artillery was not many.

Moreover, these Siamese troops lacked cavalry. After a few days of landing, they did not even encounter Siamese cavalry with a size of more than a few hundred.

Not to mention Siam, even when Burma fought with the Chu army, there were no cavalry, but there were elephant soldiers, but the elephant soldiers looked mighty and scary, but their mobility was not good. It is difficult to maneuver as quickly as cavalry, constantly pinning down the enemy's formation and creating opportunities.

Elephant soldiers, to some extent, are more like heavy infantry, which is completely different from cavalry in their tactical positioning.

But the guns of the Chu army are sharp and their firepower is very powerful, and the mere elephant soldiers are living targets in front of the artillery!

The Burmese elephant soldiers basically failed to play any practical role in the battle with the Chu army.

On the Ayutthaya Kingdom side, the large-scale elephant soldiers have not yet been seen, but the Chu army is not afraid.

From Nie Hongyun's point of view, the level of weapons and equipment of the Ayutthaya Kingdom was probably the level of the Ming and New Standard Army during the Unification War in the Valley, and it was not even as good as the Dongyao people.

Matchlock guns, a small amount of artillery plus a large number of infantry with cold weapons.

Not at all the opponent of his own No.13 division!
Don't talk about the quality of the soldiers, just say that the equipment is a lot worse than our own.

Today's Chu army has completed a comprehensive reform of the dress change. Whether it is a first-class division or a second-class division, all of them are equipped with flintlock guns, and a unified three-regiment system is also adopted in the organization.

However, in order to control military expenditure and adapt to different links, there are many types.

Not to mention technical arms such as cavalry and artillery, but only infantry divisions.

There are first-class divisions in the infantry division, and there are still 27 of them at present. However, among the 27 first-class divisions, not all first-class divisions are full-staffed combat readiness divisions. At present, only twenty divisions are full-staffed. Most of them are deployed in the border areas, and a few are deployed in various strategic locations in the country. The strength of these first-class divisions is basically more than 5000.

There are still 1 divisions, although they are also Class A divisions, but they are not in a state of combat readiness. They are full of weapons, but not full of personnel. However, the situation is much better than that of Class B divisions. They are also those that can be pulled out to fight at any time, but their combat effectiveness is lower. species, with a strength of about [-].

The second-class division is a typical local garrison force. In order to control military expenditure, it hardly requires mobility. The artillery, cavalry, logistics and other technical arms are reduced in size, and only backbone soldiers are retained. The average strength is about 7000.

Because the strength is only about 7000 people, even the infantry unit of the second-class division is short. Although there are three infantry regiments in name, each infantry regiment also has three infantry battalions, and each infantry battalion also has six infantry posts. The post also has three infantry units.

But most of those who are short of weight and understaffed only maintain the basic framework, at most they have a full staff of infantry with relatively strong combat effectiveness sent out.

Through the three states of combat readiness, standing readiness, and garrison, the Great Chu Empire Army successfully reduced its personnel and controlled its military expenditure while maintaining a large number of division-level establishments.

But when the personnel were under control, the Great Chu Empire's army did not stop at the equipment and reserves of weapons and equipment.

The flintlock guns have been fully refitted, and the flintlock guns that have been in service in the early years have been replaced and sealed, which are the most combat readiness materials.

As for the No.13 division dispatched to fight overseas, it is naturally a combat readiness force in the Great Chu Empire.

It belongs to the kind that is fully loaded, but the weapons and equipment are different from those deployed in other places, especially in the north.

Mainly on the artillery, mainly to deploy lightweight artillery. Whether it is a two-and-a-half-pound field artillery belonging to the regiment or a five-pound and nine-pound field artillery belonging to the division, they are all specialized lightweight artillery. The barrel is relatively short and the weight Be lighter.

Such No.13 Division is not something that the Siamese Army, which is still in the early seventeenth century or even the sixteenth century, can resist.

This point was fully demonstrated in a battle in Thonburi, west of the Chao Phraya River, [-] kilometers south of Ayutthaya City.

In order to keep the Chu army out of the city of Ayutthaya, the Siamese army urgently mobilized all the troops that could be mobilized nearby, and gathered more than [-] troops to fight.

Among them were more than 6000 matchlock gunners, and more than a dozen Western-style artillery purchased from the Dutch, Portuguese and other Western colonists.

There are more than 200 war elephants, and some small horses.

This kind of strength, for Siam, has already taken out its wealth to fight.

As for the Chu army, there are only more than 6000 people, and there are hundreds of people staying at the Hekou landing site and some supply transfer stations established along the way.

There were only more than 500 people who actually faced the Siamese army in Thonburi. The main force was composed of troops from the No.13 Division, and there were also some auxiliary marines.

But after the real fight, the Chu army directly pressed them to fight, and even beat the opposite Siamese army to the ground!

Because, in this battle, the Chu army seemed to have a small number of people, but in fact there were more than 50 field cannons and field howitzers mobilized. In addition, the navy also temporarily organized a group of gunners and naval guns to go ashore to provide For support, not only is the number of artillery more than twice that of the opponent, but the performance is also far superior to that of the opponent, and the caliber is also greater than that of the opponent.

In addition, there is a large-scale cavalry regiment of more than 800 cavalry in the Chu army.

The most important thing is the flintlock guns and tactics used by the infantry of the Chu army!

As soon as the battle started, the field artillery units of the Chu Army directly took full control of the field. Solid bullets and grenades covered an area of ​​nearly one kilometer around. Before the two sides came into close contact, the Siam Army had already suffered a lot of casualties.

In order to avoid being annihilated by the establishment before entering the battlefield, the phalanxes of the Siamese army were forced to untie their queues and disperse their dense formations!
Then he was attacked by the light cavalry of the Chu army!

The cavalry of the No.13 Cavalry Regiment roared up... They still pulled two and a half catties of cavalry cannons up. First, they used the cavalry cannons to beat up the opposite war elephants and fled in a panic. These cavalrymen waved their cavalry knives He rushed forward, constantly harvesting the scattered enemy heads.

When the Siamese army finally approached and the infantry on both sides began to fight...it would be even more tragic.

The Siamese still used matchlock guns and cold weapons, and still played half-cold and half-hot tactics, while the Chu army was on the side of the line infantry directly...

After approaching, a dense bullet net was fired directly in a dense formation!

The difference in firepower between the infantry of the two sides is as much as six or seven times...how can we fight...it's impossible to fight!

After a brief confrontation between the infantry of both sides, the Siamese infantry on the opposite side was defeated.

Looking at the Siamese army fleeing in disorder on the battlefield, Nie Hongyun felt a little bored...

There is a war here and there, obviously they are here for an outing!

The Siamese army was defeated in Thonburi, with thousands of casualties on the spot, and more than [-] casualties after being chased by the Chu army.

There were more than 3 troops, and more than 5000 direct casualties. The rest also threw away their helmets and armor, and fled empty-handed, and most of them lost their organizational system and could not return.

When the news of the defeat was sent back to Ayutthaya, the monarchs and ministers of the Ayutthaya Kingdom were all frightened to death...

For the defeat, they actually had some mental preparations, but they didn't expect such a miserable fight at all.

In one day... no, in less than half a day, the [-] army was defeated, and then [-] were killed and injured, and tens of thousands were missing?
Can you stop being so exaggerated?

As for how many casualties were caused to the Chu army?
The general of the defeated army said that there were at least 1000 people... Well, this is already the biggest victory he can exaggerate.

As for the actual situation?

In the battle of Thonburi, the Chu army only killed three people and injured 38 people!
This is a battle that subverts the imagination of the king and ministers of the Ayutthaya Kingdom!

Not only subverted the Ayutthaya Kingdom, but also subverted the worldview of other indigenous countries in Southeast Asia.

Even the Dutch were taken aback when they heard the news, calling it impossible!
Again, they felt that it was normal for Chu Jun to win, but it was not normal for Chu Jun to win so easily.

(End of this chapter)