bloodless

By now, Aung Lai understood what was about to happen; he struggled frantically, a low roar emanating from his throat.

Unfortunately, it was all in vain; he could only watch the world in despair, like a hog waiting to be slaughtered.

About an hour later, half of the Toungoo soldiers had entered the city, and a black line appeared in the distance, gradually drawing closer.

"The Han are here! The Han are here again! Hurry into the city, hurry into the city."

"Hurry up, those in front!"

"Don't panic, don't be chaotic, don't push or shove! Those in the back, follow me to meet the enemy!"

"Damn you, why should I be the one covering the rear?"

"Exactly! I want to get into the city!"

Inside and outside the city gate, chaos erupted; the Toungoo soldiers began pushing and shoving each other, eventually triggering a stampede.

Just as a flood requires channeling and diversion, so too does a crowded, stampeding crowd.

Unfortunately, at this moment, the streets that should have served as channels for diversion were blocked.

Cart after cart, burning with fire, were pushed out and blocked the streets and alleys.

The innate fear of fire in living beings caused everyone to retreat involuntarily, ultimately forming a collision of human waves.

This situation was almost fatal, and soon screams could be heard everywhere.

At this moment, torches lit up on the walls, and the soldiers of the Beiwei Army, clad in iron armor and holding crossbows, appeared.

"It's a trap! There's an ambush! Retreat!"

The Toungoo soldiers who had already entered the city woke up as if from a dream, desperately trying to retreat back out.

Outside the city, facing the gradually approaching Xuanjia Army, those Toungoo soldiers covering the rear were also desperately squeezing into the city.

They hoped to gain the protection of the city walls to block the menacing Qian Army soldiers.

"The time is right, call for surrender!"

Hong Wantong glanced at the traitor Khun Thai beside him. The traitor immediately understood and shouted.

"Listen up, Toungoo soldiers below! The Great Qian General says that if you drop your weapons and kneel to surrender, you will be spared. If anyone remains stubborn, he will order the archers to fire, and there will be no survivors under a hail of arrows."

Immediately after, several loud-voiced soldiers joined in, quickly drawing the attention of those below.

To some Toungoo soldiers, this was like music to their ears; they immediately dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground.

Of course, there were those who remained stubborn, but they quickly became public enemies.

The Qian Army didn't even need to lift a finger; the toungoo people themselves took care of these few diehards.

Aung Lai watched the mutual slaughter below and finally stopped struggling; he knew it was all over.

After more than an hour, everything calmed down; the results of this battle were astonishing.

In the blocking battle outside the city, Liao Hua only made a show of contact; only a dozen or so people were injured, and most of those were just from falling while retreating.

Inside the city, not a single arrow was fired, and not a single sword was swung.

Fourteen thousand Toungoo reinforcements died—over three thousand of them from their own pushing, crushing, trampling, and mutual slaughter.

The rest, including Aung Lai and over ten thousand others, were all taken prisoner.

Most of these Toungoo prisoners would be sold as slaves, eventually working themselves to death.

Including this high-and-mighty General Aung Lai, who could not escape the fate of becoming a slave.

As for these able-bodied men from enemy nations, Gao Yuan simply couldn't be bothered to spend time and energy betting on their Sinicization rate.

It was cleaner and more direct to simply suppress them to death.

With the battle over, Khun Thai, having made a great contribution, naturally received what he wanted.

A residence, five hundred guan in bank notes, a business, and ten Toungoo prisoners.

Having obtained enough wealth to live comfortably for the rest of his life, Khun Thai left the battlefield happily and headed to Vientiane to settle down.

Over ten thousand reinforcements had been wiped out, but Maha Bandula did not know this yet.

He was still in Bangkok enjoying fine wine and women, waiting for good news from his trusted general.

Learning that Hong Wantong and Liao Hua had succeeded, Liu Rengui finally began his own operations.

Five thousand Beiwei Army troops and twenty thousand Xuanjia Army troops split into two routes and began to advance, launching an attack on Lopburi.

Lopburi originally had seven thousand garrison troops, but after some were transferred away, only four thousand remained.

Aside from the two thousand in the prefecture city, the other county towns had only a few hundred each.

Facing the menacing Qian Army, these Toungoo garrison troops basically all chose to abandon the city and flee.

This delighted Gao Yuan, as he and his Personal Guards Cavalry had long been eager for action.

He had been at the front line since the first day of the attack, and now was the perfect time to utilize the mobility of his Cavalry.

Five hundred cavalrymen, like gods of death, wove through every corner of the battlefield, hunting down the retreating enemy troops.

Thanks to Gao Yuan's unremitting efforts, fewer than eight hundred Toungoo soldiers ended up fleeing back to the prefecture city.

In a panic, the Lopburi garrison commander sent people to ask for reinforcements while simultaneously sealing the four gates to prepare for a desperate defense.

Lopburi was considered a formidable city; he believed that with this city and over two thousand soldiers, he could certainly hold out until reinforcements arrived.

At this moment, the craftsmen brought in by Gao Yuan could finally put their skills to use.

Based on Gao Yuan's descriptions, with Princess Consort Huang Yueying doing the work, two blueprints and their corresponding models appeared before the craftsmen.

Gao Yuan smiled proudly and pointed to the two blueprints.

"This is a large scaling ladder, and this is a Lu Gong siege tower. I need you to build finished products as soon as possible. If you need assistance, don't hesitate to come to me or Commander Liu. After the city is taken, you will all receive a share of the spoils."

In this time and space, in this era, while these Southeast Asian bumpkins were still carrying crude wooden ladders to swarm the walls, Gao Yuan brought out epoch-making war machines.

The scaling ladder is a tool for climbing city walls.

It is generally composed of three parts: wheels, the ladder body, and hooks.

The ladder body can be raised and lowered, and it is lifted by manpower to lean against the city wall.

There are hooks at the top of the ladder, used to hook onto the edge of the city wall.

The bottom of the ladder is equipped with wheels, allowing it to be moved.

The Lu Gong siege tower is built with several stories, concealing soldiers inside and covered with leather on the outside. It is pulled by oxen or pushed by men and can be pushed to the foot of the wall by surprise. Because it is the same height as the wall, soldiers can directly climb over the wall to engage the enemy.

Ten days later, looking at the massive Lu Gong siege tower and the scaling ladders, Liu Rengui and the others were full of wonder.

"This is truly a work of genius; with such divine weapons, breaking through any city will be a breeze!"

"It is all thanks to the Lord's brilliant ideas and the Young Mistress's skillful hands..."

"Ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem..."

Hearing these people actually refer to Princess Consort Huang Yueying as the Young Mistress, Gao Yuan was choked and began coughing frantically.

After finally recovering, he said sternly, "Don't talk nonsense; you're sullying a lady's reputation for no reason. She and I..."

Xia Luqi, who had just returned, expressed his admiration for Gao Yuan: "What young lady could see our Lord and hold herself back? That Young Lady Huang will become the Young Mistress sooner or later."

Gao Yuan couldn't take it anymore; he kicked the blockhead in the backside and cursed, "Get out!"

Just as Gao Yuan was busy building siege equipment, the atmosphere in Bangkok was extremely tense.

Now, there was no news from Khorat, and the Qian Army had already attacked and entered Lopburi.

This left Maha Bandula with no desire to drink or play with women; at this moment, he was venting his anger at his group of confidants.

"Speak! Why is everyone silent? Aren't you all usually so eloquent? Why is no one saying a word now?"

"If you don't speak up, don't blame me for being merciless. Guards! Drag them out and behead them all!"

Facing death, these people finally couldn't hold out any longer. Someone knelt down and said with a trembling voice, "Your Highness, there are no more troops to mobilize anywhere. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless we abandon some places and withdraw the garrison troops to fight a decisive battle against the Han."