abandoned child

Maha Bandula might be flamboyant, but he was not stupid; on the contrary, he was quite clever, so he immediately understood the implication behind the words.

"You mean to abandon the garrison at Lopburi, right?"

Gathering troops certainly takes time, and judging by the current speed of the Qian Army's advance, they would not be able to hold out until his side finished gathering troops.

This made Maha Bandula hesitate; he looked at his other confidants and saw a definite answer in their eyes.

"Is there really no other way?"

The strategist who had spoken first continued:

"Your Highness, there has been no news from Khorat, so it seems the situation is dire;

If we count the Qian Army besieging Lopburi, their total strength is no less than forty thousand;

If we only dispatch the garrisons from Ayutthaya and Bangkok to rescue them, it would be like trying to put out a fire with firewood."

Another person chimed in:

"Indeed, Your Highness, if that situation arises, I fear we will lose more than just Lopburi."

"That's right, Your Highness; at that point, I fear even all of Ayutthaya will be indefensible, and the imperial court..."

Maha Bandula immediately understood what they meant; if he lost these territories of Ayutthaya.

Then, upon returning, he would certainly be blamed by Bayinnaung's faction and would likely lose the prestige he had worked so hard to build.

Even worse, he might lose the trust and favor of his father, Maha Thihathura, which would be a catastrophic disaster.

Gritting his teeth, Maha Bandula finally made up his mind.

"Very well, go and issue the orders; gather all available troops. I want to fight a decisive battle against the Han people at Ayutthaya.

Also, send someone to deliver a message to the garrison at Lopburi, telling them to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements, as my main army will arrive in a few days."

Upon Maha Bandula's order, his subordinates began to busy themselves.

The toungoo people abandoned almost all the territories they had obtained during their last campaign against the Khmer, and they drew troops from the western prefectures, even pulling garrisons from the key stronghold of Chiang Mai.

Armies from various places began to gather in a grand procession toward the front line at Ayutthaya, totaling nearly seventy thousand men.

On Gao Yuan's side, how could they have failed to notice such a massive movement by the toungoo people?

Gao Yuan put down the intelligence report, looking somewhat worried.

"It seems the toungoo people are prepared to burn their bridges and engage us in a decisive battle. What do you all think we should do?"

Although Gao Yuan asked everyone, he was really asking his commander, Liu Rengui.

Liu Rengui pondered for a moment and said:

"This humble general has three strategies for you to choose from, my lord."

"Liu Rengui's courtesy name, there is no need to hold back; speak."

"The first strategy is to retreat immediately and hold the existing gains;

The second strategy is to rest immediately after taking Lopburi, wait for the enemy to attack, and then counterattack when the opportunity arises;

The third strategy is to quickly take Lopburi, then secure ten to fifteen days of rest, and then take the initiative to attack and crush the enemy's main force, seizing all the former lands of Ayutthaya."

This was hardly a choice; Gao Yuan's first reaction was to choose the third one.

The first was equivalent to working in vain; such meager gains were not enough to cover the costs.

The second was too passive, equivalent to defending the city and taking beatings as before, waiting for others to get tired before counterattacking.

This option might result in fewer losses, but it would drag on for a long time, and the subsequent supply of provisions would simply not be sustainable.

If he wanted to complete the system event, only the third strategy was viable.

"Our army's morale is high, and the siege engines are ready; we can take Lopburi within three days.

Furthermore, our army has the upper hand in terms of both the elite nature of our soldiers and our weapons and equipment.

Instead of defending passively and taking beatings, it is better to take the initiative. As long as we crush the enemy's main force, we can achieve victory in a single battle."

After Gao Yuan finished speaking, he patted Liu Rengui on the shoulder.

"Liu Rengui's courtesy name, go ahead and arrange it with confidence."

Liu Rengui made the same choice as Gao Yuan and immediately began to make arrangements.

He first called over a messenger.

"Send orders by fast horse immediately: command Hong Wantong to lead one division of the Xuanjia Army to defend Khorat, and Liao Hua to lead two divisions of the Xuanjia Army south to threaten Rayong.

You must delay the enemy forces in the south from gathering toward Ayutthaya as much as possible."

The messenger accepted the order and left, and only then did Liu Rengui continue to make arrangements.

"I must trouble you, my lord, to lead the Cavalry to operate in areas like Luang Prabang to block and delay the enemy from Chiang Mai and other places from moving south."

Gao Yuan stood up, took the token, and sat back down.

"Everyone else, follow me to take Lopburi as quickly as possible, and then the main army will immediately enter a rest period."

Everyone stood up together, cupped their hands, and agreed.

With three scaling ladders and two Lü Gong siege towers built, the siege began.

Seeing such behemoths, the inexperienced toungoo people were stunned.

They watched helplessly as the Lü Gong siege towers were pushed to the city walls, and then the boarding ramps were lowered.

Xia Luqi, who was as solid as an iron tower, rushed out with a shield in one hand and a broadsword in the other, diving into the crowd.

Like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, in less than a moment, a dozen corpses lay scattered at his feet, including two officers.

Xia Luqi alone was unstoppable, let alone the hundreds of Beiwei Army soldiers behind him.

This melee quickly turned into a one-sided slaughter.

In just one morning, the four gates of Lopburi were breached, and the garrison commander brought men to reinforce.

As soon as they arrived, they were knocked dizzy and saw stars by Xia Luqi, who rammed them with his shield.

Before these men could even get up, the broadsword swung down, heads fell, and blood sprayed into the sky.

With the commander killed, the toungoo people completely lost the chance to reorganize their defense line.

By the afternoon, the battle was over; over twelve hundred enemy soldiers, including the commander, had been killed, and most of the remaining were captured.

The next three days were spent cleaning up the battlefield and capturing the soldiers who had escaped.

On the other side, because Liao Hua appeared in Rayong, the enemy forces in places like Heishui and Zhuxi dared not set out alone.

They had to wait for the other detachments to arrive before they dared to continue their journey.

Even with such caution, their supply train was still attacked by Liao Hua.

Not only did they lose hundreds of men, but they also lost a large quantity of gold and silver treasures they had plundered; these valuables were originally intended to be taken back and presented to Maha Bandula, but now they benefited Liao Hua and his men.

On the other side, Gao Yuan led the Cavalry, carrying twenty days of dry rations, into Toungoo territory.

The toungoo people also did not expect Gao Yuan to be so bold as to dare to penetrate deep into their heartland, and caught off guard, they suffered a great loss.

After finishing another surprise attack, Zhao Meng shook the blood off his spear tip and looked at Gao Yuan with a simple smile.

"My lord, this is the third wave, right?"

"Yes, the third wave, but it seems the toungoo people are already on guard."

Gao Yuan dismounted from his warhorse and, with Mu Qing's assistance, washed the blood off his face.

"Zhao Meng, how much dry rations do we have left?"

"Not much, only enough for three days at most."

Throughout this journey, Gao Yuan utilized the advantages of the Cavalry to the extreme; coming and going like the wind, leaving the toungoo people unable to find a target even if they wanted to retaliate.

However, the biggest drawback of this was that there was basically no possibility of capturing supplies, and with both men and horses consuming them, the provisions quickly bottomed out.

"The toungoo people have suffered a few times and are clearly on alert. Since the dry rations are almost gone, I think we should withdraw."

"I will follow whatever you decide, my lord."

The goal this time had been achieved, and Gao Yuan was very satisfied, so he was quite decisive.

"Rest for half an hour, let the brothers and horses catch their breath, and then set off to withdraw back to Phetchabun."

"Understood!"

On the way back, Gao Yuan finally had time to open the system interface to check the system notifications that had popped up during the recent battle.

"Congratulations to the Host: Horsemanship increased from B to B+, Command increased from B+ to A-, and Spearmanship increased from B+ to A-."

Three attributes had increased at once, and two of them had crossed a threshold from the B-rank to enter the A-rank, which could be said to be a rapid and significant improvement.

However, Gao Yuan also knew that this was not just because of this sudden battle, but the inevitable improvement brought about by his diligent practice in daily life, followed by repeated practice in combat.