Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 326, The Battle of Siam

Siam, a small country in the Southeast Asian region, has a land area roughly the same as that of the Guangxi General Wu Liuqi.

Currently, the political situation in Siam is relatively stable, mainly ruled by the Bangkok Dynasty, whose monarch is known as Rama III.

Rama III's political and military talents were neither outstanding nor particularly low.

In this situation, the most important reason why he was able to stabilize the country's rule was his own excellent interpersonal skills.

To put it simply, it's the ability of a loyal dog.

To the northwest of Siam was a Burmese colony ruled by the British Empire; to the southeast of Siam was a Vietnamese colony ruled by the Orleans Dynasty, or the July Dynasty.

Siam, situated between these two, became a colonial buffer zone between two advanced Western countries.

Rama III, with his exceptional social skills, navigated between the two, and was known for his generosity and responsiveness.

He could even tolerate and agree to some requests that would be considered extremely humiliating by ordinary people, such as having his queen serve a vice admiral of the Orleans dynasty's navy...

In short, the adept Rama III managed to secure a peaceful coexistence for Siam amidst the conflict.

Given this outcome, if things had continued as they were, perhaps the people of Siam would have considered Rama III a decent king.

pity……

On New Year's Eve of the nineteenth year of the Longqing reign of the Great Xi Empire.

This is the last day of the nineteenth year of the Longqing reign.

On this day, Zhang Yuan led his massive fleet into the Gulf of Siam.

On this day, the Siamese envoys in the capital were still urging the negotiations to proceed.

On this day, Fang Yong estimated the date and ordered a ten-day holiday for all Da Xi officials, while placing the Siamese envoy under house arrest.

On the foreign bay, the soldiers of the Huaiyin Army were still somewhat unfamiliar with ocean voyages.

Although Siam is not far away, some people there still lost track of time on the vast sea and couldn't remember whether it was New Year's Eve or the first day of the new year.

It doesn't matter, they just need to remember that this day was the day they started the war to avenge their defeat.

Zhang Yuan gave the following order:

Xia Baoshu, the naval commander of Huaiyin Army, Ma Qi, the deputy commander, and Jia Rong, the deputy commander, led three medium-sized ironclad warships (gifts from the purchase of warships), seven medium-sized sailing ships, and seventeen small sailing ships to attack Beilan Port of Siam at 9:00 AM tonight. They will conduct guerrilla bombardment, create the illusion of a landing, and conceal the main fleet's operational intentions.

The remaining three hundred ships, large and small, will launch a full-scale attack on Bangkok Port one hour and two quarters of an hour after the battle of Pak Lak begins, regardless of whether the plan to lure the enemy succeeds or not. They will then land at the Grand Palace of the Chakri Dynasty and capture King Rama III of Siam alive. (This dynasty is called the Chakri Dynasty.)
The plan is simple and straightforward, but the more straightforward the plan, the more efficient it is to execute and the less likely it is to make mistakes.

Especially given the vast disparity in troop strength between the two sides, the Huaiyin Army deployed over three hundred warships of various sizes, along with three of the British Empire's flagship, the Nemesis.

In terms of sheer size, the force deployed this time is more than twice the size of the entire naval defense force of Siam!

Not to mention their technological and weaponry advantages.

I wonder if we'll see those iron-hulled ships mentioned in the intelligence reports during this war.

Although intelligence analysis suggested that those iron-hulled ships were most likely not part of Siam's own defense forces, Zhang Yuan remained vigilant and prepared for an encounter.

There are six hours left before the war begins.

Zhang Yuan ordered hot glutinous rice balls and dumplings to be made so that the soldiers could have a hearty meal before the battle.

The British Empire warship instructors traveling with us didn't quite like dumplings, but they were quite accepting of glutinous rice balls.

At that time, Fang Yong was enjoying the New Year atmosphere in the palace.

He was unaware that the battle on Zhang Yuan's side was about to begin.

Due to the difficulty in communication, he could only deduce Zhang Yuan's approximate location based on the ship's speed, and could not ascertain the specific details.

However, Fang Yong believed in Zhang Yuan's abilities.

In the evening, Fang Yong invited some ministers to spend New Year's Eve together. These included Xue Ao, Wu Yuan, Jia Yucun, Lin Ruhai, Li Ni, Li Sheng, Gao Li, Jia She, Shi Nai, Guo Bai, Cui Shu, Gao Jing…

Most of them were civil officials, because many military generals were fighting on the front lines and could not return in time.

However, a powerful bow should be used to shoot the enemy, and for them, fighting in the outside world was a better choice than staying in the capital.

There was supposed to be another banquet, organized by the Longqing Emperor, inviting his officials to attend.

However, just like a physical education teacher, Emperor Longqing was unwell today, and the banquet was canceled.

"Lord Baoling, try today's suckling pig. The skin is crispy and the meat is tender. It's excellent!"

Fang Yong spoke with a smile.

The Bowling Lord was somewhat flattered and rose to respond.

After Xiangyun entered the palace, the Marquis of Baoling became even more discreet, often blending into crowds and going unnoticed.

The banquet is in progress.

During this time, court musicians and dancers performed.

The process was lavish and extravagant...

Meanwhile, Xia Baoshu, the naval commander of Huaiyin Army, led his men to the port of Pak Lan in Siam, as planned.

The Huaiyin Army was not yet familiar with operating the ironclad warships, and navigation and firing were guided by personnel from the British Empire.

Logically speaking, the British Empire should not easily get involved in other countries' wars, as this would exacerbate its bad reputation in the world.

However, Fang Yong gave far too much.

Anyway, the British Empire didn't have a very good reputation in the world, so it didn't matter if it got worse.

The ships entered the harbor area on time, encountering two Siamese patrol boats along the way, both of which were silently dealt with by the Huaiyin Army.

As they approached the port, Uncle Xia ordered the cannons to fire.

A shell was fired first, and with a loud bang, a huge explosion and flash of light occurred in the calm Beilan Bay.

There were far fewer soldiers guarding the port than one might have imagined.

After the cannon fire, only a dozen or so small and medium-sized wooden warships came out to fight. The two sides exchanged several rounds of cannon fire in the darkness. With their numerical advantage, Uncle Xia Bao's side quickly hit three or four enemy warships in the dark, and then the rest of the warships retreated in a panic.

Throughout the entire process, we did not see any of the ironclad ships that had appeared in the previous intelligence.

Uncle Xia then continued to order the artillery to be fired at the port, destroying its buildings and facilities.

"Boom boom boom!"

Time passed, but the fighting continued.

The flames destroyed a large number of buildings.

Even so, no new enemies appeared at the port.

What about people?

According to the original plan, Uncle Xia Bao's side was supposed to use artillery fire to draw the attention of Siamese coastal defense.

But now, apart from a dozen or so ships returning fire at the start of the attack, there has been no other coastal defense...

Could it be that the other party saw through the plan beforehand?
Uncle Xia felt a little gloomy.

He ordered several small ships to land at the port to assess the situation.

Soon after, the ships reported that the port was filled with burning buildings and fleeing civilians.

The guards numbered only a handful of people, and it seemed they were... taking advantage of the chaos to loot?
(End of this chapter)