The Zhuluo fleet used long oars as power. There were ten pairs of twenty long oars. Each long oar was manned by five soldiers. A large ship required a hundred people to row the oars. Such warships were also very fast.
The Tang army had learned Zhu Luo's naval warfare tactics. After approaching the opponent's ship, the soldiers threw a large number of kerosene cans over and then threw torches to light the opponent's ship.
With this move, Zhu Luo became the overlord of the sea until they met the Tang army.
However, the last Zhuluo fleet that had experienced the power of the Tang army had been completely destroyed. The current Zhuluo army did not know it. Upon seeing the Tang army's warships, hundreds of Zhuluo ships immediately dispersed and came forward with great momentum.
The Tang army's artillery began to fire. Two hundred steps away, a gun directly penetrated the wall of the opponent's main warship. The shell exploded inside the big ship, and the main ship began to sink rapidly.
In fact, it doesn't matter even if the enemy is approaching. The Tang army has a second level of attack. Several enemy ships are approaching. The hundreds of Tang soldiers on board use exploding arrows to shoot at the opponent's ship, blasting the opponent's ship with holes.
, a large amount of sea water poured in, and the ship sank quickly.
As a precaution, each large ship was equipped with fifty fire-fighting soldiers. They took wet bedding and threw only kerosene onto the warship. The soldiers of the Tang Army immediately rushed forward and covered the kerosene with wet bedding, such as sand and soil.
Still effective.
In just half an hour, most of the opponent's nearly one hundred large ships had been sunk, and the remaining twenty or so warships fled to the northwest. However, the Tang army had laid a dragnet, and they had nowhere to escape.
Soon, the Tang army completely wiped out the remaining twenty or so Zhu Guoluo warships. The sea was a mess, with floating debris and corpses everywhere. Most of the soldiers sank to the bottom of the sea with the big ships.
The Tang army occupied Biqi Port, and Li Chengshi left a thousand people and thirty warships behind, and the fleet continued sailing along the strait.
Ten days later, the Tang army's fleet arrived at the Andaman Islands. In a small-scale battle, they annihilated a thousand Chola garrison and captured fifty large supply ships that had just arrived at the Andaman Islands, obtaining a large amount of food and other materials and money.
Two unexpected things happened on the Andaman Island. They rescued more than 100 young Han women. They were all Jiaozhou people. Three years ago, they were kidnapped from Jiaozhou by the Zhuluo army pretending to be pirates and became slaves.
Military prostitute.
The rescued Han women cried so hard that the King of Shu, Li Fang, comforted them and promised to send them home. He also gave each woman a sum of money from the seized property.
These women did not go back in the end, but stayed on Andaman Island. Eventually they married the soldiers of the Tang Army stationed on the island and settled down on Andaman Island.
Another thing that was amazing was that Tang Jun actually met two Nanzhao businessmen, one named Luo An and the other Luo Quan, who were cousins.
In the big tent, two Nanzhao businessmen explained their business routes to the senior officials of the Tang army in front of a temporary map they drew. Both of them could speak fluent Chinese.
It turns out that the Andaman Island is very close to the Pyu Kingdom. They drove the mule team all the way into the Pyu Kingdom along the dense forest trail. After entering the Pyu Kingdom, they sold the goods. Later, they heard that the Andaman Island produces ambergris and the price is very cheap. If you bring it,
Returning to the Tang Dynasty can make a hundredfold profit.
They then followed several Piao merchants to the Andaman Island by boat. Unexpectedly, the Cholu Kingdom had just issued a decree that the ambergris produced on the Andaman Island could only be paid tribute to the Cholu nobles and was not allowed to be taken away. This made the two Nanzhao businessmen rush to the Andaman Island.
Empty.
"To report to His Highness the King of Shu, although we were unable to purchase ambergris, we still purchased a batch of valuable shells and are preparing to transport them to Chengdu for sale."
"Does Piao have a large population?" Li Fang asked.
Luo An bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the Piao Kingdom has a large population. It is mainly distributed on the Great Plains. There are many ancient small towns. Their ancestors are all Qiang people. They came from Bashu in the pre-Qin Dynasty. They found this place
There is a vast plain as far as the eye can see. We from Nanzhao sent officials to inspect the great plain here many times in preparation for attacking Piao, but we found that it was still unrealistic."
"Why isn't it realistic?"
"It's too far away. It's blocked by many forests. Only small roads are feasible. There's no way to ensure logistics and transportation. We went out for business for more than two months. For more than a month, we walked through the lush primeval jungle, where all kinds of wild beasts appeared. There were also
The deadly miasma is very dangerous. If you are not careful, you will die. We don’t know how to get back. Just as the Heavenly Army of the Tang Dynasty is coming, can I take your ship back to the Tang Dynasty?"
Li Chengshi readily agreed and asked, "Can you speak Zhuluo dialect?"
The two nodded, "We have been trapped on Andaman Island for a year and learned their language."
Everyone was overjoyed that there were finally two translators.
Although the Great Plains of Piao sounded good, it was still too far away and everyone lost interest.
After resting for three days on Andaman Island, leaving 500 people to guard the island, the army set off again, aiming for Ceylon Island. They invited several merchant ship captains who had been in Dashi and Datang for many years as guides. These captains were very interested in
The route is very familiar and we will never go astray into the vast Indian Ocean.
The fleet traveled for another twenty days and finally saw land, Ceylon arrived.
Ceylon is Sri Lanka. It was also called the Lion Kingdom or the Sinhalese Kingdom in the Tang Dynasty. It covers an area of about 60,000 square kilometers. The indigenous people here are the Sinhalese people. They believe in Buddhism and have always interacted with the Tamil people in the north who believe in Shiva.
Hatred and constant wars broke out.
After Ceylon was occupied by the Cholas, a Tamil dynasty, the Cholas massacred the Sinhalese several times, destroyed monasteries, forced them to change their beliefs, and forced a large number of Sinhalese into the northern mining areas and became slaves.
.
After a hundred years of devastation, the Sinhalese people, who originally had a population of one million, have been reduced to less than 100,000 people. A large number of Tamils poured into Ceylon, seized land, and enslaved the weak Sinhalese people.
And classified them as Dalits, that is, untouchables.
The reason why Li Ye wants Ceylon is because the geographical location of this big island is so important. It is the pearl of the Indian Ocean and the most important supply point of the Maritime Silk Road. All merchant ships coming from China and East Africa must dock here.
supply.
The huge Tang army fleet arrived at Galle Port, which is the southernmost tip of Ceylon Island and is the largest trade supply port on the ancient route.
The arrival of the Tang army caused panic in the entire port, and officials fled one after another. However, the Tang army did not encounter any resistance and occupied the Galle Port without any blood.
Galle Port has a population of more than 10,000 people, most of whom are Sangha tribesmen. More than half of the young people make a living as dock laborers. They suffer from cruel oppression by a small number of Tamil nobles and officials, and their lives are generally poor.
But they still insist on their faith and believe in Buddhism. There are still three Buddhist temples that have not been demolished. They are also the only three Buddhist temples in Ceylon that have not been demolished. They are the spiritual destination of all Sinhalese people in Ceylon. Tens of thousands of them visit there every year.
Sinhalese people came from all over Ceylon to pay homage to the Buddha.
The Luo brothers were also Buddhists. They went to the temple to worship the Buddha, and then they brought a few monks. The monks were very excited when they heard that the Tang army was coming. The Tang Dynasty was a powerful dynasty that believed in Buddhism. They immediately felt that there was
With strong backing, the day is coming for the Sinhalese people to turn around.
Seeing monks wearing cassocks in distant Ceylon, the soldiers of the Tang army felt quite friendly, and some soldiers led them to the commander's tent.
Li Fang, king of Shu, was the supreme leader of the expeditionary force. Emperor Li Ye named him the general marshal of the overseas expedition. Ma Lin and Li Chengshi were the left and right deputy marshals, and Du Huan was the chief history officer.
Several monks came in to pay homage to the King of Shu, Li Fang, and Luo An translated for them.
It turned out that the Governor of the Chola Kingdom, Rajinder, hated the Sinhalese people who went to Galle to worship the Buddha, so he ordered the army to demolish the last three Buddhist temples. The army was about to arrive, and the monks were at a loss when the Tang Dynasty army arrived.
Li Fang perked up and asked quickly: "How many troops will come?"
"There must be at least tens of thousands of people! They are also afraid of Sinhalese resistance."
"How many Chola troops are there on the entire island?" Ma Lin asked from the side.
"About 50,000 people are deployed in Kandy, the former capital of our former kingdom. It is located in the middle of the big island. It takes two days to get there from Kandy. It is estimated that they will arrive tomorrow."
Although Luo An's translation was not very accurate, everyone understood it.
"How long has it been since the Sinhala Kingdom was destroyed?" Li Fang asked again.
"It has been more than a hundred years. The royal family has been wiped out, and the Sinhalese people have been almost killed by them. They use massacre to force us to give up the Buddha and convert to their Brahmanism. But we would rather die than obey, so they will
The Sinhalese were driven to the mining areas to mine for them, and the Tamils replaced us and became the new owners of this land."
“How many Tamils are there in Sinhalese Island?”
"Probably hundreds of thousands of people! Several times our number. They are mainly distributed in the north of the big island."
Li Fang nodded, smiled at Ma Lin and said, "Tens of thousands of troops will come tomorrow. This is your chance as a general!"