Chapter 631: The Allied Forces

Time: August 164.

Location: Mekong River Delta, outside Saigon.

The once bustling outer market had now become a noisy military encampment. If one looked northeast from the Saigon city walls with a god's-eye view, they would see, across the waterway-laced plain covered in tropical vegetation, a slightly discolored passage stretching over from the direction of Vietnam.

The next moment, accompanied by a sharp blast of an ox-horn, a mass of soldiers wearing bamboo hats, raising iron knives high, charged toward the city opposite through a curtain of drizzling rain.

Four months ago at the Shunhua Conference, the Northern Yue New Court ultimately bowed its head before the overbearing Ming People, experiencing a sour satisfaction akin to my Qing Dynasty being pushed around and molded by the great powers.

After the conference ended, the great powers' South Seas Governor's Office was hastily opened in an official residence within Shunhua City, and that very night, a makeshift leadership team for an Allied Forces was cobbled together.

The Allied Forces took the 000 Ming Nation Development Army as its core combat strength, with the remaining factions including the Southern Yue Remnants, the Northern Yue Support Forces, and the participating troops dispatched by the Champa Jimi Prefecture.

Among these, the 000 Northern Yue Support Forces had been agreed upon earlier. However, after discovering that the Ming People harbored ill intentions and planned to rear a tiger to court disaster, the troops dispatched by the Northern Yue people were subsequently scaled back. Not only were their numbers and quality reduced, but the troops' morale was also very off.

Next were the Ruan Clan forces, led by Ruan Fuyuan.

The Ruan Clan had surrendered to the court with genuine sincerity.

The Ruan Clan's entire family escaping from the tiger's jaws this time relied entirely on the Ming People speaking up and backing them. Furthermore, the fact that the Ruan Clan could still retain the establishment of 000 core followers afterward was also a consequence of the Ming People's full protection. This outcome filled the Northern Yue New Court with extreme hatred; likewise, because of this, the Ruan Clan had no other choice and stood on the Ming People's side.

Therefore, for the formation of this Allied Forces, the Ruan Clan's remaining followers were fully committed.

They had no choice but to commit fully.

Fearing the suppression and persecution the new court would certainly inflict in the aftermath, the Ruan Clan not only sent their followers with the army this time but also brought along the old and young, evacuating their own family and the families of their affiliates entirely from Vietnamese territory.

This was a clear-cut case of the entire family fleeing to surrender to the Ming People.

The South Seas Governor's Mansion was certainly happy to see this outcome. Having a local native power base attached to them like this to serve as a Guide Party could greatly accelerate the early-stage speed of controlling the Chao Phraya River Plain region.

Finally, there were the reluctant and unwilling troops of the Champa Kingdom.

The Champans, secluded in a corner, held no goodwill toward either the Ruan Clan or the Zheng Clan. They knew very well that as long as any Vietnamese was in power, they were all birds of a feather and would endlessly encroach upon Champa's land.

As for this group of Ming People who had suddenly appeared, the Champans initially held hope, but later, through contact, discovered that the Ming People were no good either.

The Ming People did not give the Champans a promise guaranteeing that Champa would not be annexed.

The Ming People only promised that during the period the Champans sent troops, they would "mediate" the conflict between the New Court and Champa.

With things like this, the Champans no longer wanted to send troops.

However, not sending troops was not an option. On this matter, the Ming People's attitude was extremely tough — since ancient times, when the sovereign king dispatches troops, the feudal lords follow on campaign. If you, a Jimi Prefecture, fail to answer the call to arms this time, then I will first join with others to destroy you.

The internally weak Champans, after a certain power base revealed its ferocious face, had no choice but to yield, agreeing to send 1,500 troops and an additional 000 Auxiliary Soldiers to join the Allied Forces.

And so, an Allied Forces riddled with internal contradictions and discord was formed.

Over the next month, the Allied Forces gradually gathered at a city within Champa's borders.

The terrified Champans were as if facing a great enemy, even sleeping with one eye open, fearful of being annihilated overnight.

In fact, the proposal to conveniently destroy Champa had appeared long ago, but it was vetoed internally by the Transmigrators: for now, keeping Champa was more useful than destroying it; it was needed to contain the Zheng Clan court.

Theoretically speaking, such a disorganized and contradictory Allied Forces should have no combat effectiveness. However, for the Transmigrators, having such a force was enough — mere cannon fodder, the quality didn't matter whether it was high or not.

During these two months, the Development Team Commander Wang Bo, responsible for forming the Allied Forces, did nothing else but spend all his time on epidemic prevention training for the army.

In the future, he would be operating in these tropical regions of South Asia, and could no longer act as before, where the troops rested whenever the rainy season arrived.

And the most critical point hindering army operations during the rainy season was epidemic prevention.

The rainy season was fatally destructive to ancient armies. The heat and dampness, teeming with mosquitoes, and an environment lacking sanitary protection could cause a strong army to collectively contract dysentery overnight, or make the army fall before malaria.

In fact, whether in China or abroad, the vast majority of battles were fought in cold climates. In ancient times, heat and dampness, for massed armies, was a biochemical killing environment more formidable than the enemy.

Relying on the 000 Development Army's breech-loading rifles and the fully cooperating Ruan Clan followers, Wang Bo ultimately spent a month establishing the Allied Forces' concept of hygiene from scratch.

This concept of hygiene was something others could see but could not emulate. The large quantities of disinfectant and bleaching powder alone were not something any other army could provide.

Time quickly passed to late June. After the integration was complete, the Governor's Mansion ordered the Allied Forces to march; target: Saigon.

Compared to the name Saigon, which only appeared in the Ming dynasty, later generations of countrymen should be more familiar with another name: Ho Chi Minh City.

The Mekong River Delta is the fertile plain at the southernmost tip of the Indochina Peninsula. This place is situated between Vietnam and Thailand, with high temperatures year-round, fertile soil, a dense water network, and a long history of rice cultivation, making it the region with the highest rice yield per unit in Asia.

Saigon, seated in the core of this region, due to its location at the center of the water system and its function as a seaport, had long ago developed from a fishing village into a major town.

Like Shijiazhuang in later generations, this process was naturally driven by history. Saigon's prosperity had shown signs many centuries ago, and by the Ming dynasty, it had further become an important trading port and grain distribution center.

The Ming dynasty indirectly influenced this.

In the Ming dynasty, from the third year of Yongle to the eighth year of Xuande, the Great Ming Empire dispatched Zheng He on seven voyages to the Western Ocean.

The seven voyages to the Western Ocean established the Central Plains dynasty's newest tributary trade system.

Afterward, many states in East and West Asia, the Middle Eastern coastal area, East Africa, and elsewhere all engaged in trade (tribute) with the Ming Nation.

Consequently, Saigon became an important port for tribute ships coming from the west to anchor.

Over time, this place came to be called "Saigon," meaning "tribute from the west" in Chinese. At the point in time when the Transmigrators descended, this strategically vital location of Saigon still belonged to the Cambodia Kingdom.

At this time, the Cambodia Kingdom's territory was not small. Its domain not only encompassed the northern highlands on later maps but also controlled the downstream Mekong River Delta.

Corresponding to the northern highlands, the Mekong River Delta, being a plain region, was called "Lower Cambodia" in this era.

And due to the special status of Saigon, the most important city on the delta, the Cambodia Kingdom even specially dispatched a Vice King to guard this place.

However, this situation was soon to change.

In true history, the Ruan regime of South Yue, defeated this time, while resisting the Northern Yue invasion, also continuously expanded southward, ultimately annexing the Champa Kingdom.

The Champa Kingdom was the southernmost tip of Vietnam's elongated map.

After annexing the Champa Kingdom, the Southern Yue Ruan Clan would face the sea. Then, naturally, they would turn their gaze toward the fertile delta to the southwest.

This historical process did not last very long. Ultimately, right in the seventeenth century, the Mekong River Plain, including the plain lands encompassing Saigon, were all incorporated into Vietnam's territory, becoming the Vietnamese land and Ho Chi Minh City familiar to later generations.

And this time, although the Allied Forces' ultimate goal was the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the first-stage target was, without a doubt, the Mekong River Plain lying before them, situated at the heart of the grain-producing region.

Amid the sound of horns, the crudely equipped soldiers, carrying equally crude bamboo ladders, charged through the rain toward the towering Saigon city.

A traditional assault battle thus began. However, with the resistance from the city walls, this battle quickly ended. Not long after, the attackers, having left behind some corpses, retreated in defeat back to their starting line.

Outside Saigon, the former marketplace had been transformed into the first battle line, composed of ramparts and moats.

Behind the battle line, there was a rare two-story brick-and-stone residence built by a wealthy merchant. This residence was now long emptied of people, occupied by the outsiders, and had become the frontline command center.

On the rooftop of the second floor, a bamboo awning had been set up earlier — probably used by merchants for leisure and tea-drinking, and now it happened to serve as shelter from the rain. Beneath the bamboo awning, a group of important figures seated on bamboo chairs observed the defeated soldiers retreating from the front lines.

"Serve the meal. We'll attack again after noon."

Wang Bo, having set down his binoculars after watching yet another clumsy city-assault performance by the natives, spoke with an indifferent expression.

To Commander Wang's left, sitting close beside him, was the previous defeated general: Ruan Clan leader Ruan Fuyuan.

Ruan Fuyuan, dressed in a short robe, likewise lowered his binoculars and nodded in agreement: "Indeed, noon has passed. Time to serve the meal."

As his words fell, an orderly who had long been prepared at the side brought up two iron trays, containing rice and a porridge of minced fish.

On the battlefield, there were not so many niceties. The assembled Allied Forces commanders, the Commander included, picked up their bowls and ate.

However, Ruan Fuyuan, a man past middle age, seemed to have many things on his mind. After shoveling down a couple of mouthfuls, he raised his head to look at the sky and spoke thoughtfully: "It looks like it will clear up this afternoon!"

Thinking of this, Ruan Fuyuan turned his head and said to the two generals beside him dressed in ethnic attire: "This is a good thing. This afternoon, I must ask you two to take action."

The two Champa Buddhist generals, gold ornaments hanging on their bodies and iron armor worn over their monk robes, seemed already accustomed to such situations. Hearing this, they nodded, rose, and went downstairs to make arrangements.

At this moment, Ruan Fuyuan, who seemed to get along very well within the Allied Forces, turned back and exchanged a knowing smile with Wang Bo.

The Allied Forces, which had launched its campaign in late June, after over a month of battle and marching, slowly advanced to the walls of Saigon in August.

Today was the seventh day of the Allied Forces' siege of the city.

Visible to the naked eye, the will to resist of the Cambodians atop the walls of Saigon had already waned considerably. Now, even the Northern Vietnam Cannon Fodder Squad, which had been going through the motions without real effort, could fight with some semblance of competence.

And the fundamental reason for all this lay in the previous day — the fleet, with the Kaiyuan as its flagship, carrying a large quantity of supplies, had forcibly broken into the mouth of the Mekong River and bombarded both banks.

The defending troops on the city walls had seen all of this with perfect clarity.