Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 360: Talking about the Sea Dragon Guard, Yan Fan enters Meng [Request for follow-up]

The Sea Dragon Guard was established last year and currently covers an area along the southern coast of what would later become Singapore and the Malay Peninsula, and its scope is continuing to expand.

"According to your Imperial Grandfather's plan, this place will eventually be established as a military prefecture directly under the imperial court. At that time, hundreds of miles of land on both sides of this strait, which is over a thousand miles long, will belong to this military prefecture."

"Because this place is extremely important both militarily and economically, it cannot be lost."

When the fleet entered the harbor of Hailongwei City, Zhu Di stood on the deck of Jizhou and explained the affairs of Hailongwei to Zhu Gaochi (11 years old), Zhu Gaoxu (9 years old), and Zhu Gaosui (6 years old).

Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but ask, "Father, is there no kingdom here?"

Zhu Di smiled and said, "When Srivijaya was powerful, it sent people across the sea to the southern part of the peninsula to collect taxes. Champa also forced the indigenous tribes and Han Chinese settlements here to pay tribute."

"But neither Srivijaya nor Champa ever established their rule over this land."

"Srivijaya and Champa are not only vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, but are now in decline. Srivijaya is even facing the danger of national extinction and is seeking help from the Ming Dynasty."

"Under such circumstances, no one would object if the Ming Dynasty took over these wild lands that did not belong to them in the first place."

Zhu Gaoxu then said, "Srivihara and Champa are just the rotten fish and shrimp among the Southeast Asian countries. In my opinion, if they know what's good for them, they should submit to the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but say, "Second brother, Srivijaya and Champa are not rotten fish or shrimp. On the contrary, they were once powerful countries in Southeast Asia, but they have declined now."

"Can it be stronger than our Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Gaoxu argued.

Zhu Gaochi was speechless, "Of course not."

"Since we are not as strong as the Ming Dynasty, we should obey the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Gaoxu said, not forgetting to pull Zhu Gaosui beside him, "What do you think, third brother?"

Zhu Gaosui, who was only five or six years old, showed a bit of cunning and said in a crisp voice: "I will listen to my father."

Seeing his three sons fighting and forming alliances over a trivial issue so early in the morning, Zhu Di felt a headache and scolded them, "Alright, stop arguing and get ready to disembark. Let's rest in Hailongwei for a few days before setting sail."

Zhu Di brought with him 8,000 households of soldiers and civilians, tens of thousands of people. Although they had adapted to Guangzhou for more than a year, the immigrants had also boarded the ship for sailing adaptation training.

However, after sailing on the sea for more than half a month, some women, children, the elderly and the weak were still sick and needed rest - this was even though the vassal fleet recruited dozens of doctors and brought a lot of medicinal materials and ready-made medicines. Otherwise, the situation would have been even worse.

The Yan clan's large immigration force rested in Hailongwei for five days before setting off to India.

After crossing the Malacca Strait, the fleet sailed along the coast most of the time to ensure safety.

Although this was safe, it greatly increased the voyage, so it took more than half a month for the fleet to reach its destination - the Dhaka area of ​​Bangladesh in later generations!
In fact, Zhu Di originally wanted to use Kolkata in later generations as the landing site, but after learning more about the current situation of various Indian countries, he changed his mind and changed the landing site to the Dhaka area in later generations.

First, the voyage to the Kolkata area is longer.

Secondly, it is located on the western border of the Bengal Sultanate. If a base is established there, it may be besieged by Bengal and several other western states under the Delhi Sultanate in the early stage.

Although Zhu Di's troops were elite, they were few in number. If they were besieged by several states, even if they could win, they would probably pay a heavy price.

The situation is different in the Dhaka area.

At that time, Dhaka was not the capital of the Sultanate of Bengal. According to the intelligence from the advance team, it was just a relatively prosperous port city in the country.

The capital of the Bengal Sultanate was located in Gaur (later known as Pakar, opposite Rajshahi), further inland to the northwest, more than 400 miles away from Dhaka.

The Dhaka area is the westernmost plain of the Ganges Delta, and further east is the "Hundred Thousand Mountains" in western Myanmar.

Therefore, Zhu Di chose to land here and start establishing a vassal state. In the early stage, he only had to face the hostile force of the Sultanate of Bengal.

From the map of later generations, Dhaka seems to be hundreds of miles away from the sea. In fact, it is similar to Guangzhou, a coastal city. This was nearly 600 years before the end of the world. The islands formed by the impact of rivers were smaller and fewer, and the Bodo River was much wider.

In addition, the Sultanate of Bengal had no coastal defense, so a fleet consisting of six warships and dozens of large sea ships entered the Padma River directly from the Bay of Bengal.

There were some fishermen fishing near the river mouth. Many of them had lived for decades, but it was the first time they had seen such a large fleet, and also the first time they had seen such a huge ironclad warship like the Jizhou. They all stared in shock.

After a long while, some people began to flee to the shore in fear.

During this process, several small fishing boats approached this side, waving flags of several colors over and over again - they were actually signaling.

On the deck of the Jizhou, Zhu Di looked through a telescope and said, "They are from the advance team. Let them come over."

"Order!"

The order was passed down, and soon a "merchant" with a red cloth wrapped around his head and two men who looked like fishermen boarded the Jizhou ironclad ship.

The red-turbaned merchant leading the charge was none other than the Advance Team's Counselor, Liu Jun! "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

When they saw Zhu Di, Liu Jun and the other two saluted excitedly.

Zhu Di hurried forward to help them up, saying, "No need to be so polite, the three of you—you have been working hard for my vassal state in this dangerous place for more than half a year. It is I who should be the one to pay my respects."

As he said this, Zhu Di actually bowed to the three of them in a proper manner.

Although it was a bow from a superior to his subordinates, Liu Jun and the other two were still so moved that they almost cried.

"The sun is shining brightly. Let's go sit over there and talk."

Afterwards, Zhu Di took the three of them to a temporary awning on the deck and had tea and cakes served.

Zhu Di, who had learned more about how to rule his subordinates than his contemporaries in history, first asked about the situation of the advance team, such as whether there were any casualties, whether anyone had defected, etc.

Upon learning that thirteen members of the advance team had died due to various accidents, Zhu Di said, "These deceased soldiers of the advance team are all heroes of our Yan State. After we isolate the country, we will definitely build a temple to commemorate them and comfort their souls!"

Liu Jun bowed and said, "Your Majesty has treated me so kindly, I will never regret it even if I die!"

After understanding the situation of the advance team and winning over their hearts, Zhu Di asked about the real business.

"Have you figured out the current military deployment in Dhaka?"

Liu Jun laughed and said, "The Mongols were completely defenseless, and we've figured that out long ago. Dhaka, as a seaport and commercial city, is quite prosperous, with a population of over 100,000."

"However, since there are no strong enemies nearby, there are only about 3,000 defenders, and half of them are responsible for maintaining law and order within the city and the city walls."

"Also, the armor rate of these defenders is very low. Basically, only the generals have armor, and most of them are leather armor. There are only a few iron armors."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di asked, "Do they have firearms?"

"Not really." Liu Jun shook his head. "In fact, because the local climate is hot and humid and rainy, they don't even have many archers. They are mainly spearmen, swordsmen, and shieldmen, with a few cavalrymen."

"India's most powerful troops are actually elephant soldiers, but Dhaka's military equipment is not well-maintained and is not valued by Bangladesh, so naturally there are no elephant soldiers."

"Captain Tan has led two hundred advance team members into the city for several days. As long as the king sets off a specific fireworks signal during the attack, they will help to break the city!"

"Great!" Zhu Di couldn't help but get excited when he learned that Dhaka's military preparations were so poor and lax, and that Tan Yuan had already led his men into the city. "Then I will lead the fleet directly to the dock outside Dhaka and capture the city in a few days!"

Liu Jun cupped his hands in agreement and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

···
···
As a small port city, Dhaka has walls that are no more than two meters high and form an irregular quadrilateral with a circumference of more than five miles.

As the sun sets in the afternoon, there are still many businessmen and pedestrians traveling between the port and the south gate of Dhaka.

At the dock, sea and river vessels, large and small, were moored in a cluster, numbering over a thousand. Shops and warehouses lined the dock, bustling with merchants, porters, and other pedestrians.

Soon, the people closest to the dock first noticed a large white cloud-like reaction floating from the direction of the bay, and then they were stunned by the huge armored hull of the Jizhou.

This shock and stupor spread like a fast-spreading plague, rapidly spreading towards the city of Dhaka.

After about a minute or two, the shocked people on the dock began to buzz with exclamations and discussions.

“So many big ships!”

"Oh my god, is that largest ship covered in steel?"

"Where did this fleet come from? It's so powerful!"

"Are they not enemies?"

"Enemy? If they are truly enemies, I will surrender immediately."

"···"

At the same time, the defenders of Dhaka City, just over two miles away from the dock, also discovered the Yanfan fleet.

But at first, most of the soldiers who discovered this were amazed and talking like ordinary people. It was not until more than ten minutes later that an officer climbed onto the city wall and learned about this and ordered the warning drum to be sounded.

　Second update
　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)