You have truly caused me great suffering!

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, comes the golden autumn of September.

The Indian subcontinent did not share the same seasonal view as the Central Plains, which equated autumn with bleakness and suitability for war.

However, according to the report from the military advisor, the southwest monsoon has retreated, rainfall has decreased sharply, and there are still showers, but they are manageable.

Scouts from all directions reported that the roads were beginning to dredge and harden, allowing the army to leave its encampment and making it a suitable time to set off and assemble.

Therefore, Wu Qian and Li Shiyan each led a force, splitting into two groups to encircle Tanjawur from the north and south.

Outside of Tanjavur, the Chorro army was in complete disarray; they couldn't even defeat the Revenge Camp.

In recent years, Chola Kurukultonga II has been obsessed with Shiva, not only suppressing Buddhism and Islam, but also other sects of Hinduism, such as the Vaishnavite sect.

People couldn't do anything about you before, but now that there are outsiders causing trouble, many people can no longer suppress the hatred they've been holding back.

However, they may not necessarily surrender to Da Jing; they just want to take revenge in the chaos.

Many tribes, faced with tremendous changes, were unable to see the situation clearly.

Not everyone in this world is clear-headed.

They are just taking advantage of the situation to cause trouble, without considering how they will survive.

Some chose to surrender, but they were afraid of the revenge camp and feared that they would be retaliated against and purged after surrendering.

Neither of the two Jing armies cared about this.

They had completely despised these Indians, disregarding the cardinal rule of warfare, and directly ventured deep into enemy territory alone.

They didn't even have time to capture the surrendered forces, nor did they have time to occupy the cities. They simply left a troop of men in strategic locations to guard the key routes.

The others rushed straight for Tanjavur.

Both the imperial court and the South China Sea Fleet headquarters have ample patience, waiting for the right opportunity.

However, neither Wu Qian nor Li Shiyan were willing to wait any longer.

Taking Tanjavur, occupying the heart of Juro, and then launching attacks in all directions will double the efficiency.

The headquarters of the South China Sea Navy was in Champa, while the imperial court was thousands of miles away.

In such situations, they will definitely choose to trust their own judgment.

These are the basic qualities of a great general.

The Jingjun cavalry had spent an entire quarter in the shade of the trees, enduring the sweltering summer, and finally looked forward to the cool season.

If we don't fight now, we'll have to endure another year, and nobody wants to stay here for another year.

The vanguard cavalry could no longer be distinguished as either scouts or a small cavalry unit; the group numbered several hundred and was quite complex in composition.

In addition to the advance cavalry, a large number of scouts followed them.

This completely disregards the fine traditions passed down by the Dingnan Army; they are fighting a war by stepping into a major taboo in military strategy.

Everyone was extremely anxious.

Nobody wanted to stay in this godforsaken place for another year, and nobody respected the Indians.

The Chola Dynasty's army never defeated them even once in the open field. Whether it was the cowardly army that fled at the mere sight of them or the brave army that fought to the death, none of them were a match for them.

Based on the experience of the Central Plains Wars, an arrogant army is bound to be defeated, and the worst thing to do is to be impatient, as this is when it is easiest to be overturned.

But no miracle occurred. They encountered no ambushes along the way and easily breached the outer passes of Tandjavur.

It is worth mentioning that at this time, all the kingdoms of India had cities and fortresses.

Most people ride Yunnan horses, with a small number riding mules.

Mules are actually a good thing; the South China Sea Fleet was originally supposed to transport horses.

However, it was later discovered that the horses, especially Da Jing's warhorses, were far too delicate.

On the battlefield of Western Liao, it was common for three to five auxiliary soldiers to take care of the warhorse of a single soldier.

Warhorses need oats, black beans, and alfalfa to travel, while mules can maintain their strength by eating wheat bran, straw, and even coarse grass and leaves.

The burden of carrying fodder on long-distance supply trains has been greatly reduced.

Under the same load, mules have a better ability to walk continuously than horses, especially in mountainous areas and gravel roads, where they can travel 30 to 40 miles a day without stopping, and their speed declines slowly over several consecutive days.

More importantly, mules are more resistant to intestinal parasites and some tropical skin diseases than horses, a fact discovered by the military cavalry.

In the two years since the start of the war, the South China Sea Fleet has been busy analyzing the battle situation, summarizing lessons learned, and formulating countermeasures.

Although it is currently the cool season and there has been little rain this year, the last few days have been no exception. As a result, the sun is very strong during the day, and many soldiers are marching with their heads covered.

The area around Tandjavur was indeed quite fertile; as far as the marching column could see, there were crops and cattle and sheep everywhere.

The autumn harvest is now complete in the Central Plains, but in India, several more harvests are still possible.

Vast green fields come into view, with locals cultivating the flat grasslands and digging numerous irrigation ditches.

From this perspective, India was not entirely without merit; they knew how to store water and dig canals, which shows they were quite skilled at farming.

It also has a certain degree of organization.

Li Shiyan traveled from the south, taking a less circuitous route, and was the first to arrive at the outskirts of Tandjavur.

Looking out, Thanjavur stands majestically on the flat plateau.

This is one of the most fortified brick and stone cities in South India and the heart of the Hindu Shiva faith.

坦贾武尔，是用的花岗岩基座外加大型烧砖墙体，底厚约 15～20米，残高可达 12～15米（史上记载原高近18丈/约35米说法夸张，实际存留可见段约10～12米高），周长约 4～5公里（内城）。

Even so, it's already quite good.

Moreover, it was equipped with corner towers and barbicans, and had everything else.

It can be said that the perimeter of Thanjavur's city walls and the craftsmanship of its stonework are greater than those of first-class prefecture cities in the Central Plains, such as Daming Prefecture, the remnants of the outer city of Kaifeng, and the old city of Luoyang. However, its defensive system—the density of barbicans, ramparts, hidden troop shelters, and supporting armories—is inferior to that of the border cities of the Western Army of the Northern Song Dynasty, such as Yan'an, Taiyuan, and Qinzhou.

The hardware is good, but the supporting tactics and details are not as good as those of the Central Plains, which has been engaged in offensive and defensive wars for thousands of years.

It is top-tier in South Asia, and in the Central Plains it would be considered a "superior prefecture city," but slightly inferior to the northwestern military towns specially built by the Song court.

Li Shiyan, holding a telescope, focused his observations on the moat and the irrigation canal.

In fact, he had already received intelligence that the moat was drawn from a tributary of the Gaoweili River, and could be partially drained during the dry season, but it was designed with adjustable sluice gates when the city was built.

Li Shiyan had a strange feeling, that is, suddenly he had entered the stage of his old profession.

There was a time when our Central Plains troops fought against the Western and Northern barbarians in city sieges and defenses.

Xingqing Prefecture, Yinzhou, Lingzhou, Hehuang—so many high-ranking cities, all of which we fought repeatedly against the Western bandits.

Later battles, such as Tong Guan's campaign against Liao and the confrontations between the Jurchens and the Dingnan Army, mostly revolved around cities.

Then the Great Jing Dynasty was established, and for many years, it rarely fought such offensive and defensive wars again.

To the point that the concept of "siege" was relatively unfamiliar to him.

Riding on his horse, Li Shiyan laughed heartily, "Let these Indian barbarians see how we conquer cities!"

His men around him burst into laughter, brandishing their weapons and shouting.

This scene was naturally very inspiring to Jing Jun, but it appeared extremely terrifying to Zhu Luobing.

If Li Shiyan could overlook the city, he might feel even more relaxed.

In the center of Thanjavur is the Burihadish Temple, an extremely luxurious Shiva temple with a high stone platform and a tower about 66 meters high. It is a symbol of Chola royal and divine power.

Even when the army was at the city gates, King Kurotunga II still sent a large number of troops to guard the temple.

To prevent heretics from taking the opportunity to damage Shiva temples.

In his mind, the city could fall, but the temple could not be lost. As long as the temple was preserved, Shiva would appear, and even the most powerful enemy would be annihilated. The total number of troops in the city was actually not that many. The standing army, the temple guards (Shiva warriors), and the royal guards totaled only 20,000.

The rest were private soldiers of nobles, totaling more than 50,000 men.

In such a large country, in such a magnificent capital, there are only so few soldiers.

Because the temple occupied too much land in the city, it reduced the population.

Li Shiyan gave the order almost instinctively: "Stop the water first. Zhao Da, take five hundred light cavalry and three hundred supply troops upstream, seize the upstream sluice gate, open the gate to empty the water in the moat, then close the gate to block the flow and destroy the weir."

"Chen Dong, you will lead your cavalry to block the eastern and southern roads and intercept any possible reinforcements."

"The central army escorted the artillery battalion to the front lines to prepare for filling trenches and siege towers."

This deployment was so smooth and fluid, it was almost an instinctive reaction for generals from the Central Plains.

After making the necessary arrangements, all that's left is to wait for Wu Qian's troops to arrive, and then we can begin the attack on the city.

Overall, Li Shiyan was quite satisfied with the city; the water supply was plentiful, and the surrounding roads were also very accessible.

After Jingjun occupies the territory, he can build auxiliary cities and fortresses nearby to protect the area, and then use these as the center to completely conquer the Chola Dynasty.

Then they moved westward to attack the remnants of Pandya and Zhelou.

At this moment, the Chola people on the city wall were terrified and stood trembling on the wall.

After waiting for a long time, the enemy did not attack the city.

They relaxed and thought that Shiva might have truly appeared to them, so they began to chant prayers.

Some people were even bending over and kowtowing to express their gratitude.

As the sun set, it shrouded the city in a crimson hue.

Jing Jun cooked a meal, and everyone was watching the city. Someone on the battlefield played the bagpipes from their hometown.

Amidst the fluttering of banners, someone faintly began to sing a high-pitched song.

Jingjun has military songs, and many of them. Before each campaign, many military songs are created.

Because marching is such a long journey, it's easy to get tired if you just keep your head down and keep walking.

Singing together at this time can boost morale and make people forget the fatigue of marching.

The Ganges is wide, the elephant formations are majestic, it travels ten thousand miles westward, and the water flows eastward.

The wind howls, the cannons flash, report back to the Emperor: the enemy has been crushed.

After besieging the city for two days without attacking, the city realized that its water supply had been cut off.

At this moment, more Jing army cavalry appeared in the distance.

Amidst the howling wind, countless hooves pounded the earth with muffled thuds, their roar deafening.

Wu Qian's men have arrived.

The good news is that they still haven't attacked the city; the bad news is that the city's water supply is dwindling.

Fortunately, the water source here is indeed abundant, and there are also many deep wells in the city.

However, the nobles surrounded them, fearing that the common people would drink it all.

At this point, Li Shiyan ordered that a little water be released every three days, but it must be poisoned.

On the tenth day, a few scattered forces finally emerged from the city, attempting to break out and escape.

Then they were pursued and killed by the Jing army cavalry.

The bodies were thrown back into the city with catapults, as a warning that if they did not surrender, none of them would leave the city alive.

Twelve days later, Wu Qian sent his revenge battalion to the city to persuade the city to surrender.

As a result, the thirty-six Indian soldiers of the revenge camp were tied to pillars by Kurutongga II, who then had their hearts ripped out as a blood sacrifice to Shiva.

They even cut off his head and threw it outside the city.

That night, the artillery battalion unleashed its power, and countless Indians from the Revenge Battalion knelt on the ground to witness this miracle.

In their eyes, these were the manifestations of those dark, round, cylindrical gods.

It's not so leisurely in the city.

Originally, Jingjun surrounded them without attacking, which lessened their fear considerably. Many people even believed that Shiva had intervened and trapped these invaders.

Many people are even waiting for them to die completely at Shiva's hands.

If Jing Jun were an ordinary opponent, they wouldn't act this way, but this group of opponents who came from afar across the sea, carrying strange weapons they had never seen before, were opponents they couldn't defeat no matter what.

It instantly made them think of the word "demon".

They didn't consider Jing Jun an ordinary enemy, and therefore lacked the confidence to defeat them using conventional methods.

But with tonight's shelling, all speculations have been dispelled.

Jingjun's artillery, due to its immature technology, produced a very loud cannon shot.

This would normally be a disadvantage, but in India, it has become a significant advantage.

Its deterrent effect has been greatly amplified.

Moreover, the elephants were completely rendered useless.

After a night of shelling, the outer perimeter fell silent again, but the water supply and supply lines remained cut off.

They were waiting for their food supplies to run out.

Li Shiyan and Wu Qian both knew very well that since they had already surrounded Tanjawur City, they could wait for several dozen days without any problem.

On the road, their own supplies were not cut off, and the revenge camp was still scavenging everywhere.

Moreover, surrounding Tanjavur would also attract die-hard forces loyal to Kurotunga II to their deaths.

It can both besiege the enemy's stronghold and attack reinforcements, preserve the city, and also cause a number of people to starve and die of thirst.
-
The capital of the Chola Dynasty was captured in late October.

The news reached Jinling in December.

At this time, Chen Shao had already returned to the Hot Spring Palace from the Summer Palace.

The frontline personnel meticulously recorded every detail and reported it to the imperial court.

This includes Li Shiyan ordering the execution of Kurotunga II as punishment for killing the messenger sent by the Jing army.

In addition, many members of the royal family were killed.

We are about to attack Zhelou.

When the city fell, the scene inside was horrifying; starving people had begun to eat each other.

Those who were lucky enough to survive were all skin and bones, so thin they were almost unrecognizable.

However, there were still many obese Hindus in the temple, indicating that they had stored food but did not share it.

Li Shiyan wrote a letter saying that these believers were starving to death and were even cannibalizing each other, yet they still dared not rob the temple's food.

He felt this was the terrifying aspect of cults bewitching people and requested the imperial court to issue an order to completely eradicate such cults.

Chen Shao simply instructed Zhai Fengda to organize some more monks from Chengtian Temple to return to India and spread the Mahayana Buddhism of Chengtian Temple.

India is a land of greed, lust, and strife, rife with killing and conflict; it is a veritable battlefield of words and a sea of ​​evil.

It is necessary for a high-ranking monk from Chengtian Temple to purify the area using the finest Buddhist teachings from the Central Plains. (End of Chapter)