Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"The enemy's rear cities are easily defeated, and our army has already captured two of them."

"If the enemy runs out of supplies, their morale will surely collapse."

"We can no longer remain trapped in the city. Taking advantage of the enemy's weakened morale, we must leave the city tomorrow for a decisive battle!"

...

Why was Zhao Kang only allowed to bring three thousand soldiers?

Since this was neither a war of annihilation nor a war of conquest, three thousand soldiers were more than enough.

Du Yingwu mobilized approximately 40,000 troops.

Eight thousand of them were Annamite Imperial Guards, representing the absolute main force.

Chapter 3692 Too Much Ambition

Another 20,000 were soldiers from ten different routes, similar to the garrison troops of the Song Dynasty.

There were also more than 10,000, who were temporary recruits of local militia, a complete rabble.

This is all the troops Du Yingwu can mobilize.

The wars in the past few years have resulted in heavy losses, especially the brutal defeats suffered by Yang Zaixing, which led to a sharp reduction in Annam's military strength.

With Thang Long province and northern counties looted, the finances of Annam were on the verge of collapse, and the Annam court had no money to rebuild its army.

Following Du Yingwu's coup, local rebellions broke out one after another, which also severely depleted military strength.

The southern border troops dared not move, otherwise Champa would attack in no time.

Du Yingwu dispatched 5,000 troops to launch a surprise attack on a Ming army city in the rear, and they are temporarily unable to return to participate in the decisive battle.

He also had to leave troops to garrison the two cities on the front line, so he could only actually mobilize more than 30,000 soldiers.

On Zhao Kang's side, there were three thousand Ming soldiers, five thousand local soldiers, and dozens of Annamite naval warships.

The two navies were the first to clash.

The Annamite navy, which had allied with Zhao Kang, fought against Du Yingwu's Annamite navy!

Although both were Annamite naval forces, the former was stationed at the Taiping River and could fight near the sea. It had even crossed the sea to attack the Northern Song Dynasty and marched towards Qinzhou.

The latter, however, is a proper inland waterway navy, stationed in Thang Long Province and the surrounding waterways.

The battle lasted about an hour, and Zhao Kang's side achieved a minor victory.

Han Jing observed carefully through his binoculars and concluded, "Neither side's navy fought to the death, probably because they were unwilling to kill each other."

Annam official Chen Kai said, "The head of the navy in Thang Long Prefecture is Li Changlu, the Marquis of Bao Ning."

"He neither opposed Du's regency nor fully supported it."

"I estimate that this person is observing the situation, and will help whoever wins, only thinking about preserving his own strength."

Zhao Kang laughed and said, "It seems the enemy forces are not united."

……

"Why aren't the naval forces fighting to the death?" Du Yingwu questioned.

Li Changlu argued, "The enemy's navy has large ships, making it difficult to win. The soldiers have done their best."

Du Yingwu said coldly, "The navy will reorganize and cooperate with the cavalry and infantry in battle!"

Du Yingwu, who had been in a coup for less than a year, could not possibly have completely taken control of the army.

The navy, in particular, was not part of the infantry system, and its commander was a marquis.

He didn't even dare to punish Li Changlu severely; he had to promise him benefits to win him over.

Zhao Kang's main camp was located at the confluence of the Taiping River and the Long River, with the riverside protected by the navy.

No matter how many troops Du Yingwu had, he couldn't launch a full-scale attack from all sides; he could only attack from the west and south.

Du Yingwu has already transferred the troops stationed in Tiande Prefecture.

At this time, the main force of the 32,000 Annamese army slowly advanced from the west, while 10,000 troops were sent to circle around to the south to launch a pincer attack.

Zhao Kang placed three thousand elite troops in the front and five thousand ragtag troops in the flank.

The battlefield was a vast expanse of paddy fields.

The Red River Plain has two harvests a year. The first harvest is sown during the transition from winter to spring, and the second harvest is sown in summer.

At this moment, the rice has been harvested, but the new rice has not yet been planted.

The paddy field was not completely dry; it appeared dry on the surface.

Stepping into it revealed mud deeper than ankle-deep—the Red River Plain is harvested after the rainy season.

The water in the fields hadn't been drained, and after two months of natural drying, the fields turned into this terrible mess.

Some of the farmland even has water!

Both sides' soldiers took off their shoes, rolled up their trousers, and advanced with uneven steps.

Aside from being slippery, it doesn't significantly hinder movement; soldiers familiar with this type of farmland can even run through the mud.

Of course, that's without armor.

Zhao Kang's three thousand elite troops were all wearing armor at this moment, and it was medium-sized armor weighing about thirty pounds.

The operation was slightly affected.

"The enemy's southern flank is a complete rabble; they can't even hold their flags in a straight line,"

After careful observation, Du Yingwu said to the messenger,

"Order Liu Yu to launch a fierce attack from the south and rout the enemy's flank forces!"

Du Yingwu was indeed a qualified commander. Not long after Zhao Kang deployed his troops, Du Yingwu seized upon their weaknesses and immediately took action.

The flank battlefield was too far away, and the flags might be transmitted incorrectly, so a messenger ran along the ridge of the field.

While the messenger was still running, Zhao Kang's elite troops were already accelerating forward.

There were even more than a hundred artillerymen, carrying small cannons, shells and gunpowder, advancing along several field ridges.

Du Yingwu gave the corresponding command: "Li Yirong will lead his troops to meet the enemy, while Long Kan and Ding Congzhou will lead their troops to provide support."

"Lord Baoning, send your navy to attack as well."

"The enemy camp is undefended. Once the navy wins, we can directly attack the enemy camp and burn their supplies."

"Even if we can't burn down the enemy's camp, as long as we hold our ground here, we can take advantage of the enemy's rabble on the flanks to collapse and launch a full-scale attack from both sides!"

"As ordered!"

The Annamite army was mobilized quickly; in a small country, that would be considered a formidable force.

Du Yingwu later even established a military academy to train officers, thereby firmly controlling the army and significantly improving the combat effectiveness of the Annamese army.

After the Ming army's elite troops advanced more than ten meters, Han Jing suddenly said, "Your Highness, advancing in formation through the mud is too exhausting. Why not have the soldiers charge along the paddy field ridges?"

Chapter 3693 The Long Snake Formation

"Arranged into many long snakes? How can we fight like that?" Zhao Kang asked in surprise.

Han Jing said, "We are capable of fighting. We've been practicing the Mandarin Duck Formation!"

Zhao Kang felt it was particularly outrageous, but considering that Han Jing had scored full marks in all subjects at the military academy and had participated in many major battles in the north, he actually agreed, saying, "General Han can make the decision entirely."

Han Jing ordered a halt to the advance, summoned mid-level officers, and explained the battle tactics in detail.

The mid-level officers returned to their respective units and summoned the squad leaders of the Mandarin Duck Team.

Soon, to Du Yingwu's astonishment, all three thousand Ming soldiers stepped onto the ridges of the fields, transforming into several long snakes as they charged forward.

This kind of marching is certainly possible, but now it's a battle between two armies!

Du Yingwu was overjoyed: "Send the order to have Li Yirong, Long Kan, and Ding Congzhou form ranks and advance. Li Hui and Ruan Xing will lead their troops to provide support."

The two armies were only a hundred paces apart when Han Jing ordered the bugle to sound.

The Ming soldiers at the forefront jumped from the ridges into the farmland and quickly formed ranks.

Meanwhile, the Ming army continued to rush along the field ridges, including the artillerymen carrying small cannons.

At this moment, they have entered the range of the infantry archers.

But apart from incredibly strong warriors, ordinary archers wouldn't shoot arrows from that distance.

During the Tang Dynasty, archers were required to shoot from 60 paces away, while during the Ming Dynasty, the requirement was to hit the target from 50 paces away.

It takes about 70 or 80 meters to start a salvo.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Ming army began firing cannons, specifically the siege cannons that had been left on the shore (taken from naval ships).

These artillery pieces were aimed at Du Yingwu's central army, but many shells landed on the supporting troops between the front and central armies.

The Annamese general named Li Hui is leading his troops forward.

He was merely a support unit and didn't need to lead the charge, yet suddenly he saw many dark figures descending.

"what!"

One of the guards screamed in agony. Li Hui turned her head and saw that the guard's arm had been broken.

There were few casualties, only twenty shells.

The shells were so hard they barely bounced off the mud, and some didn't even hit anyone. Only eight Annamese soldiers were killed or wounded.

The Ming Dynasty's elite troops, who jumped into the field, merely lined up the small groups of mandarin ducks; the groups were not well-organized.

To outsiders, it didn't even look like a military formation; it appeared chaotic and disorganized.

"Bang bang bang!"

But they had already opened fire.

Due to the distance and the limited number of musketeers, only a dozen or so enemy soldiers were hit.

The advancing Annamese vanguard numbered over six thousand, and the casualties of a dozen or so men were negligible and did not even significantly affect the overall morale.

But they couldn't run fast in the muddy terrain, so the Ming musketeers could reload and fire at their leisure.

Du Yingwu didn't dare to follow Han Jing's example and have his troops run closer to the field ridges before forming ranks.

He knew what his army was like; he estimated that it would be routed by the Ming army before it could even form ranks.

Then, about twenty more small teams of mandarin ducks jumped into the field and formed ranks when the two sides were eighty paces apart, and began firing at the enemy's vanguard.

The Ming troops lined up in the fields behind them, after reloading their ammunition, trudged through the mud and fought side by side.

When they were sixty paces apart, or about 90 meters apart, their archers began to fire at each other.

Both sides were well-armored elite troops, and shooting arrows at such a distance would have negligible effect; even if they hit, it would only result in injury.

Chapter 3694 Battle in the Fields

The Ming soldiers who followed were still running forward on the ridges of the fields!

The artillery stopped when they were about fifty paces away.

They set up the cannon legs on the ridge of the field, with the cannon barrels angled towards the paddy fields on both sides, and began loading gunpowder and shot.

"Speed ​​up!"

Li Yirong, the vanguard general of Annam, led his personal guards in a charge along the ridges of the fields, but most of his soldiers were in the fields.

"Boom boom boom!"

Small cannons fired shot at diagonal angles from various field ridges, while muskets and crossbows fired in turn from the fields.

The Annamese vanguard, just a few dozen meters away, was instantly covered by crossfire.

Li Yirong was perfectly fine on the ridge, but the army in his field collapsed completely.

These Annamese imperial guards, known as elite troops, were utterly routed by the Song Dynasty's northern armies at the height of their military power.