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

It wasn't exactly a miss; they just didn't hit the war elephant, but they still killed and wounded several Annamese soldiers.

At the same time, the sound of cannon fire dozens of meters away startled the war elephants.

They were already in pain from being shot, and were further disturbed by the gunfire. Now, with the sound of artillery fire, they were no longer following orders.

Elephants are incredibly intelligent; they have no desire to die.

Even if they can be used with some effort after long-term training, they cannot remain indifferent when suddenly faced with firearms.

The fire in the Ming army camp grew larger and larger, which greatly alarmed the Annamite navy that had surrendered to Zhao Kang.

Although they did not surrender directly, they were so frightened that they kept retreating, even ignoring the Ming officials.

Du Yingwu's navy surrounded them, and everyone panicked.

Xie Hong, who had escaped from the main camp to a grain transport ship, took the initiative to lead the local officials to the bow of the ship.

Facing the approaching enemy navy, he said, "I am an envoy sent by the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty and Empress Dowager Du of Annam!"

Chen Kai hurriedly shouted in Annamese, "The envoys of the Ming Dynasty and Empress Dowager Du are here. Are you going to help the rebels murder the angel?"

Marquis Li Changlu of Annan Baoning immediately ordered: "No arrows shall be fired."

The officials, doctors, craftsmen, and naval gunners that Zhao Kang brought were all wiped out in one fell swoop.

Xie Hong remained unfazed. He was taken to see Li Changlu, who questioned him: "Do you know who is commanding the battle at the front?"

After Chen Kai translated, Li Changlu shook his head blankly.

Xie Hong said, "That is His Highness Prince Yu, the eldest son of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

Li Changlu was startled.

Xie Hong questioned, "If anything happens to Prince Yu, the Ming Dynasty will surely launch a punitive expedition. At that time, will Annam still be able to withstand an army of 100,000?"

Li Changlu became hesitant.

Xie Hong added, "Du Yingwu plotted to murder the king and princes, depose the queen, and defile the palace."

"You are a member of the Annam royal family, how can you allow someone of a different surname to run rampant like this? Surrender immediately and obey my orders!"

Historically, it was probably about ten years later that Li Changlu conspired with civil officials to eliminate Du Yingwu.

Ultimately, Du Yingwu stripped him of his title, banishing him from commanding troops and turning him into a sinecure official who only received a salary.

Chapter 3698 Eliminating the Traitors

Seeing Li Changlu remain silent, Xie Hong continued, "You have done nothing wrong by submitting to His Highness Prince Yu at this time. Why don't you help me eliminate the traitor Du?"

"Do you really want Empress Dowager Du to come in person, and for the Ming Dynasty to send 100,000 troops to attack again?"

"At that time, you'll be considered a traitor, and the execution of your entire family will be the least of your worries!"

Li Changlu suddenly knelt down: "I am willing to help the angels to eliminate the traitors and the national villains!"

"Very good, fight alongside me." Xie Hong nodded with a smile.

And so, Xie Hong, who had just been captured, became the commander of the Annamite navy in the blink of an eye.

Soon, the defeated navy was recalled, and the two naval forces joined forces to attack Du Yingwu.

"Boom boom boom!"

More than twenty small cannons fired iron balls slightly smaller than tennis balls.

Four of the iron bullets hit the war elephants, causing them to go berserk and flee, rampaging and causing heavy casualties among the Annamese army.

The war elephants kept bellowing, causing even those that weren't hit by the cannons to become restless and start to lose control.

The muskets were still firing incessantly as the Ming army fought fiercely against the charging enemy.

The Annamese troops who burned down the Ming army camp were rushing over to surround and attack.

As the war elephants went out of control, the Ming army, surrounded on three sides, launched another attack before the enemy could complete the encirclement.

Du Yingwu was nearly going crazy: "Surround them, surround them all!"

Annamese troops had already surrounded them, but they couldn't break through the Mandarin Duck Formation at all, and were instead defeated one after another.

"General, the Marquis of Baoning has betrayed us and is leading his navy to attack Beijiang Road City!"

Du Yingwu was shocked to hear this.

More and more war elephants fled in terror, and more and more Annamese soldiers broke away. The Ming army was charging toward their own central army, and their own navy had even defected to the enemy again.

Despite the seemingly perilous situation faced by the Ming army, so far only one person has been killed and more than two hundred have been wounded by arrows.

Paddy field warfare is the home ground of the Mandarin Duck Formation!

"Follow me to kill the traitors!"

Du Yi, the eunuch in charge of the troops on the flank of the central army, suddenly led his troops to defect.

This Du Yi was Du Yingwu's confidant, and even a servant raised by his father.

Du Yi played a significant role in Du Yingwu's successful coup.

Historically, it was Du Yi who colluded with civil officials to rebel, which completely broke Du Yingwu's defenses, leading him to forbid the king from having private contact with eunuchs.

Du Yi also met a tragic end, dying from the Trojan Horse torture.

Anal fissure and intestinal rupture!

At this moment, Du Yi led a portion of the central army in a rebellion, which terrified Du Yingwu.

He simply couldn't understand how his trusted eunuch, who had come from a humble background as a servant, had turned against him.

It's actually quite simple: Du Yi was not only Du Yingwu's confidant, but also Empress Dowager Du's confidant.

She also raised King Li Yanghuan single-handedly, regarding him as her own son.

King Li Yanghuan was indeed critically ill at first, but his condition improved after taking the medicine.

Du Yi couldn't bring himself to do it, but he was kept out; Du Yingwu wouldn't let him see the king.

When he received the next news, it was of the king's death. Du Yi was filled with self-blame and harbored deep resentment towards Du Yingwu.

The officers in his army were all eunuchs!

The practice of eunuchs commanding the army was an old tradition of the Ly Dynasty in Vietnam.

Du Yingwu personally led his troops to fight against the defector forces, but was unable to quickly annihilate them.

General Long Kan, leading his routed troops, fled back. Seeing the infighting within Du Yingwu's central army and the Ming army in pursuit, he shouted, "Follow me to eliminate the traitor!"

Chapter 3699 Outrageous Losses

"A great reward will be given to whoever captures or kills Du Yingwu! Long live the Ming Dynasty! Long live Empress Dowager Du!"

In the blink of an eye, Du Yingwu was attacked from both sides.

His power base in Annam was too shallow. Less than a year after the coup, he had no time to consolidate his power and could only use benefits to buy off the army.

If you keep winning, that's fine, but if you suffer defeats, some generals will definitely defect!

Seeing the fleeing soldiers charging towards him, followed by Ming troops, Du Yingwu was so frightened that he fled with his personal guards.

Upon seeing Du Yingwu's defeat and escape, the Annamese troops who had surrounded them from all sides gradually laid down their weapons and surrendered.

Only a few die-hards knew they could not escape punishment and would be purged even if they surrendered.

Some led their troops to fight to the death, while others abandoned their troops and fled.

"Your Highness, our army has won!" Han Jing clasped his hands in a fist salute.

“The enemy is no match for us,” Zhao Kang was overjoyed, as this was his first major battle. “Quickly bring the medics to treat the wounded.”

Han Jing said, "I have already sent someone to fetch a military doctor."

The soldiers ahead were still in pursuit, and Zhao Kang only had two hundred wounded soldiers left to protect him.

There were tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers around, and Han Jing, fearing something might happen, sent the defecting Annamese generals to take them over.

All weapons must be discarded, and then everyone must sit in the field, with no one allowed to return to the field ridges.

Zhao Kang walked to the carcass of a war elephant. The beast had a large hole smashed into its shoulder, yet it still managed to run more than ten meters before collapsing.

Han Jing drew his sword and cut the leather straps of the war elephant armor, discovering that it was actually a double-layered composite armor of leather and iron. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "This armor alone surpasses that of many elite troops of the Ming Dynasty."

Long Kan, who had defected on the battlefield, offered a fawning explanation: "Decades ago, our war elephants encountered the Song army."

"The Song army used a powerful crossbow (divine crossbow) to shoot the elephants. When the war elephants charged close to them in pain, the Song army used swords to slash their trunks. The war elephants, in pain and fright, trampled their own men."

"Later, they improved the war elephant armor, even covering the elephant's trunk with leather armor. With the entire nation's resources, they could only raise a little over thirty war elephants."

It is evident that the northern army of the Song Dynasty was still very powerful. Even when charged by war elephants, they did not collapse. Instead, they were able to organize their soldiers to cut down the elephants' trunks.

"Why didn't Annam use war elephants when the Ming army attacked last time?" Zhao Kang asked.

Long Kan said, "At that time, the elephant troops were taken to the south by the Du bandits to fight against Champa and Zhenla."

Zhao Kang ignored the war elephants and went to comfort the wounded soldiers.

The number of Ming soldiers killed in action has now risen to four, all of whom died from arrow wounds.

Several others lost too much blood and fell into a coma. Their companions were urgently bandaging their wounds to prevent further bleeding from the arrow wounds.

More than 200 people were wounded by arrows. Apart from those who were in danger due to excessive bleeding, two others were shot in the eyes.

This is the total number of casualties for the Ming army: four killed in action, many unconscious, two with one eye missing, and more than two hundred wounded by arrows.

After learning the situation, the defector Long Kan felt a sense of awe and even fear.

This doesn't make sense! This is a battle involving tens of thousands of people!

What's the logic behind only four deaths?

If Long Kan knew Qi Jiguang's achievements, he would understand that this situation was perfectly normal.

In their first battle, Qi Jiguang's army killed 308 Japanese pirates, captured 2 alive, and the number of pirates who drowned is not counted. Qi Jiguang's own army suffered 3 casualties.

Then, 1500 soldiers of Qi Jiguang's army annihilated 2000 Japanese pirates. Three of their own men were killed in action.

Chapter 3700 Merit in the Mandarin Duck Formation

They crossed the sea and launched a fierce attack on the island, eliminating more than 1000 Japanese pirates. Thirteen of their own men were killed in action.

They defeated several thousand Japanese pirates, beheading over 700. They suffered zero casualties.

They burned and drowned more than 3000 Japanese pirates and beheaded more than 900. They themselves suffered 69 casualties.

The reason why 69 soldiers of Qi Jiguang's army died in this battle was because the guide was bribed by the Japanese pirates and led Qi Jiguang to a strong camp guarded by 4000 Japanese pirates.

The terrain was extremely unfavorable to Qi Jiguang's army, because it was the pre-arranged battlefield for the Japanese pirates.

With limited troop deployment and caught in an ambush, many of the vanguard soldiers were wounded by gunfire.

Qi Jiguang's army forcibly captured the enemy's camp and instead annihilated 4000 Japanese pirates!

If we look at it this way, isn't it even more absurd that only 69 people were killed?

The other incident, in which 13 people were killed, involved a cross-sea assault on an island, directly destroying the Japanese pirates' lair!

There was another battle where 16 people were killed, which was an even more absurd siege battle, in which Yu Dayou also participated.

More than 6000 Japanese pirates stubbornly defended the 8-meter-high brick and stone city wall...

On the occasion when 24 people were killed, they first captured four Japanese pirate camps, and then launched nine strong attacks on the Japanese pirates who had fled up the mountain and annihilated them all.

In all the battles fought by Qi Jiguang's army in the south, those in which the number of dead exceeded three were either siege battles or ambushes.

In normal combat, the Qi Family Army would have reached its limit with 3 casualties.

The Ming army used firearms to form a "Mandarin Duck Formation," and its superior strategy of fighting in paddy fields made it difficult for the Annamite soldiers to besiege them, no matter how many there were.

Isn't it normal that only four people were shot to death?

The military doctor, along with his apprentices and medicine, rushed over from outside the city of Beijiang Road.

Xie Hong also sent someone, saying that after surrendering to the Annamite navy, he would sail directly to attack the city.

Of course, they didn't manage to capture it, but as Du Yingwu fled in defeat, the city's defenders chose to open the gates and surrender.