Chương 607: Naval Battle

On the city wall, the leader of the Pyu Kingdom looked at the strange iron pipes below and felt a little uneasy, but he still forced himself to remain calm and said to the generals around him:

"The Han soldiers have come from afar, and their supplies must be running low. As long as we hold our ground and do not engage, they will naturally retreat within a month. Then we can pursue them and surely achieve a great victory."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a deafening roar came from below the city.

"fire!"

At Xu Huang's command, one hundred cannons opened fire simultaneously.

Solid iron bullets whistled as they flew toward the city wall, making a piercing sound as if they were being torn apart by ghosts and wolves.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The shells slammed into the rammed earth city wall, instantly blasting open huge gaps, sending mud and stones flying everywhere, like a mud rain.

The Pyu soldiers on the city wall were blown to pieces, their screams echoing everywhere. Several people were thrown off the city wall by the shockwave.

The leader of the Pyu Kingdom was so frightened that his face turned pale and his legs went weak. He had to hold onto the battlements to avoid falling.

He had never seen such terrifying weapons. The city walls, which he thought were indestructible, were as fragile as tofu in front of the Han army's cannons.

"Quickly! Repair the city wall!" he shouted hoarsely.

But it was too late.

The Han army's artillery gave them no chance to breathe, bombarding the city walls round after round, with shells raining down on them as if they were free.

In less than half an hour, several large sections of the western city wall of Srivijaya were blasted down, revealing several gaps that were more than ten feet wide.

"Archers, cover! Infantry, charge!"

Xu Huang, holding a weapon, pointed it at the gap.

A thousand musketeers rushed to the breach, lined up in three rows, and took turns firing at the Pyu soldiers on the city wall, bullets whizzing past.

The Pyu soldiers couldn't even raise their heads; they all hid behind the city walls, too afraid to come out.

Immediately afterwards, thousands of Han infantrymen shouted and charged toward the breach.

Armed with swords and shields, they surged into the city like a tidal wave, their battle cries shaking the heavens.

Although the Pyu soldiers were numerous, they had long been terrified by the Han army's artillery.

They had no will to fight; they either threw down their weapons and surrendered, kneeling and begging for mercy, or they scattered and fled, running faster than rabbits.

The battle proceeded exceptionally smoothly, with almost no significant resistance encountered.

In less than an hour, the Han army had completely taken control of the city of Srichatala.

The flags of the Han army were planted on the city walls.

The leader of the Pyu Kingdom was captured by Han soldiers while fleeing, and knelt before Xu Huang, begging for mercy...

Xu Huang looked at his disheveled appearance and said disdainfully, letting out a cold snort:

"If only you had known then what you know now! How could you barbarians possibly resist the might of our Great Han Dynasty?"

He ordered the Pyu leader and his family to be taken to Jiaozhi, then posted notices to appease the people and opened granaries to distribute grain.

As Yue Fei had predicted, after the city of Sricharo was captured, the other Pyu city-states sent envoys to surrender one after another, with envoys arriving in droves.

In less than a month, the entire Pyu Kingdom was pacified.

Xu Huang left 3, 000 soldiers to garrison various places, while he led the main force south to join Yue Fei's central army.

Just as Xu Huang was pacifying the Pyu Kingdom, Huang Zhong's naval fleet was also engaged in a tremendous naval battle with the Funan navy at the mouth of the Lancang River.

King Fan Man of Funan had already made preparations upon learning of the Han army's invasion.

He concentrated all the warships in the country at the mouth of the Lancang River, led by his most trusted younger brother Fan Zhan, in an attempt to use naval superiority to prevent the Han army from attacking from the sea.

Fan Zhan was young and arrogant, and he didn't take the Han navy seriously at all.

He said to his subordinates, "The Funan navy has dominated the South China Sea for decades without ever suffering a defeat. Those Han ships, though they look large, are clumsy and no match for us. If we charge in and ram them, we'll achieve a great victory! Your rewards will double!"

When Huang Zhong led fifty Han army warships onto the sea, Fan Zhan laughed heartily, tears streaming down his face.

"The Han army has only so many ships? They're truly overestimating themselves! Send the entire army to attack and sink them!"

More than three hundred Funan sailboats raised their sails and pounced on the Han army fleet like a pack of hungry wolves, their oars flying fast.

Standing on the deck of the flagship "Dingyuan", the veteran general Huang Zhong looked at the approaching Funan warships and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"Pass down the order: all ships maintain distance and avoid close combat with enemy vessels. Firing freely with naval guns and composite bows!"

"yes!"

At Huang Zhong's command, the cannons on both sides of the Han army's warships opened fire simultaneously.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Each Han army warship was equipped with six heavy naval guns, so fifty warships would have three hundred cannons.

The cannonballs whistled as they flew toward the Funan warships, and huge splashes of water erupted on the sea surface.

The warships of Funan were all made of wood and could not withstand the solid iron bullets fired by the Han army.

A warship was hit by a cannonball, instantly creating a large hole in its hull. Seawater rushed in and it quickly sank to the bottom of the sea, with soldiers jumping into the water.

Another warship was hit on the mast, which collapsed with a crash, killing more than a dozen soldiers on board, their screams echoing through the air.

Fan Zhan was shocked and his face turned green. He hadn't expected the Han army's naval cannons to have such a long range and such great power. He hurriedly gave the order:

"Speed up! Charge! Get closer to them! Once we're close, their artillery won't be able to hit us!"

However, the Han army's warships maintained a distance of only an arrow's length from the Funan warships, retreating while firing cannons, never allowing the enemy to get close.

Although the Funan warships were fast, they were sunk one after another under the Han army's artillery fire. The sea was filled with floating planks and Funan soldiers who had fallen into the water, and the seawater was stained red.

The battle lasted less than an hour, and the Funan navy had already lost nearly a hundred warships.

The remaining warships were mostly badly damaged, and the soldiers were terrified, so they turned their ships around and tried to escape.

"Trying to run? Too late!" Huang Zhong sneered, then ordered, "All troops, pursue! Use fire!"

The Han army's warships sped up and caught up with the fleeing Funan warships.

The soldiers fired lit rockets and oil-soaked torches at the enemy ships.

The wooden warships of Funan caught fire as soon as they were exposed to flames, and a raging fire broke out on the sea, with flames shooting into the sky and thick smoke billowing out, blotting out the sun.

The Funan soldiers cried out for their parents and jumped into the sea to escape, but many drowned, were burned alive, or were eaten by sharks.

Fan Zhan's flagship was also hit by a rocket, and the ship burst into flames.

He watched as his painstakingly built navy was completely annihilated, and his heart was breaking.

He drew his sword, intending to commit suicide, but was stopped by his personal guards.

"General! Jump into the sea! As long as we're alive, we can always fight another day!"

Fan Zhan sighed, threw away his sword, and jumped into the sea.

But he had only swum a short distance when he was rescued by a small Han army boat and became a prisoner.

In this great naval battle, the Han army annihilated more than 300 warships of the Funan navy at the cost of zero casualties and captured more than 20, 000 soldiers.

Huang Zhong left a portion of his soldiers to garrison the mouth of the Lancang River, while he led his naval fleet upstream to cooperate with Yue Fei's main force in attacking the capital of Funan.

Yue Fei led his main force of 20, 000 troops to the gates of Viyadapura, the capital of Funan.