The King of the Lion Kingdom, Kulam, was in a terrible mood. His elite navy had lost more than half of its strength in one battle. No one would be able to bear it.
At this time, the news of the land army's defeat had not been sent back. If this news came back, Kulam would probably vomit blood.
"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry too much. The Tang Army's warships are indeed powerful. However, if they don't have a foothold, there is nothing to be afraid of. As long as our main forces capture the Caligar Port, the Tang Army's warships will have no foothold. Without food and water supplies, the warships will soon lose their combat effectiveness and seek their own destruction."
A minister said.
They were still very confident about the 20,000 troops on land. The failure of the naval battle only meant that their warships were much smaller than the Tang Dynasty's warships. However, the size of the warships was not a problem on land. 20,000 elite soldiers were half of the combat power of the Lion Kingdom. With such a strong force, many people thought that it would not be a problem to capture the Caligar Port.
"You're right. As long as we successfully take down the Caligar Port, we'll be on par with the Tang Army. We've also burned down the Caligar Port and so many merchant ships. It's a small victory."
Another minister said.
The King of the Lion Kingdom was in a better mood. He asked how to deal with the situation below and urged his subordinates many times to contact the land army to find out if the Caligar Port had been captured.
"Your Majesty, something bad has happened. Something bad has happened."
A dirty soldier hurriedly rushed in, looking very flustered.
"What happened? Why are you so flustered?"
Kulam had an ominous feeling in his heart.
"Gordy, the Gordy Port has been captured by the Tang Army's warships. Our soldiers guarding the Gordy Port have all been wiped out. Only I secretly escaped on a fishing boat."
The soldier answered in a panic.
"The Gordy Port has 3,000 soldiers and more than a dozen arrow towers. How could it be captured so easily? How could this be possible?"
King Kulam looked like he was about to cry. The strategic bridgehead that he had painstakingly built was breached by the Tang Army in the blink of an eye. How could he not be frightened?
"Speak clearly. What happened? Was it done by the Tang Dynasty army? They only have eight warships and don't have many soldiers. "
The minister asked.
The soldier said, "It's the Tang Dynasty army. However, they have more than eight warships. There are at least 50 warships, and they have more than 10,000 soldiers. There are also many powerful iron carts. Our weapons can't hurt them at all. We can't resist them at all."
After saying that, the soldier died because he was too tired and excited.
"How can this be? Didn't they say that there were only 3,000 Tang Army soldiers? How come there are so many Tang Army soldiers all of a sudden?"
The minister said in a panic.
King Kulam was even more frightened. What he was most worried about now was the 20,000 elite soldiers under his command. If something happened to these 20,000 elite soldiers, he would no longer have the power to dominate the region. The consequences would be extremely serious.
"It's over, it's over. We took the initiative to launch a sneak attack on the Tang Dynasty army, but we didn't destroy the main force of the Tang Dynasty army. Instead, our soldiers suffered heavy losses. How can we deal with the attack of the Tang Dynasty army next? It's over! "
"Your Majesty, the situation is very serious now. We have lost a lot of soldiers! The most important problem is that there is still no news about our main force of 20,000 soldiers. We don't know what the situation is like! If these 20,000 soldiers are lost, our Lion Kingdom will be completely finished. "
"I have said long ago that the Tang Dynasty is powerful and is not something that our Lion Kingdom can afford to offend. It's you who insisted on going to war with the Tang Dynasty. Now it's not going to end well."
"Speaking in hindsight. When His Majesty wanted to use force, you didn't object. What's the point of saying this now?"
"Now we should think about how to remedy the situation. Also, what happened to our main force of 20,000 soldiers? We should ask them to withdraw as soon as possible. The most important thing is to defend our homeland."
"Gordy has been occupied by the Tang Dynasty army. Where can our soldiers withdraw? Also, so many transport ships have either sunk or been captured by the Tang Dynasty army. We don't have enough transport ships to transport 20,000 soldiers back."
But now that Gordy was suddenly occupied, and the Tang army suddenly increased in number, this made them very nervous. They felt that the Lion Kingdom was going to be finished, and did not have much hope for the 20,000 main force. Although they did not say it out loud, they all thought that the 20,000 main force was finished. Otherwise, if the main force captured Caligar, how could the Tang army have the mood to come to Gordy, and even win such a big battle? Although they did not say it out loud, they all thought that the 20,000 main force was finished. Otherwise, if the main force captured Caligar, how could the Tang army be in the mood to come to Gordy and win such a big battle?
King Kulam also knew that his main force of 20,000 soldiers was doomed. But before he got definite news, he wouldn't take the initiative to admit it. He avoided admitting it very much.
Now, the entire senior management of the Lion Kingdom understood the most basic truth. That was, their remaining strength was no longer enough to compete with the Tang Dynasty.
However, now that the war had started, it couldn't be stopped at will. How to deal with the attack of the elite troops of the Tang Dynasty next was a big problem.
The Lion Kingdom had a population of more than a million. In this large area of the subcontinent, it could be regarded as a country with a large population. If they wanted to recruit new soldiers and defend their homeland to death, it was not impossible.
However, the combat effectiveness of the new soldiers was definitely not high, and the Tang Dynasty army had shown an abnormal combat effectiveness. In this case, it was obviously unwise for them to recruit new soldiers and fight to the death with the Tang Dynasty army.
The ministers were divided into two groups. Some advocated resisting to the end and absolutely not compromising with the Tang Dynasty army. They suggested recruiting new soldiers to expand their strength. Others advocated peace talks, giving up the benefits they got in South Tianzhu, and even giving up part of their own land.
However, these two paths were not easy to take. The ministers who insisted on resisting to the end did not have a full chance of winning. They could not guarantee in front of the king that they could win the final battle after recruiting new soldiers. If they were still defeated after recruiting new soldiers, then the Lion Kingdom's loss would be even greater.
The ministers who advocated peace talks also could not figure out the bottom line of the Tang Dynasty. Previously, the Tang Dynasty only proposed to ask the Lion Kingdom to give up the invasion of the seaports in South Tianzhu. But now the situation was different. The Lion Kingdom launched a sneak attack first, causing the Tang Dynasty to suffer a certain loss. In this case, the Tang Dynasty's request was certainly not as simple as asking the Lion Kingdom to give up the invasion of the seaports in South Tianzhu.
It was very unacceptable to casually betray one's own interests when one still had a certain amount of strength.
At this moment, the real situation of the 20,000 main forces became the focus of some ministers' debate. Many ministers made it clear that if the 20,000 main forces were still there, they still had the strength to fight. If the 20,000 main forces were all destroyed, they could only be forced to negotiate.
Kulam had sent several groups of trusted aides abroad, but they did not bring back any news of the 20,000 main forces. This made him very anxious.
"Your Majesty, we should immediately recruit new soldiers now. Once the elite troops of the Tang Army come, we will be able to resist them."
"It's better to figure out the situation of the main forces first. If the main forces are gone, what's the use of recruiting new soldiers?"
The ministers began to argue again.
"Reporting, Your Majesty, it's not good, it's not good!"
A soldier rushed into the hall in a panic.
When King Kulam heard the words "not good", he suddenly felt dizzy. He lamented, "My main forces are gone, gone."
After saying that, he fainted and lay on the ground before he could vomit blood.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty …"
A large group of ministers rushed up and looked at their king with a very concerned look.
King Kulam's hunch was very accurate. Yes, the situation that the soldier wanted to report was indeed about the situation of their main forces. Their 20,000 main forces had been completely wiped out.
When the hardline ministers who were originally in favor of war heard that their 20,000 main forces had been wiped out, they were so scared that they did not even dare to breathe loudly. How could they still insist on their views? Only a few generals were still persisting.
"Your Majesty, wake up!"
The ministers could not come up with a good strategy. They could only pin their hopes on the king and let him make a decision himself.
"Uh, how many soldiers do we have left in the Lion Kingdom?"
The king asked weakly.
The minister said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, we have already lost thirty thousand soldiers. There are only twenty thousand soldiers left in the country. Excluding the small number of soldiers stationed in various places, there are only ten thousand soldiers left that can be gathered."
The king spat out a mouthful of blood and said painfully, "How could this be? Our elite army was so easily wiped out by the Tang Dynasty Army. Oh my god, God wants to destroy the Lion Kingdom! Ah! "
After saying that, he spat out another mouthful of blood all over the ground.
"Your Majesty, it seems that we can't fight anymore. We must negotiate with the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible. Only peace is our only way out."
"Yes, yes, yes. Now our only way out is to negotiate with them. All the seaports that we got from South Tianzhu should be given to the Tang Dynasty and we should agree to their conditions."
"Now the situation is different. Our main forces have been wiped out. In addition, it was us who sneakily attacked the Tang Dynasty fleet. In this way, the Tang Dynasty's requirements will definitely be different from the original requirements. The Tang Dynasty will definitely put forward higher requirements for us. We must have our own bottom line."
"We have already lost a lot. Do we still have to cede land and compensate the Tang Dynasty?"
"We can compensate them with money, but we can't cede our land! Once we cede it to the Tang Dynasty, we won't be able to come back. "
"Now we can't defeat the Tang Dynasty. If we don't lose some land, we can't even save our lives. How can we talk about land?"
"A group of traitors. It's better to give the whole Lion Kingdom to the Tang Dynasty. In this way, we don't have to fight for it."
"So what? If we had agreed to the Tang Dynasty's request and not attacked their fleet, we might not be in such a hurry now."
"Enough. What are you arguing about? Let His Majesty make the decision!"
A group of ministers quarreled, which made the king's head ache.
King Kulam woke up again. Looking at a group of ministers who were usually very capable but became cowards at the critical moment, he felt very upset.
"We still don't know the Tang Dynasty's request. What's the use of quarreling? Let's go and find out the Tang Dynasty's request first!"
Kulam said.
"Your Majesty, do you want us to take the initiative to go to the Tang Dynasty? If we do that, we will lose the initiative. Perhaps the Tang Dynasty's request is higher. "
A minister said.
Kulam scolded, "Trash. Look at the situation now. How can you still say such words? We don't have the capital to bargain with the Tang Dynasty now. Taking the initiative to show goodwill is the right choice. If we wait, maybe the whole Lion Kingdom will be occupied by the Tang Dynasty."
At the thought of his 30,000 elite soldiers being wiped out by the Tang Dynasty, King Kulam of the Lion Kingdom was completely frightened. He had been a king for so many years, but he had never encountered such a powerful army. He knew that resistance was useless. For his own glory and wealth, he had to bow his head and admit his mistake to the Tang Dynasty, and use his sincerity to move the Tang Dynasty.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll take a ship to Gordy and ask what the Tang Dynasty wants. Then I'll report it to Your Majesty."
A minister volunteered.
The fire in the harbor of Garigal burned for a whole day and night. Hundreds of merchant ships and a large number of harbor facilities were all destroyed. The loss could be said to be very heavy.
And such heavy losses were caused by the fire attack of the Lion Kingdom. The Lion Kingdom had an unshirkable responsibility and had to pay compensation, and the compensation had to be doubled. As for the damaged ships of the Tang Dynasty, they had to pay ten times the compensation.
Many merchants and sailors lost their lives in the fire, which made their relatives and companions very sad. They gathered on the beach of the harbor and cried.
Because there were so many people, the crying of the entire harbor was particularly loud. It could be heard clearly from far away.
Among these people, some were simply crying, and some were angrily cursing. They cursed the Lion Kingdom, which was responsible for the fire, to be destroyed, and some complained that the South Tianzhu troops did not protect them well enough.
In short, all kinds of crying and cursing were intertwined. After listening to it, people who heard it felt unusually upset and wanted to plug their ears. In this way, at least, it could alleviate the pain temporarily.
Li Feiyu did not receive orders from Ang Lee, so he could only continue to be stationed in Garigal. Looking at these poor merchants and people, he sighed.
If he could have predicted that the Lion Kingdom would use fire ships to attack and made preparations in advance, then these merchant ships could have been prevented from being burned and so many people would not have died.
However, since it had already happened, it was useless to regret. The most important thing was to deal with the matter at hand.
"Come on, immediately calculate the losses. In addition to the losses of the Tang Dynasty, there are also the losses of the merchants and people, including the losses of personnel and property. Calculate everything clearly."
Li Feiyu ordered.
"Yes, General, I understand."
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