Chapter 463
Zhao Yu stirred up a hornet's nest
...
If one were to choose a dominant power in the Indochina Peninsula at that time, it would undoubtedly be the Angkor Dynasty, also known as Zhenla.
When talking about hegemons, the first thing that must be mentioned is their territory.
Under the rule of powerful rulers such as Suryavarman I and Suryavarman II, the Angkor Dynasty's territory extended east to the Khorat Plateau on the border of Champa, west to the upper reaches of the Chao Phraya River bordering the Queen's Kingdom, north to the Xieng Khouang Plateau in central Laos, and south to the Kra Isthmus in northern Malay Peninsula, encompassing the core agricultural areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap Lake basin.
In contrast, the Ly Dynasty's rule during the same period was limited to the Red River basin; Champa was confined by its mountainous and coastal terrain and was never able to break free from the shackles of north-south division; the Queen's Kingdom was still a tribal alliance regime established by the ancestors of the Lao people in the middle reaches of the Mekong River, with its core ruling area located in the area of the Xieng Khouang Plateau and Vientiane Plain in modern Laos; the Bagan Dynasty had passed its heyday, possessing a considerable territory but riddled with internal problems and even at risk of disintegration.
It can be said that, in terms of area, all the small countries in the Indochina Peninsula, whether in terms of territorial depth or resource endowment, are far inferior to the Angkor Dynasty, which possessed an alluvial plain.
If it weren't for the Dali Kingdom to the north, the combined forces of Annam and Champa to the east, and the once-glorious Pagan Dynasty to the west, the Angkor Dynasty would have unified the entire Indochina Peninsula long ago.
The Angkor Dynasty also possessed a highly developed agricultural and irrigation system. Centered around Tonle Sap Lake, it constructed a dense network of irrigation canals and reservoirs, among which the world-famous West Pool and East Pool could store millions of cubic meters of water, ensuring not only drainage during the rainy season and irrigation during the dry season, but also supporting large-scale rice cultivation.
To put it simply, at this time, the Angkor Dynasty could support urban settlements and a standing army of hundreds of thousands of people, with a total population of about three million. Its food surplus was sufficient to support long-term wars and massive construction projects.
The construction of magnificent buildings such as Angkor Wat and Bayon Temple is a direct reflection of the economic strength of the Angkor Dynasty.
In contrast, other countries in the Indochina Peninsula:
Annam's agriculture relies on the natural resources of the Red River Delta, and its water conservancy technology largely imitates that of the Song Dynasty, but on a limited scale.
Champa relied on the spice trade and coastal fishing as its mainstays, and its agricultural output was extremely unstable. Once it encountered war or natural disasters, it was very easy to fall into a predicament of material shortage.
The Queen's Kingdom was trapped by the fragmented terrain of mountains and valleys, and its agricultural economy was always an extensive model of "relying on the weather" (growing dry rice in the mountains and paddy rice in the valleys). It had neither water conservancy projects on the scale of Angkor nor the ability to cultivate contiguous farmland. Its food production was only enough to be self-sufficient, let alone support a large standing army, and it was even struggling to cope with droughts and floods that lasted for a while.
While trade was an important economic supplement to the Kingdom of Queensland, it was ultimately just a "transit station" between the Angkor Dynasty and the Dali Kingdom, earning only meager tolls. The pricing power for the core spice, salt, and iron trade remained firmly in the hands of the Angkor Dynasty.
As for the Bagan Dynasty, although it possessed the fertile land of the Irrawaddy River Plain and had a considerable scale of rice cultivation, and once supported the magnificent scene of the "City of a Thousand Pagodas" with its developed agriculture, the Bagan Dynasty at this time had long lost the vigor of its peak.
Excessive devotion to Buddhism led to the annexation of vast amounts of land and labor by temples, turning fertile farmland into the private property of monks. The tax revenue and military manpower that the king could control dwindled day by day. In addition, the continuous wars in the Shan Plateau drained the country's resources like a bottomless pit, and the surplus of the agricultural economy was mostly used to fill the gaps in war and the construction of pagodas, leaving the country unable to support its ambitions for external expansion.
It can only be said that at this time, the Bagan Dynasty, despite its vast territory, was outwardly strong but inwardly weak, and could only huddle in the Irrawaddy River basin, watching helplessly as the Angkor Dynasty dominated the Indochina Peninsula.
As for Srivijaya, its core area, Sumatra and the southern part of the Malay Peninsula, has limited plains, and rice cultivation can only meet the basic needs of coastal city-states. Its real strength lies in its control of the trade lifeline of the Strait of Malacca and the Sunda Strait.
Porcelain, silk, and light and heavy industrial products from the Song Dynasty, cotton and gems from India, and spices and ivory from Arabia all had to be transshipped through the port of Srivijaya. It accumulated enormous wealth by levying "transit taxes" on passing merchant ships.
However, Srivijaya's hegemony was limited to the sea. Its army was weak and its control over the inland areas was almost zero. Compared with the Angkor Dynasty, which had vast plains and a powerful army, it could not be called the hegemon of the Indochina Peninsula in terms of land power.
Furthermore, there's the issue of political centralization and military mobilization capabilities:
Although the Joseon Dynasty imitated the Song Dynasty by establishing a centralized bureaucratic system, appointing the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers and implementing the civil service examination system in an attempt to weaken the power of local powerful clans, the clans in the Red River basin had deep roots. These clans not only controlled a large amount of land and population but also possessed private armies. Whenever there was a war, the court had to rely on the clans for military support, which greatly reduced the degree of centralization.
Militarily, the Joseon Dynasty's standing army numbered only tens of thousands, mainly consisting of infantry and a small navy. Although it could temporarily conscript able-bodied men during wartime, it lacked unified training and command, resulting in limited mobilization efficiency. Its military strength was mostly used to defend the borders of the Song Dynasty and suppress internal rebellions, leaving it unable to launch large-scale cross-border campaigns.
Champa never escaped the loose political system of tribal alliances. The king's power was divided among local lords, and the territory was divided into unconnected blocks by mountains and coastlines. Each lord only had a symbolic obligation to pay tribute to the king, and military and financial autonomy were both achieved.
This fragmented structure meant that Champa had no unified military mobilization system. During wartime, each lord fought independently, with their forces scattered and poorly coordinated. Even with elite elephant cavalry and archers, they could only play a role in local conflicts. When faced with large-scale attacks from the Angkor Dynasty, they often collapsed at the first touch.
The political structure of the Queen's Kingdom was more primitive, essentially a loose alliance of Lao tribal leaders. The so-called "king" was merely a leader elected by the tribal leaders, with no directly governed territory or population, nor a unified tax and military service system.
Militarily, the Queen's Kingdom had no standing army. In times of war, it relied on the temporary recruitment of able-bodied men by various tribes to form armed forces. The soldiers were poorly equipped, mainly with bamboo bows and rattan shields, and their combat strength was weak. Their way of survival was never to resist with force, but to depend on powerful countries such as the Angkor Dynasty or the Dali Kingdom, and to eke out a living in the power struggle between great powers.
The Bagan Dynasty once achieved a high degree of centralization through the model of "unity of royal and religious power." The king called himself "Chakravartin" and used Buddhist faith to unite the people and control the land and taxes of the whole country.
However, by this time, excessive devotion to Buddhism had made the power of temples too great to be controlled. Large amounts of land were annexed by temples, and the resources that the king could mobilize became increasingly scarce, rendering the centralized system ineffective.
Militarily, Bagan's standing army was once renowned for its heavy infantry and war elephants, but at this time, it was short of manpower, had outdated equipment, and was bogged down in a protracted war on the Shan Plateau. The army was exhausted and could no longer expand its territory, let alone maintain border stability. Its military mobilization capacity had plummeted.
There is also Srivijaya, which adopted a loose "suzerain-vassal" ruling model. It only demanded tribute and trade monopoly rights from numerous port cities along the coast of Sumatra and in the southern Malay Peninsula, without establishing direct administrative control.
Militarily, its advantage lay in its navy rather than its land forces: its warships were mostly pointed-bottom sailing ships equipped with catapults and Molotov cocktails, which patrolled the Strait of Malacca year-round, plundering foreign merchant ships that did not pay "tolls" to them, thus ensuring its trade hegemony.
It is worth mentioning that at this time, Srivijaya was already facing pressure from the rise of the Sinhasari Dynasty in Java, its sphere of influence was gradually shrinking, and the foundation of its maritime hegemony began to be shaken.
Only the Angkor Dynasty established a unique theocratic monarchy system in the Indochina Peninsula. The king was not only the highest secular ruler, but also the human embodiment of Hindu deities such as Shiva and Vishnu, possessing supreme authority. Through a system of bureaucrats and nobles, he achieved direct control over the entire country's territory.
—From the agricultural areas of the Mekong River plain to the trading posts in the northern Malay Peninsula, all were governed by officials appointed by the king, and the tax, corvée, and military service systems reached the grassroots level.
This highly centralized political system endowed the Angkor Dynasty with a terrifying military mobilization capability:
In times of war, the Angkor Dynasty could quickly assemble an army of hundreds of thousands, including tens of thousands of heavily armored war elephants mounted on towers, as well as regular infantry equipped with bronze weapons and receiving unified training. Furthermore, relying on its advanced water conservancy and agricultural system, it ensured the supply of food and provisions for the army, supporting its long-term cross-border conquests.
It was precisely by virtue of this centralized advantage and mobilization capability that the Angkor Dynasty repeatedly conquered the capital of Champa, forcing the Mon city-states in the Chao Phraya River basin to submit, pushing its sphere of influence to its extreme, and becoming the veritable land power hegemon of the Indochina Peninsula.
In terms of practical warfare, the Angkor Dynasty launched several military campaigns against Champa and the Mon city-states in the Chao Phraya River basin, forcing them to submit and pay tribute; even border conflicts with the Ly Dynasty mostly ended in victory for the Angkor army.
At this time, the Angkor Dynasty was ruled by its most outstanding and powerful ruler, Suryavarman II.
Furthermore, Suryavarman II had already been on the throne for over a decade and was only in his thirties, a stage in a monarch's life when he was most capable, physically fit, and charismatic.
Therefore, faced with the sudden attack of the Song Dynasty on the Ly Dynasty, which captured the capital of the Ly Dynasty in just over a month and purged the entire ruling class of the Ly Dynasty, and set its sights on the entire Indochina Peninsula, Suryavarman II decisively sent people to contact King Yangbum Made of Champa, King Chao Deviana of the Queen Mother of the Nile, King Arun Siddhu of the Bagan Dynasty, and even King Sri Vimalakirti of Srivijaya and Emperor Duan Zhengyan of the Dali Kingdom to write letters, explaining the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold" to them, and asking them to send troops to join the Angkor Dynasty to drive out the Song Dynasty, so as to save their own rule and even their lives.
Before the small countries of the Indochina Peninsula could agree to unite against the Song Dynasty's attack, the Song Dynasty swiftly captured Champa and eliminated its ruling class.
This put enormous pressure on the small countries in the Indochina Peninsula. Everyone was worried that their country would be next, and that they and their relatives and friends would be wiped out by the Song Dynasty.
Under these circumstances, the various small countries that had been fighting each other in the Indochina Peninsula for hundreds of years unusually united and prepared to work together to drive out the Song Dynasty.
Queen Zhao Deviana of the Queen's Kingdom personally donned armor and led more than 30,000 mountain infantrymen across high mountains and dense forests to outflank the Song army's land supply line.
These soldiers were skilled in mountain warfare, armed with bamboo bows and poisoned arrows, and carrying short knives and rattan shields. They would raid the weak points of the Song army's grain transport convoys.
Knowing that the Queen's Kingdom was weak and dared not confront the Song army head-on, Zhao Deviana used guerrilla tactics to harass the enemy and buy time for the main force of the allied forces to assemble.
Although Arun Siddhu of the Bagan Dynasty lived deep within a Buddhist stupa, he understood the principle of mutual dependence. He dispatched 50,000 infantrymen, 1,000 heavy infantrymen, and 3,000 war elephants to advance eastward along the Irrawaddy River.
The heavy infantry of Bagan were different from those of the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty's heavy infantry was based on the infantry armor, which was mostly made of iron and was made of thousands of pieces of armor. It covered the whole body (including helmet, shoulder guards, body armor, and leg skirts). The focus of protection was to resist the impact of northern cavalry. The armor could weigh more than 30 kilograms and was extremely effective against arrows and spears, but it was not very flexible.
The heavy infantry of Bagan wore armor made of a mixture of iron and leather, with the main body being hard armor made of rhinoceros or elephant hide. Iron plates were added to key areas (chest, shoulders, and head). The armor weighed only a dozen kilograms. Its protection was mainly designed to deal with bamboo spears, poison arrows, and war elephant charges common in the Indochina Peninsula. The leather armor was more suitable for the hot and humid climate, was less prone to rust, and was lighter, making it easier to move through jungles and valleys.
The heavy infantry of Bagan were actually vassals of the war elephant corps. Their main weapons were long-handled iron spears, short-handled scimitars, and round shields. They had no ranged weapons. Tactically, they followed the war elephants closely. After the war elephants disrupted the enemy's formation, the infantry were responsible for mopping up the scattered enemy or filling in the gaps between the war elephants to prevent being separated by the enemy. They emphasized "attacking while moving" and relied entirely on the impact of the war elephants. Without the cooperation of the war elephants, their combat power was greatly reduced.
It is worth mentioning that the heavy infantry in Bagan were the private armies of temples and nobles. Most of the soldiers were temple tenants or noble servants, and their equipment was either self-funded or provided by the lord.
The fact that Bagan was able to deploy 3,000 war elephants and 10,000 heavy infantry in this battle clearly shows that the monks and nobles within the country were afraid. They feared that they and their relatives and friends would be purged by the Song Dynasty, just like the ruling classes of the Joseon Dynasty and Champa. Otherwise, they wouldn't have resorted to such measures.
Srivijaya King Srivijaya focused his attention on the sea. He mobilized more than 500 warships converted from trading ships to blockade the vital waterways of the Strait of Malacca and the Sunda Strait, cutting off the Song Dynasty's maritime trade in an attempt to cripple the Song economy and force the Song to withdraw its troops.
As the leader of the allied forces, Suryavarman II of the Angkor Dynasty mobilized the entire nation's resources to prepare for this war against the Song Dynasty.
Suryavarman II prepared to personally lead the campaign, taking on the role of commander-in-chief of the allied forces. He also issued a decree in the name of the divine king, conscripting 300,000 soldiers and civilians to participate in the war.
—Of these, 100,000 were regular elite troops, 20,000 were war elephant troops, and the rest were civilians transporting grain and building camps.
Even the Dali Kingdom secretly provided the allied forces with 500,000 shi of grain and 10,000 packhorses, and even promised to send troops to reinforce the allied forces if necessary, and even send troops disguised as the Queen's Kingdom's troops to help the allied forces harass the Song Dynasty's land supply lines.
Suryavarman II divided the allied forces into three routes: the land route, mainly composed of troops from Angkor and Bagan, was to launch a frontal assault on the main Song army; the northern route, supplemented by troops from the Queen Mother's Kingdom and the Dali Kingdom, was to harass the Song army's flanks; and the sea route was led by the Srivijaya navy, which was to guard the sea passages.
The three armies, echoing each other from afar, with banners obscuring the sun and drums and horns shaking the heavens, set up a decisive battle against the Song Dynasty on the Mekong River plain, vowing to defeat the Song army and preserve the states of the Indochina Peninsula.
It's fair to say that Zhao Yu has stirred up a hornet's nest this time...
...(End of chapter)