Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v1.c7.s3.36

v1.c7.s3.36

The Chinese continued their advance and were at last met by Yang Mai himself at the head of an immense host. Yang Mai placed a large number of elephants in front of his army. This terrified the Chinese soldiers. But the ingenuity of a Chinese general saved the situation. He prepared numerous figures of lions by means of bamboos and papers, and these were thrown before the elephants. The latter took fright and fled, and in so doing threw into confusion and disorder the very army they were intended to protect. Yang Mai suffered a most terrible defeat and fled from the battlefield with his son. The victorious Chinese general T'an Ho Tche then entered the capital Champāpura in triumph and obtained a rich booty of very precious objects. The whole country was occupied, all the temples were sacked, and their statues were melted for the metals contained in them. About 100,000 pounds of pure gold were obtained from this source. The Chinese victory was complete.