Page 264 - A History of Siam

A HISTORY OF SIAM
248
Was another defeat P'ya P'etchaburi was killed in action,
with numbers of his men, and the remnants
together large
of his scattered fleet with difficulty escaped to Ayut'ia.
P'ya Taksin took no active part in this battle, and on
his return to Ayut'ia he was charged with failing to
render proper aid to his colleague. He fell into disgrace,
and not long afterwards he again incurred the Royal
some of the cannon at
displeasure through firing large
the without first from the
enemy obtaining permission
for an absurd order had been that none
King ; passed
of the cannon were to be without
larger discharged
sanction. P'ya Taksin then fled away from the doomed
with followers. The Burmese can have
city 500 hardly
" "
suspected that this contemptible little army was
destined to develop into a force capable of freeing Siam
from their domination.
At the end of the rains the Burmese received re-
inforcements, and from that time the Siamese made but
little serious resistance ; one fort after another fell into
the hands of the enemy, and the interior of the city now
formed an for the Burmese cannon. The
easy target
miserable inhabitants were almost As
starving. though
famine were not enough, an epidemic broke out, and
the streets were strewn with which were left
corpses,
to be devoured by the pariah dogs. To culminate the
of the on a
misery besieged, January 7th, 1767, great
fire broke houses.
out, which consumed 10,000
The Burmese Maha died in
General, Nohrata, early
but which the Siamese have founded
1767, any hopes may
on that event were vain. The Burmese now saw success
within their and on with the
grasp, pressed siege.
King Ekat'at, seeing that all was lost, offered to
surrender his and to become a vassal of the
capital
King of Burma. He was told, in reply, that no other