prosperous age

Chapter 1094 1185 Fire

“No, just hold on to the dock.

If the other side attacks, you must defend the ferry with all your strength and not retreat a single step."

Li Ruzhang's order undoubtedly pushed his guerrilla camp to the front line. The guerrilla general did not believe that his previous words were false, and the garrison of Lujiang City opposite had rebelled and surrendered to the enemy.

Thinking of this, his face turned pale instantly.

His position was originally quite safe because Lujiang City was in front of him, but the situation was different now.

Maybe the rebels from the opposite side will attack us in the afternoon.

"Major General, you see what I have here. With just these few men in such an important position, can my few men withstand the attack of the rebels?

  When will the reinforcements from Baoshan City arrive?

Otherwise, I will never be able to defend the ferry."

The guerrilla was also furious and spoke hastily.

No matter what the final result is, you must first put the difficulties on the table. If you can hold on, you can hold on. If you can’t, you will definitely have to run away.

Just as the guerrilla general was complaining to Li Ruzhang at the dock, the large ship carrying the Xian family had already docked on the opposite side.

"Come quickly and help."

The leading servant stood at the bow, looked at the familiar guard, and shouted hurriedly.

"Brother Zhang San, it's you who's here."

The guards at the dock were all personal soldiers of Xian Gui, so they naturally knew some of the powerful servants in the Xian Mansion. They came over to greet them and did not forget to ask someone to set up a gangway for the people on the boat to disembark.

The leading servant is Zhang San. Since he has been with the Third Master for a long time, he has some say in the mansion.

"Well, do you have a horse? Quickly prepare a horse for me. I need to go to the city to report the news."

Zhang San looked back at the empty river. The Ming army on the opposite side did not chase them. That was good, but he had to report the news to his master immediately.

The people in Baoshan City already knew that something had happened in Lujiang City, so they were sure that no Ming army would come to kill them.

Although he didn't know what had happened in Lujiang City that attracted the attention of the master, he brought the masters of Xian Mansion back safely, and his contribution was great. He had to show off in front of the master first and ask for some reward.

"Yes, yes, yes. I'll get someone to pull it over right away."

When the guard leader heard that they wanted a horse, he readily agreed.

"Hey, Madam, the young master is also on the boat."

At this time, Xiangui's wife and son in the cabin also came out of the cabin and stood on the deck waiting to disembark.

The personal soldiers of Xian Mansion were naturally no strangers to them, and their attitude was even more respectful.

In fact, they originally had carriages and horses, but in order to cross the river quickly, they gave up these things and simply abandoned them on the other side of the river.

The pier was not far from Lujiang City. After the horses arrived, other servants were arranged to escort the family members in the mansion. Zhang San mounted the horse and ran towards the city.

Normally, if nothing else happened along the way, they should have returned here around noon today, so Xian Lao San is still sleeping in the mansion with his beauty in his arms, and has not come to the dock to pick them up.

Who would have thought that they would be discovered and the army would be sent to intercept them.

When Zhang San appeared outside the house, Xian Lao San, who was still sleeping, was scared half to death.

"What's going on? Where are my sister-in-law and my wife?"

Without even bothering to put on his clothes, he left the soft and fragrant girl in his arms, got off the bed, opened the door in a hurry, and asked Zhang San when he saw him.

"Third Master, the Madam and the Young Master are both at the dock. This journey is very dangerous, wuwuwu."

At this point, Zhang San started to cry, but he still did not forget to mention his own contribution first.

"What the hell are you crying about?"

Hearing that his family was fine, Xian Lao San was not so panicked. He yelled at Zhang San, then softened his tone and continued to ask: "Nothing happened along the way, right?"

"Third Master, we were fine at first, but after we turned back and bypassed Baoshan City, we were discovered by the Ming army for some reason.

In order to ensure the safety of the Madam and the Young Master, we risked our lives to protect them, and at the same time we could only abandon those carts of valuables on the road so that the soldiers could rob them and buy time for us to escape."

Zhang San said crying.

“All those truckloads of stuff are lost?”

Xian Lao San felt a pang of pain in his flesh, as those three carts were full of gold and silver valuables, worth a lot of money.

"Is everyone okay?"

However, the third brother still knew that money is external to one's body. Compared with his son, his wife is actually not that important, let alone money.

"Madam and the young masters are all fine, they are just a little frightened."

Zhang San quickly wiped away his tears and said.

"Okay, I'll reward you later. Go ahead and arrange a car to pick up the people at the dock."

Xian Lao San knew that the person was fine, so he felt relieved.

The money is lost, and once the Burmese King Mang Yinglong's army captures Baoshan City, there will still be a chance to get it back.

Besides, the supplies stockpiled outside the city are worth a lot of money if they can be sold.

"Go and get the carriage, sir, I need to wash up."

Xian Lao San ordered.

"Yes, I'll go right away."

Zhang San quickly stood up and said.

While Xian Lao San was getting ready to go out, he did not forget to pass the message to his eldest brother Xian Gui.

As a result, they were stopped by people around Xian Gui before they left the house, and Zhang San was brought to Xian Gui.

After some inquiries, Xian Gui immediately made arrangements.

The first thing to do is naturally to cut off communication with the riverside. The twenty or so ships currently moored at the dock must be controlled, and the Ming army on the east coast must not be allowed to spread the news.

After all, there were still troops loyal to the Ming court in Lujiang City, but they were scattered and deployed to defend the north and south gates.

These generals must be dealt with today.

Xian Gui had already made up his mind. He would gather them at noon and capture them directly. Anyone who resisted would be killed on the spot.

Second, we must contact the Burmese army as soon as possible and report the situation here to the Burmese king. Xian Gui has just received news that the main vanguard of the Burmese army seems to have arrived. The Burmese army camp outside the city is too busy today. There is smoke and dust in the distance to the west of the city. It is obvious that a large army is approaching.

Outside the city of Pegu in southern Myanmar, the wind was already cold and the air was filled with murderous intent. Teams of Ming troops had already lined up outside the city, ready to fight at any time.

In front of the four columns, six red cannons were moved to the front of the formation and set up, with the black muzzles aimed at the low city walls of Pegu.

Although the enemy's city wall was easy to climb, Yu Dayou did not intend to do so. He adopted the ant-like siege method to capture the city of Pegu.

It is true that in this expedition to Burma, there was a plan to use the Feilong rebels as cannon fodder, but there was no intention to consume them in vain.

Before I saw Toungoo City, I didn’t know what that big city looked like. If it was like the cities protected by tall walls like those of the Ming Dynasty, then that would be the time to put them to use.

Therefore, Yu Dayou would not waste these troops.

The best way to deal with the city in front of us is to directly use artillery to open the city gate tower and lead the army directly into the city through the gap.

"Hey, Marshal, it's almost done. All the troops have deployed their troops."

Deputy General Wang Zhao rode a horse beside Yu Dayou. He was originally arranged to command the navy, but Wang Zhao also wanted to see the first battle after landing, so he did not return to the warship, but followed him to the outside of Pegu City.

Fortunately, this place is not far from the sea, so Yu Dayou did not force him to go back to the boat to watch.

The Ming navy has sent patrol ships towards Mawlamyine and Dagon to monitor the military situation at sea.

Moreover, with the strength of the South China Sea Navy, to be honest, Yu Dayou was not worried about what the Burmese army's few broken ships could do.

Myanmar has no navy at all, only some small patrol boats operating near the port.

Fighting a naval battle with the Ming army is nothing but wishful thinking.

In fact, in this era, if we don’t take into account the naval power of Europeans, only Japan had a military force that could barely be considered a navy around the Ming Dynasty. The navy of Korea was not worthy of attention, as it was just a few dozen broken ships.

Inheriting the system of the Ming Dynasty, Korea also established a navy, but it learned both the good and the bad of the Ming Dynasty and did not pay enough attention to the navy. This is why Japan was able to easily transport more than 100,000 people ashore when it entered Korea without encountering fierce resistance.

The Korean Peninsula is mountainous in the north, but flat and suitable for advancement towards the sea in the south. Japan's original offensive plan was a ground attack, with the navy transporting food and supplies along the coast to support the army.

Faced with the Japanese navy that was responsible for the transport mission, the Korean navy was completely vulnerable.

Putting Wang Zhao in charge of the navy was actually more about the fear of Portuguese involvement than worrying about Myanmar's actions.

During the few days of rest in Pegu Port, Yu Dayou had already learned that the Burmese King Mang Yinglong had a good relationship with the Portuguese. Earlier, during the time of Mang Ruiti, they had established trade relations with the Portuguese for more than 20 years.

During this period, Mang Ruiti and Mang Yinglong also bought some firearms from the Portuguese.

It’s just that the Portuguese asked for too high a price, and the number of firearms purchased by the Burmese army was extremely small, almost negligible.

However, even with limited firearms, Mang Yinglong led them to participate in the battle to conquer Siam, and it is said that they performed quite well.

Not only that, it is said that when Mang Yinglong went to war against the Ming Dynasty, he also hired a group of Portuguese mercenaries from Shalian, with a number of about two to three hundred people and three cannons.

After Yu Dayou learned about it in detail, he realized that the Portuguese cannons mentioned by the Burmese were actually just small bronze cannons, but they were indeed cannons for the Southeast Peninsula.

Moreover, if this kind of small cannon is bought in Japan, it is said that they call this kind of small cannon "national collapse", which means it has the power to destroy a country.

In fact, what the domestic people call the collapse of Japan at this time is strictly speaking more like a mortar, which is similar to the tiger squat cannon, but with a larger caliber, or a flamethrower.

According to Japanese historical records, Uesugi Kenshin's retainers developed a cylindrical firearm called the "Yamaguchi-ryu Sacred Cannon". The original is still preserved, but it is just a simple cannon similar to a matchlock gun.

They enlarged the caliber of the iron cannon to make cannons of different calibers, and the Japanese also called the small stone fire arrows "fire arrow tubes."

In fact, the so-called Guobeng is a short-barreled projectile weapon with a large caliber and a short range. It is loaded with iron sand, gravel and other ammunition. Although it looks similar to a mortar, it plays a role in killing personnel. It is somewhat similar to China's earth cannon and pine tree cannon.

Nowadays, Japan still has performances of releasing large guns. This large gun is actually a small "fire arrow gun" and can barely be regarded as a small-sized national bomb.

It is said that in November 1586, Shimazu Iehisa led soldiers and horses to besiege Nibujima Castle where Otomo Sorin was living in seclusion.

Although Nibu Island is a fortified city surrounded by water, it seems extremely vulnerable in front of the Shimazu army that swept across Kyushu.

Fortunately, the Nibujima Castle was equipped with the Otomo clan's most advanced cannon, the "Kokohō". Although the elderly Otomo Sorin was in seclusion, he showed his heroic qualities in this critical moment.

Faced with the fact that the number of soldiers in the city was limited and the morale of the Shimazu army was high, Otomo Sorin ordered Takemiya Yoshizane to launch the "Kokobō" placed in the city.

After a cannon shot, the Shimazu army fell into chaos.

It was precisely because of the impregnability of Nibu-Usuki Castle and the heroic fighting of the Otomo clan's generals that the Otomo clan was able to wait until the arrival of the Toyotomi clan's Kyushu expeditionary force.

Given the relationship between Myanmar and the Portuguese, Yu Dayou had to consider whether the Portuguese would secretly support Myanmar. Although Mang Yinglong was not in Toungoo City and it was difficult to reach any agreement with the Portuguese, he also had to guard against their interference.

In fact, if the Portuguese were determined to intervene and assembled more than a dozen armed merchant ships nearby, it would be enough to give the Ming navy a hard time.

After all, the Ming Dynasty had too few gunboats and could only rely on its numerical advantage to win using traditional tactics.

Although this style of fighting has been proven to be effective, with two naval battles during the Zhengde period proving the results, Yu Dayou did not want his carefully trained navy to be wasted.

"Then let's get started."

After hearing Wang Zhao's words, Yu Dayou glanced at the Ming army lined up in battle array and finally spoke.

As he gave orders, the military flags behind him began to sway rhythmically, and he began to give orders to the Ming army ahead.

Soon, the small flags on the artillery array also began to wave, as if in response.

As the gunners were busy, the flag officer holding the small flag in front of each cannon waved it forward, and the gunners finally lit the fuse.

"Boom boom boom"

After six deafening cannon shots, the south gate tower of Pegu City was suddenly filled with smoke and rubble. The Burmese soldiers who were standing on the top of the city wall ready to resist the Ming army's siege were blown to the ground and the city became chaotic.

When the smoke cleared, three rubble pits appeared on the city wall, where three shells hit, and two tall battlements were knocked down. This was the reason for the chaos on the city wall just now.

"The Ming army is mighty, the Ming will surely win"

Seeing the results of the six cannon shots, the soldiers in several Ming army phalanxes under the city shouted excitedly.

It is somewhat difficult to use cannons to directly destroy low city walls, but it is obviously effective to attack city gate towers.

As long as they take down the city tower and open the city gate, they can enter the city from here, which is much safer than climbing the city wall.

The Ming army did not have the habit of capturing prisoners and attacking cities like the Yuan Dynasty. Although such tactics seemed vicious, they were very effective when used by the Mongols.

It can not only undermine the enemy's morale, but also consume the enemy's defensive supplies and deter the enemy.

This is also the reason why the Mongols would first capture a large number of civilians outside the city as vanguards to climb the city walls whenever they had to climb the city walls.

"Keep firing."

Yu Dayou took a look at the results of the first bombardment. It seemed that one shell missed the target. Perhaps it flew into the city wall or hit the base of the wall. In any case, it was unclear where it hit.

A light command came from his mouth.