prosperous age

Due to the financial pressure of the court, the capital has not yet had any plans to build large numbers of warships to supplement the Denglai Navy.

Although the waters around Shandong and Liaodong, which were under the responsibility of the Denglai Navy, protected the central government and the capital area of ​​the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, the Denglai Navy was born ahead of time. If Wei Guangde had not attached great importance to coastal defense, there would only be the Dengzhou Navy Camp at this time, and there would be no Denglai Navy.

The Ming Dynasty has always neglected coastal defense, especially after resuming the national policy of sea transportation to Liaodong.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng was well aware of the current situation of the Denglai Navy, but he was not in a position to intervene. Of course, an important reason was that the court had no money to support it.

"Did the Ministry of War pay for these ten gunboats?"

Gradually increasing the question.

“As for the money paid by the Ministry of Works and the South China Sea Navy, a small part came from the Ministry of War.

If we really need to transfer them north, we can just ask the Ministry of War to send more ships. After all, these ships were originally built for the South China Sea Navy."

Wei Guangde didn't care. It was all money from the imperial court anyway, just from different government offices.

Keeping accounts is a simple matter.

“I heard before that the South China Sea Navy didn’t want so many ships because the navy’s warships were originally ordered by the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. So there were many duplicate ship types.

I planned to wait for Yu Dayou to come back, and then to buy out the warships of the South China Sea Navy, to see if there were any extra ones, and then to transfer them to the Denglai Navy at a discount.

It is said that most of the warships of the Denglai Navy were used by the coastal garrisons of Shandong, and most of them were old and unusable.

I plan to ask Shandong and Nanzhili to contribute money to regularly update the warships for the Denglai Navy, emulating the style of the South China Sea Navy. After the army is formed, it will be used as the framework to form the North China Sea Navy.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty will have two navies, one in the south and one in the north, to protect its sea borders, and it can rest easy."

Wei Guangde smiled.

Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and nodded. According to Wei Guangde, the focus of coastal defense was obviously still in the south.

Yes, there are many vassal states in the South China Sea, and with the intervention of the Eastern and Western Yi, the situation is far more complicated than in the North.

"What I am most worried about now is the southwest, where transportation is inconvenient. This is also the reason why Taizu was unwilling to continue expanding outward after occupying Yunnan."

Zhang Juzheng said with a little worry.

Just as the two were talking about the southwest war in the cabinet, the vanguard of the Burmese army had already attacked Baoshan City.

They set up camp more than ten miles apart and sent out scouts to monitor the movements of the Ming army.

On the top of Baoshan City, Li Chengliang, Mu Changzuo and Luo Rufang were observing the layout of the enemy camp.

This is a mountainous area, so the Burmese army did not get too close to the city.

Although the camp was set up ten miles away, several teams of Burmese troops left the camp and set up small camps at several forks in the road outside Baoshan City. This could not only block Baoshan City's traffic in the north, south and west directions, but also monitor the movements of Baoshan City at close range.

The battle for the Lujiang ferry had already ended, and the Ming army's solitary resistance naturally could not last too long. It fell after enduring three rounds of attacks by the Burmese army.

This was after the Burmese troops landed on the other side. Li Ruzhang led his cavalry to launch a counterattack and drove the Burmese troops that had landed back into the water.

However, after two failed attacks, Mang Yinglong decisively sent additional troops to reinforce.

In addition to the previous two landings, the Burmese army seized more than ten river boats from the Ming army.

Faced with the situation of being outnumbered by the enemy, Li Ruzhang decisively ordered to abandon the defense and burn the dock when the Burmese army attacked again.

While the Burmese army was rushing to the beach to put out the fire, he led the remaining Ming army back to Baoshan City.

"According to the scouts' report, it will take another two days for the main force of the Burmese army to reach Baoshan City."

Li Chengliang looked at the enemy camp in the distance and said contemptuously.

"It seems that the bandits have not received the news that southern Myanmar was attacked by our navy."

Luo Rufang spoke.

Now he has a general idea of ​​Li Chengliang's plan. Although he feels it is a bit risky, his concerns are reduced a lot after knowing that the South China Sea Navy has arrived at the southern coastal area of ​​Myanmar and will soon attack Myanmar from behind.

As the Ming army was pulled between the north and the south, the Burmese army was bound to lose sight of one thing while focusing on another. Even if there were some risks, it might still have some miraculous effects.

At least, based on what we know now, as long as the Ming army holds Baoshan City, it will be invincible.

Yes, the Ming army is still on the defensive at the moment, and that is to block the Burmese army's path to continue advancing eastward.

As long as Baoshan City was occupied, the main force of the Burmese army would be blocked in western Yunnan, and their detachment was also stopped by the Ming army in Shidian City.

Although the Burmese army is powerful, with an army of 200,000 or 300,000, the daily consumption is huge, and they can't afford to delay.

The only way is to keep advancing and plundering supplies from the occupied areas to replenish their consumption.

Once their way was blocked by the Ming army, they would not be able to supply food and supplies for a long time. The decline in combat effectiveness was only one aspect, but the most important thing was the loss of morale.

If an army can win battles one after another, its morale will definitely be high and it will often achieve amazing results.

But if morale is lost, the result may be the opposite, and we may suffer defeat when encountering a weak enemy.

The Ming army was well prepared during this period. Although it seemed to be at a disadvantage, Li Chengliang was not a conservative person and knew more information. Therefore, he had stationed a large number of secret sentries to the west of Baoshan City to monitor the movements of the Burmese army at all times.

Their main task was to observe the intelligence of the Burmese army's retreat.

With so many soldiers at his disposal, even if Mang Yinglong knew that the Ming army had been attacked along the coast and that its target was Toungoo City, it would be impossible for him to immediately retreat with an army of 200,000 or 300,000 and return to Myanmar for rescue.

The most likely possibility is to draw elite troops to rescue Toungoo City, and the remaining troops will continue to confront the Ming army. At most, they will stop attacking frantically and will restrain themselves.

Finally, make a choice based on the actual situation, whether to continue attacking the Ming Dynasty or retreat back to the country and consolidate Mubang and Mengmi occupied in this battle.

"General, the Burmese army's vanguard has arrived outside the city, but it seems that they are short of manpower, and our soldiers in the city have been on alert for battle. Should we attack them tonight?"

Mu Changzuo had been observing the layout of the enemy camp. Although the enemy generals were very cautious and had sent troops to station at nearby intersections and set up sentry camps, Mu Changzuo still saw a huge loophole that could be exploited.

The overall performance of the Ming army in Yunnan in this battle was unsatisfactory, so he wanted to take the initiative to launch an attack to restore his image.

If there were more than 100,000 troops outside the city, Mu Changzuo would naturally not dare to act rashly, but now it seems that there are only seven or eight thousand enemy troops outside the city.

"Forget it. Although the main force of the Burmese army will arrive in two days, as far as I know, there is another Burmese army 20 to 30 miles away, with a strength of about 10,000 people. There is really no need to attack the camp at this time."

Of course, the Burmese army did not divide the army neatly into the front, middle and rear armies. Because there were too many troops, Mang Yinglong simply assigned a few main generals and asked them to form a group with their men and a few familiar chieftains' troops. They advanced separately along the established route, and the distance between them was generally 20 to 30 miles.

In this way, even if they were blocked by the Ming army on the way, reinforcements would arrive in just one day, and they would not have to worry about being divided, surrounded, and ambushed by the Ming army.

The so-called main force of the Burmese army was actually the one led by the Burmese King Mang Yinglong himself. It had a size of 50,000 to 60,000 people, most of whom were Burmese. It was also the foundation of his rise.

Myanmar's multi-ethnic nature is even more complex than China's, with hundreds of ethnic groups, which shows the complexity of its internal strength.

As for other ethnic groups, I don’t know if it’s a common trait among all ethnic groups or if it’s influenced by Chinese culture, but their attitude towards other ethnic groups is “those who are not of my race must have different hearts”, and they are always on guard.

"We need to show weakness now. There is no need to do this."

Li Chengliang shook his head, and couldn't help but look down on Mu Changzuo.

He even forgot what the Ming army should pay most attention to now, and only knew how to show off his bravery. With such a person serving as the general of Yunnan, it is no wonder that the chieftains of Yunnan rebelled in large numbers.

You said that Mu Changzuo was both brave and resourceful, but that doesn't seem to be true.

If that were true, the chieftains of Yunnan should have been subdued by him long ago. When Mu Changzuo heard what Li Chengliang said, he did not continue to fight for it, but decisively shut up.

In fact, he also knew that this was a war, not a game of house.

In a war, the outcome is unpredictable. There is the possibility of winning, but also the possibility of losing.

What he said just now was just what he thought at the time without thinking at all.

I felt a little regretful after I finished saying it.

Why are you trying to show off?

Fortunately, Li Chengliang did not give him this important task, but asked him to lead the troops to fight.

At this time, Mu Changzuo was secretly glad and naturally would not argue with Li Chengliang anymore.

Little did he know that when Li Chengliang was in Liaodong, he showed weakness to the enemy in order to attract the barbarians to advance deep into the enemy territory, giving his retainers a chance to launch a surprise attack.

He had long been accustomed to it, so when he saw the Burmese army setting up camp and even setting up outposts under the city of Baoshan, he had no reaction at all.

At this time, a fast horse had rushed into Hanlong Pass from the direction of Mubang and galloped towards Ruili City.

The knight on the fast horse was naturally sent by the regent who stayed in Toungoo City.

A few days ago, when he learned that the Ming army had captured Pegu and was heading north along the Pegu River and was about to reach Toungoo City, he sent messengers to ask the Burmese king for help, and at the same time issued troop dispatch orders to the surrounding Burmese cities, mobilizing troops from the surrounding areas to rescue Toungoo City.

The area around Toungoo City is flat and has no natural barriers. In addition, with the transportation capacity of the Pegu River, the Ming army's advance speed was very fast.

Now when Wang Shike led his troops to attack the city, he chose to use heavy artillery to directly blast open the city gates, and the army would rush in directly.

Even if the Burmese army blocked the door with mud, sand and stones, the soldiers could just climb over it.

As long as it is Myanmar's inland cities, they have hardly encountered wars in recent decades. Their low city walls can block the small number of troops of the chieftains, but they cannot stop the attacks of the armies of the big countries.

Yes, Myanmar has been attacking others in recent years. Who would dare to go to Myanmar to tickle the tiger's beard?

The city of Toungoo is now in imminent danger and is always waiting for the Burmese army to come to its rescue, so the messenger is running forward desperately to find the Burmese king as quickly as possible and pass on the message of help from the capital.

Two days later, the Burmese King Mang Yinglong personally led the main force to Baoshan City. Nearly 100,000 people gathered at one time, and morale was immediately boosted.

The Burmese soldiers from top to bottom were roaring and calling for an attack on Baoshan City, continuing to advance eastward and reaching Kunming.

Mang Yinglong had already spread the news that after occupying Kunming City, he would reward the soldiers according to their merits and give generous rewards to the soldiers who had made contributions in this battle.

Didn't you come all the way to Ming Dynasty just for the reward?

However, the ghostly howlings in the Burmese camp still alarmed the three giants of western Yunnan in the city. They were not clear about the situation. Although they knew that the Burmese king had arrived, they did not expect the Burmese soldiers to attack the city as soon as they saw it.

The last time they attacked Lujiang City, the Burmese soldiers didn’t gain any advantage, even though they were allowed to search for two days.

After all, all the good things had been moved to the Xian family’s house, so what good could be left?

However, Mang Yinglong did not blame the Xian family for this. He still needed the Xian family as an example.

As long as the news of his kind treatment of surrendered generals spreads, according to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Ming generals should be impressed by his magnanimity. Although they will not surrender, their resistance will not be so fierce.

"General Xian, the army will leave the camp tomorrow and you will be the first to march forward. You must perform well in front of the generals of the Ming army."

Mang Yinglong looked at Xian Gui who was standing below and gave orders.

When Xian Gui first heard that Mang Yinglong wanted him to fight in the front, he was scared.

After all, he had surrendered to Burma, which was somewhat embarrassing, and he was unwilling to appear in front of the Ming army.

But later, when he heard Mang Yinglong asking him to perform well, he more or less guessed what he meant.

In fact, Xian Gui is not stupid. He has figured out the reason why Mang Yinglong treats him well. It is because he wants to set him up as an example and hopes that more Ming generals will follow his example.

He didn't care about it.

Now that it has come to this, he can't turn back.

The Burmese army camp was bustling with activity, but on Baoshan City, Li Chengliang stared into the distance with a frown on his face, obviously not understanding what was going on.

"Commander."

Mu Changzuo's voice appeared behind him.

Li Chengliang didn't look back, but just said "hmm".

"What is the Marshal looking at?"

Mu Changzuo asked curiously.

He heard that Li Chengliang had climbed up the city wall, so he came over to see what was going on.

"Look at the Burmese army camp across the street. It's so lively. I wonder what's going on?"

Generally speaking, when the main force arrives, the military camp will be busy for a while, but that is in the middle and rear camps. Because they have to set up camp, the front camp will not be affected.

But the Burmese army's front, middle and rear camps were very lively, and the soldiers were celebrating like it was New Year's Day. You could even hear the other side shouting words you couldn't understand.

"General, that's because the Burmese army knew the bandits had arrived and they were cheering."

Mu Changzuo whispered.

"what?"

Li Chengliang came here after receiving a report from his personal soldiers saying that there was something unusual on the other side.

The Ming army under Li Chengliang was not completely confident, so each army sent a team of household servants to monitor each unit.

After thinking for a while, Li Chengliang was surprised and asked, "Is this thief so prestigious in the Burmese army?"

The last time Li Chengliang saw the Burmese army in Shidian City, but because it was a small force and Mang Yinglong was not in charge, he naturally had not seen this scene.

However, if what Mu Changzuo said was true, then he would really re-examine this opponent.

His previous enemies, whether the Tuman tribes on the grassland or the Jurchens, did not have a leader with such high prestige.

Perhaps, only Altan Khan deserves such treatment.

“Your Majesty, you don’t know that this bandit followed Mang Ruiti in his early years and fought in countless battles, big and small, so he already had a high reputation.

In recent years, it has successively annexed Siam, Laos and other countries, and its influence in the country is unmatched.

It is not surprising that his arrival at the enemy camp caused such an impact.”

Mu Changzuo said in a low voice.

In fact, if it were not for this, he would not have stayed in Baoshan City at the beginning, and would not have been afraid to advance into Mengmi.

"Add two more teams of divine aircraft to the city walls."

Li Chengliang ordered calmly. (End of this chapter)