prosperous age

"Bang, bang, bang." On the top of Baoshan City, the sound of gunfire became increasingly sparse, and no one could have imagined that the battlefield was filled with continuous sound of gunfire just a moment ago.

The only thing left was the thick green smoke above the city walls, showing what had just happened here.

Outside Baoshan City, there were many corpses lying in all directions, and many seriously injured people were rolling and crawling on the ground.

After leaving behind hundreds of corpses and hundreds of seriously injured people, leaving them wailing and struggling to crawl back, the remaining Burmese soldiers had retreated to a place three or four miles away from the city wall.

It took only an incense stick of time from launching the attack to the complete retreat, but it caused huge casualties to the Burmese siege troops.

At this time in the Burmese army formation, Mang Yinglong's previous relaxed expression was gone, replaced by solemnity.

Yes, it was solemn. He did not expect that the firepower of the Ming army in Baoshan City was so strong. After entering within two miles of the city wall, they were hit by a large number of artillery fire.

Although the artillery shells of this era could not explode like those in later generations and cause greater casualties, one artillery shell could create a bloody alley, which was terrifying to watch.

However, the most crucial thing is that the Ming army has a lot of cannons.

At the moment of launch, Mang Yinglong only heard the loud sound of thunder that made his ears uncomfortable, and then there was a series of thunders, almost one in total, without stopping for a moment.

That kind of momentum was the first time in Mang Yinglong's decades of life, the only one he had ever seen.

"How come the Ming barbarians have so many cannons?"

In astonishment, Mang Yinglong asked Santos in disbelief.

Santos was also frightened when the Ming army opened fire just now.

Such a formation has never been seen even in large-scale national wars in Europe.

Firearms are not cheap these days. It would take a lot of money to equip so many firearms.

At this time, Santos had been impressed by the financial strength of the Ming Dynasty.

When we fight a war, what we actually fight for is money.

Just in the previous round of rain of bullets, the consumption of bullets was secondary. Even the consumption of gunpowder was an astonishing number.

At present, industrialization has not yet formed in the whole world, and everyone is still using relatively primitive manual labor to produce various materials.

After collecting his thoughts, Santos naturally had to answer Mang Yinglong's question. He coughed twice to calm himself down before saying, "I've noticed the Ming Dynasty's cannons. The most of them should be small eagle cannons, with only a few cannons."

It has to be said that after so many years in the industry, Santos has seen all kinds of scenes. Although he was shocked by the astonishing number of firearms possessed by the Ming army, he was able to roughly calculate the Ming army's equipment situation through the sound of the artillery.

It wouldn't be a big deal if he didn't count it, but he was frightened when he did.

The artillery possessed by this tiny Baoshan city in front of us has reached the entire firepower of a small country in Europe.

Even several European military powers would have to assemble several elite legions to produce so many firearms.

"Small Eagle Cannon? And the cannon you mentioned, what kind of weapon is that? Is it the cannon you brought with you?"

Mang Yinglong knew that Santos had already seen through the strength of the opposite cannon, and immediately asked.

Santos frowned and thought for a while before he said thoughtfully, "I think I understand. I have heard from Ming merchants that our Portuguese small eagle cannons were obtained by Ming, and they have also researched the manufacturing method and mass-produced them to equip the troops in Ming.

Now it seems that this news is indeed true. The Ming army used a large number of eagle cannons with a very fast firing rate. However, although this cannon fired very quickly, it had a disadvantage, that is, its range was short and its power was insufficient. "

At this point, he looked at the surrounding terrain. Well, facing the overwhelming Burmese army rushing over, it seemed that this shortcoming was actually not important.

"The cannon I brought is a bronze cannon, which is our country's latest product. However, it seems that the Ming army also has cannons similar to the ones I brought on the city walls. This is a bit troublesome.

They are high above us, and their range and perspective are much better than ours. If we rashly push our cannons close to the city walls, we will probably become the target of their concentrated fire."

Until now, Santos still has a gloomy look on his face.

In the past, no matter which country the Asians he had come into contact with were from, even the Arabs who had more contact with Europeans, although they also had firearms, cannons were really rare.

They seemed more interested in building giant cannons rather than equipping large numbers of small cannons.

However, the Ming army in front of them did not seem to be like this. Their army was equipped with a large number of small artillery pieces that could fire a hail of bullets in front of the formation, which made things a bit difficult.

This time, he brought the latest bronze cannon from Portugal, which had a very long range.

Although the technical performance of the Ming army's cannons is unclear, the four words "high above" alone have already brought the performance of the two types of cannons closer.

Even if the Ming cannons can fire closer, as long as there is height, the range will be slightly increased, and I'm afraid it won't be much worse than our own cannons.

It is somewhat difficult to accurately shoot at targets on the city walls outside the range of the Ming cannons.

"Do the Ming people also have cannons similar to the ones you brought?"

Hearing what Santos said, Mang Yinglong became even more worried.

In the past, when encountering strong enemies, the Portuguese mercenaries brought by Santos were his weapon to break the deadlock.

However, although his army has had the upper hand in this war so far, the huge gap in national strength between Myanmar and Ming still exists.

"Is this the true strength of the Ming army?"

Mang Yinglong thought to himself.

From the Ming people he came into contact with and the information he obtained, although he knew that the Ming army was equipped with a large number of firearms, they did not attach importance to these things at all and often put them aside and did not use them.

Therefore, Mang Yinglong had the impression that he did not have to consider the threat of firearms from the Ming Dynasty at all.

Even in the early Ming Dynasty, Mu Ying once used the three-stage fire gun to defeat the stronger chieftains in Yunnan and Myanmar and forced them to submit to the Ming Dynasty, but he never worried.

  That was more than a hundred years ago. The Ming army had already abandoned firearms. What are they afraid of?

However, the scene before him taught him a lesson.

The Ming army did not really abandon firearms. Perhaps only the border garrisons did not use them, while the garrisons within the Ming Dynasty still used them extensively.

Yes, that must be it, paralyze yourself.

"Your Excellency the King of Myanmar, I'm afraid this battle will be difficult to fight."

Santos gave Mang Yinglong his own judgment.

If he could recruit more mercenaries, even if the number was only increased several times, he felt that he would be able to fight against the Ming army.

But it was definitely impossible to do so at the moment. Not to mention himself, even his own subordinates were still staring at the Ming army on the opposite city wall in amazement.

Yes, I was scared.

"Is there really no other solution?"

Mang Yinglong still refused to believe it. He had gathered such a strong army. If he could not break Baoshan City, he would lose a lot of prestige when he returned.

At the very least, it would be good if we could occupy Chuxiong and get blocked at the outskirts of Kunming.

After all, in the southwest, there is only one big city, Kunming.

"There is no other way. Unless we transport the cannons used on the warships here, they have enough range and power to fire at the Ming city walls from three miles away.

Even if the wall on the other side is tall, as long as we focus on one spot and spend more time, we still have a chance to bring it down."

Santos scratched his head and came up with the only solution he could think of.

Well, he didn't want to advance under the Ming people's artillery fire.

It is safer to fire outside the range of the enemy's artillery.

Thinking back to the time when he had laughed at his compatriots, those merchants who came to the Ming Dynasty to do business, actually accepted Ming’s tariffs and did business honestly, he now understood that he had to accept the orders of the Ming people. No wonder, the two attacks decades ago failed.

Since the Ming people attached so much importance to firearms, their navy should not be much worse. They also have the advantage in numbers, so it is impossible to defeat them.

Even if all the Portuguese fleets in the Indian Ocean were gathered together, it would still be difficult to defeat the Ming navy.

"How much time is needed?"

When Mang Yinglong heard this, he didn't think about the issue of money.

The Portuguese are ruthless in business, but they can be flexible. If I can't afford the cannon that Santos mentioned, I can always rent it. Although it costs a lot, it is better than spending money to buy cannons.

The most important thing is that some advanced weapons are not sold to others even if you pay for them.

"There's nothing we can do. Even at the fastest speed, it will probably take two or three months to deliver."

Santos shook his head. Although there was a solution, it was not practical.

The gun used by the navy was too heavy and difficult to carry, so it could only be placed on warships or city wall gun platforms for use.

The less powerful ones are useless. He brought them all, but the opponent also has them, so he has no advantage at all.

In a word, mercenaries are here to make money, not to risk their lives. If they know they can't win, they naturally won't fight to the death.

If the enemy occupied the Portuguese castle, he would push the cannons to the city and fight the enemy to the death at all costs, but this is the Far East.

When he heard that it would take several months, Mang Yinglong knew it would not work.

"No other solution?"

Mang Yinglong asked without giving up.

"No, there is no other way except to launch an attack without caring about casualties and consume their gunpowder."

Santos replied.

"Return to camp and strengthen surveillance of Baoshan City."

Mang Yinglong had no choice but to order his troops to withdraw.

There is no point in continuing to waste time here, we have to find another good solution.

On the top of Baoshan City, Luo Rufang clapped his hands happily when he saw the Burmese troops withdrawing.

It's impossible not to be happy when we have achieved a victory right before our eyes.

Li Chengliang and Mu Changzuo also had smiles on their faces at this time. They just watched the Burmese army on the opposite side retreat quietly. Only a small number of officers and soldiers were left to rescue those comrades who were still crawling back.

As for the dead bodies on the ground, they didn't bother to care.

This is a battlefield.

"Have someone shout to the other side to restrain these dead people. It's really annoying to watch."

Li Chengliang waved his hand and gave an order, then he took Mu Changzuo and Luo Rufang down the city and returned home.

After he left, the officers guarding the city found someone who was fluent in Burmese to shout to the other side.

To be honest, the officers and soldiers of the Ming army felt very uncomfortable having to guard those dead bodies at night.

After seeing the sharpness of Ming army's firearms in today's battle, the Burmese soldiers were more or less affected, especially Jingzong Zhen, most of the dead were his subordinates.

He couldn't help but secretly regret that he had tried to be so brave and fight for the position of vanguard in attacking Baoshan City.

While the Burmese army was looking for countermeasures, Mang Yinglong was asking in detail about the Ming army's eagle cannons and bronze cannons.

Soon, he roughly understood the reason why the Ming Army's Eagle Cannon had a high firing rate. It turned out that a cannon had multiple cartridges that could be fired in turn.

"This gun has a fast firing rate, but the barrel will heat up after a few rounds and eventually become unusable."

Santos also pointed out some shortcomings of the falconet cannon, but this would cost human lives.

"They can cool down the city with water if they are defending it."

Mang Yinglong shook his head and said.

The defect of heating might be useful in field battles, but now they are attacking a city. There are wells in the city, so they can just draw water for cooling. He has seen Santos do this before.

The only way seems to be to use up the opponent's gunpowder.

But the enemy he was facing was the Ming Dynasty. He could imagine the strength of the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention the amount of gunpowder in the city, he was afraid that the Ming Dynasty had a large amount of supplies being transported to the city at this time.

Unless, they bypassed the city and blocked the passage to the east of Baoshan City, completely blocking and besieging Baoshan City.

Although Baoshan has a good location and is located at a mountain pass, there are mountain roads around it that can be used for detours, but they are winding and difficult to travel, making it difficult for a large army to move forward.

Therefore, Mang Yinglong had always chosen to march along the official roads of the Ming Dynasty.

Just as the Burmese generals were thinking about countermeasures, a fast horse finally appeared to the west of the Burmese camp.

Soon, the west camp gate opened, and the knight on horseback galloped away, shouting to make way, causing chaos in the entire Burmese rear camp.

The Burmese army's camping was actually not like that of the Ming Dynasty, where there were no rules or regulations. It was rather casual. This was also because the Burmese army came from their own chieftains and naturally had their own ideas, making it difficult to unify orders.

However, it didn't take long for the fast horse to pass through the camp, enter the central army camp, and arrive in front of the king's tent.

"Emergency military information, I need to see the king."

The knight dismounted from his horse when he arrived at the king's tent, and ran into the tent while enduring the pain in his buttocks.

Judging from his attire, the guards knew that he was a messenger from the royal capital, and they did not try to stop him. They were just curious about what big event had happened in the royal capital that required him to ride a fast horse to report the news, and he seemed very anxious.

At this time, the generals were still gathered in the king's tent, gathering in groups of three or four to think of a solution. The arrival of the messenger surprised them slightly, but that was all.

"Your Majesty, Toungoo City is in imminent danger. Lord Zuya asks Your Majesty to send reinforcements as soon as possible."

The messenger entered the tent and trotted to the throne, holding Zuya's letter asking for help in his hand.

  When Mang Yinglong heard this, he was immediately shocked. Are there any enemy countries around Myanmar?

However, he did not take the letter immediately. Instead, he waved his hand and asked everyone else to leave and rest.

After everyone had left the king's tent, only his personal soldiers and his son Mang Yingli were left in the tent. He then asked his personal guards to take the letter from the other party.

Seeing the mark on the letter, it can be confirmed that it was left by him without a doubt.

Only then did I open it and quickly flip through it.

However, his expression soon turned extremely ugly. The news in the letter not only frightened him, but also made him completely unbelievable.

Of course he knew how powerful the Ming navy was, but that was more than a hundred years ago, and it was just a story passed down by some elders. Who would have thought that he would discover it right in front of him.

"Father, what happened in Toungoo?"

At this time, Mang Yingli was still wondering if there was a rebellion, but all the more powerful chieftains in Myanmar were here, and no one had the appeal to launch a rebellion.

"Look, the Ming navy has captured Pegu and is heading towards Toungoo."

Mang Yinglong said in a low voice. (End of this chapter)