prosperous age

Chapter 1115 1206 reveals the news
"Bang bang bang."

A rapid knock on the door sounded in the quiet yard and spread far away.

"Who?"

An old voice came from the house. It was Li Chengliang's voice.

"Dad, it's me, Ruzhang."

Hearing the questioning from inside the room, Li Ruzhang outside the door spoke hurriedly.

"What's the matter? Why don't you rest so late? We have to go to the city wall to watch tomorrow morning."

Li Chengliang said in the house.

"Dad, there's news from outside the city that something is wrong in the Burmese army camp."

Li Ruzhang knew that it would be a bad idea to wake up his father at this time, but he had no choice. If he did not report the news in time and delayed important matters, he would not be able to bear the consequences even if he was Li Chengliang's son.

"Wait, I'll be right out."

Li Chengliang, who was lying on the bed, pushed the woman in his arms away and sat up.

The woman didn't dare to make a sound at this time. She could only curl up in a corner of the bed and wrap herself up with the quilt.

Li Chengliang had already gotten out of bed, put on a shirt and went to open the door.

"Squeak."

The door opened, and Li Chengliang looked at his son from behind and asked, "What happened? What happened to the Burmese army camp?"

"Dad, just now the scouts outside the city sent a message saying that the Burmese army's rear camp did not rest quietly as usual tonight, but was shouting and neighing. I don't know if there is any action.

So, they felt it was wrong and passed the message on.”

Li Ruzhang bent down slightly and said.

"No rest?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengliang narrowed his eyes and remained silent.

Now the Ming army and the Burmese army are fighting in turns during the day.

There will be at least three waves of Burmese troops joining the siege throughout the morning and afternoon. Even the troops on rest will definitely not have the energy to stay up late at night.

It should be noted that keeping quiet in the military camp at night is a big deal. The patrol officers even have the right to execute noisy soldiers first and report later, in order to ensure the silence of the military camp.

"Are there any soldiers fighting?"

Li Chengliang suddenly asked.

"No, it doesn't look like a camp roar."

Li Ruzhang naturally knew why his father asked this question. When he first heard about the noise in the Burmese army camp, he suspected that someone was having hysteria, so he asked one more question.

Camp howling, also known as "monitor howling" or "camp bombing", refers to an abnormal action in which all officers and soldiers blindly and urgently gather without receiving any orders when the army is camped at night.

This phenomenon usually occurs at night, so it is also called "night terrors."

The main causes of camp roars include long-term mental stress, intense military camp life and sudden stimulation.

In ancient military camps, soldiers were in a state of high tension and depression for a long time. Once they encountered unexpected stimulation, such as a high-pitched horse neigh or a terrified scream, it might trigger a hysterical reaction in the entire group and lead to cannibalism.

In addition, the oppression of soldiers by officers, the bullying of recruits by veterans, and factional struggles in the barracks are also important factors leading to camp riots.

Famous camp roar events in history include the records of the Eastern Han Dynasty's war against the Western Qiang, the strict sanctions during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, and the breakout event in the Huaihai Campaign during the War of Liberation.

Especially during the Huaihai Campaign, also known as the Battle of Xuzhou and Bengbu, when Sun Yuanliang's troops were about to win or lose, Sun Yuanliang led the 16th Corps to break out from Chenguanzhuang. When he ran outside, he saw that there were only more than people left.

Later, according to the reconstruction of eyewitnesses, it was learned that Sun's troops broke through with little damage, retreated to Xiaoxian County for camping, and were attacked at night by a small group of People's Liberation Army troops.

After running all night, Sun's troops believed they were far away from the battlefield. Tens of thousands of them fell asleep almost at the same time, and even the sentries were not set out.

After being surrounded for many days and feeling extremely tense, the officers and soldiers of Sun's army suddenly relaxed and were suddenly attacked again. Their nerves suddenly collapsed, the entire army screamed in fear, and even killed each other. The army of tens of thousands of people was thus dispersed.

It can be verified that this was the last large-scale "camp roar" involving tens of thousands of people in the world's military history.

These events not only demonstrate the destructive power of camp riots, but also reveal the complex background and reasons behind their occurrence.

The military camp is a truly grim place. China's traditional military regulations have the so-called "Seventeen Prohibitions and Fifty-four Beheadings". Soldiers live in fear every day, and the mental depression after years of use can be imagined.

In addition, the traditional military has a strict hierarchy and poor management. The only way to lead the army is to abuse the officers and keep the soldiers ignorant. On weekdays, they rely entirely on military discipline to suppress the troops.

Before the war, no one was sure whether they would live or die, and no one knew whether they would be able to come back alive the next day. Everyone was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

At this time, any slight disturbance, perhaps just a soldier's scream from a nightmare, can trigger a hysterical and crazy atmosphere in the camp, and the soldiers will completely break free from the constraints of military discipline.

Moreover, people of this era generally suffered from night blindness and could not see clearly at night, so they often mistook their comrades for enemies and attacked them in the dark.

Some people took up weapons to seek revenge, hunting down officers, enemies, and unknown comrades, leaving only corpses on the ground the next day.

According to superstition, the bombing of the camp was a bad omen, indicating that the troops were facing a catastrophic disaster.

When a camp bombing occurs, the troops generally take a defensive stance and cancel all offensive plans in order to avoid disaster.

Once encountering the camp roar, even the most powerful general will be troubled and at a loss what to do.

This is also the main reason why military camps have strict discipline and need to maintain silence at night.

The Burmese army has been engaged in a tug of war with the Ming army on the Baoshan city wall recently, and their mental state has remained tense and depressed, so it is possible that a camp roar may have occurred.

However, since my son said that he did not find any infighting in the Burmese army camp, it was not a camp roar. But there is only one possibility left, that is, Mang Yinglong can no longer bear it and wants to run away.

However, in Li Chengliang's eyes, escaping at night seemed to be the most passive method.

Again, people of this era generally suffered from night blindness, so generals generally did not choose to act at night.

If it were Li Chengliang, based on what he had observed in the past few days, if he were in Mang Yinglong's position, he would choose to withdraw the elite troops in the camp before sending out the Burmese troops.

It was broad daylight at that time, and as long as the front camp was blocked, there wouldn't be much trouble.

We must understand that in the current situation, losses are certain, but as long as they are controllable, it's fine.

Abandoning unnecessary soldiers and horses and letting them cover the retreating army, the general would not care about their life or death.

"Ruzhang, gather all the generals in the city to the council hall to talk. Don't alarm the military camps. It's not time to start fighting yet."

Li Chengliang took two long breaths and then gave the order calmly.

He knew that the battle between Ming and Burma had come to a decisive moment, but he could not be careless at this moment and act rashly, thinking that he was invincible because of a perfect layout.

For the same reason, the Ming army was not good at night battles, especially large-scale melee battles.

Generally speaking, the so-called troops that are good at night combat are often small groups of troops that sneak attack mixed enemy forces and have a clear direction of attack. That is, everyone's night vision is actually not good, but the sneak attack troops only attack in one direction, so naturally there are enemies in front.

They charged forward like this and directly broke through the enemy's camp.

Once they were engaged in a fight, they would send a signal to retreat and never fight to the end. Because they were not good at night battles, Li Chengliang would not send the Ming army to pursue the Burmese army at night.

Li Ruzhang had said earlier that there was nothing unusual in the Burmese army's front camp.

Obviously, that was the troop abandoned by Mang Yinglong.

The Ming army set out from Baoshan City and had to attack the heavily defended front camp first, which was very unwise.

"Dad, aren't you going to send troops out of the city?"

Li Ruzhang asked with a little disappointment after hearing what his father said.

When I received the news, I thought my father would immediately send troops to attack the Burmese army and delay them.

But from what my father said, it seems that he doesn't plan to send troops now.

"Not urgent."

Li Chengliang just spoke lightly.

After saying this, Li Chengliang turned around and went into the house to change his clothes. Although soldiers could sleep, generals could not, as they had to plan tomorrow's battle plan.

Even if the Burmese army retreated as fast as they could, it would take at least a whole day for so many troops to reach Lujiang Wharf.

But for the Ming cavalry, only half a day was enough.

If we set out early tomorrow morning, the cavalry will be able to reach the dock around noon. With a powerful attack, they will destroy the dock and ships there and keep most of the Burmese troops on the east bank of the Lujiang River.

Unless, Mang Yinglong's retreat was also based on standard marching, the army would set up camp after marching for dozens of miles and retreat step by step.

In that case, Li Chengliang did not rule out the possibility that he would send people to guard the Lujiang Wharf first, wait for an opportunity to cross the river and capture the city, and directly encircle the Burmese army between Baoshan and Lujiang.

Li Chengliang would never have expected that although his son's sneak attack on Mubang was discovered by Mang Yinglong and their encirclement plan was exposed, he misjudged the source of the Ming army and thought that the main force of the Ming army in the south did not attack Toungoo City, but was heading for him.

The Ming troops from the north and south planned to surround them in the mountains of northern Myanmar and trap them to death.

With this idea in mind, and when the Ming army crossed the sea, they were naturally well prepared, which made Mang Yinglong have no confidence in resisting the Ming army's offensive, so he chose to take the longest Mengmi route back to Myanmar.

In Mang Yinglong's opinion, if all else fails, he can just hand over a humble letter of surrender to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He would not kill them all.

Yes, from the emperor's perspective, he naturally would not look down on Mang Yinglong's head, nor would he have much interest in Myanmar, which was limited by the communication range of that era.

The territory of the Ming Dynasty was already very vast. Unless power was truly delegated to the so-called provincial governors, it would be very difficult to govern the country well.

Continuing to expand territory is sometimes not a good thing.

However, Mang Yinglong did not expect that this matter was dominated by souls from later generations, and his perspective was not possessed by people of this era.

People in later generations are accustomed to looking at things from a God's perspective.

If Myanmar could be incorporated into the Ming Dynasty, it would undoubtedly be a huge expansion, extending China's tentacles directly from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean.

If China could acquire Central America from the Spanish, it would be able to reach the Atlantic Ocean and complete its global layout.

Of course, although it looks fragrant, that is only in the future.

At the moment, Wei Guangde could only think about competing with the Spaniards for America. The Ming Dynasty's imperial system determined that it would be difficult for him to take that step.

"Get up and help me change my clothes."

Li Ruzhang went downstairs to pass on the order, and Li Chengliang returned to the room and shouted to the woman on the bed.

The woman quickly got out of bed and began to change Li Chengliang's clothes.

Half an hour later, Li Chengliang, neatly dressed, appeared in the meeting hall. At this time, all the Ming army officials at the level of deputy general in Baoshan City had arrived.

"Ruzhang, tell me the news outside the city."

Li Chengliang sat in his commander's seat and gave orders.

Everyone actually had their own speculations about why they were suddenly summoned here.

They are not stupid. Although the strength of the Ming army in the city seems to be less than that outside the city in terms of soldiers and horses, the combat effectiveness of the army is not compared in this way.

The historical records of the weak defeating the strong remind them all the time, and such achievements also attract them.

However, considering that the Ming army defeated the Burmese army by using the weak to defeat the strong, it seems that they are too embarrassed to say this.

But in the city, whether it was Li Chengliang, Mu Changzuo, or Luo Rufang, they all kept silent about going out of the city to fight. They naturally knew that the higher-ups must have other plans.

Soon, Li Ruzhang repeated the intelligence outside the city, and the generals in the hall immediately started talking.

No one is a fool. Even if they were fools, they could have guessed the movements of the Burmese army outside the city at this time. They should have seen that the walls of Baoshan City were tall and strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack, so they chose to retreat.

This is an opportunity.

On the battlefield, it is difficult to kill someone face to face, but it is very easy to cut someone in the back.

If the enemy wants to escape, let him escape, and we just need to chase and kill him, and we can also gain considerable credit.

Seeing that all the generals were excited, Li Chengliang coughed lightly twice.

Hearing Li Chengliang's cough, the generals in the hall, regardless of whether they were talking about something happy or not, immediately stopped talking and looked towards the commander's seat in the room, towards the middle-aged man.

"Most of you here don't know some battle reports. The number of people who know in the city is only this many."

Li Chengliang spoke, raising his hand and shaking it.

The generals below were all startled when they heard this. They knew that the Marshal was going to reveal some important intelligence, news that they didn't know yet.

However, everyone could still see from the corner of their eyes that the current Duke of Qian and General of Yunnan, Mu Changzuo, who was sitting next to him, had a proud look on his face, while the Censor Luo Rufang, who was sitting on the other side, also had a calm look on his face.

"A few days ago, our Ming army had already set out from Mengding Prefecture and attacked Mubang."

Li Chengliang had received the battle report from Meng Ding a few days ago. After Li Rusong led his troops westward, he sent someone to deliver the news to Baoshan City.

However, because there were no telegraphs or mobile phones, Li Chengliang had no idea where Li Rusong's troops had fought to or what achievements they had made.

Just as everyone was surprised, Li Chengliang continued, "More than half a month ago, our Ming Dynasty's South China Sea Navy had landed in Pegu, a coastal city in southern Myanmar, and was attacking the Burmese capital."

Li Chengliang had even less knowledge about the battle record of the South China Sea Fleet. He didn't even know whether the South China Sea Fleet had already gone to war with Myanmar.

After all, it was the sea, and Li Chengliang's understanding of the sea was not much better than that of other civil servants, even though he knew that Shandong was across the Liaodong Sea.

To people other than sailors, the sea is synonymous with mystery and danger.

"You should know the commander of the South China Sea Navy, Admiral Yu Dayou."

When Yu Dayou's name was mentioned, everyone present knew it, and even several lieutenant generals and lieutenant generals from Guangxi and Guizhou looked delighted.

Yu Dayou had served as a garrison commander in Guizhou and later held the title of commander-in-chief of Guangxi, so they were naturally familiar with him.

"They are taking over Burma with unstoppable force."

Li Chengliang didn't care about the situation on the battlefield, and first praised the South China Sea Navy.
"Don't think that you are upset because someone else took away the credit for conquering the Burmese capital. I tell you, they were able to achieve this achievement because of you and me."