prosperous age

“Don’t think that the credit for conquering the Burmese capital was taken away by others. Let me tell you, they were able to achieve this achievement because of you and me.

If we hadn’t held back Mang Yinglong’s army of several hundred thousand, their small force would have been able to capture cities and strongholds in southern Myanmar.”

Li Chengliang said disdainfully, "I tell you this to let you know that Mang Yinglong is at the end of his rope. His lair has been dug out by us. He is now a lost dog, and he is in a state of panic all day long."

Having said this, Li Chengliang stood up, looked around at all the generals in the hall, and walked out the door while speaking.

“Now, he must be arranging for the Burmese army to break camp, thinking of retreating under the cover of night.

However, since we have lured them to the city of Baoshan, how can we let them come and go as we please?

The bank of the Lujiang River is the grave of the Burmese army."

"General, give the order. I will go back and gather my men to chase them. Not a single enemy will escape."

"Yes, Marshal, give the order."

"Handsome."

Hearing what Li Chengliang said, the generals below became excited.

Yes, the Burmese capital might have been captured by the Ming army. Mang Yinglong had no time to fight with them at the moment. He was probably so anxious that he just wanted to fly back to rescue them.

Opportunities to give a downtrodden man a beating are rare.

These generals have learned to some extent how powerful the Burmese army is in these battles in Tianshou City.

Even though they would not admit it, they were still somewhat nervous in their hearts when it came to a head-on fight.

Yes, the Myanmar army is quite powerful and has many veterans with rich combat experience, so it is not easy to defeat them.

But now it’s different. The Burmese army is anxious to go back for rescue, which is an opportunity to seize the head.

"Commander Li, what do you think? Are you going to send troops to attack the Burmese camp tonight?"

At this time, Luo Rufang stood up and asked.

Luo Rufang's face was now flushed, not sure if it was because of the stimulation of Li Chengliang's words.

Turning around, Li Chengliang looked around again and said, "There is no need to disturb the soldiers' rest tonight. Tomorrow morning, we will have a full meal and take two days' worth of dry food with us to go out of the city and chop off the heads.

Judging from the current situation, Mang Yinglong should have abandoned the front camp and prepared to use them to delay the pursuers.

Therefore, early tomorrow morning, the cavalry will set out from the south gate, bypass the Burmese army camp and go straight to the Lujiang Wharf, setting fire to all the ships.

Without boats, I wonder how more than 100,000 Burmese soldiers can cross the river."

Li Chengliang said with a chuckle.

Afterwards, Li Chengliang selected several generals and asked them to leave the city early the next morning to attack the Burmese army camp.

"Bring the artillery, use the cannons to blow open the camp fence, and rush in directly."

After giving orders to this team of generals, Li Chengliang began to arrange the second and third echelons to approach Lujiang River in a siege formation.

"All units must deploy their falconets in front of the army. If they encounter Burmese elephant soldiers, use the cannons to attack them directly."

After Li Chengliang finished talking about the deployment of the army, he looked at Mu Changzuo who was standing beside him and said, "Lord Mu, do you have any medicine to supplement?"

Li Chengliang did not discuss today's arrangements with Mu Changzuo and Luo Rufang in advance. In Li Chengliang's view, all the arrangements were completed by him, Li Chengliang, and these two were just taking advantage, so he naturally looked down on them.

"Commander Li is in command. Changzuo admires him and follows his orders with all his strength."

Mu Changzuo didn't want to make any trouble, although he was somewhat dissatisfied in his heart.

He thought Li Chengliang would discuss with him first, but he came very early. However, Li Chengliang just asked him to sit and wait here and did not summon him for a long time.

It seems that Li Chengliang didn't take him seriously at all.

However, no matter how dissatisfied he is, he will not hold back in the face of such a national war.

After all, those who come from the Duke of Qian’s Mansion are not villains, and they will not ignore the interests of the country because of their personal preferences.

"Well, everyone, go back and prepare early. Gather the firemen to prepare dry food. Don't delay."

With tens of thousands of people going out of the city to fight and so many mouths to feed, it is naturally not an easy task.

For the firemen, if they don't make preparations early, it will definitely affect the combat.

"As ordered."

"Yes."

The generals all bowed to Li Chengliang to receive the order, and then filed out and returned to their camps to prepare.

Yes, the combat troops cannot rest until they are called up for battle, so they must be asked to get up and prepare immediately.

"Commander Li, should we also send some literati to Shidian to chase them out of the city?"

Seeing that all the generals had left, Mu Changzuo walked up to Li Chengliang and asked.

Li Chengliang did not respond, but just nodded slightly. At this moment, a chief clerk hurried in with a document. After bowing to the three people, he handed the drafted document to Li Chengliang with both hands.

Li Chengliang took it and took a look at it, then handed it to Mu Changzuo and said, "Master Mu, take a look and see if it is feasible."

Mu Changzuo took it and took a look. It turned out to be a military order drafted by Li Chengliang for Lieutenant General Shi Dian.

"Commander Li, let them just follow, right?"

After Mu Changzuo finished reading the military order drafted by Li Chengliang, he found the first part was fine, as it just described the current situation so that the other side could be mentally prepared.

However, the subsequent orders did not allow them to leave the city to pursue the Burmese army, but only to follow behind, which was equivalent to escorting the other party away. This made Mu Changzuo difficult to understand.

"Shidian is short of soldiers and firearms. If we chase too hastily, I'm worried something might happen."

After hearing what Mu Changzuo said, Li Chengliang just smiled and explained.

Glancing at Luo Rufang, Li Chengliang said with a smile: "The Shidian Burmese army is definitely retreating to Hanlong Pass. If we chase them too hastily, I'm worried that we will encounter the Burmese army fleeing outside, and then we might be attacked from both sides.

Although the Burmese army will surely lose this battle, we must also guard against them making desperate efforts to survive. After all, only by breaking through Hanlong Pass can they have a glimmer of hope of survival, and then the Shidian army will be in danger. "

The distance from Shidian to Hanlong Pass is farther than that from Baoshan, so if the Ming army chases too quickly, they may outrun the Burmese army in Baoshan.

Although the Burmese army could be defeated at the Lu River, its remnants would still be able to cross the river, especially since 20,000 men had already arrived there.

The Burmese army retreated and was attacked from both sides, so the Ming army in Shidian might not stand a chance.

These are all win-win situations, so as long as we maintain them, there is no need to take risks.

However, Li Chengliang did not expect that this time Mang Yinglong chose Mengmi and took a longer road just to preserve the main force of the Burmese army.

He just thought that Mang Yinglong would escape back to Myanmar as quickly as possible and concentrate the remaining troops to frantically attack the Mubang Ming army, hoping to open a channel to break through and escape to the south.

Because of the influence of the news that the Ming army's target was the Burmese capital of Toungoo, neither Li Chengliang, Mu Changzuo, nor Luo Rufang expected that Mang Yinglong would choose to take a detour.

At this time, Li Rusong personally led his troops to pursue Mang Yingli, while ordering his second brother Li Rubai to lead his troops to continue westward to attack the two cities of Mengguang and Mengnai in Mengyang.

Yes, in his and his father Li Chengliang's eyes, the fastest way to return to Myanmar is undoubtedly through Mubang, and the next best way is Mengyang.

If one chooses to go through Mengmi, after all it is a newly annexed territory, it is not only unsafe but also requires a special detour, which is almost half the distance longer.

At this time of rush, they really didn't expect Mang Yinglong to make such a choice. In central Myanmar, under the city of Toungoo, a team of more than a thousand Ming troops formed a strict military formation.

In front of the army, six heavy artillery pieces took turns bombarding the south gate of Toungoo City, breaking countless bricks and making a mess on the ground.

In the army formation, the musketeers in the front row were idle and chatting with each other. No enemy came out of the city, so what was the point of them standing here like wooden stakes?

The Ming army behind them, armed with swords, shields and spears, were in a similar state to the front row.

Although they are all Ming troops, they are two completely different groups.

The musketeers and gunners were sailors belonging to the South China Sea Navy, while the sword and shield men and spearmen behind them were mostly troops formed after the reorganization of the remnants of the Feilong Kingdom.

It was like this every day. The troops took turns to line up here, covering the artillery bombardment of the walls of Toungoo City, and then withdrew to the camp.

Even the defenders on the opposite city did not care to repair the city wall overnight. Although the wall was still damaged, they could only fill the damaged part with sandbags and stones.

It has been several days since then, and standing under the city can be said to be the most difficult time in this period of time.

"Da da da"

A sound of horse hooves came from the west, and a group of galloping horses rushed towards the back of the Ming army with their hooves flying.

The knight on horseback held a command flag high in his hand, and the flag swayed in the wind, making him look very majestic.

Soon, the sound of horse hooves slowed down, and the knight on horseback had reined in his horse and slowed down.

When the horse approached a group of people behind the army, the knight reined in the horse, jumped off the horse, and galloped towards the crowd.

"Reporting to the commander, the Burmese army in the west has been defeated by Hu Yanyou and his troops, and our army is now chasing and killing the defeated enemy."

The knights on horseback were naturally messengers, coming from the western battlefield to report the news of victory.

"Okay, let's investigate again and report again."

"Take the order."

The dark-skinned man in front of the messenger was naturally Yu Dayou, the admiral of the South China Sea Navy of the Ming Dynasty.

After arriving at Toungoo City, before they had time to prepare for the siege, they received news that Burmese troops had appeared in the east, with a strength of nearly a thousand people, and they seemed to be reinforcements for Toungoo City.

The Burmese troops who could be mobilized were naturally the few elite troops left in the country. The others followed the Burmese king to the east to conquer the Ming Dynasty.

Yu Dayou was much more interested in dealing with these people than directly capturing Toungoo City.

Li Chengliang and Yu Dayou knew what Wei Guangde meant.

In order to achieve his goal, it is imperative to eliminate as many elite Burmese troops as possible in advance.

Only by eliminating these troops could we lessen the resistance we encountered when we later captured various cities in Myanmar. Moreover, the resistance of the Burmese army would be weakened, which would be conducive to achieving our rule here.

Thinking that the Burmese capital is right in front of us, in order to protect this place, the Burmese officials in the city will definitely draw troops from all over to support it. Isn't this a perfect strategy of besieging a point and attacking the reinforcements?
Besiege a town and attack its reinforcements. The real purpose is to surround the enemy in a town and use it as bait to attract reinforcements from enemies in other places. The reinforcements are attacked and the goal of the campaign is to annihilate them.

This tactic is actually a variation of the "Besiege Wei to Save Zhao" strategy in the Thirty-Six Strategies, both of which are aimed at mobilizing the enemy forces.

The focus of besieging a point and attacking its reinforcements is on attacking its reinforcements, so the emphasis of troop deployment is the force to attack its reinforcements. The forces besieging the city are auxiliary forces, and besieging the point is virtual, while attacking its reinforcements is real.

Moreover, the enemy came in a hurry to support, having slept in the open air and been exhausted along the way. There was no way they could be a match for the well-rested Ming army.

In the past two days, the Ming army has successively defeated two Burmese rescue forces coming from the east.

To this end, Yu Dayou deployed a large number of his cavalry to search for the whereabouts of the Burmese army from all directions.

The Burmese troops defeated today were the ones we received in the report yesterday, and we immediately deployed our troops for an ambush.

"General, how long do we have to stay outside the city before we attack it? I am worried that the Burmese king will send troops back to support us, which will delay the opportunity to fight."

Wang Shike was the vanguard, and if they were to attack Toungoo City, he would naturally be the vanguard as well. Therefore, he had been eager to try and was eager to take the credit.

Unfortunately, Yu Dayou had always disagreed to attack the city and just pretended to do so by continuing to destroy the Burmese city walls.

Although fighting like this could reduce losses in future sieges, he was anxious because the peaches were right in front of him and he was not allowed to pick them.

"Wait a few more days. If no Burmese reinforcements arrive, we will attack the city again."

Yu Dayou looked at the city wall in the distance, and said with a relaxed smile on his face, "It's just a small city called Toungoo, it's as easy as taking something out of a bag if we want to capture it.

But if we take this city, the Burmese army will no longer support this place, but will wait for Mang Yinglong's army to return for support.

Hehe, do you think the resentful thief still has a chance to come back?"

Yu Dayou looked at Wang Shike and asked with a smile.

"This"

Wang Shike hesitated for a while before he had to admit: "The Burmese army is fighting with our army in Yunnan. If we withdraw our troops hastily, the losses will be considerable.

Therefore, they may send a small number of elite troops back to rescue, and wait until the main force of the Burmese army and our army are separated, and then the main force will come back to support.

However, I am afraid that Yunnan is unaware of the situation and dare not pursue rashly, so we...'

"It's normal for you to think this way. Under normal circumstances, I would also think so."

Yu Dayou smiled as he said, "The commander of the battle in Yunnan this time is the former Liaodong General Li Chengliang. I have studied his fighting style carefully. It is to lure the enemy deep into our territory and then send out surprise troops to cut off their retreat.

After destroying the king's tent or the rear guard, the enemy army would fall into chaos, and he would then lead his troops in pursuit and kill them.

This time the imperial court sent him to Yunnan to command the battle, probably to test his command ability. After all, he only had a record of fighting against Mongolia and Jurchens in the north.

You don't know that the imperial court has been planning this war for a long time, and had already begun preparations after knowing that Burma had rebellious intentions.

The imperial court is so deliberate, do you think it is just to defeat Myanmar, huh?"

"Marshal, I really don't know about this matter. I wonder if you can tell me what the court is going to do?"

Wang Shike came closer and asked with interest.

"Lord Wei only mentioned in his letters to me that the Ming Dynasty has the North Sea, the East Sea, and the South Sea, but not the West Sea."

Yu Dayou stopped there, but he revealed a lot of information.

"West Sea, West Sea"

Wang Shike fell into deep thought, and his eyes lit up in just a moment.

"Marshal, what do you mean?"

“Yes, I guess the court intends to completely occupy this place, divide it into provinces for governance, and possibly form the West Sea Navy here.

You may have heard some rumors that the Denglai Navy may become the East China Sea Navy in the future. As for the North Sea, the court has almost lost control of the Nurgan Dusi. If it can regain control over there, it may also form a navy. "

These were all Yu Dayou's guesses, but he just said them out loud during the casual chat.

Looking at the Ming troops in front of him, many of them were already exhausted after being lined up for so long.

"Retreat."

Yu Dayou gave the order. (End of this chapter)