prosperous age

Chapter 1131 1222 Sweeping Southern Myanmar
"Brother, no, I can't attack."

Outside Hanlong Pass, one of the eight passes in western Yunnan that the Ming Dynasty controlled Myanmar, the Ming army set up artillery and fired continuously, and teams of Ming soldiers carried ladders and rushed to the city wall.

And behind the battlements of the city wall, from time to time a rain of arrows flew up and fell into the ranks of the Ming army.

If it weren't for the Ming army soldiers holding shields and simple shields made of branches on their heads, there would probably be corpses everywhere outside the city wall.

"This cannon is too weak to break open the city gate."

Li Rusong looked at the battle ahead and said angrily, "Tell everyone to withdraw. This will only increase casualties."

"Ming Jin retreats the troops."

After receiving instructions from his elder brother, Li Ruzhen immediately ordered his personal soldiers to issue a withdrawal signal.

As the gong sounded, the Ming army hiding under the city wall retreated like a tide, not forgetting to drag back the bodies of a few unlucky guys who were shot to death.

"Forget it, let's not fight. Without the big guns, these small cannons are useless against the city."

Li Rusong turned his head and looked at the tall and majestic official wall of Hanlong Pass again, and said something unconvinced.

"So, bro, what do we do next?"

Li Ruzhen asked.

"Set up the camp well and don't give the Burmese army a chance to break out."

Li Rusong turned around and walked away, continuing as he walked: "Dig more traps in front of the camp, divide the night watch into two parts, light and dark sentries, and take turns for the musketeers and artillerymen to rest near the camp. If the Burmese army dares to come out at the critical moment, we will fight them back."

The city gate, which was originally used to defend against foreign enemies, became an obstacle to the Ming army's attack after its attack and defense were changed.

"I really don't know what that idiot Mu Changzuo was thinking. He actually gave such an important pass to the local chieftain to guard. He is really bold. Doesn't he know that those who are not of my race must have different hearts?"

Li Ruzhen also said the same thing.

"This is not his decision. I heard that it has been like this in the southwest for a long time."

Li Rusong sighed and said, "It can only be said that the southwest has not experienced any major wars. I heard that in the past, it was just some chieftains who caused chaos over breakfast, and there were no other wars.

It’s not like us in Liaodong, where we have to go on foreign wars every year, either fighting the Jurchens or the Mongols.

Even if they were stationed in the Liaoxi Corridor or on the Great Wall, they had to be on guard against enemy sneak attacks at all times.

It’s so peaceful here.”

Li Rusong sneered.

"Brother, when we set out this time, Dad told us to kill as many enemies as possible and not to take any prisoners. What does that mean?
Second brother has never understood it either. We spent a lot of time thinking about it before, but we forgot to ask you about it these days."

Li Ruzhen knew that his father's most valued son was his eldest brother Li Rusong. Whatever his father knew, his eldest brother must know.

“Dad spoke in a vague way because he wanted you to figure it out for yourselves.

Tell me first, have you figured it out?"

Li Rusong asked.

Li Ruzhen shook his head.

In the military merit of the Ming Dynasty, taking a head is a great achievement, but if you can capture the enemy chief alive, that is naturally the greatest achievement. You can even get the chance to present the captives at the Meridian Gate, which is a great honor for the military general.

Well, even though the Li family has already made it big, who would object to such an opportunity to show off?

They actually understood the meaning of the words, but they just couldn't believe it and found it difficult to understand.

"There are some things here. Dad was worried about telling you at first. You guys are not careful and if you let it slip, it will have a bad impact."

Li Rusong looked around and saw that his personal soldiers were several steps away from them, so he was not afraid of them eavesdropping.

The two brothers' voices were not loud at this time and could not be heard that far.

"Do you know how the Duke of Qian got to this position?"

Li Rusong asked in a low voice.

"Duke of Qian? Didn't he lead the army to conquer Yunnan and Annan?"

Of course Li Ruzhen had heard of this.

The Mu family of Duke of Qian originated from Mu Ying, one of the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty, an outstanding military general, and the adopted son of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Xiaoci Ma.

In the ninth year of Hongwu, he followed Deng Yu in the expedition against Tubo as a deputy commander. Because of his military merits, he was awarded the title of Marquis of Xiping and was granted a red-lettered iron certificate.

In the 14th year of Hongwu, he, Fu Youde and Lan Yu led an army of 300,000 to conquer Yunnan. After Yunnan was pacified, Mu Ying stayed in Yunnan to garrison it.

In the 15th year of Hongwu, Mu Ying coughed up blood due to excessive grief over the death of his adoptive mother, Empress Ma. In the 25th year of Hongwu, he fell ill due to the death of Crown Prince Zhu Biao. Two months later, he died in Yunnan at the age of 48.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt deeply saddened and ordered his burial in the capital. He posthumously conferred him the title of King of Qianning and gave him the posthumous title of "Zhaojing". He was enshrined in the Taimiao.

However, at this time, the Mu family had only inherited the title of Marquis of Xiping.

After Mu Ying's death, his eldest son Mu Chun inherited the title of Marquis of Xiping and guarded Yunnan. After Mu Chun died without a son, his younger brother Mu Sheng inherited the title of Marquis of Xiping and continued to guard Yunnan.

In the early years of Yongle, Mu Sheng was ordered to lead his army with Zhang Fu to attack Jiaozhi separately.

After Jiaozhi was pacified, Zhang Fu was promoted to Duke of Yingguo, and Mu Sheng was promoted to Duke of Qianguo. From then on, the Mu family became hereditary dukes.

To put it bluntly, titles are won through wars.

If there is no fighting, a military general can at most rely on his seniority to get promoted to the position of governor of the Five Military Commanderies, which is the highest honor for a military general in peacetime.

And now, Li Chengliang, the head of the Li family, has become the Left General of the Five Military Commandery, the highest position among officials and there is no room for promotion.

However, there is still a huge difference between the Li family and these hereditary noble families, that is, they do not have a title.

Well, even if it’s not hereditary, it’s fine as long as it’s a lifetime title. You can still be a lord when you go out.

It can be said that the only thing the Li family can continue to pursue now is this title.

The pie that Wei Guangde painted really hit Li Chengliang's itch.

Li Rusong did not say anything in response to the third brother's answer, but just shook his head in confusion.

Soon, Li Ruzhen opened his mouth wide and asked in disbelief, "Brother, do you mean that as long as our family pacifies Burma this time, our father can also be made a Duke?
Ouch."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Ruzhen was slapped on the head by his eldest brother. Although he was wearing a helmet, he still screamed out of habit.

"What are you thinking? If Burma is really pacified, the only thing you can do is to confer the title of Earl, or even a lifetime title. If it can be passed down for three generations, it will be considered a great favor from the emperor.

What time is it now? Do you think it is still the founding period when the emperors bestowed titles as if it were a piece of cake?

Until now, look at how many years it has been since the imperial court awarded military merits."

Li Rusong saw things very clearly. One can only say that Xu Wenchang's teaching was not in vain, as at least Li Rusong saw things very clearly.

This is the actual situation. Li Chengliang fought many battles in Liaodong, but in the end he only got a lifelong title.

Of course, guarding Liaodong and opening up the border to Myanmar are two completely different things. This achievement is definitely much greater than accumulating merit and being awarded a title in Liaodong, but it is very likely that it will only be a title that can be passed down for three generations.

But even so, it was a great blessing. Just as the two brothers were talking, a personal soldier ran out from the gate of the Ming army camp, and when he saw where Li Rusong and his men were, he hurried over.

"Master, the second master sent a message."

As he spoke, the man handed over a bamboo tube.

Upon hearing the news from his second brother, Li Rusong immediately put away his smile, took the letter with a serious face, carefully checked the wax seal, then opened the bamboo tube and pulled out the paper roll inside.

Li Ruzhen immediately stood behind his elder brother and looked at the words on the paper with him.

Soon, smiles appeared on both of their faces.

The message on Li Rubai's note was very simple. He had led his troops to capture Mengnai and ordered a part of his troops to stay behind. He was currently leading his troops to prepare for an attack on Mengguang.

As long as this city is captured, the Ming army will be able to gain a foothold in Mengmi and block the Burmese King Mang Yinglong in western Yunnan.

The battlefield between Ming Dynasty and Myanmar is now extremely chaotic.

Not only was a fierce battle breaking out in western Yunnan, but the capital of Myanmar was also captured by the Ming army, and the major cities of Mubang and Monmi, which had already been annexed by Myanmar, were also captured by the Ming army.

In the 16th century, an era of extremely poor communications, such wars were very rare, especially since the two battlefields in the south and the north were fighting independently without a unified battle plan.

At this time, Yu Dayou, who was still in Toungoo City, was actually caught in a dilemma. That is, whether to continue to send troops to attack the surrounding Burmese cities or to defend Toungoo City and wait for the Burmese King Mang Yinglong to return.

Up to now, he has not received any news that Li Chengliang plans to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Burmese army in western Yunnan. If he continues to wait in Toungoo City, he will probably only wait for the arrival of the Ming army led by Li Rusong.

"Marshal, how about we send troops to wipe out the Burmese troops south of Pyin Oo Lwin?

I heard that it is the main grain producing area in Myanmar and has a large population. As long as we can control the southern part of Myanmar, even if Mang Yinglong comes back, he will not be able to get food and fodder.

As long as we delay a little, the Burmese army will be in chaos, and our army can take advantage of the situation to attack and kill the rebel Mang Yinglong."

Lieutenant General Wang Shike suggested.

This time, he had to accomplish more merits as it was a rare opportunity to fight against a weak enemy like Burma.

By accumulating military merits, you can at least become the general of a province after returning to your country.

This navy has been at sea for quite some time, and Wang Shike is already a little tired of it, so he plans to abandon ship and land.

"Bimiao?"

After a brief thought, Yu Dayou opened the brief map of Myanmar in the hands of the Ming army and observed it carefully.

Pyay is a city in southern Myanmar, located at a river port on the left bank of the lower reaches of the Irrawaddy River. It was the capital of Myanmar in the 8th century AD.

The middle reaches of the Irrawaddy River and the delta region have always been the most prosperous economic region in Myanmar, and Pyay is the trade link and main transportation route between the south and the north in this region.

If the Ming army could control Prome, together with the already occupied city of Toungoo, it would almost be able to block Myanmar's north-south transportation.

Just as Wang Shike said, the Burmese army rushed back from the north and would not bring much food and fodder with them. They would have to rely on food from southern Myanmar for military supplies.

Pyay was undoubtedly an important transportation channel. Most of the grain transferred from its surrounding and southern cities would be transported from there to the north of Toungoo City.

"Yes, Marshal. Now we know that although Myanmar has many warships, most of them are scattered in coastal cities. Even if they want to mobilize these warships, it will be difficult to accomplish without the order of the Burmese King Mang Yinglong."

Wang Shike continued.

As they stayed in Myanmar for longer, they gained a deeper understanding of the situation in Myanmar through various channels.

The Kingdom of Burma did have a large number of seagoing ships, but these ships were distributed along Myanmar's long coastline.

Although Myanmar is a small country, it has thousands of miles of coastline.

Facing the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, its long coastline naturally requires a large-scale navy to control it.

"You mean, while Mang Yinglong hasn't returned yet, send troops to occupy Dara and Bosheng?
Do we also need to send troops to occupy Mawlamyine?"

The south of Myanmar is generally the later Yangon Province and surrounding lands. At this time, Yu Dayou pointed to a narrow corridor controlled by Myanmar on the Indochina Peninsula, where there is also an important city of Myanmar, Mawlamyine.

Because this place was the springboard for the Burmese army to invade the Indochina Peninsula, it has always been valued by the Toungoo Dynasty and has been supported for its development.

However, Moulmein is close to the sea, and it doesn’t seem to be a difficult place to attack for the Ming navy at that time.

In fact, this was exactly the case. This time, the Ming army marched north from Pegu to Toungoo City, and successively captured Sittang, Guriye, Jiaogyi and other cities along the way. Yu Dayou also took this opportunity to realize the lack of military strength in southern Myanmar's cities at that time.

Yes, these cities basically do not have strong defensive capabilities. With the support of cannons, the Ming army found it very easy to capture these Burmese cities. They did not even need to deploy too many troops to complete the occupation of the cities.

After all, the elite troops had been transferred away, and the rest were the old, weak, sick and disabled. Even if the Burmese army had the upper hand in manpower, they would often scatter after being attacked by the Ming army.

To be honest, Yu Dayou did not expect that the Burmese army's combat effectiveness was so poor. He always thought that he would encounter a fierce battle after entering Myanmar.

Even several families in Jiugang were not optimistic about the Ming army. After all, Myanmar had been notorious for its viciousness in recent years, constantly attacking surrounding countries and looting property.

Therefore, the Ming army captured the city of Toungoo with great force, which frightened the merchants stranded in the old port of Bago.

Of course, in their inherent thinking, the Myanmar army is still very powerful.

Faced with such a record achieved by the government troops, the only explanation seems to be that the government troops are very powerful.

"Wang Shike, you have 3,000 men. Do you dare to sweep across southern Myanmar?"

Suddenly, Yu Dayou asked.

Although the Ming army had seven or eight thousand people, in Yu Dayou's view, Toungoo City was the most important after all, and he had to leave enough troops to deal with Mang Yinglong.

After Wang Shike took away three thousand men, he only had four or five thousand soldiers left, and his army was already very weak.

If it weren't for the Ming navy on the Pegu River, Yu Dayou would never dare to take the risk of dividing his troops.

"We captured more than a thousand Burmese soldiers before. Aren't they willing to surrender? You can take them with you. You don't have to use them as cannon fodder. We are short of troops now.

Capture the city, let them plunder the nobles in the city, and put war boots in their hands, so they dare not rebel again.

In this way, we only need to allocate a small number of soldiers to the captured city, and with the help of these surrendered soldiers, we should be able to guard it well.

As for Dara, you may not have enough troops by then.

But it doesn't matter. I will let Wang Zhao lead the navy fleet to attack from the seaside and provide you with support.

After occupying Dara, he will lead his fleet to attack Mawlamyine. "

Yu Dayou said.

"Then Marshal, what about the Portuguese castle in Shalian? Should we take it down as well?"

Dara was later known as Yangon, and to its south was Thanlyin, a city developed by Western colonists and now the most important port for the Myanmar Navy.

“Don’t move it for now. As long as the Portuguese don’t make any rash moves, just wait for it to continue to exist.

When the situation in Burma is settled, whether we should collect taxes from them or take them back will be decided by the court.”

Yu Dayou smiled.

Through the trench mirror, Yu Dayou has realized the benefits of contact with the barbarians, so his attitude is not firm.