prosperous age

Chapter 1144 Sneak Attack on Ava City

"Major General, the big city ahead is Ava."

On the mountain east of Ava City in Myanmar, hidden in the green trees, a team of Ming army soldiers were staring at the city in the distance.

"Brother, this city is not small. It seems the city wall is about four or five miles long."

The person who spoke was naturally Li Rubai. At this time, he was following his eldest brother and leading more than 40,000 Ming troops to advance along the mountains and forests. Finally, without alerting the enemy, they reached the outside of Ava city.

Here, according to the map in his hand, no matter Mang Yinglong chooses to go through Mengyang or Mengmi, Ava City is the only way for them to return to Toungoo City.

At this time, the city of Ava was under martial law and in a state of high alert, perhaps because it had already known that Mubang, Monguang and other places were occupied by the Ming army, and that Toungoo City was in danger.

However, despite the tight security, the four gates of Ava City were still open, and many Burmese people could be seen coming in and out.

However, the number of soldiers on the city walls, especially on the city towers, was much greater than usual.

Li Rusong did not answer his brother's words, but stared at the gate of Ava City at the foot of the mountain.

The distance from the woods that can be hidden on the hillside to the city gate is not far. If they rely solely on infantry raids, the enemy standing on the city gate tower can easily see them from a distance.

Once the city gates are closed, the project will be a waste of time.

And time is exactly what they are in urgent need of right now.

"Second brother, how many war horses did we bring?"

Since the infantry had no time to charge, Li Rusong naturally thought of a cavalry raid.

Only by relying on the speed of war horses can we reach the city wall as quickly as possible and seize the city gate by surprise.

"Brother, this city is not small."

When Li Rubai heard his elder brother asking about war horses, he knew what he meant and hurriedly reminded him.

A big city naturally has more soldiers guarding it.

By looking at the Burmese people coming in and out of the city gate, one can guess that there are quite a few residents in this city.

"How many war horses are there?"

Li Rusong ignored his second brother's muttering and asked with a stronger tone.

"About four or five hundred."

Li Rubai had no choice but to answer truthfully.

In fact, they brought more than a thousand cavalrymen with them, but they lost some war horses and personal soldiers in the previous battle with Mang Yingli, and they would have to leave some behind for patrolling and communication purposes for the Ming troops stationed in various places.

The most important thing is that they came from Mengnai, and because the road was not conducive for the movement of war horses, the number of war horses they brought was reduced.

A thousand men were left at Hanlong Pass to deter the Burmese army. After all the miscellaneous items were counted, there are not many cavalrymen left around them.

"Pass the order down. Those who don't know how to use a bow and arrow should bring a three-barreled gun. Also, put a few bird guns on the horse. You go and prepare them yourself.

Load up the ammunition for me, we will raid here today."

Li Rusong pointed to the city gate at the foot of the mountain and said.

"Brother, the risk is a bit high. Why don't we walk around and take a look at the other city gates?"

Such a big city naturally has many gates.

Moreover, the guide also said that there are gates in the east, south, west and north of Ava City.

The east gate is heavily guarded, but perhaps the other directions are not so strictly guarded.

“I guess they’re all about the same, no need to look at them anymore.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war. I will observe the situation for a while while you go down and arrange a cavalry raid.

In addition, mobilize 5,000 elite troops to follow us and capture the city.

In addition, troops were deployed to intercept the enemy from both the north and south sides of Ava City.

Now we don’t know where the Burmese King Mang Yinglong has gone. We are most afraid that they will appear from the north when we capture the city. You should send more troops to defend there.”

The city of Ava in front of us has tall walls, which are not as high as those cities in southern Myanmar. The walls are eight feet high.

According to the guide, the city walls of Ava are not much worse than those of Toungoo, the capital of Myanmar.

The reason for this is that Ava City was once a royal city, so the defense preparations here are naturally much higher than those of ordinary cities.

The area surrounding the city of Ava was actually a swamp. About two hundred years ago, a member of the royal family named De Dominpaye came here and took a fancy to this location stuck in the north-south passage, so he decided to build a city here.

He hired local people to dig canals to drain the swamps around Ava, built a town, and established his capital there.

This is the Ava Dynasty in Myanmar's history, which was established by Thet Dominpaya, a descendant of the "Three Shan Brothers" who seized power from the Pagan Dynasty at that time.

The Ava Dynasty was an ancient dynasty established by the ancestors of the Shan people in the middle and lower reaches of the Irrawaddy River. Since 1364, Thet Dominpaya and his descendants have ruled central Myanmar from here.

In 1527, the Ava Dynasty was replaced by the Lukchuan royal family, who were also Shan people, and was finally destroyed by the Burmese Toungoo Dynasty in 1555.

As the former royal capital, it is not surprising that there are city walls nearly three meters high.

The royal capital must always be different from other cities.

Li Rusong began to make intensive preparations for the siege, but the Burmese troops in Ava were unaware of the coming danger.

In fact, Mangchai, the defender of Ava City, was not unprepared.

Since receiving the news that the Ming army appeared on the southern coast of Myanmar and had made its way all the way to Toungoo City with great force, messengers were immediately sent to several nearby cities in the south, and messengers were continuously sent to contact these cities.

The purpose, of course, was to be the first to know the news from the south and avoid a surprise attack by the Ming army from the south.

After the news spread that Mubang, Mengnai, Mengguang and other cities were occupied by the Ming army, the Burmese army in Ava city immediately sent messengers to the north to contact several towns in the north in an attempt to obtain first-hand information on the movements of the Ming army.

It can be said that the Burmese army in Ava city was well prepared and ready to respond to the attack of the Ming army at any time.

However, in recent days, although bad news came from the south, the Ming army broke through the Toungoo City in one day, demonstrating the Ming army's strong combat power. But after occupying the Toungoo City, the Ming army did not sweep northward, but seemed to be heading south, attacking cities in southern Myanmar along the coastline.

After receiving such news, Mangchai naturally breathed a sigh of relief.

As for the news about the King of Burma in the north, there has been no news for some time.

After occupying Mubang and Mengnai, the Ming army did not continue to attack other cities, and it did not seem that the Burmese king was defeated.

Otherwise, if the Burmese king had already failed, the Ming army should have continued to advance into various parts of Myanmar.

And because of the loss of these places, it is understandable that we have lost contact with the King of Burma.

After all, the communication routes had been cut off by the Ming army, so it was normal that there would be no contact for a short period of time.

Mangchai had already sent people to Menglun and Menggong in an attempt to restore contact with the Burmese King Mang Yinglong.

However, although the atmosphere was very tense, Mangchai was still relatively reassured about Ava City. At least everything was normal in the surrounding towns and there was no trace of the Ming army, which also indicated that Ava City was safe.

As for increasing the number of garrisons at the city gates, it is just a necessary procedure.

Little did he know that the Ming army had used the people from the Ming merchant caravan as guides to find a way over the mountains and through the mountains in northern Myanmar.

As for why these caravans took these mountain roads, it was naturally because of Myanmar’s unique political system.

Except for the central and southern Myanmar ruled by the Toungoo City, all other places are under the control of the chieftains of various Burmese tribes, who are the local emperors of those places.

Although the chieftains all knelt at the feet of the Burmese King Mang Yinglong, their relations with each other were not necessarily harmonious.

In fact, this kind of relationship is also what Mang Yinglong hopes to see.

If they were in harmony, Mang Yinglong would have trouble sleeping, worrying that these people would secretly collude to oppose his rule. Naturally, the Ming caravans needed to grasp this intelligence and avoid areas controlled by some potentially hostile chieftains.

Therefore, the main roads in Myanmar may not allow caravans to pass safely, and when necessary, they have to choose to take mountain roads and bypass areas controlled by some chieftains.

And now, these mountain roads became the routes for the Ming army to advance.

As before, the Ming army would detain any Burmese they encountered along the way to prevent the news from being leaked.

"Brother, we are ready. There are 472 cavalrymen, except for more than 100 archers, and the rest are equipped with five bird guns."

Li Rubai quickly stepped behind Li Rusong and reported in a low voice: "I asked Li Lin and Sui Changlong to lead people to intercept the Burmese army from the south and north. We sent 8,000 people to the north and 3,000 people to the south.

You can attack the city as you like. I have arranged for Yang Jiahao to lead the troops to follow. He has 3,000 men under his command, and an additional 2,000 soldiers have been sent.

I will also divide the rest into several groups and dispatch them to nearby areas, ready to support Ava City and the northern and southern battlefields at any time."

“Very good, let them set off immediately and report as soon as they arrive.

The personal guards and Yang Jiahao's troops are hiding over there."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Li Rusong pointed to a depression at the foot of the mountain, which was surrounded by bushes and suitable for the Ming army to hide.

"it is good."

Li Rubai agreed and was about to go down to pass on the order, but was stopped by Li Rusong.

"All cavalry, change into two layers of armor."

"Brother, this."

"Just do it."

Li Rubai wanted to say more, but Li Rusong waved his hand impatiently and asked him to go down and pass on the order.

The term "three layers of armor" often appears in war novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Some people would understand it literally and think that it means putting on three different types of armor, such as cotton armor, leather armor and iron armor.

But in fact, the three-layer armor of the Qing army was inherited from the Ming army's armor, that is, the three-layer armor was actually developed by the Ming army according to different needs.

The three-layer armor of the Ming Army refers to the three main types of armor used in the Ming Dynasty army, namely Ming armor, An armor and Mian armor.

Mingjia, also known as zhajia or fish scale armor, is a type of iron armor.

Its characteristic is that it is made of iron sheets and is named after its shape which resembles fish scales. Ming Dynasty poetry describes border troops wearing 45-jin armor, which refers to this kind of Ming armor.

The dark armor is a kind of cloth armor. One is a heavy cloth armor with embedded iron plates, and the other is a light cloth armor made of thick cotton.

Dark armor is light in weight and suitable for use in lightly armed troops. Both green armor and purple cloth armor belong to the category of dark armor.

The blue armor weighs 24-25 jin, while the purple cloth armor is lighter and has a lower manufacturing cost.

The last type of cotton armor is a light cloth armor, the main materials of which are cotton and cloth.

It is light in weight and suitable for use in lightly armed troops. The cotton armor does not have iron plates, but is made of cotton and cloth, with only nail bubbles on the outside.

Among them, the Ming armor and the An armor are the iron armor of the Ming army. However, due to different materials and production rates, the Ming army generally called them "iron armor" and "cotton armor". In fact, the cotton armor has limited defensive effect and is more used as cold-resistant clothing.

The Ming army had three layers of armor, each of which had different characteristics and uses, and together constituted the protection system of the Ming army.

In the past, when cavalry went on an attack, they would definitely use visible armor as standard equipment and would rarely use hidden armor.

But this time, in order to reduce the burden on the war horses, Li Rusong boldly ordered the cavalry to change their iron armor and put on cotton armor, which naturally made Li Rubai worried.

There is no doubt that after changing armor, the cavalry will move faster and it will be easier for them to break into the city.

However, when the armor becomes weaker, it will also lead to greater casualties.

However, Li Rubai always listened to his elder brother, so he only struggled slightly and followed his orders.

In the valley, the Ming army's infantry and cavalry participating in the attack on Ava City were already in position. The knights fed their horses water and bean cakes, but they did not dare to feed them too much.

They also munched on dried meat to replenish their energy. At this moment, everyone was sitting on the ground next to their horses.

Behind them, thousands of Ming troops were lurking in the woods, also drinking water and eating dry food.

As the sun sets, many people feel a little tired.

Li Rusong also noticed on the hillside that the number of Burmese troops on the city wall had decreased significantly, almost half as many as before.

Whether they were hiding from the sun or taking a nap, Li Rusong was very satisfied with the current situation.

"Brother, everything is in place."

Li Rubai returned to Li Rusong again and spoke in a low voice.

"Walk."

Li Rusong said it immediately, and led his men down the hillside, and soon met up with the cavalry.

With the arrival of Li Rusong, the cavalrymen who had not yet had a seated statue immediately stood up.

"Check your equipment. Get on your horse."

At Li Rusong's command, more than 400 people stepped on the stirrups and jumped onto their horses.

There was a rustling sound from the woods behind him. All the Ming army soldiers had stood up, each holding a weapon and waiting for orders.

"My men, follow me to capture the city."

Li Rusong didn't say much. He was riding on a horse, consuming the horse's energy every moment.

So, after you are ready, give the order to attack directly.

"Tap Tap"

The sound of horse hooves hitting the ground was scattered, and then gradually became denser.

Hundreds of war horses rushed out of the valley and headed towards the road below the mountain.

Once there, they could let go of all their horsepower and sprint at full speed, rushing into the city gate before the Burmese army could react.

After the cavalry set out, the infantry followed closely behind, trotting along.

There was no shouting or screaming; everything had been ordered in advance, and shouting or screaming was only allowed after rushing into the city gate.

Li Rubai stood at the edge of the woods and watched the Ming army rush forward. Soon the cavalry troops had rushed onto the road and launched a charge towards the distant city gate.

"Rumble"

The dense sound of horse hooves hit the ground, making a thunderous sound, and the earth was shaking slightly.

The Burmese soldiers on the city wall were the first to react. Many of them rushed to the battlements to look out, and soon someone shouted in fear.

The momentum of the cavalry charge was terrifying, and many people were still at a loss as to what to do.

Finally, the soldiers in the city gate heard the shouting from the city wall. They actually realized something was wrong, so some of them rushed to the city gate and tried to close the heavy door.

"bang bang bang"

The knights in the front row of the Ming cavalry fired their bird guns and threw them away after using them.

As the two Burmese soldiers fell to the ground wailing, the rest of the Burmese troops were frightened.

When they saw the Ming cavalry getting closer, they screamed and rushed into the city.