prosperous age

Chapter 1145 Chapter 1236 Capture of the City
"Kua Kua Kua"

The sound of horse hooves hitting the ground caused tremendous psychological pressure on the defenders at the city gate. Although only more than ten guns were fired, only two people were injured.

When the soldiers responsible for closing the city gate fled into the city gate in a panic, the east gate of Ava never had a chance to be closed again.

When the first team of cavalry rushed into the city gate, facing the Burmese troops around them, the Ming army soldiers decisively picked up their bird guns and three-barreled guns and fired several rounds.

Then, they threw down their firearms, saw the horse path on the city wall near the city gate, and rushed up with sabers and spears.

The Ming cavalry that continued to enter the city quickly filled their gaps and continued to attack the Burmese army that was forming a formation not far away and preparing for a counterattack.

After a period of panic, the Burmese generals were already in place. They had just gone to find a place to rest.

With such a big commotion now, they have already reacted.

Immediately began to assemble the disorganized soldiers and prepare to counterattack the city gate.

In fact, victory or defeat depends on this moment. As long as they can close the city gate first, they still have a chance to defend the city.

However, the city gate was not spacious, so the place where they gathered the soldiers was very close to the city gate. The three-barreled gun might not have much killing power, but it was still within the attack range of the bird gun.

Li Rusong had also entered the city at this time. He ordered more than 200 people to rush up the city wall and disperse the Burmese soldiers gathered on the city gate tower to prevent them from shooting arrows and throwing rolling logs and stones to block the subsequent Ming army from entering the city.

After the Ming army entered the city, the sound of muskets never stopped. The cavalry soldiers kept firing pre-prepared firearms at the Burmese army, disrupting their arrangements.

After gathering hundreds of people, the Burmese general also commanded his soldiers to counterattack towards the city gate.

Soon, a fierce battle broke out between the two sides in the city gate.

Some Ming soldiers dismounted and stood directly at the city gate to prevent the Burmese army from capturing the city gate. Li Rusong led dozens of knights and used their skilled horse-controlling skills to take advantage of the brief open space to accelerate and ram into the Burmese army's formation.

With every contact, dozens of sabers swung left and right, and the wailing of Burmese soldiers could be heard under the swords.

There was chaos in the city gate at this time. The Ming and Burmese soldiers were fighting desperately, just wanting to kill the enemy and survive.

The garrison general Mangchai soon got word of the chaos at the city gate. Although he didn't know where the Ming army came from, he decisively gave orders to all the soldiers in the city to rush to the east gate and close the other three city gates.

To be safe, Mangchai took his family and, under the protection of his personal guards, retreated to the palace of the Konbaung Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty of Myanmar, in the center of the city.

Since Ava was once the royal capital, it naturally has a royal palace, and it is located in the center of the city.

Not only is there a city wall here, but most importantly, a moat dozens of meters wide was dug around it, turning the entire palace into an isolated island with only one bridge for passage.

By then, even if the city of Ava could not be defended, the remaining troops could still retreat here.

As long as they hold the bridge, they can stop the Ming army's offensive, and they will have a chance to catch their breath, hold out and wait for rescue.

The Ming army was very recognizable; with their red uniforms, there was no need to doubt who the enemy was.

Therefore, Mangchai made the judgment so quickly and gave up the idea of ​​abandoning the city and escaping but instead prepared to retreat to the palace, also because he took into account that the surrounding area was still under the control of the Burmese army and there was no news of the arrival of a large group of Ming troops.

He judged that there were not many Ming troops arriving, so they still had a chance.

As long as they can get support from the Burmese army in nearby towns, they still have a chance of winning.

To this end, he has issued an order for the Burmese troops in the surrounding towns to rush to Ava City for rescue as soon as possible.

In order to obtain intelligence, he had previously sent his few soldiers to station in nearby towns to collect intelligence from all sides.

Now, there are only 16,000 to 17,000 Burmese troops left in the city, most of whom are newly recruited soldiers in the past half month.

He didn't think that they could defend the huge city of Ava with these poorly trained and almost negligible combat power.

But if we guard a bridge, there should still be a chance.

While the Burmese army was mobilizing its troops, Mangchai was also trying to retake the city gate and rely on the city defense to resist the attack of the Ming army. However, the Burmese generals at the east gate had fallen into despair.

"Great Ming will win. Great Ming will win."

At the east gate of Ava City, the five thousand infantrymen who followed the siege had arrived at the gate and began to enter the city.

After arriving at the city gate, the soldiers shouted the Ming army's battle cry in unison and rushed into the city gate.

The arrival of fresh troops boosted the morale of the Ming cavalry.

Although their surprise attack on the city gate seemed dangerous, in fact, as long as they could enter the city, it would not be difficult for them to guard the city gate for a period of time.

Especially when facing soldiers from subordinate vassal states, the sense of superiority of the Celestial Empire made them not think they would fail.

As for death, casualties are inevitable on the battlefield because swords and guns are brutal.

And now, the arrival of the Ming army's infantry also indicated that they had completed their mission and won the victory in this raid.

Groups of Ming army infantry entered the city. They formed a tight military formation and directly blocked the rushing Burmese troops.

"Pap-pap-pap-pap."

The dense sound of bird guns rang out again, and then a shield wall composed of shields appeared in front of the Ming army's formation. Countless spears stretched out and stabbed at the rushing Burmese soldiers.

"Mount."

Just when the cavalrymen breathed a sigh of relief and were about to take a break, Li Rusong, who had led his troops back at some point, appeared at the city gate and shouted loudly.

The knights had no time to catch their breath, so they had to find a nearby warhorse and mount it.

A cavalry team of nearly two hundred people appeared again at the gate of Ava City, commanding two teams of Ming army infantry to climb the city wall and replace the knights on the city wall.

The horse path was divided into two parts, with Ming army infantry rushing up the city wall on one side and cavalry going down the city wall on the other.

The horses that were previously scattered and abandoned at the city gate soon welcomed their owners, although they might not be their real owners.

The good thing about war horses is that they don’t recognize people.

While the cavalry was quickly assembling, the Ming infantry had already defeated the surrounding Burmese soldiers.

Now, they were almost ready to enter the streets and begin dispersing the gathered enemies along the streets.

On the city wall, the Ming army's formation began to spread to both sides along the wall, defeating the Burmese army that came to support from the north and south gates.

Outside the city, Li Rubai saw the Ming cavalry and infantry entering the city one after another, and knew that the battle was won. He immediately called two guerrilla generals and asked them to lead their subordinates to rush to Ava City immediately to increase the Ming army's strength in the city.

Occupying the city gate is not the goal. The top priority is to end the Burmese army's resistance as soon as possible and completely occupy Ava City.

In this regard, the only option is to mobilize as many troops as possible into the city.

There was a reason why not all Ming troops entered the city.

If all the subordinates entered the city, although the number of Ming troops in the city would be increased in a short period of time, too many troops would easily create chaos and poor command.

Teams of Ming troops entered the city and each captured a target according to Li Rusong's orders.

Now Li Rusong has given the two guerrilla generals the task of capturing the north and south gates of Ava City. After capturing them, they will be responsible for guarding them and do not need to continue attacking the west gate.

Li Rusong led only the revitalized cavalry and launched a charge in the streets, completely dispersing the remaining Burmese troops. He then returned to the east gate tower and began to dispatch and command the Ming troops entering the city, directing them to attack various targets in the city.

Thanks to the guide who had been to Ava many times, although the Ming army was arriving for the first time, they had a preliminary understanding of the city, which made Li Rusong's command like a fish in water and at ease.

Two more teams of Ming troops arrived at the city. Li Rusong immediately ordered: "Han Qing, Gao Fuju, you lead your men through the city to attack the west gate and hold it there. Don't make any mistakes." The two generals immediately clasped their fists to receive the order, quickly got down from the city wall, and rushed into the street with their troops.

The target is the West Gate. This is the East Gate. Just rush along the street and you will naturally reach there.

The two teams had a total of four to five thousand soldiers. At a time when the city of Ava had almost lost its organized resistance, they did not encounter much resistance even when advancing along the streets.

At this point, seeing the Ming army's unstoppable momentum, Li Rusong's stern young face gradually relaxed and a smile appeared on his face.

"General, the enemy has retreated to the center of the city, where there is a river that blocks our pursuit.

The enemy put up a desperate resistance on the bridge and was temporarily unable to break through."

Soon, the pursuing Ming troops sent people to report the latest battle results, and Li Rusong also received news that the Burmese army had retreated to the imperial palace in the center of the city.

Soon, news came from the northern and southern divisions of the Ming army outside the city.

Although Mangchai issued an order to close the city gates and prohibit entry and exit, when the Ming army arrived, thousands of people still opened the city gates and fled Ava.

However, they were all captured by the Ming army outside the city.

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Faced with the strict military formation, the civilians and deserters had no intention of making a desperate resistance.

As for the West City, the Ming army did not send troops to intercept, which led to countless people choosing to either hide in their homes or flee out of the city after learning the news that the Ming army had broken into the city.

Now the West Gate has become their only place of escape. The city gate that should have been closed is opened, countless people are rushing out of the city, and the soldiers on the city gate and the city wall have disappeared.

Perhaps, they were the first wave of Awa people to escape from the city.

Although many people chose to flee the city, there were still quite a few Burmese troops gathered at the palace, about two to three thousand people gathered here.

After news came that the Ming army occupied the four gates and gradually controlled most of the area of ​​​​Ava City, the only thing left unoccupied was the former dynasty's palace in the center of the city.

"Stuck on the bridge? Haha."

Li Rusong issued an order to seize the bridge, but because it was too narrow and the Burmese army fought to the death, the Ming army failed after several attacks.

Even though the bridgehead was clearing the way with a volley of bird guns, the Burmese army used rattan shields for defense and continued to shoot arrows back at the Ming army.

"Have the Portuguese guns sent into the city from outside, so that they can bombard the bridge for me."

When Li Rusong learned of the battle situation, he immediately ordered the Ming troops to surround the palace and clear out the remaining enemy troops. He then began to mobilize the cannons outside the city into the city.

There is no better weapon than cannons to attack such a place.

In the past, when the Ming army did not have cannons, they could only fight with the enemy to see who would succumb first and collapse first.

It is no longer necessary now. The Ming army is equipped with a large number of firearms, which are the best weapons for fighting this kind of war.

Li Rubai received the news outside the city and knew that the city had been basically captured. He immediately led a team of soldiers to escort cannons and gunners into the city.

"Second brother, you are the only one who can lead the troops to attack the palace. Use artillery to bombard them. Aren't you afraid that they will not surrender?"

Although the moat of the palace could prevent the Ming army from attacking from all sides and facilitate the defenders' defense, it also blocked their escape route. It can be said that they were completely blocked there and could not escape even if they had wings.

As soon as the cannons sounded, the casualties of the Burmese army increased and the morale of the surrounded Burmese army would immediately dissipate.

Surrender is their only option.

Otherwise, the only option is to die.

"yes, Sir."

Li Rubai was overjoyed and immediately took the order and led his men to the palace.
He knew that this was an opportunity given to him by his elder brother to make a contribution.

The eldest brother was credited with breaking the city, while he was credited with capturing it.

Eliminating the last remaining enemy forces in the city is a significant achievement.

Li Rubai quickly rushed to the outside of the palace with cannons. Looking at the place opposite, which was once the most honorable place in Myanmar, but now was filled with corpses, he felt a little regretful.

The Ming army suffered few casualties, and many were only injured by arrows fired by the opposite side.

Many of the corpses on the bridge were killed by the Ming army's bird guns.

Although the Burmese army set up Teng shields at the bridgehead, the Ming army standing by the moat could shoot at the enemy on the bridge from three sides, so the casualties on the other side were also considerable.

At this point, the Burmese army had no way to retreat and could only defend the stone bridge.

Once the Ming army attacks, we will be completely doomed.

Therefore, Mangchai deployed almost all of his troops here, while in other places, only a small number of Burmese troops patrolled to prevent the Ming army from crossing the river.

The width of the moat was actually not too difficult for the Ming army.

However, with the falconet in his hand and seeing the dense formation of the enemy on the opposite side, Li Rubai could only sneer.

Is this resistance useful?
In the era of cold weapons, it was really useful, and both the attackers and defenders could only sacrifice their lives to do so.

But now it is different. Although firearms are still very primitive, they are powerful enough for them to break the Burmese army's defense.

"Set up the cannon for me and kill the enemy on the bridge."

Li Rubai immediately sent soldiers to set up the cannons. Six medium-sized falconets were carried to the front and the gunners began to load ammunition into the cartridge cases.

The musketeers were assigned to both sides to shoot at the Burmese army from the side, while opposite the bridgehead, the Ming army's spear and shield formation had been formed, with more than a hundred archers behind them to provide cover.

In a military formation, archers are more useful than musketeers.

They could hurl arrows and shoot pruning branches over the heads of their comrades without disturbing the integrity of the army.

The bird-gunners were mostly on the periphery of the army formation and would retreat back to the formation after fighting.

No matter how diligently a military formation is trained, some gaps are bound to appear during the formation change process, giving the enemy a chance to launch a surprise attack.

Although the time was short, the confusion caused by the soldiers' position changes was inevitable.

"fire."

By the time the Portuguese gunners were ready, the Ming army infantry had already lined up.

"bang bang bang"

Six falconets fired rapidly, and thirty-six projectiles flew quickly into the Burmese army's ranks, leaving only the screams and wails of the Burmese army wherever they went.

The human body is unable to block projectiles containing powerful kinetic energy. Although the Burmese army's formation was not penetrated, the rattan shield defense line was completely broken.

"clap clap"

The dense sound of bird guns rang out, and countless bullets flew into the Burmese army's formation, causing greater casualties.

"attack."

Seeing that the opposing army was on the verge of collapse and the soldiers' faces were filled with fear, Li Rusong commanded the infantry to rush towards the bridgehead.