prosperous age

"General, the commander-in-chief's order."

Outside the city of Ava, Myanmar, Qi Jimei was training the newly formed Burmese army.

Li Chengliang had divided his trustworthy troops from Sichuan, Guangxi and Guizhou into six groups and assigned generals to lead them.

The captured and surrendered Burmese troops were also divided into six groups and trained separately in preparation for the conquest of central, western and eastern Myanmar.

Don’t think that the hundreds of thousands of troops brought into Myanmar are a lot. Myanmar is actually not small in area and has a large population. Otherwise, how could the Burmese King Mang Yinglong gather an army of 300,000 and dominate Southeast Asia? It was the domestic strength that gave him the confidence.

Now, Qi Jimei's subordinates were divided into more than 10,000 troops under the Guizhou headquarters and more than 30,000 Burmese prisoners of war, and his mission was to advance westward and capture the city of Pagan and the northeastern region of Myanmar.

In the whole of Myanmar, except for the south which is relatively easy to conquer due to its terrain and the fact that it is mainly inhabited by the Burmese, the other directions are all territories of Burmese chieftains. The tribes are mostly unruly and it is difficult to make them completely surrender.

Therefore, the Ming army should either not fight, or if they did, they must win the battle in one go and completely crush those forces that wanted to resist.

This was Li Chengliang's plan. He wanted to give them time to recruit soldiers and then the Ming army would move out and wipe out all the opposition in one fell swoop.

In fact, this method is similar to Qi Jiguang's strategy in Liaodong.

If you don't know these people's inclinations, then give them time to make their positions clear.

Although it seems that the Ming army entering Burma now has conflicts with Li Chengliang and Mu Changzuo because of the competition for resources, in fact, according to the intelligence held by the Ming army, there are also many conflicts among the remaining forces in Burma.

Who can take over from the Burmese king and call on everyone to resist?
Do we have to resist? Can we surrender?
In fact, the positions of the remaining forces in Myanmar are not completely consistent.

Some tribes that wanted to choose to surrender to the Ming Dynasty faced tremendous pressure at this time.

Because the remaining powerful people in Burma are still fantasizing that after the Ming Dynasty ends its military campaign against Burma, the Ming army will withdraw from Burma, and they can continue to dominate the Burmese king.

For this reason, except for a few people who firmly demanded resistance, some people actually preferred the Ming Dynasty.

However, in order to have greater influence and voice after the war, they did not directly express an attitude of appeasement, but instead showed anti-Ming intentions.

Unite with those staunch anti-Ming factions and work together to suppress those who have clearly surrendered.

In fact, this is just a means to eliminate dissidents.

After completely eliminating the surrenderists within their power, they will also take action against the staunch anti-Ming faction to weaken their strength.

Of course, in the end they will fight among themselves to determine who will be the final king of Burma.

After receiving such information, Li Chengliang was not in a hurry to send troops. As long as he could firmly control southern Myanmar, the Ming army could obtain supplies from Myanmar nearby. He was even happy to watch the Burmese people engage in internal strife, as internal friction was good for the Ming Dynasty.

As for whether the delay would cause dissatisfaction among the court if it lasted too long.

Li Chengliang believed that he did this only to achieve a complete victory, and that Wei Ge Lao would help him speak in the cabinet and in the court.

To be honest, the Ming Dynasty has already achieved a decisive victory, and its current preparations are also for the long-term control over Myanmar requested by Wei Ge Lao, in order to maintain long-term stability.

At this time, Qi Jimei frowned after unfolding Li Chengliang's military order.

There is no other reason. This military order actually contains two orders. One is to order a Ming army stationed in a nearby place called Yangmiding to rotate to another place, and the second order is to send an army to station in the Yangmiding area.

When Qi Jimei saw this, he knew without much thought that there was either a gold mine or some other mine there, but there must be profits here, so Li Chengliang gave such an order.

As the highest military commander of the Ming Dynasty in Myanmar, he naturally has the right to issue such an order and mobilize all Ming troops.

However, as the commander-in-chief, he felt somewhat uncomfortable being ordered around by Li Chengliang and Mu Changzuo in the name of military orders for their own selfish interests.

"Ugh."

After thinking for a moment, Qi Jimei just sighed and said to his personal soldiers: "Move Wang Cheng's troops, lead 2,000 soldiers, and 3,000 Burmese troops to Yangmi Ding to take over the defense."

"Yes, General."

The personal guard clasped his fists and rode away immediately.

Soon, Wang Cheng ran to Qi Jimei, saluted, and asked, "Sir, is this Yang Miding over there?"

The conflict between Li Chengliang and Mu Changzuo had actually spread among the Ming army generals. There had even been a situation before where the Ming army took over the defense and ended up fighting with the Ming army troops that had already entered Yunnan.

In other words, although Li Chengliang had more power than Mu Changzuo, after suffering several losses, Mu Changzuo still stood up to Li Chengliang once.

After that incident, the main generals of both armies were not punished, but the injured and dead soldiers were recorded on the battlefield death list and could receive pensions in the future.

It was also after that incident that the Ming army, whether they were officers and soldiers from Yunnan or from other places, felt a little dissatisfied with being involved in the fight between the two main generals.

Qi Jimei handed the military order issued by Li Chengliang to Wang Cheng and said helplessly: "This is a military order, do you dare not obey it?"

"This"

Wang Cheng hesitated, but when he saw the military order in his hand, he knew he had to execute it.

Otherwise, he would have no chance of continuing to work under Li Chengliang, and it would not be surprising even if he died in Burma.

On the battlefield, it is not easy to get someone to achieve great merit, but it is extremely easy to kill someone.

A single order to commit suicide can send you and your subordinates to hell together.

No one wanted to receive such an order to die. According to the military rules of the Ming army, the generals did not even have the right to resist.

Once you receive a military order, you must execute it unconditionally.

"But what if the generals there also accept the Marshal's military orders?"

Although Wang Cheng had obtained Li Chengliang's warrant, he was still very hesitant.

That's what happened last time. The garrisoned Ming army refused to let the military order pass on and shot and wounded the officers and soldiers who were delivering the order. This made the Ming army that took over the defense furious and they opened fire directly.

The two sides immediately started an artillery battle, and the battlefield was extremely lively.

Of course, because there was no close combat and it was just an artillery battle, the casualties were not great, and only a few unlucky people lost their lives.

But after all, it set a bad precedent. This time when they go there, they may have to bring cannons with them again.

"Yangmiding is not far from here. Bring our artillery and we can just do it as a show when the time comes."

Qi Jimei thought for a moment and said, "Tell the gunners not to load shells for the first few shots. As long as no shells fall from the opposite side, we won't fire shells over here."

"Yes, my lord."

Wang Cheng nodded, knowing that this time he had to lead his troops to seize the territory.

Just when Wang Cheng turned around and was about to go back and lead his troops, he heard Qi Jimei's order again.

"Also, have the messengers who are going to deliver the message wear three layers of armor, covered with rattan armor on the outside. I think you can get a complete set."

Qi Jimei called Wang Cheng and gave another instruction.

"Yes, of course there is."

Wang Cheng said hurriedly.

"Okay, that's it. If we can avoid losing soldiers, we can come in and avoid it. Both sides just need to pretend.

If there is a battle, send a fast horse to report to Ava immediately."

Qi Jimei said in a low voice.

The meaning was very clear. It was better to waste some gunpowder just for show. To solve this problem, Li Chengliang and Mu Changzuo in the city had to sit at the same table for negotiation. It would be better to divide the ownership of these mineral deposits in Myanmar at the negotiation table to avoid unnecessary casualties of the Ming army below.

"The general will obey the order."

After such a reminder, Wang Cheng understood it and immediately clasped his hands and left.

Soon, a Ming army of several thousand people left the camp and headed north.

At this time, Mu Changzuo also heard the news in his mansion. They did not dare to live in the royal palace in Ava City, but there were many luxurious houses in the city, so he and Li Chengliang both chose a house to live in.

Anyway, it is impossible to return these houses now, they are now their residences.

"Master, Qi Jimei has already dispatched several thousand men, and judging from the direction they are heading, they should be heading towards the Yangmiding Gold Mine. You need to come up with a plan as soon as possible."

Although he and Li Chengliang tacitly suppressed the last incident in the end, Mu Changzuo also knew that this matter was not over and similar situations would happen again in the future.

It stands to reason that one has to bow his head under the eaves, so he had to take the initiative to visit Li Chengliang and negotiate on this matter.

At the very least, both sides should delineate their spheres of influence to avoid continuing to compete for resources in such an unorderly manner.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Although Li Chengliang is the highest-ranking official here, he is a first-rank duke of the Ming Dynasty and has great influence in the court. I think Li Chengliang would not dare to do anything extreme.

Otherwise, if he submitted a memorial to the emperor, Li Chengliang would lose everything.

However, as a duke of the Ming Dynasty, he still felt somewhat embarrassed.

Before, I thought that he was familiar with Myanmar, so I wanted to eat alone.

But the people in the Li family also found out, so they couldn’t eat it anymore and had to give some of it away.

Mu Changzuo sat quietly thinking about the matter, weighing the pros and cons, and determining his bottom line.

"Wait, something happens in Yangmiding, then I will meet with Li Chengliang and discuss this matter."

Mu Changzuo still felt embarrassed to approach Li Chengliang directly to negotiate.

It has already happened once, and if it happens again, I will use this opportunity to have a good talk with Li Chengliang and divide the interests.

Wang Cheng attacked Yangmiding, a small town. However, because of the nearby gold mines, the town actually built a small wall to defend against thieves.

Obviously, the gold mine's warehouse is in the city, so the city wall was built for defense.

As for the gold mines, they are just some stones. Even if someone steals them, how much can they steal?

Therefore, most people in the Yangmiding Gold Mine actually live in the town.

From a distance, Wang Cheng saw a large flag with the word "Ming" fluttering on the city wall.

On the way here, we captured a Burmese citizen and found out through interrogation that there is a large gold mine here.

Approaching the city wall, Wang Cheng sent a messenger over.

This messenger was truly fully armed. Even on a hot day, he was still wearing the best armor of the Ming army, and a rattan armor on the outside.

These were all captured by the Ming army.

Few people could gather together a set of rattan armor, but Wang Cheng had given the order, so he still gathered together a set from his personal soldiers for the messenger to wear.

Sure enough, after the messenger arrived, the people on the city wall were already prepared and shot arrows to block the messenger's way.

That meant that the people in the city would not accept any military orders and suspected that they were Burmese troops pretending to be Ming troops, and they wanted them to surrender.

The messenger could only run back on horseback to report the shouting from the city wall.

In fact, such a large army was discovered by the people of the Duke of Qian's Mansion in the city from a long distance away, and they were prepared in advance.

"Bang the drum."

Wang Cheng didn't say much. No matter what he said at this time, the other side would not listen. They only obeyed the orders of Mu Changzuo, the Duke of Qian.

"Set up the guns and fire a few shots. Remember, don't use those things. Just scare them."

Wang Cheng said to the soldiers around him that it was not convenient for him to talk about these things, so he should just let his subordinates do it directly.

Soon, the cannons were pulled to the front line, and after the movement below the city was discovered, the muzzles of the guns on the opposite city wall also extended out from the battlements.

"Mad, hit him."

Wang Cheng directly ordered the artillery to fire, but did not send the infantry forward.

There was no plan to attack the city, we were just pretending.

"Boom boom boom"

Several cannon shots were heard, but there was no scene of shells hitting the city wall and causing sand and rocks to fly everywhere.

The gunner quickly replaced the cartridge, and then another round of "bombardment" followed.

"Boom boom boom boom boom."

At this time, the sound of artillery fire inside and outside the town of Yangmiding continued for a long time, and cannons were fired from both inside and outside the city, but only the sound was heard without any trace of the shells.

After Wang Cheng's troops began shelling, the people on the opposite city saw that no shells were falling, so they had already guessed what was going on. So they did not immediately fire back, but waited until the second round of artillery fire, but still did not see any shells falling into the city.

After that, both sides began to fire in unison, and at the same time each sent a messenger to deliver a message in one direction.

The Ming army actually had a tradition of infighting. When Yu Dayou led the Jiangxi soldiers to encircle and suppress the Feilong Kingdom, "Zhang Lian" was snatched away by the Guangdong soldiers, and he won a great merit.

The two Ming armies started setting off firecrackers at each other in Yangmiding, waiting for news from Ava city.

At this time, Mu Changzuo finally received the "front-line battle report" and hurriedly took the report to see Li Chengliang.

It was unrealistic to expect Li Chengliang to take the initiative to find him at this time, and he could only condescend to meet Li Chengliang.

"General, I have already sent troops to garrison in Yangmiding. I heard that they were attacked by a group of disguised Ming troops. Please send reinforcements as soon as possible."

"Oh, Lord Mu, you said that the troops in Yangmiding City were sent by you? I thought that the Burmese army was disguised as the Ming army stationed there, so I sent Guizhou soldiers to encircle and suppress them."

When Mu Changzuo and Li Chengliang met, they both pretended to be stupid to each other. They would never admit that they knew the inside story.

"I have already ordered the garrison officers in the city to stop the fighting."

Mu Changzuo could only take the initiative to speak.

"Okay, come on, send someone to Yangmiding quickly and ask the soldiers to stop fighting. We are all on the same side."

After Li Chengliang issued the order, he did not forget to complain to Mu Changzuo: "Lord Mu, why didn't you tell me when you sent troops to Yangmiding? Look at what has happened."

"I'm here to discuss the garrison with the Marshal. We still need to communicate with each other in the future to avoid misunderstandings."

Mu Changzuo had no choice but to continue the conversation.

"Yes, you and I should communicate about the garrison first, so that the people below don't know and cause misunderstandings."

Li Chengliang said immediately, "It's time to stop when you see the opportunity." (End of this chapter)