Fu Shanhe

Chapter 550 The house leaks and it rains all night
"Bang, bang, bang..."

"Enemy attack!"

"Damn it, isn't this the heart of Myanmar? Where did these enemy troops come from?"

Brooklyn couldn't help but burst into a tirade.

The sudden battle instantly resulted in over a hundred casualties among the mercenary group.

For the two countries of Yu and Myanmar, which were at war, it was just an insignificant number, and the battle report did not even reach the commander-in-chief.

But for a mercenary group of only a little over a thousand people, this was already an unbearable pain.

"Commander Brooklyn, now is not the time to assign blame; we must retaliate as soon as possible!"

Antonio immediately offered his advice.

Deep down, he couldn't help but curse the ancestors of the Burmese people.

Being ambushed by the enemy while marching on one's own territory is something that would make one a laughing stock if word got out.

With such unreliable teammates and such a small force, the outcome of their deployment to the front lines is unlikely to be optimistic.

But now the die is cast and the die must be cast; whatever the decision may be, we must first win this ambush.

"Let the Burmese go first, it's their responsibility!"

Brooklyn said with a cold expression.

Five thousand Burmese soldiers also rushed to the front lines to provide reinforcements.

It was precisely because the Burmese soldiers were ahead and safely passed through the mountains that they lowered their guard.

After being beaten, looking at the surrounding terrain, the two sides were steep mountains and dense forests, making it a natural ambush point.

"Commander Brooklyn, judging from the gunfire, the Burmese in front have already engaged in combat."

Following behind us were the grain transport laborers; these men had not received professional training and were not qualified soldiers.

Our immediate priority is to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible and get our troops out of danger.

Andres, the Portuguese representative standing nearby, also offered his advice.

Now is not the time to be petty. No matter how serious the mistakes made by the Burmese, the fighting must continue.

Sending a group of untrained laborers to the front lines with long guns is simply handing them over to the enemy.

They may not care about the lives of the Burmese, but the outcome of the war is of paramount importance.

Heavy casualties on our side will dampen morale.

The mercenary group now represents the five-nation alliance, but it suffered a crushing defeat right out of the gate, causing all the nations to lose face and prestige.

Subsequent cooperation with the Burmese will also be greatly affected.

If the Burmese king couldn't withstand the pressure and surrendered to the Great Yu Empire, they wouldn't be able to explain it to their own country.

"The terrain here is very unfavorable to us."

"Pass down the order: all units shall take turns providing cover during the retreat!"

After surveying the surrounding terrain, Brooklyn decisively issued a retreat order.

His years of military experience taught him that throwing himself into a war without any knowledge of the situation was irresponsible and risked his life.

The judgment was correct, but it was ultimately too late.

Before the mercenary group could withdraw, bursts of gunfire erupted from behind.

The convoy that was originally transporting supplies ended up blocking the army's retreat route.

The rolling stones that flew down from both sides smashed the carriage to pieces.

Immediately afterwards, fireballs were thrown from the two hilltops, and thick smoke filled the entire battlefield in an instant.

Since it's essentially a transactional affair where money is used to wage war, loyalty is naturally out of the question.

Realizing the situation was dire, the mercenaries abandoned their orders and fled for their lives.

……

The Royal Palace of Myanmar.

After seeing off the Mughal Empire's envoy, the Burmese king's smile vanished instantly.

The situation at the front was already worrying enough for him, but he never expected that his good neighbor would also come to take advantage of the situation.

It was originally agreed that everyone would work together to fight against the threat of the Great Yu.

Once the great war truly broke out, the situation changed dramatically.

The Mughal Empire, which had previously promised to send troops to support them, suddenly sent envoys to the Kingdom of Burma demanding the territories of several southern provinces.

Such humiliating and detrimental conditions must not be agreed to.

However, he couldn't directly refuse. Judging from the attitude of the Mughal Empire's representative, if the two sides broke down in negotiations, the promised 100,000 reinforcements would become the vanguard of the invasion of Burma.

The Great Yu Empire already kept them busy, and with the addition of the Mughal Empire, the Burmese Kingdom was truly doomed.

"Tell me, what should we do now?"

Turning around, the Burmese king looked at his ministers and asked them a question.

He wanted reinforcements, but he didn't want to cede the land.

The Mughal Empire's aggressive behavior made him feel threatened.

Reason told him that the precedent of ceding territory to seek aid must not be set, otherwise the Kingdom of Myanmar would be completely devoured.

Today they compromised under pressure, but tomorrow, with the war intensifying, the Mughal Empire will make even more outrageous demands.

Repeated concessions will only push the Kingdom of Myanmar into the abyss.

"Your Majesty, at this time, we cannot afford to turn against the Mughal Empire."

However, the offer to cede territory is equally unacceptable.

The only option now is to bribe Mughal officials with large sums of money and stall on the issue of ceding territory.

Once reinforcements are lured over and the Mughal Empire is placed on the opposite side of the Great Yu, the subsequent problems will be easier to solve.

If we were to be annexed by the Great Yu, their lives would not be easy either.

Although the Mughal Empire was also a large empire, the differences between empires were still enormous.

In terms of military strength, the Mughal Empire was far inferior to the Great Yu.

If the Mughal Empire doesn't support us then, we'll drag them all down to hell with us!

O'Sanlan analyzed with a serious expression.

Using one's own country to threaten a neighbor sounds absurd, but it is actually feasible in reality.

That land on the subcontinent was notorious in the Eastern world for its poor military fortune.

In order to maintain their rule, the Mughal rulers suppressed martial spirit among the people after the establishment of the Mughal Empire.

The unique caste system limits the maximum military strength of the army.

For ordinary people at the bottom of society, no matter how hard they try, they cannot cross social class boundaries.

If it's something that's destined to happen, then why bother trying so hard?
In contrast, although the Great Yu Empire also had a rigid social hierarchy, as long as one made enough military achievements, one could indeed be granted a title of nobility.

There were a large number of grassroots generals in the Annam Protectorate.

Even if one cannot become a mid-to-high-ranking general, after fighting alongside the troops in battles across the country for several years, one can still become a small or medium-sized landowner based on military merit upon retiring.

If you have slightly better abilities, you can transfer to a local government position.

When a multitude of examples appear around us, the power of role models becomes unprecedentedly strong.

Since its establishment, the Annam Protectorate has been fighting for more than a decade. Not only did no one complain about the hardships and fatigue, but they were also happy to hear about the battles.

The main reason is that the officers and soldiers who participated in the war received sufficient rewards.

When the benefits far outweigh the risks, the sacrifices are not so terrible.

To boost morale, the Kingdom of Burma also adopted many of the measures implemented by the Annam Protectorate.

Unfortunately, they were unlucky and encountered their strongest opponent right from the start. To succeed in the merit-based system, empty promises aren't enough; they must win on the battlefield.

Only through repeated victories, and by ensuring that officers and soldiers reap the benefits, can an immortal military spirit be forged.

If you suffer consecutive defeats from the very beginning, even the best incentive measures are just castles in the air.

"Report!"

"Your Majesty, something is wrong!"

"The reinforcements sent to the front lines were ambushed by enemy forces en route, and the officers and soldiers involved suffered heavy losses..."

Halfway through the meeting, bad news from the front lines reached the palace.

He snatched the battle report, glanced at it briefly, and the Burmese king felt all his strength drain away.

The fact that the enemy was able to penetrate deep inland and plan an ambush was by no means a simple military mistake.

This also reflects a series of problems.

Either the front lines were breached by the enemy, allowing them to advance unimpeded; or problems arose within the Kingdom of Burma, with local forces providing cover for the enemy's actions.

Either outcome would be disastrous for the Kingdom of Myanmar.

"Your Majesty, please take care of your health!"

Seeing that the Burmese king was not in a good state, the courtiers hurriedly tried to comfort him.

Nearly a month into the war, they were surrounded by all sorts of bad news every day.

We've suffered heavy losses here and there, and our people's immunity has improved significantly.

For the Kingdom of Myanmar at present, one more or one less piece of bad news makes no essential difference.

However, the good mood of the group did not last long.

After receiving the battle report from the Burmese king and passing it around, everyone realized that they were in deep trouble.

Although no one believed that Western mercenaries could defeat Yu's army, they couldn't just kill them halfway through the journey.

The Kingdom of Burma had limited military production capacity, and they relied on Westerners to supply ammunition for their guns and cannons.

Most importantly, it didn't cause any damage to the Yu army, so the Yu side probably won't take it seriously.

The plan to drag European colonists into war by relying on these mercenaries failed before it even began.

"Your Majesty, the situation is deteriorating further. We must first drag the Mughal Empire into this mess."

They want the southern provinces, so let's just grant their wish.

Tell the Mughal Empire representative that if they help us drive out the Yu Dynasty people, we will cede the territory to them!
As for the Westerners, we cannot give up on them either.

There were at least a thousand people; as long as their luck wasn't too bad, they wouldn't be wiped out.

First, find the survivors, then contact the Westerners and ask them to send more troops to join the war.

Judging by the dates, the reinforcements they promised should arrive on shore in two days.

By luring these troops to the front lines, the Yu Dynasty people will naturally take them seriously.

We then arranged for our spies, hidden within the territory of Dayu, to spread the news that Westerners were involved in the war.

Given the Yu people's pride, they certainly wouldn't let the Westerners off easily.

With too many conflicts, it's only a matter of time before things escalate into a full-blown fight.

Once fighting breaks out in Southeast Asia, the enemy's attention won't be entirely focused on us!

Shui Saiye was the first to offer his advice.

Since it has already happened, we can only try our best to turn things around for the better.

The Kingdom of Burma alone could not possibly defeat the Annam Protectorate; to win the war, it needed to bring in more allies.

The Mughal Empire and the Westerners were their last hope, their only hope.

From the perspective of the Kingdom of Myanmar, it is imperative to bind these potential allies to the war effort.

Although these people also harbored ulterior motives, they chose the lesser of two evils.

“Your Majesty, Shui Saiye is right, we need more allies.”

Besides the Mughal Empire and Westerners, we also need to contact other forces that have grudges against the Great Yu and form an anti-Yu alliance that spans the east, west, north, and south.

The world has suffered under the Great Yu for far too long!
They had conflicts with the Tatars and Guifang people to the north, the Japanese to the east, and the Oirats in the northern desert...

"If we don't take advantage of the internal strife in the Great Yu Dynasty to eliminate this powerful enemy, we'll all be in trouble once they recover!"

O'Sullivan quickly added.

The Great Yu Empire occupied the most fertile land in East Asia, and was naturally coveted by all sides.

Over the years, there have been many wars with the neighbors.

For a long time, Dayu has been the dominant party, making its neighbors feel suffocated.

In order to preserve their wealth and status, various countries submitted to and paid tribute to the Great Yu.

It wasn't until the power of civil officials grew that a strategic contraction was adopted under the pretext of saving military expenditures in order to suppress the military group.

By abandoning the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration, Daningwei, and Kaipingwei, the Yu Dynasty not only allowed the northern nomadic tribes to grow stronger but also caused the Yu Dynasty to lose its hegemony in Asia.

After realizing the weakness of the Great Yu, everyone began to probe gradually, but the Great Yu court adopted a policy of appeasement and conciliation.

After one successful test after another, the people's awe of the Yu Dynasty gradually disappeared.

Without realizing it, they went from being a vassal state to an enemy.

They thought the good days would continue, but they never expected that after the decline of the Great Yu Dynasty, the Annam Protectorate would emerge.

In recent years, the Annam Protectorate has launched a rapid offensive against the various vassal states in the south.

Those underlings who betrayed Dayu back then all paid a bloody price.

Even though the Kingdom of Myanmar has experienced rapid growth in national power in recent decades, it still cannot defy the general trend.

When the Great Yu once again revealed its ambition to conquer the world, it was an unbearable pain for the small foreign states.

From the perspective of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold," if the Great Yu can settle accounts with the Kingdom of Burma today, it can also settle accounts with other forced subordinates in the future.

Other forces cannot be guaranteed, but at least the Guifang and Tatars have no choice.

Given their atrocities in the north over the past few decades, once the Great Yu Dynasty rises again, it will absolutely not let them off the hook.

"Ok!"

"Let's do as the Prime Minister says!"

"I will turn the Great Yu into an isolated power, so they will know what it means to have many supporters when one is righteous, and to have few supporters when one is unrighteous!"

The King of Burma said viciously.

Despite having deep reservations about this strategic alliance plan that spanned the east, west, north, and south, he refused to back down.

Compared to defeat on the battlefield, losing hope of victory is the most serious.

To stabilize public sentiment, we must show everyone the hope of defeating the Great Yu.

Even if this hope is as faint as it seems, it's better than nothing.

"Your Majesty, wise!"

"Your Majesty, wise!"

"Your Majesty, wise!"

The responses came in varying degrees.

It's clear that no one has any hope of forming an anti-Yu alliance.

It's not that the interests can't be coordinated; the main problem is that the major powers are too far apart.

Even if all the major powers joined forces to launch a war of annihilation against the Great Yu, it would be of no use on the battlefield in Myanmar.

(End of this chapter)