The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 116: Reverse Retro Square Formation

Military reform is sometimes really amazing.

Originally, Mo Zibu wanted to use a line infantry phalanx, but he had too few people and lacked a large number of flintlock rifles. His financial conditions also did not allow him to be so extravagant as to use up tens of thousands of pounds of gunpowder in one battle.

The most important thing is that Mo Zibu had no cavalry, which made it difficult for him to deal with the cavalry from the Burmese army and the future imaginary enemy Northern Zheng army, and even difficult to cope with the impact of a large number of hand-to-hand combat soldiers.

His thin rows of horizontal formations were easily penetrated by the enemy.

During the Battle of Pattaya, if the troops coming were not the Burmese Musketeer Regiment but the Qing Jianrui Battalion, Mo Zibu would have been defeated and killed.

At the same time, there are war elephants in Southeast Asia. If an elite war elephant covers its forehead with a hard iron plate, the current flintlock rifle cannot immediately cause serious damage to it.

So after the Battle of Pattaya, in the military meeting held by Mo Zibu, officers from the East and the West brainstormed and eliminated one impossible premise after another.

When Mo Zibu saw the combat method that was finally summarized, he was surprised to find that this was the Spanish square formation that he often saw on Zhihu.

And strangely enough, it was very appropriate, because in order to show goodwill to the Dutch and stabilize them, Mo Zibu spent a large amount of money to buy a batch of military equipment from the Netherlands.

There were a total of 500 muskets, of which only 50 were flintlock rifles, and the vast majority of the others were Spanish mushket heavy matchlock rifles that were popular in the 16th and 17th centuries.
However, these guns are not very old, because the innovation of firearms in Europe is very fast, and many old-style firearms workshops have not been completely eliminated.

In addition, heavy matchlock guns are very suitable for killing large prey in the wild, such as bears, crocodiles, North American bison, etc., so people are still producing them today.

This thing is a lot bigger than an ordinary musket, with a length of up to 1.8 meters and a net weight of about 20 kilograms. Even the lead bullets are generally one or two jin in size, and are very powerful.

In history, the Qing Dynasty was inspired by this thing and created a firearm unique to China - the raised gun.

Moreover, the raised gun was not a strange invention. Instead, it was very suitable for the Eastern battlefield where industry was less developed. It was an excellent firepower supplement between artillery and muskets. It was highly maneuverable and powerful, and could be used until the end of the 19th century.

In this way, Mo Zibu had the heavy matchlock gun, and the light matchlock gun was replaced by the flintlock gun.

He has spearmen, and even Mo Zibu has heavily armored spearmen.

Because when Li Xianwen went to Southeast Asia, he attacked a Qing army arsenal and killed several naval captains. He looted forty sets of chain mail that were suitable for the south and left behind at some unknown time, and ten sets of less suitable sleeveless cloth iron armor.

As for the standard sword and shield soldiers of the Spanish phalanx, Mo Zibu also has them. They can be replaced by sword and shield soldiers from the East. The rattan shield is even more useful than the Spanish round shield, and he has no shortage of artillery.

Therefore, after another comprehensive consideration of the reality, Mo Zibu's more than a thousand people were transformed into a Spanish square formation.

In this way, no matter whether you are facing cavalry, elephants, or human wave tactics, you can basically handle it with ease.

And if he were to encounter the Burmese army that didn't know how to adapt to using line infantry, Mo Zibu could continue to form line infantry to fight him.

Of course, if you encounter an all-European army that has a complete range of infantry, cavalry, and artillery and can fight in coordination, well, you'd better run away, because you will definitely not be able to defeat them.

But looking at the current situation in Southeast Asia, Britain, France and the Netherlands do not have such an army in Southeast Asia, let alone other countries or forces.

. . . .

Early in the morning, Chen Lian brought three hundred people to Mo Zibu's place to gather, but was surprised to see that he had not prepared any mules, horses or carts.

Because there are still two or three thousand soldiers in villages like Basha, they have to prepare some supplies.

Not to mention that if Nai Tongyu really took over Wansui Buddha, based on the population of Wansui Buddha, he would be able to attract at least seven or eight thousand people.

Then, before Chen Lian had time to ask questions, he saw a bustling scene at the port, where a large number of laborers were moving logistical supplies onto the ship.

"I'm going to attack the Wansui Buddha directly. Have your men prepare to board the ship."

Mo Zibu did not plan to attack step by step. These villages were backed by the Wansui Buddha Palace and had strong mobilization capabilities. He was an outsider and was not familiar with the geography, so it would take him several months to fight slowly.

Therefore, Mo Zibu decided to attack Wansui Buddha directly by water. He would first attack Nai Tongyu who was hiding behind Basha Village and other villages, and then deal with Kun Luomo, Meng Song and other generals who occupied Basha Village and were pushed in front by Nai Tongyu.

Chen Lian thought about it and it seemed to be true. The other party had probably prepared a pit and was waiting for you. If you slowly pounced on them and attacked them, how long would it take and how much would it cost?

"But we haven't proven that Nai Tong wants to surrender to the Burmese. Wouldn't it be a bit impolite to just attack the Buddha directly?"

Mo Zibu just wanted to roll his eyes. No wonder Chen Lian couldn't compete with Zheng Xin. He really had no political acumen.

At the moment, Mo Zibu could only explain patiently:
"We are going to launch a surprise attack on Wansui Buddha. If the city is occupied by the Burmese army, it will be a recovery of lost territory.

If it was Nai Tongyu, then he must have been secretly colluding with or even defected to the Burmese, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to capture Wansui Buddha." Chen Lian suddenly realized that Wansui Buddha City was said to have 3,000 Burmese troops, and Nai Tongyu would not have been able to recapture Wansui Buddha under normal circumstances.

And without much experience in combat, he still took over the Wansui Buddha, which only proves that he defected to the Burmese.

So fighting the Wansui Buddha is just, no matter what the circumstances.

. . . .

In Wansui Buddha City, the situation was similar to what Zheng Xin and Mo Zibu had guessed. Nai Tongyu had defected to the Burmese.

However, this kind of refuge is a little different from the general refuge.

The siege of Ayutthaya reached its final moment, but at the same time the Qing army had begun to gather in northern Myanmar. This time, the troops coming were not the Yunnan Green Camp who had not experienced battles for a long time, but the real elite.

King Mengbo of the White Elephant was well aware of this, so he returned to his country and took charge of Ava, handing over the command of the front line to Prince Maha Arata.

But not long after the White Elephant King left, Mahāarāta fell ill and died within a dozen days.

The morale of the Burmese army suffered a serious blow, and the White Elephant King Mengbo had to quickly appoint General Thihapati as commander-in-chief, requiring him not to withdraw the troops no matter what happened in the country, and to capture Ayutthaya within four months.

In order to achieve the great goal of capturing Ayutthaya, Thihapati adopted a strategy of comprehensive contraction.

He retreated from the cities of Chonburi, Ratchaburi, and Prachinburi, which had been occupied by the Burmese army, in order to concentrate all his forces to attack Ayutthaya.

Of course, the Burmese army's reduction of its forces does not mean that it will give up these places. The White Elephant King Mengbo still hopes to continue to rule Siam after repelling the Qing Dynasty. How could he give up?

Therefore, the only option for the Burmese army was to support local scum as puppets.

However, Nai Tongyu's role as a villain and puppet was not very thorough. After all, the Burmese and Thais have been enemies for hundreds of years, and their mutual hatred has reached a very intense level.

If he were to come out and say that he had defected to the Burmese, the price would be too high.

So the Burmese army reached an agreement with him that they could give him the Long Live Buddha, but he had to stop Taksin in the south.

This condition was exactly what Nai Tongyu wanted, and the two parties hit it off immediately.

Of course, the Burmese army would never tell Nai Tongyu that they dispatched the most elite Guards Musketeers Regiment in the Battle of Pattaya, nor would they tell Nai Tongyu that they lost so badly.

They would only describe this battle as a small blocking battle, and the Burmese troops specially transferred from Ayutthaya as an ordinary team.

The devastating defeat with nearly 60% casualties turned into a stalemate with both sides winning and losing. Suddenly, the large ships of Zheng Xin's troops arrived and they had no choice but to retreat.

And the idiot Nai Tongyu knew that when Zheng Xin's troops entered Rayong City, there was no fierce fighting.

What Nai Tong wanted to see were the six or seven thousand men who followed Zheng Xin. They were in a mess and noisy, and were not as good as the elite troops in Rayong City.

So he quickly believed the words of the Burmese city guards, and first ordered his subordinates Kun Luomo and others to instigate a rebellion in the three villages of Basha, using this as a token of surrender to enter the Wansui Buddha City.

He then took over some of the weapons left by the Burmese army. The Burmese army then handed over more than a thousand Siamese soldiers captured in Ayutthaya and other places to Nai Tongyu, making him a fortress to guard against Zheng Xin's northward advance.

In order to control people's hearts in Wansui Buddha City, Nai Tongyu implemented a strict curfew policy. Except for his soldiers, no one was allowed to go out on the streets after sunset.

But at the same time, Nai Tongyu himself abducted a large number of women from various villages and towns, and looted countless delicacies from mountains and seas. He feasted and held parties with his confidants in his Zhaomeng Mansion every day.

For safety reasons, Nai Tongyu stationed all 4,000 troops under his command outside the city, and the city was guarded by hundreds of his trusted men.

Every day, Naitongyu would send messengers out of the city to summon soldiers from a certain camp to enter the city, and that camp would be responsible for the garrison mission.

At the same time, Nai Tongyu will also give certain monetary and food rewards to the battalion commander who is responsible for the garrison mission today.

You know what, his control method actually works.

After at least a dozen days of rotating favors, Nai Tongyu gradually established a certain prestige in the hearts of these officers and soldiers of complex composition.

As for his brutality in satisfying his appetite and physical desires, it is nothing compared to the brutality of the Burmese army.

Therefore, Wansui Buddha City became much more stable after the withdrawal of the Burmese army.

(End of this chapter)