The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 140 Qing Army - Fierce Blind Man
August 1767, , the nd year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty.

Yunnan, Kunming City.

As Mo Zibu had predicted, the Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Fu Cha Mingrui, was preparing to march south to attack the Konbaung Dynasty when the weather turned cold.

Mingrui prepared a total of 25,000 troops for this attack, divided into two routes, north and south.

The Southern Army was the main force, totaling 17,000 people, and was commanded by Mingrui himself.

The Northern Army was a detachment of 8,000 men, led by the Minister of Counsellor and Deputy Governor-General Erjing'e.

Mingrui said in his memorial to Emperor Qianlong: "Myanmar, the natives call it Lao Mian, also known as Mangzi, which probably refers to the surname of the former chief.

The Mufei is the chieftain of today. He was originally the chief of Musuo. There are many types of chieftains such as Mubang.

If Mo Zibu were here, he would know why Mingrui was defeated.

Because he had just arrived in Kunming, it was already the end of August. For more than four months, Mingrui still couldn't figure out who he was fighting against.

He still regarded the Konbaung Dynasty as a large-scale chieftain in northern Myanmar, similar to the chieftain of Mubang.

The so-called "long wooden comb" should be something Mingrui heard through hearsay, and the source may be the identity of Yongjiya, the founding emperor of the Konbaung Dynasty.

Yong Jiya's ancestors have always been the chiefs of Ruimao in Myanmar. There is a village called Mushuo under Ruimao, which is the hometown of Yong Jiya. Yong Jiya also made his fortune in Mushuo Village and unified most of Myanmar.

So Mingrui thought that the current Konbaung Dynasty was just the chieftain of Mushu Village, who was the same as the Mubang chieftain, so he said that the current chieftain was a Mu bandit.

What does this thing look like? It's like Nurhaci had already established the Later Jin Dynasty, and then it was passed to Huang Taiji, and both established their capital in Shenyang.

The Ming Dynasty still believed that the Later Jin was still a small force nestled in Jianzhou Wei, with only a few dozen soldiers around it.

It would be strange if we don't lose with this method of predicting the enemy.

Mingrui even ridiculed the former Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Yang Yingju, in his memorial, saying that his absurdities were countless.

This is really a case of the crow laughing at the pig because it is black. The two are of the same kind. The only difference is that Mingrui is a military general after all, unlike Yang Yingju who is just a civil servant.

Based on the intelligence he collected, Mingrui judged that the total strength of this bandit was about 20,000, of which only 7,000 were elite. So he elaborated on his strategy in detail in his memorial.

That is to first order Erjing'e to lead the northern detachment to build a huge number of bamboo rafts in the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River, pretending to go down the river, to attract the main force of the Burmese army to block it.

He himself led 17,000 elite soldiers and marched directly to the Burmese capital Ava, where he won a quick victory and captured the king in one fell swoop!
The memorial was delivered to Beijing. Emperor Qianlong always believed that Mingrui was a famous general in the world. Although he was not on the level of Han Bai, Wei Huo, and was probably a little far from the level of Wang Jian, Li Jing, and Li Ji, he should be on par with Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng of the former Ming Dynasty.

I really don't know where he gets his confidence from.

So he read Mingrui's analysis and thought that the Burmese only had about 20,000 combat soldiers. Mingrui used 25,000 elite troops to make a feint to the east and attack in the west, like a lion attacking a rabbit, and he would definitely be able to sweep the land.

In particular, Mingrui's strategy of quick victory and direct attack on Longcheng was very much to Qianlong's liking.

Mr. Zhang believes that this is how a big country should attack a small country, so as to demonstrate the power of the Qing Dynasty in the East.

Therefore, Mingrui's combat plan was quickly approved.

On September 20, Mingrui received the imperial edict from Emperor Qianlong agreeing to the battle plan, and four days later on September 24, he swore an oath of allegiance in Yongchang (Baoshan), Yunnan.

The Qing army was divided into two groups, carrying enough dry food for two months, and requisitioned more than 80,000 horses, cattle, and mules to set out on the expedition.

But as soon as they set out, they encountered a situation. Southwestern Yunnan, which usually had no heavy rain in winter, suddenly experienced heavy rain. The heavy rain lasted for two or three days, causing flash floods everywhere and destroying roads.

Mingrui's entire army was caught in a struggle with nature. Men, horses, cattle and mules were all stuck in the mud. Almost all the two-day rations (dry food) carried by the soldiers were wet and difficult to eat.

Because the mountain roads were muddy and the war horses were unable to carry loads or pull carts, the logistics troops had to use oxen to carry food.

There were not many cattle in the army, so you can imagine how fast the food and fodder had to be transported.

Not only could food and fodder not be transported in, but materials for building barracks could not be transported in either. So the soldiers could only take shelter from the rain under big trees and eat dry rice soaked by the rain.

The entire army was cold and hungry. It took the army about 40 days to walk the 200-kilometer distance from Baoshan to Wanding, and they arrived on October 28.

Seeing this situation, Mingrui did not dare to go out and attack immediately, and could only recuperate in Wanting (Wanding).

On the second day of November, the heavy rain stopped for more than ten days. The soldiers in the army were nourished with soup, medicine and hot meals, and their morale and fighting power were restored. Mingrui then ordered the army to march out and attack Mubang City occupied by Myanmar.

At this time, the people in northern Myanmar had already suffered from two tug-of-war battles and their livelihood was already in decline. The Burmese army did not dare to fight the Qing army, so they burned their baggage, refused to fight, and retreated in a hurry.

On the tenth day of November, Mingrui arrived at Mubang City and captured this key town without bloodshed.

Because he marched very fast, the entire army arrived from Wanting to Mubang, a distance of more than 300 kilometers, in eight days. The Burmese army did not even have time to burn the baggage, as all of it was seized by Mingrui.

Mingrui also realized at this time that the Burmese army might want to adopt the tactic of scorching the city and clearing the countryside, so while there were so many supplies in Mubang City, he left his Minister of Counsellor Zhurune to lead 5,000 troops to guard Mubang.

Civil officials such as Yang Chongying and Chen Yuanzhen assisted Zhurune in managing the grain and salary seals, while he himself led 12,000 soldiers to continue south.

However, what Mingrui was completely unaware of was that the Qing army's actions had been discovered by the Konbaung Dynasty long before he set out on the expedition.

The reason was simple. After the two previous embarrassing defeats, the Qing army easily gave the chieftains in southwestern Yunnan and northern Myanmar the impression that they would definitely not be able to defeat the Konbaung Dynasty.

As a result, a large number of them secretly defected to the Konbaung Dynasty. This was an old tradition of these people, and it did not change much in later generations.

After the Konbaung Dynasty learned about the Qing army's feint to the east and attack in the west and its true and false tactics, they quickly made corresponding arrangements.

The biggest problem with Mingrui's assault this time actually lies in logistics.

Traveling in the mountainous areas of northern Myanmar is already difficult, and Mingrui had to lead more than 10,000 people to run for hundreds of kilometers. There were logistical loopholes everywhere.

In Ava, King Mengbo of the White Elephant consulted with his ministers and decided to dispatch the renowned Konbaung general Mang Niemiaozhe (also known as Neimiao Xixiu) to lead 9,000 elite imperial guards to the northwest to garrison Xinjie (Bhamo). They would set up camp across the Irrawaddy River to block the Qing army's pretentious northern route. General Maha Xixiu led 15,000 troops to Mangye and Lashio, relying on the natural defenses to resist the Qing army.

Another general, Maha Shihashuya, led an army of 8,000 as support.

He also ordered all tribes and officials along the way to retreat, and all baggage that could not be taken away must be burned, and all areas along the way must be fortified and cleared.

The fierce general Dengjia Minkang was responsible for leading thousands of tribal troops to launch guerrilla invasions, harassing and cutting off the Qing army's supply lines.

. . . .

The situation at this time was that Erjing'e of the Qing army's northern army was in the northwest.

Mingrui has led his army straight to Ava in the south, which is located in the southeast.

Between the Qing army's northern route and Mingrui's main force was the city of Mubang, which was defended by Zhurune and served as the rear base and supply transportation station for Mingrui's army.

The Burmese army's strategy was simple. They sent 9,000 imperial guards, which was also the main force among the main forces, to resist the Qing army's northern army.

After the northern route of the Qing army was exhausted or defeated, they would cross the mountains from the rear and capture Mubang, the Qing army's main base for food and supplies.

Finally, including the harassing Dengjia Minkang, the three armies surrounded the Qing army and then devoured Mingrui's isolated army that had penetrated deep into the country.

After making these arrangements, White Elephant King Xin Puxin was extremely excited. In this battle, the Burmese army was like turning on a full-map cheat, waiting for the Qing army to take the bait and then eat them.

In the eyes of the White Elephant King, this might be another earth-shaking victory after he conquered Siam.

. . . .

In mid-November, a detachment of the Qing army's northern route arrived at Xinjie, and found that the Burmese army had already set up a tight defense. The Burmese troops defending the city were not only elite, but also numbered as many as 9,000, 1,000 more than the Qing army's northern route.

The attacking side has fewer people than the defending side, and they also have natural barriers, so this battle is definitely impossible to win.

The Qing army and the Burmese army confronted each other for several days without any success, so the commander Erjing'e decided to show weakness.

Among his 8,000 men, 4,000 were from the Yunnan Green Camp, and their combat effectiveness was relatively low.

So Erjing'e ordered them to go forward and challenge, while he himself, along with his brave general Hailancha and others, set up an ambush in the dense forest outside the city.

Although the Burmese commander Mang Nie Miaozhe was a famous general, his side had a great advantage and the enemy had fewer troops, so he could not help but send troops out of the city to fight.

The Burmese army used two thousand people to attack the Yunnan Green Camp as bait. In the first battle, they killed dozens of Yunnan Green Camp members, and in the next battle, they killed more than a hundred people.

Mang Nie Miaozhe was extremely proud of his victory over the Qing army during the Second Qing-Myanmar War.

Now it seems that the Qing army claims to have mobilized elite troops, but they are only slightly more elite than the previous soldiers and generals.

So on the third day, he ordered the Burmese army to launch a large-scale attack, sending a total of 4,000 people to attack the Yunnan Green Camp.

But Mang Nie Miaozhe didn't know that Erjing'e had never assigned the Yunnan Green Camp the task of luring the enemy deep into their territory. He directly pushed the Yunnan Green Camp forward. This was a complete display of the Yunnan Green Camp's true strength.

Sure enough, the Yunnan Green Camp could not withstand the attack of the Burmese army and was completely defeated after only two hours of fighting.

The scene was quite real because they were indeed defeated, it was not fake.

Mang Nie Miaozhe could certainly see it, and he was extremely excited and ordered the Burmese army to launch a large-scale attack.

As a result, during the pursuit, a cannon shot was heard from the mountains on both sides, and two thousand Qing infantry and cavalry rushed out.

The cavalry was composed of the Eight Banners stationed in Jilin outside the Great Wall, led by the fierce general Hailancha, and the infantry was also the elite troops who had been fighting against the Jinchuan chieftains in northwest Sichuan for many years.

The Burmese army was unable to maintain its formation during the pursuit, and the Qing army came very quickly. Hailancha took the lead and rushed to the front. In an instant, he fired five arrows and killed three people. Then he led his troops into the Burmese army and killed them in large numbers.

The Burmese army was caught off guard, with more than 200 soldiers killed in the front line, and quickly retreated.

The Burmese army then organized a second line of defense outside the city, but before the formation was completed, Hailancha led the Qing cavalry to rush over again. The Burmese soldiers had no time to reload and were defeated again.

More than 500 Qing cavalrymen charged back and forth in the 4,000 Burmese troops. In less than half an hour, they killed more than 400 Burmese soldiers, and the Burmese army collapsed across the board.

Mang Nie Miaozha in the city realized that he was in big trouble and quickly sent out hundreds of Burmese cavalry to provide cover.

When Hailancha saw the cavalry coming, he had to give up the charge and try to hold off the cavalry leaving the city.

At this time, the Sichuan soldiers also rushed over, and the Qing army's infantry and cavalry surrounded and almost killed all the 300 Burmese cavalry.

However, the Burmese infantry took this opportunity to abandon their weapons and weapons and quickly ran back to the city.

In this battle, the Qing army lost only more than ten people, except for the Yunnan Green Camp. A total of more than 900 Burmese infantry and cavalry were killed, and more than 2,000 were injured.

You have to know that these soldiers are the royal guards of the Konbaung Dynasty, and are much more elite than the quasi-frontline troops like General Suki whom Mozibu defeated outside Ayutthaya.

However, when faced with the elite Qing army, they had almost no ability to fight back.

Only then did Mang Nie Miaozha realize the strength of the Qing army, and from then on he just held on and did not dare to leave the city.

Similarly, the Qing army was unable to capture Xinjie City, which had natural barriers, and the two sides began a standoff.

But the Qing army was just outside the national border, and its supplies were much easier to obtain than those of the Burmese army. Under normal circumstances, the worst that could happen was that they would just be a pair.

But the Qing army deserved it, but the Burmese army did not.

(End of this chapter)