The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 143 What is a Strong Army (Tactical Retreat)

Myanmar, Xiang Kong.

Faced with such a group of fortresses equipped with dozens of large-caliber naval guns, Mingrui was helpless. He tried to attack twice, but was repelled by gunfire before he could get close.

Mingrui deliberately exposed his weakness and set an ambush, but the Burmese army had already formulated a counterattack strategy and was trying to make a breakthrough for the northern army. Chevalier Miral turned a blind eye to Mingrui's weakness and insisted on staying in the fortress and not going out.

Mingrui was extremely anxious, especially after running 200 kilometers in six days, the logistics could not arrive at all, and the army was extremely short of food.

At this time, the Qing army was not doomed to fail. Guanyin Bao personally led the cavalry out for reconnaissance and unexpectedly learned a good news that the Burmese army had buried a large amount of food in Menglong, north of Xiangkong.

So Mingrui immediately ordered the army to leave Xiangkong and march back dozens of kilometers to Menglong to get food.

Almost at the same time, the Burmese general Thihapodi (also known as Nemyao Shihabadi) led 30,000 Burmese troops back from Siam.

King Baixiang immediately ordered him to select 8,000 elite soldiers and rush to Xinjie overnight to confront the Qing Northern Army, to reinforce Mang Nie Miaozhe who was beaten so hard that he dared not go out.

Outside Xinjie, Erdeng'e's reckless actions had greatly dampened the morale of the Qing army.

The Sichuan Green Camp, with only 3,500 men, attacked Xinjie fiercely for several days, but not only did they not gain much, more than 500 were killed in the battle, and thousands were injured. More than half of the men had lost their combat effectiveness, and the morale of the army was extremely low.

After Thihapodi arrived, the Burmese army in Xinjie had reached 17,000 and its strength had greatly increased, so they began to tentatively leave the city and engage in battle with the Qing army.

After Erdeng'e took over the Qing army, the Sichuan Green Camp suffered heavy casualties, and the Yunnan Green Camp simply gave up. Erdeng'e was unwilling to let the few hundred remaining Eight Banners cavalry go forward to fight.

Because this Eight Banners uncle knew very well that it would not be a big problem if the Sichuan Green Camp and the Yunnan Green Camp were wiped out among the 8,000 people here.

But if these 500 or so Eight Banners cavalrymen were lost, he would definitely lose his life.

Not only Erdeng'e thought so, but the new Yunnan admiral Tan Wuge also thought so.

This old thief was a military scholar in the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign (1727) and is now almost seventy years old.

When he was young, Tan Wuge was a brave general. He was one of the few Han people who were promoted to the bannerman in the mid-Qing Dynasty. But now, as he was old, he just wanted to land safely and pass on his wealth to future generations.

In view of the tragic plight of the previous admirals, he was even more afraid of losing these hundreds of Manchu cavalry and taking responsibility, and he also supported Erdene'e's strategy of avoiding war.

Thus, under the command of Erdeng'e's brother Erjing'e, the Qing army in the north, which was capable of fighting and dared not leave the city, was completely defeated and was beaten to pieces by the Burmese army in succession.

Especially after the Burmese army established a foothold outside the city and set up a large formation of flintlock rifles, the Qing army did not dare to approach at all. Even if they dispatched the elite cavalry of the Eight Banners, it would be of no avail.

After more than ten days of confrontation, the Burmese army gradually approached the camp. Erden'e and Tan Wuge could not defend the camp, so they suddenly decided to withdraw in the early morning.

They did have war horses and Eight Banners cavalry, but there were not many Green Camps in Sichuan and Yunnan. Erdeng'e even just gave them an urgent notice and then rode away.

In this way, the Eight Banners of the Qing army rode their horses in front, the one-cent men from Sichuan and Yunnan followed behind, and the Burmese army heard the noise and followed.

At the critical moment, Wang Yuting, a Gansu native and veteran who had fought alongside Zhao Hui in the Black Water Camp and the general of Linyuan Town in Yunnan, risked his life to cover the rear and was killed in the blocking battle, thus covering the safe retreat of the army. However, most of the weapons and supplies were seized by the Burmese army.

At this point, the Qing army's northern detachment was completely defeated, and the Burmese army could calmly attack the Qing army's rear.

. . . .

In Mubang, Zhurune, who stayed behind, was still setting up military stations and transporting supplies along the way according to the agreement with Mingrui.

Zhurune ordered Lieutenant General Wang Dong to go to Xibo, Garrison General Guo Jingxiao to go to Tianshengqiao, and General Suo Zhu to go to Songsai.

But before Suo Zhu arrived to send Song Sai away, the enemy suddenly appeared from the side. Fortunately, Suo Zhu placed the scouts far away and avoided being ambushed.

But the enemy forces soon increased to six or seven thousand men, and it was these Tihabodi and Mangnie Miaozhe who repelled the Qing Northern Route Army.

Suo Zhu had only 2,000 men and could not resist, so he had to retreat to Tiansheng Bridge to join up with the garrison Guo Jingxiao. However, the two armies had only been together for half a day when the Burmese army, who were familiar with the road, took a shortcut.

Guo Jingxiao was just opening the camp gate to welcome Suo Zhu, but he didn't expect the Burmese army to arrive. Caught off guard, the entire army was cut into several parts. Fortunately, the Burmese army came from far away and was not good at encirclement warfare.

Suo Zhu and Guo Jingxiao worked together to break out, and miraculously they only lost less than a hundred people, and safely led most of the people out of the siege.

But in this case, they definitely couldn't continue to go south to deliver supplies to Mingrui. The two of them could only abandon the food and return to Xifo Wang Dong.

But the Burmese army followed again, with a number of more than 13,000. Suo, Guo and Wang had only more than 3,000 people, and they were all Green Camp soldiers. After holding on for a day, they broke out again.

After walking for less than half a day, they met General Hu Dayou who came to reinforce them. However, Hu Dayou had only a few hundred soldiers and the Qing army was once again surrounded by the Burmese army.

At the same time, Deng Jia Min Kang, who had been attacking the Qing army's logistics, also arrived with 4,000 people. The Burmese army increased to 16,000 people, while the Qing army had only a little over 4,000 people.

This time it was more tragic. General Hu Dayou, General Suo Zhu, and garrison commander Guo Jingxiao were all killed in the battle. More than 800 of the 4,000 Qing troops were killed or wounded, and the rest retreated towards Mubang City.

Zhurune, who stayed behind in Mubang, was stunned when he saw the Burmese army coming from all over the mountains. He was caught off guard and couldn't figure out where the Burmese army came from. He could only think that Mingrui had been defeated.

So Zhurune gathered the defeated soldiers and ordered people to ask for help from Yunnan Governor E Ning.

Poor E'ning only had a few hundred Wanting soldiers and could not mobilize any more men. He could only keep asking for help from Erden'e of the Northern Army, asking him to quickly support Mubang.

At this time, Erdeng'e was very close to Mubang and could reach it in three days at most by a forced march.

But Erdeng'e and Tan Wuge had already lost their nerve and insisted on taking a detour within the border, using the excuse that the Burmese army had blocked their way and they could not pass.

It only takes three days to get there, but Erden'e took twenty days to get there.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month in 1768, the rd year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, the Burmese army was about to encircle Mubang.

Most of the Qing troops in Mubang fled. Zhurune handed his imperial treasure box and golden seal to Chen Yuanzhen and said to him:
"You are not a Manchu noble, so you do not have to die with me. After I die, please return this treasure box and golden seal to His Majesty."

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the Burmese army arrived in force. Jurune led seventy officers, both civil and military, and several hundred soldiers to defend the city. The Burmese attacked from all sides, making Mubang impossible to defend. Jurune, in despair, committed suicide, his army fled, and Mubang fell.

However, the Myanmar Army once again fully exposed its weakness of having no ability to maneuver and infiltrate to fight annihilation wars.

Thirteen thousand people surrounded more than 3,000 Qing troops in Mubang, but they only killed more than 400 Qing soldiers. Most of the rest, including Chen Yuanzhen, broke out.

However, although the Burmese army did not suffer many casualties, it had completely cut off Mingrui's army's route of return.

. . . .

After Mingrui moved to Menglong, he indeed obtained tens of thousands of stones of military rations, and the morale of the army finally stabilized.

But no matter how long they waited, the Northern Army never showed up to join them, so they concluded that they might have been defeated.

At this point, Mingrui finally came to his senses. He felt very guilty and no longer hoped to capture Ava, but instead hoped to bring back more than 10,000 elite Qing troops.

After waiting for several days in Menglong, Mingrui ordered his troops to return. Unfortunately, the Qing army lacked cattle and horses, and a large amount of food and artillery could not be taken away.

Mingrui had no choice but to order the artillery ports to be nailed shut and the food to be burned, and each soldier began to return north carrying three to five liters of food.

The Burmese army knew that the Qing army was powerful and did not dare to pursue them. They just kept a distance of more than ten miles to prevent the Qing army from having a chance to rest.

At the same time, after conquering Mubang, Dengjia Minkang led thousands of elite mountain soldiers to block Mingrui on his way back.

The Qing army was pursued from behind and intercepted from the front. Although they did not experience any major battles along the way, they were extremely exhausted by the harassment of the Burmese army. When they reached Manhua, Mingrui said to his subordinates:
"The thieves are now hanging behind us like maggots on the tarsal bones. If we don't eradicate them, we will be bitten to death by them when we are exhausted.

I saw that the enemy was setting off when they heard our army's conch shell. When I blew the conch shell three times, they were ready to set off and chase after me.

How about tomorrow, after blowing the conch shell, we send 8,000 soldiers ahead and 4,000 soldiers lie in ambush on both sides.

When the Burmese army had advanced in force, both wings launched their attacks, and the front army turned back to pursue them, killing so many of the Burmese that they dared not pursue them any further.

The generals agreed loudly.

On the second day, the Qing army used three conch shells as a sign of departure as usual. The Burmese army had no idea that the Qing army had set an ambush and hurriedly chased after the Qing army.

When they reached a valley, Mingrui saw that three to four thousand Burmese troops had already entered, and he immediately ordered the Qing troops ambushed on both sides to open fire.

Thousands of Qing army muskets fired suddenly, and after several rounds, hundreds of Burmese soldiers were knocked down within a few minutes. Then, the Qing army in front suddenly rushed back under the leadership of Guanyinbao, with more than a thousand cavalry as the vanguard.

The Burmese army was unable to stop the attack and fled crying. More than a thousand of them were killed in less than an hour.

Fortunately, the commander-in-chief Maha Xihaxiu arrived in person and, with the help of the Qing army's camp, barely stopped the Qing army's pursuit.

But they could only hold it back with difficulty. A quarter of an hour later, the Qing army's infantry and cavalry came in formation, and the Burmese army was defeated again, with hundreds of casualties, and was forced to withdraw from the Qing army's camp.
The Qing army continued to pursue, and the Burmese army was driven to the river bend at the foot of the mountain. More than 8,000 people formed a line of infantry with their backs to the water.

Mingrui personally led 8,000 Qing troops, formed a nine-in-ten chain formation, and used 2,000 archers and 3,000 musketeers to shoot against the Burmese army. The two sides were evenly matched in terms of gunfire and arrows.

After three rounds of shooting, smoke rose and vision was blocked. Guanyinbao and Zalafeng'a each led 400 elite cavalrymen of the Eight Banners wearing cloth and iron armor to charge out from both sides, and the sound shook the fertile fields.

The Burmese flintlock soldiers were extremely frightened and opened fire in panic from more than a hundred meters away.

As a result, the Qing cavalry just fired a feint and did not charge at all. They just shouted from a distance and slowly rode their horses sideways.

The Burmese army could not see the movements of the Qing army clearly, and their psychological quality was extremely poor. They were enticed to fire continuously, which resulted in even thicker smoke and they almost completely lost their vision.

The Burmese general Maha Shihasuya knew that the Qing army was trying to lure the Burmese army to open fire, and hurriedly controlled the soldiers to stop them from firing indiscriminately.

As a result, the Qing army suddenly took real action. Guanyinbao led his troops to rush to about 90 meters and shot arrows like rain, killing dozens of Burmese musketeers.

This made the Burmese army even more terrified. Maha Shihasuya sent out a supervision team, but was unable to control the soldiers who were already extremely nervous and frightened.

The Qing cavalry continued to provoke, and once the Burmese firing weakened, they would go up and fire a round.

Five minutes later, the Burmese musketeers had basically fired four or five shots, but there were frequent omissions and gun failures, and the firing rate was less than 30%.

Guanyinbao and Zarafeng'a then made an appointment with flags and messengers, and rushed forward at the same time.

When they rushed to 70 meters, the Qing army fired three arrows, and a large number of Burmese soldiers fell down. Then the cavalry began to gallop and crashed into the Burmese flintlock rifle formation at lightning speed.

The elite cavalry of the Eight Banners charged indiscriminately with lances and sabers. The Burmese army collapsed after only a few minutes of resistance. A large number of soldiers dropped their weapons and jumped into the river crying. Even generals like Maha Xihaxiuya were no exception.

This time, more than 2,000 of the Burmese army's 8,000 elite imperial guards were killed, and hundreds sank into the river. Almost everyone was injured, and most of their weapons were lost.

Among them, more than a dozen middle-level officers who commanded more than 200 people were killed, and the 800 Portuguese and French mixed musketeers who were painstakingly trained by two generations of Yong Jiya and Meng Bo were almost all killed.

Including the previous defeat, this time the Burmese army suffered over 4,000 casualties.

The Burmese army commanded by Maha Shihasuya was absolutely elite and was directly defeated.

These elite troops who had defeated various countries in Southeast Asia and third-rate European armies were not even a match for the Qing Dynasty.

They no longer dared to follow the Qing army from a distance of only a few kilometers, and could only fire cannons from a distance to threaten and harass them, allowing Mingrui to retreat easily.

This also proves that the fear of the Qing Dynasty by European powers during the Qianlong period was justified and not entirely due to a lack of understanding of the situation.

　I know that some book friends don’t like to read about the battles of the Qing army, but Lao Hu can’t just write that the Qing army was defeated and that’s it. There are many things that can be done here, but the whole chapter ends from the perspective of the Qing army, and there won’t be such a long chapter later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)