The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 97 Fighting breaks out in northern Myanmar
Qing Dynasty, Yunnan, Tengchong Hall, Zhanda Tusi Territory, Lianhuashan Office.

This place is approximately at the foot of Lotus Mountain in the northwest of Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province in later generations.

The chieftain of Zhanda who guards this place is surnamed Dao. His ancestors were formally enthroned by the Central Plains regime during the Zhengtong period and have been serving as local officials for more than three hundred years.

The Zhanda Tusi, together with the nearby Ganya Tusi and Nandian Tusi, are known as the Three Xuans of the Southwest.

On Lotus Mountain, a practice banquet had just ended.

Li Shisheng, the governor of Yunnan Province in the Qing Dynasty, the highest-ranking military officer in the province, and a first-rank official, drank a few too many glasses of wine and was slightly wobbling on his horse.

Although he knew that drinking was not allowed during wartime, he could not refuse the hospitality of Chief Zhanda.

Secondly, he looked around and saw that all the warriors from Yunnan Province were here, a total of 6,000 combat soldiers, and including auxiliary soldiers, there were as many as 15,000.

They came slowly along the way, with flags covering the sky and swords and spears like a forest. More than 30% of them were equipped with muskets and cannons, and there were also brave generals such as Ma Chenglong and Shen Yingbi.

With such a strong army, there is nothing to worry about when fighting a few disobedient chieftains.

Li Shisheng was born in the 1712st year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi, AD, and is years old this year.

He was from Gongyi, Henan Province, and came from a Green Camp family. He practiced martial arts since childhood and was extremely brave. He was once commended by Emperor Qianlong.

Although Li Shisheng was only the governor of Yunnan, he was very famous in the Green Camp and even the Eight Banners Army circles across the country because he had three unique qualities.

His unique feature was his appetite. His highest record was that he ate ten kilograms of dry rice, three kilograms of mutton, and drank five kilograms of rice wine in one meal. There were also countless side dishes to go with the rice and wine, which shocked all the onlookers and he was praised as the Lian Po of the modern era.

His second unique feature was his immense strength. He could fight ten men at a time and could even carry a stone pillar weighing two or three hundred pounds.

The third unique feature is that the weapons he used were heavy. A sword would weigh at least ten pounds, a hammer or mace would weigh more than ten to twenty pounds, and a spear would weigh over twenty-five pounds.

And this is not just for show or to build strength, but for real use in fighting on the battlefield with such heavy weapons.

However, unlike Li Shisheng who was so confident, the Zhanda chieftain who had guarded the border between Qing and Myanmar for more than 300 years still had some sources of information. Seeing Li Shisheng so arrogant, the Zhanda chieftain Dao, who had hosted the banquet for him, hurried forward to give him some instructions.

"General, if it was just Luo Zhuo Tusi and the others who were causing the rebellion, the imperial army would not have been unable to defend Xinjie last month, and Liu Dusi of Yongshun Town would not have died in the battle.

What I am worried about is that the Burmese have already sent a large army north.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, once the Burmese unified Upper and Lower Burma, they would inevitably go north to harass.

They are not just a chieftain of a hundred miles like me, but a great country. Please treat them with caution."

Li Shisheng had just drunk too much, and when he heard that the chieftain of Zhanda was trying to destroy his prestige and boost the morale of others, he immediately felt very displeased.

But thinking that the chieftain of Zhanda had always been respectful and that he had just been invited to a banquet, he did not say any words of reprimand.

At this moment, a horse galloped over from a distance. It turned out that the order from Yang Yingju, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, had arrived to urge the march.

The last disastrous defeat at Xinjie resulted in heavy casualties, and Yang Yingju had spent a lot of effort to cover it up. Now that he had finally mobilized an army of 15,000, he naturally hoped to see quick results.

In this way, a new great victory can quickly cover up the old defeat, and Yang Yingju's position under his butt and his head on his neck can be stabilized.

Seeing that the Governor was so anxious, Li Shisheng no longer cared about the disrespectful words that Zhanda Tusi had just said.

Governor Yang Yingju was a member of the Plain White Banner of the Han Army, which at that time made him a politically correct slave of the emperor.

Li Shisheng was born into a poor family, so naturally he did not dare to neglect him in the slightest.

He waved his hand casually and drove the insignificant local official, Zhanda Tusi, far away, and ordered his troops to march at full speed.

Looking at the Qing army's hurried retreat, the chieftain Dao of Zhanda sighed and quickly ordered his eldest son to take his family and property to Tengchong City for refuge.

This residence of the chieftain of Dengda might become like the chieftain of Cheli.

Xinjie, which is Bhamo in later Myanmar, is located in the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River. It takes four days to go downstream to reach Ava, the capital of the Konbaung Dynasty.

If the Qing Dynasty wanted to deal with Myanmar, Xinjie had to be taken and built into an important logistics base.

In history, when Liu Bang led the army to attack Burma, he strangled the vital point of the Toungoo Dynasty, which led to great victories in the first three stages of the battle.

Although Li Shisheng is a bit arrogant, he is not a fool who knows nothing about military affairs. Instead, he is a veteran with many years of experience.

Therefore, he knew the importance of Xinjie. After leaving the territory of Zhanda Tusi, he immediately headed southwest at full speed to Tiebi Pass.

On the second day after arriving at Tiebi Pass and taking a short rest, Li Shisheng selected 3,000 brave warriors from the army and handed them over to Zhu Lun, the general of Qing Yongbei Town who had been stationed at Tiebi Pass for a long time.

He was ordered to lead his troops out of the pass, first recapture Manmo, then occupy Xinjie, and wait for the main army and logistical supplies to gather.

The people's lives in northern Myanmar have always been difficult. The road conditions are so bad that even the monkeys in Mount Emei would complain bitterly. There are deep valleys and fast-flowing rivers.

Therefore, Li Shisheng's arrangement was correct. He first used a small number of elite troops to seize key points, and then waited for the large troops and baggage to slowly arrive. After consolidating in Xinjie, he would observe the movements of the Burmese and choose whether to defend or advance.

But what Li Shisheng didn't know was that it was completely different from what he and his immediate superior, Yang Yingju, the Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, thought. He thought that they were just going out to fight a few disobedient chieftains and did not take it seriously at all.

Meng Bo, the White Elephant King of the Konbaung Dynasty, knew who he was at war with.

Therefore, he gritted his teeth and selected 10,000 elite troops from the Burmese elite troops besieging Ayutthaya, and led them by his trusted general Mang Nie Miaozhe, and rushed to northern Myanmar.

Therefore, by the time Yang Yingju slowly deployed troops and ordered Li Shisheng to lead the battle, the Burmese army had already arrived in northern Myanmar.

When Li Shisheng arrived at Tiebi Pass, the Burmese general Mang Nie Miaozhe had already arrived in Xinjie for a month and a half.

Mang Nie Miaozha is not a veteran general like Li Shisheng, whose skills and tactics are still stuck in the era of invincible archery and horsemanship.

He participated in the Konbaung Dynasty's siege of Thanlian and commanded the Burmese European-style army equipped entirely with flintlock muskets.

Mang Nie Miaozhe also participated in the battle to capture Lieutenant Colonel Bruno and others around Mo Zibu.

It can be said that compared with Li Shisheng, this is a general from two different eras.

Not only that, Mang Nie Miaozha is very good at making plans and has a clear mind.

Since the Burmese army arrived earlier than the Qing army, they had already bribed the local natives and figured out the Qing army's combat intentions.

In response to the Qing army's southward advance, Mang Nie Miaozhe decided to make a bold and surprising move.

He personally led the main force from Xinjie and approached Lengmuxiazhai, which was only more than 20 miles away from Tiebi Pass, using the terrain to block the Qing army.

Then, from this tight military force, they extracted 2,000 men, detoured northwestwards through Jiajiu (Myitkyina), and unexpectedly invaded directly into Chinese territory, thereby cutting off the Qing troops' retreat at Tiebi Pass. It can be said that the outcome was already determined before the battle even began.

Sure enough, when Zhu Lun, the general of Yongbei Town, led 3,000 people out of Tiebi Pass, they were blocked by the Burmese army before they even reached Manmo.

However, Zhu Lun was not an easy target. He saw that the Burmese army had already set up camp and was in great military might, with flags stretching all the way up the mountainside. A forced attack would surely lead to failure.

So he came up with a plan and went to challenge with a small number of weak soldiers.

As expected, the Burmese army launched a massive attack, and the Qing army collapsed at the first blow and fled in a panic.

To say that the Green Camp of the Qing Dynasty at that time was not very good at other things, but when it came to acting out a scene of fleeing at the sight of the enemy, although not to say that it was quite realistic, it was both realistic and realistic, so realistic that it could be mistaken for the real thing.

Even the Burmese commander Mang Nie Miaozhe did not realize that the Qing army was feigning defeat. He thought that the Qing army had really rashly broken into this place, and immediately ordered more than 3,000 front-line troops to pursue and kill them.

But when they chased them to a valley, the sound of cannons suddenly rang out from both sides, and the Qing army, which had been lying in ambush, swooped down from both sides!

The Burmese army had no time to reload their muskets before they were attacked by the Qing army. They hacked the Burmese soldiers with swords and spears, making them cry for their parents. It took only two quarters of an hour for the 3,000 Qing soldiers to defeat more than 3,000 Burmese soldiers.

The Burmese army left behind more than 200 corpses and fled in a panic, disarming themselves.

But Zhu Lun was too obsessed with killing at this time. He thought that the Burmese army was really just the chieftain's soldiers and had only this ability. He did not restrain the troops and chased them too deep.

Mang Nie Miaozha saw everything clearly from the top of the mountain. When he saw that his side was defeated, he immediately sent out 3,000 soldiers from the central army to provide support.

Although the Burmese army was not good at hand-to-hand combat, they had a large number of muskets, most of which were flintlock rifles, and were also supported by European field artillery.

After dispersing their own defeated troops, the Burmese army, with their flintlock rifles in formation, immediately taught the Qing army a lesson.

They fired their guns and cannons, throwing the Qing army, who were charging with cold weapons, into the ground.

Only then did Zhu Lun realize that the Burmese army had many guns and cannons, and was definitely not a chieftain's army, so he quickly ordered a retreat.

After a quick count, we found that more than a hundred people were killed by Burmese army guns and artillery in less than a quarter of an hour.

Now, both sides knew that the other side was difficult to deal with. Zhu Lun quickly set up camp at the strategic point of Lengmu Mountain, while the Burmese army formed a grand battle formation and marched forward.

The beginning of the Shen time (3:00 p.m.).

The Burmese flintlock soldiers lined up and attacked the Qing army.

Zhu Lun also called on the musketeers in his army and formed a battle array to meet the enemy.

It’s a pity that most of the Qing Dynasty’s muskets were matchlock guns. For fear of igniting the matches on friendly troops, they could not be arranged in a dense formation and were unable to fight against the Burmese army’s line infantry formation.

The two sides fought for two quarters of an hour. The Qing army suffered dozens of casualties and was forced to retreat again due to the disadvantageous battle.

This time, Zhu Lun placed his soldiers on the mountainside and fired at the Burmese army from a high vantage point.

The Burmese commander Mang Nie Miaozhe ordered the front-line soldiers to hold elephant-skin shields for cover.

The so-called elephant skin barrier is made of three layers of elephant skin, small pieces of iron sheets nailed together, and then fixed with hardwood.

Several Burmese soldiers held one piece together to cover the flintlock soldiers' upward attack.

At this point, we have to mention the Qing Dynasty, especially the idiotic military and industrial level in the south.

Due to the extremely poor treatment and lack of attention, corruption was rampant at all levels. Officials embezzled funds and craftsmen cut corners on workmanship.

The quality of the produced bird guns was uneven, and most of them did not dare to fill the gunpowder guns with full gunpowder, so they could not penetrate the Burmese army's elephant skin shields at close range.

As a result, they were defeated by the Burmese army which had cover, suffering heavy casualties, and could only fight and retreat.

At the critical moment, Zhu Lun knew that he could not fight like this anymore. He gritted his teeth and stood in the front line with a thick-backed broadsword in his hand.

What the hell are those muskets and cannons? What’s more useful is what’s in a man’s hand!

So he pretended to go into battle himself and recruited a death squad, and commander Zhang Shixiong and others responded.

After Zhu Lun offered the reward, Zhang Shixiong, shirtless and armed with a broadsword and hammer, led 600 elite soldiers out of the crowd, and attacked the Burmese army from top to bottom, relying on the cover of trees.

The Burmese army was also a heavyweight. They had just been taught a lesson by cold weapons and had not yet made any contingency plans. As a result, they were attacked fiercely by Zhang Shixiong and others, resulting in nearly a hundred casualties and forced to retreat.

Unfortunately, just when the Qing army was repelling the Burmese army, the Burmese commander Mang Nie Miaozhe had already built an artillery position at the foot of the mountain. Zhang Shixiong and others were able to repel the Burmese army, but they could not resist the artillery.

The Burmese army bombarded the Qing army with artillery, and the Qing army could not resist, so they had to abandon the hill and began to retreat.

Mang Nie Miaozha also discovered at this time that the Qing army's close combat ability, especially hand-to-hand combat, was extremely strong and was not comparable to that of the Siamese. The only thing the Burmese army could rely on was their sharp guns and artillery.

So they began to set up fences for cover, and used guns and artillery to fight a static battle, not giving the Qing army a chance to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

This dealt a heavy blow to the Qing army. The matchlock guns and other muskets in their hands were unable to fight against the Burmese army.

The Burmese army did not get close at all. If you wanted to rush out for hand-to-hand combat, they would attack you with artillery.

When the Qing army retreated, the Burmese army immediately erected a fence and held their ground, waiting for the artillery to arrive before continuing their advance. The Qing army was helpless and was completely in a passive position.

On the second day, the Burmese army was still advancing slowly. Zhu Lun had no choice but to hide at the highest point, set up a camp to block the enemy and hold on to it desperately. At the same time, he urgently reported to Admiral Li Shisheng for help.

But for the sake of face and fear of taking responsibility, Zhu Lun deliberately boasted about his achievements in hand-to-hand combat with cold weapons, claiming that he killed more than a thousand enemies and that he could not resist the main force of the Burmese army. He did not mention at all that he was unable to raise his head because of the Burmese army's guns and artillery.

Li Shisheng was a fool. After receiving the request for help, he did not analyze it carefully. He asked the clerk to polish the battle report and made a congratulatory report about the great victory of the front army and the killing of 3,000 enemies. Then he sent 700 soldiers from Wanting (Wanding) to reinforce.

Damn it, these Wanting soldiers only found out they were tricked after they arrived, because most of them were hand-to-hand combat soldiers!
Li Shisheng thought that Zhu Lun's request for help meant that he wanted to go out and fight the Burmese swords and spears.

My goodness, after the 700 Wanding melee soldiers arrived, they were useless. Not only could they huddle in the camp with Zhu Lun and take the bullets, but the 700 extra people made the already difficult supply even more difficult.

At this time, Yang Yingju, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, who was waiting for the battle report in Yongping County, Dali Prefecture in later generations, was overjoyed after receiving the victory report from Li Shisheng.

He asked his advisor to polish it up again, and then sent a report about the great victory at Xinjie, in which 6,000 enemies were killed, and sent it to me in its entirety.

But they didn't know that the Burmese army's surprise attack from Jiaju (Myitkyina) had already invaded Chinese territory and broke through the unguarded Wanren Pass, Jushi Pass and other passes.

They are currently besieging Lianhua Mountain, where the Zhanda Tusi office is located, which is also the county seat of Yingjiang County.

As long as Lotus Mountain falls, the Qing troops' retreat route can be cut off.

(End of this chapter)