Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 71: Attack with Fire, General
Mubang.

After five days of effort, Wu Guogui finally arrived by detour. Wu Sangui was not happy after breaking through the second wooden wall.

My heart is filled with a feeling of powerlessness.

There is still a pass sixty miles behind Zhu Cixuan.

How on earth did he do it?
Not to mention 100,000 civilians, even if there were 100,000 more, no general in the Ming Dynasty or Qing Dynasty could have built so many passes and long walls in such a short time.

"We can't delay any longer. Qingming Festival will be here in ten days. Neither you nor I want to die in Hongshawadi during the Qingming Festival."

Wu Sangui held his forehead and said, "Wu Yingqi, you take 10,000 soldiers and continue to remove Zhu Cixuan's next pass."

Fortunately, there is no wooden wall behind.

They are just some wooden villages.

"Surround them on three sides and leave one behind. Don't aim to inflict mass casualties on the enemy. Their desperate defense is only wasting our limited time."

"Ma Ning should have gotten behind Zhu Cixuan, waiting for him to launch a surprise attack and force Zhu Cixuan to abandon the sixty-mile pass."

"We should be able to reach Xingwei City before Qingming Festival."

Wu Sangui nodded heavily and repeated, "As long as Ma Ning launches an attack, everything will be fine."

However, the next day, when he received the news that he had recovered, Wu Sangui still found it hard to believe.

This is great!

"Father, General Ma's surprise attack on Lashio was unsuccessful, but it caused Zhu Cixuan to panic, burn down his camp, and flee into Xingwei City."

"He has surrounded Xingwei City and sent people north to meet us."

"Zhu Cixuan's soldiers stationed in the middle of the wooden fort also abandoned their own camps and fled into the mountains and forests."

Wu Yingqi looked at his father who was still in a state of shock and spoke again:

"Father, should we march quickly, ignoring the sixty-mile pass, and directly join General Ma to encircle and kill Zhu Cixuan in Xingwei City?"

Wu Sangui shook his head subconsciously and asked:

"Zhu Cixuan is so easy to give up the pass he spent so much effort to build?"

Continue to defend. Even if the Qing army is in a hurry and ignores the pass, they still have to divide their troops to take care of their own food supply.

How come they all ran away at once?
Wu Yingqi nodded and said, "Father, the scouts I sent out discovered that the Ming troops in those wooden forts were all Hongsha soldiers."

"How can these southern barbarians continue to hold out without Zhu Cixuan's Ming army's command?"

"There were a few Han Chinese Ming army wooden camps that did not abandon their camps and flee."

Wu Sangui nodded slightly.

But the feeling of something wrong deep down inside still didn't go away.

"Don't march too fast. Take each pass slowly. We can't let the Ming army block our retreat."

Wu Yingqi said anxiously, "Father, Zhu Cixuan is trapped in Xingwei City."

"If we divide our forces to occupy this sixty-li pass, we won't have a strong force to attack Xingwei City."

Wu Sangui looked at his second son and said, "Our target this time is not Zhu Cixuan. We will withdraw our troops as soon as we capture Xingwei City."

"Besides, with Zhu Cixuan's military strength, do you think Ma Ning's thousands of men can contain him?"

Wu Sangui turned around and continued to order: "Wu Guogui, take 5,000 soldiers and hand them over to Ma Ning to capture Xingwei City."

"We will stay here and slowly take the camp."

……

Of course it's impossible to trap me.

Zhu Cixuan stood on the top of Xingwei City, looking at the Qing army camp with flags flying several miles away.

They are constantly digging trenches and building siege equipment.

Then he looked back at the Ava River behind him.

[Han River Diving: You can't drown in the river.]

He almost got trapped in Xingwei City.

Why didn't Wu Sangui use fire to attack the second long wall?

[Lianying: When you encounter a fire attack, the fire spreads continuously.]

Most of the teak and ironwood from Hongsavadi are used on the first long wall.

As long as Wu Sangui used kerosene, he could basically break through the second long wall in one day.

According to Zhu Cixuan's plan, he would use the Muzhai Pass to slowly lure Wu Sangui's army to Lashio City.

As a result, the Qing army took more time to take a detour, and Zhu Cixuan almost thought his plan would fail. Fortunately, the Qing army circled around Mengding and attacked him, then burned the camp and led them to Xingwei City.

[Linking Camp: When you use fire attacks, it will lead the enemy to misjudge.]

Unfortunately, the camps used to be connected over a hundred miles, but now they are only sixty miles at most.

It was enough. With tens of thousands of troops spread over dozens of miles, Wu Sangui would undoubtedly be defeated.

Zhu Cixuan watched the Qing army busy on the surface of the Ava River.

Thick wooden stakes and bamboo were driven into the water and arranged into dense fences to block the navigation of the Ming navy.

More importantly, it is to prevent Zhu Cixuan from escaping from Xingwei City by boat from the East Gate River Mouth.

Yangmiding Hou Ruiminlai, who had been waiting for Zhu Cixuan for a long time, finally received the order.

When the Ming Dynasty recaptured Toungoo County, Rui Minlai made many military achievements and was awarded a fiefdom and a title of nobility.

This time he was also the commander of the Hongsha soldiers in Zhu Cixuan's army.

"Rui Minlai, when the Donglu army arrives at Xingwei City, have the Hongsha soldiers who pretended to flee set fire to the village."

"Burn Wu Sangui's tens of thousands of troops to death in Mubang."

……

"General, let's attack with fire."

Ma Ning glanced at his fellow villager.

Ma Bao's sworn brother, Ma Weixing, was the former Duke of Xu of the Ming Dynasty and the Left Commander-in-Chief of the Left Camp of the Yiyong Camp of the Qing Dynasty.

He was not talking about attacking Xingwei City.

Instead, it was the Ming army camp on the mountain ten miles outside Xingwei City.

To form a pincer attack with Xingwei City.

The key point is that Xingwei City, as the seat of the Ming Dynasty Mubang Xuanwei Office, is located on a strategic road.

To the north is Mengding, to the west is Longchuan, and to the south is Lashio Ava.

This large Ming army stronghold controlled the main road to the south, posing a great threat to them.

However, the wall was a solid mixture of wood and stone, and was built against the mountain. Ma Ning's men attacked it for three days but were unable to take it down.

As a brother who surrendered repeatedly, Ma Weixing should have stayed in western Yunnan with Qi Sansheng, Wu Zisheng and other old generals from the Western Region who came to Hongsha to rescue the emperor.

Unable to resist his repeated pleas by using his hometown ties to build closer ties, Ma Ning allowed him to follow him and march to Mubang with the King of Pingxi.

These days, they have been very brave in killing enemies and breaking into strongholds.

Using fire attack actually demonstrated his loyalty.

Many thoughts flashed through Ma Ning's mind.

"We were in a hurry and had no gunpowder or kerosene, and the soldiers kept the gunpowder for their muskets."

"Where are the materials for a fire attack?"

Ma Weixing said in a muffled voice, "General Wu Guogui will be bringing 5,000 soldiers the day after tomorrow. He will definitely be carrying enough gunpowder and kerosene."

"Sir General, the King of Pingxi only wants to stop at Xingwei City. There will be no more battles to fight. Please allow me to perform a great deed to clear my name."

Ma Ning looked seriously at his subordinate who wanted to atone for his sins.

Even though his brothers rebelled, Ma Weixing was not dismissed and placed under custody because the King of Pingxi was afraid of causing unrest among the old Dashi army.

However, due to his poor performance in this war, General Ai Xing'a was still dismissed and demoted when he arrived in Kunming.

No wonder he is eager to achieve merit.

The Ming troops on the mountain also needed to be taken into consideration to avoid being attacked from both ends when attacking the city.

And there are Bai Wenxuan's three thousand cavalrymen.

By taking that pass, we can also block the Ming army reinforcements coming from Lashio.

Ma Ning thought for a moment and agreed: "Okay, you take the more than 1,000 soldiers and horses in your camp and build your own equipment in the next two days."

"When the reinforcements arrive, I'll give you some gunpowder and kerosene, and I'll also give you two cannons."

Ma Weixing half-knelt immediately: "Thank you, General."

Ma Weixing lowered his head, his expression changing constantly.

Although he didn't know what his younger brother Ma Bao meant when he asked He Jiuyi to bring a letter to him, asking him to use fire attack.

But there is always benefit, so Ma Weixing is still willing to listen to his sworn brother who has fought with him for more than ten years.

(End of this chapter)