open sea

Chapter 507 Summer Plague
Chen Mu's plan to attack Baigu from Yangon failed.

It's a mere two hundred miles, and after digging out the hundred miles of river, it only needs to march a hundred miles to reach Baigu City.

But it took his subordinates three days to travel fifty miles, and they were ambushed by the Baigucheng defenders. Fortunately, the scouts were successful and allowed the follow-up troops to retreat in time. Dozens of banner troops were killed or injured in the rear of the hall.

The setback in the first battle did not bring too much pressure to Chen Mu, but the Zongfan army had to withdraw to Yangon, because nearly [-]% of their subordinates lost their combat effectiveness.

The reason lies in the so-called southwest summer plague, mosquitoes and leeches.

When they set off from Yangon, they were still a division of tigers and wolves, but when they returned to Yangon, they were like stragglers who had lost a battle. They supported each other and returned to the camp with difficulty.

Chen Mu, who was standing outside the wounded barracks with a sullen face, went up to Cheng Hongyuan who walked out of the tent, and asked, "What's going on?"

"Malaria may have been contracted in Annan. The catastrophe followed the catastrophe, and it may have something to do with the heavy rain." The old doctor said with a grim expression, "In addition to contracting malaria, many soldiers were bitten by leeches on their legs during the march. Injury, blood flow... The medicine brought by the army has been exhausted, there are too many wounded soldiers, and the military doctors can't come for acupuncture, the commander must mobilize medicine from the country as soon as possible."

There are large paddy fields around the ancient city of Bai. They walked through the fields to defend against the enemy's pursuit during their retreat. The weather here is hot, and the feet of the flag soldiers were bitten by leeches.

"What medicine do you need?" Chen Mu rubbed his face, looked up at the dazzling sunlight in the sky, closed his eyes and nodded slowly: "I'll send someone to Guangzhou to buy it."

"There are enough hemostatic powder and gold sore medicine for leech bites in the army, and Jiemao Qinghao pills can be used to treat malaria. There is not enough in Guangzhou, so Guangdong and Guangxi are needed." Cheng Hongyuan was much more worried about the situation than Chen Mu. The old doctor had a troubled look on his face, and he thought about it: "Hundreds of people in the army now have fever and chills. This is exactly the symptom of malaria. Malaria is latent. It is just now, and there will be more in the future."

"there are more?"

Cheng Hongyuan nodded and said: "Annua, duck gall, licorice, and realgar must be prepared. When the medicine arrives, the general will also eat it. If the general also falls ill, he will have to withdraw the army."

Chen Mu didn't care about taking medicine or not. What he cared about was the scale of the malaria outbreak. He asked, "How many people in the army do you think might be infected with malaria?"

The old medical craftsman was also not sure, and said: "Maybe five hundred, maybe five thousand, no one knows before it's issued."

"Hey, I will take the doctors to give acupuncture to the wounded patients, so I won't disturb the commander." Cheng Hongyuan sighed, and once again told Chen Mu: "The wounded and sick should be separated from the rest of the Banner Army. Anyone who has fever or chills Those who want to be separated must also be separated, otherwise the army will not be protected, the commander must remember."

At this time, Chen Mu suddenly realized that malaria itself is not contagious, but in places like the southwest where mosquitoes are widespread, it is easy to infect fellow soldiers.

"Isolate all the sick in the army, build camps for them, and deliver meals every day. Doctors and doctors must wear full clothes when they go in and out to keep out mosquitoes."

The banner troops who retreated back to Yangon had no time to rest, and tens of thousands of banner troops were divided into several camps. One of the rear camps was specially used as a camp to isolate sick banner troops.

The cotton cloth that was originally used to buy and sell goods on the ship was requisitioned in large quantities, and there was no time to sew clothes, so Chen Mu ordered the flag army to cut the cotton cloth into strips, and let the military doctor and the meal delivery flag army use it to tighten the cuffs and make scarves and masks.

"Distribute the salt in the luggage to the Banner Army. It is strictly forbidden to cut fires after being bitten by leeches. All leeches should be sprinkled with salt to remove the leeches. I don't have any more thoughts to see the infected Banner Army."

The command of the Chinese army was issued by Chen Mu one by one. Although there were only less than a thousand wounded and sick in the tens of thousands of troops, it was enough to reduce their morale to the lowest level. This time he wanted to withdraw more than he did in Nanshan, Qinghua, but there was no way , "The war waits for no one, and we have to bite the bullet and fight on. The later Baigu is captured, the more people will die in the north."

This is not a military operation by the Shanta Nanyang military government. The Mengyang and Longchuan frontlines in northern Myanmar, Sigu, Yang Yinglong, and the Ming army who led the army from Yunnan into three propagandas and six comforts are confronting the main force of Mang Yinglong. They are all waiting Chen Mujun attacked the city in the enemy's empty rear to shake its huge force.

"Mang Yinglong is not those closed princes in Annan, he is much more difficult to deal with, and in all fairness, the military equipment of the Burmese army is no worse than that of the Ming army, and even has more bird guns." Chen Mu looked at Deng Zilong and Zhang Shijue, and said: " Select the Qianhu Division of the four banner troops with fewer injuries and illnesses, and you two will leave one to sit in Yangon, and the other to follow me by sea to Baigu."

"Even if you use warships to bombard the fortress, you must knock it down!"

As he said that, Chen Mu looked at the many commanders sitting at the end, and said, "Shi Qi, how much is the Baigu Coast Fortress?"

Zhang Shijue cupped his fists to ask for a fight, but Deng Zilong hesitated to speak.

He knew that Bai Gucheng had to be fought, but he also heard that malaria was contagious, and it might be when the infection would occur.

It is useless to single out four soldiers from the Ministry of Thousand Households now. What if they all fall ill on the coast?
"There are a lot of guns, and there are also a lot of guns. The subordinates were worried about the loss of the ship, so they didn't sail the ship a thousand steps closer to the port, but judging from the cannons they fired, they were mostly small cannons of one or two catties." Shi Qi said what Deng Zilong wanted to say. , "At the first outbreak of malaria, no one knows how many Banner soldiers will be sick. It's better to wait a few days for the commander, and the north is also facing off."

"Liu Shuai and Yu Shuai are all masters on the battlefield, so they won't rush to attack without testing." Shi Qi clasped his fists and said, "It's not too late to wait a few more days!"

Chen Mu waved his hand and said, "Don't wait any longer. I don't believe that Baigu Fortress can stop the six thousand-material warships together with Chihai. As long as I'm quick, even if the Banner Army is infected with malaria, it will be able to destroy Baigu City." Break through!"

As soon as his words fell, Deng Zilong got up and clasped his fists and said: "Commander, why don't you sit in Yangon and command Deng and Zhang to lead the fleet to attack Baigu. Even if you can't occupy Baigu, I will certainly remove the fortress."

"Firstly, neither the humble officer nor Commander Zhang has experience in dealing with malaria. Secondly, even if we retire, it will not affect morale. If the commander-in-chief fails to lead the army, we will not even be able to stay in Yangon, so we can only Returned to Malacca."

Chen Mu leaned back on the chair, squinted his eyes and thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.

He wanted to lead the troops to fight Baigu, the outbreak of malaria in the army made him suffocate in his heart but he had nowhere to vent, but what Deng Zilong said was reasonable, and what he said was quite nice.

The actual meaning is that this battle is very unsafe. The fear is not that the army will fail, but the fear of being defeated. Once Chen Mu leads the army to be defeated, it can be imagined that the morale will be hit.

The question is not whether Chen Mu is willing to take responsibility for the defeat, but that their army, which is firmly rooted in Mang Yinglong's back, cannot be withdrawn.

"In this case, then you two, lead five thousand households, and attack Baigu from the sea with warships. You don't need to attack Baigu, but you must break through the fortress to shake the army." Chen Mu took a deep breath. In a low tone, he said: "I am here, working together with the doctor to save the lives of more banner soldiers."

He knew what was more suitable for him, so he took this opportunity to establish the military doctors and field hospitals of the Nanyang Military Mansion according to the rules!
(End of this chapter)