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Chapter 494 The Battle of Burma - Part [-]

The decisive battle between Li Dingguo and Mangbai should have been without any suspense.

The Zhennan elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were all the backbone officers under Li Dingguo's command as officers at all levels. Those veterans over the age of 40 had all participated in the war to destroy the Qing Dynasty.

With advanced weapons, overwhelming confidence and indomitable morale, shouldn't it be a matter of minutes to crush the ancestors of those fraudsters?
But crushing is crushing, the whole process and process of the war is still full of various small accidents.Obviously, there were more or less problems in the pre-war intelligence work of both sides.

After Li Dingguo entered Myanmar, for the first ten days or so, due to the advantage of the sneak attack, he did not encounter any decent resistance, and the main force of the Burmese army was still dispatching and gathering.

It was not until Li Dingguo entered the border more than 200 miles away, successively broke through Mubang and Lashio along the Nujiang River valley, and cut off the Mengyang Xuanweisi, an enclave in northern Myanmar, that the Burmese reinforcements organized a heavy defense in the Lashio area. group.

To make a digression, whether it is Mubang or Mengyang, in fact, it was originally one of the "Three Propaganda and Six Comforters" belonging to Ming Dynasty. In theory, before the Jiajing period, Myanmar was divided and the Toungoo Dynasty had not yet risen to strive for reunification. In Myanmar, the chieftains of those loose small states all recognize Ming as the main one.

It was only later that the Toungoo Dynasty gradually encroached and annexed the small neighboring countries, and the Ming Dynasty gradually declined after Jiajing and Wanli, so the three propagandas and six comforts were gradually annexed by Myanmar.

Even if Li Dingguo hit Lashio now, he would only recover Mupang, the land that Daming originally deserved, and cut off the communication between Mengyang Xuanweisi and the hinterland of Myanmar.

And because Li Dingguo's marching route relies on the Nu River, the Nu River is a waterway carved out of deep valleys and dense forests on the Shan State Plateau in northern Myanmar. Supplies, so it is natural to fight an upright decisive battle.

The two armies confronted each other near Lashio, and after a small-scale fight was exhausted, Li Dingguo and Mangbai soon discovered something that they hadn't expected.

"How can the Burmese army have such a large scale? Although there have been outposts over the years, they have underestimated the strength of the Burmese king to recruit strong men. And why do they have so many red barbarian muskets? Although they are not as good as those made in Wuchang in Ming Dynasty, they are not to be underestimated." Watched."

Li Dingguo couldn't help thinking secretly.

The first thing that surprised him was that the number of Burmese troops was much larger than expected.

He originally found out that the king of Burma had a standing army of [-] to [-] directly under him, and then there were local troops of chieftains from various states, plus strong militiamen that could be pulled up temporarily during wartime.

But at this moment, he encountered at least 10,000+ Burmese troops, and it may even be close to 20.In particular, Mangbai didn't bring all of Bagu's direct troops here, maybe only [-] to [-] were transferred for seven to eighty thousand miles, and the rest had to guard the capital.

From this point of view, the militias of chieftains and temporary Latin soldiers from various states accounted for at least 10,000+.

When this number was detected, Li Dingguo wondered how many people there were in Myanmar. As a result, various civilian captives were interrogated in isolation. The Sanxuan and Liuwei areas that were seized from the Ming Dynasty nearly a hundred years ago have a combined population of 200 million. There are also other vassal chieftains ruled by Jimi, with a population of more than [-] million.”

In other words, Myanmar has a total population of about 800 million from direct lineage to Jiji, which is equivalent to 800% to 40% of Fusang country in the same period.And among the 20 million people, at least [-] troops were pulled out, and [-] of them were pulled to the front line of Lashio.

This is a force that must not be underestimated. You must know that Li Dingguo's vanguard is only 2 people, and the follow-up Chinese army will only dispatch more than 4 people.This is tantamount to Li Dingguo fighting against the disadvantage of one against four just on the front of the Lashio battlefield.

But the Ming army really had no way to quickly invest more people. After all, it was an expedition of labor teachers to provide supplies for the army from the remote areas of Yunnan and Guizhou.With the scale of surplus food and transportation capacity in Yunnan and Guizhou, only so few troops can be used to maintain a long-term war, otherwise the logistics will definitely not be able to bear it.

……

While Li Dingguo was shocked by Burma's military strength and mobilization ability, Mangbai was also shocked by the sharpness of the Ming army's weapons.

This is also to blame for Mangbai's remote location in the south of the sky. He had no conflict with the Ming army before, and Myanmar has been relatively peaceful in recent decades.The Toungoo Dynasty's conquest of the surrounding tribes was almost completed as early as the end of Wanli.

Therefore, in the past 40 years or so in Myanmar, except for a conflict with the Dutch East India Company when it first arrived, there has been no subsequent war.

The age of peace is long, and the geographical location is remote, so the news is not very well-informed.Mangbai's previous impression of the Ming army's combat power was still decades ago. As a result, when he first saw the new Wuchang-made general equipment of Li Dingguo's army, it was much sharper than the latest firearms given to him by the Dutch. The momentum is suffocating.

This kind of situation where the two sides are afraid of the wolf has made the military decision-making of both sides a little more prudent.

Relying on his elite troops and sharp weapons, Li Dingguo chose to camp in the narrow valleys on both sides of the Nujiang River south of Lashio.

In such a battlefield environment, because the terrain is not conducive to the deployment of large corps, even if the Burmese army has nearly 20 people around Lashio, they cannot enter the battlefield at one time. Can maximize.

When Mangbai first saw that the camp of the Ming army was strong, Li Dingguo dared to leave the defense line and take the initiative to fight in the field, so he tried to fight twice.Helplessly, the individual soldiers of the Burmese army were too weak, and they were beaten all over the ground by the musket regiment of the Ming army, with corpses scattered all over the field. The cumulative casualties in the two battles were tens of thousands.

It was found that on the battlefield selected by Li Dingguo, the Ming army could not be defeated at all, and the strength of the frontal and local battlefields was too disparate.Mangbai had no choice but to temporarily change his tactics to a long-term siege and stalemate, no matter how Li Dingguo challenged him, he would not respond.

When Li Dingguo continued to attack the camp southward, the Burmese army even chose to abandon the camp after resisting for a while, retreating steadily to resist layer by layer.

However, because the Ming army could not go deep into other rugged and dangerous places on the Shan State Plateau, they could only attack along the Nujiang River valley. In this way, the deeper the Ming army advanced, the more thoroughly the two wings would be exposed, and the logistical supply line left for the Burmese army to harass would also be delayed. long.

Of course, Mangbai's abandonment of the city and land was also a very serious blow to the morale of the Burmese army.In just over half a month, Li Dingguo won three battles and three victories and advanced more than 100 miles.Although there are no important cities in the surrounding area, it is further approaching Awa City, the former capital of the original Ava Dynasty in Myanmar.

Today's Toungoo Dynasty in Burma was separated from the north and south of the Ava Dynasty a hundred years ago. The situation is similar to that of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in China. Later, the Toungoo Dynasty in the south used Bagu as a base to conquer the north and conquered the city of Awa. throughout Myanmar.That happened in the early years of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, and it was only in the following decades that Dongyu further annexed and expanded.

Therefore, the geographical location of Ava City is also very important. This place is roughly equivalent to Mandalay in later generations of Myanmar. It is the second largest city in Myanmar, and Pego is the Yangon of later generations.

The Taungoo Dynasty must be defended, otherwise, even if Myanmar is not defeated by Ming, it is very likely that it will be re-supported by Ming to divide the north and the south.

Therefore, in the face of Li Dingguo's advancement, the resistance of Mangbai's soldiers became more and more serious, and they all called for a fight to fight Li Dingguo to the death, and they must not retreat any longer.

In this regard, Mangbai is quite a heroic style. He forcefully suppressed the aggressiveness and impatience of his subordinates, and at the same time confessed to the main confidants and generals:

"Don't worry, everyone! Although I have given up part of the territory from Lashio to the west of Ava, I will definitely defend Ava! Although Li Dingguo has penetrated into our territory, he is still not to be feared!

His previous offensive was sharp, all relying on the Ming army to rely on the Nu River waterway in Yunnan for supplies.But until now, he has only two choices, either continue to go down the Nu River,

However, when the Nu River left the Shan State plateau and rushed into the southern Myanmar plain, the drop was too large, and there were even many waterfalls. It was impossible for the supply ships of the Ming army to pass through!So we don't have to worry about the Ming army cutting through Burma along the Nu River until Mawlamyine enters the sea!

I have lived in Myanmar for generations, so how can Li Dingguo compare to us in understanding the hydrology of the various rivers in the territory?In Myanmar, the only thing that can run through the north-south shipping is the Indra Vada River (Irrawaddy River), and only the section from Ava City to Bago can be sailed.

Therefore, if Li Dingguo wanted to continue his attack, he had to cross a section of the land route on the Shan Plateau, cut across from the south of Lashio to the west to Ava City, and switch from the Nu River waterway to the Indra Potuo River waterway.And the land journey he took across the mountains of Shan State between the two rivers was his death!

The Han people are not good at marching in high mountains and dense forests, and the supplies from Yunnan and Guizhou will also be cut off. At that time, Li Dingguo will be in a desperate situation. "

Mangbai's plan is not easy to understand if he is not looking at the map or has a good understanding of the geography of Myanmar.However, the generals under his command are all locals, and they are well versed in geography, so it is not difficult to understand.

It turns out that from Yunnan to Myanmar, there have always been two relatively parallel transnational rivers that can be used as waterways.

To the west is the Ayeyarwady River, which is called the Dulong River or Lishui by the Han Chinese in Ming Dynasty, and the Indra Vada River by the ancient Burmese when it reaches Myanmar.To the east is the Nu River, which is called the Salween River in Myanmar.

These two rivers flow from the mountains of Yunnan into the Shan plateau at a lower level, then into the plains of southern Myanmar, and finally into the Indian Ocean.

However, because the Shan State Plateau is located in the east of northern Myanmar, the Indra Pota River, which is further west, has a greater difference in the northern section. Shortly after leaving the Yunnan border, it rushed out of the Shan State Plateau and left the plateau area. The valley is so steep and rapid that it is impossible to sail.

And it is closer to the East Nu River, because it has to flow hundreds of miles more on the Shan State plateau, so the difference in the northern section is actually not that big, and it can be used for shipping from Yunnan to northern Myanmar.But continue to the south, and when it is time to rush out of the Shan State Plateau, it will face the problem of rapid drop and the river channel will be blocked by waterfalls.

Such geographical features have led to the fact that only the upper and middle reaches of the Nu River are navigable, and there is a natural barrier between the middle and lower reaches.On the contrary, the Indra Vada River is navigable between the middle and lower reaches, and there is a natural barrier between the middle and upper reaches.

None of these two rivers can "sail from Yunnan to the Indian Ocean all the way", unless the water conservancy projects of later generations are awesome, and directly build hydropower stations and lift locks to overcome waterfalls and large drops and dangerous shoals.Before the emergence of lift locks, this problem was unsolvable.

To get from Yunnan to the Indian Ocean, you have to switch between two rivers. The first section is on the Nujiang River, and the second section is on the Indra Pota River. For the Ming army, the most dangerous thing is to cross the Shan State when the two rivers switch. Overland in the mountains.

At this location, there is a relatively low mountain range called Mount Kyauk. Crossing Mount Kyauk can reach the plains of the Indra Pota River Valley, but even if this distance is only more than 100 miles, it is the biggest obstacle for the Ming Dynasty to win over Myanmar.

Even in the later 20th century, during the Anti-Japanese War, when the expeditionary force entered Burma to fight, it was at the exit on the west side of the road that crossed Mount Kyauksan. In "Ninety-Four Two", Chang Kai also performed in the scene where he asked Li Peiji to have breakfast.

The reckless gamble is that "except for the Jiaoshan Valley that connects the two rivers, other places can be given up. As long as Li Dingguo dares to abandon the water transport and cross the Jiaoshan Mountain, he will be sure to kill Li Dingguo in the high mountains and dense forests. If he is not killed, at least Let Li Dingguo be killed by the tropical disease plague!"

What's more, this year's Ming army did not wait for winter to start ahead of time. It was the end of August when Li Dingguo first entered the country, and now after the continuous fighting, it is only the beginning of October, which is not the driest and coolest season of the year.

The weather is favorable for Mangbai, so he is more confident.

……

Mangbai's plan was well planned, but since Li Dingguo dared to come, of course he had something to rely on.

If you want to blame, blame the Burmese for being offline for too long and not understanding the technological progress in the world!
In the southwestern area of ​​Lashio, after successively grasping the positions along the banks of the Nujiang River and at the eastern foot of the Jiaoshan Mountain, he lingered and consolidated a few more batches of supplies from the rear to ensure that there would be no shortage of medicines and ammunition in a short period of time. Li Dingguo was ready to cross the Jiaotong Mountain, kill to Ava City.

The two main generals under his command, Bai Wenxuan and Feng Shuangli, were a little afraid and couldn't help reminding: "Master Hou, don't be careless! There are high mountains and dense forests along the Jiaoshan Mountain, and there are still heavy rains from time to time, and the weather is still a bit hot. , it is better to continue to be cautious."

However, Li Dingguo was very firm: "At the beginning, our army quickly took down Mupang and Lashio, and wiped out tens of thousands of enemies. What did we rely on? Isn't it just a surprise, and the Burmese people never thought that we would send troops in autumn instead of winter! Now we are It is a good time to expand the results of the war, how can we miss it?

As for the heavy rain in the mountains and dense forests, there is nothing to fear!A few days ago, I asked you to collect and transport sulfuric acid, carbolic acid, panacea and other medicines, as well as gunpowder and ammunition from the rear. Is the quantity enough?As long as these are not lacking, crossing Jiaoshan Mountain will not be a problem!

For debridement of the wounded, [-] times diluted sulfuric acid can be used to disinfect gauze in advance, and [-] times diluted surgical knives can be used.Carbolic acid can be used for general disinfection and cleaning, and panacea is used to prevent and repel insects. These are all improved by the Institute of Biochemistry of the Academy of Sciences over the past five years. They are reliable enough and can definitely kill Mangbai by surprise!
As for food, it is really not easy to transport it across the mountains, but as long as we can besiege Awa City by surprise, Awa, as the former capital of Burma and the current accompanying capital, must have a large amount of food and grass in the city.After breaking the city, just ask the Burmese to get it!As long as our army has half a month's rations and hoards half a month's rations in Lashio, we can attack boldly! "

(End of this chapter)