The distance from Bhamo to Laoguantun is not far, only about forty or fifty miles.
The terrain is not rugged either, with only some low hills. But the woods are dense, thorny and bushy, and there are a lot of ponds. The riverside is full of reeds and other plants.
The melee soldiers held long-handled hatchets to clear the way, cutting down thorns and vines along the way.
Several small groups of vine-armored soldiers, with a small number of musketeers, walked further ahead to explore the path and waded through without avoiding the thorns.
Huang Yao squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and sighed: "Although the soil is mostly sand, it can still grow crops. Why don't these barbarians know how to cultivate it?"
The guide explained: "General, when the water rises during the rainy season, a large area of the riverside will be flooded. If the amount of water is particularly large, it can even flood the woods, so farming is indeed not as good as the upstream area."
"fart!"
Huang Yao glanced at the river surface and then looked around the surrounding terrain: "Although this is a rapid bay, the flood recedes very slowly. But from the reed field to the woods, the terrain has not risen much. As long as we build embankments along the river, we will definitely be able to block the flood. "I have seen many dikes in Jiangxi. Building dikes here is no more difficult than building dikes on the Ganjiang River."
The guide, a Han businessman, was speechless after hearing this.
The polder embankments in Jiangxi did not form a system until the Ming Dynasty. They had been plagued by floods for thousands of years before.
What is the level of development in Jiangxi? What is the level of development here? Is it interesting to compare the two?
Huang Yao said: "After the war, the Ming Dynasty had to ask the Ministry of Industry to send people to investigate. First, the Ministry of Household Immigrants moved here, and the Ministry of Industry came up with a water conservancy plan. As long as the dams along the river are built, from the upper reaches of Mengyang to here, the valleys along the river will surely be It can fertilize thousands of miles.”
It's not that fertile and wild for thousands of miles, because there are many mountains beside the river.
But the river valley here is indeed a good place. For more than a thousand years, many local governments have been born, and they all relied on growing food in these river valleys.
The desolate scene Huang Yao saw was a kind of agricultural regression. Over the past few decades, Myanmar had plundered too many people, and the local chieftains had also attacked each other. In recent years, the king of Myanmar had also imposed a large number of corvees. All of this has made northern Myanmar miserable. The population has dropped sharply, the cultivated land area has shrunk, and many river valleys have become primitive.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
Gunshots rang out in the woods ahead, and without Huang Yao's orders, officers from various departments had already taken action.
After a while, the officer from the front came back and reported: "Captain, the brothers who were exploring the road encountered an ambush. One person was killed and six were injured. We killed five enemy soldiers and captured three alive. The rest of the enemy soldiers all fled. The enemy is more familiar with them. The terrain made it difficult to pursue. We were also afraid that a large group of Burmese troops would be ambushing further ahead, so we stopped our pursuit.”
"I know, let's move on." Huang Yao nodded.
The Burmese army indeed set up an ambush, hoping to lure the Datong Army there.
Seeing that the Datong Army did not fall into the trap, the Burmese army had no choice but to retreat, watching the main force of the Datong Army advance slowly.
The journey was less than fifty miles, and it took four days of walking, overcoming thorns and thorns all the way.
Of course, there are also reasons to be on guard against the Burmese army. The soldiers always protect the food transport team and do not give the Burmese any chance to make a sneak attack.
The Burmese army defending Laoguan Village has more than 4,000 elite troops, and several thousand rubbish troops (Burmese noble private soldiers, peasant soldiers and chieftain soldiers). More could have been mobilized, but Ding Jiasheng and Yang Zhan It bloomed in the center of Myanmar's hinterland, and most of the main force of the Myanmar Army was assembled in Ava.
The Burmese army planning to encircle Ding Jiasheng was not just two-thirds, but three-quarters of all Burmese elites.
"When the Han soldiers attack like this, they won't even sit in the boat, and they won't be fooled by the ambush. How do you think we should fight?" Mang Zhen, the general of the Burmese Army, an old official, summoned his generals to ask for advice.
No one answered.
Everyone wanted to run away, but they were afraid of being punished.
Guess where Wu Sangui in history led his troops to capture Emperor Yongli? It was only sixty miles away from the capital of Myanmar!
The Burmese army couldn't even stop Wu Sangui, how could it possibly stop the Tatung Army?
Of course, what Wu Sangui faced was the Burmese army, which had been harmed by the King of Burma for more than ten years. The Datong Army faced only the Burmese army, which had been harmed by the King of Burma for several years. At this time, the combat effectiveness of the Burmese army was slightly stronger.
Just throw it away.
As for the subsequent Qing-Burma War, it had nothing to do with the quality of the soldiers.
At that time, the Qing army was planning a decisive battle and specially mobilized elite Eight Banners troops.
When the troops were withdrawn after the battle, Agui gave a memorial to Qianlong, along with a list -
There were 3,008 soldiers in the Eight Banners Army's Solon Brigade: 12 were killed in action, 2 drowned, and 5 officers and soldiers died of injuries. In China, 50 officers and soldiers died of illness; in Myanmar, 1,820 officers and soldiers died of illness.
The Eight Banners Army Oroqen Team had a total of 300 people: 2 died of injuries. In China, 71 officers and soldiers died of illness; in Myanmar, 80 officers and soldiers died of illness.
This is the casualty situation of the elite Eight Banners in the final decisive battle between the Qing army and the Burmese army.
There were only 21 people who died in battle, drowned, or died of injuries. The rest all died of illness, and many died of illness in China. Who told the Qing army to specifically choose to march in the rainy season?
I don’t know how Qianlong felt when he saw the memorial. His reply only contained five words: I understand, and I appreciate this.
"You guys are talking!" Mang Zhen was furious.
No one dared to speak.
Mang Zhen actually wanted to escape, but he couldn't.
The main force of the country is fighting an encirclement and annihilation campaign in Bagan. If he abandons the city and leaves, the Datong Army on the North Road can go down the river and fight all the way to the capital of Myanmar. Who can bear this responsibility?
On the afternoon of the fourth day, the Datong Army, which had overcome all obstacles, had reached the outskirts of Laoguantun.
While the Datong Army was camping, they set up artillery on the shore to bombard Burmese ships on the river.
On the fifth day, the siege was officially launched.
The city wall of Laoguantun, or the village wall, is a structure made of wooden fences and earth. There is not even a decent earthen wall.
After being bombarded by artillery shells, in about half an hour, all the walls in front of them collapsed.
This horrific situation made Mang Zhen so frightened that he was completely speechless.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
Before the bombardment was over, the artillery raised its elevation and bombarded the inside of the stockade.
At the same time as the bombardment, the infantry and cavalry were already dispatched, slowly advancing towards Laoguantun Walled City.
"Run!"
Mang Zhen finally came to his senses, and regardless of King Burm's punishment, he rushed to the river with his soldiers and quickly climbed onto the boat parked there.
The miscellaneous troops of the Burmese army are still trying to get on board.
The elites of the Burmese army showed their fangs. They gathered on the shore and shot arrows at the miscellaneous troops. They drove the miscellaneous troops to resist the Datong Army in order to buy time for the elites to board the ship.
The miscellaneous troops were not stupid. After escaping from the shore, they immediately knelt down and surrendered when they encountered the Datong Army.
The Datong cavalry slashed and killed the enemies along the way. Anyone who dared to block the way would be killed even if they surrendered, and they quickly pursued them to the place where the Burmese army boarded the ship.
At this moment, Mang Zhen had already escaped dozens of meters by boat, and some elite Burmese troops were boarding the boat. Seeing the Datong Army chasing after them, all the Burmese ships hurriedly punted away from the shore.
Many elite Burmese troops were climbing onto the boat and fell into the water like dumplings.
Hundreds of elite soldiers were still on the bank. When they saw the Datong cavalry chasing them, they were so frightened that they ran downstream along the river bank. After running a mile or two, they could escape into the mountains.
It's obvious that two legs can't run with four legs.
The Datong cavalry rushed over, and the elite Burmese troops fell like wheat.
Huang Yao was a little unhappy after easily capturing the city. Due to the complicated river channels here, the Chinese fleet did not dare to come over and could only let the main force of the Burmese army escape by boat.
The ensuing march did not go well either.
After hearing the news of the victory, the fleet immediately sailed to Laoguantun. On the way, more than 60 ships of the fleet ran aground one after another, completely blocking the channel. With the naked eye, it seemed that the place where the ship could sail was just a short drive away.
Hitting the river bottom sediment.
It only took Huang Yao half a day to defeat the Burmese army in Laoguantun.
But it took eight days for the fleet to pass through this area, and it had to pull out the stranded ships. In the end, it was not finished, and there were still a few ships left there, waiting to be picked up again after the battle.
.
But Mang Zhen escaped to Taigong City by boat and immediately sent a message to the King of Burma, asking for reinforcements to be dispatched as soon as possible to help.
After thinking about it, I felt that Taigong City was not easy to defend, so I simply continued to flee south by boat, all the way to Anzhengguo City (Xingu, Myanmar).
Anzheng Guocheng is only 130 miles away from the capital of Myanmar...
Ava, royal palace.
The Burmese king Mangda, who was addicted to pleasure, finally came to his senses at this time. He held the battle report of the Northern Front in his hand and said with trembling hands: "How can we lose so quickly? What should we do? What should we do?"
Hei Lutao said: "Your Majesty, there are only two ways now. One is to encircle and annihilate the Han army in the south with all our strength. If we can win, then send troops north to stop the enemy. The other is to send an envoy to ask for surrender, but I guess it will be difficult. Those damned people
Deyou (Turkic people, specifically referring to China), this time the north and south attacked simultaneously, and I don’t know how much food was consumed. Even if they ask for surrender, they will have to cede territory and pay compensation."
Mangda quickly said: "It's okay to cede territory, pay compensation, and become a vassal, as long as China is willing to withdraw its troops."
"In addition to ceding territory and paying indemnity, we need one more thing." Hei Ludao said.
Mangda asked: "What else do you need?"
Hei Ludao had lowered his head to speak, but at this moment he suddenly raised his head: "I still need your Majesty's head!"
"What?" Mangda thought he heard wrongly.
He Lutao said: "If we don't change the Burmese king, how can we explain to the Chinese emperor?"
Mangda finally panicked: "Someone is coming! Someone is coming..."
The palace guards did not come in, but the king's brother Mangbai came in.
This boy, who was only over ten years old, said respectfully: "Brother, for the sake of Myanmar and for the sake of Ava, please abdicate."
"You...you guys..." Mangda stood up and backed away, then ran towards the side door.
Just when he was about to escape, several spears were suddenly stabbed outside the door, and the majestic king of Myanmar died.
Hei Luda didn't even bother to look at the corpse, so he said to Mang Bai: "We must send out envoys to surrender, and we must not relax the siege of the enemy troops on the south road. We must urge all ministries to march quickly to completely trap the enemies of Bagan. If they can be eliminated,
That enemy force is the best. If it cannot be eliminated, those enemy forces are also hostages."
Mang Bai asked: "If the Han army is destroyed, will the Chinese emperor be furious?"
He Lutao said: "Your Majesty, you are the new king of Burma. You must remember that you must be able to kneel down and beg for surrender, and you must show your fangs."
"Cough cough cough!"
Suddenly, a Privy Council official came and coughed anxiously outside the hall.
He Lutao walked over and asked, "What's wrong?"
Privy Council officials said: "An urgent report has been sent from Toungoo City. Siam has captured Bago. Also, Chief Meng Yang and Chief Mengya are asking for help. They also have enemies over there!"
Hei Ludao, who had been confident just now, was dumbfounded.
Except for the west, there are enemy troops in all other directions. How many people did the Chinese emperor send?
Mang Bai also panicked: "What should I do?"
Hei Lutao calmed down for a while and said: "It is impossible to surrender. The emperor of China has launched such a big battle just to destroy our country. Please lead the expedition in person, summon all the troops, and eat the south at all costs."
The enemy. We can only go southwest and lead our troops to withdraw into the Arakan Mountains (Arakan Mountains) in the west. Then, wait for the weather to get hot. As long as the weather gets hot, those Deyou (Chinese) will be killed by the heat.
When the time comes, we will lead the army back to Ava!"