Laos.

The coalition forces set out from Vientiane and marched westward.

The army carried a large number of medicines, including wound medicines made of eight kinds of medicines, such as mulberry branches and Panax notoginseng, as well as cinchona, betel nut, and leaves.

Areca nut can inhibit dysentery, and leaf juice has a certain effect on wound infection. The amount of drugs carried is significantly greater than the possible use of the expeditionary force.

The troops' march was blocked by five parallel mountains running north and south, and the roads were dry in the dry season, so the soldiers did not have to fight with heavy rain and mud, and the march was relatively smooth.

The first target of the coalition was Nanfu, when Laos instigated Nanfu Phaya to revolt against Burma, and after the defeat of the army, Phaya fled into Laos, and now Laos has supported his descendants to the throne. The coalition army had a leading party, and the battle was easy, and the artillery was lowered before the city could be erected.

It was difficult for the government to take over the power, and immediately levy Ding and send grain to fully cooperate with the coalition army, which made Cai Yuanding sigh how important it is to have a strong leading party to fight a war.

The main force of King Nalei of Siam entered Chiang Mai and fought against the Burmese army and local defenders.

The Yuan army had three expeditions to the Kingdom of Chiang Mai, the first time stopping at Xishuangbanna, and the second and third times were halfway. The Chiang Mai army in turn invaded Yunnan, and the Yuan Dynasty had no choice but to appease the matter.

Coalition forces continued their march to Chiang Rai in the northwest.

In January 1660, the Siamese army besieged the city of Chiang Mai, and the allied forces of the Federation and Laos spread across Phayao and Chiang Rai.

The Burmese army has a small presence in Chiang Mai, and the main force is located in the city of Chiang Mai, and Chiang Rai and Phayao are mainly local defenders.

There was no difficulty in Pa Yao, the coalition army set up a cannon and made a small bombardment, Gao Yuanjue and others' troops opened the arquebus battle line, the platoon of guns pressed the head of the city, and the Lao warriors climbed the ladder to reach the city.

After the war, the coalition army slaughtered the city, killed all the male nobles and officers, and all the resident soldiers were plundered and sold into slavery.

The Lao generals were surprised, how could the nobles rule after killing all of them?

Cai Yuanding didn't answer directly, but just said that the federal mercenaries and levies were waiting for the spoils of war to get rich, and they couldn't stop it.

Next is the city of Chiang Rai.

Jinglin, Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai were all historically the capitals of the Kingdom of Northern Thailand.

The military and civilians of Chiang Rai Province resisted stubbornly, and the light artillery and arquebuses in the city counterattacked intensively.

The Italian traveler Friedrich once visited Burma, and his report said that the armor, spear, and fire sword of the Burmese king Mang Yinglong were second-rate, but the arquebus was first-class, Mang Yinglong had 80,000 arquebuses, and the gunners practiced shooting on the orders of the king, and the marksmanship was very accurate.

The number of 80,000 is exaggerated, but Burma does have a large number of muskets.

In 1642, the Dutch sold 300 to 400 flintlock pistols to a Sumatran passer-by for six eight riyals each, and the English did the same.

Along with muskets and trade, European-style diplomatic relations were also familiar to the Nanyang states, but they were also familiar with the traditional East Asian diplomatic model, and they were able to handle affairs on both sides.

At a time when both the Ming and Tartar armies were using primitive gills to shoot birds, Burma and other countries were equipped with straight-up arquebuses and had begun to replace flintlock pistols, taking a big step ahead.

In the border city of Chiang Rai Province alone, more than 1,000 arquebuses were fired back, which was a trick to deal with.

The coalition forces divided their forces to the north, first occupied the ancient capital of Jingxian City on the Mekong River, cut off the outer perimeter of Chiang Rai Province, surrounded Chiang Rai Province, and forcibly recruited local Zhuangding to dig siege trenches and build camp tents, which was no different from what the Tatars did in Chinese mainland.

Cai Yuanding managed to bring 46 cannons to Chiang Rai province, and lost 6 on the march. The guns set up firing positions, and at the beginning of the siege they fired a few shots to suppress the Burmese army, and then stopped firing.

Cai Yuanding did not intend to consume all the ammunition on the siege of the city, and brought it to Chiang Rai to have only 100 rounds of ammunition per cannon, and the gunpowder replenishment did not know when it would arrive, so it had to be used sparingly.

As is customary in Southeast Asia, when the war stops and turns into a series of skirmishes, it is interspersed with individual duels.

The defenders went out of the city and erected a fence, and the Lao army did the same.

The two armies kept having warriors come out to challenge each other, the defenders did not have elephants, and the Lao army accepted the challenge of the opposing knights, as well as the challenge of the swordsman, and even had a target competition in marksmanship.

Cai Yuanding and Gao Yuanjue were speechless, in their opinion, this kind of personal duel was just a bluff, and the entertainment nature was greater than the military role.

However, the Lao allies are very interested in the duel, and the federal army is not easy to interrupt.

Every day, the Union soldiers carried small benches to watch the duel between the Lao and Burmese warriors. This appreciation soon developed into gambling, and the soldiers placed bets on the fighters of the two armies, so that Cai Yuanding couldn't bear to look at it directly.

The decisive battle was not in Chiang Rai, but in Chiang Mai, Prince Nalei led 30,000 troops to surround the city of Chiang Mai, anyway, there was no shortage of food, Cai Yuanding drank tea and waited for Chiang Mai to finish.

The weak Burmese king Pindagri did not send strong reinforcements to Chiang Mai, and the battle was not in suspense. One month later, King Nalei conquered Chiang Mai and liberated the ancient city of the Tai people from the Burmese.

Cai Yuan borrowed the head of the Burmese army guard from Siam, and Gao Yuanjue used the Ming army habit to raise the head high and demonstrate to the city. Let the Chiang Rai defenders understand that they are engaged in a desperate war.

Chiang Rai Kaesong surrendered, and Cai Yuan ordered the slaughter of the city.

The Lao generals strongly questioned Cai Yuanding's decision, and Cai Yuanding said coldly: "Keep these pro-Burmese nobles, you and I don't want to control the territory." ”

It is impossible to eliminate the original ruling class by invading a large country, and it can only be divided and disintegrated, but for small countries, physical elimination is the easiest way to replace the rule, and Cai Yuanding does not need the help of local nobles.

Cai Yuanding's troops captured nearly 30,000 prisoners of war in Chiang Rai and Phayao and sold them to merchants on the spot, and these slaves would go directly south to the sea through the Chao Phraya Valley.

King Nalei did not slaughter the city of Chiang Mai, but he knew that the capture of Chiang Mai was only the beginning.

The Burmese conquest of Chiang Mai for more than 100 years was initially a vice-kingship, first with the monarch of Chiang Mai and then by the Burmese prince as the vice-king of Chiang Mai.

After the restoration of Na Li Xuan, the Burmese king Anabilon conquered again and divided Chiang Mai into a province under the direct administration of Awa.

For Siam, the problem is not war, Chiang Mai and Siam are both Thai countries, but the people of the two countries are not friendly, and the 100-year rule of Myanmar has cultivated a large number of pro-Burmese aristocrats and grassroots ruling forces.

King Nalei's next goal was to contact the Mon people of Mathupan and wait for an opportunity to invade Burma proper.

In Southeast Asia, the defense of the cities was dominated by the strength of the local city defenders, and the central army was used for field and decisive battles, and it was impossible for Siam to maintain a strong standing army in the north.

Unless all the local pro-Burmese nobles are cleared, Chiang Mai will still be a nuisance for Siam once the Nalei prince's army retreats.

King Nalei understood this very well, and after thinking about it for a long time, he finally proposed a solution that was to send someone to invite Li Dingguo to enter the country and help Siam defend the northern border.

Cai Yuanding sent away the envoys of Siam and the Federation, left Gao Yuanjue to guard Chiang Rai, and led 500 troops to move to Jingxian Fort, looking north to see through.

In April 1660, the dry season was coming to an end.

On the other side of the scenic line, by the Mekong River, the ragged Ming army vanguards walked out of the forest one after another.

Cai Yuanding's tears rained down.

The Ming army was installed in Chiang Rai Province and swept away the local upper class, completing the change of rule in the most drastic way.

In June, Dingguo killed He Jiuyi, and the Ming army directly under the Jin domain disintegrated.

He Jiuyi's department was divided into three, most of them voted for Wu Sangui, the small part voted for Bai Wenxuan, and a few fled to Chiang Rai from the mountain and forest paths.

Dingguo was worried that He Jiuyi's ministry would lead the way for Wu Sangui and slaughter Menggen City, and there was a Shan State blocking the road in the south, so he led his troops into Burma to find Bai Wenxuan.

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Note: Gu Cheng wrote in the History of the Southern Ming Dynasty that Siam contacted Li Dingguo this time, "(1661) Siam sent more than 60 envoys to contact him, asking Dingguo to move the army to the scene for a temporary rest, and then Siam provided elephants and horses to help recover Yunnan. ”

Siam could not have supported Dingguo to recover Yunnan, and King Nalei had neither the motive nor the ability to do so, and the Chinese historical sources were not objective enough.

Siam's aim was to conquer Chiang Mai and the subsequent counter-offensive against Burma, and Nalei asked Dingguo to help him defend Chiang Mai. Dingguo did end up on the Siam Scenery and died there.