To fight a war in Southeast Asia, it is necessary to fight quickly.

If the battle is won, the troops will be withdrawn, and the time of the battle (including the march) will be more suitable within five months.

If it was necessary to garrison the army after the war, clear the remnants of the enemy army, and arrange officials in the new territory, it had to be done within three months.

If it is delayed, it will face high heat and humidity, resulting in a large number of non-combat attrition of troops.

Therefore, this expedition to Myanmar has been prepared for several years.

If you don't fight, you will be thundered, and if you want to fight, you will fight it once and for all!

The main attacking force had four regular divisions. One of the divisions was specially trained for Burma.

In addition, there are 40,000 patrol soldiers, all from Yunnan and Guangxi provinces.

Not counting civilian and logistical personnel, there are more than 80,000 soldiers alone!

The two divisions on the South Road, the division commanders were Ding Jiasheng and Yang Zhan, and they each brought 5,000 patrol soldiers.

Yang Zhan is 50 years old this year, and he brought his territory and troops to join the new dynasty in Sichuan. After graduating from the crash course of the military academy, he participated in the recovery of Guizhou and Yunnan, and finally became a division commander two years ago. This should be the last time he commanded the battle, and then he will either be transferred back to the Governor's Mansion or transferred to the Metropolitan Commander for recruitment and training.

Qin Liangyu's two nephews, also because they were too old, left the front line when they were promoted to deputy division commanders, one was transferred to the Governor's Mansion to sit in the government, and the other served as the commander of Guizhou.

Yang Zhan stood at the bow of the boat and enjoyed the scenery along the river all the way: "At this speed, we will be able to hit the capital of Donghu next month." ”

Ding Jiasheng said with a smile: "The Meng people are too enthusiastic, and they give food and boats. ”

Not only to the ship, but also to send troops to follow.

The Lower Burma region was the land of Longxing of the Taungoo Dynasty. However, the main ethnic group here is the Mon, followed by the Burmese and Karen people. In order to consolidate his power, the Burmese king inevitably suppressed the Mon power and triggered a series of Mon uprisings. In the past 100 years, the population of the entire Lower Burma region has been halved.

When the Datong army landed at the mouth of the Irrawaddy River, the lurking Xizuo took the opportunity to connect in tandem, and a large number of Mon chieftains and merchants recruited troops to help.

These Meng soldiers did not perform well in attacking the city, and the racial vendettas were fiercer than one another.

In the course of the march, he often broke away from the Datong army and rushed to the nearby Burmese villages to carry out massacres, killing the entire Burmese people.

As a result, the Burmese in Lower Burma fled upstream with their families and mouths.

The Burmese government did not have to make any effort to gather troops, and directly recruited the fleeing people to form troops, and finally raised an "army of 100,000" to defend in the city of Beyi.

The strategic position of the city of Beit in Burma is probably similar to that of Xuzhou to China. No matter which dynasty wants to compete for hegemony in Burma, it must fight a battle here.

One hundred and twelve years ago, the Taungoo Dynasty also won the Humble War to finally establish its dominance in Burma.

At that time, the Burmese had not yet turned against the Mon and joined forces to resist the rule of the Ava Dynasty (Shan). Although the Mon people were not good at fighting, they were very good at farming and doing business, providing 1,400 ships and 9,000 sailors for the Burmese army.

Now history repeats itself, and the Mon people provided more than 1,200 ships, more than 8,000 sailors, and more than 10,000 people to the Datong army, just to overthrow the brutal rule of the Burmese.

When Ding Jiasheng and Yang Zhan led their troops to arrive at Beibai, they were immediately speechless by the scene in front of them.

On the city wall, densely packed, all "defenders"!

Outside the city is full of Burmese refugees, who have to stay outside the city because it is already packed.

"Set up camp!"

The Datong army was camped several miles south of the city by the mountains and rivers.

The next day, the artillery was pulled out and opened first at the refugee camp outside the city. There are too many shacks of all kinds, which will affect the siege of the Datong army, and they must be cleared first.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

More than 20 shells fell, and the Burmese refugees fled in terror, unable to enter the city, so they chose to flee further north around the city.

The chief general stationed in the city of Bei is the nobleman of the Donghu royal family.

The son recklessly said: "Father, we have the advantage of troops, and we can go out to fight the enemy!" ”

Mang Tai shook his head: "Hold on and wait for help." ”

Mang Sigu said: "There are too many people pouring in the city, and we don't have time to requisition grain and grass, so we will be besieged for a month or two at most, and then the food will be eaten up!" ”

"Hold on and wait for help!" Mangtai cut the railway.

The Taungoo Dynasty was similar to Annam, with a standing army of only a few tens of thousands, most of which were stationed in the capital and on the northern border. When a big battle is needed, let the local nobles recruit peasants, and the limit of the army can be expanded to 300,000.

It is a strategic city, with more than 3,000 troops stationed in peacetime, which is already very important.

Now, Mangtai only has more than 3,000 standing troops in his hands, and the rest are all temporarily recruited refugees, where do they dare to take the initiative to go out of the city for a decisive battle?

There are definitely reinforcements to the north, and reinforcements are also estimated to be in the west and south.

More than 100 years ago, the Arakan (Arakan) people came by boat to help the Shan fight the Burmese. Now it will be the same, and the Rakhine people will rush to the aid by boat to help the Burmese fight the Datong army.

"Do you think you can keep it?"

"I'm afraid I can't hold it, the Chinese army is very strong."

"Let's find a chance to slip away."

"If you can't go, you can't leave unless you abandon your family and property."

“……”

This conversation came from the fort of the castle tower.

Two Portuguese officers of mixed race, guarding the artillery and whispering. Their ancestors once made meritorious contributions to the Taungoo Dynasty, defeated the main cavalry force of the Ava Dynasty with artillery, and also formed an artillery unit for the Taungoo Dynasty.

In addition to the Portuguese, there were also Armenians in the city. Their ancestors also participated in the Despicable War a hundred years ago, and fought with the Persians to help the Toungoo Dynasty.

The Taungoo dynasty was able to quickly unify Burma thanks to multinational forces and advanced weaponry, with muskets and artillery in the mid-16th century.

However, their firearms technology is still stuck in a hundred years ago.

After the Burmese refugees outside the city were frightened away by the artillery, the Datong army began to divide its troops.

Yang Zhan led a regular division, plus 5,000 patrol soldiers, and thousands of Meng people, through the hilly terrain in the south of the city, and went around to the north of the city to set up camp. Yang Zhan and Ding Jiasheng's troops were like two nails, nailed to the north and south of the city of Bei.

It's a big city, and it's hard to storm it.

In the great battle more than 100 years ago, the city was besieged for more than five months, and the defenders in the city were forced to surrender after all the reinforcements were wiped out.

The Datong Army has a time limit for operations and cannot be delayed for that long.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

For six days in a row, there has been shelling.

Dozens of artillery pieces of the Datong army, aiming at the city wall and firing. The defenders' twelve city defense guns also continued to fight back.

At the same time, the Mon servant army led the Mon people to fill the moat under artillery fire.

The trees in the southern mountain forests were cut down in large quantities and used to make siege equipment. Standard siege warfare, there is no tactic at all, and the early siege preparations are all fixed routines.

"The temperature is 28 degrees at noon today, which is suitable for continuing the battle."

At this time, the Datong Army also carried a thermometer with the army, and when it exceeded 32 degrees, the whole army would make herbal tea and drink it.

At present, it is the end of October (lunar calendar), and in the winter, the temperature is almost 30 degrees at noon, so you can imagine how difficult it is to fight a war in summer.

"Enemy reinforcements haven't come yet?" Yang Zhan complained.

The Mon leader Naiban mistakenly said: "It will take at least two months for the Burmese king's reinforcements to arrive here slowly, because the Burmese king needs to raise grain, grass and troops." Every time our Mon people revolt, no matter how big the trouble is, it will take two or three months for the Burmese king's army to come, and sometimes even about half a year. ”

Yang Zhan sighed: "It seems that it is not possible to besiege the city and send reinforcements." Either storm here or continue north. ”

"Dada-da-da!"

Riding a fast horse to the barracks, the herald said: "Commander Yang, Ding Duzhi suggests, abandon this city and continue to the north!" ”

"That's exactly what I wanted!" Yang Zhan had already wanted to leave.

Continuing to march forward without conquering strategic points is a typical taboo for soldiers. The rear roads are blocked by the enemy, and once the war drags on for too long, they will face the dilemma of insufficient military rations and a lonely army.

But the fortified city in front of him really can't be conquered in the short term.

For six days, the artillery bombarded continuously, but the walls did not move, and even the moat had not been filled.

That night, Ding Jiasheng led his soldiers to detour several miles north from the southeast, and the whole army set off in a boat carrying it in the dark.

The city was built on the riverside, and the movement of the baggage transport ships was soon noticed by the defenders of the city.

The defenders had only 12 guns of the city, which were evenly spaced on all sides.

The four city defense guns facing the river bombarded the fleet indiscriminately, and they didn't know if they hit it in the dark. While fighting, the artillery of the north and south city walls also fired at the upstream and downstream rivers.

The next morning, the Datong army had already gone away, and statistics found that two ships were missing, and more than 20 ships were damaged.

The next thing is to fight, a city called Alan Miu upstream, completely defenseless against the Datong army.

Although the local officials also collected the refugees and organized them into garrison troops. But everyone felt that the city could be defended, and even if it could not be defended, it could hold out for two or three months, and they could just wait for reinforcements from the king of Burma.

When the Datong army suddenly approached the city, the city defenders thought that the city had been lost, and they were so frightened that they abandoned the city and fled.

The commanders have all run away, and a group of improvised refugee troops, where is the morale to hold on to the end? After a cannon shot, the northern gates were wide open, and the defenders and civilians scrambled to flee.

"Kill the Burmese!"

The Mon servants' eyes were red, and they rushed into the city to burn, kill and loot.

Ding Jiasheng and Yang Zhan did not stop, or even condone the looting of the Meng soldiers. They took the risk of leading the army north, and they had to supply food all the way, and it was inconvenient for the Datong army to do such dirty things, so they just let the Meng servant army do the work for them. Everyone shared the goods together, and all the food was taken by the Datong army.

After three days of plundering, the army continued north.

And the Burmese, who fled north, walked along the way to report that the city of Bereak had been breached. This erroneous military situation frightened all the cities upstream, and they all abandoned the city and fled.

The Datong army traveled more than 500 miles north before encountering resistance in the city of Bagan.

Bagan City is also a big city, only 280 miles away from the capital of Myanmar. There were not only tens of thousands of temporary recruits in this city, but also thousands of reinforcements gathered by the Burmese king, and nearly 10,000 reinforcements were also rushing over.

And to the south, the despicable lord Mang Tai is also leading "tens of thousands of troops" to chase after him.

The troops of Ding Jiasheng and Yang Zhan are obviously alone in the depths and will face a north-south attack by more than 100,000 Burmese troops.

It's just that of the more than 100,000 Burmese troops, there are less than 20,000 standing troops that can really fight.

"How?" Ding Jiasheng asked.

Yang Zhan said: "Go back the same way and destroy the pursuers in the south!" ”

"Hahaha, that's what I thought too." Ding Jiasheng laughed loudly.