Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 548: The Burmese Expedition (Part )

Li Chengdong sent people to submit because he knew that with the current strength of the Qian Dynasty, it would not be easy to destroy him, but it would not be a big problem.

On the other hand, after submitting a letter to the imperial court, Wu Sangui obtained Meng Jun's consent and, after some selection, formed a mountain force of more than 2,000 people from the chieftains of Yunnan.

Wu Sangui planned to use this 2,000-man mountain force to scout the enemy situation, terrain, and surprise attacks.

In this military operation, Wu Sangui led 24,000 troops, 2,000 mountain soldiers, and 3,000 cavalry. Meng Jun transferred 10,000 firearms soldiers stationed in Kunming, for a total of more than 40,000 troops.

On September 28th of the third year of Zhaowu, Wu Sangui swore an oath to go to war.

Wu Sangui crossed mountains and rivers, and his army entered Myanmar along the Yongchang Ancient Road. He went west through Yangbi, Yongping, Baoshan, Longyang, Tengchong and Dehong Prefecture, and attacked Myitkyina, Myanmar.

As the saying goes, if you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. After this period of preparation, Wu Sangui knew the terrain of Myitkyina, Bhamo and other places well, although he didn't know it like the back of his hand. In order to prevent and control malaria, more than 200 doctors and apprentices followed the army. The court also mobilized a large number of epidemic prevention herbs to follow the baggage.

Wu Sangui was worried that once they entered the mountains and forests of Burma, the enemy might take advantage of their familiarity with the terrain to launch a surprise attack on the baggage supply in the rear. Therefore, Wu Sangui placed a large part of his elite troops under the command of his trusted general Sun Wenhuan.

Sun Wenhuan was not well-known in the original history. However, perhaps it was the butterfly effect, Sun Wenhuan actually shined in the hands of Wu Sangui.

Sun Wenhuan bypassed Shangnan, captured Wuguan, broke Danfeng, took Shangxian, entered Xi'an first, and then made great achievements in attacking Liu Wenxiu and Li Chengdong. Therefore, Wu Sangui liked and respected this young general very much.

When the Qian army launched a massive attack on Myitkyina, there was a lot of discussion in Myanmar. Some ministers suggested sending troops to resist, while others suggested sending envoys to negotiate peace. However, Mangbai killed his brother to come to power, and his foundation was unstable, so he encountered a massive attack from the Central Plains dynasty.

Although Mangbai purged his brother Mangda's confidants when he came to power, there were still many of Mangda's old subordinates in many places in his country.

Moreover, the banner raised by the Qian Dynasty was to comfort the people and punish the criminals, and to punish the treacherous ministers who killed the king. Wu Sangui also widely publicized along the way that he would select a wise king and establish a new king of Burma.

When the Qing court entered the Pass, it fought against Li Zicheng under the banner of revenge for Emperor Chongzhen. Even such an obvious lie was able to fool so many scholars in the Central Plains, not to mention a place like Burma where civilization was not well developed.

When Wu Sangui entered Myitkyina, he caused almost no killing and his army did not harm anyone. Only when he attacked the capital of Myitkyina, a local leader organized an army of more than 6,000 soldiers to attack Wu Sangui.

They looked numerous and powerful, but among these 6,000 men, only a hundred were wearing armor, and most of them were holding wooden spears and short swords. They were completely incomparable to the fully armed army like the Qian Army.

The chieftain of the native state actually tried to attack Wu Sangui's army on the plain. Wu Sangui ordered his troops to remain motionless. When the enemy's momentum weakened, he ordered his subordinates, Wu Guozhu and Li Sizhong, to lead the attack.

After one attack, the local soldiers were defeated. Wu Sangui pursued them with cavalry and defeated them severely.

When questioning the prisoners, they learned that this army was not Mangbai's regular army, but an army recruited by the chieftain of the local state.

In order to intimidate all the people, Wu Sangui sent troops to wipe out the local leaders who dared to resist and killed all their people. When the news came out, all the people were shocked.

Wu Sangui issued a manifesto and announced it to all directions, saying that the royal army was a benevolent and righteous army, but there were some who were stubborn and unyielding. The royal army's wrath was like thunder and left no room for them.

On the one hand, Wu Sangui claimed that he was acting with benevolence and righteousness, but on the other hand, he used drastic measures to punish those who dared to disobey him.

On October 16, the third year of Zhaowu, after controlling the Myitkyina area, Wu Sangui requisitioned ships to transport supplies via the Irrawaddy River. With Li Sizhong as the vanguard, he went south along the river and headed straight for Bhamo.

At this time, Mangbai had just completed the assembling of his army. In order to resist the biggest threat since he ascended the throne, Mangbai mobilized troops from all over the country, totaling more than 90,000 people.

Mangbai personally led a large army northward and met the Qian army led by Wu Sangui in the Bamao area.

In Mangbai's army, in addition to infantry, archers, and more than 300 elephants, there was also a special army, which was 500 Portuguese mercenaries.

When Wu Sangui's subordinate Li Sizhong heard the scouts' report, he was shocked to find such a large Burmese army. He then quickly informed Wu Sangui of the news that Mangbai was leading an entire country's army.

Li Sizhong's father was Li Ruzhen, who was the nephew of the famous Li Chengliang. Li Sizhong first served the Ming Dynasty and then surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. He made many contributions in the Qing court. And because the deceased was a member of Li Chengliang's family, he was promoted very quickly in the Qing court, and finally became the governor of Shaanxi.

However, Wu Sangui invaded Guanzhong, Meng Qiaofang was defeated, and the Qing Dynasty was already on the decline. After weighing the pros and cons, Li Sizhong surrendered to Wu Sangui. At this time, Li Sizhong still had more than 200 genuine Manchu Eight Banners under his command.

Most people in the world are pushed by the tide of the times. These Eight Banners soldiers probably never thought that one day, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, they would actually become soldiers of the Qian Dynasty and come from faraway Liaodong to this southernmost land to fight with these natives.

Upon hearing the news, Wu Sangui stopped to think deeply. Seeing that the enemy was numerous and we were few and the situation was dangerous, he immediately reined in his horse and stopped fighting. He built a camp beside the river to defend himself, and then summoned all the generals to gather in the central military tent to discuss strategies to defeat the enemy.

Mangbai personally led an army of more than 90,000 people, with great momentum and far more numbers than Wu Sangui's 40,000 troops. Faced with the huge disparity in troop strength, the generals discussed the matter and expressed their opinions.

Some said that our army was elite and the local soldiers were weak, so we should defeat the local soldiers head-on. Some said that the enemy was twice as strong as ours, so we should hold our ground and wait for help, and asked the court to quickly mobilize reinforcements. Some said that we should pretend to retreat, lure the enemy deep into our territory, and then turn around and attack them. Some also said that we should send elite cavalry to go around the rear and burn the enemy's food supplies.

Wu Sangui pondered for a moment and decided to lead his generals along the river bank to observe the terrain.

Looking at the river, Sun Wenhuan suddenly had an idea and said to Wu Sangui: "General, the riverbed is not high. If we set up a dam upstream, we may be able to defeat the enemy with water!"

When Wu Sangui heard this, he had an idea. Perhaps this strategy was really feasible. However, in this case, the camp that had just been set up would be unusable, otherwise the flood might submerge him first.

At this time, Wu Guozhu asked: "If Mangbai had not set up the camp by the river, wouldn't the flood have prevented it from flooding?"

Sun Wenhuan thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Mangbai has nearly 100,000 troops, and they are going up the river. The baggage and food rely on the river, and it is most convenient to station the camp by the river. If it is far away, the transportation of food and baggage will be more dangerous!"