Chapter 456: Toungoo, the decisive battle
The capital was cheering, but Jiang Qingzhi was shouting angrily at the dense forest ahead.
"This is not a place for people to stay!"
At this moment he is at the border between Yunnan and Myanmar.
In theory, Myanmar was a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, and its name was Myanmar Xuanweisi, which was under the jurisdiction of Yunnan Provincial Administration. In the fifth year of Jiajing, the Ava Dynasty was destroyed by the three chieftains of Mengyang, Mubang and Mengmi, and the territory was divided among the three.
Subsequently, the situation in Myanmar continued to change, and eventually the Toungoo Dynasty was established by Mang Shwe Tye.
After the establishment of the Toungoo Dynasty, it continued to expand. When Mang Shwe Ti felt that he was strong enough, he became ambitious about Yunnan and often sent troops to invade.
The Mu clan suppressed Yunnan for many years, and their main task was to suppress the chieftains. When the Toungoo Dynasty was established, their main task became to guard against Toungoo invasions.
After Jiang Qingzhi suppressed the Mu family, he asked Zhang Shou, Hu Xiong and others to stay in Kunming. He himself, on the pretext of the Toungoo rebellion and invasion, led his subordinates and 5,000 Yunnan officers and soldiers who had been initially reorganized to march south.
"Uncle!"
The scouts came back, looking quite miserable, and two of them were even carried back.
These were the elite troops carefully trained by Jiang Qingzhi, but they were not up to the task when faced with the tropical rainforest.
"Thirty thousand Burmese troops are just over ten miles ahead."
More than ten miles away, if the Burmese army discovered this Ming army, Jiang Qingzhi dared to bet that they would be ecstatic and attack at high speed.
"Set up camp."
Jiang Qingzhi ordered.
After finding a spacious place to set up camp, Jiang Qingzhi called everyone together to discuss matters.
"Some people are wondering why Ben Bo didn't stay in Kunming to guard against the Mu family's counterattack, but went south to Burma instead." Jiang Qingzhi pointed at the map, "Myanmar is currently in a state of confusion.
At present, they only have two places to expand. One is Siam. If they send troops, the Siamese will certainly come out in full force. But Yunnan is different. The capital is far away and out of reach. If they can take Yunnan, they can use it as a base to continuously invade the southwest and even dream of conquering the Central Plains. "
Someone said, "My Lord, isn't this like a snake swallowing an elephant? How dare they think of that?"
"Why don't you dare to think about it?" Jiang Qingzhi said coldly, "Have you forgotten Japan? The former Tang was their teacher, and it was also a giant with great martial arts. But the Japanese learned something from their teacher and dared to show their teeth to the Tang. If Liu Rengui lost the battle of Baijiangkou, what would the Japanese do next?"
Xu Wei said: "Attack Korea, use Korea as a base, and aim for the Central Plains."
Old Xu cooperated well... Jiang Qingzhi nodded, "Yunnan is Korea in the eyes of the Burmese. If I don't take the initiative to send troops, once Toungoo learns that the situation in Yunnan has changed drastically, they will invade on a large scale. Is it better to fight or be beaten?"
Everyone then suddenly realized what was going on. Xu Wei even saw some generals taking out booklets and charcoal pencils to take notes.
"Besides, I can't stay in Yunnan for long." Jiang Qingzhi felt a little regretful, but it was also a helpless move.
The capital and the Mohist School are his foundation. If he is away from the capital for a long time, without him as the backbone, many things will stagnate or even go astray.
So he had to give Toungoo a head-on blow with a short and brutal battle.
Before setting out, he made a big fuss, saying that he wanted to attack the so-called capital of Toungoo.
Now that Toungoo's 30,000 troops are coming, it is obvious that they have received the news.
"My Lord, the Toungoo people have an elephant army." The local general, Commander Tan Yuan, said cautiously: "The elephant soldiers have thick skin and flesh, and are hard to be hurt by arrows, swords and spears. Once they charge, they are unstoppable!"
Everyone was stunned. Chen Bao said, "What is it... an elephant?"
Tan Yuan nodded. "The elephants are huge, with long and thick trunks. They can hurt people with a flick. The Burmese also put armor on them, so even armor-piercing arrows cannot hurt their vital parts."
Chen Bao took a deep breath and said, "Isn't this a giant beast?"
Jiang Qingzhi said calmly: "I have my own way to deal with this matter."
"My lord, I am willing to lead the army to attack the enemy." Chen Ji requested.
Jiang Qingzhi nodded appreciatively, "That's a good idea, but this is the Burmese's territory, and it's difficult to surprise them. And there's no need to take risks."
He waved his hand to stop the generals from volunteering.
"Rest well and wait for the battle to begin tomorrow."
After the generals left, Jiang Qingzhi relaxed and felt damp all over.
"Master, Master!"
Sun Chonglou's joyful voice was heard, and someone outside was screaming.
"Big snake!"
Jiang Qingzhi was stunned for a moment, and then the curtain of the tent was lifted, and then Sun Chonglou rushed in happily.
This guy...
What is wrapped around this guy?
Jiang Qingzhi looked carefully and found that it was actually a giant python.
Sun Chonglou held the python's neck with one hand and its body with the other, and said proudly: "Master, didn't you say this is a great tonic? Let's make a pot!"
What the hell!
Jiang Qingzhi looked at the python spitting out its venom and felt that it must be rolling its eyes.
"Set up the pot!"
Jiang Qingzhi actually took action himself, and the generals were so busy that they kept their feet on the ground. In their spare time, they looked at the smoke from the cooking stove and thought of Chang Wei's superb cooking skills, and they couldn't help but salivate.
Large chunks of snake meat and more than a dozen pheasants were thrown into a big pot to boil, and the aroma was fragrant.
Tan Yuan brought an envoy from the chieftain.
The envoy was short and had a cunning look. He knelt down when he saw Jiang Qing and said, "Greetings, honorable Lord."
"Let's talk about the matter." Jiang Qingzhi stirred the meat in the pot with a spoon.
The messenger smelled the fragrance and couldn't help swallowing his saliva. "We learned that the honorable Lord Bo led his troops here. Our commander said that he only needed Lord Bo's order to lead the troops here."
"Really?" Jiang Qingzhi said nonchalantly, "But why didn't Chen Rui come to greet me when I got here?"
"Commander..."
Choking!
The long sword was unsheathed and placed on the envoy's neck. He screamed, "Someone said that the Lord wanted to destroy us, so the commander didn't dare to come."
The envoy gasped for breath after he finished speaking. Mo Zhan looked at Jiang Qingzhi. As long as he nodded, the envoy's head would be hung on the flagpole as a sacrifice for tomorrow's battle.
"Go back and tell Chen Rui." Jiang Qingzhi said calmly, "I didn't have time to visit him this time. Next time, I will talk to him."
The messenger left the camp in a panic, riding his horse all the way. Less than five miles away, someone was waiting by the path. "How is it?"
"Jiang Qingzhi was full of murderous intent. He said... he said he was busy this time and would come to visit the commander next time."
"This killer!"
When the news reached the mountain, the commander Chen Rui, who had already assembled his warriors, pondered for a long time.
"Commander, the envoy from Toungoo has arrived."
The Toungoo envoy came in with a smile, "The king has sent someone here. This time, 30,000 troops are heading north, and there are also large groups of elephant soldiers accompanying them. The king... will lead the army in person!"
Chen Rui's eyes lit up, "Really?"
The envoy said with dignity: "The king has been fighting for many years, and he often feels sad that there are no heroes in the world, so the king has powerful soldiers but no place to use them. This time Jiang Qingzhi brazenly went south, and the king was overjoyed. The king said that Jiang Qingzhi's head should be used as a sacrifice to Governor Mu."
"it is good!"
Chen Rui was overjoyed and immediately ordered a banquet.
After getting a little tipsy, the envoy took the opportunity to put forward a condition, "The king said that Yunnan is a rich land. After defeating Jiang Qing, the army will attack all the way."
"I want a city." Chen Rui raised his head, bloodshot in his eyes, "My people have been coveting the Ming people's city for many years. If there is no benefit, it will be difficult for me to get it!"
After some bargaining between the two, Chen Rui finally won.
"Please ask the commander to send troops." The messenger looked grim.
"Easy to say!"
Chen Rui threw the wine bowl made in Kunming to the ground and shouted, "Assemble!"
Under the cover of night, teams of soldiers moved swiftly through the mountains.
Chen Rui, who was standing on the mountain, pointed to the distance and said, "Jiang Qingzhi's troops are stationed there. When we appear behind him tomorrow, he will be terrified!"
……
dawn.
The King of Toungoo, Mang Shwe Ti, had fought for many years, but in the past year he had become slack.
"My Lord, Bol wants to see you."
Inside the big tent, Mang Ruiti just woke up. He calmed himself down and said, "Let him in."
A white man with a high nose and deep eyes came in with a wooden tray with a pot of wine and a large piece of snack on it.
"Respected King, this is the fruit wine I just brewed, the nectar of the human world that can make the gods descend to the earth. This is the snack I made, it is sweet and delicious..."
Pol of Portugal smiled.
"That's right." Mang Ruiti had his breakfast and a minister came in to report. He glanced at Boer with resentment in his eyes.
"Lord, the Ming army is ready to go."
"Really? I guess my warriors can't wait to reap their military merits!"
Mang Ruiti was in high spirits, "Call all the ministers to discuss the matter."
Boll stood at the side, and every minister who came in would look at him with contempt, dissatisfaction, or murderous intent...
In the past year, Mangruiti has favored Bol, and Bol has reciprocated by frequently teaching Mangruiti some little tricks for eating, drinking and having fun, which makes him quite happy.
This treacherous minister!
The ministers secretly complained.
"There are 6,000 Ming troops, including 1,000 cavalry from the Beijing Guards and 5,000 local officers and soldiers from Yunnan." A general introduced the situation.
Someone asked, "Is the news true?"
The general looked at Mang Ruiti, who nodded. Then he said, "This is the news from Kunming."
Mang Ruiti said calmly: "Jiang Qingzhi suppressed the Mu family and put those who followed Mu Chaobi in trouble. How many people hope that he will be defeated... This news must be correct."
The general continued, "Our scouts have already set out. If nothing goes wrong, we will have news soon. But no matter what, the better to fight this battle sooner rather than later."
"Why?" someone asked.
"If Jiang Qingzhi discovers our elephant soldiers..." The general said reservedly, "The king is worried that he will escape."
"Hahahaha!"
……
"The news should have reached Mang Ruiti. Knowing ourselves and the enemy, we can fight a hundred battles without danger. This time, Jiang Qingzhi must be defeated. If he is lucky enough to survive, the whole Yunnan will be in turmoil when the news of his defeat comes. Where can he escape then?"
In the study, Han Yan, who was Mu Chaobi's in-laws but had escaped because they had never been married, sneered.
With Mu Chaobi's death, Zhu Xun's cloth business could no longer continue. He gritted his teeth and said, "Then we will contact each other and send some people to kill him halfway!"
"good idea!"
Bang!
The door of the study was kicked open.
"Who?" Han Yan shouted.
The dust cleared and a sharp voice was heard.
"We were wondering who was plotting a rebellion, and it turns out it's you two. Come on! Capture them!"
In the yard, Hu Xiong, the eunuch garrisoning Yunnan, shouted.
A group of soldiers rushed in and dragged out the two Yunnan gentry like wolves and tigers.
Hu Xiongji pointed at the two men and said, "Do you think you are secretly colluding with Mang Ruiti without anyone noticing? Before leaving, Chang Wei Bo asked us to keep an eye on you. Chang Wei Bo ordered the messenger to be released, but you are still so proud of yourself. Idiots!"
Han Yan knew that he was doomed. "Toungoo has a large army, including elephant soldiers. Jiang Qingzhi leads such a small number of troops...hahahaha! He will definitely lose!"
Hu Xiong said sarcastically: "That is the existence that can defeat Altan's cavalry outside the Great Wall. Are those dwarfs from Toungoo qualified to be opponents of Chang Wei Bo?"
But looking back, after Hu Xiong arrived at his residence, he closed the door and knelt down to pray.
"I beg all the gods to protect me. Long Wilbur will win this battle..."
(End of this chapter)
