After personally inspecting Zheng Jun's defensive positions and learning about the results of the battle from Zheng Chenggong.
While Chongzhen was overjoyed at Long Yan, he felt that the battle between Mangbai and Horse was not as good as the previous rogue bandits in the local area.
Originally, Chongzhen wanted to ask Zheng Sen why he didn't take advantage of the situation to launch a pursuit to expand the victory.
But then I thought again, this was originally a field battle, and the King's division still lacked war horses, so how easy would it be to pursue them?
Fortunately, he didn't ask, otherwise he would have been a bit abrupt and made his generals feel that he neither talked about the actual situation nor knew the art and tactics of war.
Zheng Chenggong leads three brigades of marines. As the name suggests, they are a team that fights on the seaside.
When fighting deep into the interior, it would be Song Ji's turn to take the lead.
This is the problem we face next, and it needs to be discussed carefully.
At best, after the Wang Division landed in Myanmar, they won two battles in a row and their morale was high.
But if we analyze it realistically, we know that although Mang Bai lost twice, the main force was not severely damaged.
As time goes by, more and more troops from all over the country will rush to Handawady for reinforcements.
Therefore, whether to attack the capital city is the main issue discussed by the emperor and his ministers.
Although Handawady is close to the seaside, it is not coastal. If the king's division leaves the coast and lacks cavalry cooperation, the supply line will be easily attacked by the enemy.
Now Myanmar has entered the rainy season, and it will rain every three days. Sometimes it rains every day, or even twice a day, as if God deliberately made a hole here.
If the long-term siege of the city fails, not only will the morale of the king's division decrease, but it may also lead to rampant epidemics in the military camp. This matter must be considered in advance.
However, looking at the bright side, now that they have won two consecutive victories, taking advantage of the high morale of the King's division, it is also a good time to attack the city of Handawady, which is not far away.
Moreover, it can also force Mangbai to have a third confrontation with the Ming Dynasty King's Division in a short period of time. If the King's Division wins again in this battle, it may be possible to severely damage the Burmese army in one battle and make it unable to recover.
After thinking about it, Zheng Chenggong and Song Ji both supported Wang Shi's proposal to besiege the barbarian capital.
We can't stay at the beach forever, especially after Mang Bai was defeated again.
Once there is a confrontation, I am afraid that the advantage will belong to the side of Mangbai.
Master Wang didn't come all the way to meet Mang Bai, so it would be great if he could fight quickly.
There are two marching routes, one is from the landing site to the west, which is about fifty or sixty miles to Handawady.
The other is from the west side of the bypass, going upstream from the mouth of the Bago River. The city is located less than 200 miles away.
The advantage of choosing the former is that Master Wang doesn't have to move anymore. There are too many people and luggage involved, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
The advantage of the latter is that the king's division can reach directly to the city of Handawadi on warships, and the fleet can also provide fire cover.
The problem is that the Bago River is not a big river. Even after entering the rainy season, the width of the river is not large, and large ships of the Ming army cannot sail into the river.
But for the Ming Dynasty King's Division, which was seriously short of war horses, it was much better to have ship cover instead of just using steam tanks to accompany the infantry.
"Your Majesty, I would like to lead my troops to give it a try!"
After some thought, Zheng Chenggong took the initiative to ask for help. He would not get much benefit by staying here and following Song Ji. The enemy was killing a lot of people. Instead of doing this, it was better to lead his own troops as a partial army to outflank him.
"Yes! My dear, your loyalty and bravery are commendable, so be careful!"
Chongzhen didn't think there was anything wrong with dividing his troops, because the 60,000 Burmese troops failed to shake Zheng's defense line last night, which shows the strength of Zheng Sen's troops.
Song Ji did not object to this. Zheng Chenggong had already achieved a great victory last night. He was here to help. It was impossible to always let Zheng Jun take the lead.
If Zheng's army suffered a lot of losses and Zheng Chenggong was dissatisfied and got angry and boarded the ship with all his troops, then the supply of Nanting's troops would be in jeopardy.
After killing more than 2,500 people in one attack, Zheng Chenggong did not give any reward, and even allowed the fleet to transport the court's troops, horses and luggage for free. This was considered the most benevolent and righteous act.
Peers compete with each other only when both sides are evenly matched.
If one side is strong and the other side is weak, that is not called strife, that is called crushing!
Zheng Zhilong is richer than Nanting. If Zheng's army is mobilized, the number of soldiers it can fight will be as high as about 200,000.
His son Zheng Chenggong was also one of Emperor Haojing's disciples and had a close personal relationship with Emperor Haojing.
According to outside speculation, the trade volume between the Zheng family and Emperor Haojing can reach tens of millions of taels every year.
The Zheng family has money, soldiers, fleets, and backers. It can be said to be the most wealthy family in the world.
This time the Zheng family sent money, troops, and fleets, so much so that even Emperor Chongzhen treated Zheng Chenggong with courtesy.
If other civil servants and generals dare to speak ill of this person, they are just looking for trouble because they have nothing to do.
The Zheng family is a towering tree in the world, and other guys who eat the royal food are just trying to shake up the tree by looking for trouble.
This time, the Song Ji Division only carried 60 bronze cannons purchased from the northern capital. If they could get fire support from the fleet when they besieged Handawady City, it would be twice the result with half the effort.
The facts are obvious. If we attack Handharvady from the east, the fleet will be of no use at all.
If you want naval guns to bombard the city, you can only choose to support Zheng Chenggong's route of march.
Since ancient times, dividing the army has not been a taboo. When the Wei army destroyed Shu, they used Zhong Hui's army as the main force and Deng Ai's army as the partial force. They divided their forces and attacked together.
If every line of soldiers and horses cannot defeat the enemy, like in the Battle of Sarhu, where three of the four lines of soldiers and horses were defeated, it would be a big deal.
After obtaining permission from Emperor Chongzhen, Zheng Chenggong led his troops on board ships and sailed upstream from the mouth of the Bago River by sea within three days.
Zheng Chenggong and Song Ji agreed to meet under the city of Handawadi and besieged them together and turned them into defenders, unless Mangbai had abandoned the city in advance and fled.
As the ruler of the entire Toungoo dynasty, his initiative to attack was thwarted, and his night attack failed again, making Mang Bai extremely irritable.
How could the emperor of the Ming Dynasty be so interested in his own territory?
Aren’t the emperors and officials of the Ming Dynasty previously easy to coax?
If the two armies clash again, can our side still repel the invading enemy?
These questions lingered in Mang Bai's mind for a long time, and he spent a lot of time thinking about it but still couldn't find the answer.
Some of his subordinates proposed to occupy the capital to meet the enemy, perhaps defeating the enemy.
Some people say that we should lure the enemy deep into the enemy's territory, and then we can launch a massive counterattack after the enemy's army becomes acclimatized.
As for whether to fight or retreat, Mangbai, who was upset, had not yet made up his mind.
He did not expect that the Ming army would fight so fiercely. They mobilized 60,000 troops for a night attack and attacked twice, but failed to break through the enemy's defense line.
On the contrary, our own side counted the number of people after the war. Taking into account the dead, wounded, sick, and those who fled, the total loss of troops was close to 20,000, which was equivalent to the loss of more than 30% of the troops.
The war elephant that he had placed high hopes on was unable to exert its due combat power in the face of the enemy's vitality, and instead became a burden to his own side.
Without war elephants, a charge with cavalry alone would be more disastrous...
However, he still has 50,000 troops in his hands, and King Qin's troops from all over the country are still heading towards the capital in a steady stream.
It would be a loss of face to abandon the capital like this. ,
Even if you fight on the basis of the city, it is an acceptable result to retreat after severely damaging the enemy.
After thinking about it, Mang Bai finally decided to lead the main force to defend the capital, with cavalry ambushing nearby, ready to launch a surprise attack at any time.
"I don't care if you give me such ugly clothes for free!"
"Isn't that right! Emperor Haojing once said that red and green match the son..."
"What a stinking bitch!"
"Ha ha ha ha……"
The soldiers of the Zheng Army who took the ship to fight westward were still recalling the appearance of the clothes of the Burmese soldiers' corpses on the ship. The scene was unbearable to look at.
The Burmese army's inner clothes are dark green, with the hem reaching to the knees. They wear a bright red hip-length jacket with cut sleeves on the outside, and the same bright red bloomers underneath.
There are large zigzag-shaped outer edges on the shoulders and collar, a double horn-shaped logo on the chest, and a yellow helmet similar to the shape of the helmet of the Mongolian Yuan army.
With this outfit and the dull faces of the Burmese people who were bombarded by the Ming army's artillery fire, people who have never seen it can definitely make up their own minds...
People who meet him for the first time will instinctively think that there is something wrong with Mang Bai's brain, otherwise he would not give his subordinates such a silly military uniform.
The activities of the Zheng Army soldiers after the war were limited to touching corpses, and no one planned to take off the clothes from the corpses.
The reason is simple. The clothes on the other side are not only unlucky, but also silly!
The detour was actually not that far away. Three days later, Zheng Jun began to swim upstream from the estuary.
Counting from the time of breaking camp, Zheng Jun's ships had already arrived at Handawady City five days later.
Song Ji's troops had just arrived here, and the camp had just been established when Zheng Jun came.
Mang Bai in the city never thought that the enemy would really drive the warship outside his capital. After getting the news, he suddenly felt a little tricky.
Without the help of these enemy ships, our side should be able to repel the invading enemy with the city.
Now it seems that it may be more difficult to realize the previous idea.
Since the water surface of the Bago River is not wide, there are not many Zheng Army warships that can be accommodated in the target area.
There were less than a hundred ships, and none of them were big ships. Not a single armored ship came in for fear of being stranded here.
Zheng Chenggong believed that shelling a city that was not a Western-style bastion would be enough with medium-sized battleships, while large battleships and even ironclads were completely overqualified.
The Burmese army did have warships, but when they saw the opponent's menacing attack, they all ran upstream to take refuge. No one wanted to feed the fish directly...
After the Zheng Jun warship entered the inland river, it really encountered no enemy and sailed into the shelling area with great swagger.
Then they began to cover the city of Handawady with firepower, because it was said to attack at will, without worrying about any buildings, people or animals.
Even so, the primary target of the bombardment is the city wall. Once the city wall is destroyed, the barbarians will no longer be able to hold on.
Nanting's soldiers and horses have long been trained in hand-to-hand combat. Everyone was issued a bayonet and practiced stabbing every day.
This time, no one in the army, including the clerk, was worried about hand-to-hand combat with the Burmese natives.
The previous head-to-head confrontations and night raids have shown that the Burmese army's combat effectiveness is low. If they can't even defeat them, it means that they are really a bunch of losers.
Some cannonballs and gunpowder are prepared for naval battles. Now that the possibility of naval battles is infinitely close to zero, let's simply let the indigenous cities have a taste of the power of the Ming fleet!
Since the siege pressure was not great, Zheng Chenggong did not let his men fire at full speed to avoid destroying his naval guns in advance.
One shot every quarter of an hour is enough, ten hours a day, and then you can rest.
The Ming Dynasty’s royal division discovered that the only thing more annoying than the Burmese army was the local mosquitoes.
Fortunately, I brought enough mosquito coils and toilet water when I set out. If that doesn't work, you can still smear mud on your body.
After discovering that the Bago River was a good transportation channel, the Ming army's supply channel also moved from the east to the west.
Supplies can be transported directly from the estuary to the city of Handawady, which also eliminates the possibility of enemy cavalry threatening the supply line.
Mang Bai had begun to regret it. It would have been better if he had chosen to retreat first, then lure the enemy deeper, and then wait for an opportunity to ambush.
If we plan to lead the army to break through now, we will lose at least more than half of our troops, because most of our troops are infantry and their retreat speed is very slow.
The only way to keep these infantrymen is to hold on to the capital, wait for the arrival of follow-up reinforcements, and then find opportunities to cooperate internally and externally to relieve the siege of the capital.
Mang Bai believed that as long as the number of King Qin's troops was large enough, he would still be able to defeat the invading enemy.
But the enemy fleet was a lingering evil that not even the cavalry could destroy.
Regarding how to solve this problem, Mang Bai consulted around the palace, but found that he was wasting his time...
Zheng Jun's naval guns can pour tens of thousands of shells into the city every day. Although the impact points are scattered, more than half of them will hit the city wall.
A day or two would not pose much of a threat to the city wall, but it was obvious that the Ming army was approaching the city and would not retreat in a short period of time.
Through the evaluation of the current bombardment effect and past experience, the elderly gunners who participated in the siege of Jelanja City and San Salvador City were evaluated.
As long as the current intensity of bombardment is maintained, it is estimated that it will take about a month to destroy the city of Handawady.
Zheng Chenggong didn't think it was too long. As long as the supply line was not cut off by the enemy, one month was completely acceptable.
I had waited two months at the beach for the Burmese army to take the initiative to attack, but now it doesn't matter if I wait another month.
Anyway, Zheng Chenggong will not live in this city in the future, so even if it is bombed into ruins, it has nothing to do with him...
As for Emperor Chongzhen, he is only concerned about when the city can be broken. Whether to repair the city is a matter after occupying the entire Burma.
Chongzhen wanted to break the city as soon as possible, but he also knew that a strong attack would inevitably cause huge casualties.
Since Zheng Sen said that he could use naval guns to blow down the city wall, then just wait.
After you get over your cold, you can have delicious ice cream again.
Looking at the scene of gunfire in the distance, Chongzhen suddenly felt as comfortable as watching a movie.
The Book of Heaven said that Mang Bai had harmed Emperor Yongli, so now let this white-eyed wolf reap the consequences.
In view of this, Chongzhen didn't care about Zheng Jun's bombardment at all. He attacked casually and the more violent the better.
There should be people loyal to Mangbai in the city. It is best to kill them all during the bombardment...
An indigenous family has forgotten everything since becoming king, and has provoked the Ming Dynasty many times before.
This time, we will let the world see the fate of this family!
