The military meeting convened by Huang Zhiting lasted for two full hours. Following the habit of the "Gao Family Army", two sets of combat plans were discussed and a total of seven possible variables that could occur under the two plans were demonstrated in detail. All variables have been arranged in advance, and everyone in the meeting is clear about their tasks.
This is the first time Huang Zhiting has held such a military meeting. At this time, she feels more and more that although Gao Pragmatic is not good at specific tactical command, he is indeed the best commander, because today's military meeting cannot be said to be him. A preview of something called the "Staff System" that I mentioned to myself before.
Gao pragmatic told her about such an idea, but she hadn't had time to implement it herself. Now it was her first time to put Gao pragmatic's idea into practice.
The only regret is probably that this "staff department" still lacks some components that Gao Pragmatic mentioned, such as personnel specifically in charge of military supplies and logistics, etc. Otherwise, the plan will be more rigorous and impeccable, taking into account all variables. Schedule in advance.
However, after the meeting, Huang Zhiting suddenly felt a little dazed again. She thought of a situation that sounded ridiculous: If the staff really reached that level, why would the commander-in-chief be needed?
After having this idea, she couldn't help but start to think: Could it be that Gao Lang felt too tired after commanding several battles, so he specially came up with the "Staff Department" system to reduce his workload?
But at this time, after all, the Burmese army was approaching the border, so she had no time to think too much, and quickly went to arrange the work before leaving the city.
The wolf soldiers can go at will. It is enough for Huang Bao to arrange it, but she does not need to come forward in person. Gao Sijin and Ruan Song can also arrange their own headquarters, Huang Zhiting does not need to interfere.
She went to do another thing, which was to call "His Royal Highness Abraban" over and tell him the battle plan of the "Great Tomorrow Soldiers".
But before Huang Zhiting could get down to business, Alabang excitedly talked about another thing: He was going to give himself a surname, and it was a Han surname!
Huang Zhiting didn't pay much attention at first, thinking that Alabang just changed her surname to a Chinese name to show respect for the Ming Dynasty. Who knew that Abbang explained to Huang Zhiting very solemnly, and Huang Zhiting realized that Abbang The matter of having a surname is very important!
Before, Huang Zhiting listened to the translators and translators, or listened to the Mon people who knew Chinese calling themselves, the biggest feeling was, "Why do people here in Myanmar all have the surname Wu?" But when Alabang explained, she realized that this was a big deal. misunderstanding.
It turns out that Burmese people’s names are neither the Ming-style “surname + given name” nor the Buddhist-style “first name + last name”. People here actually have names but no surnames!
In Myanmar, whether they are Bamar or Mon, they usually just add an article in front of each other's names to show the differences between men and women, elders and younger ones, superiority and inferiority, etc. Sometimes the article can be omitted for the sake of modesty or kindness.
According to Alabang, just by looking at the names of Burmese people, you can get a rough idea of their gender, age and social status.
For example, before the name of a young man, add the article "Mao", which means "young man, younger brother"; for a peer or young man, add "Guo", which means "elder brother, brother"; for older people, superiors or those with certain People with high status should be called "Wu", which means "uncle, uncle".
Therefore, "Wu" is not a Burmese surname, but just an article used by Burmese to express respect for men. Anyone who can appear in front of Huang Zhiting naturally has a high status, so when the interpreter introduces him, he will always call him "Wu Moumou". But Alabang was a little different. The first time he met Huang Zhiting, he spoke in Chinese without using an interpreter, so he just called himself "Abrabang", which caused Huang Zhiting to misunderstand.
Alabang also said that, like men, the titles of Myanmar women also change with age, but there are only two kinds of titles before their names: "Ma" for young women; "Du" for elders or those with status. . "Ma" and "Du" mean "girl, sister" and "aunt, aunt, aunt" respectively. Regardless of whether they are married or not, older or respected women can be respectfully called "Du".
Only then did Huang Zhiting know why Alabang had just said "given the surname" instead of "changed the surname".
However, she welcomed Abraban's approach and immediately expressed her support. Alabang said that he had decided to change his Chinese surname to "Xia" and his Chinese name to "Muming".
The name "Mu Ming" is easy to understand. Huang Zhiting knew his intention as soon as she heard it. It was just like the naming of her hometown Siming Mansion, so no further explanation was needed.
But as to why her surname was Xia, Huang Zhiting couldn't help but ask. Who knew that Abraban's explanation - no, it's Xia Muming now - was so miraculous that even Huang Zhiting was a little stunned.
Xia Muming said: "Among the hundreds of surnames, the one preceded by Xia is 'Gao'. How can I dare to be in front of 'Gao'? That's why my surname is Xia."
Stunned and stunned, Huang Zhiting came back to her senses and admired this guy quite a lot. He, a humble citizen in a feudal state, could actually think of something like this. He was born to be an official. He was very knowledgeable about current affairs.
But when Huang Zhiting told Xia Muming that she was going to take 20,000 "Great Tomorrow Soldiers" out of the city to look for fighters and hand over Bago City to the Bago Guard Army to guard it, Xia Muming's face suddenly turned pale.
Fortunately, Huang Zhiting did not intend to scare him, and instead told him that she had left three thousand muskets. With the overtime work over the past month, the city tower was renovated according to the bastion principle, which was enough to ensure the defense of Bago City.
In addition, Huang Zhiting also knew that the characteristics of these people from the vassal state were the same as those of the new recruits on the battlefield. They were more afraid of cannons than guns, so she also told him that she had left twenty cannons for Gao Silian and asked him to fight according to Gao Silian's wishes. Just fine, there is no way the Burmese army can invade.
Sure enough, when he heard that there were still 20 cannons, the color in Xia Muming's face quickly returned. He patted his chest and promised that he would be able to mobilize the entire Mon people in the city, and if they had money and strength, they would contribute to hold back the Burmese army. Attention makes due contribution and so on.
By the time she had calmed down the deputy king of Pegu, the 20,000-strong army had been mobilized. Huang Zhiting took advantage of the fact that the Burmese army had just passed Piao Pass today and would not be able to arrive in two days, so she decided to set off early. On the one hand, she headed towards the mouth of the Xidang River. On the other hand, she also sent people to spread the news to let the Burmese army know that the main force of the Ming army had arrived in advance. Withdrawn.
By the afternoon of the next day, the main force of the Burmese army had arrived at Dai U, and it was only one day away from reaching Bago City. At this time, Mang Yingli got the news and knew that the Bago defenders only had a makeshift ragtag group left. Overjoyed.
The majestic White Elephant King of Jinlou was certainly a hundred times more domineering than Huang Zhiting. He ordered to go straight to Xidang without saying a word. He really responded to Gao Silian's guess and planned to attack the main force of the Ming army, which had no stronghold in the city, to save the face he had lost in northern Myanmar.
However, after this order, although no one in the Burmese army dared to say anything in front of the Golden Tower White Elephant King, what was unexpected was that the Portuguese military adviser quit.
The military adviser named Simang Reddy strongly opposed Mang Yingli's plan. He said that according to the information he had received before, the other party had an extremely large fleet here. The Portuguese Governor of Malacca even sent a letter specifically, saying that even he had to "temporarily succumb to this powerful fleet." fleet".
The Governor of Malacca also mentioned that based on the size of the opponent's fleet and the number of sideguns, the opponent has at least 3,000 artillery pieces. Even according to the current habits of Europeans, the number of long and heavy guns among them will not be less than 500.
In a word, this kind of firepower is simply invincible when used to support land battles in offshore waters. Now chasing it to the mouth of the Xidang River is simply courting death.
He asked Mang Yingli bluntly: "Can your Majesty's army withstand the bombardment of more than 500 long and heavy artillery pieces, and can it still not collapse when it is unable to counterattack? If not, I will never approve the pursuit to the mouth of the Xidang River. The Portuguese mercenaries will never participate in a battle that is destined to fail - I must be responsible for the boys under my command. Although they come to fight in exchange for rewards, they are definitely not here to die."
Speaking of which, Mang Yingli was able to escape from Liu Wei's pursuit last time because of the Portuguese mercenaries' three-round volley of guns in the rear. After all, even a fierce man like Liu Wei would not dare to use his own flesh and blood to test the power of the Folang machine gun. Besides, his men were already "herding sheep" all over the mountains and plains at that time, and he could not gather his musketeers to engage in exchanges with the Fo Langji men. He had no choice but to let Mang Yingli flee.
Because of this relationship, Mang Yingli still paid more attention to the Portuguese. He temporarily withdrew his life and asked Captain Reddy what he thought the next fight should be.
Captain Reddy, like most Portuguese mercenaries at this time, had little experience fighting European armies and had rich experience fighting various old-fashioned armies. He took it for granted: "Of course we will attack the city. After all, we have artillery."
The Portuguese lost seven artillery pieces in northern Burma, but now they can still make up nearly twenty. This is Captain Reddy's confidence to attack the city.
However, he didn't just expect a hard attack. In fact, according to his experience, the Mon people were nothing to worry about. An army composed of these backward aborigines would most likely be frightened by the roar of a cannon and surrender directly to the city. ——This kind of thing happened countless times during the colonial expansion of the Portuguese Kingdom, and he believed that it would continue to happen countless times in the future.
Mang Yingli was convinced. His previous desire to defeat the main force of the Ming army was mainly for the sake of face. In fact, he secretly felt that it might be better to capture Bago first. After all, if he captured it the earlier he could loot it the earlier, the total losses in northern Myanmar would be We need to find a place to make up for it. If not Bago, who can these Mon people look for? Who dared them to resist!
Therefore, the main force of the Burmese army was not confused by the news that the Ming army was withdrawing eastward, and continued southward towards Bago.
In the afternoon of the next day, the Burmese army arrived outside Bago City.
However, when they saw Bago City, Mang Yingli was stunned for a moment, while Captain Reddy was stunned for a moment and immediately started yelling in Portuguese regardless of his identity.
"Damn Italians, they are actually helping people build bastions in indigenous lands! His Majesty Philip II should send troops to completely conquer the whole of Italy and crush it under his feet!" After venting, he added in a low voice: "Uh, Except the Vatican.”
"What's going on?" Mang Yingli was stunned for a while and asked with a frown: "The Meng people didn't train their troops properly, but they built these sharp corners on the city wall. Did they eat too much and panic? What's the point? usefulness?"
Captain Reddy looked at the Bago City that had been temporarily built into a large fortress with a livid face, frowned and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, as your military adviser, I think it is my duty to remind you that the other party may also have firearms. , and...the firepower will not be weak."
Now it was Mang Yingli's turn to curse loudly: "Are Ming people crazy? They actually gave precious firearms to these despicable Mon people?" But after he finished cursing, he began to worry. The Mon people had firearms. This time The battle... may not be as easy to fight as imagined.
However, the worry only lasted for a moment. The cruelty in Mangyingli's blood quickly took over again. He sneered: "The Meng people are just a bunch of chickens and sheep. My father once defeated him with ten thousand troops in the Battle of Nangyou. The main force of the Mon people is 80,000. Now I have an army of 150,000 people. The Mon people are only a ragtag group of 30,000 people. Even if they have firearms, so what?"
Captain Reddy was very disdainful of the "Indigenous Kingdom"'s habit of claiming to have more or less troops. In his opinion, 70,000 is enough. Wherever this force is placed, it will be a big army, but you have to say that you have There are 150,000, which is simply inexplicable - does it mean that the more you talk about your military strength, the more powerful it will be?
Besides, you claim to have so many troops, wouldn't it be even more embarrassing if you were defeated?
However, Captain Reddy did not show his disdain. He just suggested coldly to send people to conduct a trial attack first to see the opponent's firepower density and cooperation tacit understanding, so as to facilitate the subsequent tactical deployment.
Portuguese mercenaries would obviously never do this kind of thing. After Captain Reddy finished speaking, he arranged for his subordinates to prepare for detailed observation and evaluation.
Surprisingly, Mang Yingli was not only accustomed to this, but also very happy. He immediately arranged for three thousand Burmese troops to prepare for a test attack.
In fact, in Mang Yingli's mind, lowly soldiers at the dead end were nothing at all. On the contrary, although the Portuguese mercenaries were strong in combat effectiveness, their numbers were too small and they could not be easily lost.
Seeing the three thousand Burmese troops holding simple shields and beginning to press forward, Gao Silian was already standing behind the temporary sandbag bunker piled on the tower. The telescope in his hand was still a monocular, but it was much better than nothing.
After looking through the binoculars, Gao Silian ordered: "Send the order: No shooting is allowed when the enemy enters the first shooting area, and no shooting is allowed when the enemy enters the second shooting area. Shooting must be allowed only after they enter the third shooting area. In addition, once you start shooting, you don’t need to wait for orders, just shoot with maximum firepower, and be sure to defeat them all in one wave! Once they collapse and escape, the second shooting area and the first shooting area will immediately open fire with all their strength... I want them to remember it better. !”
----------
Thanks to book friends "Good Mood on a Cloudy Day" and "Cao Mianzi" for their monthly support, thank you!
