The twelfth year of Wanli was the first year that the Ming Dynasty fully intervened in the history of this time and space. When Ling Yunyi secured Japan in early November, the Indochina Peninsula was in the dry season. Marshal Gong Xian finally led the Ming army across the Changshan Mountains and reached Thanglong, now called Dongguan.
The Burmese Ming Army received the order on July 1, and it was already the end of October when they crossed the Changshan Mountains. The Changshan Mountains are prone to mudslides during the rainy season, the roads are slippery, and there are many poisonous insects. Gong Xian spent four months to gather the army and cross the mountains and ridges. Qianli has done its best to avoid large-scale attrition.
Even if the Mo family mobilized the strength of the Northern Dynasty, it was not enough to provide food and drink for the 10,000-strong Ming army. It was very expensive to feed and clothe the new army. We had no choice but to transship via two routes: Guangxi and Myanmar, which cost a lot of money. Gong Xian sent a series of reminders to the court for money and food supplies, and also applied for an extension of the six-month period stipulated by Zhu Yijun.
In fact, at the time of the Privy Council's reckoning, objections had been raised to Zhu Yijun's suggestion that the Southern Dynasty should be destroyed within six months.
Different from the situation faced by Ling Yunyi's attack on Japan, the Annan Li Dynasty had the Ruan family holding back. However, when the Ruan family faced the Ming army heading south, they understood the truth of the cold and the cold and firmly supported the Zheng family to resist. Therefore, although its land is small and its people are few, it is difficult to defeat it in a single battle.
The Privy Council also analyzed the people's hearts in Li Dynasty at this time: Confucianism was deeply rooted in Annan people's hearts, and there must be more people who were loyal to the emperor and fought hard - they were definitely more effective than Myanmar.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun received the memorial from Gong Xian and Luo Wanhua. Although he was dissatisfied, he did not dare to conduct military operations with an impatience. He had to criticize Hong and told Gong Xian that the safety of the army was the top priority and not to advance rashly.
As expected by the Privy Council, Zheng Song, the head of the Li Dynasty, had repeatedly studied the Ming army's battle to destroy Burma and had a perceptual understanding of the Ming army's combat effectiveness. Therefore, the work was done very thoroughly - from Nanshan to Qinghua Jianbi Qingye. It was difficult for the Ming army to find food locally, and it was impossible to support war with war.
When the Ming army first arrived at Dongguan, the morale of the officers and soldiers was significantly low due to the long journey over mountains and ridges. Although the army doctors tried their best to treat them, the miasma mosquito poison still caused a lot of non-combat attrition.
Gong Xian did not dare to neglect and could only repair the troops in Dongguan. At the end of October in the twelfth year of Wanli, he led his troops to the south to attack. This gave Li Chao a lot of preparation time, so Gong Xian's progress became increasingly unsatisfactory.
In the northern part of Annan, there are many mountains and dense forests. Zheng Song adopted harassment tactics and took advantage of the geographical convenience to delay the army's journey and harass the grain roads. Although the Ming army paid a huge price, the Ming army advanced very slowly. Every city and town needs to be uprooted one by one.
The Mo Dynasty general Ruan Juan led the Mo army of 35,000 to pick up the pieces behind the Ming army - there was no way, the Ming army could not let the Mo army attack the city, and it could not afford to waste time.
Gong Xian was anxious about the Li Dynasty's strong defense and resolute resistance, but he had no good plan to deal with it, so he had to hold on to the grain road and slowly attack southward. Although Zheng Song's harassment strategy was successful, due to the huge disparity in military strength, he paid a huge price but gained little, and both sides fell into a stalemate.
On the sixth day of December in the twelfth year of Wanli, Gong Xian received a military report. The warships led by Commander Chen Rui and Admiral Huang Yingjia of the Nanyang Navy Fleet have already set off from Guangzhou and will attack Qinghua directly in about ten days. If the planned progress is followed, Gong Xian should have reached the vicinity of Thanh Hoa by now.
Commander Gong Xian was extremely anxious - how about destroying Burma and gaining the Marquis, and then destroying Annan? In desperation, he urged the army to move forward faster.
During the stalemate between the two sides, whoever cannot bear it first will have his or her weaknesses exposed. After the Ming army accelerated its advance, there was a big gap with Mo Dynasty's "Imperial Association Army". Zheng Song was really keen and sent General Zheng Mo to lead his army to take a detour and penetrate directly behind the Ming army, creating a beautiful interlude.
At that time, Gong Xian had already led troops to rush into Ningping Confucian Pass, while Ruan Juan was still in Hualu, and the two groups were separated by nearly sixty miles. Zheng Song's general Zheng Mo led 16,000 elite troops to rush out from the mountain path. Like magic soldiers descending from the sky, they defeated the unprepared Ruan Juan's troops with one strike.
The messenger rushed to the army to report Gong Xian. Gong Xian looked up to the sky and sighed, feeling speechless to his teammates. The generals under his command and those who joined the army were all talking about it. Some suggested that Ruan Juan should not be concerned about his life or death. Since the food route was still there, it was better to continue the advance. As long as Thanh Hoa was captured, everything would be safe.
Some people objected: "This is a rash strategy. Mo Chao has lost the support of the people. If Zheng Mo is left alone, maybe he can lead troops to fight back to Thang Long - then it will be a joke."
After a long discussion, everyone decided that they could only divide their forces. One team continues to move forward, and the other team returns to rescue Ruan Juan, trying to find Zheng Mo's main force and knock him out.
Gong Xian hesitated and said: "If we divide our troops at this time, the attack will be slower and slower."
His son, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Gong Wei, had been aware that Gong Xian was extremely anxious these days. At this time, he cupped his fists and said, "Father, Commander-in-Chief, I will finally think that our previous strategy was wrong!"
Gong Xiansu knew that his son was brave and resourceful, so he signaled him to speak boldly.
Gong Wei said: "Because we sent troops from Shenglong and passed Nanshan, we always thought that it was the territory of the Mo Dynasty before, and we wanted to leave some people for the Mo Dynasty... My son thought that since Zheng Song had taken the army the year before last, Nanshan, then we are not restoring the land of Mo Dynasty now, we have already entered the territory of Li Dynasty!"
As soon as he said these words, the temperature in the big tent dropped several degrees. Gong Xian understood what his son meant, his triangular eyes shone brightly, and he looked at his generals.
General Nie Dajing held up his hands and said: "I think General Gong's words are true. Mo Chao has lost the support of the people. If our army wants to break the situation, we can only use ruthless tactics. At this time, we are attacking front and back. We cannot be soft-hearted!" The generals had no objections.
Gong Xian pondered for a moment and then issued an order to Gong Wei: "You bring two thousand soldiers and three thousand servants back to rescue Ruan Juan. It would be best if you can successfully defeat Zheng Mo. If Zheng Mo follows you in circles, you don't have to worry. , just follow him around - just don't let him attack further north."
After hearing this, Gong Wei took the order and went out to order troops. Gong Xian took a picture of the handsome case and issued an order:
"Ruguan - no chickens or dogs left! From now on, every city and town will be given two hours to consider. If they don't surrender, they will be killed without mercy!"
...
Starting from December of the twelfth year of Wanli, blood gradually filled Annan. Gong Xian's army was like wings with two wings. Starting from Ruguan County, it drew a rapid arrow towards Qinghua City!
On the seventh day of December, Fan Wentong, the magistrate of Ruguancheng County, not only refused to surrender under Gong Xian's threat, but also cursed the Ming captives in the city, scolding them for helping the unjust and attacking the south, which was unjust.
Gong Xian didn't waste any time and used a cannon to smash the archery tower at the top of the city to pieces. Fan Wentong was killed on the spot. Then the Ming army's artillery smashed the city gate into pieces, and the already low city wall collapsed - the entire army entered the city.
On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, the four gates of Ruguan County were closed, and the sky was lit with flames. The Ming army came out of the city with murderous intent and marched straight towards Anmo. The magistrate of Anmo County, like Ruguan, refused to surrender...
Beginning on December 11, the cities of Hong Hoa, Lang Zheng, Ngoc Loc, Nong Gong, Quang Chang and other cities fell into disgrace, and the surrounding areas of Thanh Hoa were no longer owned by the Li Dynasty. At the same time, Gong Wei also captured Zheng Mo's main force in Ningping, allowing Ruan Juan to take a breather and reorganize his troops.
On December 16, Qinghua City was bombarded by the Ming Dynasty navy. The whole city was in uproar and the court was in disarray. On December 17, the left-behind minister Zheng Wenhai led his troops to surrender and told Commander-in-Chief Gong Xian: "The Duke of Chang has escorted the holy chariot to Dongshan for hunting, and now there is only an empty city left in Thanh Hoa!"
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