The vanguard general of the Ming army was Chief Huang Degong. He had been looking forward to this battle for a long time and was holding back his energy.
For this reason, sufficient preparations were made in advance for Ava's terrain, troop strength, etc. It was also because of this that the speed of the forward he led could be as fast as possible, so that it was beyond Donggo's expectation.
One of the trump cards of Donggo's army is the elephant soldiers. After wearing armor, they have certain protection ability against muskets. Not to mention its power in the cold weapon era.
For this reason, Huang Degong's army even had field artillery aimed at the elephant soldiers, which were small Franconian cannons. The design of the mother-and-sonium gun could be loaded and fired quickly, and it was light and convenient for marching. Although it is not enough to destroy the city, it is more than enough to defeat the elephant soldiers.
However, what Huang Degong never expected was that when he led his army to the city of Ava and prepared for a good battle, he found that the city of Ava was on fire, the city gates were wide open, and everyone was escaping in many holes.
Seeing this scene, he was a little dumbfounded. This is the capital of Dongwu Toungoo Dynasty, why is it in such chaos?
At this moment, a man dressed in Donggo's uniform met the army and announced his identity as a Jinyiwei spy. He told him that the new King Donggo who moved the capital actually ran away, just three days ago.
Huang Degong was speechless. According to his temper, he actually wanted to abandon Awa immediately and march quickly to pursue King Dongwu.
However, before the Ming Dynasty invaded Dongwu, Sun Chuanting emphasized the overall strategy. Even if the Ming Dynasty captures Dongwu, it will not withdraw its troops soon, but will change Dongwu into a province of the Ming Dynasty. The two purposes of combat are completely different.
Therefore, Huang Degong had no choice but to immediately lead troops into the city. On the one hand, he sent people to put out the fire, and on the other hand, he started martial law, settled people's livelihood, and ensured the fastest recovery of the Ava area.
Sun Chuanting in the rear also slowed down after hearing the report.
The army came all the way and actually occupied the most important towns. Villages and towns that deviated from the main marching route were not taken into account at first.
After hearing that he had captured the city of Ava, Sun Chuanting was no longer so anxious and began to divide his troops to occupy all the population centers, go out to calm the people, and declare sovereignty.
Therefore, of the 100,000 troops who attacked Dongwu, by the time Sun Chuanting arrived at Ava City, there were only 50,000 troops, which still combined with Mu Tianbo's partial division. As for the other troops, they are all stationed from Yunnan to Ava, ensuring that the new local civil servants can completely stabilize the rear.
There is indeed a huge difference between a long-planned war and a temporary war.
If this battle was just a temporary battle, it would actually be very troublesome for the Central Plains Dynasty to conquer such a small and remote country.
It's not about the military strength. Generally speaking, the military strength of the Central Plains dynasty can crush the military strength of such small countries.
The main factors that restrict the Central Plains dynasty from attacking such small and remote countries are actually problems such as logistics and acclimatization.
For this kind of land attack, especially in areas with poor transportation, most of the grain and grass transported from the rear will be consumed on the way. This is one of the reasons.
Secondly, when attacking countries like Dongwu, the non-combat attrition of the Central Plains Dynasty is often much greater than the combat attrition!
To give a very simple example, in the original history, during the Qianlong period of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Dongwu once again invaded Yunnan, triggering a war.
At that time, the Qing Dynasty dispatched 18,000 troops, less than 20,000, while Dongwu's side was at least 50,000. However, the result of the war was that both sides said they won the battle, which actually meant that the situation should be similar.
The Manchu Qing's losses were mainly due to acclimatization rather than death in battle.
It is based on this understanding that the Ming Dynasty's war against Dongwu started a few years ago. In order to overcome these difficulties, not only were cinchona trees brought from South America, but all the troops were recruited from Yunnan and trained for several years. The hoarding of grain and grass is naturally being prepared at the same time.
During this waiting process, Jinyiwei spies and Ye Bushou also sneaked into Dongwu's territory to collect the terrain and the deployment of Dongwu's army. It can be said that they have made as many preparations as possible.
Coincidentally, the most prestigious King Talong of Dongwu died of illness just when the Ming army was about to launch an attack, and the new King Dongwu ascended the throne.
The superposition of these factors made the Battle of Donggo, which was originally thought to be a fierce battle, unfold so dramatically.
The Ava region, including the north, is the most prosperous area of Dongwu, with the largest population and the most developed agriculture.
Therefore, after Sun Chuanting arrived in Ava City, he did not immediately send troops to continue southward, but immediately began to rectify the occupied areas.
According to the strategic policy formulated by the imperial court in advance, land reform was immediately carried out in these areas, and the land of the Dongwutou people and dignitaries who fled south with Pingdali was separated from the ordinary people, exempting them from the status of serfs, and establishing Free official education, etc. are all implemented and experienced in Yunnan and Guizhou and other places, and are used in Dongwu.
In fact, Dongwu was originally the Xuanweisi of the Ming Dynasty, and the implementation of reforming the native land and returning to the Liu Dynasty was also a true reform of the native land and returning to the Liu Dynasty.
As long as Donggo North is stabilized and the food produced by Donggo North is used as the logistics for the army, then the subsequent conquest of Donggo South will become more convenient.
As far as the Ming army is concerned, they are not afraid that we will gather forces in the south to fight, but they are just afraid that the logistics cannot keep up.
The entire Dongwu war was a situation of loud thunder and light rain. The Ming army attacked hard, but Pingdali did not accept the attack and fled to the swamps, seasonal floods and high-incidence areas of malaria.
Sun Chuanting was based in Ava City, and while digesting and absorbing Dongwu's north, he once again sent spies to the south. Of course, they all chose Dongwu to spy on the news in the south, and slowly mapped it out.
For now, Dongwu's consumption is a bit high, and he needs support from the rear to keep up. Only when people's livelihood is restored can we produce output, and this will take time.
Relevant memorials were also sent to the capital.
……………………
At this time, there is another great news in the capital, that is, the good news from the Japanese country has been sent back.
"Hahaha..." Emperor Chongzhen's laughter has been echoing in the Wenhua Palace. This level of happiness is rare only a few times a year.
The seven chief officials of the cabinet on both sides of the hall, as well as the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch on the other side, were all smiling, but they did not dare to laugh like Emperor Chongzhen.
However, they all understood why Emperor Chongzhen smiled so happily!
Twenty million taels of silver! Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty is spending money everywhere. When the Minister of Household Affairs complained to Emperor Chongzhen many times that he was poor, the Japanese country actually wanted to compensate the Ming Dynasty 20 million taels of silver. Although it was not a one-time payment, even the first installment of 50 million taels was included. Gold, copper coins, sulfur and other objects were enough to make Emperor Chongzhen laugh so heartily.
Needless to say, these people in the Wenhua Palace are all very satisfied with the Treaty of Edo. How could he not be happy when he could gain so much without Ming Dynasty having to work so hard to rule?
After he finished laughing, Emperor Chongzhen turned to Zhang Mingwei who was present and said: "Sir, I finally understand why those Westerners traveled thousands of miles to colonize all over the world!"
To a certain extent, this vassal state of Japan is actually quite special, more like becoming a colony of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhang Mingwei nodded after hearing this, actually feeling a little emotional in his heart.
Westerners colonized all over the world during the Age of Discovery, concentrating all the world's wealth in Europe. It is also because of this that with this economic foundation, they can produce talents in large numbers.
After all, if you are so poor that you only work to fill your stomach all day long, even a genius will not have time to study science.
Zhang Mingwei has every reason to believe that the days of Ming Dynasty are getting better and better, so that more people in Ming Dynasty can get rid of the worry about three meals a day, and countless human geniuses will inevitably emerge!
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen sighed with emotion, showed great interest, and immediately asked Zhang Mingwei: "Sir, is there any other place like Japan?"
As soon as he heard this, he knew that he had tasted the sweetness and wanted to do the same.
After hearing this, the others couldn't help but turn their heads to look at Duke Xingguo, looking forward to his answer.
However, Zhang Mingwei shook his head and said to Emperor Chongzhen with a smile: "Your Majesty, the top priority is not to attack anyone externally, but to do a good job in the internal construction of our Ming Dynasty. The focus is still domestic. As long as we do this well , Isn’t it very easy to deal with whoever you want to deal with in the future!”
After a pause, he explained in detail: "Liaodong and North Korea have yet to be developed, and the people in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty are still too poor. All these things require the court's attention. Now that we have this money, I suggest that the focus should be on infrastructure construction. and talent cultivation.”
Although at this time, in the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen and others, today's transportation in the Ming Dynasty is already the best in all dynasties. But in Zhang Mingwei's eyes, it was still too bad.
In addition, the nationwide free government education system is actually only implemented in the northwest and southwest regions that have reformed their land, as well as in economically developed regions such as the southeastern coast, and has not been implemented in other places.
This matter must be promoted with emphasis, and if the court has money, it can also extend the free official education from the most basic literacy, which is three years of free official education, to a few more years, and if necessary, establish scholarships and bursaries. etc.
No amount of investment in education is too much.
After Zhang Mingwei poured cold water on these people in the Wenhua Hall, the war enthusiasm they had just unleashed was finally extinguished.
For the Chinese, especially after the establishment of the imperial examination system, the importance of reading has been deeply ingrained. Not to mention, these senior officials of the Ming Dynasty also share the same perception of the lack of talent in the prosperous construction background of the Ming Dynasty.
For this reason, after Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he immediately made the decision: "That's it, just follow what you said."
The dividends of war cannot only be obtained by a few people, but must benefit the masses and the whole people. Only in this way can the country be strong!
