Back to the end of the Ming Dynasty when the emperor

Chapter 687 Encountering the Elephant Army
Although Wang Shangli's 200 soldiers and horses were killed in this battle, Li Dingguo's [-] Pioneer Battalion suffered heavy losses, with less than [-] men left, and a dozen others died.

Li Dingguo rectified the army and horses on the spot. After a little reorganization, because of too few troops, he did not continue to chase Sun Kewang. He cleaned the battlefield on the spot while waiting for Zhang Xianzhong's large team of horses.Every time a battle is fought, it is necessary to deal with post-war affairs in a timely manner, treat the wounded, clean the battlefield, bury the corpse, etc., which has become a discipline of Zhu Yousong's army.

After Zhang Xianzhong led his men to arrive, he praised Li Dingguo, and then added a vanguard battalion for him, allowing him to continue to pursue Sun Kewang as the front.

A few days later, Li Dingguo's men chased to Mengla Mountain (today's mountainous area northeast of Mengxiu Town, Myanmar), which reached the Sino-Myanmar border of Ming Dynasty.

Suddenly a cannon rang out, and a special army stopped Li Guo's men and horses. The men and horses were dressed differently, with blue military uniforms, melon skin caps, and triangular red-edged military flags. They had various weapons in their hands, including muskets, bows and arrows, There are also spears and big knives, and the faces of these people are also different from those in China, with dark complexion and thick lips. Li Dingguo knew at a glance that they were the Burmese army.

"Stop, don't go any further!" A black and fat Burmese army leader shouted in blunt Chinese.

Li Dingguo told them that we are following the order of His Majesty Hongguang Emperor to hunt down the rebellious officials and thieves, and ask your army for your convenience.

"There are no traitors here, you barbarians are not allowed to go any further!" The arrogant Burmese army said and fired two muskets into the air as a warning.

Li Dingguo saw that you dared to shield the rebellious ministers and thieves, is that okay?Pointing with a big knife, he ordered boldly, "Come on!"

Charged over with 3000 men and horses, bang bang bang, the Burmese army really opened fire, and the Ming army rushing in front fell down.

The Ming army fired their bows and arrows, and the two sides shot at each other.Li Dingguo drew his bow and set an arrow, shot down a leader of the Burmese army with one arrow, and then charged again, the two sides fought together.

In the melee, the Burmese army was discouraged. Li Dingguo's sword was like cutting melons and vegetables, beheading more than 30 Burmese soldiers in one go, and finally the Burmese army fled in embarrassment.

Li Dingguo rectified his army and horses and continued to pursue, and after chasing for more than fifty miles, he arrived at Mengla Town. At this time, the gate of the village opened wide, and a special army rushed out from inside. One or more soldiers of the Burmese army sat on the elephant, wielding knives and guns in their hands, roaring and rushing towards them, rolling past like a huge thunder.

When the horses saw the angry elephants, they immediately panicked. Some were frightened, some were paralyzed, and they were in a mess. Therefore, Li Dingguo's men and horses collapsed at the touch of a touch. Li Dingguo couldn't shout, and his own horses were also frightened. Killed and defeated.

During the retreat, Li Dingguo was shot in the arm, bleeding profusely.

The soldiers retreated fifty miles, and the 1000 Pioneer Battalion lost more than [-] people.After Zhang Xianzhong's troops arrived, Zhang Xianzhong was furious and ordered Li Dingguo to recuperate first, and he personally led an army of tens of thousands to Mengla Town.

Mengla's elephant army went out as usual, Zhang Xianzhong had already prepared, and fifty cannons opened fire, and the sound of the cannons shook the sky for a while.In Mengla Town at this time, there were more than 2 troops from Zhu Youlang's subordinates Sun Kewang and Ashan, and several thousand Burmese troops. Together, there were [-] horses and horses, and they could not defend.

Zhang Xianzhong stormed Dazhai with cannons. After three days of fierce fighting, the Ming army took down Mengla Town.

After learning that Zhu Youlang, Sun Kewang and Ashan had fled to Mandalay again, Zhang Xianzhong continued to pursue in depth.

But dozens of miles east of Mandalay, Zhang Xianzhong's men encountered the Battle of Waterloo.The elephant army reappeared. This elephant army is different from the previous ones. This is the ace fighter of the Burmese army - the Iron Armored Elephant Army.The war elephants and soldiers all have iron helmets and armor, not afraid of bows, arrows, knives and axes, and this team is well-trained. The red-clothed cannons are not a big threat to them. Tens of thousands of horses retreated dozens of miles at once before stopping their positions.

Next, the Iron Armored Elephant Army began to pursue the Ming army, and Sun Kewang and Ashan brought thousands of soldiers from the false emperor Zhu Youlang to join the pursuit of the Ming army.

Zhang Xianzhong's troops were defeated one after another, retreating more than 100 miles at once, and retreated back to the territory of Daming, and the Burmese army stopped pursuing them.

Counting the number of people, there are only less than 5 people left in Zhang Xianzhong's army who can fight, and the generals Zu Keyong and Ma Bao are both injured.Set up camp on the spot, Zhang Xianzhong did not dare to go to the court for the time being, so he summoned Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Mu Tianbo to discuss countermeasures.

Li Dingguo, who had one arm hanging, suggested that Zhang Xianzhong should still adopt the strategy His Majesty said, and return the same way as the other. They have elephants, and we also have them. We can also train the elephant army to control violence with violence.

Zhang Xianzhong felt that this plan was feasible, and looked at Mu Tianbo, because this matter mainly depends on him, Duke Qian, Mu Tianbo shook his head, "Marshal, it is not difficult to train the elephant army. Elephants are made now. If you want to invest After a few months of training, an army can be formed. It's just that the enemy is not the elephant army, but the armored elephant army. The soldiers and elephants are only powerful when they wear armor. I'm afraid we won't be able to do this in the short term. Besides, even if we do When we arrive, the two sides are evenly matched, and we are fighting on other people's territory, and the terrain and other aspects are not good for us, so it is difficult to be sure of victory."

Zhang Xianzhong felt that what Mu Tianbo said was also reasonable, this matter is a bit tricky, is it up to His Majesty to decide?

At this time Liu Wenxiu spoke, "Father commander, according to my child's observation, although the elephant army is powerful, it all depends on the head elephant. All the elephants watch the head elephant's advance and retreat, so they are invincible. There is a general sitting on the head elephant of this army. This man is tall and burly, covered in iron armor, wearing a mask, and extremely brave. Both Zu Keyong and Ma Bao were wounded by this man. As long as this general can be killed and the head elephant subdued, this army will surely Do not fight yourself."

"It makes sense, but who can deal with the head elephant and the head general? General Zu and General Ma are no match for such bravery. Bows, arrows and firearms are no threat to him. He is almost invulnerable. This is difficult."

For a while, everyone was helpless, and finally they decided to stand still and ask His Majesty to make a decision.

Thousands of miles away, Zhu Yousong was drinking wine and enjoying singing and dancing in Guilin Mansion. After receiving the report, he was furious, "What the hell does this reckless person want to do? I'm going to do it myself this time. Lang, Sun Kewang, Ashan, etc. have been handed over to us, and this time I have copied his bastard nest!"

A few days later, Zhu Yousong's more than 3 imperial troops in the imperial camp left Guilin Mansion and headed for the border of Yunnan.

(End of this chapter)