The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Outside Mengyang City, after more than ten days of rest, the Burmese troops of various units have been exhausted and regained their fighting spirit.

Early this morning, they lined up outside the city under the command of the leader.

As for why they did this, in fact, a few days ago, the news had spread in the military camps that they were going to attack the Ming Dynasty.

The chieftains and dignitaries above knew the benefits and disadvantages of the Ming Dynasty, but the soldiers below did not know, especially the army of the Toungoo Dynasty, who had won victory after victory with the king and achieved impressive results. They could not stop.

At this time, if they were asked to put down their weapons and go home to farm, I am afraid they would not do it.

What's more, most Burmese people actually don't know how to farm. Their farming skills are very rough. They can barely make a living by relying on the fertility of the land.

Of course, it doesn't matter if the output of the land is not enough to eat. There are wild fruits and vegetables in the forest, and birds and beasts for them to hunt.

In the past, when they won the war, each family could get money and food, which was enough for them to live a good life. It has become a habit.

Therefore, after hearing that the king was going to take them to war again, they were not afraid, but were full of energy and eager to try.

Only a small number of old and frail veterans were a little worried, but their awareness would not affect too many people at all.

On a small platform made of earth in front of the army, Mang Yinglong arrived with his generals and chieftains, and soon shouted to the more than 100,000 soldiers below.

It doesn't matter whether everyone can hear it or not, as long as there is this sense of ceremony.

After an impassioned speech, the soldiers who heard it in front waved their weapons and shouted desperately.

The soldiers behind didn't know what it meant, but seeing the people in front doing this, they followed suit and soon infected the people behind.

The cheers of more than 100,000 people were earth-shaking, and they scared away all the animals within a radius of dozens of miles around Mengyang City.

Then the news was passed on to the back, and everyone knew that the Burmese king Mang Yinglong promised that if Yunnan was conquered, everyone would get more wealth and land.

Yes, according to the rules learned from the Ming Dynasty, Mang Yinglong will distribute the Yunnan land he robbed to the soldiers who have made meritorious contributions in this war.

"Rui Li, bring the people up to the flag."

Seeing that his men were in high spirits and their hearts were ready, Mang Yinglong immediately waved his hand to the side and said.

Mang Yinglong's son Mang Yingli took Mengyang former chieftain Si Ge to the stage and then forced him to kneel on one side.

Mang Yinglong pointed at the provinces and loudly rebuked: "He is the Mengyang envoy appointed by the Ming people. He colluded with the Ming people and oppressed us wantonly.

Today, I will enforce justice on behalf of heaven and kill this official to set an example for everyone. If you dare to collude with the Ming people, this is the end."

The soldiers in the first row of the stage were all loyal to the Toungoo Dynasty and were arranged by Mang Yingli to cooperate. After Mang Yinglong finished speaking, they shouted loudly: "Kill, kill, kill"

The continuous shouting was chaotic at the beginning, and then more and more people joined in, and then gradually became neat.

Killing aura began to spread over the sky.

"Dad, the reply from the capital has arrived."

In Baoshan City, Li Rusong rushed into the backyard where Li Chengliang lived with an envelope in his hand.

"I heard it, why are you shouting?"

Li Chengliang was practicing boxing. It has become his habit to practice a few times early in the morning.

The climate in Yunnan is really good, many times better than Liaodong and Beijing.

Unconsciously, Li Chengliang was a little jealous of the Duke of Qian's Mansion.

Although far away from the political center, it is not a bad thing to live in Yunnan, a good place with a pleasant climate, just based on the brand of the Shizhen Yunnan.

Of course, if Li Chengliang was given a choice, he would not be willing to stay in the southwest. After all, it is the border of the Ming Dynasty. Officials certainly want to stay in the political center of Beijing.

However, he said so, and he had already stopped his actions. After Li Rusong ran to him, he snatched the letter from the capital from his son, opened it, took out the letter paper, and quickly flipped through it.

Soon, Li Chengliang's face showed joy, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth unconsciously.

Li Rusong, who was standing by, saw this and guessed the content of the letter, so he asked anxiously: "Dad, what did Wei Gelao say?"

Li Chengliang retracted his gaze, glanced at Li Rusong on the side and smiled: "Wei Gelao agreed with our strategy and asked us to eliminate as many Burmese troops as possible in the first battle, weaken their strength, and prepare for the subsequent control of the entire Burma.

In addition, the letter also said that the court had ordered the South China Sea Navy to go south to Jiugang, and then it would go west to the coastal area of ​​Burma, choose an appropriate location to land, and stab them in the back.

In addition, Nanjing will also deliver a batch of firearms we need. There are many firearms in the capital, but the journey is too long, and I am afraid that it will not be able to support them in time. Therefore, Wei Ge Lao has ordered the transfer of the Denglai Navy and a part of the grain transport ships to transfer the firearms allocated from the capital to Guangxi and Yunnan.

Hehe, with so many artillery, I will give the southern barbarians a good meal.

I will kill their elephant this time. "

The letter was full of good news. Not only did he agree with their strategy of luring the enemy deep into the depths, but he also promised to solve the problem of insufficient firearms for southern soldiers and urge the two capitals of the north and south to transfer firearms.

With such support, Li Chengliang naturally had more confidence to fight the enemy.

Of course, Li Chengliang knew very well that the more support Wei Guangde gave him, the greater his pressure was, that is, he could only win but not lose.

However, Li Chengliang never thought that he would lose to Mang Yinglong.

In his eyes, they were just southern barbarians who had never seen a war. What was there to be proud of?

The large-scale battles between infantry and cavalry in the north were real wars.

"When will those firearms be delivered?"

Hearing this good news, Li Rusong was also overjoyed.

There was no general who didn't like to have a large number of firearms in his hands.

But after completing the deployment of troops, Li Rusong felt his blood boiling when he waved his hand and let out a thunderous roar.

In the north, the Ming army had actually been conquered by the power of firearms, especially during the battle of defending the city. From the top of the city, they could get a longer range than the cavalry bow to attack the enemy.

It was only after coming to the southwest that the Li family discovered that most of the generals in the southwest were not familiar with firearms warfare.

Of course, it might have something to do with the fact that Nanjing had little allocation in the first place.

After all, firearms were popular in the Ming Dynasty in recent years, and the weapons were manufactured to ensure the use of coastal provinces first.

Although there were occasional Tusi rebellions in the southwest, the local authorities dealt with them quickly and did not cause any major disturbances. Naturally, it was not the turn to allocate a large number of firearms to kill the enemy.

Because they were unfamiliar, even if a small number of firearms were allocated, they were mostly shelved by the generals.

That is, Mu Changzuo's personal guards were using bird guns and Portuguese cannons. After all, firearms were Mu Ying's weapons against the elephant soldiers of the Tusi in the southwest, and the Mu family was not able to forget their roots.

"Not so fast, at least half a year before it can reach the army."

Although the letter was full of good news, Li Chengliang would not be as surprised as Li Rusong.

"Half a year?"

Sure enough, Li Rusong exclaimed again after hearing his father's words.

"It's good to be able to deliver it in half a year. This is the southwest, not Liaodong where we used to stay."

Li Chengliang said unhappily.

Indeed, although Liaodong is outside the pass, it is not far from the capital after passing Shanhaiguan.

The allocation of military equipment and supplies is actually very convenient.

Li Chengliang said it would take half a year, but in fact, if the supplies were really delivered from Nanjing, it would take six months, even if the officials did not delay the journey.

"Speaking of which, it seems more convenient if the firearms from Nanjing are transported by water and then transferred to Guangxi by land."

At first, Li Chengliang did not realize anything.

But the letter from Wei Guangde, which arranged to transport Beijing's firearms by water, gave Li Chengliang inspiration.

If land transportation is not smooth, it seems that taking the water route is also a good choice.

"I have to write to Nanjing immediately and ask them to transport all the food, grass and firearms they will allocate later by water to Guangxi, and then transfer to Yunnan."

Li Chengliang did it as he thought, and turned around and went into the house.

Li Rusong was stunned, but soon reacted and followed his father into the house.

Soon, a map of the southwest appeared in front of the father and son, and the two began to circle around the map.

Still, people in later generations think that fighting is fighting, even if there is a saying that fighting is fighting logistics, but most of the understanding of this sentence is superficial, that is, they think that the rear transports weapons, ammunition and food to the front line.

But in fact, since the beginning of ancient wars, our ancestors have realized the importance of transportation to a war.

Many people know about the Qin State Straight Road, but why did Qin Shihuang spend a huge price to build this project after unifying the six countries?

In fact, this fully reflects Qin Shihuang's vision.

During the Warring States Period, it was certainly impossible for Qin to build a straight road, but after unification, it was built to strengthen centralization, so that materials and troops could be transported quickly through the straight road to suppress all disobedience.

In ancient times, a general not only needed extraordinary strategy and bravery on the battlefield, but also a geographical expert who could accurately find the route of the army's march and save time and physical strength to the greatest extent.

And now, what Li Chengliang is doing is to estimate whether it is more convenient and faster to go by land or water.

This is not only for this war, but also involves the long-term rule over Myanmar in the future.

During the Ming Dynasty, the transportation conditions in the southwest were not ideal.

Although there were some transportation routes, these routes were often difficult and required passing through valleys and some difficult places.

Yuexi Road and Luoping Road are the main roads from Guangxi to Yunnan, which were the main passages during the Yuan Dynasty.

Although Li Chengliang did not go there himself, he also considered this route at the beginning.

However, at this time in the Ming Dynasty, those who took the Yunnan route mostly chose to go through Guizhou, avoiding the mountains in the north of Yunnan and the swamps in the south, and directly entering the prosperous area in eastern Yunnan.

"Father, it seems that it is not easy to go from Guangxi to Yunnan."

After looking through the map, Li Rusong sighed.

"Luoping Road is closer, and it goes directly to the eastern part of Yunnan, but the route is actually from Guangxi to Guizhou and then to Yunnan.

This route is relatively short, but it passes through many mountainous areas, and that part of the road is rugged and difficult to travel. Carts can't go at all, and they can only be transported by mules and horses.

The route of the western Guangdong road is longer, and some sections can be taken by water, which is convenient for marching and transporting supplies.

However, the road is too long and passes through many chieftains' territories, and various natural and man-made obstacles may be encountered."

Li Rusong expressed his opinion. Although it seems that transporting supplies to Guangxi and then transferring them to Yunnan seems to be very close, that is only on the map. The straight-line distance is short, but it is very difficult to travel.

If it is a small number of people or things, it is okay, but they want to open up a road for large-scale marches and transportation of large amounts of supplies, which is too much to ask.

"It's probably too late for the firearms in Beijing to go to Guizhou. Nanjing should still come by water from Sichuan or Guizhou."

Finally, after some calculations, Li Chengliang had to admit that the route from Beijing to Guangxi and then to Yunnan by sea looked beautiful, but it was actually not feasible.

Especially in the preparation for war, it still couldn't be used for transportation equipment.

It can only be said that Wei Guangde, who was thousands of miles away, still didn't understand the transportation of this era and made a serious mistake.

In fact, if there were really shortcuts, the wisdom of the ancients would not be inferior to that of modern people.

The transportation conditions in ancient times were poor, and many projects in later generations could not be built at all, so they chose roads to make full use of water systems and use inland water networks to transport goods. Only when they couldn't go, they would use land transportation.

Without railways and air transportation, and without highways, China's transportation conditions in this era have actually reached the best level in the world.

Wei Guangde only considered that Guangxi was next to Yunnan, and it seemed very close, but he didn't consider the transportation conditions. A large amount of goods could not be transported through the Yunnan-Guangxi Highway.

"Father, elder brother, something happened."

Just when the two were depressed because of the poor transportation conditions in Yunnan, Li Ruzhen's voice rang out in the yard.

"We are in the house, come in and talk, why are you shouting?"

Li Chengliang shouted to the outside in a bad mood.

The eldest brother is like this, and the third brother is also like this. It would be strange if Li Chengliang could have a good face for him.

Soon, Li Ruzhen came into the house, holding a battle report in his hand and handed it to Li Chengliang, and said anxiously: "Dad, five days ago, outside Mengyang City, the Burmese King Mang Yinglong killed Mengyang Tusi Si Ge and officially ordered an attack on Ming Dynasty.

Now the Burmese army's vanguard is afraid that it has passed Menglun, and it will reach Manmo City in a few days."

"Is it coming?"

Li Chengliang narrowed his eyes slightly, and what was supposed to come finally came, although it was a little inappropriate.

If it can be delayed for a few more months, that would be the best time for Ming Dynasty.

"It seems that Mang Yinglong can't afford the consumption of more than 200,000 people."

Li Chengliang chuckled.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty stationed more than 100,000 troops in Yunnan, and the daily consumption of food for people and horses is also astonishing.

If it were not for the large amount of money and grain levied on the southwestern provinces when the troops were stationed in Guizhou for training, the Yunnan government would have come to the door long ago.

Although Yunnan has not transported taxes and labor service to the capital since last year, it is only the amount of last year and this year, and there are some accumulations in the government treasury, but the amount is limited.

After all, Yunnan is poor and does not have much money and grain tax revenue to use. Li Chengliang has already planned to transport money and grain support from Huguang and Guangdong.

Knowing that the Burmese army did not rest for too long before fighting against the Ming Dynasty, Li Chengliang guessed that Mang Yinglong should also be troubled by money and grain, so he had to launch it as soon as possible.

Burma, even against Siam, only mobilized more than 100,000 troops.

It is also the first time to gather 300,000 troops, so it is inevitable to be at a loss. (End of this chapter)