Mang Yingli did not know now, but he would know soon. It was impossible to hide this war that involved the entire Southeast Asia and South Asia. Xiao Ruxun did not intend to hide it. It was only a matter of time before Mang Yingli learned the news.
This was supposed to be a local battle, but under Xiao Ruxun's intentional or unintentional operation, it became an international war that involved the entire region. In addition to Siam, which decided to send troops, money, and food to support the Daming fleet, the rest of the Daming's vassal states also provided food, fresh water, and some local specialties as gifts to the Daming fleet along the way.
This was somewhat unexpected because Xiao Ruxun did not intend to re-communicate with these vassal states. He just pretended that they did not exist. Before arriving at their coastline, he sent a private letter, saying that he would lead his fleet to pass through their waters. He asked their fishermen not to panic and to hide for the time being. After the fleet left, they would go out to sea to fish, so as to avoid being accidentally injured by the Daming's giant ship. If they were accidentally injured, the Daming could do nothing about it.
Originally, it was just a kind of friendly condolence and reminder. However, what Xiao Ruxun did not expect was that these kings would come in person, and they did not come alone. Instead, they came with their entire small government. Moreover, not only did they come with people, but they also sent a large number of supplies. They sent a consolation money to the Ming Dynasty Army. Not only did they send money, food, and local specialties, they even sent sailors who were proficient in water operations to help the Daming's ship. They also sent guides who were familiar with the movements of the sea to guide the Daming fleet to avoid the reefs.
Their attitude was very attentive, as if they were serving their own parents. They said that this would make it convenient for the Ming Dynasty Army to fight. As a vassal state, they very much looked forward to the Daming destroying the barbarian country established by the barbarians as soon as possible.
In the process, Xiao Ruxun understood a truth.
No matter how respectful the vassal states were, as the suzerain state, they still had to show their muscles to them. Otherwise, as time went by, they would become less respectful to the suzerain state.
On the surface, they said that they admired the culture of the Daming, but in the end, culture had no military force. It could not destroy a vassal state that had no culture and admired the Chinese culture. They were wholeheartedly loyal to the Han, and they could not wait to take all the culture of the Daming for their own use. Just like the previous Japan and the current Korea, the soft power of culture was not as good as the hard power of the military in this era. It was the strong military power of the Daming that gave them great deterrence and pressure, making them more respectful and did not dare to betray.
Just like now, Xiao Ruxun did not ask them to provide anything at all. They just wanted to go south along their coastline along the way. As a result, they asked the Daming's fleet to stop at the port and provided various benefits to the Ming Dynasty Army. The vassal kings personally boarded the ship to meet Xiao Ruxun and sent the "kind intentions" of their vassal states. Xiao Ruxun personally got it, so did the main generals of the Daming. Even the soldiers could get wine and meat, and there were many fruits that could not be eaten in the Daming state. It was really unexpected benefits.
Looking at the eyes of those vassal kings, Xiao Ruxun knew that they wanted to see the strength of the well-disciplined Ming Army of the Ming Dynasty Army. Therefore, Xiao Ruxun took the initiative to invite these vassal kings to see the illustrious prestige of the Ming Dynasty Army. He also specially ordered Ma Hu to gather some of his most elite Ningxia Firearms Battalion and some wolf-like soldiers to practice the situation of encountering the enemy at sea. The skilled movements and the fierce atmosphere brought by the fierce artillery and gunfire made the hair of these vassal kings stand straight and feel a chill on their backs.
Since then, the degree of respect of these small countries to the Daming had obviously returned to the factory setting, and the tributary system that seemed to have been forgotten began to operate again.
For the Daming, this was an unexpected gain.
With the return of the Daming to Nanyang, the news was finally heard by the King of Myanmar, Mang Yingli. He immediately felt that things were not good. This time, the strategy of the Ming Army was different from that of the past. In the past, it was passive and passive defense. The defeat of Panzhihua last time did not hurt them. More than ten years of recuperation had made their military strength more vigorous. After the introduction of European-style firearms troops, their combat effectiveness was obviously higher.
However, Mang Yingli was also very clear that he had made too many enemies around him. If he fought with the surrounding countries at the same time as the war with the Daming, it would be a big taboo for a military strategist.
Not to mention far away, the recently restored Siam was a time bomb. Narexuan, who had been bullied by him since he was a child, was a big problem for him. He had always wanted to kill Narexuan, but his father liked this kid very much. When he was a hostage, he even let him receive Portuguese firearms education together with the noble children of the Dongxu Dynasty, so this kid was also well-versed in firearms tactics. In the previous war, this kid killed one of his generals with one shot across a river, which directly caused the morale of his army to collapse.
This time, the Ming Army clearly wanted to cooperate with Siam and directly attack the weakness of his defense through the border of Siam. A large part of his confidence in fighting with the Daming came from the steep terrain at the border between him and the Daming Kingdom, which was not easy for an army to pass through. Therefore, the Ming Army had thwarted his attacks several times but could not pursue him, which made him fearless. However, this time was different. The Ming Army directly joined forces with the Siam Army and attacked his country from the plains. In the north, his main force was in a tug-of-war with the Yunnan border army of the Ming Army. The situation was very critical.
He realized that the Daming was completely angered by him. He had just dealt with Country R, and now he came to deal with him. The one who led the army was the famous general Xiao Ruxun, who had torn Country R apart. This time, he led the army south, obviously not to intimidate them, but to completely solve the problem at the border.
Mang Yingli began to panic, worry, and even a little fear.
Once the Ming Dynasty was enraged and waved its arms, those small countries that were previously bullied by them would definitely become restless. Once the Ming army and the Siam army started to attack, the Ming Dynasty's rear would also be unstable.
Therefore, Mang Yingli began to urgently arrange his own strategy. On one hand, he ordered his government to prepare all the food, ordnance, and firearms needed for the war. He also ordered the mobile forces that could still be used to quickly arm themselves and then head to the border between Burma and Siam. They were to occupy strategic terrain and important towns to start building fortifications. Then, he ordered the troops in the north that were fighting with the Ming border army to start withdrawing in batches. They were to stop fighting the Ming army in Yunnan.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
