Liu Da and Ma Wei led the army to conquer Sichuan, while Deng Zilong and Sun Li led the army to sweep through Yunnan. After arranging things in Yunnan and Sichuan, Xiao Ruxun quickly returned to Myanmar with his personal guards to prepare for what he had to do next.
On the third of July, just as Xiao Ruxun led the army north to Yunnan, the Zhennan Army's Black Tortoise Camp, led by General Li Wenyuan, boarded the navy's transport ship and began their first joint operation with Jiang Dahai's navy.
The target was Guangzhou. Together with Chen Lin, they would enter Lingding Ocean and land at the mouth of the Pearl River. Then, they would go straight to Guangzhou.
Xiao Ruxun had his elder brother Xiao Ruzhi as his representative to control Chen Lin and not let him take advantage of his seniority.
Chen Lin could fight, but he liked to take advantage of his seniority and had many bad habits. Jiang Dahai and Li Wenyuan were both young and didn't have much fame inland. Chen Lin might not give them face, but Xiao Ruzhi was Xiao Ruxun's brother, so Chen Lin would care.
The huge fleet of 20,000 navy and infantry troops set off at the same time as Xiao Ruxun. After six days, they reached the coastal area of Guangdong. Here, they met the contact ship that Chen Lin had sent. They learned that Chen Lin had already stopped patrolling the seas. There were still many merchant and civilian ships on the sea, but not a single military ship.
Therefore, the merchants and sailors who were doing business along the coast witnessed with their own eyes an extremely large fleet of ships slowly sailing into the Lingding Ocean and into the inland sea before heading north. This fleet carried the flag of "Ming" and did not seem to be anything special.
If there was anything special, it was because there were too many ships. The style of the ships wasn't common either. They didn't look like merchant ships, but they couldn't tell what it was.
The fleet moved forward quickly and in an orderly manner.
On the same day that Xiao Ruxun led his army to Yao Pass, the Zhennan Army's navy and Black Tortoise Camp all landed at Deer Trot. Under the lead of thousands of soldiers, they headed straight for Guangzhou.
Before this, Chen Lin had secretly arranged for his guards to hide in Guangzhou in batches. When the time was right, the ambushing guards attacked and took down the south gate, catching them off guard.
Guangzhou City had no time to defend. Once the South Gate was breached, Chen Lin and Li Wenyuan immediately led their troops into Guangzhou City. Guangzhou City was captured without any resistance. There were only a few hundred soldiers who died in the battle. There were a few thousand who surrendered after being beaten senseless.
After the Zhennan Army entered Guangzhou, they first restored order. They declared a state of martial law and forbade all residents from leaving their homes. Then, they opened the warehouse and obtained mountains of resources.
Under the protection of his trusted aides, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Dai Yao, fled in panic toward the direction of Guangxi. Chen Lin took Li Wenyuan's deputy general Zheng Ying and chased after him. They chased from Guangzhou all the way to Sanshui, but they still couldn't catch up. Instead, they conquered several cities along the way and took hundreds of soldiers and horses back to Guangzhou.
They could only fight on their own. In the end, they were defeated one by one. Chen Lin felt very embarrassed, so she asked to lead troops to attack Guang Xi. Chen Lin and Li Wenyuan's deputy, Zheng Ying, gave chase. They chased from Guangzhou to Sanshui but still couldn't catch up. Instead, they conquered a few cities along the way and took a few hundred soldiers back to Guangzhou.
Because of this, Chen Lin felt very embarrassed, so she volunteered to lead troops to attack. Xiao Ruzhi assigned tasks according to Xiao Ruxun's plan. She left the main force of Black Tortoise Camp under Li Wenyuan's command to attack the city.
The remaining troops returned to the warship under Deputy Zheng Ying's lead. Jiang Dahai immediately led the navy north. Their target was Zhejiang Ningbo Prefecture's Yinxian County, Shen Yicheng's hometown.
After Zheng Ying's 5,000 troops swept through Yinxian County, Jiang Dahai had to continue leading the navy north into the Yangtze River and then the Grand Canal. He had to take over Zhenjiang Prefecture and cut off the Grand Canal in the middle to complete the first phase of the battle.
Therefore, on the 11th of July, the Zhennan Army's navy moved out again, heading north toward Zhejiang.
Of course, most people at the Pearl River estuary knew that war had broken out. Those who should run ran and those who should hide hid. Those who didn't know why the war was happening soon found out the reason.
As the Zhennan Army gradually conquered the cities around Guangzhou, the Zhennan Army's propaganda also kept up.
Contrary to what they'd heard a month ago about Xiao Ruxun rebelling and Burma Town being a rebel town, it was Xiao Ruxun's Zhennan Army that occupied Guangzhou. Not only did he not die, he even fought his way back and announced that Shen Yicheng had started a mutiny, imprisoned the emperor, and killed the loyal people. He, Xiao Ruxun, risked his life to escape from the capital and fight against the rebels in the north.
Fight against the rebels in the north …
This news came too suddenly. People were not prepared at all.
One came very suddenly and the content made most people confused. They had all sorts of guesses.
The other one directly explained the reason for this confusion, but the content was too frightening, causing people's hearts to receive a great shock.
The two completely different announcements made it hard for people to get used to it.
But regardless of whether they got used to it or not, the war had already begun.
Next was the performance of the Zhennan Army's main force, led by Xiao Ruxun, after entering the Daming mainland from Guang Xi.
This part of the plan was executed perfectly. It was impossible to imagine a more perfect start than this.
On the 20th of July, after Xiao Ruxun returned to Nan Peace City, he didn't care about the battle report. He led two infantry battalions and two cavalry battalions, a force of 80,000 people, and headed east.
At the same time, the Zhennan Army's navy arrived at the defenseless Zhou Shan Island under the command of Jiang Dahai. Under the dumbfounded gaze of some fishermen, Jiang Dahai organized 5000 marine troops and 5000 Black Tortoise Camp elites and let Zheng Ying take them ashore.
The entire coast didn't see the Zhejiang Ming Army's defenses. They smoothly landed and prepared for battle. The fishermen ran faster than anyone, but it was useless. Zhou Shan was defeated.
After taking Zhou Shan as a springboard, the Zhennan Army immediately attacked Dinghai. Dinghai didn't last long before being defeated by the Zhennan Army's elites. The deserters couldn't run as fast as the Zhennan Army's attack. Speed was the most important thing in war. The Zhennan Army didn't even have time to capture prisoners before they charged towards Yinxian under the command of Zheng Ying.
On the 22nd of July, Zheng Ying led 10,000 troops and conquered Yinxian County. The magistrate of Yinxian County resisted and was shot to death. Less than half of the defending troops surrendered.
After that, under the leadership of a begging petty official from the county yamen, Zheng Ying followed Xiao Ruxun's instructions and surrounded the Shen Clan's old residence, wiping out Shen Yi's entire family in one fell swoop.
They didn't even have time to escape and were captured alive by the Zhennan Army. A few young men tried to resist but were killed by Zheng Ying on the spot. The remaining people only knew how to cry and didn't dare to resist. Zheng Ying ordered them to be locked up on the ship. This was the safest way.
Then, Zheng Ying searched the Shen family's old mansion and confiscated all the Shen family's property. The Shen family had more than tens of thousands of acres of land, more than hundreds of houses, and more than hundreds of thousands of gold and silver in the family. This family was simply a huge treasure house. Once it was confiscated, it was enough to cover the expenses of the whole Myanmar for several years.
Zheng Ying faithfully carried out Xiao Ruxun's order and confiscated all these things. He transported them back to the ship in boxes to be used as military supplies.
At the same time, the ten Burmese officials brought by the fleet entered the Yinxian County government and began to distribute the Shen family's property. The first target was the Shen family's tenant farmers. They divided the Shen family's land into hundreds of portions and distributed it to the Shen family's tenant farmers, making the land their property.
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