The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Bang, bang, bang, bang." On the top of Baoshan City, the sound of gunfire became increasingly sparse. No one could have imagined that just a moment ago, there was still a continuous sound of gunfire filling the battlefield.

The only thing left was the thick green smoke above the city, showing everything that had happened here just now.

At the foot of Baoshan City, many corpses were lying everywhere, and many seriously injured people were rolling and crawling in the place.

After the Burmese army abandoned hundreds of corpses and hundreds of seriously injured people and allowed them to wail and crawl back hard, the remaining remaining soldiers had already retreated to a place three or four miles away from the city wall.

From the launch of the attack to the complete retreat, it took only a stick of incense, but it caused huge casualties to the Burmese army's siege troops.

At this time in the Burmese army formation, Mang Yinglong's previous relaxed expression was no longer replaced by solemnity.

Yes, it was dignified. He did not expect that the firepower of the Ming army in Baoshan City was so strong. After entering two miles away from the city wall, he was hit by a large number of artillery.

Although the cannonballs of this era could not explode like in later generations and cause greater damage, a single cannonball could create a bloody alley, which was frightening to watch.

However, the most important thing is that the Ming army has many cannons.

At the moment of launch, Mang Yinglong only heard the roar of thunder that made his ears uncomfortable, and then there was a series of thunders, almost all in one, without stopping for a moment.

That momentum was the first time in Mang Yinglong's decades of life.

"How come Ming Manzi has so many cannons?"

While speechless, Mang Yinglong asked Santos in disbelief.

When the Ming army opened fire just now, Santos was also startled.

Such a formation has never been seen even in large-scale national wars in Europe.

Firearms are not cheap these days. With so many firearms equipped, how much money does it cost to support them?

At this time, Santos had been impressed by Ming's financial resources.

In wars, all that is fought is money.

In the round of bullets just now, the consumption of bullets was second only to the consumption of gunpowder, which was an astonishing figure.

Now, the whole world has not yet become industrialized, and everyone still uses relatively primitive labor to produce various materials.

After recovering his mind, Santos naturally had to answer Mang Yinglong's question. He coughed twice to calm down and then said: "I can see the cannons of the Ming Dynasty. Their most equipped equipment should be small eagle cannons. Cannons are only "How many doors?"

It has to be said that after being around for so many years, Santos has also seen various scenes. Although he was shocked by the astonishing number of firearms owned by the Ming army, he could still roughly calculate the equipment of the Ming army through the sound of artillery.

It's okay if it doesn't count, but it frightens him if it doesn't.

The artillery possessed by the small Baoshan City in front of us has reached the entire firepower of a small country in Europe.

Even several European military powers would have to assemble several elite legions to come up with so many firearms.

"Small eagle cannon? And the cannon you are talking about, what kind of weapon is it? Is it the kind of cannon you brought?"

Mang Yinglong knew that Santos had seen the reality of the cannon on the opposite side, and immediately asked.

Santos frowned and thought for a while, and then said thoughtfully: "I probably understand. I have heard from businessmen in the Ming Dynasty that our Portuguese small eagle cannons were acquired by the Ming Dynasty, and they also developed a manufacturing method. A large number of them were sold in the Ming Dynasty. Produce equipment for the troops.

Now it seems that this news is indeed true. The Ming Dynasty army used a large number of eagle cannons with a fast firing rate. However, although this cannon fired very fast, it had a shortcoming, that is, it had a short range and insufficient power. "

Having said this, he looked at the surrounding terrain. Well, facing the overwhelming Burmese army rushing over, it seemed that this shortcoming was not actually important.

"The cannon I brought is a bronze cannon, which is the latest product of our country. However, it seems that the Ming Army also has cannons similar to the cannon I brought on top of the city. This is a bit troublesome.

They are condescending and have a greater advantage than our army in terms of range and perspective. If they push the cannons rashly close to the city wall, they may become the target of concentrated fire from those cannons. "

Until now, Santos still has a sad look on his face.

The Asians he had come into contact with before, no matter which country they were from, even the Arabs who had more contact with Europeans, although they also had firearms, there were really few cannons.

They seem to be more interested in building that kind of giant cannon, rather than equipping them with a large number of small cannons.

However, the Ming army in front of them does not seem to be like this. Their army is equipped with a large number of small artillery, which can fire a hail of bullets in front of the formation, which is a bit difficult to handle.

This time, he brought Portugal's latest bronze cannon, which has a very high range.

Although the technical performance of the Ming army's cannons is unclear, just the four words "condescending" have already narrowed the performance of the two cannons.

Even if the Ming Dynasty's cannon can hit closer, as long as it has height, the range will be slightly improved, and I'm afraid it won't be much worse than its own cannon.

It was a bit difficult to accurately shoot at targets on the city head outside the range of Ming Dynasty artillery.

"Do the people of the Ming Dynasty also have cannons similar to the ones you brought?"

Hearing what Santos said, Mang Yinglong became even more worried.

When encountering strong enemies in the past, the Portuguese mercenaries brought by Santos were his weapon to break the deadlock.

However, although his army has had the advantage so far in this war, there is still a huge gap in national power between Myanmar and Ming Dynasty.

"Is this the true strength of the Ming army?"

Mang Yinglong thought to himself.

The Ming people he had contacted and the information he had obtained from them, although they knew that the Ming army was equipped with a large number of firearms, they did not attach importance to this thing at all, and often put it aside and did not use it.

Therefore, the impression given to Mang Yinglong was that there was almost no need to consider the threat of Ming firearms.

Even in the early Ming Dynasty, Mu Ying had defeated the slightly stronger chieftains around Yunnan and Myanmar with a three-stage fire gun, forcing them to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, and he had never worried.

That was more than a hundred years ago. The Ming army had already abandoned firearms, so what was there to be afraid of?

However, the scene in front of him taught him a lesson.

The Ming army did not really abandon firearms, perhaps only the frontier guards did not use them, while the guards in the interior of the Ming Dynasty were still using them in large quantities.

Yes, it must be like this, paralyzing himself.

"Your Excellency the King of Burma, this battle may not be easy to fight."

Santos gave Mang Yinglong his own judgment.

If he could recruit more mercenaries, even if the number was only several times, he felt that he could fight the Ming army.

But it was definitely impossible at the moment. Not to mention himself, even his subordinates were still staring at the Ming army on the opposite wall in amazement.

Yes, they were all scared.

"Is there really no way?"

Mang Yinglong still didn't believe it. He had gathered such a strong army. If he couldn't break Baoshan City, his prestige would be lost a lot when he returned.

At the very least, it would be good to occupy Chuxiong and fight to the city of Kunming and be blocked.

After all, in the southwest, there is only one big city, Kunming.

"The solution. Unless the cannons used on the warships are transported here, the range and power of that thing are enough to shoot at the Ming city wall from three miles away.

Even if the opposite wall is tall, as long as we focus on one place and spend more time, there is still a chance to blow down the wall."

Santos scratched his head and came up with the only way he could think of.

Well, he didn't want to advance under the fire of the Ming people.

It was safer to fire outside the range of the enemy's cannons.

Thinking of how he had laughed at his compatriots earlier, that is, those merchants who came to the Ming Dynasty to do business, actually honestly accepted the Ming Dynasty's tariffs and did business honestly, now he understood that he had to accept the orders of the Ming people.

No wonder, the two attacks decades ago failed.

The Ming people attached so much importance to firearms, so their navy would not be much worse, and there was also a numerical advantage, so it was impossible to fight.

Even if all the Portuguese fleets in the Indian Ocean were gathered together, it would be difficult to defeat the Ming Navy.

"How long will it take?"

When the words reached Mang Yinglong's ears, he didn't consider the issue of money.

The Portuguese were ruthless in doing business, but he could adapt. If he couldn't afford the cannons mentioned by Santos, I could always rent them. Although it cost a lot, it was better than spending money to buy cannons.

The most important thing is that some advanced weapons are not sold by others even if you spend money.

"No way. At the fastest speed, it will probably take two or three months to deliver it."

Santos shook his head. Although there is a way, it is impractical.

The cannon used by the navy is too heavy and difficult to carry. It can only be placed on warships or city wall turrets.

The ones with small power are useless. He brought them all, but the opponent also has them, so they are not at an advantage at all.

In a word, mercenaries come to make money, not to risk their lives. If they know it is impossible, they will naturally not fight to the death.

If the enemy occupies the Portuguese castle, he will push the cannon to the city and fight the enemy to the death, but this is the Far East.

When he heard that it would take several months, Mang Yinglong knew it was impossible.

"Is there no other way?"

Mang Yinglong asked unwillingly.

"No, there is no other way except to launch an attack without caring about casualties and consume their gunpowder."

Santos replied.

"Return to the camp and strengthen surveillance of Baoshan City."

Mang Yinglong had no choice but to order the troops to withdraw.

It is useless to continue to waste time here, and another good strategy must be found.

On the top of Baoshan City, Luo Rufang clapped his hands happily when he saw the Burmese army withdrawing.

It was impossible not to be happy when they won a victory in front of them.

Li Chengliang and Mu Changzuo also smiled at this time, just watching the Burmese army retreating on the opposite side quietly, leaving only a small number of officers and soldiers to rescue those comrades who were still crawling back.

As for the dead bodies on the ground, they didn't bother to care.

This is a battlefield.

"Let someone shout and ask the other side to collect these dead people. It's annoying to see them."

Li Chengliang waved his hand and gave an order. He took Mu Changzuo and Luo Rufang down the city and returned to his mansion.

After he left, the generals guarding the city found someone who was proficient in Burmese to shout to the other side.

To be honest, the officers and soldiers of the Ming army felt very uncomfortable guarding those dead people at night.

In today's battle, the Burmese soldiers were more or less affected by the sharpness of the Ming army's firearms, especially Jingzongzhen, most of the deaths were his subordinates.

He could not help but secretly regret that he should not have been so arrogant and fought for the position of the vanguard in the attack on Baoshan City.

The Burmese army was looking for countermeasures, while Mang Yinglong was asking about the Ming army's eagle cannon and bronze cannon in detail.

Soon, he roughly understood the reason for the high firing rate of the Ming army's eagle cannon. It turned out that a cannon had multiple cartridges that could be fired in turn.

"This cannon has a fast firing rate, but the barrel will heat up after a few rounds, and it can no longer be used."

Santos also pointed out some of the shortcomings of the falconet cannon, but this also required human lives.

"They can cool down with water when defending the city."

Mang Yinglong shook his head and said.

The defect of heating may be useful in field battles, but now they are attacking the city. There are wells in the city, so they can just draw water for cooling. He has seen Santos do this before.

The only way seems to be to consume the opponent's gunpowder.

But the enemy he is facing is the Ming Dynasty. He can imagine the strength of the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention the amount of gunpowder in the city, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty has a large amount of baggage transported to the city at this time.

Unless, bypass the city and block the passage to the east of Baoshan City, completely block and besiege Baoshan City.

Although Baoshan is in a good location and is stuck at the mountain pass, there are mountain roads around it that can be bypassed, but it is difficult to travel due to twists and turns, and it is not easy for the army to walk.

Therefore, Mang Yinglong chose to march on the official road of the Ming Dynasty before.

Just when the Burmese generals were thinking about countermeasures, a fast horse finally appeared to the west of the Burmese camp.

Soon, the west camp gate opened, and the knight on horseback galloped while shouting to make way, causing chaos in the rear camp of the Burmese army.

The Burmese army's camping was actually not like the Ming Dynasty, where there were rules and regulations. It was more casual. It was also because the Burmese army came from their own chieftains, so naturally they had their own ideas and it was difficult to unify the orders.

However, it didn't take long for the fast horse to pass through the camp and enter the central army camp and come to the king's tent.

"Emergency military information, I want to see the king."

The knight turned over and dismounted in front of the king's tent, enduring the pain from his buttocks and ran into the tent.

From his clothes, the guards knew that he was a messenger from the king's capital, and they didn't stop him. They were just curious about what happened in the king's capital. He came to report the news with a fast horse, and he looked very anxious.

At this time, the generals were still gathered in the king's tent, gathering in groups of three or two to think of a solution. The arrival of the messenger surprised them slightly, but that was all.

"Your Majesty, Toungoo City is in danger. Lord Zuya asks Your Majesty to send reinforcements as soon as possible."

The messenger entered the big tent and trotted to the throne, holding Zuya's letter for help in his hand.

When Mang Yinglong heard this, he was shocked. Are there still enemy countries around Myanmar?

But he did not take the letter immediately, but waved his hand and asked everyone else to retreat and rest.

After everyone left the king's tent, only his personal soldiers and his son Mang Yingli were left in the tent. He asked his personal guards to take the letter from the other party.

Seeing the mark on the letter, it can be confirmed that it was left by him.

He opened it and flipped through it quickly.

However, his face soon became extremely ugly. The news in the letter not only frightened him, but also made him completely unbelievable.

Of course, he knew the power of the Ming navy, but that was more than a hundred years ago, and it was just a story passed down by some elders. Who knew that he would find it in front of him.

"Father, what happened in Toungoo?"

At this time, Mang Yingli was still wondering if there was a rebellion, but all the powerful chieftains in Myanmar were here, and no one had the power to launch a rebellion.

"Look, the Ming navy has captured Pegu and is heading towards Toungoo."

Mang Yinglong said in a low voice. (End of this chapter)