The division of troops westward was discussed by Mu Qiyuan and Lin Chengxiang. They will join forces at Ava to consolidate the Ming army’s position in northern Burma, and then head south along the Irrawaddy River towards Baigu, the capital of the Tongyu Dynasty. .
If Ginkgo can be successfully won, the main land of Tongguo will be under the control of the Ming army, and Tarong's main force will become a guerrilla unit without a base, and there will be problems in the supply of food and personnel.
Mu Qiyuan's army marched westward, using small mountain runs, and easily captured villages and small towns. It was not until Bin Ulun that they encountered a little decent resistance.
Bin Ulun is also a small town, only one hundred and forty miles away from Ava. It belongs to the transition zone from plateau to plain river valley. The altitude of Bin Ulun is more than one thousand meters, while the altitude of Ava is less than 100 meters. .
In terms of topography and topography, Bin Ulun is the west gate of Ava. Once Bin Ulun falls, the Ming army will follow the plateau and go straight down to Pingchuan. Ava will no longer be safe to defend and become an isolated city.
Thalon also saw Bin Ulun’s strategic importance. He deployed three thousand defenders in the humble town of Bin Ulun.
There is no powerful country near Bin Ulun. Except for the Ming, if it weren't for the Ming army, Bin Ulun had three thousand defenders, so you should be able to sit back and relax.
However, the two armies of the Ming army, nearly 70,000 troops, suddenly attacked Bin Ulun.
Toungoo has heavy troops stationed in Ava. Once Bin Ulun is in a critical situation, Ava’s defenders will come to reinforce it. However, in two days, if you travel twice, you can basically reach Bin Ulun one day and one night.
Mu Qiyuan and Chen Zizhuang agreed to quickly attack Bin Wulun, and before Ava’s reinforcements arrive, Bin Wulun must be taken. Once Bin Ulun is taken, the Ming army can take advantage of the terrain to stand on the ground, and in turn attack Ava's reinforcements and try to consume the defenders in Ava City.
The soldiers of the Ming Army were exhausted after a long-distance attack, but Mu Qiyuan still gave the order to attack Bin Wulun.
In order to boost morale, Mu Qiyuan announced two incentive measures: once Bin Ulun is captured, all the property gained in the city will be given to the siege army; after the capture of Bin Ulun, the main force will rest in Bin Ulun for three days.
"Commander, according to Ming's new military law, when the army is fighting abroad, half of the property acquired by the soldiers is distributed to the soldiers, and half must be handed over to the court." Chen Zizhuang expressed his worry.
"The military situation is urgent. I can't take care of it now. If you can't quickly take Bin Wulun, you can't encircle Ava," Mu Qiyuan decided to rush to power. "After the war is over, I personally explain to the National Defense Agency."
"Commander, Daming's military laws are laid out there. Your Majesty always acts in accordance with the law. If the commander knowsly commits an offence, even if the war can be won, your Majesty and the National Defense Council will not be considerate of the commander." Chen Zizhuang was still uneasy. He also thought, It doesn't matter if Bin Ulun wins it later.
Mu Qiyuan didn’t have a good way. For soldiers, empty slogans did not motivate morale. “Let’s talk about it later. If you can win Bin Ulun quickly, I will recognize it even if you are punished by the National Defense Agency. They will eventually You will understand me, the big deal is that you don't need military merit." He believes that if the conquest of Burma can be completed, the military merit will not be small. Even if the National Defense Agency wants to deal with him, it will not be too heavy.
"Commander..."
"Stop talking about it, that's it!" Mu Qiyuan waved his hand, he had already made a decision.
"Commander, since the soldiers are very fast, why not enter Ava decisively after taking Bin Wulun, but have to rest in Bin Wulun for three days?" Chen Zizhuang really didn't understand Mu Qiyuan's decision.
"Chen Junzuo, our army has been exhausted from a long distance, and has passed through a lot of mountains and valleys along the way. Soldiers are really working too hard. If they can’t rest well, their combat effectiveness will inevitably decrease. Inspiring soldiers must have a degree. Otherwise, There will be no effect."
"Commander, what if Ava's defenders flee?" Chen Zizhuang hopes to annihilate Ava's defenders, not just capture Ava City.
"No," Mu Qiyuan shook his head, "Tongyu's battles have always been more victories than losses, and they will not easily retreat. Besides, Ava is the former capital of Toungoo, and is now the most important castle in the north of Toungoo. The defending army will never abandon the city and flee. If the defending general dares to flee, once Talong will not spare him."
"Yeah." Chen Zizhuang agreed with Mu Qiyuan's ideas this time.
"Is there a message from the 20th Army? Where are they?"
"It is estimated that they will not be able to reach Ava in five days."
"Five days? Okay, the time is just right." A faint smile appeared at the corner of Mu Qiyuan's mouth.
"Commander..." Chen Zizhuang didn't understand what new ideas Mu Qiyuan had. Five days later, did they arrive in Ava at the same time as the 20th Army
"Chen Junzuo, if we storm Bin Ulun, will Bin Ulun beg for help like Ava? Will Ava City send reinforcements?"
"Commander, the east gate of Ava in Bin Ulun, Ava City will definitely send reinforcements, but... The commander is ready to take down Bin Ulun. Seeing that Bin Ulun has fallen, the reinforcements will definitely retreat. The subordinates have heard that After passing the'attack aid' but the'point' of Bin Wulun is gone, how to'attack aid'?"
"Therefore, when we attack Bin Ulun, we must first make a fierce attack and put Bin Ulun under tremendous pressure. Once Bin Ulun sends a messenger to Ava, we must cut off all the connections between Bin Ulun and the outside world. Ava’s reinforcements became blind."
"The commander really wants to eat Ava's reinforcements?"
"Of course, if we eat some Ava's reinforcements now, we will have less pressure when we attack Avada in the future."
"Commander, my subordinate has a suggestion." Seeing Mu Qiyuan's gaze was attracted, Chen Zizhuang and Mu Qiyuan were interested in hearing his opinions. Detective, investigating the terrain west of Bin Ulun, plant an ambush."
"Split the troops, okay, Chen Junzuo, you take the soldiers to take a break, I will be responsible for attacking Bin Ulun, otherwise you will annihilate Ava's reinforcements."
"Commander, once Ava's reinforcements are annihilated, will the Tongyu Army abandon the city and flee?"
"If the reinforcements are annihilated, my 19th Army will have almost rested by then, and Lin Chengxiang's 20th Army will almost be Ava. The defenders just want to run, I am afraid there is only one way to hell."
"Okay, Commander, it's settled. The subordinates will take the soldiers to rest first."
The soldiers of the 19th Army who were inspired by Mu Qiyuan temporarily forgot about fatigue. They just ate some dry food in a hurry, and then began to attack Bin Ulun.
Bin Ulun is located at the junction of the eastern plateau and the western plain. The castle was built on the eastern plateau.
It has a plateau on the east and a plain with a large drop on the west. If soldiers attack the city from the west, they will need to attack upwards, which will increase casualties. There are slopes on both the north and the south, but they open up close to the city wall. A section of flat ground.
Mu Qiyuan wanted to wipe out the defenders in the city. He had to besiege the city. The north and south gates could be used as the main attack direction, but artillery could not be erected on the slope. Forty artillery was finally erected on the plateau terrain in the east.
There is no city gate to the east of Bin Ulun, which is not the defensive focus of the defenders. There are only a small number of soldiers on the parade. As long as the Ming army is not close to the city wall, they don't bother to take care of the Ming army outside the city.
Today, the defenders of the East City suddenly discovered that the Ming army had advanced a thousand steps outside the city. According to visual observation, there were at least thousands of soldiers.
"Does the Ming army want to attack from the east? But there is no city gate to the east. Should the Ming army go directly over the top of the city?" The defenders hesitated. Finally, they sent a message to the guards in the city to let the main general decide.
Before the main general reached the head of the city, the artillery of the Ming army rang. In order for the soldiers to enter the city, Mu Qiyuan prepared to razing the small city of Binwulun to the ground.
The bombs were poured into the city without money, especially near the north and south gates, which were the key targets of Ming Army artillery.
On the north and south sides of Bin Ulun, not only the city gate but also the city wall collapsed.
At the end of the day, the firing of the flowering bomb stopped and the Ming army began to enter the city.
When the bombardment just now, the bombardment covered almost all areas in the city, especially the north and south gates. The casualties of the defenders in the city were unknown, but there were no defenders at the entrances to the north and south gates.
The defenders were not casualties anymore, they all fled. Seeing their companions were casualties in front of them, the Tongyu soldiers alive had to retreat to the city. Although they didn’t know where it was safe, they knew that the city’s head was the worst. safe place.
After Li Lin’s 56th Division and Qian Guangcheng’s 57th Division entered the city from the north and the south, the defenders in the city gradually came to their senses, but at this time they were completely divided by the Ming army. Without the generals, the generals cannot find their own soldiers.
Ming army soldiers with flintlocks pushed past the city again and again like bulldozers. Dongyu army's skirmishers could only be the targets of the Ming army.
Rows of flintlock guns fired in front, followed by more flintlockers. Toungoo's soldiers seemed to want to surrender, but they had no time to throw away their knives and guns.
Near noon, the Ming army had searched the city twice, and the defenders were basically eliminated. The soldiers began to search for property in the city in groups of three and five. This was what Mu Qiyuan promised them.
Although Bin Ulun is small, it is close to the important town of Awa, and there are many wealthy merchants in the city. This makes Ming army soldiers looking for property very satisfied. No matter when the official residence or the private house, it will not be a blind spot for the 30,000 Ming army.
Some unopened people quarreled with the Ming army for their poor possessions, and even fought with the Ming army soldiers. Without exception, they fell under the sword of the Ming army and slaughtered these without the ability to resist. For the people of Tongyu, the Ming army will not waste flintlock bullets.
Because the people cherished their property, disputes with the Ming army were very common. After the Ming army initially searched for property, they began to massacre the city.
When Mu Qiyuan received the message, his reaction was very slow, and it took more than an hour before he began to stop the soldiers from slaughtering the city.
But the military order issued at this time was meaningless. The more than five thousand people in the city, except for some civilian officials who had been withdrawn from Ava City before the war, and nearly a hundred Han people in the city, the rest of the people were all massacred by the Ming army.
Although there are few Han people, they don’t know Ming’s Sun and Moon flag, but they know that they are their Han brothers when they hear the voices of Ming army soldiers. While they begged the Ming army for mercy in Chinese, they took the initiative to take refuge in the Ming army. Those who speak Chinese have survived the war.
Protecting the Han is an important principle for the Ming army to fight abroad.
Regardless of whether you are of Han descent, as long as you can speak Chinese and admit that you are Han, you will be protected by the Ming army.
Bin Ulun, the east gate of Ava, is now a military city of Daming.
Just as Mu Qiyuan’s 19th Army came to rest in the city, Chen Zizhuang’s 17th Army, hiding in the west of Binwulun, ushered in three thousand reinforcements in Ava City. Rest, waiting for Mu Qiyuan's army to rush to Ava City together.