Since September when he was appointed as the commander of the Burma expedition, Xu Qingshan took 18 imperial guards and a group of imperial doctors majestically and rushed to the front line by flying clippers to take over Li Dingguo.

Fortunately, Li Dingguo had strong vitality and did not die early, and the morale of the Ming army on the front line was quite stable.

Under the rescue of seven or eight imperial doctors, Li Dingguo recovered and was sent to Beijing for treatment.

The front-line change of commanders, not only Xu Qingshan, but also the team with him is also elite, the chief of praise is Yunnan Governor Wang Fuzhi, and the deputy general is Ma Xianglin, the son of the female general Qin Liangyu, known as "Zhao Zilong" and "Xiao Ma Chao", often riding alone to rush into battle, taking the head of the enemy general!

Coupled with Mu Tianbo, the prince of Qianguo, who had fought three battles, Li Puxing, the eldest son of Li Dingguo, and other famous generals, Daming can be said to be determined to succeed this time and set foot in Burma!

(When the army marched south to Burma, Mu Tianbo and Xu Mingde, who were hiding in a farming family in Burma, happily returned to the team.) ）

Taking advantage of the days when he handed over the task to Li Dingguo, Xu Qingshan ordered to inquire about the news everywhere at night, and at the same time held a military meeting to discuss the battle plan for this expedition to Burma with Mu Tianbo, Ma Xianglin and the accompanying Zanhua.

According to the night report, when the army entered Burma for the first time, the whereabouts of the Dashan Tusi who had helped the Ming army were unknown, and the territory of the Dashan Tusi had been looted by the Burmese army, and the villages were burned, which made Xu Qingshan and others have a very bad premonition, and these overseas Tusi are likely to have defected.

The decision of this military meeting was very prudent, and Xu Qingshan put forward his own suggestion: the troops should be divided into two routes, and the waterways should be advanced simultaneously!

In contrast to Li Dingguo's previous route, his proposed route of march was to march south directly from Mong Yang and Mong Gong in northwestern Burma, which was the farthest away from the Burmese capital Taungoo, and the Burmese king's power was the weakest.

It is very difficult for the Burmese army to clear the wilderness, and the problem of the Ming army's supplies being cut off can be well solved.

At the same time, Xu Qingshan planned to build a ship near the Jiajiu River, and then go down the river to control the entire river and another army to directly flank Laoguantun from the waterway.

On the other hand, the Ming army can go all the way south, detour from the land route to the back of Lao Guantun, attack by land and water, pull out the most important fortifications of the Burmese army, and then go straight to Donghu, the capital of Burma!

This strategic plan has been recognized by most of the generals, because the last expedition to Burma, the biggest reason why the Ming army went deep alone was that the old Guantun was not taken, and on the way south from Mubang, the Tusi in various places were basically still restrained by the Burmese king, and the Burmese army was easy to implement the strategy of clearing the wilderness.

Once the food and supply lines were cut off, the Ming army would be left in a state of isolation.

Xu Qingshan chose to march from the northwest of Myanmar, which was a good way to avoid the problem? The local Tusi is far away from the King of Burma and close to the Ming Dynasty? On supply lines and on the march? Be much safer.

It can be seen that Xu Qingshan has done enough homework for this expedition.

However, an official of the Governor's Office of the Southern Army, who was familiar with Burmese affairs, proposed to him? It is said that if you want to pacify Burma and take the thief capital Donghu, you must have an army of 50,000!

With Li Dingguo's experience, Xu Qingshan didn't dare to hold it up? 10,000 horses were transferred from the Southern Military Governor's Mansion? 20,000 men were gathered, and 2,000 men from the navy were transferred.

Xu Qingshan hopes that they can show their skills on the Irrawaddy River? Capture the most important fortification on the water of the Burmese army, and it is also the largest wooden camp in Myanmar - Lao Guantun!

For him, to fight Burma, even the strongest Taungoo dynasty in Burmese history? More than 20,000 people are enough? This is still for his sake, with the intervention of the English army.

If 50,000 horses are dispatched? Even if he wins, his face is dull and he is not forced.

September 16th? On the third day after Xu Qingshan took over as coach, he ordered troops to be sent to Burma.

He led the Ming army on the west road, and the deputy general Ma Xianglin accompanied the army to assist, and went out of the Ten Thousand Passes to go to the Dove, intending to enter the northwest of Burma and then go south, in order to surprise the appearance of Xinjie, an important town in front of Laoguantun, and catch the Burmese army by surprise.

The Ming army on the east road was led by Mu Tianbo, and after leaving the Tongbi Pass, he directly captured the Duman (Burmese Bamo), took the built warship to directly capture Xinjie, and then joined Xu Qingshan's army and directly took Laoguantun.

The generals felt that such a hasty dispatch of troops was fearing that the army would be unstable, and Wang Fuzhi suggested waiting for the rainy season in September to pass before sending troops.

Xu Qingshan directly vetoed this proposal, as a squire of the Ministry of War and the Minister of Military Aircraft, he can basically take into account all aspects when he does things seriously, and his ability to mobilize resources and coordinate with all parties is also first-class.

Xu Qingshan knew very well that the imperial court was going to use troops to the Western Regions in Kaichun, and the war was far greater than the battle of the conquest of Burma, costing countless dollars, and the road was far away, God knows how long it would take.

Therefore, the battle for Burma must not be delayed!

Even if it drags on for a day, the imperial court will think that it is incapable and embarrassed!

More importantly, in a two-front battle, the consumption of logistics is not as simple as twice as simple, but also four or five times as possible.

For public and private, this battle can't be inked!

History is like that, you think it's strange and unreasonable, but it just happened.

However, when the Ming army re-established itself in Burma, Xu Qingshan found that this small Burma was not as easy to fight as he imagined, and even difficult to fight!

It's not the Burmese army that's hard to fight, it's the environment!

Xu Qingshan really underestimated the rainy season in Indochina, and as soon as the Ming army came out of Wanren Pass, the weather began to change.....

The air was full of moisture, a mixture of earth and grass, and the wind was sultry, and the soldiers marched for miles before they became sticky.

The ghost weather here, not talking about martial arts, just changing, suddenly there was a downpour, so that the road under your feet immediately turned into a muddy and rotten road, so bad that it was indescribable.

The horses of the Ming army dragged dry food and tents, and walked on the mountain path with difficulty, and the horses accidentally stepped into the thin mud and slipped to it, and they didn't have time to pull it, and the whole horse rolled down the mountain with all the baggage on its back......

This situation often happened during the march of the Ming army, Xu Qingshan did not expect that the bad road in Burma would be so difficult to walk, even more difficult than the mountain road in Japan!

What's even more terrifying is that the weather is sunny and rainy, and I was just shivering from being wet by heavy rain, and suddenly I was exposed to the sun again.

At night, they could not camp on mountain trails, but could only rest on the side of the road, and the soldiers were often drenched in rain with the upper half of their bodies and the lower half of their bodies in the mud of the pond.

Over time, many soldiers began to catch colds and diarrhea, and the number of soldiers and horses who died of illness began to rise gradually, and the non-combat attrition was serious.

If it weren't for the integrity of the medical system in the Ming army, if it were replaced by an ordinary army of other countries, I am afraid that more than half of the personnel would be reduced.

Xu Qingshan's Western Route Army was still like this, and Mu Tianbo's Eastern Route Army marched even harder.

In the past, the Eastern Route Army took the nearest road and could reach its destination quickly, but it encountered a continuous drizzle, which was extremely unlucky.

First crossed the bridge when the Zhitong River, because the bridge deck was very slippery due to rain, there was no way to take the horses to walk over, and the Ming army could only use war horses to cross the river.

However, the water was so strong that many of the horses almost drowned, and the river was easily crossed, and the next day there was a heavy downpour, and the mules and horses trampled on the muddy ground like soup, and slowly passed through the narrow mountain paths.

These trails are very steep, and some horses slip when they go downhill, and they slide dozens of feet before stopping, and those who are unlucky just slide off the road and fall into the rocky hills......

The Ming soldiers walking in the wooded jungle were even more uncomfortable, and if they accidentally walked over, they would be scratched a hole in their body, and if the wound was not treated in time, they would become infected in the rainforest, and then attract leeches.

In some sections, the giant vines are staggered, and the soldiers can only ride slowly against the back of the horse, and they have to hold the reins in their hands to prevent the horses from going too fast, so as not to scratch themselves.

What's more serious is that the battalion of men and horses who arrived at the shipbuilding in advance has already died of malaria......