Chen Mu's plan to attack Baigu from Yangon failed.

After a mere 200-mile road, after digging out the 100-mile river, you only need to march 100 miles to reach the White Ancient City.

However, it took his subordinates a full three days to walk fifty miles, and was ambushed by the defenders of Baigucheng out of the city, but fortunately, the scouts had meritorious work, so that the follow-up troops could retreat in time, so that they could avoid the long-planned enemy ambush, and only killed and wounded dozens of banner troops in the rear of the palace.

The setback in the initial battle did not put much pressure on Chen Mu, but the army of the Zong clan had to withdraw to Yangon, as nearly 10% of their subordinates were incapacitated.

The reason is often referred to as the southwest summer plague, mosquitoes and leeches.

When they set out from Yangon, they were still a division of tigers and wolves, but when they returned to Yangon, they were like stragglers who had lost a battle, supporting each other to return to the camp with difficulty, and some people could not stand up as soon as they got off the boat.

Chen Mu, who was standing outside the wounded barracks with a calm face, greeted Cheng Hongyuan, who was walking out of the tent, and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"Malaria, probably contracted in Annam, was followed by a pandemic, and may have something to do with the heavy rains." The old doctor's face was not good-looking, and he said: "In addition to contracting malaria, many soldiers were bitten by leeches on the legs during the march, and the blood flowed incessantly...... The medicine brought by the army has been exhausted, there are too many wounded soldiers, and the military doctor cannot do acupuncture, so the commander must mobilize medicine from the country as soon as possible. ”

There are large paddy fields around the ancient city of Bai, and they retreated to prevent the enemy from pursuing through the fields, and the weather here was hot, and the feet of the banner army were bitten by leeches.

"What medicine do you need?" Chen Mu rubbed his face, looked up at the dazzling sunlight in the sky, closed his eyes and slowly bowed his head: "I sent someone to Guangzhou Mansion to buy." ”

"The hemostatic powder and gold sore medicine for leech bites are enough, and malaria interception artemisia pills can be administered to treat malaria, and Guangzhou is not enough, so Guangdong and Guangxi can do it." Cheng Hongyuan was much more worried about the situation than Chen Mu, and the old doctor looked embarrassed on his face, and said: "Now there are hundreds of people in the army with fever and chills, this is exactly the symptom of malaria, malaria is latent, it appears at this time, and there will be more later." ”

"There's more?"

Cheng Hongyuan nodded and said: "Artemisia annua, duck gall, licorice, and realgar must be prepared, and when the medicine comes, the marshal will also eat it, if the marshal also falls ill, he can only withdraw the army." ”

Chen Mu didn't care about whether he took medicine or not, what he cared about was the scale of the malaria outbreak, and he asked, "How many people in the army may be infected with malaria?" ”

The old doctor was also uncertain, and said: "Maybe five hundred, maybe five thousand, no one knows when it is not sent." ”

"Alas, if you take the doctors to give acupuncture to the injured patients, you won't bother the handsome." Cheng Hongyuan sighed, and once again told Chen Mu: "The wounded and sick should be separated from the rest of the banner army, and those who have fever and chills must also be separated, otherwise the army will not be protected, and the commander must remember." ”

At this time, Chen Mucai suddenly thought that malaria itself is not contagious, but in a place like the southwest, where mosquitoes are widely spread, it is easy to infect the sergeant in the same tent.

"Isolate all the sick in the army, build camps for them, deliver meals every day, and doctors and doctors must wear all clothes when they go in and out to block mosquitoes."

The Banner Army that retreated back to Yangon did not have time to rest, and tens of thousands of Banner Army were divided into several camps, one of which was used as a camp to isolate the sick Banner Army.

The cotton cloth originally used to buy and sell goods with the ship was requisitioned in large quantities, and there was no time to sew clothes, so Chen Mu ordered the flag army to cut the cotton cloth into strips, and let the military doctor and the flag army use it to tighten the cuffs and make scarves and masks.

"Give the salt in the baggage to the flag army, strictly order that after being bitten by leeches, you are not allowed to cut the fire with a knife, and all the leeches are sprinkled with salt, I don't have more heart to see the infected flag army."

Although there are only less than a thousand wounded in the tens of thousands of troops, it is enough to reduce their morale to a minimum, this time he wants to withdraw more than in Thanh Hoa Nanshan, but there is no way, "The war waits for no one, and the battle must be fought hard, the later the Baigu is captured, the more people will die in the north." ”

This is not just the military operation of the Nanyang Military Government, the Mengyang and Longchuan fronts in northern Burma, Sigu and Yang Yinglong, and the Ming army that led the army from Yunnan into Sanxuan and Liuwei are confronting the main force of Mang Yinglong, and they are all waiting for Chen Mujun to attack the city in the rear of the enemy's empty garrison to shake its huge force.

"Mang Yinglong is not one of the closed princes of Annam, he is much more difficult to deal with, and in all fairness, the armament of the Burmese army is no worse than that of the Ming army, and even more than the bird gun." Chen Mu looked at Deng Zilong and Zhang Shijue, and said, "Select four Qianhu Divisions with few wounds and illnesses in the Banner Army, and the two of you will leave one to sit in Yangon, and the other will follow me by sea and then go to Baigu." ”

"Even if you bombard the fortress with a warship, you have to knock it down!"

Saying that, Chen Mu looked at the many commanders sitting at the end and said, "Shiqi, Baigu Coastal Fortress, how many have been out?" ”

Zhang Shijue hugged his fists and asked for a fight, and Deng Zilong wanted to speak and stopped.

He knew that Bai Gucheng had to be vaccinated, but he had also heard that malaria was contagious, and he didn't know when he was infected.

Now it is useless to single out the soldiers of the four thousand households, what if they all fall ill on the coast?

"There are a lot of cannons, and there are a lot of guns, and the subordinates are worried about the loss of the ship, so they didn't drive the ship a thousand steps close to the port, but judging from their guns, most of them are small cannons of one or two catties." Shi Qi said what Deng Zilong wanted to say, "Malaria has just started, and no one knows how many banner soldiers are sick, so it is better to wait a few more days, and the north is also a confrontation." ”

"Liu Shuai and Yu Shuai are all on the battlefield, and they will not attack rashly before they have been tested." Shi Qi hugged his fists and said, "It's not too late to wait a few more days!" ”

Chen Mu waved his hand and said: "Don't wait, press the six thousand warships and the Chihai together, I don't believe that the Baigu Fortress can be stopped, as long as I am fast, even if the banner army is infected with malaria, the Baigu City can be broken!" ”

As soon as his words fell, Deng Zilong got up and hugged his fists and said: "Dashuai, if you don't fight like this, you will sit in Yangon, Deng and Commander Zhang will lead the fleet to attack Baigu, even if you can't occupy Baigu, you will inevitably uproot its fortress." ”

"First, neither the humble post nor Commander Zhang has any experience in dealing with malaria, and secondly, even if we withdraw from the army, it will have no impact on morale.

Chen Mu leaned back in the chair, squinted his eyes and thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.

He wanted to lead the troops to fight Baigu, and the outbreak of malaria in the army gave him the strength to hold in his heart but had nowhere to vent, but what Deng Zilong said was reasonable, and what he said was still relatively nice.

In fact, this operation is very unsafe, and the fear is not that the army will not be defeated, but that it will be defeated, once Chen Mu leads the army to be defeated, the blow to morale can be imagined.

The question is not whether Chen Mu is willing to take responsibility for defeat, but whether their army, which is rooted in the belly of Mang Yinglong, cannot be withdrawn.

"Since this is the case, then the two of you, with five thousand households, will attack Baigu from the sea in warships, not demanding to attack Baigu, but be sure to break the fortress to achieve the purpose of shaking the reckless army." Chen Mu took a deep breath and said, "I'm here, working with the doctor to save more of the lives of the flag army." ”

He knew what was more suitable for him, and took this opportunity to establish the military doctors and field hospitals of the Nanyang Military Palace!