The Ming army advanced side by water, all the way through, without any obstruction. The remaining sailors of the Burmese army did not dare to come out to block it, but only dared to arrange a barrage in the water and set up underwater hidden piles to block it. But these tricks were easily defused by the Ming army.

On 20 September, the Ming army arrived in the area of present-day Minjian, where the Irrawaddy and Qindun rivers meet. The river here is wide, and it is already very close to Yawa City, Wang Xinyu ordered the Ming army to abandon the left bank, all march on the right bank, and advance in the direction of Yawa City by water.

"Report to the General! There is a Burmese army in front of you! The Burmese claim to be an army of 250,000! The Akha soldiers who were exploring the way ahead returned.

Wang Xinyu calculated and estimated that the number of Burmese troops was about 100,000. He only had 16,000 land divisions and 5,000 naval divisions, a total of 21,000 troops.

"Let's go, let's take a look!" Wang Xinyu took his own soldiers and personally went to the front to see the formation of the Burmese army.

Ascending the watchtower, looking in the direction of the Burmese army, I saw that the Burmese army in front of me was huge, and I couldn't see the end at a glance. In addition to the ordinary infantry, the Burmese army also had a large number of artillery, musketeers, war elephants and cavalry. Those huge war elephants are estimated to be more than a thousand! In addition, the Burmese army has more than 3,000 cavalry.

However, although the Burmese army had mobile offensive arms such as war elephants and cavalry, it built earthen cities, dug trenches, and assumed a posture of entrenchment, rather than taking the initiative to attack.

Wang Xinyu knew very well that the Burmese army was not inferior to himself in muskets and artillery, and the Burmese bought a large number of sophisticated firearms from the British and Portuguese at high prices. Of course, the Burmese army, not to mention the method of using firearms, is not even comparable to the Westerners, and I am afraid that even the Qing army cannot compare, and these sophisticated Western-style firearms cannot play much role in their hands.

Although the Burmese army was strong, it did not dare to attack rashly. Because they were scared by Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan. At that time, the 50,000 well-equipped Burmese army, known as 150,000, faced more than 20,000 poorly armed Ming troops, but was defeated. The Burmese army had been waiting here for seven or eight days, and had already built fortifications in an attempt to deal with the Ming army with a leisurely wait.

After Wang Xinyu walked down the watchtower. He said to the generals around him: "Since the Burmese do not dare to take the initiative to attack, it means that they have a psychological disadvantage to us!" We can take the initiative! ”

The Nanyang Ming army was all infantry, lacking the speed and momentum of cavalry in the active attack, and to defeat the enemy, it could only rely on the infantry to push forward. If the dense infantry formation advances, once it is bombarded by the Burmese army, it will suffer heavy losses, and Wang Xinyu does not want to do this kind of loss-making transaction.

The position of the Burmese army was far away from the river, outside the range of the artillery fire of the Ming army's naval division. At this time, the sailor could not exert his strength at all.

Wang Xinyu thought for a moment and made a decision: "Since the Burmese want to use earthen cities and trenches to defend and use the power of their firearms, then we will also dig trenches and advance steadily!" ”

The personal soldiers passed the order, and the commander-in-chief of the Ming army's battalions and thousands of auxiliary soldiers began to dig trenches on the ground. The auxiliaries of the sailors dug up the river sand from the banks of the river and put it in sacks. Sent by car to the forward positions.

The Ming army auxiliaries were working on the positions in full swing, and the straight lines of trenches were pushed forward. Inch by inch, they approached the Burmese army's position. After digging a straight trench for some distance, the Ming army began to dig a horizontal trench again. Sandbags sent by the officers and soldiers of the Marine Division were piled up in front of them to block the Burmese army's firearms.

On the Burmese army's earthen city, Bian Yayu stood on the watchtower, watching the Ming army dig a trench. He turned to one of the generals standing beside him and asked, "What does the thief want to do?" They don't attack, and we waste time? ”

The general replied, "Back to the general." They must be terrified of the power of our firearms! We waited for work at ease, and held on to the fortifications of the earthen city, and the thieves did not dare to attack. ”

"Hahaha!" Bianya looked up to the sky and laughed, "Then let them dig slowly!" The thieves are not accustomed to the soil and water, and they come from afar. They lack food, and they are sick, and they will soon be retired! ”

However, Bian Yayu miscalculated Wang Xinyu's logistical ability and preparation, since Wang Xinyu would come from afar, he had actually made full logistical preparations. The capture of Singapore is a stronghold for transit supplies; The granary was set up at the mouth of the river, and it was also a stronghold to prepare for a protracted war, and won the water battle to solve the Burmese army's water division, making the Irrawaddy River a transportation channel for the Ming army, and a large amount of grain and ammunition could be quickly replenished through this golden waterway.

As for Myanmar's high temperature and easy to get sick, Wang Xinyu has long been fully prepared. First of all, the sources of his troops were all heat-tolerant Fujianese, Cantonese and Jiangxi people, which were much more heat-resistant than the Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou people of Li Dingguo's department. Secondly, Wang Xinyu also prepared a large number of medicinal materials such as honeysuckle, cactus grass, and banlan root, and prepared a large number of mung beans, sour plums, soybeans and other foods.

The leaders of the Ming army boiled mung bean soup in an iron pot and cooked sour plum soup, and the auxiliary soldiers of the sailor made tofu on the boat. The soldiers can drink cold mung bean soup, sour plum soup, and cold cold tofu at any time. In the camp of the Ming army, there is a large wooden barrel containing all kinds of herbal tea, which can be drunk when you are thirsty. In order to avoid food being too cold and eating bad stomach, every day the gang leader will boil a variety of broth, add ginger and angelica, and put chili pepper to drive away moisture when stir-frying.

Herbal tea, mung beans, and sour plum soup are cool foods that can avoid heat stroke; Ginger is a warm food that warms the stomach, and chili pepper is a hot food, so that it is used in various foods to maintain the balance of yin and yang in the human body, and it is not easy to get sick.

On the river, transport ships came up from the downstream, bringing grain, live pigs, and live sheep from the granaries at the mouth of the river to the forward positions. The soldiers served the soldiers with pork bone soup and mutton bone stew. The food for breakfast is white porridge, and for lunch is white rice, fried tofu with chili peppers, stir-fried meat with chili peppers, green vegetables, etc., before eating, the auxiliary soldiers who have finished their work first drink a bowl of salt water, and then drink herbal tea, sour plum soup and the like after eating, so as to ensure that the soldiers are not easy to get sick.

The Burmese army looked at the busy transport fleet on the river, and hated itchy, they really wanted to attack the granary of the Ming army, but the sailors of the Burmese army had been lost, and Wang Xinyu would not build a granary on land to give the opponent a chance, and the Burmese army could not start at all. The granary of the Ming army at Jiangkou was not only in the sphere of influence of the Akha and British, but also protected by the Ming army's sailors, and it was a pipe dream for the Burmese army to attack the granary.

Wang Xinyu has done a thorough job in logistical support, so that the enemy has no chance to take advantage of it at all.

As the trench was excavated little by little, it slowly approached the position of the Burmese army. Three days later, the Burmese army finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Fire on me and bombard the thieves' positions!" The Sidetooth gave the order.

"Boom, boom, boom" The Burmese army's artillery opened fire, spitting out balls of fire, and billowing white smoke rose from the Burmese army's position, which could not be dispersed for a long time.

The shells smashed on the Ming positions, but the trenches effectively protected the Ming auxiliaries digging inside. The artillery shells fired by the Burmese army hit the ground and bounced several times in a row, hitting the sandbags, absorbing the kinetic energy, and finally falling into the dirt and no longer moving. When the Burmese army shelled, the Ming army auxiliaries buried their heads and hid in the trenches. When the Burmese artillery bombardment stopped, the Ming army auxiliaries continued to dig trenches and moved forward little by little. The excavated earth was piled up in front of the trench to weaken the power of the opponent's shells.

Finding that the artillery bombardment had no effect on the Ming army at all, Bian Yayu was anxious and ordered the infantry to launch a round of attacks in an attempt to destroy the trenches of the Ming army.

"The thieves are coming!" The soldiers standing on the watchtower noticed that the Burmese army had launched an attack and immediately sent an alarm signal.

Behind the trenches of the Ming army, thick earthen walls and improvised batteries had been piled up with river sand, sandbags and mud, and the soldiers had already entered the positions and waited. After receiving the news that the Burmese army had launched an attack, the soldiers who were sitting on the ground resting immediately put on their armor and prepared to meet the enemy.

A large number of hand-to-hand soldiers of the Burmese army held shields, brandished broadswords and axes, and rushed towards the Ming army's position in a chaotic manner. Behind the hand-to-hand combatants were followed by hordes of Burmese musketeers.

The Burmese army was really getting closer and closer to the Ming army, from a mile away to within 300 steps. When the Burmese army approached within 200 steps of the Ming army's position, Gong Xiaoda shouted: "Release! ”

The various guns that had already been loaded emitted a deafening roar, accompanied by the recoil of the barrels retreating, the muzzles of the guns spewed dazzling fire, and the white smoke rose from the Ming positions. The shells whistled and pierced into the Burmese army crowd, and soon burrowed into the Burmese army crowd, pulling out blood lines.

Wang Xinyu's army was full of cannons, including cannons bought from the British, Spaniards, and Portuguese, as well as artillery forged by himself, artillery captured from the Dutch, and cannons dismantled from old merchant ships bought. All the direct fire guns of the army added up to a total of forty-two, plus the guns sent ashore by the navy, the guns of the British and Portuguese mercenaries, there were more than a hundred large and small direct-fire guns, and dozens of mortars.

Everywhere the shells went, the Burmese soldiers had broken bones, broken hands and feet, brains bursting, and screams repeatedly.

The Burmese army immediately fell in large numbers, but the Burmese still charged forward. At this time, a large number of guns of the Ming army burst out with great power. A total of 440 guns were raised, and a dull roar was made in unison.

Bullets the size of goose eggs burrowed into the Burmese army's crowd, and the shields of the Burmese soldiers in the front row broke and shattered like papier-mâché, and continued to fly backwards, hitting the Burmese soldiers in the back. The bullet that was not inferior to the cannonball's power hit the human body, and it was either broken in two by the waist or the whole head was blown to pieces. Some Burmese soldiers, who did not know whether to call it lucky or unlucky, were hit in the arm or leg by bullets from their guns, and their entire limbs were torn off their bodies.

After the bullet shattered the hand-to-hand fighters in front, it burrowed into the crowd of Burmese army musketeers, overturning many of them.

More than 400 guns were fired in one round, and the densely packed Burmese army actually fell nearly 1,000 people at once!

The Burmese were so frightened by this terrifying firecracker that they did not know who was leading the way and fled backwards, and all the Burmese troops turned around and fled back to Tucheng. (To be continued.) )