On the morning of 25 August, Wang Xinyu gathered the whole army and publicly announced a major news: "Send troops to Burma Qinwang!" ”

Hearing this news, the whole army was taken aback, and the soldiers talked about it.

The high-ranking military officers had known about this news for a long time, and what Wang Xinyu told them was that the Burmese side had long colluded with the Qing court, and it was likely to be detrimental to the imperial court. The purpose of our dispatch this time is to put pressure on the Burmese side to give up the idea of cooperating with the Qing court, and it is best to rescue the Yongli court.

As for the text, Wang Xinyu doesn't know how to write it yet. His knowledge of history is not very strong, only that there is a curse water difficulty, which happened in August, I don't know the specific time, and I don't know if it happened at this time. But one thing is for sure, Wang Xinyu's army will definitely not be wrong when it arrives in Burma.

Although Yongli is a very incompetent son of heaven, if he can save it, he still has to save it, after all, it is a big banner. If it can't be saved, although Wang Shiyuan, that is, Zhu Cihuan's banner, can be erected, but at that time the problem will be complicated, first of all, Zhu Cihuan must have hatred for those old people in the Thirteen Kuidong camps, and he is also very hostile to Li Dingguo, who is not good at handling political relations, Wang Xinyu is difficult to settle this matter.

Therefore, the best strategy is to save Yongli and bring Yongli back to Qiongzhou; The middle strategy is that Yongli will continue to stay in Burma, so that Mang Bai will not dare to hand him over to the Qing army; The next policy is to set up another Wang Shiyuan.

After a busy night's work, all the ships were loaded, the transport ships were loaded with grain and ammunition, the decks were piled with vegetables and soybeans, and pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks were raised.

Pan Liu also told Wang Xinyu the good news: the more than 500 small boats hired from the Portuguese on the opposite side of the Malay Peninsula had also been reported, and the Portuguese were waiting in the Dawei area of the Malay Peninsula, and as soon as Wang Xinyu's fleet arrived, they would rent the ships to Wang Xinyu. These rented boats are only five or six to seven or eight zhang long, and they are all flat-bottomed boats on inland rivers, but there is no problem in walking along the coastline of Myanmar. Other than that. The Portuguese in Myanmar also helped to find a guide.

At that time, the British had not yet penetrated deep into Burma, and the Portuguese were limited to the Burmese coast. Because the Portuguese had business with Burma, they sold muskets, armor and swords to the Burmese to get gold from Burma.

"If we go to Burma, will it harm the interests of the Portuguese? Now we need their help. Wang Xinyu asked Pan Liu.

Pan Liu replied: "No, the Portuguese originally penetrated deep into Burma, but they drove them out. Now the negotiators sent by our Nanyang Company have agreed with them that after our army takes Burma, our Nanyang Company will control the Irrawaddy River, and our men will enter the estuary. Go deep into the interior to open mines, and then sell the goods to the Portuguese. This means that our Nanyang Company helped the Portuguese to fight back to Burma. ”

"This is a good solution, we send troops to Burma, not only can we Qin Wang, but also open an overseas colony and obtain the mineral resources we want." Wang Xinyu smiled almost from ear to ear.

Before leaving, Wang Xinyu also called Emperor Hu De and handed him a letter asking him to take the naval special combat team. They took three clippers to finish Zhoushan quickly, and handed the letter to Zhang Huangyan, asking Zhang Huangyan to act immediately and lead the army to attack Chongming Island. Set up a stronghold at the mouth of the Yangtze River, which can cut off the transportation of the Qing army, and even cut off the north-south communication of the Yangtze River, and open up the connection with the thirteen families in Kuidong; You can retreat and garrison Chongming Island. Nail a nail in Gangnam.

After Emperor Hu Dedi received the order, he immediately set off with the naval special combat team. He and his naval special operations team did not participate in Operation Qinwang, but cooperated with Zhang Yukun's Yangtze River fleet to attack Chongming Island.

Wang Xinyu also explained Pan Liu, who was in charge of logistics work. Let him take the merchant fleet of the Nanyang Company back and forth between Borneo Island and Singapore, and must transport supplies to Singapore in a steady stream, and Wang Xinyu's fleet would go back and forth between Singapore and the Irrawaddy River to deliver supplies to the front.

"If we don't have enough of our own boats, we can rent Spanish and Portuguese ships. The cost is all on my head and does not need to be borne by the company. We can't afford to lose money to our shareholders. Wang Xinyu explained to Pan Liu.

In fact, the expenses of going out to fight in the past were also borne by Wang Xinyu alone, and all the dividends he got from the company and the money he earned from sea trade were invested in military spending, and he almost didn't have a penny left. However, the costs of building castles and forts were borne by Nanyang, and those were included in the construction costs.

As for the freight cost of hiring the merchant ships of the Nanyang Company during the war, Wang Xinyu also paid the freight to the company out of his pocket. In fact, this can reduce the cost of many auxiliary soldiers, and it is still a very cost-effective thing for Wang Xinyu.

Pan Liu said: "The significance of this expedition to Myanmar is different, this is a war to make money, and the cost of the expedition is paid by the company." The board of directors has already met to decide on this matter, and my granddaughter has voted for you. ”

"It's a good way to feed your war by fighting! It is really admirable that Old Man Pan can come up with such a method. Wang Xinyu gave a thumbs up. You must know that making money by fighting wars is the thinking mode of Westerners, and the East India Company of Britain and the Netherlands is a company that pays for the war, but I didn't expect Pan Liu to learn such a mode of thinking.

Pan Liu said: "This is not Wang Junmen's granddaughter? It is necessary to feed the war with war. ”

Wang Xinyu then remembered that when he talked to Pan Ying, he had said about the opening of the Annan Coal Mine. Pan Ying asked at the time, what if the locals in Annam disagreed? Wang Xinyu's answer was to "type" one word until they agreed. As a result, the smart Pan Ying thought that sending troops to Myanmar could also take the form of company contribution, which could save Wang Xinyu military expenses on the one hand, and on the other hand, the company would just make money.

At noon, after the army had lunch, Wang Xinyu gave the order to "set off".

Sailors busily untied the cables, put away the anchor chains, and hoisted the sails. Ships of all sizes slowly left the dock and sailed into the Straits of Malacca.

Hundreds of boats compete on the sea, the sails are dotted, countless large ships and small boats slide into the central route of the Strait of Malacca, the sails are full, and the sea breeze blowing from the South Pacific Ocean passes through the Strait of Malacca, forming a piercing wind, blowing the sails loudly, and the fleet gradually accelerates. Ships large and small split the waves and sailed northwest at a speed of seven knots.

The fleet sailed smoothly and in a straight line at a speed of seven knots, it was estimated that it would take about 180 hours to reach the mouth of the Irrawaddy River.

After sailing for about four days and five nights, the fleet reached the Dawei coastline.

Wang Xinyu's flagship Drake entered the port, and the Portuguese had been waiting here for a long time.

A Portuguese officer greeted him: "Honorable Ming official, my name is Guiaro, and we have prepared the boats you want to rent, there are five hundred and twenty small boats in total. This time I'm going to go with you to Burma to the Irrawaddy River, where we've already found a guide. I have three hundred mercenaries here, and I'm going with you. ”

The boatmen were all natives of the Sultanate of Aceh, hired by the Portuguese from the Malay Peninsula.

Guiaro, a Portuguese officer, boarded Wang Xinyu's ship, and during the voyage, Guiaro talked with Wang Xinyu. He told Wang Xinyu: "In fact, in the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River, there are many gold mines. However, our troops are insufficient, and according to the agreement between your company and us, you will fight down and open the gold mines. We will assist you in attacking Burma, and when the time comes, we will give priority to the gold mines that will be developed at a good price, which will benefit both of us. ”

Wang Xinyu didn't know how the people sent by Pan Liu negotiated with the Portuguese, but the agreement sounded very fair and reasonable, and it was a win-win agreement. If there were no locals to find by the Portuguese to lead the way, the Ming army, who was not familiar with the terrain and road conditions of Burma, would inevitably be unable to move an inch in Burma.

As for the opening of the mineral concessions to the Portuguese after taking both sides of the Irrawaddy River, this was originally a business, and those resource minerals were not from the Ming Kingdom, but were snatched from others. This is tantamount to doing business with others with what you have stolen, and such a thing is of course very cost-effective.

On September 3, a huge fleet of ships arrived at the mouth of the Irrawaddy River.

At that time, there was no big city in Yangon, only a small town called Salem across the Yangon River, which was the location of the British East Indies Burma branch, and the Portuguese also set up companies here.

"It's time for Salian!" Albert was visibly thrilled to see the harbor ahead.

As the port of Salem gets closer, the British and Portuguese buildings in the distance gradually enlarge in people's eyes, and soon you can see the British flag fluttering on the British buildings.

The Portuguese, however, had mixed feelings, as they had reached the upper reaches of the river, but after being driven out by the Burmese, they had to share a port with the British.

In the port of Salem, the men of the Burmese branch of the British East India Company saw a fleet of British warships coming from a distance, and immediately sent small boats out to meet them. When the boat rowed forward, the British discovered that this British fleet was not a British fleet, but an oriental fleet flying the Ming flag.

"Oh my God! How did you get here? Can the Dutch, who control the Straits of Malacca, let you come over? "The British were visibly taken aback when they saw the Orientals.

Albert took the initiative to meet him and said to the British pilot: "We are now serving the Nanyang Company of the Ming Kingdom. Our boss defeated the Dutch in Batavia and made an agreement with the Dutch, who agreed to let us through the Strait of Malacca. ”

The English pilot was stunned, his mouth wide open enough to fit an egg. After a while, he came back to his senses: "What a miracle! The Orientals actually defeated the Dutch! ”

Because of the defeat of the Dutch, Wang Xinyu's fleet was welcomed by the British. British pilots introduced the fleet into the port of Salem and docked at the wharf. (To be continued.) )