In the lower reaches of the Irrawaddy River, a fleet of ships flying the banner of the Ming army hoisted full sails, and under the action of the southeast wind, sailed upstream, in the direction of Yawa City.

The Akha people in front of the route had better relations with the Westerners, and because of the disagreement with the Burmese people, the Akha people allowed them to pass through. Wang Xinyu's fleet passed through the Akha-controlled area and sailed upstream along the Irrawaddy River.

In the tenth year of Wanli, the Taungoo Dynasty invaded Yunnan and was defeated by the Ming army, its strength was greatly reduced, Siam in the southeast declared independence, and the Acehnese and Malays on the Malay Peninsula also broke away from Burma with the help of the Portuguese. The Akha people in southern Myanmar also took the opportunity to govern themselves. However, at this time, Burma was still the largest country in Southeast Asia, and it did not come to an end until the war with Siam began.

In the Ming army, among the local boatmen hired by the British and Portuguese, there were also many Akha boatmen. Wang Xinyu's army also hired several Akha people to act as guides and scouts.

The 24 warships that fought the vanguard were a kind of British-built sloops, and this kind of small inland river fast warship was naturally rented from the British, and this kind of ship was only 21 meters long, four meters wide, 1.2 meters in draft, single-deck, and had a displacement of only more than 70 tons, with two four-pounder guns in the bow and stern, and four three-pounder guns on each side. Such a small sloop was already a huge in the Irrawaddy River, and no Burmese ship could withstand a blow.

It was followed by four British-built river gunboats, the same size as a sloop, but without four- and three-pounder cannons, and only a twenty-four-pounder mortar. Like small battleships, they were rented from the British.

There were also more than 100 Portuguese man-made flat-bottomed river dhows, which were only eighteen meters long, three meters wide and had a draft of one meter. The displacement is fifty tons, and they are all four-pounder guns at the head and tail.

The remaining 500 or so river boats, both British-built and Portuguese-built, were transport vessels with a displacement of 20 to 50 tons. The transport ship was full of Ming soldiers, and the largest ship could carry 50 Ming soldiers or 30 tons of cargo. On the ships transporting artillery, one ship carried ten three-pounder guns, or six four-pounder guns; A small 20-ton sampan can also carry more than 20 Ming troops.

In addition, there are more than 200 rafts, bamboo rafts and small sampans used by sailors to deal with obstacles such as Burmese fire attack boats, barrages, and underwater piles.

A few bamboo rows were lined up in front to find the way, so as not to run into the barrage or underwater piles. In order to prevent the British and Portuguese warships from penetrating deeply, Burma set up underwater piles and barrages on the river to block Western colonists.

Pass along the way. The Burmese on both sides of the Irrawaddy River looked at the huge fleet on the river in amazement, they didn't know what this fleet was doing, anyway, it was not a good person. Someone had already rushed to Yawa City to report the situation to Mang Bai. The Burmese naval divisions upstream were also ready to meet the attacking Ming fleet.

Because of the fact that it was swimming against the current, and because of the need to guard against the Burmese in the middle of the river, the fleet sailed for a whole day after leaving the area controlled by the Bagoakas, and sailed only more than 60 kilometers. That's not much faster than a person can walk.

After nightfall, in order to avoid being attacked by the Burmese during the night voyage, the fleet anchored in the middle of the river and temporarily stopped to rest. Meantime. Wang Xinyu also sent people out to inquire about the news.

"My lord, does Burma really dare to do something to our emperor?" Gong Xiaoda asked.

"That's right! They're definitely going to get their hands dirty! According to my estimate, our emperor must be in danger by now! Wang Xinyu nodded affirmatively. By this time, it was already September. Mangbai must have already launched the Curse Water Tribulation.

Before dawn, the local Akha soldiers who were sent out to inquire about the news came back and reported a message to Wang Xinyu: "The general is a god!" Mang Bai has indeed imprisoned the emperor of the suzerain! ”

"Sure enough, it's a white-eyed wolf that can't be raised!" Luo Xiang and the others said angrily. "It seems that we made the right move this time!"

Wang Xinyu said: "Now we are famous!" Immediately take the pen and ink, the general will send a text, and the army of King Qin of the Ming Dynasty will crusade against Mangbai and welcome back the emperor! ”

The soldiers took the pen and ink, and Wang Xinyu wrote a crusade against Mangbai under the lamp: The Mangbai thief killed his brother and usurped the throne, and his position was not right, in order to get the support of my country, he did not hesitate to commit the following crimes, hijacked the king of my country, and killed the minister of my country, which is an unforgivable crime! Reckless and white vainly tried to hand over my son of heaven to the Tartar puppet dynasty in order to tie up the Tartars, which is really the anger of people and gods! Now Wang Yu, the governor of Qiongzhou in the Ming Dynasty, sent troops to fight against the thieves, swore to destroy the thieves who committed the rebellion, and welcomed back my great tomorrow!

The documents were copied from the military and distributed everywhere. At the same time, Wang Xinyu wrote another letter of war and handed it to the Akha soldiers, so that they could try to deliver it to the Burmese army.

After dawn, the Ming army continued to sail upstream.

The wooden platoon exploring the way ahead found that more than a dozen small Western-style inland river warships were coming from the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River, followed by more than 50 Burmese-style dragon-tail warships, hundreds of canoes, and dozens of large rafts full of firewood and grass, heading down the river towards their fleet.

"It's the Burmese Army's sailors!" The wooden platoon in front of the pathfinder immediately set off fireworks and signaled.

The Burmese naval division hid at the bend of the river, and the main fleet of the Ming army did not find the Burmese naval division hiding at the bend of the Irrawaddy River and trying to sneak attack itself, but the wooden platoon that explored the road found the Burmese army and released a fireworks signal, which immediately attracted the attention of the Ming army.

"Get ready for battle!" Wang Xinyu saw the alarm and immediately ordered to go down.

The small river warships of the Burmese Navy Division were Western-style warships purchased from the Portuguese, and they were Caravel-type ships, and the tonnage of these ships was not large, generally 50 to 100 tons, which was suitable for both inland navigation and sea navigation. The ships were armed with six to eighteen three-pounder guns, and the Burmese troops on board also had muskets.

Many of the Burmese soldiers who rowed in canoes and dragon-tail oars were also armed with muskets. At that time, the proportion of firearms in the Burmese army was still relatively high, because the bowstring was easily damaged in the humid Southeast Asia, and the Burmese and Siamese used firearms in large numbers at an early age.

The Dragon's Tail Ship is a unique inland river warship in Myanmar, with its stern raised high like a dragon's tail, and a person sitting on the dragon's tail at the helm. There were more than a dozen sword men rowing on the boat, and more than a dozen musketeers stood in the center of the boat. Shoot with muskets from a distance, and when you get closer, the paddlers can take on the gangs.

The Ming warships slowly sailed upstream, and the rafts, bamboo rafts, and small sampans of the sailors followed the battleship and rowed upstream.

"The Burmese fire attack raft is coming down!" Someone shouted.

Chen Lei, who was in charge of commanding the boat, immediately asked his soldiers to send orders down and let the raft go to deal with the Burmese army's fire attack on the raft.

The Burmese rafts, which had been lit with firewood and grass, lined up on the surface of the river and rushed down the river to look like a pontoon bridge across the river, burning with raging fires. But the Burmese did not have the slightest experience of water warfare: although they came down from upstream, the wind was blowing from the southeast, and the smoke was blown northward, and the scorching flames turned to the north and sent a wave of heat behind the rafts.

The Burmese soldiers rowing behind the raft were roasted by the smoke and fire, and they were all miserable.

The rafts of the Ming army sailors immediately stepped forward and went to ram the rafts that had been lit by the Burmese. In the blink of an eye, the Ming army sailors were already approaching the rafts of the Burmese.

"Put!" The Ming army yelled at the general.

The Ming soldiers on the raft opened their bows and arrows, shooting rows of arrows at the Burmese raft fifty paces away.

Only a scream was heard, and the Burmese soldiers who were rowing the raft were hit by arrows one after another, and they were shot like hedgehogs. Some screamed and fell into the river, and some fell on wooden rafts. In order to avoid the indiscriminate arrows, some of the Burmese soldiers who did not die threw off the rafts and jumped into the river, allowing the rafts to be operated by no one to go down the river.

The Ming rafts immediately caught up with the blazing rafts, knocking them over or crashing them into the shore. After the Ming raft broke through the Burmese army's fire attack raft, the small boats, bamboo rafts and river warships that followed behind passed through the burning Burmese rafts on the river and killed the main fleet of the Burmese army.

The canoes and dragon-tail warships that the Burmese army followed behind the fire attack raft immediately killed, and the Western-style warships of the Burmese army following behind also opened heavy fire on the rafts, bamboo rafts, and sampans of the Ming army.

The roar of the "boom boom" artillery broke the tranquility of the river, and the shells flew in and fell into the river, raising columns of water that soared into the sky.

The small boats of the Ming army were very nimble, and most of the artillery shells of the Burmese army missed, and they fell into the river and stirred up countless milky white water columns. However, a few unfortunate small sampans and rafts were also hit, and the Ming troops on board were immediately bloody. The raft was shot and scattered, and the sampan was smashed into pieces of wood before sinking into the river.

The Ming warships behind the rafts and sampans also came out and fired at the Burmese warships in the distance.

The river warships flying the battle flags of the Ming army spewed fire, and the choking white smoke rose and could not be dispersed on the river for a long time. The shells swept across the river and plunged into the water in front of the Burmese warships, raising countless columns of water.

In the fierce battle, a Burmese Western-style warship was shot, and the shells smashed several planks of the ship, and immediately the debris flew sideways, and many Burmese soldiers on the ship were hit by shrapnel-like wooden fragments and fell on the deck. The shell landed on the deck, smashing a large hole, and the jumping plank from the ground hit a Burmese soldier in the head. The Burmese soldier's head burst open like a watermelon, and white brains and splattered blood splattered on the deck.

The boats of both sides were approaching, and the soldiers on the Ming boats fired with bows and arrows, while the Burmese boats counterattacked with muskets.

The river was filled with white smoke, and the Burmese boats spewed out dazzling fires, and the musketeers picked up their muskets and fired dense bullets at the Ming boats. (To be continued.) )