Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 106 Field Battle
The debate in the Arakan palace lasted until the moon was high in the sky.

Surrender to the Ming Dynasty or seek help from the Mughals.

Tudama chose both.

Faced with Zhu Cixuan leading his troops in person, no one would muster the spirit to resist.

No matter how powerful Mang Baiqi's army of 200,000 was, it would still be destroyed overnight.

Not to mention that Arakan only has a total of 100,000 soldiers and horses.

Tudama knew deep down that Zhu Cixuan would never accept surrender.

While Taungoo Bedayun talked about the value of unity, Arakan only demonstrated the value of self-destruction.

Noon the next day.

VanderLaan filled the clay pipe with a pinch of tobacco and struck the flint to ignite the tinder, igniting the tobacco.

Vanderlan took a deep breath, puffed out smoke and listened to Tudama's words.

"It's the rainy season now. The Mughals won't send troops. They won't come to our aid until the cool season, at least four or five months from now."

Not only the Mughals, but even the Ming Dynasty should have sent troops again in the cool season.

The Arakanese and the Dutch all wanted to delay the situation until then and then decide whether to invite the Mughals in.

Who knew that the Ming Dynasty only sent two or three thousand soldiers and drove them back to their homeland.

Zhu Cixuan appeared even more mysteriously near the royal city.

Tudama, who hadn't slept all night, was in a bad mood. "The only good news I can say is that Zhu Cixuan only has two to three thousand men."

"Mauk U City was once attacked by 40,000 troops from land and sea by Mang Shwe Ti, the founding king of Toungoo, but it held its ground."

Vanderlan slowly blew out smoke rings, but the heaviness in his heart did not ease at all.

With the help of the Dutch, Mrauk City can naturally be defended.

But wouldn’t the entire defense line in the Rakhine Mountains have to be abandoned?

Zhu Cixuan's two or three thousand men could not capture a big city, but they were more than enough to cut off food supplies and gunpowder, and even break through the pass ahead.

By then, the Ming Dynasty Hongsha army will be able to march straight in and surround Miaowu City.

Vanderlan hesitated and asked, "Should we ask Governor Bengal for a few thousand reinforcements? A large army would be hard to march during the rainy season, but we could still bring some men here by ship."

Four or five months, Arakan will definitely not be able to hold out for that long.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty would block the Chittagong coast and prevent the Mughal invasion.

The Netherlands' plan this time will be completely wasted.

Tudama rubbed his eyes and said, “I sent a minister of Shah Shuja to tell the Mughals that their former prince is with us.”

"We can only do our best and leave it to the gods and Buddhas."

Tudama had long regretted provoking Zhu Cixuan.

But there was no point in saying anything now.

We can only try to hold out in Mrauk-U until the Mughal troops arrive.

One was chewing betel nut and the other was chain-smoking.

They looked at each other in silence in the palace.

VanderLaan had nearly emptied the tobacco pouch.

Finally, there is new news.

The Arakanese general who had discovered Zhu Cixuan's whereabouts and military strength told him one bad news and one good news.

The Ming army surrounded Kyaukbi Town, which was only about 40 kilometers away from Mrauk-U.

The good news is that Zhu Cixuan’s Ming army is not large.

Vanderlan knocked the embers from his empty pipe, his eyes wide. "What did you say?"

Tudama's sleepiness was gone: "The Ming army only has a few hundred people?"

The Arakanese general nodded repeatedly: "Your Majesty, that's right, Zhu Cixuan only has a few hundred Ming troops, at most five or six hundred people."

“The others are Chin and Mizo.”

Vanderlan's face lit up with joy.

The Dutch had a trading post in Bangladesh and bought a lot of Chin slaves from Arakan, so they naturally knew about these indigenous people.

Vanderlan and Tudama looked at each other.

Understand the other person's thoughts.

If the natives of the mountains leave the mountains, they are worse than dogs.

Excluding the natives who could be easily dealt with by guns and cannons, Zhu Cixuan only had a few hundred soldiers capable of fighting.

Vanderlan did some calculations and said, "Here in Mrauk-U City, we the Dutch can deploy 700 people."

Tudama nodded and said, "Miaowu City can also send 2,000 people."

"I have also dispatched 5,000 troops from the major fortresses in Chittagong. They will be back in two days at most."

"When the time comes, there's no need to stay in Mrauk-U. Just head north along the river. Kyaukphu Town is right next to the Karnaphuli River."

Mrauk City is not big, and one or two thousand people are enough to guard the four city walls.

If worst comes to worst, there are still tens of thousands of people around who can be conscripted.

Vanderlan stroked his pipe, feeling a little excited.

As long as the Ming army in the heart of Arakan is defeated, the war can be delayed for a few months until the Mughals arrive.

Even captured Zhu Cixuan alive.

Not only Hongsavadi, but even Koxinga of Dongfan Island could retreat without a fight.

The Ming army was so small that the situation turned from dangerous to safe in an instant.

"We in the Netherlands will also dismantle some of our artillery and place it on your riverboats. Then our navy will bring two boats to provide fire support."

Tudama frowned and asked, "Isn't eight thousand a little too few?"

Vanderlan disagreed.

The reason why he valued Zhu Cixuan was that he was shocked by his victory over Toungoo in just three months.

In his view, no matter how powerful the Ming army was, it was equivalent to the East India Company's army, bullying the uncivilized natives.

The company's thousand troops were enough to deal with Zhu Cixuan's hundreds of Ming troops.

The East China Sea overlord Koxinga had an army of over 100,000, while Batavia only sent more than 1,000 reinforcements.

But it was clear that the kings of the windward lands, such as Tudama, had already been paralyzed by Zhu Cixuan's fear. To reassure him, Vanderlan reluctantly sacrificed his own flesh and blood: "Aren't there more than 10,000 slaves in the city ready to be loaded onto the ship?"

"Draw two thousand men from there, making a total of ten thousand, and then we will chase and intercept Zhu Cixuan, preventing him from escaping into the Rakhine Mountains."

Tudama, having carefully thought about it, turned his worry into joy: "That's great. I will stay in Miaowu City and leave it to you when the time comes."

Fan der Lan patted his chest and promised: "No problem, I will personally lead the troops to capture Zhu Cixuan."

……

Three days later.

Under the active attack of the Dutch and Arakanese troops, the Ming army did not advance another kilometer.

They even blocked it in Jiaobi Town.

If the Ming army does not leave the town, it will be left with no choice but to fight like a trapped beast.

Holding up the telescope, Vanderlan saw the Sun, Moon and Dragon flags fluttering on a mound far from the river. He took a puff of his cigarette.

"Wilder, I never thought we wouldn't run into Koxinga's army on Dongfan Island, but now we've run into the true Crown Prince of Ming."

Captain Wilder of the East India Company looked out into the distance and saw the chaotic formation of the Ming army. He said with some disdain:

"Commander, it's because Kiichi and his men have been on Dongfan Island for so long that they are so afraid of the Chinese."

"If you ask me, the Portuguese who didn't plunder Macau should have gone to Kinmen and Xiamen to give Koxinga a good beating."

Vanderlan, holding his pipe, turned and said seriously, "Captain Wilder, you just fight this battle well."

"Tell these natives who is the uncrowned king of the land above the wind and the land below the wind."

Wilder accepted the order in a deep voice.

After a while, the sound of artillery fire rang out in the tropical rainforest.

Relying on the fact that the number and weight of his artillery were far greater than those of the Ming army, Wilde directly drove Zhu Cixuan off the mound.

Seeing the Ming army hastily fleeing with several cannons, Wilde led the Dutch and Arakanese and pressed forward.

After chasing for several hundred meters, the Ming army rearranged its formation.

Wilde saw the Ming army driving two elephants towards his army in the sparse jungle, and immediately ordered the Arakan general to take the Hongsha captives to meet the enemy on the left.

He ordered his 300 Dutch native soldiers to line up in twelve rows and march forward facing the only three remaining cannons of the Ming army.

When they were within range of the muskets, Wilder shouted, "Three volleys, continuous fire, keep moving forward."

It’s only a distance of less than two hundred meters.

Arrows and bullets were like a dense rain curtain, covering the empty space in the middle.

When the two armies were only fifty steps apart, Zhu Cixuan tilted the Sun, Moon and Dragon Flag forward three times.

The Ming army's formation, which had complex origins, suddenly surged towards the Dutch musket formation like a tide.

However, with every step forward, more than a dozen Chin and Mizo people fell.

When both sides burst into crazy roars, the Arakanese mountain people with complicated weapons ran into the Dutch army.

The Dutch army, equipped with bayonets, did not panic at all. They used their muskets as spears and stabbed the oncoming enemies.

In less than two minutes, the mountaineers who had broken through the first row of Dutch troops ran into muskets that had been reloaded.

Three more rounds of gunfire rang out.

In the smoke, five or six hundred mountain people fell down and finally could not control their fear.

As Wilder expected, they began to rush back madly.

Seeing that Zhu Cixuan wanted to lead his personal soldiers to charge forward, he was blocked by the fleeing natives, even though he swung his sword and killed more than ten people.

But it was obvious that the firearms behind were more terrifying than the cold weapons in front. The mountain people continued to flee in a swarm, and even waved their weapons to injure many of their companions who blocked their way, hoping that the latter could delay the enemy for them.

Wilder sneered: "They are no different from the barbaric natives of the archipelago."

He noticed that Zhu Cixuan had started to turn the carriage around and lead his troops to evacuate.

Wilde waved his hand and led two or three thousand soldiers into the jungle with the Ming army.

After chasing them for a kilometer, they saw that there were only six or seven hundred people left around Zhu Cixuan, and the road ahead was blocked by a lake.

Wilder was overjoyed and sent out all his troops, shouting:
"Don't kill Zhu Cixuan. Capturing him alive can threaten the Ming Dynasty and the King of Qin!"

"The Commander has promised that if a slave captures Zhu Cixuan, he will be freed. If an Arakanese captures him, he will be rewarded with 10 kilograms of gold. If a soldier captures Zhu Cixuan and is promoted to lieutenant, he can get 500 kilograms of cloves from Batavia."

A pound of cloves sold to Europe for 7 Dutch guilders.

Five hundred kilograms of cloves, that's 100 pounds of silver.

Suddenly, thousands of people rushed towards the Crown Prince of Ming Dynasty who seemed to be in a dead end.

"Captain, something seems to be wrong in the jungle."

The officer next to Wilder spoke cautiously.

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of cannons like the angry thunder god resounded through the jungle.

Ten iron bullets smashed through the dark wood and landed in the Dutch formation.

Limbs flew, and blood mist splattered fan-shaped trails on the ferns.

Two consecutive rounds of artillery fire immediately threw the Dutch Arakanese into chaos.

"Gun position, three o'clock."

Before Wilder could close his mouth, he saw a spear suddenly shooting towards him out of the corner of his eye.

Just as he was about to react and dodge, his chest felt like it was hit by a bull, and he fell to the ground uncontrollably.

Wilder, who was nailed to the ground by a spear, was spitting blood foam. Before he could reach out for help, he saw his adjutant's throat pierced by a sharp arrow shot from nowhere, and he went to see God before him.

The sudden sound of fighting attracted Wilder's attention. More than two hundred cavalrymen suddenly appeared behind him, wearing iron armor and rushing towards them with unparalleled momentum.

puff.

The spear on Wilder's body was pulled out by an enemy as strong as a calf.

Covering his chest where blood was gushing out, Wilder watched as the two hundred cavalrymen reaped the lives of his soldiers like mowing grass.

In the sight, Zhu Cixuan, who was just in a dead end, led his last troops to counterattack.

Cooperating with the ambushing cavalry, they directly wiped out these three thousand people.

In his last moments, Wilder heard the voices of slaves not far away.

"Don't kill me, I am from Hongsha, and I know where the king of Arakan is."

(End of this chapter)