Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 12: The Mughals launched a war of three emperors?

After leaving the Liuli Palace, Zhu Cixuan realized that Ava City was in chaos, just like Ping'an County.

As the news of the arrival of the Ming army spread, many princes and nobles panicked and packed up their belongings and fled the city in a hurry.

Wei Bao, Adayun and others set fires everywhere, and the rumor that Zheng Yanping led an army of 100,000 to rescue the emperor spread, which made the Hongsha people completely furious, thinking that the Ming army had entered the city.

When the turmoil in the Glass Palace broke out, many people wanted to come to the rescue of the king, but when they heard that the king had gone to the Western Paradise, they were confused and at a loss for a moment.

I received an imperial edict from Lu Dao and wanted to go find the army of Toungoo King Mangbai.

As a result, news came out from Liuli Palace again that Mang Bai killed his brother and seized the throne. The Crown Prince of Ming wanted to lead the Ming army to avenge his adoptive father.

It is said that there is only one king in Hongsha Kingdom, and that is the descendant of Pingdali.

No, don’t we know our own king of Hongsha Kingdom?
Even if he was not the young Pindali's son, the throne should have belonged to the previous crown prince Naimuye Kyaw, and also to King Thalong's third son, Pimuhou. It would never have been the turn of the king's younger brother, Toungoo King Minye Kyaw Ting.

The Hongsha people, who were already suspicious of the appearance of Mangbai's army in Ava City, hesitated for a moment.

Rumors were flying everywhere, and some said that Aurangzeb of India, who had fought against elephants alone, had arrived and killed the king.

Aurangzeb?

Why would a Mughal emperor like him come to our Hongsawadi?
Will there be a Three Emperors War with the Ming Emperor replacing the Qing Emperor?

There are the Arakan Mountains and the Arakan Kingdom between us!

Some Ahmutans were even dissatisfied with the nobles' hoarding of grain, and took advantage of the chaos to attack the wealthy and steal their rice.

Upon hearing the news, many Hongsha generals who led troops abandoned the Ludao Liuli Palace and turned back to protect their own residences.

The Ming army and the Hongsha army, the Hongsha soldiers and the Hongsha soldiers, Ahmutan and the noble guards.

Under the red moon, the blood color in Ava City became more and more intense.

Bie Daiyun hurried out of the Glazed Palace and anxiously found the momentarily bewildered Mang Bai. "Prince, quickly retreat with your army."

"Meet up your fifty thousand troops in the north, and then go directly to Xiahongsavadi."

Mang Bai was shaken by the sudden arrival of the Ming army outside the city and shook his head violently: "We can't move. Once the northern army withdraws, Shanghongshawadi will fall into the hands of the Ming."

Bie Daiyun stamped his feet anxiously: "Even if you don't leave, won't Awa City and Shanghongsha fall?"

"The Ming army appeared fifteen miles to the south. Even if it wasn't that idiot Zheng Yanping, it must be that the army of the Marquis of Beimu, who was guarding the key pass, had been defeated by Gong Xinwen."

"If your northern troops don't withdraw now, they will be trapped on both sides by the Ming Empire, and they won't be able to withdraw even if they want to."

"If your 50,000-man army is gone, our Hongsha Kingdom will be completely without soldiers and generals, and our country will be completely destroyed."

Bie Daiyun had not finished speaking. The city of Ava was located between the Toungoo Army and the Pyin U Mu Army, and was on the main grain transportation route to Hongsha. No matter whether Mangbai or his third brother Mangwen, the Marquis of Pyin U Mu, took Ava, they would block the other side's retreat.

Once the Ming Dynasty captured Ava City and the king died, both Toungoo and Pyin Oo would have large armies and inheritance rights, so they would definitely not work together to attack the capital, but would return to their own cities while their food and supplies were still available.

The Crown Prince of Ming State took advantage of the internal contradictions of Hongsha State and carried out this risky plan.

As long as the Ming Kingdom captured the city of Ava, no matter how many troops the Hongsha Kingdom had, as long as they could not capture the capital in half a day, the Ming army could besiege the city and attack the reinforcements.

Mang Bai, who had realized that he had fallen into the trap of the Crown Prince of Ming, turned pale and shivered all over. He reached out and held Bie Daiyun's hand.

"There are still troops in the city. Together with my three thousand men, there are more than ten thousand of them. This is enough to suppress the hundreds of Ming troops in the city and put down the riots."

Bie Daiyun panted heavily, tugging at Mang Bai's cloth armor. "My Lord, I saw with my own eyes the Crown Prince of Ming slay the white elephant like a god or demon, charging into the battle line like he was in an empty space. Even our Hongsha Kingdom's most formidable general, Captain E Dai, wasn't even a match for him."

"Don't even mention the 10,000 soldiers and horses in the city in this chaotic situation. How many can you mobilize, Lord Hou? Even if you can command them well, can you stop the Crown Prince of Ming?"

Mang Bai's breathing also began to quicken. Everything was going according to plan.

Except for Zhu Cixuan's bravery.

Shouldn't the Ming imperial army and the king's personal guards be both defeated, and he could easily enter the city in the name of serving the king and take control of Ava and occupy the Liuli Palace?

The Crown Prince of Ming was so brave, why didn't he break out of the siege when Andiwen (Bai Wenxuan)'s troops were thirty miles away from Ava City last year?

He wants Ava City and Upper Hongsavadi? !
Mang Bai regretted giving Zhu Cixuan the chance, and looked at Bie Daiyun with pleading eyes.

"There are still Portuguese mercenaries in the city. Even if they are strong and brave, they will die if they are hit by lead bullets or iron bullets."

Bie Daiyun said sternly, "Prince Hou, please wake up. We are unwilling to let the Ming Crown Prince succeed in his evil plan. But now it's night. How can we mobilize those Portuguese? Their guns and cannons are all on guard on the city walls. How can we turn them to the streets to deal with the Ming army?"

"Even if you kill the Ming crown prince, what good will it do? If you can't quell the unrest in Ava City in a day or two, and there's the Ming emperor and the chieftain of Mangshi, Gong Xinwen will reach Ava City in a few hours. Can you stop the Ming army?"

Mang Bai's face turned increasingly pale, and he gritted his teeth, "Where's Adayun? Ask him to capture the Emperor of Ming."

"Damn it! I wonder which village temple he placed the Emperor of Ming in?"

Touching the ring on his left hand given to him by his brother, Mang Bai said gloomily, "I should have listened to the teachings of my brother and the mage and not let the evildoers sow discord among the brothers."

Facing Mangbai's frustration and self-blame, Bie Daiyun was speechless for a moment. He shook off Mangbai's grasping hand and said angrily, "Houwang, the king is incompetent. He can't even manage the Ahmutans who rule over him. Even if you don't act, with internal and external difficulties, if the Ming Dynasty doesn't withdraw its troops, the Ahmutans will find another prince to rebel against."

"At that time, there were internal and external troubles. Only if you pacified the disturbances in the capital could the whole country unite to deal with the Ming Dynasty."

Just as Mang Bai was struggling, Zhu Cixuan, who had defeated two groups of Hongsha's loyal troops, had already arrived here.

"Mang Bai!"

Hearing the shouts, Mang Bai turned and saw the Crown Prince of Ming leading hundreds of Ming soldiers, marching towards him in a bloody mess. "Zhu Cixuan!"

Mang Bai gritted his teeth and blurted out the name of the Crown Prince of Ming, his eyes were about to burst, and the tattoos of gods and demons on his body were shaking.

Looking at Mangbai who was protected by an army of nearly a thousand people, Zhu Cixuan was calm and unhurried. He took a bow from his personal soldier and pulled the bow. The full bow was like a red moon in the sky, and he aimed at Mangbai a hundred steps away.

Not what he expected.

"A real man, you murdered your uncle, the Toungoo Marquis Mangbai, with the strength of a real man."

The sharp arrow flies along with the sound of the string.

The meteor flew through the noisy and chaotic battlefield and arrived in front of Mang Bai.

Bie Daiyun pulled Mang Bai to the side in time, but blood still splattered.

The arrow pierced Bie Daiyun's left shoulder, grazed Mang Bai's right ear and hit the soldier behind the two men.

Bie Daiyun did not care about his injuries, and he and Mangbai's confidants forcibly dragged the Duke of Toungoo to hide behind the army.

Amid the Ming soldiers' shouts of "Your Highness is a great archer", Zhu Cixuan drew his bow and aimed at his sworn uncle. Sharp arrows fell into the Hongsha army like a meteor shower.

The commander was injured and no one knew where he had fled to. With no one to give orders, the more than a thousand soldiers that Mangbai had hastily gathered had no choice but to follow the retreating footsteps of the commander's personal guards and flee in a swarm.

Mu Tianbo and Wei Bao led the Ming army forward. The Ming soldiers bathed in blood under the red moon were like evil spirits emerging from hell.

The Hongsha army, which was already in chaos, collapsed with a loud bang, and the formation that was barely maintained was completely disintegrated, and they fled into the surrounding alleys and houses.

The entire situation was out of control, and the only relatively organized army in Ava City fled out of the north gate with the white gold wheel flag under the pursuit of the Ming army.

The Ming army soldiers who had chased for two miles were gasping for breath. They thought the battle, which was a life-or-death struggle, turned out to be so easy.

From the Duke of Qian to every soldier of the Imperial Guard, everyone had a smile on their face. The depression they had felt like they were being exploited for a year was suddenly released, and they all screamed and vented the long-standing depression and frustration.

Deng Kai, who was knowledgeable about military affairs, had an injury on his left foot and walked a little slower as he hurried to Zhu Cixuan's side: "Your Highness, everything is not over yet."

"There are still two thousand soldiers outside Mangbai City. We should immediately seal the city gates and go to the towers to defend against the enemy."

Zhu Cixuan nodded and asked Mu Tianbo to lead his men to block the city gate. Wei Bao led half of the Ming soldiers back to the Ludao Liuli Palace in Ava City and tried to defeat the reorganized Hongsha army.

He took Deng Kai to the city wall by himself.

There were not many Hongsha defenders on the city during the grand ceremony and banquet, and the few dozen defenders who hurriedly climbed up the tower were easily suppressed by Deng Kai.

"Don't kill me, I'm also a Ming citizen. I even attended your prince's baptism ceremony!"

Zhu Cixuan was curious when he heard the Chinese language with a heavy accent. He followed the sound and found that it was a group of Portuguese.

"You can speak Chinese."

The dark-skinned Portuguese Ming saw Zhu Cixuan, who was dressed elegantly, and crawled and rolled to Zhu Cixuan's feet: "Sir, I am also a Ming nationality. I have been in Macau for five years."

"My name is Midrigadan, and I also have a Ming Dynasty name called Midan. I have met your Governor-General of Guangdong Province and your Prime Minister. I was there when the missionary Qu Ande baptized your Queen and Prince."

Zhu Cixuan smiled and said, "Oh, you have also seen my baptism."

Mi Dan was stunned for a moment. Just now, he was drinking with his colleagues and was sighing about the powerful emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the past, who was majestic and awe-inspiring, with thousands of miles of territory and a million-strong army. But in the end, he became a prisoner and even his son had to be adopted by the Hongsha Kingdom.

Unexpectedly, the person who was being teased at the table appeared before his eyes immediately.

"Your Highness, we were deceived by the Hongsha Kingdom and became mercenaries. We would never dare to go against the Ming Kingdom. We have never harmed a single Ming citizen."

Zhu Cixuan laughed and said, "How many mercenaries like you are there in Ava City? How much does Hongsha Country pay you?"

Midan was stunned again, his green eyes moved slightly, and he doubled the reward.

"There are 200 of us Portuguese, plus the Greeks, French, and others, making a total of 250. King Hongsha gives us 20 pounds of silver per person per year."

"Your Highness, for only five pounds, I can summon all the European merchants and missionaries in the city, more than three hundred of them."

Zhu Cixuan nodded slightly, pointing his sword at the ablaze Ava City. "It doesn't matter. I don't have any money to give you, but Ava City has hundreds of years of savings from the Hongsha Kingdom. Have those mercenaries go up to the city walls and fire their muskets and cannons at the outside of the city. Don't worry about whether there are people there. Use up all the ammunition and hold out until dawn. I will allow you to plunder Ava City for a day."

"For God's sake, we must purge these pagans for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Midan was ecstatic upon hearing this. He made an awkward Ming Dynasty bow and turned around to tell his companions the good news.

A group of European mercenaries suddenly burst into cheers, shouting "Long live God" and turned around to operate flintlock rifles and cannons.

Suddenly, the sound of gunfire roared continuously, like the summer rainstorm that just passed and fell on the roof. The dense gunfire and bullets were like an invisible wall, pressing towards the Hongsha army outside the city.

Smelling the smell of gunpowder, Zhu Cixuan stood on the city wall and watched the Mangbai army gathered outside the city turn around and retreat two miles under the threat of artillery.

The three thousand soldiers that Mang Bai had gathered privately did not bring any siege equipment, so they could only sigh at the city. A quarter of an hour later, they turned around and followed the golden wheel flag to the Jinsha River to take a boat north.

Zhu Cixuan looked up at the sky, which was covered by dark clouds, with only a corner of the red moon visible.

The bright moon of Qin and the pass of Han.

The city of Ava is just the starting point of everything.

(End of this chapter)