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Volume 3: The Wind Rises from the South Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Battle of Babu Village 5

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    With the accurate and powerful counterattack of the Shun army's artillery, the Burmese artillery fire quickly weakened. Many gunners were killed by shrapnel, and more people abandoned their cannons and fled away, even though the officers hacked several deserters to death as a threat.  It was useless. The officers supervising the battle were quickly overwhelmed by the wave of deserters. Without the cover of artillery, the numerical advantage of the Burmese side was completely meaningless in the face of the solid positions and intensive firepower of the Shun army. Now anyone who is not blind can see that.  The defeat of the Burmese people is irreversible.  Babu Village is already in ruins. However, this is not the result of battle damage, but because after the Shun army occupied this place, they needed enough building materials to build barriers, so they demolished most of the houses in the village.  , the only thing left was the original residence of the village chief, which was used as a residence for the two Burmese princes and heirs. After all, the Shun Army was nominally escorting them back to the country to ascend the throne, so these two noble figures were allowed to stay like big soldiers.  It is really unreasonable to make do in the muddy beach.  The walls inside the village chief¡¯s residence are bare.  Luo Lin and Luo Qin were sitting on a bamboo bed covered with two layers of military blankets. The two siblings hugged each other and listened to the sound of gunfire coming from the north. It seemed as if time was passing by.  It went back to that night when the battle was raging in the Mandalay Palace a few months ago.  "Sister, do you think the Dashun Army can win this time?" Luo Qin raised his head, looked at his sister and asked in a low voice.  "We can win!" Luo Lin gritted his teeth and replied as firmly as possible: "You heard that the cannon fire was so dense, they are all from the Dashun Army. You will definitely be able to return to Mandalay and board your father's army again.  The throne! " "Yes!" Luo Qin nodded firmly: "I want to ascend the throne of my father together!" At this moment, someone suddenly said in a deep voice at the door: "Your Highness, Chen Zaixing!"  Lin Wensheng hurriedly pushed Luo Qin away from his arms, arranged the clothes of the two of them, and after sitting down, he replied: "Mr. Chen, please come in. How is the battle situation now?"  Lin and Luo Qin bowed down and said in a deep voice: "The traitors, dogs and sheep, have attacked our king's army several times, but they were all repulsed, leaving more than ten thousand corpses. Their attack has been defeated, and I think they will be wiped out in one fell swoop tomorrow."  "That's good, that's good!" Luo Lin couldn't help but stood up, stepped forward, grabbed Chen Zaixing's right hand, and said in a low voice: "If I can return to my hometown and ascend the throne this time, it will all depend on Chen Zaixing."  Sir and general, I really don¡¯t know how to repay this kind of kindness!" Chen Zaixing quickly and carefully pulled his right hand away from the opponent's palm, and whispered: "This is what a foreign minister should do, as long as he obeys the two countries of Myanmar!  Living in harmony and a country will last forever is the benefit for me!" Only then did Luo Lin realize what he had just done. He suddenly felt ashamed and turned away without saying a word.  She was already very bright-colored, but now her cheeks were flushed, all the way to the root of her neck. Against the background of her white porcelain skin, she looked even more attractive. Even though Chen Zaixing's heart had been as calm as an ancient well over the years,  At this time, I couldn't help but hesitate.  At this moment, a loud noise suddenly came from outside, like the earth was shattering, suppressing the sound of gunfire just now, and everyone in the room became pale.  Chen Zaixing hurriedly whispered: "Your Highnesses, please wait quietly. The foreign minister will go and see what is going on." As soon as Chen Zaixing came out of the room, he saw an officer from the Shun Army running quickly to look at him.  His face was full of joy, and the stone in his heart fell to the ground first, and he quickly asked: "What happened to that loud noise just now?" "I tell you, sir, I am so happy, that loud noise just now was me  The Fang artillery hit an enemy carriage transporting gunpowder, causing an explosion! Now the Burmese have been defeated and are fleeing towards Mandalay. The Bazhang Brigade has ordered our army to attack. A big victory, a big victory!  " "Okay, okay, okay!" Chen Zaixing tried his best to suppress the excitement in his heart, trying to show the calmness of a superior, but for a while he could only say "good". Fortunately, the officer also looked normal.  .  After a while, Chen Zaixing controlled his emotions, then turned and walked into the house, ready to tell the Luo Lin siblings the good news.  On the road from Singai to Mandalay, a group of people and horses were speeding. The sky was filled with dark clouds full of rain, moving slowly under the blow of the monsoon wind blowing from the Indian Ocean.  The clouds were so thick that from a distance it looked as if they were going to crush down and crush everything on the ground.  Meng Ji was sitting on the horse, and his mood at this time was like the sky above his head, depressing and gloomy.  Although he did not stay until the time when his army collapsed, he did not need to be very smart to predict the outcome of this battle, although he did his best to take measures to reduce his losses.  But one thing is certain now: the throne he usurped by force will soon be taken away by force. There is only one road in front of him now, which is to retreat to the Lower Myanmar region, and then be like those two children.?He returned to Mandalay with foreign aid, but at that time he would no longer be a king, but just a puppet of the British.  At this time, there was a muffled thunder in the sky, and then raindrops the size of soybeans began to fall.  Meng Ji raised his head and looked at the black sky, his plump lips twisted slightly, and a sarcastic smile appeared on his face. The outline of the huge Mandalay City had already appeared on the horizon, but how long could he stay there?  "Your Majesty!" Just as Meng Ji was immersed in anxiety about the future, a panting officer knelt in the mud beside him and loudly reported: "Something happened in Mandalay City!" "What?" Meng Ji was stunned.  , immediately asked: "Tell me, what's going on!" "A small number of traitors gathered together, took advantage of His Majesty to lead the army out of the city, launched a rebellion, claimed to be loyal to the previous king, and claimed that the former prince had returned to Mandalay under the escort of the Chinese army.  , attempted to occupy the city gate and armory. These traitors have been defeated by the generals who stayed behind. Except for a few people, most of the rebels were captured or killed. What should your majesty do?" "Very good!" When I heard about the rebellion!  Having been extinguished, Meng Ji's pale face looked better. Immediately, a cruel expression flashed across his face, and he whispered: "The general who stayed behind rewarded him with gems and silver. As for the prisoners, all were skinned and executed. Let all the prisoners be killed."  Look at what happened to the traitor! " "Your Majesty, there is another Chinese among the prisoners, and he is an official!" The officer had a look of embarrassment on his face.  "Official?" Meng Ji was stunned, and then asked: "A spy from the Shun Army?" The officer shook his head and explained that the Chinese official he was talking about was Liu Zhixing, the former judge of the Burmese Colonel's Office, and the former British Consul Gillings.  In order to force Meng Ji to completely succumb to the British side and achieve his own goal, he took advantage of the fact that the coup had just ended and the public security in Mandalay was unstable. He ordered his subordinate Duncan to lead a small group of mercenaries to attack the mansion of the Burmese Colonel of Dashun at night, killing the capital.  After Liu Zhixing escaped, he did not return to China, but stayed in Mandalay and hid in the home of a local nobleman who was inclined to the former king.  After the Shun army occupied Xingai, the brutal actions of the Burmese King Meng Ji greatly disappointed many nobles and businessmen in Mandalay, and many people's attitudes also changed. Liu Zhixing took the opportunity to lobby in secret, promising that as long as they returned to the city after the Burmese King left the city,  After launching a mutiny, the Dashun army broke through the city. Not only did the new king guarantee all their interests, but they could also be promoted to nobility. They even launched a coup. Unfortunately, they were defeated by the generals loyal to Meng Ji who stayed in the city, and he himself became a prisoner.  .  Hearing this, Meng Ji's expression changed several times. He was a very knowledgeable and capable person among the Burmese aristocrats. When he traveled to Yangon before, he saw the powerful military power and endless greed of the Western colonists.  The leader of his own kingdom felt a sense of crisis.  So he secretly contacted the British and used their support to seize the throne. He attempted to take advantage of the contradictions in the surrounding countries to consolidate his power in Myanmar, and then carry out political and military reforms to ensure the kingdom's independence and even its outward expansion.  , becoming the overlord in Southeast Asia.  But the reality is cruel. His plan encountered setbacks from the beginning. Lao Wang's two children fled to China under the protection of the Chinese, and the British did not give themselves a large amount of arms and support as promised in advance.  , but instead used conspiracy methods to kill Shun Guo's officials in Mandalay, eliminating the last possibility of a good relationship between himself and Shun Guo.  Now Shunguo's army has defeated his temporarily recruited army and is approaching Mandalay.  Forced by two powerful enemies, his dream was shattered like a beautiful soap bubble.  Thinking of this, Meng Ji raised his head and looked at the black sky. The rain hit his face, causing a dull pain.  Suddenly, he laughed loudly - it turned out that he had been daydreaming all these years!  "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" When the attendants and officers around him saw that Meng Ji was silent at first, and then suddenly laughed wildly, they thought that he was overstimulated and had gone crazy. They hurriedly gathered around to take care of him, but Meng Ji pushed him away and shouted loudly.  Said: "Go back to Mandalay immediately and tell the general to execute all the rebels, confiscate all their property, and hang their heads on the central tower and their limbs on the four side gates for everyone to see.  Look at the fate of the rebels!" "Yes!" The officer quickly lowered his head. At that moment, he felt a sense of fear, and the king's eyes showed an inhuman light, like a tiger about to pounce on its prey in the jungle, except for the murderous desire.  There is nothing else.  Watching the officer leave, Meng Ji summoned an entourage and whispered: "You set off immediately, rush to General Diok, and tell him to rush back to Mandalay as soon as possible. Before tomorrow night, you must go and call for help."  "The attendant was stunned and quickly lowered his head and said: "Yes, Your Majesty!" It was already dusk outside Babu Village, and it started to rain, and the dripping rain fell on the battlefield full of corpses and wounded.  Waves of moans mixed with the wind and rainThe sound sounded like a ghost, adding a bit of gloom.  The Burmese army that was here a few hours ago no longer exists. Only large bodies of corpses and mountains of abandoned equipment and equipment are left on the battlefield.  This battle, which determined the ownership of Mandalay and the future fate of the entire Upper Burma region, ended in one afternoon.  According to subsequent statistics, the Burmese puppet king's side left more than 7,600 corpses on the battlefield, and at least twice that number of prisoners and wounded. Due to poor medical conditions, more than 80% of the injured died in the future.  He groaned and died in pain within three to five days.  In comparison, the losses suffered by the Shun army were negligible. Twenty-five people were killed and fifty injured. Compared with the losses in the battle, the losses of more than a thousand people on the road and half of the livestock were much more shocking.  The only thing that comforts Batu and Chen Zaixing is that the rainy season will end in a few months. At that time, the road to Yunnan will be open again, and Shunjun can continue to come to Mandalay through there.  , then these losses will be easily replenished.  After winning the victory, the Shun army was not in a hurry to pursue. Poor traffic conditions and unfamiliarity with the local terrain restricted their actions to expand their results.  But the Shun army did not sit idle. According to Chen Zaixing's order, in the name of the new king of Myanmar, except for a few who stayed as long-husbands, most of the remaining prisoners were released. Through their mouths, Babu  The result of the battle and the news that the old king's orphan returned to Mandalay will be spread quickly. This is nothing more than the last blow to the already shaky rule of the puppet king. Even those who stayed to be the eldest husband, Shunjun  The reward was also paid in salt or silver. Chen Zaixing hoped to send a signal to the local Burmese people that the Chinese did not come as plunderers and conquerors. The purpose of their trip was only to protect the orthodox king and regain his throne.  These measures taken by Chen Zaixing soon bore fruit. On the morning of the third day of the Battle of Babu, many local Burmese nobles came to express their surrender to the new king and welcomed the arrival of the superior army.  Under Chen Zaixing's arrangement, the new king Luo Qin very reservedly expressed that he would ensure the lives and property of his loyalists and upgrade their titles.  On the fourth day, some of the largest nobles and temple elders in Mandalay City also rushed to Babu Village in person to pay allegiance to the new king and welcome the new king back to the capital. They even included a man who was directly subordinate to the puppet king Meng Ji.  I was an officer of the Burmese army. He was ordered to go to Mandalay to deliver the order to massacre the captured rebels, but he surrendered to the new king halfway.  From their mouths, Chen Zaixing learned that the puppet king Meng Ji had left Mandalay yesterday morning, accompanied by an army of thousands of people. These should be the remnants of Babu who continued to be loyal to him after the First World War.  A rebellious former royal army officer also said: The puppet king and his party should have gone to Mingqi.  "Called Qi?" A trace of worry appeared on Chen Zaixing's face, but he soon returned to his smile. He praised the former royal army officer's behavior of turning from darkness to light and the importance of this news. He also said that the new king would never forget his loyalty.  and merit, and finally a hint of the generous reward that such behavior will receive.  Chen Zaixing's cordial attitude and clever words made the former Royal Army officer's uneasiness disappear quickly before speaking, and he couldn't help but secretly feel grateful that he had made the right choice.  In order to show his loyalty to the new king, he also told Chen Zaixing that Mandalay had many "rebellious ministers" who were loyal to the puppet king. These people participated in the suppression of the "uprising" and committed numerous crimes. If possible,  I am willing to come forward and report them.
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