On the second day after the Datong army left the city of Prome, Mangtai had already discovered it.
He first sent a small group of troops to attack tentatively, and found that the south and north of the city were all empty camps.
Even so, Mang Tai did not dare to pursue immediately, fearing that the Datong army would trick him out of the city. This guy was extremely cautious, and sent a fast boat to inquire about the news. He didn't dare to be sure that the enemy had really left until the Datong Army traveled northward for dozens of miles.
Regarding this situation, Mang Tai was both happy and angry.
The good news is that the Datong army did not capture Pyay, but dared to go deep into the north alone, and sooner or later they would be surrounded and wiped out by the Burmese army.
What's angry is that the Datong army treats him like air, and they are not afraid of him following behind to chase after him!
Mangtai left 10,000 refugees to defend the city, and led an army of tens of thousands to pursue.
Although he was angry in his heart, he didn't dare to chase too fast.
One is that there are only more than 3,000 main forces, and the remaining tens of thousands are all scum, and marching too fast will collapse the team. The second is to be cautious, fearing that the Datong army will kill the carbine.
Every time he came to a city that had been occupied by the Datong Army, Mangtai would go forward to defend the city, and then send spies to inquire about the news, and then continue to chase after confirming that the Datong Army had gone far. At the same time, he hurriedly wrote the victory report, and regained another city by himself.
Finally, the Datong army approached the city of Bagan and camped several miles outside the city.
This news made Mangtai completely let go of his vigilance, and led his army out from Shaobu City in the south, and slowly marched forward to fight a battle in Bagan City. At that time, his troops will be in the south, and the King of Burma's reinforcements will be in the north. Together with the army in Bagan City, they will be able to completely wipe out this arrogant enemy army!
Outside Bagan, the Datong military camp is still there.
More than 1,000 supply ships and more than 8,000 Mon sailors were stationed on the riverside next to the big camp. In the barracks, there are still 3,000 regular troops, 5,000 inspectors, and more than 10,000 Mon servants.
The defenders in the city dare not come out, and are still waiting for reinforcements.
However, the artillery of the Datong Army continued to bombard the city wall every day, and seemed to intend to storm the city, unlike the main force who had left.
"The enemy is coming, run!"
A small group of Burmese cavalry collided head-on with the dragoons who were exploring the road, and fled away after a long distance.
When Yang Zhan heard the news, he was a little helpless: "The enemy general is not a fool, he was careful all the way, and he can be called a good general in China."
"Abandon the luggage and speed up the march!" Ding Jiasheng ordered immediately.
Thousands of dragoons chased them out first.
The Datong Dragoons in the southwest region, to be precise, belong to the mountain cavalry.
The riders are all Southwest pony, good at climbing mountains and ridges. Equipped with a tiger squatting cannon, it is convenient to move quickly and fire between paddy fields and mountains. All crew members have flintlock guns, no bayonets, only waist knives and lances. Instead of cotton armor, he only wore a layer of light chain mail, and a rattan helmet that shaded the sun, rain, and arrows.
In the south, Mangtai seemed a little flustered when he received the news. The Datong Army actually shot back. Aren't you afraid of being chased by the defenders of Bagan City?
Or, how dare you divide your troops to attack your tens of thousands of troops?
"The whole army retreats to the camp!"
The so-called camp is the temporary camp they set up last night. Some wooden fences were inserted to make the walls of the village, and a small amount of trenches were dug, which could barely be regarded as fortifications.
Mang Tai didn't dare to march back to the nearest city in a hurry, as the same sentence said, running too fast would disperse the troops.
The main force of the Burmese army is tens of thousands of standing troops. The expansion of the army during the war is also to let the local nobles recruit farmers. Local aristocrats have their own private soldiers, recruiting peasants within their jurisdiction can guarantee the combat effectiveness of the peasant army.
But the Datong army killed it too quickly, and the local nobles ran away with their private soldiers. Many did not flee to the north, but avoided the front of the army and fled to the east to gather in Bagu and Toungoo.
Without the local nobles leading troops, it was difficult for Mang Tai to effectively command the peasant army.
"The enemy is coming, the enemy is coming!"
Before the Burmese army returned to the place where they camped last night, the Datong dragoons had already caught up.
Thanks to King Talong, who had passed away from illness, an official road was laid along the river, otherwise the river bank would be full of rice fields, and the cavalry would really not be able to run.
Here belongs to the middle and upper reaches of the Ayeyarwady River, where rice is harvested two or three times a year.
It is clearly winter, but the seedlings are knee-deep.
Mangtai hastily deployed his army, leading the main force himself, forming an array near the official road. More than a dozen local nobles led tens of thousands of peasant troops, stepping on the rice fields and spreading them on both sides.
In order to pursue quickly, the Datong cavalry did not bring tiger squatting guns.
"Abandon the horse and line up!"
The cavalry general is called Qin Fuguo, who is Qin Liangyu's grandnephew.
More than 4,000 dragoons, in an instantOn the official road, quickly reload and shoot at the rice fields on both sides in turn.
At this time, more and more Burmese troops found that their main general had already run away with the main force. The local aristocrats were the first to react, calling the private soldiers to turn around and flee, and the nearby militia immediately followed suit.
The four wild rice fields are full of routs, and the Datong army can't pursue them.
After hacking and killing all the way, those defeated soldiers on the official road finally knew how to jump into the rice field to escape.
"Fuck me!"
When the routs on the official road cleared up, Qin Fuguo finally discovered that there were still countless luggage blocking the road ahead, and even a few artillery blocks there.
The luggage of tens of thousands of troops was lying on the official road, and it would be hell if the cavalry could pass.
Qin Fuguo roared angrily: "Get off your horse and enter the field, capture the prisoners, and transport the luggage!"
There is no way to chase after them. When these luggage are removed, the main force of the enemy army may have fled back to the city. We can only capture the prisoners as much as possible, seize the luggage and go back to the mission.
This battle was fought nonsense enough. Although the enemy army was defeated, the main force all fled.
Fortunately, the materials were seized!
When Ding Jiasheng and Yang Zhan led the main force of the Datong Army to chase after them, facing this situation, they also couldn't laugh or cry.
Thanks to the enemy generals, who came hundreds of miles away, turned around and left after delivering the supplies, and did not stay to listen to thank you.
In any case, the Chinese army, which has gone deep alone, will not worry about the food problem for the time being.