Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 577 Pacifying Yunnan (Part 1)

Upon receiving the mission, Xue Xian began cooking and preparing rations in the camp that very night. This special force would be hiding behind enemy lines for several days. If they started cooking on a large scale in the open, there was a high probability that it would attract the attention of the enemy, and their whereabouts would be exposed.

The mission of infiltrating behind enemy lines and outflanking the enemy is a great achievement, but it is also very dangerous. He had to be extremely careful, lest he be discovered by the enemy while cooking a few meals, which would be ridiculous. Therefore, the entire 129th Division was prepared to eat dry rations for several days in a row.

The next morning, before dawn, Xue Xian led his entire division, carrying five days' worth of rations, and quietly left the camp from the north. They made a large detour to the northwest, and then stealthily advanced towards the upper reaches of the Baishi River.

Meanwhile, Zhu Liangzu's main force also began to cook. At the crack of dawn, the main force broke camp and set off, slowly advancing towards the Baishijiang defense line to the south. At the same time, Zhu Liangzu also sent out a large number of cavalry scouts to drive away the Yuan army scouts in order to cover the battlefield and prevent Xue Xian's cavalry from being discovered by the enemy.

Although Zhu Liangzu's Second Front Army did not have a dedicated cavalry unit for this southern expedition, the entire front army still had several thousand messengers and scouts.

Meanwhile, when he was in Guizhou, he had borrowed tens of thousands of mules and horses from the five chieftains. So he temporarily assigned these mules and horses to the two musketeer regiments of the Imperial Guard Division, allowing these nine thousand musketeers to fight on horseback, operating in platoons of 50 men, and to go to the front to fight scout battles.

Although these musketeers had not received professional cavalry training, they were not expected to fight professional cavalry battles. They simply used mules and horses as transportation. When they spotted enemy scouts, they would immediately dismount and fire volleys of gunfire, serving purely as mounted infantry. In this way, Zhu Liangzu was able to assemble tens of thousands of cavalry in a short period of time.

With so many scouts patrolling ahead, and with Zhu Liangzu's main infantry force of over 100,000 troops pressing from behind, the Ming army effectively suppressed Dalima's Yuan cavalry, driving them to retreat continuously towards the south bank of the Baishi River. By late afternoon on the 22nd, the main force of the Ming army had completely occupied the north bank of the Baishi River.

Upon reaching the riverbank, Zhu Liangzu ordered the main force to form ranks and set up camp, while sending scouts to patrol along the riverbank, aiming to eliminate all the Yuan cavalry scouts still on the north bank of the river, in order to cover the movements of Xue Xian's troops.

At the same time, Liao Yongzhong led the remaining three divisions of the Sixth Army Group southward and soon arrived at the east bank of the Baishi River. He searched for a suitable place to cross the river and sent out small groups of troops to cut timber in the surrounding area to make equipment for building pontoon bridges.

Meanwhile, on the Yuan army's side in Dalima, he was still confronting Zhu Liangzu on the northern front. The Yuan army had also prepared a lot of small catapults that were pulled by manpower and deployed them along the river.

When the Ming army sent men to try to build a bridge across the river, Dalima immediately ordered his soldiers to launch stone projectiles. Dozens of catapults took turns firing, directly smashing back the Ming army that was trying to build a bridge. The Ming army was suppressed and could not even get close to the riverbank, let alone build a bridge. They had to keep a distance of more than a hundred paces from the riverbank to be safe.

So the Ming army on the north bank went to look for other places nearby to try to cross the river. As a result, Dalima also ordered the Yuan army to push the catapults over. These small catapults were even wheeled and could be moved by manpower over short distances. In this way, the catapult positions also changed with the Ming army, and the Ming army was once again suppressed on the north bank. When the Yuan army saw this, their morale was greatly boosted, and they made a lot of noise on the south bank.

On the north bank, Zhu Liangzu ordered his soldiers to strictly forbid them from firing back, and instead focus on cutting timber and manufacturing bridge-building equipment, allowing the Yuan army to run rampant for two days.

Kelima's joy didn't last long, because soon a scout reported that he had seen a Ming army force heading south and circling around to the east bank. It looked like they numbered about 60,000 to 70,000 men. It seemed that they couldn't find an opportunity to cross the river in the north and were looking for a breakthrough further downstream on the Baishi River.

Upon hearing this, Dalima was taken aback and immediately groaned inwardly. The most difficult part of this battle was that the Ming army, a powerful force crossing the river, wanted to suppress him, a local snake. Although the Ming army had come from afar, their strength was much greater than that of the Yuan army. If the Ming army crossed the river from only one place, he could still hold his ground. But if the Ming army crossed the river from multiple places at the same time, how could he possibly defend against them?

In military strategy, it is generally considered taboo for defensive lines to be too long. As the saying goes, being prepared everywhere is the same as being unprepared everywhere. Once you fall into a passive defensive situation, it is only a matter of time before the enemy breaks through. But now, what we feared has come true. The Ming army has still divided its forces.

He repeatedly questioned the scouts about the exact number of Ming troops in the detachment, but the scouts insisted that there were 60,000 to 70,000 men. Dalima did not believe them and sent out several more groups of scouts to investigate. The answers he received were all similar, with at least 60,000 men.

However, in reality, Liao Yongzhong only had three main divisions and the Seventh Imperial Guard Division, totaling just over 50,000 men. But he made a big show of it along the way, with a long line of troops and many flags, which made the Yuan army mistakenly believe that it was normal for him to have an extra 10,000 or 20,000 troops. Even if Dalima personally scouted the area, he probably wouldn't have been able to guess the exact number of troops.

A large Ming army of 60,000 to 70,000 men was no small number for the Yuan army. Dalima naturally dared not be negligent. He ordered the Yuan army to also divide its forces to guard the east bank, while he personally rode to the north to scout the river defense line to see how many troops Zhu Liangzu's main force still had.

What I found was shocking: Zhu Liangzu's Fifth Army Group consisted of four main divisions, plus the Eighth Imperial Guard Division, and six civilian laborers from the immigrant divisions, totaling eleven divisions and nearly 150,000 troops.

Although these immigrant laborers cannot fight, they can certainly boost morale.

The main camp stretched for over ten miles. Although Liao Yongzhong's 50,000-strong detachment had been separated, the main camp's troop strength showed no signs of decreasing, leaving Dalima breathless.

Although he didn't believe the absurd claim that the Ming army had sent 800,000 troops to attack Yunnan—the figure of 800,000 was clearly exaggerated—the actual strength of the Ming army before him was at least 200,000 to 300,000, more than twice his own. How could he possibly fight them?
Forced into a corner, Dalima had no choice but to defend. He could only send 40,000 men to the east to confront Liao Yongzhong, while he himself led the remaining 60,000 men to confront Zhu Liangzu. They temporarily relied on the Baishijiang defense line to block the Ming army. However, Dalima himself felt very uneasy. The Ming army had too much numerical advantage, and he had lost confidence that he could stop them.

On the first day, the Ming army had just arrived at the riverbank and did not launch a large-scale crossing. The Yuan army suppressed the Ming army with catapults, but seeing that the Ming army was large and powerful, the Yuan army did not dare to cross the river to launch a surprise attack on the Ming army. The two sides were at peace for the time being.

The next day, Zhu Liangzu also had craftsmen build some small catapults. Although the number was small and the quality was poor due to the hasty construction, they were still brought to the front lines to exchange fire with the Yuan army. This move was mainly to confuse the Yuan army and make them think that the Ming army had no other way to suppress them.

Meanwhile, Zhu Liangzu also gathered a small number of archers in the army and, together with catapults, exchanged fire with the Yuan army across the river to cover more troops attempting to build a bridge to cross the river. The two sides fought fiercely across the river for a day, with casualties on both sides, but the Ming army never succeeded in setting foot on the other side.

However, Zhu Liangzu's plan was merely a pretense of crossing the river; in reality, it was only to ascertain the situation of the Baishi River. Although they failed to build a single pontoon bridge that day, the Ming army identified more than a dozen suitable locations for constructing bridges.

On the east bank, Liao Yongzhong fought very aggressively on the second day. After arriving at the riverbank on the first day, he had craftsmen make many temporary wooden shields. Then, on the second day, under the cover of a large number of shields, he sent the musketeer regiment of the 7th Imperial Guard Division to the shore to exchange fire with the Yuan army.

Since the eastern detachment of the Yuan army was dispatched temporarily, they lacked large siege engines such as catapults, so they could only rely on the archers in their army to hold them off. However, how could bows and arrows compare to the powerful flintlock muskets of the Ming army? As a result, these 4500 powerful flintlock muskets indeed suppressed the Yuan archers. Wave after wave of volleys of musket fire caused heavy casualties among the Yuan archers.

Seeing that he had suppressed the Yuan army on the opposite bank, Liao Yongzhong immediately sent Mao Gui's 128th Division to attack. The division, organized into battalions, used rafts to cross the river in twelve separate groups under the cover of musketeers' fire. For a time, the Ming army successfully crossed the river on the east bank with several thousand men. After crossing, the Ming army immediately formed a battle formation to cover the construction of pontoon bridges by the craftsmen among the laborers.

This move terrified the Yuan army on the eastern route. While organizing a counterattack, they also requested reinforcements from Dalima in the north. Dalima was also startled. If Liao Yongzhong were to cross the river and then cut off his rear, he would be in serious trouble. So he hurriedly transferred twenty catapults from the northern line and sent two thousand cavalry to support the eastern line, ordering that the Ming army crossing the river must be driven back or annihilated on the spot.

Seeing the large Yuan cavalry force approaching, Mao Gui did not show off. He ordered the soldiers who had crossed the river to form a long spear formation to defend themselves, while slowly retreating towards the pontoon bridge. When the Yuan cavalry could not break through the spear formation, they continued to shoot arrows from the outside. The Ming army, relying on its high armor coverage and the cover provided by shields and musketeers behind it, was not afraid at all. Instead, they slowly and orderly retreated back to the east bank along the pontoon bridge.

By evening that day, all the Ming troops who had crossed the river had withdrawn to the east bank, leaving behind not a single corpse or wounded soldier. The two pontoon bridges that had already been erected were also completely destroyed by the Yuan army, meaning that Liao Yongzhong's eastern route army had worked for nothing all day.

But it doesn't matter. His crossing of the river was just a feint to attract the Yuan army's attention. If he really intended to cross the river with all his might, he wouldn't have sent only one division, and he didn't even bring out the artillery.

Sure enough, the feint attack on the eastern route was effective. That evening, a messenger reported that the eastern route had successfully driven the Ming army that had crossed the river back to the other side. Dalima breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "That was close!"

At the same time, he was very wary of Liao Yongzhong's eastern army. He believed that he had figured out the Ming army's true intentions, which was to use the main force in the north to contain him, and then send elite troops to cross the river from the downstream in the east to outflank him.

That very night, Dalima ordered the craftsmen to build even more catapults overnight, not only increasing the number of catapults in the north but also strengthening the defenses in the east.

Well, his judgment can't be wrong, at least Liao Yongzhong's feint attack successfully diverted Dalima's attention, making him overlook the fact that the Ming army's real breakthrough point was actually upstream of the Baishi River.

On the second night after the Ming army arrived at the Baishijiang defense line, Xue Xian, who had been eating dry rations for two days, successfully led the main force of the 129th Division to cross the river quietly from upstream and lay in ambush four or five miles behind the Yuan army. After successfully crossing the river, he sent several messengers on horseback to deliver a message to Zhu Liangzu. That night, Zhu Liangzu received the news that Xue Xian had taken his position.

To avoid any unforeseen complications and to prevent the Ming army from discovering Xue Xian, who was hiding behind enemy lines, Zhu Liangzu immediately ordered all units, including Liao Yongzhong on the eastern route, to launch a general offensive at dawn on the third day. Xue Xian was to wait until the Yuan army showed obvious signs of wavering and the main force of the Ming army had already crossed part of the river before he could reveal himself.

On the morning of the third day, the Ming army, having just finished breakfast, routinely pushed the crudely made catapults they had acquired in the past two days to the front lines, as if they were clocking in for work, as if they were ready to continue exchanging fire with the Yuan army.

Seeing this, the Yuan army, unwilling to be outdone, quickly sent their artillery teams to the front lines, each trebuchet team consisting of forty to fifty men. Because these machines were manually operated, each launch required a dozen or twenty men pulling the ropes together. There were also those loading ammunition, and shield bearers and archers providing cover to prevent the Ming army from getting close enough to fire. This densely packed group, piled up in clumps, along with the towering catapults marking the Ming positions, immediately became excellent targets for the Ming artillery.

The next moment, before the Yuan army had even received any stone projectiles from the Ming army, the Ming army on the opposite bank suddenly abandoned their catapults and instead pushed out dozens of large and small iron pipes from the crowd. Without loading them, they aimed at the Yuan army's catapults and bombarded them fiercely, firing grape-shaped projectiles as their first shot.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom —

The continuous sound of cannons echoed along the banks of the Baishi River. On the north bank, the Ming army's artillery positions spewed thick smoke and flames from every cannon. Amidst the white smoke that resembled a volcanic eruption, dozens of iron balls, some the size of dates and others the size of walnuts, rained down on the Yuan army's artillery platoons like a storm.

At a distance of less than 200 meters, a single shrapnel grenade can fire more than 40 small iron balls. Being hit by a shrapnel grenade at this distance can instantly kill 20 to 30 people.

The Ming army's artillery on the north bank immediately displayed its power. One 155mm heavy cannon directly targeted a Yuan army artillery platoon on the opposite bank. With one shot, it fired more than 60 iron balls the size of eggs, and the fan-shaped spray of iron rain instantly covered the artillery platoon.

With a deafening roar, more than 40 Yuan soldiers on the opposite side vanished from the battlefield without even uttering a scream. The area hit by the cannon fell silent. After what seemed like a second, two seconds, or several breaths, a light, intermittent rain began to fall from the sky, landing on those who had been lucky enough to escape the hit.

One of the Yuan soldiers touched his face, which was wet with rain, and then looked closely at his hands. What he saw was not rainwater at all, but bright red blood and bits of flesh of all sizes!

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah----"

The Yuan soldier screamed like a madman and turned to flee, but before he could get far, he heard another loud bang behind him. The next moment, he felt his body go numb, and his vision began to shift at a strange angle to the sky, then back to the ground, and then back to the sky again.

In the last moment before losing consciousness, he vaguely saw behind him that a small iron ball hit his left leg as he was running, instantly severing his left leg at the knee. Two more iron balls hit his waist, cutting his body in half. His buttocks were still in place, but his upper body had already flown several feet away.

Finally, a small iron ball struck him directly on the back of the neck, instantly decapitating him. The scene he witnessed was merely the last thing his head saw as it spun through the air.

The severed head, eyes wide and mouth agape, fell to the ground with a thud. The white mist from the gunpowder mingled with the blood mist from the surrounding minced flesh, creating a suffocating, dense, and deadly spectacle. The next moment, it plunged into boundless darkness.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom —

Zhu Liangzu immediately unleashed the Ming army's most proficient artillery technique: a rapid-fire of ten rounds. However, this time, instead of using iron shells, he fired ten consecutive grapeshot rounds!
Although these shrapnel shells had a short range, with an effective killing distance of no more than 400 meters, they were numerous. Each shot could fire 40 to 60 small iron balls the size of walnuts, and a 10-shot salvo would produce 500 shrapnel shells. Meanwhile, the 60 cannons on the north bank fired simultaneously, firing more than 30,000 shrapnel shells in just three minutes, like a violent rain of steel, sweeping across the Yuan army's forward positions within 400 meters of the river.

After the thick fog caused by the shelling dissipated, only a few hundred or so Yuan soldiers remained on the front line of the army, which had numbered over ten thousand. These survivors seemed to have lost their minds, some running around screaming wildly, others standing still and swaying blankly, and still others kneeling on the ground vomiting profusely, as if they wanted to vomit up the previous night's leftovers along with their bile.

Dalima, who was in the central command, was stunned. He was having breakfast in the central command tent, thinking that the Ming army would continue to exchange fire as yesterday and then look for an opportunity to cross the river. But just as he was eating, he heard a cannon sound like rolling thunder coming from the north of the river. He was thinking to himself, "It's almost winter, why is there thunder?"

He immediately thought of the rumor that the Ming army was skilled in using firearms. The next moment, without waiting for his personal guards to call him, he rushed out of the tent and looked towards the front line to the north. But all he could see was a thick white fog and the acrid smell of gunpowder and blood in the air. When the smoke cleared, what he saw again was this hellish scene.

Within 400 meters of the river, there were severed limbs everywhere, and the soil on the ground looked as if it had been drenched in blood. In just three minutes, his vanguard of tens of thousands of men was reduced to only a few hundred men.

Where are the others? Where are my tens of thousands of troops?! The enemy hadn't even crossed the river yet, so how did they inflict such heavy losses on him so quickly across the water? Damn Ming soldiers, do they possess some kind of sorcery?!

Dalima stood there, trembling uncontrollably, unsure whether it was from fear or anger. The scene before him completely overturned his understanding of the world; he had never imagined that war would turn out like this.

However, what he didn't know was that in another time and space, before the Maxim machine gun was invented, this combination of cannon barrel and shrapnel shells had always been the most efficient killing machine on the battlefield, without exception!

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom —

Just as Dalima was still in a daze, the sound of cannons from the north seemed to be the signal for the Ming army to launch a general offensive. Liao Yongzhong's eastern army also fired their cannons. Although he only had about 50 cannons, the sudden attack caught the Yuan army off guard and caused heavy casualties in an instant.

In particular, these Yuan troops in Yunnan had never dealt with the Ming army, which possessed artillery, and had no idea how to deal with them. The Ming artillerymen were all apprentices of Lu Jin, and their best tactic was to launch a rapid artillery barrage. Once they opened fire, they would inflict heavy damage, cripple, or kill the enemy!

After the artillery barrage from both sides ended, the gunners quickly wiped the gun barrels with cool water to cool down the cannons, while Zhu Liangzu and Liao Yongzhong launched a large-scale general offensive across the river.

One by one, rafts were thrown into the river, and soldiers immediately rowed them to the opposite bank. They then climbed up the opposite bank using both hands and feet, raised the red flag of the Ming army on the other side, and drove wooden stakes into the river, tied them with hemp ropes, and tied the rafts together. In the blink of an eye, floating bridges were erected.

Meanwhile, the main forces of the seven divisions of the two army groups, along with the two Imperial Guard Divisions, crossed the river together. Each unit orderly stepped onto the pontoon bridges and charged towards the opposite bank. They quickly formed ranks on that hellish battlefield, stepping over the severed limbs and bodies scattered on the ground, and pressed rapidly toward the Yuan army's central army.

"General, what should we do? The Ming rebels are crossing the river! General, say something!" The guard shook Dalima's arm vigorously, but Dalima's lips trembled, completely at a loss for how to give orders.

If it were a battle with humans, he would certainly know how to respond. But if the opponent could kill his army of tens of thousands of people across a river in three minutes, would that person still be human?
With such unpredictable abilities, even if he were to command, what methods could he possibly use to stop the enemy?
Meanwhile, in the direction of the Yuan army's central formation, tens of thousands of soldiers first witnessed the horrific scene at the front, and were already trembling with fear. Then they saw the Ming army crossing the river on a large scale, with red flags constantly emerging from the river, and countless Ming soldiers in red armor surging from the opposite bank like a tide, quickly forming square formations in front of their lines, and then marching towards them with an unstoppable momentum.

Meanwhile, the Yuan soldiers in the central army were slow to receive orders from their commander. So, someone broke away from the formation and ran backward, which quickly broke a corner of the central army, and then the entire central army formation rippled outwards in all directions.

However, just as the Yuan army collapsed and scattered in all directions, Xue Xian, who had been hiding behind enemy lines, suddenly appeared with the 129th Division. Seeing the situation on the main battlefield, he was not in a hurry to launch a surprise attack. Instead, he ordered the entire division to raise more flags and beat the war drums loudly, as if the drummers wanted to break the drum skins.

The fleeing Yuan army suddenly heard the sound of drums coming from the rear and saw tens of thousands of Ming soldiers suddenly flanking them from behind. They were terrified.

The fastest Yuan soldiers turned and ran backwards, while the Yuan soldiers behind, unaware of the truth, pushed forward. The Yuan army of tens of thousands was thus squeezed into a mess, and before the Ming army could even attack, they had already trampled and killed countless people.

Meanwhile, Zhu Liangzu and Liao Yongzhong's main forces had all crossed the river and formed a triangular encirclement with Xue Xian's 129th Division, trapping the already collapsed Yuan army in the middle and frantically attacking them. The Yuan soldiers in the middle were desperately trying to squeeze in, while the Yuan soldiers on the outside were trying to escape. With so many people gathered together, they were destined to be hit by Ming army grenades.

The Ming army's pike infantry, using a combination of hand grenades and pike formations, shattered a swathe of enemy troops before launching a spear assault, peeling away the outer Yuan forces layer by layer like an onion.
The battle raged from the early morning of the 24th until midday. Finally, the Ming army was exhausted and began to offer large-scale surrenders. The Yuan army, which had been fighting for so long, had long lost its morale and felt a sense of relief upon hearing the Ming army's offer of surrender.

By evening, the battle results were tallied, and more than half of the 100,000-strong main force of the Yuan army in Qujing had been killed in battle. Among them, about 20,000 were killed by artillery fire, and more than 30,000 were killed in the final strangulation battle. Only 46,000 people were captured alive. The main force of the Yuan army in Qujing was completely annihilated.

The commander of the 100,000 Yuan army, Dalima, was stabbed to death by some Ming soldier in the crowd, dying so silently.

Upon seeing the devastation outside the city, the Yuan Dynasty prefect of Qujing immediately surrendered the city.

Meanwhile, in Kunming, 240 miles away, when Liang Wang Bazalawarmi learned that Darima's 100,000-strong army had been wiped out in one battle, he was initially filled with anxiety and then suddenly decided to flee. He ran directly to Jinma Mountain, northeast of Kunming, but later felt that hiding in the mountains was useless, so he ran out again and circled around Dianchi Lake in Kunming, not knowing where he could hide.

Finally, seemingly realizing that all was lost and there was no way to reverse the situation, in despair, Zalawaermi went to an unnamed thatched hut on the eastern shore of Dianchi Lake and hanged himself to follow the Yuan Dynasty he longed for.
(End of this chapter)