Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1220 Southwest Without Worry
In a side hall of the Qianqing Palace in the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Shenzhui finished reading the newly delivered report. This report was sent to the capital from Burma by the South Seas Navy. Although Burma was far from the capital, it would probably take three or four months to arrive by land, but it was a different story by sea.

Just like Zhang Xianzhong's journey from Beijing to Burma, he first went to Shandong from Beijing, then boarded a ship in Shandong and sailed south, passing through the Straits of Malacca and then heading north to reach southern Burma. This sea route was very smooth, and with the assistance of the Portuguese in Macau, the journey only took a little over a month, much faster than the land route.

Even after Zhang Xianzhong left Beijing, the fighting in Yunnan continued. Although Sha Dingzhou abandoned Qujing and Kunming and retreated to his stronghold, the Ming army in Yunnan finally reversed its previous disadvantage and began to counterattack against Sha Dingzhou. However, Sha Dingzhou still had tens of thousands of troops at his disposal, and his stronghold had been fortified for many years. In addition, the situation in Yunnan was different from that in the Central Plains, so the war would not be over in a short time.

In battles fought in the Central Plains, the army could advance quickly due to the flat terrain, and the fighting generally revolved around cities. In other words, as long as the enemy's garrisoned cities were captured, the battle lines could be continuously advanced, eventually leading to encirclement and annihilation of the enemy and victory.

But things are different in Yunnan. Yunnan is covered with dense forests and is rife with miasma. Not to mention that the terrain and climate are different from those in the Central Plains, it is difficult to deploy and launch large-scale attacks. Troops can only be divided into smaller units to coordinate operations and advance layer by layer. Moreover, many places in the area are not cities, but rather mountain strongholds. These strongholds are located in the mountains and forests, and it is not easy for an army to capture them.

Even if it took a tremendous amount of effort to capture the enemy's stronghold, the garrison consisted mainly of local chieftain soldiers and local villagers. They would often abandon the stronghold when things got tough, then break up their troops and flee into the dense forest. Once people were in the forest, it was difficult to find them again. Even if the Ming army had a large number of men, they would be scattered once they entered the forest. In addition, the forest was full of dangers, insects, and other pests, making it extremely difficult to defeat the enemy under such circumstances.

Once the Ming army withdrew from the mountain stronghold, the scattered chieftain soldiers and mountain people would flee back to their stronghold, thus turning all previous efforts to ashes. Therefore, fighting in Yunnan was not easy, especially wars against the local chieftains. Sha Dingzhou, as one of the most prominent chieftains in Yunnan, had occupied two prefectures for decades. Through generations of management by the Sha family, they had completely controlled the advantageous terrain.

Even Mu Tianbo was no exception. The Mu family had been in Yunnan for so many years but had not been able to completely resolve the problem of the Tusi (local chieftains). This was partly due to the Mu family's desire to protect their family's status, and partly due to the special circumstances in Yunnan. In a place like Yunnan, it was not easy to completely resolve the Tusi problem by force. Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty would have accomplished it long ago over the past two hundred years and would not have allowed these Tusi to remain like local emperors.

Therefore, when Sha Dingzhou led his troops back to his stronghold, the battle became more difficult. Although Sha Dingzhou abandoned an important town like Kunming, he relied on the terrain to maneuver against the Ming army after returning to his stronghold. After several battles, he not only did not suffer any losses, but also gained a slight advantage.

Seeing that the situation was not going well and that the tactic of annihilating Sha Dingzhou in one fell swoop was not working in Yunnan, the Ming army immediately adjusted its tactics, adopting a strategy of advancing step by step and continuously tightening the encirclement. At the same time, they eliminated Sha Dingzhou's outlying mountain strongholds one by one, and also imposed a complete blockade on Sha Dingzhou, preventing any food or supplies from reaching its hands.

Although this tactic is clumsy, it is quite effective. If it continues, Sha Dingzhou will inevitably be unable to hold out. Then, as long as we find Sha Dingzhou's location, we can launch a surprise attack to cut off his retreat and eliminate Sha Dingzhou's main force in one fell swoop. In this way, Sha Dingzhou will have no way to escape.

Of course, the Yunnan campaign could not be ended in a short time using such tactics; according to previous reports, it would take at least six months or even longer. Zhu Shenzhui had anticipated this situation, and he was not in a hurry, because he knew very well how troublesome Shading Prefecture was, and he also understood that completely destroying Shading Prefecture would not be so easy.

Therefore, Zhu Shenzhui did not put too much pressure on the army in Yunnan. He not only agreed to their use of this tactic but also provided support. The premise was that no matter how long it took, Shading Prefecture must be completely eliminated, especially the areas occupied by Shading Prefecture. The goal was to completely eliminate the local forces in both prefectures in one battle. After Shading Prefecture was destroyed, the local forces in these two prefectures would be basically wiped out. At that time, it would be much easier for the court to implement the policy of replacing native chieftains with appointed officials in these two prefectures.

The fighting in Yunnan will not end anytime soon, but the overall situation is unlikely to change much. With Sha Dingzhou shifting from offense to defense, his fate is sealed.

The defeat and fall of Sha Dingzhou is no longer in doubt, but the key issue lies with Myanmar. If Myanmar were to suddenly intervene, the situation in Yunnan could take an unpredictable turn. Currently, Yunnan's main forces, including reinforcements from Sichuan and Guizhou, are concentrated in eastern and southern Yunnan to besiege Sha Dingzhou. Therefore, Yunnan has limited troop strength elsewhere, consisting mainly of forces stationed in a few major cities and some troops from local chieftains.

Although the imperial court had reminded Mu Tianbo and others to be aware of the possibility of Burma launching an attack in the west and to prepare for defense, the deployment of troops in the west was limited. After all, Yunnan's military strength was not large to begin with, and it had already suffered considerable losses after the rebellion in Sha Dingzhou. Currently, sufficient troops were needed to besiege Sha Dingzhou, and if they were to break through the encirclement, all previous efforts would be in vain. Therefore, with limited troops, Yunnan was finding it difficult to manage both sides simultaneously.

To address this issue, the imperial court has ordered further troop reinforcements to Yunnan. However, the replenished forces cannot be deployed to Yunnan and immediately enter combat readiness in a short period. Furthermore, due to Yunnan's terrain and climate, troops from other provinces are ill-suited to fighting there. Even if they arrive at the battlefield, they can only perform peripheral garrison duties and support attacks, unable to undertake main offensive operations. Therefore, Zhu Shenzhui has been closely monitoring the progress of the war in Yunnan, paying particular attention to the situation in western Yunnan. Although western Yunnan remains calm at present, with no apparent signs of Burma's intervention, who can say for sure whether Burma will actually launch an attack? If Burma suddenly intervenes, the forces in western Yunnan will find it difficult to resist. If troops are not transferred from eastern Yunnan to western Yunnan, the Burmese army will break through and occupy western Yunnan.

However, if troops from eastern Yunnan are mobilized, a gap will appear in the current encirclement of Shading Prefecture. Without sufficient troops for an offensive, completely resolving the situation in Shading Prefecture will become a problem. Therefore, the key for Yunnan now is no longer Shading Prefecture, but Myanmar.

Just as Zhu Shenzhui was worrying about where to transfer troops to fill the gap in Burma's military strength, Zhang Xianzhong's memorial from Burma arrived in the capital. After reading Zhang Xianzhong's memorial, Zhu Shenzhui was instantly overjoyed and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Good! Good! Good!" Zhu Shenzhui shouted three times in a row, his face full of joy: "I never expected that Zhang Xianzhong would have such courage and audacity to do such a thing in Burma. This is comparable to Ban Chao back then!"

Zhou Anmin smiled and nodded, echoing from the side, "This is all thanks to Your Majesty's wisdom. If Your Majesty hadn't been good at recognizing and employing talent, sending Zhang Xianzhong as an envoy to Burma, how could such a result have been achieved? Zhang Xianzhong certainly made contributions, but in my opinion, it was Your Majesty who truly strategized and planned!"

"You, you, the older you get, the more you flatter and fawn over others," Zhu Shenzhui teased Zhou Anmin with a smile.

Zhou Anmin said solemnly, "Your Majesty is mistaken. I am only speaking the truth. There is not a trace of flattery in my words. Zhang Xianzhong is just a surrendered general, but in Your Majesty's hands, he has become a pawn that can determine the overall situation. If Your Majesty had not had the insight to recognize talent and send Zhang Xianzhong on this mission, how could such an outcome have been achieved?"

"Haha! Hahaha!" Although he knew Zhou Anmin was flattering him, who doesn't like to hear nice words? Besides, Zhang Xianzhong really did a good job this time. To be honest, even Zhu Shenzhui didn't expect Zhang Xianzhong to do this.

When Ban Chao was sent as an envoy to the Western Regions, in order to resolve the potential cooperation between Shanshan and the Northern Xiongnu, he led his men into the enemy's tent at night and personally killed the Northern Xiongnu envoy. This forced Shanshan to have no way out and had no choice but to cooperate with the Han Dynasty, thus successfully completing his mission.

Zhang Xianzhong did the same thing in Burma, even more drastically and directly than Ban Chao. Instead of assassinating Tang Jiabin behind the backs of the Burmese king and his ministers, he launched a surprise attack during a meeting in the palace. Before anyone could react, he seized a golden mace from a Burmese palace guard and smashed Tang Jiabin to death.

Even after Tang Jiabin's death, Zhang Xianzhong was not afraid of Mang Bai's threats at all. He even directly threatened Mang Bai as an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, forcefully suppressing him and ultimately forcing Mang Bai to submit, thus completely giving up the idea of ​​sending troops to Yunnan.

That wasn't all. Afterwards, Zhang Xianzhong even confronted the Toungoo Dynasty of Burma, accusing them of not paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty for decades, and angrily questioned whether they still considered themselves vassals of the Ming Dynasty. If they were, why didn't they pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty on time? What exactly did they want to do? Did they intend to break away from the Ming Dynasty and become independent?

Faced with this accusation, Mang Bai was speechless for a moment, after all, Zhang Xianzhong's words were true. Since the establishment of the Toungoo Dynasty, although Burma was nominally still a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, the Toungoo Dynasty was actually extremely powerful at that time. It not only unified Burma, but also launched attacks on neighboring countries and conquered a lot of territory. At its strongest, Burma occupied nearly half of the southeastern peninsula, making it a veritable local tyrant.

For this reason, the confidence of several generations of Mang clan kings greatly increased, and their ambitions swelled, leading them to believe that Burma was no longer comparable to what it had been before, and that the Ming Dynasty was no longer the same as it had been. In the later years of the Wanli Emperor's reign, the Ming Dynasty's national strength began to decline, especially after the devastating Battle of Sarhu, when the Jurchens rose to power in Liaodong. The Ming Dynasty was also mired in internal strife and was no longer able to exert absolute control and influence over its neighbors. Under these circumstances, Burma naturally could no longer pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty; the concepts of suzerain state and vassal state existed only in name.

(End of this chapter)