Nan Ming Sun Never Sets

Chapter 452
The width of the estuary of the Yarlung Zangbo River is astonishing, even as wide as the sea, which provides very good conditions for the passage of ships of the Ming Dynasty Navy.In fact, in the books that Bai Mingxiu has read, the downstream section becomes the Brahmaputra River, and the river section in Bangladesh also becomes the Jamuna River. Only in China does it become the Yarlung Zangbo River, but Bai Mingxiu has now decided , the name should not be changed from upstream to downstream, it is meaningless.

Even though the water surface of the river is open, Bai Mingxiu will not act recklessly. He still sent a hydrological survey ship with a relatively shallow draft to enter the river to conduct hydrological surveys for the fleet, in case warships or troop carriers run aground after entering the river. awkward situation.

However, after working for most of the day, the hydrographic survey ship was finally discovered by Bengalis on the shore and reported to the Mughal authorities.

The Mughals then sent several rowing boats in an attempt to intercept the steam-powered survey ship.

"Captain, they seem to want us to stop."

The captain's name was Wang Ke. He was originally a scholar, but he had good skills. After entering the army, he became a technical officer and the captain of a survey ship.

This technical officer still has a very bookish look of a traditional literati, and he even wears glasses, making him look even more refined.

"Shoot them back. Completing the mission is the first priority." The captain of the technical officer raised his glasses, and was still recording the data of the water depth measurement with other colleagues.

Several navy sailors attached their heavy machine guns to the ammunition belts and pointed them directly at the approaching rowing boat.

The other side yelled at them in an incomprehensible language, and Sailor A asked, "Guess what they're calling."

Sailor B: "Probably tell us to fire."

Sailor A nodded: "I think so too."

Da-da-da-da.

A small rowing boat was hit by a heavy machine gun, and even the boards were blown and smashed. The two boats didn't even struggle at all, and they turned into broken slag in less than a minute. Mughal soldiers.

The captain Wang Ke casually glanced over there, and said, "Okay, this position is measured, let's continue going in."

But this time, more ships, big and small, appeared.

Bengal Province is a very famous shipbuilding area of ​​the Mughal Empire. Although their shipbuilding technology level is lower than that of Europeans, they actually manufactured a large number of ships.

Wang Ke didn't suffer from the immediate loss, and said: "Let's retreat back, and report the data we measured by radio, and ask the escort formation to come up and fight. We can't move so many ships."

In the Global Fleet this time, relatively basic radios have appeared. Although the technology is very rudimentary, it is already an extremely innovative and advanced equipment for the Ming Navy.

The measuring ship retreated backwards, and the speed at which it opened made the Bengalis dumbfounded, but what made them even more dumbfounded was that a group of very huge warships appeared here.

Bai Mingxiu was still outside the estuary, but several frigates had already entered the estuary.

"It's a little surprising. I didn't expect this war to start with a naval battle." Bai Mingxiu laughed.

Soon, the rumble of cannons was heard from the Jiangkou side, but it didn't last long and everything calmed down again.

Bai Mingxiu looked down at his watch and smiled: "Ten-nine minutes."

Diplomat Liang Haisheng also laughed, "There is no suspense in this kind of battle. The only difference is how much or how little time is spent. The Yarlung Zangbo River is so wide that there is no possibility of even blocking it. Our fleet only needs to figure out the hydrology. , you can go straight in.”

In this Jiangkou water battle, two Polu-class armored cruisers and four Xuzhou-class armored frigates participated. On the Bangladesh side, five sailboats of different sizes appeared, and only one sailboat had a few artillery pieces on it. Such a battle Naturally, there is nothing to repeat.

After opening Jiangkou, Bai Mingxiu sent a regiment of Burmese troops to land directly on the land near Jiangkou, and this infantry regiment quickly captured a port town of Chandpur near Jiangkou.There are not many Mughal defenders here. Once the Burmese army arrived, most of the local people fled back home or fled without even encountering any resistance.

There are good port conditions here, so Bai Mingxiu decided to let the main force of the Ming army's ground troops disembark and gather here.

Liang Haisheng asked: "Commander Wang, are you planning to gather our troops and seek a decisive battle with the Bengal Army of the Mughal Empire?"

"It's like this. Our navy has many large-tonnage ships, which are difficult to operate on the water of the Brahmaputra River. After all, the strike range of naval artillery is limited. Our goal is to occupy Bangladesh, not simply destroy or deter it. "

Liang Haisheng said: "You deliberately left the governor of Bangladesh with time to react, let him gather his troops, and then win in one fell swoop."

Bai Mingxiu said: "He won't have much time to react. We will march to Dhaka in three days at the latest. Anyway, the Burmese vassal army will be stationed here to assist Wu Min in the governance of Bengal. There are still remaining enemy troops. They The clearing can be carried out slowly.”

Shaista Khan, the governor of Bengal, is the uncle of the current Mughal emperor Ozerambu, which is also in line with the habits of the Mughal Empire. The governors of various provinces are generally held by relatives of the emperor.Shaista Khan did not take over the Bengal province for a long time, but he had already integrated the power of the Bengal princes and waited for an opportunity to deal with the mountain people who refused to obey the rule, as well as Chittagong controlled by the Ming Dynasty Burma Consolation Division.

The news that the mysterious "Myanmar" army appeared on the southern coast soon reached Dhaka. Shaista Khan was furious. He immediately ordered the princes to send the troops to Dhaka for him to call. In his plan, he wants to assemble an army of [-] to make the "Burmese" look good.

However, the speed of gathering of the Bengalis was still too slow. A day and a half after he got the news, the "Myanmar Army" had already appeared outside Dhaka.

"How many troops does the Burmese have?" Shaista Khan asked his general.

"The number is not large. There are about 4000 people, all of whom are infantry."

Shaista Khan said contemptuously: "The Burmese are really arrogant. Although I haven't assembled all the troops in Bengal, my direct troops are the most elite cavalry, and they can beat these Burmese mountain people to pieces! "

The Mughal Empire was an Indian country established by foreign nations. Its rulers were ethnic groups from Central Asia, mainly Turkic Mongols or Persians. Shaista Khan himself was of Persian descent, and many of his cavalry were from Afghanistan. Pashtuns and Gujarati warriors from northern India.They were very good at suppressing other ethnic groups in India, and Shaista Khan also believed that dealing with the "Burmese" was easy.

(End of this chapter)