The Qing-Burma Campaign was a war fought between the Qianlong Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty and the Gongbang Dynasty of Burma. In 1752, the Burmese Taungoo Dynasty declined, and the former Burmese Mushu Tusi Yong took the opportunity to raise troops and established himself as the king of Burma. In the early stage, this dynasty pursued a policy of expansion, dominating the Indochina Peninsula and constantly annexing the border Tusi on the mainland. In the thirtieth year of Qianlong, thousands of Burmese troops attacked Pu'er in Yunnan, and Liu Zao, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, was forced to send troops to counterattack and blockade the palace, and the Sino-Burmese campaign began to break out in full force.
In 1752, Burma's territory and sphere of influence had apparently invaded the mainland border of Tusi
The Qing-Burma campaign can be described as a series of twists and turns, the Qing Dynasty launched a total of four battles, all of which ended in failure, especially the third time was the most tragic, the commander Mingrui went deep into Burma, fought dozens of battles, and finally died heroically, which is really sad! This article will talk about the third Qing court's expedition to Burma.
两次战败，乾隆命明瑞统兵再征
The commander of the First Qing-Burma War was Liu Zao, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou. In October of the thirtieth year of Qianlong, the Burmese army invaded Pu'er on a large scale, and Liu Zao, as the highest military and political chief of the Yunnan-Guizhou region, became the commander of the campaign to conquer Burma, but because he did not understand the army and the scheduling was disorderly, resulting in the defeat of the three-way enemy army, and was repeatedly reprimanded by Qianlong.
"The Legend of Shengwu"
The commander of the second expedition to Burma was Yang Yingju, who succeeded Liu Zao as the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and arrived at the Pu'er front line in April of the 31st year of Qianlong. Yang Yingju was so complacent that he ordered Tengyue's deputy general Zhao Hongbang to go out to Xinjie, a traffic artery. But in September, the Burmese army arrived, Zhao Hongbang was defeated, broke out, retreated from the road to Tiebi Pass, tens of thousands of Burmese troops followed, approached the Tiger Pass, and won again and again, because Burma was conquering Thailand, and was willing to negotiate peace before the army was able to stop. In order to cover up his defeat, Yang Yingju did not hesitate to lie about the military situation and create the illusion of Burma's submission. After being found out, Emperor Qianlong was extremely resentful, and gave Yang Yingju to death in August of the 32nd year, "the edict arrested Yingju to Beijing and gave him death". Things have developed here, the prestige of the "Celestial Empire" has been greatly damaged, and it is really a bit of a momentum for Qianlong, if Qianlong is suspended, of course, it is difficult to accept the result, then he has to make a big deal to stretch the sky, and his eyes are set on his brother-in-law Fu Heng's nephew Fucha Mingrui.
Mingrui, the word Yunting, Fucha, Manchuria inlaid with yellow flags. In the twenty-first year of Qianlong, he was awarded the title of leading minister as the deputy capital, and was promoted from the expedition to Amur Sana and promoted to the head of the household department and the counselor. In the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong, Ming Rui led the troops to participate in the suppression of the rebellion of Daxiao and Zhuo, and made many military exploits, won the honor of the image Ziguang Pavilion, and was promoted to the commander of the Han army under the Zhengbai Banner. In the twenty-seventh year, Mingrui became the first Ili general. Because he was trusted by Qianlong and had rich military experience, Qianlong ordered him to succeed Yang Yingju as the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and used the title of general to manage the military affairs of Burma. And make an extremely optimistic outlook for the future, wanting to level Awa and dismember Myanmar in one fell swoop.
Qianlong's expected goal
In this attack, under the instruction of Qianlong, the Qing court greatly increased the input of troops and materials. In terms of troops, according to the records of the "Records of Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty" and the "Diary of the Conquest of Burma", 3,000 people from the Beijing Division and the Eight Banners including the Jianrui Battalion, 8,000 soldiers from the Sichuan Green Battalion, 10,000 soldiers from the Guizhou Green Battalion (1,000 of whom were sent to Pu'er earlier), 5,000 soldiers from the Yunnan Green Battalion and local defense troops, with a total of about 30,000 people (Note: Wang Chang's "Chronicle of the Expedition to Burma" is slightly different, with 3,000 soldiers from the Eight Banners, 8,000 soldiers from Sichuan, and 10,000 soldiers from Guizhou. 4,000 soldiers in Yunnan).
The number of troops dispatched and the route of the march recorded in the "Records of the Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty".
In terms of materials, 5,800 horses from Sichuan, 6,000 horses from Guizhou, 2,000 horses from Hunan, 1,000 horses from Guangxi, and 800 horses from Guangdong, totaling 15,600 horses for military use.
The mobilization of troops and materials of the Qing army recorded in the "Chronicle of the Expedition to Burma".
兵分两路，蛮结大捷
After Mingrui arrived, he immediately began to arrange an offensive against Burma, Mingrui originally planned to march in three ways, and then Qianlong and Mingrui had a discussion with the monarch and ministers, and agreed to divide the east and west roads: one route was led by Mingrui and the counselor minister Zhu Rune, and the leader of the team Guanyin Bao led 1,900 full soldiers and more than 10,000 green battalion soldiers, a total of 12,000 soldiers from Wanding to Mubang, and then through tin foil and Song Sai to take Ava; There were 7,000 soldiers in the green battalion, a total of 7,900 soldiers from Huju Pass to Mengmi, first attacking Laoguantun, joining forces with Mingrui, and then attacking Ava.
The Third Battle of Burma in the Atlas of "History of Chinese Wars".
In this attack, the 12,000 people led by Mingrui were the absolute main force of the attack. According to Zhou Yu's "Diary of the Expedition to Burma", the whole army of Mingrui set out from Yongchang on September 24, the 32nd year of Qianlong. Along the way, "the mountain is steep and the road is slippery", arriving at the top of Lengshuijing Mountain in Puwu (Puyi Town, Longyang District, Baoshan City) and stationing, due to the harsh climate and extremely difficult conditions, "the sky is dark, the people and horses are blocked, the wind and rain are always coming, the clothes are dripping, the size can not enter, and there is no place to stop under the saddle, so I spend the night on the horse." The army crossed the Lujiang River, passed through Longling, Mangshi, and covered to Wanding (now Wan Town, Ruili City). On the first day of October, he arrived in Mubang and "traveled six or seven hundred miles". After the Qing army arrived at Mubang (Lashio), "the villages along the way were ruins and the population was cut off", leaving only an empty fence, and the Qing army seized five or six hundred stones of grain and summoned some local people to pacify. Because Mubang was located at a key point in the marching route, Mingrui led 4,000 soldiers (there are 5,000 here, but the "Qing Shilu" and "Chronicles of the Expedition to Burma", 4,000 should be undoubtedly) to stay in Mubang to protect the army's rear road.
Diary of a Expedition to Burma
Then, Mingrui continued to advance to the small land, misleading a small force of the Burmese army to resist, the Burmese army "tree fence holds", Mingrui sent forward troops to attack, "kill dozens of thieves", arrived at the bank of the tin foil river, the Qing army spent 3 days, prepared a bamboo basket, loaded the soil and stones, thought that the bridge foundation, built a bridge to the south bank to cross the river. On November 27, the army encountered the Burmese army on its way, and the Qing army attacked, killing 500 Burmese soldiers. The next day, they encountered an ambush by the Burmese army, and the Qing army immediately intercepted and killed more than 40 Burmese soldiers.
On November 30, Mingrui's army reached the end of the barbarian and ushered in the first great battle. The barbarian knot is surrounded by mountains and the woods are deep. The Burmese army has placed heavily guarded areas and used its traditional wooden fence tactics to set up 16 wooden fences at dangerous points. These wooden fences are arranged in the dense forest, and the soldiers gather in the fence, "outside the fence and open a trench", and the edge of the trench is placed with strong bamboo, "all sharp and outward", while the Burmese army hides in the fence and shoots the Qing army from the gaps, which is a tactic developed by the Burmese army according to the majority of the local wood vegetation. The Burmese army not only occupies an advantageous area, but also has a strong wooden village defense, and it is also in an elephant formation, which can be described as easy to defend and difficult to attack.
"Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records"
Mingrui ordered the leader of the team to occupy the eastern mountain beam of the town of Zala Fenga and the town general Li Quan, the leader of the team Guanyin Bao and the town general Changqing to occupy the west mountain beam, and Mingrui himself was in the middle of the strategy. The Burmese army took the initiative to attack, assaulting the western mountain beam occupied by Guanyinbao, Mingrui sent troops to respond, "cut more than 200 ranks", and the Burmese army retreated into the fence, no matter how the Qing army lured the enemy, it resolutely did not come out. Ming Shwe was worried that it would be bad for him to delay for a long time, so he decided to launch an all-out assault on the Burmese army's fence.
On the second day of December, Mingrui left 2,000 soldiers to protect the battalion, and launched a general attack with 12 teams of Manchurian and Green Battalion soldiers. At that time, Ming Rui took the lead, personally risked the arrow stone to lead the whole army to attack, and the commander risked his death, so the officers and soldiers "everyone fought bravely", the Qing army first broke through the elephant formation of the Burmese army, "cut the elephant with a gun and knife", and the elephants of the Burmese army ran backwards instead, breaking down the Burmese army formation. The Manchu and Han officers and soldiers were united in their efforts, braving the guns and fireballs of the Burmese army in the fence, breaking through several wooden villages, and engaging with the Burmese army in short arms, "until they held each other and fought with each other." After fierce confrontation, Zarafona, Mingrui, and Guanyinbao successively broke through three wooden fences.
The battle of the barbarian knot recorded in the "Qing Shilu".
"The Legend of the Famous Ministers of the Manchu and Han Dynasties"
In the course of the battle, there was even a Guizhou combat hero, Guizhou rattan soldier king saw a pile of wood outside the fence, with the pass, straight into the fence, killed more than 10 Burmese soldiers, and successfully received the Qing army outside the fence to break the village. After the Qing army captured 4 wooden gates, the remaining 12 wooden fences of the Burmese army fled by night, but they were unwilling, and attacked the Qing army at night with the intention of retaking the fence, but were repelled by the Qing army. The Battle of Barbarian Knot killed more than 2,000 Burmese troops, which was a tactical victory for the Qing army. The main general Mingrui suffered a gunshot wound in the right eye, but he still maintained a strong fighting spirit.
The deeds of Wang Lian in "The Chronicle of the Expedition to Burma".
Seeing that the war was difficult, the leading ministers Guanyin Bao and Zalafenga advised Mingrui to rest and recuperate in Mubang before marching, saying: "When our soldiers left the division, they had lost their uniforms, and now the weapons are scarce, and the food is insufficient, so I am afraid it will be difficult to go deep to suffer from them." Guanyin Bao proudly said: "If it weren't for the Manchurian husband, the general of the Communist Party would have died!" and continued to penetrate deep into Burma.
"Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records"
Sharp turn: Mubang was lost, and Mingrui became a hanging army all the way.
After the brutal victory, Mingrui led the troops to rest on the spot for a few days, continued to march, and arrived at the Tianshengqiao ferry across the mountain. This place is a naturally formed dangerous pass, "the stone peaks on both sides of the river, two or three miles high, its bridge system is born with a big stone, the thieves will plant big trees on both sides of the old gang, all uprooted, not only can not ride the transition, that is, it is difficult to walk", there is also a large group of Burmese troops stationed on the opposite side, and Ma Bixing, the general of the army, informed that there is a small road in the north that can be bypassed. Mingrui then ordered Daxinga to lead 2,000 troops to pretend to seize the ferry, and led his troops to the side road. According to the "Diary of the Expedition to Burma", the trail was "rugged and blocked by streams", and the Burmese army was covered with "secretly buried gunpowder, and the soldiers were burned by fire", but fortunately, the Burmese army only erected a wooden fence here, unguarded, and the Qing army all crossed the river on the tenth day of December. After the Burmese defending army found out the news that the Qing army had crossed the river, they fled to Song Sai. On 13 December, Ming Rui also marched to Song Sai. December 16 to Bang Hai. Seventeenth to Elephant Hole. This place is only 70 miles away from Ava, the capital of Burma, and the Burmese court was shocked for a while, and the vassals "urged to avoid it as soon as possible", but was rejected by King Mengjie and decided to hold on to Ava to resist the Qing army.
《缅甸史》
Compared with the Qing army on the east road all the way in, the progress of the west route army can be called constipation, and was strongly blocked by the Burmese army in the area of Laoguantun, and the counselor minister Erjing led 8,000 soldiers and horses to attack desperately, which was powerless against the wooden fence fortifications of the Burmese army. Our soldiers have been stationed under the fence for a long time, and there are many diseases, and Erjing is dying." After his death, his son Erden took over the command, but he didn't expect this guy to be a coward, and retreated to the dry tower 40 miles away from Laoguantun, and the Burmese army also followed him and set up wooden fortifications to confront the Qing army in Erden's forehead. At this point, the Western Route Army was completely pinned down by the Burmese army.
"Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records"
After pinning down the Western Route Army, the Burmese army immediately launched an attack on the 4,000 Qing troops stationed in Mubang, a major transportation route, led by Zhu Rune. At this time, Zhu Lune undertook the important task of guarding the tin foil bridge, establishing a station, and responding to Mingrui. The Burmese generals who attacked Mubang were indeed insiders, and attacked the tin foil bridge before the fourth day of the first month of the 33rd year of Qianlong, intending to cut off the connection between Mingrui and the defenders of Mubang, and the Qing army's general Suozhu and general Wang Dong led 1,500 people to resist, but they were defeated and the tin foil bridge was lost.
"The Legend of the Famous Ministers of the Manchu and Han Dynasties"
The Burmese army then marched into the state and cut off the defenders' waterways, who were "hungry and thirsty, and ran out of gunpowder." After resisting until the 18th of the first month, the Green Battalion was defeated and Mubang was lost. The counselor Zhu Rune "killed himself in the army", Hu Dayou, the chief soldier of Pu'er Town, was killed in battle, and the whereabouts of Suo Zhu and Wang Dong are unknown.
The death of Zhu Rune in the "Chronicle of the Expedition to Burma".
After learning the news that Mubang was besieged, Yunnan Governor Ening knew that something was a big deal! Qianlong had long been dissatisfied with Erden's relocation of troops to the dry tower, and after hearing that Erden's refusal to rescue Mubang, he was even more furious, and the 40-meter broadsword was unsheathed on the spot. And the loss of Mubang means that Mingrui's Eastern Route Army has become a lone army in the true sense.
大战蛮化，明瑞殉国
- Monstrosity
It is said that after Rui led his army to Xiangkong, which was 70 miles away from the city of Ava, he had already lost his way, and the army had also encountered great difficulties, "running out of food and horses", and most of the soldiers had been infected. What's more, it was originally a meeting of the two roads, but the army of Erjing'e (at this time, the Mingrui tribe marching in the deep mountains and old forests did not know that Erjing'e was dead) was completely gone. Knowing that there was a lot of grain and grass prepared in the territory of Menglong Tusi, he decided to turn to Menglong because of the grain to the enemy, and the road was extremely bumpy.
According to Zhou Yu's "Diary of the Expedition to Burma", during the march to Menglong, the Burmese army has been harassing the rear road, and the Qing army has been fighting and walking. But to add insult to injury, the camp in the army suddenly caught fire, "most of the military uniforms and food were burned", and then the army marched to a place called Bu Borrow, but was blocked by the Burmese army, and the Qing army organized a counterattack, which repelled the Burmese army and was able to continue to advance. Finally, on December 27, they arrived at Menglong, and according to the biography of Mingrui in the "Biography of Famous Ministers of the Manchu and Han Dynasty", 20,000 stone of grain was obtained in the local area, which temporarily solved the problem of food shortage and revitalized the morale of the Qing army.
"The Legend of the Famous Ministers of the Manchu and Han Dynasties"
During the stay of the Ming Shwe army, the Burmese army continued to fight for days, and "the sound of guns and cannons continued". On the second day of the first month of the 33rd year of Qianlong, the army set off to Mengmi with grain, intending to detour to Mubang from the Tusi place of Dashan, and after hearing that Mubang had fallen, he decided to turn to Wanding and return to China. Unfortunately, the Mingrui Department encountered a storm during the march, and the tent was blown down, and the stove flames were blazing, reflecting the red sky. When they were about to reach the village of Abscularity, the Burmese army intercepted the mountain pass, and Ming Shwe launched an attack at night to repel the Burmese army again, entered the village of Mongansity, and camped on the top of the mountain, while the Burmese army was stationed on the hillside.
After the Qing army withdrew from Xiangkong, the Burmese army knew that the Ming Rui Department would no longer march to Ava, and learned from the prisoners that the Qing army was short of food, so they continued to intercept the Qing army's rear route. The Qing army had to fight every day, and Mingrui, Ha Guoxing, and Guanyinbao alternately covered, step by step, and were able to march slowly for 30 miles every day.
"The Legend of Shengwu"
Given that the Burmese army was in hot pursuit like kraft candy, Minrui decided to design a thrashing of the Burmese army. On the night of the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the Qing army blew the snail and set off, and the whole army was not allowed to stay in the camp and lay in ambush on the way. When the Burmese army entered the ambush circle, the Qing army fired guns and cannons, "all stand out", the Burmese army was caught off guard, and was killed by the Qing army more than 1,000 people, captured dozens of people, "the dead are innumerable with the cliff and stream", and also abandoned a large number of ordnance, cattle and horses, and grain.
The battle of monstrosity recorded in the Diary of the Conquest of Burma
In this battle, Ming Rui was brave and strategic, and in the next few days, the Burmese army did not dare to approach.
- Mingrui died
Although the victory of monstrosity gave the Eastern Route Army a chance to breathe, it did not change the unfavorable situation. After Erden's withdrawal to the mainland, the Burmese army that won in Mubang and the Burmese army that confronted the Western Route Army realized the division, and about 4~50,000 people intended to encircle Mingrui's Eastern Route Army, and the last moment was coming.
After Mingrui's victory from monstrosity, he led the army from Bangmai and Xiaotianshengqiao to Bolong Silver Factory. On the sixth day of the first month of February, arrived at Xiaomengyu, and it was here that the Eastern Route Army fell into the encirclement of the Burmese army, the Qing army set up a village on the top of the mountain, and the Burmese army camped seven around it, "surrounded by wooden villages on all sides, surrounded by very dense", and confronted the Eastern Route Army, intending to trap the Mingrui Department to death.
The Qing army was surrounded
The soldiers sent by Mingrui found out that there was a path at the foot of the mountain that led to Wanding, and it was a little far away from the "thief camp". Mingrui ordered Daxing'a, Ben Jinzhong to lead the officers and soldiers and civilian personnel to break through to Wanding from the small road, and he and the leading ministers Zhalafon, Guanyinbao, the general soldiers Ha Guoxing, Changqing, Defu and others led the Baturu guards and hundreds of personal soldiers to cover behind the palace. Because the movement was too big, it was discovered by the Burmese army, and the Burmese army then set off guns and cannons, which rained down bullets, causing a large number of casualties to the Qing army. The leader of the team, Zalaphona, was shot and killed, and Kannon Ho shot his arrow at the enemy, leaving the last arrow and stabbing his throat to death.
As for Mingrui's death, there are different accounts. "The Biography of Famous Ministers of the Manchu and Han Dynasty" says that Mingrui "was shot and killed in the chest and arm after he escaped the stone hall"; "Records of the Court" says that Mingrui "was wounded several times, and he was also worried about falling into the hands of thieves, and he traveled quickly, and he was already 20 miles away from the place of battle, and his qi was only there, so he calmly dismounted, cut his braided hair with his hands, and gave his family a return to him, and hanged himself under a tree, and his family covered his corpse with wooden leaves"; and "The Chronicle of the Expedition to Burma" said that "the gunshot wound was caused in the ribs, and the followers took drinking water, and drank a little water and died." All in all, it was indeed a heroic death. The Qing army that broke through the siege advanced by their own routes, all the way hard, running wildly for three days and nights to reach Wanding. As Gaozong said, "the losses from the accounting of the successive return to the camp are not more than 12 out of 12", which is not without exaggeration, but it should be a fact that most of the ministry is preserved.
In the third battle of Burma, Mingrui died, which made Emperor Qianlong mourn. In April 33, Mingrui's coffin arrived in Beijing. Gaozong came to the memorial in person, gave the funeral, and built a special shrine outside the Di'anmen, and made a poem for the imperial to highlight the memory of Mingrui, a good minister, as shown in the figure.
"The Legend of the Famous Ministers of the Manchu and Han Dynasties"
It is worth mentioning that when Mingrui was besieged, Qianlong strictly ordered Erden to lead the army to Wanding as soon as possible to contain the Burmese army in Laoguantun, so that it could not participate in the interception of Mingrui, and could also contact Mingrui in order to respond. Qianlong was furious and asked for the crime, and Erden was executed by Ling Chi in April of the 33rd year of Qianlong.
At this point, the third conquest of Burma ended in failure. As for the reasons for the failure, there are theories in the historical circles that underestimate the enemy and that people are not properly employed. But the fundamental reason is that the Qing Dynasty's military strength was not enough to conquer Burma. In fact, as a small overlord in Southeast Asia, the mobilization ability and combat quality of the Gongbang Dynasty in Burma were not bad, and the British called the Burmese army "the bravery and perseverance of their battles that the rest of the troops have not seen", and in the face of the combination of wooden fortifications and firearms developed by the Burmese army according to local conditions, the Qing court did not have an effective way to crack it, which was also one of the main reasons for the failure of the fourth conquest of Burma in the future.
《缅甸史》
Citations: "Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty", "Diary of the Conquest of Burma", "Biography of Famous Ministers of the Manchu and Han Dynasty", "Records of the Imperial Martial Arts", "Chronicles of the Conquest of Burma", "History of Burma", "Miscellaneous Records of Xiaoting", "Records of the Court", "Records of Shengwu"