Sino-Burmese War: Burma smashed the Qing in the Battle of Maymyo (1768) MYANMAR DOCUMENTARY Part 3

The imperial army of the Great Chain was like the dragon on its yellow banner. A great long slithering train of men and horses. Columns of Mongol and Manchu horsemen streamed past the blocks of disciplined infantry armed with pikes, matchlock muskets, and swords. Burmese hunters peered from their hiding spots at the great leviathan with growing horror, wondering how they could even stop their advance. Despite the dismaying looks of his men, Minggao ordered them to focus. They need to gather as much information on the invaders as they could. With what they have right now, engaging the Qing would only destroy the fighting chance that they have. Minggao knew that the only chance of victory was to understand their enemy. Then, and only then, can the Burmese stop being the hunted, and become the hunter. After the Burmese field army had been destroyed at the Battle of Gotay Gorge, Mingri gathered all his forces and blitzkrieged his way towards Ava, overrunning town after town in any defenses set up with the Burmese. He reached Singu in early 1768, just 50 kilometers north of Ava. Despite that 30,000 Qing soldiers were days away from the royal capital, King Simbushan famously did not panic, and calmly ordered the defense of the city. With the large enemy army at their doorstep and no sight of any reinforcement, the royal court urged the king to leave. But Simbushan scornfully refused. He declared that he and his brother princes were the sons of Alampeya, the founder of the new Burmese empire, and they would meet the Chinese at the gates alone if they had to. For all his fault, King Simbushan was no coward. Instead of defending the city, the king assembled his remaining forces and personally led them outside of Singu. Despite the severity of the situation, the Khmer dynasty was forged through war, and the Burmese were determined to fight to the end. They dug ditches and sharpened stakes, expecting to see the dragon banners in the distance. However, the Chinese never came. It turns out Mingri had overstretched himself. The closer the Qing got to the capital, the harder it became for the convoys to reach them. To protect them, Mingri built outposts and garrisons along the routes, and while they kept the Burmese guerrilla attacks at bay, it made the advance much slower. The defeated Burmese forces of Mahathihatura and Mahatsitu, realizing their inability to touch Mingri's army, pulled back to replenish their forces and reconsider their strategy. A deputy of Mahathihatura, Mingang, had begun to note the vulnerability of these ever-expanding supply lines. He had been leading small groups of local hunters and cavalry patrols to track the Qing movements. Mingang proposed this to his commander, but Mahathihatura was hesitant after the Burmese defeat at Godegorge. To prove his point, Mingang took a small number of men and struck an isolated Qing outpost using their better knowledge of local terrain. After seeing this success, Mahathihatura gave him his full approval and the Burmese operations shifted to attacking mobile convoys and isolated outposts while avoiding large contingent of Chinese troops and fortified supply depots. Mingang was given full authority over them. Burmese hunters and light cavalrymen made rapid attacks on Qing lines with crossbows and javelins, then retreated into the jungle when pursued. While they did little damage to the Ming-Qing army, they slowed it down considerably. Mingang gained the nickname Dengjia, or in Burmese, striking from the clouds, for his swift guerrilla tactics. The Qing soon found themselves in a predicament. Mingri knew that he had to defeat the Burmese before the tropical disease started to ravage them just like it did during the second invasion. When the Burmese King's army arrived outside of Singu, it presented the Chinese a perfect target. It could kill or capture King Sibushan and avoid a grueling siege against the fortified capital. However, the Manchu commander knew that it also meant that he had to advance right into Burmese hands. Despite the victory at Kote Gorge, they had very little reliable intelligence on the Khmer forces except that their main armies and elite forces were absent. Mingri used his cavalry to probe the Burmese into attacking first, but Sibushan had been a tested battle commander in his youth and kept a tight rein on his men. Knowing that he was too deep in enemy territory, Mingri focused on defensive tactics against Burmese guerrilla attacks. The war became a stalemate, with the Chinese being too strong to be defeated on the field but also unable to advance further without risking their own superior position. As such, Mingri waited for the second army to arrive and break the deadlock. However, it turns out the second army was still stuck in northern Burma. While Mingri had been fighting his way towards Ava, the northern army was still being held off by Bala Mindon and his men. Knowing it was crucial to keep the northern army away as much as possible, Bala Mindon and Nemil Situ made every attempt to keep them at the Kaunton Bomoh corridor. Bala Mindon and the Kaunton garrison held the line while Nemil Situ harassed the northern army whenever they tried to leave, regardless of their own replaces. The stalemate continued for the next few months as supplies began to dwindle for the Chinese armies and the burning summer began to set in. Worst of all for the Qing, the main Burmese armies were returning. By early March 1768, the battle-hardened troops of the Ayutthayan campaign were arriving. Boosted by these reinforcements, Mahathirathura and Nemil Situ took the field once more and started to directly attack the Chinese supply depots. After clearing the minor ones, they had turned to the main supply depot at Taini. It was the climax of the third invasion and it was a clash of titans. Mingri had garrisoned the main supply depot with 5,000 of his best troops, but the recently arrived Burmese troops were the core regulars of the royal army and veterans from a brutal two-year war on Siam. Both forces were the elite of their armies and were unwilling to back down. Burmese swarmed the palisades with reckless abandon knowing that the existence of their kingdom was at stake. The Chinese forces fought just as ferociously. With the stalemate and the disease beginning to set in, the entire Qing invasion depended on the supply depot more than ever. Casualties mounted on both sides. Men rushed in to replace their fallen comrades. Imperial bannermen and green standard soldiers clashed against the Burmese royal guard even as Mongol and Manchu bows dueled Qin and Kachin crossbows. This time, however, it was the Burmese who outnumbered them and the garrison was soon running out of bodies to spare. Shan and Kachin levies finally pushed through the ramparts and opened the gates to let the remaining Burmese pour through. The surviving Qing soldiers made a stiff last stand with Bamar and Manipuri cavalry charged through trampling and cutting down anyone in their path. They held out for a time until the Burmese infantry broke through their formation and completed the slot. The Qing garrison commander committed suicide rather than be captured. The fall of Daini proved to be decisive. Mahathirathura made sure of it. He sent out Dengjia Mingao with cavalry and light infantry to guard or destroy all water sources around the main Chinese army and moved in to take the remaining outposts in the area. By now, Mingri's elite bannermen from the freezing grasslands of northern China and Mongolia were suffering from the heat of central Burma. Malaria and other tropical disease began to sweep in as well. Mingri hoped that the northern army would still be able to reach him but it was a false one. It turns out, the northern army had overspent itself and its commander retreated back into Yunnan against all orders. With his men dying from malaria, the heat and lack of supplies and the Burmese growing stronger every moment, Mingri gave up all hope to advance towards Ava and began the retreat back into Yunnan with as many of his men as possible. The Burmese army of around 12,000 men began to pursue him. Mahathirathura for his successes was made commander-in-chief for his achievements, replacing Mahasiddhu. Mahathirathura divided his army into two. A smaller one under Mahasiddhu were to track the Qing forces while Mahathirathura took the main force to attempt to position himself on the rear of the Qing. With supplies low, many Qing soldiers began to desert their positions in search of water and food. Learning the condition of the imperial army from these captured soldiers, the Burmese forces quickly moved to end the war in one single move. Despite all odds, Mingri's general ship kept the army together as they limped back to Yunnan, withstanding Burmese attacks along the way. Mahasiddhu, seeking to redeem his failure at Gothe Gorge, positioned his forces in the path of the Chinese retreat near modern-day Piengwulun to slow them down. Even in their weakened state, the Bannerman army was still a force to be reckoned with and they easily repulsed Siddhu's attacks. Knowing that he had to slow them down by any means necessary, Siddhu detached his light infantry and cavalry and used them to harass Qing cavalry patrols and foraging parties. In these skirmishes, the Burmese proved to be better. Burmese armed with European flintlocks were able to get the better of the Qing musketeers who were only armed with old matchlocks. The Burmese cavalry, though less skilled, were more used to the climate and jungles, whereas Chinese Mongol and Manchu riders were weakened by the disease and the heat. Although the Burmese were only able to do limited damage to the Qing army in these skirmishes, it frustrated Mingri's retreat. Fortunately for Siddhu, the narrow passage and the column formation of the Qing army meant that they would not be able to encircle the smaller forces and he was able to bottleneck them. Still, the Chinese had overwhelming numbers and Siddhu was forced to give ground slowly. Just as Mingri's army would steamroll over Siddhu's forces, Burmese troops suddenly burst out from the jungle and attacked the Qing forces from its flanks. Bottlenecked from the front and attacked from its flanks, the Bedouin forces tried to pull back to open field so they could reorganize. However, a large Burmese army bearing the lion banners of Dehatura appeared in the rear. In a masterstroke, Mahadehatura managed to move the bulk of the Burmese army through the mountain and arrived right behind the main Chinese army. He then moved a larger number of troops through the jungle in the night and completely encircled the entire expedition. As the Burmese forces converged all around them, Mingri attempted to punch his way through Siddhu's smaller army. Siddhu's infantry braced themselves as desperate Qing troops surged towards them like a great flood of men, steel, and horses. Tides of Mongol and Manchu horsemen and columns of Chinese infantry struck them again and again. Pushing the defensive line further and further back, the Burmese infantry dug ditches and built makeshift bamboo walls each time as maddened Chinese soldiers swarmed over them when a Burmese officer reported that their ditches had been overrun. Siddhu reportedly replied, dig more ditches. As the attacks continued, order began to disappear in the Chinese ranks as Burmese forces began to cut their way through from the flanks and the rear. The Qing soldiers were already tired, starving, and ill from various diseases. Each time a soldier fell, it further broke their spirit. Mingri and a small number of troops managed to maintain order and fight their way out of the heavy melee. But the rest of the expedition was left trapped as Burmese soldiers swarmed over the last disciplined troops and cut down their officers. Panic swept through the Qing ranks. Knowing that their kingdom had nearly fallen to these invaders, the Burmese were in no mood for mercy and began to massacre them. Thousands of Chinese soldiers fled into the jungle only to die from disease or local fauna. Those that remained were put to the sword. The slaughter was such that the Burmese soldiers could hardly grip their swords, their hilts so slippery with enemy blood. With only 2,500 prisoners and less than 5,000 men escaping, the entire Bannerman army had been effectively wiped out. Mingri had been severely wounded in battle. He could have escaped with those units that had maintained order. But the Banchu commander was only concerned with his failure. He had been the most successful of the invasions but it was not enough. He cut off his cue to be sent to the emperor as a token of his loyalty. He then rode to a tree and hung himself. Between the disease, the jungle and the constant harassment by the Burmese, only a few dozen units of the main imperial army returned to Yunnan. It had been the greatest military achievement in the modern history of Myanmar and Mahathirathura was widely credited for snatching victory from defeat by both Burmese and foreign sources. British historians dubbed the final clash as the Battle of Maymyo after the colonial town they founded and it has since become a military case study of infantry fighting against a numerically superior foe. Mahathirathura was honoured by King Simbushan and entered history as the greatest Burmese soldier since Béarnao himself. But the Burmese commander knew that it was not over. Although the Burmese won once again, this time they had very nearly lost their kingdom and knew that the Chinese would return. They had humiliated the dragon and the dragon would not forgive nor forget. Join us next time as we draw the final stage of the war as the two empires at their greatest height clash for one final time.