had landed the island back in 1753, constructing a fort there. During the war with Hanthawaddy, Alaungpaya offered to cede the island to the British in return for military help. However, the British turned down Alaungpaya's offer, as they claimed they could not spare any arms because they too were engaged in their own war against the French. In 1758, Alaungpaya got the news that the East India Company's agents had sold ammunition and arms (500 muskets) to Mon rebels. (Historian GE Harvey claims that the news was a fabrication of Alaungpaya's advisers and that the arms provided were five muskets, not 500.) On 6 October 1759, a 2000-strong Konbaung battalion overran the fort, demolishing it as they withdrew. External wars Manipur (1756, 1758) Alaungpaya, who grew up watching Manipuri raids ransacking his home region year after year, was determined to return the favor as soon as he was able. While most of his forces were laying siege to Syriam, he sent an expedition to Manipur to "instill respect". In early 1756, the Burmese army defeated the Manipuri army and ransacked the entire country, which the Manipuris call the First Devastation. After Lower Burma was defeated, Alaungpaya himself led another expedition in November 1758, this time to place the Burmese nominee to the Manipuri throne. His armies invaded by the Khumbat route in the Mainpur valley, and overcame fierce Manipuri resistance at Pallel, on their march to Imphal, the Manipuri capital. After Pallel, the Burmese entered Imphal without firing a shot. The Konbaung armies, according to the Manipuris, committed "unspeakably cruel" crimes against the populace, inflicting "one of the worst disasters in its history". But historian GE Harvey writes: Alaungpaya "was only doing unto them as they had done unto his people". Alaungpaya raised his nominee to the Manipuri throne and returned with his army. He also brought back many Manipuri cavalry, who became elite cavalry corps (known as Cassay Horse) in the Burmese army. (This was the start of Konbaung dynasty's long, draining involvement in Manipur. The small kingdom would prove a troublesome tributary, regularly putting up rebellions in 1764, 1768–1770, and 1775–1782. The Burmese involvement ceased after 1782 until they came back in 1814.) Siam (1759–1760) The Ayutthaya Kingdom was one of Southeast Asia's most wealthiest and most cosmopolitan polities in the 18th century. Prior to the Konbaung dynasty's rise, Ayutthaya Siam and Taungoo Burma had been relatively