the Siamese successfully encouraged the ethnic Mon governor of Tavoy, who had been appointed by Alaungpaya only four years earlier, to switch sides. Hsinbyushin was forced to send an army led by Maha Nawrahta, who retook Tavoy in November 1764. Likewise, instabilities resumed in Lan Na after the Burmese army left in February 1764, forcing the Burmese to return to the region later in the year. By January 1765, Burmese armies were massed at Tavoy in the south and Chiang Mai in the north, preparing for imminent war. Prelude to war Burmese preparations As the deputy commander-in-chief in the 1760 war, Hsinbyushin used his firsthand experience to plan the next invasion. His general plan called for a pincer movement on the Siamese capital from the north and the south. He appointed two of the country's most decorated soldiers, Maha Nawrahta and Ne Myo Thihapate, to lead the invasion. On the southern front, an army of 20,000 men under the command of Maha Nawrahta and his 20,000 strong army was stationed in Tavoy. He had recently put down the Tavoy Rebellion. The control of Tavoy gave the Burmese access of the Myitta pass. In the north, Ne Myo Thihapate was ordered to raise an army from the Shan States throughout 1764. By November, Ne Myo Thihapate commanded a 20,000-strong army at Kengtung, preparing to leave for Chiang Mai. As was customary, the Shan regiments were led by their own saophas (chiefs). (Not everyone was happy about the Burmese army's conscription drive, however. Some of the saophas of northern Shan states, which at the time paid dual tribute to Burma and China, fled to China, and complained to the Chinese emperor). The next step in Hsinbyushin's plan was to outflank the Siamese in the north and northeast. Ne Myo Thihapate was ordered to acquire the Laotian states of Vientiane and Luang Phrabang. Vientiane was acquired without a fight in January 1765. Luang Phrabang put up a fight but was defeated in March 1765. The defeated Laotian states then were forced to provide levies to the northern army. The entire northern Burmese command now had over 20,000 men. On 29 April 1765, a northern invasion army of 20,000 was posted at Lampang at the Siamese border. (The rest were assigned to garrisons in Kengtung and Chiang Mai to guard the rear. The precaution proved prescient as the Kengtung garrison successfully resisted the Chinese