Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 358 Killing Japanese for Reward

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, when Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youxiao were inspecting Tianjin, Yan Siqi, who was far away in Japan, launched an attack in advance.

The Sixth Battalion led by Zheng Zhilong went to Kyoto and crossed Otowa Mountain to attack Kusatsu of the Tokugawa shogunate. More than 300 Yanshan five-jin artillery faced the indiscriminate bombardment of the shogunate's repeatedly reinforced Kusatsu Castle for an hour, but still failed to break through.

Occasionally a gap was made, but it was repaired by the Japanese army in time.

In such a situation, Zheng Zhilong, as the coach, stood in the middle of the army, and while checking the situation with binocular clairvoyance, he couldn't help cursing:
"These Japanese pirates are not good at fighting, but they are good at building cities. They should be recruited to work as laborers and build roads for the court."

"Brother, it's been a long time, maybe we won't be allowed to build the city wall after we eat..." Zheng Zhihu muttered.

In front of the two of them was Kusatsu City. If you looked carefully, you could vaguely see that several sections of the city wall had been knocked down, but the gaps had already been mended hastily.

The traces between the old and new city walls are clearly visible, and there are figures on the top of the city, running back and forth, looking extremely panicked.

"Don't call me big brother, call me general!"

"General..." Zheng Zhilong reminded Zheng Zhihu solemnly, as if to avoid suspicion, but Zheng Zhihu looked around at this, reluctantly cupped his hands at his elder brother, and shouted again in a drawn out tone.

Seeing him like this, Zheng Zhilong also turned his head to look at Kusatsu Castle, who was putting on a firm posture, his heart was burning.

"There are [-] Japanese pirates in Kusatsu City. As long as we eat the [-] Japanese pirates and go north to clean up the rest, we can directly attack Nagoya."

Zheng Zhihu was gearing up, but Zheng Zhilong frowned and said:

"Nagoya, Edo, and Mito are close to the sea, and it is easy to regain them. We want to attack Kusatsu to encircle and suppress the [-] Japanese pirates hiding in Gifu."

"While taking down the coast can cut off the Japanese pirates' food and grass, they can still fight us in the mountains."

"Occupy the mountainous area first, drive them to the coastal plain, and then carry out a land and water attack, and finally wipe them all out. This is the result pursued by Jing Lue and His Highness."

Zheng Zhilong explained to Zheng Zhihu, and at the same time, the artillery of the Ming army fired again after resting and cooling down for two incense sticks.

The rumbling cannons continued to sound, and stone bombs were fired, and they flew towards Kusatsu City with unparalleled strength.

A large number of stone bullets fell into the mud puddle, splashing the soil all over the place, and some stone bullets just hit the Japanese army on the city wall, killing many people.

Seeing the Ming army below the city firing artillery, the Japanese artillery at the top of the city also roared, but it was far from enough in range and power.

They came and went, but within half an hour, the whole air was filled with a layer of smoke and the smell of saltpeter. A large number of stone bombs were fired by both sides, plundering one life after another.

"boom--"

When the huge earthquake occurred, the city wall that had been repaired by the Japanese army collapsed again, and the Ming army also had the opportunity to enter Kusatsu City.

It's just that at this time the sky began to be covered with a layer of dark clouds, which made everyone's hearts tremble.

"It's going to snow!"

"Snowing!"

Both the Ming army and the Japanese army were aware of a problem, but the Ming army was a little more disappointed, even though they knew from the beginning that in this weather, snow may occur at any time.

But everyone, including Zheng Zhilong, hoped that Xue would come later, or even later, so as to have a greater chance of winning.

Seeing that the snowflakes were about to fall, the Ming army took the lead in stopping the shelling, and covered all the artillery and ammunition with a layer of blankets, which could effectively prevent snowflakes from entering the barrels.

Zheng Zhilong looked at Zheng Zhihu, and solemnly ordered:

"Ji Er (nickname), the men of the Zhenjiang Battalion are ready to take the brothers to take down the city wall!"

"The last general takes orders!" Zheng Zhihu heard that he was given the task of ascending first, and immediately pulled out the long knife in his hand.

He doesn't like to use rifles, but prefers this kind of seedling sword with a long blade. After drawing the sword, he turned to the guard behind him, and the general flag roared: "Brothers of Zhenjiang Battalion, follow me to kill the enemy!"

"Roar--"

Hearing the words, the guards drew their swords and responded loudly, and the command flag of the Zhenjiang Battalion waved accordingly.

Under the city of Caojin, a whole battalion of Ming soldiers decisively walked out of the Ming army formation.

They crossed the artillery positions, and while the gunners built snow shelters and cleaned the barrels, they attacked the city wall from the muddy battlefield.

As a general of the first battalion, Zheng Zhihu did not hide in the middle army, but in the middle of the front army, so that the soldiers under his command could see him, but he would not allow the Japanese army to attack him by tricks.

"Kill the pirates!"

"The Japanese slave provokes, kill the Japanese slave!"

"Kill Japanese slaves, behead one level and reward ten taels of silver!"

"The team that ascends first will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver, and will be promoted by two ranks!"

"Kill Japanese slaves! Welcome to wealth! Welcome to wealth! Go home early..."

"kill--"

The internal slogans of the Ming army sounded in an endless stream, constantly stimulating everyone's brains.

Facing them, in the eyes of the Japanese army at this moment, there is only dense red.

The moat of Caojin City had long been filled by the Ming army with chariots and sandbags. Many Ming troops pushed cloud chariots, Lu Gong chariots, and well fences forward.

The top of the curb was not crossbowmen, but teams of riflemen.

However, when facing the two-foot-high Kusatsu Castle with a three-foot-high curb, a pressure surged in my heart.

Three thousand Ming troops quickly crossed the filled moat, only a hundred steps away from Kusatsu City.

Everyone hid behind the cloud cart, Lvgong cart, and the well fence, constantly pushing these siege equipment, and also using these equipment as a cover to avoid.

After Tan Lun, Yu Dayou, Qi Jiguang and others successively improved their chariot tactics, the Ming army actually had signs of cooperation between Butan and Tan.

The Ming army used mobile siege equipment to cover their bodies, but the Japanese army, which had only twelve artillery pieces at the top of the city, had no choice but to do so.

"Iron Gunner! Let it go!"

A short daimyo in daimyo's armor waved his fan, and the iron gunners on the crenel also lit their matchlocks one after another.

"Clap clap-"

The sounding iron cannon caused a burst of white mist, but no substantial progress was made. The projectiles of the iron cannon were not enough to penetrate the wooden planks of the siege equipment.

"Beep-beep-beep-"

The Ming army's wooden whistle sounded, and when the sound of iron cannons stopped and the siege equipment was less than fifty steps away from the Japanese army at the top of the city, more than [-] well fences of the Ming army stopped first.

In just a short time, when the wooden plank on the front of the well fence responsible for resisting arrows was lowered, more than ten Ming army riflemen had already appeared on the well fence.

"put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

The three-stage volley can still be performed on the well fence. More than 30 riflemen in the front row of the well fence are proficient in platooning guns.

"kill!"

At the gap in the collapsed city wall, soldiers of the Ming army put down the ladder of the cloud cart, and the ladder was placed at the gap or crenel.

Zheng Zhihu, who was brave by nature, drew his sword and commanded the army to ascend first. Under his leadership, a large number of soldiers of the Ming army rushed towards the city on the ladder and Lv Gongcar, holding Yanling sword and pumpkin hammer.

Everyone in the world thought that the Ming army only relied on the power of guns, but Zheng Zhihu wanted to prove to everyone that even without guns, even with a Yanling knife, he could kill Japanese pirates!

The snowflakes fell bigger and bigger, but the Yanling swords of the soldiers of the Ming army were even more piercing. They rushed to the top of the city and intertwined with the Japanese army. To survive!

Zheng Zhihu held a knife in one hand and a shield in the other. His body was very strong and strong. Facing the Japanese invaders who were less than five feet tall, he only had to bump into them to knock them over.

Of course, more soldiers of the Ming army used the formation method to send the Yanling knife directly into the opponent's neck without worrying about the enemies around them.

Because they always maintain a front with their comrades in arms.They shouted and shouted until the Yanling knife was inserted into each other's neck.

"Don't mess around! For the sake of the general! Form an array to repel them!"

The generals of the Japanese army were also shouting, but their shouts seemed so weak.

The Japanese army, which had not experienced a high-intensity war in the past 12 years, seemed so powerless in the face of the Eastern Army soldiers and horses retreating from the Liaodong battlefield.

At this moment, everyone seems to have returned to the Bi Ti Pavilion on the 21th day of the first month in the 26st year of Wanli.

The same [-] Ming army, and the same Japanese army that was multiples of theirs, fought and fought at the head of Caojin City.

The snowflakes mixed with the blood, dyeing the entire road in the city red.

On Kusatsu City at this time, a large number of Japanese corpses were left behind, and the defense line was no longer as neat as before. Mess and despair became the main theme on the soldiers' faces.

"For the emperor, for the general!"

Matsudaira Tadaaki tried his best to wield his Japanese sword, commanding the ashigaru one by one around him to charge up, and he himself waved his sword and rushed towards the Ming army.

Although he is short in stature, he looks rather vicious with his big arms and round waist.

"Kill Japanese for reward!"

Zheng Zhihu was not to be outdone, he already had a foundation in martial arts, and at this time a Yanling saber danced up and down, hacking and killing many Japanese soldiers one after another.

The Ming army and the Japanese army, the two armies fought on this not-so-precipitous city wall, and the small Kusatsu city was already full of corpses.

After 1 minutes of fierce fighting, more than [-] Japanese troops gathered at the head of Nancheng City at this time had already gathered on the city, but they were defeated by the Ming army of less than [-].

The three-foot-long Yanling Saber was covered with bright red bloodstains...

Holding a binoculars, Zheng Zhilong watched the fighting in the city among the Chinese army two miles outside the city, and his heart filled with boundless pride.

"The Lushun battalion is on top, kill him while he's sick!" Zheng Zhilong turned his head and ordered.

"Yes!" Hearing this, the general of Lushun Battalion mobilized troops to support Zheng Zhihu's Zhenjiang Battalion.

"Wonu'an dare to jump on the beam!"

A Japanese samurai lay on the ground, while the tall Ming army raised a pumpkin hammer.

Facing the fall of the pumpkin hammer, his pupils shrank slightly, and the Japanese armor on his body was not enough to withstand the hammering of the pumpkin hammer.

On the contrary, the wet and cold conditions made his actions feel more difficult.

Before he could react, the gourd hammer hit his face in an instant, his teeth spattered with blood, and after a few convulsions, he was basically dead.

Such one-sided hand-to-hand combat took place on the battlefield of the entire city. Many Japanese soldiers looked ugly and short in front of the tall and powerful Ming army.

A soldier of the Ming army stepped on the chest of the Japanese warrior, inserted the Yanling knife directly into his throat, and then stirred it up. Before he could react, he died on the top of Kusatsu City.

The Ming army soldier who killed him was wearing a Ming army armor. From the soldier's armor, it can be seen that he is not a well-known figure, but just an ordinary soldier in the Eastern Army's governor's mansion.

Even so, he has the ability to kill so-called powerful samurai.

There is not one person like him, but three thousand, but the entire Kusatsu City cannot find three thousand warriors to resist them.

"Must kill more Japanese pirates!"

This is the idea of ​​​​everyone who ascended the Ming army first, just because of the head of the Japanese pirate's ten taels of silver.

The more they kill, the more they will be divided after the war, and the more money they can earn.

As long as you kill enough, life at home will be much better...

The soldiers of the Ming army pulled out the Yanling knife, wiped it on the corpse, and wiped off the blood, and the Yanling knife became sharp again.

He looked at the Japanese army in the distance, stepped on the corpse with his heavy boots, stepped over ruthlessly, and moved towards the next target.

On a bloody battlefield, the situation is often changing rapidly.

Judging from the current environment, the Ming army of the Eastern Army's Dudufu far surpassed the Japanese army in terms of hand-to-hand combat capabilities, and it can even be said that one Han is three Japanese.

Even in such a snowy and muddy environment, the morale of the Ming army was still strong. During the two quarters of an hour of hand-to-hand contact, they kept suppressing the Japanese army, and the Japanese army could only continue to increase reinforcements to enter the city.

In addition, the equipment of the Ming army is also very complete. Zhu Youjian specially equipped the whole army with pigskin military boots with full grip.

This kind of military boots is made of very solid materials, so the cost is quite high, but in today's rainy battle, it has a very big advantage.

Soldiers of the Ming army wore this kind of military boots, which had a strong grip on the ground, and they could stand firm even in this kind of muddy ground and on the top of the city.

But for the Japanese army, such an environment seemed very uncomfortable. Many of them were wearing straw sandals, and many of them were even barefoot.

Under such circumstances, the actions of the Japanese army are often very slippery, but once they slip, they basically cannot stand up again.

The Japanese army armed with Japanese swords and spears could hardly cause excessive casualties to the Ming army on such a narrow road.

The two sides collided and tried to squeeze each other down.

Although there were many Japanese soldiers, they were oppressed more and more hard, and they were almost not far from collapse.

The Yanling knife in Zheng Zhihu's hand had already been cut and curled. When he saw a Japanese soldier approaching, he almost stabbed the Yanling knife into the opponent's stomach, but he couldn't pull it out again.

Seeing this situation, the rest of the Japanese soldiers crowded over with swords and guns. Their bodies were almost joined together, but they all wanted to kill each other.

Seeing that the Japanese Japanese swords and spears were about to pierce Zheng Zhihu's body one after another, he turned around abruptly, held the swords and guns with his armor, and roared while holding the spears in both hands.

"Let go!"

Zheng Zhihu snatched the spear just like that, and the rest of the Japanese army saw this scene, almost everyone's face was full of horror, and then they retreated involuntarily, and other Ming troops also covered and killed, and rescued Zheng Zhihu. array.

"Admiral?!"

"I'm fine!"

Zheng Zhihu half-kneeled on the ground, gasping for breath, covered in blood, obviously killed many people.

"Bagaya!"

"Inside the temple!"

In the noisy environment, it was filled with the sound of guns and shouts from the two armies tomorrow.

The soldiers of the Ming army at the head of the city relied on their height and strength, and just sent their arms forward, and the long Yanling knife pierced into the cheeks or necks of the Japanese soldiers.

The few Japanese soldiers who rushed forward all fell to the ground one after another, while the Ming army still formed an formation to protect themselves, waiting for the Lushun camp that had already crossed the moat to board the city.

"Damn it, I almost died here."

Zheng Zhihu breathed a sigh of relief, and leaning on the knife handed to him by others, he wanted to stand up, but in the fight, his body seemed to be seriously injured, which made him feel a little cold on one side of his body.

The snowflakes are gradually getting smaller, but the battle has reached this point, and it is already the result of endless death. The eyes of the soldiers of the Ming army were red.

Maybe just today, the comrades they lived with day and night, the brothers they depended on, just fell down and never woke up, which made them even more crazy and more silent.

There are no shouts and roars of soldiers on the battlefield, only the sound of dull breathing, accompanied by the sound of the collision of knives and guns, which seems so abnormal in this land.

The soldiers in the entire city were almost intertwined together, and the people were like waves, blood and water formed waves, surging endlessly among the crowd, mud and dead bodies were together.

The number of Japanese troops is increasing, but their position on the city wall is shrinking more and more. A large number of Japanese troops are surrounded by a small number of Ming troops.

It's not that they haven't attacked the Ming army's position, but no matter how they attack, it is difficult for the Ming army to retreat too much.

Such a scene caused the morale of the Japanese army to plummet due to the unfavorable battle situation, and the retreat seemed to be imminent.

Those sharp Yanling knives glowed with a cold light, killing everyone's heart with chills.

If it weren't for the Japanese army who came to help in time, I am afraid that a big defeat will be imminent.

Three quarters of an hour of fighting, thousands of people's lives were thrown here, and there was almost no way to splash a splash.

Matsudaira Tadaaki, who was in charge of holding on, turned a little blue. When he saw the snow falling, he thought it was Amaterasu who favored him and let him win the battle.

But he didn't expect that the Ming army was so brave, they seem to be different from a few months ago, it seems...

"This is the real Ming army!"

Matsudaira Tadaaki looked at the Ming army wearing Liaodong Ming army cloth face armor on the city wall, and gritted his teeth tightly.

He understood that Daming finally sent out a regular army, and this army, which was able to head-to-head with Jianlu in Liaodong, came to Caojin City and forcibly killed the city with a Yanling knife.

Looking at the casualties of his own side, Matsudaira almost made it hard for him to accept.

What made him even more unacceptable was that the second battalion of the Ming army pressed up, passed through the position opened up by Zheng Zhihu and the others, and went up to the top of the city in an orderly manner.

"Dong dong dong..."

The heavy drums of the Ming army suddenly sounded outside the city, and Matsudaira Tadaaki was terrified when he heard the sound, and quickly turned around and shouted:
"The Ming army is about to launch a general attack! Call all the ashigaru and strong men in the city to support the city wall!"

"Hi!"

A group of generals responded and began to mobilize everyone in the city to stick to Caojin City.

Once Kusatsu City is lost, the Ming army's road to Gifu will be unimpeded.

"kill!"

"Kill Japanese slaves!"

"Ming pig!"

The fighting on the battlefield seemed to have never stopped, and the two sides gradually invested more and more troops until this battlefield was turned into a meat grinding ground, and a large amount of flesh and blood was swallowed into it.

Fighting requires the dead, and sometimes it is just better than someone else's death.

Many people died, and when they were afraid, they collapsed. At least before modern wars, there was nothing like this.

So far, the Japanese army seems to have a large number of people, but it is even more unbearable. The reason is very simple. Only about one-third of the soldiers under the Japanese army are ashigaru who have not been trained for a long time.

In other words, of the 4000 Japanese troops in Kusatsu Castle, only [-] were veterans from the Tokugawa Ieyasu era.

Among the remaining 7000 people, they are basically recruits.

Compared with them, the Ming army was very different. Even the 6000 men Zheng Zhilong and others who first came to Japan were elites who had trained in the Ryukyu Prefecture for more than half a year.

Compared with them, let alone the Ming army of the Eastern Army's Dudufu. In hand-to-hand combat, except for Jianlu and Shangzhi who can overwhelm them, I am afraid that there is no army that can stabilize them in this era.

It's just that war is not a child's play after all, even if they are the elite of the Eastern Army Governor's Mansion, many people will still fall in such a bloody war...

"That's horrible!"

Outside the city, Zheng Zhilong got a death list recorded in military service, and the names and numbers of those who died in battle made him gasp involuntarily.

On the death list, ink seeps into the back of the paper, Li Cun, Gao Fumin, Zhang Chao...

The names of the soldiers who died in the Lushun Battalion were listed one by one on the list. There were more than two hundred people, and there were even more disabled people.

"We die more, they die more!"

The general of the Kuandian camp said it was a bit cold-blooded, but it was true.

Anyone can see that at this moment, Caojin City is at the end of the road, and Matsudaira Tadaaki has not much retreat. Either retreat, or abandon the city wall, and prepare to fight the Ming army.

"Stick! Stick!"

Contrary to what Zheng Zhilong thought, Matsudaira Tadaaki on the top of the city seemed to be dazed, and kept yelling the word stick.

It's just that many warriors behind him saw the Ming army's position that had already established a firm foothold at the top of the city.

The red tide is like a sea, like a lighthouse in the wind and waves at this moment, resisting the Japanese attack of all kinds without retreating a step, and even slowly pushing the front line outward.

"How long will our reinforcements arrive?!"

Looking at the scene in front of him, Matsudaira Tadaki was very desperate. He grabbed the samurai next to him and questioned him, but the other party also hesitated and said:
"Date-sama has already led the seven thousand ashigaru from Toyosato Town to come to support, and it will take about two hours!"

"7000 people... two hours..." Matsudaira Tadaaki gritted his teeth. He knew that even if these 7000 people arrived, they would be useless, because most of them were ashigaru who had only trained for less than four months.

But in the current situation, even if seven thousand strong men came, Matsudaira Tadaaki would not give up on Kusatsu Castle.

Kusatsu Castle must be defended, and Tokugawa Iemitsu, who has returned to Edo, and Tokugawa Hidetada, who has advanced to the Zen position, will be given time to recruit soldiers for training.

Therefore, faced with such news, Matsudaira Tadaaki could only turn around and look at the precarious defense line.

"Only by defending Caojin City can the Ming army's spirit be defeated. I can't lose..."

　High fever of 39.5 degrees, uncomfortable and want to die...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)