Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 373
"Let people go!"

"That's right! They stole the military rations, why did they kill Shou Xiwan and the others?!"

"Let go!"

"Aren't we defending against the Ming army for the general? Why do we even have to deduct our military rations?!"

At noon on the seventh day, there was no artillery fire from the Ming army, but the weather was still gloomy and terrifying. What was even more terrifying was the conflict between the aristocratic class and the commoner class in Nagoya City.

Tens of thousands of ashigaru and civilian husbands surrounded the base of the city wall, and there were groups of ashigaru coming in the distance, and their target was twelve short and thin ashigaru.

They were stripped of their clothes, and they were all skinny, with sunken cheeks and disheveled hair, squatting on the top of the wall.

Behind them, twelve samurai were polishing their katanas, as if preparing to decapitate the ashigaru of the twelve lower katanas.

This kind of encounter made many ashigaru who were also deprived of food feel unfair and resentful.

"To shut up!"

A daimyo sitting on a low stool stood up, wearing a bluffing armor, and made many ashigaru and civilians shut up.

Ashigaru dared to attack samurai, but he still had a deep fear of daimyo and generals.

"Those three warriors should be damned for withholding rations, but twelve of them besieged and killed three people, and still attacked them. Such a despicable method is shameful!"

"To shut up!"

The daimyo, who was still reprimanding the civilian husband, was suddenly interrupted. He looked angrily, but saw Tokugawa Iemitsu walking over with Date Masamune and a group of samurai.

"Master General!"

The daimyo hurriedly saluted, but the ashigaru and the civilians who were civilians could only kneel down and shouted for the general.

"Let people go!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu looked at the ashigaru and Minfu gathered under the castle, his face was dark and ugly.

At this juncture, even if the punishment is to be light, it should be killed on the spot, instead of being punished like an idiot.

Hearing and seeing are two different concepts. If all the ashigaru and civilian husbands witness the riot after the execution, who can calm the situation? !

"But... Lord General..." Daimyo wanted to explain again, but Tokugawa Iemitsu stared at him:
"Can't you hear what I'm saying?!"

"Hi...Hi!" Daimyo's heart shuddered, and he could only wave his hand to signal the people below to release the twelve ashigaru.

After the 12 people were released, they knelt down to express their gratitude, and Masamune Date said quickly:
"General, now is the time for you to regain your morale."

"Hmm..." Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded slightly, and when he turned around, he hid the shadow of his expression and said with a smile:
"Soldiers! Believe in me! Believe in the shogunate! After defeating the Ming army, I will reward you with the land of Kyushu and Shikoku, and make you all warriors!"

"Hi!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu was condescending, and his voice continued to spread. The ashigaru and civilians below responded quickly after hearing it.

It seems that in their opinion, the things that the generals have promised should not be ignored.

"Today's extra meal, let's go!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu waved his hand, and the ashigaru and civilians below also began to evacuate little by little.

Watching them disperse, the former daimyo couldn't help asking: "The land of Kyushu and Shikoku..."

"Shut up." Date Masamune stopped the other party speechlessly, even thinking that the other party was a brainless fool.

Right now, the shogunate may not even be able to keep Nagoya, let alone recover Kyushu and Shikoku.

Everyone can see that Tokugawa Iemitsu is just trying to stabilize the hearts of Ashari and Minfu.

"Give them half a catty of vegetarian rice."

"Hi!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu gave Date Masamune an order with an ugly face, and then turned and led the team away without even saying a word to reprimand the daimyo.

Date Masamune agreed, and then ordered someone to provide extra meals for the soldiers of the army.

An hour later, the people at the base of the city wall dispersed completely, and corn and rice balls that were much larger than usual appeared in the hands of the ashigaru and the peasants.

"Sure enough, Lord General keeps his word."

"Of course!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Two hours later, when all the ashigaru and minfu were eating, they seemed to have forgotten what happened to them a few days ago, and they started to praise Tokugawa Iemitsu again because of half a catty of corn rice balls.

This is the inferiority of human beings, never forgetting to fight, always taking chances, thinking that the things promised by the people above will definitely be realized, but they don’t look at who brought about their situation.

Because of their luck, the Tokugawa family was able to live for a few more days.

As the days passed, the "kindness" of the half-jin rice balls was slowly fading away.

Until Tokugawa Iemitsu and Date Masamune felt that something was wrong, Zheng Zhilong's third battalion had already sailed into Edo Bay by boat.

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

The sound of violent artillery fire rang out over Edo Castle, which made Tokugawa Hidetada, who had come out of the mountain again and was about to break through the supply line with the whole army, subconsciously grabbed his sword.

"Father! The Ming army is coming from the sea!"

"Is it at sea? Sure enough..."

Tokugawa Tadaga came trotting all the way in armor. He knelt behind the door and reported to Tokugawa Hidetada inside the house.

When Tokugawa Hidetada heard the words, he immediately asked the maidservants on the left and right to put on armor for him, and walked out of the courtyard a quarter of an hour later:
"Follow me to the castle tower."

After Tokugawa Hidetada gave an explanation, he followed the armor and walked towards the castle tower, and Tokugawa Tadaga immediately followed after seeing this.

On their way, many daimyos who fled from the south and temporarily lived in Edo followed A.

When they boarded the castle tower two quarters of an hour later, what appeared in front of them were more than [-] warships on the sea that looked small but were extremely tall compared to the surrounding ships.

More than [-] warships did not directly choose to land and fight, but bombarded forts and ships in Edo Bay to their heart's content.

Some soldiers and horses stationed in the port were annihilated by them with artillery and rifles. In short, they showed no sign of landing.

Tokugawa Hidetada looked at the battlefield with a telescope bought from the Dutchman, and after looking at it, he said without looking back:

"The number should be around 1. This Ming army is a partial division and the main force."

"What do you mean?" A daimyo was puzzled, but Tokugawa Hidetada was too lazy to explain, but said directly:

"Nagoya can't hold it anymore, tell Jiaguang to lead the army back immediately!"

"Hi!"

After all, he was brought up by Ieyasu Tokugawa, and Tokugawa Hidetada can still see things and tricks such as making a lot of noise and turning against customers.

The current Ming army has about 1 people. When the Nagoya battlefield is going well, they are the partial division, and when it is not going well, they are the main force.

With this Wanming army, if they don't hesitate to suffer casualties, they can take Edo Castle directly without losing half of their troops.

Tokugawa Hidetada did not underestimate the fighting power of the Ming army, so he knew that Tokugawa Iemitsu had to find an opportunity to break through.

If this army appeared here, they would not be able to lead people to get through the grain road. The grain road could not be dredged, and those 10,000+ people were dying in Nagoya Castle.

Rather than being trapped to death, it would be better...

"My lord, there is news from Gifu, Nagano, and Yamanashi that the Ming army has broken through the three places!"

With the sound of hurried footsteps, a Tang soldier ran up to the castle tower and reported worse news.

Such news is undoubtedly very damaging to morale, because the strength of these three places is [-], and the fall of these three places means that at least [-] troops have been wiped out.

The northern gate of the shogunate has been lost, and the Ming army in Yamanashi will go straight to Edo after a short rest. It was supposed to be a war of attrition in Nagoya, but now it has become a war of attrition in Edo. Really...

Tokugawa Hidetada's face was cloudy and uncertain. He calculated the capital in his hands. Even if he counted Mito in the north, and some northern cities that had not been captured, as well as the soldiers and horses in Edo and Nagoya, the ashigaru under his command was no more than Only 11 left.

Of the 11, [-] are new recruits, which are simply unusable.

In this situation, even if he wins Nagoya, it will be a dead end. He can only retreat to Edo, and then see if he can use his last strength in exchange for a chance to survive.

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

"Woo Hoo!" On the deck, watching the Japanese warships being sunk, Liu Xiang shouted excitedly, while Zheng Zhilong was looking at the Edo Castle, with his arms folded, not knowing what his opponent was.

"The people sent by the imperial court still have two brushes, and they swept the state so quickly."

Next to Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhifeng sighed a little, while Zheng Zhihu said disapprovingly:
"It's just relying on the number of soldiers. If we had given us so many soldiers, we would have taken the whole of Japan long ago."

Zheng Zhihu's words were very arrogant, if Yan Siqi was here, he might not be able to help scolding him.

In the final analysis, it was because they did not know how to be considerate in using soldiers, which caused more casualties in the Ming army. Yan Siqi had no choice but to invite Yang Wenyue and Wu Aheng.

It is very easy for the [-] Ming army to sweep the shogunate, but it is very difficult to sweep without too many casualties.

"Brother! Liu Xiang is going to land at the pier?!"

Suddenly Zheng Zhifeng pointed to a boat, which was Liu Xiang's boat, and it was directly leading the three warships around it to the shore.

"Idiot!" Zheng Zhilong had a sneer on his face, because Yang Wenyue had reminded them that no one was allowed to go ashore, and they only needed to bombard the shore indiscriminately.

Now that Liu Xiang tried to bring people ashore in vain, that would be a violation of military law.

Zheng Zhilong didn't say anything to stop him, he had his own little jiujiu, which was to ignore Liu Xiang and let him be punished after the war.

As long as Liu Xiang is punished, Zheng Zhilong will be the fifth person in Yingzhou.

After that, Yang Wenyue, Wu Aheng, Yan Siqi, and Lu Jianxing all left, and Yingzhou is what he said...

Zheng Zhilong's eyes flickered, and at this time Liu Xiang also led people ashore.

The people he commanded were his original team, less than 2000 people.

The moment they landed at the pier, Edo Castle sent 4000 people out of the city, preparing to rely on the market town buildings at the pier to defend and counterattack.

Liu Xiang led people to meet him directly. Seeing that the distance between the two sides was getting closer, he raised his knife and said:
"It's almost time, ready to fire!"

dong dong dong...

The drummers accompanying the team beat the drums more and more intensively, and the soldiers of the Ming army also walked towards the Japanese army. They lined up in a horizontal line, stepped on some corpses and ruins that had been shelled to death, and gradually moved towards the Japanese army amidst the roar of sea artillery. march forward.

After many battles, the current Ming army has done a good job in the connection between artillery and infantry. Soldiers can move forward normally under the roar of artillery, so they are not worried about accidental injuries.

It's just that compared to them, the Japanese army was very fast. Tokugawa Tadaga, who led the troops out of the city, learned a lesson. This time, he did not rashly choose to fight the Ming army on the flat ground, but tried to stop the Ming army in the ruins of the market town.

These 30 Japanese soldiers stood guard on the streets, roofs, and ruins, and groups of [-] people squeezed into the gaps, preparing to fire guns at the Ming army.

"preparation!"

Because the streets and alleys were narrow, the Ming army could only organize a platoon of fifty men side by side. Liu Xiang whistled at the position of the Chinese army with a wooden whistle.

When the distance between the two armies was only sixty paces, both Tokugawa Tadaga and Liu Xiang issued military orders at the same time.

"put!"

"Clap clap-"

The hit rate at this distance is not high, every volley can only depend on luck, but there is an advantage, that is, it can seize a first move, and the psychological endurance of soldiers is also higher.

Compared with the rifles of the Ming army, the iron cannons in the hands of the Japanese soldiers were less powerful and more troublesome to ignite, but they hid in the ruins and had a blocking advantage.

Therefore, under the protection of the bunker, they pulled the trigger calmly, while people in the Ming army kept falling from the queue.

Sand and gravel splashed, even with the resistance of the ruins and wooden houses, the power of the rifle was terrifying. After piercing through two thick door panels for business, it could also penetrate the armor of the Japanese army.

The Ming army advanced in an orderly manner, but the Japanese army felt the pressure.

Although there are 4000 of them, there are only [-] iron gunners.

Although the Ming army had only 2000 men, there were [-] riflemen.

For a time, the iron gunners of the Japanese army were suppressed, and the archers could only throw to suppress the Ming army.

"Beep!"

Liu Xiang blew his whistle, the Ming army lined up their guns and moved forward, and the saber and poker players raised their cards to cover the rifle players.

The arrows fell sparsely, but they couldn't cause any fatal damage to the Ming army.

The Japanese iron gunners took advantage of this gap to pour gunpowder into the pool, then stuffed bullets and gunpowder into the muzzle of the gun, filled the pellets with a cleaning rod, removed the cleaning rod, and then lit the fuse with a torch. The whole process was cumbersome. To heinous.

"boom!"

A row of muffled gunshots rang out, completely different from the clear and clear voices of the Ming army. The sound of iron cannons was very dull, but its power was also revealed after entering thirty steps.

A row of guns, the Ming army fell a row of people, and the Japanese army fell 40 people. If Yang Wenyue saw such a battle loss ratio, Liu Xiang would definitely be pushed to Xishi and beheaded immediately, but he still felt that he would die soon. If you can win, you will soon be able to enter Edo Castle.

"Brother, is this Liu Xiang acting stupid? If the fight continues like this, I think he will be taken to sacrifice the flag by Jinglue!"

Holding binocular clairvoyance, Zheng Zhihu watched Liu Xiang's "suicidal" attack and cursed.

But at this time, Zheng Zhifeng suddenly said: "No, this kid is hiding something!"

"Huh?" Hearing this, Zheng Zhihu continued to look.

Sure enough, the group of Ming soldiers who were shot and dragged out gradually woke up after being slapped by their companions.

"What the hell? Invulnerable?"

Zheng Zhihu's eyes widened, but Zheng Zhilong said flatly:

"This guy put on three layers of cotton armor for the people below, let's see their speed."

Zheng Zhilong's reminder made Zheng Zhifeng and Zheng Zhihu react. Sure enough, after they looked over, they saw some soldiers who had taken off their cloth masks.

After taking off the armor, there is still a layer of half-body cotton armor inside. If there is no accident, there is also a cotton-padded waistcoat inside the half-body cotton armor.

"This way of wearing must not weigh more than eighty catties?" Zheng Zhihu was speechless.

"I said why they can't run." Zheng Zhifeng also took a deep breath.

But for this, Zheng Zhilong said: "Hmph!"

"Fifty steps can still be resisted with triple cotton armor. At twenty steps, let's see what he can use to resist!"

"put!"

"boom--"

Suddenly, a roar sounded, Zheng Zhilong's heart tightened, while Zheng Zhifeng yelled:
"This guy brought three tiger squatting cannons, and this old-fashioned thing destroyed a bunch of Japanese pirates!"

Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong hurriedly picked up his clairvoyance and looked. Sure enough, on the battlefield, three tiger squatting guns weighing about [-] kilograms stood on the street, and the iron gunners of Tokugawa Tadacho and others were directly stunned by the tiger squatting guns filled with flower shells. up.

Hundreds of bullets flew in, harvesting a large number of people in an instant, and taking advantage of this time, the Ming army rushed out a group of people wearing cloth masks like fierce tigers.

"Heavily armored rifleman, lightly armed and short-armed." Zheng Zhilong saw it clearly, and immediately shouted:
"Give me all the shore, bombard Edo with artillery, and pawns land at the port. Don't let Liu Xiang take the credit alone!"

"Yes!"

Zheng Zhilong understood that Liu Xiang dared to land only after he had made enough preparations. Right now, he only needs to win the pier first, and he will be able to take the top spot, unless Zheng Zhilong can take down Edo Castle!
"Give it all to me!"

When Zheng Zhilong thought that he was going to be one behind Liu Xiang, he immediately shouted and ordered the army to press up.

There were more of them, more than 4000 people, and seeing so many people landing, Tokugawa Tadaga could only reluctantly order: "Retreat!"

The sound of golden ringing and wooden whistle sounded and spread throughout the battlefield, and all the Japanese troops retreated. Upon seeing this, Liu Xiang also led the Ming army to charge and chase the Japanese troops.

"Kill the Japanese and get the reward! Kill the Japanese and get the reward!"

There is nothing more stimulating than rewarding silver. A Japanese pirate's head is ten taels of silver, which is much better than being a seven-month soldier honestly.

For a while, the Ming army went down the mountain like a tiger, chasing Tokugawa Tadacho and others for a hundred steps, and then they did not continue to pursue because they were afraid of the artillery at the head of Edo Castle.

"Seize the port! Our battalion goes first!"

Liu Xiang raised his arms and shouted, and the soldiers below shouted and celebrated.

The capture of the port meant that they had overfulfilled the task assigned by Yang Wenyue. Although hundreds of people were killed or injured, their beheading was even more brilliant.

When Zheng Zhilong led people to land, he only saw Liu Xiang who was counting the heads.

"Seven heads in 820, won the silver reward for the first boarding of the port..."

Liu Xiang looked at Zheng Zhilong and his brothers who were coming quickly, and raised his chin: "How about General Zheng's gains?"

"Hehe... naturally not as good as Brother Liu." Zheng Zhilong put on a smiley face, bowing as if to express his happiness for Liu Xiang, but Liu Xiang snorted lightly when he saw this, then turned and left.

"Brother, he..." Zheng Zhihu couldn't stand Liu Xiang's arrogance, but was stopped by Zheng Zhilong.

"Send a fast horse to Nagoya, send the port sign to Nagoya, and hand it over to Yang Jinglue and Wu Jinglue."

Zheng Zhilong held back his anger and spoke, but Zheng Zhifeng could only bow:
"Yes!"

Tangqi fast horses were dispatched. Since the coastal area was full of ships from the Ming army, and a team of twelve cavalrymen was enough to ram hundreds of Japanese pirates, the Tangqi team galloped recklessly, and finally delivered the news to Yang Wenyue in the afternoon of the second day .

Along with the news, there is also a plaque written by Tokugawa Hidetada himself at the Edo Wharf.

"How many people were killed or injured?"

In the military tent, Yang Wenyue, who was sitting at the head seat, frowned slightly when he learned that Liu Xiang had stormed the port.

"Broken 47 brothers, injured 130, but beheaded 820 seven Japanese pirates!"

The Tang cavalry team was bowing to Yang Wenyue in reply, and Yang Wenyue frowned slightly when he heard the words:
"Understood, step back and rest, return to Edo early tomorrow morning, let Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang monitor the movements of the Japanese army."

"Yes!" The team was bowing in return, then turned and left.

After he left, Yang Wenyue glanced at the many generals in the tent, and then said:
"While it's still dark, have someone push the Edo Port sign, as well as the corpses of Nagano, Yamanashi, Gifu, and Fukui, to the base of Nagoya Castle."

"Here is a copy in my handwriting, send it together."

Yang Wenyue took out his handwriting, and Cao Dingjiao got up to take it, bowed to accept the order, and went down to do business.

But Cao Bianjiao watched his cousin leave, and then bowed and said:

"Jinglue, the fire oil is ready, and the trebuchet is also ready. May I ask when will the general attack be launched?"

Menghuo oil... This is what Zheng Zhilong asked Yan Siqi and the court to ask for. The gunpowder requested with him has been beaten down to only 12 catties, while the fierce fire oil is still [-] catties.

Once one hundred thousand catties of fire oil is put into Nagoya, the Ming army will get a huge "bonfire".

It's just that Yang Wenyue didn't use them in a hurry, but stroked his beard and said:
"Not for now, wait until tonight. If Tokugawa Iemitsu refuses to retreat tonight, then at midnight, we will be able to stage the burning of Nagoya."

With that said, Yang Wenyue glanced outside the tent, and said in a slightly regretful tone:
"Sigh, it's a pity that we can't see the 'Mountain of Shou'an Township' conferred by Emperor Cheng Zuwen here, otherwise the fire will be ignited during the day, and it would be nice for me to watch the bonfire and enjoy the mountain scenery..."

"However, it is very likely that I will not see this flame burning in Nagoya..."

There was something in Yang Wenyue's words, and Wu Aheng knew the reason, so he couldn't help asking:
"Douwang, do you really think that group of ashigaru and civilian husbands can't stand it and rebel?"

"There can be rebellion in our dynasty, why can't there be Japanese pirates?" Yang Wenyue stroked his beard.

What he said was a bit outrageous, but the generals present didn't say anything.

After all, it has been less than two months since Yang Wenyue and Wu Aheng arrived in Osaka, and they have easily taken down four counties.

Without the command of Yan Siqi and others, the Ming army was allowed to fight on its own, and there were no huge casualties in the attack on Gifu and Fukui.

The casualties caused by the [-] Japanese troops to the [-] Ming troops were no more than [-], and half of them survived with disabilities, and the battle damage ratio reached [-]:[-].

In this comparison, Yang Wenyue is more like a general, while Yan Siqi and others still can't change the reckless atmosphere.

"Okay, let's see the Japanese pirates killing each other..."

Yang Wenyue narrowed his eyes, and when he finished speaking, Lu Jianxing, who was wearing a flying fish suit, also lifted the big tent.

Obviously, what Yang Wenyue wants to do has something to do with Jin Yiwei...

　I haven't recovered the state before I got sick. It was said that it was 01 o'clock and it was delayed until 30 o'clock.

　　It can only explain that tomorrow is still 'six o'clock in the afternoon' or 'eleven o'clock in the evening'.

　　Hope it's in better shape.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)