The Sword of Smiling and Proud

Chapter 169: Leap Frog Tactics
Ren Yingying was a little dissatisfied. She had seen Dongfang Bubai's peerless martial arts at Heimuya before, and she felt that there was no hope of revenge. But now that the enemy who killed her father, Guan Yuan, was right in front of her, and she couldn't do it. How could she have the face to face the dead Ren Wo? OK.

"Should we just do nothing? How can we avenge my father!"

"Dongfang Bubai has attached great importance to Yang Lianting in recent years. If we can capture him, we can naturally discover some of his weaknesses." Xiang Wentian still prefers to seek revenge from Dongfang Bubai, after all, he is the initiator.

The few people reluctantly reached an agreement and then left in hiding.

However, the martial arts righteous people in Taizhou Prefecture were in a dilemma. The Japanese pirates who were defeated by Guan Yuan and others seemed to be frightened, and there was no news for two months in a row.

Everyone waited here for a long time, but no news was received from this group of Japanese pirates.

It seemed as if they had never been here before, and there was no sound. If some people who had been persecuted by them did not occasionally mention them, the Ming people along the coast seemed to have forgotten them.

Some sects have already thought about leaving at this time, shouting that they are just a group of bandits. They must have heard that all the heroes of my righteous path have gathered together, and they must have become timid.

According to previous intelligence, this group of Japanese pirates only numbered more than a hundred people. Shigeo Yoshioka's group, which was annihilated last time, already accounted for half of them. It was indeed a bit of a stretch.Guan Yuan and others were not idle during this period. With the help of Zhuang Wenqiang, they searched around for the unknown island where the Japanese pirates were entrenched.

Unfortunately, there are countless islands along the southeastern coast. They are like grains of sand in the vast sea of ​​sand and are really difficult to search.

Many well-known and decent people who had good relations with Wuyue also advised them not to bother. Mo Da and Feng Buping made an appointment with Guan Yuan to discuss matters together that day. He and others had been staying in Taizhou for more than two months and had killed so many people. The Japanese pirates have finally given an explanation.

Guan Yuan sat in the elegant room of the teahouse and sipped tea silently. After listening to the words of the two Wuyue seniors, he did not respond for a long time, obviously still hesitating.

He knew that as time progressed to the Jiajing Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese invasion in the southeast would become more and more serious. This was just the beginning.If we can beat up those greedy bandits this time, maybe we can slow down the coming of this disaster.

Just killing dozens of them was far from effective.Not to mention the Satsuma clan where Shigeo Yoshioka is located, even the nobles of other island countries will still have ronin come to fight for wealth.

"Nephew Guan, don't dislike Mo Da for being verbose. Southern Shaolin has summoned so many comrades to gather in Taizhou to fight against the Japanese pirates in name. In fact, they are putting our Five Mountains on the fire." Mr. Mo Da is wily and thoughtful. "Indeed Our Wuyue Sword Sect has been very popular recently, so it is normal for us to be feared by villains."

"Except for us who are still actively searching for traces of Japanese pirates, the disciples from other sects are not all staying in the city, sitting and talking, they are just here to join in the fun."

"Yes, although my Wuyue disciples were not injured in the last battle, it was too thrilling." Feng Buping took over the words, "If you hadn't encountered that group of Japanese pirates, I'm afraid it wouldn't have been possible for any of my disciples. Senior Brother Yue is I hope that dozens of us can all go back intact."

"Also, the Taizhou parent officer responded too slowly. It has been several months since the last Japanese pirate invasion, but no troops have come yet. They are waiting for the decision from above to be finalized. If the Japanese pirates really come ashore again, wouldn't it be another time? It’s helpless.”

"Uncles, please give me a few more days. If we still can't find the enemy's lair, how about we go back?"

Just as the three of them were discussing in the tea house, a messenger rushed into Taizhou City from the south gate. The knight was dusty and anxious, and before the horse could stop, he dismounted and ran into the government office.The merchants and people seen along the street were talking a lot, and they didn't know what was going on.

By the time Guan Yuan heard the news, the news reported by the messenger had already spread throughout the city.It turned out that just three days ago, a large group of Japanese pirates landed at night at Jinxiang Guard in Wenzhou, several hundred miles south, and attacked and killed the officers and soldiers of the guard.

The Jinxiang Guard was originally built during the Hongwu period to protect the coast of southern Zhejiang. It was considered an important stronghold of the Ming army on the coast.There are five thousand households here. In theory, there should be a garrison of several thousand people, under the command of the Jinxiang commander.It is a pity that the guardhouse has been in disrepair for a long time, and the soldiers and horses are slack. It is unknown how much empty pay and how much soldiers' blood they drank from the previous superiors.The entire guardhouse was full of old, weak, sick and disabled, with less than a thousand people. The rest were farmers and tenants who had never even touched a sword or a gun.

This group of Japanese pirates was quite large, numbering 5 to 6 hundred people. They took advantage of the cover of night to quietly land ashore and fight their way into the city.The Ming army in the guardhouse had never encountered an enemy before. For a while, they were in such a hurry that they almost blew up the camp.

That night, the whole guard was littered with corpses and suffered heavy losses. In the entire Jinxiang Guard, there were only ten surviving officers and soldiers, and it was almost impossible to organize the remaining troops.The people fled in all directions, leaving the garrison and fortress to the Japanese pirates.

According to the guard Mingjun who was lucky enough to escape, this group of Japanese pirates was different from before. They were mainly real Japanese and had strict discipline. There was really no movement until they reached the wall of the guardhouse. They attacked suddenly. His side was caught off guard.

As soon as the Jinxiang Guards fell, all the official forces in southern Zhejiang and northeastern Fujian were almost wiped out, leaving only a few scattered soldiers fighting on their own.The coastal counties of Pingyang, Cangnan, Fuding and Xiapu were like a little daughter-in-law who had been stripped naked and exposed to the Japanese pirates.

The group of Japanese pirates who occupied Jinxiang Guard were not greedy for the territory. Instead, they dispersed as if retreating from a court and returned to the ship.Taking advantage of sea ships, they landed in the above-mentioned counties one after another in the next few days. They robbed people when they landed, and ran away after grabbing them. They had already invaded more than a dozen towns and villages in Pingyang and Cangnan counties, and massacred hundreds of villages along the way.

Originally, Wenzhou Prefecture received the news and tried to organize manpower to gather strength to intercept the Japanese pirates. However, the opponent's leap-frog tactics made the local warriors summoned by Wenzhou Prefecture's government unable to fight back.

The Ming Dynasty has been closed to the sea for a long time, and the official army does not have any warships. There are only some sand ships transporting supplies and cargo. Naturally, they do not dare to go to sea to fight against Japanese pirates.

Several adults in Wenzhou Prefecture hurriedly sent messengers to convey information to several surrounding prefectures. Firstly, they wanted some reinforcements, and secondly, it was a reminder to avoid being succeeded by the Japanese pirates' old tricks again.

It is a pity that Taizhou Prefecture and Funing Prefecture south of Wenzhou have more than enough ambition but not enough strength. What's more, the Japanese pirates use such tactics. Everyone is trying to clear the door and dare not help.

The breakthrough point chosen by the Japanese pirates was also tricky. It was at the junction of Zhejiang and Fujian. Although the Zhejiang Chengxuan Political Envoy Department and the Fujian Chengxuan Political Envoy Department had both received the news, the two provinces had to discuss the linkage.

It is a pity that this discussion will lead to the destruction of many villages and counties by Japanese pirates.

Guan Yuan and others had no worries. After receiving the news, they quickly went south, hoping to intercept the Japanese pirates.At this time, all the major sects had no excuses. The Japanese pirates were so arrogant that neither emotion nor reason allowed them to retreat, so they all came with reinforcements.

Everyone's target was first set on Fuding County. Cangnan, Pingyang, had been affected by the disaster. If the Japanese pirates did not stop, they would naturally target Xiapu, Fuding.

(End of this chapter)