Carrying AK into Ming Dynasty

Chapter 906
Dongying, Shimane Castle.

"My lord, I just got the letter from Nagasaki City. The Dutch fleet attacked Nagasaki. We failed... failed to send the lady and child..." A dusty messenger staggered over to report.

Zheng Lin stood on the top of the city in a Ming-style armor. Under the helmet, his young and handsome face was bronzed by the gunpowder smoke. His brows were tightly frowned, and his right hand holding the saber seemed to be exerting great restraint.

Zheng Lin has been under unprecedented pressure for several months. When Liu Hongjian left, he was only given ten snipers and a thousand guards soldiers. He needed to keep his existing territory in the melee of the East .

At the same time, it is necessary to ensure the output of the Iwami Silver Mine and the training of the Japanese soldiers. In addition to these things all day long, it is also necessary to mediate with the Saito Allied Forces.

Because according to Liu Hongjian's previous instructions, the Shimane-Nagasaki garrison was only allowed to defend during the time he did not return, and the Iwami silver mine in Shimane was the key defense object.

This led to the retreat of the Saito Allied Forces under the joint attack of the Netherlands and the shogunate. After another disastrous defeat five days ago, more than 5000 Saito Allied Forces retreated into the outer city of Shimane.

There was no way around this. Daming's seas had been blocked by the Netherlands before, and he didn't have a fleet in his hands, so he had been fighting alone.

In addition to the 1000 guards in this lone army, the [-] soldiers conscripted from Japan have not yet been trained, and most of the weapons in the hands of the soldiers are local low-quality guns.

Now Nagasaki City has also fallen. Not only has the task entrusted to him by His Highness the Prince of the County not been completed, but he has also lost his wife and infant child, and he is just a young man who has just turned 20 years old. ah!

"My lord—my lord—come here! My lord has fainted!"

On the city wall, Zheng Lin's tall body suddenly fell backwards limply, and the guards standing beside him immediately supported him and shouted to the others.

The sound of artillery was still roaring, and the Dutch and the shogunate army outside Shimane Castle were in full battle.

"Mr. Barov, why don't you attack the rear of Shimane Castle with your fleet?"

Inside the camp tent, Tokugawa Kamematsu, the Tokugawa shogunate's chief minister, asked kindly, he could make his tone not so unfriendly.

At least for now, the combat power of the Dutch soldiers is indeed stronger than the soldiers in his hands, and more importantly, the Dutch provided their warships.

It was precisely because the Dutch warships suddenly attacked Saito's Tottori Castle that they were able to defeat Saito's coalition forces in just six or seven months.

After Tokugawa Kamematsu finished speaking, an interpreter immediately translated his words to Earl Barov, the army commander directly under the Dutch East India Company.

"Master Tokugawa, although the rear of Shimane Castle is facing the sea, there are two forts. It is very unwise to attack the forts with ship-mounted guns!" Barov has a messy beard, and his beard is messy when he speaks. .

And the fact is true. After all, Zheng Lin leaned on the big tree of Liu Hongjian. When Liu Hongjian left, he did not leave behind the artillery on the ship, and he not only got a large batch of grenades from somewhere.

In addition to the Japanese artillery collected by Zheng Lin in the surrounding small towns, there are at least forty or fifty artillery pieces in the two forts.

But that's not what Barov was thinking about. He was just an army general directly under the East India Company, and Viscount Bernard, commander of the Dutch East India Company's Batavia Squadron, was in charge of transporting troops.

The Dutch East India Company has a huge system and is not harmonious internally. It is manifested in the military that the army and navy have always been at odds.

The task assigned by the General Staff to Viscount Bernard was to transport Barov's army troops to Japan, but it did not specify that it would cooperate with the latter to participate in the war.

So Barov knew in his heart that Bernard would not help him attack Shimane Castle, and he would not lower his status to beg Bernard because of this.

"In that case, can we just wait here and wait for the artillery to blow down the city wall?" Tokugawa Kamematsu still felt that at this time the fleet's two-sided attack would be more conducive to breaking Shimane Castle, so he couldn't help asking.

"Or I suggest that you send your troops to continue attacking the city." Barov glanced at Tokugawa Kamematsu and then only cared about the steak that his men had just grilled.

Not to mention, Barov felt that the quality of Japanese beef was better than any steak he had eaten in Batavia, and it even reminded him of his distant hometown of Amsterdam.

"No, the Tian Chuan family in the city has a lot of firearms in their hands, and those sharpshooters...the casualties are too great!" Tokugawa Kamematsu vetoed.

Especially those sharpshooters, it seems that there are not many of them, but these guys are extremely good at marksmanship, and they always focus on killing the generals among the soldiers, so that the soldiers will panic because they lose the generals soon after the siege.

"Hmph, we have agreed that after the city is captured, all supplies in the city will belong to the Netherlands." Barov snorted.

The headquarters dispatched him to Japan, which made Barov very reluctant. After all, the Netherlands has been operating in Batavia for hundreds of years, and it is still very comfortable there, but military orders are difficult to disobey.

In order to make up for the loss of the fleet in the sea off Daming for more than half a year, the headquarters decided to take advantage of the chaos in Japan to control a piece of land for colonization, and the first choice must be Shimane, where the Iwami Silver Mine is located.

The arrival of the Dutch made the Tokugawa shogunate, which was already stretched and retreating, feel like a treasure, and the Dutch's request was not too much. They only asked for a sum of military expenses after the war and handed over Shimane Castle to the Dutch for governance.

The Tokugawa shogunate only considered it for a day before agreeing. Not to mention that the Iwami Silver Mine was not controlled by the shogunate in the first place. The shogunate's current request is very simple, to defeat the Saito rebels and maintain its rule.

As for Shimane Castle, the Dutch only talked about governance but not sovereignty. The young Tokugawa Kamematsu didn't take it too seriously. In his opinion, as long as the rule is stabilized, the shogunate can completely settle accounts after the fall.

But what he didn't expect was that the East India Company also thought the same way. The Dutch needed a reason to intervene in the war in Japan. As long as they got the land and silver mines, everything was no longer important.

Because in the eyes of the strong, it doesn't matter whether what they own is the right to govern the land or the full sovereignty, as long as they own it is enough.

Barov didn't care, after all, the land and silver mine belonged to the company, but what he cared about was the sharpshooter in the city, to be more precise, the mysterious firearm in the hands of the sharpshooter.

As far as he knew, the Dutch had fought against Da Ming several times, and almost every time they were defeated by the opponent's weapons, especially the firearms in the hands of those sharpshooters.

During these days of fighting in Japan, Barov once witnessed the guard around him being hit by a mysterious firearm, and at a distance of four to five hundred yards from the city, his guard's chest was completely pierced by the firearm.

He needs this kind of musket, Barov told himself, the company's goal is silver mines and land, his goal is those mysterious muskets, muskets can make him stronger, and at the same time his status in the company will become better high.

"Of course, the people of Dongying have always said one thing, Lord Barov." Tokugawa Kamematsu said with a smile.

"This city wall will be breached one day at most, Lord Tokugawa, your wish will be granted soon." Barov quickly finished eating the whole steak, picked up a towel from the table and wiped his hands sideways.

"Oh, they have nowhere to go, maybe your Excellency should persuade them to surrender." Barov suggested.

After all, Barov's identity as a guest soldier is not easy to come forward, and the news just arrived from the headquarters, the prince of Daming slaughtered Rakshasa in a year, and has returned to the capital of Daming.

This news shocked the senior management of the Batavia headquarters, and it was rumored that the ruling Prince of Orange wanted to cease the war with Ming, and lifting the blockade off the coast of Daming was just an act of goodwill.

So he had to act as soon as possible, before the domestic order was issued, to win the silver mine in Japan for the company, and by the way, he could go up another liter.

"It is impossible for the Tagawa family to surrender. Your Excellency, we don't need to waste our efforts." Tokugawa Kamematsu said casually with his eyelids down.

After breaking through Nagasaki Castle, Tokugawa Kamematsu not only ordered the massacre of the entire clan of Tagawa Nanazemon, but also tortured his wife to write about the various pressures that the Tokugawa shogunate has encountered in recent years.

Nanazawaemon's young child was thrown to death directly from the castle, and his wife was finally stripped off and hung on the wall of Nagasaki Castle, exposing her body for three days to insult Shimane Castle's Nanazawaemon.

And counting the time, the news should have reached Shimane Castle.

……

"My lord! Your lord is awake, send it to the medical officer!"

In Shimane Castle's Lord's Mansion, Zheng Lin opened his tired eyes. His hair was messy and his lips were cracked. He stared at the roof with dull eyes, as if he was recalling something.

"No need, Wen Biao, how is the battle in the city going?" Zheng Lin was brought back to his senses by the shouts from his subordinates, struggling to get started.

"Don't worry, my lord, the city is still in our hands, and the Dutch can't come in for the time being." Wen Biao, a hundred household officer of the Imperial Guard, stepped forward and helped Zheng Lin.

After Zheng Lin fell ill, Du Yong'an, who had been promoted to guerrilla in the imperial guards, was temporarily in command of the city defense. The battle was still going on in the city. Apart from a few Japanese leaders, only Wen Biao and a few others remained beside Zheng Lin. Praetorians.

As a guerrilla of the imperial guards, Du Yong'an has always looked down on the Japanese, and specially sent Wen Biao to guard them in case of accidents.

At this time, a Japanese soldier brought a bowl of hot porridge from outside. Wen Biao took a sip and handed it to Zheng Lin. Zheng Lin was a little relieved when he heard that Shimane Castle was still in Daming's hands, and then took the bowl and sipped it. .

"It's just the Japanese generals who joined us a few days ago...Your Excellency, you should be careful about them!" Wen Biao whispered while glancing at the other Japanese in the room, but remembered that these Japanese could not understand them at all. What he said was immediately relieved.

In the Battle of Nagano, the Dutch joined forces with the Tokugawa shogunate to defeat the [-] coalition forces of Saito and several other daimyos with [-] troops, and pursued the victory all the way without giving any chance to the Saito coalition forces.

Saito Chikage, Sanki Yokoryu, and Nishimoto Taro and other daimyos fled to the southwest in a hurry, and fled to the Shimane Castle with thousands of routs all the way to seek shelter.

Zheng Lin knew that Shimane Castle would bear the brunt of the collapse of the Saito Allied Forces, but there were only [-] daimyo imperial guards in Shimane Castle, and the remaining [-] Japanese soldiers were recruits just formed half a year ago, so he took them in.

Because of the common enemy, Saito and other down-and-out daimyos got along fairly well with Zheng Lin's headquarters for a month, and Saito even asked Dengcheng to help defend the city.

But from time to time, since Nagasaki Castle was breached by the Dutch, the area controlled by Zheng Lin has been repeatedly compressed, so far only Shimane Castle is left.

Saito Chikage and other big names naturally refused to wait for death in the city. The ten AKM snipers left behind by Liu Hongjian were all trained in reconnaissance, and soon discovered the instability of this group of people and informed the commander of the Imperial Guard. Du Yongan.

"Help me to the city wall!" Zheng Lin put the bowl in his hand on the table and planned to stand up.

"My lord, you haven't closed your eyes for two days, and you still..." Wen Biao couldn't bear it.

"I have already rested just now. The prince handed Dongying over to me. I will try my best to defend Shimane Castle." After finishing speaking, Zheng Lin stood up and pointed to the armor on the wooden frame.

A Japanese general hurriedly fetched the armor. Wen Biao immediately dodged the armor and gave the Japanese a wary look, and went to help Zheng Lin put on the armor.

"Wen Biao doesn't need to be like this. I grew up in Dongying. These Japanese people have been with me for ten years. Although there are many big names in Dongying, the warriors in Dongying have always been loyal." Zheng Lin said while putting on his armor.

Arriving at the city wall of Shimane City, Du Yongan, a thousand household guards of the Imperial Guard, was running around the city wall roaring.

As a thousand households, he has always been accustomed to obeying the orders of the superiors, and has no experience in defending the city alone. In addition, most of the city walls are still Japanese, so his voice has long been hoarse.

"My lord! You are finally here. The Dutch's artillery is too dense, and the city walls probably won't last long!" Du Yongan sighed with joy when he saw Zheng Lin coming.

The joy is that he can finally relieve the burden of defending the city, but the worry is that even if Zheng Lin comes, it will be difficult to stop the Dutch artillery.

"My lord, Saito's group had been defending the west city. An hour ago, they suddenly refused to defend the city, and led their troops down the city wall. They said that the troops needed to repair the city for two days, and the humble official had sent someone to monitor it!"

Seeing Zheng Lin's expressionless face, Du Yong'an walked to Zheng Lin's side and said in a low voice.

"Where's Feng Kuan? Ask him to come and see me!" Zheng Lin said suddenly.

Feng Kuan is the team leader of the AKM shooter left behind by Liu Hongjian. Although he was promoted to the official position of a hundred households, but because he has been with Liu Hongjian as a personal guard, and because of the special status of the AKM marksman, Zheng Lin has always treated them. Very polite.

In fact, in the past six months, only ten AKM shooters have become famous in Japan.

When the Saito Allied Forces were still fighting against the shogunate, if they couldn't hold on or encountered a difficult commander, they would ask for help from Zheng Lin. Zheng Lin also knew in his heart that once the Saito Allied Forces were wiped out, Shimane Castle would become a Bear the brunt of it.

However, when Liu Hongjian left Dongpu, he was strictly ordered not to go out of the city. In addition, the Japanese recruits had not yet trained. Zheng Lin sent out snipers led by Feng Kuan in order to balance the battlefield.

Feng Kuan and other ten snipers were not only good at marksmanship and flexible, but also very good at hiding. Many middle and low-level officers of the Tokugawa family were killed by the hands of ten people.

So that every time before the war started, Tokugawa Kamematsu had to send a large number of sentinels to the surrounding areas to investigate whether there were snipers.

It is precisely because of this that Saito and other daimyos have been able to tolerate the Tagawa family's never sending troops. Apart from Zheng Lin's statement that he would not intervene in the war between Saito and the Tokugawa family, it is because Zheng Lin secretly supported the ten snipers of the Saito coalition army. hand.

However, the addition of the Dutch broke this balance. The Dutch Marine Corps defeated the Saito Allied Forces in the first battle in Nagano, and the situation in Japan was instantly out of balance.

It's like two six-year-olds fighting, and one of them has a ten-year-old helper standing behind him, occasionally helping him with a slingshot, and then a 15-year-old guy comes and slaps the helper child Slapped to death.

Now the kid who won the battle came to seek revenge with his 15-year-old brother's thigh, and blocked the gate aggressively.

"I have seen Mr. Zheng!" Feng Kuan saluted Zheng Lin with an AK on his shoulder.

After getting along for more than half a year, now the imperial guards and the guards of Anguo County Prince represented by Feng Kuan have recognized the younger Zheng Lin in front of them, and they prefer to call Mr. Zheng compared to the Japanese recruits calling Tian Chuan-jun.

They have already regarded Zheng Lin as a general of Ming Dynasty and a Han Chinese of China.

"Please trouble Feng Baihu to keep a close eye on Saito Chikage and Sanki Hengliu with his sharpshooter. I will allow them to rest for another hour. After an hour, they will all be ready to defend the city. If they don't obey the order, I will Order you... to shoot and kill them all!" Zheng Lin said coldly.

"Yes, my lord, but...we are running out of ammunition." Feng Kuan immediately accepted the order.

As a special unit, when they were ordered to stay in Dongpu, Liu Hongjian only left them less than [-] rounds of ammunition. Although the shooter team tried their best to use them sparingly, they still consumed seven to eighty-eight rounds in more than half a year.

"Isn't it possible to replace ordinary firearm bullets?" Zheng Lin frowned.

"No, my lord, our muskets and ammunition are all distributed by your lord. As far as I know, the bullets for this gun are specially made, and only the king of the county has them." Feng Kuan explained.

At this time, the news that Liu Hongjian was promoted to King of Qin had not yet spread to Dongying, so that Dongying's subordinates still called Liu Hongjian the king of Anguo County.

"Du Qianhu, please ask the Imperial Guards for assistance." Zheng Lin said to Du Yong'an, the Thousand Household Officer of the Imperial Guards.

"But my lord, what should we do on the top of the city? I'm going down, if those Japanese..."

"Don't worry, go down!" Zheng Lin waved his hand.

The Imperial Guard soldiers from Ming Dynasty were full of distrust towards Zheng Lin's [-] Japanese recruits, which always gave Zheng Lin a headache.

However, the enmity between Daming and the Japanese has lasted for nearly 200 years, and Zheng Lin, as an intermediary, did not know how to deal with it.

From Zheng Lin's point of view, Du Yong'an and others don't know the Japanese people very well, especially the Japanese warriors.

Liu Hongjian, who has been to Dongying once, did some research on this, and Liu Hongjian likes the Bushido spirit, but of course this is only limited to Dongying.

In Liu Hongjian's words, the Bushido spirit can be described in two words as brainwashing, and in three words it is a confession of death.

Bushido originated from the Kamakura shogunate in Japan, and was formed after absorbing Confucian and Buddhist ideas during the Edo period.

In the beginning, the loyalty and honor advocated by Bushido were the same as medieval chivalry, but as a product of the feudal shogunate era, Bushido only absorbed the superficial things of Confucianism and Buddhism-the ruler could not make his soldiers really believe Buddhism and Confucianism, otherwise no one will fight for them.

Therefore, the part that Confucianism and Buddhism could not meet the needs of the ruling class was provided by Shintoism in Japan.

Following the wishes of the ruling class, the so-called Bushido spirit was born under the ideology of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shintoism.

The basis of their beliefs is that they do not distinguish between right and wrong. They are arrogant but inferior, believe in Buddhism but are bloodthirsty, pay attention to etiquette but are brutal, pursue science but insist on superstition, bully the weak but obey the strong.

The samurai should "die quickly", and if the king wants you to commit seppuku, you must commit seppuku. This has been a tradition since the Samurai era in Kamakura, Japan.

Of course, Zheng Lin doesn't know these profound things, he only knows that these Japanese recruits are loyal, willing to fight for him and don't care who the enemy is, that's enough.

Most of these Japanese recruits came from refugees taken in by Shimane Castle. They lost their land and relatives in the war, were penniless and suffering from hunger and cold.

Zheng Lin took them in and gave them food, and selected the strong and strong as warriors.

The war between Saito and the shogunate made them lose everything, and Zheng Lin promised to help them win it back. They are willing to fight for Zheng Lin, even if it means giving everything.

"General, the artillery of the Dutch keeps bombarding. The battlements of the southern city wall were destroyed and several cracks appeared. The city wall will soon collapse! (in Japanese)"

After more than half an hour, a Japanese military officer trotted over to report to Zheng Lin.

"Send the order, the defenders of Nancheng withdraw into the city and deploy defense immediately!" Zheng Lin decided to abandon Nancheng immediately without hesitation.

After the Japanese soldiers got the order, they ran towards Nancheng immediately, while Zheng Lin looked up at the sky.

"My lord, I have tried my best, and I would like to use this life to repay your kindness." After Zheng Lin muttered a few words in a voice only he could hear, he also walked towards Nancheng.

Shimane Castle is full of less than 5000 soldiers, including [-] Japanese recruits formed half a year ago, [-] daimyo imperial guards, and Saito coalition forces totaling more than [-] defeated soldiers.

There were at least [-] to [-] enemies besieging the city, and the Dutch and Tokugawa Kamematsu had a clear purpose, and they did not even attempt to persuade them to surrender, which made Saito Chikage and other daimyos very depressed.

After the defeat in the Battle of Nagano, the desperate Saito Chikage allied forces took refuge in Zheng Lin of Shimane Castle.

They thought that the Tagawa family was very powerful. After all, ten people from their support could change the situation of a battle. However, what they didn't know was that Shichizaemon only had these ten AKMs.

Now Shimane Castle seems very difficult to defend, Saito Chikage and the other daimyo have already had other thoughts, just because they want to survive.

"Tian Chuan's family can't hold on anymore, Mr. Tian Chuan wants to live and die with this city, we can't just sit and wait for death, what do you guys think?"

Inside the camp, Chikage Saito glanced at the surrounding situation, and whispered to the other daimyos.

"Saito-kun is right, our family has survived through hardships and dangers for more than a year, and we must not ruin our bright future because of the Tagawa family!" Sanmu Hengliu has always been the only one who looks forward to Saito Chikage, seeing what Saito said, he immediately confessed state.

"But our family is controlled by the Tagawa family, what should we do?" Nishimoto Taro scratched his hairless head, and talked aloud.

"Nishimoto-kun, as long as we can save our lives, aren't you afraid of not having children?" Saito said with a chuckle as if he had already made up his mind.

"Saito-kun is right, Nishimoto-kun, you are just over forty, so you still have a chance." Nagashima Yiyo glanced at Nishimoto-taro, showing a lewd smile.

"I've always listened to Saito-kun, Saito-kun, just tell me what to do!" Sanmu Hengliu immediately urged after seeing that the few people had no opinion.

"Nancheng can't hold on for long. Judging from Mr. Tianchuan's intentions, he must fight to the death and not surrender. We just need to take advantage of the Tokugawa family's attack and seize the east gate. If we can escape, we will escape. Go vote for Tokugawa, at least we can save our lives!"

Seeing that it was almost the same, Saito immediately expressed his opinion.

As long as you can capture a city gate, if you run away, the sea will be wide and the sea will be wide, and if you can't escape, you will say that you are welcoming the king's master. After all, if you open the city gate, the Tokugawa family will be able to attack from both sides and save many soldiers from dying. can save their lives.

This strategy is really treacherous, and everyone present must nod their heads in agreement. The worst thing is that they still serve the Tokugawa family. Who wants to wait here to die with the Tagawa family?

"Then it's settled, everyone hurry up and inform your subordinates, and listen to my orders later!" Saito looked around after finishing speaking, and turned to the other daimyos:

"Everyone, be careful, there seems to be someone staring at us on the city wall!"

Saito followed out first, followed by Sanki, Nishimoto, and Nagashima. Only Sakuragi, who was sitting in the farthest corner, did not move for a long time. He seemed to sigh lightly and stood up.

Just at this time, Sanzheng Sawai Mio, who had been following Zheng Lin, trotted over, stopped about ten steps away from Saito and said:

"Saito-kun, you have been repairing for more than two hours, the general ordered you to go to Nancheng immediately to help defend!"

"Hi! I need to make some preparations, and I'll go right away!" Saito frowned, but he didn't pause at all.

Mio Sawai nodded slightly towards the city wall after explaining, and then quickly left the Saito military camp.

Shaoqing Sakuragi Jiujian came out from behind and walked towards his subordinates.

boom - boom -

At this time, the ravaged south city wall finally could no longer support it, and the sound of the city wall collapsing startled Saito and others who were not far away.

"Sakuragi-kun, what are you going to do?" Saito asked Sakuragi Jiujian without frowning.

"Master General told me to wait to defend Nancheng, and I'll take orders." Sakuragi Jiujian ran away thinking of his own people after finishing speaking, and then led hundreds of subordinates towards Nancheng with almost no pause. .

His people are too few.

"Baga!" Sanmu Hengliu yelled, pointing at the direction where Sakuragi Jiujian was leaving.

"Hmph! If there is a way to heaven, he won't leave. Don't leave him alone. The south city wall has collapsed, and he has no time to report it. Let's seize the east gate immediately!" Saito said decisively.

The four daimyos then returned to the place where their subordinates were stationed, and it didn't take long for 5000 people to gather together.

"Go straight to the east city gate, take down the city gate, and we can live..." Saito raised his arms and shouted.

Bang——With a gunshot, Chikage Saito's voice stopped abruptly.

A small blood hole appeared in the center of Saito's forehead, he fell back straight with his eyes wide open, Sanmu Hengliu standing behind him was stunned, his face was sprayed with blood and brains mixture.

When Saito fell down, Sanmu clearly saw a palm-sized hole in the back of his head!
bang-bang-

There were a few more gunshots on the city wall. Sanki Hengliu and Nishimoto Taro who were stunned on the ground were shot and killed one after another. Nagashima Yiyo was lucky but was shot in the arm.

Just at this moment, a lot of smoking objects were thrown over the city wall, and Nagashima Kiyo looked at the ground with despair in his eyes.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa

"It's a grenade, run away—(in Japanese)" one of the Japanese soldiers howled and was about to run away.

Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom

……

Almost at the same time, a tragic scene began to take place under Nancheng.

After the Dutch smashed the city wall down, Tokugawa Kamematsu immediately ordered his infantry to start charging the city, and Zheng Linzheng's five thousand recruits were in charge of defending the city.

Since the outer seas of Daming had been blocked before, these recruits couldn't even wear the standard armor of Ming Dynasty. Fortunately, there was no shortage of silver guarding the silver mines, and the uniforms of these Japanese soldiers were unified into the light armor of Japan.

Half of the muskets they used were old-fashioned matchlock guns, and the other half were a batch of firearms supported by Liu Hongjian, about [-] pieces. The other half were hand grenades. These things hollowed out Liu Hongjian's ring at that time.

Although the city wall collapsed, the ground was uneven, and the infantry of the Tokugawa family were not moving fast. It was precisely because the broken wall hindered the cavalry's charge that Zheng Lin decided to block the enemy behind the city wall.

"Sawai-kun, fire!" Seeing that the enemy's vanguard had gathered, Zheng Lin immediately gave an order to Sawai Mio who was beside him.

"Hi!" Sawai Mio roared, and then ordered his men to light the matchlock of the artillery.

Boom—boom—boom——

With a loud noise, the five small copper cannons spewed out their anger. Such a short distance almost only required a slight correction, and the shells accurately charged into the infantry of the Tokugawa family.

The five shells opened five blood grooves in the middle of the enemy as if they had rushed into no one's land. The enemy soldiers in the front row were directly blasted through their bodies by the shells. At least six to seventy people were killed under the five shells.

But that's all. This old-style small copper cannon is cumbersome to reload, and the distance between the two sides is too late for a second reload. After a round of shelling, Miyo Sawai immediately ordered the artillery to retreat the artillery.

These five cannons were temporarily dismantled from the north city wall. Outside the north city was the sea, and the artillery on the city wall had to be prepared for naval artillery attacks that the Dutch might launch at any time.

After the shelling, not only was the Tokugawa army not intimidated, but they rushed over even more crazily, screaming, and it didn't take long for the chaotic gunshots to start ringing between the two armies.

Due to backward equipment, the troops of Tokugawa and Zheng Lin have not yet started to use the large square formation of muskets. After each round of shooting, the two sides drew out Japanese swords and began to fight with knives.

But there were also quick-handed ones who took advantage of the gap to reload while avoiding the enemy's attack, and then shot coldly in the crowd, and the two sides fell into a melee for a while.

More enemies poured in from outside the city walls, and the situation gradually became unfavorable to the defenders of Shimane Castle. Although the Japanese recruits trained by Zheng Lin were brave and fearless, the casualties gradually increased due to lack of actual combat experience.

"Sakuragi-kun, please send your subordinates to support the left wing immediately!" Zheng Lin glanced at Sakuragi Jiujian and said.

He was very surprised by the actions of this daimyo in his early 30s. Saito Chikage, Sanki Koryu, Nishimoto Taro and Nagashima Yiyo all rebelled, but this down-and-out daimyo with only more than 500 people chose to fight side by side with him.

But Zheng Lin didn't have the time to think about this. The enemy on the left wing was so ferocious that he couldn't hold it anymore. He had to send reinforcements as soon as possible.

"Hi!" Sakuragi Jiujian didn't say much, and rushed up immediately with his subordinates.

"Master Zheng, why don't you use the grenade, or I'll take my men to charge." Du Yong'an, a thousand households of the Imperial Guard, said.

Saito and other daimyos who had defected had already been killed by the imperial guards and snipers. Du Yongan had just rushed over from the camp, but seeing the stalemate in the situation, he couldn't help but suggest.

The imperial guards had always been very disdainful of the Japanese's combat power. The Japanese's firearms had already lagged behind those of Daming, and they all relied on their ruthlessness to fight with knives. This was something Liu Hongjian hated deeply, and Liu Hongjian rarely ordered them to fight with knives.

And the thousand soldiers of the imperial guards were all carefully selected from the hundreds of thousands of soldiers when Liu Hongjian came to Dongying last time. Let alone one against ten, if there is enough ammunition, one against three will definitely be no problem.

So much so that in Du Yong'an's view, the melee of the Japanese is a bit low-end. He only needs a grenade cover attack and a few rounds of musket salvos, which is enough to solve the current predicament.

"May I ask Mr. Du, how much ammunition and grenades do you have?" Zheng Lin asked Du Yongan expressionlessly.

"Each person still has about a hundred or so paper shells, and more than 2000 grenades. If you save them, you should be able to continue fighting for at least an hour." Du Yong'an said with a little guilty conscience.

"That's right, you know that the ammunition is running out, but the Dutch haven't started to attack yet!" Zheng Lin stopped talking to Du Yongan after finishing speaking, which was regarded as a rejection of his proposal.

In fact, Zheng Lin also had a headache, because the Ming soldiers were very unfriendly and distrustful of his Japanese generals.

The imperial guards are very powerful, but if there are no muskets and grenades, how much more powerful can they be than the Japanese?
This is like the contempt chain of later generations, white people despise yellow people, yellow people despise black people, the Habayashi army despises the tiger ben army, the tiger ben army despises the imperial guard army, the imperial guard army despises the frontier army, and then they despise all together Foreign troops, including Japanese soldiers.

After another quarter of an hour, due to the continuous increase of troops from the Tokugawa army, the defense inside the city wall finally couldn't hold up. Du Yongan asked to fight again, and Zheng Lin agreed to it.

After receiving the order, the imperial guards were indeed brave. Five hundred grenades were bombed indiscriminately, and then the musket phalanx formed by 1000 people was almost impenetrable. The two successive rounds of attacks launched by the Tokugawa army in the city failed.

Two quarters of an hour later, the Tokugawa army's first siege failed, and retreated after leaving more than 3000 corpses. At least two thousand Japanese recruits from Zheng Lin's side bid farewell to this world forever.

"General Barov, the Tagawa family has a unit with very powerful firearms. My subordinates suffered too many casualties. You must send your troops to fight immediately!" Tokugawa Kamematsu walked towards Barov after listening to his subordinate's casualty report. road.

Tokugawa Kamematsu knew that if he refused to speak, Barov would never take the initiative to send troops to attack.

"Don't worry, Your Excellency Tokugawa, the battle has just begun!" Barov was still eating fried steak. He was not tall but weighed at least twice as much as Tokugawa Kamematsu.

In fact, he wished that the Tokugawa family and the Tagawa family in the city were all dead, so that Dongying belonged to the company, so that he would no longer have to worry about the issue of military strength.

Shimane Castle was besieged on three sides, and the North City was surrounded by the sea. It was impossible for Tagawa to escape from the sea without a warship. Barov believed that this was an opportunity to consume the strength of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

"But General Barov, the lord of Daming has returned triumphantly from the Raksha Kingdom, are you sure we want to drag it on?"

After all, Tokugawa Kamematsu is a sensible person. He knows why the Dutchman refuses to help, but at the same time he also knows how to get the fat Dutchman to make a move.

Sure enough, when Barov heard that the knife and fork in his hand froze on the spot, Barov threw the knife and fork on the plate, wiped his hands indiscriminately, and stood up.

"Then let Tagawa see how powerful the Netherlands is!"

……

In Shimane Castle, Zheng Lin is urgently dispatching manpower to rotate the injured Japanese soldiers who participated in the previous battles to the rear to maintain order, and to pull the remaining [-] Japanese soldiers into the front of the city wall again.

Although Shimane Castle is not big, the refugees ravaged by the shogunate and the Saito Allied Forces for more than half a year have traveled westward, and quite a few refugees have fled here.

At this time, they didn't know that the disaster was coming. Mio Sawai was organizing the Japanese civilians to dig a trench in the center of the city to hinder the cavalry offensive that the Tokugawa family might launch.

There is no inner city in Shimane Castle. Zheng Lin ordered most of the houses in the city to be demolished, and a simple second line of defense was formed with ditches, stones, and beams.

It's not that Zheng Lin never thought of abandoning the city and fleeing, but where did he go?
After the loss of Nagasaki, the whole family of the Tagawa family was slaughtered, including the merchant fleet. At least there was still a base in Shimane, and there was almost no way for the [-] Japanese soldiers in Japan to escape without warships.

"General, His Majesty the Emperor asked about the situation of the war. He prepared five carriages filled with silver pieces. He wanted to leave Shimane Castle."

Sawai Mio said that his tone was already very contemptuous. For half a year, the emperor had enjoyed himself in the palace they built, and now he was about to flee as soon as the war came. This made Sawai Mio very disappointed.

"You tell Your Majesty that the Emperor should be with his people and send fifty soldiers to protect them." Zheng Lin said.

He ignored Miyo Sawai's complaint. It was Liu Hongjian's intention to keep such an oil bottle, but Liu Hongjian left in a hurry and did not explain how to deal with the Emperor, so Zheng Lin has never felt sorry for the Emperor's family. Of course, It is also impossible to let them escape.

"Master Zheng, the enemy has started to attack again!" Wen Biao, a hundred households of the Imperial Guard trotted to report.

"Ready to fight!" Zheng Lin immediately put on his helmet and headed towards Nancheng upon hearing this.

The corpses of the soldiers who died in the previous bloody war in Nancheng were in a mess before they could be cleaned up, and the stumps and broken bodies that could be seen everywhere were mixed with the disgusting smell of blood.

"It's the Dutch! General, you should be careful of their throwing firearms! (Japanese)" Sakuragi Kumi squinted his eyes and saw the enemy's attire from afar. He has been fighting against the shogunate and the Dutch for half a year. Naturally recognized the enemy at a glance.

After the battle just now, the number of Japanese soldiers who followed behind Sakuragi Kumi dropped from more than 500 to more than 300, but Sakuragi Kumi also gained Zheng Lin's recognition and trust.

"Sakuragi-kun, I'm curious why you didn't escape with Saito, but I don't care about it now, Shimane Castle is already in danger, we will fight side by side, even if my two brothers die in battle, they will definitely avenge us."

Zheng Lin said to Sakuragi Kumi calmly and seriously with a tired expression.

There were too many enemies. After the bloody battle just now, the total force in his hand was less than [-]. After the Dutch new force joined, he had no chance of winning.

"General, since you are going to fight anyway, why do you care who the enemy is?" Sakuragi Jiu saw that the blood on his face had dried up, his eyes were cloudy and he looked more tired than Zheng Lin, and after speaking, he held the Japanese sword and headed towards the battlefield and go.

His family members were not in Zheng Lin's camp. They had all been killed in the previous battle with the Dutch, including the infant child.

"Samurai, the time has come to test your loyalty. Let this general see your determination and kill those invaders!" Zheng Lin drew out his Japanese sword and said to the Japanese Bushido in the formation.

"Yu Sui! Yu Sui! Yu Sui! (in Dongying language)" some of the Japanese warriors were holding Japanese swords, and some were holding old-style muskets, but all of them shouted fiercely.

At this moment Du Yongan, Wen Biao and other talents finally saw the courage of the Japanese, because the emotion of seeing death as home could not be faked, and the soldiers of the Thousand Imperial Guards also clenched the grenades in their hands.

"Here we come! Du Qianhu's grenade is ready!" Zheng Lin stared at the distance between the enemy and the position with blazing eyes.

"Throw!" Zheng Lin shouted.

Almost at the same time, the Dutch throwers also threw grenades at them. The grenades from both sides even collided in the air, and black smoke suddenly rose from the positions.

Boom—boom——

After a burst of bombardment, the visible distance between the positions was less than three steps. At least hundreds of Japanese warriors in the front row fell down, and the Dutch were also injured.

"Charge! (Eastern language)" Zheng Lin ordered the Japanese warrior.

After the five thousand Japanese warriors got the order, they rushed towards the Dutch infantry phalanx in the thick smoke without hesitation under the still exploding artillery fire.

This is a good opportunity, although the attacking side will suffer more damage, but the thick smoke is a good cover, and the Japanese warriors quickly rushed to the edge of the Dutch infantry phalanx.

bang bang bang - bang bang -

"Change the rapier! (Dutch)"

The Dutch officer in charge of commanding the infantry phalanx only had time to fire a volley before being rushed to the face by the Japanese warriors. He had to urgently order the musketeers to meet the enemy with the rapiers they carried with them.

But the Imperial Guards and the Dutch throwers are still engaged in a grenade contest, and Du Yongan must prevent the rest of the Dutch team from encircling the Japanese warriors.

"Damn it! Where did the Japanese get the grenade?" Barov put down his binoculars and frowned. Although his words were not standard, he was really annoyed by the brave Japanese.

Although the city wall collapsed, the artillery still could not be transported into the city. In the current situation, either the Dutch and the Japanese guarding the city fought with bayonets, or they had to risk the defenders' grenades to encircle and suppress the Japanese.

But the price of encirclement and suppression was too high, at least for Earl Barov, his army had only 5000 people, and it was difficult to replenish.

"Your Excellency Tokugawa, please send your troops to encircle and suppress these Japanese!" Barov said to Tokugawa Kamematsu, who was holding a binoculars.

The number of troops in his hand means how many bargaining chips he has after the war. Barov has a lot of plotters. If the damage in the final battle is too great, it will be difficult to support the layout of Japan. Therefore, he must force Tokugawa to send troops, even if he withdraws from the battle as a threat .

"It's no problem, Mr. Barov, I will order it immediately."

Unexpectedly, not only did Tokugawa Kamematsu not retort in order to preserve his strength, he immediately ordered his subordinates to bring [-] Japanese people into the city to participate in the siege.

After all, Barov is an outsider. Although Tokugawa Kamematsu only has [-] soldiers at the moment, the [-] new recruits from Edo, their hometown, are training intensively.

If he wanted, he could recruit tens of thousands more Japanese at any time, and as long as he won this war, everything would be back under his control.

There is no doubt that Tokugawa Kamematsu now needs the Dutch and their artillery to remove this last obstacle.

The addition of [-] shogunate troops was undoubtedly a catastrophe for the Japanese guarding the city. Almost half an hour later, the waves created by the [-] Japanese soldiers were quickly submerged.

"My lord, the front line can't hold on anymore, and the grenades are used up!" Du Yong'an trotted to ask Zheng Lin in person.

There are too many enemies, with [-] versus [-], it is impossible to win unless the magic soldiers descend from the sky, but now the defenders have lost all chances to break through.

"Retreat to the City Lord's Mansion!" Zheng Lin had no choice but to give the order to retreat.

The City Lord's Mansion is located in the north of the center of Shimane City, and it is also a shelter for the civilians of Shimane City. Although retreating there can provide temporary safety, it is like a turtle in a urn, drinking poison to quench thirst.

Moreover, the tens of thousands of civilians in Shimane City may also suffer, but Zheng Lin can't care about it now, and it is Zheng Lin's rule not to give up until the last moment.

At least 1000 more people fell down during the retreat, so that when Zheng Lin retreated to the City Lord’s Mansion, there were less than 3000 people left by Zheng Lin’s side, including more than 700 imperial guards, ten AKM shooters, and about [-] soldiers. Wounded Japanese soldiers.

Sakuragi Jiujian survived miraculously. He sat on a stone and bandaged his bleeding calf. There were only two guards standing beside him.

Everyone knows the ending that will be faced next. Shimane Castle has resisted fiercely, and the traditional Tokugawa as the shogunate will massacre the defenders in the city.

"My lord, they are attacking, and they have artillery." Du Yong'an said dejectedly.

The imperial guards have been rampant in Ming Dynasty for many years, and they have never been beaten so uselessly. Du Yongan even thought that if Liu Hongjian was here, they would definitely not let them fall into such a situation.

But he knew that this was a bit irresponsible. Zheng Lin commanded the battle in a satisfactory manner and did not make any mistakes. If he really wanted to say it, he could only blame the lack of training time for the recruits and the outdated equipment.

But Zheng Lin obeyed Liu Hongjian's order, except for Shimane Castle and Iwami Silver Mine, he almost turned a deaf ear to other wars, and he managed to stay in the city.

"What are you panicking about! My lord handed over Shimane Castle to us, so I should fulfill my duties, and even if I die, I will not bear my lord's respect." Zheng Lin said with emotion.

At the same time, Zheng Lin knew in his heart that once they died here, Da Ming's million-strong army would no longer come out of nowhere. Sooner or later, his two elder brothers would bring thousands of troops and horses to avenge them.

"Yes, my lord, I am ashamed of my lowly position!" Du Yongan was awakened by Zheng Lin's words, and whispered.

Anyway, there was no way to escape, since he was going to die, he had to die in an upright manner. Not only would crying and crying not soften the enemy's heart, but it would just make people laugh.

"How much ammunition is left?" Zheng Lin asked.

"Returning to my lord, the grenades are exhausted and there are less than ten bullets left. The flintlock guns still have about ten rounds of paper shells. According to Feng Baihu, each person in the marksman team only has twenty rounds..."

Speaking of this, Du Yongan felt very bitter. If the ammunition was sufficient, even if 1 people could not win the battle, they could at least inflict heavy damage on the shogunate and the Dutch.

The hateful thing is that the imperial court has not sent any supplies for half a year, and they seem to have been abandoned by the imperial court in Shimane Castle.

Du Yongan also knew that Liu Hongjian was leading an army on an expedition to Rakshasa, and it was precisely because of this that the soldiers of the Imperial Guard firmly believed that only by following Liu Hongjian could they truly live a good life.

"Order all the soldiers to aim and fight again, don't waste ammunition!" Zheng Lin put down the binoculars and said.

Du Yongan was ordered to leave, but Zheng Lin called to stop him before he could take two steps.

"Du Qianhu, let someone send you a grenade." Zheng Lin said calmly and gently, as if he was not an order but a discussion.

Du Yongan was stunned for a moment before he understood Zheng Lin's determination.

"Yes, my lord! I wish you a prosperous martial arts!" Du Yong'an gave a military salute to Zheng Lin passionately as if he had beaten chicken blood.

On the other side, all members of the AKM team headed by Feng Kuan are also making final preparations.

Feng Kuan gathered all the AKM bullets together, and distributed them to each person on average with only 21 rounds, which was not enough to fill even one magazine.

"Finally, there has never been a prisoner in the Guards Battalion. If the Dutchmen attack, they all know what to do, right?" Feng Kuan said after distributing the bullets, scanning the nine robes one by one.

"Captain, don't worry, we all know how to do it, it's just a pity that our gun..." Deputy Baihu Ma Zhong caressed the polished AKM in his hand reluctantly.

"Look at your potential!" Feng Kuan glared at Ma Zhong.

"My lord said that the guns in our hands must never fall into the hands of the enemy. If it really gets to that point, we must destroy them all!" Feng Kuan said solemnly.

Boom-boom-

While talking, the Dutch's artillery began to show off.

"Go to the commanding heights immediately, and remember what I just said!" Feng Kuanteng stood up with a bang, and after speaking, he carried the AKM since ancient times to meet the enemy.

The courtyard wall of the City Lord's Mansion was no more than two people tall, so it couldn't withstand the Dutch artillery. The brick wall about one foot thick was torn apart instantly like rice paper, overwhelming the Japanese soldiers behind the courtyard wall.

The Japanese civilians outside the courtyard wall were in a mess when Zheng Lin's defenders retreated. Tokugawa ordered the Japanese to start massacring the civilians. After the Dutch artillery smashed the courtyard wall, they turned their muzzles to A wooden house behind a courtyard wall.

At the same time, more Japanese and Dutch swarmed in from the gap in the courtyard wall. The grenades and Japanese knives dominated everything. Before long, outside the main building, the City Lord's Mansion was surrounded by a sea of ​​flames.

"Farewell, big brother." Zheng Lin said to Nan Nan in the southwest with disheveled hair and a haggard face.

Everything is over, and the only regret is that I did not return to Daming after all, and did not see the eldest brother who had been away for many years.

"Farewell, my lord, I am ashamed of the respect I have for you." Zheng Lin finished speaking and took out a grenade from his waist.

This is a grenade with a wooden handle made of fine iron. The safety cover of the grenade has been unscrewed, and the ring is hanging down under the wooden handle. Zheng Lin put a finger in the ring and closed his eyes...

boom--

Boom—boom——

boom boom boom-

A monstrous loud noise suddenly came from a distance, and its sound was different from the Dutch's solid shells. Zheng Lin's brows twitched.

"My lord! The sound of the cannon came from outside the city. It might be reinforcements!" Du Yong'an said excitedly while trotting.

At the same time, he was not sure. Du Yong'an, who had defended the city for half a year, did not mention reinforcements. He had never even seen supplies. Besides, besides Saito's coalition forces who were considered half allies in Dongpu, who else would come to support him?
Zheng Lin tucked the grenade into his waist again, walked to the window in three steps and looked out of the city through the binoculars.

But seeing the smoke and dust billowing outside the city, and there were flags waving, Zheng Lin squinted his eyes to check carefully and saw that there was a word Liu.

"Brother..." Zheng Lin couldn't help but burst into tears from his eyes.

……

"Idiot! If your mother dares to be stingy with shells, I will kill you! Give me a blast!
Lu Haibo and Kuo Duan, if you two can't complete the siege, prepare to lead the board at night!

Lin He!Musketeers press up!Don't teach me to run away alone! "

Outside the southern city, Liu Hongjian dispatched all his troops with one stud like a jumping rooster.

Except for the thousand or so personal guards around him, Liu Hongjian didn't even keep a reserve team, which showed Liu Hongjian's confidence in this army.

After learning the news from Quanzhou, it took only 26 days. The 26 days from the deployment of troops to the arrival on the battlefield is not unpleasant.

The soldiers are still the original squad of the imperial guards, and most of them participated in the expedition of the Raksha Kingdom.

It took three days for Huang Daozhou to send the pigeons from Quanzhou to Shanghai. After receiving the letter, he exchanged the pigeons for Weihai, Shandong.

After the Beiyang Navy received Liu Hongjian's emergency military order, they immediately flew pigeons to pass the letter to the palace, and at the same time assembled the troop transport ships Liu Hongjian needed in just one day.

The troop carrier went all the way north to Dagukou in Tianjin. At this time, under the pressure of Zhu Cihong, the [-] imperial guards had been waiting for a long time for preparation.

Liu Hongjian crossed the strait directly from Quanzhou to Taiwan, and together with Admiral Zheng Sen of the Nanyang Navy took half of the warships to Dongying.

Since the troop carrier carries a howitzer, if it wants to enter the battlefield as soon as possible, it must land as close to Shimane as possible. However, the Dutch warship stays in the open sea north of Shimane Castle. In desperation, Liu Hongjian did not plan to join the Dutch Navy Head-to-head, after some investigation, Liu Hongjian finally chose to land at Hamada, two hundred miles away from Shimane Castle.

Five days later, the troop carrier of the Beiyang Navy finally arrived, and the [-] Imperial Guards were the entire strength of Liu Hongjian's rescue effort in Dongying.

However, the Imperial Guard at this time is no longer the Imperial Guard who lacked ammunition supplies during the expedition to Rakshasa.

Since the expeditionary force started its triumphant return from Moscow, the ordnance department has been working overtime for more than half a year. Howitzers, mortars, shells and metal bullets of all kinds have already filled the arsenal.

Liu Hongjian no longer needed to use firearms with his fingers, but the idiot who was used to frugality in the artillery battalion couldn't get used to it for a while, so he was reprimanded repeatedly by Liu Hongjian.

Thirty thousand against sixty thousand, in the traditional war mode, no general can guarantee victory, except Liu Hongjian.

Fifty howitzers bombarded the rear of the camps of the Netherlands and the Shogunate allied forces without interruption, and the cavalry battalion of the Imperial Guard, led by Lu Haibo and Kuo Duan, frantically threw grenades at the shogunate soldiers who broke out of the encirclement.

On both sides of the bolt-action rifle camp led by Lin He, there are one hundred small mortars each. After the baptism of the Raksha Kingdom expedition, the imperial guards are enough to make the armies of the world tremble.

"Major General, the enemy attacked from the rear. Their army is very fierce. We... We are surrounded!" An orderly staggered to Barov's side to answer his question.

"What? How many of them are there? Who is the general?" Barov was shocked when he heard this.

There are more than 6 coalition forces. If you want to surround them, you need at least three times as many troops. But Japan is such a big place. Barov and the shogunate fought almost from northwest to southeast. How can there be such a force? enemy.

"My lord, the number is not large. According to Captain Karin, it should not exceed [-]. The interpreter said that the enemy's flag is surnamed Liu, and it is the flag of Ming Dynasty.

Their firearms are really powerful, their artillery range is farther than ours, and they will explode violently after landing, their musketeers are not suitable for infantry formation, but their firing rate is several times faster than ours..."

The messenger came all the way from the rear, and really saw the terrifying lethality of the firearm, so much so that his eyes widened at the end.

"It's that person! That person is back!" Barov Nannan said.

"Your Excellency Tokugawa, we must immediately stop the attack and start breaking out." Barov said directly when he saw Tokugawa Kamematsu rushing over.

"Mr. Barov, we are already surrounded. My cavalry have tried to break out of the encirclement twice but failed!" Tokugawa Kamematsu was also shocked.

After discussing, the two immediately decided to withdraw from Shimane Castle, but the situation was completely out of their control.

The enemy's front line was very thin, with only a few thousand people on each side, but no matter how the cavalry of Tokugawa Kamematsu charged, no one could charge into the enemy's side except for leaving behind a lot of corpses.

Barov's artillery was attacked first by Kong Er of the Imperial Guard. All the ammunition had already been blown up to the sky. His soldiers were losing every second, but he was helpless in the face of the fierce offensive. Barov Rove was so anxious that he felt a deep sense of fear and powerlessness for the first time.

"Send someone! Go talk to them and ask for a truce!" Barov almost yelled in front of Tokugawa Kamematsu.

He didn't know when the troops had landed, damn Bernard, he hadn't been notified of the enemy's landing.

He wants to question, but the premise is that he can survive. We heard the people above say that the troops under that person have amazing firearms. I didn't expect that the first time we saw it would become the last time.

"Mr. Barov, why did the Ming army invade Dongying?" Tokugawa Kamematsu asked.

There has been no contact between Dongying and Ming Dynasty for decades. After the war between Dongying and Korea, the shogunate also cut off the tribute with Ming Dynasty.

However, the shogunate has been doing business with the merchants of Ming Dynasty all these years, and there has not been much conflict and friction, which makes Tokugawa Kamematsu very puzzled.

"Hmph! Do you still remember the successive assassinations a year ago? Now it seems that the person from Daming did it!
And this Shimane Castle, it is estimated that this person is also behind the scenes! " Barov said bitterly.

Sure enough, he was still young, so he would have no excuse to commit a crime, but Barov didn't bother to explain to Tokugawa Kamematsu that he only cared about his legion now.

If his legion suffered heavy losses in Japan, his status would be fatally hit. Even if he returned to Batavia, he would only be questioned by the company's board of directors.

"Major General, the Ming army refuses to negotiate, and they are gradually reducing the encirclement!"

After a quarter of an hour, Barov finally waited for the orderly's reply.

"Mr. Barov, I think we must gather all our troops and organize another breakout, otherwise we won't be able to escape!" Tokugawa Kamematsu said anxiously.

Knowing that the person who came was none other than Prince Daming who killed his brother and father, Tokugawa Kamematsu's face turned pale.

Dongying people are like this, bullying the weak and fearing the hard, repaying virtue with hatred. After learning the truth, Tokugawa Kamematsu didn't even want to avenge his brother and father. He just wanted to escape from the encirclement as soon as possible.

"Okay! You lead your people to break out from the right wing, and I will see if I can escape from the left side and ascend to heaven. I wish you good luck, Your Excellency Tokugawa!" Barov said in a deep voice.

In less than an hour, at least half of his legion died in battle, and there was really no way to drag it on.

But even in such a situation, Barov still paid attention to it. At this time, whoever broke through the encirclement first would have to bear a greater firepower attack. Barov decided to wait.

After the Japanese attracted more firepower, Barov launched another fatal blow.

But, will Liu Hongjian give him this chance?
"My lord, the enemies on the left flank are rushing forward. They seem to want to break through! Master Lu said that he is sure to beat the enemy back." A sentry rode his horse to report.

"Tell Lu Haibo that before the grenades run out, let us know that we have enough!" Liu Hongjian stared at the smoky battlefield ahead with narrowed eyes, showing a strange smile.

For six years, the Netherlands had been entrenched over Daming's head like a dark cloud. After six years, Liu Hongjian finally had the confidence to beat the Dutch to the ground on the frontal battlefield.

Another half an hour later, Tokugawa Kamematsu and Barov's breakout was repulsed again. This time, both sides suffered heavy losses. The total force was less than 2. Barov decisively sent people to ask for surrender, although 3 It feels ashamed to surrender to [-] people, but he believes that preserving strength is the most important thing.

The company will not tolerate the loss of his legion, even if it pays a huge amount of money, it will be redeemed, because the cost of rebuilding a legion is too high.

Liu Hongjian accepted their surrender. After confiscating their weapons, he drove them to the beach north of Shimane Castle, and then secretly executed [-] soldiers, including Barov and Tokugawa Kamematsu, regardless of the dissuasion of his subordinates.

The placement of prisoners was too troublesome, and he didn't need prisoners. His subordinates were worried that no one would dare to surrender to Daming after the news got out, but Liu Hongjian didn't think so.

Not every unit that surrenders has a chance of surviving. If it really does not surrender under its request, then it will be flattened.

After disposing of the captives, it was completely dark. Liu Hongjian ordered to throw all the corpses of the Dutch and the shogunate soldiers into the sea to feed the sharks.

It was also that night that Liu Hongjian once again saw Tagawa Shichizaemon with worn-out armor, oh, his name should be Zheng Lin at this time.

"My lord, I failed to hold Shimane Castle, resulting in the casualties of more than half of the [-] recruits, and the death of tens of thousands of civilians in Shimane City. I am ashamed of my lord's cultivation, please punish me!" Zheng Lin lifted his armor and fell to his knees with a thump. In front of Liu Hongjian.

Afterwards, Du Yongan and Wen Biao of the imperial guards, Feng Kuan who stayed behind from the personal guard battalion, and Mio Sakai who led the Japanese recruits also knelt on the ground.

"Hehe, get up, you all have tried your best, and I don't blame you. Also, Zheng Lin, your brother Zheng Sen is here too, let me meet you tomorrow!" Liu Hongjian smiled and helped him up. Zheng Lin, who was in tears, then raised his arms to signal others to get up too.

At this time, Feng Kuan from the personal guard camp had already told Liu Hongjian about Zheng Lin's grenade, and Liu Hongjian, a young man from the Zheng family, still valued him very much.

The Shimane Castle defenders suffered heavy casualties. In the last 1000 Japanese recruits, less than [-] were left standing, and more than half of the guards were injured.

Zheng Lin wiped his eyes and introduced Liu Hongjian's Japanese subordinates after he got up, and focused on the story of Sakuragi Kumi.

The Japanese recruits encountered such difficulties were no longer enough to support the defense of Shimane Castle, so they might have to continue to recruit troops. In Zheng Lin's view, Sakuragi Kumi was a qualified Japanese general, and Liu Hongjian should reuse him.

But Liu Hongjian's words made Zheng Lin a little confused.

"Japanese people cannot be reused unless they pass the test of this king." Liu Hongjian said with a slight frown.

"But my lord, Japanese soldiers are difficult to train, and non-Japanese people are not enough to train them. If..."

"Who said Japanese soldiers are going to be used? Well, let's not mention this in advance, and you will understand in a few days." Liu Hongjian waved his hand and stopped the conversation.

The next day, Zheng Sen arrived at the port in the north of Shimane Castle with the troop carriers of the Nanyang Navy and the Beiyang Navy. Zheng Lin and Zheng Sen felt sorry for not seeing each other for more than ten years.

Afterwards, Liu Hongjian called all the generals except the Japanese for a meeting, and the generals still wanted to explain the battle arrangements, but Liu Hongjian's words shocked everyone's teeth.

"This king wants to establish a country in Dongying, and the name of the country is Qin. This is why this king said that the Japanese are not trustworthy. If you have any ideas, you can talk about them." Liu Hongjian said calmly.

It was really helpless for Liu Hongjian to use the cover of the Tianchuan family to support the layout of Dongying. Now that the Raksha Kingdom has been destroyed, and there are no strong neighbors around the Ming Dynasty, this layer of pretense is no longer necessary.

Xiao Zhu promoted him to be a prince and the fiefdom is in Dongying. According to the etiquette and law, he can establish a country.

In the past 300 years, it was the first time in the Ming Dynasty that the prince's fiefdom was chosen overseas, and this overseas enclave was not yet the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

The prince is about to stand on his own.

This was the first thought in everyone's mind, and Zheng Lin was also thinking about it, as if he was thinking about his position.

The generals of Liu Hongjian's personal guard battalion were all laughing from ear to ear. Although they had a high status in the personal guard camp, the full staff of the personal guard camp was only 2000 people, and the maximum number was only [-] households.

Although Liu Hongjian did not pay them according to their actual military positions, who would not want to climb higher?
It would be different if Liu Hongjian owned Fengguo. They are all the backbone of the generals in Fengguo. This is really good news.

Generals of the Imperial Guard Lu Haibo, Lin He and others also had different expressions. Lu Haibo wanted to follow Liu Hongjian, but he was worried that if Liu Hongjian really left Daming, the generals would be suppressed again by the civil officials and the court.

Lin He was very hesitant, he was not as heartless as Lu Haibo, and he had a more sense of belonging to Daming than Dongying.

"I said, what are you all thinking? All of you are silent, this king tells you, pay attention to your identities, you are the generals of Ming Dynasty, and this king brought you here is not elopement!"

Liu Hongjian has been running around with this group of generals for several years, how can he not understand what these people are thinking?After a few words, the generals present all blushed.

"My king reiterates that you are all generals of the Ming Dynasty, receiving His Majesty's salary. You came to Dongying to help me plow the land in Dongying and eradicate all the Japanese who dared to resist me. After that, you still have to return to Daming. Return to the camp of the Praetorian Guard."

Liu Hongjian glared at Lu Haibo and Lin Hedao.

"Hey, the prince is serious. We have no other ideas at all. We listen to you. We will fight whoever you tell us to fight. We will go wherever you want us to go."

Lu Haibo smiled, and expressed his wish in a few words, but he didn't say it completely.

"Fuck off! Even horse meat can't stop your stinking mouth!" Liu Hongjian ignored Lu Haibo's disguised allegiance.

Although Dongying has suffered several wars, there are still at least 800 million Japanese people. This can be regarded as an interesting story about the Warring States period in Dongying.

The population of China during the Warring States period was negative growth, and then during the Three Kingdoms period, the domestic population also declined sharply due to wars and various famines.

As for the so-called Warring States Period in Japan, the population has grown from a few million to 1000 to [-] million after dozens of years of fighting, which is considered awesome.

"I am the Queen of Qin, so I will definitely be resisted by the Japanese people, and your task is to kill all the Japanese people who resist!" Liu Hongjian said, taking a sip of Japanese sake.

Liu Hongjian liked Dongying, but he didn't like Dongying people, or their culture.

For this reason, Liu Hongjian formulated the "Plowing Plan". Although the name is crude, Liu Hongjian thought over and over again in the past few months and still felt that plowing was the most suitable method.

First of all, in terms of culture, Japanese characters must be abolished, and the corresponding Japanese language must also be abolished. At the same time, all Japanese books will also be abolished.

It is difficult to change a nation, but that is only in later generations. Culture is the foundation of a nation. In this era, Liu Hongjian can be more simple and rude.

He will require all Dongying people to learn the Ming language, Ming characters, and culture, and he will also hire more down-and-out talents from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty to give lectures.

From clothing to hairstyles, from speech to manners, everything that can be seen, heard, and learned will be Sinicized.

This is his fief, and he is the king of this land. Taking advantage of the military power of Ming Dynasty, he is absolutely sure to assimilate this mortal enemy of the Han people 300 years later.

"Da Ming will continuously transport all kinds of supplies to Japan, including weapons, ammunition, food, books, teachings and production tools.

The road ahead is long, and I hope you will pay more attention! After Liu Hongjian finished speaking, he raised his wine glass.

After hearing Liu Hongjian's plan, some of the people became preoccupied and some were excited, but they all raised their glasses of wine.

For the only 1000 Japanese soldiers in Shimane Castle, Liu Hongjian did not directly attack them. These soldiers once fought for Shimane Castle, and Liu Hongjian decided to give them a chance to choose.

Liu Hongjian told them the news of the founding of the country, and even told them their future plans, asking them to choose their own affiliation.

There is nothing to keep secret about this plan. Instead of becoming a hidden danger after they learn about it, it is better to cut the mess quickly.

Sure enough, after hearing Liu Hongjian's words, most of the Japanese soldiers chose to leave, but there were still about 300 people who chose to stay, including Sakuragi Kumi who lost everything.

"Why?" Liu Hongjian looked into Yingmu's long-sighted eyes, as if he wanted to find the answer.

"Dongying is sick. I think the general can cure this disease. For this reason, I am willing to contribute my strength." Sakuragi Jiujian said silently for a while.

He thought of the baby in his infancy, his dead family members, and even more so, the various melees that the people of Dongying had experienced in the previous hundred years, and he felt emotional.

Only now did Liu Hongjian understand that if he interpreted it according to a book he read in later generations, Sakuragi Kumi was probably a Salvationist, while the Dutchman was an Adventist.

It's just that Liu Hongjian still couldn't quite trust Sakuragi Kumi, he promoted Sakuragi Kumi as the commander of the three hundred Japanese soldiers, and kept his promise to release those who chose to leave Shimane Castle.

But only half an hour later, the first order was issued to Sakuragi Kumi to kill all the Japanese soldiers who had just left the city.

The Japanese soldiers who left the city were naturally confiscated with all their weapons, and the three hundred Japanese soldiers were all equipped with an old-fashioned flintlock gun in addition to the Japanese sword.

Sakuragi Jiujian accepted the order and led people to chase them out overnight. The next morning, under the leadership of Sakuragi Jiujian, more than 200 Japanese people appeared at the foot of Shimane Castle, dragging more than a thousand heads.

Two days later, Liu Hongjian, who had consolidated his troops, ordered Zheng Lin to garrison Shimane Castle with 5000 imperial guards, and he himself led [-] people to march eastward, heading straight for Edo, the home of the Tokugawa shogunate.

At the end of July, [-] troops arrived at Uenohara, and the shogunate led [-] recruits to meet them. The [-] recruits were defeated in just one encounter. Liu Hongjian ordered the cavalry to pursue them, but only half of the [-] recruits escaped back to Edo.

On the second day of August, under the indiscriminate bombardment of a hundred howitzers, the not-so-majestic Edo City Wall was breached, and the shogunate announced its downfall.

The next day, Liu Hongjian announced in Edo Castle that Dongying had changed hands, and officially announced that a new country would be established in Dongying, named Qin.

All of a sudden, Japan was in chaos, and rebels sprung up all over the place, most of them were the former part of the Tokugawa shogunate, and there were also former rebels such as Saito.

Since the rebels had not yet united, Liu Hongjian had to divide the more than 2 troops into three groups, and began to suppress the rebellion in the north, west, and south directions centered on Edo Castle.

According to Liu Hongjian's plan, in the next one to two years, the rebellion will continue to occur, but he has already made sufficient preparations.

Because here will be his second home.

But just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xiao Zhu's imperial decree disrupted all Liu Hongjian's plans.

"Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the imperial edict said:

In the west, there are Fan people from the Dutch country, who have repeatedly invaded the border of Ming Dynasty, causing the people along the coast of Daming to die, and damaging the national prestige of Ming Dynasty, which is actually a hidden danger of Ming Dynasty.

I am worried about it and cannot stop it.

Qin Wang Liu Hongjian has repeatedly defeated powerful enemies since he was appointed. He is the pillar of Ming Dynasty, and I will always remember it.

King Qin was specially ordered to lead two naval forces from Beiyang and Nanyang to pacify Batavia and exalt the majesty of our great Ming Dynasty.

Bestow! "

"His Royal Highness, accept the order?"

The person who came was Pang Pang Hai, the supervisor of ceremonies. Pang Pang Hai knew that the person in front of him was not to be offended, so his tone was very respectful. Seeing Liu Hongjian in a daze, he said softly.

"Fuck, Xiao Zhu is really in a hurry!" Liu Hongjian was urged by Pang Hai, and subconsciously said what was in his heart.

"Oh, does the emperor have a secret letter?" Liu Hongjian seemed to think that Pang Hai was nearby, so he changed his words again.

"Your Highness has a clever plan, the emperor indeed has a secret letter." Pang Panghai's mouth twitched twice, and he took a wooden box from his subordinates and handed it to Liu Hongjian.

There was a seal on the outside of the wooden box to prove that it had not been opened privately, so Liu Hongjian tore off the seal on the wooden box and opened the secret letter.

'Liu Qing Huijian:
I miss the farewell in midsummer, but the frequent state affairs and wars make me and Qing get together less and leave more. '

Liu Hongjian laughed when he saw this, your uncle gets together less and leaves more, but my wives and I get together less and leave more.

During the battle of Rakshasa, the power of the Ming Dynasty was as high as the sky, but the Netherlands still occupied the entire Nanyang, preventing the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty from going south, and the memorials of the courtiers piled up like a mountain, all of them suggested that I order to open up the Nanyang trade route.

I know that you have planned this for a long time, and also heard that General Qi has successfully trained the new warships of the Beiyang Navy, so he issued an edict on his own initiative, ordering to attack Nanyang.

"Qing is the commander of the two naval divisions. When going to Nanyang, personal safety is the most important thing, and you must not take risks.

I am in the capital, waiting for the good news. '

After reading the secret letter, Liu Hongjian thought to himself, "Your uncle, how can you order the generals to put personal safety first when going on an expedition?"
Besides, since it is a war, it must be extremely dangerous, and it is a naval battle, even if you want to run, you may not be able to run.

"What hypocrisy!" Liu Hongjian said in a low voice.

At the same time, he also knew in his heart that the ocean trade had already given the imperial court a taste of the sweetness, and the maritime merchants along the coast also eagerly hoped that the imperial court would open up routes to the South Seas.

The imperial court needed the tariffs paid by these maritime merchants and foreign merchants. Although Zhu Cihong was so tactful, he also vaguely made Liu Hongjian feel the necessity of the Nanyang route.

It's just that Dongying has not stabilized yet, which makes Liu Hongjian feel a little uneasy.

"Is Your Highness worried about Dongying? The Emperor is sympathetic to His Highness. The Beiyang Navy has brought in [-] imperial guards in addition to the navy. The Emperor said that some of these fifty thousand soldiers can be kept in the Dongying Gang." Stabilize the situation, and the rest will be transferred to Nanyang with the army." Pang Dahai said shyly.

"Your Majesty really cares about his subjects!" Liu Hongjian snorted softly, thinking that Xiao Zhu was quite considerate.

Just waiting for this time, the Qi family brothers Qi Yuangong, Qi Yuanfu, and Qi Yuanbi walked quickly with smiles on their faces.

"The humble job has seen the prince!"
(End of this chapter)