Jingming

Chapter 500: Can your body bear it?

King Zhu Zaiyu of Yue set out with the generals from the Beijing camp who were going to Yunnan and Guangxi, and Wang Zhu Zaiqi followed the generals from the Beijing camp who were "reinforcing Japan".

The emperor's two sons were surrounded by elite soldiers from the Beijing camp, with a total strength of 40,000.

What do you think, His Royal Highness?

Zhu Zaiyi didn't think much about it. He believed in his father, his brother and his biological brother.

On the one hand, he can take the position of leader of the vassal country with ease, but on the other hand, he takes a huge risk to try it?

At least it couldn't be at such a moment, at what my father called the "final difficulty."

The express delivery of the news was faster than them. The news reached North Korea first, and Cao Cha and Zhang Jing were dealing with counterattacks from Hamgyong Province and Gangwon Province.

Although the mountainous terrain is theoretically easy to defend, these roads were not originally borders. Along the long dividing lines, it was inevitable for the remnant armies who were familiar with the terrain to harass the countryside outside the big cities of Pyongan Province, Hwanghae Province, and Gyeongsang Province.

In Liudao, which was already under the rule of the new dynasty, even inside and outside Seoul, there were not many incidents of "righteous men" and "dead men" popping up from time to time to assassinate Ming officials, Ming people, and Korean scholars who served in the new dynasty.

Conquest is never easy. Even if the new dynasty treats the people well, it is a hatred for some of the previously aloof wealthy families here.

Zhang Jing is the general military staff here, and Cao Cha is the prime minister and minister of state here.

"Is this the judgment of Your Majesty and the princes of the imperial court?" Zhu Xianzhen, the current leader of North Korea, looked at his ministers anxiously after reading the secret letter, "In addition to the Jurchens and North Korean rebels, there are also Tatars behind them, and there is a high possibility that Breaking into the Ming Dynasty from North Korea?"

"Your Majesty!" Zhang Jing saluted, "The 30,000 soldiers from the Ming Dynasty's capital camp came from North Korea to reinforce Japan, and they helped North Korea suppress the rebels along the way. If I were really waiting behind me, I would not have succeeded in plowing North Korea with the reinforcements in the capital camp. Appeared before leaving Korea to reinforce Japan."

"We should take advantage of the opportunity to counterattack and then build forts at the pass. We can't miss this year's farming season." Cao Cha also expressed his opinion, "Now the new dynasty only controls the Six Roads and does not invade eastward. Hamgyeong Road and Gangwon Road are barren. There is an illusion of consolidating the hinterland without sacrificing the borders. If we deploy defenses at many passes along Pyongyang Province, Hwanghae Province, Gyeonggi Province, and Gyeongsang Province, it will make the enemy think that the Ming Dynasty and our new dynasty are only trying to stabilize the current territory."

"They want to make the Ming Dynasty exhausted." Zhang Jing said decisively, "When the reinforcements arrive, they must retreat first. Thirty thousand people are eating horses, how many? Adding more to build a fort, I don't know how much manpower, material and financial resources will be spent . When the new dynasty has just been established, not being able to rest is also an internal worry. When the reinforcements leave and the new dynasty slacks off, it will be the time for them to make a comeback!"

In order to cooperate with Ming Dynasty's strategy, North Korea's monarchs and ministers will also make arrangements.

At this time, North Korea is indeed a vulnerable link.

Although foreigners have taken over, the roots of the local old forces are still there, and there is still an "orthodoxy" in Hamgyong Province and Gangwon Province.

Mr. Anton Li is very nervous now, for fear of being thought that he still has some possible ideas to take advantage of the situation.

You must know that the Hamgyong Province and Gangwon Province are now under the banner of worshiping him as the leader, but they have also found a descendant of the previous king as the "regent".

This was naturally an attempt to sow discord here, but the "righteous men" and "dead men" who appeared from time to time did make him face strange looks from many officials.

Standing next to Shen Lian, he tried his best to suppress the uneasiness in his heart and asked: "What is the royal order, Admiral Shen? I will definitely obey it!"

Shen Lian is now the Admiral of the Imperial Guard and the Director-General of Public Security in North Korea. He only smiled and said: "A group of dead soldiers have been captured alive in the past few months. I want Mr. An Dong to go over and see if he can identify them." identity of."

He was obviously a Jinshi, but North Korea was short of people, so he reluctantly transferred to this military position with some characteristics of a Jinyiwei.

It turned out to be quite suitable, and Shen Lian did a great job.

"Admiral Shen, please lead the way!" Li didn't dare to be perfunctory.

He could already imagine how much nonsense he would hear after going there that would frighten him.

The last time, after a "dead man" saw him, he was very sensible and had a tacit understanding, and suddenly struggled to die.

Fortunately, Mr. Shen just smiled happily, and he was fine later.

Daming and the king didn't seem to doubt him.

Or...I don't care about him at all...

……

The news spread to Japan again, and now they are encircling Kyushu Island.

Under the command of Yu Dayou, with the help of various pure cold weapons, the Mandarin Duck Formation, the Gun Shield Mandarin Duck Formation, and the Artillery Shield Mandarin Duck Formation, the so-called brave generals, heroes, swordsmen, and warriors here truly faced the power of the organic firearms unit.

After appearing in Izumo in the early autumn of last year, the elite soldiers of the Beijing camp led by Yu Dayou divided into two groups and headed southwest after capturing Izumo.

After seizing Iwami Ginzan all the way, they continued to go west, first sweeping the flatter areas along the coast; then they went south, and after Bingo pushed all the way to Aki Country, the territory originally occupied by Motonari Mouri, and finally arrived at the not yet Fortress of Hiroshima.

This strategy is because this part of the area originally belonged to the Nizi clan and the Maori clan.

After Ouchi Yoshitaka took this place, he did try to digest it through various means. But after the Ming army arrived here, they were invincible. In addition, Mao Liyuan died in battle as a "hero". The old retainers and old warriors of the Nizi family and Mao Li family were first digested by the Ming Dynasty.

The natural way is to allow the future of this group of people, including their daughters and granddaughters who were sent to the Ming Dynasty to be their husbands.

Since then, in fact, from Izumo to Hiroshima, Ming Dynasty has first built a defensive line to defend the east.

For this reason, the strength of the Beijing camp that was later pushed from Iwami and Aki to Ouchi Yoshitaka's base camp Zhou Fangguo was only 8,000 - leaving a large number of generals to defend and stabilize the captured territory.

Fortunately, the Beiyang Navy led by Xue Han also made efforts in the Nagato Kingdom to the west of Zhou's defense. Along the coast of Nagato, the main defense line previously deployed by the defending coalition forces was also in Nagato. The Beiyang Navy has the Xuanlong Ship. Although it dare not sail too close to the coast due to its deep draft, its deterrent effect is too strong.

Under the bombardment of the fleet, the marines finally found an opportunity to land.

Once a land battle is reached, and it is at the seaside, small and medium-sized warships approach and bombard distant places, and the marines have been trained in Taiwan and are better equipped, the defending coalition forces will naturally suffer another defeat.

Then they were compressed along the coast towards Kyushu.

When Yu Dayou, Xue Han, and Yan Shifan began to besiege Zhou Fangguo from several directions, Ouchi Yoshitaka himself was the first to collapse.

The rebels and reinforcements deployed by Hosokawa Harumoto in the early stage, plus the garrison coalition forces, were defeated and could only retreat to Kyushu Island.

For them, that was the most brutal battle - they wanted to go to Kyushu Island. Although the narrowest part of the Shimonoseki Strait between Kyushu Island and Honshu was only a few miles away, it was still on the sea after all.

Under the artillery fire of the Beiyang Navy and Dongyang Navy of the Ming Dynasty, the Shimonoseki Strait was red during that period.

The so-called western half of China including Sanyo Road and Sanyo Road on Honshu Island, plus Shikoku Island, this is the current record of the Ming Army.

Shunzhi brought the Toyo Marine Division's marines and nearly ten warships on Shikoku Island. Although the number was small, with the current maritime transport capacity of the Hosokawa Shogunate, it was difficult for them to organize an effective offensive across the sea.

The coalition forces on Kyushu Island are already a turtle in a jar. The military supplies to the east could not break through the Ming Dynasty blockade on land and sea, and Kyushu Island truly became an isolated island.

"The situation has changed."

In Izumo Grand Shrine, Xia Yan took the letter that had been sent through the mail and handed it to Yu Dayou who rushed back from Yamaguchi Castle.

This was sent at the beginning of the first month of the year after a general strategy was discussed based on the situation.

After reading it, Yu Dayou said softly: "So brave..."

"In any case, the situation has changed, and the imperial court can no longer support the Eastern Expedition army." Xia Yan said simply, "The remnant army on Kyushu Island is already a turtle in the urn, Zhifu, I wanted to stay in Japan, but now I have to change A change of strategy.”

"What do you mean by making a table?"

"We must stabilize the lands of several countries here, and for the time being we have to rely on many Japanese people." Xia Yan said simply, "The more stable they are, the more people you can bring to the east, and they can still fight as slaves. In order to prevent you from doing so before I'm distracted. There's something that I've been ordered to keep secret." Yu Dayou was stunned: "What's the matter?"

"When we were reorganizing our troops on Tsushima Island, Duke Xingguo led more than a hundred elite special operations battalions and had already set off deep into Gyeonggi and Kanto. Now that several months have passed, with Duke Xingguo's ability, it should be a mess there. Yes. Cut the mess with a quick knife, Shisuke, fight all the way, and surrender when necessary. Even if there are some troubles left behind, it is better that the situation in Japan has been settled as soon as possible."

"... Duke Xingguo is also here?" Yu Dayou was shocked.

"Your Majesty has made it clear that Duke Xingguo is here not to do any merit, but to help in the war!" Xia Yan told him clearly, "Now we only need the Beiyang Navy to lock Hiroshima to Shikoku Island. If the army advances eastward, they will not take care of the remnants of Kyushu. Live or die. The army went east from the Shanyang Road, and together with the Toyo Marine Division, they conquered the flat coastal areas and marched directly to Namba and Kyoto. Once the bandit chiefs were defeated, they could suppress and appease them, and the situation was settled."

Yu Dayou didn't say much. After thinking for a while, he said: "In other words, we can no longer rely on logistics transfer?"

"On an expedition of thousands of miles, we can only fight with war. Leave the hidden dangers to me in the future!" Xia Yan said firmly, "Besides, this Japan is not as good as the Ming Dynasty. Anyone who can fight with elite soldiers is a master. Ordinary people are as poor as slaves." , you can’t get anything out of it. With the bravery of the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, they will break through the city as fast as possible. As long as we enter Kyoto, great things will be decided!"

Yu Dayou thought silently for a while.

He could bring over a total of seven to eight thousand marines including the tens of thousands of people from the Beijing camp plus the Dongyang and Beiyang naval divisions.

If such a large army marches straight in, leaving behind an incompletely controlled rear area, it will really have to rely on looting all the way there.

If we are prudent, the best way is to completely wipe out the remaining troops on Kyushu Island first, then digest the existing territory, determine the new order, and then proceed steadily.

But the current situation is very simple: the Ming Dynasty has enemies on all sides, and Yu Dayou and Yan Chunsheng will not stay in Japan. It is best to go back as soon as possible.

They are the most prestigious generals in the Ming Dynasty's military today.

Yu Dayou thought for a while but shook his head: "I only lead the Beijing camp with ten thousand people. To build the platform, I fought all the way over. The military supply routes in the coastal cities were dependent on you making good use of the navy, marines and surrendered servants to help me stabilize it. Japan is mountainous and difficult to govern, so the court should send more civil servants over as soon as possible. Is there any way for Zitai to contact Duke Xingguo?"

"No." Xia Yan thought for a moment and then said, "Since Zhifu only brings 10,000 elite troops from the Kyoto camp, then I will go from Izumo along the coast of Shangyin to Kyoto to join forces with Zhifu. In the rear, Yingde will be moved from Shikoku Suppress Aki Koriyama Castle!"

"...Who guards Shikoku Island?"

"Let Hu Ruzhen go!"

"Zhi Tai leads the army to march eastward. Who will be the general in the rear?"

"In the battle of Nagato, Qi Jiguang was brave and unstoppable, and he was already quite prestigious among the marines. He had protected the prince on his travels, and he was also a disciple of the new public relations sect. He led the first brigade of marines to oversee the return of the vassal army, which was convenient after it was temporarily stabilized. It was very convenient. At this time, you should use extraordinary people, people who trust His Majesty's wise eyes and promote you!"

Yu Dayou didn't think much anymore and just nodded.

The new strategy also requires personnel to be in place, and military supplies that can still be transferred from Ryukyu and Tsushima need to be mobilized first.

On Kyushu Island, there are still nearly 100,000 defenders and coalition forces, plus the rebels on the island.

But as long as you escape into the sea, you will have a narrow escape.

If you don't go to sea, you still have the strength to fight.

Kyushu Island is big enough not to be unable to feed these soldiers.

But now that I am alone, I feel extremely bad.

The overwhelming Ming army brought great fear to them.

There were not many samurai who could wear armor. Their samurai swords would not have time to hit the enemies, and their flintlock guns, which fired much faster, would hit them with projectiles.

What's more, there are artillery pieces in the back that can reach beyond Li Xu?

The Japanese generals who mostly charge into the formation with their feet are far less powerful than the cavalry.

That's just a waste of life.

But even if they were lucky enough to rush to the front of the formation, there would still be a mass of mandarin duck formations in front of them.

Historically, the Yuanyang Formation, which had an exaggerated battle-loss ratio when dealing with Japanese pirates, seems to have exerted its full power here.

Under the narrow terrain, the helpless comrades who fell down really made these garrison coalition forces who were lucky enough to escape to Kyushu Island unable to have much confidence in resisting.

However, the original generals on Kyushu Island suspected that they were not brave enough.

Ouchi Yoshitaka suffered an emotional breakdown during the siege and committed seppuku.

The current retainers of the Ouchi clan are headed by Tao Longfang. But a retainer is a retainer, and without a master, it always feels like a mess.

In a hurry, a person from a branch of the Ouchi family was supported as the family governor. How could it be that Yoshitaka Ouchi had no son in the first place?

However, the morale of the military has been shattered. Many rebels and reinforcements who originally came from Kinki, the eastern half of China, Shikoku and even Kanto are now trying to cross the sea and escape back to the east.

Shimazu Takaku no longer has the authority to rule them, and every family on Kyushu Island is trying their best to deploy their power in the mountain city where they are located.

In order to be able to sustain it for a longer period of time, armies from all sides with complex backgrounds competed for easy-to-defend but difficult-to-attack areas, to raise food and military supplies, and there were countless internal conflicts.

The fragile Kyushu Island seemed to collapse when the Ming army landed, but the Ming army stopped taking action. Only the Ming warships patrolled the Shimonoseki Strait and the northeast of Kyushu Island.

"It's almost summer, there will be a divine wind!"

I don’t know how many people are praying.

"The kamikaze is coming, and their ships need to avoid it! At that time, let's break into Shikoku Island together, from the Uwa Sea! The power of Shikoku Island must be the weakest. If we can go to Shikoku Island and kill all the people on the island, Man, that can change the situation of the war!"

Shimazu Takahisa heard such discussions, but it was difficult for him to change anything.

His hometown is on Kyushu Island. Could he abandon this place and go to Shikoku Island together?

Spring is warm and flowers are blooming. In the Ming Dynasty, farmers planted summer grain first as usual.

The Ming Dynasty was surrounded by enemies on all sides, but the provinces in the hinterland could not feel it at all.

If I can feel anything, it is that the government is still calling.

"Go to Japan and everyone will have three wives and four concubines!"

Is such a beautiful thing really possible? Can you afford it?

Can your body bear it?

On the Xuanfu side, Zhu Houcong could bear it.

This time, I am afraid I will have to stay in Xuanfu for a long time.

There were also several people accompanying him in the harem, including Duoyan's Tana and her son, Agala who was originally donated by the Ordos tribe in Hetao, Achara Kamara from Lanna, and the Shen sisters from North Korea. Plus the two concubines I chose before.

Anyway, so many vassal states have jumped out, and after this time, they will all be leveled!

(End of this chapter)