King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

Under the dark night, the Ming army landed quietly like a group of ghosts.

The howling sea breeze brought with it the smell of the sea, but it could not cover up the cold sound of weapons colliding.

The Japanese pirates obviously did not expect that the Ming army would choose to land on such a remote beach. The patrol teams in groups of three or four had their throats slit by the Ming army while they were sleeping, and they didn't even have time to send out a warning signal.

"Damn it, these pirates sleep like dead pigs!"

A Ming army soldier wiped the blood off his face and spat, his tone full of disdain.

"Be smart! Don't be careless! It's better to be safe than sorry!"

The captain who led the team scolded in a low voice. Although he also felt that these Japanese pirates were vulnerable, military orders were as heavy as a mountain, and it was always right to be cautious.

The Ming army encountered little resistance along the way. The Japanese pirates' sentries were almost non-existent, and patrols were even more rare.

Occasionally, they encountered a few teams of sleepy Japanese pirates, and before they could react, they were knocked to the ground by the Ming army like cutting melons and vegetables.

Lan Yu was riding on a tall horse, looking at the scene in front of him, feeling extremely proud.

It seems that those Japanese pirates did not lie, and the Nagasaki City was indeed a mere figment of the imagination. He licked his lips, as if he had already smelled the sweet scent of victory.

"General, Nagasaki Castle is just ahead!"

A scout came riding over, knelt on one knee and reported.

Lan Yu looked up and saw a towering city in the distance. The city walls were brightly lit and Japanese pirate soldiers could be vaguely seen patrolling back and forth.

"Pass the order down and prepare to attack the city!" A cold light flashed in Lan Yu's eyes and he gave the order loudly.

The deafening sound of war drums resounded through the sky, and the Ming army soldiers launched a fierce attack on Nagasaki Castle like a tiger descending from a mountain.

The cannons roared, and flames shot up into the sky and rubble flew from the city walls.

The Japanese pirates obviously did not expect that the Ming army would arrive at the city so quickly, and they responded hastily and appeared to be in a panic.

"Kill!"

The Ming army soldiers shouted and bravely climbed the city wall under a hail of bullets.

Ladders were set up one after another, forming a ladder of death along with the city walls.

Soldiers from both sides fought a desperate battle on the city wall, with swords flashing and blood flying everywhere.

Lan Yu led the charge, holding a fine steel sword in his hand, charging left and right as if he was in an empty space.

Every time he swung his sword, a Japanese pirate soldier would fall in a pool of blood.

"Toyota Hideyoshi! Come out and die!" Lan Yu roared, his voice deafening.

However, the only response he got was a rain of arrows and even more intense artillery fire.

The fierce battle lasted for a day and a night, and the city of Nagasaki was already littered with corpses and rivers of blood.

The Ming army's artillery was like the hand of death, blowing down section after section of the city wall.

Finally, after a loud bang, the city gate was breached by the Ming army.

"Kill!" Ming army soldiers poured into the city like a tide and engaged in street fighting with the remaining Japanese pirates.

Lan Yu took the lead and led his personal soldiers straight to the city lord's mansion.

He wanted to capture Toyotomi Hideyoshi with his own hands and present the head of this Japanese pirate leader to His Royal Highness Prince Lu!
However, when Lan Yu led his army into the city lord's mansion, he found it empty. Where was the trace of Toyotomi Hideyoshi?

"General, we found a secret passage in the backyard!"

A soldier came running over to report in a panic.

Lan Yu's face turned pale and he roared, "Chase! Chase! We must catch Toyota Hideyoshi!"

However, when Lan Yu led his troops to the exit of the secret passage, they found that the exit had been blocked by huge rocks.

"Damn it!" Lan Yu punched the stone wall and roared.

He never expected that despite his carefully planned raid, Toyotomi Hideyoshi still managed to escape!

……

The bloody dawn finally broke through the night of Nagasaki. The smell of gunpowder had not yet dissipated, and the air was filled with a disgusting smell of blood. The broken walls, collapsed houses, and corpses lying in all directions all told of the cruelty of the war last night.

Lan Yu was covered in blood, and there were traces of the flesh and blood of the Japanese pirates on his armor, but it could not hide the fatigue and a subtle frustration in his eyes. He stood in front of the ruins of the city lord's mansion, watching the soldiers cleaning up the battlefield one after another, with mixed feelings in his heart.

"Report——"

A scout came over on horseback, dismounted in front of Lan Yu, and knelt on one knee:
"General, His Royal Highness Prince Lu is already ten miles outside the city!"

Lan Yu was invigorated upon hearing this, and hurriedly said, "Quick, follow me to welcome His Highness!"

Zhu Tan rode a chestnut horse and, surrounded by his personal guards, slowly walked into the devastated Nagasaki Castle.

He dismounted and frowned slightly as he looked at the hell-like scene before him.

"I am Lan Yu, the last general, and I am here to see Your Highness!" Lan Yu led a group of generals to kneel on one knee, his voice loud and clear.

"Generals, please stand up." Zhu Tanxu helped them up, and his eyes swept over the people in front of him, finally landing on Lan Yu, "General Lan, how is the battle going?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, our army won a great victory in this battle. The Japanese pirates suffered heavy casualties and countless were captured. However..."

Lan Yu said this with a hint of guilt in his tone, "I am incompetent and let Toyotomi Hideyoshi escape through the secret passage!"

"Oh? A secret passage?"

A hint of interest flashed in Zhu Tan's eyes, but he did not blame Lan Yu. Instead, he smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Victory and defeat are common in the military. Besides, General Lan has already won a great victory. There is no need to blame yourself. Toyotomi Hideyoshi is a cunning rabbit with many burrows. It doesn't matter if he lives a little longer. Sooner or later, he will fall into my hands."

"Your Highness is wise!"

Lan Yu and the other generals said in unison, and their admiration for Zhu Tan increased even more.

"By the way, what happened to the prisoners?" Zhu Tan asked casually.

Lan Yu hesitated for a moment, then replied cautiously, "Your Highness, according to your instructions, the captives have been gathered together for custody, awaiting your decision."

"Yes." Zhu Tan nodded, "I still have some use for them, so don't rush to kill them."

Lan Yu was startled and couldn't help asking, "Your Highness, what are you doing..."

A meaningful smile appeared on Zhu Tan's lips.

He pointed to the rolling mountains in the distance, where blue-gray rocks were vaguely visible exposed, looking a bit cold in the morning light.

"General Lan, do you know that there are treasures hidden in the mountains of Nagasaki?"

Zhu Tan's tone was calm, but it contained an unquestionable certainty.

Lan Yu was stunned, and followed Zhu Tan's gaze, full of doubts:

"Treasure? What treasure? Could it be the treasure hidden by the Japanese pirates?"

Zhu Tan chuckled and shook his head: "More valuable than gold and silver treasures - mines!"

"Mine?!" Lan Yu exclaimed. Although he was a rough man, he had heard of the power of "mines". They were the lifeline for forging weapons, minting coins, and developing national strength!

"This... How is this possible? How did Your Highness know about this?"

Lan Yu's heart was filled with turmoil.

He knew that His Royal Highness Prince Lu had interests in many fields.

For example, medical care, weapons and so on.

But I have never heard that he has done any research on minerals. Moreover, Nagasaki is the home of the Japanese pirates, and this is the first time they have set foot here. How did His Highness know that there are minerals hidden in the deep mountains and forests?
"I have my own way."

Zhu Tan just smiled mysteriously without explaining, and then ordered:

"General Lan, conquering the city is only the first step. Next, you will lead your men to explore the mountains and make sure to find those mineral deposits!"

"I will obey your orders!"

Although Lan Yu was full of doubts, he immediately obeyed the military order and turned around to arrange manpower.

Looking at Lan Yu's receding back, Zhu Tan's lips curled up into a barely perceptible smile.

Of course he would not tell Lan Yu that these were all things he had read from history books in his previous life.

I never thought that when I was preparing for the exam, I would get such an unexpected surprise.

……

At the same time, in a city hundreds of miles away from Nagasaki, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was fleeing in a panic.

His clothes were tattered, and his face was covered in dust and fear. Where was his former majesty?

"Damn it! Damn it! How come the Ming army suddenly appeared in Nagasaki?!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi gritted his teeth, his heart filled with anger and unwillingness.

He never imagined that Nagasaki, which he had painstakingly managed for many years, would be captured by the Ming army overnight!
What frightened him even more was that the strategy and courage of the Ming army commander, Prince Lu Zhu Tan, were far beyond his imagination!

"No, I have to run away! The farther the better!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi had only one thought in his mind, which was to escape from the Ming army and save his life!

He stumbled to the city gate, grabbed the collar of the warrior guarding the city, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Quick! Go and inform your county governor! Tell him that the Ming army has invaded on a large scale and Nagasaki has fallen! Tell him to send troops to support us immediately!"

The warriors guarding the city had never seen Toyotomi Hideyoshi lose his composure like this. They turned pale with fear and stammered:

"Sir, is this true? Are the Ming troops really coming?"

"Asshole! Can I still lie to you?! Hurry up!" Toyotomi Hideyoshi kicked the samurai on the butt, knocking him to the ground.

"Yes! Yes! I'll go right away!" The warrior guarding the city crawled up and ran towards the city lord's mansion.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi looked at the samurai's receding back, and a sinister light flashed in his eyes.

"Zhu Tan, just wait for me! One day, I will make you pay for your blood with blood!"

……

After a while.

Sheriff's Mansion.

"Daimyo! Are you...are you okay?"

A middle-aged man in samurai uniform asked cautiously at the side.

He was the lord of the castle, named Tokugawa Ieyasu, and one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's allies.

"I'm okay? How can I be okay?!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi stood up suddenly:

"I'm telling you, Tokugawa, the Ming army has already attacked us! They captured Nagasaki and killed many of us! Now, they will soon reach us! How can you expect me to be alright?!"

Tokugawa Ieyasu was shocked by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's sudden anger. He had never seen Toyotomi Hideyoshi lose his composure like this.

"Calm down, daimyo! Although the Ming army is powerful, our Japanese are not to be trifled with! We still have many cities and many armies, and we will definitely be able to defeat them!"

Tokugawa Ieyasu hurriedly comforted him.

"Defeat them? How can you defeat them?!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi pointed outside the palace and roared, "Look, look at my army, how many people are left now? They are like dogs that have lost their homes, with no fighting spirit! How can such an army fight against the Ming army?!"

Tokugawa Ieyasu remained silent, for he knew that what Toyotomi Hideyoshi said was true.

The strength of the Ming army was beyond their imagination.

"Then...what should we do now?" asked Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

He walked to the map, pointed to one of the places, and said, "Pass the order, assemble the whole army, we are going to Osaka!"

"Osaka?" Tokugawa Ieyasu asked in confusion, "What are you going to do in Osaka?"

"Osaka is our last line of defense and our last hope!"

A trace of determination flashed in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's eyes, "I just don't believe that even if we gather all our strength, we still can't stop the attack of the Ming army!"

Tokugawa Ieyasu's words left Toyotomi Hideyoshi silent for a moment.

He paced back and forth in an irritable manner, which only made him look even more confused.

"Osaka... We can only go to Osaka. Pass the order, all troops march to Osaka!"

"Yes!" Tokugawa Ieyasu accepted the order and turned around to convey the order, but was stopped by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

"Wait," Toyotomi Hideyoshi lowered his voice, a hint of viciousness flashed in his eyes, "Send a message to that old fellow Mori Terumoto, which means that the army is coming with great force. If you don't send troops to support him in time, even if Osaka is destroyed, Mori will not have an easy life!"

Tokugawa Ieyasu sneered in his heart. This trick of "diverting trouble to others" was used to perfection by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

But his face remained expressionless, he just lowered his head and replied: "I'll do it right away."

The setting sun was as red as blood, making the defeated troops look even more desolate.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu led their defeated troops and retreated all the way to Osaka.

Along the way, they were constantly pursued and harassed by the Ming army, suffering heavy losses.

"Baga! Why are these Ming soldiers like wolves that smell blood? They won't leave!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi looked at his troops being dispersed once again and cursed in frustration.

Tokugawa Ieyasu rode his horse beside him, with a stern expression and said nothing.

He knew clearly that the Ming army was well-trained and well-equipped, and had a talented general like Prince of Lu Zhu Tan leading them. In this battle, their chances of winning were slim.

"Report! Daming, Ming troops have been spotted ahead!" A spy came to report in a panic.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi raised his head suddenly, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes, and then he pretended to be calm and asked: "How many troops?"

"Return to the Daming, about 5,000 people."

"Five thousand?!" Toyotomi Hideyoshi felt a chill running from the soles of his feet to his head.

Now that his defeated army is facing this enemy, it is like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth!

"Daimyo, what should we do now?" The warriors on the side also panicked and asked one after another.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi suppressed his fear and said calmly, "Why panic? Pass the order down and prepare for battle!"

"Fight?!" Tokugawa Ieyasu couldn't help but question, "Daimyo, the Ming army is powerful, how can we resist with such a small number of troops? Why don't we avoid their attack first, preserve our strength, and wait for the right time to make plans?"

"Escape? Where to escape?!" Toyotomi Hideyoshi roared, "There are spies of the Ming army all around us, where can we escape to? Instead of sitting and waiting to die, we might as well fight to the death!" (End of this chapter)