Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 474: Proclamation against Fuso (Special thanks to the book friend 2021…0300 for the two monthly tickets!)

After discussion, the three generals decided that the two fleets of the Royal Navy would first dock at the port of Arima Domain in Kyushu to rest and recuperate, while they agreed on the marching strategy and replenished military supplies.

Dai Qi has been lurking in Kyushu for nearly six years, storing a large amount of food, artillery ammunition, swords, arrows and other military supplies shipped from the Great Zhou Sea, just waiting for the day to conquer Fuso.

After several days of consultation, the three generals agreed:
The Royal Navy's First Fleet, led by Guan Mao, attacked the Mori family port and landed there. After defeating Jing Qiong, a Uighur from Ganzhou who occupied the place, they marched eastward toward Kyoto, Fuso.

Li Xiaocun led the Royal Navy's Second Fleet, with the assistance of Dai Qi and other Longxiang Guards, first captured the entire Kyushu region, then crossed the sea to capture Shikoku Island, and finally landed in Fuso Gyeonggi area, and split into two groups with the First Fleet to attack Kyoto together.

Once Kyoto is conquered, the remaining areas such as the Chubu region, Kanto region, Tohoku region and Hokkaido will only have local daimyo left, which will be easy to take.

The entire army rested in the northern part of Kyushu, which was actually controlled by Dai Qi, and spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Taking into consideration that the Royal Navy soldiers had traveled across the ocean to spend the New Year in a foreign land, Dai Qi recruited "camp prostitutes" throughout Kyushu with a daily salary of ten cents to reward the soldiers.

As soon as the news came out, the girls from the poor and backward Fuso families vied to serve as prostitutes in the Great Zhou camp, not only for the ten copper coins a day and three hundred copper coins a month, but also because the Great Zhou was extremely powerful and the soldiers were tall and strong. Many Fuso people hoped to leave behind the descendants of the Great Zhou to improve their family's disadvantage of being short.

In the eyes of the Fuso people, the powerful Zhou army was able to pay to hire camp prostitutes instead of forcibly abducting Fuso women into the barracks as prostitutes, and there was no killing. It was truly a benevolent and righteous army of the Celestial Empire.

On January 16, the 34th year of Kaixi, just after the Lantern Festival, military supplies were fully prepared, and the First and Second Fleets of the Royal Navy swore to go to war.

Before the expedition, the eunuch Ye Chen, who was accompanying the army as an inspector, announced to the people of Fuso the "Great Zhou's Edict to Punish Fuso", accusing Fuso of harboring the Ganzhou Uighurs, the Liao traitor Jing Qiong, and of not serving the Great Zhou. He then announced to the world that Fuso should be punished.

In the manifesto there are the words "In the past, the country of Japan was a tiny place facing the sea. It survived as an ancient country during the revival of the country. It still had a prosperous population and a thriving economy. It has survived slowly to this day. However, it either remembers the kindness and seeks to repay it, or it commits evil and seeks profit. It has repeatedly committed rebellions and filthy the country. Its crimes are written on bamboo slips, and the Nanshan Mountains have not yet been cut down. Its mistakes are piled up in the water, and cannot be exhausted if they flow into the East China Sea."

Guan Mao led the First Fleet of 100,000 soldiers and 1,000 warships and broke through the Shankou Port controlled by Jing Qiong at 3:00 a.m. on January 17th.

Under the salvo of thousands of artillery fire from the Great Zhou sailing battleships, the Fuso navy's tower ships and fighting ships, which were much smaller in size and less flexible, were soon hit and began to sink.

Some Fuso naval commanders came up with the tactic of using fire ships to attack the enemy. However, no fire ship could break through the dense artillery network of the Zhou army, and all of them were hit and shattered and sank halfway.

After more than three hours of one-sided naval battle, the First Fleet of the Great Zhou Royal Navy annihilated the 20,000-strong navy led by the Uighur general and landed in China.

Jing Qiong was shocked when he heard the news, and he discussed it with his wife Xiao Hu Nian. In the past few years, Jing Qiong imitated the administration of Emperor Chai Zongxun of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and made great progress in the livelihood and economic development of the five states including the Mori family. He was crowned king four years ago.

Jing Qiong was surprised:
“Madam, I originally thought that the coalition forces of the Star Sect had more than three million soldiers, and more than twenty countries joined forces to fight against the Great Zhou. With such strength and power, even if they cannot defeat the Great Zhou, they will be the lifelong enemy of Emperor Chai Zongxun of Zhou!
In this way, the two of us can also stay in the few states of Fusang, be the king of a corner, and enjoy wealth and honor forever.

Unexpectedly, the general who escaped back from Shankou Port just now reported that in the early hours of yesterday morning, thousands of warships of the Great Zhou Royal Navy suddenly appeared on the sea near the port. Our navy hastily fought back, and was completely wiped out in just over two hours. "

Xiao Hu Nian was shocked:

"Your Majesty, this means that Chai Zongxun has sent a large army to attack us? Could it be that in just six or seven years, Chai Zongxun was able to defeat the Star Cult's world coalition forces?"

Jing Qiong nodded slowly and said:
“Madam’s guess should be correct.

Chai Zongxun knew that we had invaded Fuso and established a foothold there, so he sent his Longxiang Guard pacification envoy Dai Qi to sneak into Fuso and seize the territories of the Otomo family and the Arima family, specifically to suppress and restrict the development of us Uighurs.

At that time, if he did not send a large army, he would be held back by the three million coalition forces of the Star Religion in Central and West Asia, unable to split his forces, and unable to bear the financial pressure of more wars.

According to the detailed description of the generals who escaped, the Zhou army's warships were equipped with a new type of firearm that had never been seen before. Its power was far greater than the tiger squat cannon seen in the Liao Dynasty. It had a range of 3 or 4 miles. With one shot, the huge shells could often sink one of our warships.

The Zhou army has now captured Shankou Port and landed. If they use this kind of artillery to attack our army, then the plate armor we have carefully built and equipped the entire army with for several years will become vulnerable!"

Xiao Hu Nian was silent for a while, then said:
"Your Majesty, I never thought that the Zhou army would develop so rapidly. All the efforts you and I have made for several years have gone to waste.

With our army strength of only a hundred thousand and our weapons being no more than plate armor, swords, spears and arrows, how can we resist the Great Zhou army that destroyed the Great Liao in the past and has now defeated the three million-strong coalition of the Star Sect?
What should we do? Your Majesty, please decide."

Jing Qiong sighed:

"

We haven't heard from Yelu Xian and other Liao people for so many years. They must have successfully found a place to settle down far away from the Great Zhou.

If we had known that the Zhou army would pursue us relentlessly and attack Fusang, we should have followed Yelu Xian and fled to the far north!
It is better to suffer in front of Yelu Xian than to face the uncertain life and death situation of Chai Zongxun's army today!"

Xiao Hu Nian sighed:
"Who can foresee what will happen so far in the future? What's the point of talking about this now?
"Your Majesty, should we fight or surrender now? I'm afraid the Zhou army will attack in a day or two, so we must make a decision quickly."

Both of them knew that even Fusang had been attacked by the Zhou army, and the entire continent was Zhou territory. Where else could they escape to?
Even if we ignore the risks of the ocean and sail out to sea, how can we escape the Great Zhou Royal Navy with thousands of battleships?
Jing Qiong pondered for a while, then suddenly said:
"Madam, as a descendant of the Liao Dynasty, how was your relationship with Yelu and Gudian when you were in Shangjing in the past?
This prince heard that a few years ago, Chai Zongxun took Yelu Hegudian and her son Chai Jihui on a tour of the prairie, and he doted on her very much. "

Xiao Hu Nian said:

"My husband, do you want to send someone to smooth over the relationship between Yelu and Gudian, so that she can help us intercede in front of Chai Zongxun to save our lives?"

Jing Qiong nodded and said:
"That's right! I've seen that Emperor Chai Zongxun of Zhou has always acted in a way that treats enemy monarchs who surrender early with kindness.

Monarchs who first resisted and then surrendered or were captured almost never had a good end, unless they had made great contributions to Chai Zongxun.

We have been resisting Chai Zongxun for a long time, and we are afraid that even if we surrender, he will kill us!"

(End of this chapter)