New Shun 1730

Mori Munehiro's army marched in full accordance with the route inferred by the Dashun General Staff. With the warriors' desire to go home to defend, they quickly completed the section of the road that needed to be run fast.

The vanguard, Yamagata Masada, led 1,500 people in front, and the main force was behind. This place was not a large plain, and it was impossible for scouts to maintain fan-shaped alert. They could only ask and judge whether the Dashun army passed by by being familiar with the local terrain and villages.

There were also samurai or ninjas who obtained intelligence from the castle town and passed the news to Mori Munehiro by crossing the mountains and taking small roads.

The Dashun army's scouts were not spread that far. There were only a few valley roads in the mountainous terrain, and they only needed to guard a few valley roads.

About thirty miles south of the Abu River, a small-scale encounter broke out between the Dashun scout team and Yamagata Masada's outpost scouts.

The scouts ambushed on the hillside found the Japanese scouts and killed all the Japanese scouts' horses with muskets. Then the scouts behind them rushed forward and caught a Japanese who didn't have time to escape into the forest.

This standard 12-man scout team was also skilled and brave. They sent one person to send the captured Japanese back, and the remaining 11 people rode down the road.

The reconnaissance staff led the team and saw the outpost troops of the Japanese vanguard less than eight miles away. More than 20 Japanese cavalrymen should have heard the gunshots of the vanguard and were searching here.

The scouts of Dashun got off their horses and fired at the outpost cavalry of the Japanese with muskets for a while, repelling the outpost cavalry of the Japanese who lacked muskets and left.

Yamagata Masada was very excited when he got the news.

He believed that the military tactics were real and fake, and the scouts of the Tang Dynasty actually exposed themselves. Obviously, the Tang Dynasty had no ambush here.

Since the Tang people had sent out scouts and there were no ambushes, it was obvious that the Tang people had not yet captured Hagi Castle. Perhaps the main force of the Tang people was gathering to attack Hagi Castle. If they were slow at this time, they might notice it and send troops to defend the mountain pass.

The battlefield was like a fire, and he immediately ordered that the vanguard should not march at full speed, and the cavalry should be in front, not to stop, and to seize the hill on the south side of the Abu River.

He believed that if he was slow, the Dashun would know the news of the main force returning for reinforcements, and would definitely increase troops to garrison the hill.

That was the only way to block the return of reinforcements.

If it was too late, even if the main force arrived, it would not be able to deploy, and it would fall into the most suitable high-altitude defense battle for Dashun. With a few hundred people defending, the main force could attack Hagi Castle fiercely, and it might even fall.

The news from Xiaobin made them sure that it was unwise to attack the high ground defended by the Dashun army.

The first battle of the Battle of Hagi Castle broke out on the hilltop that Wu Fangrui determined to seize.

If the city was besieged to stop reinforcements, this hilltop was crucial to buy time for the siege.

Since the city was besieged to fight reinforcements, the only purpose of the garrison on this hilltop was to dispel Mori Munehiro's vigilance: it would be unreasonable if there were no garrisons here.

The scattered soldiers of a company stationed on the hill were not equipped with cannons. Their task was to resist for a while and then run away. They could not fight too hard, but they could not run away without fighting.

The grasp of the degree was crucial, and an experienced staff officer personally went up the mountain to command.

Yamagata Masada also knew that this mountain was very important. If the mountain could not be taken, the road to Hagi Castle would be blocked, and no matter how many troops were sent later, they could not be deployed.

He used 500 samurai to attack, and he personally led the remaining 300 samurai to climb quietly along the bank of the Abu River.

The sound of cannons came from a distance, which boosted the spirits of the samurai. Since there were still cannons, it proved that Hagi Castle had not been breached.

Yamagata Masada also quickly passed back the news of the battle. After Mori Munehiro received the news, his previous dissatisfaction with Yamagata Masada's unauthorized advance immediately turned into great joy.

"Hagi Castle has not been breached yet! Since the Tang people have stationed an army there, they must hope to block it here, making it difficult for our army to deploy. Yamagata Masada is a real general. If the siege of Hagi Castle is lifted, he will be the first to achieve the credit!"

"Order all units to speed up. Tell Yamagata Masada to take that mountain!"

The samurai who had been marching slowly since approaching Hagi Castle accelerated their speed, and gunshots could be heard in front.

Under Hagi Castle, the performance of the Dashun Army also began.

The engineers had built four pontoon bridges between the plain and the castle town of Hagi Castle, taking advantage of the winter dry season.

More than 3,000 main forces crossed the river and lined up in the castle town, making a posture of general attack on Hagi Castle. 1,000 troops lined up under Otoyama to guard the pontoon bridge line. The remaining troops were stationed on the Otoyama Hill.

The warships were divided into two and began the most intense bombardment since the siege began, making a gesture that the troops were finally assembled and began to attack Hagi Castle.

However, the thunder was loud but the rain was small. Although the bombardment was fierce, the infantry did not attack, but slowly formed a formation.

On the hill where the battle had already broken out, the scattered soldiers used muskets with a long range to kill the Japanese who climbed the hill to attack one by one.

It was not until they found that the Japanese were circling from the side that they "panicked" and retreated from the hill to the back.

Yamagata Masada, who climbed the hill, immediately sent samurai to the mountain to guard this place, so that the subsequent main force could pass and deploy.

At the moment he climbed to the top of the mountain, the deployment of the Dashun Army in his eyes was like this:

The main force of the Dashun Army, which was preparing to attack Hagi Castle in the castle town, found the enemy army behind them, and left a small number of troops and a part of cavalry to monitor and threaten Hagi Castle.

The rest of the main force crossed the pontoon bridge and went to the plain to form an array. A large number of troops are stationed on Hagi Castle Mountain. As long as it cannot be captured there, the siege of Hagi Castle will not be lifted - because the Dashun army can cross the river to attack Hagi Castle from Hagi Castle Mountain Gate near the sea, and Hagi Castle Mountain It's perfect cover.

Shanxian Changzhen considered himself very lucky. Although he lost more than 150 warriors, he finally captured the hill.

He had a clear understanding of the Dashun Army's ability to defend mountains and cities, and he still had lingering fears.

When all the soldiers who were about to come forward gathered on the mountain, they must hold on to this crucial hill before the main force of Mori Munuhiro arrived.

However, Dashun Army's response was somewhat slow.

They did not immediately organize an infantry counterattack, but gathered a large number of artillery on the plains under the mountains, and the troops who originally attacked the city began to slowly withdraw.

"The people of the Tang Dynasty relied solely on the power of firearms. Without cannons, they would not be able to fight."

After making this judgment, Shanxian Changzhen ordered the ministries not to attack, to defend the hills, and to control the roads from the hills to the rear.

After Mouri Munehiro came running, Yamagata Masada breathed a sigh of relief, pointed at Hagi Castle in the distance that had not yet fallen, and said: "This siege can be solved!"

Maori Zongguang also climbed the hill, looked at the formation of the Dashun army, put his palms in his hands and laughed and said: "The people of the Tang Dynasty are stupid, they don't know how to fight. They just rely on the strength of their ships and the power of their artillery."

"Although his defense is strong, my army is deployed here and we may not attack. We are just threatening his flanks. How can he dare to attack Hagi again?"

"If we don't attack and confront each other, how can it last? Doesn't he have no choice but to retreat?"

"If the siege of Hagi City is successful, it will all depend on the power of the Yama County Lord. If the Tang people were afraid of the ambush and cowered forward before, and the Tang people noticed it and defended the mountain and sent more troops, things might not go well."

Although he praised Yamagata Shosada who decisively captured this hill, Mori Munehiro also knew that this was only the first step in relieving the siege.

Previously, Shanxian Changzhen attacked this hill where only a hundred people were garrisoned. Not a single Dashun army was killed, but more than 150 people died himself.

Dashun's muskets can hit very far and very accurately, far beyond what the iron cannons in their hands can match.

It is unrealistic to want to defeat the Dashun Army. After all, the Dashun army is the defender, and they are the attacker. Dashun is still standing on the opposite hill. This kind of attack will cause heavy casualties.

All he could do was to spread out his troops under this plain and pose a threat to the flanks of the Dashun Army, forcing the Dashun Army to give up attacking Hagi Castle.

Or, Dashunjun takes the initiative to attack and he is on the defensive, so that he can have an advantage.

Or, if the Dashun Army gives up the attack and the two sides confront each other, the Dashun Army cannot attack the city and has no choice but to retreat.

At this time, the forces of both sides have arrived. Regardless of whether Dashun is attacking or confronting, the forces of both sides will not change much.

Excluding the part of the navy that had already started to intercept the defeated troops, Dashun could assemble 6,500 troops on the Hagi plain battlefield.

Among them, there are about 1,200 artillery engineers and engineers. Engineers will basically not participate in frontline battles.

The navy's combat engineers are a very elite branch. Unless there is a last resort, these combat engineers are generally used as a reserve force.

They are rarely placed on the front line of resistance. These organic combat engineers are the most elite troops in the navy. They can dig, bomb, repair, defend, and of course can bayonet assault.

At this time, each country has its own elite team, and the most distinctive feature of Dashun Navy is this group of combat engineers and those mast shooters.

This time, because sea transportation was very convenient, a large number of cannons were also gathered. Most of the best and latest 6-pound guns from the navy and army, which replaced the 4-pound guns and 8-pound guns, were concentrated here.

The artillery includes the cannons attached to the regiment and battalion, with a total of 75 6-pound howitzers and cannons, 18 expensive new 12-pound copper cannons, and 6 24-pound heavy cannons.

There are 700 cavalry, of which 500 are lancers and the remaining 200 are light cavalry.

Four companies of grenadiers, four companies of rifle skirmishers, and the rest are line infantry with muskets, all equipped with bayonets.

Munehiro Mori's side.

There are about 1,500 Chorutori in the field force of 8,000 people. These people are logistics soldiers, but they can also be beaten with bamboo guns when necessary.

There are six cannons, the style of which are still the French guns and naval guns that the Portuguese presented to Otomo Sorin more than a hundred years ago. Otomo Sorin called it "the collapse of the country" - one country, one city, the city of the old era, under the influence of the cannons It was impossible to defend under bombardment, which means "a country will collapse with one cannon", so it is called national collapse.

According to the strict military service system, there are 2,000 iron gunners among the remaining warriors, who still use Portuguese matchlock guns introduced during the Jiajing period of the former Ming Dynasty.

There are also 1,200 archers, 2,500 bamboo spearmen, and 1,200 cavalry, including 300 elite bannermen or attendants.

The armaments were no different from those during the War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea in the Wanli Year, and had even regressed. During the Yuanhe Yanwu War, the shogunate confiscated the excess matchlocks of each domain. Since matchlocks were relatively expensive, they were not needed to suppress peasants, so the equipment rate of matchlocks was not high.

Munehiro Mouri gradually deployed his subsequent troops and deployed an offensive and defensive formation on the plain.

2,000 arquebusiers were in the front, and spearmen were in the back. Cavalry was deployed on the flanks. There was no cavalry deployed on the side close to the Abu River, but the straw sandals and a small number of arquebusiers were deployed there.

The "national collapse" of 4 Portuguese guns and 2 naval guns was placed in front of the battle.

The purpose of putting up such a versatile formation that can attack and defend is to force Dashun to make a choice.

Either attack.

Or retreat.

In the eyes of Mori Munehiro, Dashun had no other choice.

It was impossible to rely on a few people to defend here and the main force to attack Hagi Castle, because once there were few people, it was likely that the flank would collapse, resulting in the Dashun army attacking Hagi Castle being outflanked, and under the pincer attack from front and back, it would inevitably be defeated.

And the Dashun army, as Mori Munehiro thought, did not choose a few to defend and the main force to attack Hagi Castle.

Of course, there was no retreat.

Instead, they left 200 light cavalry and 500 musketeers, deployed in the castle town north of the Abukawa River, threatening to intercept the samurai who might come out to counterattack from Hagi Castle.

The rest of the people were all mobilized on the plains, apparently intending to take the initiative to attack, repel Mori Munehiro's main force, and then choose to attack the city.