Chapter 143 The first castle tower
"Look, even if the Satsuma clan is as powerful as the Satsuma clan, the people still live in water and fire..."
Chen Cao pointed at the wooden houses on both sides of the road with a riding whip. If the army had not had horses, it would be difficult to walk on such a muddy road, let alone those Satsuma soldiers wearing straw sandals.
"When our tomorrow's army arrives, aren't we just here to save them from hanging upside down?"
Wu Chun agreed with a smile. Although his armor didn't fit very well, it could be seen that the eunuch's current aura was no longer as timid as before.
The outer wall of Sakura City is less than two meters high. There are iron cannon positions, archer positions, and spear gunner positions throughout the wall. The main gate of the city is built with an arc arch and is made of heavy pine wood. There are small gates on both sides. The gate is for the entry and exit of war horses.
"The Japanese city is called a 'mountain city'. The main reason is that their city buildings are built from low to high. Please see, Lord Marquis. The building at the top is the center of power around Sakura Castle, the castle tower."
Liao Yaowen has now become Chen Cao's commentator. It's not that he doesn't like Hirata Zhaoyi, but that he needs an interpreter when talking to that guy.
Chen Cao looked up and saw that the momentum of the castle tower was indeed highlighted: "This is the first castle tower after we entered the Japanese kingdom. I will drink the first glass of celebratory wine with you up there."
All the people on both sides of the road entered the mountain city, leaving only empty houses.
"It turns out that the 'Three Lights' policy has been around since then..."
Chen Cao murmured, thinking that these Japanese habits have been slowly passed down from ancient times to the present.
"Master Marquis," Zhao Xin rushed over on horseback: "There is a trench outside the city, but there is no water and it is just loess. It rained a few days ago and there is silt in the trench. The enemy is well prepared."
"Come on, let's go see their layout."
The suspension bridge of Sakura Castle is hung high, the surrounding trench is at least two meters deep, and the stone wall is filled with Satsuma defenders of Sakura Castle.
"I just guessed that there must be their ninja warriors hidden under the trench and the earthen fortress. As long as our army attacks from the trench, we will definitely suffer heavy losses."
As soon as Chen Cao finished speaking, Sun Chuanting said: "I'm afraid the Marquis's resourcefulness is overly cautious. Who would be stupid enough to attack from the trench?"
Chen Cao laughed loudly, and Liao Yaowen laughed and said: "Master Sun, you don't know. The Japanese have no weapons to attack fortresses, so they can only charge from the front. The warriors rush down the ditch to attack the stone wall. On the contrary, most of them will not go through the main entrance, and they will not Good at using shields.”
Sun Chuanting lamented: "Hey, how can such a backward person stir up decades of chaos along our southeastern coast?"
"The city of Nanjing was so frightened by dozens of Japanese pirates coming from Songjiang that the whole city was locked up. As if they were facing a formidable enemy, they were allowed to show off and then left in a show of glory. The hundreds of thousands of garrison troops in Nanjing were actually The gun was not fired, not a single shot was fired, it is really embarrassing..."
Only Chen Cao dared to say this. After all, the garrison in Nanjing was Wei Guogong. Who dared to cause trouble to Wei Guogong?
"Master Marquis, their envoy is here."
Chen Cao looked around and saw his opponent running out of the so-called horse exit gate with a warrior carrying a flag behind his back. This man had no sword in his hand, which meant he was an envoy.
As the saying goes, don't kill the envoys when two armies are fighting. After this saying was spread to the Japanese country from the Tang Dynasty, it was followed by the Japanese people as an ancestral motto. Whenever there is a war, both sides will send people to negotiate terms. Basically, I am coming to fight you today. Do you think you can do it? What benefits can you give me to withdraw my troops, otherwise I will beat you up in groups and so on...
The person who came was quite arrogant. Liao Yaowen went out to negotiate and was about to let him go back. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xin came on horseback and commanded his men in uniform: "Get this person."
The visitor was yelling and gibbering non-stop, but Zhao Xin ignored him and escorted the person directly in front of Chen Cao.
"Master Marquis, this person said that he would not kill the envoy and said that we Ming people are not trustworthy. He is a shameless person." Liao Yaowen repeated all the words of the person who just came.
After hearing this, Sun Chuanting was furious: "You rats, you have forgotten the scriptures of your ancestors. Do you know that everything you and others have been passed down by me, China?"
Chen Cao laughed and said that the literati's behavior when facing this situation was roughly the same as that of Sun Chuanting: "You literati just verbally scolded you. You must know whether people like them remember to beat or scold. Zhao Xin... ."
"yes..."
Xin Zhao dismounted, personally escorted the people to the edge of the trench, and then asked the translator to translate "If you don't open the door, this person will be your fate" to the defenders on the stone wall.
Whoa...
Xin Zhao drew out the steel knife and chopped off the man's head with just one blow. Then he had people throw the body into the trench and the head as well.
Hirata Masugao was on the commander's platform behind the stone wall. When he heard that the man he sent was beheaded by the other party, he knew that there was no room for change in what happened today.
A cavalryman came to Chen Cao's side: "Your Majesty, the scouts in front reported that a large number of Satsuma troops were found north of Chilan City heading south. There were as many as 20,000 troops. General Lu has already led his men around them. Go over there, I believe you’ll arrive at Kagoshima Castle soon.”
"Well..." After Chen Cao responded, he looked at Sun Chuanting: "Bo Ya, the opponent's reinforcements have just arrived at Zhilan City. According to their marching speed, it will take two days at the fastest to get here. When do you think we can get here?" Can you attack it?"
Sun Chuanting looked at the stone wall in the distance with disdain: "For these local chickens and dogs, I thought it would only take half a day. If we follow the Marquis's vision of the situation, after we capture this place, we can completely surround their reinforcements."
Chen Cao turned around and ordered: "Immediately send an order for General Song to act according to the plan."
"yes..."
After the soldiers left, Chen Cao said leisurely: "Go and fire one after another. Just don't attack. Kill their people first to make them anxious. The faster we send people to ask for help, the faster we can achieve our goal."
...
The third son of Tadahashi Shimazu, the governor of the Shimazu clan of Kajiki, and a contemporary retainer of the Shimadzu family, Tadaro Shimazu is riding his horse slowly on the muddy road. He is very concerned about the rescue of Sakura Castle for the general. For disdain.
Deputy General Hatano participated in the Battle of Bunroku when he was young, which cast a shadow on the combat effectiveness of the Ming army. Although the Japanese Rebellion had nothing to do with them, after decades, they still have some doubts about the general named Li in the Ming Dynasty. fear.
"Lord Zhonglang, it is better to be careful. The people of the Ming Dynasty were quite cunning on the battlefield. Although our army seemed to have a great victory in the battle of Bitiguan, in fact our army was defeated. The Ming army used cavalry to detour. Konishi Yukinaga's retreat forced our army to negotiate peace with him. Now the Ming people dare to land on our Satsuma domain with only five thousand people, but the navy's life and death are uncertain, and there is no news about Jiugao Tailao. The Ming army in front of us is absolutely It cannot be underestimated.”
Shimazu Tadayō didn't think so. The other party actually dared to come to Satsuma Domain with a mere five thousand people to go wild. It must have bypassed Kaguyama Hisaka's fleet, otherwise the pirates from Tsushima Island would definitely send people to Edo. Ask for help.
"Don't worry too much. We are waiting for an army of 23,000. This is the first time since our Satsuma clan entered the Tokugawa shogunate. No matter how many people he comes, this battle will definitely drive all these Ming people who don't know the heights of the sky into the sea. "
"Report..." A scout came on horseback, rushed to Shimazu Tadayō's horse, quickly dismounted and knelt down on one knee: "Your Majesty, Sakura City is asking for help. The Ming army is attacking Sakura City. .”
"The shogunate has a branch in Fangjin Village. Are those people dead?" Hatano yelled.
Although Shimazu Tadayaro was a little reckless, he was not stupid. He was awakened by Hatano's words, so he asked: "When the Yuan army attacked Tsushima Island and landed on Kyushu, it was a joint effort of the whole country to fight against it. Now that the Ming army has landed, they are ignoring us. Could it be that they are deliberately watching our life or death?"
Hatano said again: "The Tokugawa family is most afraid of me, Satsuma, otherwise they wouldn't have so many people around to monitor us. This time the Ming army landed, if I make a bold guess, I even suspect that the shogunate is colluding with the Ming Dynasty. They deliberately seize the Satsuma Domain in order to profit from it, and we will most likely be abandoned."
At this moment, another scout came on horseback and knelt down to report: "Sir, the mountain people in the Long River River came to report that they saw a large number of people in strange clothes riding horses the day before, heading towards the city."
"Why didn't the visitor report it as soon as possible?" Shimazu Tadaro frowned.
"Sir, the mountain people think they are some ninja troop from some family." The scout reported back and said: "By the way, sir, the mountain people also said that the horses they are riding are different from the local horses of our Satsuma Domain. Extremely strong.”
Shimazu Tadayō's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately looked at Hatano, and then hurriedly shouted: "How many are there?"
"The mountain people said they don't know, so I'm going to find out."
After the scouts left, Shimazu Tadayō always felt that something was wrong, and then looked at Hatano Ma. The experienced Hatano Ma suddenly felt that this scene was somewhat similar, so he said: "Sir, I participated in the Battle of Bokutokan back then. General Li of the Ming Dynasty lured our army to a decisive battle from the front, but then sent troops to face our army's retreat from the side, blocking us at Biti Pavilion."
"Ah..." Hatano felt bad: "No, the Ming people must have tried again to lure us to Sakura City, and then sent people to attack the city."
Shimazu Tadayaro came back to his senses and took a breath of cold air: "There are only more than a thousand people in this city now. If the Ming army rushes to kill it, the lord will definitely not be able to defend it. Quickly..."
Shimazu Tadaro turned the horse's head and shouted loudly: "Senju Heiji, Watanabe Yu, the two of you will lead 3,000 people to support Sakura Castle. After entering the city, you must not fall in love with the battle. Just hold on and wait for help."
The two men responded in unison, and immediately rode forward to order the general.
Shimazu Tadaro then looked at Hatanoma: "Take all the cavalry and follow their footsteps from the Nagakawa River. If we meet them on the way, you are more experienced than me, so make your own decision."
Hatano nodded, and then said: "Sir, be careful..."
