Chapter 2353: The powerful Yamata no Orochi
It was April 1st, the second year of Shenwu.
Only half a month had passed since they sent troops to Japan. The allied forces of Qin, Wei, Song, and Wu had won four great victories: the Great Victory at Tsushima, the Great Victory at Bungo, the Great Victory at Higo, and the Great Victory at Satsuma.
After four great victories, although Otomo, Mori, and Shimadzu still control most of Kyushu, their main forces have been completely lost.
Although the three families can recruit new soldiers, it is obvious that they cannot compete with the fierce Central Plains army just by relying on new soldiers.
In addition, the daimyo of the three families, except Motoharu Mouri who was captured, the other two daimyo also died one after another.
As soon as the Higo War ended, Zhou Yu personally led his army to Yanagawa Castle, the capital of the Otomo family, and destroyed the city in one day. Otomo Seihide set himself on fire after the city was broken.
Therefore, now Otomo, Mori, and Shimadzu have no daimyo, and they are once again in a leaderless situation.
Normally, the three families would still be able to choose a daimyo, but now that the Central Plains Allied Forces are pressing down on the border, the city owners of each city are too busy to take care of themselves, so how can they choose a new daimyo.
Without a daimyo to coordinate the four directions, the city lords of each city can only fight on their own. With their power dispersed, they will naturally become weaker and weaker, and they will be unable to resist the Central Plains Allied Forces.
For the Central Plains Allied Forces, the war has progressed to this point, and the next step must be a direct push, so the spoils can already be divided.
Long before attacking Kyushu, Zhou Yu, Xia Houyuan, Sun Ce, and Zhao Guangyi had already discussed how to carve up Kyushu Island.
There are nine lands in Kyushu Island, namely: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Bunzen, Bungo, Hizen, Higo, Hyuga, Satsuma, and Ohsumi.
After some deliberation, it was decided that the three countries with the largest plain area and the largest population, Hizen, Chikugo, and Higo, would be owned by Da Qin, which had the largest military force, the greatest contribution, and also the greatest credit.
In addition, Chiqian and Fengqian were returned to Wei.
Bungo and Hyuga returned to the Song Dynasty.
Satsuma and Osumi were returned to Wu.
The three kingdoms of Qin, Wei, Song and Wu were both fair and just.
Now that the main forces of the three families have been lost, Kyushu no longer has an army to fight. Therefore, the coalition forces of the four countries no longer need to gather in one place. They can completely disperse and send out troops to attack each one. Each of them can attack the territory they have determined in advance. This can also avoid Uneven distribution of spoils.
In the second year of Shenwu, April 2nd.
The allied forces of Qin, Wei, Song and Wu divided their forces again into four groups and began to capture all parts of Kyushu.
The Qin army had already captured the entire Hizen Kingdom, but Chikugo and Higo had only captured a few cities. Twenty or thirty cities such as Nashimoto, Mifune, and Takamori had not yet been captured.
Therefore, the next main task of the Qin army is to capture all these cities and completely destroy the Dayou family.
This time Zhou Yu did not lead the army in person, but ordered nine generals, Zhao Yun, Lu Bu, Huang Zhong, Xu Huang, Gao Shun, Yu Jin, Zhang He, Wang Jian, and Chen Tang, each to lead an army of 5,000, and divide the troops into nine groups to attack as quickly as possible. Sweeping the two countries of Chikugo and Higo.
This time the Qin army did not go on a killing spree, but allowed the Japanese armies from various places to surrender.
The resources consumed by the Japanese conquests are not small. If they are all supplied by the local government, it will also be a big burden for the countries in the process of cultivation.
Therefore, for the four-nation coalition to conquer Japan, fighting to support war is the best way.
Zhou Yu's mass slaughter in the early stage was not only to shock the Japanese and make them feel awe, but also to collect food, wealth, and resources.
Zhou Yu needed the manpower and material resources of Kyushu to support the 50,000-strong army that conquered Japan. Naturally, it was impossible to kill everyone in Kyushu.
Of course, if the Japanese army resisted stubbornly, it would mean that the Qin army's deterrence was still not enough, so they would still massacre the city after breaking it.
Most of the Japanese cities were short and small. Even outside the capitals of the major forces, they could only be compared with the county towns in the Central Plains, so they could not stop the Qin army's offensive.
The Japanese troops in the cities of Chikugo and Higo naturally knew this, so after learning that the Qin army had agreed to surrender, most of the defenders did not resist and decisively chose to surrender in Kaesong.
Wang Jian's troops defeated three cities in one day, two of which surrendered voluntarily.
Wang Jian was not the leader. Zhao Yun's troops defeated four cities in one day, and all four cities took the initiative to surrender.
However, there are those who are willing to surrender, and naturally there are those who are stubbornly resisting.
The lord of Amu City, one of the three elders of Bungo, Yoshioka Nagazo, was unwilling to surrender at Kaicheng. As a result, the city he was guarding was breached by Lu Bu within half an hour.
After the city was broken, the entire Yoshioka clan was exterminated, and only 8,000 of the 20,000 people in Ganmu City were massacred.
Although the Qin army will massacre the city this time, it is different from before. It does not slaughter them all indiscriminately, but only kills men who are taller than a wheel, leaving women and children alone.
In troubled times, women mean population, and population means productivity, so don’t kill women if you can.
As for those children who are not as tall as a wheel, their minds are not yet fully developed and cannot remember hatred. They will naturally be used by Da Qin when they grow up, so these two types of people will not be included in the scope of massacre in the future.
In addition to Ganmu City, Gaolai City and Xiongchuan City were also unwilling to surrender, and were slaughtered by Xu Huang and Zhang He respectively.
After the news came out that the three cities that refused to surrender were massacred, the city lords of each city no longer dared to resist, so they opened their cities one after another and took the initiative to surrender to the Qin army.
Starting from the dispatch of troops in nine routes, it took only five days for the Qin army to completely occupy the two countries of Chikugo and Higo, and surrendered nearly 15,000 Japanese troops.
Of course, most of these 15,000 Japanese soldiers were new recruits, and their combat effectiveness was completely different from that of the Japanese soldiers captured before.
As for the Wei, Song and Wu kingdoms, the situation was similar to that of the Qin army. After the army marched out, they basically encountered little resistance. However, those who resisted and broke the city were massacred, so not many people dared to resist.
"Commander, the sixteen cities of Chikhou Kingdom and the eighteen cities of Higo Kingdom have been captured, and 15,800 Japanese soldiers have been surrendered.
According to statistics, there are more than 89,600 households in the three countries, with a total population of 380,000. "Guo Jia reported with a smile.
"There are so many people?"
Zhou Yu showed a look of surprise. The massacre caused by the coalition forces was not small. At least two to three hundred thousand people were killed including the army, but he did not expect that there were still nearly 400,000 people.
"In addition, our army seized a total of 760,000 shi of grain and grass, 60 million taels of copper coins, 220,000 taels of silver, 68,080 taels of gold, and about 40,000 taels of gold including jewelry and antiques..."
"So many were seized."
Zhou Yu showed surprise again. He didn't expect that a mere Dayou family could have such a rich harvest.
Then if he destroyed the Oda family, the overlord of Japan, wouldn't the confiscation be able to account for 20 to 30% of Da Qin's total tax revenue for the whole year?
Guo Jiaze explained with a smile: "Although Dayou's family is not the overlord of Kyushu, it is the richest family in Kyushu because it occupies the largest plain.
In addition, the Japanese princes exploited the people too much. The common people were no different from slaves, and their income was basically returned to the state. Therefore, the Japanese people were generally poor and the country was rich.
In addition, there is a medium-sized gold mine in Hizen Province, and a medium-sized silver mine in Chikugo Province that is almost completed.
It is precisely because of this that the Dayou family has been able to accumulate so much money, food and wealth, but now these all belong to me, Da Qin. "
"One Otomo family has two gold and silver mines, so wouldn't there be more Oda families in Honshu?"
Zhou Yu showed a look of astonishment and said with a smile: "No wonder His Majesty will cross the sea to attack the Japanese country. Once the Japanese country is completely conquered, my country, Daqin, may not be short of development funds."
"That's right."
Guo Jia nodded slightly and said with a smile: "The Japanese country suffered this calamity because, firstly, it offended our country, the Qin Dynasty, and secondly, it was because of its possession of the jade."
There are indeed many gold and silver mines in Japan. The No. 1 Gold Mountain, Echigo Sado Gold Mountain, had the largest output in the world at its peak and was the backbone of the shogunate's finances for 300 years.
As for the First Silver Mountain, the Iwami Silver Mine was the largest silver mine in Japan and even the world for more than 400 years from 1562 to the Edo period. At that time, one-third of the world's silver was produced in Japan. Therefore, it was called "Silver Islands" by the people of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ouchi, Niko, and Mori families fought for the dominance of Iwami Ginzan, and many wars broke out, which lasted for more than ten years, and finally ended in the victory of the Maori family.
In addition, the gold mineral reserves in the Kai region accounted for about one-third of the country's gold production at its peak.
During the period when the Takeda clan had its largest territory, the number of large and small gold mountains within its territory reached as many as 28.
It can be seen from this that Japan's rich gold and silver minerals are a huge wealth for any country.
After listening to Guo Jia's introduction, Zhou Yu realized that the gold and silver mine output on Kyushu Island was not even a fraction of that of Honshu, and he was even more eager to attack Honshu and seize these gold and silver mountains.
"If you want to attack Honshu Island, you have to wait at least until the three kingdoms of Wei, Song and Wu conquer their respective territories, but you shouldn't have to wait too long." Zhou Yu said with a chuckle.
Although the progress of the Wei, Song and Wu Three Kingdoms was slower than that of Qin, it was not too slow. After all, there was no opponent at all, so how difficult could it be?
"Report...report to the Grand Governor, there is urgent news from the Song and Wu coalition forces."
"Um?"
Zhou Yu frowned slightly. Now that the overall situation in Kyushu has been decided, the armies of Song and Wu have no rivals in Southern Kyushu. Why did they issue an emergency summons?
"Send it over quickly."
"promise."
Zhou Yu opened Sun Ce's letter and scanned it at a glance. However, his expression changed drastically when he saw that Sun Ce had been defeated.
What happened was like this. After Sun Ce occupied the Satsuma Kingdom, he immediately went to conquer the Ohsumi Kingdom. However, when he attacked Tarishui City and massacred the city, he discovered that there was a hidden master in the city.
This man actually defeated the three generals Han Qinhu, Zhou Tai, and Ling Tong by his own strength.
Sun Ce was overjoyed to see this man's martial arts skills and fought with him with all his strength. He thought about defeating him and then taking him under his command, but he didn't expect that he was overconfident and was defeated by the opponent.
If Li Hu and other generals hadn't joined forces to rescue him, Sun Ce would have even died at the hands of that man.
Sun Ce failed to subdue his men and was severely wounded, even losing several generals. Naturally, it was impossible to let the mysterious man go, so he chased him all the way into the Hyuga Kingdom, and joined forces with the Song Army to continue the pursuit, and finally ended up at Satohara Castle. Surround it.
Zhao Guangyi saw that he was so brave and could actually injure Xiaobawang on the side of the village. He also wanted to conquer him, so he ordered not to shoot cold arrows, but he didn't want to be killed by that man. Several Song generals were killed in succession, and even Gao Huaide and other fierce generals were killed. He was wounded and forced his way out.
Both the Song and Wu armies suffered heavy losses at the hands of this man and lost many generals, so they would not let him go. They gathered the strong men and formed a pursuit team, followed him all the way, and vowed to kill him. Kill and avenge the death of the general.
Now that this person has fled to Feihou Kingdom, and Feihou Kingdom is the backbone of the Qin army, so Sun Ce and Zhao Guangyi want Zhou Yu to cooperate in hunting down this person.
"I really didn't expect that Bo Fu would be defeated by a Japanese. It seems that the Japanese country also has strong men."
With that said, Zhou Yu took out the portrait from the envelope. The picture on it was that of the mysterious man, a middle-aged man who looked extremely vicious.
"Send the order and immediately block all the major arteries of Higo Kingdom, and fully cooperate with the friendly forces of Song and Wu to arrest this person.
In addition, show this portrait to Tachibana Michyuki, Otomo Sorin, and Mori Motoharu, and ask them whether they recognize this person. "
"promise."
Zhou Yu's Japanese traitor plan was implemented very smoothly.
Under Guo Jia's lobbying, Tachibana Michyuki and Mouri Motoharu, in order to prevent their families from being exterminated, chose to join the Qin Dynasty after some reflection.
After seeing the portrait, Otomo Sorin and Mori Motoharu both said they did not recognize the person in the portrait. Only Tachibana Michyuki recognized the person.
"Yamata Torochi, nicknamed: Yamata no Orochi, once killed eighty-six generals of the Oda family in the First Honshu War. No one in the entire Oda family was his opponent.
Oda Nobunaga mobilized an army of 100,000 to encircle Yamata no Orochi, but he broke out on his own, and even almost fought Oda Nobunaga. He is also the strongest enemy that has emerged in the Oda family," said Tachibana Michyuki .
"If this person is really that strong, how did Oda Nobunaga defeat him?" Zhou Yu asked.
Tachibana Michizuki shook his head and said: "Oda Nobunaga did not defeat Yamata no Orochi, he was defeated by Susano'o. Everyone thought he died in Susano'o's hands, but unexpectedly he was hidden in Take refuge in Southern Kyushu.”
"Who is Susano'o?"
Zhou Yu asked with a frown, vaguely having a bad feeling in his heart. These two people might cause a lot of trouble to the coalition forces.
"Susano-o is..."
Before Tachibana Michyuki had finished speaking, a soldier suddenly broke in.
"Grand Governor, something bad has happened. Generals Xue Dingshan and Yue Yun have been injured by the wanted criminal.
Five generals, Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Lin Chong, Qin Ming, and Hu Yanzhuo, joined forces, but still failed to kill him. After eighty battles, he escaped. "
"What? Yue Yun was injured? Lu Junyi and five others can't take him down even if they join forces?"
Zhou Yu was completely shocked.
Yue Yun's strength is not weak. If even he loses to Yamata no Orochi, then Mi Houwang, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and Huang Zhong are probably no match. If they fight alone, only Lu Bu and Zhao Yun can win.
(End of chapter)
