The Qing Dynasty's first-class imperial envoy to Japan, Hershey Sony, was packed in a wooden box that looked like a small house and was carried all the way from Echigo Naoe Town to Edo. Now it was packed and carried into Sakura Castle in Edo Castle. Tianmen.
The wooden box used to store Sony is actually quite nice. There are many carvings on the surface and it is painted with bright paint. It looks almost like lacquerware. But it was just too small, incomparable to the eight-carry sedans of the Ming and Qing dynasties, nor to the horse-drawn carriages. I can't sit properly in it at all, I can only sit cross-legged. My legs and feet will inevitably become numb after a long time.
I really don’t understand how these Japanese people think about it? Can't we build a bigger box that's more spacious? No, is it a big sedan? It has to be so small. Sony felt that with his current status as a bachelor, even if he was going to be buried with great splendor, the coffin he would sleep in would be more spacious than this box, right?
This box is too short to sit in, so you can only sit cross-legged. It was too short to lie down, so I had to curl up. On the way from Echigo, Sony really couldn't bear to sit cross-legged, so he had to curl up, lie down in the box, and have people carry him... He was swaying along the way, and even rocked him to sleep. I walked several times, and only when I got to the resting place did I have to be woken up by the guarding warriors.
At this time, Sony felt that the Japanese box still had some merits...it could allow people to take a nap inside. The only downside was that the box looked too much like a coffin.
It's very unlucky to sleep in a coffin all the way!
Of course, Sony is not a pig, and it is impossible to sleep all the way. When he couldn't sleep, he would sit cross-legged in the coffin, no, inside the box. He would open the small windows on both sides of the box to look at the scenery outside. He would also carefully observe the Matsudaira family samurai who were guarding him, and assess their combat effectiveness. .
Matsudaira Nobutsuna, who was responsible for picking up the people, was a leader among the important ministers of the shogunate. He was both civil and military, shrewd and capable. If it had not become a legend during the Warring States Period, his ability would not stop at a net worth of tens of thousands of dan. Therefore, although the number of samurai under Nobutsuna's command is small, they all have a few punches. Among them, there are several who can be called masters of swordsmanship.
However, in the view of Sony, who is really experienced in battle formations, Matsudaira Nobutsuna's samurai guards are still far behind compared to the Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing Dynasty.
First of all, there were too few horsemen and the quality of the horses was not good. If such cavalry went to the battlefields of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they would not even be able to serve as scouts!
Moreover, those mounted warriors are considered to be quite advanced. Can they not be used by the forward battalion cavalry that night? If not, the Japanese cavalry is useless...
Secondly, their fire rifle soldiers are not as many as expected. Last time, Liu Lin brought back 2,000 blunderbuss and 10,000 kilograms of gunpowder at once, which made the senior officials of the Qing Dynasty full of expectations for Japanese firearms and how huge Japan's firearms force was. However, judging from the vassal army of the Musashi Ninja Domain led by Matsudaira Nobutsuna, their proportion of fire rifle soldiers is only about 10%. Compared with at least 30% of the infantry of the new Ming army, it was two-thirds less.
Moreover, the Japanese used less powerful bird muskets, while the infantry of the Ming Army were now heavily equipped with very powerful turtledove muskets. If the two sides shoot at each other with firecrackers, the Ming army will definitely win!
The only thing that caught Sony's attention was the spearmen under Matsudaira Nobutsuna... The spears were long enough and very well made. The spear tip was very long and was carefully protected with a cloth sheath. From their attitude towards the spears and the momentum they exuded when they lined up, Sony knew that these spearmen were still a bit difficult to deal with.
If these pikemen can form a fighting formation, and then use firecrackers and archers to cover the left and right, even the Eight Banners soldiers will have a hard time defeating them...Sony estimates that the Japanese pikemen may be better than Qin Liangyu's The white-pole soldiers are even more powerful!
However, it is not difficult for the Ming army with field artillery to destroy their gun array. No matter how powerful the gun array is, it cannot stop the bombardment of the artillery!
In particular, the Japanese are unlikely to have the same artillery as the Ming army - cannons are so expensive, and truly durable cannons must be cast from high-quality bronze!
Once the gun formation was destroyed, the Ming army's cavalry seized the opportunity to attack...these Japanese soldiers simply could not resist it!
When Sony got out of the "box" and walked towards Chidori under the guidance of Matsudaira Nobuhiro and Lin Luoshan, what he was thinking about was no longer using Japan's power to severely attack the Ming army. But I want to remind my Japanese friends not to let "Li Datou"'s Ming Dynasty coalition forces beat them up when they arrive in North Korea, and then completely give up on trying to get involved in North Korea...
...
"Soni-san, have you ever seen our Japanese samurai army when you came all the way from Echigo? How do they compare to your Qing Eight Banners soldiers and Ming army?"
In the Chidori Room, four envoys including Sony, Nikon, Sharp, and Li Jianon finally met the unattractive third-generation general of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Iemitsu.
After Sony put the credentials of the Qing Dynasty in his hands and handed them to Tokugawa Iemitsu. This Japanese man of the world directly inquired about the strength of the Eight Banners Soldiers of the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty army.
The general's words were translated into Chinese by Lin Luoshan. At the same time, the eyes of Tadakatsu Sakai, Nobutsuna Matsudaira, Tadaki Abe, Masamori Hotta and others who accompanied the general to receive Sony were all attracted to Sony.
"As seen by foreign ministers, your army is still inferior to the Ming army and the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty. The place where your army is inferior to the Ming army and the Eight Banners is in the cavalry."
Sony said eloquently: "If the battle is fought in a place with mountains and rivers, the weakness of your army's cavalry may not become a fatal weakness. But once the battlefield is moved to the open land on the west coast of North Korea, there will be no usable cavalry. of.
In addition, the Ming army today is very different from the Ming army that aided the DPRK during the Wanli period. At that time, the Ming army only had cavalry capable of fighting, while the infantry was weak and could not fight hard. And today's Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty is a generation of heroes, comparable to Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty in the past! The army he trained was based on the coordinated cooperation of artillery, infantry and cavalry, and his infantry formed a square formation with firecrackers and spears. Every time they go into battle, they must first use cavalry to contain their advance and retreat. Then use artillery to bombard the enemy formation, wait until it is scattered, and then add infantry phalanx. In an infantry battle, fire cannons first and then attack with spears. If the spear attack is still unsuccessful, use artillery bombardment again... Repeat this for several rounds, and you will be able to destroy the strong enemy.
This kind of fighting method will certainly not lead to victory when faced with the powerful Eight Banners army, which is mainly based on cavalry and does not need to form strong formations, but is good at mobility. However, against your country's troops and horses, I am afraid it can be invincible! "
"Nah?" Tokugawa Iemitsu frowned. He had always thought that his samurai army was extremely fierce, but now he was said to be worthless by this Tatar?
This Tatar... looks sincere and doesn't look like he's talking nonsense!
"Since your envoy feels that our Japanese army is no match for the Ming army, why are you still coming to Edo?" Tokugawa Iemitsu asked.
Sony sighed: "The Ming Dynasty has always been wild. It wanted to annex Mongolia and the Jurchens, subdue North Korea and Japan, and make them the masters of the world. However, the country did not have a clear master for more than two hundred years, and it had no strength but could not develop. Now A hero was born in the Ming Dynasty, Mongolia was destroyed, and Korea descended. The world was vast, and only the Qing Dynasty and Japan were left who refused to submit to their tyrannical rule! The queen mother and regents of our court heard that Japan in the east of the sea has a strong military and many British masters. , and refused to accept the Ming Dynasty. That’s why we sent envoys to cooperate with Japan and wanted to unite with Japan to resist the Ming Dynasty... I didn’t expect that your country’s military strength was no match for the Ming army.”
As he spoke, Sony sighed.
"Then what are you going to do now?" General Iemitsu asked, "Are you still going to fight?"
Lin Luoshan translated his words into Chinese.
Sony raised his head with bright eyes: "Of course! I, the Qing Dynasty, are strong-willed and would rather be shattered than destroyed... I, the Qing Dynasty, will fight to the end and will never surrender to the Ming Dynasty!"
General Tokugawa asked again: "Then what do you think Japan should do?"
Sony said: "Chongzhen's ambition is obvious and known to the whole world. The only one he fears is Manchuria! If our country is unfortunately defeated, it will definitely attack Japan across the sea. For the purpose of Japan, foreign ministers should put on their armor as soon as possible and bow their heads to surrender. Protect the leader’s wife and children.”
