Dozens of small sampans broke through the wind and waves in the bay and crashed into the beach of Qingniwa Bay with a loud bang.
The sampan was still swaying, and the Japanese samurai who were fully loaded on it had already jumped off. The leader was a handsome young warrior in his early twenties. He was very short and wore a gaudy Southern Barbarian garb. He did not close his helmet, but tied a white cloth strip around his head and held up his saber. , like crazy. Following him from the boat was a group of gun soldiers, all of whom looked nervous.
"I, Masuda Shiro Tokisada, have finally set foot on the land of the Ming Dynasty!"
This samurai turned out to be Masuda Shiro Tokisada, who was the leader of the Shimahara Amakusa Uprising in his previous life, and was known as Shiro Amakusa!
His father, Masuda Yoshiji, was originally a retainer of Konishi Gyōchō, one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's five ministers. He followed Konishi Gyōji in the Korean War and became a ronin after the Sekigahara Battle. Later, because of his Catholic faith, he moved to the territory of Karatsu Domain, which was relatively friendly to Catholicism, and settled on Amakusa Island in Shimabara County. Shiro Tokisada was born on Amakusa Island.
After the Tokugawa shogunate promulgated the ban on Christianity, many Catholic ronin families, including the Masuda family, who took refuge in the Karatsu domain, fell into both financial and spiritual torture, and their opposition to the shogunate became increasingly fierce. Therefore, Shiro Tokisada has been instilled with the idea of hating the shogunate and longing for troubled times since he was a child... However, the Tokugawa Shogunate's "Ronin Summoning Order" came earlier than the troubled times!
However, the hatred for the shogunate and the love for God could not overcome the desire for the identity and salary of a warrior - to become a warrior who rides on the heads of peasant uncles and dominates!
For Masuda Shiro Tokisada, who was born at the bottom, but beats the heart of a samurai unwilling to be mediocre, becoming a samurai is the most important thing! Which family's samurai you become is secondary...
After becoming a member of the Tokugawa Shogunate's Korean Expeditionary Force, Masuda Shiro Tokisada relied on his handsome appearance to be spotted by Tokugawa Iemitsu. He was quickly promoted and first became a member of a small family. , and later became a direct counselor of the shogunate with 50 Shi family salary. This time, he even volunteered to serve as the vanguard of "entering the Tang Dynasty" for Duke Iaguang!
The Japanese soldier Shiro Tokisada, who finally stood firm on the land of the Ming Dynasty, was already filled with tears - conquering the Ming Dynasty was a long-cherished wish that his old lord Toyotomi Hideyoshi could not realize!
Shiro Tokisada thought to himself: Will this long-cherished wish now be realized by his benefactor Iemitsu?
Thinking of this, he looked back and saw dozens of Japanese sail warships lined up in a majestic row on the undulating sea. Large groups of Japanese samurai were climbing down the rope nets, getting on various boats and boats, and then trying their best to rush to the beach.
But on the sea, there was no sign of the Ming Dynasty’s Beiyang Navy!
He turned around and looked deeper into the land. There was also no one and no fortifications... It was a completely undefended coast!
Obviously, the surprise attack has been successful!
...
Lushunkou, Lushun Fortress Bastion.
Mao Wenlong had already put on his python robe, and with the support of his adopted grandson Mao Keai, he sat down in the courtroom of the General Military Yamen where he had served for more than ten years. The old man's face was livid, his eyes were blazing, and he looked at a group of old men who were younger than him on the left and right.
Yes, they are all old men!
In this lobby, the youngest one is Mao Keai, who is almost forty years old. The others are all over fifty years old, and some of them are white-haired like Mao Wenlong.
Some of these white-headed men are Mao Wenlong's nephews. For example, his adopted son Mao Chenglu is already over fifty.
Some of them are simply Mao Wenlong's contemporaries, such as his cheap father-in-law Shen Shikui, Chen Jisheng, the old brother who founded Dongjiang Town with Mao Wenlong, Liu Xingzuo, Mr. Liu, and his two brothers Liu Xingren who were lured back from the Hou Jin camp by Yuan Keli. , Liu Xingzhi, and a veteran Huang Long who has similar qualifications to Mao Wenlong.
The reason why so many old men who had retired from the army appeared in the lobby of the Pingliao General Military Office was, firstly, because Mao Wenlong's prestige was high enough to call these old men from their respective villages; secondly, It's because Zhu Youjian gave them all titles and estates.
These people were local snakes in southern Liaoning, so Zhu Youjian did not seal them out, but simply sealed Xunzhuang for them within the jurisdiction of the Pingliao Army.
Therefore, after they became officials, some of them lived in Xunzhuang in Jinzhou and Fuzhou, and some lived in mansions in Lushunkou.
In addition to them, there are many older middle-level officers who are not worthy of being knighted. After retiring from the army, they also bought farmsteads on the territory of Jin and Fuzhou. Most of the descendants of these people found jobs in the Pingliao army.
Half of the current Pingliao army belongs to the Zhu family emperor, and the other half belongs to this group of military aristocrats!
Military aristocrat! After a long period of peace, they will become rotten, and if they fight every day, they will become more fierce. And as long as there is enough money at the top to make them profitable, they can send out troops one after another - how can there be only one soldier in the family of a military aristocrat? strong? Who doesn’t have an elder above, a junior below, and brothers in the middle? Moreover, the military nobles who settled on the frontiers all prepared their own horses, armor, and weapons, and were ready to go to the battlefield at any time.
Mao Wenlong's eyes swept around the lobby, and when he saw that everyone was still strong, he smiled and said: "You must have heard about it, right? There are Japanese pirates coming from the sea... there are tens of thousands of them! And long live Ye Ze, the military commander in Gaizhou, has achieved a rare and great achievement this time!
How about it? Can you still ride a horse? Can you still follow me and cut off your head to earn credit? Are there any nephews or servants in the family who can fight? "
"Yes! Why not...ahem..."
"Isn't he just a Japanese pirate? Can he be more powerful than a slave bandit?"
"Hey, I didn't expect that I would be so old that I can't walk anymore, and I would still have merit delivered to my door!"
The old men are all cruel! They are ruthless people who have grown old. They are old and ruthless, so they are not afraid of any Japanese pirates!
Mao Wenlong nodded and said with a smile: "Go... let me pull people. All the nephews, servants, former disciples and old officials in the family, anyone who can ride a horse and make firecrackers, let me pull them." ! This is the last chance for us men to earn credit in our lives!"
"Got the order!"
The old men below all received Mao Wenlong's order with a smile, turned around and left to gather the troops!
Mao Wenlong turned to his adopted son, now the deputy general of the Pingliao Army, Mao Chenglu, and said: "Mao Da, please order the signing of military household soldiers... Sign as many as you have!"
Within the jurisdiction of the Pingliao Army, there were not only military nobles but also ordinary military households. There were more than 40,000 households in total, and they were stationed in Jinzhou and Fuzhou. Most of the ordinary soldiers of the Pingliao Army were recruited from them (not squad troops, but recruited soldiers).
In addition, each thousand-household office must provide 100 squads of troops to the general military office at any time, totaling more than 4,000 squads.
The Pingliao Army General Military Office also has the power to temporarily issue more able-bodied men from military households to join the army. It can recruit soldiers according to the standard of one man per household at most... which means that more than 40,000 people can be mobilized!
However, the quality of the young men of the military household cannot be compared with that of the nephews and servants of the military nobles. Although there are many in number, the training and equipment are not good enough. It is difficult for the strong men gathered at a moment's notice to form an army without taking the time to organize them.
In addition, both the military aristocrats and the able-bodied military households live in scattered places, so it takes a lot of time to gather them together.
And time is still on Matsukura Shigeharu's side... Thousands of Japanese Japs have followed him to the beach of Qingniwa Bay, and his subordinate Masuda Shiro has also led people on the east bank of the Nanguan Canal. A wheat field was fortified.
Now as long as we advance along the east bank of the Nanguan Canal, we should be able to separate the Jin and Fu states into two before Mao Wenlong and Mao Chenglu gather their troops!
However, an unexpected change caused Matsukura Shigeharu to change his original plan... because he discovered a large number of Ming army knights (these people actually went to Xunzhuang and Qianhu on the east bank of the canal to mobilize troops ), passing on a pontoon bridge in the middle section of the Nanguan Canal, heading towards the Jinzhou Wei Fort.
