Time flies by like a flash, and in the blink of an eye, another half year has passed.
In the past six months, the war in Korea has become more intense. Fighting took place everywhere on the front line, and countless soldiers shed blood on the ground.
The total strength of the Japanese army is as much as 250,000. Even though casualties during the battle have reached 70,000, they still maintain a numerical advantage. The total strength of the Ming Dynasty's coalition forces is also large, but the Korean army is too stretched. Kua, even after receiving a large amount of support from Luzon, their combat effectiveness was still only enough to defend the city, which hindered them a lot.
Fortunately, whether it is Xu Wei or Li Rusong, their command level is at a crushing level compared to Ukita Hideie.
As the commander-in-chief, Xu Wei commanded the overall situation, coordinated the Ming and Dynasty coalition forces, and formulated the overall battle plan, while Li Rusong was responsible for the frontline battle command.
Under such a combination, the Japanese army could only rely on numbers to hold on, but even so it was quickly compressed to the southern four provinces. Kaesong and Wangjing were recovered successively, and the remaining Japanese troops were in Chungcheong Province and Gangwon Province. Repeatedly fought with the Ming Dynasty coalition forces.
"We can't do this anymore!" Ukita Hideie looked at the map in front of him and slammed the table:
"Your Excellency has entrusted me with important tasks. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers obeyed my orders, but now I have fought the war like this! North Korea has lost three of its seven routes. How can I go to see Your Majesty!"
His expression was ferocious, and he decided to make a final desperate struggle:
"Instruct all ministries to gather forces and launch a counterattack against the Ming army!"
"I don't believe that my hundreds of thousands of soldiers can't defeat their mere tens of thousands!"
The Japanese army began to gather forces and prepare for the final madness.
At this time, Japan also began to have an undercurrent.
The Japanese army's brutal expropriation in North Korea led to the depletion of North Korea's resources. From the initial support to Japan, supplies still need to be supplied locally, and the huge number of casualties also made the daimyo feel unbearable.
They all could see that Toyotomi Hideyoshi's so-called taking over the Ming Dynasty was an unattainable dream. The Ming Dynasty sent only 50,000 troops, so the Japanese army could not even take down Korea, not to mention the millions of troops in the country. giant?
The only ones who can defeat this monster may be themselves, no one else can.
They gradually began to feel dissatisfied with Toyotomi Hideyoshi's insistence. At this time, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was the strongest under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, also secretly extended an olive branch to these daimyo.
Many daimyo who were dissatisfied with Toyotomi Hideyoshi gathered towards Tokugawa Ieyasu and formed a faint rivalry with Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
With the fierce war in Korea unable to escape, and the domestic political situation in Japan unstable, the opportunity that the Governor-General of Luzon had been waiting for finally came.
…
Japan, a port.
Suddenly a sharp sound of gongs and drums came from the silent bay, waking up the soldiers on guard.
They looked far into the distance and saw that a sentinel ship was heading towards the port, and the soldiers on the ship were rowing the oars desperately.
It's the sentry ship and the alarm sound on the periphery! The soldiers immediately realized what was happening, and they began to sound gongs, hoping to alert the garrison soldiers behind them.
However, the sound of the alarm was eventually drowned in the sound of artillery fire in the sky.
The naval guns roared, and countless shells, with screams that cut through the air, hit the Japanese camps and ships in the port.
As soon as the warship raised its sails, it was hit by a cannonball. The raging fire instantly submerged the entire ship. The soldiers on it were either forced to fall into the sea or were killed in the fire.
When the gunfire fell silent, the enemy ships finally revealed their true identities from the darkness—it was the Luzon Navy!
That night, countless ports were raided. In the next few days, the Luzon Navy repeatedly appeared on Japan's docks, and a ship sank to the bottom amid gunfire.
Three days later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi received the report. The Governor-General of Luzon blatantly tore up the non-aggression treaty and launched an attack when Japan was at its weakest. Now all his ports have been destroyed, and almost all the ships on the voyage have been destroyed. Without surviving, Japan has become an isolated island.
His hands were shaking.
Following this, the Luzon Army landed in large numbers, and the Luzon Army, which originally occupied a corner of Japan, quickly began to take action.
The war went very smoothly. To be precise, the Luzon Army encountered basically no obstacles.
Where is Japan's war potential? The supply of 250,000 troops for the expedition has reached its limit. Now there are only 80,000 soldiers left in Japan, most of which are old, weak and remnants.
How could such an army withstand a hundred thousand well-equipped and well-trained Luzon soldiers?
What's more, even among these 80,000 people, there are still 30,000 soldiers who are following Tokugawa Ieyasu and stationed in Nagoya. However, Tokugawa Ieyasu has been standing still during this period of time, obviously because he wants to watch them fight with each other. fight.
Territories were conquered one after another, and each daimyo was captured or killed in battle. Japan's territory fell at an alarming rate. In just one month, most of the country had been occupied.
Japan has lost five of its seven routes, and the Luzon Army has arrived at Osaka Castle.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi stood at the top of the city and looked into the distance. He never dreamed that the war against Korea would endanger his great cause.
Ten thousand soldiers from Luzon set up fortifications outside the city, and seeing them, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's heart ignited a little hope.
No, there may not be a chance.
There is a saying in the art of war that in siege warfare, "encircle the city ten times and attack it five times." This means that the party attacking the city must at least have an absolute advantage in military strength.
However, the Luzon Army did not. The fact is that the Toyotomi family's Osaka Castle has ten thousand soldiers, not counting the young men who can be mobilized.
Even if you play more safely and don't go out of the city for field battles, but stick to it, it will be difficult for the opponent to capture it.
The number of people on the siege side is not even as large as that of the defenders. They can capture the city unless Toyotomi Hideyoshi is really stupid.
As the base camp of the Toyotomi family, the food in Osaka city is enough to feed the whole city for more than half a year. In more than half a year, it is enough for the troops to return from the expedition. Ukita Hideie has always been loyal to him. Once he discovers that there is a situation in Japan , I will definitely rush back in a hurry!
Thinking of this, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's heart became hot again.
who is he? He was Toyotomi Hideyoshi who pacified the troubled times of the Warring States Period! It is true that he is afraid of Luzon, but after all, he himself has been fighting for half his life. If the troops who entered the DPRK return, it is very likely that he can repel them and continue his rule!
Moreover, Tokugawa Ieyasu will definitely send troops! Although due to the increasingly subtle relationship between the two, he had been standing still before, pretending to be sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, but now that he has become this kind of character, he should also realize the problem. He must Will take action!
In a very short period of time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had many thoughts and had already made a decision.
Stick to it!
He ordered the gold and silver in stock to be distributed, and boosted morale. He smiled with satisfaction when he saw the soldiers' blood boiling with enthusiasm and expressing their willingness to die.
(End of chapter)
