Everything is going according to the original plan.
Tokugawa Ieyasu did not sense anything strange. In his perception, except for the main body of Kagemusha following him, the other six Kagemusha had already taken their positions and were mingling among the Ming army.
A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he asked you to enter the urn like this. The more people the Ming army penetrated, the easier it would be for him to catch them all.
It is not easy to practice the shadow-stepping technique. In the hands of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the method passed down from the Tang Dynasty is only a fragment. The period of Taira Shomon was the Heian Era, which was the period when the Tang Dynasty was destroyed and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were in turmoil. years.
A large number of magic arts were learned from Japan in the Tang Dynasty. The "Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit Collection" in the hands of Abe Seimei was given by Master Bodao in China. The shadow-stepping technique is one of the representatives of the magic arts in the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, Japan also has collections.
However, each shadow god appears in a different way, and there are not many recorded in the fragments. There is only the most basic method of summoning the first shadow god Youhuang, which is to cultivate ancient vessels and first refine the shadow stepping Gu. , and then with the help of Shadow Stepping Gu, the Shadow God Youhuang can be separated.
However, one of the most important and difficult steps is the refining of the Shadow Stepping Gu.
It is mentioned in the fragment that this requires the guidance of the spirits of all living beings. The essence of living beings cannot be obtained casually. It requires specific magic to be refined. The refining method has long been lost, but Tokugawa Ieyasu believes that there must be a similar refining method passed down in China.
But he tried many methods but could not succeed. After repeatedly viewing part of the contents of the fragment, Tokugawa Ieyasu was even able to determine that the method of refining the essence of all living beings may not be known to the owner of this volume, and only ancient people from the Tang Dynasty in China knew it.
Such secrecy must be due to sectarian opinions.
It is said that in order to obtain the "Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit Collection", Abe Seimei also painstakingly served Hakudo for three years, working as a cow and a horse, building a house and carrying water, and only then did he obtain the real secret book.
Tokugawa Ieyasu could not help but sigh, wishing he had been born eight hundred years earlier.
However, in the land of Japan, it is a blessing among misfortunes to be able to obtain the Shadow Remaining Scroll and preserve it during the turbulent times of the Warring States Period. Onmyoji declined, and many of the inheritances from that year were almost cut off. Three of the four major schools of Onmyoji are from aristocratic families, and they are the largest in terms of scope and number of people. The Harima style, which is popular among the people, was almost extinct due to the turbulent times of the Warring States Period, and a large number of spells were lost.
At present, there is no way to refine the essence of living beings, so it is not feasible to take the path of refining the essence into Shadow Stepping Gu, so we can only take the oldest path, which is to find ancient tools to nourish it. Spirituality. Until it has spirit and becomes Fusangshen, then it can be refined into Shadow-Stepping Gu, and the Shadow God can still be separated.
The seven Kagemusha were only six Kagemusha when Hei Shomon was at its peak in the past. Tokugawa Ieyasu believed that his attainments in the shadow-stepping technique at this time had completely surpassed the heights reached by his predecessors and reached a new level.
"Lord Ieyasu, there is a battle report from the front..."
Tokugawa Ieyasu listened to his subordinates constantly reporting on the war on the front line, and he knew these things clearly because the Kagemusha would pass the news to him.
"Sure enough, the Ming army was fooled, and their army has entered the encirclement!"
“Looking at this route, we are heading directly to Ulsan!”
Tokugawa Ieyasu's face showed joy.
Ulsan is in the Japanese position, the southernmost part of North Korea. Starting from Ulsan, the east and west corps are separated. If Ulsan is destroyed, it is equivalent to destroying the reinforcement stronghold. But going so deep, it is like a spear. The spear tip may be very sharp, but the spear shaft is very easy to be cut off.
But they haven't gone deep enough. They need to go a little deeper, a little deeper...
.......
Three days.
"The Ming army attacked Wenqing City, and our army suffered nearly 10,000 casualties."
"The frontline has been losing consecutive battles!"
Tokugawa Ieyasu nodded with satisfaction:
"Everything is under control and the situation is excellent."
Then burst out laughing.
Terumoto Mori, Takatora Toudo, and Nagamasa Kuroda also laughed endlessly.
Ask, why is the general laughing?
Answer, I laugh at the young intelligence of the Ming army, but now it has become like catching a turtle in an urn.
————
Ten days.
"The Ming army has captured Shangzhou City. It's urgent!"
"Our army lost three thousand soldiers and horses!"
Tokugawa Ieyasu laughed, his voice full of joy, as if the sullenness in his heart had been swept away, and he said to the people on his left and right:
"The Ming army is in my hands! Everything is going according to plan."
"My few shadow warriors have become high-ranking officials in the army. At this time, the direction of the Ming army's actions is exactly as I instructed."
Mouri Terumoto, Toudo Takatora, and Kuroda Nagamasa were still laughing.
Terumoto Mori even praised: "Commanding one's own soldiers to fight is an inferior tactic. Commanding the enemy's soldiers to fight according to one's own strategy is a superior tactic!"
"The general is strategizing and has entered the realm of transformation!"
Tokugawa Ieyasu repeatedly expressed his modesty, saying that he did not dare to take it seriously.
"Although the Ming army is advancing according to my arrangements, the outcome depends on the next key defeat."
........
Twenty-fifth day.
"The Ming army divided into two groups, the east group attacked Gongcheng, and the west group attacked Jinshan!"
"Our army has suffered consecutive losses! More than 12,000 people have been killed!"
When Tokugawa Ieyasu heard the battle report, he still smiled and sighed silently, thinking that it was wonderful.
"Okay, okay, they started to divide their forces! They properly seized the advantages established in the previous war and used them to expand."
"They will continue to divide their forces!"
Terumoto Mori, Takatora Toudo, and Nagamasa Kuroda smiled a little reluctantly this time.
"General, this loss is too great. Are we really going to be defeated all the way? At least we can win two battles, right?"
Kuroda Nagamasa still couldn't hold back his voice.
In his opinion, the losses have exceeded the limit. In just a few battles, from the first retreat of Mogami Yoshimitsu and Honda Tadakatsu to now, more than 50,000 people have been lost in less than a month?
Are you really going to let the Ming army kill people everywhere?
Isn't this a bit wrong? Although it is a necessary sacrifice, what kind of victory can lead to such a huge sacrifice?
Tokugawa Ieyasu looked at him indifferently, lowered his palms, and signaled him not to be impatient:
"A great victory must be preceded by a great sacrifice! Kuroda-san, one general has accomplished so much! We cannot win, because losing such a continuous battle to the death is the result the Ming army wants to see."
Kuroda Nagamasa was stunned:
"ah--?"
General, tell the truth, are you just trying to kill people for fun?
Just say it if you are a mole.
"Hey! Can't you understand? Didn't I make it very clear? Our previous losses were too huge, so now we are losing consecutive battles. The Ming army's morale is high and they are about to attack Huanglong in one go. At this time, if we fight twice After three victories, if the Ming army finds that they can't take it down, won't they have to take a detour?"
"They want to attack, and we are just about to be beautiful. The harvest in this battle will be rich, and you three must be relieved! The main force of the Ming army is here, and there are not many soldiers left to guard the pass. This group of main force came in happily , were wiped out by us in one battle, then it’s time for us to make a full-scale counterattack!”
"My shadow warriors are not doing nothing. Let me tell you, the news I received is that the Ming army has been reducing its numbers. The shadow warriors will deliberately lead the army away from the planned attack route and then fall into siege. This will cause more A large number of Ming troops went to rescue."
"Although their attack is fierce, their military strength will be reduced by at least half before arriving in Ulsan. Don't forget, the Ming army only has tens of thousands of people? One hundred thousand is less than one hundred thousand, and our army has hundreds of thousands of people? Just those who are in court now. , there are 300,000 troops! Three times the enemy’s strength, and thousands of people were lost, is that a problem?”
"This battle is foolproof!"
The three of them looked at each other and could only nod to each other, hoping that this plan would succeed.
........
Thirty days.
"Lord Ieyasu, the Ming army has been divided into six groups and is launching an all-out attack on our army with an overwhelming force!"
The messenger looked anxious at this time!
The war outside has reached the point of full-scale war. There are beacon smoke and flames of war everywhere, and the Japanese defense lines are constantly being breached!
Back, back, and back! It has reached an urgent situation!
Tokugawa Ieyasu laughed heartily.
"The troops are divided into six groups. The time has finally come!"
"Go all the way to Yeongcheon from the east, and then attack Gyeongju, Daegu, and aim at Ulsan."
"The east side will advance all the way to Seongju, then they will attack Changnyeong, and then split all the way to Miryang. These two groups will eventually attack Busan."
"Go all the way east, enter Yeongcheon, Andong, and finally go south to attack Ulsan."
"These are the four roads."
"Go all the way to Nanyuan from the west and attack Shunzhou."
"Go all the way out of Jeonju in the west and attack Gwangju."
"These are the six paths."
Tokugawa Ieyasu explained to the others, and then he took a deep breath and said:
"The backup plan I arranged before will also be used."
"What are the casualties on all sides?"
He looked at the ordering soldier, who responded:
"Except for the Yongchuan unit, which suffered heavy casualties, with five thousand soldiers and horses dead, the other armies were all retreating in batches, and there were no major casualties."
"More than 200 people died in Seongju. General Yeongcheon has withdrawn. Namwon and Jeonju are also occupied by the Ming army. The general is withdrawing and retreating to Gwangju."
The smile on Tokugawa Ieyasu's face became even wider, and he turned to tell the others about the upcoming arrangements.
"Now that the Ming army has divided its forces, its defeat is not far away."
"In the previous news, among these armies, the Ming army attacking Yongchuan is the strongest. I have asked the soldiers in Nanyuan and Quanzhou to abandon the city and only put up a little resistance. , the army turned back, secretly visited Chencang, and gathered near Qingzhou."
"The second road to the west is just a cover-up used by the Ming army to contain us. Those cities were thrown to them. The onmyoji and monks I sent are all proficient in formations to trap those on the west road for a few days. To the east Here, let him come from any direction, we will only capture one group and fight them. The four armies from the east will be surrounded and defeated one by one according to batches. Although their morale is strong, we have a great advantage in terms of military strength!"
"At this time, there is no way out from east to west, north or south. If the fish enters the mouth of the net, is there any reason to escape?"
........
"Lord Ieyasu, great victory, great victory!"
The messenger couldn't hide the joy on his face!
Tokugawa Ieyasu smiled and said nothing. He had already known about this through Kagemusha. Seeing that the three people around him were a little confused, they immediately came out to explain:
"After Yongzhou was defeated, the Ming army entered Gyeongju, and the Ming army that collected Rongchuan in the east would send their troops south to join them, and finally formed a two-sided siege of Gyeongju. After capturing Gyeongju, the army If the front points directly at the big hill, if it breaks through the big hill, Ulsan will be right in front of you.",
"However, just now, my troops who were ambushing on the outskirts of Gyeongju suddenly came out when they were attacking Gyeongju, surrounded them, broke up the battlefield, and at the same time used superior force to crush each group that was forced to separate. The Ming army achieved a comprehensive and crushing victory!
"Beheaded countless heads!"
The eyes of the other three people suddenly lit up!
Tokugawa Ieyasu smiled and said: "The second army on the east route has been completely wiped out!"
"All legions moved at night and went to Miyang to stop the third Ming army!"
"As for Changning, I have given an order this time. Anyone can lose, but the guard of Changning must not lose! Even if he is held up with bones, he will be held up for ten days!"
"Within ten days, the Miyang army will be completely wiped out. At that time, it will return to support Changning. So far, all the four armies on the east route have been wiped out. The only two armies on the west route left by the Ming army are nothing more than withered bones waiting to die!"
........
Wanli twenty-sixth year.
February 5th.
While Tokugawa Ieyasu and others were still talking and laughing, the Ming army fell into a siege at Daqiu not far from Ulsan. There was no possibility of escape. After a fierce battle, the entire army was defeated, with countless casualties.
This time, the Ming army will gather all its troops at Daeqiu in front of Ulsan, and soldiers from all the cities in all directions will gather here. The shadow warriors they sent in also reduced the enemy's combat power very well.
Everything seemed so beautiful.
If it weren't for the sudden roar of a cannon that sounded like thunder!
In an instant, the earth was shaken! The cry of killing shook the sky, and the expressions of Tokugawa Ieyasu and others changed in shock!
Outside Ulsan City, artillery roared and gunpowder smoke filled the air. Thousands of legions came from all directions and launched a fierce attack on Ulsan in one go!
"Yes...it's the Ming Army?!"
Tokugawa Ieyasu was frozen in Ulsan City. Mori Terumoto, Toudo Takatora, and Kuroda Nagamasa also looked at Ieyasu one after another!
What's going on? Didn't you say that this battle is foolproof?
"You are a craftsman!"
Kuroda Nagamasa spoke subconsciously and loudly accused Tokugawa Ieyasu. The latter came back to his senses at this time, his face became a little pale, and his veins bulged with anger: "How is this possible! My Kagemusha told me the news , the news sent by the messengers from the front line are all correct!"
"Where did this batch of Ming troops come from!"
"Two of the East Route Army have obviously been wiped out, leaving only the two groups attacking Changning and Miryang!"
"How is it possible? There is still an army all the way? Didn't my Kagemusha tell me?"
Maori Terumoto immediately said: "The Kagemusha also have things they don't know, but it's okay. Dust is rising in the distance on their side. Although I don't know how many people there are, it may be a trick or a bluff. Maybe the real number of people is only a few." Thousands of people.”
"There are a hundred thousand troops in Ulsan! Lord Ieyasu, let me lead the troops to kill them!"
