The Battle of Tachibanayama Castle in this time and space is a regular battle - Usuki Castle is close to Tachibanayama Castle. When Ling Yunyi and Shimazu arrived with their troops on the third day of October, the Otomo and Maori coalition forces had already established themselves under Tachibanayama Castle. This formation.
Otomo Sorin placed his main formation of 17,000 troops and horses with his back to Mount Tachibana, with 5,000 troops and horses from Tachibanayama Castle plus 7,000 friendly troops on the right wing, totaling 12,000, and 12,000 troops and horses from the Maori army on the left wing. There were also five thousand cavalry, three thousand placed behind the high ground occupied by the Maori army, and two thousand placed on the right flank.
Shimazu's army numbered 15,000, and Ming's army numbered 12,000. The strength of both sides was 27,000 to 37,000. Because it is inconvenient to transport military horses by sea, Ling Yunyi only has a team of 500 horses, and they basically use these horses at all hours of the night. Shimazu didn't have many cavalry, just over 1,500 in total - 1,500 cavalry versus 5,000.
Ling Yunyi fought against the Japanese army for the first time and felt that all the combat examples he had trained at Nanyuan Military Academy were useless. When he was marching along the way, he was sent out at all times out of caution, but he was not harassed along the way, which made him very uncomfortable.
After arriving at Tachibana Mountain, he thought he was going to face a battle to attack the mountain city from above, but the sentinel reported that the opponent had already set up camp and was waiting for the decisive battle, and even Ling Yunyi couldn't stop it - Japanese people don't like to watch "Sun Tzu" very much. "The Art of War"? Are you so non-tactical?
Now that the other side has laid down its formation, we should also hold a military meeting to study how to arrange our troops. Ling Yunyi attached great importance to his family's first battle in Japan, so he led the Ming army staff and the Shimadzu army leaders to hold a pre-military meeting to study how to respond to the enemy.
At the beginning of the meeting, Li Rusong, the chief military officer under Ling Yunyi, said that we are an all-iron artillery force and must design our formation around the tactics of iron artillery. Shimazu countered that the iron artillery was indeed powerful, but it could not resist the impact of cavalry and brave warriors, so it was necessary to form a mixed formation - making the Ming staff look at each other in confusion. As a result, not long after the meeting started, the two groups almost started to fight.
Ling Yunyi's head ached as he listened to the translator's back and forth, and he finally made a final decision: "Naocao couldn't even agree to go together for a long time, otherwise you Shimazu family's whole army would be a reserve team. The thirty-five thousand yuan on the other side is not enough for me." I took a taxi during meal time.”
These words were not very hurtful but extremely insulting. The Shimadzu family general Yoshihisa burst into tears after hearing this. If Shimazu Yoshihisa hadn't stopped him with a stern look, he would have had a caesarean section in front of Ling Yunyi to scare him. Not at once.
However, the two sides have agreed that the main force of this march will be the Ling Yun Yi Army. Shimazu Yoshihisa has no choice but to let his general, Uye Sakukane, lead a large army to protect the rear of the Ling Yun Yi Army as a reserve force. Once Ling Yunyi is defeated, it will be up to Kamei Kakukane to decide whether to run or fight.
Ijuin Tadayō, an old minister of the family, said privately that the only two hills on the battlefield had been occupied by the enemy in advance. Our army was on flat ground and could easily be defeated in a single charge. My lord, you'd better return to your own unit to avoid falling into the mountains. In the military formation.
Shimazu Yoshihisa sighed with a sad face: "You are right, even if Ling Yunyi is defeated, the Ming army still has a large fleet of navy and half of the main force. If Otomo and the Maori family dare not do anything to him, I will be miserable. But Ling Yunyi is a very caring person, and he must be worried that we will trick him, and I have to be a hostage by his side. If I propose to return to my family's military formation, he may have his soldiers kill me directly."
Ijuin Tadayō was right when he thought about it. The so-called people who are not from my race must have different minds. The Ming army was a guest army and was bribed by the Shimadzu family to participate in the Kyushu War. Of course, he had to worry about being tricked by the Shimadzu family and the other two families. In this case, no one is as convincing as Shimazu Yoshihisa himself. I had no choice but to ask my lord to take care and act according to the circumstances.
On the morning of October 4th, Ling Yunyi started the sexy operation. In order to prevent being raided by the Otomo coalition forces when the army was deployed, Ling Yunyi quickly marched three thousand front troops into the battlefield in six columns, with Shimadzu cavalry supporting them back and forth. After entering the battlefield, Shimazu saw that the Ming troops quickly spread to the left and right, forming a wide front - a total of three rows of Ming troops.
Shimazu Yoshihisa was stunned. Could this imperial envoy really know how to fight? The entire iron artillery army can't form a formation like this, right? Doesn't it know how to form a formation? Thinking about it, it's true. Apart from encountering a larger fortress and firing two cannons along the way, I haven't seen the Ming army unfolding. Is this because the navy has come ashore and doesn't know how to play?
Ling Yunyi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the opponent did not send cavalry to attack when he entered the battlefield. Then he let the troops enter the battlefield with various artillery carts and gunpowder covered with red waterproof tarpaulins, and organized in an orderly manner behind the front row of Ming troops.
In the end, the 10,000 Ming army formed a long snake I-shaped formation facing Dayou's main formation - a total of six horizontal lines, each with a thousand people, and each line was about ten feet apart.
At both ends of the long snake, there are six rows on each side, protecting the body of the long snake. Behind the long snake, there were artillery carriages dragging eighty cannons, also lined up, with small arrays of squares surrounding each cannon.
There were about 3,000 soldiers remaining in reserve behind. These soldiers formed a square formation, guarding the command center of Imperial Envoy Ling Yunyi in the middle.
Although it has entered late autumn, the sweat on Shimazu Yoshihisa's head cannot be wiped off. He carefully observed the Ming army's formation: every twenty people had a person holding a flag, every fifty people had a drummer with a small drum on his waist, and the rest of the people, in addition to an iron cannon, there were also some small artillery placed in the middle of the queue. .
The commander-in-chief, commander-in-chief, staff-general, etc. in the queue can be distinguished by their clothes, but none of them are wearing armor, and there are no horses or caltrops to protect the cavalry. This is too ridiculous, this is definitely not how the Iron Artillery Team is used! Well, the Ming army does have a lot of big guns, but what do you mean by putting them at the back? Do you want to shoot at the back of our army in front?
After studying this formation with no obvious left and right wings for a long time, Shimazu Yoshihisa finally determined that this Ling Yunyi was a fool. He asked cautiously from the side: "Sir, what are you going to do with my fifteen thousand soldiers and horses?"
Ling Yunyi glanced at him and said with a smile: "It's okay, the most dangerous time is over. I originally didn't want to fight this kind of battle where the other side chooses the battlefield, but I can't lose the opportunity to stew them in a spoonful - just wait. Just stay by my side and watch. Once our army deploys, they will have no chance. You will definitely not be needed today."
Shimazu Yoshihisa continued to wipe his sweat and thought to himself: "Can you, old man, stop blowing your hair?..."
While the Ming army was regrouping, Otomo Zonglin and Kobayakawa Takakage on the opposite side were also observing the opponent's array. Although the two sides are five miles apart, they can see clearly through telescopes - as a side note, almost every Japanese daimyo has a telescope made in Ming Dynasty.
Seeing the Ming army put up a formation they had never seen before, Kobayakawa and Otomo Sorin also looked at each other. Kobayakawa held a folding fan, pointed at the Ming army formation and said: "What does the opponent mean by placing the big tube behind the army? Are they afraid of a surprise attack by our cavalry?"
Dayou Zonglin said: "This must be the case. The Ming army is like a long snake. Should we use cavalry to rush it? This army formation is closely connected. If there is a fluctuation, the whole army will be confused. If the cavalry makes a contribution, it can be easily defeated."
Kobayakawa Takakage stood under Otomo Sorin's horse seal of the cross of Jesus Christ, frowned and said: "The Ming army has all iron cannons. Maybe this is the formation suitable for iron cannons."
Seeing Otomo Sorin deep in thought, Kobayakawa Takakage thought for a while and said: "I will return to our army's main formation first. You can just give the order for this battle. Our army will not have any intention of preserving its strength."
Otomo Sorin bowed to express his thanks. Kobayakawa Takakage returned to his home formation with a few cavalrymen and gave orders to the armies: "The Otomo family wants to use the cavalry to charge first - we will wait and see the situation. If the Ming army counterattacks fiercely, the priority is to preserve our strength." !”
Before he finished speaking, there was a loud bang. It turned out that before Dayou's cavalry could attack, the Ming army's Datong, who had set up their formation, spoke first!
Kobayakawa was startled and quickly looked towards the Otomo main formation in the middle. He saw a Ming army artillery shell falling a mile in front of the Otomo main formation, bouncing on the ground and finally stopping.
Kobayakawa breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It turns out that the Ming army's cannons were able to fire over their own military formations. I was shocked - luckily it wasn't too far, otherwise our cannons wouldn't be able to hit them."
However, God was destined to make Kobayakawa Takakage a salt-and-pepper mouth. Before he could finish his words, there was another bang. Another burst of white smoke rose from the Ming army's large cannon formation. A shell rushed straight into Otomo's main formation, creating an alley of flesh and blood. Come!
Kobayakawa Takakage's hands were so strong that he almost broke the telescope. Immediately afterwards, a scene that made his scalp numb appeared: the Ming army's formation was like rolling through continuous thunder, eighty large cannons spoke in turn, and a large number of black spots visible to the naked eye went straight to the Dayou army formation!
