It's not completely dark yet, but the light is slightly dim.
As a seven-year-old child, Zhu Yunxuan has excellent eyesight.
Looking closely, he could clearly see a rather large water village.
There are dense fences and tall watchtowers and arrow towers everywhere, so the defense is extremely tight.
There is also a harbor next to the coast, where countless ships, large and small, are parked.
People come and go, and it's a prosperous scene.
Zhu Yunzhen understood immediately.
In addition to being a stronghold of Japanese pirates, this place is also a hidden business center.
After the Ming Dynasty banned the sea, smuggling continued to be banned, but it became more and more serious.
He has always wondered whether such a large amount of smuggling could be hidden by the Yangtze River Inland Terminal alone?
Not to mention entering the Yangtze River from the sea will be investigated.
There must be underground ports along the coast, but they may have been concealed by local officials.
This is Zhu Yunzhen's guess.
Now I know that it was not a concealment, but that the smuggling port was under the control of Japanese pirates.
It is precisely because of such a large trade demand that so many Japanese pirates can be fed.
Otherwise, the Japanese pirates would not be able to survive.
Sure enough, there is no way out of the forbidden sea.
If Haili cannot be banned, someone will make trouble based on it.
The only way is to take overseas trade into your own hands.
If the Ming Dynasty did not ban the sea, why would these commercial ships not go directly to the official docks of the Ming Dynasty, but come here to endure the exploitation of Japanese pirates?
If the city is open, the bandits will turn into merchants; if the city is closed, the merchants will turn into bandits.
This is not empty talk!
Zhu Yunzhen took a deep breath.
The Japanese pirate stronghold in front of him, both in terms of scale and defense, far exceeded his expectations.
Attacking such a maritime stronghold is much more difficult than attacking Songjiang Prefecture.
Even if the city gates are closed, as long as there are siege equipment, there are countless ways to capture it.
But this sea stronghold is like a huge hedgehog covered with thorns, which cannot be chewed at all.
"Lord Shangshen, it is extremely difficult to storm the stronghold. Why not send a few boats ahead, let the young men return to the stronghold, secretly set fire to the stronghold, kill the leader, and then open the stronghold gate to let the heavenly army enter, then they can all be eradicated. draw."
Kato Shoichi took the initiative to express his idea.
Zhu Yunzhen looked at him with some hesitation in his heart.
I have to say that Kato Shoichi’s idea is really good.
The problem is that he still doesn't trust these prisoners.
If they were released back to the village and they immediately turned against each other, there would be big trouble.
However, if this method is not followed, even if they shout to open the gate, rush into the village full of watchtowers and arrow towers, and eradicate the Japanese pirates inside, the New Army soldiers may have to pay a heavy price.
If you don't do it right, you may lose the battle.
After all, although the new army's equipment is advanced, after several battles, there is not much ammunition left.
"It would be great if we brought the invincible general's artillery. After a few rounds of artillery fire, we won't have to worry about the stronghold being destroyed."
He sighed secretly in his heart.
There's no point thinking about it now.
The military situation was urgent at that time, and the cannons were extremely heavy. If they had been carried on the road, the new army would not have been able to rush to the front line so quickly.
What's more, the Bureau of Technology Research and Manufacturing has not built a few such cannons so far.
The quantity is not enough, and the power of the bombing may not achieve the expected effect.
Let Japanese pirates and traitor servants enter?
The matter was of great importance and he had to consider it carefully.
At this time.
Jiang Wei, who was standing next to him, made a request: "Your Highness, Taisun, why don't you go in with your humble servant?"
If he follows him in, he can be killed immediately if Kato Masaru changes his mind again and again.
But in this case, Jiang Yu will definitely die.
He followed Zhu Yunzhen all the way, watching His Highness Taisun create war miracles one after another, but he was always like a useless person, which made Jiang Wei extremely unwilling.
If we want to reward him based on his merits after the war, he, a dignified commander of the Royal Guards, may not have as much merit as any other soldier in the new army.
Not to mention other Jin Yiwei.
Jiang Wei also longed to establish meritorious deeds, at least not so ugly.
After all, the Jin Yiwei is a being who scares all officials and everyone in the government and the public.
Although fighting is not Jin Yiwei's specialty, don't be such a waste, right?
Therefore, he volunteered and wanted to take up the task of sneaking into the mountain fortress.
However.
Zhu Yunxuan still rejected Jiang Yu.
"No need, just let them go. God is watching. If they don't eliminate the source of their sins, they will forever lose the opportunity to wash away their sins and obtain redemption. God will punish them."
He finally made up his mind.
Since you want to play the role of a magic stick, then play it to the end.
Sending Jiang Wei to monitor him would be contrary to his status as a "god".
Sowing seeds of doubt in these people's minds may actually increase the probability of them defecting again.
Besides, Jiang Yu followed him in. Even if they wanted to switch sides, they still couldn't be stopped.
It's just a way to kill one or two people for revenge, but it doesn't have much effect.
Instead, he sacrificed himself in vain.
These guys will be killed sooner or later.
"Yes!" Jiang Wei responded.
His Highness Taisun disagreed, so of course he did not dare to persist.
After Zhu Yunzhen agreed, Kato Shoichi took the Japanese pirates and traitor servants to the shore by speedboat.
It got dark.
Torches were lit one by one in the village, illuminating the surrounding area.
Zhu Yunxuan watched from a distance.
As soon as the boat of Kato Shoichi and others docked, Japanese pirates guarding the village came up to inspect it.
"Why are you back?"
Seeing Kato Shoichi, the Japanese pirate leader who came to check quickly asked.
"Hahaha, this trip went quite smoothly. A lot of gold and silver treasures were looted, and they have been shipped to us."
Kato Masaichi pointed to the ship parked on the sea not far away.
That was the ship on which the new army led by Zhu Yunxuan was still at sea and had not docked.
"Most of those people were captured prisoners. I was not very confident about them and did not let them dock."
"Only bring those you can trust."
He pointed to the army of traitor servants he had brought back.
"It's too late today. After dawn tomorrow, we will send a ship to pick up all the goods."
When the Japanese pirates who inspected the area heard that they had returned carrying goods, they were all overjoyed and hurriedly waved them into the stronghold.
The night was hazy.
As soon as they entered the stronghold, the men and horses immediately dispersed.
The Japanese pirates who came back were all familiar with the situation, and the traitor servants followed them.
How could the Japanese pirates in the village have expected that these own people would have turned into "traitors" long ago?
There is no defense against them.
The Japanese pirates who came back found the wine cellar, brought the traitor servants and brought the wine out, saying they wanted to celebrate the victory.
In fact, only a small part of the wine was distributed to the Japanese pirates in the village, and more wine was secretly sprinkled at key nodes to be used as fuel to prepare for ignition.
…
In the lobby of the village, the Japanese pirate leader Rikuzen Inukai was very happy to receive the returning Kato Shoichi.
"Haha, quack, this time we won a great victory, occupied Songjiang City, and robbed countless properties, so happy!"
Rikuzen Inukai picked up the wine glass and said, "Kato-kun has done a great job and worked hard. I'd like to toast you."
Kato raised his glass, and the two drank at the same time, looking at each other and laughing.
Riku Qian Inukai looked proud: "I have received news that this time the Ming Dynasty sent the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunzhen to lead an army to fight against us."
"This Zhu Yunzhen is still a seven-year-old child, hahaha!"
"A little baby, I'm afraid, is still peeing his pants, but the Ming Dynasty praised him as a genius and sent him to lead the army. Is there anything more ridiculous in the world than this?"
"This is a great opportunity given to us by God. I will teach the little kid a lesson and plunder all the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
He looked up to the sky and laughed.
At this moment, there was a sudden commotion outside.
Riku Qian Inukai couldn't help but frown and asked, "What's going on?"
A Japanese pirate soldier ran in in a panic.
"Oh no, there's a fire in the village! There's... there's more than one place... it's such a big fire!"
Rikuzen Inukai was shocked and turned pale. He hurriedly put down the wine glass in his hand, stood up, and walked forward quickly, wanting to walk out of the lobby to see what was going on.
At this time.
Kato Shoichi also came over and happened to be next to him.
Rikuzen Inukai did not suspect anything and continued to move forward.
suddenly.
There was a click.
He felt a chill in his chest, and severe pain suddenly arose.
A long knife went straight into his back, penetrated his body, and rushed out from his chest.
Rikuzen Inukai's pupils suddenly dilated.
He slowly lowered his head, saw the tip of the knife and the gurgling blood, and felt that his life force was rapidly passing away.
Rikuzen Inukai turned his head with difficulty and looked at Kato Shoichi who was holding a knife and inserting it into his body from the back, with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Why?" he asked.
Kato Masaichi: "I'm sorry. I was inspired by God to wash away the sins on my body and get real redemption. You are the center of sin, and I can only kill you."
"God...salvation?" Rikuzen Inukai still looked confused.
Unexpectedly, his most trusted comrade-in-arms would actually kill him for the so-called god and the so-called salvation.
When did he believe in “God”?
Rikuzen Inukai will never know this answer again.
"Bang" all over his body.
Rikuzen Inukai's body fell down.
This criminal Japanese pirate leader ended his criminal life.
The sudden change made the Japanese pirate soldiers next to them stunned and stunned.
It wasn't until Rikuzen Inukai fell to the ground that he frantically escaped.
"No, the commander-in-chief has been killed..." he shouted.
Kato Shoichi chased him out and chopped him to death with a knife.
"kill!"
In the village, shouts of killing broke out everywhere, and the crowd who originally went to put out the fire fell into chaos.
With no one to put out the fire, the fire became more and more intense.
The huge cottage soon became a sea of fire.
Shouts, cries, and killing sounds were heard everywhere.
The Japanese pirates and traitor servants killed each other, falling into a pool of blood and a sea of fire one by one.
Many people cried for their fathers and mothers and ran away everywhere.
On the boat, Zhu Yunxuan looked at the Japanese pirates' stronghold in the distance.
When he saw the fire, he immediately ordered Zheng He to send several small boats, each carrying a few New Army soldiers, to quietly move towards the harbor.
At night, most people on the boats moored in the harbor would not rest on the boats, but would go ashore.
After all, it is more comfortable on the shore than on the boat.
If nothing happens, who wants to suffer on the ship?
Only a handful of people remained in the ship.
When the chaos broke out in the village, the soldiers from the watchtowers and arrow towers all went down one after another.
Some were trying to escape the fire, while others were trying to figure out what was going on.
There was chaos inside the stronghold, and the defense outside was basically reduced to zero.
The New Army soldiers took advantage of this opportunity, quietly touched the ships docked in the harbor, and began to set fire to them.
Occasionally they encountered sporadic resistance, which was quickly resolved by them.
The situation inside the village became more and more chaotic, and the fire became more and more intense.
The harbor also turned into a sea of fire.
The Japanese pirates who escaped from the village suddenly collapsed and cried when they saw that the ships were on fire.
No matter whether it is the Japanese pirates in the village or the Japanese pirates and their servants sent to set fire to rescue, there is nowhere to escape.
Kato Masaichi drew his sword and slashed all the way through the village, killing everyone he saw.
In order to obtain redemption, he did not hesitate to kill all his former companions one by one.
When he rushed out of the stronghold, he saw that the boats outside were also on fire and he could no longer escape by boat.
The fleet led by Zhu Yunzhen was still far away and seemed to have no intention of docking.
"Lord God, save me!"
Shoichi Kato shouted.
Not only him, but also the Japanese pirates and traitor servants sent to set the fire were shouting desperately.
They originally thought that as long as they successfully completed the task, they would be "saluted."
Unexpectedly, after setting fire to the village and killing countless former "companions", he would find himself trapped here.
On the boat, Zhu Yunxuan said calmly: "With the sins you have committed, do you still expect to be redeemed? Only by being burned by fire and turned into ashes can the sins on your body be washed away!"
He never thought of forgiving the Japanese pirates and traitorous servants.
Let them kill their companions and then burn them alive. That would be the best ending.
They pretended to be magic sticks and deceived them, causing the Japanese pirates and traitor servants to "turn sides" and kill each other.
Zhu Yunzhen didn't feel even the slightest bit of guilt in his heart.
Soldiers never tire of deceit.
What's more, these people deserve to die.
Allowing them to live one more day, and allowing them to contribute to the cause of eradicating the Japanese before they die, is already the greatest "mercy" to them.
Their sins were so serious, what he had to do was send these guys to see the King of Hell.
However, such a small sound could not be heard by Kato Shoichi and others in the distance.
Next to it, the little girl Xixi was also standing there, looking at the sea of fire.
"Father, mother, eldest brother burned down the Japanese pirates' stronghold. The Japanese pirates are all dead. You can rest in peace under the Nine Springs."
she muttered.
Tears rolled down from his eyes.
The fire is getting bigger and bigger, burning more and more fiercely.
Light up the entire night sky.
Soon, the entire village was engulfed in flames.
The fire burned for three days.
The strongholds and impregnable water fortresses that the Japanese pirates had operated for many years were all reduced to ashes.
From the end of the Yuan Dynasty to the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese pirates in the southeast that had plagued the coastal areas for decades were finally eliminated.
The New Army became famous in one battle and has since entered the stage of history.
Based on strong military strength, a new era belonging to the Ming Dynasty is about to officially arrive.
(End of chapter)
