The real Japanese pirate Miyamoto Taro is just a microcosm on the city wall. As the young and strong people on the city wall become more and more proficient in the simplified version of the Mandarin Duck Formation, the Japanese pirates, who are outnumbered, are becoming more and more defeated in the fighting. Although their individual bravery far exceeds that of the young and strong people, one plus one is greater than two, and the power of an organization is more adaptable to war than individual bravery.
Although the Japanese pirates were becoming more and more vulnerable, they still fought fearlessly with the help of siege ladders and continuous reinforcements.
Fighting is the main theme of the city wall. Blood and death are frequent visitors to the city wall. Several vultures are circling in the sky, waiting for a feast.
As time went by, the balance of war slowly tilted towards the defenders, little by little...
finally!
After fighting for more than an hour, the balance of the war completely tilted to the defenders, and there was no longer a single Japanese pirate standing on the city wall! The Japanese pirates were completely driven off the city wall, and the second wave of Japanese pirates' siege failed.
“Hold it!”
"We held it!"
The young and strong civilians on the city wall leaned on their weapons, knelt down in the blood with a thud, looked up at the sky, cried and cheered.
This is a victory that can only make you cry, not laugh.
A tragic victory!
The Japanese pirates left more than 500 corpses in this wave of siege, and more than 400 young and strong men on the city wall were sacrificed. Most of the remaining young and strong civilians were also injured, wrapped in gauze bandages, and covered in blood.
Looking around, the city walls were in ruins, with broken armor, blood flowing like a river, and corpses strewn across the field...
"Shitou, close your eyes, we are holding on."
A strong young civilian knelt on the ground, crying and reaching out his hand to brush the eyes of his friend who died in the battle, helping him close his eyes. Beside him, his friend's body was already cold, with wounds all over his body, a feather arrow tail at the throat facing the sky, and in his hand he firmly grasped a sword with a bent blade, his eyes wide open, as if he was still fighting.
"Monkey, let go, the pirates are dead, they have been driven away."
A young and strong citizen wanted to collect the body of his neighbor Monkey, but he found that the monkey's hands were tightly grasping the neck of a dead Japanese pirate, and he could not separate them no matter what he did. He had to cry and try hard to pry the monkey's fingers apart. He almost broke the monkey's fingers but still could not separate them. In order not to hurt the monkey's fingers, he cut off the Japanese pirate's head and only then was he able to separate the two. Until the end, the monkey's fingers still kept the gesture of strangling.
There are countless scenes like this on the city wall...
"Rest in peace, heroes of Jingnan! Live forever in our memory!"
Zhu Ping'an was walking on the city wall, and when he saw these scenes, he couldn't help but burst into tears. Unable to control his emotions, he knelt on the city wall with a plop, and rested his head heavily on the ground, paying tribute to the young and strong civilians, yamen runners and soldiers who died on the city wall.
Seeing the county magistrate kneeling down to pay tribute to the civilians who died in the battle, everyone on the city wall was deeply moved. The county magistrate was an official appointed by the imperial court, so honorable, and yet he knelt down and cried bitterly to pay tribute to the civilians who died in the battle.
When I think back to the fight, the county magistrate Zhu Ping'an, a weak scholar, led the troops and never retreated a single step.
A gentleman will die for his friend.
A strong thought surged into people's minds: such a county lord is worthy of our entrusting our lives to.
“Have a nice journey!”
"Eternal glory!"
Everyone followed Zhu Ping'an and knelt down together to pay tribute to those who died on the city wall.
It is late autumn now, and the weather is hot, which makes things easy to rot and breed bacteria and viruses. If you don't pay attention, it will cause plague. In ancient times, medical technology was limited, and the awareness and level of epidemic prevention were low. If the plague spread, it would cause a large-scale outbreak and unlimited transmission, and the consequences would be even more terrible than the rampage of Japanese pirates.
Therefore, after the memorial service was completed, Zhu Ping'an ordered that a beautiful bamboo forest surrounded by mountains and rivers in Jingnan County be requisitioned as the "Jingnan Anti-Japanese Heroes Cemetery". He directed people to bury the yamen runners, soldiers and young and strong civilians who died on the city wall in the cemetery. After the war, a cemetery would be built and a monument would be erected to record the biographies, which would be recorded in the history of Jingnan forever, for people to admire and enjoy the incense and memorial services of the people of Jingnan County from generation to generation.
As for the bodies of the Japanese pirates, Zhu Ping'an ordered them to cut off their heads in front of the Japanese pirates outside the city, and then discarded them on the piled firewood for burning. On the one hand, it trained the courage of the people and made them see blood; on the other hand, it intimidated the Japanese pirates outside the city. The Japanese pirates from the island country believed in Shintoism and believed that if their heads were chopped off, their souls could not return to their homeland, could not be reincarnated, and could not ascend to heaven. Even if they were fake Japanese, as native Ming people, they also insisted on leaving a complete body so that they could be reincarnated in the next life. Not to mention that their bones were crushed and their ashes were scattered. In ancient times, only those who had deep hatred, serious sins, and extremely evil crimes would have their bones crushed and their ashes scattered. For the Japanese pirates outside the city, this was a nuclear-level psychological warfare, which made them terrified and scared.
"Take my order and recruit, no, ask the doctors in the county clinic to bring medicine and other medicines to bandage and treat the injured. All expenses will be charged to the county government. After the war, I will come to thank you and pay the expenses."
Zhu Ping'an examined the wounded one by one on the city wall, bandaged their wounds, and comforted them to recover. Noticing that the wounded lacked medical care and medicine and were suffering from trauma, Zhu Ping'an took out his seal from his bosom and asked a yamen runner to take it to ask the doctor in the clinic to treat the wounded.
"Thank you, County Master."
"Thank you, sir."
The injured people were flattered and deeply moved, and they all thanked Zhu Pingan.
Zhu Ping'an hurriedly ordered everyone to stop bowing and moving to prevent people from scratching their wounds. He praised everyone for their heroic fighting, thanked everyone for their sacrifices in defending Jingnan County, and comforted everyone to take good care of themselves.
While Zhu Ping'an was visiting the wounded, he heard a commotion coming from the steps of the city wall. Looking up, he saw hundreds of men, women and old women carrying pots and pans filled with hot meals, baskets of stones in baskets, and heavy objects such as door panels, water tanks, beams, millstones, and quilts. They broke through the obstructions and quickly walked up the city wall.
"Master Magistrate, I have brought all the elders and fellow villagers to bring you food. In order to protect us, you have fought against the vicious enemies for a whole afternoon without even a sip of water. I and all the elders have seen it and it hurts our hearts. We are also Jingnan people. We live and die with Jingnan, and we must also do our part to protect Jingnan. Master Magistrate, please eat quickly. We will help you defend the city. I heard that these Japanese pirates climbed into the city because of the shortage of stones and beams. We have plenty of these door panels, beams and stones at home. We can unload these things and carry them up to defend the city."
The leader was an old man in his seventies, with white hair and wrinkles on his face. He walked up to the city wall with a cane and spoke to Zhu Pingan and others from a distance.
"Yes, we live and die together with Jingnan, sir. We will help you defend the city, please have your meal."
The people behind the old man began to speak.
Later, more and more people rushed to the city wall, carrying door panels, stones and other heavy objects from their homes onto the wall to help defend the city.