"Well done! You're finally here! My sword has been thirsting for so long."
When Nao Nabeshima heard that the Ming army was coming, he grinned with joy, got out of bed, and with the help of Matsuura Sanbanro, put on a big hat, a lion-bite helmet, and went to the courtyard with a samurai sword.
This set of daikai was once worn by Ryuzoji Takanobu, and was specially given to Naoko Nabeshima before departure.
After putting on the armor, Naoshima Naoshima looked extremely heroic. He felt the power being transferred from the armor to his body, which increased his combat power.
Matsuura Sanbanro was also wearing a set of armor. Although it was not as gorgeous as that of Naoshima Naoshi, it was also a valuable full-body heavy armor passed down from the Matsuura family. Its defensive power must be better than that of Dakai. The armor rate of other Japanese pirates was about one-third, and most of their armor was light armor. The other Japanese pirates had no armor and wore cloth clothes and were barefoot.
The Japanese pirates in the courtyard were already ready for battle. Dozens of them carrying bows stood on chairs, with half of their heads sticking out of the courtyard wall, stretching out their hands to draw their bows. There were also ten Japanese pirates holding cannons, occupying the commanding heights on the third floor, with the muzzles of their guns facing outwards. The remaining Japanese pirates were engaged in close combat, holding swords, naginatas, spears and other weapons in their hands, ready to go.
Although there were only 150 Japanese pirates, they were all eager to fight and no one showed fear on their face.
"Hey, you bastards, good job!" Naoko Nabeshima looked at the Japanese pirates and praised them with a satisfied grin.
"General Zhinan, please look, the Ming army is less than a mile away." Matsuura Sanbanro said, pointing outside.
Nao Nabeshima looked up and saw that a large number of Ming troops were advancing towards here.
Naoko Nabeshima roughly counted them and found that there were about 2,000 people. He grinned, "Yo! Now my sword can be full of blood!" Then he turned around and shouted to the Japanese pirates in the courtyard, "You bastards, there are only 150 of us, and there are more than 2,000 Ming troops outside. Are you afraid?!"
“Don’t be afraid!”
"Afraid?! We are afraid that the Ming army is not strong enough for us to kill! I heard that the Ming army is as weak as monkeys..."
The Japanese pirates in the courtyard laughed arrogantly, and ignored the Ming army that came to encircle and suppress them outside the courtyard.
“Hahaha, you evil, inhuman bastards, you are worthy of being my good sons of Yamato!” Naoko Kobe laughed with satisfaction, pointed at the Ming army that was arriving late, and said arrogantly: “When the Ming army comes, I will lead you bastards to kill them happily!”
"kill!"
"kill!"
"kill!"
The Japanese pirates in the courtyard were waving their weapons, each of them was murderous, and their faces were as ferocious as wolves.
"General Zhinan, everyone, when this wave of Ming troops arrives, if the Ming army is strong, we only need to defend the courtyard to save ourselves, and make rafts at night, and attack the Ming army at night, cross the river and escape; if the Ming army is weak, then don't kill them too hard, hold back a little, and don't scare them away. This is our first contact with the Ming army, and the opportunity is rare. I want to observe and study the situation of the Ming army. After today, you can kill as much as you want."
Matsuura Sanbanrou looked calmly at the fanatical Naoko Nabeshima and the group of Japanese pirates, and gave advice in a calm and steady manner.
"Sanbanlang, I'll listen to you!" Naoko Nabeshima nodded and said to the pirates, "I've heard what General Sanbanlang said! When the Ming people come, hold back a little and don't miss the important task of spying on the Ming Dynasty!"
"Hi!"
The Japanese pirates said in unison.
Somewhere outside the courtyard, more than 2,000 Ming troops were advancing towards the courtyard. Their military uniforms clearly divided them into two parts.
One part was the troops led by Liu Xi, the prefect of Shaoxing, with a total of more than a thousand people, of which four hundred were from Shaoxing Prefecture, and the other six hundred were informal troops such as yamen runners and civilians recruited from the eight counties within the jurisdiction.
The other part was a thousand garrison soldiers led by the garrison commander Xu Ziyi.
Prefect Liu and Captain Xu did not agree to join forces to encircle and suppress the Japanese pirates, but instead led their troops separately.
There were more than a hundred people surviving in Funing Town (the town where Naoko Kojima and his group of Japanese pirates had caused trouble). After escaping from the butcher knife of the Japanese pirates, they spread the news that the Japanese pirates had landed and killed Funing Town. Shaoxing prefect Liu Xi and Wei Suo Qian Hu Xu Ziyi learned the news almost at the same time. After learning that there were only more than a hundred Japanese pirates who landed, Shaoxing prefect Liu Xi and Wei Suo Qian Hu Xu Ziyi both came to a conclusion: this was a good opportunity to make a contribution!
Recently, under the connivance and instigation of Wang Zhi, the Japanese pirate leader, the Japanese pirates have gone crazy, and the frequency of landing and harassing the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas has greatly increased. The number of times Shaoxing Prefecture has been attacked by Japanese pirates has increased nearly ten times compared to previous years. Shaoxing prefect Liu Xi and the captain of the garrison Xu Ziyi are under great pressure.
The position of prefect in Ming Dynasty is equivalent to that of a high-ranking official who concurrently serves as the mayor of a prefecture-level city. He holds a high position and has great responsibilities. He is in charge of the government orders of the prefecture and the counties under his jurisdiction. He is responsible for announcing national orders, governing the people, adjudicating lawsuits, investigating traitors, assessing subordinates, collecting taxes and other government affairs. Of course, the most important responsibility is to protect the country and the people. Nowadays, Japanese pirates have repeatedly harassed the counties of Shaoxing Prefecture, causing serious casualties and property losses to the people. How can Liu Xi, the prefect, not be under great pressure
The Ming Dynasty's Wei Suo was to some extent equivalent to a small military district today, shouldering the responsibility of garrison. One of the main areas that Xu Ziyi, the captain of the Wei Suo, was responsible for garrisoning was Shaoxing Prefecture. Now the Japanese pirates were harassing Shaoxing Prefecture like crazy. As the captain of the Wei Suo, Xu Ziyi was under great pressure.
During this period, the number of Japanese pirates who attacked Shaoxing Prefecture was often more than a thousand, and at least five or six hundred. Prefect Liu and Captain Xu wanted to kill the Japanese, but they had limited manpower and combat effectiveness, so they were powerless.
Now, hearing that a group of more than one hundred Japanese pirates had landed, he immediately felt that this was an opportunity to catch the pirates in one fell swoop and make a great contribution.
In the past, when Japanese pirates landed and attacked, they would inform each other, reach a consensus, and join forces to drive out the pirates.
But this time it's different.
This was an opportunity to make merit. After learning the news, they further confirmed that the news was true and that there were indeed only more than a hundred Japanese pirates. They did not think of notifying the other party to join forces, but each mobilized troops and rushed to wipe out the Japanese pirates and make merit. They met the other party while walking on this road.
Haha, what a coincidence.
Prefect Liu and Captain Xu were inevitably a little embarrassed, but both of them were experts in officialdom and could handle this awkward situation with ease.
"Captain Xu, when I heard that Funing Town in my jurisdiction was captured by Japanese pirates, I felt sorry for the people and was afraid that the Japanese pirates would cause more killings. I did not have time to inform Captain Xu, so I mobilized troops to wipe out the Japanese pirates."
Prefect Liu said with a sad face.
"Prefect Liu, I heard that Japanese pirates had landed in Funing Town. I was worried that they would plunder other places, so I hurriedly summoned the troops from the garrison to wipe out the pirates. I was so eager to wipe out the pirates that I didn't have time to inform Prefect Liu."
Captain Xu clasped his hands together, with a look of responsibility on his face.