The setting sun was as red as blood, sinking to the west like a drowning person. In the blood-red afterglow, a group of crows circled over Funing Town, croaking excitedly.
As scavengers, they are so excited! Because they smell the taste of a feast!
Below the flock of crows was a courtyard of a wooden building. In the courtyard was a group of Japanese pirates, half of them sleeping on the ground, and the other half keeping watch with weapons. The open space in front of the courtyard was a river of blood. More than a thousand Ming soldiers surrounded the courtyard about fifty meters away. In the open space behind the Ming army, 378 corpses of Ming soldiers were placed.
These were not all the bodies of the Ming army. There were still dozens of bodies of the Ming army in front of the gate of the courtyard occupied by the Japanese pirates. However, due to the fear of the Japanese pirates' longbows and iron cannons, no living Ming army dared to step forward to collect the bodies of their comrades, for fear that they would fail to collect the bodies and end up being dead themselves.
Crows flew over the corpses, circling, chattering, and salivating...
When the sunset completely sank into the ground, a team of seven or eight hundred people came from afar and joined the Ming army.
Suddenly, a burst of excited noise came from the Ming army, and the low morale of the Ming army was immediately greatly improved.
In the courtyard.
Nao Nabeshima, holding a Japanese sword, stood on the steps, looking at the excited Ming army outside the courtyard, and sneered with disdain, "What nonsense! No matter how many sheep come, they are still sheep! They can't change their fate of being eaten!"
"Haha, isn't there a book called Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the Ming Dynasty? There is a sentence in it that is very suitable for them."
Matsuura Sanbanro also looked at the Ming army outside the courtyard who were excited about receiving reinforcements with a sneer on his face, and sneered.
"Oh, what book is this? Is it a military book like the Thirty-Six Strategies?" Nao Nabeshima asked curiously.
"It's not a military book, but it's better than a military book. There are many of these books in the Ming Dynasty. We can get them by robbing a study room someday. When we complete our mission and return across the sea, the journey will be long, and the straight man general can study them a little."
Matsuura Sanbanrou replied.
"Hey, Your Highness has repeatedly told me to read more books. This time, let's start with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms." Naoko Kojima nodded, and then he remembered what Matsuura Sanbanrou had just said, and asked again, "You just said that there is a sentence in this book that is very suitable for them. Which sentence is it?"
"In the section of 'Guan Yu made three promises at Tuntu Hill to rescue Cao Cao from the siege' in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu, the Martial Saint, took one look at Yan Liang, who had made Cao's army look disgraced, and said to Cao Cao, 'I think Yan Liang is someone who is ready to be put up as a stake and sold as a head!'" Matsuura Sanbanro loved reading The Romance of the Three Kingdoms so much that he could almost recite it by heart.
"Selling one's head?! Hahaha, what the Martial Saint said is really apt. Aren't the Ming troops outside selling their heads?!"
Upon hearing this, Nao Nabeshima burst into laughter.
"General Nao, when the Ming army's reinforcements arrived just now, I counted silently. The Ming army's reinforcements this time are about 800 people, and more than half of them are carrying bows and arrows. If my guess is correct, the Ming army will attack the tower with rockets tonight." Matsuura Sanbanrou said softly after Nao Kōbō stopped laughing.
"Eight hundred reinforcements are nothing but eight hundred traitors. Rockets? Haha, fire is ten thousand times more dangerous than the Ming army, but before their fire attack, we had already crossed the river, didn't we?!" Nao Nabeshima smiled disapprovingly.
"Haha, that's true." Matsuura Sanbanro also laughed. "The Ming army lost their courage after the daytime battle. Even if they want to attack with fire, they will choose to do it around the third watch of the night, when we are 'sleeping'. Unfortunately, what they don't know is that we will build rafts and break through the river at the second watch."
Ha ha ha ha... ...
Nao Nabeshima and Sanbanrou Matsuura looked at each other and burst into laughter.
Finally, night fell and the sky and the earth were shrouded in darkness. Because it was cloudy, there was not a single star in the sky and it was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of you.
In the temporary camp of the Ming army, under the orders of Liu Zhifu and Xu Qianhu, the Ming army worked overtime in the tent to make rockets, wrapped the arrowheads with cotton and dipped them in grease. The reason why Liu Zhifu and Xu Qianhua ordered the Ming army to make rockets in the tent was to avoid being discovered by the Japanese pirates and leaking the plan of fire attack tonight.
"Your Excellency, we have completed the production of 5,000 rockets." A general reported to Magistrate Liu and Captain Xu.
"Okay! This night next year will be the death anniversary of these evil Japanese pirates!" Magistrate Liu said confidently.
"The tall buildings occupied by the Japanese pirates are made of solid wood. If these rockets are fired, they will be killed without a burial place!"
Captain Xu was equally confident.
"Sir, the tall building is made of solid wood, but there is also a courtyard with a lot of open space. If the Japanese pirates can escape from the tall building to the courtyard in time, they may be able to save their lives." A general pointed out the loophole.
"Yeah..." Captain Xu frowned when he heard that.
"Haha, didn't I tell you to cut down some wood?! When you attack with fire, throw all the wood into the courtyard, and you won't have to worry about not burning the pirates to death!"
Governor Liu said with a smile that he had already made preparations in advance to deal with the generals' concerns.
"Prefect Liu is wise!" Captain Xu and the other generals looked at Prefect Liu with admiration and praised him highly.
“No, no…” Magistrate Liu said modestly with a smile.
"Captain Xu, everyone, at three o'clock tonight is the time to launch a fire attack on the Japanese pirates. Do not miss the opportunity, otherwise you will be subject to military law!" Finally, Governor Liu said to Captain Xu and the generals with a serious face.
"Yes, sir!"
Everyone said in unison.
Next, under the orders of Prefect Liu and Captain Xu, the Ming army had their meal early. Except for the 800 Ming soldiers on duty who continued to be on guard, the rest of the Ming army rested early, recuperated, and waited for the third watch to launch a fire attack on the Japanese pirates.
At this moment, while the Ming army was recuperating, the Japanese pirates had already built ten rafts in a hidden room in the courtyard they occupied. This wooden building was built with solid wood, and the wooden doors, tables and chairs were everywhere, and the Japanese pirates built ten simple rafts without any effort.
It was the first watch. It was pitch black and silent.
It was the second watch, and the sky was getting darker! Except for the eight hundred Ming soldiers on duty, the rest of the Ming soldiers had fallen asleep.
Neither Magistrate Liu nor Captain Xu slept. They watched the direction of the courtyard and waited for the third watch.
At this moment, there was no light in the courtyard occupied by the Japanese pirates.
"Haha, Governor Liu, I think the Japanese pirates have already fallen asleep." Captain Xu looked at the pitch-black courtyard from afar and said with a smile.
"That should be it." Prefect Liu nodded with a smile.
However, just as they finished speaking, they heard the sound of killing from the back of the courtyard, and screams and cries of grief came from the Ming army camp on the east side of the river, and then they saw flames rising into the sky, and the whole place was red!
"What's going on?!"
The faces of Prefect Liu and Captain Xu changed drastically at the same time, as if they were struck by lightning.
Japanese pirates!
The Japanese pirates actually came out from the courtyard! !
Damn it!
How did the Japanese pirates suddenly appear? ! Why don't you just wait until the third watch and let us attack you with fire? !
besides!
Why did the Japanese pirates attack eastwards? To the east is the wide and deep Qishui River. Did the Japanese pirates want to commit suicide by jumping into the river
Prefect Liu and Captain Xu were shocked, anxious and confused, and hurriedly mobilized troops to support the Ming army in the east.
However, when they hastily gathered reinforcements and had not yet set out, a blood-stained Ming general came to report, "Report, the Japanese pirates climbed over the east wall, attacked our army, killed more than 200 of our soldiers, and have crossed the river on rafts to the east..."
Cross the river on a raft?!
When Prefect Liu heard the news, he felt dizzy and fell to the ground...