The Cherry Orchard is located outside the Nanguo of Yingtian. It is not a pass, nor does it have any natural barriers such as mountains, rivers, cliffs, etc. It is just a piece of open space outside the Nanguo of Yingtian. It is located on the only way from Jiangning to Yingtian. There are several large cherry orchards nearby, so the locals call this area the Cherry Orchard.
The Japanese pirates from Shangyu attacked Yingtian from Jiangning Town. They had to pass through the Cherry Garden before they could enter Yingtian!
It was the middle of winter. At noon, the weather was gloomy. There were no dark clouds, but there was no sun either. The fierce north wind swept up dead branches and leaves from time to time, howling and raging in the wilderness.
The winter in the south of the Yangtze River is also very cold, especially when the north wind blows, the damp coldness penetrates into the bone marrow.
At this moment, more than 1,300 Ming troops were stationed in front of the cherry orchard outside the south gate of Yingtian, ready to attack the Japanese pirates.
These Ming army soldiers were all strong and well-equipped. They were all wearing armor and equipped with swords, spears, bows and crossbows. There were also two hundred musketeers, and even a cannon placed in the array.
These soldiers were the eight hundred elite soldiers carefully selected by Hu Zongxian from the Zhenwei Camp under his command, as well as the five hundred elite soldiers composed of one hundred elite soldiers each from each of the Beijing camps under the order of the Minister of War Zhang Jing, forming the Cherry Garden Blocking Army.
After Hu Zongxian selected 800 elite soldiers from the Zhenwei Camp, he gathered all the armor and weapons in the camp and armed them fully. After receiving the news that the Japanese pirates had captured Jiangning, he sent a letter to the Minister of War Zhang Jing to request a battle, while at the same time he led the 800 elite soldiers to the Cherry Orchard outside the south gate of Yingtian - the only way from Jiangning to Yingtian.
We should wait for the Japanese invaders to tire themselves out and prepare for war!
After the arrival of 500 elite soldiers drawn from various Beijing camps, Hu Zongxian immediately incorporated them into the team.
After the battle array was completed, Hu Zongxian, wearing armor and holding a long sword, stood at the forefront of the soldiers and gave an impassioned speech filled with righteous indignation:
"My fellow soldiers, the Japanese pirates are mad and cruel. Since they landed in Shangyu, they have caused harm thousands of miles away, burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil. Their methods are cruel, and they have lost humanity and human relations. Their crimes are too numerous to list! Not to mention the distant ones, in Jiangning, which is right in front of us, blood flowed for ten miles, tens of thousands of corpses were buried, and the entire city was burned down by the Japanese pirates. This hatred is irreconcilable! If we don't kill all the Japanese pirates, it will not be enough to repay the emperor. If we don't kill all the Japanese pirates, it will not be enough to commemorate the souls of the fathers, villagers, brothers and sisters who were killed by the Japanese pirates!"
Hu Zongxian's speech was full of anger and sincerity. He severely denounced the numerous crimes of the Japanese pirates in Shangyu and called on all soldiers to kill them.
However, human joys and sorrows are not universal, and the soldiers did not react strongly. Only less than half of them were infected by Hu Zongxian's indignant words and shouted to kill the pirates. The remaining majority of soldiers felt that they were unlucky. There were so many people in the battalion, why were they chosen to stop the pirates? You should know that this group of pirates was not an ordinary group of pirates. They were all highly skilled in martial arts and killed people without blinking an eye! Since they landed, they have fought thousands of miles and killed countless officers, soldiers and civilians!
Hu Zongxian glanced at the soldiers, taking in their expressions, then raised his right hand vigorously and announced loudly: "All soldiers, I promise you that in this battle, I will live and die with you! For every Japanese pirate killed, I will reward you with 100 taels of silver! If there are casualties in this battle, the compensation will be tripled! Whether it is the reward or the compensation, all will be paid in full, not a single copper coin will be less!"
Upon hearing this, all the soldiers began to breathe as hard as old cows! Their eyes seemed to be filled with bloodshot!
Their military pay is only a few taels of silver in a year! Now, for every Japanese pirate killed, there is a reward of one hundred taels of silver!!! And Lord Hu has guaranteed to pay it in full!
"Sir Hu, isn't it a bit inappropriate to reward one hundred taels of silver for every Japanese pirate killed? This year, the emperor's special reward for the head of a real Japanese pirate is only fifty taels of silver at most."
Commander-in-chief of the Zhenwei Camp, Lord Zhang, came up to Hu Zongxian and gently reminded him that he felt the reward announced by Hu Zongxian was too high!
Normally, if a soldier killed a Japanese pirate, the emperor would reward him with 50 taels of silver. After passing through the government offices that distributed the silver, only 40 taels would be left in their camp. Then the generals would exploit them layer by layer, and the soldiers would only get 20 taels at most. Now Hu Zongxian was actually going to pay the full amount of 100 taels?! Lord Zhang was so distressed that he almost had a heart attack, and couldn't help but remind Hu Zongxian.
"Well, one hundred taels of silver is indeed not appropriate." Hu Zongxian nodded slightly.
It is a great virtue to correct one's mistakes as soon as one realizes them. Lord Zhang smiled slightly and just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Hu Zongxian shouting to the soldiers: "Everyone, Lord Zhang is right. It is indeed a bit inappropriate to offer a reward of 100 taels of silver for each Japanese pirate killed. I will correct the reward amount to 200 taels of silver for each Japanese pirate killed!"
When Lord Zhang heard this, his eyes went dark and he almost fainted! Two hundred taels, two hundred taels, you spendthrift! No, no, my heart aches, it aches so much, I'm dying of heartache.
What?! Every time a Japanese pirate is killed, there is a reward of 200 taels of silver!!!! Attention, attention, it is not 100 taels, but 200 taels!!!!"
As expected, all the brave men were rewarded with huge rewards. The soldiers could no longer hold back and shouted excitedly:
"Kill the Japanese pirates!"
"Kill the Japanese pirates!"
The soldiers were so excited by the huge reward announced by Hu Zongxian that they shouted loudly, their voices resounding like a tsunami, resounding through the sky.
Although the Japanese pirates are fierce and murderous, they are worth a lot of silver! And we have more people!
good!
Military spirit available!
Hu Zongxian saw everyone shouting and clamoring to kill the Japanese pirates, nodded slightly, and looked towards Jiangning in the south with full confidence. Japanese pirates, today I will bury you under this cherry orchard!
Taking advantage of the army's morale, Hu Zongxian ordered his soldiers to dig a deep pit across the road three meters behind them. The pit was four meters wide and eight meters deep, running across the backs of the soldiers.
Hu Zongxian stood in front of the ditch and shouted to everyone: "The ancients said: Fight with your back to the water, and you will survive if you put yourself in danger! Today, it is no different! My fellow soldiers, this deep ditch is four meters wide and eight meters deep, and it is difficult to cross easily. Today, we will fight with our backs to the ditch! In this battle, we can only advance and not retreat! In this battle, I will be with you! In this battle, we swear to destroy the Japanese pirates here! In this battle, we will use the heads of the Japanese pirates to commemorate the souls of the fathers and villagers who were killed!"
"Fight in Beigou and swear to destroy the Japanese pirates!"
"Fight in Beigou and swear to destroy the Japanese pirates!"
A group of soldiers followed suit and shouted, the noise was earth-shaking and their morale was extremely high.