The sun had already set, and in the blood-red afterglow, Nao Nabeshima and Sanbanro Matsuura led fifty-seven Japanese pirates and marched along the official road straight towards Yingtian City. Their steps were extremely leisurely, pointing their fingers at the nearby Yingtian city, talking and laughing. It did not seem like they were sieging the city, but rather like they were on a spring outing.
The Japanese pirates walked leisurely, but the people in Yingtian City were not so leisurely. They looked at the Japanese pirates walking leisurely outside the city and felt as if they were facing a great enemy. They were so frightened and nervous that their scalps were numb and their heartbeats were accelerating.
With every leisurely step the Japanese pirates brought closer to the city, the officials and people in the city became more nervous and fearful.
When the Japanese pirates appeared within an arrow's reach of Yingtian City and their hideous faces could be clearly seen from the city wall, the panic in Yingtian City reached its peak.
This group of Japanese pirates was extremely arrogant and terrifying. The leader was wearing a gorgeous Japanese-style armor decorated with red patterns and holding a shining Japanese sword. What frightened everyone the most was that this leader was holding a bright yellow umbrella and riding a captured warhorse, which was extremely visually impactful.
Zhang Huanggai in red riding a horse!
What a powerful person! Zhang Huang Gai is the emperor's support. The Japanese pirates' invasion of Yingtian, the secondary capital, has already dealt a great blow to the Ming Dynasty. Now the Japanese leader has even usurped the emperor's support. This is not just an ordinary slap in the face, this is stepping on the Ming Dynasty's face and rubbing it again and again! In addition, he especially stepped on the face of Emperor Jiajing and spat a mouthful of thick phlegm.
When the officials on the Yingtian city wall saw the Japanese chief's attire, they all turned pale. They knew that once this scene was reported to Emperor Jiajing, the emperor's wrath would be doubled.
When the emperor was angry, millions of people died. I don't know how many of the colleagues present would lose their official hats! When the Japanese pirates invaded Yingtian City, a large number of officials in Nanzhili, Jiangsu and Zhejiang would lose their official hats. Now that the Japanese chieftains are so presumptuous, I'm afraid that more than double the official hats will be lost...
These officials did not feel deeply about how much harm the Japanese pirates did to ordinary people. It was just a number and at most they expressed a few words of regret and sorrow. But now it concerns their official hats, and they feel it from the bottom of their hearts.
"Oh, woe! Great disaster is about to happen!"
"How dare the Japanese chieftain insult the Ming Dynasty like this! Such a lunatic deserves to be cut into pieces! Your Majesty, I am ashamed of you!"
"The Japanese leader is so arrogant, the emperor will surely be furious. What should we do now? What should we do?!"
All the officials present were beating their chests and stamping their feet as if they had lost their parents. They were much more nervous and frightened than ordinary people.
Except for the Japanese leader, the rest of the pirates were also wearing ferocious Japanese armor, holding Japanese swords, long swords and other ferocious weapons. The Mediterranean hairstyle of the Japanese pirates looked like the devils in hell with disheveled hair in the eyes of the officials and civilians on the city wall. The long swords held by the Japanese pirates were almost twice as long as the waist swords of the Ming army, and the longbows carried by the Japanese pirates were almost as tall as a person, which made them look even more ferocious and frightened the officials and civilians on the city wall.
In addition, this group of fierce Japanese pirates also pulled three carriages, which were covered with black tarpaulin. It was unknown what was underneath. The officials and civilians on the city wall were terrified, and some were curious about what the Japanese pirates were pulling.
"What are the Japanese pirates pulling? Gunpowder?! Are they trying to use gunpowder to blow up the city walls?!"
Someone murmured quietly.
However, people were not very worried about this speculation. First, it was difficult for the Japanese pirates to get close to the city wall to blast, and second, the power of gunpowder was limited. These three carts of gunpowder seemed a lot, but they couldn't blow up the city wall. Indeed, the power of gunpowder in this era was limited, and the proportion formula was different from that of modern black gunpowder. The gunpowder formula of this era was also mixed with some cinnabar, poisonous smoke and other messy debris, and the proportion was not pure, so the power of the blast was far worse. "
"Could it be that the pirates are carrying food and supplies?"
The people on the city walls considered this possibility again, wondering if the pirates were pulling their food and supplies. Were the pirates planning to lay siege to Yingtian City for a long time?! But no matter how good they were at fighting, they only had about fifty people. Besides, the pirates were evil, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of evil. Why would they need food and supplies? If they were hungry, they would just go to the surrounding villages and towns to rob. That's what they always did.
Therefore, people are skeptical about this speculation.
What on earth was being pulled by the pirates' carriage? Everyone on the city wall was filled with fear and kept guessing.
The answer was soon revealed.
After the Japanese pirates arrived at the city, they drove their carriages forward.
"Shoot! Shoot! Don't let the pirates get close. Don't give them the chance to perform any tricks!"
"Shoot!"
Shi Pengfei, the right vice minister of the Ministry of War, and several generals shouted almost in unison, ordering the defenders to shoot arrows!
whoosh whoosh whoosh
The Ming army on the city wall responded by shooting arrows.
Suddenly, a wave of feather arrows flew down, but the effect was really not satisfactory. Only about one-fifth of the feather arrows were of normal level, and the other two-thirds of the feather arrows were either shot too close or too far off.
The Japanese pirates laughed at the Ming army's arrows. They were not nervous at all because they had already estimated the distance and stopped outside the range of the Ming army's arrows. Only one-fifth of the Ming army's arrows landed two or three meters in front of them, and the others either fell to the ground too weak or went astray.
"Only one-fifth of the arrows are barely passable. Haha, are these the Imperial Guards of the Ming Dynasty?! Their archery skills are not much better than those of the county soldiers! It seems that the Imperial Guards of the Ming Dynasty are nothing to worry about."
Matsuura Sanbanrou roughly counted the number of arrows, curled the corners of his mouth, and sneered with disdain.
"Haha, this trip to Yingtian was not in vain. The Ming Dynasty's imperial guards are just like this, mostly incompetent. In the future, Your Highness can rest assured and lead the army forward." Naoko Kojima also laughed.
"The Ming army is not a concern, but the city of Ming is really huge. Such a huge city is really an eye-opener for me. I once followed the head of the family to Shangjing, but Shangjing was far inferior to this."
Matsuura Sanbanrou looked at Yingtian City and sighed.
"Haha, no matter how tall a city is, it will be conquered one day. Let's give it a try this time." Naoko Kojima licked his lips, turned his head and waved to the Japanese pirates driving the carriage, and ordered, "Send the gift to the Ming people."
Several Japanese pirates driving the carts shouted, slapped the horses' buttocks hard, drove the horses forward, and at the same time lifted the tarpaulin with force.
"Hahaha, Mingren, we have come from afar and have brought a small gift. It is not a token of respect, but I hope you will accept it and do your work."
Nao Nabeshima laughed loudly and shouted to the officials and people in Amagi. His laughter was extremely hideous and terrifying.
After being flattered, the horse ran forward in fright, and the tarpaulin was then uncovered by the Japanese pirates, and the things on the carriage were immediately seen by the officials and people of Yingtian City.
“Ah?! A human head! It’s a human head!”
"Oh my god, they are all human heads. I am so scared..."
"ah!!!!!"
When the people on the city wall saw three carts full of human heads, they screamed uncontrollably, and the panic increased a hundredfold! Many timid officials and civilians were frightened to the point of peeing their pants, and even a weak official fainted from fear. The people around him slapped him in the face and pinched his Ren Zhong. After a series of operations, he was rescued, but the atmosphere of panic increased again, spreading like a plague across the city walls in an instant.