The wind rises, the snow falls, and the Japanese arrive.
The vanguard sent by the Japanese pirates was less than 300 meters away from the Fengqiao camp. Although it was dark, the faces of the pirates could be vaguely seen from the torches they lit. They looked ferocious and crazy, arrogant and bloodthirsty.
Zhu Ping'an held his saber high, staring at the Japanese pirate vanguard in front of him without blinking, feeling a little regretful.
This group of Japanese pirates had combat experience and marched quite cautiously. They did not rush over in a swarm. The Japanese pirate army stopped about a mile in front of the Fengqiao camp and sent about six or seven hundred vanguards to Gongying to test the strength of our army.
It would be great if the Japanese pirates rushed over in a swarm. After withstanding their offensive, they could light the fuse and detonate the gunpowder in the wine jar buried 100 meters ahead, which would definitely be enough to give the Japanese pirates a hard time.
Unfortunately, the Japanese pirates were cautious and only sent 600 to 700 vanguards. This amount of Japanese pirates was not worth detonating the gunpowder in the wine jar.
The gunpowder jar is a one-time deal. After it is detonated once, the Japanese pirates will definitely increase their precautions and will not fall into the same ditch twice.
But it doesn't matter. If we eat up the Japanese pirates' vanguard, they will become angry and will definitely send more troops.
While Zhu Ping'an was keeping an eye on the Japanese pirates' vanguard, Japanese chieftains such as Xu Hai were also observing the Fengqiao camp among the pirates' army.
"There is a new low wall one person high on Fengqiao, and there is also a low wall one person high on the river bank. There is a three-story sentry fort on the east slope of Fengqiao, and there is a low wall right in front of it that connects Fengqiao, the sentry fort and Fengqiao camp. Haha, the Zhejiang Army's fortifications are really like children's play. A low wall one person high is trying to stop us. We don't even need a ladder, we can just climb over it. Except for the three-story sentry fort, which is a bit difficult, I think our 700 vanguards can take down the others."
Chen Dong walked to the front of the army to observe. He saw the Zhejiang army's low wall defenses from afar and could not help but sneered and shook his head.
"Brother Chen, the Zhejiang Army is not that simple. We must not underestimate the enemy. Look, our vanguard has already rushed to a distance of 200 meters, but the Zhejiang Army still does not move. They want to let our vanguard get closer before attacking to increase the lethality. Without sufficient courage and discipline, this cannot be done. This Zhejiang Army is not simple."
Xu Hai shook his head slightly, pointed at the Fengqiao camp, and slowly said, reminding Chen Dong and others not to underestimate the enemy.
"Haha, Brother Xu, the Zhejiang Army didn't move at all. Is it possible that they were scared silly by us?"
Maya said with a smile.
"Ha ha ha ha... ... "
As soon as Ma Ye finished speaking, a burst of laughter suddenly broke out.
"Mr. Maye, we will know whether the Zhejiang Army is frightened or not soon. Our vanguard has already rushed to a distance of 150 meters."
Hojo Dosan had taken out a fan from his arms at some point, and opened it quickly. There were pictures of the sun, the moon and the Big Dipper on it. He pointed at the vanguard who had already rushed to the Zhejiang army's formation 150 meters ahead and said.
"We are already within the range of the Zhejiang Army's crossbows. Why haven't they made any moves yet?! Were we really scared by what Brother Ma Ye said?! Otherwise, why haven't they fired any arrows?!"
Chen Dong watched as the vanguard rushed to a distance of 150 meters in front of the Zhejiang army. The Zhejiang army still did not move at all and did not shoot a single arrow. He was stunned for a moment, then said with half confusion and half sneering.
"Hahahaha, I was just joking, but I didn't know the Zhejiang Army was so weak. I was actually scared silly!"
Maye shook her head and burst into laughter.
"Yes, we have investigated before. Isn't the commander of the Zhejiang Army the newly crowned number one scholar of the imperial court? He is only in his early twenties. It is normal for a weak scholar to be scared when he sees such a big battle for the first time. But I didn't expect that this guy is not as good as Zhao Kuo, who is good at talking about war on paper. Zhao Kuo has fought against the killing god Bai Qi for several months. This guy was scared when he just met us. He is really a useless scholar."
Chen Dong thought about the situation he had investigated before, that the commander of the Zhejiang Army was a young scholar. He couldn't help but think that there was a high possibility that he was frightened silly, and he sneered.
"Are you really scared?!"
Xu Hai was also a little unsure at this time. The vanguard had already rushed to the range of the Zhejiang Army's bows and crossbows, so why weren't the Zhejiang Army moving
"Haha, I said Brother Xu was too cautious and overestimated them." Ma Ye smiled, hugging his arms.
"Yo! It's settled! The men have already rushed to a distance of 100 meters, and are already within the range of our Japanese bows. Look, Haneda Heitaro in the vanguard has led 100 archers, drawing their bows and shooting arrows to suppress the Ming army and escort the rest of the men to charge into the battle formation."
Hojo Dosan said happily when he saw a hundred archers from the vanguard of the Japanese pirates suppressing the low wall of the Zhejiang army.
"Well done!" Chen Dong and Ma Ye also nodded happily.
Xu Hai frowned slightly, vaguely feeling that something was wrong. The Zhejiang Army should not be so incompetent.
In front, the vanguard of the Japanese pirates had rushed to a distance of one hundred meters from the Zhejiang army. Heitaro Haneda and a hundred archers stopped at a distance of one hundred meters, lined up in a horizontal line, each holding a Japanese bow as tall as a person. They took out a feather arrow from the quiver at their waist, drew the bow and shot towards the low wall. Liu Dadao hurriedly raised his shield to protect Zhu Ping'an.
Behind the low wall, the Zhejiang soldiers in the back row also took out their shields and tilted them up to protect their comrades in front and themselves.
One hundred arrows were shot sparsely at the target with great force and good accuracy. Out of more than one hundred arrows, at least ninety of them were shot in the right direction.
However, the Zhejiang army was protected by a low wall as high as a person, shields, and cotton armor with a large protective area.
Most of the Japanese pirates' arrows hit the low wall, and those that were shot straight at the faces were blocked by the shields. The thrown arrows fell behind the low wall and nailed the unprepared Zhejiang soldiers, but were also blocked by the Zhejiang soldiers' cotton armor.
This round of arrows from the Japanese pirates did not cause any harm to the Zhejiang army.
Heitaro Haneda was not depressed at all. On the contrary, he had a smile on his face, because under the cover of his feather arrows, the vanguard of the Japanese pirates rushed forward more than ten meters. Another round of feather arrows would be enough to cover the vanguard and rush within fifty meters.
A distance of fifty meters, which only takes a few breaths, will determine the outcome.
"Shoot again!"
Heitaro Haneda gave a loud order.
The Japanese pirates under his command followed his orders and drew their bows and shot arrows again. Like the previous round, this round did not cause any damage to the Zhejiang army. Only one unlucky Zhejiang soldier was shot in the hand by the arrow.
Heitaro Haneda was very excited because the striker had already rushed within fifty meters.
"Abandon the bow and kill them!"
Heitaro Haneda shouted, threw away the longbow in his hand, drew his Japanese sword and rushed forward. His subordinate Okuo followed closely behind him, threw down his longbows, and charged forward with his Japanese swords.
Just as Haneda Heitarou rushed forward a few steps, he heard the Ming commander in front of him shouting "Fire!"
Then, I saw dazzling flames on the low wall in front, followed by a deafening "bang bang bang" sound of gunfire.
And then, nothing happened.
Haneda Heitaro watched as the Japanese pirates who had rushed to the front of the Zhejiang Army about 30 meters away fell down like wheat. In just the blink of an eye, at least one-third of the Japanese pirates fell to the ground.