The Japanese pirates were attacked from both sides, with arrows raining down from the city walls and the Zhejiang army's dense and well-organized firearms causing heavy casualties.
However, the Japanese pirates turned around and bit desperately like wolves trapped in a desperate situation.
When Xu Hai tore off his disguise and commanded the Japanese pirates to attack the Zhejiang army, the Japanese pirates in the city heard the noise and also took action.
Xu Hai had already given them orders that if they heard shouting and killing outside the city, they were to act immediately without any mistakes.
The previous second, the Japanese pirates disguised as Ming army were drinking meat soup and eating fried cakes, occasionally telling dirty jokes with the Ming army around them, looking very happy. But the next second, these Japanese pirates threw the meat soup and fried cakes in their hands on the faces of the Ming army. While the Ming army was in a panic in the hot soup, some of the Japanese pirates went up to snatch the weapons of the Ming army, while others picked up the weapons they placed not far away and killed the Ming army by surprise.
The Ming army was poorly trained and had weak combat capabilities. They were no match for the Japanese pirates. They were suddenly attacked by the pirates and almost collapsed.
The Ming troops guarding the city were quickly killed and repelled by the Japanese pirates. They fled in panic within the city or back to the city walls.
The Japanese pirates had already made plans, and Xu Hai had already given them orders that once they took action, their main focus would be to kidnap high-ranking Ming army officials and occupy the city gates.
At this moment, the Japanese pirates in the city divided half of their forces to seize and occupy the city gate, and the other half rushed to the top of the city.
Firstly, all the high-ranking officials of the Ming people were on the top of the city wall, so they had to capture the leader first and kill them and hold them hostage; secondly, the Ming army would certainly not sit idly by and watch them occupy the city gate and would definitely attack them, so they might as well strike first; thirdly, attacking the top of the city wall could also attract the firepower of the Ming army on the top of the city wall and share the pressure on the leaders outside the city.
"Damn it, how could I forget about these people in the city! Fortunately, there are soldiers guarding the city. Quickly, organize some more troops to support us. We must quickly wipe them out and control the city gates to prevent them from causing chaos."
Hearing the birdsong and cries of killing coming from the city, Prefect Shang broke out in a cold sweat like a rainstorm and felt extremely remorseful. He hurriedly ordered his deputy general to organize troops and cooperate with the Ming army guarding the city to quickly wipe out the Japanese pirates who were causing chaos in the city.
However, before the deputy general could organize his troops, he saw that the Japanese pirates in the city had easily defeated the Ming army guarding the city, seized the city gate, and even divided half of their forces to rush towards the top of the city.
"Damn it! How could the Japanese pirates be so brave and good at fighting? Quickly, gather all the troops in the city and wipe them out!"
"Order the two nearby city gates to dispatch 1,000 soldiers each, and attack the Japanese pirates in the city from the alleys and alleys."
"Everyone, for every Japanese pirate killed, in addition to the rewards given by His Majesty, I will give you an additional fifty taels of silver!"
Prefect Shang was stunned by the bravery of the Japanese pirates. Seeing them chopping down the Ming army like chopping melons and vegetables, he was terrified. He hurriedly ordered his deputy general to mobilize the Ming army on the city wall to wipe out the Japanese pirates. He also ordered people to dispatch reinforcements from the two nearby city gates and issued a generous reward to encourage the Ming army to fight.
As the saying goes, there is always a brave man under a big reward. Stimulated by the big reward from Governor Shang, the Ming army on the city wall regained their courage.
The defenders on the city wall, especially the archers and musketeers, were almost all mobilized by the deputy general to deal with the Japanese pirates in the city.
This immediately reduced the pressure on the Japanese pirates such as Xu Hai outside the city.
"The defenders on the city wall have no time to take care of us. At this moment, we are the only enemy left!"
"Today, either they die or we die! Although the Zhejiang Army's firearms are powerful, we are in the wild. They have no shelter and are slow to reload. There is only a distance of more than 50 meters between us. If we rush over, they will die. Their firearms are just a fire stick! If we can't rush over, we will die!"
"Gentlemen, do you want to live or die?"
Xu Hai hid behind the Japanese pirates, drew his Japanese sword, and shouted at the Zhejiang army on the opposite side who had just fired a round of muskets.
"Live! Live! Live!" the Japanese pirates shouted fiercely.
"Then charge ahead! Charge forward and kill them. Suzhou City will still be ours! The wealth and glory will also be ours!"
Xu Hai swung his Japanese sword vigorously and gave orders loudly.
"Kill! Die! Die!" The Japanese pirates, with red eyes, shouted and rushed towards the Zhejiang army without regard for their lives.
"What are you still standing there for, useless guy? Send a signal quickly to summon the army and launch a general attack. Life and death will depend on this!"
Xu Hai turned around and slapped his confidant in the face, then gave the order in a fierce voice, with veins on his neck popping out.
Soon, five whistling arrows rose into the air one after another, exploding five dazzling fireworks in the sky.
Seeing the fireworks rising into the sky, both Zhu Ping'an and Shang Zhifu understood that this was the Japanese pirates sending a signal to gather the army to attack the city.
When the Japanese pirates scattered at the South Gate, North Gate, Northwest Gate and other places see the fireworks signal, they will definitely provide support to the East Gate as soon as possible.
According to the estimated distance, the Japanese reinforcements will arrive to support the pirates at the east gate in at least twenty minutes!
Time is running out!
Fortunately, there were only a thousand Japanese pirates outside the city, and the four rounds of musketry just now reduced the number of Japanese pirates by more than three hundred.
However, the Japanese pirates had already rushed up fearlessly. The distance was less than ten meters. Their eyebrows could already be clearly seen. At most, one more round of musket fire would be enough to bring them into close combat.
"Charge forward! Yes, that's it! Victory belongs to us! Hahahaha, God bless me Xu Hai!"
Seeing that the Japanese pirates had already rushed to the front of the Zhejiang Army, Xu Hai in the back laughed loudly. In his opinion, as long as the Japanese pirates rushed to the front of the Zhejiang Army and engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the victory would belong to them. The Zhejiang Army's musket was just a fire stick, which could not kill anyone, and at most could only cause a bulge.
"Everyone, no matter the wave, everyone, open fire on the Japanese pirates! After opening fire, put on bayonets, form a sentry formation, target the city gate, and occupy it."
Zhu Ping'an saw that the Japanese pirates were approaching and gave orders loudly.
Bang, bang, bang…
All the Zhejiang troops, regardless of which row they were in, aimed at the Japanese pirates who were close at hand and pulled the trigger.
In an instant, accompanied by the sound of gunfire, sparks burst out from the Zhejiang Army’s positions and thick smoke rose.
At this time, the distance between the front row of the Zhejiang Army and the Japanese pirates was less than ten meters, and the distance between the back row of the Zhejiang Army and the Japanese pirates was less than twenty meters. This was exactly within the optimal range of the power and accuracy of the muskets. Thousands of muskets of the Zhejiang Army fired at the same time, with astonishing lethality.
In an instant, nearly one-third of the Japanese pirates who rushed over fell.
However, the remaining Japanese pirates were fearless and stepped on the bodies of the fallen Japanese pirates and pounced on them ferociously.
"That's it, victory still belongs to us!"
Although there were serious casualties and only more than 400 Japanese pirates were left, Xu Hai laughed when he saw that the Japanese pirates had already rushed into the Zhejiang army's formation.
However, Xu Hai's smile froze the next second. Damn, how come there was a strange, narrow, sharp steel bar under the Zhejiang Army's muskets, nearly one meter long? In an instant, the muskets became strange spears, and the Zhejiang Army's formation became like a hedgehog.
The Japanese pirates in the front row who were fearless and rushed towards the Zhejiang army were caught off guard and stabbed through by the dense spears of the Zhejiang army... ...