Several dirt roads converged in the mountains, where a memorial archway stood. Warriors wearing armor and holding sharp weapons on horseback ran past the memorial archway, followed by a large number of light-footed soldiers running in groups. The dirt road was covered with dust, and the scene was quite large. A general let out a long and full-bodied roar, and the soldiers followed suit and shouted in unison: Hoo! The shout echoed in the mountains and forests, and the echo lasted for a long time.
Yang Gun watched and felt that he had been biased and looked down upon the Japanese army before he saw it with his own eyes. Judging from the fighting morale alone, Yang Gun believed that the Japanese were more courageous than the Koreans.
People and horses gathered on each road. A general rode forward, dismounted, bowed, and said in a loud voice: "I, Shinozuka Hide, greet Mr. Ono.
Ono Yoshifuru was riding on his horse with a solemn expression, leaning forward: You should move forward bravely and do not bring shame to His Majesty the Emperor.
Xiao Zuka said generously: The imperial court finally dared to declare war on the bandits of Xu's army. We should do our best to protect our country.
Ono Yoshifuru nodded slightly.
Yang Gun stayed beside Ono Yoshifuru. As a foreigner, he said nothing but carefully observed the formation of the Japanese army.
The Japanese soldiers were relatively short, and except for the samurai who had more formal armor, the light foot soldiers had simple equipment, but they wore the same straw hats, and their armor was similar, and they looked well-organized, and their equipment was also better than that of the Tanguts in Xiazhou. What interested Yang Gun the most were the Japanese longbowmen, as long-range weapons were very important in battle formations, and their large number of longbows made Yang Gun overestimate their combat power.
Ono Yoshifuru took the initiative to talk: Sun Tzu's Art of War says, if there are ten of them, surround them. This time, our army will mobilize more than 5,000 troops to besiege the Xu army fortress with a winning momentum.
Yang Gun said: I wish Mr. Ono a successful start.
The Japanese army avoided the mountains and forests in the east and approached Iwami Castle along the flatter area along the coast.
Xu Jun's scouts had discovered a large number of enemy activities early on, and smoke signals had already risen from many places on the eastern hills. Inside Ishimi Fort, drums and trumpets sounded, and the entire army entered a state of preparation for battle. Military flags with tigers embroidered on the six corners of the earthen fort were raised one after another, adding a lot of color to the gray earthen fort.
The highest-ranking military commander here, Zhang Jiankui, and the Vice Minister of Works, Zan Jurun, once again inspected the defenses of various places before the battle.
The most sophisticated military equipment of the Daxu Dynasty is almost all here. There are earthen forts equipped with more than 40 of the most advanced copper field cannons. Each solid protruding wall has seven to eight cannons. The cannons weighing thousands of pounds reveal a ferocious metallic luster in the bunker fortifications.
In the infantry fortifications halfway up the city wall, most of the infantry soldiers behind the parapet were elite soldiers of the Tiger Guard Army, wearing standard plate leather deck mail armor from the Armor Factory. They were equipped with a full set of Xu Army weapons, the main weapon being the latest made matchlock gun, as well as cherry spears, barrier swords, lances, bows and arrows, and crossbows.
The Daxu Dynasty fought numerous wars in the south and the north, and the weapons used to equip the army were all deployed to the garrison of this earthen fortress.
There are three deep trenches outside the earthen fort, which have been flooded to prevent the enemy from using them as shelters. From a distance, they look like three jade belts surrounding the earthen fort, sparkling in the sun.
The last few scouts rode their horses into the fort from the drawbridge, which slowly rose. At this time, the smoke was thick in the north, and the horses and men were vaguely visible. What was coming had finally come.
Zhang Jiankui and others came to the north wall, shielded their eyes from the sunlight with their hands, and watched carefully what was happening in the distance.
The cannons on the six flower corners on both sides were fully loaded and ready for battle. The soldiers inside the wall also prepared their muskets early, and everyone was watching the scene in the distance.
The Japanese army stopped a mile away, and the troops gradually deployed to both sides, forming an arc circle to the north of the earthen fort.
Huh, Zhang Jiankui felt a little surprised.
He then said to Zan Jurun: "Usually, when we fight, we will line up within a few hundred steps, and sometimes we will have to rely on bows and arrows to stop the enemy from approaching a hundred steps. This Japanese army has never fought with us, so how can they know the range of our artillery?"
Zan Jurun guessed: Maybe the Liao people colluded with Japan.
The two were just feeling surprised when they unexpectedly saw most of the Japanese troops slowly approaching. Zhang Jiankui smiled and said: It seems that we have worried too much.
A large group of troops were approaching, most of them infantry, and had entered the range of Xu's artillery. But there was no movement on the earthen fort, and Zhang Jiankui was still watching.
Soon, a group of riders were seen rushing towards the northern wall of the earthen fort.
The man was wearing armor and holding a sharp weapon, riding a short warhorse, holding a long weapon in his hand, and standing outside the outermost trench, only a few dozen steps away from the wall.
The guy came forward and started yelling.
Zhang Jiankui frowned and shouted: "People who understand bird language
After a while, a clerk ran over and said hurriedly: He probably said his name was so-and-so, and he was a general under the court councilor Ono Yoshifuru. He was ordered by the Emperor to come and attack us bandits, and he wanted to invite your generals to come out and compete.
Zhang Jiankui cursed loudly, and seeing that most of the Japanese troops were within the range of the artillery, he ordered: Open fire!
After a while, the military musicians in the fortress started beating drums. Then there was a loud bang, white smoke rose from the earthen fort, flames flickered, and then a huge roar suddenly shook the earth.
The whole earthen fort was filled with white smoke and the flashing light of gunpowder was like lightning in the clouds.
The iron ball whizzed through the air. The Japanese generals on the ditch side of the horse neighed and ran away in fear, and the man on the horse was stunned, stunned by the deafening sound.
At this moment, there was a series of explosions. The man screamed miserably, his body trembled, blood splattered on his torso, and he and his horse fell to the side of the ditch.
The Japanese infantry formation in the distance was still in dense formation, and the artillery had already been adjusted to the height, and the shells flew straight into the crowd.
The iron ball bounced in the crowd and rolled on the ground. In an instant, the crowd was in chaos and shouts of fear suddenly became noisy.
With a bang, the iron ball hit a warrior on horseback. Even the armor on his body could not save him. He was knocked off his horse, and blood spurted out of his seven orifices into the air.
The Japanese army hadn't recovered yet. Boom boom boom, there was another dense sound coming from the distance, and even the artillery in other directions of the castle opened fire towards the north.
Countless people were struck by a bolt from the blue. In an instant, the situation on the battlefield changed drastically. The flags in the Japanese army camp fell down, and the warriors who were not dead could not control their horses and ran around. The crowd even threw away their armor and helmets. This situation made people panic and chaos broke out in an instant.
Someone else shouted to retreat, and the Japanese army was defeated in less than an incense stick of time.
The soldiers ran a long way on the dry land, and because there were no pursuers, they gradually stopped running. They were still in shock and gasping for breath.
What's wrong? Someone is asking loudly.
The commander, Ono Yoshigu, reined in his horse, and was also stunned. He had never fought a battle like this before, and was defeated by a thunderbolt before he even started. At this time, he hadn't even seen what the enemy looked like.
At this time, Yang Gun's voice said: I have already reminded Ono-kun to be vigilant against the artillery, but you did not believe me.
Ono Yoshigu was stunned for a moment and then said angrily: This is too rude! I originally respected the etiquette of the Central Plains, but I didn't expect them to shoot me to death for challenging me.
Yang Gun said helplessly: On the battlefield, there are still rules and etiquette. In this situation, it is obvious that the end result will be that we will be shot into a hornet's nest.
He looked back and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Xiaoye. Xu Jun has such a big fortress, with only a few hundred people at most, and is unable to pursue us." Mr. Xiaoye quickly gathered his men and horses and started fighting again.
Ono Yoshifuru had no other choice but to accept the facts. He was defeated before he could react.
After a while, many Japanese light infantrymen fled, and the troops were in chaos and their morale was low. Ono Yoshifuru felt that he could not fight anymore at least today, so he had to withdraw his troops to Omori first and make further plans later.
Ono Yoshifuru gradually calmed down from the strange battle formation he had never seen before, and gradually paid more attention to Yang Gun. Before this battle, although Ono Yoshifuru did not reject Yang Gun, he did have a lot of reservations and doubts; but at this time, he gradually felt that Yang Gun was not talking nonsense.
After returning to Omori, Yang Gun couldn't help but say: Fortunately, your country is isolated in the East China Sea, and it is difficult for Xu Jun to transfer troops to the east for the time being. If the main force of Xu Jun and the main force of the Japanese army were to fight a decisive battle today, Ono Jun's troops would probably lose more than half, and the country would be destroyed in one battle.
Ono Yoshifuru was stunned: General Yang's words might be alarmist.
Yang Gun said calmly: "You should have heard of the Battle of Pingxia, Ono-kun. More than 100,000 Dangxiang Khitans fought a decisive battle with 40,000 imperial guards of the Xu army. All of them were killed or wounded in the battle, and the Xiazhou regime was destroyed. It has now become the Pingxia Province of the Xu State."
Ono Yoshifuru was worried for a while: When did the Central Plains become so powerful
Yang Gun said: There were chaos during the former Five Dynasties. After the Zhou Dynasty general Guo Shao established the State of Xu, the military power of the Central Plains grew stronger day by day, and they fought against various countries. There was no country that had not been defeated by the Xu army, and most of the countries had been destroyed.
Ono Yoshifuru pondered and said: I have heard about those things before, but today's battle is really shocking.
Yang Gun said calmly: Things have come to this point, Ono-kun can no longer change his political views.
Ono Yoshifuru shook his head and said: "I will not change my mind. No matter how strong Xu's army is, it is only a few hundred people."
He observed the soldiers around him, all of them were dejected, many of them were in disarray, and many wounded soldiers were helped into the Omori Castle. They suffered a great defeat in the first battle, and no general could boost their morale, and Ono Yoshifuru was helpless. This scene seemed like it had just been fought. Who could believe it? In the blink of an eye...
Ono Yoshifuru frowned and said: "I have underestimated the enemy before, but I cannot give up on this matter. I will immediately write a letter to the court to request more troops and I will destroy Iwami Castle to the ground."
Yang Gun put his hand on his chest and said: As long as Mr. Ono can use me, I am willing to do my best and fight alongside the Japanese warriors.