There were shouts and sounds of killing nearby, the sound of firearms and bowstrings, and a lot of noise. In the distance, countless swaying stars were a large group of people and horses. Although it was early in the morning, everyone was awake.
The soldiers on top of the fortress's solid wall were holding muskets and crossbows in their hands, their eyes wide open.
Suddenly there was a shout, and a Japanese samurai came up with a two-handed sword in hand. There was a sudden crackling sound, and the guy's whole body seemed to be shaking, with blood holes and blood splattering on his torso, and arrows sticking in his body. Without a grunt, the guy leaned forward and fell to the ground.
After a while, two more Japanese warriors appeared. They drew their bows immediately, but it was too late. The crossbow arrow flew over first, and the two men fell off the wall like hedgehogs.
There were two cannons on the corner wall on this side, which were filled with rubble and iron pieces in the evening, but they were not used for the time being. The only time they were used was when a large number of enemy soldiers rushed up the city wall for the final defense. They could not be used in other situations. The range of the shotgun was only a few dozen steps, and the opposite corner wall could not reach this side; the cannons on this wall could not bombard the bottom of the wall because the negative elevation angle of the cannons was very small.
But it was difficult for the Japanese army to rush up with too many people. The firearms on the corner wall kept shooting at the sides and backs of the people climbing the ladder. It was very difficult to climb the wall with such a simple ladder under fire from the front and back. It was hard to get a few people up. It was very rare that the Japanese army did not collapse.
There were even fewer Japanese soldiers who could charge up the battlements in the middle of the wall. Occasionally, an enemy soldier climbed over the battlements, but inside were all Xu's troops. The reinforcements from the city came in.
The warrior of the Wa Yue army was very brave, holding a two-handed sword and swinging it. The Xu army soldier in front of him was wearing armor, but he held a short single sword in his hand, and stabbed him. Unexpectedly, the warrior was very skillful in fighting. The two exchanged a move, and the warrior actually dodged the attack in the narrow space, and at the same time, he chopped the shoulder armor of the Xu army soldier with a sword. There was a violent metal collision sound, and the sound of the blade pulling on the metal was so piercing.
In an instant, the warrior screamed and another spear stabbed into his side.
The warriors risked their lives to charge, leaving a little space on the battlement, and someone else immediately climbed up.
At this moment, a deafening roar was heard from the hole in the wall, and the hole in the wall was illuminated by the instant the artillery fired.
Xu Jun's earthen fortress is not impressive, but its shape is very regular, and the whole is almost circular, but the six solid walls are triangles with two sides protruding. Opposite this wall is a six-flowered triangle solid wall, facing the side and rear of the Japanese army's attack direction. Three cannons are firing on the opposite six-flowered wall. The distance is relatively close, so the deviation is small. The beam of the cannonball is parallel to the direction of this wall.
Suddenly, several whistling iron balls almost brushed against the wall and bounced violently on the ground.
Ah, the soldier standing under a ladder opened his mouth wide, watching a whistling black shadow bounce up from the ground with a bang, almost brushing his face and flying past. The ladder suddenly broke with a snap, as if it was flying up. The soldier was so scared that he stood there like a piece of wood, and he didn't come back to his senses for a long time. Many ladders were directly knocked away by the artillery fire, and the enemy soldiers on the wall and under the wall shouted in confusion.
Boom boom boom! Cannons from all over the place began to roar one after another.
Nothing can be seen in the night sky, but the whistling iron ball is extending towards the torches.
The Japanese army's rout was almost invisible, but in the flickering firelight, the backs of the defeated soldiers could be seen. The huge cannon fire and the dense musket explosions covered up many tragic cries, and many lives disappeared silently in the night.
Zhang Jiankui and his men, aware of the danger of being approached by the enemy tonight, made some changes to the night defense. The guards were changed more frequently to prevent those on duty from falling asleep; fierce kerosene was prepared among the garrison; and at nightfall, illuminating rockets were fired into the air at any time and irregularly. The rockets were tied with gunpowder cartridges and could illuminate the ground in a short time after they exploded.
Xu Jun suffered more casualties overnight than in previous times, mainly due to arrows. Few people died, but many were injured. The few who were shot dead were just unlucky and were shot in the face. As long as the arrows didn't hit the face, even if they penetrated the armor, the wound would not be deep and would not cause death. The bows and arrows of the Japanese warriors were powerful, especially at close range. The killing power should not be underestimated. Some plate armors were penetrated.
At midnight the next day, the Japanese army launched another night attack, but this time the result did not satisfy Ono Yoshifuru. They were repelled by muskets before they even got close to the fortress.
A general who participated in the night attack said: Ono-kun, I think that under the current circumstances, the enemy's firearms are too powerful, and it is difficult to succeed in attacking the city with only wooden ladders; the space inside the fort is small, it is difficult to deploy the strength of the number of people, and it is even more impossible to gather troops inside the fort for a joint battle, and the only way is to be killed by the enemy one by one. I suggest that there is no need to climb the wall for the night attack, just try to get close, use bows and arrows to kill and consume the enemy nearby.
Ono Yoshifuru also realized a problem. He suffered heavy casualties here, but his mentality was still not adjusted: in fact, this inconspicuous fortress could not be conquered in one fell swoop.
It was a very strange fort that could only hold a few hundred people; but despite all efforts and the overwhelming superiority of military force, it was still difficult to break through. This was beyond Ono Yoshifuru's many years of experience.
A few days later, Ono Yoshifuru received news about a war on the sea.
He now valued the Khitan Yang Gun very much, and immediately told Yang Gun the news: the Goryeo fleet approached Tsushima Island, and in addition to the Goryeo navy, it was also full of food and fodder, and must have come to reinforce Iwami Castle. However, there were not many ships, and they were discovered and surrounded by the Japanese army, and most of the food and fodder was seized.
Yang Gun thought for a long time after hearing this and said: "The Goryeo people must be discussing something with the Xu State. They are obsessed with obtaining the old land of Bohai and restoring the territory of Goguryeo. The Goryeo State has been preparing and operating Pyongyang for many years, constantly migrating people to the north, luring and inciting people from all ethnic groups in the old land of Bohai to defect, and has never given up its ambition."
The old land of Bohai State had people of various ethnic groups, but there were not many Khitans. The Liao Dynasty had a sparse military presence in Bohai State, but it still made Goryeo very wary; therefore, the Goryeo people wanted to use the power of Xu State to deal with the Liao Dynasty. This time, helping Xu State with shipping was mostly to please Xu State and use it as a reason to negotiate terms.
Ono Yoshifuru listened carefully and nodded slightly.
Yang Gun added: "The Koreans only want the old land of Bohai, and have little interest in the land of Japan across the sea. On the one hand, they want to please Xu and show off; on the other hand, they are absolutely unwilling to mobilize the whole country to conspire with Xu's army to advance eastward, otherwise how can they have the strength to compete with the Liao army in Bohai, let alone occupy such a vast land."
After hearing this, Ono Yoshifuru thought that this Khitan was not only a military commander, but also had a good understanding of the overall situation. Although Ono Yoshifuru was not used to some minor details, the longer they spent together, the more he admired him.
Ono Yoshifuru believed that Xu's army was relatively weak at sea, otherwise there would be no need to ask the Goryeo navy for help. The Goryeo people were unwilling to go all out, and for a long time, the Japanese navy was able to roughly block the sea reinforcements of Iwami Castle.
He re-examined the battle situation and thought that the previous strategy was wrong: first, he underestimated the enemy. He suffered losses here more than once, but the enemy had only a few hundred people. This thought was like a demon in his mind.
Secondly, in terms of underestimating the enemy, he felt that he had been following a wrong strategy, which was to insist on rushing to break through the fortress in one go.
Ono Yoshifuru pondered for a long time and re-formulated the battle strategy: first, lay a long-term siege on Iwami Castle, dig trenches to get close to the fortress, and then harass with a small group of elite troops at night, using the cover of darkness to shoot and kill with bows and arrows to consume Xu's troops and ammunition.
Wait until their ammunition and food are exhausted, and then attack the city.
This strategy has some details. Iwami Castle is different from the general square. Even if the trench is dug, it cannot protect the soldiers hidden inside from attack, because no matter how the trench is dug, as long as it is too close, the flanks and backs will always be exposed to enemy fire from a certain direction.
However, it is safer to extend the horizontal trench to the periphery of the salient than to be bombarded by artillery a mile away.
In addition, this strategy means that Ono Yoshifuru does not need to increase the number of troops, but he needs more elite warriors.
So he had no choice but to write a letter to Heian-kyo, asking the court to send more elite samurai to reinforce him.
When Ono Yoshifuru's request for troops arrived at the Heian-kyō court, the ministers' mood could be imagined. With 50 times the number of troops, they had been besieging for more than a month, but still hadn't taken down the Xu army's fortress. Now they needed reinforcements.
Ministers blamed Ono Yoshifuru one after another. Some of them could no longer tolerate it and directly requested that Ono Yoshifuru be recalled to the court for questioning and that a good general be sent to Iwami Province.
Even Fujiwara no Tadahiro, the regent minister who was forced to support Ono at the beginning, began to become dissatisfied at this time.
However, on the pavilion, a very silent middle-aged man spoke softly: "Minister of the Left, please take a look at the secret report first. I believe that no one sent to Iwami Province can do better than Ono-kun."
When Fujiwara no Michirō heard these words, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart and his body seemed to shiver.
In his heart, he would rather believe that this was the result of Ono Yoshifuru's incompetence. If not, how unimaginable would Xu Jun's combat power be
Fujiwara no Mitsuyori could not help but said in a deep voice: There are only a few hundred people in Xu country. That small earthen fortress is not a big city that has been built for many years. It is just a temporary earthen wall.
The middle-aged man walked up slowly, and with both hands, he handed something to Fujiwara no Mitsuyori. Fujiwara no Mitsuyori calmed down and stretched out his hand to take it.
He hadn't even looked at it yet, but he already had a bad feeling in his heart, because he still believed that the person next to him would not talk nonsense.
The whole complex situation seemed to be out of control in an instant. Everything was vulnerable to the brutal force.