"Report to Mr. Ono, the Japanese navy has been defeated," said a horseman, reining in his horse and speaking impatiently.
Ono Yoshigu and Yang Gun, who were standing outside the camp and watching the battle, both changed their expressions. The man dismounted from his horse and walked forward.
Ono Yoshifuru withdrew his gaze from the tall ladders and the smoke-filled battlefield in the distance, turned his head, and asked with a sullen face: When did it happen
The visitor bowed and said: Three days ago, our navy gathered more than a thousand warships and intercepted the Xu State Navy near the Xiaguan waterway. The decisive battle was lost, with heavy casualties. Half of the warships sank and disappeared.
Ono Yoshifuru and Yang Gun looked at each other, speechless.
It’s unlikely, Yang Gun said blankly.
Ono Yoshifuru's head was buzzing, and he suddenly raised his head and roared. The Japanese soldiers who were unaware of the situation looked at them in surprise, as if their commander had gone mad.
This is not just the shame of defeat.
At this moment, Ono Yoshifuru felt that the most painful thing in the world was not losing the gamble or the battle, but realizing after paying a heavy price that it was meaningless. He had besieged this damn earthen fort for so many days and nights, and had spent so much effort, effort, and blood, using human lives to consume the enemy's ammunition and military supplies. Now all his efforts had been wasted, and what had he gained? Was a human life only worth a few small lead bullets
He roared with his mouth wide open, and after a long while he suddenly stood up straight, and his expression seemed to have regained its composure. Yang Gun looked at him in surprise.
Ono Yoshigu said coldly: We must not give up tonight. The main forces will gather in the north and attack in turns. Break through this fort at all costs, kill all living things, and cut them into pieces.
Yang Gun thought he was crazy, thinking that it would be useless to do so, regardless of victory or defeat. Even if the fortress was really breached, only a few hundred Xu's troops would be killed, and the reinforcements would have already reached the sea and lost their position, and ultimately they would not be able to prevent Xu's troops from reoccupying the place.
But Yang Gun did not try to persuade him. He felt that Ono Yoshifuru had gone mad and there was no point in saying more.
By evening, the Japanese army, under the command of Ono Yoshifuru, deployed a new battle formation.
Zhang Jiankui and others on the city wall also discovered the Japanese army's movement. A large number of tall ladders gathered in the north, and groups of people and horses gathered on the battlefield.
Everyone was still unaware of the situation at sea. At this time, Shijian Fort was out of ammunition and food. Zhang Jiankui and others speculated that the Japanese army would launch a final attack tonight.
Zhang Jiankui said to Zan Jurun beside him: "There is no artillery ammunition, fierce fire, tung oil, or arrows left. There is no way to destroy those ladders. Now there is not much gunpowder left for muskets. We are really at the end of our rope. Losing this fort is not a betrayal of the emperor."
Zan Jurun had already disregarded his dignity at this time, and whispered: It's a pity that the success was almost over, I hope that I can have a better birth in the next life, and have the great grace of the emperor in this life, and be rich and glorious.
Zhang Jiankui understood what Zan Jurun meant: I really don’t want to die
As soon as the sun set, there was still dim light between heaven and earth. The Japanese army could not wait to push the ladders, and the crowd surged towards the fortress. A large number of bonfires and torches were lit before it got dark. At this time, Xu Jun had no way to stop them from approaching within a hundred steps of Ishijian Fort.
Tonight is the last night, no one believes we can make it to tomorrow morning
Even the ammunition for the muskets could only fire a few rounds. Without long-range firearms, it was impossible for a few hundred people in such a low earthen fort to withstand the attack of an enemy force that was dozens of times their number.
I, the imperial guards, are best at fighting in battle formations, not fighting alone. Zhang Jiankui made a temporary decision and ordered all troops to abandon their fortifications and line up at the north gate. I will fight the Japanese army tonight and open the city gates to fight to the death.
After the order was given, the general's order was played in the castle, and the messengers spread the orders of the military headquarters in all directions, and the various troops gradually gathered in the castle from the barracks on the wall.
Some soldiers carried things into the healing barracks, which were filled with groaning wounded soldiers. The soldiers walked in and placed their short knives on the pillows of the wounded soldiers. A general shouted: Commander Zhang said that after the city is captured, those who want to end their pain and those who want to live will not be forced. You can decide for yourself.
Someone weakly cursed: Damn it, brothers killed so many Japanese soldiers, how could they be let off
Some people sighed in the barracks, and some chatted with each other. After this farewell, we will see each other again in the next life. Soldiers eat food, there will always be this day, it's no big deal. Of course, they can't surrender. Zhang Qian lived on the grassland for decades and didn't become a Hun. There is no better place to live in the Daxu Dynasty.
The general who came in to distribute the weapons choked up and said, "Everyone, goodbye."
In the Central Army Office, everyone left, except Zan Jurun. Zan Jurun took out the good tea leaves that he had been reluctant to drink, and waited for the water on the stove to boil. After a while, he took out a small bottle from his arms and placed it on the table, and stretched out his hand to straighten the official hat on his head. When he was young, he studied hard for countless days and nights, and suffered a lot, but Zan Jurun really had never tasted the pain of the flesh, and he didn't want to taste it. As a pampered scholar, he thought it was more decent to drink poison.
A hoarse shout came from outside: Open the city gate!
It took several people to push the city gate open with great difficulty. The dust on it fell off. It looked like an ancient tomb and the city gate seemed to have never been opened.
Behind the city gate, hundreds of soldiers in armor and sharp weapons lined up in an orderly manner and walked towards the city gate.
The fire outside the city gate was bright, shining on Xu Jun's armor. Countless enemy soldiers saw that the city gate was open, so they saved themselves the trouble of climbing the earthen wall and quickly gathered towards the city gate. The surging torches were like fire dragons.
Ah, a strange cry was heard on board, and the Japanese army swarmed over. In the firelight, the crowd looked like a tide.
There was a crackle of gunpowder explosions at the gate, followed by two more volleys. The raging tide receded.
Zhang Jiankui looked up and around the city wall, thinking that the Japanese army would climb down the wall with ladders after suffering a loss at the city gate. Moreover, the remaining ammunition was not enough for another volley.
He immediately gave the order: Change swords and shields, throw out the muskets.
Some personal soldiers then went up one after another, picked up the firearms thrown out of the army formation, and threw them onto a bonfire in the city.
Soon, the second group of enemy troops surged up, and the shouting filled the night sky again. Zhang Jiankui shouted: Prepare to die standing, live up to the reputation of the Tiger Army!
The troops shouted in unison.
Arrows hit us like locusts, swooping and whizzing, hitting the shields and armor like hail, and people were injured and groaned from time to time.
After a while, the crazy crowd rushed to the front with a ping-pong sound. The two armies came into close combat, and it was like a boiling pot of fire.
Most of the troops under Xu Jundongdao's command were from the old imperial guards, and they were close combat infantrymen. At this time, they fought with the Japanese army in a dense formation. People stared with wide eyes, holding single swords and slashing randomly, shoulder to shoulder, without any tricks, only strength.
Ah! A Japanese soldier covered his face with his hands and screamed, but was pushed back by the man behind him. He stumbled forward and was pierced in the chest by Xu Jun's single knife. The Japanese soldier behind him also rushed forward and pressed the Xu soldier to the ground. Xu Jun's soldier could not pull out his knife. He stared at the sharp curved long knife facing his face. He stretched out his hands to grab the blade. Blood immediately flowed down the blade. The tip of the knife also deviated slightly and pierced the breastplate with a sound of nailing. The Japanese soldier used the weight of his whole body to pierce the tip of the knife through the plate armor, but suddenly the sun hat on his head snapped into two pieces. The guy screamed and fell to the ground with blood all over his head.
The plate armor of the Xu army soldier was pierced, but the force was blocked and the stab was not deep. He struggled to get up from the ground, his hands were covered in blood. His helmet was also off, his hair was disheveled, and the blood on his face was not his.
He stood there in agony with a knife stuck in his chest, staring. He saw blades waving around him in the firelight, and everyone was fighting and hacking like crazy. People were shouting in fear and trying to make the loudest noise possible. This place seemed like a battlefield.
Xu Jun's soldiers felt pain and numbness in their hands, unable to hold anything. Behind him was dense armor, and the enemy soldiers in front of him rushed up with their mouths wide open. He was at a loss for a moment.
Ah, the soldier opened his arms and rushed out with a roar. The Japanese soldiers he faced took a few steps back in fear. It was too damn scary. A big man with disheveled hair and a bloody face rushed over. His hands were also dripping with blood. He opened his mouth wide, and saliva and blood flowed out from his teeth.
If there weren't a battle array of people all around, if I saw such a person in the middle of the night, I would be scared to death.
A Japanese soldier thrust a spear at him, but the wooden pole bent and didn't penetrate him. There was a clang and sparks flew. A samurai sword chopped the soldier's shoulder armor, which was also plate armor, and the blade was broken. The dishevelled soldier still stood there with a look of pain on his face, not dead.
Finally, there was a sound like something solid breaking, and a knife came down at his head. The soldier immediately fell forward heavily.
With a horrifying sound, the blade flashing with fire swept across the face of a Japanese soldier. The soldier's face was torn open from the corner of his mouth to the other side of his face, and blood flowed. He screamed in fear from his throat, and his jaw could no longer close. The sound was very strange, and it didn't sound like a human voice at all.
In the narrow space at the city gate where close combat took place, corpses quickly piled up, blood mixed with mud between the corpses, and the men and horses seemed to be trudging painfully in the mud, or struggling in the darkness of hell.