Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 682 Kyushu Battle 6
On October [-]th, the seventh year of Chongzhen.

The siege has lasted for half a month, and the fresh water supply in Kagoshima City has been cut off, so they can only rely on the water from two bitter wells, which is not even enough to moisten the throats of the residents in the city.The worst thing is that the Ming army seems to think that the city's fresh water supply is too sufficient, so it uses long-barreled mortars to fire a few rounds of sulfur in every now and then.This thing is so vicious that the traditional wooden houses in Japan are out of control when they encounter it, and the residents in the city have to use the fresh water that is already scarce to fight the fire, which makes life even more difficult.The thirsty Japanese peeled off the bark and chewed desperately to absorb a little water from it. In just half a month, all the flowers and trees in Kagoshima City were stripped of their skins.

The Japanese samurai in the city also organized several breakouts, but each time they were unceremoniously beaten back by crossbows and muskets, and they got nothing but a pile of dead bodies.However, the residents of Kagoshima City are still very happy to see this kind of moth-flaming breakout. At least some people will die, and less people will compete with them for the extremely scarce fresh water, so they can persist longer some.

Water has always been the lifeblood of coastal cities.If a city is strong enough, it can persist for a long time after it runs out of food—for example, Juyang City during the Anshi Rebellion lasted for several months after it ran out of food. , bark, grass roots, and even paper for food, and finally even the animal tendons, tendons, and glue on the crossbow armor were boiled and eaten, until finally there was nothing to eat, and the few hundred remaining soldiers were so hungry that they couldn't even stand. Unable to stand up, Juyang City was breached by the rebels.But if the city's water source is cut off, no matter how strong the defenders are, they won't be able to last for too long. After all, human beings have their physiological limits. Without water, they will die in seven days.As soon as the Ming army made a move, they pinched the lifeline of Kagoshima City, causing them to complain endlessly.

However, the bitter gourd-like faces of those who were thirsty to drink human blood finally showed a smile today, because after a long wait, they finally saw their own military flag appearing behind the horizon.

Yes, there were thunderous footsteps behind the horizon, and under the cold winter sunshine, the Japanese battle flag appeared in the sight of these besieged people who were eager to see through.The Japanese samurai guarding the city first rubbed their eyes hard in disbelief, or pinched their thighs so hard that they breathed cold air. After making sure that they were not dazzled, they roared almost madly and smashed the battlements with their fists. Vent the joy in your heart.It's just that most of them have lost their voices due to severe thirst. Their voices are so hoarse that they don't sound like human beings, which makes people feel terrified.

Yes, after a lot of quarreling and wrangling, the Japanese army finally resolved the issue of the ownership of the command, and the 1000 cavalry marched aggressively towards Hakata Bay.Since Japan does not have a decent horse farm, the number of cavalry in the Japanese army is not large. Among the 1 troops, there are only [-] cavalry. Moreover, the horses are short and thin, similar to donkeys, and their endurance and sprinting ability are worrying. , but their number occupies an absolute advantage-the Ming army has only [-] cavalry, and their number is three times that of the Ming army.As for the strength of the infantry, it is even more incomparable. The Japanese army has [-] people, and the Ming army has [-] reform-through-labour prisoners, [-] tiger soldiers, and [-] cavalry, plus the Dutch. The [-] musketeers, totaling about [-], are only a quarter of the Japanese army, and the Japanese army has an absolute advantage.Of course, after seeing the fighting power of the Ming army in the Battle of the Wharf, Shimadzu Nurishi would not be so naive as to think that he could easily win just because of his absolute superiority in troops. All the matchlock guns and cannons bought from the Dutch and the Portuguese with all our efforts were brought in, and we put together a total of [-] musketeers and [-] Guobeng cannons—yes, your eyes are absolutely fine In Japan, matchlock guns are called "iron cannons" and iron cannons are called "big cylinders". The powerful and large Francophone cannons have such a domineering name as "Guobeng", isn't it scary?Now the ashigaru in the Japanese army is pushing the artillery carts with all their strength, pushing these big killers towards the defense line of the Ming army.

"The defense line of the Ming army... doesn't look very good!"

Mao Li Yuanhui rode a war horse and observed the Ming army's position with a binoculars. What he saw was only a layer of deer villages and horse-rejecting posts only about ten meters deep, and a wall made of sandbags. Nothing else.He was a little surprised and asked: "This is the defense line of the Ming army? Where are the fences? Where are the trenches? What about walls and watchtowers? Why is there nothing? This line of defense is too simple, right?"

Hosokawa Yukiji said: "I can't believe that they went deep into the Japanese mainland. They dared to make such a big deal when they were surrounded by powerful enemies. They only built such a simple fortification to fool people!"

Shimazu said: "Don't underestimate it. The combat effectiveness of this Ming army is very powerful. The bows and crossbows they are equipped with have an amazing range. They are more than twice as long as our longbows and can even rival our iron cannons... ..."

Mao Li Yuanhui snorted and said: "So the Ming army relied on these powerful bows and crossbows to be confident, and didn't take us seriously, and only built such an extremely simple fortification?"

Hayao Kuroda, the general of the Fukuoka clan, sneered: "In my opinion, we don't need to be nervous anymore. First, we will concentrate all the national bangs to destroy their fortifications, then the cavalry will charge, and the infantry will follow and kill them. At most, 1000 people will be killed or injured." The price can drive all this Ming army into the sea to feed the fish!"

Shimazu looked at the sky angrily and saw that it was already afternoon.No way, under normal circumstances, the marching speed of ancient infantry cannot be increased. There are too many illiterates, and the organization and discipline are very loose. Every few tens of meters, they have to stop and reorganize the team before continuing to walk. The army organization was completely messed up, and the same was true for the Japanese army. It was not far from Osumi to here, but they had to walk for more than half a day for this point.He looked to the left, and saw the farmland soaked in sea water; looked to the right, and saw the river shamelessly cut off by the Ming army; finally, he turned his gaze to Kagoshima Castle.

On Kagoshima City, many warriors were waving flags as if they were playing, to prove that the city was still in their own hands and had not been taken by the Ming army.However, because the Ming army cut off the water source, I am afraid that the people in the city no longer have the strength to open the city gate and come out to join them.

Shimadzu Nurishi gritted his teeth, and his facial muscles twitched.Seeing his family's territory being harmed like this by the Ming army, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood. It is trivial to cut down fruit trees. The most wicked thing is to irrigate the fields with sea water. In Yantian, not a single blade of grass will grow, unless he has the ability to scrape off a foot of land!
"Shimadzu-kun, let's attack!" Hosokawa Yukio said loudly, pointing to the Ming army's defense line: "The Ming army's strength is far less than ours, and the defense line is very simple, we can easily break through their defense line, cut down Take the head of their commander and avenge the warriors who died in Bodo Bay, why are you still hesitating?"

Shimadzu Nushi's Adam's apple squirmed slightly, he hesitated to speak.

Haogu Huashan said in a low voice: "General, you still have a few hours to command this army!"

Shimadzu was startled, and suddenly realized that his command power was time-limited, and it belonged to the expired kind.After today, if he still wants to command this army, he will have to wait another day. If the Maori family deliberately weakens the strength of the Shimadzu family through the hands of the Ming army, and deliberately delays fighting tomorrow, then his The territory will definitely suffer even greater damage!

There is no choice but to make a quick decision!Only by defeating the Ming army with lightning speed and capturing the Ming army commander and craftsmen in the army can the loss of the Shimadzu family be made up for!Capturing the commander of the Ming army can extort a huge amount of ransom from the Ming country—whether you can get it is another matter, and capturing the craftsmen in the Ming army can make the Shimadzu family’s weapon manufacturing and handicraft industry even better. Floor, if he wants to smooth out the loss, he can only rely on these two.

"Immediately build artillery positions. In an hour's time, I will see all the countries open fire at the same time, blasting the Ming army's fortifications to pieces!" Shimadzu Nurishi gritted his teeth and gave the order.

The Japanese army promised loudly, and hundreds of ashigaru came out with shovels and hoes in fear, and came to a place only 400 meters away from the Ming army's position and began to dig fiercely, causing dust to fly.More than a dozen Japanese cavalry galloped over in a team, galloping back and forth around the defense line of the Ming army, uttering bursts of strange screams, which seemed to be beasts and non-beasts, human and non-human, attracting the attention of the Ming army, and even stretched their length to follow them. The longbow of the same height shot arrows towards the Ming army's position, trying to lure the Ming army to fire and consume the Ming army's ammunition and arrows.It can be seen that the quality of these Japanese samurai is still quite high. All tactics are linked together, very well organized, and they are indeed elite teachers who have been tempered during 200 years of war.It's a pity that Japan is only that big, and its layout is limited. What they think is a very coincidental tactical cooperation is just the same in the eyes of the Ming army.The tiger soldiers didn't even bother to look at those Japanese cavalrymen galloping and bluffing, but Yuan Zongdi was a little curious and asked Yang Menglong, "My lord, what the hell are these people doing?"

Yang Menglong yawned and said: "What else can you do? It's just to attract our attention, cover the artillery deployment, and test the range of our army's crossbows and muskets... Mace, let your people stay still." , keep an eye on Kagoshima City, we are enough here!"

Yuan Zongdi saw that the Japanese army nailed some half-split bamboos together into a shield shape and fixed them on the cart, and put a lot of wet quilts on it. What is it?"

Yang Menglong said: "Bamboo bundles are used for bulletproof purposes, and they are similar to our lathes."

Luo Laosan again saw the Japanese army nailing a fence made of bamboo to the ground, making it very irregular. He was a little confused: "What are they doing? It doesn't look like they are making a fence. That's not how fences are made!"

Yang Menglong said: "It's still a bamboo bunch. It's anti-arrow. It can also block the enemy's sight and conceal its dispatch. Look, if you hide behind the bamboo bunch, you can't even find a shadow?"

Luo Laosan looked at it carefully for a while, and it was really like this.He couldn't help scolding: "Damn, you're not tall, but you have a lot of playboys! If you fight a war, fight the war, and do so many tricks!"

Yang Menglong yawned again and said, "This is their tradition. We should respect their tradition and let them go through the trouble first. Let's take a break and deal with them after they have had enough trouble!"

(End of this chapter)