Rebirth of The Deer and the Cauldron, Wei Xiaobao Becomes a God

At the foot of Shuri Castle's east gate, in front of the Japanese Expeditionary Force's position, the commander of the expeditionary force, General Tokugawa Kosato, was looking at the siege battlefield ahead.

Two teams of a thousand men have been dispatched to the front, and dozens of ladders have been placed on the city walls. The Japanese soldiers are climbing up the ladders, while the Ryukyu soldiers guarding the city are desperately throwing rolling logs and hot oil down, and soldiers from both sides are constantly falling off the city walls.

The city gate was already in ruins, with a large number of sandbags piled up in the gate hole. The soldiers carrying the siege spikes came out of their turtle shells and used their hands to move the sandbags in the gate hole. Once the sandbags were moved away, the city gate would be unobstructed.

Tokugawa Kosato looked at the battlefield ahead with a smile on his face. It was only a matter of time before Shuri Castle was captured.

On the wall of the East Gate, the defending general Xiao You had a miserable look on his face. It had been six hours since the Japanese army attacked the city in the morning. More than half of the two thousand soldiers had been killed or wounded, and there were less than a thousand soldiers left. The reinforcements were also slow to arrive! Seeing that the gate was about to be lost, the messengers sent out could not get a reply, which was really frustrating.

General Xiao had no idea of ​​what had happened in the palace, let alone that the soldiers at three of the four city gates had already retreated, leaving only the lone troop at the east gate fighting.

In order to buy time for Prince Shangwen to escape, General Xiao was left in Shuri Castle as a discarded pawn.

The west gate of the city was wide open. Countless officials, soldiers, and ordinary people rushed to the west gate. More than 100,000 people gathered at the gate, waiting to leave the city. The scene was in chaos.

Wei Xiaobao brought Shuang'er, Manager Qin, and the bakers and their staff to the west gate. Behind Wei Xiaobao were thousands of neighbors with their children and mothers.

More than 100,000 people were blocked at the West City Gate, which was more than ten meters wide. People at the back pushed those in front, and people were crowded together. From time to time, people fell to the ground and were trampled to death by the crowded crowd.

The cries and shouts mixed together, giving a feeling of the end of the world.

When Wei Xiaobao saw the situation at the West Gate, he thought it would be difficult to get out from there. So he heard that the soldiers at the North Gate and South Gate had withdrawn, but the city gates were not open, so he decided to take everyone out through the North Gate.

Half an hour later, Wei Xiaobao arrived at the North Gate. At this time, the big lock on the door bar of the North Gate had been smashed open by the fleeing people. The North Gate was wide open. Perhaps because the lock had just been smashed open and not many people knew about it, the crowd leaving the city through the North Gate was not too crowded. Wei Xiaobao and two or three thousand neighbors quickly got out of the North Gate.

Shuri Castle is located in the southern part of the Naha Islands. To the north of Shuri Castle is Okinawa, which was occupied by Japanese pirates as early as 1607 during the reign of King Shoinyeong. It has been more than years since then.

There is a large mountain range between Shuri Castle and Okinawa, called Ryumon Mountain. The terrain is steep, which is a good place to build a shelter that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Wei Xiaobao heard from his neighbors who fled with him that there was a Longzui Cliff in Longmen Mountain with a steep terrain. On the cliff was a Longlian Village, which was the largest bandit den in the entire Longmen Mountains.

"Husband, do you want to take out the bandit's lair?" Shuang'er asked.

Shopkeeper Qin also came over. He also wanted to know what the Wei Dong family would do next.

"Now, if we count our neighbors, there are about two to three thousand of us. With so many people needing food every day, we need a safe place to live. Longluan Village is a good place, the largest bandit den within a hundred miles. I hope we won't be disappointed." Wei Xiaobao said to Shuang'er.

"Okay, my husband, I'll listen to you. I'll do whatever you say!" Shuang'er said in a little bird-like manner.

Shopkeeper Qin, who was standing by, had a dark face. He was a native of Shuri Castle and had heard about Longya Village since he was a child. He knew how dangerous this bandit den was, so he hurriedly tried to dissuade Wei Xiaobao:

"We can't go to the Wei family. It is said that there are thousands of bandits in Longya Village. Many of them are wanted bandits from the Celestial Empire. They fled to Ryukyu and became bandits. The government troops have failed in their multiple attempts to suppress them."

"From the Celestial Empire?" Wei Xiaobao asked.

"Well, after the maritime ban was issued in the past two years, more desperate criminals have fled to Ryukyu. Most of these people have become bandits and have taken over the mountains to become kings."

After hearing what Qin said, Wei Xiaobao was not angry but happy. Aren't the bandits and desperadoes that ordinary people talk about the green forest heroes? Didn't Wei Xiaobao run away from Yangzhou Lichunyuan in order to pursue a life in the underworld?

"Go, of course. Since you're from China, maybe you can meet some fellow countrymen!" Wei Xiaobao said confidently.

So, under the guidance of his neighbors who were familiar with the Longmen Mountains, Wei Xiaobao led a team of two to three thousand people and marched towards Longling Village.

Soon after Wei Xiaobao and his men left the north gate, the east gate was breached, and the Japanese rushed into Shuri Castle, killing anyone they saw, robbing anything they saw, and even robbing women...

Fires broke out in Shuri Castle, and the sounds of burning, killing, crying... resounded throughout the earth, as if it were hell on earth.

A child was crying while holding the half-naked body of his mother...

A man whose legs were cut off but still alive rolled on the ground, groaning loudly...

A girl was surrounded by three or four Japanese soldiers, screaming hysterically for help...

… …

Such scenes are everywhere in Shuri Castle. Such a tragedy is happening, but God is still hiding behind the gray sky filled with smoke, as if all this has nothing to do with God.

At this time, Prince Shangwen was still on the ship from the Naha Islands to the Minami-Ryukyu Islands, looking at the thick smoke rising from Shuri Castle behind him with a look of horror.

General Xiao You, who was guarding the city, was seriously injured and fell unconscious on a stretcher. He was carried by several ragged soldiers and rushed out of the north gate towards the Longmen Mountains.

There were still tens of thousands of people stranded at the west gate, all desperately rushing out of the city, while outside the crowd, the Japanese had raised their butcher knives high, killing everywhere, blood splattered...

The palace was deserted and the ground was in a mess. Several Ryukyu people holding Japanese military flags and wearing white bandages on their arms were leading a small team of Japanese pirates around the palace. They were looking for treasure, looking for places where treasures were hidden in the national treasury and the palace. The first to be targeted by this team was the prefect Wu Huairen. But there was more than one such team. In Shuri Castle, Master Wang, Captain Liu, and the yamen runners who besieged the bakery were leading small teams of Japanese pirates to plunder the mansions of princes, nobles, and wealthy families in the city.

Of course, Lawyer Wang would not forget the bakery, but when he came back with the Japanese soldiers, there was no one there. Furious, Lawyer Wang set fire to the bakery, turning the real estate that Wei Xiaobao had acquired with great difficulty into ashes.

In the evening, the exhausted team finally arrived at the foot of Laozui Cliff. Laozui Cliff is one of the top three peaks in the Longmen Mountains, with an altitude of more than 3,000 meters. The mountain is steep, the top of the mountain is shrouded in clouds and mist, and there is snow all year round. Longya Village stands halfway up the mountain. Standing at the foot of the mountain and looking up, you can also see the magnificent momentum of Longya Village.