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"Your Highness, please see, there is the Arima River flowing through the south of Hino River Castle, where our army is stationed, and the Otegawa River flowing through it to the east. Sannomaru is located in the northwest, Ninomaru is located in the east, and Renguo-style Hirayama Castle is located on the top of the mountain where we are now. ”

Dozens of flags have been re-erected on the small hill of Hino River Castle, which has been abandoned for many years. The banner representing the power of the general, the banner representing the old and the commander Matsudaira Nobutsuna, surrounded by a large flag. Under the banner, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, who commanded more than a dozen daimyo and nearly 100,000 shogunate troops on behalf of the general, respectfully explained the topography of the Shimabara Peninsula and the configuration of the castle to Li Huayu and the generals of the Nanchu Army.

After a few days of rest, the shogunate redeployed troops and horses from all over the country. In a big deviation from the original assumption, the daimyo who had received the military order exceeded their tasks, and those who asked for 2,000 troops came with 3,000, and those who asked for 3,000 troops made up 5,000. And there were no troop missions, or a few daimyo who said they were sick before, but they also volunteered to bring their own soldiers and horses. For a time, on the other side of the island-bara peninsula, the cars were chaotic and the horses were shy, and the flags were like a forest of murderous spirits.

In the face of the arrival of a large number of shogunate troops, in addition to sending people to Satsuma Kagoshima Castle for help, it was to seize the time to strengthen the fortifications of Shimabara Castle and reserve drinking water and food.

Shimabara Castle is a typical Japanese castle located at the foot of Mt. Unzen, near the Ariake Sea. The castle is generally rectangular in the form of a castle wall, and is characterized by a tall and sturdy stone wall. A moat called Mizubori surrounds Honmaru. It is connected by a wooden bridge in the form of a corridor and a Ninomaru. If you break the bridge, you can isolate the Honmaru and turn it into a rat in a bag. And because of the corridor bridge, it is difficult to shoot the bow and arrow on defense, which can also be said to be a defect in the demarcation of the rope. The same is true of the castle tower at Takamatsu Castle. At the same time, because the castle tower is a free-standing tower type with no wind panels, the five-story five-stage structure has been changed to a "Kara-made" style by enclosing the railing of the top floor from the back with a door panel.

This was originally the domain of the Arima family, but after Naojun Arima was transferred to the feudal area, the newly appointed daimyo Matsukura Shigemasa decided to demolish Hino River Castle the following year. In the first year of Kanei, the construction of a new castle was completed. The feudal seal of the Itakura clan, which was the lord at the time of its establishment, was 40,000 koku, but 49 turrets were built side by side with the castle tower in Soishigaku.

"The most difficult thing for our army to attack the city is these forty-nine turrets!" The head of the Kuroda family cherished the monoculars in his hand and let out a long sigh.

The turret is similar to the horse face of the inland city, or the device of the pillbox and the fort. For the besieging side. Crossfire from the oars and walls. It is a fatal blow to the siege team. Often, corpses were piled up to build a way to the city.

And these forty-nine oars were not only the weapons of the Matsukura family, but also a major source of the rebellion in Shimahara today. In Japan. It is generally accepted that such construction and repair works are difficult and costly to carry out such restoration works on land turned by volcanic ash and lava flows. However, the Matsukura family still completed this task, which shows that the conscription and conscription cost a lot of money and food.

"If our army breaks through the city walls with artillery fire, your army may break the city?"

Huayu looked far away, large and small ships were shuttling back and forth on the sea, constantly transporting the armies of the daimyo and shogunate to the Shimabara Peninsula, and at the foot of the mountain, under the banner of the daimyo family emblem, countless samurai, ashigaru, and iron artillery were nervously arrayed. Farther out on the sea, four brigs hung sails on the side of Shimabara Castle, galloping back and forth like galloping horses on the sea.

In addition to the official army, Jiaguang was even more ruthless, took out money and grain from the treasury, and hired more than 20,000 ronins at the cost of five catties of rice and two hundred yuan a day to form a volunteer team. After the end of the war, it will be used by the South and Central Army. If they are killed or disabled during the war, they will be given a one-time pension of 200 koku of rice.

With these cannon fodder in hand, Matsudaira Laozhong is naturally not afraid of the dead!

"As long as His Highness's big cylinder can blast open the city wall and make the city have a cup of tea, the soldiers and horses of the lower country can go to the city to fight!"

Tadayuki Kuroda, the lord of the Hong Kong domain, who was almost framed to death during the Kuroda riots, was driven out of his fief by the Shimazu family as a daimyo with a height of 500,000 stones, and recaptured his fief in order to take revenge, and at the same time to repay the shogun's kindness to ignoring his family's accusations of rebellion.

"There are only more than 37,000 people in the city, of which more than 13,000 are fighting power. Most of them are ronin, what art of war do they know?! ”

"That's it! Chechitan in this group of fields! In addition to listening to what Amakusa Shiro bewitches, heaven and earth are the same root, all things are one, and there is no difference between respect and inferiority, what kind of art of war do you know there? ”

Several daimyo of the Kuroda, Hosokawa, and Mizuno families also laughed at the group of bandits in Shimahara.

Pointing to the cross erected at the head of the city in the distance, the banner with the cross and the icon sneered.

"Whew! If these guys are so useless, why don't you wipe them out in Kyushu? Let them occupy the whole of Kyushu, and you guys came here? ”

Liang Kuan pressed the hilt of the sword and muttered to the soldiers beside him.

In the past few days, Liang Kuan led several staff officers to carefully study the situation of the Kyushu trend, and sneered at the actions of the Shimazu family and Amakusa Shisadashiro.

Obviously, his own troops were small and weak, but after occupying Kyushu, he did not cross the sea in a big way, and burned the flames of war to Honshu, Shikoku, etc., but he was in a hurry to check the fruits of victory in Kyushu, and ate the fat meat he grabbed in his stomach before he was willing to send troops. As everyone knows, they are digesting the fruits of victory, and they are also giving the Tokugawa family time to breathe.

"If this generation does not hesitate to cross the sea, Honshu and Shikoku will definitely be full of smoke, and the enemies of the Tokugawa family will definitely rise up in rebellion. What a pity! These dwarves! ”

If you give up the initiative, then the Tokugawa family will have a chance to breathe. The great opportunity brought by the Shimazu family's front counterattack to Shimahara's Ichichi army was fleeting.

Under the advice of Matsudaira Nobutsuna. The shogunate took the defense as an attack, and listed the food, salt, and other daily necessities and weapons needed by Shimabara Castle as prohibited items, and at the same time sent ships to patrol the sea to cut off Shimabara's access to supplies from the sea. In the middle, Matsudaira went to Guangzhou to cry for help, making it impossible for the Nanzhong army to openly supply the Shimazu and Amakusa families in Kyushu, and occasionally the Goto family and the Zong family smuggled some grain, gunpowder and other materials and Amakusa at high prices, which was also a drop in the bucket.

"There are tens of thousands of people in the city, but the Matsukura family is only 40,000 stone high, and the grain reserve is not much, and there are large troops coming to the city recently. This generation is bound to run out of food. Today is the time to break the enemy! ”

As the commander personally appointed by the general Iemitsu, Matsudaira Nobutsuna presented the sword representing the general's power and the military matching hands and respectfully handed it to Li Huayu.

"My general's strict order, when the war begins. Be sure to obey His Royal Highness's orders. Those who disobey the order. Beheading! Those who retreat from the battle, withdraw the feudal domain! ”

The elders of the three daimyos on the side had already been informed in advance. Immediately he got up from his horse, fell to his knees in his colorful armor, and chanted in unison, "Obey the military order!" ”

Their actions made the genealogy and foreign daimyo have to draw gourds in the same way. There are also people who turn their minds a few more times, and turn their thinking to how to tie up the highness in front of them, as long as they tie him up, they will be the next Wudao family and the sect family!

It is said that the Shimazu family on the opposite side also had today's strength and courage after trading with the Nanchu Army!

After a few polite words, Huayu took the sword and military matching, and encouraged the daimyo and family and flag books in front of him.

"The ministries are called by the sound of artillery. After hearing the guns fired by our naval gunboats, they hurried to the castle of Shimabara. With the volunteers as the lead, the Kuroda team supervised the battle, and after the Kuroda team landed in the city, the results were expanded, and Hosokawa and Mizunoya followed up! The three royal soldiers and horses are in formation! Our cavalry is on alert for traffic contact outside the city! After the various departments entered the city, they captured more prisoners, and the captured personnel, except for the first evil Amakusa Shiro and others, were handed over to our department for disposal! The rest of the things in the castle are distributed by Mr. Matsudaira! ”

After saying this, Hua Yu's voice trembled slightly, he didn't know if what he said was complete, and he had said everything that Liang Kuan and others had taught him.

"Hey!"

The commander of the division beside Hua Yu ordered people to wave the order flag, and the signal soldiers waved the small flag in their hands to pass on the orders one after another.

Soon, at the foot of the hill, 200 cavalrymen urged their horses to gallop around the outside of Shimahara Castle, galloping back and forth in positions where guns and can't fire in the city, shouting and shouting.

And those gunners, dragged by the Japanese people, moved the Big Buddha and the eight-pounder guns to the Shimahara Castle.

On both sides and behind the artillery team were the Tokugawa family's direct flag guards. The entire front was like a piece of polished nine-turn steel.

On both sides of the Tokugawa family's flags, there are volunteers who are as chaotic as dark clouds, and these volunteers composed of ronin, wielding various traditional weapons such as swords, ribs, and bamboo guns, hoping to die a glorious death in battle and earn a lot of wealth for their families.

Behind the volunteers, there were 500 musketeers from the Nanzhong Army as the supervising team, and the sharp bayonets had been loaded on the guns, and the cold light on the tip of the knife and the rising sun reflected each other.

The 20,000 soldiers and horses of the Kuroda, Hosokawa, Mizuno, and Misanjia completed the battle under Shimabara Castle, waiting for the signal of the gunboats at sea.

The soldiers on Shimabara Castle also knew that today was the most important time, but they were afraid that this morning's sun would be the last time many people would ever see it.

The city did not know who it was, but began to chant hymns aloud.

"These damn Chechitan!"

Tadayuki Kuroda, who was driven out of Kyushu by Shimazu and Amakusa together, gritted his teeth and cursed, urging his subordinates to drive those volunteers forward quickly.

"Order people to come forward and shout, tell them that the army of the Celestial Empire has come here to fight for rebellion, and that Heaven has the virtue of a good life, and order them to surrender!"

Tokugawa Yoshinao, the lord of Tokugawa Iemitsu's Ninth Uncle Owari Domain, the commander of the Imperial Three Clans, instructed one of his subordinates to try to create panic and chaos in the army in the name of the Celestial Empire's army.

"Surrender quickly, or the jade will be burned as soon as the cannon goes off!" The Nanban Evil God can't save you! ”

A shout could be heard in the distance into the ears of Tadayuki Kuroda, who was tightly surrounded by the guards, and he frowned a little when he heard it.

"What are you talking about with these bandits? Greet them directly with the cannon, and when the cannon goes off, see if there is any God in their mouth to save them! ”

"Where did the Ming gunboat arrive?"

"Your Lordship. It has already passed the sea of Kujukushima Island, and it is approaching Shimabara Castle in the Ariake Sea! ”

In response to Tokugawa Yoshinao's move to surrender, it was the shouts of Shimahara Castle.

"We're not going to be apostates like Naojun Arima!"

"We'd rather be martyred saints like Kakuzo and Sanyoshi!"

"It seems that this group of people is determined to be a sacrifice to the Nanban evil god. We had to fulfill them! Tokugawa Yoshinao heard the shouts from the castle, and a bloodthirsty smile appeared on his face.

"Lord, we have an appointment with the Nanzhong Army, and we want to exchange prisoners for things!" An old family reminded the feudal lord in a whisper.

"This is natural, the order goes down ,......"

"Tom!"

A loud and dull cannon sound came from the direction of the Ariake Sea, and everyone followed the sound. A huge cannonball can be seen faintly drawing an arc in the air and flying towards Shimabara Castle!

Followed by. Four more huge shells left traces on people's retina.

A huge cannonball landed on the top of the city, and immediately exploded in a wave of blood and flesh at the head of the city. The melodious hymn tune was suddenly replaced by a terrible cry.

The first cannonball landed on the city wall, quickly creating a flesh alley in the crowd, and then a few bounces landed under the city. Scream and spark all the way in the barracks under the city. The barracks, made of straw mats and bamboo, was in shambles under the tremendous external force. Beams and pillars made of bamboo are flying everywhere. Blood was dripping from the sharp fracture.

The second wave of shells smashed very accurately on several oars and city walls. Although the walls were made of rammed clay, the forts on these walls, known as turrets, were made of stone. Four cannonballs smashed the fortifications into pieces, scattering bricks and rocks, and blocks of stone and clay inflicted a shrapnel effect on the defenders of the city.

"Tiantong has an order! Take down the city! Take down the city! ”

In the intermittent hours of artillery fire. From the city, dozens of people roared hoarsely, conveying Amakusa Shiro's orders. Attempts were made to withdraw troops from the city to hide from the artillery fire.

"Your Highness! What kind of artillery is so powerful? Just one round of artillery fire to make the thieves so frightened? ”

As the smoke rose from the top of the city, the red crosses that had been painted on the outside of the surrounding walls, as well as the many flags with the crucifixion and the wooden crosses erected on the top of the city, became crooked, and those flags were even trampled under the feet of the crowd fleeing for their lives.

The gunboats on the distant sea only spewed out large puffs of smoke and fire, and they did not see the huge vibration of the cannon firing, but saw several huge cannonballs flying out.

"This is the mortar of my South Central Army. It is the most powerful weapon used to attack the head of the city. It's just that the shell is too heavy, and one shell weighs about 200 pounds. In the face of the astonishment of Tokugawa Yoshinao and others, although Huayu said that he was younger, he also knew that if he didn't brag at this time, he would leave a shadow in their hearts, and when?

"The artillery fire is sharp, but it's a pity that the loading speed is slower, if it can be reloaded as fast as those big Buddha Lang machines, a certain family dares to guarantee that there is no city in this world that can resist it!"

Liang Kuan also boasted in response to the drum horn, but his skills were much more skillful, and he told this group of dwarves that our artillery was deficient.

"Commander Liang."

"Mark it in!"

"Ordered to transfer 200 people to four gunboats to carry the task, and today we must blast away the Shimahara City."

It seems to echo Huayu's words. The artillery team that was heading under Shimabara Castle also began shelling.

"Blossom bomb! Blossom bombs! ”

The gunners repeated the commander's command loudly, quickly stuffed the medicine bag into the chamber of the eight-pounder gun, pierced the cotton medicine bag with an iron skewer, and inserted the letter pipe into the medicine bag along the ignition. After two hard blows with the push rod to confirm that the bag was solid, a loader carried an eight-pounder cannon shell to the muzzle of the gun with a bamboo basket.

"Reload!" ……

At this time, the outer position of Shimabara Castle, known as Ninomaru, collapsed into a piece of earth walls and stone barriers. Taking advantage of the temporary cessation of the artillery fire from the sea of the Southern Chinese Army, the disciples of the First Army, under the leadership of their respective leaders, shouted that they would rush from the city to the city, pick up soil and stones, step up the repair of the collapsed defense lines in various places, or busily remove stones and wood from the collapsed fortifications to rescue the wounded inside.

Ant-like crowds. They began to be busy, and while they were busy, they were also worried that the Ming army would fire again.

However, as soon as the work began, the rumbling of cannons under the city was heard. Shells came from the other direction.

Except for some shells that exploded in the air in advance, a number of huge round flowering cannonballs, rumbling, landed in front of and behind the castle head of Ninomaru, and smashed the ground of several oars near the left. Some even happened to land in the middle of the city wall. Several shells flew onto the wooden bridge connecting Ninomaru and Honmaru.

At the head of Ninomaru Castle, both the ronins who had previously belonged to the samurai of the Arima clan and the peasants who believed in the doctrine screamed at the cannonballs. But then everyone found that this time the shell did not have the power of the previous cannon. Although it fell high from the sky. But it's hard to smash anything. It doesn't roll much because the weight is not enough.

Seeing this, several people even gathered around with some curiosity, trying to see what was going on.

It was at this time. The fuse on the shell burned to the end.

"Boom!"

A small explosion sounded, and a puff of smoke rose above the city.

Then, more pillars of smoke rose up around Ninomaru, Honmaru, and the moat.

The city was immediately choked and coughed, and many people inhaled the smoke. I felt dizzy and had a splitting headache. Then I felt in horror that I was short of breath and felt like I was suffocating.

They desperately stretched out their hands to ask for help. Then I tried to speak, but I found that I couldn't say anything, only a sound came out of my mouth, and my whole body twitched violently.

After inhaling poisonous smoke, some people found that their eyesight was difficult, and they ran around in fear and howled, vomiting and vomiting as they went, and vomited dirt all over their bodies. There are more people running at the same time, in the nose and in the mouth. From time to time, black blood flowed from time to time, which added to their fear.

This is the effect of croton, arsenic and other substances in the flowering bomb.

Seeing that there was chaos at the head of the city, the musketeers of the 500 guards battalion of the Southern Central Army, who were responsible for supervising the battle, immediately threw down the city, and chose a prescription only to be smashed by mortar shells in two places.

The dense projectiles hit the bricks and stones of the city, and the sparks flew straight up. After two or three hundred projectiles, even if someone is on this section of the city, they may not be able to live.

"Volunteers! Above! ”

"Kill!"

The volunteers, composed of ronin and machito guards from Honshu, Shikoku and other places, and the Osaka ten-member group, wielded swords and bamboo spears in their hands, and some of them also had iron cannons frantically rushing towards the moat, Ninomaru, and other places that had been battered by the artillery fire.

At the front, the 2,000 volunteers had no weapons in their hands, but only a huge straw bag on their backs. As long as they throw the straw bags in the moat, they will come back with such a bag of rice waiting for them.

And those with knives and guns are also fighting for a high reward!

Under the frantic onslaught of the volunteers, soon, the three-leaf Aoi banner representing the Tokugawa family appeared on the castle.

In the face of the frantic attack of the volunteers, the army at the head of the city fell like straw in autumn, and the blood flowed down the steps of the city wall, staining the walls and moats red.

In the face of the crazy killing of the volunteers, the people and ronins of the army were furious. Six or seven hundred shouted: "Today is the day of our martyrdom!" ”

With the shouting, although these people were not fully armored and only had bamboo spears in their hands, they were still not afraid of the sharp blades in the hands of the volunteers, "Lord, forgive these sins, cleanse the evil spirits of these infidels, and guide them to the way to heaven!" While shouting, he tried to drive the volunteers out of the city with long bamboo spears. Although the head of the city is narrow, which is not conducive to the use of spears, and in the face of the sharp swords in the hands of the volunteers, people fall from time to time, but these desperate people, who do not know what fear is, almost step on the corpses of their comrades, and gradually widen the distance between them and the volunteers, and the bamboo spears in their hands begin to exert their power. The volunteers, who were originally a rabble, were horrified by this act of not fearing death, and they broke and fled one after another.

"Don't go back! Don't go back! Which one retreats and I killed his whole family! ”

Tadayuki Kuroda, the lord of the Fukuoka Domain, led his team to the head of Ninomaru Castle with his team stepping on the corpse.

"Have you forgotten the bereavement of the war dead?!" (To be continued......)