The efficiency of the Ming Dynasty is really not ordinarily high, Otomo Zonglin has just prepared more than 300,000 taels of silver here, and Wang Zhi has already sent him iron cannons, cannonballs and gunpowder that come with them.

With one hand to pay the money and the other hand to deliver, Otomo Sorin's soon possession of two hundred brand-new iron cannons.

So, can he use these iron cannons to conquer everywhere and dominate Kyushu?

Of course, it's not that simple, not to mention whether these two hundred iron cannons are enough for him to dominate Kyushu, and whether the people under his command will operate these iron cannons is still a question.

It didn't take long for this iron cannon to be introduced to Dongying, and not only did the princes of Dongying not only have few people who can cast iron cannons, but there are not many people who can even control iron cannons.

The Bungo Otomo clan couldn't cast an iron cannon in the first place, and Otomo Sorin's subordinates naturally didn't have a veteran who could control the iron cannon.

For this reason, he also specially asked Wang Zhi for help, and asked Wang Zhi to send him some skilled gunners to teach his subordinates to control the iron cannon.

Wang Zhi was not ambiguous, even if he sent him a small team and ten skilled gunners to help him train his men.

At this time, it was lively outside Xishan City, and there was rumbling cannons from morning to night every day, almost without interruption.

According to Wang Zhi's guidance, Otomo Zonglin recruited a thousand clever foot soldiers, divided into two hundred groups of five people, and controlled two hundred iron cannons respectively.

If you are a novice who has never been in contact with artillery, at least you have to practice it yourself, and you can barely master the basic skills of iron cannon control after firing a few shots.

So, after a few cannons, the ten shells that came with the artillery were almost consumed.

Of course, Otomo Zonglin didn't care about the money, and he didn't care about the shells, he also ordered an additional 10,000 shells, 10,000 shells were not enough, and another 10,000 rounds would be enough.

His men became more and more proficient in the handling of artillery, but they soon discovered a new problem, that is, the fixation and movement of the cannon was too cumbersome.

Wang Zhi didn't equip them with artillery trucks, and even if they did, they didn't have so many war horses to pull them.

This iron cannon cannons can't be fired with a swing on the ground, at least they have to be fixed before they can be fired, otherwise, with a "boom", the cannonballs will fly forward, and the iron cannons will fly backwards.

During the exercise, they can also find a way to dig a pit in the ground and then put the pole of the spear through the ear and nail it to the ground to fix the iron cannon.

In fact, Yang Cong has already taken this into account for them, there is no gun carriage, it doesn't matter, Da Ming has a specially made gun carriage, a pair of one hundred taels of silver, although the main structure is wood, but there are also several small and delicate iron pins and iron hoops where the iron cannon is fixed, which is both beautiful and durable, and the four people can easily carry the iron cannon with the gun carriage.

This thing is good, Dayou Zonglin naturally bought two hundred sets without hesitation, this time, the carpenter of Daming has another job, and at a cost of less than one tael, he directly sells one hundred and two sets, which is a huge profit!

In this way, after tossing for nearly a month, a thousand gunners finally practiced almost, and Otomo Zonglin also gathered more than 10,000 people, and the Otomo clan's Kyushu conquest finally kicked off.

The first target is to conquer the rebellion of Higo Province, that is, his own uncle Kikuchi Yoshitake.

Anyway, why is his own uncle called Kikuchi Yoshitake and not Otomo or something?

Although Dongying's surname is strange, it is also a surname, a family, uncles and nephews, why are the surnames different?

In fact, the general Dongying people are similar to the Ming people, and the surnames of the direct blood relatives are the same, but there are also some special circumstances.

It's like the famous Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the history of Toying, this guy was not originally called Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi's original name was Kinoshita Toyoshiro, and his father was Ashigaru under the Oda clan, that is, the head of the lower-level samurai, named Kinoshita Yamataemon, that is, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was originally surnamed Kinoshita, but he was given a new surname, Toyotomi after he became Sekihaku.

This is also the reason why Yang Cong couldn't inquire about Toyotomi Hideyoshi, because at this time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was not called Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but Kinoshita Toyoshiro.

For another example, another hero of the Warring States of Toei, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who is as famous as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was originally not called Tokugawa Ieyasu, but Matsudaira Motoyasu, who was born in the famous Matsudaira clan in Mikawa Province, as for how he became Tokugawa Ieyasu later, it is unknown.

In short, the Dongying people do not necessarily follow the paternal or maternal surname, and it is very likely that the surnames of the brothers are different, which is especially common during the Warring States period.

There is no way to verify why Otomo Sorin's own uncle is called Kikuchi Yoshitake, and this is not the point, but the point now is that this guy betrayed the Otomo clan, so Otomo Sorin wants to clean up the portal, use him to open a knife or sacrifice flag, and lay a solid foundation for the Kyushu conquest.

At this time, a vassal state in Dongying is actually the size of a county in Daming, and each vassal state basically has only one city, like the Higo Kingdom, there is only one city and a dozen or so larger manors.

However, when it comes to this castle, it is more famous, because this castle is the famous Kumamoto Castle in later generations.

Why Kumamoto Castle is famous is not detailed here for some well-known reasons, but in short, this Kumamoto Castle was relatively famous during the Toei Warring States period, and it was notoriously easy to defend and difficult to attack.

This is also the reason why Kikuchi Yoshitake dared to betray the Otomo clan.

The so-called "ten are to surround it, five to attack it, and the multiple is to divide it, the enemy can fight, if there is less, you can escape, and if not, you can avoid it." The Art of War is also quite popular in Dongying, and under normal circumstances, the besieging side must have at least five times the strength of the defending side to attack the city.

Kumamoto Castle was originally easy to defend and difficult to attack, and he also had nearly 10,000 horses under his command, even if Otomo Sorin's army was reckless, he could organize 20,000 horses at most, and 20,000 horses attacked Xiongcheng garrisoned by 10,000 horses, what are you kidding?

Therefore, Kikuchi Yoshitake has no fear, and he is not afraid of the Otomo clan attacking him at all.

If it was under normal circumstances, Otomo Zonglin naturally did not dare to run to attack Kumamoto Castle, because at this time, the authority of the Otomo clan had been seriously challenged, not only did his own uncle Kikuchi Yoshitake betray him, but most of the wealthy clans of the other two countries also had different intentions, and he couldn't even pull up 20,000 horses, so how could he attack Kumamoto Castle.

However, this is different, because he already has two hundred new iron cannons, and he has seen the power of this guy with his own eyes, and it is better to use it for siege.

Therefore, even if he could only organize tens of thousands of horses, he dared to launch an attack on Kumamoto Castle!