Although Oda Nobuheng and these people were ugly and despicable, they were really not ambiguous in the war, and with the support of the Ming Dynasty, they soon gathered 20,000 retainers to openly fight against the Tokugawa shogunate in Kochi Prefecture. At this time, Tokugawa Hidetada had just quelled the rebellion of Takayama Youjin and Naito Ruan, and the navy was heavily damaged by the European coalition forces, and he was almost killed, and Tokugawa Iemitsu could only be responsible for important military and political affairs.

Regarding the change of power in the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Tadanaga, who had always been ambitious for the position of shogun, was very dissatisfied. Previously, because Tokugawa Iemitsu was the successor of his grandfather Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tokugawa Tadanaga did not dare to do anything wrong. But now bedridden, Tokugawa Hidetada saw this as a great opportunity to usurp the throne, and soon he went to Nanjing to advise Zhu Youxiao, hoping that the Ming Dynasty would support him to become the third generation of Japanese generals.

"The respected emperor of the Ming Dynasty, my brother Takechiyo was good at flattery, which won my grandfather's favor and made him his heir. However, he was ambitious and talented, rigid and self-serving, and when he was still a minister, he had a transgressive heart towards the Ming Dynasty, and if he was allowed to take charge of the shogunate smoothly, he would definitely invade Korea like Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the future. ”

After listening to this, Zhu Youxiao thought to himself, you said that the Tokugawa family is not good, could it be that you are a good thing? Besides, I already have the card of Oda Shinpei in my hand, and it is impossible to change the strategy without enough benefits.

Seeing that the Ming Emperor was unmoved, Tokugawa Tadanaga suddenly knelt down and said:

"Your Majesty, if you can support me as a third-generation general, I will bow down to you and cede Nagasaki as a place for trade between the two countries. In addition, I also promised that there would be no more pirates to harass the coast of Daming, and I would pay an annual tribute of 500,000 taels of silver. ”

Zhu Youxiao is still acceptable to this condition, but the problem in front of Tokugawa Tadashi is that he has no soldiers and no money, and he will not be able to achieve any climate after returning to China. For this reason, Zhu Youxiao secretly weighed it, and then said:

"I have heard from Japanese businessmen about you, and they all think that you are better than your brother, and that you are more suitable to be a new general. Today, as expected, you are even more outstanding than I imagined, and it is great that Japan can have you in charge of the overall situation. But since your father has abdicated the throne in favor of Tokugawa Iemitsu, and now that he holds the military and political power in his hands, even if I support you, how can you fight with him? ”

Tokugawa Tadanaga saw that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty had expectations for him, and said while the iron was hot:

"I heard that His Majesty had given a banquet to Oda Nobuyi, and he must have known that he was a man who could not be supported, and although Oda's army currently occupies Shikoku Island, it will soon be exterminated by his brother. At that time, the Edo shogunate would take advantage of the victory to pursue the rebellion, eliminate the rebels on Kyushu Island, drive out all foreign merchants, and fully implement the policy of banning trade. ”

Although Tokugawa Tadanaga did not directly answer Zhu Youxiao's question, he indirectly pointed out Tokugawa Iemitsu's rejection of the Ming Dynasty after he came to power, which was not a good signal that the Ming Dynasty wanted to implement the Sunset Operation. For this reason, Zhu Yuxiao decided to support Tokugawa Tadanaga to become the Sekihaku of the Edo Shogunate, let him lead the Korean army into Honshu Island to contain Tokugawa Iemitsu's forces head-on, and then ordered Oda Nobuyhiro to continue to clear the remnants of the shogunate on Shikoku Island and stabilize the rule on the island.

Of course, Zhu Youxiao knew that this situation would not last long, and Tokugawa Tadanaga and Oda Nobuhiro would tear their faces with the Ming Dynasty once they were full-fledged, so he sent envoys to mediate the Japanese civil war, and on the other hand, he actively mobilized troops and baggage, looking for an opportunity to intervene in this war.

At this time, Tokugawa Iemitsu was in charge of the army, and he was very annoyed by the internal rebellion, although he knew that the rebels had the shadow of the Ming Dynasty behind them, but he knew that he could not openly confront the Ming Dynasty now. In order to eliminate these rebels as soon as possible, he decided to submit a credential to the Ming Dynasty, expressing his willingness to take the Ming Dynasty as the suzerain, regularly pay tribute to the Beijing Division, and at the same time ask the Ming Dynasty to send troops to contain the English fleet in the Seto Inland Sea.

For Tokugawa Iemitsu's kind invitation, Zhu Youxiao certainly would not let go of this golden opportunity, he not only sent the elite of the navy into the sea outside the river, but also mobilized 200,000 troops to occupy Kyushu Island in three ways.

The first route, commanded by Hong Chengchou, Shen Yourong, and Zheng Zhilong, led a total of 30,000 merchant armies and Korean troops to land on Kagoshima, and then advanced from south to north.

The second route was commanded by Yuan Keli, Xiong Wencan, and Yan Siqi, and led 60,000 soldiers from the Ming, Taiwan, and Luzon to occupy Fukuoka and build fortifications to prevent the shogunate army on Honshu Island from counterattacking.

The third route was commanded by Nan Juyi, Jiang Dejing, and Gan Hui, and led the elite 110,000 men of the Ming Dynasty sailors to Nagasaki, stabilized the situation in Nagasaki with the cooperation of Li Guozhu, Yang Tiansheng and others, and then advanced to Kagoshima and Fukuoka in two ways, and with the cooperation of the other two armies, the resistance forces on the island were pinched.

Xiong Tingbi, Shang Zhouzuo, and Mao Wenlong were responsible for the logistics and supply of the expeditionary force, ensuring that the troops and baggage transported from the territory of the Ming Dynasty and Korea could enter Kyushu Island smoothly. At the same time, the Taiwan Strait was blocked, foreign ships were prohibited from entering and leaving, and all overseas trade was temporarily carried out in Quanzhou and Guangzhou.

The army went out to fight, mighty and mighty, with countless pennants, covering the sky and the sun. After Zhu Youxiao finished inspecting the three armies, it was already late in the sky, and he decided to have a unique bonfire feast on the beach that night, so as to have a showdown with the main generals.

That night, the stars were shining, the sea breeze blew the military flag, and the waves behind him smashed on the reef desperately. After Zhu Youxiao and the soldiers sang a few military songs, he got up and raised his glass and said:

"The total strength of the three-way army is 200,000 people, plus reserves and logistics personnel, the total strength is more than 1 million. There is only one purpose for the imperial court to mobilize the people, that is, to eliminate the Japanese invaders, to include Japan in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and to completely solve the worries of the hegemony of the ocean.

The art of war is that I will not interfere with the operational command of the front line, and you will give you the title of marquis if you win, and I will give you the title of marquis if you lose, and I will take care of your family if you lose. In short, only one side of this expedition can survive, and that is us, and justice will win! ”

After speaking, Zhu Youxiao pulled out his sword and slashed into the sky, and the blade of the sword cut through the night, wanting to bring light to the world. At this time, everyone was already boiling, Zhu Youxiao led them to chase the south and the north over the years, and made countless contributions, and he was an undefeated myth in the hearts of the soldiers. In this conquest of Japan, he not only adopted a divisive strategy to reduce the enemy's resistance, but also dispatched a million troops to ensure that nothing went wrong, and even delegated power to the generals on the front line to find fighters independently, which is equivalent to untying the ropes for millions of tigers, and the sharpness of the soldiers can be imagined.

Soon the people around knelt and kowtowed, and the mountain shouted long live, and after the hustle and bustle, Zhu Youxiao raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then continued:

"In order not to tie the hands of the generals, I will not interfere too much in your battle plans, but you must be aware that Operation Sunset is divided into three phases.

The first step was to occupy Nagasaki, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima, and cooperate with each other to quickly quell resistance on Kyushu Island, and then support several local pro-Chinese feudal lords to form a puppet army and use their power to establish a solid ruling order on the island.

The second step was to help Oda Nobuyhiro and them land on Honshu Island, flank the shogunate army on two fronts with Tokugawa Tadanaga, and take the opportunity to raid Edo when the three sides were exhausted, and capture the main members of the shogunate and the imperial family in one fell swoop.

The third step was to support Emperor Go-Mizuo in power, and adopt the strategy of 'coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes' to eliminate the power of the Tokugawa and Oda clans one by one, and finally bring Japan into the territory of the Ming Dynasty. ”

At dawn the next day, 10,000 ships launched together, and the momentum was magnificent, and the past and the present were shining. This is the largest fleet in the world after Zheng He, and fortunately its owner is the Chinese nation. Zhu Youxiao watched Nan Juyi's flagship slowly disappear over the horizon, and then got up and returned to Nanjing, where although there was no artillery fire, there was an undercurrent.

As the war progressed, the imperial court needed to transport hundreds of ships of baggage and ammunition every day, and the full treasury would soon be emptied, and even the Ministry of Internal Affairs would have to tighten its belt. In order to ensure that the expeditionary force was not constrained by logistics, Zhu Youxiao offered Wei Zhongxian's trump card and ordered him to go to Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui and other places to levy three salaries. At the same time, Han Xi, Yang Lian and others were ordered to set up checkpoints in the mainland to collect taxes on past business travelers.

Zhu Youxiao was busy raising food and salaries in the rear, and the soldiers who went there were also fighting bloody battles. The initial campaign was not smooth, especially the Matsukura Shigemasa father and son, who held on to Nagasaki, still resisted stubbornly in the face of the well-equipped Ming army, and after the loss of the outer city, they held out for more than a month according to the commanding heights of the inner city, ready to play with Nanju Yi and them.

In the face of the desperate posture of Saburo, Nan Juyi remembered a few words of the little emperor, what can be solved with a cannon does not need a gun, and what can be solved with a gun does not need a sword, and strive to concentrate superior forces and firepower in every battle, and annihilate as much of the enemy's living force as possible.

So he decisively mobilized hundreds of improved Apocalypse cannons, coupled with the incendiary bombs developed by Zhu Kuiyuan when he was in Sichuan (oil produced in ancient Sichuan), and after a few volleys, the city was in a sea of fire, and the howls of wolves could be heard everywhere. Black oil burned with thick smoke and toxic gases, which was a chemical weapon at the time, and its lethality was not under the shells. By the time Nanju Yi ordered people to clean up the battlefield, the corpses inside were all indistinguishable, all of them were like the evil ghosts in the Shura Hell.