On January 8, Kanei 12, Edo Castle was besieged by foreign armies for the first time since it was built. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

On the night of the previous day, the general Tokugawa Iemitsu had received a message that nearly 20,000 cavalry of the Ming army had arrived at the boundary seven or eight miles south of Sakurada Gate, southwest of Edo Castle, but the Ming army did not continue to advance, but began to set up a large camp.

At this time, Tokugawa Iemitsu was much more stable, and in the past few days, Sakai Tadashi and Matsudaira Nobutsuna commanded a group of senior generals Ashigaru to organize more than 15,000 young people in the city, prepared enough rolling wood and stones, and even demolished two temples and some private houses for stone and wood.

Now these young men have some appearance after a few days of training, and at the same time, the baggage of defending the city is also well prepared, and the family is a lot more energetic.

However, after hearing that the Ming army had arrived in Edo, Iemitsu had only slept for more than an hour that night, not because he was afraid that he couldn't sleep at night, but because he couldn't sleep because of humiliation and grief.

Since his grandfather Ieyasu rebuilt Edo Castle more than 30 years ago, and later became the town town of the Tokugawa family, it was the first time that a foreign enemy attacked Edo Castle, and his family was the shogun of the shogunate at this time, which was really humiliating, and more than 20,000 standing and 1,000 banners of samurai were lost, or defeated in the hands of the more cowardly Ming people in the past, and the prestige accumulated by his grandfather and father for two generations was lost in his hands.

Now the only way to regain face is to defeat the Ming army, if the Ming army is completely wiped out under Edo Castle, then his humiliation will not only be swept away, but his prestige will be greatly increased, showing that his family is not the shadow of the family.

Jiaguang ushered in the morning sun of the next day, and when he had just had breakfast, he had a small surname to report. The Ming army is approaching the Sakurada Gate.

Iemitsu waited for the arrival of Matsudaira Nobutsuna and Sakai Tadashi. Surrounded by hundreds of guards, I waited to go to Sakurada Gate to have a look. After all, he was the first time he had seen the army of the Ming people, and he must see the soldiers of the Ming people with his own eyes.

What kind of Ming army actually defeated his elite standing in one fell swoop, and he was defeated simply, and he was still unconvinced in his heart if he didn't see it with his own eyes.

For this reason, he ignored the advice of the two old middle schools, and insisted on going to Sakurada Gate to have a look.

When Iemitsu ascended the tall Sakurada Gate, all the standing samurai and young people in the castle knelt down and respectfully saluted Iemitsu, and the voice of His Highness came from all directions.

This made Iemitsu soberly realize that he was still the shogun appointed by the emperor. The first person in Japan in fact.

Jiaguang straightened his waist and climbed to the top of the city, he held the battlement and looked south, only to see several large formations of the Ming army neatly arranged several miles away.

The red and black battle armor and robes spread all over the southern wilderness, and the red and black battle flags were blown and fluttered by the northwest wind.

Iemitsu and Matsudaira Nobutsuna and Sakai Tadashi looked at each other suspiciously, and they were all extremely puzzled.

If it hadn't been after the Yokohama War, Iemitsu would have thought that it was all like this. This kind of military strength is not only in the Ming Dynasty, but also in the Wa Kingdom. It's all for the sake of looking good, and there are 500 such soldiers in Edo's Uchimaru, and there is no other use for showing the majesty of the general to the samurai people when he goes out on patrol with his family.

However, after the First World War in Yokohama, when they saw the neat array of Ming sabers and axes, they only experienced coercion, the ferocity of a lion in a hundred battles, and the fearlessness of an eagle in the sky.

As soon as Jiaguang raised his hand, the little surname on the side comprehended and handed over the monocular telescope, which was a richly decorated and high-quality product offered by the Portuguese, and the lenses were made of expensive crystal.

This was also a product of the close relationship between the shogunate and the Portuguese, but of course, with the Portuguese and Spaniards spreading their missions in Japan, the conflict between the two sides intensified, and all this was already swept away.

Jiaguang picked up the telescope and looked at the Ming army three or four miles away.

In the telescope, he couldn't see the face of the Ming army, but he could see the Ming army sitting on horses with their chests folded on their chests and stomachs.

The old people's nonsense is particularly unreliable, what Ming army can't do in close combat, the bloody battle collapsed, if it weren't for these slanders, how could the 20,000 standing guards be defeated.

He saw that in front of the Ming army's array, hundreds of attendants were surrounded by several Ming generals dressed in bright white Nanban suffocates who were looking at Edo Castle, some of them also holding binoculars in their hands.

It seems that the general of the Ming army is among them, and Jiaguang can't help but look at it carefully, but unfortunately the telescope at this time can only be seen from a distance, and it is really not clear to see so far.

Tokugawa Iemitsu's guess was right, not only Zhao Lie, but also Li Lu, Han Jian, Guan Ming, Wang Haizhou and others were looking at Edo Castle.

"My lord, Edo Castle is four zhang high, and the moat must be more than three zhang, if the outer cities of Edo Castle are like this, it deserves to be a heroic city, even in Daming, there are not many such strong cities."

Li Lu put down the telescope and looked at Zhao Liedao.

"This city can't be attacked even if there are 100,000 elite soldiers, and even if it is captured, it will have to lose more than half, of course, if such a large city is without food for a year, it will open the city gate and surrender."

Zhao Lie put down the binoculars and took a good look at the majestic city in the distance, Edo had been wiped out in the war in later generations, only some places in the Uchimaru remained, and most of the essence of history was destroyed in the war, which is a truth that cannot be broken.

Of course, this time he Zhao Lie is also here to explain this truth, in his opinion, Japanese religion has a bloodthirsty wolf nature, and these temples should be burned down.

"It's still the right strategy formulated by the adults, this fortified city can only be besieged and not attacked." Guan Ming greeted him a little.

"Yo he, when will Guan Laohei learn to pat the horse." Han Jian laughed in a loud voice.

Guan Ming's old face turned red and glared at Han Jian, this old Han is really a bad scenery, is it easy for him to find the right time to hold back this sentence.

"Alright, Hugh is going to laugh, take the cavalry, I'll wait for a walk around Edo Castle." Zhao Lie said with a smile.

Several people hurriedly bowed down to receive the order.

At this time, Tokugawa Iemitsu, who was standing in the city, had a heavy heart at this time, and such elite soldiers were stationed outside the city, and of course he was under great pressure as the defender of the city.

"This is the strongest riding equipment that Lao Chen has ever seen." On the side, Sakai Tadashi's old voice sounded.

The Tokugawa family looked at Sakai Tadashi with a dare, which was the biggest thing the cautious Sakai Tadashi had ever said, and he made a judgment without a trace of concealment.

"Your Royal Highness the General, listen to the Ming army's big array, apart from the neighing of horses, what did you hear." Tadashi Sakai bowed deeply to Iemitsu.

Tokugawa Iemitsu and Matsudaira Nobutsuna listened carefully, and nothing was heard in the field outside except for the occasional neighing of horses, only the faint whispers of the people from the city walls.

Tokugawa Iemitsu seemed to have caught something, but he didn't seem to have caught anything, and he was stunned on the spot for a while.

"Sakai-sama is saying that there is no noise from the Ming army, right?" Matsudaira Nobutsuna hesitated and asked.

"Yes, the old minister has experienced a hundred battles, as long as the army of more than 1,000 people is not in the battle, many ashigaru are talking to each other below, and the military situation is noisy for a while, but the nearly 20,000 cavalry army has no voice,"

Sakai shook his head in horror,

"This is definitely the strongest riding equipment that Lao Chen has encountered."

When Jiaguang heard this, he finally felt that something was wrong, such a large army did not have a big noise, it was too weird, it showed that these soldiers were elite troops who had experienced blood and fire.

At this moment, as if to prove what Sakai Tadashi said, a rapid horn sounded, and several Han shouts floated from afar.

I saw more than a thousand cavalry trotting up one after another, Jiaguang deliberately paid attention to it, yes, it was started one after another, what kind of cruel training can be trained to be so mounted, their war horses are not soldiers, so obedient one after another start, there is no chaos when other cavalry starts.

Iemitsu was cold, and he felt extremely frightened, because he could not judge the details of the enemy, and these unknown things were far beyond his knowledge.

At this moment, a warning cannon came from the north of Edo Castle, and Tokugawa Iemitsu, Sakai Tadayo, and Matsudaira Nobutsuna looked at each other in surprise.

"Matsudaira Nobutsuna, you stay here, monitor the situation of the Ming Dynasty's great array, and this pavilion and Sakai-sama will go to Beicheng to have a look."

Jiaguang made a quick decision at this time.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna hurriedly bowed and received the order.

Iemitsu and Sakai Tadashi hurried down the city, and instead of riding in a car, they rode to the northern castle with the guards.

Along the way, they saw that the streets of the castle were completely deserted, the shadow of war hung over the city, and Edo lost its usual hustle and bustle, like an empty city.

Benefiting from this, hundreds of horsemen and a stick of incense came to the Pingchuan Gate in the north city.

When they began to ascend the city, the general guarding the northern city was already waiting for them.

"What is the military situation when the artillery is fired here." Tadashi Sakai asked as he walked.

"His Royal Highness General Bing, Lord Sakai, there is a cavalry brigade of the Ming army a few miles north of the city." The general bowed back while walking, and it was difficult for him, that is, he had been used to bending since he was a child, and it was really challenging to be able to bow while walking.

Hearing this, Iemitsu and Sakai Tadashi quickened their pace to the top of the city, they held the battlement and looked out, only to see that six or seven miles away there were many Ming cavalry resting on the ground, but the strange thing is that although the armor of these Ming soldiers is also black, the style of the helmet is extremely different, there are high lightning rods and flat helmets like domes.

Jiaguang and Sakai Tadashi looked at each other, these Ming troops were not as good as the Ming troops just now, and their attire was not the same, the same Ming army, how could the difference be so big.

"General Bingda, I'm afraid these are their barbarian cavalry." The general bowed.

"Oh, how's that." Jiaguang said curiously.

"His Majesty once garrisoned the Nagasaki Governor's Office, where he was familiar with the Ming merchants, and knew from them that in the north of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Emperor hired some northern barbarians as his cavalry to fight, these people were barbaric and bloody, and they were prone to murder and loot, but they were skilled in bows and horses, and the idle Ming cavalry could not match."

The general exercised his psoas muscles again.

Tokugawa Iemitsu and Sakai Tadashi suddenly realized, they looked at the Ming army with a telescope again, and sure enough, some of the Ming army hairstyles that took off their helmets were completely different from the hairstyles they knew the Ming people, and there was a thick braid behind it, well, it was really Barbarian. (To be continued.) )

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