With this thought in mind, he slowly picked up the knife in his hand, and then swung it down heavily as everyone held their breath stared.

"Forward!"

The samurai behind him formed a formation at the same moment, and then shouted to his troops to march forward.

Unlike the elite valets led by the lord himself, the troops who took the lead were all Ashigaru who had only been recruited from the Satsuma domain later, and some of them had been farmers not long ago, so of course their training and equipment could not be compared to the elites, and even their weapons were very complicated.

In addition to the old iron cannons and spears, spears and bows and arrows, there were even many with naginatas that had long since disappeared from the war. However, although they may not be useful in actual combat, these long-handled naginatas are more than seven feet long, and they can play a sufficient deterrent effect on the soldiers of the Nobeoka Domain.

Led by the samurai, a large group of people of the black pressure skirted the ridge and entered the territory of the Nobeoka Domain along the scattered paths, and after marching forward, Zhou Pu dismounted with Shimazu Tadashi, and then marched back with the elite team.

The sky was getting whiter and whiter, and the golden thorns of light had fallen straight from the sky to the ground, adding a bit of confusion to this army that had been prepared for a long time.

Soon, some peasants who were ready to get up early to do their work appeared in front of them, and when they saw this great army marching in silence, they all exclaimed in fear, and then fled frantically backwards, and the Shimazu army did not change the pace of the march for them, and still ran forward with the speed of action that maintained the military momentum.

The Nobeoka Domain was not large, and the scattered peasants soon spread the news of the Satsuma Domain's march all the way to the castle, and the lord of the domain, Naojun Arima, was shocked.

In order to support his family and the shogunate officials in Nagasaki Castle, he had already sent some of the troops he had gathered in his domain to help them resist the attack of the Han army, and now there were only some old and weak soldiers left in the domain, and even if they were trapped in the castle, it would be difficult to resist the attack of the Satsuma Domain.

Besides, even if a small feudal clan of 50,000 koku hadn't sent troops out before, how could the assembled army be an opponent of the Satsuma domain's army?

In a hurry, Naojun Arima had to send someone to the Arima family of the Kurume Domain to inform the news, asking them to send reinforcements to resist the attack of the Satsuma Domain as soon as possible, while hurrying to mobilize all the troops and food that could be mobilized now and trapping them in the castle, and he also sent an envoy to benefit Shimazu Tadashi Tsuneki.

Of course, he didn't know the news that Shimazu Tadashi had secretly joined forces with the Han at this time, and he only thought that Shimazu Tadashi saw the Han army attacking Kyushu, and the shogunate was too busy to take care of itself, so he wanted to take advantage of the chaos to seek revenge for himself and expand his territory by the way.

Therefore, he asked the envoy to tell Shimazu Tadashi that now that the Han is attacking Kyushu, everyone should fight against the Han army together with the enemy, and should not forget his identity as a Japanese. In addition, the military strength of the shogunate is so strong, sooner or later the Han will be driven away, and when the time comes, how will the Shimazu clan deal with themselves? Therefore, he implored Shimazu Tadashi to withdraw first, and was willing to apologize for his previous disrespect, and promised that he would never do it again in the future, and would not report the incident of the Shimazu clan today.

The bitter words of his envoy not only did not impress Shimazu Tadashi, but made him laugh. He kicked the envoy away and told him to return to the castle with his terms - as long as Naojun Arima himself committed suicide and opened the gate to present the album of the domain, he could spare the other relatives of the Arima family, and promised not to infringe on the samurai and civilians in the domain.

This condition is true, the Shimazu family planned to turn this place into their own territory after the war, how could they destroy the Nobeoka Domain?

Of course, Naochun Arima would not accept this condition, and after hearing the messenger's briefing, his eyes were red with anger, and he immediately decided to fight to the end. He closed the gates of the castle, and then he and his attendants were fully armed and ready to resist to the end.

Soon the Shimazu family's army surrounded the small feudal castle, and it was already dawn. After inspecting the defenses outside the castle, Shimazu Tadashi quickly gave the order to attack the castle.

The Nobeoka Domain's manpower and financial resources were limited, so the fortifications of the castle were very poorly built, and the so-called walls were nothing more than mounds of earth built up, and in front of the soldiers of the Satsuma Domain, who were howling and rushing forward one after another, these simple fortifications did not play much of a defensive role, and the feudal soldiers above quickly retreated and scattered to the outside of the castle tower.

Guarding the castle tower were the feudal lords and their elite samurai, whose morale and equipment were much better, so the resistance was somewhat fierce. Shimazu Tadashi rode around the castle tower, holding a telescope imported by the Great Han and constantly watching the defenses inside, while constantly urging his men to attack as soon as possible.

At the urging of Shimazu Tadashi, the soldiers of the Satsuma Domain rushed to the former castle tower, even though the defenders had been trying to resist, but the number was too poor, and then the equipment was not as good as the people, and after a bloody battle, the castle tower was finally captured, and the lord of the domain, Naojun Arima himself, died in the chaos with his cronies and attendants.

The fall of the castle tower marked the successful completion of the Shimazu family's first step in the army, and Shimazu Tadashi ordered his troops to rest in the castle before preparing for the next step.

And when Shimazu Tadashi marched to the Nobeoka Domain in the north, the Han army, which had successfully landed in Hakata Bay, was also ready to move.

From the afternoon of the successful landing, the transport ships began to transport a steady stream of materials to Kyushu, which were originally assembled from Dahan and stored in the port warehouses along the coast of Busan.

Fearing that it would be detrimental to the battle after nightfall, the landing force at Hakata Bay stopped attacking after expanding and consolidating the landing ground, but instead concentrated on defending the landing ground and assisting in the transportation of supplies.

By the next morning, the army had reached nearly two thousand men, and after a short rest, they had recovered their spirits and were eager to make greater contributions to their country.

These troops were all directly under the commander Zhao Song's Liaodong Regiment, and their commander Bi Su got up from the makeshift tent early in the morning and picked up a telescope to observe the situation in the distance.

Opposite was an open field, with only sparse green grass, and then a low wall stretched across his vision, behind the low wall, in the deep darkness, there were not many people to be seen.

Hundreds of years ago, in order to guard against the attack of the Yuan Dynasty army, the local defenders of Hakata Bay began to build various fortifications under the orders of the Hojo clan, the ruling power of the Kamakura shogunate, and the earthen wall was one of the most important fortifications. In the second sea-crossing attack of the Yuan Dynasty army, the shogunate army resisted several shocks of the Yuan army through the low wall, which made them unable to achieve major results, and lasted until the arrival of the typhoon, forcing the Yuan army generals to suffer heavy losses under the typhoon, and the remaining troops of the Yuan army were also disheartened immediately after the commander fled the front line, and was finally broken by the shogunate army and the whole army was annihilated.

Hundreds of years later, most of the fortifications built by the shogunate to defend against the Yuan army have been reduced to the remnants of time and can no longer be used for defense. After receiving the shogunate's notice, the Fukuoka Domain, which bore the brunt of the incident, quickly remembered the experience of that year, and took advantage of the past few days to build some low walls and ditch fortifications in Hakata Bay.

Unlike the Kamakura Shogunate, which had several years to spare, they only had a few days to spare, and the Fukuoka Domain, which lacked manpower, could not compare with the Kamakura Shogunate, which could mobilize the entire Kyushu Shogunate, so these fortifications were very poorly built. At the same time, considering that the Han navy was too strong and the artillery fire was sharp, these fortifications were deliberately built deep into Hakata Bay, unable to prevent the direct landing of the Han army.

"Tuanzheng has been observing the other side since the morning...... What's the idea? Just as the time was approaching noon, and the sun was already very warm, an officer walked up to Bi Su's side and asked in a low voice.

The officer was not tall and mild-mannered, and spoke in a very modest tone, unlike an ordinary sergeant. And, compared to Bi Su, who is tall and sturdy, he looks like a scholar.

He is Huang Changguo, a senator officer of the regiment, a person from Xu Huai, who had studied in a private school for several years because his family was a small landlord family, and he was familiar with literature and ink. Later, in the chaos of the world at the end of the Ming Dynasty, his family was in the middle, so he later chose to join the army and became a member of the Zhao family's army. Because of his familiarity with the written language, he quickly stood out and was incorporated into the ranks of senatorial officers by the army, and after training, he was responsible for planning military strategy and commanding Xiangzan. After many years in the army, he became one of Zhao Song's cronies and senators, and he made a lot of contributions in the Liaodong Army, so this time under Zhao Song's special request, he was sent to Japan, and it was rumored that he was very optimistic about him, and he was likely to be promoted after the battle, and he would be knighted, and officially let him step into the ranks of honors.

He is usually a very easy-going person, who doesn't pay much attention to the dignity and humility of the upper and lower levels, and because of Xu Huai's background and the blue eyes of his boss, his career has risen all the way, and he has developed a rather witty character, and he can joke with anyone, and his popularity in the Liaodong Army is also very good.

Because he is an old friend with Bi Su, he has had a friendship before, so he doesn't have so many scruples when he talks to Bi Su, who is a member of the group, but it seems to be joking.

"I'm looking at the reality of the enemy. Our troops have been landing for so long, and they have not made any major moves, which makes people a little suspicious. "Although Huang Changguo is nominally his subordinate, Bi Su is not contemptuous of him." I played against them yesterday and it was so easy, but I don't think the next step will be as smooth as before, so I still need to be careful. ”

"Tuan Zheng is obviously the commander of every day, but he has done the work of us senators, and he has to observe everywhere, so I am really ashamed!" As if joking, Huang Changguo smiled slightly, "But don't worry about Danzheng, we have already discussed it in detail beforehand, and now the enemy we are facing is nothing more than the Fukuoka Domain, they are just a corner of Kyushu, and because of the suppression of various policies of the shogunate for many years, the armament is very lax, and it is not enough to be afraid." The rout they fought with us yesterday was not because they wanted to show weakness and lure us deeper, but because they only had such a little strength in the first place, and they couldn't prevent us from landing. Now it's better for Tuanzheng to rest, and the enemy position is left to us to observe, and Tuanzheng has more important things to do. ”

"Whether the enemy is strong or not, it's useless to guess, you won't know until you fight." However, Bi Su shook his head and did not adopt Huang Changguo's opinion, "Yesterday's battle was just a test of each other, although it brought them some casualties, but most of them have withdrawn and have not broken their bones, and now the main force of the enemy army should still be spying on us behind the wall." ”

"Just like us." Huang Changguo nodded, "It's nothing, right?" We have plenty of soldiers, our weapons are better than theirs, and we have warships to support us in the rear, and this is already impregnable, and it is impossible for them to disrupt our deployment. ”

"Is it good to stay here in peace? Could it be that standing still and doing nothing under the noses of the enemy army is the style of our Han army? Bi Su disagreed, and then suddenly waved forward with a telescope, "No, we can't just stand and wait for the enemy to deploy calmly, we have to fight them, so that they can't take the initiative - the Han army, we must not let the enemy take the initiative, otherwise we won't become a joke in the army?" ”

According to the original plan, after the landing at Hakata Bay, the landing army should guard against possible sneak attacks and counterattacks by the enemy, consolidate the landing field, keep a follow-up force and transportation site for the army, and attract the support of the Nagasaki shogunate army to create good conditions for subsequent operations.

The main force of the Han army turned south, attacked the Nagasaki area, and marched all the way inland to annihilate the main force of the shogunate army on Kyushu Island as soon as possible, and then purge the remnants of hostile forces and take Kyushu into the bag.

According to the plan, the Han army in Hakata Bay should be repaired today, and tomorrow is the time to tentatively attack the frontal enemy - by tomorrow, the news should be conveyed whether the Han army in the Nagasaki area is going well or not, and then it will be decided according to the situation that the Hakata Bay army will go north alone to cut off the connection between Kyushu Island and Honshu Island; They still moved south to support the offensive of other troops in the Nagasaki area.

At present, although there is news from Nagasaki that the battle is going well, there is no new order for Zhao Shuai to march, and the decision on going north and south has not yet been decided, and if he attacks rashly, it is very likely to contradict Zhao Shuai's plan.

It was precisely because of this consideration that Huang Changguo hesitated. "Tuanzheng...... I'm afraid that's a bit wrong, right? This is somewhat inconsistent with Zhao Shuai's instructions. ”

"This is my judgment as a regimental leader." Bi Su calmly replied, "When the army is outside, the most taboo thing is to stick to the previous battle plan, and I don't know what kind of battle I will fight if I can't adapt to the situation because of the change in the situation?" I am now the head of the regiment, the supreme commander here, and I should consider our strategy for the future in the current situation. Although Zhao Shuai's order has not yet come from Nagasaki, at least the news that has come now is also saying that it is going well, since it is going well, then there is no need for us to respond for the time being, why are we still waiting here quietly and doing nothing? We should now take advantage of the fact that the enemy army is still gathering, immediately march in and take them by surprise! ”

What Tuan Zheng said made sense, but ......" Huang Changguo was still a little hesitant.

"Senator Huang, don't forget...... We are the Liaodong Army, the first army of the Han Dynasty! Now the brothers of other regiments are eating meat in Nagasaki, but we are idle here, waiting for someone to help, what do you think of the brothers of the Liaodong Army? What do you think of the world? Bi Su suddenly interrupted Huang Changguo's words, "I don't blame Zhao Shuai for his arrangement, Zhao Shuai is the commander of the first army, he can't be partial, at least on the surface, he can't be biased, on the contrary, if there is any good opportunity for meritorious service, he has to give it to the brothers of the other two regiments first." But we can't just put up with this outcome, right? We have to fight it with a knife and a shot, make meritorious contributions to ourselves, and earn face for the Liaodong Army! Think about it, which of the two outcomes is better for us, waiting for Nagasaki to finish, and then responding to them, or us now taking the initiative to defeat the enemy in front of us and marching all the way to defeat the enemy? ”

When it came to the point of the Liaodong Army, Huang Changguo finally understood Bi Su's intentions.

Yes, with the gradual calming down of the war in Liaodong, the merits of the Liaodong Army have reached their peak, but the crisis has also suddenly appeared, because there is no big battle to fight, so the current merits of the Liaodong Army are no longer comparable to other armies, and now there is a sense of anxiety up and down the army, looking forward to finding an opportunity to perform well, so that the new generation of generals of the Liaodong Army have the opportunity to squeeze up, so as not to let the status of the Liaodong Army fall aside.

Now that the conquest of Japan is a good opportunity that the Liaodong Army has been looking forward to for a long time, how can Bi Su be willing to give a hand to the people of the other two regiments? Once he judged that the pressure on the side of Hakata Bay was not great, he had the idea of marching directly to show the elite force of the Liaodong Army.