"Put!"

"Peng Peng Peng—"

On the fifteenth day of the lunar month, when Zhu Youzhen and Zhu Youxiao were inspecting Tianjin, Yan Siqi, who was far away in Japan, launched an attack in advance.

The six battalions led by Zheng Zhilong marched to Kyoto over Mt. Otowa to attack the Kusatsu of the Tokugawa shogunate, and more than 300 Yanshan five-jin guns faced the Kusatsu Castle, which had been reinforced by the shogunate many times, and bombarded indiscriminately for an hour, but it still failed to break through.

Occasionally, a gap was made, but it was also repaired by the Japanese army in time.

Such a situation made Zheng Zhilong, as the coach, stand in the middle of the Chinese army, and while checking the situation with binoculars and clairvoyance, he couldn't help but scold:

"This group of Japanese robbers, they can't fight, they are good at repairing the city, so they should be pulled to work as laborers and build roads for the imperial court."

"Big brother, most of the day has passed, and if we have dinner, no one is allowed to build the city wall......" Zheng Zhihu muttered on the side.

In front of the two of them is Caojin City, if you look closely, you can vaguely see that the city wall has collapsed several times, but it has been hastily filled.

The traces between the old and new city walls are clearly visible, and the figures at the head of the city are longing, running back and forth, looking extremely panicked.

"Don't call me big brother, call me a general!"

"General ......" Zheng Zhilong reminded Zheng Zhihu solemnly, as if to avoid suspicion, and Zheng Zhihu looked around, reluctantly bowed his hand to his eldest brother, and shouted again in a lengthened tone.

Seeing him like this, Zheng Zhilong also turned his head to look at Caojin City, who was in a posture of sticking to his posture, and his heart was burning.

"There are 20,000 Japanese in this Kusatsu Castle, as long as we eat these 20,000 Japanese and then go north to clean up the rest of the Japanese invaders, we can directly attack Nagoya."

Zheng Zhihu rubbed his hands, but Zheng Zhilong frowned and said:

"Nagoya, Edo, and Mito are close to the sea, so it is easy to recover them, and we have to fight Kusatsu in order to encircle and suppress the 30,000 Japanese who are hiding in Gifu."

"Although the coastal area can cut off the food and grass of the Japanese invaders, they can still fight us in the mountains."

"Occupying the mountains first, driving them to the coastal plains, and then carrying out land and water flanking attacks, and finally annihilating them all is the result pursued by Jing Strategy and His Highness."

Zheng Zhilong explained to Zheng Zhihu, and at the same time, the Ming artillery also launched an artillery bombardment again after resting and cooling two incense sticks.

The rumbling cannons continued to sound and shoot stone bullets one after another, and they flew towards Kusatsu Castle with unparalleled power.

A large number of stone bullets fell into the muddy puddles, splashing up the mud in one place, and some stone bullets hit the Japanese soldiers on the city wall, taking their lives one by one.

Seeing that the Ming army under the city opened fire, the Japanese artillery at the head of the city also roared, but it was far from enough in terms of range and power.

You went back and forth with each other, but for half an hour, the whole air was filled with a layer of smoke and saltpeter, and a large number of stone bullets were fired by both sides, plundering one human life after another.

"Bang-"

When a huge earthquake appeared, the city wall that had been repaired by the Japanese army collapsed again, and the Ming army also had a chance to enter Kusatsu Castle.

It's just that at this time, a layer of clouds began to cover the sky again, which made everyone's hearts feel a sigh.

"It's going to snow!"

"It's snowing!"

Both the Ming army and the Japanese army were aware of a problem, but the Ming army was a little more disappointed, although they knew from the beginning that snow could fall at any time in this weather.

But everyone, including Zheng Zhilong, hopes that the snow can be later, or even later, so that they can have a chance to win a bigger victory.

Seeing that the snowflakes were about to fall, the Ming army took the lead in stopping the shelling, and covered all the artillery and ammunition with a blanket, which could effectively prevent the snowflakes from entering the barrel.

Zheng Zhilong looked at Zheng Zhihu and solemnly ordered:

"Worm Er, the people with the Zhenjiang camp are ready to prepare, and take the brothers to take down the city wall!"

"The last general commands!" When Zheng Zhihu heard that the task of Xiandeng was given to him, he immediately pulled out the long knife in his hand.

He didn't like to use a rifle, he preferred this kind of Miao knife with a long blade, after drawing the knife, he turned to the garrison behind him, and the general flag roared angrily: "Brother of the Zhenjiang battalion, kill the enemy with me!" ”

"Roar—"

Hearing this, the garrisons drew their swords and responded loudly, and the command flag of the Zhenjiang battalion also waved.

Under the city of Caojin, a whole battalion of Ming soldiers decisively walked out of the Ming army's formation.

They crossed the artillery positions and stormed the walls from the muddy battlefield while the gunners were erecting snow shelters and clearing the chambers.

Zheng Zhihu, as a general of the first battalion, did not shrink in the middle of the Chinese army, but in the middle of the front army, so that the officers and soldiers under his command could see him, but he would not let the Japanese army attack him.

"Kill the Woko!"

"The Japanese slaves are provocative, and the Japanese slaves are killed!"

"Kill the Japanese slaves, behead the first-class reward of ten taels of silver!"

"The team that ascends first will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver, and the official will be promoted to two levels!"

"Kill the Japanese slaves! Welcome to the rich! Welcome to the rich! Coming home early......"

"Kill—"

The slogans within the Ming army rang out one after another, constantly stimulating everyone's brains.

Facing them, the eyes of the Japanese army at this time were only dense red.

The moat of Caojin City had long been filled in by the Ming army using chariots and sandbags, and many Ming troops pushed cloud carts, Lu Gong carts, and well railings to advance.

At the top of the well bar are not crossbowmen, but teams of infantrymen.

However, the two-zhang high Caojin City, when facing the three-zhang high well fence, a pressure surged into his heart.

The 3,000 Ming army quickly crossed the filled moat, and was only a hundred steps away from Kusatsu Castle.

Everyone hid behind the cloud chariot, Lu Gong car, and well fence, constantly pushing these siege equipment, and also using these equipment as cover to dodge.

After Tan Lun, Yu Dayou, Qi Jiguang and others successively improved the tactics of chariots, the Ming army actually had signs of stepping into the Tan Association.

The Ming army used mobile siege equipment to conceal their bodies, while the Japanese army, which had only twelve artillery pieces at the head of the city, was helpless to see this.

"Iron Gunner! Put! ”

A dwarf daimyo dressed in a daimyo's armor waved his fan, and the iron gunners at the battlements lit the arquebus.

"Bang Bang Bang-"

The rattling iron cannon caused a white mist, but little real progress was made, and the projectiles of the iron cannon were not enough to penetrate the planks of the siege equipment.

"Beep-beep-beep-"

The wooden whistle of the Ming army sounded, and when the sound of iron cannons stopped and the siege equipment was less than 50 steps away from the Japanese army at the head of the city, more than 30 well railings of the Ming army took the lead in stopping.

However, at the time of a stick of incense, when the wooden plank on the front of the well fence responsible for resisting the loss of arrows was put down, more than ten Ming army infantry men had already appeared on the well fence.

"Put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

The three-section platoon guns can still be performed on the well railing, and more than 30 front-row foot gunners in the well fence skillfully row the guns, condescendingly suppressing the Japanese iron gunners, and for a time the Japanese soldiers at the head of the city hugged their heads and squatted behind the female wall.

"Kill!"

At the gap of the collapsed city wall, the Ming soldiers put down the ladder of the cloud car, and the ladder was set up at the gap or battlement.

Zheng Zhihu, who was brave by nature, drew his sword and commanded the army to ascend first, and under his leadership, a large number of Ming soldiers held Yanling knives and gourd hammers, and rushed to the city on the ladder and Lu Gongcha.

The world thinks that the Ming army only relies on guns and cannons, but he, Zheng Zhihu, wants to prove to everyone that even if there are no guns, even if he uses a Yanling knife to cut them, he can cut them to pieces!

The snowflakes are getting bigger and bigger, but the Yan Ling knives of the Ming soldiers are even more piercing, they rush to the city, and the Japanese front is intertwined, each is killing each other with their best efforts, because only in this way can they live!

Zheng Zhihu holds a knife in one hand and a shield in the other, his body is very strong and powerful, facing the Japanese invaders who are less than five feet, he only needs to crash over to knock over the opposite side, and then with a knife past, he can take the heads of the Japanese soldiers.

Of course, more Ming soldiers used the formation to send the Yanling knife directly into the opponent's neck, without worrying about the enemy beside them.

Because they are always on the same page with their comrades. They shouted and shouted until the Yan Ling knife was plunged into each other's necks.

"Don't mess around! For the sake of the Shogun! Fight them off! ”

The generals of the Japanese army were also shouting, but their shouts seemed so weak.

The Japanese army, which had not experienced a high-intensity war in the past 12 years, looked so powerless in the face of the soldiers and horses of the Eastern Army who had retreated from the Liaodong battlefield.

At this moment, everyone seemed to have returned to the Bihu Pavilion on the 26th day of the first month of the 21st year of Wanli.

The same 3,000 Ming troops, the same number of Japanese troops as them, fought and pulled at the head of Kusatsu City.

Snowflakes mixed with blood and water, staining the entire city's horse roads red.

At this time, a large number of Japanese corpses were left behind, and the defense line was no longer as neat as before, and messiness and despair became the main theme on the faces of the soldiers.

"For the emperor, for the shogun!"

Matsudaira Tadaaki tried to wield his sword, commanding one ashigaru after another around him to rush forward, and he himself brandished his sword and rushed towards the Ming army.

Although he is short, he looks quite fierce and vicious with his big shoulders and round waist.

"Kill the widows for a reward!"

Zheng Zhihu was not to be outdone, he originally had a foundation in martial arts, and at this time, a Yanling knife danced up and down, and hacked many Japanese soldiers to death one after another.

The Ming army and the Japanese army, the two armies fought on this not very steep city wall, and the small Kusatsu city was already full of corpses.

After a quarter of an hour of fierce fighting, more than 10,000 Japanese troops gathered at the head of Nancheng had gathered in the city, but they were defeated and retreated by the Ming army of less than 3,000.

The three-foot-tall Yanling knife was covered with red bloodstains......

Zheng Zhilong held a clairvoyant mirror, watching the battle in the city among the Chinese army two miles outside the city, and his heart was filled with infinite pride.

"The Lushun battalion is pressed and takes advantage of his illness to kill him!" Zheng Zhilong turned his head and ordered.

"Yes!" When the general of the Lushun battalion heard this, he immediately mobilized troops and horses to prepare to support Zheng Zhihu's Zhenjiang battalion.

"Wouldnu Ann dare to jump off the beam!"

A Japanese samurai lay on the ground, while the tall Ming army raised a gourd hammer.

In the face of the smashing of the gourd hammer, his Tong hole shrank slightly, and the armor he wore was not enough to resist the hammer blow of the gourd hammer.

On the contrary, in the wet and cold situation, his movement felt more difficult.

Before he could react, the gourd hammer instantly hammered on his face, his teeth were splashed with blood, and after a few convulsions, he basically didn't have to live.

Such one-sided hand-to-hand engagements took place on the battlefield at the head of the city, and many Japanese troops looked ugly and short in front of the tall Ming army.

A Ming soldier stepped on the chest of the Japanese samurai, plunged the Yanling knife directly into his throat, and then stirred it, and before he could react, he died at the head of the castle of Kusatsu.

The Ming soldier who killed him was wearing a Ming army armor, and it can be seen from the soldier's armor that he is not a well-known person, just an ordinary soldier in the Eastern Army Governor's Mansion.

Even so, he has the ability to kill so-called powerful samurai.

There was not just one, but three thousand, and yet there were no three thousand samurai to resist them in the entire Kusatsu Castle.

"We must kill more pirates!"

This is the idea of all the Ming army first, just because of the head of the ten taels of silver of the Japanese Kou.

The more they killed, the more they counted the decially after the war, and the more silver they could scoop up.

As long as you kill enough, life at home will be much better......

The Ming soldiers pulled out the Yanling knife, wiped it on the corpse, wiped the blood stains away, and the Yanling knife was sharp again.

He looked at the Japanese army in the distance, his heavy boots stepped on the corpse, and stepped mercilessly towards the next goal.

In bloody battlefields, the situation is often changing rapidly.

Judging from the current environment, the Ming army of the Eastern Military Governor's Mansion far surpassed the Japanese army in hand-to-hand combat ability, and it can even be said that one Han was the third widow.

Even in this snowy and muddy environment, the morale of the Ming army was still strong, and in the two quarters of an hour of short-handed contact, they had been suppressing the Japanese army, and the Japanese army could only continue to increase reinforcements to the city.

In addition, the equipment of the Ming army is also very perfect, and Zhu Youzhen specially equipped the whole army with pigskin military boots with full grip.

This kind of military boots is made of very solid materials, so the cost is quite high, but in today's rain war, it occupies a very big advantage.

The soldiers of the Ming army wore this kind of military boots, and the grip was very strong, and they could stand firm even in this kind of muddy ground and the city.

However, for the Japanese army, such an environment was very uncomfortable, many of them wore straw sandals, and many were even barefoot.

In such a situation, it is very easy for the Japanese army to slip and fall, but when they slip, they basically cannot stand up again.

The Japanese troops, armed with swords and spears, could hardly inflict excessive casualties on the Ming army on such a narrow horse road.

The two sides collided with each other, trying to squeeze each other down.

Although there were many Japanese soldiers, they were pressed more and more fiercely, and they were almost not far from collapse.

The Yanling knife in Zheng Zhihu's hand had already cracked, and when he saw a Japanese soldier coming, he almost stabbed the Yanling knife into the opponent's stomach, but he couldn't pull it out.

Seeing this, the rest of the Japanese soldiers rushed over with swords and guns, their bodies almost connected, but they all wanted to kill each other.

Seeing that the Japanese army's swords and spears were about to pierce Zheng Zhihu's body one after the other, he turned around stiffly, pressed the knife and gun against his armor, and held the spear with both hands with a roar.

"Let go!"

The spear was snatched by Zheng Zhihu in this way, and the rest of the Japanese army saw this scene, almost everyone was full of horror, and then involuntarily retreated, and the other Ming troops also covered and killed Zheng Zhihu back to their own position.

"General?!"

"Lao Tzu is fine!"

Zheng Zhihu was half-kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath, covered in blood, obviously killing a lot of people.

"Yagaya!"

"Terami!"

The noisy environment is filled with the sound of guns and the shouts of the two armies tomorrow.

The Ming soldiers at the head of the city were tall and big, and as soon as they sent their arms forward, the long Yanling knife pierced the cheeks or necks of the Japanese soldiers.

Several Japanese troops who rushed forward fell to the ground one after another, while the Ming army still formed a formation to protect itself, waiting for the Lushun battalion, which had crossed the moat, to enter the city.

"Damn, I almost died here."

Zheng Zhihu breathed a long sigh of relief, and as he spoke, he wanted to stand up with the knife handed to him by others, but in the fight, his body seemed to be injured a lot, making him feel a little chill on half of his body.

The snowflakes are getting smaller, but the battle has come to this point, and it is already the result of endless death, and the eyes of the Ming soldiers are red.

Maybe today, their comrades-in-arms, their brothers who relied on each other, collapsed and never woke up, which made them even more crazy and more silent.

There were no more shouts and roars of soldiers on the battlefield, only the sound of dull breathing, accompanied by the sound of swords and guns colliding, which seemed so abnormal in this land.

The soldiers of the entire city were almost intertwined, and the people were like a tidal wave, blood and water formed a wave, churning in the crowd, and the sludge and dead bodies were in the company.

The number of Japanese troops increased, but their positions on the city walls were shrinking more and more, and a large number of Japanese troops were surrounded by a small number of Ming troops.

It's not that they haven't attacked the Ming army's position, but no matter how they attack, it is difficult for the Ming army to retreat too much.

Such a scene made the morale of the Japanese army plummet with the unfavorable situation of the battle, and the rout seemed to be in sight.

Those snow-bright goose feather knives were glowing with coldness, and everyone's hearts were glowing with coldness.

If it weren't for the Japanese troops who came to help from behind, I am afraid that a great rout would be imminent.

After three quarters of an hour of fighting, thousands of lives were thrown here, and there was almost no splash.

Matsudaira Tadaaki, who was in charge of holding on, turned a little blue, and when he saw God snowing, he thought that this was the favor of Amaterasu and let him win a battle.

But he didn't expect that the Ming army was so brave, and now they seemed to be different from a few months ago, and they seemed to be ......

"This is the real Ming Army!"

Matsudaira Tadaaki looked at the Ming army wearing the cloth armor of the Liaodong Ming army on the city wall, and gritted his teeth tightly.

He understood that the Ming Dynasty finally sent a regular army, and this army, which could only fight hard with Jianlu in Liaodong, came to Caojin City and killed the city with a Yanling knife.

Matsudaira Tadaaki looked at his own casualties at the moment, and it almost made him a little unacceptable.

What made him even more unacceptable was that the second battalion of the Ming army pressed up, and through the position opened up by Zheng Zhihu, they went to the city in an orderly manner, and they quickly killed the Japanese army.

"Winter Winter ......"

The heavy drums of the Ming army suddenly sounded outside the city, and Matsudaira Tadashi was terrified when he heard this, and hurriedly turned around and shouted:

"The Ming army is about to launch a general attack! Gather all the ashigaru and strong men in the castle to support the castle walls! ”

"Hey!"

A group of generals responded and began to mobilize everyone in the city to defend Kusatsu Castle.

Once Kusatsu Castle is lost, then the Ming army's road to Gifu will be unimpeded.

"Kill!"

"Kill the Japanese slaves!"

"Ming Guo Pig!"

The fighting on the battlefield seemed to have never stopped, and the forces of both sides gradually invested more and more, until this battlefield was turned into a meat grinding field, and a large amount of flesh and blood were swallowed into it.

To fight a war, you need to die, and sometimes you have to die better than anyone else.

If you die too much, if you are afraid, you will collapse, at least before modern wars, there is nothing more than this.

So far, the Japanese army seems to have too many people, but they can't afford to die, for the simple reason that only about one-third of the soldiers under the Japanese army are ashigaru who have not been trained for a long time.

In other words, of the 20,000 Japanese troops in Kusatsu Castle, only 13,400 were veterans from the Tokugawa Ieyasu era.

Of the remaining six or seven thousand people, they were basically new recruits.

Compared with them, the Ming army was very different, even Zheng Zhilong, the first 6,000 people who came to Japan, were also the elite who had been trained in the Ryukyu Prefecture for more than half a year.

Compared with them, not to mention the Ming army of the Eastern Army Governor's Mansion, in hand-to-hand combat, except for Jianyu and Shangzhi, who can suppress them, I am afraid that this era has not been able to stabilize their army.

It's just that war is not a child's play after all, even if they are the elite of the Eastern Army's Governor's Mansion, many people will still fall in such a bloody war......

"It's miserable!"

Outside the city, Zheng Zhilong got a list of the dead who recorded the records of joining the army, and the names and numbers of those killed on it made him gasp.

On the list of the dead, ink penetrates the back of the paper, Li Cun, Gao Fumin, Zhang Chao......

The names of the soldiers killed in the Lushun battalion were written on the list one by one, and there were more than 200 people, and even more were disabled.

"The more we die, the more they die!"

The general of the Kuandian battalion said something cold-blooded, but this is the truth.

Anyone can see that Kusatsu Castle is at the end of the road at this moment, and there are not many ways for Matsudaira Tadaaki to retreat, either retreat or abandon the city wall and prepare to fight with the Ming army in the streets.

"Hold on! Adhere! ”

Unlike Zheng Zhilong's thoughts, Matsudaira Tadaaki at the head of the city seemed to be stunned, and kept shouting the word "stick".

It's just that many of the samurai behind him saw the Ming army that had already gained a foothold in the city.

The red tide is like a sea, like a lighthouse in the wind and waves, not retreating step by step to resist the attack of the Japanese army, and even slowly pushing the battle line outward.

"How long will it be before our reinforcements arrive?!"

Matsudaira Tadaaki looked at the scene in front of him, very desperate, grabbed the samurai next to him and asked, and the other party also hesitated:

"Lord Yin Da has already led the seven thousand ashigaru of Toyogo Town on the way to support, and it will take about two hours!"

"Seven thousand...... Two hours ......" Matsudaira Tadaaki gritted his teeth, he knew that even if these seven thousand people arrived, they would not be of much use, because most of them had only been training for less than four months.

But in the current situation, even if there are 7,000 strong men, Matsudaira Tadaaki will not give up Kusatsu Castle.

Kusatsu Castle had to be defended, and Tokugawa Iemitsu, who had already returned to Edo, and Tokugawa Hidetada, who had taken the throne in advance, had time to recruit and train troops.

Therefore, in the face of such news, Matsudaira Tadaaki could only turn to look at the dangerous defensive line.

"Only by holding Caojin City can I frustrate the spirit of the Ming army, and I can't lose ......"