Left behind in Dazaifu were the Shao Er Jing Zi of the Shao Er clan and some minor masters, and the Shao Er Jing Zi looked at the Ming army that was rapidly moving outside the city, and his heart was uneasy.

"My lord, why did so many Ming troops suddenly appear here?"

A little famous lord asked Shao Er Jingzi with some concern.

"How do I know?" Shaoer Jingzi glanced at him angrily, according to the information they got, after the Ming army broke through Songpu, it made a fuss around it for a while and then went straight to the Nagawa pontoon, and he didn't know about the Ming army that suddenly appeared in front of him.

"So what do we do now?"

"Of course we hold on, rest assured, the Ming army outside is not much more than us, we just need to rely on the city wall to hold on to the army to solve the pontoon bridge and the Ming army will return to the division to rescue!"

Shaoer Jingzi said lightly, not taking the Ming army outside the city to heart at all.

He is not the big fool of Shaoer Puyi, as long as he does not go out of the city to send it, with today's strength and the advantage of defending the city, he has absolute confidence to block these Ming troops.

When several small masters around heard his words, they also breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.

Outside the city, Lu Tangjianglong and others quickly organized a large army to prepare for the siege of the city, and all the artillery fire was concentrated together, aiming at the weak position designated by Li Wei.

Rumble!

Finally, with a loud bang, the solid cannonball flew across the distance and hit the city wall.

When the young two Jingzi and these little masters on the city wall heard the sound of cannons, they subconsciously lowered their bodies, and then they felt the city wall under their feet suddenly tremble violently!

"This ...... Why is this Ming army's artillery so staked? ”

Shao Er Jingzi was half-squatting, his heart was terrified, and the other little masters also changed their faces.

This is just a shot, they saw it very clearly just now, the Ming army outside has nearly 100 such artillery!

With this power, can they really resist it?

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble......

Before they could react, the cannon fire rang out again, sporadically at first, and after a while, it suddenly became dense.

This is Lu Tang ordered people to conduct a tentative shooting first, adjust the angle after the test shooting, and then officially start!

The dense artillery fire shook the city wall, and the young two Jingzi and others in the city also trembled with their feet.

"What can I do?"

"We can't let them continue to bombard us like this!"

"My lord, you can say something!"

Many famous lords couldn't hold back any longer, and while hiding behind the battlements, they anxiously argued to Shaoer Jingzi.

Shao Er Jingzi was also very anxious, but the range of their bows and arrows couldn't reach people at all, and he didn't dare to go out of the city to fight, so he could only open his eyes helplessly.

"If you want me to think we might as well rush out and fight with them!"

A discordant voice sounded, it was Takeshi Harada, the head of the Harada family.

The other famous masters suddenly looked at him with a look of foolishness, such a powerful artillery fire, wouldn't it be even more deathable to rush out?

Shao Er Jingzi also rolled his eyes and ignored him.

Just when many daimyo were helpless, the Ming army had already begun to fill in the moats.

Seeing this, Shaoer Jingzi hurriedly ordered to release arrows at these Ming troops, but as soon as these Japanese archers appeared, they were immediately beaten back by the fierce artillery fire, and many people were injured by the flying rubble because they couldn't dodge, and even a few unlucky bullets hit by the shells directly turned into corpses.

Seeing this scene, Lu Tang immediately asked some of the artillery to adjust the angle and bombard the battlements, and easily beat a section of the city wall in front of him into a bare plane, and the Japanese had no place to hide, so they had to retreat to both sides, making room for the soldiers who filled the trenches.

Shao Er Jingzi and the others turned even more pale when they saw this, if it goes on like this, they may not be able to hold on for even a day, how can they wait for the army to come back?!

In order to break the city as soon as possible, Li Wei also spared no expense this time, and the artillery bombarded indiscriminately as if he didn't want money, and in just half an hour, a section of the ten-zhang wide city wall was blown into cracks, and he was almost unable to hold it in front of him.

The small trench was also filled in with the full strength of thousands of soldiers, and a passage was quickly extended.

Li Wei closely watched the movement of the battlefield and did not immediately order the siege of the city.

Now is not the best time, when this section of the wall is blown down, the morale of these Japanese people will inevitably plummet, and then it will be the best opportunity to attack the city.

Although Dazaifu is a big city in the Wa Kingdom, it is still incomparable to those Xiongguan Hongcheng of the Ming Dynasty, under the fierce artillery fire, the city wall that was regarded as relying on by Shaoer Jingzi and others only lasted for two hours, and then it could no longer hold on, and it collapsed together to create a gap.

"It's over!"

Shao Er Jingzi listened to the rumbling sound of the city wall collapsing, and his heart suddenly felt cold!

Before they could hurt a single hair, the city wall was blown down, how can they fight?

The Japanese people stationed in the city were also frightened, and the Japanese knives in their hands were a little unstable.

When Li Wei saw this, his eyes immediately lit up, and he shouted: "Attack the city immediately!" ”

The Ming army received the order and immediately rushed forward.

After two years of training, at this time, these Ming troops who used firearms were no longer the unruly rookies they were at the beginning, in addition to the formations he taught, Jiang Long and Lu Tang These generals also figured out a lot of new ways to play.

At this time, the army rushed upwards not blindly, but fired alternately, covering each other and gradually pushing, quickly attacking the gap opened by the artillery.

When they came within a hundred paces, the Japanese on both sides of the gap immediately returned fire, and arrows and musket bullets staggered, and people on both sides continued to be wounded and killed.

However, after all, the muskets of the Ming army were more powerful, coupled with the long range, the gunners in the rear could also shoot at the position of the city wall, and the Japanese people in the city could shoot less of the Ming army, in contrast, the firepower of the Ming army was far more dense than the arrows of the Japanese people, and the Japanese people were killed and injured in a moment, so that the arrows they shot were even rarer.

Li Wei couldn't help frowning slightly when he looked at the soldiers fighting with the Japanese people at the gap, this was the first time he had this kind of hard-fought battle since he led the troops, and I am afraid that there will be no fewer casualties in this battle.

In the previous battles he fought, he and Mu Ying faced the defeated remnants of the Red Army, and directly bombarded them with flying thunder cannons, and there were almost no casualties on their own side, while the expedition to Yunnan was with Hu Hai leading troops in front, and his own subordinates were only fighting in the back, only Song Zhong participated in the direct battle in the final stage of crossing the river in Qujing, and the casualties were not large.

But this time it's different.

As both sides flocked to the gap, the two armies also changed from long-range shooting to hand-to-hand combat, although the new water division has been converted into firearms combat, but the training of individual combat has not fallen, especially now that the artillery has collapsed the other party's city wall, the momentum of both sides has disappeared, the Ming army has the upper hand, and soon has poured into the city from the gap, and began to seize the city wall.

The soldiers in the front of the Ming army were engaged in close contact with the enemy, and the rear maintained a formation waiting for the opportunity to shoot and cover, and the Japanese were defeated and retreated, and were soon driven off the city wall.

Shaoer Jingzi and those famous lords could only retreat to the city in panic under the protection of their cronies, and the Japanese people lost the advantage of the city wall and could no longer confront the Ming army, so they could only rely on the complicated situation in the city to deal with the Ming army.

"So that the soldiers don't have to go into the city to pursue, just control the city wall!" Li Wei ordered.

"Yes!" The heralds took the order and left.

The advantage of firearms in siege is huge, but street fighting is not good.

The Ming army was also not familiar with the environment in the city, and if they ventured into the city, they would definitely be attacked by these Japanese people at close range, and the muskets would not be able to play an advantage at all.

The war finally came to an end as the Japanese completely retreated from the walls and fled into hiding. On the city wall, the Ming soldiers aimed their guns at the city, but whenever a Japanese man showed his head, he would be immediately shot indiscriminately.

Li Wei didn't even enter the city, and directly ordered Jiang Long to lead 10,000 people to replace the soldiers who attacked the city and be responsible for garrisoning here, while he began to rest the army with Lu Tang Shijun and others, and prepared to return to the pontoon bridge.

Now that the Ming army has occupied the city wall, condescending from attack to defense, the Japanese people in the city have become the turtle in the urn, leaving 10,000 people to garrison is enough.

Of course, if the Japanese people in the city desperately broke through, Li Wei also instructed Jiang Long not to block it, and even deliberately leave an exit for them, just take the opportunity to kill more enemies.

After a short rest, Li Wei led his troops to turn around again and march in the direction of the Nagawa pontoon bridge.

I'm afraid that Tang He has fallen into a bitter battle now, and the Japanese have reinforcements from Dazaifu, if he doesn't rush over as soon as possible, Tang He and the others will definitely end up in the annihilation of the whole army.

It's a little late now, but if you march quickly, you might still be saved.

Nagawa pontoon, the battle here is much more tragic than Dazaifu. Fortunately, after a whole day of fierce fighting, the army finally crossed the pontoon bridge after paying a heavy price.

However, now their crisis has not been resolved, and the Ming army at this time has long been exhausted, but the Japanese are still constantly attacking, and due to the numerical advantage, they can take turns to fight, but the Ming army must fight with all their might.

Fortunately, the pontoon bridge is a dangerous place, and the space for the two armies to fight is limited, even if the difference in strength is huge, the Ming army can barely support it.

"General, it can't go on like this, it's better for us to take the initiative to destroy the bridge!"

Sheng Yong, who had just withdrawn from the front, found Tang He and said.

The other generals around also nodded in agreement when they heard this.

However, Tang He shook his head: "Jiang Duhou's army will definitely find that the situation is not right after breaking through Dazaifu and immediately return to help, we will need to use this pontoon bridge to form a front and rear attack with him, and we will definitely be able to break the Japanese army, so the pontoon bridge cannot be destroyed!" ”

"Can we make it to the point where he comes back?"

Sheng Yong asked loudly, he didn't believe what Jiangdu Marquis was, in case the Dazaifu side couldn't be attacked for a long time, and ten days and a half months would be considered short, would they have to hold out for so long? You must know that they threw down a lot of grain and grass in order to cross the bridge!

"Absolutely! I believe that Jiang Duhou will be able to return to the aid in less than three days! Hu Hai followed in support.

Sheng Yong had never seen the scene of an artillery siege, but he had seen it several times with his own eyes, so as long as Dazaifu was not a Xiongcheng like the Ming Jingshi, with the firepower of Li Wei's soldiers and horses, it was not impossible to break the city in one day.

Sheng Yong snorted angrily, not believing it at all: "General, we have suffered heavy losses in order to cross the bridge, and the Japanese are attacking in turn, we will definitely not be able to hold out for too long, please make a decision as soon as possible!" ”

Seeing this, Hu Hai also persuaded and said: "General, you also know the power of those artillery pieces of the new water division, they are all siege weapons, and the Shenji Battalion will use artillery to break the city in one day when attacking Putime, I believe this time will be no exception!" ”

Tang He looked at the two of them and sighed softly in his heart.

In fact, when Lu Tang proposed to divide the troops, he vaguely guessed something, and in his heart, he used them as bait to contain the Japanese army here, so that Li Wei could take the opportunity to attack the city, and then return to the division to help, this strategy was really good, so he didn't say much, and easily agreed.

As for military merit or something, he just didn't want it, but he just suffered a little bit about these soldiers under him.

However, it is inevitable to die in battle, not to mention that he doesn't know Lu Tang's calculations very well, even if he does, he is likely to choose this strategy.

Although this strategy will cause a large number of casualties to the Ming army, as long as Li Wei can return to help in time, they will keep the pontoon bridge to cooperate with Li Wei, and they will have a great chance of defeating these Japanese people in one fell swoop and laying the foundation for the victory of the Battle of Kyushu!

But if the bridge is destroyed at this time, then they can escape immediately, and the army of the Shimazu clan has been transferred to the opposite side, and the Satsuma Hyuga and other places on the east side of the pontoon bridge must be empty of garrisons, even if they have no food and grass, they can plunder all the way to maintain the needs of the army, and then they only need to avoid the main force of the Japanese people and find an opportunity to join forces with Li Wei.

However, without their cooperation, Li Wei had to independently face the 100,000 army of the Japanese when he returned to help, and there was a high probability that he could only retreat to Dazaifu in defeat, and the outcome would be unpredictable in the future.

"In this way, let's stay for three days, and if Jiang Duhou can't return to help within three days, we will destroy the bridge and get out!"

Tang He hesitated for a long time, and finally was reluctant to give up this fighter.

However, Sheng Yong and the others did not agree: "No, we can't last three days, two days at most!" ”

"Yes, General, let's hold out for two more days at most!"

"yes!"

The other generals around him also echoed, they didn't want to put their net worth and lives in the hands of that Jiang Duhou.

Tang He looked at everyone, took a deep breath, and said, "Okay, then two days!" ”

Although he is the supreme commander of the army, the opinions of these generals cannot be ignored, especially this time, even if it is caused by his command error, these soldiers already have some complaints in their hearts.

Hu Hai frowned slightly, but he didn't say anything more, and now he can only see if Li Wei is fast enough!

In the Japanese army array, Shaoji Puteng and Shimazu Yoshihisa, Otomo Sobayashi and others are also paying attention to the battle at the pontoon bridge, Tang He decided not to destroy the bridge, of course they will not destroy it, on the contrary, they are more worried that the Ming army will take the initiative to destroy the bridge.

"I didn't expect the Ming army to be so tenacious, and we waited for the ambush we set up, but we couldn't wipe them all out here!"

Ouchi Yoshiko said, glancing at Shimazu Yoshihiro with some dissatisfaction.

Shimazu Yoshihiro's face was ugly, but he couldn't argue that it was their Shimazu family who failed to stop the Ming army that made the situation the way it is now.

Seeing this, Otomo Zonglin hurriedly made a round: "The Ming army is indeed extraordinary, especially in the case of death, it has burst out with strong combat power, and the Shimazu clan cannot be blamed for the current situation." ”

"Yes, the samurai of the Shimazu clan have done their best, and everyone is watching."

Shaoji Puten also followed closely to help the Shimazu clan, befriending the Shimazu clan on the one hand, and targeting the Ouchi clan on the other.

Ouchi Yoshixing snorted lightly and didn't say anything more, although they were also old families, they didn't dare to fall out with the three major clans of Shimazu, Otomo and Shaoji at the same time.

After a moment of silence, Otomo Zonglin said again: "It seems that the total number of the Ming army here is less than 50,000, and it seems that the Ming army has already divided its troops to attack Dazaifu." ”

This is not difficult to guess, there are only a few major strategic points in Kyushu, and the Ming army is fighting Dazaifu in addition to the pontoon bridge.

The sophomore Puten didn't care: "It's okay, we have already arranged 30,000 horses to garrison, even if the Ming army has another 50,000 soldiers and horses to attack, there is no possibility of breaking through it in ten days and half a month, we can clean up the Ming army here first, and then go back to the division to annihilate those!" ”

When the others heard this, they all nodded lightly in agreement.

30,000 people defend the city, 50,000 people attack, saying that they captured it in ten days and half a month is already very elevating them, it is more likely that they can't attack it at all, it takes a year and a half to be normal, the kind of fool who is Shao Er Puyi is a pure accident, and the Shao Er Jingzi who stays behind will definitely not make that kind of low-level mistake!

It's a pity that they haven't seen the artillery's siege of the city, otherwise they wouldn't be so confident. (End of chapter)