"Now relying on heaven and earth, water and land drive together, Zhengqi interuse, the army to Japan, spread the virtue of the Han family, and promote the majesty of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Whoever beheads a rebel will be rewarded five times, seized and handed over, the team will be evenly divided, and the banner will be victorious......"

In the midst of the surging waves, nearly 100 high-altitude warships approached Japan's Wakasa Bay at some point.

On the deck, the scribes of each hundred households read out the documents of the war, the content of which was basically the same as the Ming army's combat situation in recent years, except that the reward of the Japanese was reduced.

In fact, it was not only the Japanese Kou, but most of the enemies faced by the Ming army at the moment had their bounties reduced as the Ming army continued to grow stronger.

At present, no matter how prisoners are beheaded, there is only one Hu soldier in the north, only five Tusi soldiers in the southwest and the Japanese army in the northeast, and the Turen in Nanyang are always one.

But even so, if there is no malaria, then give the Ming army a choice, they would rather go to Nanyang to fight.

The natives of Nanyang are counted by millions, while the number of Japanese troops is only tens of thousands, and although there are also tens of thousands of Hu soldiers in the north, they are scattered throughout Mobei and are not easy to find.

With that kung fu, it is estimated that the Ming army in Mobei only killed a few Hu soldiers, and the Ming army in other areas has already killed dozens or hundreds of enemy troops, and Nanyang even killed hundreds or thousands of bandits.

Among the representatives are last year's Wang Yi, Mu Chun, and Cui Jun.

Last year, Wang Yi led 5,000 elite cavalry to patrol the west and suddenly lost temperature, because the Tatar department had been attached and could not be killed, and there were military officials in the army who were responsible for the rectification of the army's atmosphere, so Wang Yi and 5,000 elite cavalry ran for two months before they won more than 300 Hu soldiers, and the reward they received was only more than 3,000 yuan.

According to the Ming army's reward management, only 1,500 guan was in the hands of the soldiers, and 1,500 guan was divided among 5,000 people, and the money earned was pure hard work.

Compared with the north, Muchun in the south has ended Guizhou's land reform and returned to the river, and there are still many Yunnan, Guangxi, and Daxue Mountain Tusi making trouble.

Although there were no major battles, more than 16,000 enemies were killed in various places to counterinsurgency, and after the division was equalized, almost everyone who could be distributed to his soldiers and horses was the same.

As for Nanyang, last year, Cui Jun, Jiang Gui, and Shi Jinqing smashed 92 Tukou cottages in Jiugang and Luzon, and beheaded nearly 100,000 prisoners.

Although the reward was only 100,000 guan, the Ming garrison in Nanyang was only 20,000 yuan, and each person could get five guan, and there were not many casualties.

Due to the lack of cinchona bark, the Ming army cooperated by land and sea to destroy Tukou cottages in coastal areas.

As long as you don't go deep into the forest, the probability of getting malaria is still not very high.

Therefore, going to Nanyang as a soldier is almost the best choice for the ordinary Ming army at present, but the number of Nanyang garrisons is too small, except for a three-year rotation, there will basically be no increase in the number of troops.

The main reason why the Ming army knew about this news was that Zhu Gaoxu opened the "Military Newspaper" in the army, which had the general content of the governor's office of each army, but it basically described the life of the soldiers, and there was very little news about the intelligence of the army.

Therefore, when the reward was reported, the soldiers of the Ming army who participated in the expedition were full of courage and prepared to show their strength in the next battle.

After all, once the war is frustrated and the imperial court sends reinforcements, the reward that can be distributed to them will be even less.

"Landing!!"

On the boat, with Zheng Jun drawing his sword and pointing to the sky, one sand boat after another began to be lowered, and the 4,000 Ming troops as the vanguard took the lead in boarding the ship and began to land on Tsuruga in Wakasa Bay.

It was a transit supply place for Ashikaga Yoshimochi during his previous battle with Uesugi Zenhide, and could accommodate some ships that weren't too big.

Therefore, taking this place is conducive to the sea supply of the Ming army, and it is more conducive to the Ming army's long-term drive.

"Woo-woo-"

Tsuruga was just a small fishing port town, and even though Ashikaga Yoshinori had anticipated that the Ming army might choose to land at Maizuru and Tsuruga, he did not have enough troops, and the army stationed in Tsuruga was only 2,000 men.

They received an order from Ashikaga Yoshinori to retreat to Kyoto without any hesitation as soon as the Ming army began to attack, and to send the news back to Kyoto.

Because of this, in the face of the clarion call of the Ming army to launch a charge, Imagawa Takamasa, who was stationed here, immediately ordered the materials to be burned and evacuated to Kyoto.

Before the Ming army landed on the coast, Imagawa Takamasa led the army to withdraw from the castle and fled for his life to the south, and at the same time, he also sent a message to Imagawa Nomasa in Ono to the north.

Ashikaga Yoshinori thought he had mastered the situation, but the situation in Nishichang was more detailed than he had.

Ashikaga Yoshinori's military order had already been known to Nishichang and passed on to the hidden ki, which was why the Ming army did not launch an artillery bombardment on Tsuruga.

Because Chen Xuan knew that as long as the army launched a landing, Tsuruga's Japanese army would retreat, so there was no need to destroy Tsuruga.

"Restrain the three armies, don't use knives against civilians."

On the deck, Chen Xuan watched his army land on Tsuruga and couldn't help but give an order.

This order was given by Zhu Gaoxu before Chen Xuan's expedition, after all, it is very likely that Daming will take over Japan in the future.

Before that, establishing the image of the Ming army is undoubtedly the most important thing for them to do.

In any case, as long as tomorrow's trade continues, the Japanese civilians will continue to be oppressed by the local guards and the shogunate.

Intensifying the contradictions between the two sides, causing class division in Japan, falling into serious infighting, and finally entering the Ming Dynasty as the savior, is what Zhu Gaoxu wants.

Compared with the casualties inflicted on Japanese civilians by the Ming army, that situation could be more effective in inflicting heavy losses on Japan.

"you!"

With a shout, the shogunate flag of Tsuruga Castle was kicked off and replaced by the red sun flag on a yellow background of the Ming Dynasty.

The word "朙" in the wind announced that the Ming army, or the Han army, had landed in Japan for the first time, and this was also the most noteworthy moment.

The scribes of the various armies continued to record the Ming army's entry into Tsuruga Castle, and compared to the armies guarded by various countries in this era, the Ming army and the Japanese people were truly able to do nothing in the autumn.

When his feet stepped on Tsuruga City, Chen Xuan's eyes swept around Tsuruga City, which seemed to be Lilliputia, and discussed with Xu Zengshou sideways:

"Although His Highness said that we can't attack civilians, we can seduce them."

"Seduction?" Xu Zengshou, who was nine out of thirty, frowned, now he is no longer the junior of the Guogong Mansion back then, and he was a little resistant to what Chen Xuan said.

After all, he came to gild, and if the Ming army slaughtered too heavily in Japan, he would inevitably be implicated in the future.

"Yes!" Chen Xuan nodded and said: "I know Japan, the civilians here can't even afford ordinary rice, we can lure them to Treasure Island and even Donghai Mansion to mine deposits, anyway, the imperial court needs miners." ”

"What are you going to do?" Xu Zengshou bowed his head, what Chen Xuan said was indeed the truth.

"As long as the shipping route is opened, I estimate that the people of Tsuruga will be able to move to Treasure Island at one time."

Chen Xuan is very confident, because in the past so many years, although various countries have protected and forbidden Chinese people to go to Treasure Island, the number of smuggling people is innumerable.

Compared with the oppression of the Chinese people by the guardians of various countries, the life of the miners on Treasure Island can be regarded as paradise.

"You can do it, Treasure Island can produce more gold and silver, and it is also beneficial."

Xu Zengshou stood on Chen Xuan's side, Chen Xuan looked at Yang Wen, who was silent on the side, but when he saw Yang Wen's head, he seemed to agree with this approach.

Seeing this, Chen Xuan instructed the army scribes to propagate, and at the same time ordered the army to march to Kyoto.

"Do you want to bring the Japanese lord to Tsuruga?"

Xu Zengshou looked at the situation in Tsunahe, but Chen Xuan shook his head: "Anyway, it's only a few days to end the war, and then bring him from the hidden ambiguity when it's completely over." ”

"But before that, we have to clean up the current puppet king ......"

The puppet king in Chen Xuan's mouth is not Ashikaga Yoshinori, but the emperor of the two dynasties of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Gokomatsu and Gokameyama.

Deal with them, and then let Ashikaga Yoshitsu succeed the emperor as the son of Emperor Komatsu in the future, which can muddy the waters of Japan.

Of course, if you want to muddy the waters, you can't wipe out all the two veins, you must leave a living mouth, so that countries can protect the objects they can support.

With the deterrence of the Ming army, there was no chaos in Japan.

Once the Ming Dynasty declined, it was a time for them to fight among themselves.

At the same time as Chen Xuan and the others discussed, Zheng Jun had already taken the lead in leading 4,000 men to take control of Tsuruga, and recruited thousands of local people to carry grain and grass for the people, and went all the way south to collect the people's husbands for the army.

In order to show the difference between the Ming army and the Japanese army, the daily wage of the recruited people was two catties of rice, that is, two catties of silver relics.

Such a precious existence is a taste that many Japanese low-level people have never tasted in their lives, and many people are nervous to carry food for the Ming army, and from time to time they touch their arms, worried that the silver relics in their arms will escape.

The Ming army recruited people's husbands, and when they set off, they first gave out one catty of rice, and another catty before dusk.

In addition, these people were also organized together by ten people for a small flag, and each small flag was given a piece of salt crystal and a jar of pickles.

With the generosity of the Ming army, civilians continued to join the ranks of the people along the way, undertaking the work of escorting grain and grass for the Ming army.

Although they were short and could carry fifty catties of food, they managed to keep up with the marching speed of the Ming army.

From the time he took Tsuruga at noon, to dusk, the army of 4,000 led by Zheng Jun had followed a team of nearly 10,000 people, pulling the entire supply line.

Since there was a mountainous area south of Tsuruga, it took them an afternoon to cross the mountains and reach the northern area of Takashima Castle on the west side of Lake Biwa and set up camp.

Almost front and rear, Imagawa Takamasa, who had evacuated from Tsuruga, had just entered Takashima Castle when he saw the Ming army following behind.

"Phew!"

Pulling the reins of the horse, Zheng Jun led the five hundred cavalry of his headquarters to a short distance from Takashima, and took advantage of the afterglow of dusk to look at Takashima City with a telescope half a mile away.

"The city is not big, and the defenders are at most 3,000 people, counting the 3,000 people who fled in just now, at most 6,000 people."

"Where did the field artillery arrive?" Zheng Jun turned back to ask the generals, and a commander said: "It is less than twenty miles away from the camp, and it can be reached at the right time." ”

Knowing that there would be a war tomorrow, Zhu Gaoxu asked Zheng Jun to transport horses to Treasure Island and Sado Island for herding very early.

Because of this, the war horses needed by the Ming cavalry were basically obtained from Hideki and Sado, and the number of horses to transport artillery was not small.

It is true that the roads in Japan are rough and narrow, but two horses and seven or eight civilians can completely keep up with the speed of the army's march with field guns and artillery carriages weighing less than 1,000 catties.

On this expedition to Japan, Zheng Jun left 1,600 people to take care of Yinqi, Whale Sea, and Gold and Silver respectively, and the remaining 4,000 people participated in the war, and promised to share the reward equally with 1,600 people.

He brought with him 800 artillery men, and the number of field guns that could be operated was forty.

Forty field guns wanted to deal with a small Takashima castle, and it was no effort at all.

"Can you pass siege guns on the road you came?"

Zheng Jun asked the commander about whether the Chinese army could keep up with the vanguard army.

"Yes, but the speed can't be fast, and it won't work when it rains, but fortunately there is no rain in the past few days."

The commander's answer made Zheng Jun's heart sink: "In this way, we can't wait, order the three armies, shell Gaodao City tomorrow morning, and I will take it before dusk." ”

"Yes!" The generals were dumbfounded, and some even shouted: "Why do you need dusk, noon is enough!" ”

"That's right! Enough at noon! ”

The generals are very confident, but there is a reason for their self-confidence, after all, Takashima Castle is not big, and since it is a flat castle, it is not very difficult to conquer it.

In front of the 40 field guns, not to mention the Japanese Heijo, even the Hirayama Castle and the Yamajo Castle could not withstand the indiscriminate bombardment all day.

"Tonight, I will be on duty with 500 flags, and if the 3,000 Japanese who fled into the city before want to withdraw their troops, I will take the lead in blocking them!"

Zheng Jun did not intend to spare all the Japanese troops in this high island city, especially the 3,000 Japanese troops who had fled into it earlier.

After this folding, there are 15,000 guan, and the brothers under his command can get at least 4,000 guan, how can they let it go?

"Bastard!!"

On the wall of Takashima Castle, Imagawa Takamasa looked at the Ming army building a camp three miles away to the north, and could only be impotent and furious: "Obviously the people of Japan, now they are actually helping the enemy transport grain, grass and supplies!" ”

"Don't they know that these grains, grasses, and materials will become sharp weapons for the enemy to attack Japan?"

Imagawa Takamasa's words filled the surrounding samurai with righteous indignation, but they did not want to think about why Japanese civilians were willing to help the Ming army.

Compared with the Japanese army who dealt with it with some brown rice, the Ming army gave too many things.

Just like now, with the end of the camp, a scribe who has been in the dark all year round with dozens of Ming soldiers escorted a supply cart to hundreds of people, and said proficiently in Japanese:

"Now that the camp is over, you can make a fire and cook in this designated area, which is an iron pot and pickles and rice."

"You keep your own rice, and it is enough to eat the army's rice in the army."

"Tomorrow you will have to get up and start dismantling the fence of the camp, you know?"

After the scribe finished speaking, a man who was no more than four feet tall and looked like a dwarf in Daming stepped forward cautiously: "My lord, do we still have work to do tomorrow?" ”

"Of course." The scribe smiled, "We also need you to transport supplies to Kyoto, and the lord of the country who supported you, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, will not leave until he ascends the throne." ”

"Great!" Hearing this, the man and the people around him breathed a sigh of relief with joy, full of enthusiasm for tomorrow's life.

Especially when they returned from cutting firewood and watched the silver relics that they could only see in the past being cooked, their vanity was greatly satisfied.

"Delicious!"

"It's so soft."

"Is this the silver relic that only samurai can eat?"

"It's so delicious, I feel like I can eat two catties without pickles!"

"Momotaro, aren't you afraid of bursting your stomach?"

"Haha, if you can be strangled to death by the silver relic, it will also be a happy thing!"

The people's camp was filled with laughter, and at the same time, in Takashima Castle, ordinary soldiers could only receive a wild vegetable dumpling made of brown rice and wild vegetables.

Eating wild vegetable balls, they probably never dreamed that the group of guys outside the city were actually eating silver relics.

Time passed little by little, and as the sky turned completely dark, Imagawa Takamasa in Takashima Castle also began to mumble.

Although he didn't think the Ming army would be able to transport artillery through today's mountain roads, he was still a little nervous, so he was wondering if he should break through to the south at night.

Takashima is less than eighty miles from Kyoto, so if you are fast enough, you can arrive in Kyoto tomorrow at dusk.

Thinking of this, Imagawa Takamasa decisively ordered: "Pass the order to the three armies, and the whole army should carefully go out of the city and retreat to Kyoto." ”

"Hey!" The four generals responded, and soon informed the three armies of the news.

At the time of his time, under the cover of night, Imagawa Takamasa led 2,000 soldiers of Takashima Castle and 3,000 troops under his command and began to leave the city.

This scene was difficult for the malnourished Japanese army, as many suffered from night blindness.

But for the Ming army, since the Yongle Dynasty, although they can't say that they eat meat every meal, they still can't escape a meat dish every day.

Because of this, their situation was much better than that of the Japanese army.

Zheng Jun, who was on duty at night, had just finished patrolling the camp when he was approached by a fellow commander.

"Uncle, as you expected, the general of the Japanese really wants to retreat in the night."

"Good!" Hearing this, Zheng Jun's face was overjoyed, and then he spoke: "I led five hundred cavalry to make a detour to the road where they retreated and laid an ambush in advance. ”

"You see the right time, wait for me to set off as soon as the whole army is ready, you and I will fight back and forth, and completely leave these thousands of people!"

"This ......" the commander hesitated a little: "You personally lead five hundred cavalry to block these thousands of people, will it be too dangerous." ”

"Of course, there are dangers, but they can't defeat me with their methods, and I can only rest assured if I personally stop them."

Zheng Jun said, patted the armor on his body, signaled that he was safe, and let him not worry.

Seeing this, the commander could only wish him a victory.

After a short time, Zheng Jun led 500 cavalry to make a detour from the rear of the camp and touched south along the woods.

Like them, there was Imagawa Takamasa, who led 5,000 men out of the city.

However, Imagawa Takamasa chose to go from the east of the city, so he was unable to meet Zheng Jun.

"Beep-"

After a word, the whistle woke up the Ming army in the entire camp, and also woke up the retreating Japanese army.

"It's not good, the whole army is speeding up the pace of retreat!"

Hearing the whistles in the rear, Imagawa Takamasa didn't even have to think about it to know that this was the news that his side had exposed.

He began to order the entire army to retreat, and the sound of them retreating unleashed also alarmed the Ming army at the same distance as them.

"What sound?"

Zheng Jun heard a sound coming from the lake, and although it was more than a mile away, he still vaguely heard the noise.

The footsteps of thousands of people were difficult to hide, so when Zheng Jun and the others began to listen carefully, they found that they had actually come to such a close distance from the Japanese army.

"God is helping us, they don't see us."

Zheng Jun said to the left and right, and at the same time spoke: "Untie the cotton cloth on the horse's hooves, and prepare to listen to my order to touch it and launch a flank attack on them." ”

He excitedly ordered, after all, if you count carefully, he hasn't fought a decent war in ten years.

Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, the five hundred cavalry cautiously led their horses towards Lake Biwa.

"Light the torches, march quickly, and don't be sluggish."

At the critical moment, Imagawa Takamasa made a fatal mistake, he felt that the Ming army was about to go out of the camp to pursue, and Takashima Castle, a long and narrow lakeside hill, could see them as long as the Ming army caught up.

In this case, it is better to light a torch to speed up the march than to grind like this.

Because of this, under his military orders, the Japanese army began to light torches.

The dim environment allowed them to see the road under their feet, so their marching speed increased.

But in the same way, their firelight also illuminated the direction for Zheng Jun and them, and they were simply live targets in the night.

"Get on the horse!"

With Zheng Jun's order, the five hundred Ming troops turned over and mounted their horses, and at this moment they were less than half a mile away from the Japanese army.

"Don't blow the trumpet, just charge."

While Zheng Jun calmly gave the order, he shook the reins of the horse in his hand and took the lead in charging the Japanese army.

"Buzz Rumble......

"What sound?!"

The might of the five hundred cavalry rushing forward reached the ears of Imagawa Takamasa at the first time, and at this moment, the Japanese army in charge of patrolling the outskirts of Butang, only then did they discover Zheng Jun and others who had arrived in front of them at some point.

"Assault of the whole army!!"

The fire was lit, Zheng Jun held a torch in one hand and a spear in the other, and his superb equestrian skills were performed, perhaps even he forgot that he was once a cavalryman in Liaodong.

"Prepare for the enemy!!"

Imagawa Takamasa shouted hoarsely the moment the firelight appeared, and the shrill whistle began to sound.

Caught off guard, the Japanese army began to line up in a hurry, but for this group of spearmen who were not well fed and under-strengthened, they had not been trained for too much night raids, and the formation was chaotic.

Such a situation gave Zheng Jun enough opportunities.

"Make meritorious contributions, right now, kill the enemy and receive rewards, and be rich for a lifetime!"

"Kill!!"

Like a landslide and a crack, five hundred tall Arabian and meandering horses and the Ming army's natural height of nearly a foot taller than the Japanese army made the gap between the two sides fully visible at this moment.

Lin Chao's spear array was crushed in an instant, many spears were completely horizontal in the air, and only a small number of spears were buried in the soil at their ends, causing a lot of casualties to the Ming army.

But compared with the casualties of the Japanese army against the Ming army, the casualties of the Ming army against the Japanese army were more deadly.

After the cavalry flanked and rushed into the formation, they were not busy retreating, but continued to fight hand-to-hand in the formation, and the spear and gourd hammer became the sharp weapons that took the lives of the Japanese soldiers at this moment.

This is how the samurai who survived the battle and fled into the mountains are recorded......

"The Ming army relied on its four hooves and trampled on our formation"

(End of chapter)