The leader of the guard, Huashan Yoshi, immediately stepped forward, came to the side of Chongwen's war horse, and asked in a low voice with a hint of imperceptible annoyance: "Your Highness, Lai Yuan, that thief ran away... Why did you let them go? Why didn't you beat the second drum? Why didn't you attack them with all your might? I wondered in my heart, I really couldn't hold it back, even if His Highness punished me, I would admit it. ”

Chongwen didn't get angry, he silently looked at the sunset in the distance, and said for a long time: "Yoshimasa, you are a good swordsman, but you forgot that you were originally a fisherman's family." When fishing, you have to use bait, and they are my bait. I have deadly hooks buried in their midst, and I'm going to catch bigger fish, how can I destroy the bait?"

Biryama Yoshimasa looked dazed, and muttered, "I still don't understand." ”

Chongwen didn't look at Birch Mountain Yoshimasa, and said in a low voice: "Yes, you don't understand yet, it's good to be young, it's not the time to think about these messes." One day you will understand that the decisive victory is not just on the battlefield ... You see. ”

As soon as Chongwen's horsewhip pointed to the north, Sakai Castle was there, quietly waiting for them. Outside the horizon, in the direction of the river, suddenly there was a loud sound of cannons, and the sea breeze sent a faint shout of killing, and it was clear that a fierce battle was taking place there.

In order to prevent Hosokawa Yorimoto from retreating to the long trench and resisting stubbornly, Chongwen contained the main force of the shogunate army in the front, and sent two people to the sea early to lead Zhu Nanda's sentry north from the sea to the Sumijiang River, and from the mouth of the Sumijiang River, he made a landing on the Yamato River, a ferry 7 miles upstream from Haikou. Here, it is the junction of the long trench and the Sumijiang River, and it is also the end of the long trench.

Zhu Nanda sentry, that is, the old Xu Yi sentry, is a relatively strong combat effectiveness of the outpost, and now the strength of nearly 900 people. At this time, the remnants of the Hatakeyama family were left behind to guard the long trench, and the 2,000 imperial horses of the army known as the general's pro-army, with a total strength of about 4,000 people.

The shogunate army looked strong, but unfortunately scattered inside and outside the long trench. The two long moats together are 30 miles long, and there are 14 of them in the traffic city card alone, and with the defense of some key towns, each stronghold is weakly guarded. They were mainly used to monitor the remnants of the Ouchi army and protect the flanks of Terajimachi, but they didn't expect a powerful enemy to suddenly appear on the flank.

The second commander of the sea was Zhu Nanda, who broke through from the Yamato River, attacked south along the inner side of the long trench, and successively conquered a large number of shogunate strongholds such as Shichido Town, Kitado Town, Takasu Shrine, Shinmei Town, and Myokokuji Temple. Shitennoji Temple in the castle heard the rumbling of gunfire, and although Ouchi Kyosuke was wounded, he personally led the remnants of the Ouchi army to start a counterattack outward, in response to the action of the second to go to sea.

The entire long trench defense line of the shogunate army was shaken. The defenders in those strongholds were panicked, they didn't know what was going on outside, they were shouting on all sides, guns were bursting like beans, but the defenders of the long trench didn't know where the enemy was, which direction to charge, and where to flee.

Some of them quickly ended their confusion as a large number of black-clad pirates came in from the north, quickly surrounding the wells, checkpoints, or barricades they were stationing, and calmly arranging artillery barricades beyond the range of bows and arrows. In the fiery sunset, the bronze barrel shines with ominous light, and behind the fort, there is a dense jungle of knives and guns, and a hideous Rolling Sea Dragon King Banner, which makes people think of a man-eating demon.

If you have ever seen a military officer with a large cylinder, you will realize that it is a firearm that can shoot them at a very long distance, and hiding in a stronghold is just sitting and waiting to be killed.

They loudly drove their men out of the stronghold, trying to stop the pirates from setting up the artillery barracks. These shogunate troops were very brave, but the result was very tragic, they were fired fiercely, and they were beaten to the point of crying and crying, and it was impossible to approach the fort, and they could only hear the unbridled laughter and scolding of the hateful pirates from afar.

The sluggish turtles cowered in the stronghold, and then they were covered by round after round of iron bullets, and the thin wooden fortresses could not stop the artillery attack, and soon crumbled and collapsed. The flying pieces of wood caused even more terrible secondary damage, and the shogunate soldiers cried, cursed, and begged for reinforcements.

There are no reinforcements, no saviors, and before the stronghold is razed to the ground, those bloodthirsty demons will rush up, and the Goga Sensen, like a black tide, will eventually drown them.

One by one, the pirates swept through the shogunate strongholds, and without much effort, the entire outskirts of Sakai Castle were filled with the desperate wails of the shogunate soldiers. The horrific slaughter continued until darkness gradually enveloped the wilderness, and the noise of war gradually subsided, leaving only endless cries of despair in the darkness.

At two o'clock, at 8 o'clock Western time, the sky completely darkened, and the black-clad army stopped attacking. In just one afternoon, the pirates defeated more than 14,000 shogunate troops, who yesterday almost captured the richest city in the whole city, and today suffered a major defeat, fate and the shogunate made a huge joke, phantom, phantom.

The shogunate army suffered more than 5,000 casualties in the First World War, lost a third of its troops, and was pressed on both sides in a narrow area between Tereraji Town and Hanadaguchi, which was less than 3 miles long. And the morale was low, crying and cursing filled every corner, and the whole army almost lost the courage to fight again.

Two out of the sea and a sentry to the north of Myohoji, the remnants of the Ouchi army occupied the Sumiyoshi Bridge, the key point of the inner castle, and could assault the shogunate army in the dormitory at any time. The head of the shogunate army was in Teragoji Town, and the main force of the Shogunate Bureau forced the castle in Teraji Town, monitoring the enemies in the town.

Today's shogunate army is a dead snake, grabbed by the tail, held down by the head, unable to move, and can be kicked in the exposed abdomen at any time. Before yesterday, the shogunate army had surrounded the castle on three sides for more than a month, but by this evening, it was themselves who were surrounded on three sides.

The shogunate had only one way out to retreat eastward, and it was a vast field that could not be closed by the pitiful forces of the Shogunate. However, this kind of rout is difficult to organize, and once it is pursued, it is not known how many people will be able to escape to Takatsuki Castle, which is 50 miles away. Although it is still a state of confrontation between the two armies, judging from the current situation, the shogunate army has been powerless and will definitely be defeated.

And the price paid by the pirates was extremely light, with less than 200 casualties and 2,000 catties**.

But Chongwen knew very well that his victory was a fluke. He was well aware of the situation in the country, but the shogunate knew very little about the Tokai merchant group, and it was impossible to know himself or the other with a few pieces of detailed information. The servants simply did not know how to deal with the war of firearms, and the shogunate had already lost the battle before the first shot was fired.

But as long as the shogunate army is not really stupid, there will always be talented people who will think of a way to deal with the artillery fire, and it will be difficult to achieve victory by surprise. And his ammunition reserves support one more big war at most, and if he loses the next battle, he loses the war. He knew better than anyone that firearms alone were not enough to win the entire country, and he had to use other weapons.

The decisive battle in the future would be even more dangerous, but he didn't want to think about it tonight. His heart was calling for another fiery soul, over and over again, are you still alive, are you still alive, are you still alive?

On a summer night on the beach of Osaka Bay, the sea breeze brings coolness and dispels the heat of the day, and it is the most refreshing time, with fireflies flying, summer worms chirping happily, and the smell of rice in the air.

But here, in this flesh-and-blood battlefield, there is only the smoke of war. The boundless campfire is connected to the stars in the sky. The land at night is a silent and terrifying world, a world where the living and the undead dance together.

The pirates' Tereraji Town camp was not well defended, no defensive trenches were dug, no fence was not protected, and there were not even sabre carts, but all kinds of vehicles were connected into a car castle as a camp barrier. None of the leaders of the shogunate would try to raid such a camp at night, they knew what a terrible thing was behind the castle, and they had enough of it during the day.

At this time, the victory of the battle was decided, and perhaps the shogunate army would retreat tonight, and Chongwen did not intend to pursue the remnants of the enemy. Now, he just wanted to calm his boiling heart, and he paced back and forth in front of the big tent, sometimes looking up at the sea, sometimes at Sakaijo in the dark.

Finally, Chongwen said slowly, "Ah Niu, do you remember the night we rushed out of Sakai Castle?"

Lai Cainiu said: "Of course I remember, at that time, there were catfish boys, as well as Tomita Shiji, Hanako and them. We don't even know the names of the Ouchi guards who died protecting us. ”

Chongwen said, "Yes, but you forgot a more important character, Nonghime. If it weren't for her desperate efforts to save us, we wouldn't have been able to leave Sakai Castle alive, but now that she's trapped in the city, she doesn't know whether she lives or dies, what should we do?"

After being silent for a long time, Lai Cainiu said: "I know what you want to do, but you can't go, I'll go." The East China Sea Merchant Group can do without me, but not without you. ”

Chongwen still looked at the stars and campfires in the distance, and said in a deep voice: "Ah Niu, Yizheng... If I say I'm tired, I'm tired of these little tyrants and unlucky people in front of me, I'm tired of the East China Sea merchant group and its noisy Qidong, I'm tired of the endless murder and arson, deceit, dirty and stupid... Can you believe it?"

Kayama Yoshimasa glared at him and said with an incredulous expression: "That's impossible, didn't you bring us here to give us people a fairness?"

Chongwen shook his head and said, "Yes, people in the world are very bitter, but what does this have to do with me, I just want to live." And my buddies, the guys who live and die with me ... I want you to live, with a big yard, a fat wife, a large group of children, a herd of chickens and ducks, and a circle of cattle and sheep.

It would be better if there was a Zhuangzi, or a damn weaving workshop. All I ask for is this, even this wish cannot be fulfilled, what can I do if I join my mother? I can only lead you here to kill people and set fires, and the blood of the killings will flow like rivers, and the sky will be miserable, and the people will be mourned like beasts.

What the world is the same, what is the justice of the pirates... It was just a dream, forget it. I was forced, and you were also forced, and we were all forced to come here, just to survive in death.

Today's luck is on our side, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the future? Only Mazu Niangniang knows, but her old man will never tell us. That's just us comforting ourselves, and the king of Shang asked for divination, in fact, the good luck is in the sky.

So just now I was thinking, if I die tomorrow, now I should do something in my mother's house. Come to think of it, this is the only thing worth doing for me, and it's worth doing more than seeing those shitty asses tomorrow. She gave me everything and I didn't even know if she was alive or dead... If it's possible, surprise her. ”

The two friends glanced at each other, wondering why the creator of this great victory said such depressing words. Their masters are wise and courageous, swallowing mountains and seas, shaking the heavens and the earth. will also be nervous, restless, moody, rude, and angry, so that Zuo Jin suffers. Of course, most of the time they were giggling and drinking with the brothers, like their brothers.

He has all kinds of faces, but he is never depressed. The more he seems to have no way out, the more confident he becomes, encouraging others with his composure, making people feel that he is hiding his hole cards at every moment, and victory is a matter of course.

But on this night, Da Wai Hai, like every ordinary person, was weak and confused, and talked nonsense. This made the two friends a little overwhelmed, and they didn't know which one was the real big sea.