Ancestors, please don't crawl out again.

Chapter 189 Domestic Dogs and Stray Dogs

Zong Yifang, who was overjoyed to welcome the royal army, did not escape disaster, because the entire Tsushima Island was subsequently slaughtered by the Fourth Prince.

Is he planning to use this place as a springboard to advance into the base? Is keeping a bunch of traitors here to stab him in the back if things go wrong?

With the Fourth Prince's intelligence, he certainly wouldn't make such a mistake.

Kill everyone who can be killed to ensure that no hidden dangers remain.

After massacring Tsushima Island, he then moved the families of the Eight Banners Koreans there.

However, a small number of ships from Tsushima managed to escape during this process. These survivors, who subsequently arrived in Hakata, brought the devastating news of the second Toi invasion to Japan.

Then, amidst the chaos, Japan began preparing for war.

At the same time, the Fourth Prince also welcomed his prime minister on Tsushima Island.

Of course, it wasn't just Zhang Tingyu. In fact, upon learning of his presence in Korea, many loyal Qing officials and righteous men scattered across the land also emerged from their hiding places with great excitement, and then traveled to Korea in various ways before converging on Tsushima. Among them were remnants of the fallen people from Liaodong, gentry who had escaped from the coastal areas when their homes were ransacked by militia, and even gentry who had been persecuted inland and forced to flee, eventually making their way to Liaodong and then to Korea.

Each and every one of them had endured countless hardships and suffered all sorts of pain before finally being able to embrace the light.

One of the newly appointed scholars, whose home was ransacked by militia, fled all the way and finally boarded a smuggling ship, where he served as a pet for a period of time before finally reaching Korea.

Of course, there's no need to mention the fact that his father colluded with bandits to ambush the militia, killing and wounding many of them.

In short, when he met the Qing Emperor in Tsushima, he cried so bitterly that every word was filled with blood and tears as he denounced the brutality of those demon soldiers, which made the Fourth Prince unable to help but shed tears as well.

I totally understand!
Although he hadn't served as a ship's pet for more than a few months, he could truly empathize with the pain of a country destroyed and a family wiped out, the hatred between the nation and the family, and the fact that he could only lead a group of survivors to struggle for survival in a foreign land.
As these exiled gentry arrived one after another, the Qing court began to resemble its former self.

He also formed an alliance with the British, who helped him land in Japan, and he gave the British the supplies he plundered in Japan.

Before that, however, he first had the King of Korea plunder Korea, providing the British with several shiploads of tea, silk, porcelain, and other goods they desired, as a deposit. In return, the British gifted him nearly a thousand flintlock muskets and several cannons. Ultimately, the two sides became allies. This was, in essence, a common British tactic; during their colonial plunder, they always supported a power that would plunder while they handled the looting.

The cooperation between the two parties was pleasant.

In the past, the Qing Dynasty certainly looked down on them, and they never dreamed of sharing a bed with the Qing Dynasty. But now, isn't the Qing Dynasty in dire straits?
This gave them an opportunity.

Thus, the Fourth Prince, now with renewed strength, chose a day with favorable winds and, in the manner of a combined Qing-British fleet, just like his father's joint operation with the Dutch years ago, marched in a grand manner towards Japan.

This was a fateful battle for the Qing Dynasty, a battle with no way out but to advance, and a total of 100,000 Eight Banner troops were deployed.

It's not just a claim.

It was actually 100,000 Eight Banners troops.

However, there were nearly 50,000 Koreans in the Eight Banners alone.

To prevent the Li family from causing trouble, the Fourth Prince forcibly incorporated all the fighting troops in Korea into the Eight Banners.

Moreover, they received cheers from the latter, after all, they belonged to the lowest class in Korea, but after being incorporated into the Eight Banners, they became the royal army that even the Yangban nobles could despise.

As for North Korea's opposition...

With tens of thousands of genuine Eight Banners troops stationed there, and the support of Korean soldiers, the Yangban nobles are nothing. Just slaughter a few families and they'll all behave.

It just so happens that the Fourth Prince is also short of military funds. Although the two classes of nobles are poor, they can raise some money by slaughtering a few more families.

So even before he landed in Japan, he had already slaughtered countless people in Korea, and the Lee family was trembling as they endured the Emperor's wrath.

These Eight Banners Korean cannon fodder made the Qing army appear as magnificent as ever.

Like the Mongol invaders of yesteryear, they first captured Iki Island and then massacred its inhabitants. Even sailors from four British armed merchant ships participated in the massacre. This pleasure of slaughter allowed the British and Manchu bannermen to finally find the joy of friendship, even sharing the feelings of Japanese women. Meanwhile, the Japanese navy sent to rescue Iki Island was easily crippled by the combined Qing-British fleet. After all, the Shimpo Navy's dilapidated ships, still stuck in the Wanli era, were no match for the East India Company fleet composed of over a dozen armed merchant ships.

Their effective tactics are nothing more than boarding maneuvers.

However, the hundreds of Eight Banners warships accompanying the East India Company's ships could not possibly allow them to get close to the East India Company's fleet.

After a brief stop and rest on Iki Island, allowing the soldiers to experience the joy of burning, killing, and looting, the morale of the Qing-English joint fleet was suddenly boosted, and they headed straight for Hakata.

Hakata.

The Fourth Prince stood confidently on the deck, looking at the East India Company fleet lined up ahead, bombarding the Japanese fortress with volleys of cannons.

Japan had certainly built fortresses here long ago.

In fact, thanks to the timely tip-off from the refugees in Tsushima, the Tokugawa shogunate had already mobilized tens of thousands of troops to the area. Troops from various domains in Kyushu and southern Honshu had also been deployed, and even armies from the northeastern domains were moving south. Although Japan had just experienced the abstract rule of the "Dog Shogun," this period was also the most stable time internally. After all, the Dog Shogun's rule was so abstract that even the angered daimyo only resorted to humiliating him by skinning him in various ways; the daimyo had come to appreciate this stable system.

After all, they don't have to worry about being killed one day and their territory falling into the hands of others, like the daimyo of the Warring States period.

They could rule their territory hereditarily.

Who doesn't like hereditary succession?

"Your Majesty, the British ships are strong and their cannons are powerful; the thought of it is extremely frightening."

Standing beside the Fourth Prince, Zhang Tingyu spoke meaningfully.

He has been appointed as a Grand Councilor. The Fourth Prince has already introduced the Grand Council system, as it is more efficient.

Currently, the person in charge of the Grand Council is none other than Yinxiang.

The Grand Councilors included Longkodo, Zhang Tingyu, Ma Qi, and of course, Fucha Ma Qi and Tian Wenjing.

It could be said that the gathering was full of talented people, although the absence of Nian Gengyao was somewhat regrettable.

"The late emperor knew too little about them, but fortunately we don't need to worry about them anymore. Now they can't go to the southeast coast, and we are the only ones they can rely on. We can abandon them, but they can't abandon us."

The Fourth Prince said with a hint of melancholy.

Indeed, the British demonstrated strength far exceeding their expectations. These were the barbarians they had previously regarded as mere distant traders, yet they were virtually invincible at sea. Even after landing, their sailors displayed fighting prowess comparable to the elite Eight Banners troops. In reality, the Fourth Prince was being lenient with himself; deep down, he felt that in a real battle, with equal numbers, his Eight Banners might not be able to withstand the attack. The British barbarians' discipline in the face of the enemy was far superior to that of the Eight Banners. Their tactic of firing flintlock muskets directly at the face also demonstrated their ferocity. This meant that the Eight Banners of today were no longer what they once were; the Eight Banners of the past, still indulging in a life of decadence, would likely never have dared to charge them head-on.

These guys came across the ocean, and it's probably not just about trade.

Their ambitions are grand.

but……

This is no longer something the Qing Dynasty needs to worry about.

Or perhaps the Qing Dynasty was no longer fit to worry about this issue.

It is indeed shameful to think about this. They saw the British ambition and the potential threat the British would pose to the East. But unfortunately, they were no longer qualified to consider this issue. They had gone from being the de facto leader of the East to being a stray dog, and had even reached the point where they had to bribe these British people to survive.

"Issue the order: Land!"

Taking a deep breath and suppressing his grief and indignation, the Fourth Prince issued the order to land in Hakata.

Immediately afterward, the flag announcing the landing was raised on the mast behind him, and then small warships that had been following the East India Company fleet rushed straight to the beach. These were the first batch of Eight Banners Koreans to land, filled with a thirst for burning, killing, and looting, excitement for avenging their ancestors, and fantasies of achieving high rank and prestige. They launched a desperate charge into these small warships, barely a meter in draft, towards the Japanese defense lines that had already been ravaged by British naval gunfire.

The latter's few cannons had all been destroyed. After all, the Japanese, whose country was in ruins, really had nothing that could withstand nine-pound or even twelve-pound naval guns.

Warships that had crossed the sea rushed directly onto the beach and ran aground in the water. Then, the Eight Banners Korean soldiers, clad in cloth armor, bravely jumped into the water, wading through chest-deep water, and gradually emerged from the deep water. However, the remaining Japanese troops quickly began to retaliate, firing cannons, arrows, and even the few remaining mortars at the Eight Banners Koreans. The latter's corpses fell continuously into the sea, but they had no room to retreat.

The only way forward is forward.

They quickly broke out of the sea.

They roared wildly and charged towards the Japanese.

"These North Korean soldiers aren't invincible!"

Zhang Tingyu said in surprise.

"In the past, they were like the Ming Dynasty garrison soldiers, treated as servants by the Liangban (military officers), barely having enough to eat. But now they are the Qing Dynasty's royal army, the staunch supporters of the Eight Banners. I give them enough to eat, and I give them the days when they can trample on the Liangban and treat the women of noble families as playthings. Naturally, they are different now. Back then, those Ming soldiers who surrendered to my Qing Dynasty also became Green Standard Army soldiers, fighting for the Qing Dynasty. They were indeed all dogs, but I treat them as my own dogs. In the past, the Liangban only treated them as wild dogs."

Dogs with owners are naturally different from stray dogs.

The Fourth Prince said.

That's exactly what he did.

He threw all the noblewomen of the two classes who had been slaughtered into the Eight Banners Korean army camp, leaving them to be killed at the soldiers' mercy.

For this reason alone, he was considered a wise and benevolent ruler in the eyes of the Eight Banners Joseon.

Meanwhile, on the beach, the loyal servants who fought for the wise and benevolent ruler, hoping for a title and a privilege for their wives and children, were already engaged in fierce battle with the Japanese soldiers, relying on the large amount of armor that the Fourth Prince had brought from Shenyang...

Brother Ma has a large stockpile of armor and weapons in Shenyang.

These were also the foundation upon which the Fourth Prince's ambitions rested.

The Eight Banners that followed him all had their own armor and weapons, so all the excess were given to the Eight Banners of Korea, which enabled them to completely outclass the Japanese foot soldiers in terms of equipment.

These heavily armored cannon fodder soldiers, braving the arrows and bullets of the Japanese, charged forward and engaged in a chaotic battle. They abandoned the use of muskets, as they were too inefficient, and more importantly, they couldn't be carried onto the ground, so they relied entirely on melee weapons. Spears clashed, swords slashed, and various blunt weapons smashed against each other—it was all close-quarters combat, with heads severed, limbs cut off, and smashed brains splattering amidst flying blood and flesh, as spears pierced through the bodies of their opponents.

Corpses piled up on the beach.

Blood was flowing.

The beach was soon stained red with blood; "mountains of corpses and seas of blood" was no longer just an adjective.

Amidst this mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood, more warships were still beaching themselves, and more Manchu Korean soldiers were still setting foot on the shores of Japan.

They disregarded forming ranks and charged directly into the battlefield from the sea.

There are no tactics involved in amphibious landings in such confined areas; the key is to send as many soldiers as possible, and then the soldiers are expected to use their killing power to break through the enemy's defenses.

Mountains of corpses and seas of blood?
What I want is mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Of course, the main reason was that the Eight Banners Korea had no way out.

Those who retreat to the sea without fighting to the bitter end will also die, and their families on Tsushima Island will also die. The wise and benevolent ruler has given them what they desire, but they must also abide by the rules. Every woman of the Yangban nobles is not someone to be trifled with for nothing...

"Tell the British to sink it."

The Fourth Prince pointed to a warship that was supposed to run aground, but was so frightened by the mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the shore that it turned back.

Flags waved beside him.

Still lined up in the East India Company fleet at sea, the two armed merchant ships closest to the warship immediately unleashed flames from their broadsides. A salvo from over thirty cannons quickly riddled the warship with holes, and flames erupted on its surface. The Korean bannermen knelt and begged for mercy on deck, but the British opposite them paid no heed. In fact, the British watched them with schadenfreude from their decks, while the cannons continued to spew flames. Soon, the warship sank engulfed in flames.

Other Korean warships that had stormed the beach silently sailed toward the shore in the firelight, and then rushed ashore to throw the minced meat onto the land.

Meanwhile, the Eight Banners Korea, stepping over the corpses of their comrades and Japanese, continued to push forward with their ferocity, squeezing and expanding their control over the beach.

Then it expanded to the docks.

The large warships that had been waiting at sea immediately moved forward and soon docked at the same pier, which was also filled with corpses and blood.

"Kill them! Just like our ancestors who entered the pass back then, slaughter everyone here, leaving not a single chicken or dog alive!"

"I'm already on my warhorse," Commander-in-Chief Uya Fobiao roared excitedly.

He then spurred his horse and leaped onto the dock, charging straight towards the Japanese army. A warrior who was fighting against the Eight Banners of Korea cut down his opponent and bravely charged forward, but he underestimated the difference between the Qing army's warhorses and the Japanese warhorses that were now like monkeys riding dogs. Before his sword could even fall, he was knocked away by the horse of the monk...

(End of this chapter)