The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 278 Occupation
The Jade Flute of Azure Waves increases spell power by 25% and reduces spell cost by 25%. It also inflicts confusion and sleep effects.

With Li Jingxiao's current strength, the true energy attached to the flute makes the sedation effect much stronger than before.

At this time, at least a third of the people on the city wall had fallen into a deep sleep.

Li Jingxiao put down his flute and nodded to Erfu and the others.

He said, "If we capture this mountain city, everyone in the Left Garrison Command will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver."

The people from the Left Garrison Command naturally wouldn't stay on Kyushu Island to become lords.

Therefore, it would be more worthwhile to use the money to buy land and houses in the capital.

The more than 400 captains from the four centurions, including Erfu, were immediately excited when they heard that everyone would receive a hundred taels of silver.

Under the cover of night, they crept up the mountain path.

Li Jingxiao continued playing the flute, but this time the sound was much quieter than before.

It sounds like a dream, a beautiful childhood memory.

As a result, Erfu and dozens of other Imperial Guards, whose internal strength and lightness skills were quite good, were able to escape.

When I climbed the castle walls of the main peak, 'Matsuo-dake'.

There wasn't a single soldier standing.

Erfu and the others were once again filled with admiration for Li Jingxiao.

Instead of rushing to kill, he carefully threw out ropes, allowing the officers to climb up the city wall.

By the time they could no longer stand, more than two hundred captains had climbed up this section of the city wall.

Only then did they begin to draw their swords and kill the sleeping guards.

Li Jingxiao kept an eye on the situation above using his telescopic vision.

Seeing that he had succeeded, the flute music immediately changed.

The 2.5 soldiers in the military camp at the foot of the mountain were quickly awakened by the loud sound of flutes.

Not long after, the fifth team of 4 surrendered soldiers quickly went up the mountain.

The city gates were now open, and at least a thousand of the garrison troops on the main peak had been killed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The fate of these four thousand surrendered soldiers was sealed the moment they entered the city.

By daybreak, all the soldiers and members of the Kuroda family within the city had been slaughtered.

Then the archers and arquebusiers, taking advantage of their height on the city walls, began to shoot down the defenders of the other six mountain cities.

In just one day, three more of the closest mountain cities were captured.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the other three cities had no choice but to surrender.

After capturing Tachibana Castle, Lee Kyung-hyo did not rush to continue the attack.

Instead, he ordered the Goryeo navy to transport more soldiers and supplies over at full capacity.

Incidentally, they also fulfilled their promise to exchange military merits for land and high salaries.

Although most of the surrendered Japanese soldiers were only given a small portion of land near Tachibana Castle.

Many of the lands that were granted as rewards were actually controlled by other retainers of the Kuroda family.

It's like giving away cities and lands that haven't been conquered or controlled yet, in advance.

But they captured the famous mountain castle in both Japan and Kyushu so easily.

Among the surrendered Japanese soldiers, no one doubted Li Jingxiao's ability to conquer the entire Kyushu Island.

Moreover, by controlling Tachibana Castle, it would be equivalent to controlling a strategic point between Kyushu and Honshu.

If the monkey wants to send troops to Kyushu Island to provide support, it can either rely on sea transport or first capture Tachibana Castle.

Otherwise, it would inevitably threaten the army's logistics line.

Half a month later, 2 heavy cavalry and 4 light cavalry from the Palace Guard Tiger Battalion arrived.

Wang Zhong's 6 light cavalry, along with 5 cavalrymen from Goryeo, were the first to be transported to Kyushu Island.

With these 1.7 cavalrymen, Li Jingxiao mobilized again.

The three light cavalry units did not seek to capture cities, but only to kill people and burn down the docks of Kyushu Island.

They also robbed money, stole grain, and caused destruction.

For a time, rampaging cavalry were everywhere in the territories of Chikugo, Buzen, Bungo, and Hizen on Kyushu Island.

Within just a few days, taking advantage of their mobility, the three cavalry units burned down three large docks that Li Jingxiao had strictly ordered to be destroyed.

Then, with Li Jingxiao's tacit approval, the Jurchens and Goryeo cavalry went on a rampage of evil without any restraint or bottom line.

Li Jingxiao's goal was nothing more than to boost morale while significantly depleting the war potential of other forces on Kyushu Island.

With a large number of ordinary farmers dying and farmland being burned, it naturally becomes difficult to wage a protracted war.

Moreover, once they occupied Kyushu, they would bring in immigrants from Korea and the Jurchen people.

Only those vacant lands can keep immigrants confined to Kyushu.

And in order to protect their own land, they had no choice but to continue fighting the Japanese.

To put it bluntly, Li Jingxiao didn't care about the lives of the Japanese, Koreans, or Jurchens.

As long as they have irreconcilable conflicts for many years to come, that's fine.

The fact that several cavalry units were conducting guerrilla warfare made it virtually impossible for the various factions on Kyushu Island to form a coalition.

With his clairvoyance, Li Jingxiao could easily discern the true state of various cities.

Whenever troops leave the city, he will lead his cavalry to ambush and annihilate them.

After several decisive battles, the various forces and cities on Kyushu Island dared only to remain trapped in their cities and dared not venture out.

The advantage in the war is increasingly tilting in Li Jingxiao's favor.

Some small families and forces learned that Li Jingxiao had been generously distributing land on Kyushu Island to surrendered Japanese soldiers, Jurchens, and Koreans.

Some people actually started to consider surrendering.

For the people of Wa during the Warring States period, family and land were everything.

They would fight to the death for land.

For the sake of land, they could turn their backs on their lord and betray him.

For the sake of land, the head of the household would even commit suicide.

Therefore, as long as one could preserve their family and territory, seeking refuge with a greater power was of no consequence in Japan at that time.

Moreover, the monkey distributed large tracts of land in Kyushu to his trusted confidants.

While forcing local forces to bow down, this actually sowed the seeds of future trouble.

Previously, the monkey had the strength and confidence to unify Japan, so naturally no one dared to cause trouble.

The 15-strong army that invaded Goryeo has now been completely wiped out.

Tens of thousands surrendered and turned to Kyushu Island, becoming tools in Li Jingxiao's hands.

War has broken out again on Kyushu Island.

The Otomo, Shimazu, Tachibana, and Mori families of Kyushu Island naturally had other ideas.

Although Tachibana Castle was built by the Tachibana family, they were driven out of it at least 150 years ago.

These families not only sent envoys to Tachibana Castle to request an audience with Yi Gyeong-hyo.

They also began to probe the true strength of several trusted families whom the monkey had enfeoffed on Kyushu Island.

Li Jingxiao's original intention was to provoke another war in Japan.

For families that were already dissatisfied with the monkeys, of course they were welcomed and courted.

Half a month later, 1 Liaodong troops, 3 Goryeo soldiers, and 3 surrendered Japanese soldiers arrived at Tachibana Castle.

Li Jingxiao immediately changed his approach and adopted a defensive strategy towards the north.

The strategy towards the forces in Kyushu to the south was a combination of appeasement and attack.

Send someone directly to tell the Otomo, Shimazu, Tachibana, and Mori families that they should either go to war or not.

Either surrender.

Or they could form an alliance to deal with the monkeys.

As expected, the Otomo clan, which is closest to Tachibana Castle, is facing an army of over 100,000 men right at their doorstep.

That was a dilemma, but as news of Li Jingxiao's victories in Goryeo spread throughout Kyushu and the Otomo clan, things began to take a turn for the better.

Li Jingxiao knew what these daimyo were thinking.

Besides their fear of monkeys, they must also be thinking that it might not be difficult for their army to cross the ocean and conquer Kyushu.

But once the monkey army is ready, the outcome is uncertain.

But Li Jingxiao wouldn't do things according to others' ideas. What he wanted most right now was to destroy the main force of the Japanese navy.

However, the Kuki Navy, Awaji Navy, and Kurushima Navy have been holed up in their home ports recently.

As a result, Li Jingxiao used his clairvoyance to monitor the movements of these three naval forces every day, but he didn't have a good solution.

These various forces in Japan were essentially small feudal lords.

Using their own fleet to fight against the Goryeo fleet, if it were a year ago, the three countries would have had to listen to the monkey.

But now, not to mention the three online troll groups, all other groups, big and small, are actually watching and waiting.

But things are different now.

Li Jingxiao's main force has already arrived at Kyushu Island.

He needed a major victory to force the forces within Kyushu Island, who were already dissatisfied with the monkey's power, to surrender.

After entrusting Tachibana Castle to Kwon Ji-ri, Lee Kyung-hyo secretly boarded Yi Sun-sin's flagship.

They left Hakata Port with 40 warships without anyone noticing.

Three days later, guided by Li Jingxiao's clairvoyance, they bypassed Kyushu Island and arrived silently in Shima Country.

That night, Li Jingxiao launched another night attack.

Moreover, every time Goryeo warships used fire attacks to attack the Kuki family's warships...

The fire can suddenly become very intense in a short period of time.

The Koreans thought they were just lucky and ignited the gunpowder and other flammable materials on the Kugui Navy's warships.

The Kuki Navy believed that the Goryeo people had received support from the Great Zhou Dynasty and acquired new naval weapons.

Little did they know that Li Jingxiao had secretly released dozens of small paper figures with fire-controlling talismans in the direction of the Nine Ghosts Navy.

Under the cover of night, these paper figures easily flew above the Nine Demons Navy.

If a warship catches fire, one or two paper figures will fly down and explode.

The fire spread several times over in an instant.

Or, it might simply land on a powder keg.

It exploded suddenly, which could easily be mistaken for a gunpowder explosion.

Li Jingxiao himself would occasionally draw his bow and shoot arrows, firing arrows marked with flaming symbols.

The enemy ship caught fire instantly, and the fire spread several times over in a short time.

Even the upper decks of the enemy ship would be engulfed in intense flames.

This war is simply impossible to fight.

In just half an hour, the Goryeo navy destroyed more than 50 warships, while losing only three warships of its own.

Moreover, there are dozens of ships of various sizes in the port, which dare not leave the port to engage in battle.

Li Jingxiao would naturally not let these ships go.

They not only ordered the Goryeo navy to move closer and destroy all the ships, but also set fire to the docks.

After the fire broke out at the dock, Li Jingxiao took a deep breath and gently exhaled a few breaths of air.

But the wind quickly turned into a gale of force 5 or 6.

The fire on the dock was intensified by the wind.

This battle directly destroyed Toyotomi Hideyoshi's main naval force.

Kuki Yoshitaka first served Nobunaga, and then served the monkey.

After decades of development, it is considered the strongest navy in Japan.

When Li Jingxiao returned to Hakata Port with his navy, news had already reached Kyushu Island that 7% of the Kuki navy's main warships had been destroyed and even their headquarters had been burned down.

Now, no one hesitated anymore.

In the following ten days or so, Li Jingxiao was busy reorganizing his army, intending to truly bring Kyushu Island under his rule.

It was to receive envoys sent by various forces in Kyushu.

That day, Li Jingxiao had just finished meeting with the envoys from the Otomo, Shimazu, and Tachibana families who had come in groups at the castle tower of Tachibana Castle.

I sensed a demonic aura flying over from afar.

As I walked onto the balcony of the castle tower, I soon saw a gust of wind blowing towards me.

This revealed Su Mei's stunningly beautiful face and alluring figure, like a vixen.

Su Mei curtsied and said, "Greetings, General."

Li Jingxiao smiled and nodded, after exchanging some polite words.

Then Su Mei mentioned that the monkey had already mobilized an army of 10 and was about to march south.

Upon hearing that it was only 10, Li Jingxiao couldn't help but laugh and say, "It seems that the Grand Secretary must be having a tough time lately."

Su Mei nodded with a smile: "The fact that 15 troops were all trapped in Goryeo is indeed a huge blow to the prestige of the Taiko."

Moreover, the Hojo family seems to have started making unusual moves again recently.

In my opinion, the general only needs to adopt a defensive posture and hold off the 10 troops.

"The Taiko's backyard will catch fire on its own."

Li Jingxiao burst into laughter after hearing this.

Li Jingxiao wasn't stupid; he knew that it would be extremely difficult for him, an outsider, to conquer the entire Japanese nation.

Moreover, my goal has never been to conquer this place.

Instead, it was to disrupt Japan.

It would be best if Kyushu could be separated from Kyushu.

Unfortunately, the Japanese were too ruthless during their invasion of Goryeo.

Otherwise, with hundreds of thousands of immigrants coming over, the war would inevitably continue on Kyushu Island for decades.

In Li Jingxiao's mind, the monkey actually wouldn't live for more than a few years.

The real enemy is still that old tortoise, Ieyasu.

This is what it means to fight and lose repeatedly, but never give up, and eventually wear down all your contemporaries.

A true tyrant who unified the island nation.

However, Su Mei came here this time not only to tell Li Jingxiao about the monkey.

He even tentatively asked Li Jingxiao if he really just wanted to vent his anger and get more benefits from Japan.

They still wanted to take the opportunity to destroy Japan.

For Li Jingxiao, if the Great Zhou was willing to provide the greatest support, then of course he would take the opportunity to occupy Japan.

However, he also understood in his heart that with the technology and productivity of this era...

Ruling an overseas island nation might not be a problem for several decades.

But after decades or even centuries, failure is inevitable.

The purpose of occupying a country is nothing more than resources, population, and land.

However, for the vast and resource-rich Central Plains dynasties, Japan, Goryeo, Nanzhao, the Western Regions, and the grasslands were all uncivilized lands that their ancestors looked down upon and were unwilling to accept.

Otherwise, all the dynasties before the Great Zhou would have conquered all the surrounding countries long ago.

In other words, most of the good places in East Asia that could be occupied have already been taken.

Siam and Nanzhao repeatedly tried to join the Central Plains dynasties.

Unfortunately, our ancestors just didn't want that.

Looking back from hundreds of years in the future, it is certainly a pity.

But from the perspective of the officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty at that time, the grasslands were a poor and desolate place.

To the south lies a land of miasma and desolation.

The west is arid and water-scarce, and also has a plateau.

Surrounded by the mountains of Goryeo to the east, with few plains, it has little value.

As for Japan overseas, it was indeed too troublesome to rule over.

The input and output are completely disproportionate, so naturally no one wants it.

If we really have the energy, manpower, and resources, we might as well govern the Great Zhou well.

This is just considering the economic aspects.

(End of this chapter)