Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 233 The Great Flood! Time flies like an arrow, never ceasing day or night.
They advanced their departure by half a day and ventured deeper into another battlefield in the inland region of Kowloon Peninsula.

"Hahaha, I've taken over Ryuzoji Masanobu, the vanguard general of the East Sea Kingdom!"

On the east bank of the Chikugo River, on the hills of Takara, the commander of the five Japanese banners of the Tokai Kingdom was killed. All the Japanese soldiers under his command turned and ran, fleeing for their lives across the river.

Takahashi Shōun, one of the "Twin Pillars of the Ōtomo" and known as the "Invincible General," raised a blood-dripping severed head high in his hand and laughed heartily.

The Ryuzoji family was originally a daimyo of Hizen Province, where Pinghu Port was located.

Those who did not escape after the fall of the kingdom were forcibly recruited by the Donghai Kingdom. When Ryūzōji Masanobu fell into Wang Cheng's hands, he naturally became a "slave to money," and his life and death were no longer in his own hands.

This time, as the vanguard general, he led his five outer banners of Japanese troops to confront the Ōtomo clan's forces on the east bank of the Chikugo River and to carry out a strategy of luring the enemy.

Unfortunately, he was unlucky. Although he achieved his strategic goal of acting as bait to feign defeat, he was caught up by the "Invincible General" Takahashi Shōun on horseback and had his head chopped off.

For a time, the vanguard of the Otomo clan was chasing after the fleeing Outer Five Banners scattered all over the mountains and plains.

"Charge across the river and cut off the heads of the Tang people!"

"The first to win will receive a fine horse!"

"One shot (the first to charge into the enemy lines) will earn you a hundred taels of gold!"

In the main camp, which was surrounded by a protective barrier on the hillside behind, General Yoshishige Ōtomo sat upright on a small stool, holding a military fan, exuding an imposing aura as if he were sitting in his own castle tower.

A military aura rose from above, vaguely outlining the shape of a majestic city.

This is the Dharma temple and mandala that a fourth-rank divine official possessed after cultivating to the realm of "Five Temples Divine Treasury". It is 33 feet in front of him and 33 feet behind him.

The battle formation was made of thick cloth, about five feet high and about thirty feet long. It was fixed and supported by wooden stakes to enclose the main formation of the general, and the altar was constructed by temporarily "cloth city".

There are also strict level restrictions: generals can use 10 strings of curtains, while ordinary samurai can only use 8.

Next to the general's small stool was a bucket for holding enemy heads. After a victory, the general would sit in the tent and inspect the enemy heads in a "head inspection" ceremony.

This is the embodiment of the strategists' "strategic planning"!
This elaborate setup sounds familiar to the Dazhao people, doesn't it?

One reason is that the warlords of the Warring States period greatly admired Zhuge Liang's military thought and deeds through the Records of the Three Kingdoms and military books that were introduced from Han Chinese texts.

He held the role of a "wise general" in high esteem and regarded Zhuge Liang as a model of the "ideal scholar-official".

Anyway, even if these Japanese people, who are regarded as barbarians by the Central Plains, were to travel to the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, they would definitely have to follow Zhuge Liang to support the Han Dynasty, and would not rebel against the Heavenly Gang.

At this moment, seeing his vanguard army achieve a great victory, Ōtomo Yoshishige's face had long lost any trace of the composure of a wise general; instead, his expression was one of pure joy.
"I've finally waited for this moment."

Logistics have reached their limit. If we don't seize the Chikugo River in one fell swoop, the supply lines will collapse. Well done, Takahashi!

During this period, although the Donghai Kingdom's garrison suffered repeated defeats and retreated continuously, leaving the Otomo family with a large amount of territory, they did not leave any supplies behind.

It can be said that a scorched-earth policy was implemented within a range of several hundred miles of winding mountain roads.

Why do we say they're about the same?

That's because they only took the grain from the public granaries, but left basic rations for the poor people living in the city and villages so that they wouldn't starve.

This is even more ruthless than scorched earth.

Just like in war, wounding enemy comrades and forcing them to march with their burdens is more effective than killing them outright.

When the daimyo and powerful clans who originally ruled these places returned to their territories in high spirits, they were shocked to find that taking even a single grain of food from the common people was tantamount to taking their lives.

That's incredibly accurate, and their execution is terrifying.

If I help the Otomo family procure food from the common people, even if I successfully return to fight back, how can I possibly consolidate my rule?

However, the Otomo clan had already penetrated deep into the East Sea Kingdom, requiring not only the deployment of soldiers along the way but also the stretching of supply lines through the mountains for hundreds of miles, making resupply extremely difficult.

They had no choice but to forcibly requisition "a tiny bit" of grain from the occupied areas.

This turned those originally powerful families into a "returning home group" that everyone hated.

Ordinary people don't care about such things, but the powerful clans treat them like Japanese invaders, and they wish they could devour them alive.

Good days are always relative.

At this point, they finally realized that these former comrades were not as good as those Tang officials from the Central Plains.

Therefore, the Ōtomo clan must act swiftly and decisively, at least capturing the Chikugo River, which serves as a natural troop transport route for the Tōkai Kingdom, in order to securely take over the occupied territory and have time to deal with future troubles.

Yoshishige Otomo made the sign of the cross on his chest, raised the iron fan in his hand, and was about to swing it down when he was suddenly stopped by someone.

"My lord! Shouldn't we be more cautious? How about we hold back for now and send Takahashi Shōun's vanguard across the river to occupy the bridgehead?"

The senior retainer, Tachibana Michisetsu, knelt on one knee and offered his advice.

Before Ōtomo Yoshishige could say anything, the onmyoji who had been serving him jumped up first:
"Lord Tachibana, are you questioning my judgment of the weather? Look up, the sun is shining brightly, where is the rain?"

Tachibana Dōsetsu didn't look at him, but only looked at Ōtomo Yoshishige and said:
“My lord, as a member of the Thunder Demon clan, I am born with the spiritual ability to hear thunder, and my senses are always very sharp.”

Although we were unsure what had happened, we could vaguely sense that ever since we entered the territory of the East Sea Kingdom, it was as if we were surrounded by a shell, and we couldn't see anything clearly.

"The Eastern Sea Kingdom is definitely plotting something; we must be extremely cautious with every decision we make."

However, while his wise words might have some merit, Yoshishige Otomo was not about to back down and miss the opportunity to seize power from the second generation of the Wang family just because of such doubts without concrete evidence. "You're overthinking it. God is the Lord of all armies; He is always protecting us. Nothing will happen."

He casually flipped the military fan in his hand, which had a sun and a moon painted on each side, so that the moon side was facing up.

The fan carried by a military general is essentially a form of Yin-Yang magic.

If a battle is unavoidable on an inauspicious day, the moon's side of the military fan is displayed during the day to reverse day and night, thus turning an inauspicious day into an auspicious one.

As the military personnel were reassigned, and perhaps it was just my imagination, the atmosphere inside Putrajaya suddenly became much more relaxed, but that was all.

Then, Yoshishige Otomo finally swung down the military fan in his hand with all his might.

"All troops, launch an attack and capture Kurume Castle behind the Chikugo River! Generals, capture Wang Cheng, the second-generation head of the Wang family!"

After thinking about it, I finally added a sentence:
"The arquebusiers and the national collapse squads shall be postponed!"

After defeating the vanguard of the outer five banners on the hillside, the samurai, foot soldiers, and cavalry of the Ōtomo army pursued them relentlessly.

It's only early June, and the river isn't very deep yet. Any adult Japanese person taller than 1.3 meters can easily wade across.

In addition, everyone had previously heard that the Onmyoji had guaranteed with his own life that there would be no rain in the Chikugo River basin within five days.

In order to pursue the main force and capture "Prince Jinghai", the Otomo clan's army, under the command of foot soldiers, high-ranking samurai, and generals, rushed to cross the river.

"Under the great royal banner, the one wearing the black royal robe is the Prince of Jinghai! Capturing him will grant you a city or a territory worth over ten thousand bushels of grain!"

"Roar--!"

At this time, they were unaware that a torrential rain had started half a day earlier at the confluence of the Chikugo River and the Kose River upstream!

The local river god, Jusekawa, received a rain-seeking talisman that Shen Yueye had burned, along with a reward of 100,000 incense coins. He immediately joined forces with many water-related spirits to vigorously stir up water vapor from all directions.

It created a super rainstorm with a rainfall of up to 1870 millimeters in twelve hours.

It's important to know that rainfall of ≥50 mm in twelve hours is considered a rainstorm, and ≥250 mm is considered an extremely heavy rainstorm. One can imagine how hard these local "deities" work for money and how little respect they show to the famous Yingzhou.

This isn't just about money making the devil turn the millstone; it's about money making the devil push oil, and the kind where you can add extra time at will.

The "Treasure of the King of Jinghai" woven with the rules of heaven and earth and the harmony of yin and yang sealed off all spiritual energy around the battlefield. Even the Thunder Demon Tachibana Dōsetsu could not pinpoint the source of the crisis.

Shen Yueye, who had transformed into Wang Cheng, stood on the top of Kurume Castle, silently watching the swarming Otomo army like ants, her palms sweating with nervousness.

When his gaze fell upon the three thousand arquebusiers and hundreds of collapsing soldiers who were walking slowly at the back, he couldn't help but frown.

Uncle Dong, who was standing nearby, seemed quite philosophical about it and comforted her:

"Tactics are better when they are simple. Nothing is ever perfect. The battlefield is ever-changing, and the current situation is already very good."

Shen Yueye nodded:

"I understand, Seventh Uncle. I was being a bit too attached to appearances."

Seeing that the first wave of vanguards had already reached the shore and half of the main force had entered the river channel, she calculated the lead time and sent a signal to the Dragon Tail Lord upstream.

Then silently count: three, two, one.
Boom——! ! !
A deafening roar, like the collapse of the heavens and the splitting of the earth, ripped through the sky, and the ground beneath their feet trembled violently.

No, not just once, but a continuous, increasingly violent tremor that roared in from the upstream direction of the Chikugo River.

On the battlefield, everyone on both sides subconsciously stopped what they were doing and silently turned to look in the direction of the upper reaches of the Chikugo River.

I don't know which monster had the sharpest eyes, but it was the first to spot that murky line of water mixed with pebbles, wooden stakes, sandbags, and animal carcasses, as if a thousand horses were galloping towards it.

A piercing scream erupted from its mouth:

"Water, it's a flood—!!! Gaa gaa gaa."

Startled, the monster with exceptionally sharp eyesight suddenly flapped its pair of black raven wings, took flight, and flew away without looking back.

The others, however, were not as lucky as him. They had the chance to go home and thank their parents for giving them a pair of wings, and they cried out in panic as they rushed toward the riverbanks on both sides.

"The Onmyoji made a mistake!"

"Run!"

But with tens of thousands of troops crammed together, how easy is it to escape?

Just as I turned around, a turbid flood peak more than ten feet high arrived in an instant.

Even if there are powerful warriors of the middle third rank among them, they are not much different from ordinary people in the face of such terrifying natural power.

A wave crashed in and he was swept away, and when he was hit by a sharp wooden stake in it, he lost consciousness completely.

The initial attack caused 30% to 50% of the casualties in an instant, and soldiers continued to die every minute thereafter, making for an extremely horrific scene.

Blah blah blah
In an instant, the surging waves carried countless corpses downstream.

This is exactly what the sage once said.

Confucius, standing by a river, said: "Time flows on like this river, never ceasing day or night!"
(End of this chapter)