Di Ming

Chapter 326 Japanese Samurai VS Jurchen Warriors: A Battle of Ruthlessness!
The place where the three were discussing this was the lakeside pavilion of Beishan Residence, which had a stone inscription personally written by Zhao Juren: Mingxin Pavilion.

Mingxin Pavilion is located in the lake, and since the lake is frozen, it is absolutely impossible for ninjas to find out about it.

Zhu Yin's reasons for kidnapping the Japanese emperor and his ministers were not only to demoralize the Japanese army, but also to plunge Japan back into division and internal strife.

Without the Emperor, court nobles, and the imperial court, Hideyoshi's power lost its legitimacy and moral authority, making a split inevitable.

Although the Emperor and the Imperial Court were not respected by the high-ranking samurai, they still wielded considerable influence among the lower-ranking samurai, especially among the farmers, fishermen, townspeople, and monks.

In the eyes of most ordinary Japanese people, the Emperor is Japan! Japan cannot exist without the Emperor! A Japan without the Emperor would no longer be Japan.

This is an obsession etched into one's very bones.

This is why no one dares to assassinate the Emperor; at most, they would make him a puppet.

Once the hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops in Korea learned that the Emperor and his ministers had been captured, their morale could no longer be maintained.

Zhu Yin's move to undermine Japan's foundation was seen as extremely insidious by the Japanese.

Xu Wei suddenly said, "Don't the Grand Tutor and the Vice Minister care about gold and silver at all?"

Zhu Yin was indeed not very interested in gold and silver, and asked, "What do you mean, sir?"

Xu Wei laughed and said, "Has the Grand Secretary forgotten about Juledi? Didn't the Grand Secretary say that Juledi was Hideyoshi's palace and that it contained many treasures?"

"The King's palace doesn't have much gold or silver, but what about the Jurchen Palace? The Palace Protector can't let the Jurchen warriors come for nothing, can he?"

Zheng Guowang frowned. "We have less than four hundred men capable of fighting. We have to capture the Japanese emperor and his ministers on one hand, and block the monks of Mount Hiei on the other. How can we have the spare strength to attack Jurakudi?"

“Of course!” Xu Wei’s pale eyes narrowed. “If something happens at the Kamo Shrine outside the city, will the thousand Japanese soldiers left behind at Jurakudai immediately leave the city?”

Zhu Yin understood and laughed, "As expected, old ginger is spicier. Mr. Wenchang's plan is truly ingenious!"

Zhu Yin did not expect that the Shaoxing clerk would add more to the original plan, making the plan even more valuable.

Zheng Guowang could only ask for advice: "What plan do you have? Brother Zhihu, please enlighten me!"

Zhu Yin also relied on the sixty Zheng family assassins under her command, explaining:
"The main force of the Japanese army in the city right now is the thousand soldiers left behind by Hidetsugu. These thousand men will certainly not guard the royal palace, but only the Juraku-di Palace."

Zheng Guowang nodded, "That's right. But so what? Even if those thousand Japanese soldiers come out of the city to aid the Japanese emperor and his ministers, we won't have the strength to take advantage of their weakness and attack Juledi."

Zhu Yin chuckled and pointed to the map, saying, "Brother Yueying, you didn't think of that because you didn't study the map carefully! Take another look, this!"

"Ichijōji Slope?" Zheng Guowang stared at the location Zhu Yin pointed to, then looked at the distance and direction of Ichijōji Slope from the royal city, Kamo Shrine, Mount Hiei, and Yase Gorge, and quickly realized what was going on.

She is, after all, a smart person.

Madam Zheng's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her face turned cold. She looked up at Zhu Yin coldly and said slowly:
"Zhu Yin, you want me to complete two ambushes within an hour? First, to ambush a thousand monk soldiers in the Yase Gorge, and then to ambush a thousand Japanese soldiers coming out of the city at Ichijōji Slope?"

"You want me to die? I only have sixty soldiers! Sixty men!"

When she finally understood Zhu Yin's intentions, she was truly enraged.

Does this Zhu Zhihu think he's a pawn? Or even a discarded one?

"Your Excellency has misunderstood," Xu Wei quickly interjected, "Your Excellency did not mean that at all! Your Excellency's two attempts to ambush us may seem dangerous, but they were actually easy to defend and difficult to attack, as solid as Mount Tai!"

Zheng Guowang remained silent, his lips pressed tightly together as he stared at Xu Wei's old face with a mocking expression.

The meanings are: I'm well-read, don't try to fool me.

Zhu Yin coughed and said, “Brother Yueying, although you only have sixty men, I have found that these sixty men are all carefully selected, skilled warriors who are usually grateful to you, like Jing Ke and Nie Zheng. They are by no means ordinary elites.”

"It's impossible for all 1,000 monks to be mobilized, right? Are they abandoning the temple? They can only send 800 at most to rescue Kamo Shrine. The same goes for the 1,000 garrison troops in the city. They will definitely have to send some troops to guard Jurakudai. It's impossible for them all to leave the city. At most, 700 or 800 can come out."

"Moreover, both Ichijoji Slope and Yase Gorge are dangerous places that are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the two places are only seven or eight miles apart. We have horses, so you can destroy Yase Bridge and then rush to Ichijoji Slope to cut off the route for the reinforcements in the city to return."

"Based on this calculation, you can definitely complete two ambushes within an hour!"

"As for my side? I've definitely already breached the shrine! But I'll pretend it hasn't, leaving a hundred men to continue the feigned attack on the shrine, drawing reinforcements from the city to come and rescue it!"

"At this time, the monks of Mount Hiei are blocked by the rapids of the Yasegawa River and cannot cross for a while without a bridge. Meanwhile, the city's garrison, which is supposed to come to the rescue of the shrine, is blocked by the hundred men you and I left at the shrine, who are in a difficult position, with the shrine in front and behind us."

"As for myself, I will definitely lead two hundred men to escape the battlefield, return to the empty Juradi, plunder its gold and silver treasures, and then seize Horikawa's ship..."

"...Then, I will lead my troops out of the city to assist you in besieging the main enemy force trapped at the shrine. All told, it will take at most three hours!"

"Although we only have four hundred people, we can accomplish what would take thousands of people to do by taking advantage of our location and seizing the initiative!"

"Moreover, seizing the treasures of Juledi will inspire the warriors to fight to the death, especially the Jurchens. More importantly..."

Zhu Yin's smile was sinister. "Hideyoshi, Fukushima Masanori, and others who lost Jurakudai will undoubtedly face death and will never be forgiven by Hideyoshi. To protect themselves, they might raise an army and rebel against Hideyoshi..."

"Excellent!" Xu Wei stroked his beard and laughed. "What the Grand Secretary said is absolutely right. This is a step-by-step kill, a bow drawn on a precipice. Killing multiple birds with one stone."

Zheng Guowang stared at the map for a long time, pondered for a long time, his expression softened considerably, and suddenly said:
"Sixty people are too few. Give me forty more to make a hundred."

"No, forty people is too many. My task is much more demanding. I can only give you twenty more."

"Alright! Twenty men it is, but for these twenty men, I don't want the Ministry of War's guards; give me twenty Jurchens instead."

"Brother Yueying, you're so kind! Deal!"

Xu Wei said, "Before we take action, there is one more thing we need to do."

Zhu Yin nodded, "Survey the terrain!"

That night, Zhu Yin and his companions, having surveyed the terrain under the guise of tourism, returned to Beishan Residence.

Zhu Yin then summoned Nurhaci, and they discussed matters in Jurchen until very late.

After Nurhaci returned, he discussed the matter with Eidu, Feiyanggu, and Huerhan until midnight.

……

The next day, it started snowing again.

Early in the morning, Emperor Shujin led dozens of members of the imperial family and more than a hundred court officials out of the eastern part of the city to Mount Kami outside the city to perform a ritual at Kamo Shrine.

The entourage consisted of more than three hundred guards, almost all of whom were monk soldiers and sons of high-ranking officials.

Zhou Ren was so excited last night that he couldn't sleep. He was certain that the Nanban pirate fleet attacking Osaka was dispatched by Gu Te.

In order to enable Gut to capture Osaka Castle as soon as possible and destroy Hideyoshi's stronghold, he wrote a secret edict overnight and sent someone to hide it in his belt to Osaka. The edict was to be given to the priest of the Takatsu Shrine who was loyal to him, and to act according to the situation. If possible, he was to open the castle gates from the inside and help the Nanban army enter the city.

At the same time, he wrote a secret edict to Gutt, instructing him not to allow his soldiers to plunder Osaka Castle, but to capture Hideyoshi's wives, concubines, and mother.

Therefore, Zhou Ren was in an excellent mood today.

He went to the sacred mountain under the guise of offering sacrifices and praying for blessings, claiming it was for the peace of Osaka Castle, but in reality he was praying for the southern barbarians to help him regain power and restore the imperial system.

Soon, the Japanese emperor and his entourage arrived at the foot of Mount Kami, where a crossroads lay ahead.

The mountain road to the north leads to Mount Kinabalu, while the road to the northeast leads to Mount Hiei.

The sacrificial procession headed north, first passing the precipitous Yicheng Temple Slope, which resembled a natural stone fortress, and then meandering upwards.

Just two miles later, we reached the summit. We arrived at the famous Kamo Taisha Shrine.

In ancient times, emperors would visit Kamo Taisha Shrine to pray for blessings before enthroning or going to war. During the Heian period, Kamo Taisha Shrine was ranked first among the "Twenty-Two Great Shrines".

The chief priest (shaman) immediately led the shrine maidens, priestesses, and priestesses to welcome the emperor and respectfully escort him into the Kamo Taisha Shrine.

The front of Kamo Taisha Shrine is a vermilion-lacquered castle tower, and the rear is a small hall (dance hall). The "standing sand" in front of the hall symbolizes the descent of the gods.

At the highest point of the shrine, there is a beacon tower and a large bell used for alarm and communication.

As soon as the Japanese emperor and his retainers enter the shrine, a group of "shrine warriors" guard the gate.

Just a quarter of an hour after Zhou Renjun and his ministers entered the He Mao Grand Shrine, a large group of armored soldiers, numbering as many as three hundred, suddenly emerged from the sacred mountain forest!

It was the guards of the Ming Dynasty delegation.

The samurai guarding the shrine blinked, then realized something was wrong. This armor wasn't from the Shinto Kingdom; it belonged to the Ming Dynasty!
They never expected that the guards of the Ming Dynasty delegation would suddenly appear here.

"Kill!" Lan Cha, who served as the vanguard leader, wielded a spiked club and wore two layers of iron armor, and was the first to charge towards the mountain gate.

The Jurchen generals Eidu, Feiyanggu, and Huerhan led a group of Jurchen warriors, roaring and charging forward with their swords!
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" the gatekeepers roared, drawing their swords to fight back and prevent the Jurchens from storming the shrine.

Their reaction was swift; as a large group of warriors charged into battle, some rushed up the beacon tower.

"kill!"

"Kurus!"

Although the Japanese samurai were fierce and brandished their katanas to resist, they were quickly overwhelmed and scattered by the fierce Jurchens.

Especially the unstoppable Lancha, wielding a spiked club, killed several Japanese samurai in the blink of an eye amidst the "bang bang bang" of skulls shattering, looking like a ferocious demon.

"Crack! Crack!" The Japanese samurai's katana was snapped in two by his spiked club, and brains, along with blood, splattered together with the broken blade.

Even the fierce Japanese samurai were intimidated by the towering Lancha.

"Pfft! Pfft!" Eidu, Feiyanggu, and Huerhan, three fierce Jurchen generals, wielding long swords and clad in iron armor, slaughtered Japanese samurai like chickens.

The Jurchen warriors behind the three were like tigers and wolves, fiercely wielding their swords and spears, their roars like thunder.

These Jurchen people were truly fierce and physically strong. When they charged, they were like wild beasts, fearless and undaunted.

Japanese samurai vs. Jurchen warriors: a battle of ruthlessness!
A Jurchen warrior killed two Japanese soldiers, his helmet falling off, revealing a shaved head, a small braid swinging, and a face splattered with blood, as he recklessly brandished his sword and fought on.

Within just a few breaths of the battle, the Japanese army suffered twenty or thirty casualties!
At the entrance of the shrine, the bodies of Japanese samurai were piled up.

The screams, roars, and shouts of battle shook the entire sacred mountain.

The Ming army suffered only five casualties at this point, three of whom were members of the Imperial Guard sent by the court. The Jurchens and Zhu Yin's personal guards each had only one wounded person.

In reality, they were just eighty Imperial Guards, elite troops selected by the Ministry of War.

The Japanese samurai, who had always believed in Bushido and were arrogant and conceited, could hardly believe their eyes.

They were no match for them!

These enemies are truly ferocious and powerful.

Not only were their individual combat skills inferior to the Ming army, but their armor was also inferior. Their armor consisted mainly of leather, with very little iron armor. Meanwhile, the fierce Ming army wore padded outer armor and iron inner armor!
"They're sword barbarians!" shouted a samurai knowledgeable in history. "They have queues, they're sword barbarians!"

Another monk leader shouted, "They are Jurchens from Liaodong, Ming Dynasty! Stop them! Protect His Majesty!"

"Archers! Gunners!"

"No good! The continuous rain and snow have caused the gunpowder to become damp, making the cannons unusable!"

More and more Japanese soldiers rushed out to block their advance, quickly gathering several hundred men. Zhu Yin's personal guards and armored soldiers allocated by the Ministry of War also joined the battle.

Archers from both sides began to fire.

May Buddha protect you!

"Cuoha Zhanye is watching us!"

"kill!"

Jurchen warriors, clad in iron armor and adorned with boar tusks, charged bravely at the forefront.

The prince told them that in order to protect the Jianzhou tribe, they had to kill the Japanese.

They are the strongest warriors in Jianzhou, and they will make the Japanese dream of being awakened by the Jurchen warriors.

Zhu Yin's household servants were equally impressive; in terms of fighting prowess and bravery, they were in no way inferior to the Jurchen warriors.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" Nurhaci, holding a Jianzhou Great Bow, fired three arrows in quick succession from behind. The arrows were both fierce and accurate, each hitting the brain with a single shot, killing three Japanese army leaders in succession.

The military prowess of this Jianzhou ruler was extraordinary; he himself was the true number one Baturu of Jianzhou.

Zhu Yin and Xu Wei stood at the very back, also wearing armor. Neither of them participated in the battle; they merely observed through a monocular telescope.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" The Japanese archers in the shrine also fired with their soft Japanese bows. They shot very quickly, and the arrows rained down.

Unfortunately, their arrows had very limited killing power against the Ming soldiers who were clad in iron armor.

The last group of Japanese musketeers were loading ammunition and firing with practiced ease, but due to days of rain and snow and the fact that the gunpowder hadn't been used for a long time, most of them were now misfiring.

"Bang! Bang!" A few cannons finally fired, and several Jurchens fell to the ground.

However, before the musketeers could reload their pills, a barrage of fierce Jianzhou heavy arrows came flying, all aimed straight at their faces and piercing their brains.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Nurhaci was like a divine archer. He led a group of Ming soldiers with the best archery skills and first shot down the Japanese musketeers. Their arrows could easily reach more than fifty paces even when shot horizontally, and their accuracy was very high.

The Japanese arquebusiers were at the very back, yet they died the fastest.

In the blink of an eye, the two armies had been engaged in battle for less than a quarter of an hour. In Zhu Yin's view, it was only a few minutes.

However, the battle had already reached a fever pitch. The Japanese army outnumbered the Ming army by more than two times, yet suffered heavy casualties and was in dire straits.

However, relying on their relatively advantageous terrain and their belief in protecting the Emperor and the Imperial Court, they still fought hysterically, roaring and refusing to retreat.

The Japanese army had suffered over a hundred casualties, including forty to fifty samurai. The Ming army, on the other hand, had fewer than thirty casualties.

The exchange ratio is quite disparate.

However, the beacon fires had already been lit, and the alarm bells had already reached the city and Mount Hiei.

Presumably, the monks of Mount Hiei have already come to our aid by now.

The Japanese troops guarding Juledi in the city will definitely hesitate for a while before coming out to rescue them, but it won't be too long.

Soon, a bloody battle will break out on Zheng Guowang's side as well.

Zhu Yin put down his binoculars and said, "The Japanese army is determined to fight to the death and has the advantage in numbers. It may take another 35 minutes of hard fighting for our army to enter Kamo Taisha."

Xu Wei stroked his beard and said, "It has gone very smoothly. Our army is in high spirits and fierce as a tiger. Although the Japanese pirates are numerous, they cannot hold out for long."

"With the fighting strength of our army, we can hold out even if we fight hard for another 45 minutes without rest."

He's right. Being able to fight continuously in armor for half an hour is considered elite. But these Ming soldiers can fight continuously for at least half an hour without stopping!

Hongying said, "Uncle Hu, I'll go too!"

Zhu Yin nodded and said, "Go ahead, I don't need protection!"

Hongying drew her sword and charged forward, instantly killing several Japanese soldiers.

...

Zhou Ren, who was performing a ritual at the shrine, turned deathly pale upon hearing the horrific shouts of battle outside.

All the members of the royal family and high-ranking officials were completely dumbfounded.

What's going on? Where did these robbers come from? How dare they!

Zhou Ren's legs went weak. He wondered if his plan had been exposed and angered the samurai who were guarding Jurakudi. Were they going to rebel?

A blood-soaked samurai rushed in, shouting:

"Your Majesty the Emperor! Chief Clerk! It's the guards of the Ming Dynasty delegation! They're attacking the shrine!"

What?! A Ming Dynasty delegation?!
How dare they! This is the capital of the Divine Kingdom! They only have three or four hundred guards, and they're cowardly Ming soldiers. What can they possibly do?
That's Kamo Taisha Shrine; they currently have seven hundred soldiers!

There are still a thousand of Hidetsu's men in the city, and a thousand more monk soldiers on Mount Hiei not far away.

Was the Ming delegation courting death?
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(End of this chapter)