Di Ming

Chapter 365 The fall of the Japanese daimyo begins with you!
Yoshihiro Shimazu was not tall, but he was very strong. His cloak was embroidered with a tiger pattern, making him look like a fierce tiger, with an imposing presence.

On the surface, Shimazu Yoshihiro appeared very calm and composed, displaying the demeanor of a great general. To the uninformed, one might have thought that the Ming army had been deliberately let in, and that it was merely a trap he had set.

But in his heart, he was filled with shock and anger.

"idiot!"

"Destroy the enemy with oil! Mantis's axe!"

Shimazu Yoshihiro never expected that the Ming army, which he had looked down upon, would dare to attack the city of Shuozhou, which he was stationed in the middle of the night!
Right now, his samurai and foot soldiers have awakened hastily to prepare for battle and haven't even fully assembled, let alone left the city to form ranks. Although the Divine Kingdom's army is also skilled in street fighting, they excel even more in battle formations.

It seems the Ming army came prepared. Then tonight, let the sharpness and strength of our warriors tell them that the army of the Divine Kingdom is invincible!
Although he was now on the defensive, Shimazu Yoshihiro remained steadfast in his confidence and high in morale. Watching the Ming army swarm in, Shimazu Yoshihiro stood unmoved, as upright as a spear.

The warriors of the Divine Kingdom, especially the Satsuma warriors, are never afraid of fighting against all odds! Nor are they afraid of being outnumbered!
Seeing that the army had not yet fully assembled, Shimazu Yoshihiro ordered: "Anyone who has not arrived by the time the war drums sound, whether samurai or foot soldiers, shall be beheaded!"

"Hai!"

Yoshihiro Shimazu issued another order: "Improve the cavalry to leave the city through the west gate as soon as possible, circle around to the north gate, and attack the rear of the Ming army! The cavalry must leave the city and form ranks within three quarters of an hour!"

"Hai!"

As expected of the "Demon Shimazu," even after losing the initiative and being trapped in the city by the Ming army, he immediately devised a strategy of counter-attacking with a scorpion hook, switching the roles of offense and defense.

Turn defense into offense!

He, Yoshihiro Shimazu, only knows how to attack.

This tactic involved both overt and covert operations, with infantry engaging in street battles with the Ming army that had stormed into the city, relentlessly entangled with them.

Then, the only thousand cavalrymen marched out of the city through the west gate, circled around for more than ten miles, and attacked the rear of the Ming army from the north, like a scorpion's sting. In this way, the Ming army was attacked from both inside and outside the city, and their defeat was inevitable.

However, Shimazu also knew that although this strategy was a powerful killing move, it had one prerequisite: "There are no Ming cavalry outside the city."

If Ming cavalry were lying in wait outside the city, his cavalry would be caught by the Ming cavalry if they went out of the city to outflank him, and this tactic would be difficult to achieve.

However, having lost the initiative, Yoshihiro Shimazu couldn't think of a better plan and had no choice but to take a gamble.

...

Nurhaci had already stood on the north gate of the city wall, looking down at the growing number of Japanese soldiers in the city streets and alleys. His expression was indifferent and his eyes were cold.

The surprise attack on the city at midnight, forcing the Japanese army into street fighting before they could react, was actually part of the plan. This was because the military formations within the city were ineffective.

The plan has now successfully completed its first step.

Both Little Tiger and Qi Jiguang emphasized that one of the major advantages of the Japanese army was its military formation.

Qi Jiguang even said that once the Japanese army successfully deployed its troops, the entire formation was formidable and well-coordinated, making it very difficult to break. The Japanese army's formation was even better than that of the Ming army, and it was said that they all originated from ancient formations in the Central Plains, which the Ming army had long since stopped using, but the Japanese army had perfected and developed them.

Therefore, to prevent the Japanese army from leaving the city and forming ranks at their leisure, the only option was to storm into the city and engage in fierce fighting, relentlessly pursuing the Japanese. With no opportunity to form ranks, the Japanese were forced into street battles against the Jurchen warriors.

Then, the Jurchen army would have the opportunity to annihilate the Japanese army that was only a few dozen miles away from Jianzhou.

It's too late, but it's soon.

"kill!"

Thousands of Jurchen warriors surged into the north gate of Shuozhou like an iron torrent bursting its banks, quickly seizing the northern city wall and the barbican square. Smoke and dust filled the city gate, and the ground beneath their feet was thick, sticky mud mixed with shattered armor pieces and severed limbs.

"Woo-woo-woo" The desolate horn sound of the Jurchens tore through the night sky like the howling of wolves to the moon.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—" The Jurchen warriors stood on the north city wall, firing arrows from their elevated position. Amidst the teeth-grinding sound of bowstrings, a fierce and cunning rain of arrows whistled down, accurate and deadly.

Amidst the Japanese gun corps and musket squads, samurai and foot soldiers were shot dead or wounded one by one.

The Jurchens were skilled archers, using powerful bows and heavy arrows, far superior to the Japanese archers. At a distance of thirty or forty paces, the Japanese soldiers' mediocre armor was no match for the Jurchens' armor-piercing arrows. Moreover, most of the Japanese soldiers hit were struck in the face, completely unprotected.

In an instant, the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties under the rain of arrows. Even the most fearless samurai were terrified by this terrifying barrage of arrows.

They were seasoned warriors, but they had never encountered such ferocious and cunning archery skills. The Ming army attacking tonight was more ferocious than they had anticipated.

"Don't panic! Hold your ground!" shouted Kawakami Hisarou, a retainer and close advisor to the family. "Pikemen! Advance! Charge!"

Wearing conical helmets and wielding long spears, the spear-bearers, with their dense array of spears, pressed towards the Jurchen warriors who had stormed the city. The chilling spearheads sent shivers down one's spine.

At the same time, Shinna-chū, the commander of the arquebusiers, brandished his katana and shouted, "Fire!"

"Seven lives for the country!" Machida Hisabe, a master swordsman and hereditary retainer, personally led a squad of swordsmen, brandishing their katana as they charged into battle. These swordsmen were all samurai, clad in the finest armor, and were most skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

Kobayashi Takamune, who commanded the archers, also directed the archers following the spearmen to frantically hurl arrows.

The current situation is urban warfare, making it difficult to deploy troops in formation. It all comes down to who is more ferocious and skilled in battle.

Thousands of Japanese soldiers, including arquebusiers, spearmen, archers, and samurai, launched a fierce counterattack!

Meanwhile, in the southern city, a mile away from the battlefield, Shimazu Yoshihiro's fourth younger brother, Shimazu Iehisa, was urgently organizing cavalry to feed their warhorses, preparing to bypass the city from the west.

"Kill!" As the Japanese army launched a fierce counterattack, hundreds of heavily armored Jurchen warriors appeared at the forefront of the Ming army.

These Jurchen warriors were the tallest, each clad in two layers of iron armor and equipped with masks. Even their weapons were heavy weapons such as spiked clubs and long axes.

These were the Jurchen heavy infantry specially armed by Zhu Yin. Five hundred of the bravest and strongest men among the Jianzhou Jurchens were selected, clad in double armor and wearing face shields, to serve as the vanguard in defeating the enemy.

Five hundred Jurchen heavy infantrymen roared as they charged toward the Japanese samurai regiment and spear formation, followed by an even larger number of Jurchen warriors.

With a deafening crash, the two armies clashed, instantly unleashing a bloody storm. The sharp katana of the Japanese samurai were shattered in a single exchange by the heavy weapons of the Jurchen warriors.

Even the foot soldiers' long spears could not easily kill the Jurchen heavy troops.

"Pfft! Pfft!" In an instant, countless samurai and foot soldiers were killed or wounded by the heavy weapons of the Jurchen heavy infantry, and blood rained down.

The Jurchen heavy infantry, significantly taller than the Japanese troops, charged forward like tigers. The Japanese samurai roared and brandished their katana to defend themselves, but they could not stop them no matter what they did.

Clad in double-layered heavy armor and wielding heavy spiked clubs, the fierce Jurchen soldiers, like ferocious beasts unleashed from their cages, roared with deafening force, their momentum unstoppable.

But at that moment, rows of Satsuma arquebusiers suddenly stood up on both sides of the roof.

The city was densely packed with buildings, leaving little open space. Shimazu Yoshihiro had no choice but to order arquebusiers to be stationed on the rooftops as well.

"Bang bang bang—" Suddenly, a dense burst of fire erupted, the deafening roar of cannons firing in unison, and thick smoke filled the air like night fog.

The scorching lead bullets, like the scythe of death, swept across the unsuspecting Jurchen ranks. The heavily armored warriors in the front ranks were struck as if by a heavy hammer, but their double-layered iron armor still managed to deflect the bullets, allowing them to continue their fearless rampage. Meanwhile, the Jurchen warriors wearing only a single layer of padded armor fell to the ground with muffled groans, their armor riddled with charred holes, and blood mist billowed from the wounds.

Soon, the two sides were locked in a fierce, close-quarters battle along a wide front of about a mile, their weapons intertwined!

The Japanese army's formidable force was its arquebus units. Under their continuous three-stage firing tactic, the "bang bang" of matchlock guns rose and fell incessantly, inflicting heavy casualties on the Ming army.

The Ming army's archers were formidable; their dense and fierce heavy arrows were a nightmare for the Japanese army, causing them to suffer heavy casualties at every turn.

Because the Jurchen archers had a faster rate of fire than the matchlock gunners, the two sides were firing at each other face-to-face from a distance of thirty or forty paces, and the Japanese casualties were obviously much heavier.

"Bang! Crack!" A heavy impact, the sound of bones shattering, and a shrill scream rang out at the same time.

The Jurchen heavy infantry forcefully broke through the dense spear tips, and the heavy spiked clubs crashed down with a terrifying whistling sound. The violent impact caused the spears of the front-line Satsuma foot soldiers to fall from their hands, and the formation instantly broke apart. The Satsuma spear formation was torn open with a bloody gap by this brutal and tragic blow.

"Charge in!" Eidu roared as he slashed down with his sword, leading his troops behind the heavy infantry.

Like a flood finding an outlet, the Jurchen warriors roared and trampled over the corpses of their comrades and enemies, rushing madly into the narrow alleyways on both sides through the gap.

Shields clashed against wooden doors and earthen walls, while spears thrust forward at closer range. The bloody, gruesome street fighting instantly intensified.

Behind the Japanese troops, Yoshihiro Shimazu's face turned ashen, his previous composure completely gone.

At least a 3:2 casualty ratio! Possibly even higher!

Upon seeing this, Yoshihiro Shimazu's eyelids twitched. How could this be? These were Satsuma's elite troops!
He discovered that he had greatly underestimated the Ming army's fighting strength. At this moment, it was a close-quarters battle of mutual annihilation, a style of fighting that was a true head-on clash and best revealed the true fighting capabilities.

If the Ming army is like this, how can they fight the next battle? How can they possibly conquer Tang and Ming?
What he didn't know was that the Ming army, which had been defeated by the Japanese army before, wasn't truly weak in combat, but rather its generals and commanders were incompetent. Even figures like Ma Gui and Liu Ting were unable to perform effectively because their hands and feet were tied.

But now, the commanders of the Ming army have changed to Zhu Yin and Qi Jiguang!
...

After half an hour of fighting, the Japanese troops had retreated two streets and redeployed their defenses around the government office area, utilizing the terrain. Only then did they manage to stabilize their position.

As the Japanese troops retreated with great reluctance, the arquebusiers on the nearby rooftops also retreated. The Jurchen warriors, however, climbed onto the rooftops and continued firing from their elevated position.

The Japanese suffered 3,000 casualties, while the Ming army also suffered nearly 2,000. The casualty ratio between the two sides exceeded three to two!

This was far too difficult for the arrogant and conceited Satsuma samurai to accept. Tonight was the most devastating battle in the history of the Satsuma Domain, and it was not even over yet.

If the Japanese army hadn't been so resilient and tenacious, such heavy casualties would have surely caused their morale to collapse.

Although the Ming army had the upper hand, it had exhausted its offensive momentum. In addition, the Japanese army occupied the advantageous terrain and set up simple obstacles, so they had to suspend their attack.

Only then were the two sides separated, no longer engaging in combat, both licking their wounds, recovering their strength, and preparing for the even more brutal battle to come.

The sounds of gunfire, arrows, battle cries, and war drums temporarily ceased, leaving only the screams of the wounded on both sides. Half the city was littered with corpses, blood, entrails, severed limbs, and severed heads. The stench of blood mingled with the smell of gunpowder, making one want to vomit.

The blood on the ground flowed like streams, as if small red rivers had suddenly appeared in the city.

This is no longer a prosperous city; it's a living hell, a slaughterhouse!

The Japanese soldiers stared blankly at the carnage of the battlefield, as if in a dream. They had seen countless scenes of carnage and bloodshed. What were a few thousand lives? The massacre of Shuozhou had claimed the lives of tens of thousands!

What they found truly unacceptable was the sheer scale of the loss!
Yoshihiro Shimazu had retreated to the watchtower of the government office. Looking at the densely packed Japanese corpses in the streets and squares, his heart was bleeding!

He only had seven thousand men, and three thousand of them were killed or wounded! These were all the elite troops of the Satsuma Domain. Many of them were samurai!

Since entering the court, when has the Divine Kingdom's army ever experienced such a defeat?

Even the battle-hardened Yoshihiro Shimazu couldn't help but tremble in his legs.

Standing atop the Ming army banner on the north city wall, Nurhaci was heartbroken and could hardly breathe. Nearly ten years had passed since they rose up with thirteen suits of armor. But the Jianzhou Jurchens had never suffered such devastating losses.

The entire Jianzhou tribe, including men, women, and children, had less than 100,000 people, yet so many elite soldiers were killed or wounded in one fell swoop!

But with the battle having progressed this far, he could no longer retreat; he had to fight to the very end and win!
He turned his head north, looking in the direction of Wolf Forest Mouth.

The little tiger brothers' thousand cavalry should be arriving soon, right?
Let's end this battle once it's dawn!

The Jurchen warriors must not have died in vain!

...

At this moment, the Ming army had occupied one-third of Shuozhou City, with its main force inside the city and its rear outside. Although the Japanese army had lost a small part of the city, it still controlled the crucial warehouse area and main urban area.

Although the Japanese army suffered heavy losses, with only a little over four thousand able-bodied soldiers remaining, Shimazu Iehisa's one thousand Satsuma cavalry finally completed their emergency feeding and charged out of the west gate as a whole.

"Boom boom boom boom—" A full thousand Satsuma cavalrymen, led by Shimazu Iehisa, charged out of the west gate and headed straight for Qingwanyuan.

He will detour ten miles from Qingwanyuan, circle around to the canyon near the North Gate, and then dive down on the rear of the Ming army in the North Gate!
These thousand Satsuma cavalrymen were the most elite cavalrymen on Kyushu Island, each a warrior in their own right. After entering Korea, they were fitted with tall Korean warhorses, making them even more formidable in battle.

The Ming army attacking the city was composed entirely of infantry, and they were already exhausted, making it difficult for them to withstand a thousand elite cavalry. With an attack from both inside and outside, the Ming army was bound to suffer a crushing defeat!

...

Just as Shimazu Iehisa led the Satsuma cavalry out of the city, Zhu Yin was standing on the high slope of Langlinzui, holding a monocular telescope, watching the firelight of Shuozhou City and listening to the sounds of muskets and battle cries.

It was devastating, it must have been incredibly devastating.

Zhu Yin's eyes were deep and his expression indifferent.

It should be almost done.

The thousand Jurchen warriors used as cavalry can now be deployed.

Yoshihiro Shimazu, I predicted your prediction.

Since you're called Onishimazu, then become an oni! The fall of the Japanese daimyo begins with you!
Zhu Yin waved his hand, and Lan Cha, fully armed, came to his side.

"Lord!"

"Lancha, it's time to attack. Remember, ignore the street fighting in the city; only deal with the Japanese cavalry."

"Yes, sir!" Lancha accepted the order.

He then led a thousand Jurchen cavalrymen in a swooping charge down from Langlinzui!

"Boom boom boom!"

P.S.: Sorry, I'm too busy today to finish writing about the Battle of Shuozhou. I'll finish tomorrow. Thank you for your support, goodnight!
(End of this chapter)