Di Ming

Chapter 391 "Great Victory at Anzhou! Great Victory at Anzhou!" (Super Long Chapter)
While the Japanese generals were still in shock and anger, the fortified Japanese camp had already been captured by the Ming army.

Although the Japanese camp was fortified, it was a ruse, with only a thousand elite hatamoto samurai stationed there. They deliberately made noise by striking the night watchman's drum, lighting lamps, and other instruments to create the illusion that the main army was still in the camp. Little did they know that the Ming army had known all along that they were using a ruse.

No matter how elite a thousand men are, or how well-fortified their camp is, how could they withstand the Ming army's fierce counterattack?
The personal guards of generals Li Rusong, Ma Gui, and Liu were ordered to attack the camp, and they stormed it in less than a quarter of an hour. The thousand warriors knew they were doomed, but their morale soared as if in a final burst of energy. They fought fiercely with their sharp swords, wielding them with unwavering courage and ferocity, and fought to the death against the elite Ming soldiers.

"I will serve my country through seven lifetimes! See you in the next life!"

"Koulou Sai!"

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

With only a thousand warriors, they unleashed astonishing fighting power. The Ming general's personal guards were unable to suppress them for a while.

These generals had their own selfish motives in sending their personal guards to attack the camp. Their aim was to let their guards gain merit and to find an opportunity to demonstrate their fighting prowess in front of the military governor.

At this moment, the servants were all very brave, with the vast majority charging forward like tigers and wolves, truly living up to their reputation as the elite of the Ming army. The reason it is said that the vast majority were brave is because there were a very small number of servants, about a hundred or so, who not only hesitated to advance but were also driven to flee by the overwhelmingly outnumbered warriors.

These hundred-odd guards were all tall, dark-skinned, ape-like foreign soldiers, and they were all personal retainers of General Liu Ting. Of the more than one thousand guards under Liu Ting's command, those dark-skinned soldiers made up one-tenth.

These black people were brought from overseas by foreigners and were not uncommon in coastal areas. They were tall and strong, with fierce and terrifying faces, and seemed to be very good at fighting, making them quite intimidating. It was for this reason that Liu Ting incorporated them into his household guards, feeding them fine wine, sheep, and generous provisions.

Because there were only a little over a hundred people, Liu Ting was reluctant to use them. This time, he wanted to show them to everyone.

Who would have thought that Black Soldier, who was usually brave and skilled in battle, would be so cowardly and incompetent on the battlefield!
Liu Ting, enraged, cursed, "Useless! Scoundrels! I've raised you for a year for nothing, and all you've got is a scary appearance!"

The servants outnumbered the enemy, and no matter how hard the Japanese samurai fought, it was to no avail. However, because the black soldiers fled in fear of battle, the already suppressed Japanese pirates were able to launch a local counterattack.

Xu Wei, sitting on the Ming army's siege wagon, looked at the Black Soldiers fleeing in the firelight and couldn't help but shake his head. "Zhu Wan wrote a poem in his Miscellaneous Collection of Pi Yu, praising the Black Soldiers: 'The Black Soldiers are originally a kind of demons, with skin as black as lacquer and hair as curly as silk. They leap and fight beasts, able to devour them alive, and in battle, they will fight even a bear to the death.'"

"It seems that Zhu Wan is exaggerating or just repeating what others say. These black-faced ghosts may be brave in private fights, but when they go to the battlefield, they are just cowards."

Zhu Yin and Qi Jiguang stood leaning on the carriage, their eyes filled with icy coldness as they watched a group of black-clad soldiers fleeing the camp, pursued by Japanese samurai.

They had assumed the Japanese camp was so vulnerable that a few thousand of their men could easily take it over with a single, fierce attack. But instead, thousands of men stormed the camp, and seeing that the Japanese pirates' desperate efforts were futile, this unexpected scene unfolded.

Although the Japanese pirates couldn't change the situation, it was still a slap in the face.

More than a hundred black soldiers screamed exaggeratedly and strangely, and fled in a daze. They huddled together and mumbled incoherently, many of them even throwing away their weapons.

The ferocity of the Japanese samurai terrified them.

What?! The Ming soldiers who weren't involved in the battle turned green with shock at the sight. Since General Zhu and General Qi entered Goryeo, they had fought more than ten battles, large and small. Never before had the Ming army been chased and forced to flee by the Japanese army!

Who would have thought that today, with the Ming army in a superior position, these previously fierce black soldiers would be chased all over the place by the Japanese pirates!
Liu Ting, his face flushed, approached the chariot, removed his helmet, and knelt down, saying:
"This humble general, Liu Ting, is incompetent in military command and blind to talent. I beg the Grand Marshal and the General to punish me!"

Qi Jiguang angrily said, "You are also a fierce general who has fought a hundred battles. How can you trust these black soldiers? You are only boosting the morale of the Japanese pirates and damaging the morale of our army!"

Zhu Yin did not speak, but he coldly glanced at the black soldiers who had escaped from the camp, his killing intent as strong as iron.

Liu Ting's face, with its thick beard and hair, was filled with fierceness. He gritted his teeth and said, "This humble general will personally take to the battlefield. I beg you, my lord and the general, to help this humble general regain his honor!"

Having said that, he grabbed his broadsword, roared like a tiger, and charged into the Japanese camp. He fought swiftly and fiercely, killing countless Japanese soldiers, with almost none of them able to withstand a single blow.

"Bravo!" a Ming soldier outside cheered. "General Liu is mighty!"

Liu Ting personally led the charge, and the already precarious Japanese pirates were plunged into despair, suffering a near-total massacre. In the blink of an eye, they were all wiped out, and the Ming army completely controlled the Japanese camp.

The river embankment that was not destroyed in time was saved, and more than 10,000 warhorses fell into the hands of the Ming army.

Liu Ting, covered in the blood of Japanese pirates, stood before the chariot again, sword in hand. "General, General, I have returned. Please give me your orders!"

Zhu Yin said calmly, "General Liu personally led the charge, displaying unparalleled bravery, which I greatly admire. What orders have you given? However, what should be done with the hundred-odd Black Soldiers under your command who are cowardly, afraid of death, and fleeing in terror?"

Liu Ting, being very knowledgeable about etiquette, immediately said loudly, "Whatever Your Excellency says, that's how it will be handled! This humble general will obey orders without question and would never dare to have any opinion of his own! Please give your instructions, Your Excellency!"

Zhu Yin waved the tiger tooth fossil in his hand lightly and said casually, "Execute them all on the spot, in front of the army!"

Upon hearing this, the generals felt a chill run down their spines.

The military commander loved his soldiers like his own children, taking great care of their pay and provisions, yet he was also incredibly strict in disciplining his troops. He executed all 150-plus of his men according to military law!

On the battlefield, fleeing in fear of battle is commonplace, almost a given. But fear of battle last time doesn't guarantee fear of battle next time; there's a process of growth. In real, fierce combat, who hasn't felt fear?

Therefore, generally speaking, deserters are not all executed. Instead, a few ringleaders are killed, or one in ten or five are randomly selected for execution. Most deserters survive, which is why it's better to punish those who have committed wrongdoings than those who have committed them. A person who has deserted once, if spared his life, will often become more courageous in the next battle, and may even be willing to die for his general.

However, the military governor actually had all 150-plus people executed!
It is rare for a single execution to involve more than a hundred people; many soldiers have never witnessed such a scene even after years of service.

"Yes, sir!" Liu Ting accepted the order without hesitation, bowed to Zhu Yin and Qi Jiguang, and then turned and shouted:
"Come here! By order of the Grand Marshal, bind all these damned black soldiers and behead them as a warning to the public!"

"Understood!" the guards shouted, and together they bound the terrified Black Soldiers.

The black soldiers struggled desperately, and some even tried to resist, but there was no chance left.
Immediately, the guards shouted in unison, "By order of the Grand Coordinator! Military law shall be applied to execute deserters! Execute!"

More than a hundred sharp blades were swung up and fell, and the black soldiers were instantly beheaded!

The military judge sternly declared, "All 153 deserters are to be executed according to military law! Anyone who dares to be cowardly or afraid of the enemy again will suffer the same fate! Do not say you were not warned!"

The deserter had just been executed when Mao Wenlong arrived at the chariot to report:

"Reporting to the Commander! Reporting to the General! The Yamaguchi Pass has been sealed off and is now connected to the main camp. The Japanese pirate army is almost here!"

Zhu Yin smiled and said, "I'll leave the rest to the General."

Qi Jiguang nodded and then raised the command flag.

With a wave of the command flag, thousands of bonfires were lit, illuminating the area inside and outside the mountain pass. On the high riverbank, even larger fires burned, making the surroundings as bright as day.

A Ming artillery battalion, pulled by packhorses, carried cannons up the riverbank. The riverbank was the highest point in the camp, less than three miles from the mountain pass, providing a commanding vantage point for bombardment that could directly hit the Japanese troops.

The Ming army used the Japanese army's defensive fortifications to completely seal off the narrow mountain pass, which was only one mile wide. For the Japanese army to break out of their confinement, they either had to fight their way out of that narrow pass or attack their own camp.

Their camp was built very well, originally intended to defend against the Ming army, but now it has become an obstacle for themselves. How ironic!

The Japanese army's carefully arranged mountain formations in the valley were no longer effective, so they had to regroup in the valley and then charge out.

The valley, stretching for several miles, was quite narrow, making it impossible for the Japanese troops to form ranks. They had no choice but to completely abandon their formations and charge straight out.

Even the lowest-ranking foot soldiers knew that they only had a few days' worth of rations left, and they would either starve to death, die in battle, or break out and escape.

As the order to launch a desperate attack was given, the distinctive sounds of conch shells and side drums, characteristic of the Japanese army, began to echo softly.

"Screw you! Kill the chicken!"

Amidst earth-shattering shouts, the Japanese army surged out of the valley like an iron torrent, or a raging, snarling giant serpent.

At the forefront were foot soldiers carrying large shields, followed by spearmen and archers, and then the most formidable arquebusiers of the Japanese army. Unfortunately, the Japanese army had 20,000 arquebusiers, but due to the loss of terrain, they were unable to effectively utilize their strengths.

With a loud "boom," the Japanese troops at the forefront finally engaged the Ming troops blocking the mountain pass.

The first encounter was extremely brutal.

The Japanese army was like a torrent with nowhere to go, while the Ming army was like a giant boulder. The torrent crashed fiercely against the boulder, but the boulder remained unmoved, while the floodwaters splashed up a sky full of spray.

These waves are red blood!

"Kill the Japanese!"

"Koulou Sai!"

"Seven lives for the country!"

"The Ming Dynasty will win!"

"Bang bang bang... Swoosh swoosh swoosh... Boom boom boom..."

The shouts of the warriors from both sides, the roar of firearms, the whistling of arrows, the clanging of swords, spears, and armor, and the screams of agony mingled together, as if the gates of hell had opened and a scene of carnage had been recreated.

Under the firelight, more than 10,000 people were killing each other inside and outside the mountain pass, and everyone's face was twisted with ferocious killing intent.

The one-mile-wide gap at the entrance to Myohyang Pass became the throat of hell, churning up mud and blood.

Zhu Yin put down his binoculars and muttered to himself, "What a terrible night."

Qi Jiguang personally oversaw the defense of the mountain pass, with tens of thousands of Ming troops holding it like iron. The pervasive smoke, mixed with the smells of rust and blood, condensed into a nauseating, sticky night fog.

The massive chariot was stuck deep in the mud, its wheels almost half-buried, and its heavy, iron-clad body completely covered in mud. Thick logs, jagged and interlocking, were driven deep into the mud, leaving only narrow passages at very limited points.

Behind the large shields and the wagon formation lay a dense thicket of spears and muskets. The muzzles of cannons and muskets, like countless deadly eyes, pierced through the gaps in the wagon formation, spewing flames and projectiles, bombarding each other at close range.

Behind their large shields, spears stabbed each other, the sounds of sharp weapons piercing armor and entering human bodies filling the air and sending chills down one's spine.

"what--"

Inside and outside the valley entrance, in that narrow space filled with mud and crowded figures, blood was everywhere, flowing together with the mud and forming murky, disgusting pools of blood beneath the barricades.

"Boom boom boom—!" On the high river embankment, the Ming army's cannons, lined up in a row, roared terrifyingly. Shells streaked across the night sky and whistled as they bombarded the densely packed Japanese troops inside the mountain pass.

"Ah—" Large swathes of Japanese soldiers were slaughtered by the Ming army's artillery, suffering extremely heavy casualties!
The Ming army held a geographical advantage and was in a clearly advantageous position, while the Japanese army suffered heavy losses.

But we can't not go for it!
As the foot soldiers in front died, the samurai behind them rushed forward, desperately tearing at the Ming army's blockade line. Many Japanese soldiers even attacked their own camps, intending to retake their main camp.

At the forefront of the Ming army was Qi Jiguang's army, a pillar of strength, followed by the chieftain soldiers and Jurchen soldiers, all of them bloodthirsty and covered in blood.

The wounded Ming soldiers would be rescued immediately and transported directly to Ning Qingchen's field medical camp via the rescue channel.

Soon after the start of the battle, the field medical battalion was overflowing with wounded soldiers. Ning Qingchen had no choice but to order that the seriously wounded be treated first. The little girl was so busy that her feet barely touched the ground, and she was covered in sweat.

The more than two hundred medical students who had already completed their training were all skilled surgeons at this time. Their surgeries were all quick and were all simple battlefield surgeries.

In the medical camp, stoves burned, on which surgical instruments such as scalpels, scissors, needles, sutures, forceps, and saws were boiled in medicinal broth. Special personnel retrieved the sterilized instruments from the boiling broth and handed them to the surgeons.

After the surgery, the wounded were immediately transferred to the convalescent ward outside the operating room, where they were carefully cared for by recruited Korean girls.

The entire field medical battalion, with nearly a thousand medical personnel, was commanded efficiently and effectively by Ning Qingchen, who was only seven years old at the time.

This is one of the reasons why the Ming army was so powerful. In contrast, the Japanese army did not have such medical support.

Wounded Japanese soldiers could only die painfully in the mud, trampled by their own comrades as they launched desperate attacks.

Hideie Ukita silently watched the brutal battle, his expression one of utter despair.

The hem of his scarlet kimono was already soaked with mud, clinging heavily to his armor. He stood on a makeshift, slightly swaying turret, his face even paler in the damp cold.

Each time the cannon fire came from the valley entrance, the muddy ground beneath his feet trembled slightly. He stared intently at the silent iron wall outside the pass, his fingers gripping his military uniform so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

It's unbreakable, it's impossible to break through it.

Are all 80,000 lives, along with his noble surname, destined to sink into the mire of this foreign land?

Your Highness, why are we here? Is this the divine kingdom's ambition to unify the eight directions and spread its power across the world? But, but the blood of the divine kingdom's warriors is almost gone.

"Tachibana Muneshige!" Ukita Hideie suddenly turned around, his voice hoarse and resolute, "Raygos Team, attack! Tear open that gap! Tear it open!"

Tachibana Muneshige's face beneath his helmet remained expressionless, rain streaming down his cold cheeks.

"Thunder God Team!" Tachibana Muneshige shouted sharply, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sword, and he swung it sharply.

Behind him, the elite warriors of the Thor's Team, who had been preparing to attack for some time, their dark red armor stained with mud, transformed into a silent tidal wave, rushing desperately towards the iron wall at the mountain pass!

This was one of the most elite units in the Japanese army. Their heavy armor sank deep into the mud, each step kicking up large chunks of filth, and the sound of their armor clashing was as dull as muffled thunder.

The narrow passageway at the mountain pass became a purgatory of blood, flesh, and mud.

The roars of the Thor's warriors sounded particularly muffled. They wore heavy iron armor, hideous demon masks, and brandished katanas, staggering and crashing into the chariot formation on the slippery ground.

Kill! I will sacrifice myself for my country!
They were met with long spears that pierced out like venomous snakes from the gaps in the chariot formation.

The warriors at the forefront were pierced by several spears, but their armor remained unbroken. Instead, one of them cleaved open the face of a Ming soldier with a single blow. The warriors following behind, trudging through the muddy corpses and slippery mud, roared as they climbed onto the Ming chariots, like ferocious mud monkeys.

"Kill the chickens!" Behind the samurai, flames tore through the heavy, damp smoke, and the deafening roar of cannons firing in unison filled the air.

"Bang bang bang bang-"

Dense bullets, like deadly hail, swept across the Ming army crammed into the muddy passage at close range. The front ranks of Ming soldiers were riddled with holes, their heavy bodies slamming into the mud, their screams creating murky waves of blood.

Even at this point, the power of the Japanese arquebusiers was still not to be underestimated. "Fire!" The voice of the Ming general with a southern accent rang out, and then the musketeers of Qi Jiguang's army also fired, and the smoke of gunpowder instantly filled the entire space.

"Bang bang bang—"

Such close-range bombardment was too much for even heavily armored samurai suicide squads to withstand, resulting in heavy losses with many either killed or wounded.

Above the wagon formation, the gunners of the Ming army's tiger-squatting cannons worked hard, spewing short bursts of flame from the muzzles and spraying shrapnel that tore apart the climbing Japanese pirates along with the muddy piles of corpses beneath their feet. Severed limbs and fragments of scarlet internal organs were thrown high into the air along with the mud.

"what--!"

The Qi Family Army, which excelled at coordinated team battles, held the blockade line and engaged in close combat with the most elite Japanese units, resulting in a bloodbath and mountains of corpses.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—" The Jurchen warriors' venomous arrows flew like locusts, and countless Japanese gunners were hit in the face, leaving behind their guns and dying.

"Boom boom boom—" On the riverbank, the Ming army's cannons, positioned high above, roared almost non-stop, giving the densely attacking Japanese army a thunderous blow, as if they were being punished by heaven!
The battlefield terrain was extremely unfair to the Japanese army.

In less than half an hour of fierce fighting, the Japanese army had suffered over 10,000 casualties, their corpses blocking the mountain pass. Meanwhile, the Ming army suffered fewer than 3,000 casualties; it took four Japanese soldiers to equal the casualties of one Ming soldier.

The Japanese generals and commanders supervising the battle all turned pale.

This battle was so frustrating, so incredibly frustrating!
Despite their fearlessness, the warriors of the Divine Kingdom suffered far greater losses than the Ming army, all because the battlefield conditions were too unfavorable!

It's so unfair!
It's like the warriors of the Divine Kingdom are attacking the city, while the Ming army is defending it. Is that fair?
Even more deadly was the Ming army's artillery array on the dam, which caused the Divine Kingdom's army to suffer terribly!

Ukita Hideie and the others were in a dilemma, unsure whether they should order a retreat.

"Your Excellency!" Tachibana Muneshige's voice was resolute. "We cannot retreat! If our army retreats, we will never be able to break through the blockade again. In a few days, when our food runs out and our warriors are too weak to fight, we will be nothing more than pigs and sheep for the Bearded Barbarians! While the Bearded Barbarians' blockade is not yet secure, today is our only chance!"

Kuroda Nagamasa declared sternly, "There are only two outcomes today! Either we all perish, or we break through the blockade! A desperate attack! Otherwise, once our food supplies run out, the outcome will only be more tragic!"

After much hesitation, Hideie Ukita finally abandoned the idea of ​​retreating back to the valley.

That's right, right now we have no choice but to fight to the death! There's still a chance!
After the Ming army's siege towers, Zhu Yin looked at the devastated battlefield and suddenly said, "Kangxi, bring my Tiger Roar."

In a moment, the tiger's roar was brought forth, and the melody of "Breaking the Formation" rose with a resounding clang. The sound of the zither was drowned out by the clamor of the battlefield, with only a single note occasionally striking the heartstrings of both sides' warriors.

The dying people on the ground could not hear the sounds of the battlefield, but instead could hear Zhu Yin's zither music.

Behind the Ming army's heavy chariot formation, Qi Jiguang stood under the crimson banner bearing the character "Qi," his gaze piercing through the pervasive smoke and rain, locking onto the churning blood-red vortex at the mountain pass.

The old general turned his head and looked at Zhu Yin, who was sitting upright playing the zither, his eyes filled with desolation.

He suddenly gave the order: "Rotation of the left-wing firearms battalion! Be quick! Ma Gui's right-wing unit hold the line! Cao Wenzhao's unit move forward and prepare to take over!" The old general's firm voice pierced through the noise, each word clear and distinct like a deep, resonant twang of a dragon.

Upon receiving the order, the Ming musketeers behind the first line of wagons retreated with difficulty through the mud, their boots kicking up large chunks of mud as they pulled them out. The musketeers waiting in the rear immediately filled the firing ports, their movements sluggish in the mud.

The Jurchen warriors, exhausted from archery, retreated in batches and were replaced by the Ming army behind them.

After the Ming army rotated its troops, the Japanese army also took the opportunity to rotate its troops.

Ma Gui's heavy infantry phalanx formed an iron wall on the muddy flank, spears like a forest, shields deeply embedded in the mud, desperately resisting the Japanese pirates' flanking attack. Cao Wenzhao, after forming his own ranks in the mud, also moved forward to meet them.

The narrow front of the mountain pass was a muddy, bloody mess, deep enough to reach your shins. Every step was a slippery, treacherous muddy mixture. Corpses were piled up in layers of mud and water, and you could easily step on their internal organs.

The Ming army's shells pierced the mud, hissing and releasing plumes of hot air, splashing mud that turned the Japanese soldiers into mud-covered figures.

Deep in the valley, the mud was already above the calves, and every step required tremendous effort. This was a desperate swamp after the rainy season!
Not far from the battlefield, on a hillside, Li Rusong's 20,000 cavalrymen were ready and waiting quietly for the final moment.

Tachibana Muneshige's Thunder God Squad cleared a path with their flesh and blood, and the follow-up troops, forced by the samurai's gleaming blades, stumbled and shoved their way toward the terrifying blockade line where the Ming army was reaping lives.

"Archery! The arquebusiers, keep advancing!" Kuroda Nagamasa roared from inside the mountain pass, his face covered in mud and blood.

Driven by the Japanese pirates, the foot soldiers with arquebuses struggled forward through the mud, using piles of corpses as cover, and began a desperate counterattack.

"Bang bang bang!"

The Japanese pirates' arquebuses roared in unison. The damp air and the mud-covered barrels made their firepower sparse and sluggish, greatly reducing their suppressive effect.

Just as the Japanese arquebusiers were desperately suppressing the enemy, trying to create an opening for the infantry, a bugle call suddenly sounded from the hillside on the side of the mountain pass.

Suddenly, the ghostly figures of the chieftain's soldiers appeared on the flank hillside. Qin Liangyu and Yang Kedong's chieftain soldiers moved as if on flat ground, spreading out their formation on the slippery hillside and attacking the Japanese army like a fortified city, with arrows raining down.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

The bowstrings vibrated, creating a gust of wind that cut through the air. Dense arrows, whistling sharply, rained down like a black storm, sweeping over the Ming army's wagon camp and covering the Japanese pirates' arquebusiers.

This angle of fire amplified the Ming army's geographical advantage to the extreme, turning the horizontal battle line into a three-sided attack. The Japanese army's geographical disadvantage became even more apparent.

"Thud thud thud thud!" The arrows pierced through the simple armor and embedded themselves in the flesh of the Japanese foot soldiers.

The Japanese pirates' arquebusiers fell with pitiful cries. The sporadic cannon fire indicated their increasingly feeble counterattacks. However, the Ming army's arrows and cannons continued to reap countless lives from the Japanese pirates.

The sound of arrows piercing the air and the roar of cannons made the entire mountain tremble.

Another half hour later, the Japanese army suffered another 10,000 casualties.

"Charge out! Charge out!" Inside the mountain pass, Ukita Hideie, having witnessed everything, roared in despair, his eyes bloodshot. "Reserves! Reserves! Charge out to the death!"

Hideaki Ukita's eyes were bloodshot.

The Japanese army's final frenzy began.

Driven by the hysterical samurai, the desperate Japanese pirate reserve force, like trapped beasts stuck in the mud, brandished their katanas and spears, desperately tearing at the cold iron walls of the Ming army. Every struggle resulted in corpses and blood.

At this point, neither side could see each other anymore. The smoke was like a strange poisonous fog, blocking the view of the battlefield, and no amount of firelight could penetrate it.

Amidst the desperate and horrified roars of the Japanese soldiers, the Ming army's wagon formation groaned and creaked under the impact of blades, lead bullets, and flesh and blood. Mud splattered, spears broke, and swords chipped!
The fighting continued until dawn. The Ming army had already rotated several times, and the corpses piled up like mountains inside and outside the mountain pass. The bodies were used to pave the road, so that the area within a mile of the pass had become a path of corpses, no longer muddy.

The Japanese army had suffered more than half its casualties and had run out of ammunition.

Suddenly, the Japanese soldiers erupted in a deafening roar, filled with madness and excitement.

It turned out that after more than two hours of fierce fighting, a section of the Ming army's defensive line finally collapsed.

The breach, which was half a mile wide, was breached. The Ming army guarding the breach was overwhelmed and retreated in panic to both sides.
The remaining 30,000-plus Japanese troops surged down like water bursting its banks!

After suffering a heavy loss of more than 40,000 lives, they finally broke through the blockade.

However, to the surprise of the Japanese generals, although they broke through, the Ming army did not seem to have truly collapsed.

Nani? !
But at this moment, they were like water bursting its banks, only concerned with rushing outwards, unable to think about anything else.

Is it even possible to return to the valley? Going back would only mean certain death.

The Japanese generals were right; they had been able to get out because Qi Jiguang had deliberately created an opening.

When more than 30,000 Japanese remnants rushed out of the valley, Qi Jiguang suddenly waved his hand and shouted, "Cavalry, attack!"

"Order!"

Rumble!
On the flank of the mountain pass, 20,000 Ming cavalrymen, who had been waiting for a long time, bared their fangs and, like a moving steel fortress, painstakingly formed a wedge formation in the mud, then accelerated, accelerated, and accelerated again!
The speed of the horses' hooves was slowed by the mud, but the momentum of the galloping horses was not diminished. Like a mudslide that had broken its dam, they crashed hard into the flank and rear of the Japanese pirate army, which was in complete chaos due to their desperate charge!
Iron horses and flesh and blood collided with a deafening roar in the mud!
A dull, deafening roar, the sound of bones and flesh shattering, the splashing of mud and water, the dying screams... all converged into a hellish rumble!
It was as if Mount Myohyang was suddenly about to collapse.

The heavy horse's body knocked the Japanese pirates away, the armored warhorse charged and trampled them, and the saber slashed down like lightning, tearing the pirates' feet apart in the mud and severing their limbs.

The Han and Jurchen soldiers on horseback brandished sabers, lances, and maces, their horses stirring up waves of chilling killing intent.

The iron cavalry plowed through the mud and blood, leaving trails of destruction and mud and water everywhere they went, carving bloody paths through the crowded enemy ranks!
The last vestige of the Japanese pirates' will to resist completely collapsed under this devastating charge.

The army was defeated like a mountain!
The desperate cries of the Japanese pirates filled the air, and many battle-hardened warriors roared in despair!
The terrified Japanese pirates abandoned their weapons and fled frantically through the mud and blood, but they could not outrun the cavalry and could only struggle in vain.

The Ming infantry, in coordination with the cavalry, surged forward like a flood bursting its banks. Spears formed a forest, and swords flashed like snow, ruthlessly reaping the crushing enemy.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

These Japanese invaders, their hands stained with blood, were now being slaughtered mercilessly by the Ming army like pigs and sheep, utterly powerless to resist.

Qi Jiguang's army, the White-Spear Army, the Bozhou Army, the Liaodong Army, the Jurchen Army... all the Ming armies were like several iron torrents, advancing in separate directions to attack and divide the remaining enemy forces.

More than 30,000 Japanese remnants were annihilated by a combined attack from Ming cavalry and infantry.

Ukita Hideie did not run away. He stood there, dejected, his scarlet haori soaked with mud and blood, dragging heavily.

With a sorrowful look in his eyes, he slowly drew the wakizashi from his waist, the blade reflecting a cold light in the morning light.

He glanced one last time at the approaching Ming army, his eyes now only filled with deathly stillness.

"Your Highness, you are wrong, you are wrong..." Ukita Hideie murmured, his sorrowful voice swallowed by the sound of horses' hooves.

Immediately, he swiftly reversed his hand, plunged the short blade deep into his abdomen, and pulled hard!
"Ah—" The excruciating pain caused his body to convulse violently, and his face turned deathly pale. He staggered and collapsed forward into the cold, bloody mud, his intestines slithering out like snakes, his scarlet feathers resembling a withered cherry blossom.

Not far away, Kuroda Nagamasa knelt on the ground, a rib sword inserted into his abdomen, gray intestines spilling out, his dazed gaze frozen in final pain and despair.

He also died by seppuku.

Tachibana Muneshige launched a desperate counterattack. This renowned Japanese general, hailed as "the unparalleled warrior of the West," fought several rounds with Li Rusong before being killed by Li Rusong with a single spear thrust. His death can be considered a fitting end.

"A great victory!" Many Ming generals shouted to the heavens, "A great victory at Anzhou!"

More and more Ming soldiers shouted, eventually merging into a deafening roar:

"Great victory at Anzhou! Great victory at Anzhou!"

Even the Jurchen soldiers were excited and shouted to the sky.

Upon hearing the resounding shouts, Zhu Yin and Qi Jiguang couldn't help but smile with relief.

Great victory at Anju!

...

The sky was already bright, and the dark clouds hung low.

In the deep valleys of Mount Myohyang, deathly silence replaced the clamor. Everywhere were broken weapons, tattered banners, muddy corpses, and the intermittent, heart-wrenching groans of the wounded.

Blood and mud were indistinguishable, pooling in low-lying areas to form a thick, cold swamp that was ankle-deep, viscous, and reeking of blood.

The Ming army trudged through the mud, silently clearing the battlefield, dragging wounded comrades from the blood and mud, or finishing off dying enemies.

Zhu Yin trudged through the sticky, cold mud of blood, step by step, up to the top of the mountain pass, his gaze slowly sweeping over the vast, silent, muddy graveyard.

After a night of fierce fighting, more than 70,000 Japanese soldiers were annihilated on the muddy battlefield. Another 8,000 surrendered.

After a standoff in Anju lasting more than half a month, involving numerous battles large and small, the entire 90,000-strong Japanese army was annihilated!

The Ming army suffered over 13,000 casualties. The casualty ratio was six to one, making it a resounding victory. He finally accomplished his strategic plan to annihilate the Japanese army at minimal cost.

The last strategic force of the Japanese army in Goryeo was annihilated. Even the supreme commander of the Japanese army in Goryeo, Ukita Hideie, committed seppuku.

At this point, the Japanese army in Korea was reduced to just over 10,000 land troops and several thousand naval troops, for a maximum of 20,000 men.

With this battle, the war in Goryeo came to a close, and what followed was merely a campaign of mopping up. At this time, it had been less than two months since he led his army into Goryeo to fight against the Japanese pirates! In more than ten battles, large and small, he annihilated 200,000 Japanese troops.

With the annihilation of 200,000 Japanese troops in Korea, most of Japan's elite forces, honed through years of civil war, were also wiped out. Japan's elite forces on the mainland were now few in number.

When the news reached Japan, the blow to the entire country was absolutely unbearable.

However, the huge victory did not bring a smile to Zhu Yin's face.

The loss of 13,000 people. Many lost their sons, their fathers, their husbands, and many died young in foreign lands.

No matter how many Japanese pirates die, they cannot bring back the lives of the fallen soldiers!

Zhu Yin looked at the horrific battlefield, where mud, blood, and corpses had solidified, then looked up at the sky, his eyes reflecting the gloomy sky, which gradually turned into a leaden gray.

After a long while, a deep voice, as if it came from the depths of a battlefield, slowly came out from the young strategist's mouth:
"One general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers!"

……

PS: Didn't do anything else today, just wrote like an idiot. A long chapter of 9,000 words! That's practically an extra chapter for the Alliance Leader (who had already done that). I fulfilled my promise to finish the Battle of Anzhou today! I didn't break my word. Please vote, leave reviews, thank you, goodnight! I hate writing about war, but thankfully we've almost finished it. Now that the war is over, I can finally take a breather. Feel free to offer suggestions in the reader group. Everyone, take care of yourselves, beware of heatstroke.

(End of this chapter)