The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

"It's not about attacking Kyushu Island, it's about turning Kyushu Island into a hunting ground." Kuroda Mitsuyuki tightened the belt of his sleeve, shook his head, and said in a low voice, "The Han army wants to let them burn, kill, and plunder here, turning Kyushu Island into a mess. When we run out of food, the main force of the Han army will land somewhere and deal with us one by one."

At this point, Kuroda Mitsuyuki paused, then looked at Kuroda Hachizaemon: "The Tokugawa Shogun has deployed 20,000 troops on Tsushima Island. Is there any news on Soga Shigehiro?"

Kuroda Hachizaemon shook his head: "No messengers have come from Tsushima Island for days. They should be reporting every two days!"

"Then there's no need to wait. Tsushima Island is definitely gone." Kuroda Mitsuyuki tightened the strap of his katana. "I can't just stay in the castle and wait for them to come. We have to take the initiative and strike before they can establish a firm foothold. Otherwise, Kyushu will soon be burned to the ground."

He turned around and faced all his retainers.

"Ring the bell! Mobilize all retainers immediately. Assemble two thousand high-ranking warriors, three thousand foot soldiers, one thousand arquebusiers, and three hundred horsemen. They must all be in place by noon. As for rations, bring only five days' worth. We will go and fight this battle first, driving the Jurchens back into the mountains."

"We don't expect to wipe them all out in one go. We just hope to keep them occupied on the outskirts of Black Mountain Castle and wait for reinforcements from Saga and Kumamoto to arrive."

The retainers responded in unison.

Kuroda Mitsuyuki then said to Kuroda Hachizaemon, "Send five groups of messengers immediately to Saga, Kumamoto, Kurume, Nagasaki, and Kagoshima."

"Tell them they are not mountain spirits or bandits, but Jurchens. The Han army transported the Jurchens to Kyushu by ship. Tsushima Island may already be gone."

"Let them send as many troops as they can and move them all toward Heishan City. Also, send another group of people by fast ship to Honshu Island to deliver a message to the Tokugawa Shogun in Edo, saying that Kyushu Island has been attacked by the Han army and requesting that the Shogun immediately send troops to reinforce it."

Kuroda Hachizaemon accepted the order, turned around, and quickly went downstairs.

In less than half an hour, the senior retainers of the Kuroda family arrived one after another in the main hall on the first floor of the castle tower.

The hall was covered with sixty tatami mats, and all the paper doors were open. Thirteen retainers knelt on the tatami mats in two rows. The youngest retainer was just over twenty, and the oldest was over sixty, with white beards hanging down to his chest.

Kuroda Mitsuyuki came down the stairs and stood in the upper section, getting straight to the point: "I've already had Hachizaemon tell you the situation—they are Jurchens, transported by the Han army. Tsushima Island's connection with the west has been severed, and it's most likely gone."

"The Jurchens are currently burning villages and looting grain. I have decided not to wait for reinforcements from other domains. I will mobilize at noon with two thousand high-ranking samurai, three thousand foot soldiers, one thousand arquebusiers, and three hundred cavalry to intercept their main force at Black Mountain City. We can deal with the rest when the reinforcements arrive."

Kuroda Matabei, sitting first on the left, raised an eyebrow: "Uncle, I am willing to lead the main force's arquebusiers as the vanguard."

The elderly retainer Onodera Kenmono, sitting opposite him, raised his gray head: "Lord, the garrison commander of Kuroyama Castle, Matsuura Heijuro, only has three hundred foot soldiers under his command, and their provisions are also running low. If we leave the castle at noon, can we reach Kuroyama Castle before dark?"

"It's less than ten miles west, only two hours away," Kuroda Mitsuyuki said decisively. "Matsuura Heijuro dares not leave the city, but he can provide us with food supplies and campsites within the city. We'll rest at Kuroyama Castle tonight and search the mountains at dawn tomorrow."

Onodera Kōmonogatari raised no further objections. "Bring the entire arquebusier unit?"

"Bring them all!" Kuroda Mitsuyuki's voice wasn't loud, but every word carried confidence.

The Fukuoka Domain was one of the largest domains in Kyushu, and this 1,000-gun corps was its greatest asset.

Among them were 600 flintlock muskets, the last batch purchased from the Dutch that year. They hadn't been used in many battles, and the barrels were still new. In Kyushu, the number of domains that could produce a thousand arquebuses could be counted on one hand.

"Where are the cavalry?"

"Bring all three hundred riders. Inoue Yagoro!"

"Your subject is here." A samurai with extremely broad shoulders and a short, thick neck bowed. His name was Inoue Yagoro, the leader of the Kuroda family's horse-turning cavalry, in charge of the Kuroda family's only three hundred native Japanese horses. These horses were only 1.2 meters tall and did not run as fast as mainland horses, but they were stable on mountainous terrain.

"Your horses are all armored. When you get near Black Mountain City, the Jurchens are all infantry, no horses. No matter how fast they run, they can't outrun the Saijo. If there's open ground, you can flank them and block their retreat."

"Yes," Inoue Yagoro replied readily.

Kuroda Mitsuyuki then turned to the arquebusier on the other side—a short, stocky samurai in his early teens with a goatee on his chin: "The arquebusiers have plenty of ammunition. The Jurchen armor is thick, using the cloth-covered iron armor of the Central Plains, but flintlock bullets will still penetrate it. Don't worry about wasting ammunition; the more you kill, the fewer close-quarters battles you'll have to fight when searching the mountains."

The gunner leader bowed and acknowledged.

Kuroda Matabei then asked, "Uncle, how many Jurchens are there exactly?"

"It's still unclear," Kuroda Mitsuyuki said. "The villagers say there are several hundred people, but we can only believe half of what they say. In the worst-case scenario—the Han army can send dozens of large ships to transport troops, and the Jurchens have at least two or three thousand. They are fewer than us, but they are used to hiding in the forest and won't fight us in formation. So we can't spread out and search the mountains. What they want is food. Several villages around Heishan City have already been burned down, and the remaining villages are all south of Heishan City."

"At dawn tomorrow, I will set up my forces on the banks of the Asano River south of Black Mountain Castle to lure them out to seize our grain. Once they are willing to leave the forest, we will overwhelm them from the front with arquebuses and cavalry."

"What if they don't leave the woods?" Onodera Kenmono asked.

"Then burn the forest." Kuroda Mitsuyuki's voice turned cold. "Don't they like burning villages? Then let them taste what it's like to be burned."

Around noon, Mitsuyuki Kuroda walked out of the castle tower and stood in front of the horse farm atop the stone walls.

Two thousand high-ranking warriors had already lined up in the horse stables, fifty men in each row, with black flags with rattan patterns on their backs and long and short swords at their waists.

Three thousand foot soldiers followed behind the samurai, their bamboo-striped robes covering their tattered cloth shirts. They stood barefoot in the mud, holding bows and arrows, spears, or naginatas.

One thousand arquebusiers stood in a separate column on the right side of the column. Six hundred men carried flintlock muskets, and one hundred men carried matchlock muskets.

The cavalry were positioned on the far left of the column. Inoue Yagoro rode a chestnut-haired Japanese horse. The hooves of the three hundred horses pawed the ground incessantly. The Japanese horses were not tall, but they were short, stocky, and sturdy. Each horse had a short bow and a quiver of arrows hanging beside its saddle, and the riders on horseback carried katana.

Kuroda Mitsuyuki mounted his horse, drew his katana, and pointed it south. "For every village the Jurchens burn, my domain suffers further famine. I will lead you to Black Mountain Castle first to intercept the main Jurchen force. Once reinforcements arrive, we will surround and annihilate them in the mountains. Victory!"

"Victory!!!"

Two thousand samurai simultaneously drew their katanas and raised them above their heads, the glint of their blades forming a blinding white light under the midday sun.

"Leave the city!" Kuroda Hikaru pointed his sword south.

Currently reading: Chapter 264, Mitsuyuki Kuroda. Find the latest chapters here.