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

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Despite Gao Yi's reprimands, the Japanese remained very obedient and began to put on their armor.

Scolding and beating are traditions of the Japanese, because the literacy rate of these Japanese is not high, or rather, they are very rigid. They will not move unless they are slapped or scolded.

After the armor was distributed, Gao Yi divided the 500 men into five hundred-household units according to the Han army system, and then divided the 50 men into ten small flags, with each small flag having a person who could speak Chinese as its officer. This way, it would not look so chaotic.

Kuroda Mitsuyuki's arquebusier unit had six hundred flintlock muskets. Yarha captured more than three hundred intact ones. Gao Yi selected three hundred agile men to form the arquebusier unit, while the rest were spearmen and melee fighters.

These people had never touched a cannon before. Gao Yi picked up a flintlock pistol and stood at the front of the group. In fact, Gao Yi was just putting on a brave face. He had only followed a Jurchen and fired a couple of shots.

Despite his fear, Gao Yi loaded the bullet, aimed, and pulled the trigger in front of everyone. Although it missed, it hit the stone wall and kicked up a small cloud of dust.

He then shook his hands before turning around: "See? It's that simple. Anyone can learn it. Go back to carrying sacks and farming!"

By the end of the day, the 100 men of the arquebusiers had managed to load and fire the guns, though their aim was terrible, at least they wouldn't burn their eyebrows when they fired.

……

As the sun set, the castle tower was already brightly lit, clearly indicating that its defenses were at their maximum.

Yarha called Gao Yi and the old hunter to the stone steps and spread out a structural diagram that he had found in the castle tower. The diagram showed the layout of the castle tower's stone walls, the first naru, the second naru, and the main naru.

The three men squatted in front of the blueprints for a long time, then Yarha pointed to the location of the main keep: "They have more than a dozen cannons, firing down from the high ground. If we launch a frontal assault, we'll be sitting ducks. Surround them? They have wells and food supplies inside; they can hold out for two or three years without a problem. We don't have that much time to wear them down."

Gao Yi suddenly pointed to the east side of the map: "Sir, you can climb this place." Yarha and the old hunter looked up at him at the same time. Gao Yi continued: "The stone wall on the east side of the castle tower, which is close to the forest, was bombarded by the armies of other daimyo back then, and it hasn't been repaired yet."

"The walls are now full of potholes, with many places to grab onto and step on. I used to walk that path when I was transporting grain to the castle tower."

"But there's a condition: the defenders can't know we've climbed up; someone on the front must draw their attention."

"Also, it's a full twelve meters high; ordinary people simply can't handle that!"

When Yarha heard "twelve meters," he wanted to scold Gao Yi, saying that even a top hunter like him didn't have that ability.

The old hunter suddenly grinned, stood up, dusted off his knees, and stopped Yarha's hand: "I'll set off. I've dug eagle nests out of the cliffs of Changbai Mountain back in the day, so this dozen-meter-high stone wall is no challenge for me."

……

That night, on the front of Fukuoka Castle's keep, Gao Yi, leading the imperial troops, lit a pile of firewood brought from the castle town. The firelight illuminated half the sky, drawing the attention of the defenders to the front.

Looking out through the firing ports, they saw the square densely packed with torches and figures, and some people pushing artillery carts. They were actually just wooden stakes smeared with ink, but from a distance they looked real.

The general defending the city immediately mobilized his troops, bringing so many cannons, because he was certain that the Han army intended to launch a frontal attack.

Meanwhile, beside the dense forest on the east side, Yarha led three hundred Jurchen hunters, crouching behind a tree trunk and looking up at the stone wall in front of them.

The stone wall is about twelve meters high, and just as Gao Yi said, the surface of the wall is covered with shell craters left by the shelling back then, like a pockmarked face, with some as big as a fist and others big enough to fit a head.

Yarha looked up for a long time, his palms sweating. He dared to venture into the dense forest full of tigers, but climbing walls was not his forte.

Just then, the old hunter had already taken off his fur coat and armor, wearing only a thin shirt, his long knife tied to his back with hemp rope, and another coil of hemp rope tied to his waist. He spat into his palm, rubbed it, and said to Yarha, "I'll go first. You can follow after I lower the rope."

Before Yarha could say anything, the old hunter had already clung to the stone wall like a gecko, his fingers digging into the craters and cracks in the rocks, his toes pressing against another depression, his body slowly moving upwards along the stone wall.

With each step he took upwards, he would pause to probe for the next foothold. Those below held their breath, craning their necks to watch the old hunter's shadow rise inch by inch.

As he approached the arrow emplacement, footsteps sounded from the top of the wall. A guard walked right above him, his shoes clattering on the stone slabs.

The old hunter remained motionless for a full twenty breaths, his forehead covered in sweat and his muscles trembling. The moment the footsteps faded into the distance, the old hunter suddenly exerted his strength and leaped onto the top of the wall.

Two muffled groans came from the wall, followed by the sound of something falling to the ground, then a third crisp metallic clang, and then silence again.

A few breaths later, a thick hemp rope was thrown down from the top of the wall, and the end of the rope landed with a thud in front of Yarha.

Yarha tugged at the rope to make sure it was secure, and was the first to grab it and climb up. He could already hear the sound of swords clashing, and at that moment he only felt that he was climbing extremely slowly.

When he climbed over the wall and drew his long sword, he saw that there were only five guards in this corner, all of them very young samurai, the oldest being no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, and their beards had not yet grown on their faces.

The old hunter was already sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, covered in blood. He had lost count of how many times he had been stabbed, and most dangerously, he had also been stabbed in the face.

Yarha led his men in a frenzied charge into battle. Because they were wearing armor and had ropes, the five young Kuroda samurai were all knocked to the ground and unable to get up in no time.

Yarha sheathed his long knife, squatted down in front of the old hunter, his lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't get it out. The old hunter opened his eyes, saw Yarha's face, and laughed, his throat full of blood and froth.

"I've lived to the fullest in my life, and even followed you to this Japan. Now I've enjoyed everything I could. It's all worth it."

At this point, the old hunter suddenly blushed and grabbed Yarha's arm.

"Yarha, those Japanese women I took in, you must send them to...me!!!"

The old hunter stopped breathing after he finished speaking. Yarha reached out and wiped his face, then closed his open eyes.

"Don't worry, old hunter!"

"I've heard that in Japan, the daughters of these daimyo are also princesses. I'll send a princess over to keep you company!"