Rise From the Humble

In the evening, the sleet had stopped long ago, and a sunset glow appeared in the western sky, dyeing half of the mountain red.

"If they had launched an attack just now, they could have caused us considerable trouble. Now, they have missed the opportunity."

Zhu Ping'an inspected the camp accompanied by Liu Dadao. Looking at the Japanese pirate army camped not far away, he spoke slowly.

"Why do you say that, sir?" Liu Dadao was puzzled.

"It was sleeting just now, and our matchlock guns were greatly affected. Although we added wind and rain covers to our matchlock guns, they were not tight after all, and we could not fire for a long time in rainy weather. Now the rain has stopped, and the sunset glow has appeared. As the saying goes, if you don't go out when you see the morning glow, you can travel a thousand miles when you see the sunset glow. If there is a sunset glow today, it will be a sunny day tomorrow, which is good for our Zhejiang Army's firearms operations."

Zhu Pingan explained slowly.

Just now, the Zhejiang Army counterattacked the Japanese pirates' ambush, and their firearms were affected by the rain and snow. Otherwise, the results achieved would definitely be greater than they are now.

Of course, it was fortunate that the sleet just now was not heavy. If it had rained heavily, Zhu Ping'an would have had to order the Zhejiang army to hold the camp and avoid a field battle.

After all, today’s firearms are still just matchlock guns, which are inevitably affected by the weather.

"So that's how it is. I understand, sir. Haha, it seems that the leader of the Japanese pirates on the opposite side is not that good." Liu Dadao laughed.

"They are also cautious. There is nothing wrong with being cautious, but it is easy to miss opportunities." Zhu Ping'an smiled slightly and said lightly.

"Young Master, when should we be cautious and when should we be bold?" Liu Dadao asked Zhu Ping'an.

"Only by knowing yourself and your enemy and fully grasping the battlefield information can you make correct judgments. Be cautious when you should be cautious, and be bold when you should be bold." Zhu Ping'an said slowly.

"I understand now. Thank you for your teachings, young master." Liu Dadao suddenly realized and hurriedly thanked Zhu Pingan.

"You're welcome." Zhu Ping'an waved his hand.

Zhu Ping'an and his companions continued to patrol the camp, and soon they came to a tent from which various screams were coming from.

"Haven't you confessed yet?" Zhu Ping'an asked curiously, "These Japanese pirate captives are quite tough."

"Your Excellency, they have all confessed, but two of the Japanese pirates were extremely evil. They repeatedly raped and killed women and children, and even killed a baby. After interrogating them, our brothers learned about their beastly behavior, and we couldn't help it, so we took turns whipping them to avenge the victims." The guard reported back, feeling a little nervous, fearing that Zhu Ping'an would punish them.

"Have you checked the information they confessed? Are they consistent?" Zhu Ping'an asked again.

"We interrogated them separately and compared them. The information they confessed was consistent."

The guard replied.

"Give me the confession information. Also, don't waste your energy. Kill the two most heinous pirates. Put shackles on the rest of the captive pirates and assign them manual labor. Don't let them eat for free."

Zhu Pingan ordered.

"Yes, sir." The guard was relieved and obeyed the order loudly.

Zhu Ping'an took the confession back to the commander's tent, placed it on the table, and read its contents carefully.

Through confessions, we learned that the Japanese pirates on the opposite side were composed of two groups. One was led by Wang Zhi's adopted son Mao Haifeng, with 8,000 soldiers; the other was led by a real Japanese named Otomo Sadakawa, with 6,000 soldiers.

The two Japanese pirate coalition forces had a total of 14,000 soldiers and were the vanguard of the Japanese pirates.

When Zhu Ping'an saw the name Mao Haifeng, his eyes lit up. He was familiar with this person. In "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty", Mao Haifeng was a key figure in Hu Zongxian's persuasion of Wang Zhi to surrender. It was because Mao Haifeng was fooled by Hu Zongxian that Wang Zhi was finally persuaded and lured to the shore by Hu Zongxian.

Although Hu Zongxian's appeasement plan was eventually ended by Wang Bengu, the then Zhejiang Provincial Governor, who arrested Wang Zhi and imprisoned him and then executed him, Hu Zongxian's appeasement plan failed and ultimately led to the ten-year catastrophe in Liangzhe.

However, it must be said that Mao Haifeng was a key figure in recruiting Wang Zhi.

Mao Haifeng is Wang Zhi's adopted son and a close friend of Wang Zhi. His prestige among the Japanese pirates is also high.

Such a person is so close and right at your doorstep. It would be a waste if you don't make good use of him.

If you want to recruit Wang Zhi, you must demonstrate your strength. A sheep cannot subdue a wolf, but a lion can.

The most striking confession was that Otomo Sadakawa had an elite artillery team of 800 people under his command.

The iron cannons used by this elite iron cannon team of 800 people were exchanged by Otomo Sadakawa from the red-haired barbarians.

Otomo Sadakawa claimed to be proficient in Chinese military tactics, and named his troops according to "Wind", "Forest", "Water" and "Fire". This iron cannon team was the "Fire" army, his most proud elite, and also his sharpest minions.

According to their confessions, Mao Haifeng and Otomo Sadakawa had different personalities. Mao Haifeng was bold and brave, with a chivalrous spirit; Otomo Sadakawa was more arrogant, but also insidious and intelligent.

The coalition was led by Mao Haifeng and deputy by Otomo Sadakawa. According to their confessions, the two men worked well together and there was no suspicion of infighting.

After reading the confession carefully twice, Zhu Ping'an put it aside and thought for a moment in the tent.

Originally, when he didn't know that the leader of the Japanese pirates was Mao Haifeng, Zhu Ping'an actually intended to have his men take turns to go to the Japanese pirates' camp and beat drums and fire cannons to harass them, disturbing their rest and accumulating advantages for tomorrow's battle. However, after knowing that the leader of the Japanese pirates was Mao Haifeng, Zhu Ping'an thought for a moment and gave up this plan.

Since they wanted to use Mao Haifeng, according to historical events and confessions of prisoners, Mao Haifeng was a generous and brave man.

If you want to use him, it is best to make him convinced and reduce his hostility as much as possible.

Defeat him fairly and make him admit defeat sincerely.

Thinking of this, Zhu Pingan gave an order outside, "Notify all camps to divide into three groups and take turns to rest and guard; increase patrols and set up more secret sentries outside the camp to prevent the Japanese pirates from attacking the camp at night. In addition, go to the river to get more water to prevent fire attacks."

Although we will not harass the Japanese pirates, we must still be prepared for night attacks by them.

"Yes, sir." The guards outside received Zhu Ping'an's order and went down to pass it on. (End of this chapter)