prosperous age

Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard had conducted reconnaissance of Sado Island, they only made a simple count of the soldiers stationed there. There were about three thousand soldiers, some fortresses, and several thousand miners.

However, no information could be found regarding the equipment of these three thousand soldiers.

After all, firearms are not something that cannons are used unless there is a war; people usually carry bamboo spears when they go on patrol.

Therefore, the Imperial Guards, following the normal deployment of the Japanese army, believed that even if the garrison on the island had firearms, there wouldn't be many, at most three or five hundred.

However, Sado Island is no ordinary place. It is an important mining area, and in fact, the three thousand people here are equipped with more than a thousand arquebuses.

Such an army would be the most elite force in Japan.

The island-seizing force, under the cover of artillery fire, launched a forced landing, only to be met with a concentrated bombardment from more than two thousand arquebusiers, suffering heavy losses and nearly five hundred casualties. This immediately deterred the two thousand-strong island-seizing force from making any further rash moves.

Even though the other side endured a barrage of artillery fire, their losses were not as severe as those of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, when it comes to the accounts, the Ming Dynasty suffered a huge loss this time.

The commanders of both the land and naval forces are in a real bind because of these losses. All they can do now is use artillery to destroy the buildings near the docks that offer hiding places.

The previous ambush involved more than two thousand men suddenly running out from behind a building. The navy didn't have time to prepare before a volley of cannon fire was launched, giving the Ming soldiers who landed a taste of bullets.

On the double-decker warship, Commander Sun invited Ma, a commander of the Ming army's land forces, to discuss how to proceed with the next battle.

"Prepare a few small boats. I will put a breech-loading cannon and two tiger-squat cannons on each boat and place them on the dock to provide fire support."

After that, I will send people to transport all the tiger-squatting cannons and breech-loading cannons to the dock and set them up. Then I will lead a thousand soldiers to the island. After we have completely controlled the dock area, we will continue the attack.

Your navy is lined up in the harbor. If the Japanese pirates launch a surprise attack while I'm loading cannons onto the dock, can your cannons repel them?

Ma Qianzong asked.

“They originally had three thousand men on the island, plus several thousand naval personnel, and those miners. If they were also brought here and swarmed in, we definitely wouldn’t be able to stop them.”

Commander Sun thought for a moment and said, "But if it's just a surprise attack by their musketeers, I'm not afraid. I can take the opportunity to eliminate them."

"The most dangerous part of the landing is at the beginning. Once the infantry land and form ranks, we won't have to worry about anything."

Ma Qianzong frowned and said.

Last time, when a thousand soldiers were organized to land, the enemy suddenly emerged from behind the dock buildings halfway through the landing, attacked and then withdrew, causing direct losses to the Ming army.

The attack while the enemy was crossing the river was easily outmaneuvered by these shorty lads.

"I'll prepare some extra small boats for you to provide fire support. Also, I'll transfer 500 men from the navy. We have breech-loading cannons on our warships, the kind called 'tiger crouching cannons,' you'll have to prepare those. We don't have those in the navy; I heard the South China Sea Navy only has a marine battalion equipped with them."

Commander Sun had heard about how the South China Sea Navy had assembled several thousand men for land warfare and had made many contributions in capturing cities and strongholds.

He calculated that he had more than forty ships at his disposal. If he could get the sailors to join him and each ship could send a few people, he could still gather five hundred men.

The Lu Division needs to replenish its manpower. Although his men are not good at land warfare, they are fine if they only need to operate artillery.

Moreover, gunboats all have four breech-loading cannons, and Fujian ships also have two. Some of these can be transferred to smaller boats to enhance firepower.

Ultimately, he also has to bear responsibility for failing to capture Sado Island.

I underestimated the situation. I thought that two thousand infantrymen could easily defeat three thousand dwarfs, but I didn't expect the enemy to have so many arquebuses as well.

Fortunately, there were no gun emplacements on Sado Island, otherwise his navy would have had to destroy the enemy's gun emplacements first.

"The Tiger Crouching Cannon is easy to operate. I will prepare the gunners and transport the Tiger Crouching Cannon ashore after the defenses are set up at the dock."

After a brief consideration, Ma Qianzong nodded in agreement.

Now the two of them are in the same boat, and can only unite sincerely to overcome this difficulty together.

Next, the two began to issue orders.

Commander Sun allocated ten small boats to provide cover fire. In addition to the promised breech-loading cannons and tiger-squatting cannons, each boat was also equipped with several large-caliber muskets to snipe enemy officers, namely the warriors leading troops, at long range.

It's not that there aren't more small boats; those are still needed as transportation.

Only after seizing the dock area and repairing the pier can the Fujian ships dock. At that time, transporting troops and supplies will be much more convenient, and there will be no need to use small boats to pick them up and drop them off.

Before the Japanese pirates withdrew, they destroyed the pier where the ships were moored, preventing them from docking.

These all needed to be repaired after the Ming army occupied the docks.

Taking advantage of the cannons' range, the Ming army then dispatched gunboats to approach the dock area and bombard the buildings there, destroying them and preventing them from becoming a hiding place for Japanese pirates.

The Ming army's actions made the Japanese pirates on the island realize that the Ming army would soon make a comeback and try to seize the dock area again.

"Should we arm the miners as well and send them to attack the Ming army?"

In a castle closest to the dock on the island, the Japanese army had already set up a temporary camp on Sado Island, responsible for commanding the island's defense operations.

"Our current force, including your navy, is only about 6,000 men, but there are 8,000 miners on the island. Let them charge ahead and weaken the Ming forces."

I refuse to believe it. Those few dozen ships I see—could the Ming dynasty have hidden a thousand troops among them?

“What you said makes a lot of sense. I estimate that even if you include the sailors on the ships, the Ming army here doesn’t have more than five thousand men.”

Using miners to exhaust them can also save food on the island.

"Then I'll have two thousand, no, four thousand people come from the mining area first, and the others will be on standby at any time. We'll stop mining for the time being."

"If Sado Island falls, the mines we've extracted will be seized by the Ming people."

"Alright, deploy 4,000 miners to the dock area. If the dock cannot be defended, deploy more miners in batches at various passes to wear them down."

While the Ming army was rearranging its attack plan, the Japanese army on the island also intended to gather all its forces and hold Sado Island while waiting for reinforcements.

Having lost their equipment advantage, they were naturally willing to use miners to wear down the Ming army's firepower. Their men were difficult to train, so they needed to preserve their strength as much as possible and launch a full-scale counterattack in the battles for the passes around the island.

Miners, in essence, are people who have lost their land.

On Honshu Island, there are countless people like this; you could easily recruit quite a few.

If they don't want to starve to death and want to survive, they have to work hard.

When it comes to diligence, the Japanese are not much less hardworking than the Chinese; they are also a nation that can endure hardship.

Early the next morning, the Ming army launched an operation, with more than ten small boats breaking away from the fleet and approaching the dock area.

The movements of the Ming army were immediately detected by the Japanese patrols, and alarms sounded across the island.

The naval commander, Dazhu, stood atop the fortress, clad in bamboo armor, from where he could see the entire dock area at a glance.

Before long, the commander of the island's garrison, Yujian Shoubei, also arrived here. They had commanded the last counterattack against the Ming army from this very spot.

Located several miles from the dock area, the Ming army's artillery fire could not reach this place no matter what, so they could command the battle with peace of mind.

Throughout the island, he had already dispatched many sentries to patrol and keep watch, giving the Ming army no chance to launch a sneak attack.

More than ten boats soon approached the dock area. Ten small boats lined up in a row, while the other boats docked directly. Dozens of Ming soldiers disembarked and used discarded planks and other materials to build simple defensive fortifications.

In the distance, more wooden boats appeared, having broken away from the Ming fleet, and were sailing towards the shore fully loaded with soldiers.

"It's indeed a major operation, similar to the last one. They're planning to seize the docks," Commander Otake remarked.

Meanwhile, in the Ming fleet, two double-decker gunboats, along with two other gunboats, slowly approached the dock area, then anchored and lay sideways, clearly to provide artillery cover for the landing Ming troops.

The dock on Sado Island was not large enough to accommodate all the Ming army's gunboats in the harbor.

Moreover, the Ming army also dispatched four gunboats to guard the fleet and guard against the Japanese pirate navy supporting Sado Island.

A sneak attack from behind is also quite troublesome.

Therefore, it became inevitable to deploy warships equipped with the best artillery in the port to provide fire support for the landing forces.

Commander Sun and Captain Ma were standing on the flagship, issuing orders to attack, which were then relayed by several reserved transport ships.

Are your miners ready?

Commander Ōtake glanced at the Ming fleet, then turned to ask the garrison commander Arimaki beside him.

"Don't worry, everything is ready. Once the Ming army lands on the dock, we'll send in two thousand miners as the vanguard."

If we can't drive the Ming army into the sea, then let them all perish in disgrace.

The garrison commander replied without any change in expression.

Two thousand lives are nothing to them; they can afford to lose them.

Their deaths would have been worthwhile if they could hold out until reinforcements arrived.

Even under normal circumstances, thousands of people die in the mining area every year.

These days, neither Eastern nor Western mining technologies are really that good.

Mining is a dangerous job; unless desperate, no one is willing to go into mining to make a living because the casualty rate is too high.

On the dock, the first Ming soldiers to land had already set up a makeshift camp using large pieces of discarded timber and shields unloaded from their ships. These were clearly wooden planks that had been abandoned during the dismantling of the piers because they were difficult to move or were broken.

In fact, most of the wooden planks were taken away by the Japanese army; they were excellent materials for building fortifications.

Even the buildings destroyed by Ming army artillery fire a few days ago, with their timber and stone materials being carried away by the Japanese army under cover of night. They had learned the scorched-earth tactic of leaving no trace for the Ming army.

In fact, in the bedroom guarded by the guard, a copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was placed on the wooden table beside the bed, a military book that he read every day.

Soon, a convoy of small landing craft approached the dock.

However, the ten small boats that arrived earlier to provide fire support had some impact on the transport ships carrying landing soldiers and weapons. They could not all rush to the shore as before and had to give way to each other.

Commander Sun frowned slightly upon seeing this, but didn't say anything more.

This situation was not considered beforehand; otherwise, we would have had them mobilize a large force.

At least, by this time, most of the small boats behind the landing fleet had already reached the shore, unlike now, where the Ming army's small boats on the shore were somewhat in disarray.

However, this chaos was short-lived and soon ended.

This wave of Ming troops brought a lot of tiger-squat cannons and breech-loading cannons ashore, and many of them were also arquebusiers.

Clearly, Ma Qianzong had learned from his previous experience and prepared a large number of musketeers to counter the enemy's musketeers.

"They brought a lot of large cannons ashore?"

The garrison commander looked at the things the Ming soldiers were carrying ashore and said with some surprise.

His subordinates didn't have many large cannons, but Commander Ōtake's side had a few more, since they were a navy.

This is also the origin of the Japanese army's struggle between land and sea. In fact, during the Warring States period, if the major lords formed a navy, they would arm the navy with a large number of firearms, which caused a lot of resentment among other land generals.

The Tiger Crouching Cannon was actually much larger than the Large Cannon, but from a distance, it did look about the same size.

Another difference is that the tiger-squatting cannon used by the Ming army was usually carried by two gunners, while the large cannon used by the Japanese pirates was a single-soldier weapon that only required one soldier to fire.

Of course, he needed his deputy to help him load the ammunition.

With the help of the simple fortifications that had just been constructed, the artillery that had been transported up was quickly deployed.

This time, Ma Qianzong dared not try to get rich overnight, having already paid a heavy price for his recklessness last time.

Therefore, this time he ordered his soldiers to take a steady and methodical approach after landing on the island, gradually encroaching on the island and completing the occupation of the entire dock area before repairing the pier and transporting other supplies to the island.

With the support of naval artillery, he believed it was possible.

Three hundred musketeers—almost all the musketeers Lu Shineng had mobilized—were all thrown into this attack at once; he was really going all out.

"rush."

When Commander Ōtake saw the Ming army carrying down a large cannon and setting it up on the fortifications, he knew that he could not delay any longer and decisively issued the order.

The flag bearers quickly sent out signals, which were relayed through the ranks, and the docks responded instantly.

The miners, armed with pickaxes and bamboo spears, rushed out of their hiding place and charged toward the Ming army at the dock.

"It's here! Aiming the artillery, free fire!"

They were already within firing range, and Commander Sun immediately issued the order to fire.

"Boom boom boom"

Fifty or sixty cannons fired in succession, the bullets propelled from the barrels by the gunpowder explosions and flying towards the charging Japanese pirates, instantly creating many human alleys.

However, whether these miners were truly fearless or had received some promise, they charged forward recklessly.

In the eyes of Commander Sun and Captain Ma, that meant the Japanese army was going to fight to the death.

"Not their musketeer."

Through the telescope, Commander Ma also saw the Japanese pirates rushing out, and cold sweat poured down his face.

"All the remaining small boats, bring all the remaining breech-loading machines aboard, and get them ashore. Fire!"

Commander Sun was also aware that he had miscalculated again. He hadn't expected that the Japanese pirates, having gained an advantage once, would not continue but instead planned to go all out, actually using miners to attack their landing position.

If we cannot repel the Japanese pirates' counterattack, then the troops and weapons transported ashore this time will be in danger.

"bang bang bang"

"Boom boom boom"

Although the Ming arquebusiers gathered on the shore were also taken aback by the Japanese pirates' reckless fighting style, they were, after all, infantry battalions from Liaodong and could not retreat without orders. They began to fire decisively in three volleys, following the tactics they had learned in training.

The breech-loading gunners also began to aim at the crowd and fire, and soon the sound of gunfire erupted.

Although the swarming miners suffered heavy casualties, they successfully approached the Ming army's position.

"Tiger Crouching Cannon, fire!"

The squad leader crouched down in front of the formation and shouted loudly. (End of Chapter)