prosperous age

Unlike the arduous landing on Sado Island, the main force of the Ming army encountered minimal resistance whether they captured Tsushima Island or set foot on Honshu Island.

In other words, the army's advance would be slowed down when encountering Japanese castles.

However, once the Great General's Cannon is deployed, a few shots will cause the city walls to collapse, making it easy to breach the city.

Liu Ting's northern army has not only successfully divided the border between Iwami and Izumo, but its vanguard has also entered An'un.

Meanwhile, the Southern Route Army, led by Deng Zilong, also made a rapid advance, rushing into Suho before the other Japanese daimyo could react.

The Iwami region designated by Wei Guangde was not actually just Iwami, but included An'un and Suo. He intended to cut off Honshu Island in half in the Iwami region, and even had the intention of completely annexing Suo and Nagato.

In this way, it would be equivalent to occupying the western part of Honshu Island, controlling the Nagato Strait, and also being able to influence the distribution of power in the Seto Inland Sea.

Sailing from the west coast of Honshu to the east coast would either require heading north through Hokkaido to bypass Honshu, or circling around the southern part of Kyushu, which would greatly hinder the east-west traffic of Japanese ships.

Faced with such a dire situation, Mori Terumoto was forced to leave Suoh and enter Nagato, while simultaneously seeking help from Kiyosu Castle.

The Maori army was mostly in the east, but when faced with a surprise attack by the Ming army, he also mobilized some troops to counterattack, but the effect was not good.

After the Ming army deployed its forces, the Japanese army achieved very little and could hardly stop the Ming army's advance.

They didn't engage in close combat at all; instead, they used artillery to disrupt the arquebus formation and then pushed forward with their army, rendering Japan's usual tactics ineffective.

This is why Wei Guangde consistently advocated strengthening the artillery advantage of the Eastern Expeditionary Army. If they only used muskets, they would essentially be on the same side as the Japanese army, relying entirely on their troops to fight their way out.

With the addition of cannons, the Japanese long-range strike force could be greatly weakened, and the most elite arquebusiers under the command of the Japanese daimyo could be directly crushed.

The collapse of elite troops will lead to the defeat of other light troops; it's that simple.

No one is unafraid of death. If there is a chance to win, there will always be brave warriors willing to risk their lives for their future.

However, if even elite troops cannot hold off the enemy, how can hastily conscripted soldiers possibly defend themselves? It would be no different from sending them to their deaths.

Therefore, after several battles, whenever the arquebusiers were defeated, the light infantry would also collapse and retreat, and even if the samurai tried to suppress them, it would not work.

Moreover, since most of Japan's land is mountainous and hilly, it is actually difficult to deploy a large-scale battle formation in such a place.

Therefore, under such circumstances, the Ming army was able to concentrate its artillery fire to bombard the Japanese troops in front of them, often causing the Japanese front lines to be unable to resist and to retreat.

Qi Jiguang had already disembarked and landed on Honshu Island, but his attention was still focused on the direction of Kiyosu Castle, to see if the Oda clan's army would come to the aid of the Mori clan.

At this time, the atmosphere in Kiyosu Castle became tense due to news of the Ming army landing in the Iwami area.

After receiving Mori Terumoto's letter pleading for help, Hideyoshi Hashiba and his other powerful ministers finally understood the Ming Dynasty's scheme: they had their eyes on Sado Island and the Iwami Silver Mine and intended to forcibly seize Japan's wealth.

Of course this won't work.

Almost without controversy, Hideyoshi Hashiba reached an agreement with Katsuie Shibata, Nagahide Niwa, and others to send troops to provide relief, and began to assemble the armies of the Oda clan and their vassal daimyo.

They even issued an emergency mobilization order to Tokugawa Ieyasu, forbidding him from preserving his strength.

At the same time, news of the Ming army's invasion of the border was also relayed to the daimyo such as Hojo and Uesugi in the Kanto region, prompting them to mobilize their troops to fight in Iwami.

On Honshu Island in Japan, the power distribution from west to east was roughly that of the Mori, Oda, Tokugawa, and Hojo clans. If their armies were to travel to the Iwami region, they would have to pass through the territory controlled by the Oda clan.

However, considering that the entire nation of Japan fought against the Mongol invasion more than two hundred years ago, both the Oda and Tokugawa clans allowed the armies of other daimyo to pass through their territories to assist in the battle.

At the same time, the Ikeda and Shimazu families on Shikoku and Kyushu were notified, asking them to send troops to support Nagato.

It can be said that as the Ming army's offensive was unstoppable, the daimyo in Japan also began to mobilize all of them, and large-scale conscription began in various parts of Japan.

The last battle was a defensive battle concentrated on the coast of Kyushu Island, but this time the Ming army has landed on the island, and it will take a greater cost to drive them away.

From the moment Qi Jiguang landed on Jeju Island, he continuously inspected the newly occupied areas by the Ming army and developed his own views on the strategies formulated by Wei Guangde in the capital.

At the time, I didn't have this firsthand experience, so it was difficult for me to express my opinion.

Wei Guangde planned to take advantage of Japan's terrain to place the Ming army's controlled border in a narrow section of Kyushu Island and use the superior equipment of the navy to blockade the sea.

In this way, the Ming army could complete the layout of defensive fortifications without having to deploy too many troops.

Ultimately, the Ming Dynasty's resources were insufficient, and its appetite was too small; it couldn't swallow Japan whole.

The only option is to gradually erode their strength and slowly increase their power in Japan.

However, after maneuvering on both the northern and southern fronts, Qi Jiguang concluded that there was no need to retain the gate. The army could directly and completely control the western part of Honshu Island and blockade the Nagato Strait with the navy. In this way, on land, they would only need to deal with the allied forces of the Oda clan and other daimyo from the surrounding area.

"General, a messenger from the Embroidered Uniform Guard has arrived."

Just as Qi Jiguang was staring blankly at the map of Japan, a personal guard came in to report.

"Let him in."

Fighting in a foreign land requires a great deal of reliance on intelligence.

Two days ago, the Imperial Guards delivered news that various daimyo in Japan had issued war mobilization orders, and it is speculated that Japan may have assembled hundreds of thousands of troops.

However, it would take time for the army to assemble, and rushing to fight after the Ming army had already successfully landed would not be a good thing.

It is said that their daimyo have secretly gathered in Kiyosu Castle to discuss using the Mimasaka region as a base for their armies. After the armies of the various daimyo are assembled, they will first be stationed in the Mimasaka region before formulating battle plans and assigning combat tasks.

It can be said that Japan lost the initiative this time, unlike before when it fought against the Mongol invasion, when the daimyo of Kyushu Island fiercely resisted, buying time for other daimyo to send reinforcements.

With the aid of the "divine wind," Japan achieved its first major victory against the Central Plains dynasty, greatly boosting the morale of the entire nation.

With news arriving so quickly, Qi Jiguang naturally wanted to know what Japan's response would be.

"Greetings, Commander Qi."

The messenger entered, kowtowed to Qi Jiguang, and then took out a letter. However, along with the letter was a document, which served as proof of the intelligence exchange.

Qi Jiguang took out his personal seal, stamped it on the document, and handed it back. Only then did he pick up the letter, open it, and take out the letter paper to read its contents.

"The Oda clan assembled 150,000 troops, the Tokugawa clan sent 80,000, and the Hojo clan sent 60,000."

Clearly, this was intelligence gathered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard from Kiyosu Castle regarding the number of troops that various daimyo of Japan would be deploying.

The numbers alone were enough to make Qi Jiguang, a veteran of many battles, feel his scalp tingle.

How long has it been since the Ming army organized a large-scale battle involving hundreds of thousands of people? How dare the Japanese mobilize such a large force?

It wasn't that Qi Jiguang was timid, but rather that he found it difficult to understand.

The deployment of an army of hundreds of thousands of people is by no means a simple matter.

The more troops a commander has, the more things he needs to consider; it's a very complex matter.

However, even when Li Chengliang led over 100,000 troops on a distant expedition to Burma, and it is said that he specially dispatched a Yunnan imperial censor to be in charge of logistics and coordination, there were still many mishaps.

During their advance, the Ming army at the front lines was forced to halt their progress several times due to delays in the supply of provisions and equipment. If sustaining the basic needs of 100,000 men was so difficult, how could Japan possibly manage to maintain the logistics of an army of 300,000 to 400,000?

Qi Jiguang pointed to the desk beside him. His personal guard, who was knowledgeable, hurriedly went over, took a box from the high shelf, and placed it on the desk.

Qi Jiguang took out the key, opened the box, and found the intelligence reports that had been delivered two days earlier.

This is a report that the Mori clan's main family has hurriedly fled from Suo to Nagato, and Suo is now basically empty.

"Take the people down for a meal."

Qi Jiguang put the intelligence back into the box and gave instructions to his personal guards.

After his personal guards left with the messenger, Qi Jiguang thought about it again and seemed to have finally made up his mind.

The mobilization of a large army by Japan has both advantages and disadvantages for the Ming Dynasty.

The downsides are obvious; they will have to deal with even more dangerous situations.

Tens of thousands of people fighting against hundreds of thousands of people—this is no easy battle.

However, there were also advantages. Mobilizing so many troops would take a considerable amount of time, which gave the Ming army the opportunity to make arrangements at their leisure.

"The two defense lines in the north and south are almost impossible to capture. Nagato must be taken and protected by the navy. Only then can we mobilize 50,000 troops to fight the Japanese pirates."

Qi Jiguang muttered something under his breath, then personally ground ink and wrote an official document.

This was an order given to Deng Zilong and Chen Lin of the Southern Route Army, instructing Deng Zilong to mobilize troops to prepare to enter Changmen and completely wipe out the remaining enemy forces there.

Chen Lin's order was for the South China Sea Fleet to immediately control the Nagato Strait, preventing Kyushu and Honshu from sending reinforcements to Nagato.

His new plan naturally had to be reported to the military governor Wang Xijue and the capital, so he wrote two more battle reports and also wrote a separate letter to Wei Guangde, explaining in detail the situation in Japan, especially its terrain.

As for the idea of ​​splitting forces on two fronts, in the face of reality, that's just wishful thinking.

Of course, he couldn't say that Wei Guangde's strategy was wrong; he only said that the Japanese pirates were gathering their main force of 400,000 in China, preparing to launch a counterattack against the Ming army from the east.

With the disparity in troop strength between the two sides too great, Qi Jiguang believed that there was no need to continue maintaining the southern front, as it would not help to disperse the Japanese pirates' forces, but would instead disperse the already limited Ming army's forces.

The best strategy is to entrust the defense of the south to the navy, while the land forces concentrate their main force to deal with the Japanese pirate army.

After the battle report and letter were completed, Qi Jiguang immediately sent them away. In addition to giving a detailed account of the Ming army's current achievements, the most important thing in the battle report was to request reinforcements.

Qi Jiguang initially didn't think much of the tiny, isolated country in the East China Sea.

Even though the Japanese pirates were brutal back then, he still managed to suppress them with his troops.

As for the previous intelligence that Japan was a small country with a population of tens of millions, it was not taken seriously.

It can only be said that Qi Jiguang at that time simply couldn't see the surrounding foreign lands clearly.

In his view, Japan already had a population of several million, which was already a blessing from heaven. How could it possibly have multiplied to tens of millions?

There couldn't possibly be such a place around the Ming Dynasty.

The claim of millions of Japanese soldiers is likely an exaggeration fabricated by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

This was indeed the case in Chinese history.

Tens of thousands of people dare to record two hundred thousand in a book. This is often seen as a rhetorical device, an exaggeration to make the reader feel comfortable.

However, the Japanese population was truly large; the population of Iwami Province, which was already under the control of the Ming army, was close to one million.

This is also because this is a mining area, where a large number of miners and their families are stranded.

Lands rich in gold and silver are naturally wealthy. Although miners earn meager incomes, it is still considered a decent income in Japan, though the risks are high.

The Ming army advanced so quickly that the Mori clan didn't even have time to arm the miners before they were defeated and forced to retreat to other places.

If the Mori clan armed these tens of thousands of miners, they would be enough to defeat the Ming army.

The raid tactic failed on Sado Island, but succeeded in the Iwami area.

Of course, this cannot be considered a sneak attack. The Ming Dynasty's expedition to Japan was announced by imperial decree and was not kept secret.

However, due to the transportation relationship between the two countries, Japan did not receive it.

Since the two sides have no diplomatic relations, it doesn't really matter.

Adjusting tactics and requesting reinforcements were the main points of Qi Jiguang's memorial to the throne this time.

Meanwhile, Wang Xijue had already arrived on Jeju Island. As someone Wei Guangdiao had recruited, he naturally knew what to do.

Besides ordering the preparation of supplies to be shipped to the front lines, he was also waiting for war reports from Japan.

He already knew about Deng Zilong and Liu Ting's successful landing, but the real goal was to completely control the Iwami area, not just to kill a few Japanese pirates on the island.

Correspondingly, he hasn't paid much attention to Sado Island.

After all, it's just an island, and with Xu Qiaoan leading the main force of the East China Sea Navy to provide support, it should have been captured by now.

Wang Xijue counted the time on his fingers.

He was, after all, the second-place finisher in the imperial examinations. This time, he consulted with veteran generals about warfare and knew how to plan and strategize.

However, neither Wei Guangde nor Wang Xijue expected that the most intense battle of the Ming Dynasty's eastern expedition would actually begin on Sado Island.

Meanwhile, on Sado Island, the Ming army had already fortified the dock area, with a large number of naval ships already docked, and only gunboats were patrolling the port.

Outside the port, two distinct fleets faced off.

Just after Commander Sun and Captain Ma finally captured the landing point after a great deal of effort, the main force of the Japanese Kuki navy also appeared in the waters near Sado Island, where they were spotted by Ming Dynasty patrol boats.

Hundreds of warships charged in menacingly, and Commander Sun was devastated upon receiving the report.

This battle was different from the previous one; he also had to protect the port and couldn't engage in a prolonged naval battle with the Japanese navy.

Once he leaves port to fight the Japanese army, and once the Japanese army sends a naval force into the port, with the help of both inside and outside, Ma Qianzong's small force will probably be defeated in Sado in an instant.

Just as he was forced to recall the warships that had blockaded Sado Island and intend to hold the port and wait for reinforcements, Xu Qiaoan led the East China Sea Fleet to arrive and encountered the Kuki Navy led by Kuki Yoshitaka on Sado Island.

In this way, Commander Sun could lead the fleet to defend the port, while the battlefield at sea could be directly handed over to the main force of the East China Sea Navy.

He didn't believe that the Japanese navy could defeat the Ming army.

Although the main force consisted of those thirty-odd gunboats, a vast disparity in number compared to the hundreds of Japanese warships, their tactics were completely different. (End of Chapter)