prosperous age

"Bang bang bang."

On the city wall, a group of Ming soldiers patrolled along the wall with torches, carefully inspecting each crenellation.

At the back of the column, a clapper player rhythmically struck the strings, seemingly reminding the soldiers to stay awake and not doze off.

As they passed a crenellation, a soldier in the patrol suddenly bent down, lifted up some cotton wadding on the ground, and crawled inside. At the same time, another soldier emerged from inside, clumsily keeping the column moving forward.

The Ming soldiers in front of him seemed to be similar, their hands and feet moving sluggishly as if they were not obeying their commands.

As the procession passed through the city wall, darkness descended once more. Apart from the rustling of the flags fluttering in the wind, all was silent except for the rhythmic beating of the wooden clappers, which gradually faded in sound.

Below the city, on the snow-covered ground, groups of shadows moved rapidly toward the city wall. These were the most skilled climbers selected from the Japanese army, and their mission was to climb the wall, lower ropes, and gather enough men to attack the city gate when the next Ming patrol arrived.

In the woods behind them, Kobayakawa Takakage, Tachibana Muneshige, Takahashi Nobumasa, and Arima Harunobu stared wide-eyed, waiting for them to climb the city wall, which would signify a major victory in this night raid.

The Ming army did have an advantage in weaponry, but so what?

By not giving the Ming army a chance to assemble and launching a surprise attack at night, they were essentially testing the strength and quality of their troops.

The first wave of men brought by Kobayakawa Takakage were mostly samurai from the Mori army, whose individual combat strength far surpassed that of the Ming army.

Even when facing the elite Japanese pirates who had once swept across southeastern Ming Dynasty, they were as easy as cutting melons and vegetables.

In the eyes of Kobayakawa Takakage and others, as long as these samurai charged up the city walls and fought the Ming army in close combat, they would be able to take on ten or even a hundred men each, and even the gods of war would be no match for them.

After witnessing the power of the Ming army's artillery, Kobayakawa Takakage had long since given up the idea of ​​engaging the Ming army in a direct battle, and instead chose to deal with the Ming army through strategy.

He believed that ambush and surprise attack were the only winning strategies to defeat the Ming army, which had superior weaponry.

Unfortunately, it was not discovered that the Ming army had concentrated their grain supplies in one place. Otherwise, following the example of the Battle of Guandu, it would have been feasible to directly send troops to raid the Ming army's grain supplies.

There are also other strategies like "borrowing arrows with straw boats" and "empty city ploy," which Kobayakawa Takakage has considered, wanting to experience the feeling of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang defeating thousands of Ming Dynasty troops with a simple wave of his feather fan.

It must be said that many people in later generations read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as a military treatise, thinking that reading the novel would teach them that there was a reason for leading troops in ancient times.

At this time, this was the view of everyone in Japan, from the daimyo down to the military commanders. Moreover, during the Warring States period in Japanese history, many ingenious strategies and ideas were indeed inspired by the plot of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and were successful.

However, although the commotion below the city was silent, a pair of eyes in the dark crenellations of the city wall could clearly see the moving shadows below.

Liu Erlang was just an unknown soldier in the Liaodong army of the Ming Dynasty. He was fortunate enough to be selected into the newly formed Liaodong infantry battalion because of his youth and strength, and became a member of the assassin team.

Qi Jiguang's infantry was equipped with both firearms and cold weapons. The firearms were naturally muskets and cannons, while the cold weapons were swords, shields, spears, and forks. Liu Erlang was a swordsman and shield bearer. At this moment, he was wearing armor and hiding in a wad of cotton wool, peering out of the city through the crenellations.

These were Ming army sentries, using the city walls as cover so that Ming patrols could silently relieve them as they passed by.

It must be said that the new battalion that Qi Jiguang organized was very "modern". Not only did it implement the "three-three system" in the grassroots troops during the Ming Dynasty, but it also played the role of both overt and covert sentries very well.

Liu Ting studied under Qi Jiguang for many years and learned this method as well.

Moreover, following Qi Jiguang's example, the generals around him also learned to adapt to local conditions and arrange hidden sentries according to the environment.

For example, during night watch in the dead of winter, the sentries on the lookout could light a charcoal fire to keep warm and chat and laugh together, while the sentries on the lookout had to keep quiet. Liu Ting arranged everything clearly, from how to change shifts to how to keep warm.

At first, Liu Erlang couldn't see the moving shadows below the city wall clearly. It wasn't until the shadows were about ten steps away from the city wall and only about twenty steps away from his position that he realized there were Japanese people below, because he heard them talking in very low voices.

"beep beep"

A piercing whistle suddenly rang out in the night, carrying far and wide, sending a chill down the spines of the Japanese samurai who had already crouched down near the city wall, preparing to form a human ladder.

They've been spotted; this is the signal sent by the Ming army sentries.

"Hurry, climb up, or all our efforts will be in vain."

The general leading the expedition only hesitated for a moment before making his decision. The earnest look that Kobayakawa Takakage had given him when they arrived seemed to be right before his eyes. If they had to turn back because they were discovered, they would never have another chance like this, and the Ming army would definitely strengthen the defenses of the city walls.

Success or failure hinges on this moment; he no longer cares about being exposed and shouts loudly.

Three Japanese soldiers were already crouching under the city wall. Then two Japanese soldiers stepped on them, and then one by one, the Japanese soldiers skillfully stepped on their outstretched hands, climbing up like climbing a ladder.

After getting on the backs of the two people at the top, the Japanese samurai put his hands on the city wall, felt around for a while, found a foothold, and began to climb.

With only half a body length, he only needed to climb up half a meter to place his hand on the edge of the city wall, which would make it easier to get leverage.

The Japanese had already erected five such human ladders in just over a minute, and five Japanese figures had begun to climb the city wall.

Behind them, dozens of Japanese samurai stood ready, prepared to follow at any moment.

Just as the first five people were still climbing the city wall, five more figures caught up and stood at the top, feeling around on the wall to find a foothold to climb up and make room for the people behind them.

"beep beep"

The whistle sounded shorter and more urgent, as if conveying an increasingly urgent signal. In the distance, flames were already appearing, indicating that the patrol team from nearby was running towards them, holding torches high, and the dense sound of clappers shattered the cold night.

Liu Erlang had already lifted the cotton quilt covering him for insulation, and with his knife in hand, he nervously stared at the surrounding wall.

That was his last chance. He was determined to kill the Japanese pirates with a single blow when they showed themselves, while simultaneously blowing air into his mouth to produce a piercing whistle.

Suddenly, a hand appeared in front of him, resting on the city wall.

Although it was late at night, there were no dark clouds in the sky, and the sky was still very blue in this era. The surroundings seemed to be illuminated by the snow on the ground, so Liu Erlang could still vaguely see what was in front of him.

Just as he was concentrating on preparing to strike the Japanese pirates the moment they appeared, he noticed something that looked like a hand appearing on a nearby wall.

Although Liu Erlang saw the Japanese pirates approaching, the area below the city was a blind spot, so he had no idea how many human ladders the pirates had built.

The shouts and running of the night patrol soldiers could be clearly heard in the distance. Without further hesitation, he decisively swung his sword at the first hand that appeared.

"what"

A scream rang out, and it seemed that a hat appeared outside the city wall, but then nothing happened; everything vanished.

Before Liu Erlang could even rejoice, another head appeared on another crenellation of the city wall.

Liu Erlang sheathed his sword and slashed in that direction again. This time, the Japanese samurai spotted Liu Erlang on the city wall and reacted as soon as he moved, withdrawing his hand from the wall and hiding his figure behind the crenellations.

"clang."

Amidst the clanging of metal and stone, the man with the waist knife saw several Japanese soldiers emerging from the crenellations on the city wall. After cautiously observing that there were no Ming soldiers in front of them, they decisively charged up the city wall.

A hundred paces away, a Ming army patrol rushed towards them, their anxious faces clearly visible under the torchlight.

At this point, Liu Erlang was no longer able to defend the city wall. Two or three figures suddenly rushed up from not far away and were already slashing at him. He could only swing his sword to resist and keep retreating.

Less than ten paces away from him, Japanese pirates were constantly climbing up the city wall. "Form ranks."

Finally, after retreating countless steps, just as Liu Erlang was about to give up, he heard the voices of his comrades behind him.

As Liu Erlang fought back, he unknowingly moved more than ten or twenty steps away from his original hiding place.

Rather than saying he was wielding his sword to defend against the Japanese pirates' attacks, it would be more accurate to say he was constantly retreating, avoiding the blade strikes unleashed by the Japanese pirate warriors.

Finally back in his unit, Liu Erlang retreated somewhat scrambling behind the Ming army's night patrol. Just as he passed by the swordsmen and shieldmen, two loud "bang" sounds rang out from a musket, as if bullets had grazed his ears.

Qi Jiguang's army excelled at collective combat rather than teaching soldiers to be brave and fierce; individual combat strength relied entirely on personal ability.

It was already incredibly lucky that Liu Erlang managed to escape from the clutches of three Japanese samurai. It was his unconscious retreat that saved his life and prevented him from being surrounded and killed by the three samurai.

The piccolo that had been in his mouth had fallen out at some point. He hid behind the army formation, panting heavily with his hands on the ground.

Although it was only a short time, he seemed to have been completely drained of his energy.

"Get up and prepare to fill in."

Just when he thought he was safe, the patrol captain shouted at him.

"Take the order."

Liu Erlang stood up reflexively, his waist knife held upright, and quickly blended into the formation after aiming at the enemy's position.

The Mandarin Duck Formation was the fighting style that Qi Jiguang's troops excelled at.

Despite the newly formed arquebus squad and assassin squad, everyone in the battalion had actually been through various military formations, large and small, and was already experienced in quickly integrating into them.

He was on lookout duty tonight, so he didn't bring a shield, only his waist knife. Therefore, killing the enemy was not his responsibility.

In the army, his responsibility was always to deal with enemies at close range.

Under the torchlight, Liu Erlang could see two spears repeatedly thrusting at the Japanese pirates ahead, while two other spears remained poised to strike, prepared to prevent the pirates from deflecting the thrusting spears and getting close.

They were all providing cover for each other, and under the protection of the swordsmen and shieldmen, a burly soldier was wielding a spear, forcing back several Japanese samurai in front of him.

"Cover the flanks."

Liu Erlang received another order. By this time, the captain had already seen Japanese pirates climbing up the city walls from outside.

Not knowing how many ladders the Japanese pirates had climbed over the wall, Liu Erlang issued this order.

Liu Erlang also focused his attention on the crenellations on the outside of the city wall to prevent Japanese pirates from climbing up the wall from his side or behind.

"Clap clap."

Two more volleys of gunfire rang out, and two Japanese pirates in front fell to the ground. Spears were then thrust fiercely into their bodies, leaving them no chance to retreat.

By this point, four corpses remained on the ground, all Japanese pirates who had been wounded by muskets and then stabbed to death.

Outside the city, thousands of Japanese soldiers had rushed out of the woods and were heading towards the city wall. They had also brought wooden ladders to climb the wall.

After the alarm sounded, Takakage Kobayakawa was already greatly disappointed.

If the planned sneak attack was discovered by the Ming army, then all that was left was to gamble on the Ming army's reaction speed.

In his mind, the fact that a few dozen wandering warriors could roam freely across the Ming Dynasty shows that the Ming army's close combat capabilities were truly appalling.

Night battles and close combat are their only chance.

Even though there were reports that the Ming army squads were very strong, the Japanese samurai, who valued their reputation, still reported back that they could fight the Ming soldiers one-on-one, and that one of them could take on three, no, five Ming soldiers.

Therefore, even though Kobayakawa Takakage knew the sneak attack had failed, he still gambled on the Japanese army's bravery to defeat the Ming army on the city wall.

A small squad of several hundred men, carrying long ladders, supported the night raid team, while he led the majority of several thousand men to rush towards the east gate of Datian Village, waiting for the raid team to capture the gate so they could storm into the city.

However, the scene on the city wall was slightly different from what he had imagined.

More than thirty Japanese pirates had climbed the city wall, but they were blocked by the Ming army that came from both sides. Even though more than ten of them had died, they still could not break through the Ming army's defenses. Instead, they were constantly compressed and squeezed.

It appears that the situation is clearly in favor of the Ming army.

However, once the hundreds of reinforcements had set up a dozen or so planes and started climbing up behind the Ming army's defenses, the situation reversed for the first few assassin teams that arrived, and they seemed to be caught in a pincer movement.

However, at this moment, squads of soldiers in the Ming army camp rushed out in armor, climbed the city wall, and poured in here in an endless stream.

When the reinforcements of the Japanese troops climbed the city wall, they quickly found themselves in the same predicament as the previous Japanese pirates, being pressed into a narrow breach by the Ming army's military formation.

"Lord Kobayashi, the situation is not good. They can't break through the Ming army's defenses, and it will be difficult to attack the city gate."

Takahashi Tomomasa rode a "little horse" up to Kobayakawa Takakage and reported everything he had seen.

"Are they tied down by the Ming army?"

Kobayakawa Takakage frowned and asked.

"They're surrounded and can't break out."

Takahashi Tomonori immediately said.

"asshole."

Kobayakawa Takakage already knew that tonight's plan had failed.

If the surprise attack fails, then the only option left is to engage in direct combat.

"Retreat. Send a detachment of heavy artillery to support them in taking down the city wall."

Although they failed, Kobayakawa Takakage still hoped to rescue the raiding party, since they were all invaluable samurai of the Mori clan.

"bang bang bang"

Below the city wall, the Japanese soldiers began firing their cannons at the Ming soldiers on the wall, and the projectiles they hurled caused casualties to the Ming soldiers who were focused on eliminating the Japanese soldiers on the wall.

However, as the Ming army amassed in large numbers and climbed the city walls, cannonballs soon flew out from the city walls and hit the group of Japanese pirates.

The fierce battle lasted for more than half an hour. As the Japanese pirates withdrew from the city walls, Kobayakawa Takakage's sneak attack plan failed.

Although they won, Liu Ting, who stood on the city gate looking out, was still drenched in a cold sweat. (End of Chapter)