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In Kagoshima Castle, Kyushu, Zheng Zhilong received an urgent report that the main force of the Tokugawa cavalry was gathering in Shimonoseki, and his eyes gleamed. What he was waiting for was the decisive battle with the real ruler of Japan!

Qiu Chengyun and his men were like ghosts, having already infiltrated Honshu. The Tokugawa army's troop deployment, weaknesses in fortifications, the movements of generals, and even intelligence on food supplies were continuously sent to Zheng Zhilong's desk. In particular, the Kuki navy's defense map and the tidal hydrological details of the strait were invaluable.

Zheng Zhilong knew that breaking through the blockade of the Kanmon Strait was the key to winning the battle. He assembled an unprecedentedly powerful fleet:

The main fleet was led by Li Kui, with 50 Fu ships (equipped with heavy artillery), 80 Cangshan ships, 30 fire ships, and more than 100 centipede speedboats. This was the absolute essence of the Ming navy.

Ten new-style Dafahu ships from the Fujian Navy. The size of this ship is between the Fuzhou ship and the Cangshan ship. The hull is low and solid, with rotatable heavy machine gun turrets on both sides (four per ship, a total of eight guns), which have a long range, great power, and flexible steering.

Zheng Zhilong personally led 20,000 elite land troops (including 7,000 musketeers, 2,000 crossbowmen, 5,000 heavy armored infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 4,000 engineers and auxiliary troops) on a transport fleet. Under the cover of a powerful navy, their target was directly aimed at the northernmost tip of Kyushu, a position across the sea from Shimonoseki: Moji!

Zheng Zhilong deliberately mobilized ships on the west coast of Kyushu with great fanfare, creating the illusion that he might attack Shikoku or western Honshu in a detour, in order to attract some of Tokugawa's attention.

October 7th, the day of decisive battle.

There was a light rain and the sea was filled with fog.

At dawn, Li Kui's fleet took advantage of the high tide, with the Dafa ship as the arrow, and formed a sharp wedge formation, brazenly rushing into the Kanmon Strait! The Kuki navy was ready, and the Ataka ships and Guan ships relied on the artillery batteries on both sides, and thousands of cannons fired! Countless shells stirred up water columns, and several Ming army Cangshan ships that rushed in front were hit and caught fire. However, the Ming army fleet formation did not mess up.

After entering the effective range, the side turrets of the ten large fire ships opened fire fiercely! The rotating turrets gave them a terrifying firing range and flexibility, and the heavy shells accurately hit the Japanese Ataku ships and coastal defense batteries. The main mast of an Ataku ship was broken in half, and the hull of another ship was pierced at the waterline and tilted rapidly. The shore batteries also failed to fire under the concentrated artillery fire of the Ming army.

While the Japanese formation was disrupted by artillery fire, thirty Ming army fire ships loaded with sulfur, kerosene, and gunpowder, towed by speedboats, rushed along the current like arrows from a bow to the dense Japanese fleet! Kuki Mori was shocked and ordered to intercept, but it was too late. The serial explosions and the soaring flames instantly engulfed dozens of Japanese warships, and the narrow strait turned into a burning hell. In the thick smoke and flames, the Ming army's Fu ships and Cangshan ships quickly approached the Japanese ships that had not yet caught fire. Countless hooks were thrown out, and the elite Ming army navy jumped onto the enemy ships and launched a tragic boarding hand-to-hand combat! Although the Japanese navy was brave, they retreated step by step in the face of the Ming army's sophisticated equipment (chain mail, long swords, crossbows) and organized battle formations. Kuki Mori's ship was besieged by several Ming army Fu ships and died in battle.

At the height of the naval battle, Zheng Zhilong led the army transport fleet, under the desperate cover of the main force of the navy, and took advantage of the sea fog and chaos to successfully land on a relatively weakly defended beach (Akasaka Coast) outside Moji Port! Thousands of Ming army musketeers quickly established beachhead positions despite the sparse arrows and cannon fire from the shore, and follow-up troops continued to pour in.

The news of Zheng Zhilong's landing in Moji came, and Tokugawa Ieyasu's main camp was shaken! Ii Naomasa on the right wing reacted the fastest, and immediately led his most elite 5,000 "red-armored" cavalry and 10,000 infantry to rush to the landing site, trying to take advantage of the Ming army's unstable foothold and drive it into the sea! Ieyasu also strictly ordered Sakai Tadatsugu on the left wing and Honda Tadakatsu on the front to strengthen the offensive to contain the Ming navy's support for the land.

Zheng Zhilong had anticipated this action. The musketeers and crossbowmen in the landing force quickly formed several lines of death behind the simple sand forts built by the engineers and the wreckage of the captured ships. When the iconic red torrent of the Ii Red Cavalry rushed to the beach with a thunderous force, they were greeted by three rounds of deafening intensive volleys! The Red Cavalry at the forefront was like hitting an invisible wall of fire, and the people and horses fell, and the blood instantly dyed the beach red. The subsequent cavalry was tripped by the dead people and horses, and the formation was in chaos.

Just as the offensive of the Red Guards Cavalry was frustrated and fell into chaos, heavy and orderly footsteps sounded behind the beachhead! Five thousand Ming heavy infantry phalanxes wearing heavy armor (cloth armor over chain mail, iron plates installed at key parts), holding super-long spears (18-foot-long spears) and wolf-whips, and wearing swords on their waists, like a moving steel jungle, stepped on the bloody road torn open by their comrades with firearms, and launched an overwhelming counterattack against the chaotic Japanese army! Spears stabbed like a forest, wolf-whips swept and hooked, and instantly involved the Red Guards Cavalry and the infantry who followed them, who had lost their speed advantage, into a brutal melee. The Ming heavy infantry had strict discipline and fought in formation, and it was difficult for the Japanese to display their individual bravery in front of the tight military formation.

At the core of the battlefield, Naomasa Ii, wearing a bright red armor and wielding the famous spear "Tomikiri", led the hatamoto samurai to charge left and right, trying to stabilize the position. His bravery inspired the Japanese army. Suddenly, several ghostly scarlet figures, like blood-red lightning blending into the smoke of the battlefield, penetrated through layers of guards at incredible speeds and angles and rushed straight to Naomasa Ii!

It was Qiu Chengyun and his top performer from the Western Factory!
The Pixie Sword Technique was treacherous and ruthless, and the rapier broke through the air silently. Although Ii Naomasa was a master of martial arts, facing the siege of several Pixie Sword Technique masters, he only had time to block two swords. The third sword had already pierced through the gap in his armor under his ribs like a poisonous snake! Ii Naomasa's body shook violently, and he spurted out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground. The commander was suddenly "beheaded", and the Japanese right wing completely collapsed!

The news of the collapse of the right wing spread like a plague. On the left wing, Sakai Tadatsugu's troops suffered greatly from the continuous bombardment of the Ming navy's naval guns and the flank harassment of some of the Ming troops who had landed.

Although Honda Tadakatsu was brave in the front, he lost the support of the two wings and was caught in the pincer attack of the Ming army. What was more fatal was that the Kuki navy was destroyed, and the main force of the Ming navy had completely controlled the Kanmon Strait and began to use naval guns to fiercely bombard the Tokugawa main camp and coastal defense fortifications in Shimonoseki! The Tokugawa army was attacked from both sides and the morale of the army was shaken.

Witnessing the collapse of the Ii Akabe, the loss of all the navy, and the bombardment of the main camp, Tokugawa Ieyasu knew that the situation was hopeless. The hero closed his eyes in pain and ordered the entire army to retreat. The retreat quickly turned into a great rout. The Ming cavalry took advantage of the situation to kill, the heavy infantry steadily advanced, and the crossbowmen and musketeers accurately sniped and killed the officers among the fleeing soldiers. The coast of the Kanmon Strait was littered with corpses, and the sea water was dyed red.

The decisive battle of Kanmon Strait lasted for three days and ended with an unprecedented victory for the Ming army.

Under the desperate protection of the hatamoto, Tokugawa Ieyasu hastily fled Shimonoseki and retreated to the northeast by land. More than half of his 80,000-man army (including the army of the western feudal domains) was lost, and more than 40,000 people were killed or captured. Dozens of Tokugawa's hereditary ministers and generals, including Ii Naomasa and Kuki Moritaka, died in the battle. The elite troops directly under the shogunate were almost completely lost, and the military foundation on which it relied to rule Japan suffered a devastating blow. During the hasty retreat, Ieyasu was exhausted and his old illness relapsed (rumored to be stomach cancer). When he reached Hiroshima, he could no longer ride a horse and could only take a sedan chair. The shogunate's prestige was destroyed, the attitude of the western daimyo (especially the Mori family) was ambiguous, and the remaining Toyotomi ministers were ready to make a move. The Tokugawa Empire was shaky.

Zheng Zhilong stood on the Moji Hill where the smoke had not yet dissipated, looking at the flames rising from the Xiaguan Pass on the other side and the countless wreckage floating in the strait. In this battle, the Ming navy lost more than 40 warships, and the land army suffered nearly 10,000 casualties (mostly elite troops during landing and counterattack, including more than 6,000 "suicide squads"), which was a huge price to pay.

But the results were even more brilliant: the main force of the Tokugawa shogunate was annihilated, the last organized resistance in Japan was destroyed, and the strategically important Kanmon Strait was completely controlled! The passage between Kyushu and Honshu was completely opened.

The remaining Japanese warlords fell into unprecedented panic and division.

Small daimyo in Buzen and Nagato, which were close to Kyushu, were the first to submit surrender letters to Zheng Zhilong. In Chikuzen (Kuroda) and Chikugo, which had not yet been completely occupied in Kyushu, the will to resist collapsed.

Mori Terumoto, who still had some strength left, quickly withdrew to Hiroshima and closed the city gates. On the one hand, he sent envoys to express his "submission" to Zheng Zhilong, on the other hand, he secretly gathered Tokugawa's defeated troops, expanded his strength, and waited and saw how the situation would develop.

Some forces loyal to Tokugawa, protecting the seriously ill Ieyasu, continued to retreat towards Edo. A few die-hard samurai fled into the mountains and forests, preparing for a desperate guerrilla resistance (the prototype of the so-called "Tengu Party" in later generations).

Zheng Zhilong did not immediately land on Honshu to conduct a sweep. The Ming army also needed to rest and digest the fruits of the unprecedented victory. In addition, Honshu had a complex terrain and a cold winter was approaching. Therefore, he adopted a more prudent strategy: to establish a permanent fortress group in Shimonoseki and Moji, station heavy troops and the main force of the navy, and firmly control the "throat" of Japan.

Taking advantage of the victory, they completely wiped out the remaining resistance in Chikuzen, Chikugo and other places, completely took control of the entire Kyushu Island, and established a stable rear base.

A sternly worded manifesto was issued to the various clans in Honshu, demanding their surrender within a certain period of time. The focus was on winning over the most powerful Mori clan, offering them favorable terms (retaining some territorial autonomy). As for the remaining Tokugawa clan, both suppression and appeasement were used.

The detailed report of the unprecedented victory and the current situation in Japan were sent to Beijing in an urgent manner of 800 miles, asking Emperor Zhaowu for the final strategy for dealing with the entire territory of Japan - should a puppet regime be established? Or should provinces and counties be directly established?

The blazing flames of the Kanmon Strait reflected the forest of flags of the Ming army. The border of the "divine kingdom" that the Tokugawa shogunate tried to defend collapsed under the iron hoofs of Zheng Zhilong's naval and land forces.

The Warring States Period in Japan was brought to a bloody end in an unexpected way by the expeditionary forces from the Ming Dynasty. The fate of the archipelago now hangs on a thought in the Forbidden City.

...............

In November of the fourth year of Zhaowu, a biting cold wind swept across the Kanmon Strait, carrying with it the salty smell of sea water and the lingering smell of gunpowder, and hit the gate of the Ming army camp in Moji New Castle (formerly the expansion of Moji Port).

Zheng Zhilong, wearing a thick sable fur cloak, stood on the top of the newly built watchtower, his eyes like an eagle scanning the ruined walls of Xiaguan on the opposite bank and the patrolling Ming army fleet on the sea.

"The imperial edict has arrived!!"

A galloping horse broke through the gate, with three scarlet feathers on the rider's back. It was the imperial court's express messenger carrying the "Red Flag Victory News" for 800 miles!
In the central army tent, an incense table was set high. Zheng Zhilong led all his generals above the rank of thousand households to burn incense and kneel to receive the imperial edict. The angel unfolded a bright yellow scroll and read aloud the commendation edict of Emperor Zhaowu Yi Huawei. The generosity and high standards of the reward moved even the brave generals in the tent:
Zheng Zhilong was promoted to "Marquis of Jinghai", granted a red-lettered iron certificate, and was given a half-set of ceremonial guards of honor for a prince. He was also awarded 5,000 taels of gold, 100,000 taels of silver, 1,000 rolls of Suzhou and Hangzhou silk, and 100 pieces of precious porcelain from the imperial kiln.

He was specially granted a four-clawed dragon robe and a jade belt, and was allowed to ride in an eight-man sedan chair in and out of the military camp (except during wartime).

His son Zheng Sen (Zheng Chenggong) was given the title of "Jinyiwei Commander" (an honorary title, with honorary living in Beijing) as a sign of favor.

Admiral Li Kui: Jin Dynasty Left General (first-rank military honor), granted the title of "Pingbo Earl" (extraordinary title), and given 1,000 taels of gold, 30,000 taels of silver, and two farms (located in Fujian).

The chief general of the army, Chen Hong, and three others were promoted to the title of Right General (first rank), and each was given 800 taels of gold, 20,000 taels of silver, a fine steel sword (made by the emperor), and a farm.

Qiu Chengyun, the governor of the Western Factory, was given the title of "Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince" (a first-rank civil honor), and was actually granted the title of "Governor of the Eastern Jinyiwei", responsible for Japanese intelligence and supervision. He was also given 100 Eastern pearls, 10 pieces of Western Region fire-washed cloth (not afraid of fire), and 50,000 taels of silver from the imperial treasury to reward the meritorious personnel of the Western Factory.

Lieutenant General, guerrillas and other mid-level officers (about 30 people): ** Each will be promoted one to two levels, rewarded with 3,000 to 8,000 taels of silver, and given fine armor and good horses.

Grassroots officers such as Qianhu and Baihu (hundreds of people): each was rewarded with 500 to 2,000 taels of silver, and was granted land (located in the newly occupied Kyushu or the future Japanese province).

For the dead: the pension is double the normal amount. Their families can receive double rations for three years, and their children will be given priority to join the army or local government when they reach adulthood. A "Martyr's Shrine" was set up in Kagoshima Castle to honor the spirits of all the soldiers who died in this battle and since the conquest of Japan, and sacrifices are offered every year.

The disabled will receive a one-time payment of 50 to 300 taels of silver, depending on the degree of their disability, and will be assigned to take up idle positions in newly established post stations, mines, artisan camps, etc., and will be provided for throughout their lives.

Each surviving soldier was awarded 60 taels of silver (equivalent to several years of salary, and the wounded and disabled received it again). He was also given a jar of imperial wine and ten catties of meat, and the entire army was allowed to rest for three days and feast the soldiers.

Anyone who participated in the decisive battle of Kanmon and major battles in Kyushu will be given priority in allocating unowned land (the estates of former samurai and rebels will be confiscated) in the territory of the soon-to-be-established Japanese province based on his military merits such as beheading and being the first to land, as a permanent inheritance and will be exempt from tax for five years!

As soon as this article came out, the soldiers outside the tent who heard the news cheered loudly and their morale was high!

The tone of the last part of the imperial edict suddenly turned stern:

"…The Japanese rebels are at their last gasp, but their embers are still burning. I order Zheng Zhilong, Marquis of Jinghai, to be the governor-general of all the military operations against the Japanese, and concurrently the provincial commissioner for preparations. Suppress the remaining bandits, and clear out their holes! Abolish the feudal domains and establish counties, and put an end to future troubles! Within one year, we must accomplish our mission in one battle, achieve unprecedented achievements, and lay the foundation for eternity! I decree this!"

As soon as the angel finished his announcement, the people in the tent shouted "Long live the emperor" so loudly that the roof tiles shook.

(End of this chapter)