Emperor Ming's grandson

Chapter 310 Planning
The alliance between Ashikaga Mitsukane and Ouchi Yoshihiro was undoubtedly a sharp dagger inserted into the heart of the Muromachi shogunate.

Kanto and Kansai are the two wings of Kyoto. If the two wings are broken, then what is the use of only Kyoto, even if it is the political center of Japan or the second largest plain?
After all, if Japan really wanted to compete with the Ming Dynasty, it had to gather the strength of the entire Japan, that is, to concentrate the manpower and material resources of most areas of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu controlled by the Northern Dynasty.

But now, the consequences of the Muromachi shogunate's use of strong measures against all local daimyo who might threaten its rule over the past few decades have become apparent.

If the Muromachi shogunate was strong and about to unify Japan and end the division between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, then everything would be easy to say, as the Muromachi shogunate was the representative of the "samurai".

But if chaos really breaks out and the shogunate is unable to take care of itself, then local forces that have been severely suppressed by the shogunate or are dissatisfied with the shogunate will come out to cause trouble.

Although Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was angry, he had to admit that the current situation was more difficult than he had expected. If the rebellion caused by Kanto could not be quelled quickly, the authority of the entire Muromachi shogunate would face unprecedented challenges.

Therefore, on the one hand, he stepped up correspondence and strictly guarded Kanto, and on the other hand, he began to consider more far-reaching strategies, that is, how to stabilize the foundation of the shogunate in this storm, and in turn, weaken or even eliminate those forces that posed a threat to him.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu thought very clearly that the main contradiction he was facing now was still the Southern Dynasty, which was supported by the Ming Dynasty.

As long as they can destroy the Southern Dynasty and drive the Ming army that landed on the Southern Dynasty's territory back to the sea, everything else will be easy for both Ashikaga Mitsukane and Ouchi Yoshihiro.

But the problem is that he seems to find it difficult to do this.

The Ming army's firearms were upgraded again, and it was a leapfrog upgrade. The firepower had become so powerful that he could not understand it at all.

At first, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu thought that the news from the front line was exaggerated. In fact, anyone would have this feeling, because five years ago, in the war to conquer Goryeo, the performance of the Ming army's firearms was only slightly stronger than before. The Goryeo army under Lee Seong-gye and the main force of the Ming army's northern border army fought several major battles head-on.

Although the final result was that the Goryeo army was defeated, it does not mean that the Goryeo army did not cause casualties to the Ming army.

At that time, based on this war, the Muromachi shogunate judged that the Ming army was the main force of the Ming army. Even without the support of firearms, its combat effectiveness was indeed higher than that of Lee Seong-gye's 60,000-man "Heungui Army". However, it was still within the scope of human understanding. After all, Lee Seong-gye's army had experienced hundreds of battles, and the Ming army's northern border army had experienced countless big and fierce battles.

Today, five years later, the combat effectiveness of the Ming army, equipped with firearms, is completely incomprehensible.

It was like heavenly soldiers and generals descending to earth.

On the flat battlefield, as long as the Ming army's musketeers formed a square formation, the firing would seem to be continuous. Not only did the range far exceed that of bows and arrows, but the power was also enough to penetrate the armor equipped by the warriors and then smash their bodies to pieces.

In a head-on battle, only a large cowhide shield covered with a wet quilt could barely hold out for a while.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent people to investigate many times, and finally had to believe the result, that is, the Ming army was truly invincible in field battles. Five thousand musketeers with artillery in formation could confront the shogunate army, which was several times larger in number.

Therefore, we can only start from defense.

But how could Japan have so many cows? If they were skinned, wouldn't they be used to plow the fields? There was not much cotton either, and all the quilts were imported from the Ming Dynasty. During this period, the shogunate vigorously collected these things within its control, and the grassroots officials took the opportunity to levy heavy taxes, making the people's lives miserable.

In addition to the shogunate's poor financial system, it can currently only rely on the savings accumulated from paying off debts through trade in the past five years to continue the war. If it continues to fight, it will probably be difficult to sustain.

After all, it is now quite difficult to transport tributes from other parts of Japan, and in some places it has even been cut off. The economic lifeline of the shogunate is constantly decreasing. The area in the central part of Honshu Island controlled by the shogunate alone cannot sustain a national war-level war for a long time. Of course, the main reason is the unrest in Kanto.

The unrest in Kanto can be said to have dealt a direct and severe stab to the Muromachi shogunate in the back.

Kanto was Japan's largest grain-producing area and largest source of military personnel at that time. This base camp was the place where the Ashikaga clan started out and also their retreat.

It was precisely because of Kanto's continuous supply of troops and food over the years that the Muromachi shogunate was able to come close to completing the feat of ending the Northern and Southern Dynasties division and unifying Japan.

The chaos in Kanto brought extremely bad effects to the Muromachi shogunate, which had some confidence in resisting the interference of the Ming Dynasty.

First of all, militarily, the Muromachi shogunate was not only unable to withdraw troops from Kanto, but had to strengthen the military forces in the Kanto direction to quell the rebellion; secondly, economically, the big blood bag in Kanto could no longer provide blood transfusions to the Muromachi shogunate in Kyoto, and the Muromachi shogunate no longer had the financial capacity to fight a protracted war; finally, politically, the unrest in Kanto aroused the ambitions of those shugo daimyo in Kansai and even Kyushu and Shikoku who were ready to make moves, making the situation in Japan as a whole more chaotic and complicated. The Muromachi shogunate was about to lose its ruling authority as the center of the Northern Dynasty.

Therefore, the current Muromachi shogunate cannot be seen as a regime that rules over a population of nearly 10 million and has a stable source of troops and food supply system, but rather a force that controls the central part of Honshu Island. After all, with the arrival of the Ming army's subsequent fleet, the Muromachi shogunate has completely lost its control of the sea. Even if the manpower and material resources of Kyushu and Shikoku can be transported to Honshu Island through fishing boats and other small boats, large-scale mobilization of manpower and material resources is impossible. In addition, now that Kanto and Kansai have risen up to fight against the shogunate, the Muromachi shogunate cannot even fully mobilize the resources of Honshu Island.

It was precisely because it was unable to fight a long battle that the Muromachi shogunate changed its strategy and had to fight a decisive battle in the southern part of Kyoto. At least Ashikaga Yoshimitsu did not believe that the Ming army was truly invincible. Several times the number of troops was not enough, what about more than ten times?

You have to know that the Muromachi shogunate's troops on the front line were not their entire strength.

Considering the size of the Southern Dynasty and the logistical pressure brought by the terrain of the Nara Basin and the Yoshino Mountains, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu only sent a part of his army.

Moreover, this part of the army performed quite well in the battle against the Southern Court. In the Battle of Kofuku-ji, it dealt a heavy blow to the coalition forces of the Southern Court and the temple, and captured the northern part of Yamato. At the same time, in the subsequent Battle of Takatori Castle, it destroyed the defense line of the Southern Court army and approached Yoshino Castle, greatly weakening the Southern Court's manpower. Now the Southern Court army has only a little over 10,000 people, and can no longer serve as the main force to pose a threat to the shogunate.

Moreover, in the two battles with the Ming army, the shogunate army was defeated rather than annihilated, and its morale dropped, but the losses in personnel, equipment, and baggage were very small. Overall, it still had the ability to fight. In addition, the Muromachi shogunate's army in Kyoto still had an absolute advantage in terms of manpower.

Of course, this advantage quickly disappears over time.

The Ming army troops that have arrived now are all deployed in Jeju Island and Busan Port, which are the places closest to Japan. There are squadrons in the local area that can load and ship, but the disadvantage is that there are not many of them. Although the main force needs geometric multiples of material supplies, it will not take too long. You know, the Ming Dynasty, whether in Shandong or Jiangnan, is not far from Japan.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was not sure how many troops of the Ming army were equipped with advanced firearms. If all the main forces had them, the subsequent battles would be impossible to fight. For every musketeer transported by the Ming army to the port of Kii Province, the shogunate would need to send out ten foot soldiers to offset the shortage.

Therefore, the combat power comparison between the two sides will soon become unbalanced.

The Muromachi shogunate's chance was to find a way to deal with the Ming army's firearms and engage in a decisive battle before the balance of battle power became unbalanced. Well, Japan learned this word from Chinese, called "kassen", and this word has existed in China's Qin and Han dynasties and even earlier periods. For example, in "Records of the Grand Historian: Biography of General Li", "Li Guang was moved to be the governor of Shanggu, and fought against the Huns every day", and in "The Records of the Three Kingdoms: Biography of Sun Po'lu's Rebellion", "Jian and Fu gathered their troops and fought in Yangren, defeating Zhuo's army and beheading its governor Hua Xiong and others".

In short, after Ashikaga Yoshimitsu gathered everyone's strength, he also ordered people to prepare secret weapons against firearms and made up his mind to fight a big battle.

At the same time, Ouchi Yoshihiro's actions in Kansai were not all smooth sailing. Although his dissatisfaction with the Muromachi shogunate had long been expressed, rebellion was, after all, a major event concerning the fate of his family and even the entire territory. He had to act with caution, so he contacted those daimyo who were dissatisfied with the high-pressure policies of the Muromachi shogunate, trying to build a huge anti-shogunate alliance. However, many daimyo in Kansai did not dare to act rashly because they had not seen the collapse of the shogunate's rule. After all, the Muromachi shogunate had been invincible in the past few decades, and all opponents had been dealt with. This stereotype always made them hesitate.

When Imagawa Ryotoshi learned that Ouchi Yoshihiro had started a rebellion, received a secret letter, and learned about the situation in Kansai, he was somewhat hesitant. He wanted to maintain the glory of the samurai family, but he didn't want to be used as a pawn by anyone. In addition, the resources obtained from Kanto were indeed insufficient, so for a while, he was in a stalemate with Ashikaga Mitsukane.

In this intricate political game, every participant was planning for his own interests. Ashikaga Mitsukane wanted to take this opportunity to break away from the control of the Muromachi shogunate and replace Ashikaga Yoshimitsu as the actual ruler of Japan; Ouchi Yoshihiro hoped to improve his status through this rebellion and even split off Kansai; and Imagawa Ryotoshi was more concerned about how to maintain the dignity of the samurai.

However, no matter how different their goals were, they had one thing in common - they all knew that the impending war would completely change Japan's political landscape, and after this storm, both the winner and the loser would face a whole new era.

The most critical and important thing at the moment is the battle between the Muromachi shogunate army and the Ming army.

Soon, after completing his preparations, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu personally led all the troops in Kyoto as well as Hatakeyama Motokuni, Isshiki Mitsunori and others out in full force.

Before leaving, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and his entourage rode slowly on horseback through the streets of Kyoto. The sound of horse hooves echoed on the cobblestone roads, sounding particularly heavy. Their shadows were stretched out in the afterglow of the setting sun.

After marching all the way and arriving at the military camp, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu saw that Hosokawa Mitsurumoto and Akamatsu Yoshinori had reorganized the army. Although the morale was not as high as before, it was still a considerable fighting force.

Yoshimasa Sasaki also barely supported his sick body and came to greet them.

But what made Ashikaga Yoshimitsu somewhat unhappy was that the eyes of these frontline generals revealed their uneasiness about the upcoming decisive battle, as if they were bound to lose.

"General, you are finally here."

Hosokawa Mitsuru stepped forward, his voice containing a hint of urgency.

"Go in and talk."

After entering the military tent, Hosokawa Mitsurumoto couldn't help but ask before he even sat down: "General, how should we deal with the Ming army's firearms? There is a net of fire, and we can't get close at all."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu pondered for a moment, and glanced at each general present: "I understand your concerns. I have ordered people to prepare secret weapons, and I hope they can be used on the battlefield."

Sure enough, they stood up and turned around to see the craftsmen outside the tent carefully carrying some strangely shaped objects covered with cloth, which looked quite mysterious.

"This is our hope, a device that can resist the Ming army's firearms. Although it has not been tested in actual combat, we must give it a try."

As night fell, a bonfire was lit in the barracks, and everyone except the soldiers on night duty began to rest.

The generals in the military tent continued to discuss the battle plan.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu inquired in detail about the terrain of the front line and the deployment of the Ming army, and gradually formed a vague tactical outline in his mind.

"Don't be afraid of the decisive battle."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's voice sounded particularly steady in the night.

"We have enough troops. No matter how powerful the Ming army's firearms are, they can't really be strong enough to defeat ten with one. Moreover, our secret weapons will also play a role at the critical moment."

The generals nodded one after another, they knew the importance of this decisive battle.

"But, General," Akamatsu Yoshinori frowned and raised his doubts, "Even if we have secret weapons, we have seen the power of the Ming army's firearms before. In addition, the Ming army has not only muskets, but also artillery. If they concentrate their firepower to attack our army, I'm afraid..."

"Your concerns are not without reason." Ashikaga Yoshimitsu nodded.

"But we can't retreat because of this. We can use the terrain in the south of the basin to deploy an arc line with our troop advantage to disperse their firepower instead of rushing forward one after another. This way, we can prevent the Ming army's firearms advantage from being fully utilized." Hosokawa Mitsuru added: "We can use wet quilts and cowhide shields to advance in front, while our cavalry can hide on the flanks and wait for the opportunity to launch a surprise attack."

"That's exactly what I wanted to say."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu looked at Hosokawa approvingly and said, "The cavalry's advance is definitely useful. The war between the Ming army and the Goryeo army five years ago proved this point."

Goryeo was a horse-breeding land during the Yuan Dynasty. Its geographical and climatic conditions were very suitable for horse breeding, so there were many high-quality war horses. The cavalry was larger and better than Japan's. However, this does not mean that Japan did not have cavalry. On the contrary, Japanese samurai, as long as they had a rich family background, were very keen on training their riding skills. At that time, Japanese samurai had an unusual persistence and love for the skill of "riding and shooting".

This is not difficult to understand. In this era, warriors who can "ride and shoot" are definitely top combat forces. It is easy for them to bully slow-moving light-armored infantry. Modern people who have played "Mount and Blade" should be able to understand the experience of one person riding and shooting, turning around and escaping a group of infantry.

Therefore, the shogunate army that went on this expedition also concentrated a considerable number of cavalry, as many as several thousand.

Well, in Japan, there are a lot of cavalry of this size.

In addition, many of them were well-trained warriors and generally possessed the skills of "riding and shooting". It was natural that they were considered a powerful force to counter the Ming army's firearms units in such a high-level pre-war meeting.

In theory, cavalry, even lightly armored archers, can be effective against musket troops. Even if they cannot charge directly into the battle formation, harassing from the side and dispersing the firepower of the musket troops is also very useful.

Unfortunately, the Shogunate army now finds it difficult to understand through imagination and deduction how the Ming army's hollow square formation can deal with large-scale cavalry.

"General, should we consider sending the troops from Shikoku Island to conduct a small-scale landing from the flank of the Southern Dynasty?" Isshiki Mitsunori proposed a new idea. "Although they are weak, if they can contain the Ming army from behind, it may relieve some of the pressure on us."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu pondered for a moment and shook his head. "Their forces are too weak to pose a real threat to the Ming army. Moreover, the Ming army's fleet is increasing. It is even questionable whether they can cross the sea. Rather than letting them die in vain, it is better to let them go north to transport manpower and material resources to Honshu Island at night, and then go by land to support the front line."

Shikoku Island is the smallest of the three major islands in Japan and its land is relatively barren, so there is not much that can contribute to this war. In addition, the whole of Japan is in a state of panic. If these daimyos on Shikoku Island are forced to take their people to die, they will really rebel.

Therefore, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's arrangement made quite sense.

"So, General, should we consider retreating and conserving our strength until the time is right?"

Yoshimasa Sasaki asked in a weak voice.

"Retreat?" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's eyes became fierce, "Are you scared of being beaten? Where is the dignity of a samurai?"

"Once we retreat, it means giving up Kyoto and the entire central Honshu Island. Now that Kanto is in chaos, where else can we go? Can we escape for a while, can we escape forever? Are you willing to bear such a result? The authority of the shogunate will be gone, and daimyos from all over the country will rise up and establish their own regimes, and Japan will fall into endless wars!"

The generals remained silent, for they all knew that what Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said was true.

Retreat would mean admitting defeat and the end of the shogunate.

"We have no other choice but to fight to the end." Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was extremely determined. "This battle is not only for the shogunate, but also for the future of Japan. We want to let the Ming army know that the swords of Japanese samurai cannot be defeated so easily by firearms."

The generals nodded one after another, they were infected by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's determination.

They must go all out in this battle.

At the same time, the Ming army, which had been stockpiling troops and supplies in the south of the Nara Basin for quite a long time, was basically ready to continue to launch large-scale attacks. Prior to this, the Ming army had tried to search and attack places further north, including the ruins of Kofuku-ji Temple, in accordance with Li Jinglong's orders. However, because the shogunate army had stabilized its position and established a relatively solid camp, the Ming army's ammunition and other logistical supplies could not keep up for a while, so after several attempts, they withdrew to the defense line centered on Takatori Castle and confronted the shogunate army. As for confrontation, the Ming army is not afraid. The longer the time drags on, the greater the advantage of the Ming army.

After such a long time, the Ming army that landed in Kii Province and entered Yoshino County in the southern part of Yamato Province had reached more than 20,000 people.

Please note that this is not just 20,000 people, but a 20,000-strong firepower corps equipped with a full set of artillery, muskets, and enough ammunition and other supplies to fight a major battle, and is also equipped with corresponding cavalry units.

If they were just transporting people, without the need to transport heavy artillery and delicate horses, then 100,000 people might be an exaggeration. However, according to the Ming army's transportation capacity, there would definitely be no problem transporting 50,000 or 60,000 people at full speed.

Together with the more than 6,000 to less than 7,000 troops that had arrived from Jeju Island and Busan Port before, the Ming army deployed in Japan at this time already had nearly 30,000 combat soldiers. Together with the more than 40,000 auxiliary troops and conscripted civilians, and the remaining troops of the Southern Dynasty, it was no problem to report a fictitious number of 100,000. Of course, the real fighting on the battlefield would consist of nearly 30,000 Ming troops plus more than 10,000 Southern Dynasty troops, totaling 40,000 combat soldiers.

These newly arrived Ming troops underwent training in Yoshino County in southern Yamato Province. Their main purpose was to relieve the health effects of bumpy roads, acclimatization, and diseases on the soldiers through rest, as well as to familiarize themselves with Japan's terrain and coordinate communication with the Southern Dynasty.

With the support of the Southern Dynasty, many things would be much easier to handle than for the Ming Dynasty to find a place to land and start a war. After all, the Southern Dynasty was also one of the orthodox forces in Japan, and had many years of ruling foundation in the southern part of Yamato and Kii, which could help solve many material and other problems.

If all the goods had to be shipped from Ming Dynasty by sea over long distances, it would put great financial pressure on Ming Dynasty and would also affect the transportation of major military supplies.

However, compared with the equipment of the land forces, the equipment of the navy is still somewhat backward, and the technology of steam ships is not mature enough. Therefore, the navy does not have the rapid development of technical equipment like the land forces, and has not progressed to the level of ironclad ships driven by steam turbines in the late Qing Dynasty in the history of the modern world. Steam engines are still auxiliary, and the main power is still sails.

Therefore, even if the scale has increased several times, it is still not enough to transport an army of 100,000 people and their supporting equipment quickly across the sea in a short period of time.

The commander-in-chief, Duke of Cao Li Wenzhong, and the main force of the Ming army were still on the way, while the Ming army that had already landed in Japan had been waiting. Objectively speaking, they also intended to concentrate their superior forces and technical weapons to achieve success in one battle.

By the time the Ming army that came across the sea reached a size of more than 100,000 people, and a full set of artillery, muskets and ammunition were fully prepared, they would be able to completely defeat the Japanese army.

The Muromachi shogunate and the Kamakura kubō, even if they were tied together, would not be a match for the Ming army whose firepower had been upgraded to a terrifying level.

But the Muromachi shogunate is not stupid. They will not wait for you to transport the remaining 70,000 people here.

Therefore, the shogunate's army of more than 100,000 came in full force.

The assembly and movement of an army of this scale could not be concealed, and the Ming army soon learned the news.

Obviously, the Muromachi shogunate wanted to launch a decisive battle before the power balance between the two sides reached an irreversible point.

Now the coalition forces composed of the Ming army and the Southern Dynasty army only have one choice left.

Whether to fight a head-on battle with the Muromachi shogunate army, or to hold on to the Takatori Castle defense line that had not been so thoroughly repaired, the process of the battle would be the same as the last time.

To this end, Crown Prince Zhu Xiongying summoned generals including Chang Mao, Mei Yin, Ping An, Sheng Yong, Zhang Yu, and Li Jinglong to hold a pre-war meeting.

"Everyone, the Muromachi shogunate has come out in full force, intending to fight a decisive battle with our army. How should we respond? Tell us what you think."

Zhu Xiongying is now the crown prince, and he has military merits in the conquests of Annan and Goryeo. To be honest, even if there is some suspicion of gilding, he has personally experienced the war after all, and his performance is also remarkable. If he is put at the top among the crown princes in all dynasties, it can be said that he can be ranked at the top. There is no point in ranking him like this, because most of the crown princes have never fought in a war.

But no matter what, on the one hand, he has bloodline and current status as the crown prince, and on the other hand, he is not the kind of person who commands troops blindly. The generals here all have various relationships with him and are not outsiders.

Therefore, all the generals believed in his prestige.

Even if Duke Zheng Chang Mao is here, the position of temporary head coach will still belong to Zhu Xiongying.

Chang Mao raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, and his rough voice resounded throughout the tent: "Your Highness, the power of our army's firearms is enough to shock the world. Although the shogunate's army is large, it is just a mob. Why should we be afraid? We should meet them head-on with a force as powerful as thunder and lightning, and flatten the shogunate in one fell swoop!"

This is in line with Chang Mao's temperament, but after all, one cannot just rush into a war, one still has to take the necessary considerations into account.

Mei Yin seemed more cautious. He stroked the geomancy map with many markings on the table and said slowly, "Your Highness, although the shogunate army is not to be feared, we must also act with caution. Although the defense line of Takatori Castle is still a little weak after repair, it is better than nothing. If our army can rely on this defense line to wait for the shogunate army to tire out, consume the shogunate army's spirit, and wait for the main force to arrive before the decisive battle, wouldn't the chance of winning be greater?"

Ping An is also a warrior. He and Mei Yin have been partners in the vanguard of the shogunate army for many years, but he has a different opinion at this time. He does not lose his sharpness: "What you said makes sense, but we also need to consider that the shogunate army has come out in full force this time, and they must be determined to fight to the death. If our army just defends, it may dampen morale and lose the initiative. I think it is best to use part of the troops to defend Gaoqu Castle as a retreat, and the main force will look for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the shogunate army."

Ping An's words were obviously meant to save face for the Southern Dynasty's army. In fact, what he meant was that he did not intend to bring the Southern Dynasty's army into the decisive battle and let them guard the retreat.

Sheng Yong nodded in agreement and added, "General Ping An is right. The power of our army's firearms needs to be demonstrated on the battlefield. If we only defend, how can the advantages of firearms be fully demonstrated? Although there is a saying that 'you should think about defeat before thinking about victory', we should focus on decisive battles and use defense as a supplement to determine the outcome in one fell swoop."

Zhang Yu was the lowest-ranking military officer here. In addition, he was a surrendered soldier and had kept a low profile over the years, so he did not interrupt at this time.

Li Jinglong seemed a little hesitant. Although his father was the commander-in-chief, Li Wenzhong, Duke of Cao, he was not the commander-in-chief after all. So since he knew the importance of this battle, he was worried about possible accidents and hoped to wait for Li Wenzhong to lead the main force to arrive before the decisive battle.

Seeing that Li Jinglong expressed the same opinion as Mei Yin, everyone else fell silent. Zhu Xiongying already had something in mind.

Zhu Xiongying, wearing a helmet and armor, stood up quickly and looked at the generals in the tent with a firm gaze.

"Everything you said makes sense."

"Of course, in this battle, our army must not only win, but also win beautifully."

"Therefore, we have decided to use part of our forces to defend the defense line of Takatori Castle, while the main force will seek an opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the shogunate army! In this battle, we will let Japan know what it means for the Ming army to win forever!"

This was the final word. Zhu Xiongying's prestige gradually increased. In addition, he was on the side of the majority vote, so he was not acting recklessly. The generals who had sufficient confidence in firearms were reluctant to speak out against it at this time.

"Your Highness is mighty!"

The generals in the tent stood up and responded in unison.

(End of this chapter)