The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 356 Fighting for Acting Skills
Wanli was deploying troops in the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was also planning his strategy at Nagoya Castle in northern Kyushu, Japan.

Their eyes were all set on the small city of Yizhou in the northwest corner of the vassal state of Korea.

This was their first real confrontation.

What they compete with is not their strength, but their acting skills!

So, who has better acting skills?
Let’s look at the Battle of Yizhou.

Yizhou City is a small city with a width of only two miles on one side of its city wall, and the area of ​​the city is only more than one thousand acres.

However, at this moment, the area around Yizhou City was dug by the Ming army like a spider web, with dense trenches covering an area of ​​more than ten miles.

Early in the morning at about noon that day, on the hilltop south of Yizhou City, General Konishi Yukinaga, the commander-in-chief of the First Japanese Army, stood on the top of the mountain. Looking at the trenches that were densely packed like the Bagua formation, he couldn't help but frown.

He had received secret information that the Ming army could not mobilize many troops to garrison Yizhou City at the moment. At the beginning, the Ming army only sent two thousand troops, and later it seemed that a few more were added, but not many.

There are only three to four thousand Ming troops in Yizhou City now.

He had more than 18,000 men under his command, and there were another 40,000 to 50,000 troops hidden in the mountains on the east, south and west sides of Yizhou City.

If we just talk about military strength, they can easily take Yizhou City.

The question is, how to break this trench that looks like the Bagua formation?
He had never encountered this kind of defensive tactics before.

He had seen trenches before, but no one was so bored as to dig trenches everywhere within a radius of more than ten miles.

This is extremely disadvantageous for the army to attack the city. Even if siege equipment is built, it cannot be pushed over, and it is inconvenient to carry ladders over.

Generally, when they encountered a trench for defense, they would fill it up before attacking the city.

The problem is that the trenches are too dense. If the Ming army lies in the trenches and shoots arrows or even attacks with muskets, they don't know how many men they will lose.

He couldn't just stand by and watch, because His Highness Taiko asked him to launch a fierce attack and force the Ming army in the city to ask for help.

There is no other way, I can only try it first.

A command flag was waved on the top of the mountain, and five thousand Japanese pirates immediately emerged from several valleys and formed into square formations.

Then a crazy howl sounded.

These 5,000 Japanese pirates just ignored everything and rushed into the spider web like moths to a flame.

On the south wall of Yizhou City, Luo Shangzhi couldn't help but frowned slightly when he saw the Japanese pirates' posture.

He was not afraid of these 5,000 Japanese pirates. If he used all the thunder bombs, kerosene cans and rockets at once, these 5,000 Japanese pirates could be defeated in less than half an hour.

The problem is that both His Majesty and General Zhendong have ordered him to hide his weakness first and not to fight too hard.

There was no other way, he could only order the arrows to be shot, just ordinary arrows.

A command flag was waved on the city wall, and the sound of arrows whizzing out of the spider-web-like trenches immediately rang out. Hundreds of arrows fell sparsely into the crowd of 5,000 Japanese pirates.

The lethality of this arrow was actually not that great. The quick-eyed and quick-handed Japanese pirates either raised their wooden shields to block it or chopped the arrow off with a knife. Less than a hundred people were actually hit by the arrow.

However, the Japanese pirates seemed to be very angry about being shot, and they immediately responded with a round of thousands of arrows, howling.

Naturally, their arrows could not hit people, and it was impossible for arrows to penetrate the earth wall.

The border soldiers in the trench fired back another sparse round of arrows.

The two sides fired at each other for about a quarter of an hour. Among the five thousand Japanese pirates, thousands were probably injured. However, they also rushed to the middle of the spider web.

At this time, the arrows in the trench in front seemed to have stopped.

It took them nearly two quarters of an hour to finally reach about a hundred steps from the city wall.

As a result, a fine rain of arrows came down from the city wall, with about a thousand arrows.

These 5,000 Japanese pirates were just exploring the route, but ended up with over a thousand of them wounded and dozens killed.

Seeing this, Konishi Yukinaga on the top of the mountain actually revealed a cruel smile.

It seems that this group of Ming troops are not equipped with any muskets or artillery. If this group of Ming troops still uses only cold weapons, he can beat them so hard that they cry for their parents.

As for arrows, it's very simple. Just cut down some trees and nail a few rows of tower shields on them.

He simply waved his hand, and the sound of a broken copper gong rang out. The Japanese pirates who rushed forward immediately ran back as if they were running for their lives.

The first round of confrontation between the Ming army and the Japanese pirates ended like this.

Obviously, Luo Shangzhi performed better.

Konishi Yukinaga thought that the Ming army in the city had few weapons and equipment.

This guy ordered people to build hundreds of tower shields and hundreds of ladders in preparation for attacking the city.

Tower shields and ladders are not complicated siege weapons. They are very simple to build and do not take much time.

At about noon on the third day, tens of thousands of Japanese pirates rushed out of the valley carrying tower shields and ladders, and began to form a battle array in front of the spider web.

The Japanese pirates' formation was very simple, with several neat rows of tower shields in the front, archers and arquebusiers in the middle, and rows of ladders in the back.

Luo Shangzhi raised his telescope and scanned the Japanese pirates' iron cannon array, and was shocked. There were at least a thousand iron cannons as thick as arms. Was this true?
These Japanese pirates' iron cannonmen are so strong that they can carry such thick iron cannons on their shoulders, and they keep carrying them. They don't even put them down to rest after setting up the formation!

He took a closer look and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It turns out that the cannons on these guys' shoulders are not a whole barrel, but a wooden handle plus a barrel.

And the wooden handle is obviously much longer than the barrel.

This kind of iron cannon is not a real artillery, but is similar to the old-fashioned three-barreled gun that they were originally equipped with, which is just a piece of cast iron gun barrel about a foot long. However, the caliber of the Japanese pirates' iron cannon is much larger than that of the three-barreled gun, and it only has one eye, so the cannonballs fired are probably as big as a fist.

However, based on the range of the three-barreled gun, this kind of iron cannon can only shoot two hundred steps at most, and it should not have much killing power beyond a hundred steps, and an iron shield can probably block it.

This is not a big problem, and he doesn't need to ask General Zhendong to send a musketeer team over.

Luo Shangzhi scanned the area carefully with a telescope for a while and found that the Japanese pirates had already begun their attack.

This time the Japanese pirates did not rush forward like crazy, howling. Instead, they advanced in orderly steps.

Luo Shangzhi thought for a moment, then said loudly: "Send the order. Order the soldiers in the trenches to retreat to the east and west sides. Order 500 men with iron shields to be dispatched from both the east and west walls. Order the 1,000 reserve troops in the city to prepare for support."

There were actually 5,000 border troops in Yizhou City at this time. The Japanese pirates launched an attack with tens of thousands of people at once, so he naturally had to mobilize two or three thousand troops to defend.

The Japanese pirates advanced slowly, and it took them about half an hour to reach about a hundred steps from the city wall.

At this time, the Japanese pirates stopped and arranged their tower shields neatly, and the artillerymen began to load ammunition.

Luo Shangzhi raised the telescope and took a closer look, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, the so-called iron cannon of the Japanese pirates was just a gun barrel, which was only about a foot deep and could not be filled with much gunpowder. It was just that the cannonball was a little thicker.

He watched carefully for a long time, until the Japanese pirates had loaded their ammunition and raised their cannons, ready to fire. Only then did he say loudly, "Raise the shield formation."

With a collective roar, densely packed iron shields immediately stood up like eaves, and the gaps between the arrow nests were also blocked.

With a loud "boom boom boom" sound, thousands of artillery shells as thick as fists rained down on the city wall.

Immediately afterwards, the Japanese pirates began to howl like crazy again.

The tower shields in the front row advanced rapidly, and the archers hid behind the tower shields and kept shooting at the city wall. The Japanese pirates carrying ladders followed closely behind and rushed towards the city wall.

On the city gate tower, Luo Shangzhi frowned as he watched all this, feeling a little conflicted.

These Japanese pirates must be looking for death. They are carrying a pile of wood to attack the city. If a hundred boxes of kerosene are dropped on them, they will be burned to death. If a hundred boxes of thunder bombs are added, the Japanese pirates will feel that they will be blown away and run back as if their butts are on fire.

The problem is, he can't do that. His Majesty and General Zhendong have both told him that he has to hide his weakness and not hit too hard.

He was frowning and thinking when the Japanese pirates had already set up ladders on the city wall.

If they don't throw some ignition oil cans, they will definitely not be able to hold on. There are tens of thousands of Japanese pirates rushing up, and there are only two or three thousand soldiers stationed on their city wall.

He quickly gave a clear order: "Prepare the kerosene. Throw some kerosene down each ladder, and then throw torches."

There was a crackling sound, and a strange smell suddenly filled the air.

Hundreds of torches were thrown down, and all the Japanese pirates' ladders were set on fire.

Those Japanese pirates who were in a hurry to climb up were all set on fire. It was so painful for them to be burned.

They jumped down from the ladder like dumplings, then lay on the ground and rolled around.

This was not enough, the fire could not be put out at all.

Fortunately, there was a trench not far away. Seeing this, the Japanese pirate officers leading the troops hurriedly ordered the Japanese pirates on fire to roll into the trench, leaving their heads exposed, and then ordered others to shovel dirt on them.

After all the hassle, they finally put out the fire on these people. However, thousands of Japanese pirates were burned with blisters all over their bodies and were grimacing in pain.

When Luo Shangzhi saw the reactions of these Japanese pirates, he couldn't help but be slightly surprised.

These Japanese pirates are really good, they have rich battlefield experience.

He was just worried that burning so many Japanese pirates to death would scare them away.

Fortunately, these guys have a simple way to put out the fire.

Now all the ladders have been burned by them. This round of Japanese pirates will definitely not be able to attack the city. It’s time to let them go.

He looked at the artillerymen who were loading ammunition and gave a decisive order: "Drop your shields and release your arrows."

With a loud bang, the shield formation dispersed, and thousands of archers stuck their heads out and shot fiercely at the ground below.

This one probably killed or injured hundreds of people.

Seeing this, the Japanese pirate officers and generals who led the troops quickly gave orders to form a shield formation and retreat.

Luo Shangzhi looked at the Japanese pirates fleeing in a panic and couldn't help but sigh.

What a pity. If he really wanted to fight to the death, he could have ordered his men to throw in a few hundred bottles of kerosene to burn the Japanese pirates' shield formation, and at least kill or injure a few thousand of them.

On a hilltop more than ten miles away, Konishi Yukinaga looked at the city walls filled with smoke and his men retreating quickly, and couldn't help but frowned slightly.

Kerosene can?
This is a bit troublesome. We need to grab some quilts, wet them, and carry them up to attack the city.

(End of this chapter)