The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 370: The Zhejiang Party Submits a Memorial to Suppress Pirates

In mid-September, the vassal state of Korea was already experiencing the chill of autumn.

In the mountains and forests outside Jeolla Province, the maple leaves all over the mountains have turned red, as if foreshadowing that a bloody battle is about to break out.

Early in the morning at about noon that day, two groups of people gathered densely in a valley over ten miles wide on the north side of Lishan Mountain.

To the north of the valley are the First to Fourth Legions of the Japanese pirates.

They had a total of 50,000 to 60,000 troops, but they almost filled the valley which was more than ten miles wide.

To the south of the valley are the six major camps of the vassal state of Korea, namely Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen and Si.

They had a total of 75,000 troops, and the valley over ten miles wide was densely packed with them.

In front of the formation, under the Li flag, the Korean general Yi Sun-sin was looking at the Japanese pirate camp opposite with a telescope, and a hint of worry appeared on his face.

Wanli asked him to pay attention to guarding the main road leading into Jeolla Province, which was the widest road leading into Jeolla Province.

This valley leads directly to Gongju, a provincial capital in Chungcheong Province, and its narrowest part is several miles long, so any large army of Japanese pirates could pass through.

To the south of the valley is the largest plain in Jeolla Province. If the Japanese pirates break in, the consequences will be unimaginable.

The Japanese pirates seemed to know this, so the First to Fourth Corps transferred from Yizhou all ran into this valley.

This group of Japanese pirates wanted to break through from here and advance into the heart of Jeolla Province.

Fortunately, they had dug a trench over ten miles long in the valley in advance, blocking the road heading south.

Now I don’t know whether this trench of more than ten miles can stop the 50,000 or 60,000 Japanese pirates.

If you can't stop it, you can only fight hard.

Li Shunchen looked at the rows of figures lying in the trench again, and a hint of hope appeared on his face.

These military candidates of the Ming Dynasty are really brave. The 2,500 military candidates assigned to the six camps of Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen and Si are all scrambling to guard the trenches!
Although he has assigned ten young and strong men to each of his men, the total number of their troops is less than 30,000. Can they withstand 50,000 to 60,000 Japanese pirates?
If all these two thousand martial arts candidates were killed in battle, how would they explain to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?

He didn't want these martial arts candidates to guard the trenches. They were vying for the position, and he had no choice but to stop them.

Because the Ming Dynasty's military examination still counted as military merit for killing the enemy, if he didn't allow these military candidates to take the examination, they wouldn't be able to kill the enemy and gain merit.

At this time, the generals of the four opposing Japanese pirate legions had gathered in front of the formation.

General Konishi Yukinaga, the commander-in-chief of the First Army, got a headache when he saw the dense trenches.

He had experienced this outside Yizhou City.

Filling these trenches would require at least thousands of casualties.

Seeing Konishi Yukinaga frowning and silent as he stared at the trench, General Kato Kiyomasa, the Second Corps' commander-in-chief, couldn't help but ask casually, "What's the matter, Yakuro? Are you afraid of filling the trench in Yizhou Castle? How about I take over this time?"

You reckless man.

Kato Kiyomasa's nickname is Tiger Kato, which means he is very fierce and reckless.

However, their relationship is as close as brothers, and their fiefdoms are together.

Konishi Yukinaga winked secretly, then shook his head slightly and said, "Toranosuke, my men have suffered heavy casualties. This time, the main attack depends on you. Don't go to the early stage of the trenches, such as filling the trenches to open the way. Once the trenches are filled, you will lead the troops first."

Then he said to the generals of the Third Army, Kuroda Nagamasa, and Shimazu Yoshihiro, the generals of the Fourth Army, "Who of you will fill the trenches, and who will follow Toranosuke and charge?"

Neither of these seems to be a good job.

They knew that thousands of people were killed and injured when Konishi Yukinaga filled the trenches, and it seemed quite dangerous to rush in with the reckless Kato Kiyomasa.

Upon hearing this, Kuroda Nagamasa frowned and fell into deep thought.

Upon hearing this, Shimazu Yoshihiro quickly said, "I'll go fill the trench."

Kato Kiyomasa was too reckless, and he didn't want to rush in with him. Although filling the trenches would result in some losses, it was better than being wiped out by accident.

Upon hearing this, Konishi Yukinaga nodded slightly and said, "Okay, then go and prepare. Be careful, they might have some kerosene cans sent by the Ming army, which are difficult to extinguish once they burn. You'll need to prepare some extra wet blankets."

I'm afraid your brain must have been burned by the kerosene poured by the Ming army.

What's so scary about that thing?

Shimazu Yoshihiro returned to his own formation to make some preparations, then waved his command flag and ordered his nearly 15,000 men to line up in a row about a hundred steps in front of the trench and push forward in an orderly manner.

This guy really doesn't take the Ming army's kerosene seriously. He will probably suffer a great loss.

Seeing this, Konishi Yukinaga said nothing.

Shimazu Yoshihiro was a surrendered daimyo and was not in the same group with them, so he didn't bother to care about him.

The Japanese pirates began to advance!

This formation is so terrifying.

The young men in the trench couldn't help but show a trace of fear, and Li Shunchen behind the trench couldn't help but have a solemn look on his face.

Those Ming Dynasty military examination candidates calmly took off the strong bows from their backs, drew out the sharp arrows, put them on the strings, and slowly pulled them apart.

Soon, the Japanese pirates' phalanx was only a hundred steps away from the trench.

At this time, several scattered rows of people suddenly stood up in the trench and started shooting at them.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh", the sound of breaking through the air was heard, and "puff puff puff", a row of Japanese pirates fell down immediately in front of the formation.

What happened? Why did he fall down without even a sound?

The Japanese pirates nearby looked down, their faces filled with horror, and shot an arrow to the throat!
They knew that there was a high probability that kerosene would be thrown into the trench, so they did not prepare any heavy tower shields at all, and they did not even bring many round wooden shields.

Because that thing is easy to catch fire. It will be like holding a fireball in your hand. Why carry that thing?

As for arrows, many Japanese pirates are confident that they can split them.

Who knew that this time the arrows would whiz right in front of them, leaving them no time to react. It was obvious that there were quite a few sharpshooters in the trench, and these sharpshooters weren't using ordinary longbows, but powerful bows weighing more than a stone!

Otherwise, it would be impossible to hit the target with one sword from a hundred steps away.

Arrows shot from an ordinary longbow can be caught by hand from a hundred steps away.

Not many people in Japan can fully draw this powerful stone bow, and there are even fewer archers who can hit the target from a hundred paces away.

Where did the vassal state of Korea get so many archers?

They were stunned, and the situation in the trench in front of them was like a game of whack-a-mole, with a few sparse rows of heads popping up from time to time.

The sound of the sharp arrows breaking through the air was "whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh", and every time a row of people fell down, covering their necks.

In fact, not all the military candidates in the Ming Dynasty were archers.

The key point is that the Japanese pirates were like targets when they advanced slowly in such a neat formation.

Moreover, they don't have to ride horses. It's no different from shooting at a target while standing. It's too easy for them to kill the target with one arrow.

If you can't even hit the target, then there's no need to take part in the military examination, as you will definitely miss the target with horseback archery.

Shimazu Yoshihiro was stunned when he saw this.

What's going on up front?

How could he knock down so many people without even making a sound?

Could it be that all of them were killed with one arrow?
Isn't this too scary?
He almost wanted to withdraw.

The problem is, he ran back before even getting close to the trench. How embarrassing.

As he was hesitating, a sharp arrow suddenly flew straight towards his throat.

Damn it!

What kind of archery is this?
Fortunately, his reaction was faster than that of ordinary soldiers, and he was wearing armor.

He quickly raised his hand to block it.

With a "puff" sound, the sharp arrow pierced through his arm guard and the arrowhead almost pierced his nose.

Damn it!

What material is this arrow made of? Why is it so sharp?

No, we have to retreat quickly.

There are countless archers in the trench ahead, and they are being used as targets.

He howled while enduring the severe pain, "Quickly retreat, quickly retreat."

After saying this, he turned his horse around and galloped back.

The Japanese pirates behind him also turned around and ran away.

At this time, all the martial arts candidates in the trench jumped up and jumped onto the half-man-high earthen wall and shot wildly.

When Shimazu Yoshihiro returned and counted the number of people, he couldn't help but gasp.

In just a short while, five or six thousand of his men were killed!

Moreover, they were basically killed with one arrow, and few of them escaped with injuries.

Now he has less than 10,000 men under his command.

It was really terrifying that the martial arts candidates hid in the trenches and shot arrows from behind. All nine legions of the Japanese pirates were hit. Five thousand martial arts candidates defeated more than ten thousand Japanese pirates in one go!

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi received the news, he felt very disappointed.

Could it be that he really couldn't even deal with the more than 100,000 remnant soldiers and rebel forces of his vassal state, Korea?
No, we must win this battle, no matter how many troops we send in!

Also, those archers are obviously the elite of the Ming army. He can't just suffer this loss in silence. It's time for the people from the Ming court to take action.

Otherwise, if the Ming Dynasty had sent reinforcements of elite archers, and transported food, supplies, and even weapons and equipment, he might not have been able to destroy the remnants and rebel forces of his vassal state, Korea.

When Wanli received the news, he was naturally extremely excited.

The military candidates of the Ming Dynasty are indeed different from those in the past. Those who have passed the examination based on their real abilities are different. Their riding and archery skills must have reached a certain level. If they can shoot while standing still, they are almost like archers.

So many archers are really terrifying. Let's see what Toyotomi Hideyoshi will do now.

What would Toyotomi Hideyoshi do?

Early in the morning at about noon, Wanli had just arrived at the imperial study and was about to review the memorials when the chief minister of the cabinet, Shen Li, came in personally holding a pile of memorials.

After the king and his ministers exchanged greetings, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's going on? Are they fighting again?"

Shen Li shook his head repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, no, these are all petitions to suppress the pirates."

Oh, to suppress pirates?
I almost forgot about it.

After Wanli read the memorial carefully, he couldn't help but sneer.

This made the Zhejiang Party officials unable to sit still and wanted to help the Japanese pirates disperse their troops or transfer their navy ships so that they could not deliver reinforcements to their vassal state, Korea.

pirate?

Where did these pirates come from!

You want to see a show, right?
Then I will perform a show for you.

(End of this chapter)