The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 443: The Japanese princes start fighting again

The Ming Dynasty suddenly took over Kyushu Island, and the situation in Japan changed drastically.

Although the various Japanese lords had not yet listened to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's call for a united attack on the outside world, they did not continue to fight.

If you still fight at this time, it seems like you have a problem with your brain.

If the Ming army suddenly attacked them while they were fighting, who could withstand it?

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was very active at this time.

Although the sudden capture of Kyushu Island by the Ming army was bad news, it was also an opportunity for him, an opportunity to turn things around.

His tenacity is truly amazing. He did not give up even in such desperate adversity.

Even though the various princes ignored him at first, he continued to send letters, calling on everyone to cease fighting and unite against foreign enemies.

His appeal seemed to have had some effect, at least the various princes stopped fighting.

Next, it seems that everyone is about to discuss a ceasefire.

At this time, a new issue of Japanese tabloid suddenly appeared.

It seems that the Ming Dynasty is still calling on the various princes in Japan not to misunderstand. The Ming Dynasty really only wants to take Kyushu Island as compensation, not to really go to war with Japan.

If it is just such a bland appeal, it seems that it will not be able to fool the various princes in Japan.

This issue of the Japanese tabloid also released an explosive news, that is, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty decided to release all prisoners as a show of sincerity.

Both Kyushu and Shikoku are released!

At this point, the various Japanese princes were a little confused again.

Will the Ming Dynasty really go to war with Japan?

If we really want to go to war with Japan, what's the point of releasing all the prisoners?

Those are not just a few prisoners, but two or three hundred thousand prisoners!

It seems that the Ming Dynasty only mobilized more than 300,000 troops to attack Kyushu Island this time.

If the 200,000 or 300,000 prisoners were released, could the Ming army continue to fight with its limited strength?
The various princes in Japan were really confused.

Just as they were confused, the ronin in the ronin camp suddenly started rushing into the city in the war area.

This is not very strange.

Because the city gates were closed during the fighting, many civilians in the city began to run out of supplies.

For example, the most common firewood.

It is impossible for the city to be full of trees, and even if it were, the fire would not last for several months.

Everyone had to make fire to cook, and the consumption of firewood was quite terrifying. When the city gates were closed for a long time, some families had to chop up their household items and even door panels to make fire to cook.

Everyone in the city is lacking something, and the wanderers outside the city naturally lack even more.

Originally, ronin were the most short of money, and not many of them went into the city to buy things.

However, this time many ronin seemed to have some money, and a lot of them went into the city to buy things.

Some ronin even have enough money to go to an izakaya to drink some alcohol or even stay in a hotel.

At this moment, many cities were overcrowded with people and vagrants were everywhere.

There was nothing we could do about the troops from various forces guarding the city. After every war, there were so many people entering and leaving the city that it was impossible to prevent people from entering and leaving.

They can still take care of civilians, but they generally don't dare to care about ronin, especially those ronin who come in groups. If you piss them off, they will chop you down.

The ceasefire has been declared, and they have barely managed to survive the enemy, but they don't want to be hacked to death by the ronin running around everywhere.

What's more, ronin are also human beings. They are not mentally ill or all fugitives. Most of them are just forced to wander around because of life. There is no need for them to risk being hacked to death and prevent them from entering the city.

In short, the ronin's entry into the city did not arouse the vigilance of the princes from all sides, and the city guards did not send anyone to keep an eye on these ronin.

As a result, at night, these ronin suddenly changed their appearance, put on the military uniforms of various forces, climbed up the city wall quietly under the cover of darkness, and hacked at the city defenders who were on duty at night.

At this moment, the fighting area that had originally died down was suddenly filled with swords and sabers, shouts and screams everywhere.

Many cities changed hands overnight.

Especially the small cities in Tokugawa Ieyasu's territory.

Tokugawa Ieyasu's business was too big, and he was fighting in all directions.

Moreover, because of the kerosene tanks, he did not have to deploy many garrisons in each city.

There are only a few thousand soldiers and horses in the big cities, and it is considered good if there are thousands of soldiers and horses stationed in the small cities.

This time, the ronin who came out of the ronin camp seemed to have specifically targeted the small cities in Tokugawa Ieyasu's territory, with at least two to three thousand ronin sneaking into each small city.

Tokugawa Ieyasu suffered heavy losses. Not only did he lose many cities, his defense line was in a mess, and more importantly, a lot of kerosene cans were also lost.

These cities were all hoisted with Toyotomi Hideyoshi's flags overnight!

Tokugawa Ieyasu was furious. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a man who liked to play dirty tricks, and he had done it before, taking advantage of a truce to launch a surprise attack.

It turns out that when Oda Nobunaga died, he fought with Toyotomi Hideyoshi for control of the Oda clan. He knew that this guy would launch a sneak attack, so he sent people to ambush him. As a result, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's sneak attack troops were surrounded and annihilated by him, and he won the battle.

This time he was careless. He really didn't expect that Toyotomi Hideyoshi would dare to launch a sneak attack under such circumstances.

The Ming Dynasty had already taken Kyushu Island, and he had taken the initiative to cease fire, but Toyotomi Hideyoshi actually launched a large-scale surprise attack!

Outrageous.

He was so angry that he immediately sent a letter, asking Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato to gather people and prepare to continue the fight.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a little confused when he received the news.

He didn't send anyone to launch a surprise attack and capture the city!
Why did so many of Tokugawa's cities suddenly raise their flags?
His army of 100,000 attacked for such a long time but failed to capture many cities of the Tokugawa clan.

Suddenly, so many cities of the Tokugawa clan were captured inexplicably!
He was a little confused when he received the news.

So, what's going on here?

Why did the ronin specifically target Tokugawa Ieyasu's castle?

The reason is actually very simple, because Tokugawa Ieyasu clearly had the advantage in this melee.

This guy relied on the kerosene to defend the city and fought recklessly everywhere. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's forces were almost unable to withstand the attack, and some small forces were even destroyed by Tokugawa Ieyasu's forces.

Therefore, Wanli meant that the first wave of surprise attack would first capture the cities on Tokugawa Ieyasu's side, and take as many as possible.

Of course, they didn't just do this one wave.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was still confused when a bunch of urgent reports came in.

The cities on their side were also attacked, and many of them were captured. The flags of the Tokugawa clan were also raised in those cities.

This time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was also angry.

He believed that this must be Tokugawa Ieyasu's revenge.

This guy also gathered his troops and prepared for war.

However, he still endured it and sent a letter to Tokugawa Ieyasu asking why he had to go to war at this critical juncture.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was so angry that Toyotomi Hideyoshi had the nerve to ask him why he wanted to start a war.

You bastards, you took advantage of the ceasefire to launch a sneak attack and then turned around and asked me why I started the war?
Tokugawa Ieyasu directly wrote back to scold Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

If you want to fight, just set up your formation and fight openly, don't use these shady tricks.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi naturally had to write back to explain that he had not sent anyone to launch a sneak attack.

As a result, the city in Tokugawa Ieyasu's territory was attacked again!
This time, the surprise attack was on the Musashi front line, which had already stopped fighting and started a standoff.

Several small cities in Musashi Province were captured, some of which were less than a hundred miles away from Edo Castle.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was furious and immediately sent a letter, asking Date Masamune, Gamo Ujisato and others to start the fight directly.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was so wronged.

He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't know why so many cities suddenly raised their flags.

This kind of thing is just too weird.

He even sent people to the captured cities to inquire, and people said that they were the troops of a certain general under his command.

Moreover, there is no problem with the military uniforms they wear and the flags they carry, as they all belong to their side.

He still wanted to figure out what was going on first.

As a result, he actually found out something. The generals and their men that those guys mentioned didn't move at all!

In other words, those guys were not his men at all.

He quickly sent a letter to explain to Tokugawa Ieyasu that this was most likely a conspiracy of the Ming Dynasty.

That’s right, this is what Wanli ordered people to do!

The problem is that Tokugawa Ieyasu didn't believe it.

This is the conspiracy of the Ming Dynasty. This is the conspiracy of you, Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

You bastard just like to play dirty.

The Ming army is still on Kyushu Island thousands of miles away. You can even blame the Ming Dynasty for things like sneak attacks and city captures!
I believe you!
It would have been better if Toyotomi Hideyoshi hadn't explained it this way.

This explanation made Tokugawa Ieyasu even angrier and his attack became more fierce.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi had no choice but to fight.

Those ronin were really badass. No matter which force attacked the city they had captured by surprise, they defended it with all their might, throwing kerosene cans, rolling stones, and wooden planks at the city walls.

Their posture was enough to scare any attacker.

However, they only lasted for one day. At night, they sneaked away under the cover of darkness!
(End of this chapter)