The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 444: Rooting out the Nine Clans
The war between the Japanese princes has begun again.

In the eastern part of Honshu, the states of Kai, Musashi, Shinano, Ueno, and Echigo were once again filled with smoke of war.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Uesugi Kagekatsu, Date Masamune and others all fought fiercely.

At this time, the Mori clan in western Honshu seemed to be an outsider and did not make any movement.

At the beginning, Mori Terumoto was still sending letters and cursing, and it seemed that he wanted to catch Toyotomi Hideyoshi and beat him up.

As a result, when the various princes really started fighting, he seemed to be invisible and did not say a word.

Why is this?

The reason is very simple, because he is not in Japan right now!
He was summoned to the capital of the Ming Dynasty by Emperor Wanli, and Qi Jiguang, the Grand Marshal of the Ming Dynasty, also accompanied him.

Since the commanders of the Ming army and the Mori clan were both absent, there was naturally no movement in the western part of Honshu.

At about 5 p.m. that afternoon, when it was getting dark, Qi Jiguang and Mori Terumoto sneaked into the palace again.

Wanli had been waiting in the brightly lit Grand Council Hall for a long time.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli solemnly asked, "Yuan Jing, where are the navy ships now?"

Qi Jiguang said without hesitation: "Thousands of Fuchuan warships of the navy are still docked at Iki Island on standby. The tens of thousands of centipede ships mobilized this time have all been sent to Liaodong to pick up the soldiers of the garrison camp.

The navy's centipede ships should have returned by now. Judging by the distance and time they traveled, they might be at a port in Jeolla Province or Jeju Island today."

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "How many soldiers have gathered on Kyushu Island now?"

Qi Jiguang explained in detail: "Because the Fuzhou warships cannot transport people back and forth, we can only rely on centipede boats to go to Liaodong to fetch people.

The navy's centipede boats have only made two trips in total, including this one. On the last trip, we had already transported the remaining 200,000 Sichuan Army soldiers and their food carts and supplies to Kyushu Island.

If we count those who were taken over initially and those who were taken over this time, Kyushu Island has 400,000 Sichuan Army soldiers, 120,000 soldiers from the 12th Battalion of the vassal state of Korea, and 400,000 soldiers from the garrison battalion, for a total of over 900,000 troops.”

Among these more than 900,000, 400,000 are the garrison soldiers who are guarding the city and guarding the prisoners, and they cannot participate in the attack at all.

In other words, there were only more than 500,000 people who could actually participate in the attack.

This amount of troops seems to be insufficient to destroy Japan.

However, time waits for no one.

It is not certain how long the war between the Japanese princes will last this time, and it is also abnormal that the Mori clan has not made any move.

They had to launch a fierce attack before the various Japanese lords could react, strive to defeat the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans, and take over Honshu Island.

Wanli nodded slightly, then pointed at the map and asked, "Duke Ying, how many troops does the Ukita clan have now, sandwiched between you and the Toyotomi clan?"

Oh, I’ve been in Japan for so long that I almost forgot that I was a Duke in the Ming Dynasty.

Maori Terumoto estimated: "Their troops should be less than 20,000."

This number of people is nothing.

Wanli then asked, "What about the Toyotomi clan? How many troops did they deploy to garrison the line from Inaba Province to Osaka Castle?"

Maori Terumoto estimated: "Even if Toyotomi Hideyoshi were to frantically conscript men, he could only muster more than 100,000 troops.

Right now, they have 100,000 troops attacking Ueno Province. If we add the casualties from the previous battle and the troops stationed in more than ten countries east of Osaka Castle, I estimate that there are less than 50,000 troops stationed on this front."

Osaka Castle and Kyoto are the central cities of Japan, but there are only so few people guarding this line.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi may not have considered the consequences if the Mori clan suddenly sent troops to join the war.

If this guy realized this, he would probably try every possible way to persuade Tokugawa Ieyasu to stop the war.

Because he was in Osaka Castle, if the Mori clan suddenly sent troops, it was very likely that his main force on the eastern front would be surrounded before it could return to support Osaka Castle.

How could this guy be so disregarding of his own life and property?
If you lose your life, you lose everything, and all your grand plans will be in vain.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi should understand this.

Therefore, they had to send troops quickly before Toyotomi Hideyoshi could react.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "Duke Ying, do you know how to fortify the city and clear the countryside?"

Fortify the walls and clear the fields?

I think I can do this.

Question: Isn't clearing the countryside a strategy for the defending side?
We are the attacking side.

What does this "fortune-building and clearing the fields" mean?
Mao Li Terumoto thought for a moment and said awkwardly, "Your Majesty, I am stupid and don't understand the concept of fortifying the city and clearing the countryside."

Then I have to teach you properly.

Wanli patiently explained: "This time, the scorching of the walls and clearing of the fields actually means clearing out everyone outside the city.

We don't want Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the others to know that you suddenly have hundreds of thousands of troops under your command, so we have to find a way to block the news.

This news can only be blocked by your men, our men cannot rush in first.

If our men rushed forward first, we would most likely be exposed.

So, your task is to rush up and scare them first, scare away those who can be scared away, and scare into the city those who can be scared into the city.

Those who neither flee nor enter the city must be captured and placed under centralized custody; not a single one of them can escape.

This way we can completely block the news, do you understand?"

Oh, arresting civilians outside the city. Maori Terumoto nodded slowly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand what you mean.

The problem is that I have too few men under my command. There are too many people on the line from Inaba Province to Kyoto and Osaka. There are at least a million civilians outside the city, and most of them will not run away during a war.

Even if I had over 100,000 men to keep a close watch on these civilians, it wouldn't be enough."

If you don't have enough men, then use the garrison battalion to make up the difference.

Wanli pondered and said, "Then you will be responsible for arresting people. You will arrest those outside the city and gather them in a place where they can be kept under surveillance.

Then the garrison soldiers took over the guard.

You just need to leave a few people at each gathering place to warn those people not to run away. Anyone who dares to run will be killed without mercy, really killed."

Oh, that's no problem.

Mao Li Terumoto nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli nodded slightly, then said solemnly: "Yuan Jing, send troops as soon as you return.

In this battle, we will use the Mori clan's troops as the vanguard, let them clear out the civilians outside the city first, and hand them over to the garrison camp for guarding.

Then let the Sichuan Army and the twelve battalions of the vassal state of Korea besiege the city and attack it fiercely.

After the city is captured, it will be handed over to the garrison camp for garrisoning, and all the people outside the city will be driven into the city to guard it. You just have to attack all the way towards Kyoto and Osaka Castle.

If Kyoto and Osaka Castle can be taken quickly, then take them quickly. If not, then surround them and attack the reinforcements.

You can have the twelve battalions of Korea, a vassal state, surround these two cities, have the Sichuan Army set up an ambush, and wait for Toyotomi Hideyoshi to mobilize the main force to return for support.

If you can destroy Toyotomi Hideyoshi's main force, then you will lead the Sichuan Army to capture all of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's territories, and then attack Tokugawa Ieyasu's territories.

As for Kyoto and Osaka Castle, don't worry about them. I will mobilize the Beijing troops to attack them when the time comes.

In short, in this battle, we must seize as much territory as possible before the various Japanese lords react. Once they react, it will probably be a decisive battle for every inch of land."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang nodded solemnly and said, "I understand."

Wanli said to Maori Terumoto, "Duke Ying, you don't need to worry about any cities. Just lead your army all the way to Kyoto and Osaka.

You have more than 100,000 troops, while the troops of the Ukita and Toyotomi clans on the western front are less than half of yours. If you lead your army to charge forward, their troops will surely retreat into the city to garrison.

Just take care of the people outside the city, and arrest everyone outside the city.

Especially the areas outside Kyoto and Osaka, you must clear them all out, because these two cities may not be conquered for a while.

After the twelve battalions of the vassal state of Korea have surrounded these two cities, you will lead your troops westward, clear out the civilians over a hundred miles west of Kyoto and Osaka Castle, and cooperate with the Sichuan Army to set up an ambush."

All my more than 100,000 troops will attack?

Upon hearing this, Mao Li Terumoto said cautiously, "Your Majesty, are you not going to leave any troops to guard my territory?"

You don't have many men to begin with, and only your men can defend the city and clear the countryside. What other men will you leave behind to garrison?
I'll just send some troops to garrison there for you.

Wanli pointed at the map and explained in detail: "Yuan Jing, the navy's tens of thousands of centipede ships can only carry 500,000 troops at most. You have to pull them in two batches.

In the first batch, you should bring over 300,000 garrison soldiers and 200,000 Sichuan Army soldiers.

Among them, 50,000 soldiers from the garrison camp helped Duke Ying to guard the territory, and the rest followed the Maori army to take over the prisoners and prepare to guard the captured city.

After the first group of troops arrives, you and the Duke of Ying will set up your formation and prepare. When the second group of troops arrives, you will immediately launch an attack on the Ukita clan's territory."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli thought about it carefully, and then said to Maori Terumoto: "When the navy ships go to Karatsu Domain to recruit people, don't be idle. First, clear the area where Izumo Province and Bizengo Province meet with the Ukita clan's territory.

It shouldn't take long to clear out the area over a hundred miles from your own territory, right?"

Upon hearing this, Mao Li Terumoto nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand. No problem."

This should be about right.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said solemnly: "Yuan Jing, when you go there, contact Luo Sigong and ask him to arrange his ronin to cooperate with you in attacking the city.

This time we must be quick and not give Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu time to react."

Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you think there are any other problems?"

This is a war to annihilate a country, so we must consider it carefully.

Qi Jiguang pondered for a moment with a serious expression on his face. Suddenly, he realized what was happening and asked carefully, "Your Majesty, if we capture Kyoto, what will happen to that Japanese man?"

Is there any need to ask this?

We are aiming to destroy the country.

Wanli narrowed his eyes slightly and said coldly: "Cut off the roots and exterminate all nine clans!"

Isn't this too cruel?

Upon hearing this, Mori Terumoto couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Qi Jiguang bowed without hesitation and said, "I understand."

(End of this chapter)