You have truly caused me great suffering!

From Yuwen Xuzhong's perspective, this battle was like trying to see flowers through a fog.

It was completely different from the image of war and conquest he had imagined.

After fighting for so long, he hadn't even seen the enemy troops yet. All he saw was the Jing army operating in an orderly fashion, with officers leaving Guo Hao to receive their orders.

Ahead of a forest, the artillery battalion stood in a horizontal line, slowly advancing forward.

Before long, firelight flickered in the woods, accompanied by the booming sounds of cannons.

At that time, only the Jing family was capable of using firearms on a large scale.

However, muskets were still a rare commodity, and only the soldiers of the Lingwu Army were equipped with them on a large scale; they had not yet been widely adopted.

However, bronze cannons were already quite common, and many of the major generals had experienced them on the battlefield.

Ordinary cast cannons, when fired at long distances, can only hit stones or solid iron projectiles; the projectiles fall from the air and create a small crater.

Some specially designed cannons are equipped with the latest explosives, capable of igniting fires or even releasing toxic fumes.

After the cannon fire subsided, screams occasionally echoed from the forest ahead, but no one could be seen.

Jing's army advanced slowly; this level of siege warfare was nothing to them.

Back then, fighting against the Jin army in Youyan, Yunnei, and Hebei, repeatedly vying for cities and passes, was truly a hellish experience.

Five small teams, totaling less than a hundred people, continued to advance slowly.

The sound of cannons also temporarily stopped. Although these cast cannons were very powerful, they were also very troublesome to load and could not be fired continuously.

Guo Hao said calmly, "Archers, hold your ground! Divine crossbows, fire from three hundred paces away!"

"The artillery battalion advances to load and provides cover for the construction of the pontoon bridge."

"Select five hundred daredevils to be the first to charge!"

With each order given, the troops below were mobilized.

"Kill! Kill! Kill..." The shouts rose and fell, seemingly echoing through the mountains and forests to the west.

With the second military stronghold destroyed, the army pressed forward, and as they crossed the mountains and forests, Yuwen Xuzhong finally spotted the enemy.

They were dragged out one by one, many of them covered in blood and gore.

As for the so-called military camp, it was now filled with black smoke and fire, and the barbed wire, gravel, and red-hot pottery shards carried a foul stench of sulfur, making people cover their noses.

Faced with such an offensive, all their previous fighting methods were ineffective. The armor of the Ping clan's troops was torn apart like paper. Yuwen Xuzhong saw a man whose half of his body was charred black, his intestines hanging from the saddle, still gripping his sword and roaring, as if he was defiant.

The other man was completely blind, with blood gushing from his eye sockets. He tried to escape while being escorted, staggered a few steps, and collapsed onto a tree trunk in the forest, where he convulsed and died.

Someone roared at Guo Hao and the others, only to be slashed down by Jing Jun with a single blow.

Many Japanese warhorses neighed and rolled, their broken legs kicking wildly, their bellies ripped open, their entrails mixed with fodder spilling all over the ground.

He simply watched quietly, without uttering a word, but in his heart he was thinking that the power of the cannons was indeed unparalleled.

Guo Hao thought he was a scholar who had never seen such a scene before and was too frightened to speak. He said, "Doctor Yuwen, if you feel unwell, you can stay with the supply train."

Guo Hao still had a good impression of Yuwen Xuzhong.

These soldiers, who had switched allegiance from the Western Army of the Great Song Dynasty to Chen Shao, were afraid that civil officials would give arbitrary orders and interfere with the military generals' decisions on the battlefield.

This Doctor Yuwen truly didn't utter a single word; he was practically the perfect civil official in his eyes.

Yuwen Xuzhong shook his head. He came here to broaden his horizons, so why would he avoid these things?

In his view, these Japanese were indeed very fierce and stubborn; even after being bombed to such an extent, many samurai were still unwilling to surrender.

Upon returning, I must advise His Majesty to use swift and decisive measures to completely subdue them.

Otherwise, there will be endless trouble and continuous resistance.

Dajing cannot afford to invest too much manpower and resources in a war of attrition on this island nation thousands of miles away.

There are many mountains and forests here, and once you go in, it's hard to find anything. The roads are rugged, and once you start a war of attrition, it will be a bottomless pit that drains the country's resources.

Guo Hao and the others were unmoved by this.

After fighting the Jurchen Tartars, even the most ferocious and ruthless enemies were nothing special in their eyes.

No matter how fierce you are, can you be fiercer than the Jurchen Tartars?
Those were truly monstrous barbarians, like demons.

If all else fails, it's just a matter of rewriting the old story of Prince Xin at the Red River.

Yuwen Xuzhong dismounted and looked at the entrance to the military camp. The walls were no longer recognizable as they once were. Only charred corpses lay scattered, tattered flags were stuck upside down in the mud, and broken blades reflected the pale sunlight.

Just as Guo Hao was about to speak, the man drew a short knife and said with a smile, "The road to Kunyi is too far to travel, and the legend of cutting jade is legendary. Who can fathom its depth? This precious knife recently came from Japan, and a Yue merchant obtained it from the east of the sea."

"I have long heard of the sharpness of the knives here, so I will take one as a souvenir."

Guo Hao was taken aback. He saw that the man looked calm and composed, without the slightest discomfort.

He thought to himself, "This Doctor Yuwen is quite a ruthless person."

"Once I conquer Taira's residence, I will present Taira no Tadamori's sword to you, sir."

"No need, this one is enough."

Yuwen Xuzhong took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped away the bloodstains.

After the army crossed the mountains and forests, a low city wall suddenly came into view.

Sunomata Castle is just across the river from them, and at this moment they can see the warriors on the castle walls.

The artillery battalion was now in position. Guo Hao ordered, "Left-wing cavalry, prepare a volley to suppress the city walls. Artillery cover. After the pontoon bridge is built, cross the river and breach the city." "Are the vanguard suicide squads ready?"

"Preparations are underway."

"Very good. After the city is breached, the left-wing cavalry will pursue and kill the fleeing enemy, while the right-wing will capture the thieves after breaching the city."

Yuwen Xuzhong listened intently. At this moment, the words His Majesty spoke with Zhong Shidao, Han Shizhong, Jin Ling, and others when discussing the war in the court were vividly recalled in his mind, corresponding one by one with the real battlefield.

If I hadn't come here, I probably would never have truly understood it.

Ahead, the elite Jing army cavalry rode tall, strong horses. Each of them was very robust, and as they rode, their cloaks fluttered in the wind, and their posture was very agile.

The Japanese soldiers, on the other hand, appeared sleazy and vulgar, with peculiar hairstyles and aggressive manners, lacking the solemn demeanor and bearing of true soldiers.

Seeing the heavenly soldiers sweeping away the barbarians with their invincible power, Yuwen Xu felt even more exhilarated, his mind clear and his body lighter.

Wang Anshi of the previous dynasty once wrote: "I wish I were a frivolous young man from the Five Mausoleums, born in the Zhenguan and Kaiyuan eras."

To have witnessed the golden age of the Central Plains was truly something to celebrate, a sentiment Yuwen Xuzhong could deeply appreciate at this moment. In Jinling, he had become somewhat desensitized to hearing about great victories everywhere, but seeing such a scene of triumph firsthand still stirred his blood.

Many things, hearing them a thousand times, are not as good as experiencing them once in person.

He could tolerate the blood and stench of sulfur and gunpowder on the battlefield.

His purpose in coming here was to observe the customs and traditions of Japan and to investigate the character of the local Japanese people, so as to assist the emperor in making future decisions.

Therefore, he observed very carefully.

He observed what was planted in the fields along the way, how many irrigation ditches there were, how difficult the roads were, the people's views on powerful families and the imperial lineage, and the influence of local Buddhist sects.

At this point, Guo Hao had completed all the preparations for the siege.

At a command, the artillery battalion opened fire first, and under the cover of thick smoke and violent explosions, the supply train began to build a pontoon bridge.

The Japanese soldiers on the city wall had obviously noticed their actions in building the pontoon bridge, and they shouted as they lit the oilcloth on their bows and arrows, shooting them in this direction.

Moments later, several rockets flew into the air, and following the trails of black smoke, more rockets were launched.

"Raise shields! Lower them!" the supply train captain roared, and the front-line soldiers quickly raised their leather-covered shields and drove them into the mud.

The rocket struck the shield, sparks flew everywhere, and the tung oil ignited upon contact with the fire, sending black smoke billowing from the shield.

Ignoring the scorching heat, the rear guard submerged the wine jars in shallow water, tied them with ropes, and then laid wooden beams across them.

Just as one man fastened the iron ring, an arrow struck his shoulder, and he screamed as he fell to the ground, his blood staining the icy river. The others silently dragged the corpse to his side, took his place, and continued to bind it without stopping.

Artillery and cavalry began to suppress them with arrows and cannon fire, preventing them from continuing to shoot.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, the pontoon bridge trembled slightly in the cold current, like a spine forged from flesh and blood, pointing straight at the enemy city.

Jing Jun immediately began his assault across the river. Yuwen Xuzhong was deeply moved and couldn't help but shout his approval.

With Jing Jun crossing the river, Sunmata Castle was no longer defensible, and the breaches at the city gates were huge, all blasted open by cannon fire.

In the Central Plains, a general defending a city would most likely use spare fortification timber to temporarily plug the breach, but in Japan, they obviously couldn't do that.

They probably didn't even think of preparing these fortifications beforehand.

The vanguard of the suicide squad charged into the city in one fell swoop, even though there wasn't a barbican or an auxiliary city.

Once inside, there was a main road. The warriors, bowing low, watched them enter the city, then roared and charged at them, seemingly insane.

The pre-arranged left-wing cavalry began to encircle and hunt down the Japanese who had fled the city.

The battle in the city lasted for more than an hour. The Jing army then began to behead the city's nobles, whose hands were tied behind their backs, by the river.

Guo Hao ordered the navy to be contacted to inform them of his progress and to not advance rashly, but to maintain a certain distance from the land forces.

The garrison's naval forces sailed upstream along the Yodo River, encircling and outmaneuvering the Taira clan to prevent them from escaping by water and to block any possible reinforcements from the north.

Considering that the city would likely be rife with bloodshed at this time, Guo Hao did not allow Yuwen Xuzhong to enter the city with him, but instead set up camp outside, waiting to continue the march the next day.

The situation has become clear by now. The Taira clan is a powerful clan in Japan, but they are no match for the Kage army.

Their strength was far inferior to that of the nomadic tribes of the grasslands, as well as the Shiwei and Xi tribes.

During this period, the wars on many battlefields were one-sided because the gap in combat power was indeed too great.

Overall, apart from the Jing army and the Jurchen Tartars, the Jiaozhi soldiers were considered to have strong combat capabilities and good organization.

In the military camp, Guo Hao poked at the campfire with a wooden stick and said with a smile, "Doctor Yuwen, I originally said that I would present the victory report before the New Year, but now it seems that the battle can be ended in November, without even waiting for the New Year."

"Then I congratulate you in advance, General."

The campfire roared, and the firelight shone brightly in Yuwen Xuzhong's eyes.

"After the battle is over, we would appreciate your guidance on how to handle this place."

Yuwen Xuzhong smiled and said, "Your Majesty has made his own arrangements."

"If that's the case, then I can rest assured." Guo Hao was still a little scared inside.

That scoundrel Wei Tao acted rashly, completely disobeying His Majesty's arrangements.

That's why this battle happened.

Otherwise, all we need to do is pressure the Taira clan to establish their own independent state.

To avoid suspicion, Guo Hao wanted every arrangement to have a clear order.

Therefore, whenever he encountered a problem, he would consult Yuwen Xuzhong. If all else failed, he could always use Doctor Yuwen as a shield. (End of Chapter)