Sun Tzu said: The time, place, and people are harmonious. There are no three things to do, even if you win, there will be disaster. The translation means that if the three conditions of the time, place, and people are in a good position, even if you win temporarily, it will inevitably leave hidden dangers. Mencius also said: The time is not as good as the place, and the place is not as good as the place. It can be seen that the harmony of people is the key among the three elements.

What is harmony? Harmony is human heart. This is what is called the so-called winner of the people who win the world. Therefore, whether it is a war between two countries or an uprising and rebellion, both the enemy and us will dig into the minds of seizing the commanding heights of morality and claim that they are the justice side, while the other side is evil and unjust.

Xu Jin is now a veteran of the battlefield and naturally knows the importance of the people. Therefore, after occupying Osumi Island, he immediately issued a letter to all parts of Japan to list various crimes of Japanese pirates' invasion of the coast of the Ming Dynasty, severely rebuked the Japanese Emperor and the Muromachi Shogunate for inaction, and condoned pirates and warlords to plunder the coast of the Ming Dynasty, causing trouble to the people of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, he solemnly stated that the Ming Dynasty sent troops to Japan this time was entirely to punish the Japanese rulers and did not target any civilians.

This can not only weaken the hostility of the Japanese civilian class, but also allow oneself to occupy the moral commanding heights, allowing the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty to wave their butcher knives on the territory of other countries with peace of mind and pull the plate machine without hesitation.

In addition, Xu Jin's manifesto also means to provoke generals. Although the Ming army is equipped with strong equipment, it is a labor force and expedition. Both the troops and logistics are at a disadvantage. If you take the initiative, once the front line is too long, you will inevitably be unable to bear it in the end. The failure of the Mongolian army to expedition to Japan was a lesson for the past. Therefore, Xu Jin deliberately issued an edict to anger warlords from all over Japan and asked them to take the initiative to attack Osumi Island, and the Ming army could occupy the advantage of the territory and wait for it to work.

As a result, the Japanese warlords were indeed trapped. On the eighth day of September, the 30,000 Kyushu Island coalition led by the Ouchi clan and Hosokawa clans boldly sent troops to attack Osumi Island.

It is worth mentioning here that since the "Yingren Rebellion", Japan has entered the Warring States Period. There are many warlords across the country, fighting each other continuously, with sharp decline in population, stagnation in production, and extremely scarce supplies. Whether it is the common people or the army, they are as poor as beggars, otherwise there would not be so many Japanese people going to sea to pirates and rob the coast of the Ming Dynasty for a living.

Therefore, this temporarily organized Jiuzhou Island coalition is really a wasteland. Only half of the 30,000 people are equipped with regular weapons, and a considerable number of weapons are old-fashioned. The soldiers were ragged, most of them were bare feet, and even without pants. It was simply unbearable to look at them. How could such a team be an excellently equipped and well-regarded Ming army rival?

Boom boom boom boom...

The fleets of both sides had just fought against the sea near Osumi Island, and the Kyushu Island coalition was dizzy by the fierce artillery fire of the Ming army. After several waves of bombing, the Kyushu Island coalition's fleet was half destroyed, but the sea was covered with broken wood and floating corpses, as if it were Shura hell.

The remaining coalition ships dared not fight, and turned around and fled to Jiuzhou Island. With Xu Jin's order, the Ming fleet immediately bit their tails and chased after them. It was the artillery shells and bullets flying together, and the blood and brains were all the same. The Japanese army called Tiantian and said they were unsatisfied, and they called the Earth and Earth unsatisfied, and the Haihai was dead!

In this battle, almost all the Kyushu Island fleet was in full swing, with more than half of the 30,000 people buried in the sea, some of which were captured by the Ming army, and in the end only 3,000 people survived and fled back to Kyushu Island. The commanders of the Ouchi clan and Hosokawa clan were both killed in this battle.

After the news of the Kyushu Island coalition's entire army being wiped out, the whole country of Japan was shocked again, and the warlords who were eager to try were scared to stop, including the shogunate general Ashikaga Yoshiharu, who had previously clamored to fight for the emperor and fought for honor, all of which were silent and stepped up the consolidation of Kyoto's city defense to prevent the Ming fleet from taking advantage of the situation.

However, after Xu Jin wiped out the Kyushu Island coalition forces in one fell swoop, he did not land on Kyushu Island, but ordered the fleet to return to Osumi Island to rest and continue to build and strengthen the fortifications on the island. At the same time, he issued another proclamation, ordering the warlords of Kyushu Island to go to Osumi Island to take the crime within five days, and stated that all warlords who go to Osumi Island to apologize within the deadline can be exempted, except for the Ouchi family and the Hosokawa family.

The warlords on Jiuzhou Island were originally in harmony with each other, but they were forced to join forces with the Ming army. As a result, the 30,000 coalition forces only competed with the Ming army for a round and were wiped out. These warlords were naturally scared and fell into chaos and were in panic all day long, fearing that the Ming army would attack the island.

So as soon as Xu Jin's manifesto spread, the warlords on Jiuzhou Island began to have their own thoughts, and the united front collapsed. Soon, several small warlords ran to Osushima to apologize to Xu Jin, and Xu Jin also apologized for their death penalty, but the premise was to hand over one tenth of the property in their territory as war compensation for the Ming army.

It is not unacceptable for these warlords to hand over one tenth of their property. Moreover, Xu Jin also promised the benefits of these surrendered warlords, that is, to allow their caravans to trade freely at the Ming Dynasty's trade ports.

You should know that what these warlords lack most now is not silver, but supplies. So after receiving Xu Jin's trade commitment, they all left Osumi Island happily and returned to their respective territories, and immediately sent someone to send one tenth of their property.

In this way, local warlords came to Osushima to apologize to Xu Jin and took the initiative to offer one-tenth of their wealth in exchange for the opportunity to trade with the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Xu Jin did not abandon his soldiers and made hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, and also resolved the warlord alliance on Jiuzhou Island.

The war between the two countries has never been a simple military contest, and soft power is also the key. For example, Xu Jin has fully utilized the soft power of the Ming Dynasty, using trade as a temptation to differentiate and disintegrate the local warlords on Jiuzhou Island.

The Ouchi clan and the Hosokawa clan were the two most powerful warlords on Kyushu Island. When they saw other warlords surrendering to the Ming army, they were like pins and needles. So the leaders of the two families sat together to discuss countermeasures and finally decided to join forces with the Orinori family to fight Xu Jin to the end.

The Orishinori family was also a local warlord with great strength. However, the Ohashinori ruled by the Orishinori family was not on Kyushu Island, but on Honshu Island in central Japan, so the Oi clan and Hosokawa clan decided to send envoys to the Orishinori family for help.

However, as soon as the envoys of the Ouchi clan and Hosokawa clan left Kyushu Island, the Ming army's fleet also sailed away from Osumi Island. After landing at a port on Kyushu Island, three thousand fully armed Kyuki Camp soldiers rushed straight to the territory of the Ouchi clan.

Since other warlords along the way surrendered and apologized, the Ming army felt as if they had entered the unmanned territory along the way. They rushed to the territory of the Danei clan within one day, and directly killed the territory of the Danei clan. They also attacked the city and captured the village with lightning speed, killing the Danei clan.

At the same time, the wolf soldiers led by Xie Erjian and Cen Lan also attacked the territory of the Hosokawa clan. The Hosokawa clan's strength was obviously much stronger, but in the face of the wolf soldiers' sharp guns and heavy artillery, he was finally depressed on the spot. The Hosokawa clan, which had been prominent for a hundred years, was finally uprooted by the wolf soldiers.

Xu Jin destroyed the two strongest warlords, the Ouchi clan and Hosokawa clan, with lightning speed, and the rest of the warlords on Kyushu Island were silent, and no one dared to look directly at the Ming army's edge.

At this point, Jiuzhou Island fell into the control of the Ming army, and Xu Jin could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Because the cold winter was coming soon, and when the northeast wind blew, the Ming army would find it difficult to get domestic support. Now that Jiuzhou Island is controlled, the Ming army can use war to support the war and obtain a stable source of supplies. There is no need to worry about the problem of logistics not being able to keep up.

Controlling Kyushu Island is the second step of the strategy formulated before Xu Jin went on a mission. The first step is naturally to occupy Osumi Island. Osumi Island is a small island and is only suitable as a military stronghold. Kyushu Island is a super large island, accounting for about one-tenth of Japan's territory, and can provide the Ming army with materials to support war.
Chapter completed!