After Lao Liu learned about the situation in Japan, he knew that he could not rely solely on naval warfare to solve the problem.
However, both his commercial fleet and Yu Tongyuan's Japanese naval force were good at water warfare and neglected land warfare. However, under the training of his two uncles, the three guards of the King of Chu were able to master both water and land. They can be regarded as the earliest land warfare in the Ming Dynasty.
The team is here.
Lao Liu was still worried, so he took one of his future father-in-law, Wang Bi, the Marquis of Dingyuan, with him.
Although Wang Bi was a naughty official and sold his daughter to seek peace, he did not get his title as Marquis of Dingyuan by selling his daughter. His reputation as the "King of Two Swords" was not obtained by chopping tofu.
He was the pioneer of Chang Yuchun, the most powerful man in the Ming Dynasty. Even the King of Kaiping admired him. He destroyed countless cities and fortresses in his life, and specialized in chewing hard bones. It was the can opener that Lao Liu prepared to use to attack the city.
Thinking of using it in this first battle...
Wang Bi was also very excited. After all, that stone wall was a line of defense that even Kublai Khan's Yuan army could not break through. If he captured it, he would definitely be able to brag about it for a lifetime.
So he happily accepted the order and quickly discussed the specific division of labor with Hu Quan and Hu Bo. The armies participating in the war also started preparations for the war in full swing. Although the three guards of the King of Chu had not officially opened their doors, from the officers to the soldiers, they had been there for a long time.
Veterans on the battlefield do not need to worry about these things.
At noon, fifty warships carrying 10,000 landing troops left the anchorage of the main fleet at the mouth of Hakata Bay and slowly approached the pier that had been burned to ashes.
Yu Tongjiang's reconnaissance ship has previously proven that Hakata Bay is a deep-water port, and there is no need to worry about whether the warship will run aground if it gets too close to the shore.
Under the command of the officer, the sailors shouted trumpets together and pushed the rudder to turn the warship, forming a battle line and facing the enemy broadside.
~~
Seeing the Ming warships lined up on the shore, with their broadsides facing them, this made the Japanese soldiers on the stone wall a hundred feet away confused... After the Ming army discovered the sulfur they had buried in the houses in the port area, they hid it again
There was no point anymore, so the Japanese troops rushed to the top of the city and prepared to defend the city.
Guarding this sacred temple are the three major tycoons of Kyushu who are known as the Kyushu Triumvirate: Yaicheng, the family governor of the Chizen Shoer clan, the family governor of the Bungo Otomo clan, Hisashi, the family governor of the Satsuma Shimazu clan.
These three families are native Kyushu daimyo, and they have the unshirkable duty to defend their hometown. They were the main force in resisting the Yuan army a hundred years ago. The commander who resisted the Yuan army for the first time was the great-grandfather of Shao Er Laicheng, Shao Er Jingzi.
A hundred years later, these three families will still be standing on this stone wall.
But the actions of the Ming army made them confused. Why did they set up this formation? Is it simply for the convenience of docking? But the ship did not really dock at the dock, and it was still several feet away from the shore.
Fortunately, the Ming army did not let them wonder for too long. After arranging the formation, the navy officers skillfully opened the cannon window, pushed out the cannon, loaded the gunpowder pellets, inserted the fuse, and prepared to fire the cannon.
"It's artillery!" The distance between the two sides was less than one mile, and the movements of the Ming army could be seen clearly with eyesight. The three of them were not inexperienced Honshu daimyo. Although they had not seen it with their own eyes, they had heard about it from merchants and Japanese pirates.
Such a large firearm.
However, Japan in this era didn't even have artillery, not even muskets. Therefore, they had no intuitive feeling about the power of artillery. They just looked at the densely packed gun barrels on those battleships and instinctively felt their scalp numb.
"There are so many." Young Master Laicheng exclaimed. Now they understood why the Ming army had to face them sideways, just to use as many cannons as possible.
"How can their artillery hit such a long distance?" Shimazu Ujihisa was the only one who had seen artillery with his own eyes. It was when the Ming Dynasty pirates showed off their firepower to him, and they performed an artillery bombardment demonstration, but in his impression, the cannonballs
It started to fall before it could fly more than a hundred feet.
"You'll know after you take a look." Dayou said calmly.
So the three of them just stood on the stone wall, watching helplessly as the Ming army opened fire.
I saw the Ming army igniting the fuse with a torch, and the fuse burst into flames, quickly igniting the gunpowder in the barrel, and spitting out fire snakes from the muzzle. Then there was the earth-shattering rumbling sound of cannons, and big guns the size of cantaloupe.
The iron ball roared in with thunderous force.
Facts have proved that the Ming army's artillery shells were not only able to fly over, but also came with ferocity. Many Japanese soldiers who stood on the wall to watch the scene were severely bitten off their hands and feet by the spinning artillery shells, and their heads were eaten before they could react.
The chest was smashed open.
In an instant, blood splattered everywhere on the wall, stumps flew everywhere, and the injured Japanese soldiers fell to the ground screaming in pain, falling off the wall like dumplings.
The three of them were lucky. The shell closest to them only smashed the head of their guarding warrior and splashed the brains of the young man, Laicheng, who had a white face.
The three of them hurriedly lay down to hide in embarrassment. Seeing that the samurai and ashigaru beside them were still standing there and being shot, they quickly yelled at them to get down too.
More cannonballs hit the stone wall, and each shot splashed countless gravel chips, leaving a crater as big as a bowl. Dozens of cannonballs hit the stone wall at the same time, shaking the stone wall slightly.
People feel like they will collapse at any time...
Many ashigaru were so frightened that they jumped off the stone wall and hid several feet away, lest the stone wall collapse and crush them.
The samurai quickly drew out their swords and drove the ashigaru back to their positions with hoarse voices. The scene was extremely chaotic.
At this time, the three of them discovered that the Ming army was beginning to land. They rowed small boats and transported soldiers from the big ships to the shore in waves.
This wave of artillery fire was obviously to cover the landing. Sure enough, under the unexpected artillery bombardment, the Japanese troops at the Stone Wall Defense Line were thrown into chaos. They had no time to organize an attack and could only watch the Ming troops land...
By the time the bombardment was over, the trio calmed down the chaos and restored control of the army. More than 2,000 Ming troops had landed, and they had established a solid defense line and passed the most chaotic and dangerous stage of the landing.
The three of them were all experienced generals. Knowing that it was useless to attack at this time, they quickly ordered their subordinates to inspect the fortifications, count the losses, and replenish their troops to meet the Ming army's attack.
~~
In that compartment, Wang Bi also came ashore in a small boat, and Hu Bo, who was the vanguard, hurried to greet him. "Master Hou."
"Well, Nanchang Bo is very agile in his movements, and his sword is still young." Wang Bi was very satisfied with Hu Bo's ability to establish a good defense line in such a short period of time.
"The Marquis is joking, you can't do this well and you still have the nerve to lead the troops?" Hu Bo was wearing armor and did not show his iconic pigtails. He felt very uncomfortable. "We have agreed that I will take the lead in the attack later.
.”
"Don't worry, I'll definitely make you stand out. But we won't attack today." Wang Bi shook his head and stared at the long stone wall in front of him and said:
"I didn't expect this broken wall to be quite strong. I thought that the burst of cannons just now could at least destroy one or two sections."
"It's too far." Hu Bo said in a dull voice, "Our cannons can kill people, but if we want to blow down the city wall, we don't have the ability."
"This is not our kind of city wall." Wang Bi handed the binoculars to Hu Bo and asked him to look at the wall carefully and said, "I believe it can be blown down. It's just a matter of firing a cannon at a closer distance."
