Vol 2 Chapter 2347: One battle will determine Kyushu
Chapter 2347: Deciding Kyushu in One Battle
Chapter 2343: One battle to determine Kyushu
Three thousand elites led by Wu Qi were transported to the rear of the Japanese army by the navy, and they immediately attacked Yingwei City through a sneak attack.
Takao Castle is located at the junction of Chikugo Province and Hitahigo Province. If Tachibana Michyuki wanted to withdraw his troops, taking Takao Castle would be the fastest route, otherwise he would have to walk an extra three days.
This critical moment when every second counts, even three hours are precious, let alone three days.
Wu Qi speculated that even if Tachibana Michyuki knew he was there, he would still take the route of Yingwei City, so he would forcefully capture the city.
Yingwei City is not a fortified city, otherwise it would not be easily broken by Wu Qi. It is naturally impossible to use Yingwei City to stop Tachibana Michizuki's southward army.
After conquering Yingwei City, Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Qin Yong and other generals began to quickly clean up the battlefield.
After counting, it was found that the Qin army only suffered more than thirty casualties, but it wiped out nearly a thousand defenders in the city. It is not known how many of them were newly recruited civilians.
“General, the walls of Eagle Tail City are too short and thin, making it not an easy place to defend.”
Guan Sheng frowned and said, he was very puzzled now and didn't understand why Wu Qi wanted to occupy this useless city.
Wu Qi smiled calmly: "Guan Sima, the purpose of seizing this city was not for defense from the beginning."
Guan Sheng was a veteran general of the Qin Dynasty. He guarded Hulao Pass for many years and was named one of the 108 founding men of the country.
However, due to his brother Guan Yu's surrender and rebellion, Guan Sheng, as the younger brother, was naturally implicated. Not only was his title deprived of his title, but his official position was also changed from the title of general to the commander-in-chief of a party, and he became an ordinary person at the lowest level. Soldiers, this also made many generals who were close to Guan Sheng feel unfair to him.
Guan Sheng didn't care about this at all. After all, he knew the truth about his brother's defection. The greater the injustice he suffered now, the greater the compensation he would receive when the truth was revealed.
Although Guan Sheng was beaten to the end and became an ordinary soldier, he was a man who had served as a general soldier after all, and he obviously did not want to remain a small soldier.
During the year after he was demoted, Guan Sheng did not do anything. Instead, he took the initiative and killed and captured many thieves who committed major crimes. He was promoted to a county military prince for his merits, and later he annihilated two gangs. The entrenched bandits were once again promoted to Army Sima, and later volunteered to participate in the war against Japan.
Guan Sheng pointed to this battle to conquer the Japanese and made great achievements. He was reinstated as an official. He did not want to suffer an additional penalty due to defeat.
Therefore, Guan Sheng was greatly surprised after hearing Wu Qi's words. Not only him, but also the other generals thought that Wu Qi captured Yingwei City to use this as a basis to stop Tachibana Daoxue's army. However, he did not expect that Wu Qi did not have this at all. mean.
Then how can he stop Tachibana Michizuki?
Tachibana Michiyuki's troops heading south at this time amounted to 60,000 to 70,000. With only 3,000 of them, how could they withstand them without relying on geographical advantages?
Wang Jian was able to annihilate Maori Yuanchun's 30,000 army with 3,000 pathfinding vanguard troops. This was not defeated in one battle, and the Maori army was dispersed, which gave Wang Jian the opportunity to defeat them one by one.
Tachibana Michyuki is not Motoharu Moori, and there is no way he would make such a mistake.
Wu Qi could see the worries of Guan Sheng and other generals, but he had no intention of explaining it, because there was no need at all, and they would know about it soon.
One day later.
Tachibana Michiyuki personally led an army of 65,000, and arrived at Takami Castle. He saw a banner with the word "武" hanging on the upper floor, but there was no guard, and the gates below the city were wide open, as if it were an empty city. .
When the Japanese generals saw this scene, they all shouted to rush in. Only Tachibana Doyuki's face was full of solemnity.
“Wu Qi (Qi), I didn’t expect that it was him who came.” Tachibana Daoxue said solemnly. After all, except for Wu Qi, the Qin army did not have any other generals named Wu.
He had been defeated by Wu Qi several times in Lihua Daoxue, and he knew how difficult this person was. Now that he saw the banner with the word Wu hanging on the top of the city, his sense of vigilance suddenly rose to the highest level.
“Father, it’s just an empty city, let’s go straight in.” said the heroic female general Tachibana Chiyo.
As soon as these words came out, the other generals also nodded, but Tachibana Daoxue said: "No, there may be a fraud in this."
"Yes, Wu Qi (Qi) would never be so unwise. There must be an ambush in the city." Gao Qiao Shaoyun said solemnly.
“Send someone to investigate the city immediately.” Tachibana Michiyuki ordered in a deep voice.
“Hai.”
An hour later.
"General Qi, not only is there no ambush in the city, but there are not even any civilians in the city. They have all been killed by the Qin army."
Hearing this, a trace of wavering flashed in Tachibana Michyuki's eyes: "Look around for another ten miles to see if there are any ambushes. After all, there is nothing wrong with being cautious."
“Hai.”
Another hour later.
"Report...to General Qi, no trace of enemy troops has been found within a ten-mile radius of Yingwei City."
“How could it be? It shouldn’t be?”
Tachibana Michyuki frowned and said to himself: "Is the general really suspicious?"
Tachibana Michyuki closed his eyes, and after some contemplation, he finally ordered: "Let the vanguard army enter the city."
“Hai.”
The five thousand vanguard troops began to enter the city in an orderly manner, but just after they all entered the city, a big explosion occurred in the south of the city, and then a fire burst into the sky, followed by the west, east, and north of the city, and the entire city was instantly turned into fire. city.
After seeing this scene, the faces of Tachibana Michiyuki, Takahashi Shoun, Kobayakawa Takai and other generals instantly became ashen, especially Tachibana Michiyuki.
He had been burned once before by Wu Qi using an empty camp, but he didn't expect that Wu Qi would use an empty city again to plot against him.
“Hurry, get all the soldiers in the city to withdraw.” Tachibana Michyuki shouted with a ferocious expression, but it was obviously too late now.
In the end, out of the five thousand troops that entered the city, less than three hundred escaped alive.
“How can it be repaired?”
Tachibana Michiyuki hammered the ground angrily, feeling extremely aggrieved. He had been cautious enough, but he didn't expect to fall into the trap.
"Brother Daoxue, don't worry. Although our army lost 5,000 troops, we still forced the Qin army out of Yingwei City. We just have to wait for the fire to go out. Then we can continue on our way. At least we have saved 60,000 troops." Kobayakawa Takashi Jing comforted.
After Tachibana Michiyuki let out a long sigh, he smiled bitterly and ordered: "We cannot wait for the fire to go out. Let the army immediately find water sources to extinguish the fire, and put out the fire as soon as possible."
“Hai.”
At the same time, Wu Qi’s three thousand army was gathering here ten miles away to the south of Yingwei City.
Wu Qi stood on the top of the mountain, pointed at the flaming clouds in the north, and said with a smile: "The remaining fierce fire oil of the navy, about 15,000 jars, was all left by the general in Yingwei City, which is enough for Tachibana Daoxue to drink. Pot."
As soon as these words came out, all the generals burst into laughter. Guan Sheng even laughed and said: "It's not just a pot, it's enough for two days." The speed is also very fast.
Even if the entire city of Takami Castle is set on fire, it will only burn for a day at most. However, if the Japanese army fought hard to put out the fire, half a day would be enough to put it out.
But the fire objects used by the Qin army were not ordinary things, but fierce fire oil that could not be extinguished by water, and it was 15,000 jars long, so even Wu Qi did not know how long the fire would last.
One day later.
After tens of thousands of Japanese troops put out the fire day and night, although the fire in Yingwei Castle has weakened, it has still not been extinguished, let alone extraordinary.
“Father, there is something wrong with this fire.” Chiyo Tachibana said with a puzzled look on her face.
Tachibana Michiyuki's face was extremely gloomy, and he gritted his teeth and said: "I fell into Wu Qi's trap. He must have used a special kindling, otherwise he wouldn't have burned to this point."
“What should we do now? Take a detour or continue to put out the fire?” Kobayakawa Takai hurriedly asked.
"It's too late to make a detour. Just now, I received news that the Zhenxi Mountain City guarded by my son Zongmao has been captured by Wei General Le Yi, and the entire garrison in the city has been annihilated."
When speaking of this, Tachibana Michuxue glanced at Takahashi Shaoyun on the side, gritted his teeth and said: "Zongmao was killed by Wei general Xiahou Dun."
Tachibana Muneshige was just the adopted son of Tachibana Michyuki, and his biological father was really Takahashi Shoun, but he was adopted to Tachibana Michyuki.
When Takahashi Shaoyun heard the bad news, his face turned as pale as a sheet of paper, and he shouted with sorrow: "My son, you left for your father first, poof..."
Suffering from grief and anger, Takahashi Shaoyun suddenly vomited a large mouthful of blood, but the aura on his body became more and more terrifying.
[Ding dong, Takahashi Shoun and Tachibana Munesege combined their skills, and the 'flesh and blood' effect 2 was activated. If one father and son died in the battle, the other would be stimulated, and the base force would be permanently +1. At the same time, the force would be increased according to the sadness and anger in the heart. The increase ranges from 1 to 8 points.
Takahashi Shaoyun: Commander 93, Force 96 (+1), Intelligence 80, Politics 68, Charisma 76;
Takahashi Shaoyun’s basic force is 96 (+1), force +7, equipment +2;
The current force of Takahashi Shaoyun has increased to 105;】
“Brother Takahashi, you...”
Looking at Takahashi Shaoyun with a dead look on his face, Tachibana Michyuki opened his mouth, but didn't know how to comfort him, and there wasn't much time left for him.
“Zhenxi Mountain City has fallen, the Hizen defense line is in danger, and Zhou Yu is about to cross the Kuju Mountains.
It is too late to take a detour now. The fire in Yingwei City must be extinguished as soon as possible, otherwise it will be surrounded by the Qin and Wei coalition forces. "Tachibana Michyuki said with great solemnity.
“But this fire is so evil that it can’t be extinguished even with water.” Kobayakawa Takai said with a distressed look on his face.
When Tachibana Michiyuki heard this, his heart moved: "Try it with sand and soil, maybe it will have a miraculous effect."
“That’s all it can do.” Kobayakawa Takai sighed.
Following Tachibana Michiyuki's order, the Japanese army began to dig soil and sand on the spot, and used the obtained sand to extinguish the fire.
To the surprise of Tachibana Michyuki and others, the fire-extinguishing effect of sand is indeed much better than that of water. At this rate, the fire can be completely extinguished in one day at most.
One day later, the fire was extinguished. The Japanese army finally crossed the Yingwei City area, stepping on the still hot soil, but then they received bad news one after another.
“Report to General, Zhou Yu’s army has crossed over the Jiuzhou Mountains and is heading towards our position.”
“What? Zhou Yu came so quickly?”
Michiyuki Tachibana's face was full of shock. The marching speed was much faster than he expected. Didn't it mean that Zhou Yu was just good at large water battles?
“Report...The village city was captured by Wei general Leyi, the Shifukuji city was captured by Qin general Zhao Yun, and the Hizen defense line was completely broken through by the Qin and Wei coalition forces.”
“How can it be repaired?”
Tachibana Michiyuki's expression suddenly changed, and he roared and ordered: "Quick, retreat to Nan Higo Country. If it's later, it'll be too late."
“Hai.”
“Report...to the general, there are a lot of traps on the road going south, and the road is also seriously damaged, which may affect the marching speed.”
"What?"
When Tachibana Michiyuki heard this, his eyes were bigger than a bell. A figure appeared in his mind, and he looked up to the sky and cursed: "Wu Qi, you are so vicious, pfft..."
“General, general…”
"Father…"
Seeing Tachibana Michiyuki vomiting blood and fainting, the generals immediately became confused. However, before the military doctor came to treat him, Tachibana Michiyuki woke up on his own and said weakly: "Give up all the luggage, no matter what the cost, even if it costs human life." If you don't mind, you must also evacuate to Nan Feihou Country."
“Hai.”
Following Tachibana Michyuki's order, the Japanese army began to ignore the traps and directly filled the traps with human lives. One or two thousand people died in just half a day. As a result, people were panicked, which actually affected the speed of their march.
At the same time, after the Qin and Wei coalition forces completely broke through the Hizen defense line, Zhao Yun led 3,000 dragon cavalry troops, and Cao Chun led 3,000 tiger and leopard cavalry troops. They had already moved forward to pursue Tachibana Michizuki.
After crossing the Kyushu Mountains, Zhou Yu personally led nearly two thousand dragon cavalry troops, as well as generals such as Wang Jian and Lu Bu, to pursue them one step ahead of the army, and was already very close to Tachibana Doyuki.
On the other side, under Wu Qi’s trap to delay the offensive, the marching speed of the Japanese army was greatly affected, and it took a full half-day to reach Gorai Castle.
After another day of arduous march, Tachibana Michyuki's army finally arrived at Namimoto Castle. As long as they crossed Mifune Castle harder, they would be able to enter the Minami Higo Mountains, but they were destined not to reach Mifune Castle. Because Zhou Yu, Zhao Yun, and Cao Chun's cavalry have arrived.
Zhou Yu, Zhao Yun, and Cao Chun had nearly 8,000 cavalrymen. If all costs were spared, they might not be able to defeat 60,000 Japanese troops head-on.
Zhou Yu and other three generals considered the casualties and did not choose to fight the Japanese army head-on. Instead, they hung in the rear of the Japanese army and continued to harass them, so that the Japanese army could not advance or retreat, so as to buy time for the army in the rear.
Under the constant harassment of eight thousand cavalry from Zhou Yu, Zhao Yun, and Cao Chun, Tachibana Michyuki's army was unable to advance or retreat at all, and did not leave the city's area for two consecutive days.
But at this moment, the Qin and Wei coalition forces in the rear had already caught up and surrounded the Japanese army from the east and north.
“General, I have ordered that the 40,000 Qin and Wei allied forces in the north and the 30,000 Qin troops in the east shall immediately launch a general attack on the Japanese army and defeat Kyushu in one battle.” Zhou Yu ordered with a heroic look on his face.
(End of this chapter)