Hearing the news that the Ming Army had begun to advance, Yukita finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the Ming Army was willing to come and bite the bait, they would definitely become the Japanese's spoils of war. This was because Xiao Ruxun would never have imagined that the Japanese had prepared a double layer ambush tactic, which meant that they had two groups of ambushers.
One group of ambushers would wait for Wu Weizhong's vanguard to arrive, while the second group of ambushers would wait for the Ming Army's main force to arrive. At that time, the Ming Army would not dare to use their cannons and could only fight. The Japanese's individual combat power would not lose to the Ming Army. They would only lose to the Ming Army in terms of firepower. As long as the Ming Army's firepower could not be used, it would be the Japanese's victory.
In individual combat, the Japanese soldiers who had experienced the Warring States Period were indeed not afraid of the Ming Army, and the Ming Army was naturally not afraid of the Japanese. However, the tactical level of the commander was enough to reduce the impact of individual combat power to the minimum.
Yukita knew that Xiao Ruxun was strong and good at fighting, but he not only had a brain, he also had an elder group made up of seven elders. Eight brains against one. Xiao Ruxun would never have imagined that the Japanese's main force would be divided into two groups. Two ambushes would be enough to disrupt his army's morale. As long as the close combat was successful, it would be the Japanese's victory! It did not matter even if they lost more than the Ming Army!
Wu Weizhong led the five thousand Ming Army fearlessly into the ambush circle set by the Japanese pirates. When they could see Mount Xiaowu and Wangke Hill in the distance, in order to make the act more realistic, Wu Weizhong decisively ordered the cannons to attack the mountainsides on both sides, as if he suspected that the Japanese pirates had an ambush. After a round of cannons, Wu Weizhong saw a team of horses coming from the direction of Mount Xiaowu.
"Formation!! Cannoneers, fire!! "
Wu Weizhong immediately ordered.
Boom! Boom!
The cannons spat out angry flames, and sparks exploded in the midst of the Japanese pirates' cavalry. Immediately, a large number of cavalrymen were thrown to the ground. Behind the cavalrymen were a large number of cannoneers. Wu Weizhong immediately ordered the cannoneers to prepare to fire.
"Raise your guns! Release!! "
Hundreds of gunshots rang out. The few remaining cavalrymen of the Japanese pirates were all shot down from their horses. After another round of volleys, these hundreds of cavalrymen all fell on the battlefield. They did not even touch the formation of the Ming Army. However, they had bought time for the metal cannoneers behind them. These metal cannoneers entered the firing range and were busy releasing the first and second rounds of continuous fire. Wu Weizhong had already ordered the shield carriages to close up and block this round of attacks. He retreated and opened up an opening. Twenty cannons fired continuously with a booming sound, blowing up the metal cannon formation on the opposite side into pieces.
The Japanese pirates continued to fire as they retreated. Wu Weizhong knew that the time had come. As he ordered the shield carriages to merge, he ordered the entire army to advance. He was prepared to take the initiative to step into the ambush circle of the Japanese.
The retreating Japanese retreated to the vicinity of Tomaru-san and stopped retreating. Instead, they formed a formation and shot at the Ming Army. They did not care if they could really attack the Ming Army. Then, someone carried out a few large cannons. One person carried it on his shoulder, and another person stood behind. One lit the fire and the other pulled the trigger. Instantly, a few large holes were pierced through the large shields of the Ming Army.
A few of the shieldbearers were caught in the crossfire and were injured. Wu Weizhong seemed to have been prepared for this. With an order, the pitch-black cannons were aimed at the Wokou pirates. In an instant, another volley of shots was fired. The Wokou on the other side were blown into pieces. Seizing this opportunity, the Ming cannons began to return fire.
After suffering for a while, the Japanese pirates continued to retreat. As they retreated, they stopped moving and stopped somewhere at the foot of the mountain. Then, suddenly, a large number of Japanese pirates appeared from the foot of the mountain. They pushed the shield carriage-like devices similar to those of the Ming Army. There were also people carrying bundles of bamboo-like things that were tied up and erected in front of the formation. After the cannoneers quickly withdrew into these defensive measures, they hid behind the Ming Army to fight back. The Ming Army hid behind the shields and shot at the Japanese pirates. It seemed that they could not penetrate the strangely shaped bamboo bundles.
"General, what is that?"
An officer looked at the defensive tools used by the Japanese pirates and was very surprised. "Are those bundles of bamboo poles?"
"It should be the defensive equipment used by the Japanese pirates that is similar to our big shields and shield carriages. Normal muskets cannot penetrate it. I reckon that only solid bullets from the cannons will be able to penetrate it. The Japanese pirates do not know that we have solid bullets. When their ambush troops are up, I will fight back and ruthlessly break their spirit!"
Wu Weizhong ordered.
"Yes, Sir!"
Wu Weizhong noticed that at this moment, as the Ming Army continued to go deeper, they had already entered a dead end with mountains and rivers in front and mountains behind. Wu Weizhong understood that the ambush troops of the Japanese pirates were about to appear. He immediately ordered the cannoneers to change the cannons to solid bullets and aim in all directions. Once the ambush troops of the Japanese pirates appeared and were protected by the shield formation, once the shield formation of the army moved to an opening, they would immediately fire.
Just as the order was carried out, following a few gunshots, a deafening battle cry sounded. A large number of Japanese pirates appeared from all directions. Just as Wu Weizhong had expected, the Japanese pirates had been used to firearms for a long time. How could they not know defensive measures? They definitely had their own defensive measures that the Ming Army did not know. They planned to catch the Ming Army off guard.
A large number of things similar to the big shields and shield carriages of the Ming Army appeared on the battlefield. A large number of Japanese pirates were holding long knives, strange long spears, and iron cannons. They followed behind the big shields and shield carriages, waving flags and shouting as they charged. For a moment, there was a thunderous momentum. If it was a new army, they would definitely be scared to the point of peeing their pants. However, this group of soldiers had been in the army for a long time and naturally would not be affected. Even so, they were still shocked by this formation.
"Move the shields! Fire!!! "
The shieldbearers were already prepared and immediately obeyed the order. Suddenly, 50 openings appeared on the four sides of the formation. The cannoneers were also prepared. The 50 cannons were immediately pushed outwards. "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom." A volley of solid bullets smashed onto the big shields and shield carriages of the Japanese pirates. The Japanese pirates then saw a nightmare that they would not be able to forget for the rest of their lives. More than half of the big shields and shield carriages were destroyed. A large number of Japanese pirates were affected by the solid bullets. There were many with broken arms, legs, and hands.
"Change to explosive bullets! Change to sub-cannons! Fire!! "
After two volleys of solid bullets, the Japanese pirates' shield formation, which had more than half of their wooden shields destroyed, could no longer protect the infantry. Wu Weizhong immediately ordered to change to explosive bullets.
A large number of Japanese pirates were caught off guard by the solid bullets. Before they could rush into the firing range, they were blown up by the explosive bullets. However, the number of Japanese pirates was beyond imagination. Although the cannons were fierce, they could not stop the Japanese pirates from continuing to advance. Thus, after the second volley of explosive bullets, Wu Weizhong saw that there was no time and immediately ordered the shield formation to merge. The cannoneers looked for gaps to fire, and the cannoneers began to fire in all directions.
One round of firing, two rounds of firing. Lead bullets flew in all directions and another large group of Wokou pirates died tragically. It was not until the Wokou cannoneers had finished their formation and started firing that the Ming cannoneers retreated into the formation to avoid being shot. The cannon soldiers fired through the large shields while the Wokou cannoneers hid behind the remaining bamboo bundles and returned fire. Occasionally, lead bullets would fly in through the gaps between the shields and kill the Ming soldiers within the formation.
After all, the Ming Army did not have many cannons in their hands. The archers followed up and shot fiercely, killing a portion of the Ashigaru who were charging with the bamboo bundles. After that, the knife and shield soldiers prepared to slash. The gunners also placed their long spears in the gaps between the shields and waited for the Japanese pirates to get close.
With the Ming Army's shield formation as the core, the surroundings had become a meat grinder. Blood flowed everywhere, and corpses piled up like a mountain. The Japanese pirates pushed aside the corpses of their companions and charged with all their might. They raised the bamboo spears in their hands and attacked the Ming Army's shield formation. Regardless of whether they could find the right place, they attacked. As they attacked, they charged in. Following the gaps in the shield formation, they could feel the bamboo spear entering flesh. When they pulled it out, they saw the tip of the spear was stained with blood. They knew that a Ming Army member in the formation had been stabbed to death.
With the Ming Army's shield formation as the core, the surroundings had become a meat grinder. Blood flowed everywhere, and corpses piled up like a mountain. The Japanese pirates pushed aside the corpses of their companions and charged with all their might. They raised the bamboo spears in their hands and attacked the Ming Army's shield formation. Regardless of whether they could find the right place, they attacked. As they attacked, they charged in. Following the gaps in the shield formation, they could feel the bamboo spear piercing into flesh. When they pulled it out, they saw the tip of the spear was stained with blood. They knew that a Ming Army member in the formation had been stabbed to death.
Wu Weizhong noticed that after the Japanese pirates suffered a great loss, someone realized that this method was indeed useful. Thus, he let the Japanese pirates learn from the Ming Army. Some people raised bamboo bundles to block in front, while Ashigaru hid behind and stabbed fiercely. They stabbed against the Ming Army to see who could stab the other. At such a close distance, this caused the Ming Army, which had fewer people than the Ming Army, to be at a disadvantage. This was because the number of Japanese pirates far exceeded that of the Ming Army. The Ming Army only had 1,500 gunners. They could not reload their ammunition in time and were obviously at a disadvantage.
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