nucmednet Chapter 418 Ambush
Chapter 418 Ambush
Seeing the Japanese pirates humiliating his side in such a vulgar manner, Feng Su was furious. He glared at Tan Zheng and shouted, "Commander Tan, if you had any backbone, you wouldn't let these vile scoundrels humiliate you like this! If you still don't dare to fight, fine, give me a word and let me lead the soldiers and militia under your command into battle."
Tan Zheng was cornered. If a weak scholar were to lead troops out of the city, he would lose face in Taizhou Prefecture. He peered out again at the hundred-odd Japanese pirates below the city walls, then surveyed his surroundings. Seeing no further movement, he calculated: a commander could muster over three hundred able-bodied men, plus six hundred militiamen—a thousand men against a hundred pirates, ten against one. The odds seemed high. Even the pirates couldn't all be superhuman, could they?
He gritted his teeth, "Damn it, I'll risk it!" He turned to his subordinates and ordered, "Gather everyone together, along with the militia, and we'll go out of the city, behead these Japanese pirates, and demand a reward from the court!"
The centurions were excited; they were more than happy to fight outnumbered. Back when the Japanese pirates were at their worst, a single genuine pirate could be exchanged for a hundred taels of silver. The price might not be as high as during the Jiajing era, but a reward of fifty or sixty taels was still guaranteed. These hundred or so pirates were walking silver ingots in their eyes! One job like this would be worth several years' worth of pay.
With this approach, the garrison's enthusiasm was fully mobilized, and they were highly efficient. They assembled in the shortest possible time, opened the city gates, and charged out with shouts, followed closely by the militia.
Upon seeing the massive crowd rushing out, the provocative Japanese pirates seemed to be frightened. After a moment of stunned silence, they jumped up, turned around, and ran away.
Seeing the Japanese pirates' reaction, Tan Zheng, who had been on tenterhooks, was relieved. It turned out that the Japanese pirates were also afraid of dying! He became excited. What his great-grandfather couldn't accomplish, he could do in his generation. One hundred real Japanese pirates! Defeating these pirates would be enough to comfort his ancestors!
The Japanese pirates fled in a sorry state, and their straw sandals could be seen during the pursuit. The legendary, terrifying speed of the pirates was nowhere to be seen; these pirates seemed to run very slowly, and the distance between them was gradually closing.
On a distant hillside, the Qiongzhou garrison officer stared in disbelief ahead. "This is ridiculous! Sending out a hundred or so men, patting their behinds, and they just lured the defenders out? Are these defenders all idiots?"
Seeing that the "bait" had lured the defenders in this direction, and they were only a few hundred paces away, he couldn't help but ask, "Why haven't you ordered the main force to attack yet?"
Shimazu Mitsuhisa shook his head: "Not yet. We have to let them catch up and get them entangled before we attack. Otherwise, we'll scare the defenders away. In your Ming Dynasty terms, it would be like trying to fill a basket with water—all for nothing."
The officer couldn't help but glance at him a few times, wondering if this fellow was truly confident or just arrogant. The Qiongzhou Battalion had many examples of fighting with fewer troops, but they always used rifles and bayonets as their primary weapons, sometimes even artillery. They had never seen a battle fought entirely with melee weapons from start to finish. It's said, "To injure a thousand enemies while losing a hundred of your own, how can one possibly withstand a thousand alone? Wouldn't you crumble at the first touch?"
With the "bait" deliberately letting things slide, Tan Zheng's men "successfully" caught up with the Japanese pirates and charged at them with shouts and yells.
At this moment, the Japanese pirates, who had been fleeing in panic, suddenly stopped, turned around, and drew their katana with a series of swift movements. One of the pirates, who appeared to be their leader, opened a folding fan, with the side bearing the calligraphy and paintings facing inward, and fanned himself a few times. As if receiving a command, all the samurai shouted "Ha!" in unison, raised their katana high, leaped up, and slashed down at the faces of the pursuers.
The Ming army never expected that these hundred men would suddenly turn around and attack. Caught off guard, the first few dozen men were not even able to swing their weapons to defend themselves before being struck in the face by a sword and killed instantly.
Tan Zheng was leading his troops in pursuit when he suddenly witnessed this unexpected turn of events. He was so startled that he almost instinctively turned and ran. However, he quickly realized that desertion was a grave taboo, and exposing his back to the enemy was tantamount to suicide. Besides, these Japanese pirates were only a small number; if he and his thousand-plus men swarmed forward, even a riot of punches could kill a master.
He mustered his courage, raised his knife, and shouted, "Brothers, don't panic! No matter how good the Japanese pirates are, there are only so many of them. Let's attack together!"
The sheer number of men gave the Ming army courage; they did not retreat despite the casualties of a few dozen men, but continued to charge forward.
The Japanese pirate leader continued waving his fan, pointing forward a few times. After their successful attack, the samurai, holding their swords with both hands in front of their chests and arms close to their bodies, roared as they charged towards the pursuing enemy, engaging in a fierce battle.
On the Japanese pirates' side, whether they were samurai from the Satsuma Domain or ronin they had recruited, they fought every few days. Their combat experience and fighting skills far surpassed those of the Ming army, and even their weapons were significantly more durable and sharper than the Ming army's ordinary equipment. On the other hand, although the Ming army outnumbered their opponents by nearly ten times, their soldiers were long out of practice and lacked training. Most were farmers hastily armed with rudimentary weapons. While they could manage a few shouts and brawls due to their numbers, they were no match for the Japanese pirates in one-on-one combat, often losing their heads within a few rounds. The local militia were even worse; originally used as laborers to transport siege equipment, they had neither combat experience nor fighting spirit, making them no match for the Japanese pirates.
One hundred Japanese pirates were entangled with over a thousand pursuers, and surprisingly, the side with fewer men gradually gained the upper hand.
On the hillside, the Qiongzhou garrison officer stared wide-eyed at the battle a few hundred paces away. He knew the garrison troops were utterly incompetent, but he hadn't expected them to be this bad—it was unheard of. No wonder Shimazu Mitsuhisa was so confident, daring to use a hundred men as bait, and these "bait" even dared to turn back and engage the enemy, holding them back with only one-tenth of their strength.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Shimazu Mitsuhisa suddenly stood up, raised his katana high, and shouted, "Yajigage!"
The samurai all stood up, brandishing their swords and shouting "Yajigage!" as they charged down the hillside.
The soldiers, who were fighting a hundred Japanese pirates, had no idea that their opponents had laid an ambush. When they saw that the opposite hillside was covered with Japanese pirates, they were all stunned.
Seeing this turn of events, Tan Zheng finally understood what was happening. His mouth gaped open as he stared at the swarming Japanese pirates above, his face filled with terror. He couldn't even handle a hundred pirates; now, suddenly a thousand or two had appeared. If they continued fighting, wouldn't they all be doomed?