I

Li Dingguo had a headache when faced with a tortoise shell. A strong attack would definitely lead to excessive casualties, and the artillery bombardment could not defeat the city defense artillery due to terrain reasons.

The defenders in Tsurumaru Castle were also frightened. They have been besieged for many days, and their morale is already low. In the attack and defense of Ishigaki just now, they directly lost one-fifth of their troops.

Today, there are less than 2,000 defenders, and there is no hope of victory.

If Shimazu Mitsuhisa's prestige was not still there and he could suppress the samurai and ashigaru in the city, these defenders would have surrendered without saying a word.

Occupying the stone wall and continuing the siege, Li Dingguo did not panic for the time being.

But it is said that Shimazu Mitsuhisa's eldest son Shimazu Tsunahisa returned to Kagoshima from Edo on the orders of the shogunate. He came back to succeed the family governor, and by the way he supervised his father's caesarean section to apologize. As a result, he took a boat halfway to Hirado Castle, and traveling with him was Matsuura Nobuzada of the Matsuura family.

"The shogunate asked me to have a caesarean section to apologize? Haha." Matsuura Shigenobu laughed.

Shimazu Tsunahisa said: "For the current plan, only the Matsuura family will send troops to defeat the Tang soldiers together with our Shimazu family. Otherwise, even if we change the family governor, we will not be able to afford the heavy war compensation."

Retainer Yuhuang Tagawa said: "Your Excellency, perhaps Nanzaemon can be sent as an envoy to persuade the Tang soldiers to relax the withdrawal conditions."

"Let him be the messenger? I'm afraid he will never come back!" Matsuura Shigenobu sneered.

Shichizaemon is Zheng Chenggong’s younger brother Zheng Daozhou.

And Emperor Tianchuan Yu was Zheng Chenggong’s maternal grandfather. Legend has it that this man's surname was Weng, who was originally from Quanzhou. After marrying into Japan, he changed his surname and became a retainer of the Matsuura family.

Zheng Chenggong's biological mother, Tagawa Song, had been taken back to Fujian to settle down, but the Hirado clan refused to let Zheng Daozhou go. This forced the Zheng family to conduct official trade in Nagasaki and also spare some effort to smuggle goods to Hirado.

Matsuura Shigenobu is probably the one with the most far-sighted vision among the Japanese feudal lords.

He had been familiar with Confucian classics since he was a child, and at the same time he converted to Christianity and rapidly grew his strength through sea trade. The fundamental reason for Tokugawa Iemitsu's seclusion was the Hirado clan, which had seriously threatened the rule of the shogunate.

After the country was closed to the outside world, the Dutch business establishment in Hirado was also forcibly relocated to Nagasaki by the shogunate.

Although this move greatly damaged the strength of the Hirado clan, Matsuura Shigenobu was not an easy person. He encouraged farmers to open up wasteland for reclamation and supported the development of industry and commerce. At the same time, he secretly engaged in smuggling and piracy. Even if his own house was burned down, he would not rebuild it in order to save money and food.

On the other hand, Shimazu Mitsuhisa is in debt and still wants to build a vacation villa in Kirishima.

Matsuura Shigenobu later raised a good son who not only did not indulge in pleasure, but also promoted Confucian benevolent government and was committed to helping the poor and low-income people.

Matsuura Shigenobu stood tall, looked at the sky, and said: "If the shogunate doesn't send troops, then my Matsuura family will do it!" He suddenly sneered, "The shogunate's plan is nothing more than to use Tang soldiers to weaken the strength of our Matsuura and Shimazu families. , the rule of his Tokugawa family will be worry-free forever."

…

Hirado, Zheng Family Store.

Zheng Daozhou is only eighteen years old this year, but he has already become the head of the Zheng family's trade in Hirado.

"Master, the Matsuura family seems to be going to war. It's been very lively outside the city these days, and the samurai from the castle town are being ordered to enter the city." Zheng Zhong reminded.

Zheng Daozhou sighed: "I know that someone is watching the store and not allowing me to leave. They are afraid that I will take the opportunity to escape."

Zheng Zhong asked worriedly: "Will the business hall be in danger?"

Zheng Daozhou shook his head: "As long as the Matsuura family still wants to smuggle through sea trade, they will not attack the Zheng family store. Send a man to Nagasaki. Don't go by sea, but go to Nagasaki by land. Tell the Zheng family store there, Let them take a boat to Kagoshima to report the news. It is said that the Matsuura clan is gathering troops and is likely to go south to fight the Datong army."

"Yes!" Zheng Zhong bowed and stepped back.

Zheng Daozhou has been adopted into his maternal grandfather's house. His surname should actually be Tagawa, so he is also called Tagawa Jiro in Japan.

Historically, his mother, Tagawa Song, committed suicide because she was unwilling to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Zheng Daozhou has always asked to return to the country to fight against the Qing Dynasty. However, Japan still refused to release him, so Zheng Daozhou had no choice but to give up and continue to deliver anti-Qing supplies to his brother Zheng Chenggong in Japan.

This time and space is even more outrageous. Because Zheng Zhilong was made a duke and Zheng Chenggong married a princess as his consort, the Matsuura family paid special attention to Zheng Daozhou. Zheng Daozhou's wife at this time was the youngest sister of the Matsuura family governor, and his son was already one year old.

However, it is said that after Li Dingguo occupied Shiyuan, he continued to besiege the city for more than thirty days, and the defenders in the city showed signs of collapse.

If the siege continues for another month, Tsurumaru City will be short of food.

At this moment, news came from the navy that a Zheng family merchant ship had arrived from Nagasaki, reporting that the Hirado clan was preparing to gather troops to go south.

Li Dingguo was overjoyed and said: "We came just in time. Don't besiege Tsurumaru City too hard. Breaking the city in advance will scare away the enemy's reinforcements."

Matsuura Shigenobu not only gathered his troops for the expedition, but also landed at Akune.

The accompanying Shimazu Tsunahisa, as the eldest son of the family governor, ordered the lords of the Shimazu clan, Akune and Izuku, to send troops. If you don't send troops, let the Matsuura family's army attack the city directly!

The army gathered troops all the way south, and the army grew stronger. When they arrived at Ijuin, the combined forces of Matsuura and Hirado had 8,000 people. Counting the civilians, there are more than 20,000, and it is known to the outside world as an army of 100,000.

After setting off from Ijuin, Shimazu Tsunahisa said: "These people in the Satsuma Domain are probably unwilling to contribute in a frontal battle. They had offended my father by not helping me before, and now they wish that my father would die soon. If my father were alive, they would definitely tell them condemn."

Matsuura Shigenobu nodded and said: "This problem is very troublesome. Although our two families have a combined force of 20,000, the only ones who are truly united are the warriors of the Hirado domain. Do you have any good suggestions?"

Shimazu Tsunahisa suggested: "You can use the Shimazu family's secret warfare technique, 'Fishing for a Wild Buster'!"

The so-called fishing field ambush is to set up an ambush, feign defeat to lure the enemy to pursue, and then use all the ambush troops to annihilate the enemy.

This kind of tactics, which is very common in Chinese wars, was praised by the Shimadzu family and won brilliant victories many times. He even defeated Toyotomi Hideyoshi's vanguard and captured the eldest son of Chosong Gabu Motochin with this method of warfare.

There is also the Woodpecker War Technique, which is the ultimate secret of Takeda Shingen.

In fact, it is to separate the cavalry from behind, rush out at the critical moment of the battle, specifically attack the enemy's most vulnerable troops, and cause a huge rout of the enemy's army by breaking through the enemy's surface.

The most interesting thing is Uesugi Kenshin's Chexuan Zhi formation. This thing is more like a fairy spell, or a big move in the game. It will definitely be full of loopholes in actual combat, and it will be beaten by the enemy to the point where your own mother doesn't recognize it. To have practical significance, every soldier must be able to follow orders and prohibitions, and all middle-level officers must have the ability to adapt to changes.

If the Chaxuan Formation is true, the mid-level officers under Uesugi Kenshin are probably all first-rate generals.

The allied forces of the two vassals were plundering people along the way. They sent out troops too quickly and there was not enough food and grass, so they had to snatch food from the people's mouths.

The closer the people of the Shimazu clan's jurisdiction were to Tsurumaru Castle, the more people they had done business with the Datong Army. Comparing the two, in the sky and on the ground, the Datong army dealt fairly and never killed or robbed. On the contrary, the soldiers of Shimadzu and Matsuura were more like invaders.

As a result, nearby people fled one after another, taking their families and families to join the Datong Army, and took the initiative to help pass on military information.

About six miles away from Tsurumaru Castle, the Datong Army met the enemy coalition forces.

There are only 5,000 Datong troops, and the rest are still besieging Tsurumaru Castle. The enemy coalition forces were even smaller, only 3,000 men, many of whom were civilians wearing rags.

Kidou Forty-eight said: "General, be careful of the Shimazu family's Diao Yefu!"

After listening to the translation, Li Dingguo realized that it was the secret of Shimazu's warfare, and he couldn't help but laugh: "It's been a long time since we fought a war, and we did it half-heartedly to lure the enemy. With so many civilians acting like this, I'm afraid there are less than a thousand real soldiers. The dragoons are out to fight!”

The Datong Army brought over war horses, not many, only 1,500. The rough sea made some people sick and died, but now there are still more than 1,300 riders left.

Yuan Shizhong's military rank has been promoted to colonel, but he still commands 2,500 dragoons.

At this moment, Yuan Shizhong went into battle with 1,200 cavalry. After running for dozens of steps, they divided into two teams, the left and right, trying to outflank and annihilate the invading enemy.

"Run!"

Seeing that they were facing cavalry, the enemy troops who had lured them away turned around and ran away. As for the civilian husband, he collapsed instantly and even forgot to lure the Datong army to the valley.

After a pursuit, more than a thousand people were captured, hundreds were killed, and only more than 800 enemy troops fled into the valley.

To the northwest of Tsurumaru Castle, there are valleys everywhere, and you can set up an ambush anywhere you choose.

"withdraw troops!"

Yuan Shizhong smiled and asked the herald to blow the trumpet, but did not pursue him at all. The Shimazu family's secret technique of fishing and ambushes was a joke in Yuan Shizhong's eyes. From being a rogue bandit to joining the Datong Army, he had been on the battlefield for ten years. What kind of tactics to lure the enemy had not been seen before?

Shimazu Tsunahisa was particularly shocked. Looking at the defeated soldiers who escaped, he said in horror: "The enemy has a wise general, but my Shimazu family's Diao Yefu didn't work!"

Matsuura Shigenobu said: "It doesn't matter. Anyway, we only sent a few hundred soldiers to lure them, and most of them escaped, and the rest were ordinary farmers. Fishing for Yefu didn't work, so we had to fight head-on. It's a pity that the really powerful ones from our two families are Navy, land combat is not our strong point."

Shimazu Tsunahisa said: "The Matsuura family's iron artillery team can definitely fight against the Tang soldiers!"

The coalition forces rested in the valley for a day, then slowly marched into the valley the next day, leaving the valley for a decisive battle with the Datong Army.

The Datong army still only has 5,000 troops, and there are more than 20 wild warriors. The rest of the troops are all under siege and are too lazy to bring over. The main fear is that if everyone comes together, the enemy troops will be scared away.

The allied forces of Shimazu and Matsuura, including the peasants, pulled out all of them to form troops. In terms of number of people, it is indeed quite majestic. There are about 20,000 people, four times the number of the Datong Army.

There was also a horse team, more than two hundred dwarfs, riding mule-like ponies. Some even had flags on their backs, and the flags fluttered as they ran, which looked indescribably funny in the eyes of the Datong soldiers.

These Japanese cavalry rushed to the flanks. Yuan Shizhong led the dragoons to charge out. After being dozens of steps away, they raised their guns and fired.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

A burst of gunfire rang out, and more than two hundred Japanese cavalrymen suddenly fell down.

Matsuura Shigenobu was surprised and shouted: "Let the cavalry come back quickly, the Tang soldiers have horse-mounted iron cannons!"

Horse-riding iron cannon is the ultimate secret of Date Masamune. During the Warring States Period in Japan, some people also used dragoon tactics.