The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Going to Penghu or Jingang?"

A Japanese chieftain asked.

"Let's go to Penghu. I've been watching the sky in the past few days and the wind has picked up, but it's a bit softer. It should be okay to go to Penghu."

After the Japanese pirate boss made his decision, he said fiercely to the others: "We will go to sea tonight. Before we break through the Ming Navy, we are not allowed to tell our subordinates our destination, and we must be strict with our mouths."

Yu Dayou and the others certainly didn't know that the Japanese pirate leader only planned to escape with some of his men.

In fact, the Japanese pirates who stayed behind in Xucuo Japanese Chao did not know that they had been abandoned by their leader.

Although Yu Dayou had strictly ordered the navy's ships to be on alert to prevent Japanese pirates from escaping, the Ming Navy had already relaxed due to the lack of war in the past two years. It was no longer the navy that Yu Dayou once commanded that dared to fight Japanese pirates at sea. fleet.

The destination of the Japanese pirates' escape - Penghu, is naturally the Penghu Islands, but now it has become the nest where the Japanese pirates are entrenched.

In the Penghu Islands, the Penghu Inspection Department was established during the Yuan Dynasty. Contrary to what most people imagined, the purpose of establishing the Inspection Department was not to ensure the tranquility of this sea area.

According to later research, the reason is that the emperor of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty failed in his expedition to Japan due to wind. He detoured to Taiwan and passed through Penghu to establish control of Penghu in an attempt to invade Taiwan as preparation for the conquest of Japan.

The Penghu Inspection Department is affiliated to Quanzhou Prefecture in Fujian, and the chief officer is the Penghu Village Inspection Department.

The Penghu Inspection Department was not only the first administrative division of the Penghu Islands, but also the first official establishment in Taiwan. However, Taiwan's main island was not included. The Ming Dynasty, which defeated the Yuan Dynasty and gained power, still followed precedent and set up this official office in Penghu.

However, due to the presence of Japanese pirates, Taipeng was located at the corner of the sea and was often attacked by Japanese pirates. The cargo ships transporting luggage were often robbed. The Ming government adopted a policy of strengthening the walls and clearing the country, and implemented a sea closure policy in 1384, which was abolished.

The Inspection Department was a grassroots organization under the county-level yamen during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties in China. When the organization was created in the Yuan Dynasty, it was usually a non-permanent organization that governed sparsely populated areas. In addition to having no administrative discretion, there was no permanent chief official, and There is no military power.

The Ming Dynasty followed the example, but supplemented it with administrative power.

However, due to the establishment of the Inspection Department to manage the islands and surrounding waters, the Penghu Islands were included in China's territory.

Nearly two thousand Japanese pirates fled the mainland on a large number of Japanese ships. Naturally, the Ming Navy was aware of the situation. However, the sky was dark at this time, and the powerful firearms carried by the Ming Navy could not exert sufficient power. Although some Japanese ships were successfully intercepted, , but there were still a large number of Japanese pirates who took advantage of the chaos and rushed out of the Ming Navy's siege, and then sailed away.

In the early morning, the news that the navy encountered the enemy last night reached the Ming army camp. Yu Dayou was shocked when he learned that a Japanese ship had escaped last night.

I have really been neglectful these past few days and forgot that the wind direction has changed in the past two days.

If it had been two days before, the Japanese pirate fleet would have been extinct and it would have been impossible for them to rush to the open sea. There were flaws in their formation.

But fortunately, the general in the camp really didn't see it.

Even though Qi Jiguang is the hereditary commander of the Dengzhou Guard in Shandong, the Dengzhou Guard is not the Denglai Navy, but also a guard station focusing on land warfare. There are only a few fishing boats in the sky, so naturally he has no understanding of water warfare.

This is especially true for Liu Xian, a general who has never been exposed to water warfare.

It can only be said that the Japanese pirates were on the run, and they fled in the dark at night. It is understandable that the navy could not stop them.

In fact, even if it was an encounter in broad daylight, it would be difficult for the Ming Navy to intercept all the Japanese ships. There would always be fish that slipped through the net, but this time too many were missed.

Yu Dayou sent people to inform the other two Ming army generals Liu Xian and Qi Jiguang. Even if he suppressed the matter temporarily, it would still be impossible to hide it from everyone afterwards.

Soon, Liu Xian and Qi Jiguang rushed to Yu Dayou after hearing the news to learn about the naval battle.

Because it was night, the Ming navy couldn't tell how many Japanese ships had escaped, so the report was naturally very reserved.

Yu Dayou directly handed the naval military report to the two of them and let them read it themselves.

The military report only stated that the Japanese pirates were on the run, but the navy was unable to intercept them, and a Japanese ship broke through to intercept them.

"Hey, the Japanese pirates escaped. How can I explain this to the court?"

Liu Xian sighed after reading the military report.

Qi Jiguang didn't say anything, but he looked outside the tent door, obviously thinking of the Japanese pirates in Xu Cuo's nest outside.

When he woke up this morning, he didn't hear any movement from Wochao.

There are many Japanese pirates patrolling the Japanese pirate camp, which shows that there are still many Japanese pirates who have not escaped in the Japanese nest, and these people are obviously cannon fodder abandoned by the Japanese pirate leaders.

Now that the leader of the Japanese pirates has escaped, the remaining people must not be allowed to escape. They must be wiped out, otherwise there will be no explanation.

Thinking of this, Qi Jiguang opened his mouth and said to Liu Xian and Yu Dayou: "Director Liu and Commander Yu, now we can only annihilate all the Japanese pirates in the Japanese nest. We must not let anyone go."

Qi Jiguang's words also reminded Yu Dayou and Liu Xian of what he meant.

Only by killing all the Japanese pirates would it be possible to suppress the news that some Japanese pirates had escaped. Naturally, the navy also knew how to write a battle report.

After all, the so-called total annihilation of Japanese pirates previously reported by the Ming army was actually mostly the main force being annihilated or most of them being annihilated. There were very few battles in which no one was left alive.

Don't the Japanese pirates understand that when they see that they are defeated, they still grease their feet and run away?

That is impossible. For most Japanese pirates, it is already an instinct to take advantage of the chaos during the war to escape.

"I will return to camp immediately to prepare. Even if we fight at night today, we must capture Pinghai Acropolis."

Liu Xian whispered to Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang.

Now, only a quick decision can suppress the news.

After killing all the Japanese pirates and insisting that there are only so many, who can come up with evidence to speak out?

If they really have evidence, they might as well bite back and accuse the other party of being a Japanese invader.

Qi Jiguang nodded, this time he was going to force them to go on a killing spree. Only by killing all the remaining Japanese pirates could the news of the Japanese chief's escape be blocked.

"Then let's do it."

Yu Dayou also nodded in agreement.

At this time, he had no intention of tracking the Japanese pirates. The sea was so vast that it was difficult to determine the direction in which the Japanese pirates would escape.

As Liu and Qi left, Yu Dayou also issued an order to only eat with the army, preparing to take down Xu Cuochao in one go and then regain Pinghai Acropolis.

Even though he had already guessed that there might be no one in Pinghaiwei City now.

After breakfast, Yu Dayou walked out of the camp and felt the slight west wind. After passing by his soldiers, his eyes fell on the Japanese pirate camp in the distance. He saw the simple fences built by demolishing people's houses and taking out wooden beams. Yu Dayou had already thought about it. What to do in a while.

As the three armies finished their war meal, each soldier was distributed some dry food. Today, the Ming army planned to completely eliminate the remaining Japanese pirates on the mainland in one go.

As the rumble of war drums rang out from the camp of Qi Jiguang's troops on the middle road, the gate of the camp opened, and a line of soldiers lined up in neat formation and marched towards Xu Cuo Japanese Nest.

Along with the sound of drums, the two Ming army camps on the left and right also beat the war drums, and the soldiers dressed up and left the camp.

The Ming army approached the Japanese nest in three groups, which naturally caused a fierce reaction from the Japanese pirates.

In fact, when the war drums sounded, several small Japanese pirate leaders in the Japanese nest were already very worried and gathered together.

Yesterday, the leaders of the camp said they would go back to discuss how to deal with Qi Huhu, but they did not come back the next night. They were all still worried about what they would do when the Ming army attacked the camp early this morning.

Some of the remaining small leaders have good relations with each other, while others are enemies, and only the leaders can suppress them.

Now that the leader is away, naturally everyone is dissatisfied with each other and unwilling to accept each other's command.

Several waves of people were sent to deliver messages to Pinghai Acropolis. The other side could only organize defenses according to their own defensive positions to resist the Ming army's attack.

In the Japanese nest, more than a hundred Japanese pirate cavalry were holding their horses. They wondered whether they should take advantage of the Ming army's approach to the formation to launch a surprise attack on the Ming army's formation.

Most of these war horses were found in Xinghua City. The Japanese pirates did not prepare horse boats and ran to Daming with their war horses to plunder.

And this Japanese pirate cavalry was also the surprising method of victory that the Japanese pirate leader thought of.

Wanting to take advantage of the unsteady foothold of the Ming army, they dispatched this cavalry unit to attack.

However, now, this team has no commander.

In the Japanese pirate gang, they are still very obedient to orders. At least until their defeat is revealed, no one dares to disrespect military orders.

However, now they are watching the Ming army approaching the formation and starting to play with artillery, but there has been no order for them to go out and charge into the formation.

According to the original plan, these more than a hundred Japanese pirate cavalry were used as arrowheads, followed by more than two thousand Japanese pirates, to launch a charge against the central army of the Ming army.

These two thousand people were all the Japanese pirates originally stationed in Xucuo.

The attack by Liu Xian and Yu Dayou's troops was relatively simple. Liu Xian's army did not have many firearms. Although Yu Dayou valued firearms, after all, he rushed to southern Gansu temporarily and was rushing to wipe out Zhang Lian and other rebels. Naturally, he did not have time. When the troops are looking for firearms, they can only strictly practice emergency response with the weapons in hand. To break the sky, the firearms in the camp are used intensively.

Now Yu Dayou has realized the benefits of concentrated use of firearms. Under intensive firepower, there are really not many troops who can withstand it.

The two Ming troops on the left and right had already set up their postures in front of the formation, but Qi Jiguang's troops in the middle took a little longer to prepare.

More than ten Fran cannons and more than one hundred Tiger squat cannons were divided into several clusters to form artillery positions in front of the Ming army's formation.

Behind the Fran cannon, several Ming soldiers were making final preparations to fire the cannon. The Tiger Crouching Cannon was relatively simple, with only two people squatting behind the cannon.

That is to say, the Japanese pirates did not rush out. If the Japanese nest camp was opened, there would only be one gunner staying behind the Tiger Crouching Cannon, and he would have to retreat behind the formation after the attack.

If any Western generals came here at this time, they would naturally be able to see that the training and military formation layout of Qi Jiguang's troops were actually on par with the Western armies at this time.

The so-called differences are only differences caused by different tactics and equipment.

Yu Dayou sat on his horse and observed the changes in the Japanese nest.

Opposite the Ming army on the right, behind the fence, several Japanese pirate formations have been assembled. It's just that I can't see what weapons they are using, but I guess they must be those things.

Although most of the goods stolen by the Japanese pirates were traded with the barbarians at nearby island ports, they could only exchange them for gold, silver and other property, as well as a small amount of firearms such as muskets.

Large-scale arms transactions have never occurred in East Asia. Neither the Spanish nor the Portuguese will sell weapons to pirates on a large scale.

After all, it doesn't matter who you are at sea, because there is no order at all.

The Japanese pirates were well equipped, which was also a disaster for their ships that had been sailing on the seas of East and Southeast Asia for a long time.

Moreover, selling firearms in small quantities also allows them to fetch higher prices.

Relatively speaking, they would rather sell firearms to Japanese people than to pirates.

When Qi Jiguang's troops completed their pre-war preparations, there were still no changes in the Japanese pirate camp. It was just that there were many more Japanese pirates behind the camp.

As Qi Jiguang's firearms began to explode, countless solid bullets were ejected from the muzzles and rushed toward the Japanese nests. The Ming army's campaign to exterminate the Japanese pirates who committed atrocities in Xinghua Prefecture began.

Including the Tiger Crouching Cannon, they all raised their muzzles at a certain angle to attack the Japanese pirates in the Japanese nest, while the two Ming troops on the left and right maintained their military formation and slowly approached the Japanese pirate fence.

Both Liu Xian and Yu Dayou thought of the same tactic. After approaching the Japanese nest, the archers in the camp lit their bows and arrows. Following the order, rockets flew into the Japanese nest from the left and right, and many rockets also hit the fence of the camp. on, causing a raging fire.

At this time, the wind direction was from the west, and the flames and smoke drifted into the Japanese pirate formation with the wind, forcing the Japanese pirates to retreat continuously.

The Japanese pirates in the middle retreated even more fiercely.

How can the body resist the stone bullets falling from the sky? Once they fall into the crowd of Japanese pirates, it will be an alley of blood. The dead will be wiped out, and the injured will be miserable.

Seeing the Japanese pirates being attacked, Qi Jiguang did not choose to go out to fight. Although Qi Jiguang was also very surprised, he quickly understood the situation of the Japanese pirates in front of him - a group of poor people who did not know they had been abandoned.

A section of the fence in the middle could not withstand the damage of the stone bullets and fell first. There were also fences on the left and right sides that broke and fell in the fire. At this time, the camp wall built outside the Japanese nest was already riddled with holes.

Neither Yu Dayou nor Liu Xian expected that today's battle would be so easy. With smiles on their lips, they calmly began to mobilize their troops. The Ming army invaded the Japanese nest, followed by Qi Jiguang's middle army.

The Japanese pirates in the Japanese nest did not have unified command, and they all fought independently. By now, the situation was not good, and the small leaders had no idea of ​​continuing to fight to the death here. They led their elite men to flee, towards the Pinghai Acropolis behind them. Run.

The more than a hundred Japanese pirate cavalry were naturally the best among them, and they ran very quickly.

The Ming army took advantage of the situation and invaded the Japanese nest. One group began to clean up and rescue the trapped people, while the other group followed closely to pursue the fleeing Japanese pirates.

At this time, in the Ming army, the cavalry power of Liu Xian and Yu Dayou also came into play. The two cavalry units totaled more than a thousand cavalry. They acted as arrowheads to pursue the Ming army and quickly harvested the heads of Japanese pirates.

He rushed forward, swung his sword, and a head flew into the air.

At midnight, after the Ming army killed the last Japanese pirate in Pinghai Guard City, Liu Xian, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang jointly sent a message of success to Tan Lun, who was still stationed outside Xinghua City.

"The Japanese pirates were wiped out and a great victory was achieved. In this battle, a total of 3,451 Japanese were killed, 3,761 weapons were seized, and more than 3,000 male and female civilians in Putian and Pinghai were rescued."