"General Zheng, if we fight like this, we might as well withdraw our troops and blast them with artillery for a day."

The fierce battle at Kusatsu Castle lasted for an hour. Although the Ming army was advancing steadily, its own casualties began to gradually increase.

Looking at the amount of more than 400 people who had died in the battle, a general from the Eastern Army Governor's Mansion spoke dissatisfiedly, and Zheng Zhilong could only comfort him after hearing this:

"Although our army has suffered four hundred casualties, the Japanese casualties are several times that of our army. We are now on the verge of collapse..."

Zheng Zhilong also wanted to comfort the other party, but before he could finish speaking, the sound of a galloping Tangqi could be heard in the distance.

Zheng Zhilong and several other battalion generals heard the sound and looked over. Na Tangqi also led a team on horseback. They dismounted before the battle and trotted over to bow:

"Commander, Japanese reinforcements from Toyogo Town were discovered in the north of Kusatsu City, with a strength of about two battalions!"

"It should be Yin Da Zhengzong's reinforcements." A general said immediately, and Zheng Zhilong heard this and said:

"I asked why Matsudaira held on for so long. It turned out that he was waiting for reinforcements."

"They probably don't have many troops left, otherwise it would be impossible for a veteran like Yin Da Zhengzong to lead only 7,000 troops to help."

An old-school general who participated in the Battle of Fu Liao reminded him, and after finishing his words, he suggested:

"If there are generally insufficient troops, we should send a message to Yan Jinglue at Osaka Castle and let him command the army to surprise Nagoya by sea and go straight to Edo Castle!"

"This..." Zheng Zhilong was a little undecided because he knew that His Highness King Qi had said that Japan needs to be fought slowly and carefully.

It's just that if he doesn't send back this kind of news, it may be recorded by someone who is interested.

So after thinking about it, Zheng Zhilong turned to his sworn brother Zheng Zhifeng next to him and said:

"Send a message to Yan Jinglue..."

"Yes!" Zheng Zhifeng agreed, and then went to arrange for Tangqi to deliver the news.

Everyone knew that it was difficult for Zheng Zhilong to make a decision, so he did not make any suggestions, but simply spread the news. As for whether to launch a surprise attack, Yan Siqi needed to make a decision.

But while they were discussing the decision, the Japanese troops at the top of Kusatsu Castle gradually retreated due to the loss of their elite. Soon someone rode back to send the news.

"Reporting to General, General Zheng Zhihu has captured the southern section of the city wall, and the Japanese pirates have retreated to the inner city and the east and west sections of the city wall!"

"Okay!" After hearing Tang Qi's reply, Zheng Zhilong turned to look at the others and said:

"General Liu and General Li, please lead the troops north to intercept Yin Damasamong's reinforcements. All the remaining troops and horses will come forward. Our army must capture all of Matsudaira Tadayaki's troops!"

"We are waiting for your order!" The two generals bowed in response, and Zheng Zhifeng, who returned, also bowed in response.

With the loss of the south city wall, the Japanese army began to retreat to the west and east walls, as well as the city alleys for a short rest.

Zheng Zhihu did not pursue blindly, but ordered people to clear the corridors of the city gate, clean up the battlefield, harvest the heads and count the Japanese battle losses.

Some fell seriously injured, and the wailing Japanese soldiers were freed by the Ming army with swords, and their heads were harvested one after another.

Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhifeng led two battalions to garrison the south city wall, and reports of battle damage and beheadings were constantly sent from the garrison personnel at each post.

"Four hundred and twenty-two of our troops were killed, 713 were slightly injured, and 327 were seriously injured."

"The Japanese pirates harvested 4,567 levels of heads..."

Two quarters of an hour later, Zheng Zhilong looked at the summary, nodded slightly and said: "If we don't count the more than 700 slightly injured brothers who will not affect the battle, our battle losses with the Japanese pirates are close to one to six."

Zheng Zhilong was very satisfied, but a general from the Eastern Army Governor's Office was dissatisfied:

"One to six, if His Highness and Governor Sun find out about this, we will inevitably be reprimanded."

What this general said was true, because before they set off for the expedition, Sun Yingyuan had already told them that the performance of the Eastern Army's Governor's Mansion could not be worse than that of the Korean War.

What were the battle losses between the Ming and Japanese armies in the Korean War?

Different from the records in "History of the Ming Dynasty", Korean officials who witnessed the battle and a small number of Japanese daimyo who participated in the war spoke highly of it.

According to Korean records, less than 2,000 people were killed by the Ming army in the entire first aid to Korea. During the same period, about 56,000 people were killed by the Japanese army, at least one-third of which were in battles with the Ming army.

Death, the casualties of both sides were one to ten.

The second time to support Korea, the two armies will start a more intense battle tomorrow. Although the Ming army is a little higher and lower this time, the casualties in the whole stage are not too many.

Even though the Battle of Ulsan recorded huge casualties of the Ming army, there were not tens of thousands killed by the Japanese army as claimed by the Ming Dynasty's own Ding Yingtai and other trolls.

No matter in the "Eastern Division Report" jointly signed by Yang Hao and Ma Gui after the war, or in the "Xuanmiao Zhongxing Zhi" recorded by North Korean officials, the number of Ming army casualties in battle and illness did not exceed 1,600.

The number of injured did not exceed 3,000.

On the other hand, the Japanese army was much more miserable. According to the "Korean Chronicles" written by the Japanese samurai Hidemoto Ohuchi, the Japanese army lost more than 18,000 people to the Ming army in the "Battle of Nongsho" in the peripheral battle alone.

During the entire battle of Ulsan, the Japanese army suffered a total death of more than 20,000 people.

Not only that, the Japanese Army's "Korean Service Records" also mentioned that the remaining thousands of Japanese troops in Dosan Castle were starved for more than ten days. After the siege was relieved, they went crazy and did not care about eating and drinking. As a result, "all were killed, but the innocent

Wait for some people to survive."

Kato Kiyomasa, who was praised as "Tora Kato" by later generations, was still barking before the war, shouting that even the 400,000 Ming army could not break the city.

As a result, he was thoroughly taught how to behave by the Ming army during the entire battle, just like someone carrying a bucket of excrement and pouring it down from head to toe. During the battle, he tried to seek death several times, but was persuaded by the left and right.

After the war, Yang Hao and Ma Gui, who obviously caused great damage to the Japanese army, were fabricated by trolls led by Ding Yingtai of the Ming Dynasty, and the rumors were turned upside down.

Little did they know that Kato Kiyomasa was completely discouraged by the beatings of Yang Hao and Magui. He ran from Ulsan to Sesaengpo and hid behind closed doors.

Tiger Kato was completely reduced to Kato Cat. This was also the most significant blow to Japan by the Central Plains Dynasty since the Tang Dynasty.

However, even if the exchange ratio was so disproportionate, the biggest loser in the Battle of Ulsan was still the Ming Dynasty.

As Yang Hao and others were replaced, Ma Gui was also affected by the capital. He cowered in the second Battle of Ulsan. The final Battle of Sichuan almost completely ruined the previous achievements of the Ming army.

image.

The failure of the Battle of Sichuan led to the death of about 12,000 Ming troops in the second battle in Korea, and the destruction of about 30,000 to 40,000 Japanese troops.

Without this battle, in the second battle into Korea, the Ming army's battle loss ratio against the Japanese army should have been 1:6, instead of 1:3.

But even so, generally speaking, in the war to aid Korea, which lasted for nearly seven years and the actual fighting took just over a year, the cumulative number of Ming army casualties was only about 16,000, and the Japanese army died at the hands of the Ming army.

Nearly 50,000, plus the number of people who died from non-combat causes such as illness and death, there are 50,000 to 60,000, and the total number of deaths should exceed 100,000.

The Ming army's battle losses against the Japanese army remained at about one to six.

Sun Yingyuan explained that the battle loss ratio of the Eastern Army Governor's Mansion should be higher than the battle loss ratio of the first battle in Korea, which was one to ten.

With the current battle loss of 1:6, not to mention that this group of people would be scolded by Sun Yingyuan, even Yan Siqi would not be able to escape the fate of being included in the book.

In the nearly two and a half years since Yan Siqi and others landed in the Four Kingdoms in June of the sixth year of Tianqi to now, the Ming army has wiped out a total of 73,000 Japanese troops and lost 3,700, a ratio of nearly 1:20.

Battle loss ratio.

It was precisely because of this battle-loss ratio that Zhu Youjian did not send anyone to replace Yan Siqi, because he felt that Yan Siqi played well.

But if Zheng Zhilong's style of play is followed, it is estimated that he can win the capital of the state at most, and Zhu Youjian will have to replace Yingzhou.

Therefore, after the Eastern Army Governor's Office General was dissatisfied, Zheng Zhilong also found that the battle losses were higher, so he said uneasily:

"It can still be saved somewhat. As long as our army uses artillery to annihilate Matsudaira Tadaki's troops, we can still suffer a battle loss of one to ten."

"General Zheng Mingjian..." General Shenjun of the Eastern Army Governor's Mansion bowed after hearing this, and Zheng Zhilong also told Zheng Zhifeng when he saw this:

"Have people carry artillery onto the horse road, divide the troops to block the four gates, and then prepare fire oil and trebuchets. I will burn Kusatsu Castle!"

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhifeng immediately agreed, turned around and went to make arrangements.

The lighter five-pound cannons were pulled to the top of the city using cloud carts by the Ming army, while the ten-pound cannons were pushed to the entrances of various streets and alleys.

There are about 20,000 civilians in the small city of Kusatsu, and for these civilians, Zheng Zhilong, who understands the life of Japanese civilians, quickly thought of countermeasures.

"Hey! I said to the people inside, the Ming Dynasty did not come to invade us. The Ming Dynasty came to bring us culture. The land in the south is already being divided. Common people can get one acre of land per person! They only need to collect 30% of the land tax."

"You think about your families and how the emperor and the generals dealt with us?"

"We don't have any land, and we still need to do labor!"

"You work as soldiers for the general, but you only have three rice balls a day. But here I work as a civilian for the Ming Dynasty's heavenly soldiers. I can eat two kilograms of "silver relics" every day, as well as a fresh fish, and unlimited salt.

And soy sauce.”

"Wake up! You idiots! Facing such a general, what on earth do you deserve to be loyal to?"

In Kusatsu Castle, when some Japanese civilians were sent to the front by Zheng Zhilong, they immediately began to persuade some civilians in Kusatsu Castle to surrender according to the manuscript written by Zheng Zhilong.

After reading Zheng Zhilong's manuscript, some people also criticized the "crimes and punishments" of the Tokugawa shogunate.

As a perverted country that loves the strong and bullies the weak, Japanese farmers are a group of low-class people without dignity and power no matter what era they are in.

After the Tokugawa Shogunate was established, in order to strengthen its rule, it followed the Ming Dynasty's shogunate system and established a complete shogunate system.

The so-called "shogunate" refers to the shogunate, which is the central government agency. The shogun is the supreme ruler of the shogunate. The emperor is only the nominal head of state and has no real power.

"Fan" means a vassal state, which is a territory and its governing body entrusted by the general to local daimyo.

The feudal governance system composed of the shogunate and the vassal state is the shogunate system.

The economic foundation of the shogunate system was the feudal land ownership system. The country's land was divided into four types: shogunate territory, daimyo territory, royal ministers' territory, and temple and shrine territory.

The territory of the shogunate is called "Tenryo", which accounts for a quarter of the country's land, including three major cities such as Edo and Osaka Kyoto, as well as other commercial, transportation centers, and military important places.

The territory of the daimyo is called "vassal territory", which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the country's land and belongs to more than 216 daimyo. On the other hand, the proportion of the territory of the imperial family, ministers, temples and shrines is very small.

Under the shogunate system, feudal lords at all levels divided the land into small plots for farmers to cultivate, and extracted "annual tribute" and various taxes from them.

Peasants have "permanent lease rights" on the land they cultivate, thus forming the unique principle of Japanese feudal society that "people govern agriculture and farmers support people".

Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate implemented a strict feudal hierarchy, and various social classes were divided into scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants.

Among them, "peasants" are farmers who account for 80% of the country's population. They are direct producers in the territory of the feudal ruling class and bear the obligation to pay feudal land rent and annual tribute.

Land rent is usually paid in the proportion of "five publics and five citizens", "six publics and four citizens" or even "eight publics and two citizens".

From the beginning of its establishment, the shogunate bluntly stated: "The criterion for levying taxes on farmers is to neither let them die nor let them live."

In addition, farmers have to perform various kinds of labor services, mainly including "national service" and "auxiliary rural service".

The former refers to building bridges, repairing roads, and building embankments, while the latter refers to the time when the daimyo "participates in pilgrimage" and farmers need to provide horses and porters for the stations along the way.
To be continued...