Chapter 373 Troops Arrive at Edo

"Let the man go!"

"That's right! They deducted military rations, why did they kill Shou Xiwan and the others?!"

"Let them go!"

"Aren't we defending the General from the Ming army? Why are our military rations being deducted?!"

It was noon on the seventh day. There was no artillery fire from the Ming army, but the weather was still gloomy and terrifying. What was even more terrifying was the contradiction between the aristocracy and the common people in Nagoya Castle.

Tens of thousands of ashigaru and civilians surrounded the base of the city wall, and groups of ashigaru came from a distance, and their targets were twelve short and thin ashigaru.

Their clothes were taken off, and they were all emaciated, with deeply sunken cheeks and disheveled hair. They were suppressed and knelt at the top of the city.

Behind them, twelve samurai were wiping their katana swords, seemingly preparing to behead the twelve ashigaru.

Such an experience made many ashigaru who were also deprived of food feel unfair and resentful.

"Shut up!"

A daimyo sitting on a low stool stood up, wearing a frightening armor, causing many ashigaru and civilian husbands to shut up.

Ashigaru dared to take action against samurai, but they still had a deep fear of daimyo and shoguns.

"Those three samurai deserved it for stealing military rations, but twelve of them surrounded and killed three of them, and they still attacked them secretly. Such despicable methods are shameful!"

"Shut up!"

The daimyo who was still scolding the civilian husband was suddenly interrupted. He looked angrily and saw Tokugawa Iemitsu coming over with Date Masamune and a group of samurai.

"General!"

The daimyo hurriedly saluted, but as civilians, the ashigaru and civilian husbands could only kneel down and shout for the general.

"Let the man go!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu looked at the ashigaru and civilian husbands gathered outside the city, his face turned dark and ugly.

At this juncture, even if the punishment is light, it should be killed on the spot instead of being executed like an idiot.

Hearing and seeing are two different concepts. If all the ashigaru and civilian husbands witness the riot after the execution, who can calm the situation?!

"But...Shogun-sama..." The daimyo wanted to explain further, but Tokugawa Iemitsu stared at him:

"Can't you hear what I said?!"

"Hi...Hi!" The daimyo was shocked and could only wave his hand to signal to the people below to release the twelve ashigaru.

After the twelve people were released, they immediately knelt down to express their gratitude, while Date Masamune quickly said:

"General, now is the time for you to rebuild your morale."

"Well..." Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded slightly, and then turned around, hiding the gloom in his expression and saying with a smile:

"Soldiers! Believe me! Believe the shogunate! After defeating the Ming army, I will reward you with the land of Kyushu and Shikoku and let you all become samurai!"

"Hi!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu was condescending, and his voice continued to spread. The ashigaru and civilian husbands below heard it and responded quickly.

It seems that in their opinion, the things that the general has promised should not be ignored.

"Today's extra meal, please disperse!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu waved his hand, and the ashigaru and civilian husbands below also began to evacuate little by little.

Watching them disperse, the previous daimyo couldn't help but ask: "The land of Kyushu and Shikoku..."

"Shut up." Date Masamune shouted at the other party speechlessly, even thinking that the other party was a brainless idiot.

At present, the shogunate may not even be able to save Nagoya, let alone recover Kyushu and Shikoku.

Everyone can see that Tokugawa Iemitsu is just trying to stabilize the hearts of Ashigaru and Minio.

"Add half a pound of vegetarian rice to them."

"Hi!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu gave Date Masamune instructions with an ugly look on his face, and then turned around and led the team away without even leaving a word to scold the daimyo.

Date Masamune agreed, and then ordered people to give extra meals to the soldiers in the army.

An hour later, the people at the base of the city wall completely dispersed, and corn balls that were much larger than usual appeared in the hands of Ashigaru and the civilian husbands.

"Sure enough, the General is true to his word."

"Of course!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Two hours later, when all the ashigaru and civilian husbands were eating, they all seemed to have forgotten what they had experienced in the previous few days, and they began to praise Tokugawa Iemitsu again just because of half a kilogram of corn rice balls.

This is the bad nature of human beings. They never forget their mistakes and always take chances. They think that the things promised by the people above will definitely come true, but they don't look at who brought about their situation.

Because of their luck, the Tokugawa clan was able to survive for a few more days.

As the days go by, the "kindness" of half a catty of rice balls is slowly disappearing.

By the time Tokugawa Iemitsu and Date Masamune felt something was wrong, Zheng Zhilong's third battalion of troops had already sailed into Edo Bay by boat.

"put!"

"Bang bang bang——"

The sound of fierce artillery fire rang out over Edo Castle, which made Tokugawa Hidetada, who was back on the mountain and preparing to organize his army to open up the supply line, subconsciously grabbed his sword.

"Father! The Ming army is coming from the sea!"

"At sea? Sure enough..."

Tokugawa Tadada came trotting all the way in his armor. He knelt behind the door and reported back to Tokugawa Hidetada in the room.

After hearing this, Tokugawa Hidetada immediately asked the maids on his left and right to put on armor for him, and walked out of the courtyard a quarter of an hour later:

"Follow me to the castle tower."

Tokugawa Hidetada gave an explanation and walked towards the castle tower with A. When Tokugawa Tadada saw this, he immediately followed.

On their way there, many daimyo who had fled from the south and temporarily lived in Edo followed Jia.

When they boarded the castle tower two-quarters of an hour later, what appeared in front of them were more than thirty warships on the sea that looked small but were extremely tall compared to the surrounding ships.

More than thirty warships did not directly choose to land for combat, but instead shelled forts and ships in Edo Bay.

Some of the soldiers and horses stationed at the port were annihilated by them with artillery and rifles. In short, they showed no signs of landing.

Tokugawa Hidetada looked at the battlefield with the telescope he bought from the Dutch. After looking at it, he said without looking back:

"The number should be about 10,000. This Ming army is a partial division and the main force."

"What do you mean?" A daimyo was confused, but Tokugawa Hidetada didn't bother to explain, but said directly:

"We can't hold Nagoya anymore. Tell Iemitsu and lead the troops to withdraw immediately!"

"Hi!"

After all, he was brought up by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Tokugawa Hidetada could still see such things and strategies as attacking in the east and in the west, and then turning against the guest.

The Ming army currently numbers about 10,000 people. When the Nagoya battlefield is going well, they are the side troops, and when things are not going well, they are the main force.

With this ten-thousand-member army, if they don't care about casualties, they can directly capture Edo Castle with half of their strength.

Tokugawa Hidetada did not underestimate the combat effectiveness of the Ming army, so he knew that Tokugawa Iemitsu had to find an opportunity to break through.

If this army appears here, it will not be able to lead people to clear the food roads. The food roads cannot be cleared, and hundreds of thousands of people are dying in Nagoya Castle.

Rather than all being trapped to death, it would be better...

"Master Daigosho, there is news from Gifu, Nagano, and Yamanashi that the Ming army has conquered three places!"

Rapid footsteps sounded, and a Tang soldier ran up to the castle tower to report back even worse news.

Such news is undoubtedly very demoralizing, because the number of troops in these three places is 60,000, and the fall of these three places means that at least 60,000 troops have been completely annihilated.

The northern gate of the shogunate has been lost. The Ming army in Yamanashi will attack Edo after a short rest. It was originally going to be a war of attrition in Nagoya, but now it has become a war of attrition in Edo. It's really...

Tokugawa Hidetada's face was gloomy and uncertain. He calculated the capital in his hands. Even if he included Mito in the north, some northern cities that had not yet been captured, as well as the soldiers and horses in Edo and Nagoya, the ashigaru under his command was no more than that.

There are only 110,000 left.

Of the 110,000, there are still 80,000 new soldiers who are simply unusable.

In this situation, even if they win Nagoya, they will be dead ends. They can only retreat to Edo and see if they can use their last troops to get a chance to survive.

"put!"

"Bang bang bang——"

"Whoa!" On the deck, watching the Japanese warships being sunk one after another, Liu Xiang shouted excitedly, while Zheng Zhilong looked at Edo City, folding his arms, not knowing what his opponent was.

"The people sent by the imperial court still have two brushes, and they actually swept the state so quickly."

Next to Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhifeng sighed, while Zheng Zhihu said disapprovingly:
To be continued...