The Datong Army that attacked Amami Oshima had a total of more than 30 large and small ships, 5,000 land troops, and 1,000 navy troops for landing operations.
There are mostly mangroves around the island, and large ships cannot dock at all. Small and medium-sized ships can land at the four fishing ports in the southwest, northwest, northeast, and east. In the remaining villages, Datong soldiers all landed in small boats, led by guides
, rowing through the mangroves and landing.
Six thousand soldiers were divided into six groups and set off, intending to end the battle as quickly as possible.
The main target of the attack was the northeast landing point, which was the urban area of Amami a few hundred years later. It had the most cultivated land on the island, and of course the largest population. It was ruled by a Ryukyu royal lord, and all the Japanese were here.
Zhu Dafu joined the army in the ninth year of Chongzhen's reign. He served as a peasant soldier for two years before joining the army. Now he came out with 1,500 people.
He was afraid that there would be an ambush on the island, so he asked Shi Daxuan for fire support.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
The artillery fired more than ten rounds and destroyed two houses, one of which was a Japanese office. It was not a coincidence, but the house was quite big (other places were small thatched houses) and it was close to the coast.
The primary target for naval artillery.
After the bombardment ended, many natives in the thatched houses on the shore were so frightened that they fled frantically and hid in the forest behind them.
Finally, Zhu Dafu successfully led his troops ashore.
After a search, the soldiers came back and reported that all those who had not escaped were indigenous civilians and that not a single enemy could be seen here.
Lin Jingchong took the initiative to communicate with the indigenous people. He also came from the thirty-sixth surname of Kume, and may be the ancestor of Yui Aragaki. In the future, he will settle on Amami Oshima with his wife and children.
Not long after, Lin Jingchong gave half a catty of rice to the natives. He successfully found out the information and came back to report:
"General, the Ryukyu governor (lord) here left with the Japanese two days ago. He also raised an army and plundered the food of the nearby natives. It is said that he went to the mountains and forests to the south to join forces with another Ryukyu governor.
Zhu Dafu asked: "Have all your family members been taken away too?"
Lin Jingchong said: "Not only my family, but all valuable belongings have been moved away. It seems that I plan to live in the mountains and forests for a long time, and then come out after the Chinese army leaves."
"Is the island full of mountains?" Zhu Dafu asked.
Lin Jingchong said: "The coast around this island is cultivated land, and the middle is full of mountains and forests."
Zhu Dafu said with a headache: "If the enemy is determined to hide, it will be difficult to fight. We will have to slowly search the mountains to find people."
The "difficult to fight" here means that the battle cannot be completed within the scheduled time. This time the navy and army are dispatched together, not only to recover Ryukyu, but also to quickly solve the Ryukyu problem and go to Japan.
The Satsuma clan often plays pirates and robs Chinese merchant ships. This matter must be solved smoothly!
To solve the problem, the navy alone cannot solve it. By the time the Datong Navy is dispatched, the Japanese pirates have already escaped and turned into the Satsuma Domain Navy, hiding in the port of Kagoshima. In this case, the army must also send troops and come directly to the door.
Raise troops to investigate.
Zhu Dafu ordered: "Carry a few bags of grain off the ship and let a few more natives lead the way. Tell them that as long as they find the target, each person will be rewarded with ten kilograms of white rice!"
In the mountains and forests fifteen miles due east.
Shang Kun was sitting in the thatched hut, eating fresh fish caught from the mountain stream, and worried: "Will these Tang soldiers really leave?"
Shang Hong said: "They will definitely leave. They send a lot of troops and consume a lot of food every day. And we took all the food away. The Tang soldiers will leave after eating the food and just hide in the mountains for a while. If the Tang soldiers come to kill
, we are fighting in the woods. Their big cannons are useless, but our bows and arrows can kill people."
Yamamoto Hideo ate tea and rice, carefully selected the buildings and said: "I heard my father say that the army of the Tang Dynasty did not know how to fight at all. They only dared to fight because of their large numbers. I don't think we can keep evading, so I sent a small group of soldiers.
Lure them and set up an ambush in the mountains to defeat them! No matter how big the Tang warships are, can they still sail into the mountains? "
"It's better to be cautious." Shang Hong objected.
When the Satsuma Domain first invaded Ryukyu, Japanese soldiers burned, killed, looted, and made the people of Ryukyu miserable. At that time, Ryukyu monarchs and ministers hated Japan, but in recent years, relations have eased.
First, the Ming Dynasty put pressure on Japan to give up its annexation of Ryukyu and give the king and officials more autonomy. Second, the Ryukyu royal family must send young people to study in Japan, thereby cultivating more pro-Japanese factions.
Before lunch was finished, a soldier suddenly came to report the news.
However, two Tatung troops on the east coast of Amami Oshima, one with 1,000 people and the other with 800 people, were heading towards their hiding place under the leadership of the islanders.
"Hurry up and go deeper into the forest!" Shang Hong said quickly.
Yamamoto Hideo was unwilling, and said: "The enemy is divided into several groups, and the number of each group is no more than ours. It is just right to set up an ambush and lure them, and defeat them one by one. If you keep hiding, you will always be found. When the Tang soldiers gather together, we will definitely be captured.
beat."
Shang Kun nodded and said, "It makes sense."
Shang Hong firmly objected: "We can't defeat Tang Bing, we must hide."
Hideo Yamamoto asked: “How do you know you can’t beat someone if you don’t fight?
The three of them argued about this. After all, the Satsuma clan warrior was the emperor, and the two Ryukyu royal families finally obeyed the order.
Yamamoto Hideo asked all the Japanese men on the island to take up weapons, including hoes and sticks. So he broke out again,
Including Ryukyu soldiers, the number of troops reached 1,300.
They asked their family members to wait where they were, and took the initiative to approach the 800 Datong Army in the southwest.
An ambush was set up in a mountain forest. Yamamoto Hideo sent dozens of people to lure him, and the only five fire rifle soldiers were also sent out.
The general of this Datong army was named Li Tang, who was just a battalion commander. He had 500 army soldiers and 300 navy officers under his command. They were divided into groups of thirty people and slowly searched the mountains and forests, narrowing down the area bit by bit.
The person who served as Li Tang's guide was a local chief.
The prefecture-level administrative units of the Ryukyu Kingdom, also known as "Cangiri", can only be headed by the royal family.
The county-level unit, called "Mula", is generally headed by the clan, but there are also a few indigenous chiefs.
In fact, he is the village chief.
These indigenous village chiefs hated the Japanese deeply.
It didn't matter that they were exploited by the Ryukyu royal family in the past. After the Japanese came, they instituted a poll tax system and had to pay taxes twice a year. Villagers continued to starve to death.
A young man who looked like a hunter dug through the grass to look at the footprints and found a broken branch. He quickly ran back and said:
"The bad guys are going over there!"
The indigenous village chief's name was Du Bo, who didn't even have a surname. He said to Yang Hao: "It's right in front."
Yang Hao, a Chinese from Kume Island, immediately translated to Li Tang: "General, there are traces of enemy troops ahead."
Li Tang said to the messenger: "Pass the order, advance cautiously, all ministries will assemble nearby, a mountain search team of sixty people.
"boom!"
Before the military order was fully conveyed, gunshots suddenly came from two miles ahead. A Datong soldier fell down and was hit by a bullet from the Japanese "Iron Artillery". It was just an arm injury, and timely treatment would not be fatal. This was also the first step in the Ryukyu expedition.
A wounded person.
"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"
The Sou-Shan team here has not yet merged, and there are only thirty people. The wounded man was ordered by the captain to return, and all the other soldiers pursued him.
“Boohoo!”
During the pursuit, bows and arrows were shot from time to time. The Datong soldiers raised their arms to block their necks and allowed the arrows to hit themselves.
The climate here is subtropical, and it is still winter. The temperature is about 10 degrees, so wearing cotton armor can keep you warm. The indigenous bows and arrows have no power when shot on cotton armor.
"Dududududu"
A suona sound sounded, but it was a signal to postpone the pursuit. Li Tang was afraid that the search team would be ambushed.
When this small team heard the bugle, they immediately slowed down and waited for more friendly troops to join them.
When the enemy saw this, they stopped and hid in the woods, firing arrows and shooting from time to time.
40 minutes later, the Datong Army completed its assembly, but the enemy was still there and refused to move.
"There is an ambush ahead, these are used as bait." Li Tang saw through the enemy's plan at a glance.
"Fire the volley!"
Eight hundred Datong troops raised their muskets in unison and fired into the dense forest ahead.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
Gunfire rang out and smoke filled the air.
Among the dozens of enemy soldiers hiding in the dense forest, four were hit by random shots, and the rest were so frightened that they ran away quickly.
"There's still one alive!"
Li Tang went over to check in person and found that the person lying on the ground was a Japanese man who had been held down by Datong soldiers.
"Hey, there are also fire guns," Li Tang kicked the matchlock gun away and asked, "Where is your main force hiding?"
The accompanying merchant translator immediately asked questions in Japanese.
The Japanese iron gunner closed his eyes and said nothing, as if he was determined to die.
Li Tang said: "Peel some wooden sticks and prick his thumbs first."
The wooden skewer was quickly sharpened and inserted into his two thumbs. The Japanese soldier screamed in pain and cursed at Li Tang.
Such stubborn people must be taught a lesson.
The wooden stick was inserted into his index finger again from the nail gap. This respectable Japanese soldier suddenly couldn't hold on anymore and shouted quickly: "I said, I said!"
He said it was true, but Li Tang didn't dare to believe it completely.
He divided the eight hundred soldiers into three groups, and on the advice of the village chief Shizuo, climbed the mountain from three directions to surround them.
Yamamoto Hideo quickly discovered the movements of the Datong Army and knew that his plan was leaked.
Shang Hong panicked and said: "Run away quickly, there is no chance of an ambush."
However, Yamamoto Hideo drew his sword and shouted: "There are many of us, and the Tang soldiers are not scary. Moreover, we are on the mountain and have terrain advantages. The Shimazu family and the Ryukyu warriors all picked up their weapons and followed me down. We will definitely be able to do it."
Kill the Tang soldiers!"
Nao Hong hesitated to speak. Although he was a member of the Ryukyu royal family, the Japanese were the supreme emperor.
More than 1,300 miscellaneous soldiers took the initiative and rushed towards the 300 Datong Army in front. The other 500 Datong Army divided their forces and surrounded them from the mountains on both sides.
The enemy troops came with great force, and there were more than a thousand people.
The three hundred Datong soldiers did not panic at all. On the contrary, the indigenous village chief who led the way was frightened.
"Shoot the arrow, shoot the arrow!"
Yamamoto Hideo roared and ordered. There were only a hundred archers under his command, and most of them were earthen bows used for hunting.
Due to their condescending position, these bows and arrows were thrown randomly and could reach the Datong army.
But the forest is very dense, and most of the arrows are blocked by the tree crowns when they land.
"Come and kill with me!"
Yamamoto Hideo raised his katana and charged forward with a roar. The soldiers behind him were inspired by him and also screamed and charged down.
The two sides approached quickly, and they could almost see each other's eyebrows clearly, before Li Tang said: "Blow the trumpet and fire the cannon!"
"Bang bang bang bang!"
Three hundred tunnels fired guns, divided into two groups of rounds.
Yamamoto Hideo was hit in the thigh by a bullet during the first round of firing. He fell to the ground and rolled down the hillside.
The smoke from the volley of guns had not yet dissipated, and the enemy army had collapsed.
Nearly half of the enemy troops running in the middle were killed or wounded, and the enemy troops on both sides were so frightened that they turned and ran away.
The two Ryukyu royal families, Shang Hong and Shang Kun, stood on a higher point on the mountain to watch the battle. They were so frightened that they did not even dare to escape, because this was an island and they would be discovered sooner or later. They immediately returned to their hiding place and planned to take them with them.
After the family members surrendered, even if they were taken to Nanjing for trial, they would at least have a chance of survival.
Hideo Yamamoto was tumbling down a hillside when he hit a rock and fell into coma.
When he woke up, the wound on his thigh had been bandaged, and he found that he had been captured.
The next day, he was brought in front of Li Tang. The Datong army that was surrounded by soldiers made Yamamoto Hideo feel a sense of despair. Even the elite soldiers of the feudal lord could not defeat such a powerful force.
Li Tang smiled and said: "You are the biggest official on this island, so you must know a lot of inside information. It's okay if you don't know. Just say whatever I tell you. If you are willing, you can live and follow us to Kagoshima."
"
Kagoshima?
Tang soldiers are going to attack Satsuma Domain?
Yamamoto Hideo was terrified. He was so arrogant before, but now he is so scared. He nodded repeatedly and said:
"If you are willing, I will be the general's loyal dog from now on!"