Wu Sansi covered his face and said in shock: "Your Majesty, why did you hit me?"
The seaman grabbed his collar and said angrily: "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
Dahairen shouted: "There is an iron ball weapon on the Tang Dynasty warships. Its range is more than four times that of a bow and arrow, and its power can shoot through the ship. They have such a weapon, why didn't you tell me in advance!"
Wu Sansi was anxious: "I...I don't know either! When I was in the Tang Dynasty, I had never heard of such a weapon!"
The man from the sea stared closely into his eyes, and after a long while he let go of his collar, returned to his seat, and sat down, breathing heavily.
Hideo Kojima said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the Tang army is coming with ferocious force. Our army can no longer control the rebels. We need to assemble the army immediately to recapture the Kingdom of Tsushima!"
Dahairen said solemnly: "Wouldn't that give the rebels an opportunity to grow and develop?"
Hideo Kojima said: "Shiki is a child with a yellow mouth, so there is nothing to worry about. The biggest problem at the moment is the Tang Dynasty people. Once they are defeated, it will not be too late to slowly deal with the rebels!"
Dahairen took a deep breath, slapped the table and said, "Send the order and assemble the naval forces immediately. I will kill all the future Tang Dynasty offenders, leaving no one behind!"
In the early summer of July, in the Western Campaign Camp, Wu Chengsi was riding a horse to inspect the northern school grounds.
In the open space in front of his field of vision, Xue Rengui commanded an army of ten thousand people, practicing the compound formations and formation switching of cavalry and artillery.
At the beginning, Wu Chengsi handed over the training of the entire army to Xue Rengui and Su Dingfang.
However, not long after the two worked together, conflicts frequently broke out over training issues. The main issue centered on the method of using artillery.
Not only that, other generals also frequently came to Wu Chengsi to contribute their artillery usage strategies that they had been thinking about.
Seeing that the generals were very active, Wu Chengsi divided the 50,000-strong army into five.
Xue Rengui, Su Dingfang, and Guo Daifeng each led 10,000 people, Han Cheng and Russell led 10,000 people, and Dugu De and Yu Wenqiao led another 10,000 people.
The 50,000-strong army was divided into five groups and trained separately.
Such a division has an excellent effect. The five parties compete with each other, and each one is more rigorously trained than the other. The trained soldiers are miserable.
But having said that, the more you suffer during training, the less blood will be shed on the battlefield.
Wu Chengsi saw that the soldiers were all working hard and he was not too idle, so he rode his white horse and patrolled everywhere every day.
At this moment, I saw a fast horse galloping in the distance.
"Commander! Good news! Good news from Yangzhou!" Hou Yanjing shouted loudly before the horse came close.
His voice was loud and loud. Not only Wu Chengsi heard it, but also the soldiers who were training in the distance heard it, and they suddenly became excited.
Xue Rengui shouted coldly: "No noise!" The excitement stopped immediately.
Xue Rengui was hesitating whether to go over when he suddenly saw Wu Chengsi waving to him and said: "All soldiers, rest where you are for a while!"
After saying that, he galloped towards Wu Chengsi.
As soon as he left, the sergeants started whispering to each other again, their faces full of excitement.
Wu Chengsi waited for Xue Rengui to arrive, took him and Hou Yanjing back to the military camp, and then ordered people to summon the generals of the other four armies.
After everyone arrived, Fang ordered Hou Yanjing to report the battle situation.
Hou Yanjing said with some embarrassment: "Commander, I only heard a rough summary of the battle situation at the end, so let the herald from Yangzhou report to you."
Wu Chengsi said: "Then let the herald come in."
Hou Yanjing agreed and left the tent. Not long after, a short and stocky officer followed him in.
When Su Dingfang saw the man, he laughed and cursed: "Why is it your kid?"
This herald is clearly Wang Xiaojie.
Wang Xiaojie stood upright and said loudly: "Back to the deputy commander, no one of the generals paid attention during the battle and pursued too far. General Meng said that I did not obey military orders and asked me to send the general's information back to Chang'an as punishment!"
Su Dingfang asked: "How far have you chased me?"
Wang Xiaojie said: "The general has chased me all the way to the Japanese port."
All the generals laughed, and Wu Chengsi couldn't help but smile. Only Xue Rengui looked serious and said in a deep voice: "Report the battle situation quickly."
Wang Xiaojie nodded, raised his hand to Wu Chengsi, and said, "Commander, can you lend me the map to the general?"
Wu Chengsi smiled and nodded, pulled down the sheepskin map, pulled out the sword from his waist, and handed it to him.
Wang Xiaojie took it respectfully, then walked to the map and pointed at the small island in the southwest of Japan with the tip of his sword.
"Commander, generals, this is Tsushima Island. Our army captured this island in early June."
Guo Daifeng said: "We already know this from the military reports. You'd better hurry up and tell us the latest battle situation."
"General Guo, please be patient. I have to tell you one by one so that I can speak more clearly!"
Guo Daifeng raised his eyebrows: "Hey! You kid..."
Su Dingfang interrupted with a smile: "General Guo, just let him speak." Although he always scolded Wang Xiaojie, he felt that the other party was very fond of him.
Guo Daifeng snorted secretly and said no more.
Wang Xiaojie continued: "Since our army captured Tsushima Island, it has used this island as a base to constantly harass the Japanese country."
"General Li Duozuo ordered to send two warships to circle along the Kyushu coastline every day. If they encounter coastal towns and villages, shoot them with artillery!"
Dugu De said coldly: "Good shot! Over the years, the Japanese have been invading our coast. Let them have a taste of being invaded."
Guo Daifeng frowned and said, "Is there no movement from the Japanese army?"
Wang Xiaojie grinned and said: "Several coastal ordering countries that we have harassed united once and formed a fleet of several hundred ships, all of which are small fishing boats."
"Our two ships led them to Tsushima Island, and after reuniting with the other three warships, we immediately counterattacked and defeated them!"
"What kind of ships do we have in our army? How many soldiers are on board?" Xue Rengui asked.
"The five ships are all sea swan ships, each ship has 800 soldiers, and the 4,000 vanguard troops are led by General Li Duozuo."
The Yangzhou navy now has four flat ships, eight sea swan ships, and thirty fighting ships. The accidents of building ships going to sea are high, so the real main force is these eight sea swan ships.
Wu Chengsi thought that according to his plan, a sea swan ship would be equipped with twelve artillery pieces, six on each side.
If five ships fired in a salvo, thirty shells could be fired at one time, which would almost crush the Japanese navy with hundreds of fishing boats.
Wang Xiaojie said with a smile on his face: "As soon as those Japanese people approached our ship, they were frightened by the sound of artillery. After three rounds of artillery, they only ran for their lives. Countless people fell into the water!"
Su Dingfang glared and said: "What's so exciting about this? The opponent only has a few thousand people, and they are all a motley crew, so it's natural to win!"
Wang Xiaojie smiled sarcastically.
Xue Rengui asked: "What happened next?"
Wang Xiaojie said: "Later, they no longer dared to go to sea to fight, and they also moved the people along the coast away. We had to continue to invade the farther coastline of the Japanese country."
"It wasn't until half a month later that the small boat sent out for reconnaissance suddenly reported back that Japan had assembled 30,000 naval troops and was heading towards Tsushima Island."
Wu Chengsi's expression became condensed and he asked: "Is it the main force of the Japanese army in Omi?"
Wang Xiaojie said loudly: "Yes! The fleet is coming from the north, and the ships are all warships. Many of them are bigger than our battleships, and their equipment is much better than that of the previous navy."
Wu Chengsi was silent in thought. The Japanese army had at least 500,000 troops. Because it was an island country, these 500,000 people could participate in water battles.
These 30,000 people should be a force they assembled in a short period of time. After all, the Tang army's vanguards were not large in number. They must have felt that ten times the number was enough to cope with it.
Wang Xiaojie said: "General Li Duozuo immediately sent an order to evacuate the fleet to twenty miles south of Tsushima Island. As expected, the Japanese army pursued them."
"After our army shelled three times from a distance, we withdrew to the west. The Japanese army pursued them, but their boats were not as fast as our army. After our army pulled away, they fired several rounds of volleys. When they got closer,
Then he retreated again."
Wu Chengsi's eyes flashed, this was the "kite flying tactic" he proposed, taking advantage of the Tang army's speed and range advantages and constantly maintaining distance to fight.
Wang Xiaojie became more and more excited as he talked: "The Japanese later found that they were being beaten constantly but could not hurt us at all, so they stopped pursuing us and wanted to retreat."
"Our army immediately turned around and pursued, divided into two groups, followed the Japanese navy, chasing and fighting. By the time the Japanese fled back to Tsushima Island, less than half of them were left."
"After they landed, General Li ordered the troops to return to Yangzhou for supplies."
Wu Chengsi clenched his fists, feeling determined.
For a war, the victory or defeat in the first battle is particularly critical. Now that the Tang army has won the first battle and fought with fewer troops, it will greatly boost the morale of the Yangzhou navy.
And in order to carry out this war, he withstood a lot of pressure. Now that the Tang army has won, those who doubted him have nothing to say, and his prestige will continue to rise!
Gu Xuerengui said calmly: "After the defeat of Japan, we will inevitably re-estimate the strength of our army. Next time our army will face, it is likely that there will be more Japanese troops."
Wang Xiaojie nodded repeatedly and said: "You are right. According to the reports from our spies in Omi, the Japanese army is gathering a large number of troops again. When the latest news came back, the number of troops exceeded 50,000."
Su Dingfang snorted and said: "The initiative is in our hands, it's useless no matter how many they have."
He turned to Wu Chengsi and said, "Commander, I think we can continue to fight according to the original plan."
Wu Chengsi looked at Xue Rengui and saw that he nodded, so he said:
"Wang Canjun, you immediately tell General Wang and General Black Teeth that the original battle plan remains unchanged! Let the vanguard army harass the Japanese army, attract the main force of the enemy to the Yangzhou waters, and then use all the main force to destroy the main force of the Japanese army at sea!
"
Wang Xiaojie said loudly: "Yes!"
In the afternoon, the news of Yangzhou's victory spread throughout Chang'an. Although the people were talking a lot, they all believed that their country's victory over the Japanese was normal and were not overly happy.
Wu Mei ordered people to call Wu Chengsi over and inquire about the battle in detail.
In the Hall of Eternal Life, Li Hong summoned Li Chongyi and Cen Changqian to inquire after learning the news.
Li Chongyi said: "Back to Your Majesty, according to the report from the Ministry of War, this battle was between our 4,000 naval forces and the Japanese 30,000 naval forces. Our army won a great victory and the Japanese suffered more than half of their losses."
Li Hong laughed and said: "Thirty thousand people can't defeat our four thousand people. The Japanese navy is too useless."
Cen Changqian said seriously: "Your Majesty, it's not that the Japanese navy is too weak, it's that the new weapons designed by His Highness King Zhou are too strong."
Li Hong sighed and said: "Cousin Chengsi is indeed a rare handsome man, but it's a pity that he refuses to come and help me."
In the past few months, he had repeatedly wooed Wu Chengsi, and even issued a decree allowing Wu Chengsi to appoint military generals below the fifth rank in the Xidian camp on his own.
It's a pity that Wu Chengsi still firmly sides with the Queen Mother.
Since he ascended the throne, the overt and covert fights between him and the Queen Mother have not stopped. It is under the influence of Wu Chengsi that the entire military has always supported the Queen Mother.
It has been half a year since Li Hong took the throne, and the current situation in the court has formed a situation where small matters are decided by him and major matters are decided by Wu Mei.
After a pause, Li Hong said again: "By the way, don't there be 20,000 navy troops in Yangzhou? Why only 4,000 men were sent to fight?"
Li Chongyi mused: "It must be to reduce consumption. The Jianghuai Province will be responsible for all the food and grass supply for this Yangzhou battle. If all 20,000 troops go into battle, the burden will be relatively heavy."
Li Hong nodded. Nowadays, the national treasury is not rich. The government's policies are mainly focused on recuperation and recuperation. The entire government and the public are also advocating frugality.
This is also one of the few consensuses he and Wu Mei have on governance.
At this moment, a eunuch came to the palace and bowed: "Your Majesty, Your Highness, please go to Shanglin Garden to accompany her to race horses."
Li Hong said: "I understand." After saying that, he stood up and left the Hall of Eternal Life.
In the Daming Palace, the emperor's every move attracted everyone's attention. As soon as Li Hong went to Shanglin Garden, a palace maid spread the news to Qingluo Palace.
After hearing the news, Princess Gao'an frowned and walked back and forth in the palace.
Princess Yiyang asked curiously: "Brother, this is not your first time to go to Shanglin Garden. Why are you in such a hurry?"
Princess Gao'an wrinkled her nose and said, "Sister, Sister Liu asked us to take care of her sister. It's been so long, but Your Majesty has never looked for Concubine Liu Defi once."
Princess Yiyang frowned and remained silent.
Princess Gao'an pouted and said, "When we leave the palace to meet Sister Liu later, I'm afraid that she might ask about this and she might blame us."
Princess Yiyang thought for a while and said softly: "Sister Liu is such a smart person. She naturally understands the situation we are in in the palace. She will not blame us."
Princess Gao'an bit her lip and said, "Sister, I, I want to help Sister Liu handle this matter. We can ask her to go to cousin Chengsi to intercede."
Princess Yiyang sighed.
She naturally understood what Princess Gao'an was thinking. She hoped that Wu Chengsi could tell the story in court and let the two of them live in a mansion outside the palace.
Why wouldn't she want this to happen?
In the palace, the two of them were princesses in name, but the emperor ignored them, the queen mother did not want to see them, and there was also an arrogant and domineering concubine in the palace.
The two of them would either go here to say hello every day, or go there to laugh with them, and their smiling faces would always meet the cold butts of others, not to mention how depressed they felt in their hearts.
Moreover, the two of them had no status, which led to the fact that the maids and eunuchs of Qingluo Palace also had no status.
In the past, when I asked them to go out to inquire about news, they often disappeared, and they were very careless in serving them on weekdays.
Later, Princess Yiyang gritted her teeth and rewarded many jewelry and property to her maids. Then they became more loyal and often found out some palace news for the two of them.
In fact, the monthly salary standard for the two of them was very low. After a long time, they could not afford to reward these servants, let alone bribe the maids near Tai Chi Palace.
Fortunately, Princess Taiping and Liu Lanshuang knew about their plight and often sent them some jewelry and utensils, so that they were able to bribe the palace maid.
Princess Yiyang stood up and said: "Okay, no matter what, life now is much better than the cold palace. Let's change clothes and leave the palace quickly."
Princess Gao'an said: "Sister, it's too early now. Didn't we make an appointment with Sister Liu yesterday to go to Prince Zhou's Mansion in Shenshi?"
Princess Yiyang smiled and said: "Cousin Chengsi's army won the battle. Shouldn't we go to Prince Zhou's Mansion earlier to congratulate him?"
Princess Gao'an said happily: "Yes!" Suddenly, her smile froze and she whispered: "Sister, do we want to give you some gifts?"
Princess Yiyang lowered her head and said: "We sisters have always relied on Sister Liu for financial support, so why don't we send back the things she gave us?"
Princess Gao'an also lowered her head and said: "How about... how about taking the "Flower Egret and Jade Cup" given to us a few days ago as a gift?"
Princess Yiyang shook her head and thought: "Princess Taiping may also go to Prince Zhou's Mansion to congratulate her. If she sees it, she will be embarrassed to death."
Suddenly, something moved in her heart, and she smiled and said, "Yes, I will play the song 'Drunken Lovesickness' that I just practiced yesterday to them, and treat it as a gift!"
Princess Gao'an clapped her hands and said with a smile: "Yes! Sister's song is so good, they will all like it!"
The two girls immediately put on their regular clothes, took their harp, and headed towards the palace gate.
While walking on the corridor of the harem, suddenly, a group of people came towards me. It was a tall woman surrounded by more than a dozen palace maids and eunuchs.
This woman is Li Hong's new concubine four months ago, the niece of Qianniuwei General Cen Changqian.
She was not very beautiful, but because of her uncle, she was named Concubine Shu as soon as she entered the palace, and she was also favored by Li Hong.
And she was very lucky. One month ago, she was pregnant with Li Hong's first child. Her status in the harem was higher than that of the queen, second only to the imperial concubine.
Princess Yiyang and Princess Gaoan hurriedly stepped aside and saluted her together.
Concubine Cen Shu glanced at the two of them, frowned and said, "Are you planning to leave the palace dressed like this?"
Princess Gao'an said: "Yes."
Concubine Cen Shu was a prudent person. Because the empress fasted and worshiped Buddha, and the concubine did not like to interfere with trivial matters in the harem, she was determined to manage the harem for the emperor. She said: "I heard from people that you two have been leaving the palace recently. This is not a rule!"
Princess Gao'an was shocked and angry, and couldn't help but choked: "Brother Huang has not issued an order that we are not allowed to leave the palace!"
Concubine Cen Shu frowned and said: "Your Majesty has so many things to do every day, how can I let him worry about everything? As royal princesses, you are running outside the palace all day long, which is detrimental to the royal family's face."
"From today on, you are not allowed to leave the palace without the permission of Your Majesty, the Queen Mother, the Imperial Concubine, or this palace!"
Princess Gao'an's face turned red and she was about to retort loudly when Princess Yiyang hurriedly pulled her and said to Cen Shufei:
"Since Her Highness Shu Fei has said so, we will not go out. However, if His Highness King Zhou blames us, please ask Her Highness Shu Fei to explain to us at that time."
Concubine Cen Shu was slightly startled and said: "What do you mean by this? Why would King Zhou blame you?"
Princess Yiyang said calmly: "Princess Zhou is about to give birth. Your Highness, Prince Zhou, please ask me to go to Prince Zhou's Mansion to play harp for the Princess more often when I have time."
Concubine Cen Shu frowned and said, "Even if Princess Zhou is going to give birth to a child, why would King Zhou invite you to go to the palace to play harem?"
Princess Yiyang added: "Princess Zhou once said that it is very beneficial for children to listen to music before they are born, so His Highness King Zhou asked me to play drums for the princess."
Concubine Cen Shu had long heard that Princess Zhou had excellent medical skills and was not inferior to the imperial physician. She must have reason to say so.
"Since it is King Zhou who invites you to come, then you should go there, but remember to come back early and not stay outside the palace for too long!" She said with a straight face.
Princess Yiyang agreed, and the two girls watched Concubine Cen Shu go away. Princess Gaoan stamped her feet and said angrily: "Sister, she is too bullying!"
Princess Yiyang said solemnly: "Can't you bear this anger? Or do you want to return to the cold palace?"
Princess Gao'an trembled all over, gritted her teeth and said, "Sister, I...I don't want to go back to the cold palace."
Princess Yiyang scolded: "Then learn to be patient. Compared with being in the cold palace, I don't know how many times better I am now. Don't be unable to bear any grievance!"
Princess Gao'an nodded and said aggrievedly: "I understand."