The night at sea is dark, and the sea water seems to have turned black, reflecting the moonlight and glowing faintly. The sea water is turbulent and makes noise all the time.
In the darkness, Ma Tianlu was pushed awake.
He subconsciously wrapped up his clothes, but his stomach growled first.
The autumn sea was very cold, and they didn't eat much, so their body temperature dropped quickly. They were still able to fall asleep because the fighting during the day was too intense and exhausted their energy. This also made Ma Tianlu feel even more cold.
However, he still felt lucky to be able to survive such a battle.
Moreover, many members of the samurai family were captured on the big ship, and Mataru was a fish that slipped through the net. He was still able to stay with his familiar subordinates, especially because of the blessing of Amaterasu.
"Asadabe, someone escaped..."
Ma Tianlu suddenly woke up, and fear was growing. Those Sui people said that if anyone escaped in the dark, everyone who was with them would be killed.
Ma Tianlu's body was still trembling, but his movements were not slow at all. He jumped up and looked around, asking, "Who is gone? Is he close to us?"
If he was not close, his subordinates would not wake him up. After the defeat, the Japanese were in mourning. They were all waiting for their final fate. According to the rules of the Japanese defeat, no one would escape at this time.
But there are no absolutes in the world, and there are always some people who are unwilling to abide by the rules.
"He's from the Blackstone family..."
Ma Tianlu gritted his teeth and looked ferocious, "Despicable Black Stone Division, chase them, we can't let them escape."
………………
There was some chaos in the darkness, and Ma Tianlu led his tribe to chase them. Because everyone's weapons had been taken away, they could only use some planks unloaded from the ship to fight. With the help of other ships, they finally escaped.
They beat and beat several of them to death, and they captured the rest.
These are all small episodes, but they can well show the habits of the Japanese people.
………………
At dawn the next day, the Tang army did not set off, but began to count casualties and prisoners.
It was not until the afternoon that casualties and captures were gradually reported to Du Fuwei.
The Tang army lost four large ships and suffered nearly a thousand casualties. 484 people were killed in the battle, and the rest suffered minor or serious injuries.
More than 500 Japanese ships were captured and more than 100 were burned. Only an approximate number of Japanese captured was calculated, and it was impossible to conduct a detailed inventory at sea. It was estimated that there were more than 10,000 Japanese.
It is impossible to calculate how many Japanese people were killed. Even the Japanese people themselves do not know exactly how many people went to sea with the army. It is hard to say how many people died in the battle and how many escaped.
The rest of the Tang army gained very little. Most of the Japanese food and grass fell into the hands of the Tang army. The Japanese nobles ate very little bread, pickled radish, rice and meat. The ordinary tribesmen could only eat salted fish.
Such things are too poor to look like.
The weapons of the Japanese were even worse. Most of them used long poles, mainly bamboo, which could barely be used as spears after being sharpened.
Those who are brave and famous will tie an iron head in front of the long pole.
The weapons of the Wu family are better, most of them are iron weapons such as swords, and the craftsmanship is extremely rough.
Just like the peasant army in the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, if they were not at sea, the Tang army would not even take a look at them.
If this had been the case when Du Fuwei was roaming the sea, he would have thought nothing of it. After the war, he would have thrown all these poor people into the sea to feed the fish.
But now he will definitely not do this. He will also ask for credit from the emperor. With so many ships and prisoners of war, it seems like a great achievement.
So he sent a captain with five boats to escort most of the surrendered prisoners west back to Donglai to report the victory to the court, leaving behind 2,000 Japanese and thirty boats.
Let Soga Ezo show his face in front of them, give them food, return their weapons, and tell these Japanese that it is time to serve the Tang Dynasty. If they perform meritorious services in the future, they will be rewarded.
The Japanese people cheered on the sea, as if the tragic fighting the day before did not exist at all. This was right. After experiencing the intrigues during the war in the late Sui Dynasty, people in the Central Plains were accustomed to this.
The army rested on this sea for another day, and the ships raised their sails one after another. They changed their course and headed north.
After this battle, Du Fuwei found his tactical target. Baekje warships gathered at the mouth of Baijiang River, and he just stewed them.
It's hard to say what the battle will be like on land, because the number of people is too small, and even if the Silla people are included, there is no guarantee of victory. But it is different at sea. The Tang army's large ships are enough to make them invincible.
………………
Regardless of the ordinary Japanese, Soga Ezo and the captured samurai family began to become enthusiastic. Many Japanese had been to Baekje. At this time, they were selling out their former allies to their heart's content and making suggestions for the powerful new master.
Their transformation was so straightforward, and they were so eager to gain the approval of their new masters, that Du Fuwei felt a little uncomfortable.
Naturally, he doesn't trust these Japanese people very much. The reason why so many people are left behind is mainly a matter of habit. He always recruits some people to be used as cannon fodder in battles to reduce the damage to his own people. As for whether the Japanese people will defect in battle...
As long as you pay attention, who of the people who are in a state of war can come back to bite the master? Do they want their lives?
When the rebels are fighting, what they need to pay attention to is actually not the surrendered troops who are being dragged forward, but the friends around them. Only they are more likely to see the war going unfavorably and attack friendly forces.
………………
The Tang army marched very quickly because they happened to be traveling with the wind. After one day, there were more and more seabirds, indicating that they were close to the land.
Under the guidance of the Silla people and the Japanese, the course would not go wrong. They changed the direction slightly, first headed northwest for a while, and then headed northeast.
After staying at sea for another night, they entered the waters of Baijiangkou the next day.
If they had followed their normal itinerary, they should have arrived in Silla by this time, but now, they appeared at the mouth of the Baijiang River on the west side of the peninsula, outside the Baekje port.
Before the Tang army arrived, some Japanese had already fled here, and all of them looked half-dead.
In addition to bringing the news of the defeat of the Japanese, they also conveyed their panic to the Baekje people.
The Japanese reinforcements that had been waiting for a long time were defeated at sea. They were defeated so miserably that they were almost wiped out. After receiving hundreds of defeated Japanese who fled, the Baekje people panicked.
The only consolation is that the place where the Japanese were defeated was far away from Baekje, and the enemies they encountered were said to be Sui people... Aren't the Sui people in the midst of civil strife? How could they send ships to sea?
The Baekje people were a little puzzled, but if they were the Sui people, they would not attack Baekje since they had no enmity with Baekje, right?
They didn't even think about it, did the Japanese have any grudges against others?