Zheng Jiong was preparing to send troops to Shuli. This news almost made Chen Zhongji think that he had heard it wrong.
The more than 1,000 Ryukyu Royal Guards under Zheng Jiong are now the only fully equipped Ryukyu troops with combat effectiveness on the entire Ryukyu Island. Now Zheng Jiong wants to take this troop out of the tightly guarded Yaraza Mori Castle Fortress, regardless of Naha's The Shimadzu Army's Hirata Division was always waiting behind him. He ignored the direction of Shuri and headed straight for a decisive battle with the enemy whose strength and combat effectiveness were several times greater than his own. In the eyes of the leaders of the Chinese company's armed forces, this behavior It's simply an act of suicide.
"The country of Ryukyu is a famous resort in the South China Sea and the show of the three Koreas... uses the boat as a bridge for all nations, and the exotic treasures are filled with the ten directions," Chen Zhongji said slowly, Zhang Hai frowned and asked: "Ji Zai, are you there? Say something, very literary..."
"This is an inscription left by King Sho Taikyu of Ryukyu on the Manguojinryang Bell in the royal temple more than a hundred years ago. It means that the Ryukyu Kingdom is a prosperous place that has accumulated treasures from all over the world. Come on, this precious land will soon be occupied by the Japanese," Chen Zhongji sighed.
Although Chen Zhongji was responsible for Ryukyu affairs, Colonel Kutre and Luo Aquan were the highest-ranking military figures present. Ji Zai still consulted them humbly: "Battle Commander Luo, Instructor Kutre, what do you think we should do now?" What’s the best way to do it?”
Coutre said succinctly: "Persuad the Prime Minister not to leave the castle, and use their troops to defend the castle. They will be at the horns of our fortress of the Chinese Commercial Building, and guard the Naha Port area to delay the change."
Luo Aquan is not good at strategy. He is just a super sharpshooter, so he just nodded and said: "I think Mr. Zheng will definitely lose this battle."
Chen Zhongji sighed: "I think so too. I will go to Wuliangzao Forest City to see if I can persuade Mr. Zheng."
Zheng Jiong sent his guard captain to the merchant house to borrow some rockets and cannons from the Zhonghua Company to defend the city. A group of people from the Zhonghua Company discussed it and sent Zheng Jiong in the name of supporting the Ryukyu Army. Twenty old-fashioned straight rockets, there are not many new Thunderbolt rockets, so we will not borrow them.
In the evening, under the fiery red twilight, Chen Zhongji led more than 30 escort soldiers, drove a donkey cart and pulled the rocket to Uliangzao Forest City.
He originally wanted to persuade Zheng Jiong not to send troops to rescue Shuri for the time being, but the words of persuasion could not be uttered at the end. Most of the Ryukyu Royal Guards had already begun to leave the city with torches, and they were standing at the gate of the city. Supervising the troops leaving the city, in addition to Xie Mingqingfang Zheng Jiong, there was also the Ryukyu Prince Shangfeng with an anxious look on his face.
When Chen Zhongji was traveling among Ryukyu aristocratic families, he met the Crown Prince many times. The Crown Prince was less than 20 years old. He was thin and capable, but seemed restless. He kept asking Zheng Jiong: "What must I do?" March forward quickly, my father is eager to see through your troops. How long will it take for you to reach Shuri?"
It turned out that just as the Hiratabe Shimazu Army landed in Obama yesterday, the main force of the Shimazu Army, the Kalashama Division, was also on its way to Shuri Castle, easily defeating the Ryukyu Army Echiyakata Division stationed at Taiping Bridge. Ryukyu General Castle Suozi Chiyunshang was killed in the battle, Yueqin side fought and retreated, and retreated to Shuri Castle yesterday evening. The Kashan tribe continued to advance with basically no casualties.
The report of Taipingqiao's defeat was personally brought to Zheng Jiong's headquarters by Ryukyu Crown Prince Shangfeng at noon today.
Zheng Jiong once again followed the footsteps of the Beishan guards. After receiving the report of the defeat of the Taiping Bridge, he was filled with righteous indignation. He angrily led more than a thousand people in his unit to abandon the castle fortifications of Naha. He even ignored the threats from the Hirata tribe behind him and resolutely approached Hua overnight. Yamabe launched a surprise attack.
Before Chen Zhongji's words of persuasion were spoken, Zheng Jiong asked him to hand over the rocket to his guard captain Xie Yuanshui. Xie Yuanshui would lead 100 old and weak soldiers to guard Yuya Liangzuo Sencheng. In fact, Zheng Jiong had already given up. This castle.
Watching the long line of the Ryukyu Army disappear into the distant night, Chen Zhongji kept sighing: The illusion that the Ryukyu people could last a few more days was about to be shattered.
Chen Zhongji left two infantrymen of the China Company's escort team to teach the Ryukyu people how to use rockets. However, Xie Yuanshui was very confident in defending the city. In order to express his gratitude, he also gave Chen Zhongji and Ji Tsai a lot of well-decorated and luxurious Indian clothing. I accepted it with a wry smile and returned to the Chinese Merchant House worriedly. After the Portuguese expedition to Malacca in 1511, two or three Ryukyu trading ships came to Malacca every year and brought back a large amount of clothing produced in Bangalore, India. This also shows that at that time Ryukyu's overseas trade is flourishing, and this pile of useless clothing is a symbol of Ryukyu's overseas trade.
In the next two days, the Hirata Division of the Shimazu Army in Obama was actually very quiet, and made no further attempts to send troops to harass the Chunghwa Commercial Building or the House of Uraza Mori Castle.
Chen Zhongji and others seized the time to strengthen the fortress of the merchant house and dug a shallow ditch outside the east gate to serve as a moat. The entire Chinese merchant hall was roughly a square, with a total wall length of nearly one mile and each side about 100 paces long. To the east of the castle is the Naha Port Castle area, to the north is close to the Naha River, to the west is close to the road and forest leading to Shuri, to the south is an open area, across the open area is Yaraza Mori Castle, and to the north is the city wall close to the Naha River. It may be attacked; the road to the west is narrow and troops cannot be deployed. The south and east sides of the merchant house are most vulnerable to attack. Therefore, the people of the Zhonghua Company seize the time to dig ditches on the east and south sides of the merchant fortress and strengthen the city walls. , drill the hole reserved under the city wall deep and wide, leaving only the last brick, which can be opened for shooting at any time...
Soldiers from the special battalion of Colonel Luo Aquan and Colonel Cutre did not like to do these unchallenging physical jobs. On the night when Zheng Jiong sent troops, they went out to perform a dangerous mission overnight. Chen Zhongji discussed with Luo Aquan, Cutre and others. After some deliberation, I felt that if the Ryukyu Army was completely defeated, if the Chinese wanted to continue to fight against the Japanese, it would be justifiable. Therefore, all 80 soldiers of the special battalion were dispatched to secretly follow the Ryukyu Army Zheng Jiong who was heading straight to Shuri. The troops were waiting for an opportunity to rescue people. Whether it was the Ryukyu Crown Prince or Zheng Jiong, as long as one of them was still alive, no matter what the war situation was, the Chinese could continue to fight against the Japanese pirates under the banner of Ryukyu orthodoxy.
Late at night on the third day after Zheng Jiong sent troops to Shuli, a brother from the special battalion ran back covered in blood.
He met Chen Zhongji, Zhang Hai, and Queen Maiyang. He drank a pot of water in one breath, wiped his mouth and took a breath and said: "Shopkeeper Chen, Boss Zhang, the Ryukyu Army was defeated..."
Although the failure of the Ryukyu Army was not unexpected by everyone, everyone still sighed together.
"We have captured the Prince of Ryukyu. Brother Luo and Instructor Ku are guarding him and are rushing here. It is estimated that he will arrive in two hours... Also, Instructor Ku asked me to tell everyone that the Japanese pirate Hiratabe from Kohama The main force should have left the station,"
"What?" Chen Zhongji was very surprised: "We have been sending people to monitor the movements in the north for the past two days, but we didn't find anything strange at all."
The brothers from the special battalion took another sip of water and said: "We don't know what happened. Yesterday during the day, when Lord Zheng's troops were fighting the Japanese pirates, the Hirata Department who was originally in Xiaohama suddenly came to Zheng Jun's place. Appeared from behind and attacked Lord Zheng Jiong’s team.”
After a series of victories, more than 2,000 people from the Shimadzu Army's Kayama Hisaka Division were careless and rushed to Shuri Castle. They did not expect that there would be an attack from the Ryukyu Army in the rear. After Zheng Jiong's sudden attack, the position was in chaos. Shuri was in front. The soldiers in the city were attacked later by Zheng Jiong. They were frightened for a while and formed a mess on the road.
Obama's Hirata Department discovered something fishy after Zheng Jiong left the city overnight. Upon hearing the news, Hirata's army went to reinforce and raided Zheng Jiong's troops from behind the Ryukyu Army.
Hirata intended to take the lead, and was not eager to support Huashan's attack on Zheng Jiong's more than 1,000 men. Instead, he wanted to wait for an opportunity to capture Zheng Jiong alive in the melee. Hirata's Ryukyu Army and Huashan's Shimazu Army were fighting inextricably, and launched A sudden attack hit the location of the Chinese army in one fell swoop, and Zheng Jong Wuhua was kidnapped and placed in the army. The Shimadzu army suffered the most casualties in this battle, setting a record since the invasion of Ryukyu. There were more than 300 casualties in total, but this was not enough to inspire people in the Ryukyu war. , On the contrary, at this time, except for Shuri Imperial Castle and half of Naha Port, almost all the important cities on the island had basically fallen. As the leader who insisted on resisting the Japanese, Zheng Jiong was also captured by the enemy. The Ryukyu Army's will to resist the war was probably gone. Collapse, the painstakingly arranged defenses completely fell apart, and they could only huddle in the isolated city of Shuri. However, the unscrupulous Shimazu army was able to gather its forces and tightly surround Shuri Castle. Once the encirclement of Shuri Castle was formed, it would herald the future. In the Second Ryukyu War, the defeat of the Ryukyu Zhongshan Kingdom was determined, and the war would end with the Ryukyu defeat.
When Zheng Jong was captured, the main force of the Ryukyu Army led by him was rushing forward to attack the Kashan tribe's front. There were only dozens of guard members around him. The Ryukyu Army did not even set up a guard post behind it, nor did it have any reserves. Therefore, Hirata The sudden appearance of the Satsuma Domain soldiers completely caught the Ryukyu Army off guard.
Zheng Jiong stood at attention, adjusted his clothes, and silently let the Japanese pick him up. The prince Shang Feng beside him was also caught and was being tied into a rice dumpling shape.
At this time, the soldiers from the special battalion of the China Company's escort team who had been sitting in the woods on the roadside watching the fight between the tigers took action.
Among the 80 special warriors, 30 were hunters and sailors' sharpshooters. They used accurate shooting to cover the other 50 catchers to sneak attack on the Japanese pirates. It was completely dark now, and the Shimadzu Army's Hirata Division was in place after a fierce battle. After resting, they chased the Ryukyu Army all the way, kept on going, and were very tired after the fierce battle just now. At this moment, they were all lying in temporary tents, or even lying on the ground in the open air. They were all in a deep sleep state, and there were no sentries set up.
As a result, it was the Japanese pirates' turn to be caught off guard.
In the chaotic crowd, Luo Aquan and others could not find Zheng Zhuo, so they had to rescue the Prince of Ryukyu and secretly evacuated the battlefield in the dark and windy night.
After a while, Hirata's army discovered that the attackers were only a few dozen people. They became angry and chased them all the way down regardless of darkness.