When the Shimazu Army covered up the flag and left, the defenders of the China Company also breathed a big sigh of relief. From the beginning of the Shimazu Army's general attack to the Shimazu Army's retreat, it only lasted more than ten minutes, and everyone in the Shangguan Walled City They all seemed to be fished out of the water, covered in sweat. When the conch horn sounded for the ceasefire, some soldiers sat down on the ground in exhaustion.
The old pirate Zhang Hai was in charge of commanding the gunners on the wall. He was unlucky in this battle. First, his forehead was scratched by the gun of the Shimadzu army's iron gunner. When the Japanese pirates rushed towards the city wall, he was also injured on his right wrist when he threw a grenade. Then he finally defeated the enemy. When he was in the army, he stood up to observe the situation, but was hit on the right shoulder and almost fell off the city wall.
A total of ten people were killed in the business building and more than thirty were injured, most of whom were hit by the flintlock guns of the Japanese iron gunners.
Chen Zhongji and Yan Siqi both came to the south wall and surrounded Zhang Hai. Several soldiers from the escort team who were temporary military doctors were bandaging his wounds and washing his wounds with soju - this was the first-aid medical skill for firearm injuries taught by Yin Feng.
"Brother Zhang, don't worry about the war below. Leave it to us." Yan Siqi and Zhang Hai were close friends. They were both pirates.
Zhang Hai grinned: "Oh, be gentle, okay, I have to take a rest. It's my own fault. I underestimated the enemy and was negligent. I didn't expect the Japanese pirate army to charge so resolutely. It took us four rounds of shotgun bombardment to stop it." They; if it weren't for these grenades, they would have been able to attack the wall,"
Chen Zhongji nodded: "Yes, I also underestimated the enemy a little. In the Battle of Penghu, the imperial army only needed two rounds of shotgun blasts and continuous musket fire, and it was basically completely destroyed. The Japanese musketeers are really powerful and can destroy our walls." The firepower was completely suppressed. If we didn't have grenades, they would have launched an ant attack on the city and competed with us in manpower consumption. We had no chance of winning. Fortunately, we finally destroyed their cannon."
He turned back and asked Yan Siqi: "Brother Zhenquan, how many grenades do we have left?"
Yan Siqi shook his head: "Brother Tianzi is still counting ammunition consumption... We don't bring many grenades..."
In a fierce battle of more than ten minutes, the defenders of the China Company Commercial Building used up 400 grenades, which was nearly half of the total grenades stored in the commercial mall. If the Shimadzu Army launches another such general attack, the grenades will be exhausted. Almost exhausted.
Although the grenades of the Chinese army were filled with black powder, and the radius of damage of the iron and fragments inside was only two or three meters, they could not stop the large number. When the Shimadzu army rushed under the city wall, the sky-blasting cannon could not hit it at all. The shotguns in the gun holes at the bottom of the high wall were basically ineffective. Only grenades were still very effective in dense crowds, so the people from the China Company threw grenades down as if they were free of charge. As a result, the Shimadzu troops gathered in Most of the soldiers under the wall were killed or injured in the grenade explosion.
Hisamoto Ijuin was extremely heartbroken over the heavy casualties suffered by his direct troops. In this battle, most of his most powerful spearmen (pikemen) suffered casualties, with 300 people killed and more than 300 injured; more than a dozen of his iron gunners were also killed. Killed and more than 100 people were injured. In addition, the front-line Hiratabe cannon fodder soldiers were directly covered by two rounds of shotgun bombardment. In total, the Shimadzu Army killed more than 580 people in this battle and nearly 500 people were injured.
The Shimadzu Army did not expect that the Chinese firearms would be so sharp, and there would be weird explosive firearms like grenades. Moreover, their own heavy firearms were destroyed by man-made fires before they could be used. They lacked the cover of heavy firearms. Shimazu's army was too dense, and they suffered more than 40% casualties in just ten minutes, which was far beyond their expectations. Therefore, Ijuin Kumoto withdrew his troops and returned to the camp. There were deep trenches and high fortresses, and they could not hold on, so he sent people to Shuri went to ask for help.
This also made Chen Zhongji and others take a long breath.
Kaguyama Kutaka, who occupied Shuri, was still busy plundering the Ryukyu Kingdom's wealth. He only had a few hundred people on hand, and reinforcements could not be sent. Therefore, the Shimadzu army's attack on the Chunghwa Merchant House stopped, and the two sides entered an unstoppable battle. A strange period of war and discord.
However, Ijuin Kumoto started to take action not long after. He summoned Hirata Masumune and his generals to discuss it. Everyone felt that storming the merchant house was the next best thing, and that the Chinese company's troops had to be drawn out of the merchant house wall for a decisive battle. Like the defenders of Nakijin Castle and Zheng Zong's troops, they were dealt with in a field battle.
On the tenth day after the failure of the general attack, the Shimadzu army began to burn, kill and loot. The entire Naha area was filled with fireworks and screams. The main force of the Shimadzu army, 900 iron gunners, fired every day. They had been waiting in formation outside the cannon range of the south gate of the commercial building.
Ryukyu people who were fleeing from all directions gathered around the business building all day long, with wailing, groaning, and crying sounds surrounding the business building day and night.
The Ryukyu refugees in the mall also cried and wailed with their compatriots outside. They knelt beside Chen Zhongji and others countless times, begging them to lend a helping hand to rescue their relatives and friends. Prince Shangfeng and Zhu Nu Shuihuaying also kept asking for help. Chen Zhongji requested.
Ryukyu Crown Prince Shang Feng hid in his guest room and trembled at first, then he was restrained by Chinese firearms, and then he suddenly became an extreme patriot and a prince who loved the people, and strongly requested Chen Zhongji to send people to recapture Shuri and release Shuri. Refugees from all around entered the building.
Chen Zhongji was living like a year under the constant pressure of public opinion and favors inside and outside the business building. He wanted to let some refugees in, but when he saw tens of thousands of refugees mourning outside the business building, his scalp went numb. These refugees were obviously Shimadzu soldiers. The food and grass in the store were not enough to feed these refugees for a few days if they were deliberately driven here. However, allowing these refugees to wail and cry outside the store all day long was simply a mental torture for all the store guards.
…
Yin Feng's ship Fei Lang was in the center of the huge fleet. With its tall hull, numerous sails, and numerous gun windows and muzzles, it seemed to be showing off its military power.
The Flying Tiger and the Flying Leopard took the lead at the front of the fleet, and a large number of three-masted Fuchuan-type warships were on guard around the fleet.
In this era, it was very troublesome for large fleets to go out together. There was no communication method to communicate with each other. They could only judge the position of their own ships by visual discrimination, so they had to stop the ships at night. However, Yin Feng ordered the entire army to work day and night. Setting off from the mainland, a large number of lanterns and torches were used as signals to guide the way at night. Although there was a favorable wind, the entire fleet still moved very slowly. After setting off on May 12th in the thirty-seventh year of Wanli (1609), eleven days passed. , the fleet arrived at Miyako Island in the Ryukyu Kingdom, more than 700 miles away from northern Taiwan.
The Flying Tiger brought the Second and Third Battle Fleets to Miyako Island first. The captain of the Flying Tiger was Fan Tao, the former commander of the Second Battle Fleet. He is now the deputy commander of the navy, replacing Ye Hua who went to Europe. .
The Ryukyu people on Miyako Island had just surrendered to the Japanese pirate Shimazu army, and they had not yet gotten used to the change in their roles. However, this large group of Chinese ships appeared again, and the giant ship Flying Tiger was as majestic as a sea castle. The idea of resisting Miyakojima disappeared, and the people of Miyakojima, including the people on the affiliated Shimoji Island, Kurimajima, Ikemajima, Ogamijima and other islands, surrendered to the Chinese as soon as possible. Already.
Somewhere in the harbor of Miyako Island, soldiers from the first team of the Sailor Musketeers of the Flying Tiger were driving a group of Miyako Islanders to build a temporary warehouse. They held up flintlock muskets with bayonets and kicked them unceremoniously. Those poor islanders.
"Don't be lazy and work quickly. Damn it, my family was burned down by your people. If I don't kill you, it's just the owner's kindness. If you want to do what I want, you guys will have to go to the sea to feed the fish." "The captain of the Sailor Musketeers was supervising on the side, cursing: "Work quickly, brothers, watch carefully..."
"Brother, these people are not the Japanese pirates who burned down your house. They are from the Zhongshan Kingdom of Ryukyu, and they are considered vassals of our Ming Dynasty." A steady voice came from behind, and the sailors were refreshed and joined together. Look up.
The person who spoke was Yin Feng. The captain quickly stood at attention and saluted: "Sir Captain, I...aren't these people Japanese pirates?"
Yin Feng smiled bitterly: "We haven't reached the border of the Japanese pirates yet. This is Miyako Island in the Ryukyu Kingdom. We just surrendered to the Japanese pirates. Be polite to these people and work as quickly as possible. The wind direction will change. We have to hurry up..." As he said that, Yin Feng lowered his head thoughtfully and walked away. Lin Yue and other personal guards beside him quickly followed.
The captain of the sailor musketeers stood at attention and saluted, and then shouted to the musketeers who also stood at attention: "What are you doing standing still? Did you hear what the captain said? Work quickly. Listen, these islanders surrendered to the Japanese pirates, and The Japanese pirates are about the same, so don’t be too polite..."
The whole army stayed at Miyako Island out of helplessness. When the entire fleet of nearly 200 ships of various types arrived at Miyako Island, nearly one-fifth of the ships had already left the group and dispersed on the way. Therefore, Yin Feng had to order the fleet to be rested on Miyakojima, and at the same time, Miyakojima was built into a logistics transfer station for the Chinese company's army.
Although Miyako Island is a coral reef limestone island, the terrain on the island is relatively flat. Half of the area of Miyako Island is cultivated land, so most of the residents make a living by farming or fishing. With a population of several thousand, it is considered a large island. Therefore, Chunghwa Corporation Tens of thousands of people can find residence here.
Miyako Island is located in the southwest of the Ryukyu Islands and east of the Sakishima Islands. It is the main island of the Miyako Islands. Miyako Island is 606 miles away from the main island of Okinawa, 266 miles away from Ishigaki Island, the islands of the Yaeyama Islands, and about 760 miles away from northern Taiwan. Here, it happens to be halfway between Taiwan and the main island of Ryukyu.
On the second day after the large force arrived at Miyako Island, the quasi-clipper Sea Spirit happened to pass by Miyako Island on its way back to Taiwan from Ryukyu Naha Port and met up with Yin Feng's group.
Captain Huang of the Sea Spirit reported the situation in Naha to Yin Feng. At the same time, the chief of staff on Miyako Island also confessed a lot about the movements of the Shimazu Army during the interrogation of the Military Intelligence Department. Yin Feng then went to The last pre-war meeting was held on his own ship, the Flying Dragon.
In advance, officers above the regiment commander already knew that the target of this battle was the Satsuma Domain of Japan, but when Yin Feng pointed out bluntly: "The destination of our army's expedition is the Satsuma Domain of Kyushu Island, Japan..." The old general Chen Di and some clerks who were born as children still made a sound of exclamation.
You must know that at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the talented and strategic Emperors Hongwu and Yongle, the Ming army was unable to attack the Japanese mainland. It took several hundred years for the army of Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, to attack the Japanese mainland twice.
Yin Feng ignored the noise of those scholars and said to himself: "The purpose of our army in this battle is, first, to recover Ryukyu, and second, to defeat and severely damage the Satsuma Domain."