With a sweep of his right hand, Zhu Mo ordered,
Boom, boom, boom!
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
This time, five shots each of two types of cannonballs. The solid shot rolled across the ground after landing, smashing many of the Frankish cannons into scattered parts.
"Fire! Fire!"
Daimura Sumitada, believing the range had been reached but the Frankish artillery had not yet fired, was furious and almost had someone killed on the spot.
A Frankish soldier, long stationed in Japan, shouted in Japanese,
"Lord Sumitada, the Frankish cannons cannot shoot that far!"
Hearing this,
Daimura Sumitada froze—
Yes,
this place was a considerable distance from the slope ahead, about two li. How could they possibly hit it? But how could *they* hit *this* place?
At this moment,
the pirate Wu Ping's words echoed in his mind, "That Zhu Mo's artillery can shoot two to three li..." He hadn't believed it at all, only acting cautiously by sending Mendolang to intercept at Fengjing. Now, witnessing it firsthand, he felt a sense of disorientation...
But this man, after all, was a daimyo. His ferocity was ignited. He proclaimed loudly,
"Xing'en, if I am defeated and commit seppuku, you shall be my kaishakunin!"
"Hai!"
Daimura Sumitada made a resolute decision, and a strategy emerged—
While the Ming army could shoot far, they were far inferior in close combat to the ronin. As long as they could get close, there was still a chance in this battle...
At this moment,
seeing the Ming artillery relentlessly bombarding the Frankish camp, he immediately had an idea: since these cannons were beyond saving, they might as well serve as bait. He would lead only his domain's elites and the ronin to charge. As long as they could close the distance, today he would hack Zhu Mo into mincemeat.
He immediately ordered,
"All Frankish camp units advance to the front!"
"Warriors from all domains of Hirado, follow me to attack the flanks!"
With the sound of hurried footsteps,
he led over two thousand elites, maneuvering from the west and then dispersing into a wide formation, rushing towards Hu Jiaban without pause.
...
Having experienced the Battle of Xuanda, Zhu Mo was naturally well aware of the situation. He thought, you think I fear your close combat? Heh, close combat is precisely your doom...
"The artillery will first eliminate the Frankish camp! The arquebusiers will protect the flanks!"
"Yin Xiaohu, when the pirates retreat, you will then pursue them!"
"Fire!"
Boom, boom, boom.
Boom, boom.
Due to the difficult terrain, the Frankish camp advanced slowly, winding and turning among the piles of wood and stone, becoming perfect targets for the rolling solid shot. In the time it took Daimura Sumitada to charge, three Frankish camps and over a hundred cannons were battered beyond recognition.
Meanwhile,
Daimura Sumitada, charging at the forefront, drew closer to the enemy lines without being attacked by artillery. He was congratulating himself, thinking the enemy had fallen for his trap.
Unexpectedly,
suddenly, he heard a dense volley of "boom, boom" sounds. A cloud of white smoke billowed from above the formation of front-line arquebusiers.
Ah, ah, ah!
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!
Amidst the screams, three to four hundred men beside and behind him fell!
Slurp~~
He reined in his horse, turned, and was instantly terrified.
This?
Where were such long-range, accurate arquebuses?
One must know,
the Japanese had encountered Frankish matchlock guns even earlier than the Ming Dynasty. These weapons were commonplace. He himself carried one at all times. But what he saw today was entirely different from these firearms. The distance to the enemy lines was at least twenty to thirty zhang; how could they be felled by arquebuses? By rights, only a few dozen should have been injured at most.
Driven by a frenzied courage, he roared,
"Charge! Don't stop!"
He clamped his legs, whipped his horse, and the steed surged forward. The ronin behind, originally fearful and terrified, seeing their commander at the front, ignored everything and rushed forward again as a swarm.
Zhu Mo shook his head and murmured, "I didn't want to kill too many, but you pirates should be killed. And you are so ferocious, truly against the laws of heaven. Today, I shall commit a sin..."
With a sweep of his right hand,
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Over seven hundred men fired simultaneously, then reloaded and fired again, firing over a dozen volleys in a short time. When the gunfire ceased, only five to six hundred infantry from the rear ranks of the over two thousand pirates remained. They survived only because they were slow and blocked by those in front, thus sparing their lives.
With cries of panic and confusion, these pirates fled in all directions. Daimura Sumitada, having been shot off his horse, was wounded in his right leg and left arm. Looking left and right, he saw that his kaishakunin, Xing'en, had also fallen and died. He could not even commit seppuku to cleanse his shame. With a sigh, he struggled to his feet, leaned on his cane, and limped away.
At the same time,
the remnants of the Frankish camp, abandoning even their cannons, fled in a mass towards the sea, a vast, black swarm like ants in disarray.
Yin Xiaohu, fighting for the first time, saw that Daimura Sumitada's main force was already defeated and no longer a threat. But the enemy fleeing to the front, if allowed to escape, would they not return to Zhoushan?
He couldn't help but ask, "Scholar Zhu, the enemy in front still numbers several thousand. Are we just letting them escape?"
Zhu Mo smiled grimly,
"Yin Xiaohu, let them go... If they don't leave, won't this battle be over? If the battle is over, what else can we use to shame those scoundrels? Heh, you should go and capture all of Daimura Sumitada's remnants. Not a single one is allowed to escape!"
"Understood!"
Yin Xiaohu did not grasp his profound reasoning. He immediately led five thousand volunteers, who swarmed after the retreating soldiers, chopping and slashing, quickly capturing all the defeated troops.
...
At this time,
Qi Jiguang had not only surrounded the Xiaokunshan camp but also piled up trees and firewood around the outer perimeter of the stockade. Amidst the billowing smoke, the entire camp was in distress, with some people unable to resist escaping and being immediately captured.
This clever stratagem was proposed by the usually mild-mannered Hu Shouren.
At this moment,
the three looked at Hu Shouren and couldn't help but laugh. This steadfast old Hu, when playing tricks, was so ruthless!
Qi Jiguang coughed and said,
"Zi'an, I think the pirates can no longer hold out... The garrison commander in the city must have realized something upon seeing the thick smoke. We should make immediate preparations. Once the garrison sorties, we will attack this camp together!"
"Understood!"
As if on cue, at this moment, the scout also reported—
The garrison had opened the west gate, and four to five thousand volunteer officers and soldiers were rushing towards Xiaokunshan.
The four exchanged glances and burst into laughter.
Qi Jiguang felt a great sense of emotion—
At this stage of the battle, there was finally a feeling of mutual cooperation.
One Zhu Mo, having won at Fengjing, forced the pirate main force to hastily turn east. The continuous cannon fire that followed suggested that fierce fighting was also occurring in the area of Zuibai Pool. And the Huaiding garrison finally seized the opportunity. Thus, the siege of Huaiding was suddenly and miraculously lifted.