After a call of caution, a rain of arrows poured down.

Looking at King Yin Ye and the people behind him, countless armored soldiers hurried forward, holding the large shields in their hands firmly in front of King Yin Ye. The other armored soldiers also leaned down and held the shields in front of them.

Although Yin Yewang was just a gangster in his early years, he has become a veteran of many battles since he followed Zhang Wuji.

War is just like that. If you see it enough, anyone who is not too stupid can become knowledgeable about military affairs.

Take King Yin Ye for example, he had no talent for leading troops, but he gained his skills through fighting one battle after another.

When facing the enemy, when should you put up the big shield, where should you put the big shield, where should you place the chevaux de frise, how many layers of chevaux de frise should you put, when should you put up the spear, where should you put the spear, when should you send out troops, when should you charge, etc. After a long time, all these things will be memorized in your mind.

Even mechanical choices made without thinking are basically correct.

Almost all of the Japanese arrows fell on the large shields in the hands of the Ming army, and only a few people were hit by stray arrows because they were not well hidden.

And at this moment, the young general that King Yin Ye had left on his command ship also noticed something.

He shouted loudly and waved the flag in his hand. More than ten large ships lined up in a row and more than a hundred cannons fired a salvo.

More than a hundred cast iron cannonballs directly bombarded the reef area not far from the coastline. The effects of the cannonballs hitting the rocks and hitting the soil were very different.

When the cast iron shells landed on the reefs, they would directly shatter a large area of ​​rubble. In addition, the reefs around the coast had been eroded by the sea breeze for many years and were therefore very brittle. At this moment, the casualties caused by a cannonball to the Japanese army were less than one-fifth of those caused by the broken rubble.

In an instant, Taro Sakamoto's two thousand soldiers suffered heavy casualties. Just one round of artillery fire caused the loss of one-tenth of Sakamoto's troops.

This scale of casualties might be completely acceptable in a conventional battle, and might not even affect the overall situation, but it is different now.

The current reduction in the number of Sakamoto Ayumu was caused in an instant. The situation became like this in an instant. Who can guarantee that such a result will not occur again in the next instant?

At this moment, the two armies were just looking at each other from a distance, but Sakamoto Ayumu's morale had been completely broken.

Amidst the endless wailing, timid people often make the most correct choice. They turned around and ran backwards desperately. At this moment, the second round of artillery bombardment by the Ming army began.

Hundreds of shells fell on the same reef area again, but this time, because some Japanese soldiers had already escaped and they were mentally prepared, the casualties caused were not as great as those in the previous round of shelling.

However, this round of shelling also completely shattered the Japanese's determination to resist. When it comes to something like escaping, once someone takes the lead, it is easy to cause the entire group to disintegrate.

There had only been two rounds of artillery fire. When Taro Sakamoto looked back, all he could see were dead bodies all over the ground and the injured soldiers who had no time to escape.

What else can be done now that things have come to this? Taro Sakamoto can do nothing but curse loudly.

He patted Sakamoto Jiro's shoulder heavily and said, "Son, this is the fight you wanted. See? They have cannons, but what do we have? It's more important to preserve our strength first."

"Retreat quickly."

Sakamoto Jiro on the side didn't react at all, and Taro was very anxious for a moment: "Baga, Jiro, what's wrong with you? Do you want to stay and die?"

Jiro remained indifferent. Taro shook him hard again. This time, Jiro finally moved. He slowly fell to the ground. It turned out that among the rubble splashed by the cannonball, there was a sharp stone that hit his temple directly and was completely embedded in it. All that could be seen now was the blood that kept gushing out.

"Jiro, Jiro...".

Taro Sakamoto roared twice. In war, there are always casualties. Even though his son died, Taro Sakamoto still had to live.

Taro said, "Don't worry, Jiro. Daddy will avenge you. Besides, Daddy will take care of your wife and concubine at home."

…

Fortunately, Sakamoto Jiro is already dead. If he were still alive, he would probably kill his father.

…

After two rounds of bombardment, all the Japanese fled. King Yin Ye smiled secretly in his heart. He could see everything around him. Apart from this reef, there was no place to hide. Even if there was, he and the hundreds of soldiers who landed first could retreat to the coastline and hide by relying on the range of their own artillery shells.

Therefore, due to his ambition, he did not hesitate. Facing this rare pursuit and annihilation battle, he would kill as many as he could. The best result would be to turn this pursuit and annihilation battle into a war of annihilation.

King Yin Yewang jumped up from behind his shield, waving the steel knife in his hand and shouting excitedly: "Soldiers, we were worried that we wouldn't encounter any enemies, but now someone comes to die."

"Kill all these born-again people and let them experience the style of conquering the world."

In this way, hundreds of Ming army soldiers, led by Yin Yewang, chased and killed more than a thousand Japanese soldiers who still had combat effectiveness, while the subsequent Ming army soldiers were also accelerating to gather on the coast.

On the treasure ship, although Zhang Wuji could not see clearly what was happening in front of him, the two bursts of cannon fire allowed him to guess the result.

"There were enemies, but they should have been dealt with."

Zhao Min laughed and said, "The cannons only fired twice. I guess the Japanese have already fled. The first battle is a victory."

…

It was indeed a victory in the first battle, without any suspense.

That night, all the Ming army soldiers gathered in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and a large amount of strategic materials were continuously transported to the coastline.

…

Inside the central military tent in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Zhao Min instructed several generals: "Generals, from this moment on, we are going to risk everything. Although the Ming Dynasty's supplies and reserve forces will continue to gather here, we are ultimately fighting on the external front. This type of combat cannot be delayed for too long. If we can destroy Japan in three months, we must not delay it to four months."

"Yang Xiao, Wei Yixiao, Yin Yewang, Zhang Dingbian, the four of you will each lead 5,000 soldiers. Keep a close distance between each other and advance eastward one after another. You must occupy more cities before the large Japanese troops react. As for the defenders and civilians in the cities, their life and death will be decided by you for the time being."

"I would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let one go. Your Majesty and I will lead the rest of the soldiers to support you. If you encounter a city that you cannot capture, I will naturally send troops to help."

"Do you understand?"