More and more people panicked and jumped off the ship.
They swam towards the shore without regard for anything else.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi rode over on his horse.
"You bastards, what are you doing?"
“You don’t even want the ship anymore? That’s the property of the Toyotomi family.”
Toyotomi Hideyoshi jumped off his horse, grabbed the captain by the collar, and slapped him more than a dozen times.
The captain stood ramrod straight: "Hi..."
"Baka yarou! What on earth happened? Why are you all so panicked?" Toyotomi Hideyoshi roared.
"My lord, more than half of our 500 ships were sunk within an hour."
The enemy is simply too powerful; we are no match for them.
"My lord, we have been on the back foot the whole time. Our arrows can't reach them, our heavy crossbows can't reach them, and our catapults were sunk before they could even launch a stone."
"Their ships were taller and their weapons were more advanced. We didn't even see a shadow of them before we suffered heavy casualties."
Toyotomi Hideyoshi stood there, stunned, unable to believe what the crew members were saying.
Kato looked at Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was standing there dumbfounded: "My lord, things can't be like this. I've been to Daxia before. The warships I captured were no match for them."
Toyotomi Hideyoshi grabbed Kato by the collar: "Could it be that these people are all lying? Impossible, absolutely impossible?"
Although Toyotomi Hideyoshi was unwilling to believe what he was seeing, the cunning old man quickly calmed himself down.
How many ships does the other side have?
"The enemy only had four ships, but the power of those four ships far exceeded our expectations."
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi heard that the other side only had four ships, he drew his samurai sword with a whoosh.
"You bunch of trash, you were beaten to this state by just four of their ships."
"Are you all still my subordinates, Toyotomi Hideyoshi?"
Without saying a word, Toyotomi Hideyoshi swung his katana and killed more than a dozen samurai in succession.
These Japanese samurai stood there, none of them knowing how to resist, nor daring to resist.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi threw his blood-stained katana to Kato behind him: "You bunch of trash, come here and tell me in detail what kind of fleet they are."
The crew members under Toyotomi Hideyoshi stepped forward tremblingly.
They were all trembling uncontrollably.
These guys have never encountered anything like this before.
"My lord, we must make plans early, otherwise, we will be no match for their ships when they come."
"My lord, the enemy ships are making deafening noises, like thunder in the clear sky. Our ships were smashed to pieces even when we were still several miles away from them."
"My lord, their ships have many small windows, and all the weapons are fired from those windows."
Toyotomi Hideyoshi listened attentively.
This guy doesn't want to miss any detail.
Gradually, Toyotomi Hideyoshi understood.
The enemy ship's firepower was too strong.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi knew that in order to resist the enemy's attack, he had to concentrate his forces on land.
Otherwise, they will only face certain death.
"Damn it! These despicable Great Xia people!" Toyotomi Hideyoshi roared. "Kato Kiyomasa, gather all the soldiers of our Toyotomi clan. Since we can't defeat them at sea, we'll fight them to the death on land."
"We must regain the ground we lost at sea on land."
"Hi..."
Kato Kiyomasa quickly relayed the order.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's 100,000 troops quickly assembled.
On land 20 miles from the coast.
The ground was covered with tents from Toyotomi Hideyoshi's military camp.
A dozen or so huge pieces of cloth formed a war room.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi sat on the ground with a dozen or so of his retainers.
"Gentlemen, Tokugawa Ieyasu's fleet has already set sail. Since our Toyotomi family's warships are no match for these Xia people..."
I estimate that Tokugawa Ieyasu's warships would be no match for them either.
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
"Fortunately, we have fortresses here. We will rely on these fortresses. As long as those Xia people dare to land, we will rush out from these fortresses and annihilate them on the coast."
Kato Kiyomasa: "My lord, we are defending this coastline. Who knows what Tokugawa Ieyasu might do? My lord, Tokugawa Ieyasu's fortress is 30 li behind us."
"That old fox Tokugawa Ieyasu most likely wants us to hold the line, and they might not even make a move when we're exhausted."
Kato Yoshikazu: "That old fox Tokugawa Ieyasu will definitely do this. That old fox has always been working against us in front of His Majesty the Emperor."
Yamauchi Kazutoyo: "My lord, I think we should consolidate our forces. There's no need to fight to the death with the Great Xia Dynasty's army here."
Kuroda Hyōe: "My lord, even if we intend to fight to the death here, we must be wary of a sneak attack from behind. That old fox Tokugawa Ieyasu will definitely take advantage of our decisive battle with the people of the Great Xia Dynasty to launch a sneak attack from behind. By then, we will be attacked from both sides, which will be very dangerous."
Toyotomi Hideyoshi: "If that old fox Tokugawa Ieyasu dares to do that, I will personally chop off his head."
Kato Kiyomasa: "My lord, I don't think we need to defend here. We can retreat our forces behind the Tokugawa fortress."
Kuroda Hyōe: "We should have the Tokugawa soldiers at the forefront."
Just then, two fast horses rushed in from the north.
The cavalry charged up to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and they quickly dismounted.
"Reporting, my lord, a letter from His Majesty the Emperor." The messenger quickly pulled a small letter from his robes. "His Majesty the Emperor wishes you to open and read it now."
Toyotomi Hideyoshi hadn't had time to open the letter yet.
Two more scout cavalrymen charged over on horseback.
"My lord, the vanguard of 100,000 Xianbei cavalry has arrived. Murong Canglong and Murong Feihu of the Xianbei have said that there are 150,000 more troops to follow."
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was overjoyed upon hearing this.
He hadn't expected the Xianbei to be able to send over 200,000 troops.
"My lord, since 100,000 Xianbei cavalry are about to arrive, let's completely hand over this beach to the Xianbei to defend. Our forces should at least retreat behind the Tokugawa forces."
Upon hearing this, Toyotomi Hideyoshi nodded, for this was the only way things could be at this point.
"Issue my order: the army shall retreat 50 li. No one shall launch an attack without my order; otherwise, the one who disobeys shall be executed."
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