Three days later, in the past three days, Tokugawa Hideyoshi's mentality was collapsing bit by bit.
Because wherever he went, all he saw were ruins, and there were almost no living people anywhere he passed. The Japanese people along the way were basically all killed.
But Yang Xiao was still a man of particulars. He basically drove the Japanese people to a specific place and then massacred them, just like before. During these three days, Yang Xiao did this twice. Two villages, neither big nor small, were directly wiped off the map by him.
Then, when Tokugawa Hideyoshi's army arrived here, they were left with only fear, as if everyone had seen their own end.
Many people in the army have already believed that this is a war doomed to fail, and that the Japanese are destined to be slaves. If they continue to struggle like this, they will only suffer more before their death.
But if he escaped, he could hide in a forest and live in a place where the Ming army would not pay attention to him. It would not necessarily end in death.
So gradually, some people began to escape from Tokugawa Hideyoshi's army.
That night, when Tokugawa Hideyoshi found a flat place and was about to set up his tent and have a good sleep for two or three hours, Takeda Nobuo came up to him and said cautiously: "General, we have just captured a group of soldiers who wanted to escape, a total of 28 people."
After hearing this, Tokugawa Hideyoshi almost wanted to cry: "Damn, why don't these idiots understand that running away means real death."
"Given the current situation, the safest thing is to stay together. They just can't understand why."
Nobuo Takeda also sighed and said, "General, it is impossible for you to make everyone have the same awareness as you. We were defeated in Edogawa before. Although the loss of soldiers and horses was not many, after one battle, we lost one-fifth of our combat power in one day."
"In wars since ancient times, if one-fifth of the combat power is lost in one battle, it will basically cause the collapse of the entire battlefield. This is why when people are defeated and flee, not many people are actually killed in the battle. Instead, they trample on each other, so that the number of deaths from pursuers and hacking is far higher than the number of casualties from direct confrontations with the enemy."
Tokugawa Hideyoshi still had a sad face: "How could I not know what Takeda-kun said, but did I do something wrong?"
"Have I done anything wrong since I fought with Zhang Wuji? Now, Tokyo City is under siege, and the only thing we can do is to try our best to survive."
"As long as we can catch our breath, we will be able to regroup. As long as we can catch our breath, I may be able to gather an army of 100,000 and fight outside the city of Tokyo. At that time, with the support of inside and outside, as long as the soldiers try their best, the chances of winning will be at least 50-50. The current situation is already difficult enough. It's okay to guard against the Ming army surrounding us, but we also have to guard against our own soldiers escaping."
"Behead them all, and send some others with good eloquence to explain the pros and cons to the soldiers in the army, letting them know that only by uniting together can they survive and turn the situation around."
After receiving the order, Takeda Nobuo did not hesitate. A moment later, those soldiers who tried to escape but failed were beheaded.
Taking the current situation as an example, it is actually very difficult for Tokugawa Hideyoshi. His initial thought was that the other generals and marshals in Japan were all trash.
That's why the good situation turned out like this. However, although he was far superior to other Japanese generals, he was still far behind those battle-hardened generals of the Ming Dynasty. What's more, there was Zhao Min and Zhang Wuji. One of them lost the world on the brink of war, and the other won the world on the brink of war. But even Zhao Min, who lost the world on the brink of war, almost never lost a battle. Even if she was defeated, it was only because of the wrong time and place, and the loss of national destiny.
And how could Tokugawa Hideyoshi gain any advantage against such a person?
Looking at Yang Xiao, he was currently observing the terrain in a hilly area. He had already arrived in front of Tokugawa Hideyoshi, and the road under his feet was the only way Tokugawa would have to take to continue his escape tomorrow.
He wanted to ambush Tokugawa here.
It would be even better if we could trap it here and prevent it from moving forward.
So, that night Yang Xiao called several young generals to his side.
Under the moonlight, Yang Xiao pointed to the mountains and hills nearby and said, "Right here, let's hold on here. How long do you think we can hold on?"
A young general beside Yang Xiao said: "It's hard to say about this place. In this kind of place, if the cavalry charges, three to five hundred people would be considered a lot."
"If our two thousand cavalrymen launch a charge together, theoretically killing three to five thousand people should not be a problem. However, Tokugawa Hideyoshi has more soldiers, and our cavalrymen are used for offense. Logically, we can only attack instead of defend. Once our two thousand cavalrymen are entangled with the Japanese, nine out of ten will be consumed."
After the young general expressed his ideas, the other generals present also expressed their approval.
However, Yang Xiao said: "This kind of terrain has always been a nightmare for cavalry, but fortunately this is the only way for Tokugawa to continue his escape. If that guy takes a detour, I'm afraid he will be delayed for at least another day."
"So I think we must make use of this place. Since we have too few soldiers and horses, and since if we charge as cavalry, we may be at risk of being entangled and wiped out, let's dismount and fight on foot."
"We can put up a few large fences on the road that the Japanese must pass through, and use bows and arrows and long spears to hold them off from behind. This way, we can hold them off for a while, right?"
"Your Majesty's 20,000 heavily armored soldiers are no more than 200 miles away from here. As soon as the heavily armored soldiers arrive, they can directly crush Tokugawa Hideyoshi's head."
"What we need to do is to buy time for His Majesty, even if it is just accumulated time."
A young general on the side said: "Tokugawa Hideyoshi has been resting for less than three hours every night these days, and your Majesty's heavy armor has not been left too far behind. This shows that your Majesty's people are also exhausted. If it goes on like this, Tokugawa Hideyoshi and his army will have to continue to escape in order to survive, but your Majesty is afraid that after chasing them to a certain extent, they will not be able to catch up."
"If that's the case, all the suffering I've endured during this period would be in vain."
"I agree with General Yang's idea. Let's dismount and turn the cavalry into infantry and hold out here. If we can delay Tokugawa for two days, even if the price is high, even if some of the brothers present die here, it will still be worth it."
"Even if I die in battle, my family will be taken care of by His Majesty, so just do it."
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