His heart was pounding. Although Tokugawa Hideyoshi felt a little overwhelmed at the moment, for the Ming army and Zhang Wuji, this was just his last burst of energy.
There were more than 40,000 soldiers on both sides, and almost everyone believed that the Ming army would win and the Japanese would lose.
…
Before the battle, Zhang Wuji was too lazy to talk nonsense on the Ming army side. Now that things had come to this, the soldiers on his side no longer needed to boost morale.
Although Tokugawa Hideyoshi was certain that his family would be defeated, he still began his pre-war speech.
"My fellow Japanese, our plan to tire out the army has been successful. The Ming army has been chasing us for so long, they are obviously exhausted. Now is the time for us to launch a surprise attack."
"The future of Japan depends on you. You are the rulers of the world. Today, you must let the Ming army see the style of the rulers of the world."
"Let them know that the swords in our hands are also sharp, let them know that from this moment on, we will move forward courageously."
Regardless of whether his soldiers believed what Tokugawa Hideyoshi said, first of all, he himself did not believe it. He just hoped that what he said could boost morale a little.
Even if it's just in a short battle, it would be good to kill one more Ming army soldier.
…
On the Ming army side, Yang Xiao had already made preparations. He had five thousand soldiers, and the soldiers in the first two rows all held large shields in front, including himself.
"Soldiers, isn't this the moment we've been waiting for after traveling thousands of miles?"
"Hurry up and kill all the Japanese bastards who dare to resist, so that we can return to Tokyo quickly. Otherwise, we will not be able to get the credit for breaking the city."
"After such a long journey of thousands of miles, it would be a shame if we couldn't even take part in the battle to capture the enemy's capital."
"Soldiers, hold your formation and follow me."
Yang Xiao took the lead in launching the charge, and at this moment, the little bit of atmosphere that Tokugawa Hideyoshi had just ignited disappeared with the sound of the wise monarch's orderly footsteps.
"Hold on, hold on, soldiers, don't panic."
"Don't let yourself be frightened by the Ming army, they are just strong on the outside but weak on the inside."
"As long as we can withstand this wave of attack from the Ming army, they will collapse without a fight."
"Hold your longbows tightly and wait for my command."
…
Faced with such a well-organized charge formation, the Japanese were already in a state of disarray before the two armies even engaged in battle.
Deserters had already appeared in the Japanese camp. They did not have the courage to face such a Ming army. All the talk of national hatred, family feuds, and loyalty to the emperor had long been shaken away by the sound of the Ming army's uniform stampede.
As for the deserters, Tokugawa Hideyoshi's personal troops, personal guards, and his old men who still had some fighting spirit, killed them in two without mercy.
The issue of deserters needs to be dealt with seriously and promptly, no matter when. Otherwise, one person can take away ten, and ten can take away a hundred.
…
As the Ming army was getting closer, Tokugawa Hideyoshi estimated the distance and found that it was just at the maximum range of the bow and arrow, so he gave the order to shoot.
The Japanese bows were all longbows that were more than a person tall. From the perspective of range alone, they were probably higher than the shortbows of the Ming army. However, after a wave of arrows rained down, the Ming army did not suffer any casualties, because the range of the Japanese arrows was just enough to hook the Ming army.
The first two rows of Ming soldiers holding large shields blocked almost all the arrows.
"Soldiers, don't panic, keep your formation steady. The Japanese arrows are just tickling us."
Yang Xiao was also roaring to stabilize the formation.
Then came the second wave of arrows from the Japanese, but this time, the Ming army suffered casualties. This was inevitable, as there are always casualties in war.
When the third wave of Japanese arrows arrived, the casualties of the Ming army increased again. Even if they were wearing heavy armor, there were always some missed spots. Several Ming soldiers' faces were directly pierced by Japanese arrows. There is no doubt that at this point today, not being able to witness the capture of Tokyo City with their own eyes is their biggest regret in life.
However, after three waves of arrows from the Japanese, Yang Xiao finally took action. He waved his hand lightly, and arrows rained down from his own camp. Although the range of the Ming army's arrows was slightly flawed, they were still within their range.
However, it is obvious that the damage caused to the Japanese by this wave of arrows from the Ming army is much greater than the damage caused by the three waves of arrows from the Japanese.
After all, the Japanese were not wearing heavy armor, not even leather armor. In addition, during their recent escape, they had even thrown away their large shields in order to move faster. As a result, at this moment, among the army of more than 20,000 people, there were not even a few shields.
Although Tokugawa Hideyoshi felt a little distressed when he saw the casualties of his own soldiers, fortunately he had already prepared himself mentally.
"Don't panic, don't get confused. If you let the Ming army get closer, you will only die faster. Quick, shoot arrows, keep shooting."
…
Tokugawa Hideyoshi wanted to suppress the Ming army by continuing to shoot arrows, but what he didn't expect was that after the Ming army was hit by three waves of arrows, the situation had been reversed. Because the Ming army used short bows, although the range was a little shorter, the firing speed was extremely fast.
The Ming army's arrows were fired in a step-by-step manner and could not be stopped for a while. The Japanese fell down in large numbers.
The number of deserters, who had been stopped by killing them before, suddenly increased again.
…
Look at Zhang Wuji again: "Zhiruo, do you see that, in fact, the Japanese may not need our intervention at the moment."
"In this kind of terrain, Tokugawa Hideyoshi only wanted to fight to the death. In fact, he had no intention of winning at all. He just wanted to consume us."
"His army formation had thickness, but it was not spread out at all."
Zhou Zhiruo had also followed Zhang Wuji on the battlefield for several years, so she could see some things.
"You are right. Tokugawa Hideyoshi may not have really intended to win, but it is precisely because of this that he wanted to increase the thickness of the military formation. With increased thickness, the formation will not easily collapse. If it is spread too wide, I am afraid that at this moment, his army would have completely collapsed."
Zhang Wuji smiled and said, "Zhiruo does have some insights, and I'm afraid she is already on par with Min'er."
After hearing this, Zhou Zhiruo glared at Zhang Wuji and said, "You bastard, you are lying with your eyes open."
"If you want to praise me, you might as well say that I am prettier than that Mongolian fox. I would believe it then."
"As for what you said about me being comparable to Zhao Min in military affairs, I absolutely don't believe it."
"I know myself well, and I will never be able to surpass her in this respect."
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