Zhu Gang's military ability was not inferior to Zhu Di's.

This battle was of great importance and the tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers should not be underestimated, so Zhu Gang led the troops personally.

Before setting off, Zhu Gang had already obtained a map of the surrounding areas where the Japanese soldiers were hiding.

The key to combat deployment is not victory, because victory is inevitable when you use the majority to defeat the minority and attack the open with the concealed.

The key point is how to wipe it out completely.

The first thing is to cut off their retreat.

The retreat route for these Japanese soldiers is naturally on the sea, and there is a high probability that they have troops stationed there, so Zhu Gang still needs to use ships to fight.

On the sea, Japan's ships are simply incomparable to those of the Ming Dynasty.

Two days later, the war broke out.

The lurking Japanese soldiers had no time to react before they were stunned by the continuous artillery fire.

The huge noise made it useless even though the Japanese commander shouted loudly.

The Japanese soldiers were running around like headless flies, screaming and fleeing for their lives.

It is naturally impossible for 50,000 Japanese soldiers to gather in one place. Except for those guarding the ships, the other 40,000 Japanese soldiers are basically in seven or eight surrounding villages.

Zhu Gang didn't care about the deaths of the Japanese in the village at all. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, although they were now under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, it was a serious crime to know about it and not report it.

No matter whether they are Japanese soldiers or civilians, they will all be killed.

Perhaps it is fortunate for Shimoki Genji who came with the army that because of the number of tribe members Eta, those noble samurai would not hide in Shimoki Village at all.

Ordinary Japanese people would not have contact with Eta, let alone the samurai of the higher class.

If there were Japanese soldiers hiding in Xiamu Village, Zhu Gang would definitely not care about the lives of the people in Xiamu Village and would also directly bombard them.

This time, Zhu Gang pulled almost all the artillery in the city, nearly two hundred in total.

The Japanese soldiers only heard a rumbling sound, and then saw artillery fire falling from the sky like raindrops.

Not to mention people, the entire village was covered by such artillery fire, and there was almost no intact building.

These villages are all made of wood and cannot withstand artillery bombardment at all.

After several rounds of artillery fire, the Japanese soldiers are now frightened out of their wits.

Next, it was the Ming army's turn to clear out the enemy.

Led by the Ming army, a large number of Japanese soldiers rushed towards their so-called comrades.

After betraying their own nation, they acted even more brutally than the Ming army.

As if this was the only way to prove his loyalty to the Ming army.

The central military tent.

Zhu Gang listened to the military intelligence that kept coming back from the front.

The battle actually didn't last that long, only about two hours, and the entire battle was basically over.

The next main task was to capture the remaining Japanese soldiers.

These villages are mostly surrounded by mountain jungles and there are no roads at all.

Many Japanese soldiers ran in in panic, making it very difficult to capture them.

What Zhu Gang has to do now is to block all the surrounding road checkpoints and force these Japanese soldiers out.

There is no food in the mountains and forests. With so many Japanese soldiers, many of them will inevitably be too hungry to stand and surrender.

It is much more comfortable to work as a laborer for the Ming Dynasty than to starve in the mountains.

"Reporting to the prince, a total of 24,736 Japanese soldiers were captured in this battle, and more than 18,000 died. According to the interrogation, there were more than 53,000 Japanese soldiers in total, and about 10,000 of them fled into the mountains and forests."

"More than 800 of our soldiers were killed and more than 2,000 were injured."

The officer in charge of statistics reported to Zhu Gang.

More than 10,000 people ran away, which is normal.

After all, these villages are not like cities where you can run around, and seven or eight villages cannot all be surrounded.

More than 3,000 casualties in exchange for such a great result was obviously worth it.

Moreover, among these more than 3,000 people, basically 99% were Japanese soldiers subdued by Zhu Gang. Most of the Ming army's officers and soldiers were responsible for command, while the charge into battle was left to the Japanese soldiers.

"Very good, blockade the surrounding area. We can't let these more than 10,000 people escape."

"Reward wine and meat. This king wants to reward the three armies. Tell the soldiers to prepare big pots, drink wine and eat meat."

Zhu Gang laughed out loud, he really made a fortune this time.

More than 20,000 Japanese soldiers, the best mining labor force.

Even if it cannot be used up in the vassal state at once, it can still be transported to Luzon.

There is a huge shortage of labor in Luzon right now.

…

Zhu Gang suddenly dispatched a large army, and the news soon reached the ears of the other three princes.

In fact, it is difficult to hide such things from others.

After all, there are hundreds of thousands of them, and the marching noise is very loud.

Yancheng.

Zhu Di soon got first-hand inside information.

"Tribal people, descendants of the Southern Song Dynasty in the early Mongol Yuan Dynasty? Zhu Gang is really lucky."

"Then Ashikaga Yoshimitsu lost 50,000 soldiers for nothing. Judging from the big commotion the second brother made, he must have gotten the news and probably doesn't dare to come."

Zhu Di was speechless.

If you say to fight, then go ahead and fight. You’ve made such a big noise that everyone outside knows about it now.

There is no doubt that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu must have many spies on Kyushu Island. Now that the ambushes he set up have been cleared out, it only takes a little thought to know that the plan has failed.

The subsequent battles could not be fought at all.

In fact, when Zhu Di was making the deduction, he had already guessed that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu would probably arrange an ambush.

Before heading to Kitakyushu Castle, it was decided to arrange scouts to search.

Now it is equivalent to being intercepted by Zhu Gang.

This means that all the benefits went to Zhu Gang.

That’s not right. Zhu Di also made 300,000 taels from Xu Huyou.

It seems like no one is at a disadvantage.

…

"Damn it, Eta!"

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was so angry that his teeth were itching.

These were 50,000 elite warriors and a large number of muskets, and they were all destroyed.

The most important thing is that most of the daimyo who came this time were his direct subordinates.

Although Ashikaga Yoshimitsu controlled the military power of Japan, in fact many Japanese soldiers would only obey the orders of the daimyo rather than the general.

This greatly weakened Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's power.

The news could not be concealed for long because Xiamu Village had been appointed as the new manager by Jin Wang Zhu Gang.

The surname Xia Mu was abolished and they were allowed to restore their Han surnames.

In terms of class, they are more noble than ordinary Japanese.

Zhu Gang spent a huge amount of gold to buy horse bones and promoted many people from Shimoki villages to officials in charge of many Japanese villages in the domain.

After hearing this news, combined with the intelligence brought back by the spies, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu knew that he had been betrayed by these despised tribesmen.

"General, if the tribesmen in Xiamu Village betray us, then the tribesmen in other places will definitely betray us when they hear the news."

"There's an old saying in the Central Plains that the early bird catches the worm. We might as well clean out all the tribesmen on Honshu Island first."

The person who spoke was Shinji Ouchi of the Ouchi family.

As the ruling family of Nagato Province, the Ouchi family sent many outstanding young talents from the family over this time.

But I didn't expect that they were all lost there. Even if they were still alive, it would be hard to save them.

In Japan, there is a rule that allows paying a ransom to redeem defeated nobles.

But these rules did not work well for the Ming army.

After the Ming army captured the Japanese soldiers, they directly forced them to do labor and ignored the requests of the Japanese nobles.

Even before this, when Ashikaga Yoshimitsu wanted to redeem some of his close family daimyo in Kyushu Island, he was rejected by the various feudal lords.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was a little hesitant.

Massacre of tribal people on a large scale is not a good thing.

In fact, most of the so-called descendants of the Han people are on Kyushu Island.

The tribesmen are not just descendants of the Han people, but also include the Japanese who have committed crimes, who will also be demoted to the status of tribesmen.

Moreover, after 130 years of development, these so-called descendants of the Han people are almost no different from the Japanese in Zhongzhou Island.

After all, even in the army of the Southern Song Dynasty, most of the ordinary soldiers were not descendants of a family.

"Your Excellency the Great General, I need to give an explanation to my family."

"I think other families also need this explanation."

Shinji Ouchi bowed his head and said solemnly.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sighed and said, "Okay, let Shinji-kun take care of this matter."

Ouchi Shinji bowed and saluted; "Thank you, General."

This defeat actually does not have a very big impact on Japan as a whole. Japan is now actively recruiting soldiers, and although 50,000 Japanese soldiers may seem like a lot, they are not too many in comparison.

The real influence lies in Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's personal prestige.

So Ashikaga Yoshimitsu also knew that he had to find someone to take the blame.

Not only Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, but also the daimyo who followed him needed it as well.

The daimyo of Japan all belong to hereditary family inheritance, and the daimyo is similar to the clan leader.

However, there are many people similar to clan elders within the clan, and many daimyo often have many competitors.

If they cause the family to suffer too great a loss and arouse suspicion among the family members, then the patriarch can be replaced within the family.

The tribesmen are great scapegoats, and killing them would not cause any objections from the people. In the eyes of many people, these evil people are the kind of people that even Buddha would not forgive.

And the fact that Eta betrayed Japan was something that the people would easily accept.

It wasn't that the Shogun's plan failed, but it was because of the betrayal of those Eta who sold out the Shogun that the noble Japanese warriors were unable to defeat the Ming army.

What a great explanation.

There is no need for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu to stay here anymore.

The Prince of Jin had crushed his ambush, so there was no point in him going against the Prince of Yan now.

Now I can only return to Kyoto and look for another opportunity.

Just when Ashikaga Yoshimitsu left, the daimyo of Nagato Province raised their knives and killed the tribesmen in their territory.

"You damned untouchables, you actually betrayed the great lord. I will use your blood to commemorate the dead warriors!"

When facing the Ming army, they were servile and submissive.

When it comes to dealing with these tribal people, they strike hard.

The tribesmen were originally the lowest class in Japan. Not only were they dressed in rags, they had almost never had a full meal, and they were all skin and bones.

Facing the Japanese samurai, there is no ability to resist.

They were constantly killed while wailing.

Some warriors, if interested, would compete to see whose sword could chop off a head faster.

For the poor warriors, this was even more of a carnival. They robbed the tribesmen of their few properties, and even if they were pitifully small, it brought them more joy.

The primitive animal nature was completely aroused, perhaps it had always been hidden in their bones.

Even though many people know that most of these tribesmen are criminal Japanese, the so-called descendants of the Han people rarely exist on Zhongzhou Island, and are basically located on Kyushu Island.

But in the eyes of the samurai, what does it matter? They are all the same and there is no difference.

The violence is spreading.

Not only in Nagato Province, but also in neighboring provinces such as Suo, Iwami, and Aki, it began to become popular.

Even some families that did not send daimyo to fight in Kyushu took this opportunity to commit violence.

What Ashikaga Yoshimitsu did not expect was that when the beast in the cage was released, there would be no way to control it at all.

There are not many tribesmen, and they are only a small group in the entire Japan.

These warriors who had experienced the thrill of killing without restraint were not satisfied with the meager wealth of the tribesmen.

The butcher's knife was then directed towards those ordinary Japanese villages.

"Ota-san, is it really okay for us to do this? We are not tribesmen here. If the news spreads, we will definitely be punished by the government."

Dozens of warriors gathered together and looked towards the village not far away.

The one who spoke was one of the leading warriors.

They are samurai from the Uehara family.

Uehara Oota chuckled, looked at the village in the distance with greed in his eyes, and said, "Tetsuya-san, as long as we kill all the people in this village, who would know that it was the Uehara family samurai who did it."

"This is the border between Suo Province and Aki Province. I have already inquired about this village. They have taken in many tribesmen."

"Those who help the people of Eta are still people. They are also Eta. It is justice for us to kill them."

"Besides, as long as we don't say we are samurai of the Uehara family, who would know?"

"It's not just our Uehara family that's doing this now. There are many samurai from other families who are doing this as well."

"Zheye-san, don't hesitate. Look at that field. There's such a lovely girl. I'll let you enjoy her first."

Tetsuya Uehara looked in the direction that Uehara Oota pointed.

Sure enough, I saw a young woman.

The woman seemed to be collecting some wild vegetables by the countryside, and her graceful figure caught Tetsuya Uehara's attention.

Compared to the tribesmen, only normal villages have such beautiful girls.

The surrounding warriors suddenly became greedy.

Someone behind him laughed and said, "Zheye-san, if you don't want it, then leave it to me."

The surrounding warriors immediately started to make a noise: "Zheye-san, I can do it too."

"Zheye-san, let that girl go and let me do it."

"Zheye-san, do you want me to help you clear the way?"

"Zheye-san, it's so boring to be alone, let me accompany you, you are such a lovely girl!"

When Uehara Tetsuya heard this, he actually showed a bit of shyness on his face. He completely forgot his previous thoughts and shouted to the warriors beside him: "That is mine, no one is allowed to take it."

At this point, there is naturally no room for hesitation.

The many warriors of the Uehara family no longer hid and headed straight towards the village.

They can't wait any longer.