It was obviously wishful thinking for Lee Seong-gye to wait until the situation changed.

Even though he had already sent someone to inform Aluta.

But the Ming army couldn’t find it even though they were blocking it, so how could the person who notified them be found easily?

At this moment, the 200,000 Ming troops led by Zhu Yuanzhang had also arrived at Kyushu Island.

The precarious situation of Kyushu Island was immediately relieved, even though Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had already dispatched an army of 500,000 at this time.

However, as the one defending the city, Zhu Gui said he felt no pressure at all.

Although Japan suffered frequent earthquakes, the city walls built by the Ming army were ten meters deep. No matter how big the earthquake was, it would not matter. The walls remained motionless.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had rich combat experience, but facing the city wall that was ten meters deep and eight meters high, he really had no way to deal with it.

Tens of thousands of people were killed and in the end they could only watch helplessly.

"General, if this continues, by the time Ming has time to spare in Goryeo, I'm afraid our plan will fail."

"News came from Goryeo that Lee Seong-gye had already begun to flee and did not dare to engage in direct combat with the Ming army. The Mongols on the grassland had also fled into the forest to avoid being hunted down by the Ming army."

"Once Lee Seong-gye is captured, all the Ming troops will surely come to Japan, and then..."

Takeuchi's face was filled with worry.

The current situation is not complicated, but it is not moving in the direction they imagined. Instead, it is getting worse.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu waved his hand with some tiredness. He knew what Takeuchi said, but how could he deal with the Ming army now?

Although the entire army has not yet been mobilized, an army of 500,000 is already the current limit for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. If there are more, it would be like cutting off the source of the trouble.

Thinking of the defeat of Japan, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu gritted his teeth and said, "We can't lose. Now, whether it's Goryeo or Mongolia, they will flee when they see the Ming army and dare not fight head-on."

"But we can't do this. We have no way out. If we can't defeat the Ming army, then Japan will be completely destroyed."

"The only hope now is a fight to the death."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu really didn't want to go this far, because it would cause countless casualties among the Japanese, but he had no other choice.

Moreover, among the three countries of Japan, Goryeo and the grassland, one must face the Ming army directly in order to have a chance of victory.

Once upon a time, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu placed his hopes on Goryeo and the grasslands, while Goryeo similarly placed its hopes on the grasslands and Japan.

The same is true for Aluta.

In terms of comprehensive national strength, the only country that could confront the Ming army head-on was Japan.

"this……"

The Takeuchi and Kuroda looked at each other.

They didn't expect to take this step in the end, and this is the worst step.

No daimyo wanted to throw his clansmen into such a death battlefield. Forcible attack on the city would mean unimaginable losses.

"Notify all daimyo and the council."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sighed.

Soon, all the prominent Japanese daimyo gathered to attend this grand council.

There were hundreds of people.

They represent almost the entire aristocratic class of Japan and are also the most core and top group of people.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu did not hide anything and directly explained the current situation.

To put it simply, Japan only has two options.

Either fight to the death or surrender now and become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, most daimyos did not want to fight to the death, but the Ming Dynasty's policies left them with no choice.

The situation on Kyushu Island made them realize that once they became a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, all of them, the aristocracy, would lose all their privileges and become the same as ordinary Japanese people.

"Fight to the death!"

The first daimyo stood up from his kneeling position and shouted in a firm voice.

"Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"

More and more daimyo stood up.

They want to protect their own interests and safeguard their own privileges. If the Ming Dynasty ruled Japan, even if they would not become prisoners, they would lose their aristocratic status and become ordinary people, which they could not accept.

After all, it was the untouchables who charged forward in a desperate battle, not the nobles like them.

As long as you think it through, you will know how to choose.

"Fight to the death! Fight to the death! Fight to the death! Fight to the death! Fight to the death!!!"

All the daimyos stood up at this moment and roared loudly with excitement.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu looked at the scene before him and felt that the army's morale was high.

At this point, Japan will mobilize all its manpower to attack Kyushu.

In the name of the emperor and the shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu announced a nationwide mobilization for war in Japan. All Japanese males over the age of fourteen had to respond to the call of the emperor and the shogunate and participate in the war.

A large number of siege weapons were continuously manufactured for use in the war with the Ming Dynasty.

Now, the Chikuzen, Buzen, and Bungo regions of Kyushu Island have fallen into the hands of Japan.

The former Hizen, Chikugo, Higo and Hyuga were Jincheng, Yancheng, Qicheng and Qincheng of the Ming vassal kings.

After some thought, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu decided to concentrate his forces on attacking Yancheng first.

Because at this time, the King of Yan and his descendants did not come, Yan City was ownerless, and it was also the best place to attack.

He believed that the other three countries might not send too much force in response to Yancheng's request for help.

At this moment, Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng were guarding Yancheng.

"Now that the prince and his son have not returned, the Japanese want to attack our Yancheng. It seems that we can only defend it to the death."

“I just don’t know if the King of Qi will just stand by and watch.” Zhu Neng said with some concern.

Now there is only one prince, the King of Qi, on Kyushu Island, and he controls all the Ming troops on Kyushu Island.

Zhu Neng was worried that he was deliberately not providing support.

Zhang Yu said, "Don't worry, the King of Qi will definitely not sit idly by. The prince is still in Goryeo."

"If Yancheng falls, it will be the responsibility of the King of Qi. The prince will definitely cause trouble for the King of Qi."

"I don't think the King of Qi would want to face our Lord."

"Now we just need to defend Yancheng firmly."

Zhu Neng asked worriedly, "What if we can't hold on?"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Then you can't defend it. The prince sent a message earlier, saying that if you can't defend it, there's no need to defend it to the death."

"When the princes return, Japan will be within easy reach."

After hearing this, Zhu Neng felt much more at ease.

Judging from the current situation, it probably cannot be defended.

The fact that Japan has mobilized its entire national military is no big secret; you can find out by just asking around.

Although the Ming Dynasty is strong, how can one city fight against the entire Japan?

The facts were just as they guessed.

In just ten days, Japan launched an attack on Yancheng.

The densely packed Japanese army pushed the siege equipment to attack Yancheng.

The artillery fire on the walls of Yancheng roared, and each shot could cause heavy casualties. However, facing the Japanese army that was as small as ants, these casualties were not considered many.

Matchlock guns were mounted on the city walls and continuously fired at the approaching Japanese troops. Even so, the Japanese army's offensive was still very strong.

This fight lasted for three days.

From dawn to dusk every day, the Japanese never stopped attacking the city.

Even at night, some Japanese would continue to try to steal from the city.

The area beneath the city walls was already littered with corpses of Japanese soldiers.

Even after paying a heavy price, the Japanese army has not yet been able to capture the city.

On the fourth day, King Zhu Gui of Qi led a large army to come to the rescue and engaged in a fierce battle with the Japanese army.

After losing tens of thousands of soldiers, Zhu Yuanzhang had to temporarily withdraw from the battlefield.

There were too many Japanese soldiers, and while fighting Zhu Yuanzhang, they did not interrupt their siege of Yancheng.

Although the Ming army suffered casualties of as many as 40,000 to 50,000, the Japanese army lost at least 150,000 Japanese soldiers.

That's pretty good.

Most of the 200,000 troops brought by Zhu Yuanzhang were garrison soldiers, not the professional army of the Ming Dynasty.

Most of the time they were engaged in farming work.

After all, the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty are now mainly concentrated in the grasslands, Siam, and Majapahit.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu completely ignored the losses of the Japanese soldiers and directly launched an attack on Yancheng from all sides, while leaving enough troops to prevent Prince of Qi Zhu Gui from supporting Yancheng.

Half a month later, Yancheng had run out of ammunition and food.

Zhu Neng and Zhang Yu had no choice but to break out through the South Gate.

With Zhu Gui's support, the number of people who finally broke through was less than 7,000.

Although Ashikaga Yoshimitsu captured Yancheng, he was not feeling well.

Because the losses of the Japanese soldiers had reached more than 200,000.

Even though Ashikaga Yoshimitsu still has nearly 700,000 troops under his command, they still need to capture Jincheng, Qincheng, and Qicheng.

If they lost 200,000 soldiers in one city, then if they attack three more cities, wouldn't they only have a few hundred thousand soldiers left in the end?

If we continue to fight like this, all of Japan's military forces will be wiped out, and only the elderly, the weak, women and children will be left in the entire country. What's the point of fighting then?

If the Ming Dynasty sends out another 200,000 or 300,000 troops, what will Japan use to stop them?

Are we going to recruit all women into the army?

Of course, that’s not how it works.

The biggest reason for Japan's current losses is still due to the support of Qi Wang Zhu Yu in the field battle.

The losses on the side of Prince of Qi Zhu Gui were also not small. Of the 200,000 Ming troops that came to support him, only a little over 100,000 are left.

Including the garrisons of the remaining three cities, the total number of Ming troops on Kyushu Island is only about 220,000.

At that time, Lan Yu's 38,000 subordinates, together with the common people and prisoners, totaling less than 40,000 people, were able to resist Chen Youliang's 600,000 troops for 117 days.

Why did Zhu Neng and Zhang Yu disappear in just over half a month?

In fact, the key is the difference in personnel.

The reason why Lan Yu was able to defend Hongdu was not only due to his own reasons, but also because of Chen Youliang.

Although Chen Youliang had an army of 600,000, many of them were temporarily assembled by him, and many of them were naval forces with no experience in siege warfare.

In addition, his tactics were poor. He did not use his numerical advantage to launch a large-scale attack. Instead, he attacked for one day and rested for two days.

This gave Lan Yu a chance to catch his breath.

Later, seeing the soldiers in Hongdu City fighting desperately, Chen Youliang actually wanted to retreat. He lacked confidence, and he was also resting his army, which was a big taboo in military strategy.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was different.

As the person who ended the Northern and Southern Dynasties in Japan, he had rich experience in leading troops in battle, and his military talent was particularly outstanding.

From the very beginning, he knew that the only way was to attack by force.

So they directly launched a strong attack on Yancheng from all sides. Even when Prince of Qi Zhu Gui led his troops to attack, they did not stop and instead forced a battle with Zhu Gui, completely disregarding the loss of troops.

Any Japanese warriors who dared to retreat were killed without mercy.

It has to be said that the Japanese Bushido spirit still has something to it. Many samurai risked their lives for glory and rushed forward to fight. This was also the key to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's ability to capture Yancheng in half a month.

When Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng left Yancheng, they destroyed everything that could be destroyed except the common people.

All the food was burned and all the guns and cannons were destroyed, leaving nothing for the Japanese.

At present, Zhu Yuanzhang, together with the remnants of Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng's troops, still has a total of about 110,000 troops.

And each of the three cities had only 40,000 defenders.

In fact, each feudal lord still had some private soldiers, but they were all sent to Luzon to dig for gold.

Zhu Gui has arranged for personnel to recall all his private soldiers to deal with the Japanese offensive, but it will be difficult for them to return in a short period of time.

The problem now is that no one knows which city Ashikaga Yoshimitsu will attack next.

In order to prevent the crown prince from being captured, Zhu Gui had no choice but to transport all the royal family members in the three cities out and arrange them in the rear.

Losing a city is a small matter, as it can be taken back later. But if any prince of the Ming Dynasty is captured alive, it will become very troublesome.

The same problem also faced Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

There are three cities. Which one should we attack first?

In fact, no matter which city was attacked, King Zhu Gui of Qi would provide rescue, it just depended on how much manpower the Japanese soldiers suffered.

By inflicting maximum damage to the Japanese troops and fighting to the end, even if Kyushu Island is lost, it will be a victory for the Ming Dynasty.

By that time, all the men in Japan will be dead, so how can they deal with the Ming Dynasty?

"Three cities attacked simultaneously."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who had not slept all night, ordered the tactic of dividing the troops to attack the city at dawn.

The 700,000-strong army was divided into four parts, with 150,000 troops deployed to attack each city.

He himself led the remaining 250,000 troops to provide support.

Such tactics sound ridiculous.

Because 150,000 troops were not enough to capture a city with 40,000 Ming troops.

However, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's plan was not to build the city.

His target was Prince Zhu Yu of Qi.

The three cities were all feint attacks.

He wanted to ambush King Zhu Yu of Qi.

Of course, this is only a one in three chance.

Some daimyo wondered why they didn't attack a city and then ambush King Zhu Yu of Qi.

In reality this is impossible to do.

Because only by encircling the three cities can we isolate them enough from the Ming Dynasty's detection, which can achieve the conditions for an ambush.

If we only besiege one city, the other two cities will definitely send people to investigate the situation, so an ambush will naturally be impossible.

After all, it was not the actions of a few thousand or tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands of people, and it was impossible to cover up the tracks.

This is a big gamble.

If Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had made the right bet, he would have been able to fully recapture Kyushu Island in the shortest time and with the least amount of manpower.

At that time, whether to support Goryeo or to defend Kyushu, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu could advance or retreat.

Even if the Ming Dynasty launched a strong attack, it would require greater manpower.