Chapter 175: War Begins
In early March, the snow in Shangjing melted, the trees sprouted new buds, and good news came from all sides.
The first to send back the victory report was the Daqi Navy. It took them less than a month to capture the Japanese capital Kamakura.
It was really because the Daqi Navy was too powerful that it completely crushed Japan, leaving the other side with almost no ability to fight.
"Bang!"
“Boom boom—”
The first shell landed in Iwashiro Prefecture, Japan, and blew up the ships on the shore.
Immediately afterwards, dozens of artillery shells arrived, instantly blowing this small port built on the water into pieces.
Not far away on the seashore, a huge fleet is slowly approaching.
Leading the way was the Hope, its tall hull almost blocking out the sun. There were also hundreds of medium-sized warships around it, each equipped with cannons.
The local sailors fled in panic in their small boats. They didn't even understand where the ships came from and why they suddenly attacked them.
Standing at the bow of the Hope and commanding the war was Admiral An Feng, who often encountered Japanese pirates on the water and had lost one of his eyes by the Japanese a few years ago. Now, the combination of new and old grudges made him even more ruthless.
Iwashiro was just a small county in Japan. The Hope set sail again and headed directly for Kamakura Prefecture, the capital of Japan.
Before they came, this place was the most prosperous area in Japan. After the arrival of the Daqi Navy, it took less than half a day for artillery fire to turn this place into ruins.
Emperor Matsumoto Kuwachi was shocked and angry. He left behind his harem and three princes and fled to Nara overnight under the escort of his guards. The entire Japan was leaderless, and the resistance army had almost no power to fight and was defeated.
Anfeng led 28,000 soldiers to attack the imperial palace. He couldn't understand why such a weak country had the courage to challenge Daqi again and again?
According to the emperor's oral order, anyone who resists with a knife can be killed, but civilians are not allowed to be harassed.
At first, the Japanese people were terrified, thinking that the army would kill innocent people after entering the city, but they didn't expect that these Kai people did not kill them.
Some people tried to go out to sea to fish and were not stopped. Gradually, they let down their guard and continued to work and live as usual, farming and weaving.
The Japanese people who were under slavery did not have an easy life. They were oppressed by the nobles for a long time and suffered from lack of food and clothing.
Now the nobles of Kamakura either fled or were killed, and the lives of the common people were actually better than before, and gradually no one had the idea of resisting anymore.
The emperor who fled to Nara Prefecture sent more than seventy letters to Daqi, asking the emperor to forgive his sins and punish Matsumoto Tsuru. He was willing to donate all the treasures of Wa and voluntarily become a vassal state of Daqi, only asking Daqi to withdraw its troops.
Song Yuzhu knew that if he let Japan go this time, it would soon repeat the same trick. The key was to solve the problem from the root, get rid of Matsumoto Sangchi and make his youngest son Matsumoto Ryo the new emperor.
Matsumoto Ryo was only three or four years old, still a child who knew nothing about the world.
If a few ministers are sent from Daqi to teach him, within a few years, Fuso will become a veritable vassal state.
*
On the other side, the army heading south has arrived at the border of Nanzhao State, which has a tropical climate.
The weather in March was hot and humid, with mosquitoes, snakes and ants as numerous as cattle hairs. In addition, the rampant miasma caused many soldiers to fall ill before they could even set out on their mission.
At this time, the students from the medical school played a big role. They made realgar sachets to distribute to the soldiers, and boiled detoxification soup to save many people.
It just rained a little today, and the weather was rarely cooler. But after a while, the sky cleared up and the air suddenly became hot and humid again. The clothes soaked by the rain became wet, sticky and not breathable.
Everyone was afraid to take off their clothes and go shirtless, otherwise they would be eaten by mosquitoes in an instant.
Yang Ping wrung out the water from his clothes and leaned against a tree to rest: "This place is really not a place for humans to stay."
"Pa!" Jiang Ling slapped him on the back.
"What are you doing?!"
Jiang Ling stretched out his hand expressionlessly, and on it was a large, flattened insect.
Yang Ping thanked him uncomfortably. There were too many bugs in this damn place. One bite would cause pain for several days. A few days ago, the commander-in-chief, General Zheng, was bitten by some bug and developed a high fever.
The military doctor told him not to go on, otherwise his life would be in danger. There was no choice but to leave a few soldiers behind and set up tents in an open area to rest, while Du Chong led the soldiers to continue forward.
The further we go, the harder it becomes to walk. There are vines everywhere, and even the locals have never been here.
The vanguard had to use knives to cut through the vines and clear a path.
After passing through a camphor tree forest, we suddenly heard the sound of rushing water in front of us.
"We're here! We're here!" Yang Ping and Jiang Ling ran over first, and saw a river in front of them. The river was thirty feet wide and the water was rushing. This should be the Lancang River, the dividing line between Daqi and Nanzhao.
Nanzhao is just opposite!
Du Chong scratched the mosquito bite on his face and cursed: "Finally I'm here, if I hadn't arrived earlier, I would have been fed to the mosquitoes!"
Yang Ping: "General, how do we cross this river?"
It is definitely not possible to build ships to cross the river with an army of nearly 200,000. Not to mention the time and effort involved, what about the baggage carts and heavy artillery?
Du Chong pinched his waist and said, "Build a bridge and cross it!"
"Build a bridge?" Yang Ping and Jiang Ling asked at the same time. How can they build a bridge in such a wide river with such fast-flowing water?
Du Chong waved his hand and said, "Let's set up camp here first and wait for the baggage carts to arrive."
During the break, Jiang Ling climbed up the tree with a telescope and looked towards the Nanzhao Kingdom.
From here you can see the nearest city of Nanzhao Kingdom, called Beimu, which is heavily guarded.
"Hey, let me see." Yang Ping climbed up at some point and sat on the branch next to him.
Jiang Ling handed him the telescope.
Yang Ping looked at it for a while and said, "Tsk tsk, the equipment of this Nanzhao soldier is too shabby. Is that a halberd in his hand? We have eliminated it for many years."
"The third year of Changzhi." Jiang Ling said.
"What?"
"The iron halberds were phased out in the third year of Changzhi and replaced with today's fine steel spears and fine steel knives."
The reason for the replacement was that the iron halberd was too heavy and not suitable for fighting on the battlefield. In addition, iron tools were easy to rust and difficult to preserve, and a rusted halberd was difficult to polish.
Yang Ping smacked his lips, thinking that this kid was really good at showing off. Everyone knew that he was replaced in the third year of Changzhi. When he was dancing with his grandfather, he was still peeing and playing with mud. Who was he pretending to be so high and mighty?
"I heard that the Nanzhao soldiers are good at using bows and arrows. I wonder how they compare to our soldiers."
"General Du said that the baggage carts behind us are carrying tools for building a bridge. How long do you think it will take us to build a bridge across such a wide river?"
"I don't know if this bridge can withstand a carriage carrying a heavy artillery... Jiang Ling, I'm talking to you!"
Yang Ping put down the telescope and turned around, only to see Jiang Ling's face was pale, his body trembling uncontrollably, and he pointed at his legs.
Yang Ping looked and saw a gray-black five-step snake winding its way up and had already crawled onto Jiang Ling's trouser leg.
Both of them had seen this snake a few days ago. One soldier was bitten and died of the poison within half a day!
His hair stood on end for a moment, and he almost jumped off the tree. The tree was about 15 feet high, and if he really jumped off, he would be crippled if not killed.
Yang Ping grabbed the tree trunk to calm himself down and said, "You, you, don't move. I'll help you get rid of the snake!"
Jiang Ling's Adam's apple slid as he nodded slightly. Yang Ping slowly drew out the sword from his waist and approached the snake little by little.
The five-step snake seemed to sense the danger as it raised its head slightly and spit out its entrails frequently from its mouth.
Just when the snake was about to attack, Yang Ping chopped at the snake's head with lightning speed. Jiang Ling reacted even faster, kicked the snake's body away, and pulled Yang Ping along, and the two of them slid down the tree together.
"Are you okay?"
"Are you okay?"
After landing, the two asked each other at the same time. Jiang Ling shook his head, and Yang Ping sat on the ground: "I was scared to death."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. I am doing good deeds every day. When we fight in the next few days, I will just give you a few more heads."
Jiang Ling smiled and reached out to pull him up: "Okay."
*
On the third day of the army's camp, the baggage carts slowly arrived, because the road was so difficult to travel on that it was almost entirely trampled by the soldiers.
In addition to being loaded with food and fodder, the baggage cart also contained several dozens of feet long fine iron chains and tools needed for shipbuilding and bridge building, as well as several officials from the Ministry of Works who came with the cart.
Before, everyone was curious about why the emperor sent people from the Ministry of Works to fight a war. Unexpectedly, they were waiting here. Otherwise, the emperor was wise and had predicted everything.
Song Yuzhu was no prophet. He examined the map several times beforehand and decided on this plan only after realizing that they had to cross the river to attack Nanzhao.
The soldiers first built ten small boats, pulled the rope over, measured the width of the water, and then the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Works was responsible for drawing the design.
Nearly 200,000 soldiers worked on the bridge simultaneously. In less than five days, a bridge that could accommodate horse-drawn carriages was firmly erected across the Lancang River!
At this time, the Nanzhao Kingdom still did not know that the Daqi soldiers had already penetrated deep into the border.
On March 18th, with a loud roar, the Qi army heading south launched its first battle!
It was the first time that the Nanzhao soldiers in Beimu City encountered artillery bombardment. The artillery fire hit the city walls like thunder from the sky, which frightened the soldiers defending the city so much that they dropped their weapons and armor and knelt down to beg for mercy.
The rest of the Nanzhao soldiers actually ran away. The army marched straight in and occupied Beimu City in less than two hours.
*
"Sir, the Qi army is attacking us now, and they will be at the gates of the city in three days at most!"
"What? How dare they attack us?" In the county government of Mocheng, the general Harunmu who was stationed here slammed the table and stood up.
Since ancient times, they have been sending troops to harass the people of the Central Plains. When is it the turn of the Central Plains people to send troops to fight them?
"It's true, the scouts saw it clearly!" said the subordinate, lying on the ground.
"How many troops does the other side have?"
"The spies said... there are at least 100,000 of them."
Harunmu rushed back and forth in the room anxiously: "Have you sent someone to pass the news to Jindu?"
"I will send someone to deliver the message as soon as possible, but it will take at least five days to arrive."
It would take five days for the Khan to send troops for support, and it would take at least ten days to reach Mocheng.
It is still unknown whether they can arrive in these ten days, because they have to prepare baggage for marching and fighting, and it will take at least half a month to arrive.
Harunmu pondered with a serious face. He was over fifty years old and had been fighting with the Central Plains for his entire life. Although he knew the Central Plains Army like the back of his hand, he had some idea of what was going on.
Meicheng has 30,000 soldiers. Although not as many as the enemy, they are all veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time and are familiar with the terrain here, so they may be able to fight them.
He recognized the general of Qi Dynasty, a general named Bai, who was sharp but inexperienced. The other party's rash dispatch of troops might be an opportunity...
He stood up and said, "Pass the order down, tell all the soldiers to prepare for battle, I want to meet these Central Plains people!"
(End of this chapter)
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