The fleet cut through the waves and headed for Japan. In the flagship conference room, the police officers listened intently, taking notes while someone asked:

"If the emperor doesn't have the final say, then who has the final say?"

"It originally belonged to the general, but now the general has no final say." Ma Yinglong replied.

The police officers were confused for a while. After all, in the Ming Dynasty, which had valued civil officials over military officials for a hundred years, it was difficult for people to understand how a military general could be so powerful.

Ma Yinglong then said in a gentle and persuasive way: "You can understand the general as Dong Zhuo. But now he has no power. How can the military leaders like Cao Cao and Yuan Shao listen to him? Therefore, the whole of Japan is in chaos and no one has the final say."

"I see..." Everyone understood once it was compared to the Three Kingdoms.

"Japanese military leaders are called daimyo. The most powerful daimyo at the moment is Oda Nobunaga, who is known as the 'Japanese Cao Cao'. There are also the 'Tiger of Kai' and the 'Dragon of Echigo'. However, they are all far away from Kyushu Island where we are fighting this time, so I won't go into details this time. I will send you the complete information later."

After Ma Yinglong finished speaking, he and Wang Rulong hung a map of Kyushu Island on the wall, and then continued: "The three islands of Japan, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Kyushu Island, to be more precise, Kitakyushu, is the target of our crusade this time."

"The bad news is that the people of Kyushu are tough and powerful. The Matsuura clan that attacked us last time is not even a big deal in Kyushu. The three strongest families in Kyushu Island are the Otomo clan, the strongest family in Kyushu. The Ryuzoji clan, which has already established a foothold in western Kyushu, and the Shimazu clan, which is entrenched in southern Kyushu. In addition, there is the Mori clan, which has its roots in western Honshu but has already reached northern Kyushu. These four families are all very powerful, and the heads of the clans are all scheming and powerful people, and they are definitely not comparable to those pirates and Japanese pirates."

"The good news is that Kyushu is also in chaos. Just this April, the Otomo family and the Ryuzoji family fought each other. Seeing that the Ryuzoji family was about to be destroyed, the Mori family mobilized 40,000 troops and crossed the Kanmon Strait to land in Kyushu. The Otomo family had no choice but to quickly negotiate peace with the Ryuzoji family and fight the Mori family with all their strength."

Ma Yinglong smiled and said, "The head of the Mori family, Mori Motonari, and the head of the Otomo family, Otomo Yoshitsugu, are old enemies. Both of them are known for their resourcefulness. However, Mori Motonari is still better in all aspects. A few years ago, he defeated Otomo Yoshitsugu miserably and had to become a monk with the Buddhist name "Sōrin". However, the Japanese becoming monks is just like that. The Otomo family is still ruled by Otomo Sorin... The same is true for the Matsuura family."

"In short, the biggest thing on Kyushu Island right now is the duel between Mori Motonari and Otomo Sorin. As for Ryuzoji and the Shimazu family, for their own considerations, they will not make rash bets at this time, and there is a high probability that they will not take action." Ma Yinglong added: "Of course, in the end, this is my personal judgment. The situation is changing rapidly, and no one can predict how the situation will develop."

Mr. Zhao on the side thought, I can do it. As a player of the Japanese Warring States game, I know the fate of everyone. Of course, if I get involved, it's hard to say what will happen.

"Finally, let's talk about Hizen Province." Ma Yinglong changed to a map of Hizen Province and said, "In terms of Ming Dynasty, Kyushu Island is about the same size as our Qiongzhou Prefecture. So Kyushu Tandai Otomo Sorin was a prefect."

"There are 10 counties in Qiongzhou Prefecture and nine states in Kyushu Island, so Matsuura Takanobu, the Hizen guardian he appointed, is the Hizen county chief. Unfortunately, just like Otomo Sorin, the prefect who is not worthy of his title, he can only manage a small area in western Hizen. He has long been secretly subdued by Ryuzoji Takanobu, the 'Bear of Hizen' who is entrenched in eastern Hizen."

Zhao Hao nodded secretly after hearing this. It turned out that all the people brought up by Marshal Qi were talented. Ma Yinglong had never been able to show any ability, but because he was steady and got along well with Wang Rulong, he let the two of them work together. And because of Jin Ke's recommendation, he was made the head of the military intelligence of the garrison area.

I didn't expect that his ability to collect intelligence was so strong and there were basically no mistakes... This is very difficult to do when collecting intelligence overseas.

Moreover, he is very good at explaining things in simple terms and making analogies. In this respect, he is much better than Wang Rulong who only knows how to blow his beard and glare. Of course, Wang's ability to lead troops in battle is something that Jin Ke can't even catch up with...

The two of them are really a match made in heaven.

"But this year, when Otomo Sorin was fighting against Ryuzoji Takanobu, he couldn't wait to join the Otomo camp. Unfortunately, the Mori family intervened, and the Otomo family had to negotiate peace with the Ryuzoji family. Now the Otomo family and the Mori family are fighting hard and have no time to look west. It would be strange if Ryuzoji didn't take the opportunity to deal with these fence-sitters."

"So the latest intelligence is that the Matsuura family has completely withdrawn from the main island of Kyushu and returned to Hirado Island." Ma Yinglong pointed to the narrow strait between Hirado Island and Kyushu Island on the map and said, "But at first, Matsuura Takanobu was not very panicked, because the Matsuura family had the Mishima Navy and the Chiga Navy also obeyed their orders."

Ma Yinglong pointed to a string of islands southwest of Hirado Island and said, "There are five peaks here. Wang Zhi called himself 'Five Peaks Captain' because of this. After he established the pseudo-Song regime, he changed the name of Chiga Island to Goto. Later, the pseudo-Song disappeared, but the Japanese were already used to calling it that and did not change it back, so the Chiga Navy is also called the Goto Navy."

He was very observant and knew that Prince Zhao was a descendant of the former Song royal family and would be very sensitive to the name "Song" of the country, so he called it "Pseudo-Song".

"But the Matsuura family gave up West Hizen, and they suffered heavy losses after all. They were in urgent need of recovery, so Matsuura Zhenxin recklessly attacked us." Ma Yinglong continued: "In order to take the spoils for himself, he dispatched the main army of the Matsuura family. As a result, the whole army was annihilated and the family head was ruined. Later, our special fleet frequently raided their territory. Matsuura Takanobu and other families were unable to do anything to us because their morale was already low."

"Just last month, the So clan of Tsushima Island invited merchants to come to Tamra as lobbyists and gave them 10,000 taels of silver and several rolls of Japanese satin. Their purpose was to draw a clear line with the Matsuura clan so as not to be affected by the disaster." Ma Yinglong laughed, "But the young master said that it was not such a cheap thing, so he accepted the money and things and drove the man away."

The police officers laughed softly, saying that the young master was a wonderful person. In fact, the young master had no choice. If he didn't extort more money, how could he afford to support these people and the ship?

"In addition, there are small daimyo at the level of village chiefs, or 'village chieftains', such as the Omura clan, the Arima clan, and the Goto clan in Hizen Province. Among them, the Omura clan is quite special. Their head, Omura Sumitada, is a Christian daimyo. That is, a daimyo who converted to Catholicism. Therefore, he was protected by the Portuguese. Now, the three Portuguese ships are entrusted by him to stay in Fukudaura to prevent innocent people from being affected."

Then, he explained the naval and land forces of the above-mentioned families one by one. Basically, they were in line with their respective statuses. The prefect could mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers, the county magistrate could mobilize thousands of soldiers, and the township head could mobilize thousands of soldiers at most, and normally only a few hundred.

~~

After Ma Yinglong finished his military intelligence report, it was Wang Rulong's turn to announce the combat mission.

"According to the instructions of the young master, this 'punishment operation' has three major goals: first, to destroy the Matsuura family and establish prestige. Second, to capture the Portuguese galleons and learn from them to defeat them. Third, to help the Tamra Chamber of Commerce monopolize trade with Japan!" He said in a concise and deep voice:

"The most urgent one at the moment is the second one, because the Portuguese have very limited troops in Macau. Fujian and Guangdong are currently fighting pirates. They can't stay in Japan for a long time and will go back to protect their lair at any time. If we lose this opportunity, I'm afraid we will never have another chance to block them in the harbor. With our current strength, it is almost impossible to capture a galleon at sea."

Although the police officers were somewhat dissatisfied, who dared to talk nonsense to Wang Rulong? They could only listen obediently.

"So one and three can go back first. The most important task right now is to concentrate our forces and capture this galleon named 'Oriental Beauty'." As he spoke, he opened the folder in his hand and read out in a deep voice:

"This operation is named 'Hunting Operation' and is divided into three steps. First, we will quickly strike at the forces of the Matsuura family and demonstrate our strength. The purpose is to kill the chicken to scare the monkey and make the Portuguese afraid of us. Second, before they have the intention to retreat, we will quickly block them in Futian Bay and catch them in the jar."

After a pause, he continued, "As for the third one, it depends on how the old turtle in the jar reacts. Although we try our best to catch them alive, if they dare to bite us, we will beat them hard!"

In simple terms, if they dare to break out, we will fire cannons, ram them with ships, or engage in hand-to-hand combat. In any case, we cannot let that galleon get away!

"Yes!" All the police officers knew that the young master admired the Portuguese galleon very much, although they did not think that the difference between the two ships was that big. But since the young master liked it, they would capture it and present it to him!

"As for that chicken." Wang Rulong pointed the stick in his hand accurately at Jiangchuan Castle on the Goto Islands and said, "That's it!"

~~

At dawn on September 15th, the rumbling sound of cannons woke up the lord of Jiangchuan Castle, Uku Junyao, from his dream.

"Oh, I thought the Ming Dynasty fleet was attacking us..." Hazily, he thought he was having a nightmare again.

The city lord's wife hesitated when she heard this and said, "It seems like there really was a rumbling sound?"

"What?!" Yu Jiujunyao listened carefully, and sure enough, there was a clear roar and chaotic shouting. He immediately lost all sleepiness, sat up, opened the door with bare legs, and looked outside. He saw thick smoke and flames rising into the sky at the dock!

At this moment, his third brother, Ukugenya, the leader of the Goto navy, stumbled in, his face covered in soot and unable to hide his panic, and said, "Onii-chan, the Ming, the Ming people are coming and have destroyed all our ships!"

"So I'm not dreaming..." Yu Jiujunyao sat down on the ground, muttered with his eyes closed, "No, no, I'm just dreaming, wake up quickly, wake up quickly!"