Chapter 679: The Edo Decisive Battle (Happy New Year's Eve!)

In this regard, Sun Chuanting was willing to trust Qi Yuanbi. He nodded and said with confidence, "Arrange it however you see fit. No need to ask me about this."

"Thank you, Marshal." Qi Yuanbi said hurriedly.

Coming from a military family, Qi Yuanbi understood very well that receiving such unreserved trust from one's commander was a reflection of a general's ability, and also represented that the commander genuinely wished to nurture you.

Sun Chuanting nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then let's prepare to begin."

On the Ming army's side, after eating breakfast, everything was just about ready. Everyone was going about their own tasks in an orderly fashion — this had been drilled countless times before.

The artillery positions were already prepared, and since there was no fear of a surprise attack, they could be arranged very leisurely; the heavy machine gun positions were also set up, and the rockets were ready as well.

Everything could proceed steadily according to plan, and the enemy had no long-range firepower that could reach this far. Under the current circumstances, the Great Ming's ground equipment was, frankly speaking, just bullying.

At the very front of the position, Sun Chuanting had someone set up a chair and sat down on it, with someone holding an umbrella behind him — putting on the air of a man full of confidence.

No one laughed, and no one found it inappropriate. As a commander, what one needed was exactly this kind of unhurried composure.

He yawned, looked around, then straightened his expression and said, "Since the time is about right, let's begin."

"Yes, Marshal." Qi Yuanbi acknowledged and went straight off to give the orders.

Soon, the Ming army advanced steadily forward, still with rockets and artillery firing in volleys.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

"Boom boom boom!"

Ten thousand cannons fired at once like rolling thunder; instantly, shells fell like rain, without distinction of front, back, left, or right, landing in the city of Edo, blasting with blazing fire, flames leaping into the sky, and billowing smoke and dust blotting out the sun.

Amid the explosions, chunks of city wall rubble were blasted several li away. Edo Castle was reduced to a sea of fire, with houses and groves mostly scorched black.

This time the ammunition was plentiful, and Sun Chuanting never called for a halt.

The purpose of fighting this way was to wipe out Edo in one go. Sun Chuanting wanted to use this battle to thoroughly establish the Great Ming's foundation in Japan, slaughtering all the Japanese pirates to honor the Yan and Huang ancestors!

The battlefield was thick with gunpowder smoke, and nothing could be seen clearly.

Only after nearly an hour of bombardment did Sun Chuanting raise his hand to signal that they could stop.

Turning his head to look at Qi Yuanbi beside him, Sun Chuanting said, "Send them up."

"Yes, Marshal." Qi Yuanbi quickly acknowledged and waved his hand to the side.

The sound of war drums instantly rang out — that was the order to attack.

From both flanks of the army, two contingents suddenly charged out. "Kill!"

Carrying scaling ladders, they shouted and charged forward together into the foggy mist. They ran very fast, as if afraid of being left behind, rushing straight toward Edo Castle.

"Have our hidden sentries follow along." Sun Chuanting said again.

"They've already been sent out." Qi Yuanbi nodded and said.

These two contingents that charged out were naturally not the Great Ming's own troops — the one on the left was the Joseon army, and the one on the right was the army that the Great Ming had accepted the surrender of in Japan.

He had heard Qi Yuanbi mention before that Yu Zigao had seemingly expended great effort in subduing these Japanese. Facts proved that this decision was very correct, and the results were also very good.

Since the great war began, all Japanese who surrendered had been placed under these men. They did very well, and over this period of time had already been able to start helping in combat.

Now Sun Chuanting had grown increasingly fond of this style of fighting — the Great Ming's army fired a round of artillery, then sent them up. If there were remnants of the enemy, they would wipe them out; if they couldn't wipe them out, then the Great Ming's army would go up from behind.

By this time, the fog on the battlefield had already dissipated, and these Joseon troops and the surrendered Japanese soldiers had also charged into the city. The cries of killing instantly rang out.

It turned out that the Japanese bandits, seeing the ferocity of the Ming army's artillery fire, had all hidden in shelters to preserve their strength, waiting until the infantry attacked to organize resistance.

Melee, melee — in the streets, gunfire and killing cries erupted all at once, and the entire city seemed to come alive.

Soon, a rider came clattering back from the front line with news.

Qi Yuanbi walked over with a grave expression.

"Marshal, they were prepared in advance." Qi Yuanbi looked at Sun Chuanting and said, "It seems they built fortifications inside the city and dug tunnels. After our men entered the city, they came out from within, and now they're locked in fierce combat with the Joseon troops. Moreover, these men are fearless of death — looks like we're in trouble."

"I guessed as much." Sun Chuanting nodded and said, "They've been dealing with us for so long now, they were bound to figure out some of our methods. But their thinking is quite nice — it seems the one commanding them is also a capable man."

The enemy's plan looked very simple, and saying it out loud seemed like nothing much. But in this day and age, whether a plan was simple or not didn't matter — what mattered was whether it worked.

Judging from the current situation, it did work. As long as they held out in the city through the first wave, effectively killing the Joseon troops and those surrendered Japanese, annihilating them within the city, then the battles ahead would be hard to fight.

The Great Ming's way of fighting now basically followed a set pattern — bombard the city with artillery, then send the Joseon army charging in.

If these Joseon troops were gone, then the Great Ming's army would have no choice but to go in themselves. When that time came, it would be the decisive battle. So if one wanted to annihilate the Great Ming's army, annihilating the Joseon army first was also a viable approach.

This was the approach the enemy had taken — trying to drag the Great Ming's army into the fray. After all, the Great Ming's army was small in number; if they got dragged in, there would certainly be casualties. Even superior weapons and equipment wouldn't help, because they could launch surprise attacks within the city.

"They're thinking pretty wishfully," Qi Yuanbi gave a cold snort, his tone carrying disdain as he said, "Marshal, let the special operations squad go in. From the start of the battle until now, they haven't been deployed at all."

Sun Chuanting nodded and said, "Let's wait a bit longer."

"The fighting has just begun; neither side has worked up a real fury yet. We don't know how many more of the enemy are still lying in ambush. No rush — let the Joseon troops fight for a while first. Even if their casualties are heavier, that's no problem. Once the two sides have worn each other down enough, it won't be too late for us to go out."

"They think we'll go rescue the Joseon troops, but they've thought wrong. If these Joseon troops die, we can just recruit another batch later. There's no way I'll let our Great Ming soldiers trade their lives for them."

"However, the special operations squad can go in first and find good positions."

"Yes, Marshal." Qi Yuanbi acknowledged and turned to make the arrangements.

The special operations squad was a unit established within the Imperial Guard Corps only in the last three years, specifically for special operations. Each man was equipped with two pistols, their rifles were also better, with superior specific attributes, and they even had scopes.

In addition, the demolition specialists also had better equipment — they had grenades and hand mines, and even a type of shotgun with extremely powerful stopping force.

These men trained all day in how to fight in urban environments, and now they finally had their chance.

Though the special operations force of three thousand men was not large in number, its striking power was extraordinary.

When the two sides had fought to a fever pitch with heavy casualties on both sides, these special operations squads would suddenly appear — the effect would naturally be excellent.

Inside Edo Castle.

At this moment, the battle lines were jaggedly interlocked, corpses piled up like mountains. The two armies fought fiercely — gun and cannon at range, cold steel up close, repeated hand-to-hand combat. In only half a day, positions changed hands seven or eight times, and the Joseon motley troops suffered countless casualties.

Though these motley troops were brave, in the end they were outnumbered, and more than half of each battalion's officers and men were lost.

While the killing cries shook the heavens within the city, the special operations squads slipped in silently.

Neither Sun Chuanting nor Qi Yuanbi moved forward; they simply stood there watching through telescopes, as if no matter how intense the battle in the city became, they saw nothing at all.

Not long after, word came from the front ranks that the Joseon troops were requesting reinforcements — they could barely hold on and had suffered heavy casualties. Clearly, if the Great Ming's army didn't go soon, they might be routed and forced to retreat.

He couldn't let them escape—that was Sun Chuanting's bottom line.

Sun Chuanting looked at Qi Yuanbi and said, "Pass the order. Let them make their move, and have our people press forward too."

"Yes, Marshal." Qi Yuanbi acknowledged.

In Edo Castle, the Japanese commoners wailed and the officers sighed—a scene too miserable to behold.

Zheng Zhilong cut down a man with one stroke of his blade, wiped the blood from his face, and revealed an ugly expression.

He looked back at his younger brother Zheng Zhibao and asked, "Still no reinforcements?"

Zheng Zhibao said with some helplessness, "No. Maybe they think not enough people have died yet."

Zheng Zhilong nodded lightly and said nothing more, only pulling his brother along and saying, "Make sure we find good positions. We need to stand somewhere we can take cover at any moment."

"Big brother, you're worried they'll open fire with cannons?" Zheng Zhibao said hesitantly. "They wouldn't do that, would they?"

"You're truly naive." Zheng Zhilong said irritably, "That Grand Marshal of the Great Ming is no good character. Now that both sides have fought each other into a mess inside this city, if he opens fire, he's bound to reap a great harvest. Once a sword is drawn from its sheath, it must return stained with blood. You don't actually think he cares about the casualties of people like us, do you?"

Zheng Zhibao fell silent instantly.

Since the fighting began, the two brothers had been working alongside the Japanese army, and they had taken in quite a number of men, growing their strength considerably.

But they had gradually figured out some things—for instance, this Grand Marshal of the Great Ming didn't care at all about anyone who died except the Great Ming's own imperial troops, and sometimes he even hoped more people would die.

Take this time, for example. Although it was said that whoever fought their way into the city got to keep whatever loot they seized, in reality, how easy was that?

Zheng Zhilong wasn't one of those brainless types. He understood very well that the Great Ming was using their lives to fill a hole.

If there were any other way, he wouldn't participate in such a mess again. But there was no choice—he could only grit his teeth and push forward. Now he kept his distance, terrified that the Great Ming would open fire and blow him to pieces.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Just as Zheng Zhilong was about to say something, gunfire suddenly erupted around them. The people who had been shouting and charging were all struck down to the ground.

In an instant, gunfire burst forth everywhere, and corpses littered the ground.

Zheng Zhilong grabbed his brother, and the two of them ducked into a house.

Through the window, they still couldn't make out what was happening outside. They had no idea where anyone was, no idea who was firing from where—they could only watch as people were mowed down like wheat being harvested.

"So this is that mysterious special squad?" Zheng Zhibao drew in a cold breath and said.

Zheng Zhilong nodded and said, "It must be. All this time, they've never made a move. Now that they've finally struck, their power is truly extraordinary."

"Seems that Grand Marshal Sun still has a bit of a conscience." Zheng Zhibao said with a smile.

"A conscience my ass!" Zheng Zhilong said irritably, "Just watch—in a moment, he'll come to claim the credit."

"Claim the credit? That can't be right." Zheng Zhibao said hesitantly.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Zheng Zhilong said irritably, "Why didn't he send those special squads in earlier? Now that both sides have fought each other to a bloody standstill, his men show up. You think he's here to save us?"

"Don't overthink it. This is Edo Castle—he's here to grab loot and take prisoners too. All those high-ranking Japanese officials and the Emperor are right here. You think he'd let that go?"

"I'm telling you, in a moment the Ming army will advance. Then everything good in the city will be theirs, and the credit will be theirs too."

Zheng Zhibao fell silent and didn't argue with his brother.

He was far behind in this regard. These matters had always been his brother's specialty—not just a specialty, but something he was exceptionally, extraordinarily skilled at. What his brother said must be true. Zheng Zhibao chose to believe it.

The reason Zheng Zhilong was so certain was that if it were him in that position, he would definitely do the same thing—otherwise, he wouldn't be able to justify himself to his subordinates.

With such a great battle and such fine credit, not letting his own men earn merit would be indefensible. You couldn't send your own men to die, but you absolutely had to let your own men claim the glory.

At that moment, the gunfire diminished considerably, and from another direction, gunfire crackled like popping beans.

Zheng Zhilong pulled his brother to hide by the corner of the wall and said, "See? They're here."

"Aren't we going out?" Zheng Zhibao looked at his brother and asked.

"Blades and bullets have no eyes." Zheng Zhilong glared and said, "If you go out now and they shoot you dead with one shot, you'd have no one to plead your case to. Wait here until their troops arrive, then we'll go out. Anyway, you can forget about any credit—there won't be any benefits for us."

Zheng Zhibao sighed and said with some helplessness, "But this is too humiliating. We go die, and they get all the benefits. Keeping on like this isn't a solution!"

"You're overthinking it." Zheng Zhilong said, "Actually, I've already thought about this long ago. You need to understand—the Great Ming's army has been out this time for so long, they're definitely going to need to bring back credit and accomplishments. As the Grand Marshal, he can't possibly ignore how his men feel. They need to scoop up enough benefits. Once this battle is over, they'll be heading back. That's when people like us get our chance to reap the rewards."

"You need to understand—Japan is huge. The Great Ming can't possibly send that many people over, and they can't have that many troops either. So this place will soon be our paradise."

Zheng Zhibao nodded, trusting his elder brother's judgment. Thinking that soon the brothers would have their own territory and their own channels for making money, he felt quite pleased inside.

"Big brother, what do we do next?" Zheng Zhibao looked at Zheng Zhilong and asked.

After a moment of silence, Zheng Zhilong raised his head and said, "Go find that eunuch later, give him plenty of gifts, have him put in a good word for us before the Emperor, and try to get ourselves a proper status. Once we have an official position under the Great Ming, things will be much easier for us from then on."

"We're originally people of the Great Ming, not like those Japanese, and not even like those Joseon people. In this regard, we have an advantage. When the time comes, bring more gifts—don't be stingy."

"Don't worry, big brother, I understand." Zheng Zhibao nodded with a smile and said, "This time, the money we need to spend absolutely cannot be saved. Your little brother won't be stingy in that regard."

"That's for the best." Zheng Zhilong said with a smile, "Once we brothers have established ourselves, the days of our rise to glory will be here!"