Chapter 159: Kikkawa Motoharu Attacks

Three days later, Li Rusong had collected the silver and was just about to break camp when he suddenly saw a man rolling into the military camp like a gourd; a bad premonition rose in Li Rusong's heart.

"What is going on?" Li Rusong asked anxiously.

"Japanese pirates, so many Japanese pirates have suddenly appeared fifty miles outside Xiaocang City." The messenger gasped for two breaths of cold air, clutching his chest as he panted, "Regional Assistant Regional Commander Zhao asked me to come and notify the General."

"How many men are there?"

"At least ten thousand or more."

Ten thousand?

This number was not small; not counting the troops in Xiaocang City, he could only mobilize five thousand now.

The cannonballs had also been mostly consumed; he had originally planned to return to the fleet to resupply, but he had not expected to encounter this matter first.

And there was the Qiuyue Family behind him; if they learned that reinforcements were attacking, their minds would likely become active again.

Li Rusong suddenly felt immense pressure.

"General, what should we do now?" The man saw his superior remain silent for a long time and asked timidly.

"Like this, you return by fast horse immediately, order Zhao Yuan to hold firm and wait, tell him to hold for at least ten days." Li Rusong nodded at the messenger and ordered with rapid speech, "After ten days, even if the city falls, I will still count it as his first-class merit."

"Understood!" The scout accepted the order and left.

Li Rusong turned around and called for Zhang Yunxiu and Otomo Yoshimune, informing them both of what had been said.

After hearing this, Zhang Yunxiu asked Otomo Yoshimune directly: "Mr. Otomo, whose army do you think this is?"

"Most likely the Mori Clan's army," Otomo Yoshimune said without hesitation.

"That is what I think too." Zhang Yunxiu smiled, a thief-like gleam suddenly flashing in his eyes, "An army of ten thousand, even for the Mori Clan, is their entire force; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attack the Mori Clan."

"Does the Young Master intend to use the fleet?" Li Rusong asked.

"That is correct."

Zhang Yunxiu nodded lightly.

The Mori Clan's territory was located to the northeast of Hakata Bay, and one could reach it by following the Sea of Japan.

This time, the Mori Clan had poured out their entire force, which was the perfect opportunity for him to take Iwami Ginzan in one fell swoop.

No sooner said than done, Zhang Yunxiu gave a few instructions to Li Rusong and Otomo Yoshimune, and immediately led a portion of the troops back to the fleet.

Xiaocang City.

The Guerrilla General Zhao Yuan, who was responsible for guarding the city, wore silver armor and a silver helmet, one hand pressed against the city wall. Looking out, the banners outside the city were fluttering and snapping in the wind, and the armor and weapons swayed like a forest.

At just one glance, a sense of tension could not help but rise in his heart.

On the side of the Japanese pirates, the one in charge of the troops was a tall, middle-aged general.

He appeared to be around forty, with a tall build, a face like it had been carved by a knife, a high-bridged nose, and beneath a thick pair of eyebrows were embedded a pair of pitch-black, round, large eyes.

He wore a suit of black and red armor, with a Samurai Sword hanging at his waist, making people look upon him with awe.

That was Kikkawa Motoharu, the biological uncle of the contemporary Mori Clan Head, Mori Terumoto.

As for why his surname was Kikkawa, there was a bit of a story behind it.

The previous Mori Clan Head, Mori Motonari's eldest son, had died young, leaving behind only a young son.

Fearing that his two sons would fight for the position of Clan Head, Mori Motonari had them both adopted into the Kikkawa Clan and the Kobayakawa Family respectively.

The two sons had one change his name to Kikkawa Motoharu, and the other to Kobayakawa Takakage.

Unlike Mori Terumoto and Kobayakawa Takakage, Kikkawa Motoharu was naturally fierce and was a member of the pro-war faction within the family.

He did not even hold Toyotomi Hideyoshi in high regard; upon hearing that someone was provoking them, he immediately requested to lead the expedition.

Standing on the hillside, Kikkawa Motoharu glanced at the soldiers on the city wall from afar, then turned around and shook his head at his attendants: "They all say the Ming Army is fierce and brave, and their firearms are incomparably sharp; I refuse to believe this nonsense today!"

"Fujino-kun."

"Hai!" A short Japanese pirate nodded sharply.

"You, I see this Xiaocang City is not that sturdy, you take five hundred men and attack the East City."

"Hai!"

"Iguchi-kun, you take five hundred men and attack the North City, Hihara-kun, you take five hundred men and attack the North City! Keep all the rest as a reserve force; whichever side attacks smoothly, go and support that side."

Kikkawa Motoharu issued his orders one by one; after finishing, someone immediately looked at him and asked, "Kikkawa-kun, why not attack the West City?"

"Sun Wu of China once said, 'Surround the enemy but leave a gap'; there is no need to send more men to the other gate, you just focus on fiercely attacking the other three gates." Kikkawa Motoharu waved his hand and explained unhurriedly.

"Yoshi, Kikkawa-kun is truly worthy of being the Tiger of San'in."

"This time, we shall let the Ming Army taste the flavor of being defeated by their own ancestors' military strategy." "Hahaha."

After a burst of laughter, the Japanese pirates' warhorses galloped, and the red flags waved.

As the vanguard force for the siege, the Japanese pirates raised their weapons high, shouting "Banzai, Banzai" as they charged straight toward the foot of Xiaocang City.

If one were to look down from above, they were dense and numerous, like swarms of black locusts.

On the city wall, Zhao Yuan had also made deployments early on: one thousand men, with two hundred left to guard each gate.

Among them, two hundred men were kept as a reserve force, ready to provide support at any time.

"Wait for the enemy to enter the eighty-pace distance, Bird Musket shooters prepare to light the fuses!" Watching the charging Japanese pirates, Zhao Yuan raised both hands and shouted with a gloomy face.

"Bird Musket shooters, prepare."

"Bird Musket shooters..."

Once the superior's order was given, officers repeated his command twice more.

"Swish, swish, swish."

A sound of rapidly loading gunpowder rang out through the ranks.

In an instant, black-muzzled Bird Muskets were raised high, aiming at the charging Japanese pirates below. The maximum effective lethality of a Bird Musket was one hundred paces, but that was against unarmored targets.

If one truly wanted to pierce armor, it was best to be within fifty paces.

Zhao Yuan set the firing distance at eighty paces; by the time they ran two more steps forward, the distance would not be too far from fifty paces.

In the blink of an eye, the Japanese pirates charged to a distance of eighty paces outside the city.

"Fire!"

Pungent white gunpowder smoke rose upon the city walls, followed by earth-shattering roars that suddenly exploded.

Red-hot lead bullets gushed out from the pitch-black gun barrels, turning into a dense web of firepower that lunged straight at the Japanese pirates below the city.

The Japanese pirates charging at the very front focused their eyes and saw a mass of black objects flying toward them at high speed; instinctively wanting to dodge, the objects moved so fast they were upon them in a blink.

The lead bullets slammed into the charging ranks, and a brilliant spray of blood instantly erupted below the city wall.

"Ah?!"

"My eyes, my eyes."

"Baka, baka! Shield-bearers, block! Shield-bearers, block!"

Stepping over the bodies of those who had fallen in front, the Japanese pirates ignored everything, gritted their teeth, and continued their charge forward.

Zhao Yuan stood at the very front, brandishing the long sword at his waist to issue orders: "Bird Musket gunners, move to the rear and look for opportunities to kill the enemy in teams of ten. Sword-and-shield soldiers and Long Spear soldiers, step forward one pace and prepare to engage the enemy!"

As soon as his voice fell, the Long Spear soldiers took a step forward with a "thud-thud," gripping their weapons tightly and staring fixedly at the Japanese pirates below.

This Xiaocang City was not very tall; after the Japanese pirates charged to the foot of the city wall, a portion of them carried a battering ram and slammed it against the wall.

Another portion of them placed long wooden ladders against the city wall with a clatter, then crawled upward like ants.

Arrows and stones rained down from the top of the city, while the Japanese pirates below, with ferocious faces, roared as they climbed upward at high speed.

A young Japanese pirate climbed to the top of the city in a blink; just as he was ecstatic with joy, a long spear thrust toward his neck.

He could not dodge in time, and the long spear plunged fiercely into him.

The young Japanese pirate's pupils constricted sharply, and his pitch-black eyes reflected a face that was just as young.

He desperately covered his throat, wanting to stop the gushing blood.

It was a pity that everything was to no avail; he only felt his life force draining away rapidly, his entire body turning ice-cold.

The Ming Army soldier on the wall gave a ferocious grin and kicked the Japanese pirate in the chest; the Japanese pirate's body flew backward, landed on the ground, and died.

No one noticed him; the Japanese pirates behind him stepped over the corpse and continued their charge forward.

If a siege cannot quickly break through the gates, it is a living meat grinder for the attacking side.

A casualty ratio of five to one is normal.

Zhao Yuan sat in command at the East City Gate, directing in an orderly fashion, when he suddenly saw someone pop up in front of him; he let out a sudden shout and struck with his sword.

The man raised his hands to block, and his hands were instantly severed as if they were carrots.

"Ah!" After a pig-like shriek, the Japanese pirate fell off the long ladder, hit the ground with a "thud" like a sack, and remained motionless.

(End of this chapter)