Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 403 I Have Many Flags to Rely On
In the historical plane, the Jurchens of this era were not good at cavalry. Their most reliable fighting force was heavy infantry.
Thanks to the long years of fishing and hunting in the white mountains and black waters, the men here have developed strong bodies and skills in the harsh natural conditions. This is reflected in the battle formation, that is, they can still move freely even wearing two layers of heavy cotton armor, and in the fight, although their various moves are extremely simple, every move is effective!
Therefore, on the battlefield of the Han River, the simple and unpretentious heavy infantrymen were basically completely defeated when they met the warriors with gorgeous swordsmanship.
In addition, the combat environment at that time was an endless snowy plain. In addition to feeling that this was their home turf, the Jurchens also had a great advantage in terms of military strength. For example, Chu Ying and Dai Shan had fought for decades, so how could they not know how to make full use of the width of the battlefield to exert this advantage?
Therefore, the final result was that Shimazu Tadatsune had just set up his main camp in the rear, and the curtain had not yet completely covered everything, but the battle line in the front had already collapsed!
Then, Shimazu Tadatsune, with a blushing face, turned around and ran away reluctantly under the pull of his own retainers!
“Hahahaha~ It feels so good!”
Looking at the Japanese soldiers who had thrown away their armor and weapons and were running away, Chu Ying laughed heartily, then raised his sword and said, "My Baturus, follow me and chase them!"
“Wow~!”
With him taking the lead, the other Jurchen leaders had to follow suit no matter what they thought: the Jurchens at this time had not been able to enter the pass, and the corruption and degeneration of life and the rapid decline in combat effectiveness in the historical plane had not yet occurred. At this time, the Jurchen men still instinctively liked and obeyed the strong. Chu Ying, who had been fighting on the front line since the beginning of this battle, was still leading the pursuit. If the other leaders did not follow suit, then after the war was over and the other leaders returned to their tribes, they would face the crisis of a serious decline in prestige and a large number of tribal warriors fleeing!
As a result, the entire Jurchen army quickly advanced again, killing the defeated troops of the Shimazu family horribly along the way.
Shimazu Tadatsune, who was running in the front, no longer had a red face. On the contrary, it was completely pale: listening to all kinds of strange shouts and screams of his own soldiers behind him, he was really scared to the point of shitting in his pants.
Fortunately, the escape did not last long. After running about two or three miles from the battle site, Shimazu Tadatsune was delighted to see a field of standing sunflowers - reinforcements had finally arrived .
This was a reinforcement led by Honda Tadakatsu, the grandson of Honda Tadakatsu, one of the four great Tokugawa lords. There were 5,000 soldiers in total. When Tadakatsu, who was only 23 years old received this mission, he was very upset: Why wasn't my Honda army the vanguard? What if the Satsuma soldiers of the Shimazu family wiped out all the enemies? Where was my military exploits and reputation?
Who would have thought that after only walking a dozen miles, we would see our friendly troops running in panic on the opposite side!
"Satsuma-no-Kami, have your men bypass our army from both sides, otherwise don't blame me for being rude!" After all, Tadaki was the most outstanding among the three generations of descendants of Tokugawa Mikawa's old ministers - otherwise Tokugawa Ieyasu would not have remarried Toyotomi Hideyori's widow, his granddaughter Senhime, to him.
So, although he was still very surprised: "You only came out an hour and a half earlier than me, how come you are like this?", he still quickly made the most correct response.
At this time, the feudal domains in Japan were still relatively independent, which meant that they would not have much interaction on weekdays. If the defeated army really dared to attack the enemy's formation, the enemy would have no psychological barriers to attack. Therefore, without Shimazu Tadatsune's call, the Satsuma soldiers automatically split into two groups and went around the Honda army from both sides.
However, Shimazu Tadatsune, although he smelled a odor himself, had to come and talk to Honda Tadateru.
When Shimazu Tadatsune approached, the young Tadatsuki unconsciously stretched out his hand to cover his nose, but years of education made him restrain himself from doing so.
Forget it, the same thing happened to Tosho-jin (Tokugawa Ieyasu) in the past, who also pooped in his pants on the battlefield.
"Satsuma-no-Kami, why are you doing this?"
"I was careless for a moment. I'm ashamed."
"How many enemy troops are there? Are they new troops or important towns on the nine frontiers?"
"About 10,000 of them. They are the Jurchen troops."
"Ah, you were..."
The dialogue could no longer continue, because the surging Jurchen army had already swept in...
Just as the Jurchens were showing their might on the Han River front, another troop that landed at the mouth of the Han River, the only two thousand or so remaining people of the Toyotomi clan, were gradually approaching the Incheon battlefield.
"The rumbling sound of the cannon means the battlefield is very close. What time is it now?"
The leader, Sanada Yukimura, spoke up, and his son, Sanada Yukimasa, quickly took out his pocket watch: "Father, it is now 12:05 noon."
"It actually took us more than two hours to get here. Saizo, Sasuke, go forward and find out the battle situation."
"Hi Yi!"
It was around 12:00 on that day that the Jurchens defeated Shimazu at the Han River. Yukimura Sanada arrived at the battlefield. At this time, the situation on the front battlefield in Incheon was becoming tense.
At the beginning, the Ming army caught the enemy off guard and successfully captured the first trench. However, the Japanese army, which reacted quickly, relied on the advantages of terrain and heavy equipment to suppress the Ming army that landed earlier.
Then the Ming army's follow-up troops landed, especially the heavy equipment. With the advantage of numbers and firepower, they gradually suppressed the defenders here and successfully captured the second trench.
But at this time, the main force of the Japanese Second Division arrived. Although the Ming army had more than 30,000 troops on land at this time, on the one hand, the Japanese army had a dense defense line composed of trenches, turrets, barbed wire, etc., and had a good geographical advantage. On the other hand, the tide on the sea surface of Incheon had receded. The follow-up troops of the Ming army could only land in small sampans - the speed of manpower and firepower support was significantly reduced.
So for a while, the war became stalemate.
Of course, time is still on the side of the Ming army: the Japanese army at this time can rely on the defense line to resist the attack of the Ming army, but it is unable to push the Ming army back into the sea. Once the time comes for the next high tide, a large number of Ming troops will surge again, and the Japanese army will have to retreat under the cover of night.
Regarding this point, both Zhao Lujiao, who led the attack on the coast, and Pingyan Zhongji, the commander of the 2nd Division of the Ming Army, were clearly aware of it. So Zhao Lujiao attacked desperately: if most of the enemy were lost here, there would be no need to fight the battle for Seoul, and the sacrifice at this moment was worth it. The other side naturally tried their best to defend: hold on until dark, and there would still be a chance after retreating to Seoul.
Thus, although the battle was extremely fierce, with many soldiers on both sides being killed or injured every minute and every second, the whole scene was a delicate balance.
…
"Sir, this is what we found out."
"Well, it's hard work."
"Sanada-kun, what should we do next?"
"Hahaha, Akashi-kun, at this moment, both sides are like weights of similar mass on a scale, and we are the feather that determines the outcome!"
After saying this to Akashi Zento, Sanada Yukimura turned to his son and said, "Pass the order down to collect our flags and horse seals."
"Sanada-kun, are you planning to infiltrate the new army by pretending to be the reinforcements sent by Tokugawa Yorinobu?"
"That's right. How about it, Akashi-kun, do you have the courage to go with me?"
"Hahaha, I should have lost my life in Osaka Castle four years ago. I have survived until now, so why don't I dare to go? But Sanada-kun, we don't have the support of the Tokugawa family."
"Haha~" Sanada Yukimura smiled slightly: "I don't have any flags of the Tokugawa family, but I have a lot of flags of the Honda family and the Ii family."
"…So you were already prepared?"
"Yes, this is Korea after all. How can the Tokugawa family's own hatamoto be stationed here permanently? Even if Tokugawa Yorinobu has a few hatamoto around him, there can't be 2,000 people. So I made Honda and Ii's flags in advance. As for the Tokugawa family's flags, we can make another batch when we go home."
"Yoshi! You are worthy of being called Sanada-kun! In this case, the credit for this battle will be ours!"
