Chapter 340 Battle of Uenohara

Ten days later, the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty advanced to Nagoya.

Nagoya is less than 500 miles away from Osaka, and there are plain terrain along the way, and there are no mountains and rivers to block the march. However, the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty still walked for a full ten days before arriving! Of course, this was intentional. Wang Pu wanted to give the Tokugawa shogunate enough time to assemble the army and then make a contribution to the battle.

After Osaka, Nagoya was also bloodbathed by the Ming army, and more than 70,000 Japanese in the city were slaughtered.

Wang Pu's headquarters was located outside the city. Although he was killed like a lot of people and was used to seeing dead people, he did not want to see the tragic scene of corpses everywhere and bloody ground in the city.

Intelligence Secretary Liu Qingyan walked into the headquarters with light steps and said to Wang Pu: "Prince, there is something going on in the Tokugawa shogunate."

"Oh?" Wang Pu quickly signaled Liu Rushi to spread the marching map on the marching table, and asked, "Tell me quickly."

When Liu Rushi spread the map, Liu Qingyanxian pointed to the map and said softly: "Here, Uenohara, according to the brothers of the Holy Church, Uenohara has gathered about 50,000 troops of the Tokugawa Shogunate, at least 10,000 of whom are elite samurai, and the rest are temporarily summoned."

"Uenohara?" Wang Pu asked, "Can you tell me about the landform characteristics of this area?"

Liu Qingyan said: "Uenohara is a narrow and long canyon that runs east-west, running across the Kanto Mountains. It is a must-pass place for Kansai area to Kanto, especially to Edo. Of course, there is still a way to go from Kansai to Edo, that is, to follow the southern coastline, but the journey will be much longer."

Over the past three years, Liu Qingyan has indeed put a lot of effort into Japan. In order to explore the terrain of Japan, she has even visited Japan three times in person. Many of the backbone of the White Lotus Sect have been transferred to Japan. Many people have already gained a foothold in Japan. Those who don’t know can no longer recognize whether they are from the Ming Dynasty or Japanese.

It is precisely because of this that Liu Qingyan can grasp accurate information so quickly and quickly.

"Canyon?" Wang Pu suddenly sneered and said in a deep voice, "It seems that the Japanese are not fools. They actually know that fighting our army in the canyon terrain is not conducive to the general's artillery, and the shooting queue of the musket team will be seriously restricted by the terrain. Our army is also a firearm unit. If we really want to start a war with the Japanese in the canyon, half of our martial arts will be wiped out before the battle."

Liu Rushixian tapped the map gently with his fingers and suggested: "Then we will march along the southern coastline. Although the distance is a little farther, at least it will not be restricted by the terrain."

"No." Wang Pu shook his head, a trace of inexplicable coldness rose in his eyes, and said in a deep voice, "There is an old saying that you have Zhang Liang's plan, I have a ladder! Since the Japanese have already set off in Uenohara and waited for us to drill into their pockets, then we will drill into these pockets. I want to see if it is the Japanese who put their pockets in my Ming Central Army, or the Ming Central Army who pierced his pocket formation."

Liu Rushi whispered: "Prince, isn't this too risky?"

Liu Qingyan also advised: "The prince doesn't know that Uenohara is not only a canyon, but also a low-lying land. Although it has not snowed yet, no one can guarantee whether it will snow next? Once it snows heavily and when it starts to turn snow, the canyon will become a country of wormwood. Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of our Central Army have artillery battalions, and the baggage team will fall into the mud and cannot move."

"Oh?" Wang Pu's expression moved when he heard this and said in a deep voice, "There is still this?"

Liu Qingyan said: "So, for safety reasons, don't go to Nobara."

Wang Pu shook his head and said, "No, I still have to go to Nobara. Even if it will snow heavily next time, even if the canyon is a low-lying land, if the Japanese want to trap our army in the canyon, they still have a prerequisite, that is, they must block the attack of our Central Army. Do you think the Japanese can block the attack of the Central Army?"

Liu Rushi said: "What if the Japanese built a fortress at Uenoharaguchi?"

Wang Pu smiled and said, "The Japanese are not fools. They have sent troops to Uenohara instead of the southern coastline. This is enough to show that they have figured out our intentions in the battle plan. They also want to fight a decisive battle with our army in Uenohara, so they will not build a fortress there, because once they build a fortress, they have to worry that our army will temporarily change the marching route. What's more, it's not that easy to build a fortress, how can it be repaired in ten days and half a month? If it's just a simple wooden fortress, how can it withstand the bombardment of generals' cannons?"

Liu Qingyan and Liu Rushi looked at each other and stopped talking. They could see that Wang Pu was determined to go to Nobara, and they also knew the reason why Wang Pu chose this. The reason why Wang Pu chose the Uenora route was to give the Japanese a painful lesson and let the Japanese know that the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty was invincible.

The marching route was finally determined. The next day, the four infantry battalions of the Central Army, two artillery battalions and two regiments of the Third Fleet, a total of 25,000 people embarked on the journey again!

Uenohara.

Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu wearing a traditional samurai suit, he stood solemnly on a cliff outside the entrance of the valley, standing on the cliff on the cliff, looking down, and you can see the situation outside the canyon.

On the flat ground outside the canyon, there is a strict military camp. The outer edge of the barracks is a fence of two people. Outside the fence is a trench. The trench is covered with sharp antlers, and the camp is covered with dense marching tents. More than 100,000 troops have entered this huge military camp, of which 50,000 have just arrived in the past few days.

The north wind is flying, and the flags are flying.

Looking at such a huge military camp and the army gathered in the military camp, a flush of excitement surged on Tokugawa Ieki's face. This is a 100,000 army! Since Tokugawa Ieyasu opened the Edo Shogunate, the Tokugawa Shogunate has never assembled such a huge army. In Japanese history, only Tokugawa Hideyoshi had formed such a huge army.

Although Japan had a small land area, there were many princes in China, and each prince only had a small amount of land and population. Therefore, the scale of the melee between the princes was very small, usually with a scale of hundreds or thousands. During the entire Warring States Period of Japan, there were countless large-scale battles of more than 10,000 people, so in Japan, the war had little impact on the population.

In ancient China, there were many battles of hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. Such a large-scale war had a great impact on the population. Therefore, the population of ancient China has always been rising in a spiral manner, rather than rising steadily like Japan.

Tokugawa Iemitsu clenched his fists and said excitedly: "If the Ming Dynasty people dare to come, they will die."

"I'm afraid that the Ming Dynasty people would not go up to Nobara and change to the southern coastline!" Tadatsuke Aoyama said worriedly, "Sir, most of the main forces of our Kanto Cluster Army gathered in Uenobara. There are only a small number of troops stationed in Edo behind. Once the Ming Dynasty people did not go up to Nobara and change to the southern coastline, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"No." Doi Tatsukaku said confidently, "Ming Dynasty people would never go to the southern coastline."

Tadatsutsu Aoyama asked in confusion: "Why?"

Doi Takitado: "As early as Edo, I said that the Ming people deliberately chose Osaka to land in order to give us enough preparation time. They wanted to achieve their contributions. Therefore, the Ming people's goal was my shogunate army, not a certain city, so I'm sure they would definitely go to Nohara and not take advantage of the situation to sneak attack Edo."

As he was just talking, Daotian Masato went to the dead bank panting and reported: "Sir, there is news."

Tokugawa Iemitsu said urgently: "Tell me quickly."

Masamoto Oda breathed, "According to the horse probing report, the Ming army suddenly accelerated its march after leaving Nagoya. It had crossed the Kiso Mountain Range two days ago and entered Langhe Mountain Road. From the march speed, it was estimated that it would be able to cross the Ashi Mountain Range in about three days and reach Uenohara in another seven days."

Tadatsutsu Aoyama looked at Doi Rikatsu in surprise and whispered: "Have the Ming Dynasty really come?"

"What?" Tokugawa Iemitsu was shocked when he heard this, "The Ming army suddenly accelerated the marching speed?"

Tokugawa Iemitsu originally thought about building a fortress at the entrance of the canyon, but now the Ming army has accelerated its march and can be killed in a maximum of seven days. It is impossible to build a decent fortress in such a short time, so Tokugawa Iemitsu had to give up this idea.

"You don't have to be surprised, sir." Doi Takitaki said calmly, "It's not surprising that the Ming army suddenly accelerated the marching speed, because now our shogunate army has gathered in Uenohara, and the Ming people's purpose has been achieved, so of course there is no need to deliberately slow down the marching speed anymore."

Tokugawa Iemitsu thought for a while and asked again: "Is there any news about Lord Sakai's Kansai Cluster Army?"

Masamoto Oda respectfully responded: "General, Lord Sakai has gathered an army of 30,000 people in Kyoto, including three thousand iron artillery teams and five hundred Franc mercenaries. He is now heading towards Uenohara. If nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely cut off his retreat after the Ming Dynasty army enters the canyon."

"Um." Tokugawa Iegu nodded and turned around to ask Doi Rikadao, "Doi Kun, what should I do next?"

Tatsuka Doi responded without hesitation: "Continue to summon the army, raise enough food and supplies, and prepare to fight to the death with the Ming army! This battle is not only related to the life and death of our shogunate, but also to the life and death of our great Japanese Empire and the life and death of our Yamato nation, so we must do our best."

Temasek, the southernmost tip of the Indochina Peninsula.

Thousands of indigenous workers were busy on the construction site, and a simple military fortress had already taken shape. Shi Lang was inspecting the progress of the project surrounded by several generals from the Second Fleet. The prince said that Temasek Fortress was an outpost opened by the Ming Empire Navy and the Central Army went south and west. Shi Lang dared not neglect any negligence.

Shi Lang just gave it to him, and he actually didn't know the military value of Temasek.

In fact, in the absence of many years, Temasek will become an extremely important military fortress. With the increasing strength of the Ming Empire and under the guidance of extremely aggressive policies, the empire's tentacles will inevitably want to extend to the wider and further Southeast Asia, South Asia, Australia, and even the Middle East and Africa.

As the empire continues to expand outward, Temasek will become an indispensable and important part of the imperial colonial strategy because of its unique geographical location. Whether it is a merchant ship sailing to the West, a troop ship full of army, or a navy fleet, when passing Temasek, they must rest here to replenish fresh water, fresh vegetables and food.

For the Ming Empire, Temasek was equivalent to the historical status of South African strongholds in Western powers.

Seeing Shi Lang, the officer in charge of supervising the worker ran up quickly and saluted: "General!"

Shi Lang replied to the military salute and frowned and said, "The progress is too slow. In half a month, the first batch of garrisons will arrive, but the Temasek Fortress is still like this. How can people stay?"

The officer in charge of the supervisor complained: "General, these indigenous monkeys are too lazy."

"Lack?" Shi Lang said unhappily, "You don't have a whip in your hand, won't you drive them away?"

"It's useless." The officer smiled bitterly, "There have been hundreds of natives who have been cut down on the Huye, but these guys are still half dead."

Shi Lang said: "Then find more natives."

The officer said helplessly: "Biyi has sent out all the troops of the two regiments, and the indigenous monkeys nearby have almost been captured."

"The indigenous people nearby have been captured. Wouldn't you go to Java or Sumatra to catch them?" Shi Lang said coldly, "In short, it's your business to catch enough indigenous monkeys. I just need to repair this simple fortress within half a month so that the arrival of the army brothers will have a place to live, have food to eat, and drink clean water after they arrive here."

The officer saluted the military salute and said loudly: "Yes!"

The distant Siberia is now in the cold weather.

Although Chaktu was an outpost for the Ming Empire to colonize deep into Siberia, it was still just a small settlement at this time. There were only three northern cowboys settled here. The Lao Meng family had only one son, the Lao Song family had three sons, and the most awesome was the Lao Ding family, with nine sons, but most of them were just half-old children!

These three northern cowboys have hundreds of acres of manors and thousands of acres of forest land in Chikto, and dozens of Tartar slave workers. Usually, men from these three families are pioneering the wilderness and women are farming at home, but in the winter, there is no farm work to do, so the cowboys start hunting.

Siberian forests are full of jackals, tigers and leopards. As long as you are brave enough, there are some wild game. If you are lucky enough to hunt the blind bears and Siberian tigers, take the bear's paws and tiger skins to the market town hundreds of miles away. Once it is sold at a good price, it may be exchanged for several Tartar slaves.

Now the men went out to hunt and the women went to the market. There were only seven or eight and a half children from three families playing outside the village entrance.

At this moment, the alarm bell suddenly sounded from the mail tower at the entrance of the village. The seven or eight and a half old children who were playing immediately ran back to the village, and took out their hunting rifles from their homes and rushed to the walls outside the village as fast as possible. Judging from the skill of these children, it was obviously not the first time they encountered such a thing.

Soon, more than a dozen sleds appeared on the vast snowfield, with figures on the sleds, and the barking of dogs on the snow and the scolding of the drivers were clearly heard. Among the seven or eight children, the eldest son of the old Song family was the oldest, but he was only fourteen years old. Seeing this, he said calmly: "These damn Russians are here again, there are six sleds and more than twenty!"

The other children had skillfully closed the village door, pulled up the suspension bridge, and then raised the hunting rifle in their hands.

"You, you." The eldest son of the Song family pointed to two of the youngest children and said, "Go to the high tower in the village to light the beacon."

The two children ran away, and soon a raging fire lit up on the tower in the middle of the village. Because the wolf manure added to the haystacks produced a large amount of thick smoke. The smoke rose up and was clearly visible dozens of miles away. In less than a moment, another settlement dozens of miles away also ignited the wolf smoke...

Soon, six sledges rushed outside the settlement.

At the command of the eldest son of the Song family, several children pulled the trigger at the same time. A fierce gunshot sounded suddenly on the quiet snowfield. Two Russians fell from the sled. Although these children were not old, they had been playing with guns for a long time, and they hit each shot within a hundred steps.

The remaining twenty Russians hurriedly flipped down from the sled, looking for trees and stones as bunkers, and then engaged in a fierce gunfight with the little cowboys on the courtyard wall. Although the Russians had an absolute advantage in the number of people, they did not have the upper hand in the gunfight.

Because the shotguns used by the cowboys were flintlock breech guns retired from the Central Army. Although they were loaded with paper shell bullets, their range and accuracy were far beyond the old-fashioned mesh guns used by the Russians. It was cold and the Russians' mesh guns often died and fired.

The gunfight took less than half an hour, and a faint barking of dogs sounded from the snowfield in the distance.

The reinforcements of the Ming Dynasty were about to arrive. The Russians knew that the sneak attack had failed, so they had to leave a few bodies and flee on the sled. The little cowboys on the wall looked calm and had no intention of cheering. Here, such scenes were staged almost every ten days and half a month. They had long been used to this kind of life.

Wang Pu's original intention of promulgating the order to kill Hu was gradually becoming a reality. In a few years, these children will become adults. With the strong appeal of the Central Army, just a conscription order is required, these children will enlist in the army without hesitation. It is conceivable what kind of performance these little cowboys will be after joining the army? How terrible will the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty become in the future?

Japan.

Six days later, the Ming Central Army successfully advanced to Uenohara. At this time, 160,000 shogunate troops had been gathered outside the canyon, and another huge shogunate army followed the Ming Central Army like a shadow. The distance was always about fifty miles. Even if it was too close, the Ming army would never be allowed to distance themselves.

Faced with the unfavorable terrain and the chasing of the shogunate army, the Ming Central Army did not hesitate or stop at all. Under the leadership of the Supreme Commander Wang Pu, they drove into the narrow canyon. The Ming Central Army had just entered the canyon, and the shogunate army following behind suddenly accelerated its march and blocked the entrance of the west valley from behind.

At the entrance of the valley on the east side of the canyon, 160,000 shogunate troops have been waiting for a long time.

The Shogunate camp, Tokugawa Iemitsu.

When Tokugawa Iemitsuke, Doi Tadatsuki, Aoyama Tadatsuki and others were discussing the matter, Masamoto Oda hurried in and knelt on one knee and replied: "General, the Ming army has entered the canyon!"

"Oh?" Tokugawa Iemitsu said happily, "Have the Ming Dynasty really entered the canyon?"

"It's true." Masamoto Oda said affirmatively, "The Ming Dynasty's army has all entered the canyon."

Tokugawa Iemitsu said urgently: "Where is Sakai's Kansai Cluster Army?"

Masatori Oda replied: "Master Sakai's 80,000 Kansai army has sealed the valley entrance from behind the Ming Dynasty army. To use an ancient Chinese saying, the Ming Dynasty army is now in the jar."

"Okay, that's great." Tokugawa Ietsuki said happily, "This time, people in the Ming Dynasty could not fly even if they had wings."

Tadatsushi Aoyama on the other side also slammed: "It's so arrogant. These Ming dynasty people are so arrogant. They are simply extremely arrogant! Knowing that the terrain of Uenohara's canyon is not good for them, they still dare to drill in. They didn't take our hundreds of thousands of shogunate troops seriously."

Only Tatsuka Doi's face looked a little solemn.

The Ming Dynasty army entered the canyon so easily, which was somewhat beyond his expectations. Originally, he thought that the Ming Dynasty army would definitely stay at the western end of the canyon for a period of time, and then decided whether to cross the canyon after checking the terrain. But what was surprising was that the Ming Dynasty army actually drove directly into the canyon. Are the Ming Dynasty people really just arrogant?

Tokugawa Iemitsu pulled out the samurai sword, slashed forward, and said viciously: "Inaba Masayoshi!"

Daming, dressed in a warrior, stepped forward and knelt on one knee and replied, "I'm here."

The samurai is named Masayoshi Inaba, and is the second son of Tokugawa Iemitsu Haruhikawa Iemitsu. Masayoshi Inaba and Masayoshi Inaba have been accompanied by Tokugawa Iemitsu since childhood. Although the three of them are not brothers, their relationship is better than brothers. After Tokugawa Iemitsu took office, the two brothers became his hard-core confidants and were successively named Danames.

Tokugawa Iemitsu: "Tipped the 20,000 troops of the Shinbi Bian clan blocked the valley entrance and blocked the possible attack of the Ming army."

"Hi!"

Inaba Masayoshi responded with a loud promise and took the order.

Tokugawa Iemitsu said again: "Toda iron."

Toda Shishi Teng said: "I am here."

Tokugawa Iemitsu: "Lead the troops of this vassal and are ready to pick up Inaba Jun at any time."

Toda Railway: "Hi!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu and said: "Matsuhira Nobusuke, Itankura Shigemasa."

Two more great names came out and said: "I am here."

Tokugawa Iemitsu: "Lead our troops to dig trenches at the entrance of the valley to set up obstacles."

Because he was afraid of the Ming army changing routes, the shogunate army did not dare to dig trenches and set up obstacles at the entrance of the valley until now. The Ming army finally entered the canyon, and Tadashi Sakai's Kansai Army had blocked the retreat of the Ming army from behind. The shogunate army could finally feel at ease to go straight.

In the canyon, more than 30,000 Central Ming troops were winding forward along the narrow valley with four columns.

The terrain of Uenohara Canyon is not very steep. Only some sparse bushes have grown on the hillsides on both sides, and there is no way to bury ambush. Moreover, the slope of the hillside is not steep. Although artillery vehicles and supplies cannot go up the mountain, infantry can easily climb over the mountains.

However, the terrain here is indeed unfavorable to the firearm.

The winding canyon is like a heart-warming heart. There is a turning point every few hundred steps. Tens of thousands of troops walk in the canyon, and only a few hundred people can be seen in front, back, left and right. If you really want to fire on this terrain, the shells fired will definitely be blocked by the hillside, and it will be difficult to kill the enemy.

Also, there is almost no flat ground more than ten steps wide in the canyon. If the Central Army wants to line up the shooting line, it has to stand on the hillsides on both sides, because it snowed heavily a few days ago. Although the hillside is not steep, the soldiers can easily slip when standing on it. It is not so easy to shoot in large-scale terrain.

However, Wang Pu was not worried at all.

Due to the slow firing rate and poor accuracy of early muskets, they relied heavily on intensive shooting to form effective killing. However, the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty currently used a new type of rifle, which had rifles, magazines, and sights. Their standards were basically no longer different from modern rifles. Such advanced rifles no longer needed to rely on intensive shooting queues.

What's more, the Central Army of the Ming Dynasty relied on not only general artillery and advanced rifles, but also a sharper melee weapon - the improved Dragon King Cannon! The improved Dragon King Cannon has better blasting effect and stronger lethality. It can detonate with just one pull of a fuse, and no longer needs to be ignited with a fuse like the previous Dragon King Cannon.

As early as the beginning of his decision to march Uenohara, Wang Pu had already chosen the appropriate tactics.

As a time traveler, even if Wang Pu doesn't understand military affairs, he has always read many books and movies. With his knowledge accumulation, even if he doesn't know much about the tactics of firearms, he can definitely be regarded as an outstanding conductor compared to the ancients of this era!

Amid the rapid sound of horse hooves, Li Dingguo galloped over by his own soldiers.

Li Dingguo stopped and replied loudly: "Prince, I found the Japanese five miles ahead and were lined up along the canyon. It seemed to be trying to stop us from moving forward. According to the scouts, ten miles ahead was the entrance of the valley. At least 50,000 shogunate troops were digging trenches outside the entrance and setting up obstacles. It seemed to be trying to block the way our army was advancing."

"Block the road? How can you do it!" Zhang Yanlin, the commander of the Third Fleet who went out with the army, said anxiously, "Prince, the Japanese in front will be handed over to our Marines. Bei Yi promises you that you will definitely wipe out all the Japanese in less than half an hour and clear the obstacles on the way forward for the army's brothers."

"No, no hurry." Wang Pu waved his hand and said calmly, "It's too late for the Japanese to cut off their way!"

"It's too late?" Zhang Yanlin said in surprise, "Then... won't fight today?"
Chapter completed!