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   Chapter 640 637 [Battlefield seppuku]

   "The Iron Cannons move forward!"

  Seeing his own cavalry being hunted down, Matsuura Shigenobu made a decisive decision and ordered the firecrackers to step forward to respond.

  The Matsuura family was the first place to equip muskets in the Warring States Period of Japan.

  At the beginning, there were only two to three hundred iron artillery teams, but now it has grown to as many as eight hundred people.

   Even learned Nobunaga's three-stage strike.

   "Woooooooh~~~"

  Yuan Shizhong blew the horn to stop the pursuit, and the dragoons retreated to the flanks of the battlefield, reloading ammunition very skillfully on horseback.

  Matsuura Shigenobu leads the banner himself and sits in the central army. Let your own spearmen and firecrackers act as the front army slowly pressing forward, and let the Shimadzu's team line up on the two wings.

  Suddenly the flag was waved, and the Matsuura family's position launched six small Franco cannons. This thing is an old thing, and it was bought from the Portuguese for a lot of money decades ago. Usually installed on sea ships, because the caliber is relatively small, it can also be disassembled for land operations.

  Li Dingguo smiled and said, "Drag them all out, let the Japanese see what artillery is."

   Twenty-five artillery pieces slowly appeared.

   "There are so many big barrels (artillery)?"

  Including Matsuura Shigenobu, the nobles of Hirado and Satsuma, all of them changed their faces dramatically.

  Especially the Satsuma army, they didn't want to save the governor, and they planned to run away at any time. Seeing the Datong army launch twenty-five artillery pieces, the morale of the army fluctuated instantly, and there were already signs of fleeing without a fight.

   Just as the Datong artillery was loading shells, the dragoons finished changing the ammunition and began to circle around the enemy's rear.

  The move of the dragoons made Matsuura Shigenobu not dare to retreat. If he retreated, he might collapse and be chased and killed by the dragoons.

   Now that things are up to now, I can only bite the bullet and fight.

  Shimadzu Tsunahisa reminded: "We can't wait for Tang Bing's big tube to launch, and kill the whole army quickly!"

  Matsuura Shigenobu is still hesitating. Although he has a strong level of internal affairs, he has only participated in the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion, and his actual command experience is not very rich.

  After listening to Shimadzu Tsunahisa's suggestion, Matsuura Shigenobu also reacted. The morale of our allied forces is unstable, and if we are bombarded by twenty-five artillery pieces, this battle will be impossible to fight again, and the whole army must rush forward to fight in close combat.

   "The whole army marches forward!"

   Due to the large number of civilians mixed in, the 20,000 coalition troops advanced very slowly, and their formations were uneven.

   "Boom boom boom!"

  Only marching more than ten steps, the first round of shelling by the Datong Army began, and all of them shot at the Matsuura family's army—the army was more orderly, and it looked like the main force of the coalition army.

  The iron bullets roared and flew out, turning into calf terminators one after another.

   Iron bullets bounced off the ground, breaking legs along the way, plowing flesh and blood alleys among the coalition forces.

   "Banner warriors, step forward!"

  After the first round of shelling, the former army of the Matsuura family couldn't bear it anymore. Matsuura Shigenobu released the Banner warriors, and these warriors raised their swords forward, hacked and killed scattered scattered soldiers, and then led the front army to charge together.

  The addition of the banner warriors greatly boosted the morale of the former army, and they continued to charge up against the artillery fire.

  Yuan Shizhong led the dragoons, bypassing the enemy formation with archers and firecrackers, and did not choose to shoot, but charged towards the enemy's civilian troops.

  How dare the Japanese peasants face the charge of a thousand cavalry and the sound of hooves?

   "Run away!"

  The civilians threw away their weapons, turned around and fled collectively. Some even panicked and fled towards Matsuura Shigenobu's banner troops.

  Matsuura Shigenobu quickly commanded and responded: "Pikemen, iron gunners, and archers, stop the horse-riding iron guns of the Tang people!"

  The order was issued smoothly, but the corresponding troops seemed a little confused. Because after Yuan Shizhong defeated a group of civilians, he continued to circle backwards, completely disrupting the enemy's blocking troops.

  Matsuura Shigenobu could only command the bannermen's own soldiers, form an formation to block the attack, and at the same time push the more than 200 cavalry up.

   "Bang bang bang!"

  The dragoons fired a salvo at close range, and the Japanese cavalry of the Matsuura family fell down more than 50 cavalry. These little cavalrymen were so frightened that their livers and gallbladders were torn apart, they completely forgot about their mission, and they reined in their horses and ran as far as they could go.

  Yuan Shizhong didn't chase after him, and reloaded the ammunition after opening the distance.

   After such a toss, Matsuura Shigenobu's banner unit has completely lost touch with the charging former army.

  The former army was also in a difficult situation. Under the leadership of the banner warriors, they managed to cheer up and withstood the second salvo of the Datong artillery, but they entered the firing range of the Datong artillery.

   The troops that charge fast are about 35 steps away; the troops that charge slowly are still 50 steps away.

  Li Dingguo was too lazy to wait any longer, and ordered: "Order the battalions, don't wait twenty paces before shooting salvo!"

  The order was passed to the officers at the bottom, and the nearest Japanese soldiers had rushed within 30 steps.

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

  Three bursts of shots, gunshots, and gunpowder filled the air.

   There were more than a dozen banner warriors rushing forward, more than half of them fell down immediately, and the spearmen behind them also suffered heavy casualties.

  The elite ashigaru of the Matsuura family collapsed without any suspense. It is not easy to withstand two rounds of shelling, and they are greeted by three rounds of musket fire. Where have they withstood such intensive firepower? Even during the Warring States Period in Japan, when the feudal clans fought so fiercely, there was never such a terrible localized firepower.

   "The pikemen approached, the musketeers drew up their bayonets, and the grenadiers charged immediately!"

  As far as the sight of the coalition forces of the two vassal states was concerned, the Datong Army was shrouded in smoke. Suddenly, a group of burly soldiers rushed out from the thick smoke, holding strange **** in their hands.

  Which enemy army has not yet collapsed, and whichever enemy army has the most crowded people, the grenadiers will rush there. Behind them are a group of spearmen, and behind them are gunmen charging with bayonets.

   "Boom boom boom!"

   Tens of thousands of enemies were thrown into the enemy's formation, and wherever the explosion touched, the Japanese soldiers were completely blinded.

   After the grenadier throws the bomb, he immediately draws his sword and rushes to kill. They are not pure firemen, on the contrary, all of them have super long arms, burly bodies, and are also wearing heavy armor, which can be transformed into a frontrunner at any time.

   Zhou Ding is the grenadier commander of this division. He is 1.86 meters tall.

  He rushed to the front of the enemy army with a knife in hand, and met a surviving Banner warrior. This samurai was as tall as 1.45 meters, which was already considered majestic in Japan at this time.

  Besides, this samurai actually carried three swords on the battlefield, and he didn't think he was too tired because of too many weapons.

  At this moment, the Banner warrior held two swords, one long and the other short, and rushed forward screaming to ask for Zhou Ding.

  Zhou Ding split open the Taidao from the other side, and didn't care about the remaining Taidao. The winner was soon decided. The Banner samurai lost his balance because of the force of the weapon collision, and then he swung the knife obliquely and had no lethality at all.

  Even if it has lethality, it will be perfectly defended by heavy armor.

   And Zhou Ding, the second knife has already been slashed. The tall man who is about 1.8 meters is facing the short man who is about 1.4 meters with all his strength.

  The samurai of Banner hurriedly resisted with his sword horizontally, but his speed was a bit slow, and he was swung on the neck with a knife. Not only the main artery in the neck was cut off, but also the collarbone below was cut off, and he fell down on the spot spraying blood.

  In the entire battlefield, there are not many enemy troops that have not yet dispersed. With the charge of the Datong Army, it melts like the scorching sun and snow.

  The wild samurai warriors like Miyazaki Shiro and Kitou Forty-eight were stunned by the scene before them.

  Japan also has artillery and muskets, but only when the shogunate orders the gathering of troops will a large number of firearms gather together. Usually scattered in various feudal clans, like the Matsuura family has 800 firearms, which can be regarded as a very powerful force.

  As for the Datong Army, except for the melee spearmen, they are all **** firearms troops.

  At the beginning of the battle between the two armies, the Japanese army was greeted by firearms in turn, and it collapsed on a large scale before close contact.

   Tang Bing is really invincible!

  Thinking that the master they have turned to is so powerful, the wild samurai became even more excited.

   "On board! His Majesty the emperor on board! General on board!"

   Guitou Forty-eight shouted loudly, drew his sword and rushed out first, and followed the Datong army to chase and kill the enemy.

  Li Dingguo pointed to the front side, and said to the 300 reserve troops beside him: "There is still an enemy army not defeated there, all rush forward!"

  It was the Satsuma clan's troops from Izushui City. These guys didn't want to fight, and they kept charging and paddling. Seeing Li Dingguo's reserve team approaching, the troops from Chushui City knelt down collectively and shouted in Chinese under the leadership of the city lord: "I wish to surrender, I wish to surrender!"

  Shimadzu Tsunahisa stared at the scene of the entire army fleeing stupidly. He violated the order of the shogunate and did not go home to urge his father to apologize. Instead, he ran halfway to Matsuura's house to rescue the soldiers. It's okay to win the battle, but you will definitely die if you lose the battle. Even if you can escape today, you will be killed by the shogunate afterwards.

  Suddenly, Shimadzu Tsunahisa sighed, knelt down on the spot and said, "The power is as weak as the Satsuma clan, so you shouldn't provoke a strong enemy. Tang soldiers are so fierce, who in the samurai family can resist?"

   This guy pulled out his ribs slowly, somehow got a towel, and even played seppuku on the battlefield.

  Matsuura Shigenobu's banner has not yet collapsed, many personal guards protected him, and persuaded him: "Family Governor, quickly withdraw, it will be too late."

  Matsuura Shigenobu turned around and took a look. There were dragoons who had already completed their circle. He shook his head and said, "I can't escape." Then he called Matsuura Nobuya to his side, "My son is young, so you should do your best to help. Hirado Honhan, give you 1,500 shi, and you will be the head of the Matsuura branch from now on. "

   "My lord, retreat quickly, there is still a chance!" Matsuura Nobuya said tearfully.

Matsuura Shigenobu said: "Even if I can escape today, I can't escape the censure of the shogunate. The shogunate ordered me to make seppuku apology, so I will do it today. I can die, and the Matsuura family will continue. Remember, as much compensation as the Tang people want, I will give them How much, it will be given slowly in ten or twenty years. While you are assisting my son, you must also befriend the Tang State. Today’s Datong Tang State is no longer the Ming Dynasty, and their army is invincible. Tagawa Jiro, don’t let it go. Let him go and let him be the retainer of the Matsupu family. His elder brother is the son-in-law of the Tang Dynasty. As long as he is here, the Matsuura family will not be destroyed."

   Matsuura Nobuya finally cried out.

   These are a pair of cousins ​​with extremely deep feelings.

  Matsuura Shigenobu said again: "If my son can't bear it, let Tagawa Jiro change his surname to Matsuura and let him be the governor of the Matsuura family."

   "Yes..." Matsuura Nobusada wiped away tears and said.

  It is very common in Japan to let outsiders inherit the family business, usually an adopted son or a married son-in-law.

  In the eyes of the Japanese, the blood does not matter, what is really precious is the family name, which is the continuation of the legal system of a family.

   Zheng Chenggong's younger brother has already adopted Tagawa's family and married Matsuura Shigenobu's younger sister. Then it is completely possible to join the Matsuura family again and become the governor of the Matsuura family.

  The main reason is that Matsuura Shigenobu's son is too young.

  Matsuura Shigenobu said: "Put down your weapons, and I will personally negotiate with the generals of the Tang State. As long as I can keep the Matsuura family's banner elite, I will agree to their request, and then I will commit seppuku here."

  (end of this chapter)