"Baga, at least 500, no, it's a round shot, at least 1000 iron guns!"

Holding a telescope and watching the hundreds of ronins who were blindly attacking being killed and wounded by the shotguns fired by three 3-pounder guns and 1,000 salvos of arquebuses, the master of war Kusunoki Masayuki gasped for the cool air of Sakhalin!

It's so cool!

His army of 5,000 ronins consisted of only 400 six-cylinders in total—not that he was a master of war who didn't value gunpowder weapons, but that the Tokugawa shogunate had strict rules on the number of iron cannons possessed by each domain.

According to the shogunate's regulations, 10,000 stone high could have 20 iron cannons!

There are only 20 sticks, which theoretically can't be more.

Not only is there a limit to the number of iron cannons to be held, but also the number of spears, bows and arrows, and armor is also strictly regulated, and it must be linked to the height of the stone.

10,000 stone high can support an army of 200-250 people according to the standards of the shogunate, which is the full number including samurai and ashigaru.

Therefore, the ordnance possessed by the feudal clan must also be corresponding, and it can only equip 200-250 people, of which 20 are iron cannons. The reason for this regulation was to prevent the feudal domains from accumulating weapons in peacetime and recruiting civilians to expand their armies when the time came.

As a result, in the Edo period, only 2,000 iron cannons could be legally owned by a 1 million stone high domain.

It was completely illegal for the Satsuma clan to sell 3,000 six-cylinders at a time...... Of course, the Satsuma clan had a special place in the Edo period of Japan. Because the Satsuma Domain was too far away from Edo, and it had always been a strong domain, it also subdued the Ryukyu Kingdom with the power of a feudal domain, and had the only foreign domain in Japan.

Therefore, the Tokugawa shogunate has always looked at the Satsuma clan differently, and if there are any violations of laws and regulations, they will also turn a blind eye.

The number of iron cannons that a non-stone feudal domain such as the Matsumae Domain could possess was a matter for the shogunate to decide.

Kusunoki Masayuki's Ronin Army refers to the Shigao Domain, and the shogunate determines the number. Tokugawa Iemitsu looked down on Kusunoki Masaki and allowed his ronin army to have 400 iron cannons—a number that only a 200,000 stone high feudal clan could have!

Even if these 400 cannons can be fired, in the face of the enemy's 1,000 cannons and 3 cannons, there is no chance of victory in terms of firepower.

What can I do? Nanmu Zhengxue is already a little messed up......

"General!" Maruhashi Tadaya shouted, "Let's attack with all the troops!" We have more than 4,000 samurai, and as long as we rush up and engage in hand-to-hand combat, even if there are ten times as many Qingkou, they are no match for them! ”

"But Qingkou's big barrel and iron cannon......" Kusunoki Masayuki still hesitated a little, "maybe it can be detoured." ”

"Teacher!" Maruhashi shouted, "The enemy has three hundred samurai on horseback, and we only have a few dozen samurai on horseback, how can we complete the detour?" Let's press down with the whole army and crush the enemy with the number of people and the bravery of the samurai!

Moreover, the number of consecutive launches of the iron cannon is limited, and now the Qing Kou is constantly firing volleys, and it will be almost the same if there are a few more waves. We're taking advantage of this to rush forward! ”

It's still Maruhashi's student's art of war!

"Mixi!" Kusunoki Masayuki pulled out the ancestral knife of his wife's family, which was said to be used by Kusunoki Masanari, pointed forward, and shouted: "Raise the flag of chrysanthemum, assault!" ”

The flag of chrysanthemum is the military flag of Nanmu's family, and the military regulations set by Nanmu Zhengxue, raising the flag of chrysanthemum, is the time when the whole army is assaulted.

For a while, the sound of war drums, military trumpets, and shouts became one. The four ronin phalanx began to move forward, led by samurai with iron cannons, then samurai with bows and arrows, and finally samurai with spears.

All the samurai were clad in armor and formed a phalanx to force up to the Qing side - they had not been together for long, so it was difficult to maintain the phalanx during the attack, but the formation was not too scattered, and the archers and artillery men were still around the pikemen, so as not to be scattered by the Qing cavalry.

When these four phalanxes finally approached the position of the Qing army, the platoon of gunfire in front really stopped!

The samurai who had previously charged without permission had been routed and fled with heavy casualties, but they also used bows and arrows and iron cannons to fire at their opponents for several rounds, and the samurai armed with spears also tried to launch a decisive charge, and were finally routed by the Qing army with arquebuses.

But their sacrifice was still valuable, at least it made the arquebus of the Qing army overheated, and there was no way to fire it for the time being.

But their 3 bronze cannons still fired two rounds of shotguns, all of which hit a Japanese phalanx, knocking down the gunners and archers walking in the front row one by one!

But after all, the Qing army only had 3 artillery pieces, and it was simply unable to stop the Japanese troops who were pouring up like a tide. After two rounds of shotgunning, the gunners "abandoned their guns and absconded", and at the same time, the musketeers of the Qing army began to retreat.

Kusunoki Masayuki did not participate in the charge, but watched the battle from the rear with dozens of samurai on horseback. He put down his binoculars and whispered, "Victory!" ”

Maruhashi on the side also put down the binoculars and shook his head slightly: "Not yet...... The Qing army also had a rear formation, with more than 1,000 people, spears and knives, and it seemed that they were going to fight hand-to-hand. ”

"That's victory!" Nanmu smiled, "Ronin is the best at hand-to-hand combat, and Qingkou is not an opponent!" ”

"Hay!" Maruhashi Tadashi replied, and raised the binoculars to look ahead. He always felt that something was wrong......

At this moment, a chaotic volley of guns rang out, which was the firing of three or four hundred iron cannons of the Japanese army, and then there was a huge shout, and later the sound of weapons clashing.

The ronin phalanx in front had already collided with fifteen or six hundred Qing troops. Those Qing soldiers looked very tall, and the spears they held were longer than those of the Japanese army, so they didn't suffer a loss when they first collided, and they also pierced many samurai. However, the ronins personally selected by Nanmu and Maruqiao are also strong in martial arts, and once they enter hand-to-hand combat, they will definitely win.

What happened next seemed to verify Kusunoki Zhengxue's previous judgment, the battle between the two sides did not last long, and the Qing army began to retreat.

Although the physique of those big Qing soldiers is strong, their hand-to-hand combat skills are not refined, and they do not have the courage to fight to the death, they are simply a group of rabble!

"It seems that Katai Island belongs to Greater Japan!" As soon as Maruhashi Tadaya's words fell, the sound of dense horses' hooves came from the front left and front right, and it became louder and louder from far to near.

"Cavalry!"

"Brigade of cavalry!"

"There are hundreds, no, at least 1000 rides!"

Immediately, there was an old man, and the horseback rider who had been a strong clan shouted.

Nanmu and Marimae hurriedly raised their binoculars and looked left and right at the front of the battle group, and saw that the cavalry of the Qing army was divided into two groups, with at least 600 horsemen each, all holding spears, and launched an attack on the flank and rear of the Japanese army from two directions!

"Baga!" Nanmu Zhengxue scolded, not scolding the Qing army, but scolding himself!

He also claims to be Japan's No. 1 art of war...... Now it's all in the way!

The Qing army ambushed the cavalry, and waited for their whole army to press and then came to make dumplings. You didn't see through a simple arrangement......

Thinking of this, Nanmu, who was ashamed, shouted: "Samurai on horseback, charge with me, it's time to show your loyalty and bravery!" ”

There were dozens of samurai on horseback, and all of them were samurai who were not very good at riding - how could the ronin have the opportunity to practice riding? I used to know some, but now I've almost forgotten about it.

But I can't care so much now, let's fight it!

On the other side of the Qing army, there was no large group of cavalry to stop them, but 50 cavalry with guns were dispatched to meet them.

Although there were only 50 horsemen, they formed a fairly dense formation, and they were able to gallop at a fast speed, and they collided with Nanmu Zhengxue.

Nanmu Zhengxue is a master of war in the end, and when he saw that something was wrong, he hurriedly turned around and avoided the horse team that was rushing over, but his men were knocked over by others and suffered heavy losses. However, after completing the assault, the Qing army's horse team did not engage in hand-to-hand combat, but quickly broke away from the battlefield.

Tadaya Maruhashi collided with a knight on the edge of the enemy's cavalry, and both fell off their horses. The two of them scuffled on the ground, Maruhashi pulled out the ribs, and the man picked up the musket and used it as a stick, knocked it twice on Maruhashi's head, and when he was about to knock Kusunoki Masaki's proud protégé to death, he was stabbed through the body by another horse warrior and died!

And Maruhashi snatched the opponent's musket with his hand, and at a glance, he exclaimed: "It's the cross of Maru!" This is the six-barrel of the Satsuma Shimazu family...... Shimazu is a traitor! General General, Satsuma Shimazu collaborates with the enemy! ”