At dawn, the sky was full of shallow clouds in the shape of fish scales, the morning light was dim, the earth was still wrapped in darkness, and the distant mountains and islands were only showing blue-black horizons.

The first to notice the approach of the enemy ship was the Saga samurai guard, who had been on guard all night at the castle post. At dawn, the guards were asleep soundly against the base of the city wall with their knives in their arms, their bodies crooked, and they woke up from their dreams, and almost fell into a dog and ate. Looking at the morning light floating in the sky, the guards did not feel sleepy, stood up and stretched, and inadvertently saw many floating, slightly lighter shadows on the blue-black background of the distant island.

It's a ship, a large number of warships, and it's sailing and making waves heading for Matsuura.

The guards picked up the sentry hanging around their necks and shouted, "Enemy attack, enemy attack, quickly inform Lord Nagasaki!" The Huaidong Army attacked Songpu. "Although it is not clear that the flags flying on the warships are not clear, in this direction, only the Huaidong Army, which has only recently occupied the five islands, is likely to send a large army to attack Songpu.

Nagasaki Hidego climbed the city wall, and in a panic, he didn't even have time to put on his armor, and the samurai walked behind with his armor, and many samurai didn't have time to put on the armor themselves.

The Huaidong Army attacked Songpu! Although the vigilance has been strengthened here, no one thought that the Huaidong Army would really attack Songpu.

"Lord Yamashita had a very happy conversation with the Huaidong people yesterday, why did he suddenly change his face just one night?" Nagasaki Hidego was shocked, he never thought of what kind of disaster he would suffer because of!

"My lord, the Huaidong army is strong, and we can't let him land on the front hill!" Samurai Takesaki said.

Matsuura is a long and narrow peninsula in the northwest of Kyushu Island, and it looks like a long tongue sticking out of the main island.

Once the Huaidong Army landed on the front plateau, the Songpu Peninsula would be like a long tongue nailed to the root of the tongue, and it would be extremely painful. Matsuura Castle was built at the northern end of the peninsula and is more of a walled city than a castle. After being reminded by his samurai, Nagasaki Hidego woke up and didn't dare to defend Matsuura Castle alone, and instructed Takesaki Jichang, saying: "You and Jingzi go to defend the front hill, you must not let the Huaidong army land on the front hill, Otomo, you lead people to guard the Totsu ......" I ordered to guard the imperial affairs, and I remembered that I had to send someone to inform Lord Saga, so I had this idea, and I thought again: Lord Saga is in Hirado Castle, how can I not see the enemy attack? At this time, I could faintly hear the trumpet blowing from Hirado Island.

Hirado Island is a Dokdo island on the northern side of the Matsuura Peninsula, separated only by a narrow strait.

The day before yesterday, the Huaidong Army came to attack the pirates of Fujiang Island, and the soldiers were on the way, and it was strange that the Tsukushi Country, which was only separated by a water, was able to be safe. The head of the Saga clan, the ruler of the Tsukushi country, Saga Yorigen, personally led his retainers and samurai over early yesterday morning and landed on Hirado Island to watch the situation.

Once Matsuura Castle falls to the Huaidong Army, the head of the Saga clan, Saga Yorigen and Yamashita Keigo and other important ministers of the Tsukushi Province will be trapped at sea along with Hirado Castle, unable to communicate with Kyushu Island! Tsukushi Country will be half disabled!

Yamashita Keigo hurriedly climbed the walls of Hirado Castle, and when he climbed the castle road, he fell in a panic and almost rolled down, and his forehead was broken, and the blood flowed like an infusion.

Yamashita Keigo didn't care about wiping the blood on his cheeks, and looked at the Huaidong warship that was like a cloud and went around Hirado Island to Matsuura, he was dizzy for a while, and lost his voice: "What happened, the envoy himself said, as long as he borrowed Fukue Island to protect the trade route, a day has not passed, why did he send a large army to fight Tsukushi?" ”

Saga Yorigen was about forty years old, short in stature, wearing gorgeous armor, standing on the city wall, looking at the mast that covered the sea like clouds, and whispered to Keigo at the bottom of the mountain: "What are you panicking about? The Huaidong Army dared to use troops against Tsukushi, not only on Kyushu Island, but also on Honshu and Shikoku, and the forces of the various countries would gather under the banner of Dazaifu to resist it! The samurai of Daifuso would pour the blood of the Central Plains people into this ocean like a river, and then drive them out. ”

Saga Yorigen sent Yamashita Keigo to Fukue Island last night, but it was just to test the intention of the Huaidong Army, and he originally intended to delay until the Huaidong Army had a decisive battle with the Koreans before deciding whether to stay on Fukue Island. At that time, even if the Huaidong Army can defeat the Koreans on Danluo Island, its own casualties will not be small, and there will be plenty of time to prepare for war, so there will be more bargaining chips for negotiation.

The fleet of the Huaidong Army suddenly sorted, bypassed Hirado, and brazenly attacked Matsuura, and Saga Yorigen was also taken aback. What was the intention of the Huaidong Army? It's completely confusing. Only a fool will make enemies on both sides, could it be that the Koreans have already succumbed?

In any case, no matter what unexpected factors are unguessable, the Huaidong Army has already attacked brazenly, and it is useless to think about it more, so it is better to finish this battle first.

Saga Yorigen calmly stared at the Huaidong naval warships on the sea on both wings.

The surrounding samurai were all affected by the head of the family, and they were a little less panicked, but looking at the Huaidong Army coming with great momentum, they were a little nervous, and they couldn't wait for Matsuura and Hirado Castle to bulldoze the Huaidong Army, and then wait for the forces of other families to gather together to help, right?

At that time, even if the Huaidong Army is driven out, the Saga clan will be finished.

Saga Yorigen came to Hirado, and in addition to the retainers, more than a thousand samurai followed. Coupled with the garrison force of Hirado Island, there were 1,000 samurai and 1,000 miscellaneous soldiers in Hirado Castle, and the combat power was considerable; However, Matsuura Castle only had 200 samurai and 500 miscellaneous soldiers.

At this time, I think about it, such a defensive deployment is suspected of being top-heavy and unfounded. It's just that no one thought that the Huaidong Army would really attack Zhuzi before, although they concentrated their forces on the north coast and strengthened their vigilance, but they didn't seriously consider attacking and defending the imperial palace, and they left a top-heavy defensive flaw, which is very unwise.

The fleet of the Huaidong Army, bypassing the well-armed Hirado Island, only went to the Matsuura Peninsula, which was relatively empty in defense, and wanted to get a clear idea of the defense situation in this area.

At this time, the Huaidong Army had warships stationed at the mouth of the strait between Hirado Island and the Matsuura Peninsula, and even if it was difficult, they had to send samurai across the sea to support Matsuura Castle.

Once Matsuura Castle fell, the back road to Hirado Island was cut off, and Tsukushi Province was almost paralyzed.

*************

The Battle of the Songpu Strait broke out almost simultaneously with the landing of the former plateau.

The front hill is a relatively narrow and gentle shallow terrain, as if the southern tip of the Songpu Peninsula has narrowed abruptly at the waist, and the narrowest part is only seven or eight miles wide.

If the front hill is lost, the neck of the Matsuura Peninsula will be stuck, and the terrain on this side is conducive to landing, and only a few stone embankments have been built along the coast for simple defense.

Takesaki Jichang and Jingzicheng each led a samurai, and before the Huaidong army landed, they entered the stone embankments on both sides of the front hill and defended according to the stone embankments. But it is too late to make more preparations.

The warships of the Jinghai Battalion are divided into flat bottoms and ridge bottoms.

The bottom ridge of the ship is easy to break the waves, and can prevent transverse waves, which is convenient for safe and fast navigation at sea, and can withstand large wind and waves, but the draft is extremely deep. Some of the oversized sailing ships recently built in Chongzhou have drafts of more than two feet. Such deep-water galleons have extremely fast speed, high stability, and can also sail through the waves when the wind is strong, and can reach the speed record of "one hundred miles, thousands of miles day and night" when the wind is downwind, which is much faster than the ordinary sea ships in the world, but non-ready-made deep-water seaports cannot be berthed.

However, most of the medium-sized warships belonging to the Jinghai Battalion are flat-bottomed, especially the large-wing boats, which have wide surfaces and low and flat bottoms, and can directly and steadily separate the shallow on the shallows; The bow and side foresides are also equipped with shield walls that can be opened and closed. When crossing the sea, the large-wing ship was tied behind the Jiyun-class warship, and did not carry soldiers, so it was specially used for landing operations at the moment, and could directly rush into shallow water to grab a beach and land.

The pallet does not reach out to dry ground, but under the guidance of the guide, the shallow water base for the beach is quite solid, sandy, and there is no soft mud. Ignoring the cold of the sea in early spring, the guards rushed down from the big winged boat, holding their shields, wading through the shallow water, and charging towards the beachhead.

"Get on the arrow!" Takesaki Ji shouted loudly, Fusang bows are mostly made of bamboo and wood, big and long, strong bows can shoot a hundred steps, "whoosh" broke through the air.

When the pawn waded through the water, his balance was very poor, and when his shield struck seven or eight long arrows at the same time, some people fell. There was a gap in the marching array, and from time to time someone was hit by an arrow and slipped into the icy waters.

What's even worse is that you have to keep your formation when you wade through the water, and you can't be fast. Rushing close to the stone embankment was enough for the samurai guarding the embankment to shoot several rounds of arrows.

While rushing towards the beachhead, the guards gathered crossbowmen to follow behind the sword and shield soldiers, and returned fire with a strong crossbow and hard bow with a longer range, suppressing the rain of arrows behind the stone embankment.

The clear blue waters, which mixed the mud and sand with the blood poured into it, made the war seem cruel and unforgiving from the beginning.

On the left and right, four ships approached and placed horizontally, and a bed crossbow was erected in the bow and stern of the relatively small ship. The waves pushed and the hull of the ship swayed, so that the accuracy of the bed crossbow was limited, but the huge arrows as huge as spears and spears, and the sharp sound made by breaking through the air was breathtaking.

The giant arrow of the bed crossbow traveled through the space three hundred steps away, hitting the stone embankment like lightning, striking countless stone chips, the stone embankment shook, and the tail of the giant arrow trembled, making a piercing buzzing sound. The hearts of the warriors behind the stone embankment trembled, and the rhythm of archery was disrupted.

In just a dozen breaths, the soldiers who grabbed the beach rushed to the stone embankment in front of the scattered rain of arrows.

Except for the samurai who were excellent in archery and continued to fight with bows, most of the Fuso samurai and generals who defended the stone embankment abandoned their bows and replaced them with swords and guns.

Takesaki Ji Chang clenched the long knife with both hands, jumped on the half-height stone embankment, and watched a Huaidong soldier rush up. The knife was like lightning, and it violently split the round shield in half, and the tip of the knife took advantage of the momentum of the slash to reveal the head with a frightened look after splitting the round shield. When the soldier was rushing for the beach, his helmet fell into the sea, and before he could pick it up, he lost his life......

There were casualties in the battle, and there were not many veterans of the guard battalion, but the new soldiers selected from the Huaisi Liuhu had been trained for more than half a year, and they had long been familiar with the battle in battle and the coordinated operation of the narrow battlefield.

Seeing the ferocity of the Fuso samurai, they jumped on the stone embankment and slashed, so they used bamboo stabbing spears in front to block the long knives of the Fuso samurai; The sword and shield soldiers wearing light armor attacked the stone embankment from both wings, and the Mo knife hand wearing heavy armor followed closely behind, using heavy armor and sharp Mo knives, taking a step forward, holding the position of one step, and never retreating easily. The crossbowmen were still standing in the shallow water, or looking for a space to shoot from their wings, and their blood was boiling, and they did not even feel the chill of the sea in early spring.

The bamboo spear has sharp bamboo branches scattered at the front end, which is tough and dense, and the longest bamboo spear is nearly two zhang long, which is very convenient for fighting the long knives of Fuso samurai.

Fuso samurai often used long knives, and although the long knives were extremely sharp, they were blocked by the fine bamboo branches, and it was difficult to cut off the head of the bamboo spear at once. Seeing that he couldn't fight in close quarters with a long knife, Takezaki Ji Chang retreated and let the miscellaneous soldiers use their guns to stab the Huaidong army.

Fusang miscellaneous soldiers mostly use long spears, the head of the spear is very short, but the barrel of the gun is extremely long, it is more than half a section longer than the longest bamboo spear, I am afraid that it is three or four zhang long, and it is mostly made of light and solid bamboo. Such a long spear has the advantage of length with the bamboo stabbing spear and spear of the Huaidong Army. The advantage in length also enabled the Fuso miscellaneous soldiers to open up the distance of engagement, and even if there were few people wearing armor, they were better protected.

The first time Huaidong Jiajun encountered this kind of spear, standing under the stone embankment, the disadvantage in the position was great, and he couldn't get close to climbing, and he was caught off guard for a while, and several people were stabbed by cold. Unable to rush up the stone embankment, he could only cover it with a large shield and stalemate under the embankment.

Ma Po Monkey waded through the water and walked to the front, looking at the sad face of the chief of the pawn cowered and did not dare to fight hard, and scolded: "Soft eggs, this kind of broken gun can't pierce through heavy armor, I'm afraid of him a bird!" The sword and shield soldiers fight, the Mo knife hand slashes, and the opening rushes up; I can't rush away, stand under the embankment and wait to be stoned to death, driven into the sea, waiting to freeze to death! He also let the soldiers of the two armies who rushed up immediately disperse and attack the stone embankment to disperse the strength of the defenders.

Although the Fuso samurai were elite and fearless of death, their numbers were small, and the number of samurai with swords and spears was less than one hundred or forty or fifty, and only a dozen archers were behind them to release arrows. The Huaidong Army put in double the number of foot soldiers at this landing point, and if it was not enough, the soldiers of the water camp could also be pulled up to fight. If you can't attack it, Ma Po Monkey has no face to be the commander of the battalion, and the key is not to press the defenders under the stone embankment, otherwise the casualties will be difficult to control.

"Gather the good hands of archery, concentrate on shooting at the black flag, press down the people on that side, break the opening first, and let people rush forward!" Ma Po Monkey took over the command of the sentinel in the front formation, stood knee-deep in the shallow water, separated from the stone embankment by more than 100 steps, and personally commanded the landing operation.

The monkey had a saber in his hand, and he habitually waved it with a sheath while giving orders loudly.

Takezaki Kicho knew the significance of the former plateau to the defense of the Matsuura Peninsula, and he and the more than 100 samurai and more than 200 miscellaneous soldiers in the hands of Zuo Zi were almost half of Matsuura's troops. If Saga-sama could not get the defenders of Hirado Castle to cross the sea in time to help, the front hill would be lost, and Matsuura Castle, which had only 100 samurai and 300 miscellaneous soldiers, would have been lost.

There were only one hundred and forty or fifty people guarding the stone embankment on this side in the hands of Takesaki Ji Chang, and the Huaidong army rushed up to the stone embankment There were already about two hundred people, and looking at the warships behind, there were still four or five hundred soldiers waiting to land on the shore, and desperate thoughts surged in his heart.