Emperor of the Sui Dynasty - Chapter 361

The next morning, Yang Guang led his army to attack the capital of Fusang, leaving 4,000 soldiers to garrison Jiegang.
Along the way, the army did not harm the Japanese people in any way, which greatly pleased the Japanese people. The image of the benevolent army of the Celestial Empire quickly took root in people's hearts and spread far and wide.
Yang Guang led his army to advance swiftly. What was originally a two-day journey to the capital was completed in just one day and one night. He arrived at the outskirts of the capital and decisively surrounded the Japanese forces in the city.
He received intelligence that the Japanese garrison in the city numbered as many as 50,000, which was somewhat unexpected. He had assumed that the Japanese shogunate would place a large force on the front lines where Honshu and Kyushu meet, with layers of defenses, leaving Kyoto mostly undefended. He hadn't expected that the Japanese would still have 50,000 troops stationed in Kyoto, which suggested that there were indeed some resourceful individuals within the Japanese court.
The Japanese garrison in Kyoto was somewhat panicked by the sudden arrival of the Chinese army at the city gates. However, Kyoto was the capital of Japan, and they had to hold on no matter what. They deployed their defenses tightly within the city, awaiting the Chinese army's large-scale attack.
The plan to launch a surprise attack on Kyoto has failed. Currently, the Chinese army has 100,000 elite infantrymen, while the Japanese garrison inside the city numbers as many as 50,000, not including the able-bodied men temporarily mobilized to defend the city. The capital of Japan not only has a population of hundreds of thousands, but its defenses are also extremely strong, surpassing all others in Japan, making it virtually impregnable.
Yang Guang possessed over 150 powerful cannons, which could easily breach the walls of the capital. However, he would then face fierce street fighting in the city. In street fighting, his own powerful firepower would be ineffective, and it would basically be a matter of hand-to-hand combat.
Although 100,000 soldiers were battle-hardened elites, they were simply not up to the task of conquering a fortified city defended by 50,000 men. Xiao Ruo never fought a battle he wasn't confident of winning, so he decided to postpone the attack.
As for the 50,000 Japanese defenders in Kyoto, they dared not take the initiative to go out of the city for a decisive battle. The great battle in Kyushu had already chilled the hearts of the Japanese. At that time, they had taken advantage of the Chinese army crossing the river to attack, and they were still defeated. Now they dared not fight a field battle with the Chinese army again. The entire army suffered from a serious fear of China and preferred to passively defend the city.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the shogun of the Fusang shogunate, was stationed in Kyoto and ordered a strict defense and no battle to be waged. At the same time, he ordered daimyo from all over Fusang to urgently lead their troops to reinforce the capital.
As a result, the battle situation temporarily reached a stalemate, and no large-scale fighting occurred.
Yang Guang vigorously promoted his conquest policy and united front strategy, and waged a psychological war, which greatly shook the Japanese people in various places.
While besieging the capital and waiting for reinforcements, he also sent people to search for Li Shimin's whereabouts, hoping to find Li Shimin's secret hideout and kill him.
For several days in a row, troops from various Japanese domains arrived from all over the country and gathered near Kyoto. However, they did not launch an attack on the Chinese army outside Kyoto, but instead maintained a standoff at a distance.
The Celestial Empire's army exerted strong military pressure on one hand, while vigorously promoting a policy of gentle conquest on the other. It used both hard and soft tactics, employing both kindness and coercion. The various feudal lords were hesitant and observed each other, resulting in a lack of unity among them, with each family having its own agenda.
The political system of Fusang differs greatly from that of the Celestial Empire. In Fusang, each region is ruled by powerful local lords, somewhat similar to the Zhou Dynasty in China. The powerful families in Fusang are like the feudal lords of the Zhou Dynasty, who are loyal to the imperial court but also own their own family territories.
In response to this complex situation, Yang Guang vigorously promoted his policy of division and disintegration.
The armies of the various daimyo in Japan acted independently, each hoping others would fight so they could scavenge from behind. This led to mutual suspicion and distrust, making unified action impossible. Some daimyo even secretly sought ways to contact the Chinese army, causing the allied forces to fracture.
On the other hand, the conquest of Kyushu went very smoothly. The two armies advanced rapidly and occupied most of Kyushu, with reinforcements from the Celestial Empire continuously arriving.
War clouds loomed over the area around Kyoto, Japan, with a major battle threatening to erupt at any moment. A chilling atmosphere permeated the air, making it hard to breathe.
That evening, a Japanese envoy secretly came to contact the Imperial Army. He was from the Noda family, a relatively small daimyo in the Kanto region of Japan, and inquired whether their family territory could be preserved if they submitted to the Imperial Army.
Yang Guang was secretly pleased. Originally, the rule of the Central Plains dynasty could not tolerate local separatist forces, but in order to divide and weaken the Japanese and use them against each other, he might as well agree to their demands for now.
He said that if the Noda family abandoned the darkness and embraced the light, they could preserve their territory. However, there was one condition: the Noda family had to make contributions in this battle. It was not acceptable for them to just watch from the sidelines. They had to take concrete actions to show their loyalty to the Celestial Empire. Upon hearing the emperor's words, the secret envoy sent by the Noda family was overjoyed and left happily.
The next day, the Noda family did not immediately surrender. That evening, they sent an envoy to explain that they were waiting for the best opportunity to defect, so that they could make a great contribution and give the emperor a grand gift.
Yang Guang knew perfectly well that these nice words were just pretexts. The Noda clan had made contact with the Celestial Empire, but they remained ambivalent, observing and waiting to maximize their own interests. If the Celestial Empire's army won, the Date clan would definitely turn against their own people and act as the vanguard for the Celestial Empire's pacification of Japan; but if the Celestial Empire's army suffered defeats or even fell into a crisis, the Noda clan would most likely act as if nothing had happened, firmly standing on the side of the Shogunate and continuing to be loyal retainers.
Noda cursed the old fox inwardly for his cunning, but then thought it was only natural. So he rewarded the secret messenger with some gold and silver, telling him to report back to his lord and wait for the best opportunity to defect, but as soon as possible. Otherwise, when they met on the battlefield, the artillery fire would not discriminate between Japanese soldiers and their own, and it would be a real injustice to be bombarded to the point of being thrown into chaos.
The messenger's heart skipped a beat, his expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly said that he would definitely convey the message to the head of the household.
In the following days, Yang Guang still could not ascertain Li Shimin's whereabouts. The armies of the various Japanese vassal states were only twenty li (approximately 10 kilometers) from the Heavenly Dynasty's main camp, severely restricting the movement of the scout cavalry. Several scout teams that ventured too far were attacked by the enemy, suffering heavy losses. Under these circumstances, Yang Guang had no choice but to suspend the long-distance search for Li Shimin's secret hideout.
Under Yang Guang's vigorous policy of appeasement and conquest, several Japanese daimyo have secretly come to make contact, harboring ulterior motives. The division between the various domains continues to widen, and the contradictions are on the surface. Many daimyo's troops are even camping far apart, on guard against each other, to prevent being attacked by other factions.
The daimyo, large and small, from all over Fusang arrived one after another with their troops, ranging from a few thousand to tens of thousands. Almost all the daimyo of Fusang came, gathering a total of more than 200,000 troops, plus 50,000 in the capital. Essentially, the entire army of Fusang had arrived.
However, the various domains of Japan were already riddled with contradictions and far from being a unified entity. Under Yang Guang's strategy of sowing discord, these internal conflicts were already showing signs of intensifying and escalating.
With the entire army of Japan gathering, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, sent orders daily from within Kyoto to launch a massive offensive, while the troops inside the city coordinated an attack from both inside and outside to encircle the Imperial Army.
However, the troops of the various Japanese domains outside the city were completely uncoordinated. Each domain had its own agenda, and a small number of daimyo had even made contact with the imperial court, so they would not dare to act rashly. Another small number of daimyo were loyal to the shogunate. They wanted to launch an attack, but they could not fight alone; while most daimyo were watching and waiting for the right opportunity to make a decision, and they all remained inactive.
Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto was frantic, trying everything he could think of. The various feudal lords' armies wouldn't budge, and in his desperation, he even invoked the Emperor's name.
However, it didn't work. The Emperor had long been revered as a mere figurehead, and no one took his orders seriously.
Several daimyo loyal to the shogunate could no longer stand by and watch, and finally led their own troops to launch an attack... The result was predictable: the limited attacking force was mercilessly beaten, suffered extremely heavy losses, and fled back in disgrace, humiliated and severely weakened.
As a result, even fewer people were willing to attack.
During this period of stalemate, as Kyushu was quickly occupied, reinforcements from the Celestial Empire arrived in a steady stream, bringing the Celestial Empire's forces in the Kyoto area to 140,000 to 150,000, and greatly strengthening the defenses of the border port.
To the surprise of the entire army, among the reinforcements was a force of 1,600 Japanese soldiers. According to Changsun Wuji of Kyushu, these Japanese were originally scattered local troops from Kyushu, but they voluntarily came to surrender because of the emperor's lenient and appeasing occupation policy. This was quite a novel development, and the entire army marveled at it.
Emperor Yang Guang was overjoyed. It seemed the appeasement policy had been quite effective. The hearts and minds of the people were the greatest force. After the conquest of Kyushu, the resistance of the Japanese people should be very limited. This was extremely rare in the process of one people conquering another—especially a powerful and fanatical people like the Japanese.
The Celestial Empire's army already numbers 160,000 on the main island of Fusang, confronting the entire Fusang army of over 300,000. Once a major battle breaks out, it will be the final decisive battle, and the victor will possess the entire Fusang Kingdom.

URL 1:https://www.sexlove5.com/htmlBlog/215241.html

URL 2:/Blog.aspx?id=215241&aspx=1

Previous Page : SNH48's Star Dream Brothel

Next Page : SPA cooking method

增加

comment Open a new window to view comments

Contact Information

Emperor of the Sui Dynasty - Chapter 361

comment Open a new window to view comments