Chapter 297 Surrender
Japan.

Dazaifu, Kyushu Island.

Dazaifu was built after the Battle of Baekgang in the Tang Dynasty. Originally, it was supposed to be just a frontline military outpost specially set up on Kyushu Island to prevent attacks from the Tang Dynasty.

However, today, it is no longer just a military base, but has become a gathering place for Japanese people.

After Zhao Xi conquered Tsushima Island, Iki Island and other islands between Asahi and Japan, he landed on the road almost effortlessly, and then attacked Dazaifu at an extremely fast speed.

Although during the battle, some Japanese generals captured by Song’s army were unwilling to become traitors.

But their Dazai Shuai of Dazaifu was particularly easy to talk to.

Upon asking, I found out that Dazaifu is no longer the same Dazaifu as before.

Today, Dazaifu has long become a place of exile for Japanese officials.

Just imagine, when the Song army attacked Dazaifu, what was the attitude of the enemy Dazaifu towards the Song army?

That’s almost like welcoming the royal teacher.

of course!

It’s not that I surrendered right away, but…

He surrendered because he felt there was really no hope.

Then, he also offered suggestions and told Zhao Xi that they could go straight to Huanglong. As long as they were under his leadership, it would not be an easy task to take Kyoto.

only……

Zhao Xi felt that even if the other party had thousands of reasons to betray their emperor, it was still a little hard to trust someone who surrendered so quickly.

Instead, I learned the basic picture of Japan from the other party.

can only say……

It’s still the same as when he was a kid and played games with his dad.

And speaking of it…

Zhao Xi was really a little curious.

Has Dad ever been to Japan?

Otherwise, why is Dad so familiar with Japan?

Kyushu, Honshu, Shikoku, Hokkaido.

The whole of Japan can be simply summarized by these four islands.

As for Japan’s capital, it is in the Kinki region of Honshu Island.

Fortunately, Zhao Xi did not ask the other party whether their place was rich in gold and silver, otherwise, Zhao Xin’s identity as a time traveler would be lost.

Because even the other party doesn’t know that there is a lot of gold and silver here.

And let alone gold and silver, there is not even enough iron.

of course!

If you say there is absolutely no such thing, then that is definitely not true.

only……

It’s different from the word ‘abundant’.

It is easy to learn the ways and methods of going to the capital from the other party.

Although the other party’s proposal is very tempting.

But Zhao Xu said that doing so would be too risky.

And who knows if the other party will lead them into a ditch.

To be honest, Japan’s architecture is pretty good.

and……

In front of Dazaifu, between two mountains, the other side actually built a water city about two miles long.

It took them some effort to capture the water city.

The construction of this water city was probably based on the city-building techniques of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla.

It’s just like adding a moat.

of course!

It looks good and beautiful, but in fact, it does not provide much defensive effect against the Song army in terms of defending against the enemy.

Zhao Xi was also very confused at this time.

Although he had fought in wars with his second and third brothers, he was considered experienced.

Moreover, he has gained a lot of experience in both sea landing and land combat.

But this battle on the island always feels a little different from the previous two.

The main difference is that.

As long as you land on the land, it will be land from now on.

But Japan is different.

The other party is an island country, and they feel they can block your retreat from any place.

This would make Zhao Xi feel very unsafe behind him.

Therefore, everyone had to tense their nerves.

And the key is…

The amount of food they could carry to the island at one time could not be too much.

Three months at most.

therefore……

The next thing they had to solve was the problem of food.

of course!

This can be solved by the opponent’s Dazai Shuai.

Zhao Xi also learned from Dazai Shuai that the political situation in Japan was not very stable at that time.

The main reason was that the previous regent Fujiwara no Yoshimichi had died, and the current regent was Fujiwara no Michizane, who was Fujiwara no Yoshimichi’s nephew. Fujiwara no Yoshimichi wanted his son to be the regent, which led to the fact that the ministers in the court might not have a unified opinion.

This is not!

When Zhao Xi occupied Dazaifu and asked some Japanese people to try to build a bastion for him near the dock, the power struggle in the Japanese court was very obvious.

Although they were cousins, Fujiwara no Michizane did not regard Fujiwara no Nobunaga, the son of Fujiwara no Yoshitsuchi, as his brother.

natural!

Fujiwara no Nobunaga did not consider Fujiwara no Michizane as a brother.

Both sides want to become the regent.

Only Emperor Shirakawa, watching them quarreling, had to say: “Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, please put aside your prejudices and repel the enemy.”

Fujiwara Nobunaga also said: “I think that protecting His Majesty is the first priority. Besides, why don’t we wait for the enemy to arrive.”

Fujiwara-sensei actually said: “Then do we not want Kyushu anymore?”

Fujiwara no Nobunaga said: “If the Kanpaku wants to repel the enemy, then the Kanpaku himself should lead the troops there.”

In fact, no one wants to die.

Fujiwara no Michizane also said: “Are you scared?”

Fujiwara no Nobunaga said: “When I traveled thousands of miles to Goryeo, I was never afraid at all.”

Don’t tell me yet!

What he said actually makes some sense.

Emperor Shirakawa was thinking, what time is it now? Of course, Emperor Shirakawa has some tricks. Since you two like fighting each other so much, I will send you both to go together.

“The enemy has arrived. This time, we can only mobilize the whole country to fight a decisive battle with them. Otherwise… the country will be in danger.”

“You, Fujiwara no Michizane, have men who are good at mountain and infantry combat. You will go overland from Honshu to kill the enemy.”

“You, Fujiwara no Nobunaga, have men who are good at naval warfare. Wait for an opportunity to destroy the enemy’s ships.”

“Kyushu is my Japanese territory. Even an inch of this land cannot be allowed to be touched by the enemy.”

It would be nice if we could destroy the Fujiwara family in one fell swoop.

As for what you said, what if we really can’t win after doing this?
Emperor Shirakawa has already made up his mind that if he really cannot defeat the enemy, then he will have no choice but to surrender.

Can’t I just surrender?
Emperor Shirakawa probably didn’t realize at this time that Goryeo had been replaced by the Song Dynasty.

He probably thought that if he surrendered earlier, he might be able to become a vassal.

of course!

No matter how you look at it, this is definitely the most difficult hurdle to overcome in his life.

After the meeting.

Emperor Shirakawa then went back to look for his queen, Fujiwara no Kenko.

I don’t know how long he can protect Fujiwara Kenko’s unparalleled beauty.

……

It took about twenty days of preparation.

Fujiwara no Michizane and Fujiwara no Nobunaga also had to arrange their own trusted men to lead the troops to the battle.

to be frank!
They were not prepared for the Song invasion. After all…

Before this, they had focused their attention on the court struggles.

I don’t have time to care about the affairs of the Song Dynasty and Goryeo.

I just didn’t expect that…

It’s time to come, it’s coming.

Before setting off, Fujiwara no Michizane even said to Fujiwara no Nobunaga hypocritically: “We are all one family, we should cooperate with each other.”

But he was given a cold look by the other party.

then……

Soon, Japan brought 30,000 soldiers, and then claimed to have 300,000, and they all rushed towards Kyushu Island.

Zhao Xi was shocked when he heard the news.

The other party actually has three hundred thousand.

So my fiefdom is so rich?
However, Dazai Shuai debunked this in a second, saying, “It’s estimated to be only 30,000 at most.”

Zhao Xi felt that this was actually a good thing.

He also said to the Taizai Commander: “Your family has a daughter. If your family has one, then I can take her as a concubine, and in the future, we will share the glory and wealth.”

The other party never thought that such a good thing could happen.

But let’s be honest!
Who doesn’t love his country?

If given a choice, he would still not want to be a traitor to the Japanese.

But if he doesn’t do it, he will die. There is no need to sacrifice his life in vain for the emperor.

About another month later.

The two sides began fighting at sea and on land.

The Song army was well-rested and under almost no pressure.

And the Japanese army, obviously, had an extremely poor combat level.

There was actually someone riding a horse who came up to provoke a group of Song soldiers.

Marshal Taizai could have clearly reminded Zhao Xi that you better be careful, because these people who are out to get what they want are not good people.

The bravery and combat effectiveness of these people are worthy of recognition.

but……

When the other side was having fun and showing off their strength, to be honest, all the soldiers on the Song army side were amused by them.

It’s like watching a monkey horse riding show.

The commander stopped playing with the other party.

“Ready, aim!”

“Bang bang bang bang!”

You will shoot both the man and the horse down.

When the enemy soldiers saw this, they immediately lost 90% of their courage.

The Song army also advanced step by step, and even began to pursue and kill the enemy.

The Song army brought over five hundred horses, and as the five hundred cavalrymen charged, Marshal Taizai saw what the gap was.

in fact……

It is not difficult to understand why Japanese soldiers would behave in this way.

because……

Since the Tang Dynasty, they have rarely had any war exchanges with the Central Plains. It can be said that they have been playing their own games, and there has been no innovation in the military.

Although they seem to have 20,000 infantry and 10,000 navy.

in fact……

Many of them have no experience in large-scale wars, and even after a long period of peace, many people do not know how to fight at all.

It might be okay to fight against a village fight involving a few hundred people, but once you encounter a well-trained army like the Song Dynasty, you will be like a piece of cake.

But they were defeated without a fight by just a casual charge of 500 cavalrymen of the Song army.

The Song army also took advantage of this opportunity to kill as many as they could.

On the first day alone, the Song army beheaded and killed at least 8,000 people on land and sea.

When the news reached Kyoto, there was a sudden sound of ghosts wailing and wolves howling.

Emperor Shirakawa also had to take it seriously immediately.

He originally thought that the Fujiwara family could at least fight on equal terms with the other side, but he never expected that.

When they met again, they were the patriarchs of various families who had fled back in a panic.

They described the Song army as monsters.

Emperor Shirakawa’s heart also skipped a beat.

To know……

He has only been on the throne for a few years and hasn’t even started to get comfortable.

Emperor Shirakawa looked at the man who had escaped and said, “Is there really no chance of winning?”

The other party replied: “What I mean is that we should surrender as soon as possible.”

I have actually said such shameless words.

This situation was beyond Emperor Shirakawa’s expectations.

in fact……

For the whole of Japan, you said it should not be a problem to gather an army of 100,000.

But the problem is that the whole of Japan is so big. You say you want to gather troops from the Kanto region and fly them to Kyoto all at once. Is that possible?

Therefore, the number of troops they can dispatch at one time is often not large.

That is to say, a few hundred people, or even one or two hundred people.

of course!

As long as such groups of people can be gathered quickly, the total number will still be considerable.

The issue is……

Now, after almost one or two months of preparation, the 30,000 people gathered are still no match for the Song army.

That’s true!
They estimated that their country was not far from being destroyed.

and……

The unfortunate news is that the local forces in Japan are actually a bit disobedient.

Not to mention the local forces, even Japanese monks did not listen to the imperial court, and news of resistance against the court was often heard.

In other words, these 30,000 people are almost equivalent to all the core troops that the imperial court can control.

Look at some of the powerful people in northeastern Japan today, they don’t take the imperial court seriously at all.

It would be difficult to ask them to send troops.

of course!

It cannot be said that it is completely impossible to send people to persuade these people.

only……

If the other party knew that your court was so weak, would they still take it seriously?
Japan today is in a very embarrassing period in history.

The samurai class had not yet emerged.

But the old system gradually collapsed.

Japan’s military system at that time was somewhat similar to the Fubing system.

After all, I learned it from the Tang Dynasty.

But not exactly the same.

Anyway…

After so many years, this system is no longer viable.

In fact, some guards had already escaped a long time ago.

It is not difficult to understand why the Japanese army collapsed as soon as it encountered the Song army.

If Yiqitao wins, maybe the morale of the group will be boosted.

But if you lose the first fight, you’re basically done for.

But don’t underestimate Ikkito, because some Japanese warriors are quite good at this skill.

When the Jurchen pirates invaded fifty years ago, they relied on a single cavalry to shoot and kill some pirates, which greatly boosted their morale and eventually defeated the invading Jurchen pirates.

But this time they encountered the strongest army in East Asia, and even in the world during the period of alternating cold and hot periods.

At the end of the third month after Zhao Xi landed on Kyushu Island.

Japan’s Emperor Shirakawa sent someone to deliver a letter of surrender.

(End of this chapter)