The rise of the poor

With Xu Hai, Songpu Shigeyo, and Ryuzoji Takasha overseeing the battle, the Japanese pirates attacked the city fiercely. Despite being on the attacking side, they firmly held the upper hand. The Songjiang Prefecture garrison, which was on high ground and protected by the city walls, was actually suppressed by the Japanese pirates below the city.

The majority of the garrison troops in Songjiang Prefecture were from the garrison troops, half of whom were old and weak, and the other half were also poorly trained.

The arrows shot down from the city wall were weak and inaccurate; each arrow was light and fluffy, missing its mark by a wide margin, and rarely achieving any success.

Some arrows even flew down softly, only to be caught by the fierce Japanese pirates below the city with their bare hands.

"Hahahaha, you weaklings on the city wall, did you shoot down those arrows just to tickle my itch?!"

"Grandsons, open your dog eyes wide and watch how your grandpa shoots arrows. Let grandpa teach you!"

The Japanese pirate who caught the arrow with his bare hands took a longbow from his back, nocked an arrow, drew the bow to its fullest extent, and released it with a whoosh.

The arrow shot towards the city wall like lightning, and an unfortunate defender was drawing his bow when the arrow struck him directly in the chest.

Although he was wearing armor, it was tattered and worn. The arrow pierced through the broken armor with a bang, hitting him right in the heart.

"Uh"

The unfortunate garrison soldier only had time to let out a scream before blood gushed from his mouth and nose, and he collapsed and died.

"Hahaha, grandson, have you learned something? You're doomed in this life, but you'd better remember this in the next."

When the Japanese pirates saw that the defenders on the city wall had been killed by his arrow, they burst into laughter and arrogantly shouted insults at the city wall.

Compared to the garrison of Songjiang Prefecture, many of the Japanese pirates below the city were regular soldiers who had fought their way through the war-torn Japanese islands. The islands were currently in their Warring States period, with village chiefs and town heads fighting amongst themselves in numerous small but bloody battles, forging skilled and valiant Japanese warriors. They were excellent archers, fast, accurate, and ruthless, and incredibly brave. Approaching the city walls, they would draw their bows and shoot arrows; their bows were long, their arrows long, and their heads large, so while they couldn't hit the target every time, they could generally hit it 50 or 60 times out of 100 shots!

Moreover, the Japanese pirates also organized eight hundred arquebuses, which were very powerful. Even the soldiers on the city walls, who were wearing armor, could not withstand the gunfire. Not to mention that the soldiers' armor was of poor quality and poorly maintained, and those hit by it all vomited blood and died.

The Japanese pirates had only been attacking the city for less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn when the defenders on the city walls were killed or wounded by four or five hundred men, while the Japanese pirates below the city walls had only suffered a few dozen casualties.

In addition, although the Japanese pirates only had about ten siege ladders, there were many houses built against the city wall outside the city, lined up one after another. The Japanese pirates selected dozens of tall houses as stepping stones, and demolished more than a hundred houses to obtain door panels and roof beams, which they used to make simple but sturdy ladders to climb the city wall.

For a time, the defending troops on the city walls were overwhelmed and in grave danger.

Fortunately, they received the orders from Hu Zongxian and Prefect Han in advance and made preparations two days ahead of time. They stored a lot of logs and stones on the city wall and threw stones and logs at the ladders. Although they were busy and flustered, they managed to hold the city wall.

"Sirs, you have worked hard. Thanks to your protection, we have been able to keep the city from being ravaged by those murderous Japanese pirates."

"These are pancakes I made myself, and these are pickled vegetables and shredded pork that I stir-fried myself. They taste good when rolled in a pancake, so please don't think I'm clumsy."

"This is rice wine from my home. It's mellow and doesn't give you a headache. You can drink three big bowls without getting drunk. It's for you to quench your thirst, sir."

"This is a whole roasted lamb from our Gaoyuelou restaurant. It's incredibly fragrant. We specially roasted ten of them for you to try, sir."

While the fierce battle raged on and around the city walls, a group of civilians came to the city gate to reward the troops. There were old and young, men and women, some dressed as wealthy merchants, some as waiters, and some as scholars. They enthusiastically brought food and drink to reward the troops.

In particular, there were several women who were so alluring and enthusiastic that they almost squeezed their whole bodies into the arms of the gatekeepers.

The soldiers guarding the city gate had never seen such a passionate woman before. Her body squeezed and twisted in their arms, making it impossible for them to hold her down.

"Stop, stop! This is a sensitive area near the city gate. Do not approach." A general, seeing the civilians rewarding the troops getting closer and closer to the city gate, cautiously gestured with his hand to stop them from moving forward. "Just leave your things there."

"General, you are so mighty! You scared my heart out! No wonder you were able to defeat those notorious Japanese pirates. Here is a roast chicken, please have some to eat. You won't have the strength to fight on an empty stomach."

A rather attractive woman patted her heavy chest, took a slightly exaggerated breath, took a roast chicken wrapped in oil paper from her basket, and ran enthusiastically toward the general.

This woman had such a great figure; even though she was wearing a cotton-padded jacket, she still swayed as she walked.

The sight of the swaying object made the surrounding guards stare wide-eyed, and their mouths watered uncontrollably.

"stop!"

The general reached out again to stop the woman who was walking towards them.

"General, you've frightened me! Oh dear!"

Just then, the unsteady woman lost her footing, cried out in panic, and stumbled forward, falling to the ground, her basket flying out of her hands.

"Watch out!" The general shouted instinctively upon seeing this, then quickly stepped forward and reached out his hands to help the fallen woman up.

As they rushed towards each other, the woman fell into the general's arms. The general caught her, and with her soft body in his arms, he couldn't help but let out a cry of "Ah!" before falling backward.

What happened?!

General, what's wrong with you? How come you tripped over helping a woman?! Haha, General, you're too weak! You can't even handle a little girl?! You must have been drained too much by your wife?! If I were to give you some tiger penis wine to help you recover, you'd definitely give me a good promotion.

The soldiers watching were amazed to see their general catch a fallen woman, only to be knocked back with a scream. They couldn't help but wonder what was going on, thinking to themselves that their general was far too weak.

They also saw an opportunity and thought that if they sent a jar of tiger penis wine to replenish the general's strength, wouldn't that be a great achievement?

Unbeknownst to them, blood trickled from the corner of the general's mouth as he fell backward, and a sinister smile appeared on the lips of the woman in his arms. A glint of cold light emanated from the belly of the roast chicken in her hand, revealing half of a blood-dripping dagger.

Finally, as the general fell to the ground, someone noticed something was wrong: blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth, and blood was gushing from the gaps in his armor.
"Oh no! The general has been stabbed!" A sharp-eyed soldier noticed something was wrong and shouted.

However, before he could finish shouting, he saw the civilians who had come to reward the troops suddenly turn hostile and pull out weapons such as Japanese swords, short knives, daggers, and axes from under the carts pushing whole roasted lambs, from baskets, from their pockets, and from various other places, and start slashing at the guards around them.

Caught off guard, the gatekeepers hadn't even had time to draw their swords before they were hacked to the ground by the "civilians" who were rewarding the troops. Blood flowed like a river at the city gate, heads rolled everywhere, and the gatekeepers cried out in agony as they were slaughtered; it had become a veritable slaughterhouse. (End of Chapter)