The rise of the poor

"Quickly, quickly, send men to retake the city gate!" Prefect Han ordered hastily after being jolted awake by the crowd.

"Your Excellency, it's too late. That man surnamed Wei has opened the city gates with his men. General Liu and his men have organized several counterattacks to seize the gates, but they have all been blocked by that traitor Wei and his men. Not to mention, the Japanese pirates have already entered the city, and General Liu and his men are no match for them. By the time I arrived, General Liu had already suffered a series of defeats, and the city gates could no longer be held."

The messenger knelt on the ground, wailing as if in mourning.

What?! It's all over, all over! Upon hearing this devastating news, Prefect Han's vision went black, his head lolled to the side, and he fainted again.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, Your Excellency has fainted again!"

"Your Excellency, wake up! Wake up! Someone come quick! Your Excellency has fainted again!"

"Your Excellency, wake up! The Japanese pirates have invaded! What should we do? Fight, defend, or retreat to advance?!"

The prefectural government office was thrown into chaos again, with people frantically pinching each other's philtrum and calling out to each other as if trying to summon a soul.

While chaos erupted at the prefectural government office, Xu Hai, Songpu Shigeyo, and Longzhaoji Gaoche, watching the Japanese pirates file into the city gates, couldn't help but smile smugly. The situation was settled; Songjiang Prefecture had fallen.

Now it's time to reap the rewards.

The wealth of such a giant city is even greater than that of Kyoto, the capital of Japan. How astonishing must the wealth within be? It would surpass even mountains of gold and silver. Just thinking about this made Matsuura Shigeyo's mouth water.

"Even if they learned of our scheme and took precautions in advance, so what? The walls they forged cannot guard against the hearts of men!"

Xu Hai chuckled and said casually.

“Yoshi, what Xu Sang said makes perfect sense. There’s an old saying in your Ming Dynasty: ‘Trouble arises from within the walls.’ They are exactly that kind of internal strife.”

Longzao Temple Gao Che nodded repeatedly, praising Xu Hai's methods of seizing the city. He attacked the city from within and took it without bloodshed. Hehe, they are the inner circle of Songjiang Prefecture, while you, Xu Hai, are the inner circle of the Ming Dynasty!
I love your lack of loyalty among yourselves! The more internal strife like yours, the better!

"Let's go into the city. I can't wait to see how much gold and silver is inside this giant city."

Matsuura Moye rubbed his hands together, eager to get started.

"Hahaha, the situation is settled. Since General Matsuura is so eager, let's enter the city."

Xu Hai chuckled.

The three men, their faces beaming with the joy of their victory, waved their hands, directed the central army into the city, and strolled leisurely toward the gates of Songjiang Prefecture, displaying the demeanor of victors.

As they strolled leisurely toward Songjiang Prefecture, a series of dense and rhythmic "bang bang bang" sounds, like thunder, suddenly came from behind them.

"not good!"

Upon hearing the dense and rhythmic thuds, Xu Hai felt a chill run down his spine. He instinctively rolled over and dove to the ground to avoid the attack, yelling that something was wrong as the fear of being dominated by the Zhejiang army returned.

As he fell to the ground and rolled around, Xu Hai tried to turn his face backward.

Sure enough, in his field of vision, the Zhejiang Army soldiers, dressed in black iron-colored cotton armor, emerged from behind his army like ghosts, carrying muskets and forming the long, linear battle formation unique to the Zhejiang Army, with smoke billowing above the battle formation.

The Zhejiang army marched directly towards the Japanese pirates' central army, their steps perfectly synchronized, their ranks always impeccably orderly.

They surged towards the central army banner like an overwhelming tide.

A large number of Japanese pirates fell behind the central army. Even though they were wearing iron armor, they could not stop the gunballs fired by the Zhejiang army. The gunballs pierced through the iron armor, passing through their chests and backs, and screams of agony filled the air.

"Baka! Where did this strange army come from?!" Matsuura Shigeyo turned his head and saw the Zhejiang army that appeared like ghosts, and exclaimed "Baka!"

"What?! What kind of battle formation is this?! How can it be so strange?! They're all armed with arquebuses?! All of them are clad in armor?! From head to toe, they're covered in armor?!"

When Longzao Temple Gao Che turned around, he saw the Zhejiang army and was stunned to find that all of them were fully armored and carrying arquebuses!

Is that how you use a musket?!
"Damn it! It's the Zhejiang army! That damned Zhu Ping'an, why is he here again?! He's like a persistent ghost!"

Xu Hai scrambled to his feet, gritting his teeth. When he saw the Zhejiang army again, a look of panic appeared on his usually confident and composed face.

There was no way around it; every encounter with the Zhejiang army felt like a nightmare, so how could one not be terrified?

Not only Xu Hai, but all the Japanese pirates who had encountered the Zhejiang army recalled the fear of being dominated by the Zhejiang army and shrank back.

Fortunately, most of the Japanese pirates who had encountered the Zhejiang army were dead. At this moment, many Japanese pirates in the camp were unaware of the fear the Zhejiang army had shown. Although they were initially startled by the attack, they quickly recovered and refused to continue.
You little piece of trash, trying to ambush me!
There aren't many people, only about three thousand at a glance, while we have six thousand!
We just knocked down the defenders on the city wall!

"Kill!"

"Dead!"

Without Xu Hai and others giving orders, the central and rear armies spontaneously charged towards the Zhejiang army. They were fierce Japanese soldiers who had fought their way through countless battles!
"Armor cannons are slow to load! Charge forward and kill them all!" Ryuzoji Takasha, well aware of the drawbacks of arquebuses, shouted the order.

"Take advantage of the fact that they've just finished fighting and haven't had time to reload their gunpowder, rush over and tear them to shreds!" Matsuura Shigeyo shouted the order.

Under their orders, the Japanese pirates charged even more fiercely.

"bang bang bang"

They were met with another volley of orderly and dense musket fire.

"Ahhh"

The Japanese pirates' rear guard let out screams and fell to the ground like wheat being harvested.

After the Zhejiang troops in the front row finished firing, they slowed down and increased the distance between them. The Zhejiang troops behind them then smoothly accelerated and overtook them to become the last row. The Zhejiang troops in the front row stood still and fired volleys. After firing, they slowed down and the Zhejiang troops behind them overtook them.

While the Zhejiang soldiers in the front row stood ready to fire, the Zhejiang soldiers in the back row bit open the paper packets of gunpowder and poured them into the muskets to load them.

Once the front-line soldiers had completed one rotation, the Zhejiang soldiers behind them were reloaded and accelerated forward.

Such smooth rotations and wave-like advances, the dense and orderly volleys of fire seemed to open the gates of hell, sending wave after wave of Japanese pirates into hell!

Xu Hai saw the Zhejiang army advancing in waves, with dense and orderly musket fire continuously. His pupils contracted sharply. Damn it, the Zhejiang army's firearm formation is in motion, more sophisticated, and more aggressive!

"What's going on? How can this strange army's arquebuses fire so frequently?! Don't they need to reload?!"

Matsuura Shigeyo gaped in disbelief.

"Can a musket be used like this?!" Ryuzoji Takasha's mouth was even wider than Matsuura Shigeyo's, and of course, his eyes were even wider. The shock of what he saw was indescribable.

After the Zhejiang army fired four volleys, the Japanese pirates charging towards them had calmed down and stopped. Almost none of the vanguard remained standing; they fell to the ground screaming in agony, even the heavily armored pirates. Before the gunfire, everyone was equal. Whether armored or unarmored, whether in iron, leather, or heavy armor, all met the same fate: armor shattered and men killed. Death had brought them to their senses. (End of Chapter)