dtnovels Chapter 717
Chapter 717
As a general, Lan Yu wanted victory. Although fewer casualties would be better, winning was the key to war.
So after Zhu Chong finished speaking, he immediately asked about the most critical issue of marching and fighting.
"Your Highness, how long can our food and supplies last now?"
Hearing Lan Yu's question, Zhu Chong lowered his head and pondered for a moment before speaking:
"The food and supplies can probably last for three days. If we can't capture Hidaka County within three days, the soldiers will have to go to the battlefield hungry."
"In addition, scouts have explored the coastline for nearly a hundred miles. All the towns and villages within a hundred miles are empty. There is not a single grain of food left."
This answer made Lan Yu's heart sink. The situation he least wanted to see had finally happened.
The initial plan for this attack on the Japanese pirates was to land on Kyukoku Island and then slowly capture the pirates.
The advantage is that the imperial court can continue to send food and supplies as support, so even if the war situation becomes stalemate, it won't be a big problem.
But now they have changed their route and come directly to the largest island of the Japanese pirates' homeland, so it is naturally impossible to get subsequent supplies and food.
Therefore, Lan Yuxin's plan was to fight to support the war, attacking the towns and villages of the Japanese pirates while robbing the enemy of their food.
Originally, this plan was feasible. With 30,000 soldiers and rifled flintlock muskets, the Japanese pirates had basically no ability to fight back.
Facts proved that this was indeed the case at the beginning. Wherever the Ming navy passed, the Japanese pirates could not even put up a decent resistance.
But who would have thought that not long after the war started, he was blocked in Hidaka Castle and unable to move forward, which was very troublesome.
The essence of fighting to support war is plunder, quickly converting all resources such as food, weapons, etc. into one's own combat power, including prisoners.
But Lan Yu did not need prisoners or weapons, as he had a weapon advantage that was enough to crush the enemy.
Therefore, the only thing that needs to be converted is food and grass, which is also the resource that is easiest to convert, but the premise is that it cannot be interrupted.
Because they have no food supplies, once they are blocked at a certain location, they will face a situation where they have no food to eat, just like now.
In fact, Lan Yu never thought that he would be stopped. After all, his weapon was so powerful, but he didn't expect to be stopped.
The key point is that even if he changes his mind now and does not attack Kyoto, it will be useless to change direction and find a breakthrough point.
Because the place where he landed was along the coast, on the map there was the sea on the left and continuous mountains on the right.
Although you can go south, you will be blocked by cliffs and the sea after only a hundred miles, making it impossible to get through.
This is also the reason why Lan Yu led his troops directly to attack the north, because the north was the only way to go.
When Lan Yu thought of his current situation, he became furious and slapped the table in anger.
"When I get back, I'm going to find that bastard who sold the cannon to the pirates. I'm going to tear him apart!"
In fact, it’s not surprising that Lan Yu was so angry. Any general would be equally furious if they were in the same situation as him.
The Hongwu Cannon was clearly a weapon of the Ming Dynasty, but now it is being used by the enemy to kill and injure Ming soldiers. Who can tolerate this!
And the number is as high as forty!
At that time, Lan Yu swept across the country with high spirits, and wherever he passed, no grass could be left.
At one point he even felt that the war was meaningless. This was not a war at all, but a massacre.
But when he led his troops to Hidaka Castle and was about to attack, the Japanese pirates suddenly took out forty Hongwu large cannons.
At a critical moment when he was unable to advance or retreat, forty cannons fired at the same time, severely attacking Lan Yu.
The key point is that the Japanese pirates seemed to be risking their lives and did not care whether continuous firing would cause overheating and explosion.
They kept firing one shot after another, but luckily for them, none of the forty guns exploded.