When the eastern sky turned white, the reveille sounded in the Suwon Bridge Grand Camp.
In the camp, which stretched for ten li, Great Yu Empire soldiers and Goryeo soldiers both got up and began preparing their meals. Plumes of cooking smoke rose into the sky, stretching longer and longer in the faint light of dawn.
In this serene and beautiful scene, Ye Qingyun and Qu Dong emerged from the camp almost simultaneously.
In the camp, the bugle call was a military order. Both generals and soldiers had to obey it. This was the iron discipline of the Great Yu Empire army; no one could be exceptional.
And in Suwon City, Edo Ichiaki had not slept all night. He looked with swollen eyes at the dense plumes of smoke in the distance. It wouldn’t be long before the combined armies of the Great Yu Empire and Goryeo arrived outside Suwon City.
Here, they would have a formal confrontation with the Great Yu Empire’s army.
Koizumi Junichi was also on the city wall. Behind him were Goryeo common people tied with ropes. After the war began, these common people would be pushed to the front to block the Great Yu Empire soldiers’ bullets.
At the same time, the Japanese soldiers inside the city were cleaning their firearms. The vast majority of these soldiers held matchlock guns, while a smaller portion held flintlock guns.
Compared to the simple construction of matchlock guns, flintlock guns were more complex to manufacture. To date, only eight thousand flintlock guns had been produced.
Five thousand of these flintlock guns were equipped to Edo Ichiaki’s army, to show Lord Yamada’s high regard for him.
Precisely because of this, Edo Ichiaki dared not imagine the consequences of failure, because a defeat in war would bring immense pressure to Lord Yamada.
Other daimyo would seize this opportunity to oppose him.
The sun gradually rose, and the atmosphere of war grew heavier. Japanese soldiers lit torches and stood guard in front of the cannons, ready for battle at any moment.
And the elite five thousand flintlock gun soldiers were deployed by Edo Ichiaki on the East City wall. Directly opposite them was a wide, open rice field, and he believed the Great Yu Empire would launch its attack here.
Time passed bit by bit. Soon, the Japanese soldiers on the city wall saw the Goryeo army walking towards them.
These soldiers did not rush to attack the city. Instead, they walked around the city in an orderly manner, besieging Suwon City.
This scene greatly surprised Edo Ichiaki on the city wall.
Ye Qingyun and Qu Dong led the Great Yu Empire army to encamp in front of the official road of Suwon City’s South City.
Qu Dong picked up his telescope and looked at the heavily guarded Japanese soldiers on the city wall. He said, “The Japanese pirates are brave but lack strategy. They are indeed as His Majesty said.”
In the military course at the Son of Heaven’s Academy, he had once asked His Majesty about the situation of the Japanese army. At that time, Xiao Ming had told him about this matter.
He believed that Japan was an extremely shortsighted country, always acting without considering the consequences. Its foreign strategy was not based on deep consideration but was like that of a gambler.
Once they decided on a plan, they would stake everything, until they were beaten to a pulp before becoming honest. And once they grew strong again, accumulating enough capital for gambling, they would try again.
The reason Japan had such characteristics was attributed to its geography. Japan’s land was small and poor in resources. It always felt insecure about its living land, constantly longing for the vast and abundant Central Plains.
Ye Qingyun did not commit. He said, “Indeed, they are fools. Their supplies have been cut off. Why should we attack the city? Starving them is enough. Moreover, here we can lay siege and ambush reinforcements.”
Qu Dong nodded. This was their plan. They would spread the news of Suwon City being besieged and wait for Japanese forces to come to its aid.
Then, they could easily defeat the Japanese army that came there.
The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/caleredhair