Under Zhou Pu's watch, Japanese soldiers from various units under his command forced their way to the city walls and rushed towards the gap between the city walls. Perhaps because of too much psychological pressure, many of them roared crazily and their faces became distorted. Some people's eyes were bloodshot. While they were charging, the entire Himeji Castle was still silent. Except for the sound of the walls collapsing and stones falling, there was no sound of people at all, as if they had been shocked by the shelling just now. However, when the attacking soldiers rushed outside the cracked gap in the city wall, there began to be a slight commotion in the city, as if they had woken up from a daze. Then, intensive gunshots and bowstrings began to sound from other parts of the city. A large number of projectiles and bows and arrows floated towards these gaps, and soon some people fell down with their skin and flesh torn apart. Many people were killed directly, while some were seriously injured and lay on the ground wailing. Regardless of life or death, their green clothes were stained with bright red blood. This kind of wailing made people feel like scalp. Numbness, and in this environment, they will definitely not receive good treatment, and they are almost waiting to enter the gate of hell. But no one paid attention to these robes, and they still roared and rushed towards the city. The officers above had told them in advance that as long as they captured this city, they would be heavily rewarded, and they would get endless benefits in their next life, and it was terrifying. The Han army was also behind to supervise the battle, and no one dared to retreat. With guns and bows on their heads, these people rushed through the rugged masonry ruins to a huge gap opened by artillery fire, and then rushed all the way into the city, but they did not win. Just when they rushed into the gap in the city wall, a force in the city immediately launched a counterattack against them. This unit was well prepared and well-equipped. They wore bright armor. As soon as they saw the incoming enemy troops, they roared and rushed over. The naginata in their hands were thrust forward and stabbed. The enemy at the front. This group of troops who suddenly attacked was obviously beyond the expectations of the siege army. They hurriedly raised their weapons and wanted to line up to occupy the enemy. However, there were so many troops crowded here, and the crowds were in a hurry. How can there be time to form an array? What's more, in order to compete for credit, these people rushed over from various troops, and even the command was very inflexible. Amidst their anxious cries, the group of warriors rushed in front of them, and immediately brought out pieces of blood, and even the stumps fell to the ground. The screams were endless and soon made other people feel scared. Some people were frightened and wanted to retreat, but there were people coming up from behind. As a result, both sides were squeezed together and couldn't escape. They had to face this. Attack of a group of warriors. This group of warriors chopped wildly, and with their blades, a large number of people fell to the ground, but the armor on their bodies prevented them from suffering much damage. Under their forced assault, the forwards who rushed into the city The troops slowly retreated and exited outside the city wall. However, after these vanguard troops retreated, the siege army's attack did not stop. Soon a large group of soldiers also wearing armor rushed in. They also held long naginata, and then attacked this group of soldiers with the same madness. The defenders rushed to meet them, and fierce fighting continued under the city wall. Although the defenders were very brave, they could not stop the frenzy that was several times their own. Their soldiers fell to the ground one by one, and the battle line returned to the city. Pushed over, the huge casualties made them unable to hold on. After they withdrew, the gap in the city wall was finally breached by the siege army. At this time, the ground was covered with corpses of the two armies. The blood in these remains continued to flow on the ground, dyeing the ruins red. It looked sad and terrifying. And no one paid any attention to the tragic situation of these dead and wounded. These siege troops did not even have time to celebrate their small victory, and forced their way into the city with weapons. For them, the ordeal of attacking Himeji Castle has just begun. After they rushed into the city, the artillery fire and bows and arrows on the city wall did not stop. From time to time, some people fell dull because of being shot, but the siege army had a foothold in the city after all. After rushing into the city, some of the siege troops climbed up the city wall along the ruins of the collapsed brick wall, and began to fight fiercely with the defenders; while the other part slowly advanced into the city with a cautious sense of fear. </p???? There is a large pond in the Nishinomaru of Himeji Castle, which was used to provide water for the city. However, it also became a huge obstacle for the siege army at this time - because they could only move along the pond. They attacked forward along the path between them, and there were many courtyards and buildings around them, giving them a very strange feeling. The samurai Togo Shigekata is one of these troops. He is the islandThe retainer samurai of the Tsu family, who had previously been assigned by the feudal lord Shimazu Tadahashi, became Zhou Pu's bodyguards, not only protecting his life but also performing surveillance missions. After the Han army attacked Kyushu and the Shimazu family got their wish and became the masters of Kyushu. , his mission was successfully completed and he returned to the Shimadzu family. At this time, the Shimazu family had gathered the army in the domain and was preparing to go north with the Han Dynasty to greet the court. He was also promoted because of his merits and became an officer in the Shimazu domain army. The feudal lord went north together. As a samurai for generations, he is not averse to war, and is even eager to try it. He hopes to show off his skills in the war, so that his ancestors can be comforted, and he can also become a high-level Hatamoto samurai or even a daimyo due to his merits. But the march went very smoothly along the way, and there was no big battle, so he didn't get any chance to perform, which made him a little disappointed. However, after the war at Himeji Castle began, he finally got the chance he had dreamed of. He led his vassal soldiers and rushed into the city after the initial bloody battle. ¡°However, he also knows that this is not his end. If he wants to make great achievements, he must have greater courage¡ªand maybe luck. He suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and carefully led his troops and troops elsewhere to move forward slowly, hoping to expand the occupied area. However, when they walked along the path in the pond to the edge of the city, each group There seemed to be a sudden flash of light in the courtyard. The first moment was deathly silent, with only scattered flashes of light visible, but soon, the sound of dense firecracker shooting began to sound loudly, making everyone's eardrums ache. Projectiles coming from all directions hit many people, causing wails of pain and making everyone fearful. Some people howled and fired randomly with firecrackers in their hands. Then they bent down and tried to use their companions' bodies to cover themselves, and some even ran back directly. However, the ruthless blow continued, with dense projectiles sweeping along the path, and people were injured almost everywhere. This ruthless blow soon panicked the siege army, and some people rushed to get weapons. , they shouted and ran, but because the path was too narrow, many people were knocked down directly by their own people and were stepped on and seriously injured. Some people simply jumped into the pond because they couldn't think of anything. Amid the chaos of gunfire and smoke, the soldiers who were attacked no longer knew what they were doing. They were running around, and some even hacked each other. Some people who were frightened and fainted jumped directly into the pond, and they wearing armor quickly sank in. They flapped and shouted in the water frantically, and scurried around in the water at a loss, trying to use their strength to take off themselves. The armor, but still had no choice but to gradually sink. The water swallowed up the hobbies of these people, and the blood spread in the pond, quickly turning the pond into a vast red ocean. The people on the shore looked at the fate of these people and shouted to each other in even more horror. Bullets continued to fire from every dark corner. There was smoke and chaos and the faint light of fire everywhere. In this chaotic order, Togo Shigekata barely maintained the order of his men. He kept pushing away the soldiers rushing towards him to prevent them from being pushed into the water. He even drew his sword and killed a man who was trying to escape. subordinates. "Follow me! Follow me!" In the midst of the chaos, he picked up his saber and shouted, "Don't go back!" Under his forcible encouragement, his men finally stabilized their position and followed him little by little. Walk along the path. Relying on the cover of weapons and even human corpses, they rushed to the end of the path, and here was a low wall, and above the low wall was the courtyard. He looked around and found that there were no tools around that could be used to climb, and there was no better place to break in. So anxiously, he turned his head and looked to the side. Looking around, he saw a young man with clear features. He vaguely remembered that this man was a young samurai from the Satsuma Domain. He had met him once before and had a few words with him during the march. ¡°You guys, get down and let the rest of us jump up!¡± He shouted to the other party. The roars everywhere and the bullets fired at crazy angles made all the words seem illusory. The young man opposite did not hear his order clearly and showed a puzzled expression. In such a highly tense and fierce battle, Everyone wanders from time to time. Togo Shigekata anxiously repeated the order to the other party, and this time the other party finally heard it clearly. He was a little anxious, but he still obeyed the order and lay down on the ground, and several other people also followed his order. On young people. Dongxiang Shigekata was worried, then stepped on the group of people, jumped up and rushed into the window of the corner house with guard posts. The wooden window lattice was quickly smashed by him. He stood up unsteadily, and then in the smoke, he vaguely saw two people inside. Both of them looked very young and were dressed a bit like him. The only difference was the fire blunderbuss in their hands. However, when they saw him with a ferocious face and covered in dust, the two of them seemed to have met each other. He looked like a ghost, with a horrified expression on his face. Their firecrackers were still smoking, and it was obvious that they had used them just now. When they saw Togo Shigekata, they picked up the firecrackers again and wanted to reload them. But how could Dongxiang Shigefang be willing to give them such an opportunity? He picked up the saber in his hand and rushed towards the two of them silently. The small room did not give these two people much room to maneuver. They both let out strange screams at the same time, then threw away the blazing gun in their hands, took out the dagger from their arms, and wanted to come up and attack him together. Attack. But at this time, Togo Shigekata had already rushed into the middle of them, swung his sword and swiped heavily to both sides. The young people on both sides wanted to resist, but how could their unfamiliar combat skills be Togo Shigekata's opponent? Amidst the clash of metal and iron, Togo Shigekata's saber cut off the dagger that was attacking him. Blood spurted out crazily and splashed onto the window lattice where he jumped in. The knife made deep cuts on both of them. In the wound, one of the people was almost cut in half, and even his internal organs slipped out. The smell of blood and internal organs rushed straight to his nose, making Togo Shigekata unable to help but cover his nose, and his subordinates followed him and climbed up. When they smelled such a pungent smell, they almost vomited. Under Togo Shigekata's lead, they finally rushed into the small room and won a foothold for their small force. The original obstacles on the window had been knocked down by them. It fell, and it also caused the shogunate's army's defenses in the city to crack the initial gap and collapse. "Everyone, please rest in the room! This is a safe place!" Togo Shigekata, who finally found safety temporarily, suddenly felt an indescribable feeling of fatigue in his body. He finally managed to use his saber to support himself on the ground without letting go. Fall down on your own. "Take a rest for a while and wait for reinforcements!" As he said this, he walked to the window and observed the situation behind him. On the path to the pond, he saw many corpses, miserably scattered on the roadside. Only then did he realize that he had rushed over this road recklessly. His eyes slowly slid to the place where he had just jumped up, and then he saw the young man who had just accepted his order and lay down on the ground, becoming his stepping stone. This handsome young man was lying on his back on the ground at this time. His skin color was paler than what he had seen just now, and between his two black eyes, there was a small black hole, as if between his eyebrows. It was like opening another black eye. In such a battle, there is no difference between myself and the people lying down along the way, except that I have a little better luck. If the projectile is slightly deflected, I will be the one who falls. Togo Shigekata suddenly felt a blockage in his heart and turned his eyes away almost instantly. Under the city wall, the chaos continued, and fierce battles broke out in various gaps in the city wall. In some places, like Toxiang Shigekata, after paying heavy losses, the siege army finally broke into the city to meet the new enemy. Challenge; and in some places, because the resistance in the city was too fierce, the battle line was never able to advance inward, but was slowly pushed outside. At the most intense moment of the fighting, some of the siege troops finally couldn't bear the heavy and bloody casualties. They slowly retreated. Some even dropped their weapons and ran back howling. The escaping and retreating siege troops were entangled with the subsequent reinforcements and attackers, which intensified the chaos. Many people trampled on the injured and fell to the ground. There were groans everywhere in the ground, and some people were even killed alive. Trampled to death. People were so frightened that they lost their minds and forgot the orders they carried. Soldiers and officers looked for each other, but everything was in chaos. Some people were lying on the ground, while others retreated all the way down the city. As they retreated, they burst into noisy shouts from time to time. This shout was mixed with the roar of gunfire, and the loud noise drowned everything. Looking at the commotion in front of them, Zhou Pu and Huang Changguo frowned slightly. "Don't retreat! Don't retreat! Go back! Go back!" In front of the formation of the Han army, several Han officers who knew Japanese shouted loudly, trying to make these retreating troopsThe soldiers stopped. "The commander-in-chief has an order. Anyone who escapes from battle will be killed without mercy!" Behind these officers, Han officers and soldiers wearing bright red military uniforms were already in formation, and their bright muskets and spears began to point forward. But their shouts were drowned in the loud noise, and not many people could hear them clearly. Even those who could hear them continued to rush forward under the push of the people behind them, and were about to rush towards the big man. The army was in front of the battle line. "Fire, fire! No one is allowed to escape in front of the battle!" When he saw that these defeated soldiers were about to flee back, Zhou Pu finally couldn't help it and ordered the Han officers and soldiers to perform the task of supervising the battle. "Fire!" The Han officer who received the order immediately followed the order. The Han army immediately opened fire, and many pillars of black smoke exploded from the barrel of the gun, rolling into the air like a whirlwind. The wave of people rushing towards the Han army's formation almost seemed to have been hit hard, and suddenly Stopped. Black fireworks swept the ground mercilessly with whistling projectiles, even if these defeated soldiers were their comrades before. The piercing screams became more and more intense on the retreating people, and no attackers were allowed to retreat to their own positions. And under their decisive bombardment, no one could get close. The waves left many corpses on the ground and suppressed their retreat. The tragic howls finally made the group regain their senses and understand the fact that they had nowhere to retreat. "Go back quickly and attack the city!" These Han officers continued to shout at the top of their lungs. "Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed without mercy!"