Chapter 53 233 Qi Jiguang Drives Out the Japanese Pirates

During the reign of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, a group of Japanese pirates often harassed the southeast coast of our country.They colluded with local tyrants and profiteers in China, looted property everywhere, killed common people, and caused unrest along the coast.In history, this kind of pirates were called "Japanese pirates". In 1553 A.D., under the collusion of the traitors Wang Zhi and Xu Hai, the Japanese pirates assembled hundreds of sea-going ships, landed on the coasts of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, divided them into many small groups, and plundered dozens of cities.Officials and soldiers along the coast did not dare to resist, and fled when they saw the Japanese pirates.

The invasion of Japanese pirates became more and more serious, making Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty who was hiding in the deep palace also have to worry, and asked Yan Song to find a way to deal with it.Zhao Wenhua, Yan Song's accomplice, came up with an idea, saying that the only way to solve the Japanese invasion is to pray to the East China Sea and ask the God of the Sea to bless him.Ming Shizong actually believed Zhao Wenhua's nonsense and told him to go to Zhejiang to pray to the God of the sea.Later, the imperial court sent Yu Dayou (you), a veteran of coastal defense, to resist.As soon as Yu Dayou arrived in Zhejiang, he won several battles.But soon, Zhang Jing, governor of Zhejiang, was framed by Zhao Wenhua, and Yu Dayou was implicated and imprisoned.There is no one to command the defense along the coast, and the activities of Japanese pirates are rampant again.The court reversed the situation by transferring Qi Jiguang, a general from Shandong, to Zhejiang.

Qi Jiguang is a famous national hero in Chinese history, a native of Penglai, Shandong.When he arrived in Zhejiang, he first inspected the troops there, and found that those troops were indisciplined and unable to fight at all, so he decided to recruit new troops.As soon as he issued an order to recruit troops, a group of farmers and miners who had suffered enough from the Japanese pirates volunteered to join the army, and some armed landlords who were willing to fight against the Japanese pirates also joined in.The new army organized by Qi Jiguang soon grew to 4,000 people. Qi Jiguang is a general who is proficient in the art of war. He knows that soldiers cannot go into battle without strict training.According to the characteristics of the southern swamp area, he studied formations and personally taught soldiers to use various long and short weapons.After his rigorous training, the combat effectiveness of this new army is particularly strong. The reputation of "Qi Family Army" spread far and near.

A few years later, Japanese pirates attacked Taizhou (now Linhai, Zhejiang) again, and Qi Jiguang led the new army to Taizhou.Wherever the Japanese pirates harass, they will fight there.Those chaotic pirate teams, where are the opponents of Qi's army, they have fought nine times, and Qi's army has won every time.In the end, the Japanese pirates couldn't stay on land and were forced to flee to sea ships, and Qi Jiguang bombarded them with cannons again.The Japanese pirates' boat caught fire, and a large number of Japanese soldiers were burned to death or fell into the sea and drowned, and those who remained on the shore had to surrender obediently.

The Japanese pirates saw that Zhejiang was tightly defended and did not dare to invade again.In the second year, they went to the coastal areas of Fujian to harass them.One route of Japanese pirates went south from Wenzhou and occupied Ningde; another route of Japanese pirates traveled north from Guangdong to occupy Niutian.The two groups of enemies supported each other with great momentum.The guards in Fuzhou couldn't resist and asked the court for help.The imperial court sent Qi Jiguang to rescue.Qi Jiguang led the new army to Ningde, and found out that the enemy's lair was on Hengyu Island, ten miles away from Ningde City.There is water on all sides, and the terrain is dangerous.The Japanese pirates set up a large camp there, and the local Ming army did not dare to attack them.

Qi Jiguang personally investigated the topography of Hengyu Island and knew that the waterway was neither wide nor deep.When the tide fell that night, Qi Jiguang ordered the soldiers to bring a bundle of hay to the other side of Hengyu Island and throw the hay into the water.Thousands of bales of hay were thrown together to pave a road.Soldiers of the Qi family army stepped on the road paved with hay and inserted into the Japanese pirate camp without anyone noticing.After a fierce battle, more than 2,000 Japanese pirates entrenched on the island were all wiped out. Qi's army captured Hengyu and immediately marched into Niutian.When he arrived near Niutian, Qi Jiguang issued an order, saying: "The troops and horses are tired after marching a long way, so let's rest on the spot first."

These words quickly reached the enemy.The Japanese pirates in Niutian really believed that Qi's army stopped attacking for the time being, so their defenses relaxed.That night, Qi Jiguang ordered a general attack on Niutian.The Japanese soldiers were unprepared and rushed to the battle. Qi's army couldn't help but rushed forward and retreated one after another.The leader of the Japanese pirates led the remnant soldiers to flee to Xinghua, and Qi's army followed and chased them overnight, captured more than 60 enemy camps in a row, and wiped out the fleeing enemies.When the sky turned pale, Qi's army marched into Xinghua City.Only then did the people in the city know that the Japanese pirates nearby had been wiped out by Qi's army.Everyone was elated, and they killed cattle and brought wine to the barracks to comfort them.

In the second year, Japanese pirates invaded Fujian again and captured Xinghua.At this time, Yu Dayou had been reinstated.The imperial court appointed Yu Dayou as the commander-in-chief of Fujian, and Qi Jiguang as the deputy commander-in-chief.Together, the two famous anti-Japanese generals defeated the Japanese pirates and recovered Fuhua.In 1565 AD, the Yu and Qi armies cooperated again and defeated the Japanese pirates.By this time, the Japanese pirates who had been rampant for decades were basically wiped out.