eurekapd Chapter 664: Still fighting? Your mother doesn't want you anymore!
Chapter 664: Still fighting? Your mother doesn't want you anymore!
Qu Jinshan interrupted Zhao Duo, his smile faded: "General Zhao, you must see clearly, this is not an ordinary female prisoner."
He paused, his voice not loud, but clearly heard by Zhao Duo and all the soldiers around him who pricked up their ears: "This woman is the Queen Mother of the current Japanese Dynasty!"
"what?!"
Zhao Duo screamed in surprise, and the soldiers nearby were also in an uproar.
The Queen Mother of Japan was actually taken prisoner and sent to the front line in a prison car?
What kind of tactics did Your Highness use? Could it be that he took advantage of the chaos in Japan to raid the Empress Dowager's bedroom at night?
That's not right. If Your Highness has such ability, why not kill the Japanese emperor? What's the point of abducting a widow?
Qu Jinshan looked at Zhao Duo's shocked expression and patted the railing of the prison van:
"Explosive packs? Cannons? His Highness said that those things are useful for attacking cities, but against the Japanese in this city..."
Qu Jinshan pointed at the prisoner van, a confident smile on his face: "It's more effective than ten cannons!"
Zhao Duo was confused for a moment.
A captured queen mother is more useful than ten cannons?
This...where do I start?
He looked at the shivering woman in the prison car, then at the rock-solid Luming City in front of him, his face full of disbelief.
Qu Jinshan didn't explain further, but simply said to Zhao Duo, "General Zhao, pass the order down and push this prisoner cart to the front of the battle line so that everyone on the city wall can see it clearly!"
"Then, just wait and see."
Zhao Duo was extremely shocked, but looking at Qu Jinshan's confident smile, he vaguely understood His Highness's intention.
Your Highness, this is not about killing people...this is about destroying their hearts!
Zhao Duo immediately clasped his fists and accepted the order: "I obey your command!"
He was a typical soldier, and without asking any more questions, he quickly gave the order:
"All troops, listen up! Clear the way for General Qu and the prisoner cart. Archers and musketeers, be on guard! Cover the flanks!"
The Fengtian Army's strict formation spread out to both sides like a tide, revealing a passage leading directly to the foot of Luming City.
The team of more than a hundred people brought by Qu Jinshan slowly advanced forward, escorting the heavy prison van.
He also asked Zhao Duo to select hundreds of the loudest soldiers under his command to escort the convoy forward.
A plain white flag was specially raised in front of the team.
Before becoming the French military flag, the white flag always meant diplomatic missions and peace talks, not surrender.
At this time, the Japanese defenders on the city wall had already noticed the abnormality of the Fengtian Army and were on high alert.
The commander-in-chief defending the city was Shimazu Yoshitada, a trusted general of Kaifu Munemasa.
At this moment, he was holding the sword at his waist, staring at the strange team under the city with a sinister look.
Seeing that the other side was waving the envoy flag, had a small number of people and did not carry any obvious siege equipment, a disdainful sneer appeared on his lips.
He should be here to persuade them to surrender.
The Fengtian Army underestimated the warriors of the Kaifu family. The Japanese will never be enslaved!
"Listen up, my fellow servants!" Shimazu Yoshitada roared in a booming voice, using a mixture of stiff Daqing Mandarin and Japanese. "Don't waste your breath! The people of Luming City swear to live and die with this city!"
"Don't even think about taking a single step forward! Retreat immediately, or the arrows will be merciless!"
The roar caused the Japanese soldiers to clamor, and they raised their bows and cannons and aimed at the city.
Qu Jinshan rode on his horse and stopped at the edge of the arrow's range. There was no fear on his face, but rather a playful look.
He slowly took a trumpet made of rolled iron sheets from his bodyguard and put it to his lips.
The sound was amplified by the loudspeaker and transmitted clearly to the top of the city wall:
"Listen up, Japanese generals on the city wall! We are not here to persuade you to surrender!"
Shimazu Yoshitada was stunned. Isn't this about persuading surrender?
Then what are you doing with the envoy flag?
He shouted sternly, "If you're not trying to persuade me to surrender, what are you trying to do?"
"Come here quickly! If you come any closer, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Qu Jinshan grinned, and his voice was carried through the loudspeaker to the city: "We are here on the orders of His Majesty the King to invite you to come and pay your respects!"
"Greetings?!" Shimazu Yoshitada laughed in anger, "Hahahahaha! Ridiculous!"
"How can we meet you if we don't surrender?!"
"Don't even mention you, the insignificant pawns. Even if your King Li Che himself came to this city, I, Shimazu Yoshitada, would never kneel!"
"Japanese warriors only worship the Emperor and our lord, the General of the Sea Department!"
His words of "loyalty and righteousness" caused another commotion among the Japanese soldiers on the city wall, and their morale seemed to be even higher.
Hearing this, the smile on Qu Jinshan's face deepened.
He no longer looked at Shimazu Yoshitada, but turned his head slightly and waved his hand fiercely at the hundreds of carefully selected loud-mouthed soldiers behind him:
"tell them!"
Hundreds of Fengtian Army warriors took a deep breath at the same time, their chests resonating, and they gathered all their strength.
Then, a chorus of roars erupted like thunder, the sound waves rolling up into the sky, shaking the city walls so much that they seemed to tremble slightly:
"Listen up, Japanese defenders! Come quickly—to see your Queen Mother!!!"
“Meet the Queen Mother!!!”
“Meet the Queen Mother!!!”
The huge sound waves echoed repeatedly under Luming City, clearly entering the ears of every Japanese soldier on the city wall.
"The Queen Mother?!"
"Ahem... His Majesty the Emperor's mother?"
"How is that possible? Shouldn't such a noble person be in Kyoto?"
"Why is the Queen Mother here?"
The city walls were in an uproar in an instant.
Queen Mother? What a noble and sacred being she is!
She is the biological mother of the current Emperor Jinshin and the most noble woman in Japan!
She should be in the deep palace of Kyoto, enjoying the admiration of the people. How could she appear on the front line of Kyushu where the danger is imminent?
When the Japanese army came to their senses, their first reaction was disbelief.
The Fengtian Army must be talking nonsense, this must be a trick!
Shimazu Yoshitada's expression also changed drastically, and his heart was filled with turmoil.
He suppressed his shock and a hint of foreboding, and shouted, "Baga! You're talking nonsense and misleading people!"
"How could the Queen Mother be here?! You traitors, stop using such despicable tricks. Archers, get ready, give me..."
"Nonsense?" Qu Jinshan interrupted him with a sneer. His voice, clearly heard through the loudspeaker, drowned out the commotion on the city wall. "Open your dog eyes and see clearly!"
He waved his hand suddenly, and an unusually tall Fengtian Army soldier beside him immediately drew out a spear that was more than three meters long.
On the tip of the gun, a seal was hung high with a tough silk rope, shining with a warm luster in the sunset.
The jade seal has an ancient shape and is carved with intricate phoenix and chrysanthemum patterns. It is the exclusive seal that can only be used by the Queen Mother of the Japanese Kingdom.
Empress Fujiwara seemed to be very confident that she could persuade Li Che to sign the agreement. In order to show her sincerity and avoid trouble, she carried the seal with her.
"Here is the Queen Mother's seal! Take a good look at it, is it fake?!"
Qu Jinshan's roar was like thunder.
All the literate officers and knowledgeable warriors on the city wall were instantly attracted by the jade seal hanging high.
The shape, the pattern, the material...
Hiss...it seems like the door is a little open...
Countless pairs of eyes stared intently, trying to find a flaw, but they only felt that the luster of the jade seal flowing in the sunset carried a kind of heart-pounding majesty!
Shimazu Yoshitada's heart was pounding as he tried to defend himself, his voice trembling slightly. "It's fake! It has to be fake!"
"Still don't believe it?" Qu Jinshan's voice was like the whisper of a devil, "Then take another look... Who is this person?!"
Before he could finish his words, several Fengtian Army soldiers had already roughly opened the iron door of the prison van.
He reached in without mercy, grabbed the woman in the prison van by her disheveled hair and tattered clothes, and dragged her out from the corner.
Then he was pushed to the front of the prison cart, exposed to the sight of all the Japanese soldiers on the city wall.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the woman's face without any obstruction.
Although Empress Fujiwara had disheveled hair and her face was covered with dirt and tears, she looked haggard and even twisted with fear and humiliation.
But the outline of the facial features, the subtle charm between the eyebrows and eyes...
"hiss--"
On the top of the city wall, Shimazu Yoshitada was struck by an invisible lightning. He gasped and froze in place, his face turning as pale as paper in an instant.
He stared intently at the terrified and desperate face in the prison car below the city, his pupils suddenly contracting due to extreme shock.
He recognized it, he really recognized it!
A few months ago, when he followed his lord, General Kaifu Munemasa, into the palace to quell the rebellion, he had caught a glimpse of Queen Fujiwara no Osamu, the powerful and beautiful woman in Kyoto, from afar.
Although she looked as miserable as a beggar, her features, her features, and especially her eyes, which were filled with humiliation and fear, still held a hint of pride and charm that was etched deep into her bones...
There's no doubt about it, it's really her!
"General... General?" The trusted warrior next to him noticed something was wrong with the commander and asked in a low voice in fear.
Shimazu Yoshitada's lips trembled and he couldn't utter a word.
The huge impact made his mind go blank:
The Queen Mother...was really captured and was brought to the front of the battle in such a humiliating manner!
At this moment, Qu Jinshan's voice once again came through the loudspeaker and reached the ears of every Japanese soldier:
"How ridiculous! How lamentable! How pathetic!"
"You fight bloody battles on the front lines, resisting stubbornly. For whom are you defending this land? To whom are you being loyal?"
"The mother of the Emperor to whom you swear allegiance, the most noble Queen Mother of your country..."
"I have long since abandoned you, abandoned this city, and abandoned Kaibu Munezana!"
"She secretly went to our Fengtian Army camp and presented the map of Japan to our Prince Fengtian, professing her loyalty in exchange for survival!"
"You all...are all abandoned!"
After saying that, he winked at the soldiers.
"Abandoned!"
“They are all abandoned children!!!”
Hundreds of Fengtian Army soldiers roared in unison again, and the word "abandoned" was like a heavy hammer that repeatedly hit the hearts of the Japanese soldiers on the city wall.
Translated into modern language:
Still fighting? Your mother doesn't want you anymore!