The Sharpstone Ridge was garrisoned by Tachibana Munao, a very capable subordinate of Kobayakawa Takakage, who was good at fighting.
Of course, Tachibana Somao wasn't famous for this, but his wife.
Tachibana Munemoto's wife was the famous Tachibana Yan Chiyo, also known as the Tachibana Early Strike Girl.
Under Tachibana Chiyo's hand is a special unit, they are all composed of women, each of them is very good at using iron cannons, that is, matchlocks.
Tachibana Chiyo, of course, put the gunpowder and marbles inside the bamboo tube, and then carried them with her.
During combat, the pills in the bamboo tubes were poured directly into the flintlock, thus greatly increasing the firing speed.
In a way, this was an early form of fixed ammunition.
However, the fate of Tachibana Nana Chiyo was not good. The Tachibana family that she protected with all her heart was destroyed. She and her husband were separated and died in depression.
In history, after the end of the Korean War, Toyotomi Hideyoshi died of illness and the Sekigahara War broke out in Japan.
Tachibana Muneshige stood on the eastern side and was defeated by Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Although he survived under the protection of Kato Kiyomasa, the Tachibana family was no more.
What was Tachibana Munao's status in the Tachibana family?
To put it bluntly, he is a live-in son-in-law. He is not surnamed Tachibana, but after marrying Tachibana Chiyo, he changed his name to Tachibana Sōmao.
Although he had inherited the Tachibana Family in name, in reality?
Tachibana family is still his wife Tachibana Chiyo.
It would be fine if the son-in-law was a coward, but Tachibana Munao was not. He didn't want to live under his wife's shadow for the rest of his life, so the conflict between the couple naturally broke out.
Tachibana Yan Chiyo has always been regarded as the successor of the Tachibana family, and naturally will not hand over the Tachibana family to Tachibana Munao.
Because once they do that, the final result may be that the Tachibana family directly changed their surname, they may not be able to survive, this is absolutely unacceptable to Tachibana Chiyo.
It was impossible to defeat his wife from within, so he could only look for external support.
Therefore, Tachibana Muneshige chose Takashi Kobayakawa. Tachibana Muneshige recognized Takashi Kobayakawa as his adoptive father and Hidebo Kobayakawa as his sworn brother.
In the past few years, Tachibana Munesaki's power had increased tremendously, and he was determined to participate in the war in Korea.
He had to render a meritorious service, and he had to render a great meritorious service so that his wife could see it.
With this in mind, Tachibana Masao directly asked Kobayakawa Takechi for permission to set up an ambush in the Sharkstone Ridge.
In Tachibana Masao's eyes, this was his chance to make a great contribution.
Not only were the First Corp's Captain Konishi and the Third Corp's Kuroda Nagamasa defeated, but they were also captured.
The 2nd Division's Kato Kiyomasa had died in battle. It was time for him to show off.
Next to Tachibana Munao were his two elders, Morishita Yuumo and Ma Shou. Both of them had a serious look on their faces. Although Kobayakawa Takakage had said that the three thousand soldiers of the Tachibana Clan were enough to defend against ten thousand enemies of the Tachibana Clan, Ma Shou and Morishita Yuumo were not as confident.
After all, whether it was Konishi or Kato Kiyomasa, they were both very good fighters!
However, at this time, the two of them naturally would not say discouraging words. This battle was inevitable.
That afternoon, the Ming Army appeared at the foot of the Sharkstone Ridge. There were not many of them, probably only about ten thousand.
The Ming Army did not seem to be in a hurry to attack. Instead, they set up camp at the foot of the mountain.
In the camp, Zhang Weixian looked at Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong and said, "Do you know why I transferred you here?"
Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong nodded together, their faces equally serious.
The battle at the Sharkstone Ridge was a siege, and it was a siege from the bottom up. This kind of battle was very difficult to fight.
During the attack on Pyongyang, Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong's troops had made great contributions.
They were the first to break into Pyongyang, defeat the Japanese pirates, and capture the Japanese pirates alive.
"I did this to let you know that I is fair in rewards and punishments. I will not punish you because you are not Honours, nor will I take care of others because they are Honours.
"You have proved that you can fight, so I will give you the opportunity to make contributions.
"If they want to seize the opportunity to be the main attacker and get the opportunity to make contributions, then they have to perform.
At the same time, this is also a test for you. If you do well in this battle, you will naturally be able to make the first contribution.
"If you don't do well, the contributions you have obtained before will be called luck. So this battle is a test for you."
Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong looked at each other and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Grand Marshal. We will definitely not let you down."
Nodding, Zhang Weixian said with a smile, "I will not say much about how to attack and how to fight. These have been taught in the Royal Martial Arts Lecture Hall. Tomorrow morning, we will attack Sharkstone Ridge. I will leave it to you."
At night.
Tachibana Sōmao was on Sharkstone Ridge, while the Ming Army was at the foot of the mountain. However, both sides seemed to be at peace. Tachibana Sōmao had no intention of going down the mountain to attack at night. Instead, he put on a posture of defending on the mountain.
The Ming Army also had no intention of attacking at night. Both sides maintained peace that night.
However, Tachibana Sōmao still sent people back to ask for help. The Ming Army had arrived. They were going to attack Sharkstone Ridge.
Everyone knew that it was more suitable to fight with Daming here than to retreat to Han City.
At dawn the next day, Daming still had no intention of attacking. Instead, he began to send out scouts to check around.
Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong also went out. In the morning, the Ming Army was looking everywhere. At noon, the Ming Army finally made a move.
Countless cannons were carried out of the camp and scattered in all directions.
In the big tent, Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong were reporting to Zhang Weixian.
"Commander-in-chief, we've chosen four artillery positions."
"Build artillery positions in order and arrange them in echelons to ensure the coverage and extension of artillery fire. The position of the Japanese pirates on Sharkstone Ridge is within the shooting range of our two artillery positions."
This era was not like World War II. Formations were very important to the army.
In the future, to guard the hillside, they dug trenches and stretched them into a long line. They could shoot from the trenches.
In this era, if they did not form a formation, once the enemy rushed up, they could not launch a counterattack.
With the firing speed of the matchlock, it was impossible to resist a large-scale charge.
Even if Tachibana Sōmao was on the mountain, even if he had two thousand cannoneers, it was still not enough.
Because the firing speed of the matchlock was slow, it was impossible to shoot accurately. They had to rely on a row of guns to cover the enemy.
If you were given a matchlock and asked to shoot, you would not be able to hit it. Its trajectory was erratic, and without a formation, it was meaningless.
This was unavoidable. In order to make up for this shortcoming, there were very few cannons used by the Japanese pirates.