Xinshun 1730

Chapter 439
Hagi Castle is neither as far away as Kohama nor as close as Hirado. In addition, most of the troops in the resistance line are still the navy's marines with fixed transport ships, and finally they have assembled about [-] troops.

After the Japanese who guarded the city retreated into Hagi Castle, the engineers who went ashore spent three days building a simple pier.More troops began to land, and the hidden troops gathered in Sanjian Village, tightly sealing the news.

There are only more than [-] troops exposed outside.

The warships began to take turns to rest. Every once in a while, several warships would bombard Hagi Castle for a while, and each bombardment was a cross bombardment.

The artillery also began to bombard the main gate of Hagi Castle from time to time.

This exhausting tactic made the defenders of Hagi City tense every day. They couldn't fight in the field, and the strange location of Hagi City hiding in the city couldn't stop the shells.

Every shelling has the possibility of a full-scale attack, so that every shelling requires warriors to be deployed in front to withstand shelling again and again.

In just three days, the mentality of the samurai in the city has collapsed.

I can't sleep well, and I dare not sleep.When it was the turn of the guards, they had to pray that the shelling would not be so violent this time.

The people guarding the front were not afraid of the artillery shells of the Dashun Army, but the stone wall made of stones. The shells bounced randomly on it, and they didn't know who would be killed. The flying stone chips would always hit them in a strange way. Fly out of a safe place.

Seeing that there are more and more Dashun soldiers outside, and the cannons have been erected only two miles away from the main gate of Hagi City, the entire Hagi City was completely blocked.

Wu Fangrui's judgment was very accurate. There was a problem with the construction of Hagi City, which was suitable for waiting for help, but it was not suitable for internal and external attack at all.

With a narrow bridge, it is impossible to effectively attack and assemble, and if you want to attack and assemble, you will definitely be in danger of being bombarded by the sea from both sides.

Under such circumstances, Wu Fangrui took his staff and began to survey the plain he had chosen as the location of the decisive battle.

The information sent back by the investigating Qingqi scouts only said that there are mountains nearby, and there are few such terrains that are several miles wide. This is the most suitable battlefield within dozens of miles around.

To the south of this plain is a valley road.After leaving the valley road, there is a valley plain with a width of one or two miles, which is the easiest road to Xiaguan.

The staff followed the scouts and drew a topographic map of the surrounding area.

The combat staff worked out a combat plan based on these maps.

The main force was placed in this plain to fight against the Japanese. Three hundred cavalry and one thousand infantry, when the battle started, they maneuvered to the rear of the main force of the Japanese, intercepted the remnants of the Japanese, and wiped out as much as possible.

The 300, [-] people, in the view of the staff, were the most difficult step in the entire campaign plan.It is necessary to march forty miles in one day, and it is likely to be blocked by a small force of Japanese people.

After the thousand 300 people were selected and assembled, another company of soldiers was stationed on the hill on the east side of the plain.

If the Japanese general has a bit of brains, he will definitely capture this hill first, and then choose this hill as the main formation, so that he can deploy his troops calmly.

And Dashun needed the Japanese to occupy the hill on the east side, otherwise the battle would be a series of battles to defend the hill.Only by tricking the Japanese into thinking it was safe and deploying their troops would they have a chance to wipe them out.In the case of an ambush, once discovered by the Japanese, all previous efforts will be wasted, and there is no need to take risks.

This kind of tactics of besieging the city and fighting for aid did not give the Japanese many choices, and it could even be said that there were only two choices.

Either save.

Or, just give up from the beginning without saving.

As long as you save, there are so many optional routes and tactics.

Wu Fangrui was very annoyed by the mountainous terrain here, and could only rely on the absolute confidence given to him by the training discipline of Dashun soldiers, and chose to fight this battle at the gate of Hagi City.Only
If he can let the Japanese spread their main force on the battlefield, he will be sure of victory.

Including the Western Expedition to the Western Regions back then, he had never mastered so many elite soldiers.After this battle, Wu Fangrui believed that he would be the second person in the army to be in charge of the new army's large-scale field battle, so he did his best to make full preparations for this battle.

The staff considered all kinds of possibilities in detail, and determined that this would be the best place for the Japanese to choose a decisive battle.

Although the open space in the castle town is large, it is close to the sea and must be prepared for shelling.

Between the castle town and this plain, there is the Abu River, which also forks here.Once the Japanese lined up to the north, they would not only be threatened by naval bombardment, but also face the inconvenience of being naturally divided by the Awu River.

Therefore, the staff members all agreed with Wu Fangrui's opinion.

The tactics of the Japanese must be to first capture the hill defended by a company on the east side, then set up the main formation there, and spread it out in the open space of the plain, with the ultimate goal of capturing the two hills A and B.Or, deploy troops and make threats so that Dashun has no way to attack the city with all his strength, and retreats in desperation after the confrontation.

Only in this way can we get out of the siege.

That being the case, choosing to fight in this open field is also in line with the best choice for both sides—even if the Dashun Army cannot defeat them, they can still line up north of the Awuchuan River with the help of gunboats, but the main force is there. It is tantamount to surrendering two crucial hills to the Japanese, and the siege of Hagi City can be regarded as being solved.If it drags on, the army can only withdraw.

After repeated discussions, the scouts began to control the surrounding battlefield information, and repeatedly scouted the route that was going to block the rout's retreat.

Engineers began to build artillery positions in the open space under Hagi Castle Hill.The running officer began to set up eye-catching reminders around the battlefield as a pointer for shooting, and at the same time measured the fixed value of the shooting angle.

…………

Mori Zonghiro, who was stationed in Shimonoseki, was shocked when he heard the news that Hagi was besieged.

After the Dashun navy bombarded Xiaocang and Fukuoka before, they all thought that they had pretended to land at Lingluomu to attract the feudal clans of Kyushu to cross the sea and attack the west.

For this reason, after Ogura and Fukuoka were bombarded, the feudal vassals of Kyushu also expressed their dissatisfaction with Maori Zonghiro's previous proposal to borrow troops, thinking that fortunately they were not fooled, otherwise Kyushu Island would be in danger.

Before, they borrowed troops to help the Changzhou Domain. At this time, the Dashun Army may attack Kyushu Island. It is hoped that the Changzhou Domain can also send some soldiers to support the Kyushu Domain.

In view of borrowing two thousand soldiers, Mao Li Zongguang borrowed three thousand soldiers, but just like the Kyushu clan's tongue before, these three thousand soldiers can only defend Xiaocang.

In the end, the Dashun Army did strike east and west, but the problem was that they attacked Hagi City.

And judging from the news that came, the Dashun army had a lot of artillery, and without the advantage of the navy, the main city of Maori lost all its advantages before. The shelling surrounded by the sea on three sides made the city panic all day long.

Shanxian Changzhen said: "The feudal lord will make a decision early on."

"Either way, go back to the teacher for rescue. If it's later, I'm afraid the city will be destroyed."

"Either, stick to Xiaguan and stay still. If necessary, retreat across the strait and join forces with the feudal clans of Kyushu Island."

Sakashi Cun said: "The wives and children of the samurai are all in Hagi City. Now that the army is thinking about returning, it is feared that the people in the Tang Dynasty will be exempted from food, looting and plundering. It is like Tosa's old things. Why don't the lord let Omotsuke coordinate the Kyushu Islands and help the next Guan, Hagi soldiers return to help at night?"

Mori Zongguang also knew that if his home was stolen, the warriors would no longer have the will to fight, and their hearts would return.

"But I was afraid that the Tang people would give me back for help, but they intercepted and killed me halfway."

"Don't worry, the feudal lord. This road is all mountain roads. Tang people are not familiar with the terrain, so they will not go deep. Besides, if it goes deep, there must be movement. How can the people of this fan village not see it? He is neither willing to go deep, even if he sets up an ambush, he will command Set up an ambush near Hagi City—there are many roads, how does he know which road we should take? If so, we can go fast first and then slow down."

"The one who is fast at first will have no worries along the way, and travels quickly. The one who is slow will go out with scouts, ask the villagers, and march slowly. What the Tang people are good at is only the sharpness of warships and firearms, and they do not have the confidence to fight in the field. The feudal lord thinks carefully. Since the beginning of the war, have the people of Tang ever fought in an upright battle? They were all battles of sneak attack, shelling, siege, and defense."

"If he is unparalleled in the field, why bother to attack the west? Attacking Xiaguan, the general situation is certain, why bother to attack Hagi City?"

One sentence awakened Maori Zonghiro, and after careful recollection, it seemed to be the case.

Attacking Tsushima is like bullying others, how many soldiers are there in Tsushima Fan?
To attack Yonago, it is better to fight more than to fight less. With the help of shelling, the soldiers of the Osaka Castle just arrived, they slipped away, and they didn't even dare to fight the soldiers of Okayama Fan.

The attack on Xiaobin is because Xiaobin City is not a mountain city, but a sea city protruding from the sea, surrounded by warships.Afterwards, guarding Xiaohama, he still relied on firearms to hold on.The experience of the arquebus is that the pure musket team is not good at offense, but very good at defense.

There were not many soldiers in the attack on the Kyoto Imperial Palace. According to the regulations of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, there were only 340 samurai.After attacking Hikone and other cities, it was also the main force of the Hikone Domain who died in the siege of Obama.

It seems, indeed, that there has never been a field battle so far.

They all rely on strong ships and strong guns, and powerful firearms to attack cities and ports by the sea.

A warship can't beat it just by looking at its size.

But land battles are all about shoulders and heads. The Tang people have muskets, and they also have them; the Tang people have cannons, and they also have them.

If it is true that Field Warriors can attack Shimonoseki directly, it is so close to Tsushima Island that transporting troops is much easier than going to Hagi Castle.It is not a problem to gather three to five thousand soldiers in Hagi City and ten thousand troops in Xiaguan.

These Tang people have been avoiding field battles. Could it be that they are not strong in field battles and bluffing?Those who are strong can attack and defend the city; those who are weak can fight against each other in the field.

Is it because you have been using your strengths to avoid your weaknesses?

Since the firefighting tactics are effective, even if the firefighting in the past few times, they only arrived after the fire was over, but Dashun did not choose to fight in the field and withdrew.

What Saka Shicun said is correct, as long as you go fast first and then slow down, you can avoid the ambush of the Dashun army.This is my home field, my fiefdom, how could I not be familiar with this place?

After the agreement, request the feudal clans of Kyushu to help defend Shimonoseki.A total of more than [-] troops left by the Changzhou Fan, the Chofu Fan, and the remaining branches and the Hiroshima Fan, quickly moved towards Hagi Castle.

There are only three ways to go back.

One went to Changzhou first and marched along the coast, but Dashun's naval superiority made him give up this road directly.

The second road is the road that the scouts and staff officers of the Dashun Army decided that he must take.

The third road is to detour to the northeast after approaching Hagi Castle, and go around to Hagi Castle.

However, the strange topography of Hagi Castle determines this detour route, and in the end we still have to go through the castle town surrounded by the Abu River. If we want to get out of the siege, we can only cross the Abu River under the bombardment of the Dashun Navy. wise way.

Only the second way can Dashun lose its most advantageous leg: the navy.Be a cripple with only one leg left.

(End of this chapter)