different warring states of japan

Chapter 2156

The spring review was linked to the Spoelstra Fed's joint meeting, causing a big stir.

The saint of the Sasaki family accepted the canonization from the Celestial Empire and began to restrict Ichijo Hideyoshi's ability to mobilize for war by appealing for peace.

The provisional shogunate took various measures to block the export of military supplies, while Sasaki Dokura tightened loans and increased interest rates in accordance with the resolution of the Sasaki Federal Reserve.

This combination of measures greatly restricted the ability of the samurai under Hideyoshi Ichijo to raise funds and repay their loans, causing their mobilization costs to continue to increase.

Local governments are overwhelmed and resentment is growing.

At this time, an attempted assassination attempt on Oda Nobuho broke out in Minami-Ise, and the local samurai even began an armed resistance against taxation, which caused the samurai under Ichijo's command in other places to become restless.

The rope around Hideyoshi's neck was getting tighter and tighter, and the relationship between the Shiba and Ichijo families became increasingly tense.

---

The weather is getting warmer in early summer, but the temperature in the Nara Basin is still suitable.

On a small hill not far from Duowenshan Castle, Yiyin was looking at the ground target drawn in the distance, which was full of miscellaneous items ready to be hit by artillery.

Behind him, Christina gave a few instructions, and a female warrior quickly ran down the mountain to deliver orders to the artillery position on the side of the mountain.

Soon, three roars sounded one after another, and the shells hit the ground target accurately, smashing the target on it into pieces.

Yiyin nodded with satisfaction and said.

"good."

Christina whispered with the seriousness of a soldier.

"For this exercise, the gunners started measuring and testing the guns three days in advance, so the accuracy was very high, but it was not so accurate on the battlefield."

Yiyin shook his head and said.

"Your demands are too high. In this island country that is still based on feudal mobilization, the power of artillery fire is enough to collapse and disperse most of the mobilized peasant soldiers and disintegrate the army's organizational capabilities."

Yiyin is not being self-deprecating. The island nation's military at that time was indeed not that good.

Although a hundred years of chaos has trained a group of fearless middle and lower class female warriors, the army has never been a place to measure personal bravery; organizational ability is the most important thing.

According to the mobilization capacity of the island country's feudal system, every 10,000 stones could mobilize approximately 250 people to participate in the war, including about 50 female warriors and 200 peasant soldiers, which is a ratio of four to one.

The peasant soldiers who have not been separated from agricultural production have extremely low organizational capabilities and are mostly just a group of mobs. Whichever side has the best female warriors to fight, the peasant soldiers will follow suit and that side will win.

Why was Oda Nobunaga able to sweep across the island nation and defeat all the forces? Because the Nobi Plain was a grain-producing area, and she could train more full-time soldiers.

The rise of the Zu clan, the use of iron cannons, and the corresponding gun formations weakened the decisive role of the Ji warriors in the war.

In other words, although the Oda family's army was still in a half-farmer and half-soldier state, its organizational strength was much stronger than that of the samurai army of the same period.

But even so, the Oda army was still just a feudal army with weak organizational strength, and it can only be said that other samurai armies were even weaker.

Ichijo Hideyoshi inherited most of Oda Nobunaga's legacy, including her military system.

Although Hideyoshi Ichijo announced that he would no longer expand the scope of the soldier clan in order to please the samurai and maintain the military privileges of the samurai, the negative impact at this time was not great enough and the original soldier clan was still enough.

An army that inherited the combat effectiveness of iron cannons and the mobilization power of soldiers swept across Shikoku and Kyushu, and even reached the peninsula, causing great trouble to the Celestial Empire.

Even if the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who had survived the turbulent times were just feudal troops, they would be enough to defend the four southern routes of the peninsula and deplete the treasury of the Celestial Empire.

The iron cannon and gun formation that Hideyoshi Ichijo inherited from the Oda army had a huge weakness: it was afraid of artillery.

During the Sasaki-Oda War, Yoshigin used several cannons to disrupt the Oda army and wait for Sanada Nobushige to break through the flank.

Dense formations of iron cannons and spears can make up for the lack of organization and make a legion seem invincible, but dense formations can also be easily hit by artillery bombardment.

Although the artillery of this era still fired solid bullets and did not have the ability to explode, the large solid balls rolling in the cannon array were enough to crush the morale of the semi-professional peasant soldiers.

Therefore, artillery became a trump card in Yiyin's hand.

He looked at Christina beside him and asked.

"How many guns does the Nanman Artillery Team have now? Is Lulu's purchase in Southeast Asia going smoothly?"

Christina replied.

“Although Lilu tried her best to buy artillery at high prices from Westerners, Portuguese, British, Dutch and other parties in Southeast Asia, the actual effect was very poor.

Because artillery is a strategic weapon for various parties to colonize Southeast Asia and build port forts, they are unwilling to sell it.

After all, they were also afraid that the island nation's troops would appear in Luzon and use the artillery they sold to attack their ports and fortresses.

Most of the guns we were able to acquire came from sea merchants, and they were three-pound or four-pound eagle guns that they used to scare pirates."

Yiyin nodded, expressing understanding.

At this time in Southeast Asia, the barbarian colonists had just arrived.

The people who occupied the main position were the Portuguese and Westerners, the future Dutch "Sea Coachmen", and the future British "British Empire". At that time, they had not yet risen and were still picking up the leftovers that the Portuguese and Westerners didn't want.

Firearms in the 16th century were not yet mature enough, and the Southeast Asian colonists had not yet formed a crushing force over the local indigenous peoples. They only established trading ports.

At this time, the West had gradually become tired of the strange artillery of various sizes and had already embarked on the path of standardization.

Among them, the light Francois cannon that fired one-pound shells and the Eagle cannon that fired three-pound and four-pound shells became the main weapons of sea merchants. The lightness of the cannon meant that more goods could be piled up in the merchant ship's hold, and it would not threaten the fortresses set up by the colonists in various ports, so it was not taboo, but the power was...

Yiyin nodded and said.

“I have no intention of conquering Southeast Asia. Even if I have heavy artillery, the island countries lack ocean-going technology, so it is impossible for me to invade Southeast Asia.

A three- or four-pound eagle cannon is enough to defeat Hideyoshi's elite army in a field battle. I am very satisfied. "

Hearing Yiyin say that he was satisfied, Christina finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After living in this Far Eastern island country for many years and becoming a noble here, Christina gradually adapted to the local customs and concepts.

She said, bowing.

“The battery now has twelve Eagle guns.

It’s not that Lulu can’t buy more artillery, but because we lack gunpowder and artillery shells, there is no point in purchasing more artillery.

The colonists in Southeast Asia relied on steel smuggled from China to cast cannons, and most of the gunpowder materials also came from China.

The power of the three or four pound Eagle Cannon is too weak. In recent years, I have tried to use native trees on the island to make cannon barrels, and I have found a suitable tree species.

After experiments, it was found that the hollowed-out tree barrel could withstand two to three shots without exploding. Depending on the size of the tree hole and the gunpowder filling, it could fire projectiles weighing one to ten pounds.

So in addition to the twelve regular Eagle Cannons, disposable wooden barrels can also be used for large-scale bombardment.

It’s just that the cost is a bit high. The wooden barrel cannon cannot be stored for a long time. It will be discarded after two shots to avoid explosion. The wood, gunpowder, projectiles, and craftsmen are too expensive. "

Yiyin nodded. At this time, the second round of artillery fire had been fired. After three roars, the projectiles hit the target at a speed visible to the naked eye, causing a gust of wind and waves.

He looked at the dust dispersing in the distance and said lightly.

"I will assign you enough carpenters to make gunpowder bullets. If you can't make them in time, go to Sakai Port to find the southern barbarians and buy as many as you can. Prepare them before the autumn harvest."

Christina's eyes sparkled.

"Does the Saint mean that the decisive battle is imminent?"

Yiyin smiled without saying anything and touched Christina's face. The skin of this red-haired southern girl was much more delicate than that of ordinary southern women. She had not been to sea in the island country for many years, so her skin did not age but became more tender.

He changed the subject while his mind was wandering.

“Do your job well and don’t worry about anything else.

I am very satisfied with today's artillery exercise. You did a great job. I want to reward you. Come to my dormitory tonight."

Christina didn't expect Yiyin to change the subject and talk about matters between men and women. Her face turned red and she spoke in a low voice.

"Lulu was busy with business in Sakai Port, she didn't come with us..."

Yiyin smiled bitterly.

"You are a good sister who is willing to share.

Woman, you have successfully aroused my curiosity. Without her presence, can you not stand out?
Yukino always complained to me that one child was not enough and that the Takata family needed more heirs.

Whether it's Kanade Tachibana or you... With children, there is a future.

Come over tonight and it's all yours."

Christina blushed and lowered her head.

"As you wish, my handsome master, but...Lulu also hopes to be pregnant with your child."

Yiyin smiled slightly.

"I'll give her a chance, I promise you, my beautiful slave."

The two smiled at each other, their eyes seemed to be connected by a thread, so sticky that it was difficult to pull them apart.

At this moment, Yoshigin saw Ii Naomasa running hurriedly from the foot of the hill and asked with a serious expression.

"What happened?"

Naomasa Ii whispered.

"Oda Shinko is dead."

Yiyin narrowed his eyes.

"Didn't you say before that the assassination failed?"

Naomasa Ii shook his head.

"He was seriously injured in an assassination attempt, but the news was kept secret. In the end, he didn't survive and died. We had to make it public."

Yiyin sighed, looked at Christina, and said
"Hurry up on the wooden barrel cannon, I'm afraid it will be used before the autumn harvest."

Christina nodded.

"I will obey your orders, my saint."