Da Ming started to ascend the throne

Chapter 730 Attacking Yokosuka

Edo, the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, is the later capital of Japan, Tokyo.

In history books, the period when the Tokugawa shogunate ruled Japan is also called the Edo shogunate, the Edo period.

The demise of the Satsuma domain also announced the demise of the Japanese navy.

This made the Tokugawa shogunate no longer able to block the progress of the Ming army from the sea.

On September 19th of the [-]th year of Chongzhen, the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty marched eastward.

Unimpeded along the way, heading towards Edo, the fleet sailed into Uraga and Kanagawa in Edo Bay on the [-]th.

Edo Bay is the seaward barrier of Edo Castle, surrounded by Boso and Miura peninsulas on the left and right, and connected to the ocean by the Uraga Waterway.

After Tokugawa Ieyasu unified Japan and established the shogunate, he built forts in the Yokosuka area of ​​the Miura Peninsula at the entrance of Edo Bay, and built the first line of defense on the sea in Edo Bay.

Later generations of US military bases stationed in Japan chose the Yokosuka Naval Port, guarding the throat of Tokyo Bay.

At this time, Yokosuka was just a small fishing village, completely silent.

As early as half a month ago, all the villages along the coast of Yokosuka ran away, and now there is no one in sight.

In fact, neither the Tokugawa shogunate nor the local daimyo issued a war warning to coastal residents, let alone organized residents to evacuate.

They are preparing the whole people to unite against the Ming army.

The common people in Japan have smelled the breath of war from the gossip and the increasing number of shogunate troops on the coast. They usually don't have enough to eat, so they don't work for the shogunate.

These gossips were dismissed as rumors by the shogunate, but the Japanese people believed in these so-called rumors.

The common people have their own judgments, and what is generally declared as rumors by the shogunate government is basically the truth.

On the [-]th, when the sun gradually rose, Zheng Chenggong issued an order to destroy the Yokosuka Fort!

Sixty large and medium-sized warships of the Ming army lined up on the sea, aimed at the Yokosuka fort, and launched a fierce bombardment.

Don't think that Zheng Chenggong's mother is Japanese, and he was also born in Japan, so Zheng Chenggong will show mercy to the Japanese.

In fact, Zheng Chenggong hated the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate, and it was the Tokugawa shogunate who detained his mother and Zheng Chenggong for several years.

Until now, his mother is still under house arrest in Japan by the shogunate, and she is not allowed to return to Ming Dynasty at all.

In addition to giving birth to Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhilong also gave birth to 6 sons.Among them, the second son Zheng Zongming is also a legendary figure.

At that time, Zheng Zhilong was engaged in overseas trade and lived on Hirado Island in the west of Kitamatsuura Peninsula, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, where he was favored by the local vassal Matsuura.

The Matsuura clan gave him land, built a mansion, and married Tagawa Matsu, the daughter of Hirado clan vassal Tagawa Yuhuang, to him.

In 1623, Zheng Zhilong married Tian Chuanmatsu.In the second year, 1624, their first child was born, named Zheng Sen, who became the famous national hero Zheng Chenggong.

Not long after Zheng Chenggong was born, Zheng Zhilong left Hirado Island, set up his own family, and ventured outside.

Later, Zheng Zhilong took the young Zheng Chenggong to Fujian.

Zheng Zhilong wanted to bring his wife Tianchuansong to Fujian, but was blocked by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate on the grounds that "Japanese women are not allowed to enter the Central Plains" and failed.

As a result, Tagawa Song stayed in Japan and gave birth to her second child with Zheng Zhilong in 1626, named Zheng Zongming.

Zheng Zhilong's nickname is "Yiguan", and Zheng Zongming's nickname is "Second Official", which shows Zheng Zhilong's love for his second son.

In 1645, Zheng Zongming was 19 years old.

At this time, brothers Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui supported Zhu Yujian, king of the Ming Dynasty in Fuzhou, Fujian, and their careers were flourishing.

Zheng Zhilong sent people to Japan to pick up Tian Chuanmatsu and Zheng Zongming's mother and son back to Fuzhou, Fujian.

Japan once again came forward to obstruct.After Tianchuansong argued hard, the Japanese side agreed that Tachuansong left Japan and went to Fuzhou, Fujian, but insisted on keeping Zheng Zongming as a hostage.

In desperation, Tagawa Matsu had no choice but to leave the 19-year-old Zheng Zongming in Japan, and came to Fuzhou, Fujian Province by himself, and came to Zheng Zhilong's side.

Although Zheng Zhilong missed Zheng Zongming very much, but knew that it would be difficult to see him again, he adopted him to his wife Tagawamatsu's natal family (Zheng Zongming lived with his grandfather since he was a child), and changed his name to Tagawa Qizaemon.

Because he is Zheng Zhilong's second son, he is also called Tagawa Jirozaemon.Since then, Zheng Chenggong's younger brother Zheng Zongming has become Japanese in nationality.

Although Tagawa Shichizaemon never met his father Zheng Zhilong and brother Zheng Chenggong when he grew up, he had heard of their heroic deeds.

When he became an adult, he became a samurai, and as the spokesperson of Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong in Japan, he assisted in the management of the Japanese branch on the East Asian route.

In 1646, the Qing army aggressively attacked Zheng Zhilong's hometown, Nan'an, Fujian, looting everywhere and searching for Zheng Zhilong's family members.

Worried that he would be humiliated in the hands of the Qing army, Tianchuansong committed suicide by cutting himself into seppuku at the age of 45.

The death of Tagawa Song gave Zheng Chenggong and Tianchuan Qizaemon a huge stimulus.

Since then, Zheng Chenggong has persisted in the cause of resisting the Qing Dynasty throughout his life, and he was resolutely unwilling to surrender to the Qing court.

Tagawa Qizaemon asked to go to Fujian to help Zheng Chenggong fight against the Qing army, but failed.

Another method was adopted: to establish a logistics support base for Zheng Chenggong in Japan, to continuously deliver various materials to him, and to help him maintain overseas trade.

During the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, in order to combat Zheng Chenggong's forces, the Qing government ordered "moving the border and banning the sea" and "no sails are allowed to enter the sea, and those who violate it will be imposed a heavy penalty."

Under the "Forbidden Sea Order", Zheng Chenggong fell into an unprecedented predicament.

Fortunately, Arita Chuan Qizaemon was behind as a support, which made Zheng Chenggong survive the most difficult period.

There was even spare energy to launch the Northern Expedition three times in 1658, 1659, and 1660, and the troops went straight to Nanjing, which dealt a heavy blow to the Qing court.

Later, Zheng Chenggong crossed the Taiwan Strait, drove away the Dutch army, and took back Taiwan.

It is no exaggeration to say that the achievements of Zheng Chenggong's military operations are inseparable from the support of his younger brother Tagawa Shichizaemon.

Originally he hated the Japanese shogunate, but now he is the naval commander loyal to Ming Dynasty, Zheng Chenggong is unambiguous about fighting Japan.

The naval guns on all the battleships fired at the coast of Yokosuka together.

"The Ming army is attacking!"

Amidst the explosion, the hysterical howls of the shogunate soldiers sounded.

In the barracks and on the fort, the warning golden drum was knocked, and the short shogunate army was in chaos, all preparing for battle in a panic.

Not long after, more shells roared in, and the fort was submerged by the violent explosion, and the corpses of horses and people who were blasted were flying around in the sky above the fort.

The panicked soldiers were in a trance, hiding around aimlessly, and no one knew where the next shell would fall.

The Ming army fired not only flowering bullets, but also solid bullets and hundreds of Mokang rockets.

On the sea, gunpowder smoke rose from the battleships of the Ming army, and the Japanese fort on the opposite bank was even shrouded in huge explosions and smoke.

The dense shells covered almost every corner of the fort, and the shogunate soldiers who hid behind the cannon, together with the cannon, were blown up into the sky, and their limbs and arms were scattered everywhere.

(End of this chapter)