Cutting 1719

Chapter 423
In Japan's shogunate system, although the shogunate has an absolute advantage in economic power, as daimyos in and outside the system, they also have very powerful power, which can be said to be no less than that of the shogunate at certain times.

Outer daimyos mainly refer to those who were the same daimyo as Tokugawa Ieyasu before the Sekigahara War, and some daimyos who were loyal to Toyotomi Hideyori during the war and surrendered after the war, in simple terms, were once the Tokugawa family enemies, and these people usually have very strong strength, but do not have any power in the shogunate, and most of them are in remote places.

Compared with the power controlled by the shogunate, foreign surnames are not bad. For example, the Kaga domain has a territory of 120 million koku, the Satsuma domain has a territory of 70 koku, and the Sendai domain has a territory of 62 koku. The shogunate currently controls His territory is only 450 million shi.

Of course, the foreign daimyos are not united, and the relationship is extremely complicated. Daimyos such as Ikeda, Kuroda, and Hosokawa have always had good relations with the Tokugawa family. After the Battle of Sekigahara The surrendered names such as Mori, Shimadzu, and Uesugi are naturally relatively inferior.

Therefore, the suggestion given by Xueqing Kuranghisa cannot be said to be good or bad. After all, it is impossible for most foreign daimyos to wear a pair of pants with the Shimadzu family. Everyone still hopes to please the Tokugawa family, so He will not risk the anger of the Tokugawa family to help the Satsuma clan.

Even so, Shimadzu Jifeng decided to still follow Xueqing Canghisa's suggestion. After all, there is no better idea right now, and there is a behemoth like Ning Chu involved in this matter. If you worry about it, you should all be able to help.

It's just that when Shimadzu Jifeng was going around in series, Ningchu's Sixth Division was already preparing to board the ship in front of the Shanghai pier. At that time, it would go directly to Kyushu Island to attack Satsuma. After taking down Satsuma, Then he turned to attack Ryukyu.

After all, not only Shimadzu Jifeng was anxious, but Ning Chu was also anxious - after defeating the Satsuma clan, I am afraid that preparations for the Northern Expedition will begin, and everyone will despise the petty gains of the Satsuma clan. Only the Northern Expedition, That is the real goal in everyone's heart.

Groups of soldiers of the Fuhan Army, carrying long flintlock guns, boarded the ships prepared by the Ningchu Navy, which could carry nearly 5000 people to sea at the same time, so it was the two soldiers of the Sixth Division of the Fuhan Army. group formation.

Against the background of everyone boarding the ship, several generals of the Fuhan Army stood in front of the pier, looking at this exciting scene with a bit of pride on their faces.

"The strength of two regiments is enough to deal with one Satsuma clan."

Deng Ziyi, the commander of the Sixth Division, spoke calmly, but he was full of confidence. In his opinion, with the current combat strength of the Fuhan Army, he has not encountered any decent opponents. 4000 people must be enough.

On the other hand, Admiral Qiu Ze of the Navy was more or less regretful. Looking at the warships in front of him, he couldn't help sighing: "These warships basically captured the Qing army, and we don't have many of our own. Now in Fujian, Shanghai There are some new three-masted warships being built in the shipyards in other places, but they are really waiting to enter service—I’m afraid it will be next year.”

Since Ning Yu changed the navy into a navy, almost everyone can feel Ning Yu's deep expectations for the navy, and a sum of money is allocated from the budget to build shipyards, build new warships, and open naval academies , These measures all cost a lot of money, and even caused some dissatisfaction in the army.

Because the money allocated to the navy is essentially deducted from them. If there is no deduction, the army will be able to organize another ten divisions this year, even if it will organize another twenty divisions, it is sure.

"General Qiu, I have heard His Majesty say that the construction of the navy is not the same as the construction of the army. The army can be formed in one year and elite in ten years, but the navy often needs decades or even hundreds of years to come. I have to endure it!"

Deng Ziyi chuckled, he knew a lot about the inside story.

Qiu Ze didn't take it seriously, and snorted coldly: "But Your Majesty also said that the future Great Chu will have an invincible fleet in the world, so as to guarantee the interests of Great Chu in the world!"

Perhaps what Ning Yu didn't think of was that in his army, there had already been signs of a sea-land dispute. Although it was only in its infancy, with the simultaneous development of the army and navy, the differences in the future might be further intensified. big.

After the troops of the two regiments of the Sixth Division were all on board, Deng Ziyi also boarded his flagship with Admiral Qiu Ze, preparing to set off directly to Kyushu Island to attack Satsuma.

The Satsuma clan is located in the southwestern part of Kyushu, the westernmost part of Japan. Its territory controls Satsuma, Osumi, and part of the territory of Hyuga. The stone is as high as 70 stones. It can be called a male clan. Therefore, for the Satsuma clan, they are absolutely unwilling. After being caught without a fight, more than 8000 Satsuma soldiers were mobilized to defend Satsuma to the death.

These Satsuma soldiers all hold iron cannons in their hands, and their morale is high, and there are dozens of cannons deployed on the coastal defense positions. They can be regarded as rare elites in this era!
Shimadzu Tsutsuyoshi looked at the gathered Satsuma soldiers, with a somewhat smug expression on his face, proudly said to Yukiharu Kurahisa next to him: "Military division, even if the shogunate secretly plots this time, the general I also have the confidence to drive the Chu Kou away, with our [-] vassal soldiers, who can defeat us in Japan?"

The words of Shimadzu Jifeng are really not big words, because the combat effectiveness of the Satsuma domain is so good in history, and it has gone through a series of tests of wars!
Due to geographical location, Satsuma became the first vassal to contact the West. The development of its iron cannon (that is, musket) technology far surpassed that of other daimyos, so its combat effectiveness has also been greatly improved, and the Shimadzu family is also like the rising sun. , the power is booming, successively defeated the [-] army of Otomo's family and the [-] army of Longzuo Temple, and even killed Longxin, the head of the Longzuosi family.

At that time, the Satsuma clan completely flattened Kyushu Island with an almost impeccable posture. However, there were earth-shaking changes outside Kyushu at that time. Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed the unification of Honshu and became a man of the world. Choose to surrender to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

In the later Wanli Korean War, the Satsuma clan became the main force of Hideyoshi’s invasion army because it was located in Kyushu. On the Korean battlefield at that time, the Satsuma army was very crazy and aggressive and had a particularly tenacious fighting will, so in the eyes of the Chinese and North Korean coalition forces. It was very difficult, and even the Korean army called Shimadzu Yoshihiro, the chief general who led the Satsuma army at that time, "ghost stone manzi".

In addition to these reasons, the samurai of the Shimadzu family have always been known for being able to endure hardships and being brave and warlike, so Shimadzu Jifeng had such great expectations.

However, Xue Qingcangjiu did not have such high confidence. No matter how good the Satsuma clan was at fighting, after all, it has been so long since they have fought a war, but Ning Chu on the opposite side is different. They just came out of the flames of war. Is it okay to have a fight?

"General, if we can not fight this battle, it is better not to fight. After all, we can win once, can we win ten times and a hundred times? Especially when the shogunate is still watching, as long as we show a little military power, I am willing to fight for the general. Go to negotiate peace with the Chu army commander, presumably they will also judge the situation."

Shimadzu Jifeng frowned slightly. Although he agreed with Xueqing Cangjiu's opinion from the bottom of his heart, he was somewhat unbelieving. Could it be that Chu Kou is really hard-hitting?

"What the military adviser said is very true, but the left and right sides have to wait for the front line to finish fighting, so let's fight first and then talk!"

In March of the third year of innovation, the Ningchu Navy and two regiments of the Sixth Division arrived in the waters near Kagoshima, preparing to land and directly attack Tsurumaru Castle, where the Shimadzu family is located. The strategic goal was completely achieved by beheading tactics.

Kagoshima is located at the southernmost tip of Kyushu, and there is hardly any strategic depth at all. Although Tsurumaru Castle, where the Shimadzu family is located, is located on a mountain and surrounded by cliffs, it is located at the forefront, so it has been used more than once in history. It has been captured, and this time Ning Chu's plan is to directly occupy Tsurumaru Castle and force the Shimadzu family to make concessions.

When Ning Chu's overwhelming warship approached Kagoshima from the distant sea, all the Shimadzu vassals in Kagoshima were more or less psychologically shadowed. What should such a huge fleet be like? What about eradication?
The Satsuma Domain itself also has a navy, but the Satsuma Domain is not the reformed Satsuma Domain after all. There are thirty or fifty scattered warships, and they are all small boats. The man of the Navy is Shimadzu Tsuitoyo's confidant Mizuyan Muyu.

"Guardian, I'm afraid this battle will be a narrow escape, and I am willing to repay the Lord Supervisor with death!"

Facing the hundreds of warships in Ningchu, Shui Yanmuzhi had a tragic look on his face. Of course he knew that with the [-] to [-] small warships of the Satsuma clan, it would be almost impossible to defeat the opposing Ningchu navy. An impossible thing, this time I am afraid that the only way to repay the feudal lord is with death.

Once he made up his mind, Shuiyan Muzhi couldn't control so much, and he passed down the order to let the warship carry more gunpowder and other materials, and set sail to intercept Ning Chu's warship. If he could get close, he would ignite the gunpowder on the ship. Chu's warships perished together.

It has to be said that this is a way of fighting with everything, crazy and desperate, but this is also the only effective strategy that Shuiyan Muzhi thought of, because if ordinary iron cannons and other things are used, the warships of the Satsuma clan will not be able to deal with Ning Chu at all. Any threat posed by tall warships will be sunk in vain after that time.

Following Mizuyan Muyuki's order, the dozens of warships of the Satsuma domain docked at the Kagoshima pier, after nearly half an hour of preparation, chose to set sail to intercept the Ningchu warship that was heading this way , and these Satsuma sailors knew more or less in their hearts that they might not survive this battle, so everyone was full of tragic hearts.

Looking at the warship of the Satsuma clan heading in their direction, Qiu Ze, the admiral of the Ningchu Navy, had a flash of disdain in his eyes. They probably have never seen the firepower of the Ningchu Navy!

Although most of the warships of the Ningchu Navy are captured from the Qing army, the Ningchu Navy has refurbished them, at least adding a lot of gun positions, and they are all [-]-jin artillery pieces, which are quite powerful. It is extraordinary, and it is by no means comparable to the warships of the Qing army.

"Send the order to start the first round of test firing, and leave the navy in front of you."

While looking in the direction of the Satsuma clan with a binoculars, Qiu Ze gave orders extremely calmly. Although he disdained the combat methods of the Satsuma clan's navy, he also expressed a certain respect for their courage.

It's just that the world can't be played with courage for a long time, otherwise it is not necessarily the Fuhan army who is approaching the city now.

Dozens of Satsuma warships braved the wind and waves, and began to close the distance with the Ningchu Navy. Their faces were full of nervousness. Since the Battle of Ryukyu, Satsuma has not actually used much weapons. Now It is inevitable that you will be a little uncomfortable when you go into battle suddenly.

"Boom—boom—"

When the distance between the Ningchu warship and the Satsuma warship narrowed, the artillery on the Ningchu warship roared first, but the Fran cannon on the Satsuma warship was too far away to reach it at all.

One after another, the projectiles fell, splashing water around the warship of the Satsuma domain. Although it has not hit yet, everyone knows that it will happen sooner or later. As long as the distance continues to decrease, After all, the intensive firepower can encounter a few dead mice.

After a quarter of an hour, Ningchu's artillery finally succeeded, and the dense projectiles hit four Satsuma sailors at once. The violent explosion directly sank the four small boats to the bottom of the sea, while the sailors above were not even able to reach the bottom of the sea. It was too late to escape, and they were dragged into the bottom of the sea together by the warship.

Shui Yanmuzhi, who was supervising the battle on the flagship, had his eyes fixed, and he knew in his heart that he could not continue, otherwise the Satsuma navy would not be able to get close to the Ningchu navy, so he quickly asked his men to blow the horn. This signal is to tell other All the warships no longer need to continue to form a battle formation, but spread out and head directly towards Ning Chu's warship at full speed.

"Hmph, do you want to get closer at all costs?"

Qiu Ze on the flagship looked at the actions of the Satsuma Navy Navy, and couldn't help but sneer. He certainly understood the intention of the Satsuma Navy Navy's move, which was to completely abandon the battle formation, just to get a chance to get closer——As for The tactics after approaching are nothing more than a fire attack or a collision with a full load of gunpowder.

Such a move is impossible to hide from Qiu Ze, who is old in battle. After all, he also came from the Fujian Navy of the Qing Army. He has experienced a lot of surface warfare. The opponent's intentions are simply lice on the monk's head— Obvious things.

"Pass the order, the whole army maintains formation, slows down, and strikes with all its might!"

The sailors on Ningchu's flagship quickly raised the semaphore and carried out Qiu Ze's order. Since the Satsuma sailors wanted to get closer, they slowed down to create more strike opportunities!

The setting sun was like blood, and there were bursts of roars on the sea, accompanied by splashes of water everywhere, as if playing a final elegy.

(End of this chapter)