Cutting 1719

Chapter 645 Target, Edo Castle
The huge fleet covered the sky and covered the sun, carrying nearly [-] sailors towards Edo Castle, and the rockets flying all over the sky became the prelude to the bombardment of Edo Castle. Like tearing apart the entire sky, it slammed into the fort position in the direction of Uraga, and many rockets flew directly into the edge of the pier.

"Boom - boom -"

In the sound of explosions all over the sky, the power of the rockets was fully released. More than a hundred people were directly blown into the sky by this wave of rockets. The splashing water seems to be celebrating, setting off the atmosphere to the sky.

Chaos, tearing, collapse, crying, all of this is cruelly beautifully performed on the Uraga and Edo docks, and the few screams full of anxiety seem to shout 'Kingdom collapse' ’, but what is even more cruel is that the Japanese seem to have forgotten how to use Guobeng under such a tilt of firepower.

More than a dozen soldiers in samurai uniforms are manipulating the cannons on the fort. Some of them are holding torches, some are loading gunpowder, and some are standing aside blankly holding the projectiles, as if they have lost their minds. With no claim, he can only passively wait for instructions.

"Put! Let go! Let go!"

It was not the shogunate soldiers who yelled this sentence, but the artillery officer on the Nanjing. He stared at the direction of Uraga, silently calculating the number and distance of the artillery on the ship. There were 36 24-jin guns, ten Eight 36-pound guns, these are just the guns on one side of the hull, and it only takes ten seconds for a salvo to be fully realized
With the order of shelling, a total of 54 artillery pieces began to roar, and the black solid shells fell like raindrops, making a shocking bombardment sound. Because they are more accurate than rocket shells, they all The relatively concentrated bombardment around the Uraga Fortress destroyed several Guobeng gates.

"boom--"

In the aftermath of the explosion, Guobeng in the Uraga Fort finally launched his first counterattack. However, compared with the thick and deep roar of the Dachu heavy artillery, the sound of Guobeng seemed more or less dull. Low and dumb, but the solid bullets fired hit the sea as it should be, and there is still a very long distance from the Dachu battleship.

The splashed water reflected the traces of iron and fire, as well as blurred faces on the Nanjing. They stood expressionlessly on the deck, completing the loading and launching orders to the letter.

"Boom--"

A large number of explosive bombs were launched from other ships and directly hit around the pier. At this time, the shogunate soldiers who were gathering on the pier were blown to pieces, and many people cried to their fathers and mothers. It rushed into Edo Castle, mixed with the cries and shouts of the people, and it became a mess.

A Japanese monk was kneeling on the pier, chanting words. He could vaguely hear words such as 'Amaterasu' and 'Devil King Invasion', but a line of hot tears flowed down his face at some point.

"Buddha, is this the end?"

Just when the outside of the city was in complete chaos, the inside of Edo City was completely silent. Countless soldiers of the shogunate were running fast, and a samurai in kimono was watching coldly with a sword in his hand. They were not trying to resist The Huaxia people from the sea are planning to take advantage of the chaos in the city to loot.

The climax of the ceremony was also ushering in the Kanda Shrine at this time. The hands and feet of the Kanda Priestess twisted strangely, her face was covered with white powder, and the spirit of the whole person seemed to be a little crazy. Shout loudly.

"The end of heaven, the invasion of the devil, the black boat on the sea, the source of disaster"

"The sea overwhelms the sky, the tide pours back, the majestic Edo, the flames live forever"

A kind of big palace and young palaces kowtowed their heads on the ground, gradually turning red and blue, and then someone knocked blood, but everyone didn't care at all, they only knew to kowtow at this time, regardless of their bodies The pain was so painful that no one chose to stop until blood was everywhere in the hall, and even some people were directly knocked to death on the spot.

The different scenes inside and outside the city formed a sharp contrast, but no one had any scruples. They were all doing what they thought was right, but they didn't even think about the effect of these things.

Tokugawa Yoshimune looked coldly at Omiyaji in Kanda Shrine, but the roar of artillery fire in his ears never stopped. He finally gave up pinning his hopes on Kanda Shrine, but turned his head towards Edo Castle. Walking on the city wall, a group of veterans followed behind him, walking hurriedly.

"The four thousand iron gunners are ready. If the Huaxia people dare to go ashore, they will launch the first wave of attack and fully kill the enemy."

"The rest of the ashigaru will be on top of the second attack, and a thousand cavalry will also be waiting to prevent them from gaining a foothold on the shore."

Mizuno Tadano hurriedly followed Tokugawa Yoshimune, with a look of anxiety on his face, "Although we have prepared everything, we must be careful in the end. If the battle situation is unfavorable, please make preparations early and retreat to Kyoto." .”

"All right--"

Tokugawa Yoshimune gritted his teeth and said softly: "Where is our warship? Can we go to meet the enemy ship?"

Mizuno Tadano was a little surprised. In fact, the reason why everyone did not propose a naval battle plan from the beginning was purely because the strength of the shogunate navy in this era was really hopeless.
The reason is also very simple. The financial capacity of the shogunate is too weak. There is not so much money to develop the navy. The main warships are still iron-clad Anzhai ships, and there are some closed ships. It's a little bit stronger, but it's also very limited.

Compared with the current sailing battleship of Dachu, the gap between the two sides is simply beyond description in words. This is the reason why Tadashi Mizuno didn't explain it before.

"General, the current shogunate ships are small and few, it is not enough to rely on."

"Since it's not enough to prove it, what's the use of keeping it?"

Tokugawa Yoshimune couldn't help showing a bit of anger on his face, he snorted coldly, "Order the warship to attack, no matter what, let Chu Kou see the will of my Tokugawa family!"

"Yes"

Soon, under the order of Tokugawa Yoshimune, a fleet that was still hidden in Edo Bay finally could not continue to hide. They slowly appeared in front of the Chu Navy. Although the distance was very far, they could be seen at a glance. Figure out the difference in body size.Those so-called iron-clad Anzhai boats and Guan boats are almost as small as a child in front of Dachu's current sailing warships, but the difference in the number of artillery on those warships is even greater, making people unable to bear the emotion of confrontation.

In fact, the Japanese have a deep understanding of Dachu’s current sailing warships. After all, as early as the Warring States period in Japan, there were already many daimyos imitating the sailing ships of the Netherlands and Portugal, like the first British man Miura who went to Japan. , also served as a diplomat of Ieyasu Tokugawa, and built two sailing ships for Ieyasu Tokugawa.

Of course, as the shogunate promulgated the national lock-up order, the Tokugawa shogunate never built western sailing ships, and the sea power never increased. They still used the old-fashioned Ataka boats, but they were not ignorant of sailing warships. At least understand its power.

"The general has an order, I will fight to the death, onboard!"

With the sound of drums, a group of Anzhai boats and Guan boats slowly came up. Because of their very slow speed, they fell into the eyes of the current Great Chu fleet, but they became a natural target.

On the Nanjing, Qiu Ze saw these attacking shogunate warships through the binoculars, and shook his head immediately. If such warships could threaten the Great Chu Fleet, then he could commit suicide by jumping into the sea right now.

"Send down the order, separate out four warships, and sink them quickly!"

That's right, Qiu Ze trusted the earth so much that other warships, including the Nanjing, continued to bombard the Uraga Fort and the Edo Wharf, but only sent four sailing warships to meet the enemy.

"Hurry up! Hurry up!"

On an iron-clad Ataka ship headed by the shogunate navy, Kazuo Yamamoto tied a white ribbon on his head with the symbol of the Tokugawa shogunate drawn on it, holding a samurai sword in one hand and a binoculars in the other to observe the opposite side The big Chu battleship was still shouting from time to time.

The other shogunate sailors rowed their oars quickly, and approached the opposite battleship a little bit-yes, although the armored Antaka ship also has sails, but it can only be used as auxiliary power, in fact, the real power still needs manpower to paddle .

Although there are two statues of the country on the bow of the iron-clad Anzhai ship, they have a greater symbolic meaning. During naval battles, you can only rely on the straight planks on the ship to fight against the ship. Therefore, there are usually hundreds of iron-clad soldiers on the Anzhai ship. The gunners and dozens of sword-wielding warriors will climb onto the big ship to fight on board.

However, as the distance between the two sides got closer, the cold sweat on Hesan Yamamoto's face became more and more irresistible, because the firepower density of the opposite Dachu battleship had far exceeded his imagination, and two explosive bombs had already hit the ground. When he got to the edge of the ship, if he continued to move forward, sooner or later the Anzhai ship he was on would be hit.

"Boom—"

It was too late, and then it was too late, a flowering bomb had already smashed into a nearby ship, a violent explosion sounded, and a ball of fire rose up from the ship, and soon the ship sank slowly in the explosion go down.

Hezo Yamamoto couldn't help but swallowed his saliva. He tried his best to muster up the courage, waved the samurai sword in his hand, and said loudly: "General board! The life of a samurai lies in honor, life is honor, death is shame, we have no other choice!"

The faces of the soldiers on the boat turned red, and they were still rowing vigorously. They knew that they had no other choice. If they turned around, they would definitely be ordered to commit seppuku. As warriors, even if they die, they must die on the frontal battlefield against the enemy.
However, in the eyes of the officers of the Great Chu battleship that was approaching at this time, these are not important, even the Japanese warships in front are not important, even if they are defeated, there is no glory to speak of After all, their advantage is too great, so big that there is no suspense in this battle.

"Boom--"

Accompanied by the continuous firing of the Great Chu battleship, the warships of the Japanese shogunate navy began to be sunk continuously, especially as the distance gradually narrowed, the sinking efficiency of the Great Chu navy battleship became higher and higher, and even Yamamoto Hezo's boat was also smashed through a big hole, and it took a lot of effort to plug the hole so that it would not sink.

But the problem is that they still can't get close to the Great Chu battleship, let alone use the side-to-side battle to gain a slim chance of victory. Under the baptism of a large number of shells, the speed of the shogunate navy warships is getting slower and slower, and there are fewer and fewer warships. Like disabled samurai in the setting sun, they waved their samurai swords in vain.

Yamamoto Kasan gasped for breath, he knelt on the ground with one hand leaning on a sword, his body was covered with small wounds, and blood gushed out of them, but it was not a big deal after all, because one of his legs was no longer Wing and fly.

Just before that, the bomb not only smashed through the deck, but also killed several people by the splinters of the plank, and also cut off a leg of Hezo Yamamoto. Fu Xin looked concerned, and her paddling speed was much slower.

"The general is on board! Fight quickly, everyone!"

Hezo Yamamoto wiped off the blood on his face, and he tried his best to support his body. The severe pain had already numb his body, and even made his vision blurred. He vaguely saw the beauty of his wife. Sonoko was standing in front of him, holding out her hand to him.

However, before he stretched out his hand, another explosive bomb landed on the deck, and this violent explosion not only took his life away completely, but also completely brought the iron-clad Anzhai ship into the bottom of the sea .

"He San Yamamoto drove his warship bravely towards the Chu Kou battleship, even though he was seriously injured, he did not retreat at all, and finally jumped onto the Chu Kou's battleship, and fought against the evil Chu Kou. Fight to the death."

In a later book about the "Black Ship Attack", there was such a passage recorded, the plot is naturally exaggerated. Yamamoto Hezou did not jump on the big Chu battleship, nor did he have a big battle. He just Died simply, not vigorously enough.

And on the big Chu battleship 'Wuchang' in the distance, a sailor was quickly and carefully inspecting the results of the battle just now. His eyes were calm and calm, and he didn't feel happy because of this hit. There are too many fruits of battle, and it can't even arouse the slightest fluctuation in his emotions.

When the flames on the sea gradually disappeared, everything returned to the original track, and the shogunate navy, which bought some time for Edo Castle, eventually became a wreck on the sea.

Qiu Ze looked sternly at Edo Castle, which had begun to emit black smoke, gently pulled out his saber, and pointed it into the distance.

"Target, Edo Castle!"

(End of this chapter)