Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1095 Heavy Artillery Battalion
The new government army led by Zhang Yuan captured Nihonmatsu Castle, which was occupied by the samurai rebels. Horiju Mizuma, the retainer of the former Aizu domain patriarch Kato Akisei, faced the powerful offensive of the new government army and surrendered to the new government army after a little resistance.

The 8000-strong new government army broke through the defense line of Munari Pass defended by the samurai group, and approached Kurokawa Castle in the Aizu Domain, posing a huge threat to the gathering places of the two samurai groups, Kurokawa Castle and Yamagata Castle.

If these two cities are conquered, the samurai group will be completely declared out of power, and the authority of the new government will be established from then on.

Zhang Yuan stood on a high ground outside Heichuan City, observing the defense of Heichuan City.Kurokawa Castle is not much different from the castles in other Japanese regions, divided into the Honmaru with the keep and the street area outside the castle.

"According to the spies we spread out, the samurai from Yamagata Castle, Nagaoka Castle and other places have all arrived in Kurokawa Castle. It is difficult to estimate the number of enemies in Kurokawa Castle. There are roughly 2 to 4 people, most of whom are samurai , and a large number of farmers and townspeople who were captured by them." Mitsuhisa Shimadzu said to Zhang Yuan.

"Try to get them to gather as many warriors as possible, and postpone the scheduled general attack for three days." Zhang Yuan saw the warriors deployed on the east street of Heichuan City through the binoculars.

"If we continue to delay, the samurai rebels from Echigo Kingdom, Hokkaido and other places may gather in Kurokawa Castle, and the number of samurai on the other side may reach 3 to 5. They are all light feet who have been on the battlefield, which is not unusual. Peasant soldiers, and many of them have matchlock guns and samurai swords, delaying this is not a good thing for us." Mitsuhisa Shimadzu did not understand Zhang Yuan's decision to delay the battle.

"Don't be so impatient... Try to get the warriors in the northeast region who are dissatisfied with the new government to come to Heichuan City, and we will defeat them in one fell swoop. Only force can make them submit to the rule of the new government, otherwise they will still die." Rebels one after another." Zhang Yuan was not in a hurry, "Besides, we still have a batch of artillery on the way..."

"And new artillery? I remember that we already have 20 artillery pieces and more than 400 war horses here. Including the shogunate artillery found from the Edo Castle Armory, there are more than 30 pieces." Mitsuhisa Shimadzu said.

"A heavy artillery battalion is on its way. We didn't plan to send them out, but in order to completely defeat the confidence of the warrior group, the military department approved the temporary dispatch of a heavy artillery battalion to support us." Zhang Yuan said.

"Heavy Artillery Battalion?!" Mitsuhisa Shimadzu heard of this establishment for the first time.

"We have only set up a heavy artillery battalion in the whole continent, and the artillery they have is heavy artillery of 24 pounds or more. Their artillery is extremely heavy, and it is not very useful for field battles, but it is necessary to use it to attack a strong castle. They are gone," Zhang Yuan said.

The Kyushu Army has more than a dozen infantry regiments on standby, two of which are infantry regiments, with fifteen artillery battalions.There was only one battalion of heavy artillery, which was not very practical.

The reason why the heavy artillery battalion is not practical is because when the heavy artillery battalion was established, East Asia lacked large-scale fortified battles and strong bastions.In many cases, heavy artillery is not needed to conquer a city, and it is enough to pile up cannon fodder. Anyway, the most important thing is population.

"There are 24-pound and heavier artillery than 24-pound, which is a bit scary." Mitsuhisa Shimadzu understood that the Kyushu Army divided the artillery according to the weight of the shell, and had a certain concept of the power of the artillery.

In this era, artillery weighing more than 12 pounds can be regarded as "heavy artillery". Generally, only naval warships can drive heavy artillery weighing more than 12 pounds to maneuver, and inconvenient heavy artillery is rarely used in field battles.

And artillery weighing more than 24 pounds can cause a devastating blow to the current Dongying Castle.

The heavy artillery battalion mentioned by Zhang Yuan was deployed around the capital to defend the capital and better support various places by sea.They came to Edo Castle on a large sailboat, and without much rest, they used the collected horses to pull the heavy artillery to the battlefield of Kurokawa Castle.

Zhang Yuan waited for the heavy artillery battalion to arrive on the battlefield, and the leaders of the samurai group, such as Hoshina Masaoyuki and Kato Akishiro, were frantically summoning samurai who were dissatisfied with the new government's "abolished sword order" to prepare to defend Kurokawa City.If they can block the attack of the new government army, there may still be a chance for a comeback.

Hoshina looked at the camp of the new government army with a samurai sword on the top of the castle tower, and said to the daimyos on the left and right in puzzlement: "The number of the new government army is not large, and they should have already made preparations to attack Kurokawa Castle. Haven't launched an offensive yet?"

Kato Mingcheng said on the side: "Maybe they are still waiting for reinforcements. I mean the troops sent from the Kingdom of Heaven. Most of the troops they sent to Dongpu this time are navy, and there are only a few thousand infantry."

"Your guess is very reasonable. The main force of their infantry is still staying on the mainland and there is no movement. If they come out in full force, we will be in trouble. I think if they still have no movement in a few days, we will go out to fight against the city and find a way to fight back in the city. Destroy them before their reinforcements arrive. After all, we still have the advantage in numbers, and the army of the Saikuni Daimyo will not be able to arrive in time." Masanobu Hoshina said.

"As samurai, how can we agree to the abolition of the sword, and we are willing to defeat the bandit army with you!" The daimyo who raised the banner of rebellion said one after another.

As the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the branch of the Tokugawa family, Hoshina Masaoyuki still has great influence after Tokugawa Iemitsu was arrested!
"Is the Sendai Clan still vacillating?" Hoshina Masayuki asked.

In addition to the shogunate, the Sendai clan led by the Date family is one of the largest clans, and the attitude of the Sendai clan is related to changes in the battle situation.

"Date Masamune wrote to the retainers of the Sendai domain, ordering them to surrender. The retainers of the head of the Sendai domain have all joined the new government, and now the rice in the opposite camp is shipped from the Sendai domain." A daimyo who knew the situation said.

"Sendai Fan is a million-dollar domain with thousands of samurai. Are they willing to obey the new government and hand over the salary that the samurai sword deserves?" Many daimyo said.

"After all, Date Masamune has great prestige in the Sendai Domain. Once he speaks, the old retainers have to listen. What's more, the new government is powerful, and it is not known whether it can successfully resist. If you lose the battle, you will have to accept the new government. The conditions are harsh." A daimyo said.

Many daimyos who arrived at Kurokawa Castle and determined to resist were silent for a while. Even Hoshina Masanoyu, who was pushed to power by mid- and low-level samurai, felt a heavy sense of oppression. Can they really defeat the most powerful army in East Asia?

They don't know the information that the Heavy Artillery Battalion is already on the way, otherwise they may have to carefully weigh whether to continue to gather troops in Heichuan City.

(End of this chapter)