I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 682 The First Air Raid

The idea of ​​a hot air balloon "bomber" is indeed not feasible and practical, but some people still want to try it.

Even if Emperor Zhu hadn't brought it up, sooner or later someone would have discovered this blind spot.

Over Edo Main Castle, the southeasterly wind blows from the sea and is blocked by the mountainous area behind the main castle.

A hot air balloon slowly lifted into the sky, and the ropes of other hot air balloons were connected. The ropes of these hot air balloons for reconnaissance were all specially made. They used many ropes and compound tanning to be strong enough, otherwise they would not be able to hold them at all.

On the wall of Edo, Tadashi Ooka also saw the Ming army's hot air balloon taking off.

Tadashi Ooka was surprised at this thing at first, but later he got used to it after seeing it more often.

"Your Excellency Ooka, the flying ball from the Heavenly Army seems to be flying towards us?" the warrior beside him exclaimed.

Naturally, Ooka Tadashi also discovered it and said, "Let all our iron cannons aim and shoot!"

In fact, it was just a show, because it was too high, and their artillery guns had insufficient range to hit such high hot air balloons.

The sea breeze just carried the hot air balloon, which was connected to a thick and strong rope below, and slowly floated over Edo Castle.

The shogunate warriors fired a few shots and then all raised their heads to watch.

"That's almost it, come back a little bit!"

The flag carrier on the hot air balloon quickly waved the flag.

The officers in the military camp outside the city saw it with a telescope and followed the order. A group of soldiers in the rear who took off their shirts and exposed their tendons pulled the rope back hard.

"Okay, stop! That's it."

The hot air balloon finally hovered over Edo Castle.

Tadashi Ooka couldn't help but come out of the safe tower and looked at the hot air balloon above his head with some confusion.

Soon, he saw something falling from the hovering hot air balloon.

The thing was still black, obviously very heavy, and falling very fast.

In the blink of an eye, he landed in front of Ooka Tadashi, about ten meters away from the city wall.

"boom!"

The first air raid in human history was born.

The violent explosion and roar knocked the sixty-year-old Japanese man to the ground on the spot.

Wang Zongtan, who was watching the whole process with a telescope outside the city, suddenly clenched his fist: "Okay! Okay! It is indeed feasible, it is indeed feasible!"

Even without a telescope, many soldiers and ronin could see that thick smoke was rising from one section of the Edo Castle Wall.

Moreover, the explosion just now was so loud that even the civilian husband Ronin who was resting was alerted.

Everyone stared blankly at the Edo Castle Wall, their hearts filled with horror.

On the hot air balloon, seeing the first explosive bomb succeed, the soldiers above also became more energetic.

Then he lit the second one.

"Go to hell! Damn those Japanese pirates."

It seems that the soldier responsible for dropping bombs should be a southerner.

The second explosive bomb was thrown, and the samurai of the shogunate finally realized the danger.

They want to escape, but how can the speed of human legs compare to the acceleration of gravity in physics?

A large black mass of blooming bombs with sparks arrived in an instant.

"boom!"

A dozen Hatamoto samurai who were in the local area of ​​the explosion were blown to pieces on the spot.

There were more than ten people injured in the surroundings, either missing arms or broken legs, and almost all of them suffered from severe internal bleeding, and their mouths were full of blood and they were vomiting...

Such a tragic situation scared the surviving warriors to run away desperately, and they did not even dare to stand on the city wall.

Even the general, Tadashi Ooka, was protected by the samurai and retreated to the castle tower.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" These were the musketeers of the shogunate and the artillerymen who were farther away, shooting at the hot air balloon in the sky.

But it was useless. The matchlock range was too close and the artillery's aiming point was too low.

The shogunate army hadn't fought in a long time, and they were so nervous that they couldn't hit the hot air balloon at high altitude.

He could only watch helplessly as the Ming army's hot air balloon was slowly pulled back to its position.

It's impossible not to go back, because there isn't that much fuel, and the hot air balloon is inconvenient to move. There are no shogunate samurai in the area where it can be thrown after two blasts.

But it doesn't matter, it's just a practical test anyway. When the Ming army launches a formal siege, the shogunate samurai on the Edo city wall can no longer retreat.

Unless they don't want the city wall, they will either be bombed by hot air balloons or the Ming army will easily break through the city.

Choose one of the two, it’s a dead end!
After Ooka Tadashi came to his senses, he quickly realized the seriousness: "The Celestial Army has flying balls and can also throw explosive objects. Even the shogunate's Hatamoto samurai cannot resist its power. Now they can still rely on the city wall for protection, but if The Celestial Army launches an siege. No matter whether we give up defending the city or face the Celestial Army directly, there will be no difference in the outcome. We must come up with a countermeasure. "

"Your Excellency Ooka, the Celestial Army is invincible and can only be outmaneuvered!" said a samurai.

Tadashi Ooka asked, "What's your plan?"

The warrior said: "You can select some brave and elite warriors, sneak out of the city at night, attack the flying balls that burned the Celestial Army, and create chaos and destroy their formation."

"The night attack is a good strategy." Tadashi Ooka nodded in approval.

That night he personally selected 800 Hatamoto samurai to form a death squad, and everyone was given a bowl of rice and a small plate of pickled radish.

Don't think this is shabby, because currently in Japan, eating meat is actually prohibited.

This is why in many river dramas, the dishes of Japanese nobles mostly consist of a bowl of rice, a piece of dried salted fish, and a plate of pickled vegetables and pickled radish.

This was already a daimyo-level "delicacy", and even the emperor did not receive such treatment. It was not until the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century that the emperor took the lead in ordering the whole country to eat meat. A group of monks broke into the palace and demanded that the ban on meat be withdrawn.

Many famous Japanese foods in later generations actually only began to appear during the Meiji Restoration.

As a result, I also suffered from a disease with regional characteristics - "Japanese-style beriberi (eating only rice every day)".

The death squad composed of eight hundred banner warriors had eaten rice and pickled radish, which even the emperor often ate, and received some housing expenses before leaving the city at night.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

As soon as the eight hundred banner warriors left the city, the battle broke out in less than a quarter of an hour.

The Ming army is not a fool. Night attacks are all tricks that the Ming army has used many years ago. There are still early warning measures in place.

The brigade raised their torches, and the gunmen fired directly at the vaguely visible figures in the darkness.

If it wasn't too dark, we wouldn't be able to use the artillery.

The eight hundred warriors who attacked at night realized that they had been discovered and wanted to forcefully launch a charge. However, before they could even reach half the distance, they were felled by flintlock rifles.

The Ming army didn't even send out heavy armor soldiers. The musketeers in the front row directly mounted their bayonets and charged towards the figures in the darkness.

In one round of killing, half of the eight hundred warriors died.

The warrior armor on his body was like paper and completely vulnerable.

Yamamoto Yuta also got up, drew his sword and led a group of ronin, taking the opportunity to steal the retreat of the Hatamoto samurai.

"Kill!"

"..."

A large group of rogues charged at the scattered team, some simply charging with swords in bare feet and disheveled clothes.

Yamamoto Yuta took the first step and killed an unprepared Hatamoto samurai with a sword: "Everyone who is an enemy of General Wang deserves to die!"

Under the pitch black darkness, the battle outside the city became extremely chaotic, with shouts of killing everywhere.

Tadashi Ooka stood on the city wall and couldn't see clearly at all, and he didn't know what the situation was.

These fanatical shogunate warriors gradually woke up from the chaotic fighting. More and more people stopped charging and retreated towards the city gate.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Even the retreat was blocked by the highly motivated ronin. They fled in a hurry and had long lost their organization.

The fight took only half an hour from start to finish.

All eight hundred shogunate warriors were wiped out, and not a single one could escape.

(End of this chapter)