I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 172 Princess Mary arrives in Japan
Although there are many pirate ships blocking the road ahead, most of them are small boats with a single sail. For the smallest steam warship in the fleet with a weight of more than 900 tons, it can be knocked over in one go.

The opponent's strongest combat power is a few steam warships, and the style is still ten years ago. Like the smallest tonnage warship in the fleet, they are all steam-powered three-masted warships.

The opponent's intention is obvious, trying to use wolf pack tactics to consume Japan's wedding fleet and gain opportunities for the main warships to attack.

Although planning is good, war is not a simple numbers game.

Tsugawa Kaibei ordered the Shikamaru to advance at full speed, and there were six warships including the Keio on both sides to attack together.

The remaining Carolini and the two steam warships of the smallest tonnage were holding the line at the rear.

The seven battleships in the front attacked the pirate group in a horizontal formation. The Moro pirates immediately sent out small boats to charge, while the steam warships and sail battleships moved to the flanks behind, trying to seize the "T" prefix.

Tsugawa Kaibei ignored the actions of the enemy steam warships and sail battleships. He just ordered the warships to move horizontally and form a T-shape with the overcoming Moro pirates.

"Left full rudder!"

"Turn!"

"Adjust the angle of the main gun!"

The huge sea monster drew an arc on the sea surface and gradually spread horizontally.

The charging Moro pirates naturally knew what was going to happen next, and the leader shouted: "Pull quickly if you don't want to be killed!"

"Hey... Phew..."

The sailors also knew very well that without the leader's orders, they had already used all their strength and the sails on the ship had been raised.

On the Shikamaru, the observer saw the approaching enemy ship and shouted: "The distance is three thousand five, the angle is fifteen, and the enemy's speed is about eight knots!"

When the gunners heard this number, they quickly calculated it in their minds and immediately ordered the gunners to adjust.

"Adjustments are complete!"

"Reloading complete!"

"fire!"

The gunner shouted, followed by the rumble of gunfire.

The seven warships opened fire together, and nearly a hundred shells were fired, falling like raindrops into the pirate vanguard fleet.

"boom!"

A Nanyang wooden sailing ship was hit by a cannonball and intercepted directly. The pirates on board screamed in fear and jumped into the sea.

There were also pirate ships that were lucky. The cannonballs hit the nearby sea, stirring up jets of water, and the seawater lapped on the deck of the pirate ship.

In just one round of shelling, the pirates lost more than 20 ships, which were basically destroyed after being hit by one shot.

But the leaders continued to encourage the pirates to continue to speed up and get closer to the Japanese fleet.

However, the small and medium-sized artillery on the side of the ship was originally a rapid-fire gun. In less than 30 seconds, there was another round of shelling, and dozens of Nanyang wooden sailing ships were destroyed.

Fragments of wooden boards were floating on the sea, and a large number of pirates were struggling in the sea, looking for barrels, wooden boards and other things to survive.

But the war was not over yet, more pirate ships rushed up.

The pirate ship withstood more than ten rounds of shelling from seven warships before it rushed to the fleet, which was less than one nautical mile away.

The pirate leader on a ship said with great joy: "It's our turn, aim at the enemy and fire!"

The leader let out a bad breath. He was now going to retaliate with tooth for tooth and blood for blood. He was going to bombard the Shikamaru ahead.

While the pirates were operating the artillery, a group of sailors stood on the deck of the Shikamaru, all holding needle guns in their hands.

"Bang bang bang..."

The sailors on the ship immediately opened fire at the Nanyang wooden sailboat not far away. The leader directly turned into a hornet's nest. The team that originally still had morale instantly collapsed and ran for their lives frantically.

The intensive shooting caused the morale of the approaching pirates to collapse. The ships behind them rushed up and were quickly repelled.

There was also a pirate ship that encountered a mine within 100 meters and was blown up.

The pirates on the boat were so frightened that they did not dare to fight anymore and ran away one after another.

The pirate leader who was approaching the warship cursed: "These dogs will be killed every one of them when they get back!"

"Quickly, rush up and follow Master Andre's instructions. Let's seize that T-head!"

The steam battleships and sail battleships accelerated. They had arrived at the flank of the battlefield. If they moved forward, they could attack the Japanese fleet.

However, their intention had long been seen by Takehiro Enomoto behind them. Seeing the opponent sailing from the water channel on the left and approaching the battlefield, Takehiro Enomoto no longer hesitated and immediately moved forward at full speed to seize the T-shaped position.

The Carolini was not far from the flank, and after advancing at full speed, the Carolini arrived at the position.

Enomoto Takehi immediately ordered: "Turn!"

The Carolini immediately turned to the left.

On the enemy's steam battleship, a foreigner cursed: "Damn it, the enemy has the advantage first, we hold back and let the sail battleship rush up first!"

The steam warship began to slow down, and the sail battleship surpassed the steam warship fleet at a speed of twelve knots and headed directly towards the Carolini.

"Boom boom boom..."

The Carolini fired a salvo, and two shells hit the opponent's sailing battleship, but the damage caused by the two shells was limited.

The sail battleship's forward heavy artillery fired and landed on the sea dozens of meters away from the Carolini, causing a column of water.

Takehiro Enomoto immediately shouted: "Aim harder and hit the opponent's ship's mast!"

This was a tactic used by the French during the sailing battleship period. As long as the opponent's ship's mast was knocked off and the opponent's speed was reduced, victory would be basically guaranteed.

Takehiro Enomoto saw the opponent's sail battleship and subconsciously used the tactics of the French army. After all, France supported the shogunate at the beginning, Takehiro Enomoto and other naval generals naturally learned the tactics of the French.

With a new round of bombardment, the masts of the two sailing battleships were knocked off, and their speed dropped significantly.

The leader of the sailing battleship whose mast was hit yelled angrily and quickly asked the sailors below to paddle.

While the Carolini was holding back the opponent's main ship, two other smaller steam warships bypassed the bow of the Carolini, intending to attack the enemy from the flank.

"Boom boom boom..."

Within a few minutes, the enemy's main fleet risked the loss of three sailing battleships, and the ships were already leveled.

The aggrieved leader roared: "Hit me!"

"Boom boom boom..."

The remaining three sailing battleships fired hundreds of doors at once, and the scene was very spectacular.

The dense shells hit the Carolini ahead. Most of the shells fell into the sea, and the remaining ones hit the Carolini.

"Dong dong dong..."

The cannonballs of the sailing battleship hit the hull, but the shells only hit once and fell to the sea one after another. Although a few more hit the deck, they also made a "dinging" sound.

The commander on the steam battleship saw the sailing battleship's attack on the Japanese flagship and laughed: "These people don't know yet that the sailing battleship's cannons are no longer as good as the navy's cannons."

"Quick, rush up and seriously injure the enemy's flagship!" The commander completely ignored the safety of the pirates and wanted to sink the Carolini.

But the smaller Xianden and Yongping had already moved to the flanks of the three steam warships and started bombarding them. The pirates' steam warships immediately launched a counterattack.

Takehiro Enomoto saw that Senden was holding back the enemy's steam battleship, so he devoted himself to dealing with the enemy's sail battleship.

At this time, Tsugawa Kaibei directly asked the Shikamaru to adjust its direction and rush into the pirate boats. Those boats were not as fast as the Shikamaru and were soon overtaken and knocked aside.

The other steam warships stopped firing their cannons and charged directly at full power.

"Run!"

"Quickly row the boat harder for me!"

"They're catching up, jump off the ship!"

The pirates panicked, and some of the pirates who panicked jumped directly into the sea to save their lives. Those who had no time to escape watched the giant beasts rushing towards them.

"boom!"

"Kakkaka!"

A sailboat was directly hit and broken by the waist. The sailors inside fell directly into the sea. The wreckage of the ship tilted up and gradually submerged into the sea. The struggling pirates were attracted and pulled into the sea.

Tsukawa Kaibei went crazy. He no longer paid attention to the boats escaping in all directions. He rammed directly into a slow-moving sailing battleship and directly smashed the bow of the ship.

"The ship is sinking!"

"Kill over and seize the ship!"

"Come on!"

The pirates on the ship were forced to panic. When they saw that their ship was about to sink, they immediately launched a gang-hopping fight and rushed to the Shikamaru.

But Tsugawa Kaibei didn't panic at all. He immediately ordered: "Deploy Gatling for me!"

On the deck, soldiers opened fire to prevent the pirates from boarding the ship. The pirates howled and waved their swords, and instantly opened fire with muskets. The Japanese suffered casualties.

But the next second, several Japanese soldiers launched the hand-cranked Gatling and faced the front.

"Kakaka…"

"Da da da…"

The intensive firepower instantly knocked down a large section of the charging pirates.

Other Japanese troops on the deck immediately followed suit and opened fire.

In just one minute, forty or fifty pirate corpses fell on the deck.

At this time, the sail battleship was obviously sinking, and the pirates behind it had lost their morale. They could only jump into the sea, and were then killed at will by the Japanese troops on the ship.

The pirate steam warships were still engaged in a fierce battle with the Senden, and both sides were injured. The Carolini and Shikamaru had already dealt with the enemy, and directly surrounded the remaining three steam warships.

The Shikamaru opened fire first, and several projectiles were fired. One shot hit a steam warship, and black smoke began to emit from the ship, accompanied by fire.

The main reason why it was able to hit was that both sides were at a distance of a thousand, almost a bayonet fight.

"Boom boom boom..."

The Carolini also opened fire, and another pirate steam warship was wounded.

The remaining steam warship immediately raised a white flag when it saw that all its teammates were seriously injured and could no longer fight.

I originally thought it would be a fierce battle, but it turned out that the Yongping was the first to board, and two warships of the Yongping were wounded, and the battle was over.

Although the enemy tried to use wolf pack tactics, those small boats with less than 100 people could not threaten the ironclads and steam warships at all.

Of the three steam warships, two were seriously injured. Enomoto Takehi only accepted the prisoners and supplies, and then allowed the two ships to sink themselves. The remaining steam warship was used to escort the prisoners.

As for the other small sailing ships on the sea, Enomoto Takehi directly ordered them to be burned. He ignored the pirates still floating on the sea and directly led the fleet to leave.

His time was very tight. He had to return to Osaka before mid-June. The marriage of the Emperor and Princess Mary would be held on June 26.

On the way back, Enomoto Takehi looked at the three Westerners being escorted in front of him and asked: "Who instigated you!"

The Western captain listened to the translation, shook his head, and replied: "I don't understand."

The staff officer was surprised: "It's Dutch."

Enomoto Takehi was furious and cursed: "Damn Dutch!"

The staff officer also had an angry look on his face and said: "It's so insidious. They specially made a special trip to intercept us on our way back!"

After all, on the way back home, the closer I get to my hometown, the more anxious I feel, and I don't have so much precautions.

Enomoto Takehi waved people to take the prisoners away. He regained his serious expression and said: "This matter will be decided by the Prime Minister when we return to the country. Once it is confirmed that they are Dutch, we will never let them go!"

On June [-], the wedding fleet finally arrived at the Osaka military port. Yagyu had already been waiting here, but he saw traces of the battle on the Carolini and Shikamaru at a glance.

He remained calm, still smiling, and allowed the reporters to take pictures of the battleship.

On the Carolini, Princess Mary appeared on the deck. As soon as the Western reporters saw the aristocratic costumes on the deck, they immediately took pictures.

Princess Mary looked at the port, looked around, and said with some surprise: "Is this Japan? It's really different from Europe."

Takeyō Enomoto stepped forward and saluted: "Princess, you can disembark now. The Prime Minister is waiting below to greet you."

Princess Mary looked down and asked, "Where is the Prime Minister you mentioned?"

Enomoto Takehi pointed and replied: "Princess, please look at that. The one wearing a black suit, with his hair combed, and carrying a sword on his waist is the Prime Minister."

Princess Mary took a closer look and said in surprise: "Your Prime Minister is really young."

Enomoto Takehi said very respectfully: "The Prime Minister just looks young. Now he is 30 years old. According to the time, the Prime Minister's eldest son should be born."

Princess Mary felt a little sorry when she saw that the handsome and young Yagyu had children.

At Enomoto Takehi's invitation again, she stepped off the Carolini, and Yagyu immediately led people to greet her.

When Princess Mary saw Yagyu, she stretched out her hand, and Yagyu had to kiss her hand, but she didn't kiss him.

After the ceremony, Yagyu explained: "Your Royal Highness, in Japan, the hand-kissing ceremony is somewhat transgressive."

Princess Mary smiled and said: "Sorry, Mr. Prime Minister, I just came here, so I don't understand very well."

Yagyu didn't pay attention to this. He turned sideways and said: "Your Highness, please go this way. We are taking the train now and can return to Kyoto to attend the banquet hosted by His Majesty the Emperor for you."

Princess Mary did not move directly. He saw the female guards behind Yagyu and asked, "Who are they?"

"This is the female guard in the palace, the guard who protects the female family members of the royal family." Yagyu explained.

"Oh? It's amazing. I have never seen anything like this in the Principality of Hesse or Prussia." Princess Mary was very surprised. She thought these guards looked more feminine.

Yagyu smiled and said: "Your Highness, Japan is a civilized country, and there will be many things here that will surprise you."

(End of this chapter)