I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 240 Obtaining chips

In just half a day, the Japanese army had lost its fort and tidal flats and retreated to the defense of the military port. This situation made many people frown and feel bad, and the situation of the battle was immediately telegraphed back to Kyoto.

Emperor Meiji had no time to draw and listen to music. He sat on the main seat and held Queen Mary's hand tightly, very nervous.

Iwakura Tomoshi, Motoda Eifu and others took the opportunity to comment: "Your Majesty, our navy has not yet gone to war. This is clearly Prime Minister Yagyu avoiding war to save ships, hating military aircraft, and harming the country and the people!"

"Your Majesty, please remove Prime Minister Yagyu from office immediately. The war ahead should be handed over to others!"

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Yagyu is no longer the wise and mighty Battousai!"

Facing the advice of several ministers, Emperor Meiji only felt a headache and was very irritable.

Shibata Gochu took the opportunity and said: "Your Majesty, once Osaka is lost, Kyoto will be in danger. Why not let the remaining imperial guards escort your Majesty to Edo for refuge?"

Those old ministers who came from the shogunate were instantly passionate. If they took the emperor hostage and moved to Edo, the power would fall into the hands of their shogunate faction, and the Tokugawa shogunate could revive.

Tokugawa Yingxi, who was standing in front, was also very excited at the moment.

But at the critical moment, Matsudaira Yongho stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Yagyu is still fighting on the front line at this moment. If Your Majesty escapes Kyoto, I am afraid that the military morale will be shaken and the war situation will be more dangerous.

I ask your Majesty to believe in the Prime Minister. Even if Osaka falls, the Prime Minister will not let the enemy attack Kyoto. "

Genda Yongfu angrily said: "It's ridiculous. How can His Majesty's body of thousands of gold be at any risk? This matter is not something you, Speaker Matsudaira, can afford!"

When the Aizu faction saw Motoda Eifu refuting their old master, they were immediately dissatisfied. Sagawa Kanbei immediately stood up and said: "I think you are the one with evil intentions. Now that there is a battle ahead, you are here to persuade His Majesty to change the general before the battle. Doesn't this shake the morale of the army? ? I think you are the one who brings disaster to the country!"

Seeing Emperor Meiji's silence and weak look, Queen Mary sighed slightly and said immediately: "Stop arguing. Restoring national sovereignty and abolishing unequal treaties is the expectation of the people across the country and the justice of the country. Do you want to Do you want to be an unjust person?"

This big hat was taken off, and everyone fell silent.

Righteousness may seem illusory, but it must not be underestimated. Anyone will be timid in the face of great righteousness.

Even Yagyu, who had real power in the country and had the support of the people and the army, did not rush to overthrow Dai Yi.

This righteousness is people's expectation, truth, moral law, and the collection of all the aspirations of the majority of people.

To violate justice is to estrange oneself from the people and the country.

The Japanese soldiers fighting bloody battles on the front line are all sacrificing their lives and blood for the country.

They knew that if this battle failed, Japan would be like the Qing Dynasty, forever stepped on by the British and without dignity.

Small countries with few people tend to have low self-esteem and are sensitive, and they value dignity very much.

Even though everyone is a little panicked, everyone is holding their breath and insisting on the country's justice. They will never give up until the last moment.

But it was different for the others. Duolong looked at it with waning interest and seemed to have remembered something. He immediately left the viewing group and went to vent his anger on a few Ocean Horses.

The French ambassador was secretly happy and ridiculed Japan as nothing without Germany's help.

The United States had a crooked idea, thinking that Japan's strength would be greatly damaged if it was defeated by the British, and it could take the opportunity to seize the colonies ceded to Japan by France.

The German ambassador and the Tsarist Russian ambassador frowned. They were thinking about how to preserve the power of Japan and Yagyu Nobita. If Japan turned to Britain, it would greatly damage the interests of both countries.

The happiest person was Parkes. He said with some pride: "I have said that no one is the opponent of the British Empire's navy. The rising Japan is just an ant in front of the British.

The naval fleet, known as the number one in East Asia, has not shown up yet, which shows that they are afraid of our fleet. "

He picked up the wine glass and said with a flushed face: "To Her Majesty the Queen!"

Officials at the British Embassy immediately celebrated as if victory in the war was imminent.

Osaka, headquarters.

At this moment, night fell and the day's battle had come to an end. Yagyu gathered several division commanders for a meeting.

"Now, the British army has captured the fort and beach. They have avoided the military port in the afternoon and are mainly attacking Sakai Port."

Yamazaki Totaro, who was defending Sakai Port, complained: "Prime Minister, the enemy is covered by warships. Our artillery positions have been destroyed. The soldiers fought very hard and suffered heavy casualties."

Yagyu Heiyan looked at the commander of the First Division with a majestic look and said coldly: "Yamazaki, are you complaining?"

Yamazaki Totaro's tone suddenly became much softer, and he whispered: "I just want to ask where our navy is."

"Our navy will come."

Liu Shengxi said firmly.

"Yamazaki, now is not the time for you to complain. Your First Division is the elite of the elite. Whether it is equipment, treatment or training, it exceeds all the troops here. What else do you have to complain about?

Have you forgotten the honor of being praised by the late emperor for the First Division's defense of Kyoto and the suppression of the rebels? Yamazaki, tell me! "

Yamazaki Totaro's face turned red with shame. He immediately straightened his body, held his head high and said, "No!"

"Louder, I can't hear you!"

"No!!!"

Yamazaki Totaro let out a heart-rending roar that could be heard hundreds of meters away.

"Well, even if the entire First Division is annihilated, they will give me the position where I will die at Sakai Port. I am not allowed to take a step back. Except for today, I will hold on for one more day. On the third day, the entire army will withdraw to defend outside Osaka Castle."

Several division commanders responded quickly.

Yagyu Heiyan looked at the map and murmured: "If we retreat this time, we will definitely annihilate your combined fleet."

The next day, the rumble of artillery fire sounded again, and the British army once again launched a fierce attack on the Japanese army under the cover of artillery fire.

On the flagship of the combined fleet, an officer reported to the commander: "Mr. Commander, our landing force has suffered one-fifth casualties. The battle damage is very large and needs to be replenished."

The commander frowned and said: "This battle was originally intended to defeat the Japanese navy, but I didn't expect that their navy couldn't shrink and was hiding somewhere, and it ended up like this.

Let the troops in front hold on. I have sent people back to request support. "

The officer was visibly relieved to hear there was backup.

However, the commander immediately asked: "Hasn't there been any news about the Japanese navy yet? What did Mr. Parkes say?"

The officer immediately reported: "There is unconfirmed news. The night before yesterday, some Japanese fishermen saw a fleet appearing near Edo Bay." The commander looked at the map, calculated the sailing speed of the warship, and said: "According to Judging from the battleship sailing at full speed at fourteen knots, it will take at least three days to get to us from Edo Bay. Immediately send a picket ship to sail along the way to look for it."

"As you command, Mr. Commander!"

……

The war continued. At twelve o'clock in the evening, the two divisions of the Marine Corps and the Imperial Guard abandoned their positions at the same time and withdrew to the fortifications outside Osaka Castle.

In the morning, the British army discovered this situation. They immediately sent people to investigate and found that the Japanese army had really abandoned their position. They immediately captured it and reported it to the commander of the combined fleet.

The commander was also a little confused, but after taking these positions, his army could directly attack Osaka Castle. As for Japan's key point, Kyoto, was not far away.

The British army immediately launched a fierce attack on the outer positions of Osaka Castle. However, without the support of battleships, the British army was suppressed by Japanese artillery and could not advance even an inch.

Standing on the Gosho Castle Tower in the center of Osaka Castle, Yagyu Heiyan used a telescope to see the retreating British troops. He said with some concern: "Our army has enough firepower and the number of people is ten times that of the opponent. They won't withdraw, right?"

Tetsunosuke Ichimura on the side reminded: "Prime Minister, this display of weakness is indeed too much."

When Yagyu Heiyan took a look, even Tetsunosuke could tell that this scene was indeed a bit difficult to perform.

"Since I can't continue acting, I won't act."

Yagyu put down his telescope and said: "Assemble all the cavalry units of the Imperial Guard, immediately outflank the British troops from both sides, and intercept these British troops. Once the encirclement is completed, leave the third division to defend Osaka, and the rest of the troops will immediately attack. We must take it." This British army."

As long as these prisoners are captured, it will be enough to prevent the British fleet from leaving Osaka Bay, which will not affect his plan to close the door and fight the dogs.

Each division of the Guards has a cavalry regiment. Their training costs are high. Since they have no combat mission, they have been guarding Osaka and have long been impatient.

Now after hearing the order from the headquarters, the cavalry immediately mounted their horses. The cavalry leader drew his saber and shouted: "The British army is arrogant and unreasonable. They ignore our country's sovereignty and send troops brazenly. Such behavior is extremely shameless!"

My sons, in today’s battle, justice belongs to our army, follow me and kill! "

"kill!"

The three cavalry regiments were divided into two, leaving from the north and south gates of Osaka Castle, and then quickly outflanked the British army's retreat.

The British army was still unaware of this situation. They were still resting in their temporary camp and asking for support from the rear.

In the temporary camp, several Gurkha sentries were standing guard, and other Gurkha soldiers were resting. As for the thousand British troops, they were drinking afternoon tea and chatting comfortably.

At this moment, the Gurkha soldiers lying on the ground suddenly stood up and shouted. The nearby British soldiers were very dissatisfied and immediately asked: "What are these savages calling?"

The Gurkha officer on the side panicked: "No, sir, my soldiers said they felt vibrations from the ground. It is very likely that the enemy's cavalry is coming."

The British officer said disdainfully: "What's so scary about cavalry? We have defeated many countries on horseback. I have been to the Qing Dynasty, where we wiped out all their elite cavalry and only a few dozen people died."

Don't be afraid, how good can the Japanese cavalry be? They are just monkeys riding dogs, not cavalry.

Jonathan immediately arranged for them to have a taste of the power of the British Empire Army. "

Soon, two torrents appeared to the west of the British army's temporary camp and joined together, blocking the British army's retreat route.

Although the British commander was arrogant, he understood the opponent's purpose immediately. Thinking of the number of Japanese troops in Osaka, he immediately cursed: "Damn it, we have fallen into a trap, Jonathan, adjust your formation immediately, we must defeat This cavalry!”

Jonathan didn't understand why his colonel suddenly changed his battle plan, but he still acted in accordance with the military orders.

The British troops then abandoned their temporary camp and attacked the cavalry blocking them.

The number of the three cavalry regiments was not large, only more than a thousand, but they did not march lightly.

As the commander, the commander of the cavalry regiment of the First Division immediately said: "Set up artillery positions immediately, and the rest of the people will dismount and occupy the high ground on both sides to block the attack!"

Some soldiers immediately jumped off their horses and urged the unridden packhorses nearby, which were pulling several hand-cranked Gatling guns.

With the British army taking the lead in firing, the battle began.

The high slope was directly hit by British field artillery, and then the Gurkha regiment immediately launched a charge.

"Da da da…"

On the high slope, the Gatling guns forming a crossfire immediately killed the Gurkhas.

The British colonel immediately directed artillery support.

On the Japanese army's position, the assembled artillery found a position and deployed their field artillery. This was a new field artillery that had just been developed. It weighed 1.5 tons and had a caliber of 75 mm.

They had just set up their position when a cavalryman ran up to report the enemy's artillery position.

The artillery commander immediately calculated, then adjusted the various elements, and shouted: "All are available, rapid fire, saturation strike, don't be stingy with artillery shells!"

"fire!"

"Boom boom boom..."

The Japanese field artillery roared wildly, and the British artillery position was wiped out by the saturation strike. The surrounding area was in a mess, with scattered gun mounts and debris everywhere. The surviving soldiers covered their heads and howled in pain, and some soldiers stood up in confusion. After walking a few steps, blood began to flow out and he fell to the ground. There were more corpses of artillery troops.

Without artillery support, the Gurkhas' attack on the two highlands slowed down and even became difficult to advance.

The colonel commander cursed at the Gurkha officer: "Let your men attack quickly!"

The Gurkha officer was also anxious and said: "My brothers have been fighting hard for several days, and now they have reached their limit!"

The colonel was furious and wanted to punish the officer for talking back, but a soldier came and shouted: "Mr. Colonel, no good, a large number of infantry have appeared behind us!"

"It's over!"

When the colonel heard this, his heart went cold. They couldn't run away now.

Within half an hour, 20,000 Japanese troops surrounded less than 4,000 British troops. Under such circumstances, the colonel had no choice but to wave the white flag and surrender to the Japanese troops.

The accompanying reporters photographed the moment when the British army surrendered.

The British army that attacked the land was completely wiped out. This situation suddenly benefited the Japanese side.

Moreover, nearly a thousand British troops were captured. If this matter was reported back to the British mainland, Prime Minister William, who was born in the Liberal Party, could directly step down if he could not handle it well. The Conservative Party would never let go of this good opportunity.

Both Parkes and the fleet commander were panicked. This was a big crisis in their political careers!

(End of this chapter)