Dragon Sea Empire

The sun gradually rose, and the sun shone on the coastal plain of Kagoshima. The light rain in the morning caused water to accumulate in many low-lying places on the north bank of the Kotogawa River. The Shimadzu Army was setting up a formation on this land.

Shimadzu Tadahiro, the contemporary Patriarch of the Shimadzu family of Satsuma, remained calm and composed. In the north of Tianyuan Bridge, the main formation of his own army was as immobile as a mountain. He wore a ten-character patterned haori, and brought the two-foot-two-inch sword that Shimadzu Yoshihiro passed to him. , the pure white casserole is in hand, sitting firmly on the bed table, it looks as if you are sitting in meditation. Or cloth strips, which look a bit like a fan, they can rub against each other and make noise when waved, which means commanding,)

For Zhong Heng, who did not participate in many battles, but thought that his combat power and strategy were not inferior to those of his predecessors, victory or defeat was already determined. All he considered was how to take appropriate actions to protect the reputation of the Shimadzu family. There is a cavalry team of 200 people in formation. The scale of wars in the Warring States Period in Japan expanded, and the use of infantry groups was the first. exist.

In fact, the breed of Japanese horses at that time was very inferior, and the average body height basically did not exceed 150 centimeters. Except for the dwarf Japanese who could be used as war horses, people from other countries did not look at them at all. Bring the cavalry, so the battle between the two armies mainly depends on the infantry contest.

In the report sent back by Kawayama Hisaka of Ryukyu Island, it was mentioned that the Chinese army was good at using firearms when guarding castles. According to the experience of the Shimadzu Army: cannons can only be used for siege and defense, and it is very inconvenient to use them in field battles. Therefore, Shimadzu Tadahiro did not worry about the artillery superiority of the Chinese Army.

What he was worried about was the large number of flintlock muskets owned by the other party. The Shimadzu family's automatic firearms were originally imitated from the products of the Chinese company. They knew that the Chinese army used a large number of flintlock muskets. A large number of muskets are used, but in fact muskets are only used as auxiliary weapons attached to katana. From the bottom of the samurai's heart, they regard the effectiveness of muskets and iron cannons as invincible, and they are very superstitious about the combat power of samurai in close combat. Gento Kashiwagi, one of the "Five Guns of Xiaohui", the retainer of Kawakami Shirobei Tadao, is an iron gunner. When Shimadzu Tadatoshi broke out from the front in the Battle of Sekigahara, he wounded many generals of the Eastern Army with muskets from the rear. , but Kashiwagi Gento did not receive any rewards when the meritorious service was evaluated after the war, and finally died in poverty. This is the embodiment of the Shimadzu family's fundamental views on firearms.

Therefore, Tadahiro Shimadzu is only a little worried, and his concept of war is still in the middle ages.

"Fujigen-kun, you will lead the team for the first pig attack," he turned his head and said to Shinna Fujigen next to him, "If the enemy's firepower is strong, you should retreat and let them chase, and then look at us Let's see the power of Satsuma samurai fighting in the field."

……

"The Shimadzu family's best tactic is the so-called 'fishing and logging',"

On the temporary high wooden platform built on the bank of the Inari River, Yin Feng said to Luo Quanxiu, Mai De, Yang Dacheng, Yang Tiansheng, Li Kuiqi, Colonel Kutley, and the foreign mercenary leader Captain Andre: "The last time I I have mentioned the Shimadzu family’s Five Great Wars. The so-called fishing and field hunting is actually an ambush pocket formation. Because the Shimadzu army was at a disadvantage in numbers in many battles, the Shimadzu army used this method in almost every large-scale battle. tactics,"

Li Kuiqi hurriedly said: "Master Captain, we understand this. It is similar to our Chinese carbine guns. No matter what tactics they use, we just fight according to our method. Let's fight one by one. Let's fight a bunch of them." ,"

Everyone burst into laughter. Although Li Kuiqi was not yet nineteen years old, but because he was a sharpshooter and Yin Feng liked him very much, he blushed and argued: "What I said is wrong, this is Captain Yin who taught at the military academy." Ours, what is it called..."

"That's right, he hits his, I hit mine, we can't be led by the enemy," Yin Feng patted Li Kuiqi on the shoulder approvingly: "Kuizi, you are becoming more and more like a general now, and now we We have the strategic initiative and occupy the superiority of troops and weapons, so everyone must pay attention: after the war, we must fight steadily. No matter what the opponent is, we will fight with our own tactics. Don't underestimate the enemy, and don't be intimidated by the enemy's momentum. "

The Shimadzu family's "fishing and hunting" tactics have been tried and tested in many battles such as the Kizakihara Battle, the Otogawa Battle, the Okitagan Battle, and the Tojigawa Battle. The specific method is as follows: First, use the forward to attract the enemy to penetrate , and then ambushes on both wings shoot with muskets, and finally cooperate with the main force behind to surround and wipe out the enemy army. However, the troops used as bait must be flexible and tenacious. Dedicated preparation.

Using the tactic of fishing in wild ambush is not as simple and dogmatic as imagined. It is not an easy task to lure the enemy to follow the bait into the ambush circle honestly. As a bait soldier, one must always be prepared to be besieged and sacrificed In the Battle of Otogawa, Kitago Hisamori and Honda Shinji, who were tasked with baiting the enemy in the Battle of Otogawa, fought bravely with the determination to die and were all killed in battle. On the other hand, as an ambush, one must grasp the timing of dispatching troops As well as coordinating with other ambush units, the closeness of the four Shimadzu brothers and the unity of the retainer group made such coordination relatively easy to achieve.

Yin Feng’s central army’s main formation is 300 steps away from the Inari River. A temporary wooden fence was temporarily set up with wooden sticks and branches in front of the position. The four battalions of the first regiment of the Chinese Army are deployed here. The commander is Yang Dacheng, the deputy head of the regiment. In total there were 4 fusiliers and 1800 grenadiers.

It was the first time that the grenadiers appeared in a large-scale field battle. Yin Feng actually put them on the front line at the beginning of the battle. When they were 1800 steps away from the first row of musketeers, the grenadiers began to throw grenades; once the bayonet combat began across the board, the grenadiers were the reserve team in the back row, rushing to the front line to fight at any time.

A sentry team of the artillery battalion was arranged in front of the musketeers of the Chinese army formation, which deployed five light field guns, and two carts loaded with 100 rainstorm guns were arranged at the junction of the Chinese army and the left and right wings.

Five bombardment cannons were arranged behind the central formation. When the Shimadzu army rushed into the range of 150 steps (about 200 meters), they would taste the power of the explosive shells.

To the north of the Chinese Army is the right wing of the Chinese Army. There are three battalions commanded by the commander of the second regiment, Mai De, with a force of 3 fusiliers and 1700 grenadiers. They are also arranged in three rows. There is a gap of about 300 steps at the junction of the array and the Chinese army array, and behind it is a high ground on the bank of the Inari River, which is Li Kuiqi's artillery position. There are 50 30-pound field guns and 6 10-pound field guns. The heavy-duty field artillery above can flexibly support the central and right-wing troops, with a range of 24 steps (about 500 meters) in front.

From the south of the central army to the coast, there are 600 sailor musketeers, 200 nominal blackbird musketeers, and 200 foreign mercenary sentries, which are the left-wing troops of the Chinese army. Some of the first 1000 sailors who landed returned to the ship. Because the sea bombardment team consisting of three giant ships of the Feizi and fifteen three-masted Fuchuan gunboats needs manpower, the Chinese warships on the sea have a total of more than 150 cannons, which can directly cover 300 steps (about 450 meters) above the coastline. ) range, it is completely possible to provide comprehensive artillery support to the left wing army, so there is no additional artillery on the left wing.

500 fusiliers from the Fourth Battalion of the Second Regiment became the general reserve team. Yin Feng's 100 black personal guards and 150 Chinese personal guards were also incorporated into the reserve team.

The Chinese Army has a total of about 7000 troops in combat on land.

In the eyes of Shimadzu Tadahiro and his samurai, the Chinese army is simply messing around: it’s nothing to stretch the front of the army array so wide, but the array is so thin. Although the array stretches nearly three miles long, it is so thin The queue is a complete joke: the Shimadzu army can penetrate the main formation of the Chinese army with just one charge.

No one knows or understands an important fact: the Chinese Army is a firearms army beyond the age.

"Look at this, the Chinese sea merchants are only good at defending the city with firearms, and field battles are really not very good," the young general Shinna Fujigen on the horse looked at the enemy opposite, smiled coldly, and said to Tadahiro Shimadzu Said: "My lord, I will go here, Satsuma's martial arts will last a long time,"

As he spoke, he was wearing black armor, wielding the long sword that Tadahiro Shimadzu had just given him, and rushed to the enemy line first.

Yin Feng just dispatched his subordinates to observe the enemy formation with a telescope on the high platform, and handed the telescope to the missionary Lu Ruohan from time to time to let him observe the enemy's situation: "Mr. Rodriguez, it seems that Shi Manzi's cavalry is on the move."

Lu Ruohan held the binoculars and bowed to Yin Feng: "I still like to type the Chinese name that adults call me,"

Yin Feng smiled: "Okay, Mr. Lu, do you know who the other party is?"

Lu Ruohan observed for a while and said: "There is the word 'new' on the flag, it should be the leader of the Shimadzu family's retainer Shinna Tadamoto, and they are about to launch a cavalry assault."

The Shimadzu Army Central Front is headed by Shimadzu Tadahiro himself. The main general is the branch of the Shimadzu family, Yamada Yuei, and the subordinate generals are the close branches of the Shimadzu family such as Kawakami Hisuro, as well as Ewa Hisutora and others. Satsuma warriors such as Kawakami Shirobei and Kubo Shichibei, members of the "Small Return to the Five Guns", are also among them, with a total force of 1500.

The left-wing army lined up on the bank of the Kotogawa River opposite Tsurumaru Castle. The main general was Motomitsu Saruto, a retainer sent by Yoshihisa Shimadzu, and there were famous generals from Kyushu, such as Ichi Ohira, Inudo Ryan, and Ganfu Kaneliang, with a force of 800.

The right-wing army of the Shimadzu family lined up opposite the castle town on the south side of the central army formation. The main general was Shimadzu Tadasai, whom Tadahiro Shimadzu hated very much, and the generals included Tadazu's son, Shimadzu Hisaki, Kawayama Kume, Kitago Hisawa and other famous samurai , the strength is also 800 people.

With the attack of Xinnayuanvine, the battle of Kagoshima officially began.