Dragon Sea Empire

Tachibana Muneshige calculated the number of casualties in each department after the first general attack, and found that nearly 800 people of the Kyushu Allied Forces died in the battle on the land within 1000 steps north of the Inari River, and more than [-] people were injured. These figures surprised him, and he couldn't help but feel sympathy for the armies of various domains who wanted to retreat and were unwilling to continue fighting. Such casualties occurred within half an hour, which was unheard of in Japan during the Sengoku period Casualties were recorded.

During the Battle of Sekigahara, the Eastern and Western armies mobilized a total of about 15 troops into the battle, but only about 3 soldiers were killed or injured in the actual battle. The lack of casualties is basically a common feature of all wars in the Warring States Period in Japan. Japan’s territory is narrow. The population is sparse, and the opposing sides in a civil war generally do not kill the enemy, and rarely kill the civilians of the opposing side in civil wars, as in the turmoil of the dynasty change that occurred many times in Chinese history, wanton massacres of civilians There are not many things. During the Three Kingdoms period, the turn of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the turn of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and the turn of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the entire population of China will be extinct, and even cause more than half of the population to die. If such a massacre occurred in Japan Come back, it is estimated that Japan will become a wasteland.

Therefore, when Tachibana Muneshige and Shimadzu Tadahiro came to the main camp to meet with the commander-in-chief, Shigemasa Itakura, they did not accuse their comrades of taking the bottom line, but expressed sympathy for the friendly troops who had suffered heavy casualties. , Matsumoto Domain and other armies planning to retreat directly issued an order; they were asked to hold on for another day, and after the main force of the rear Kashima Domain and Kumamoto Domain arrived, all troops would be concentrated for another general attack.

Superintendent Itakura Shigemasa, the deputy envoy Toda Shitetsu, did not issue an order immediately, and it was delayed until the next morning. Nearly half of the participating troops of the Ogura and Matsumoto domains had already returned by themselves. Takahashi Motozhong of Oka Castle and other daimyos in small places also withdrew their troops overnight, but they did not all leave, leaving a few retainers with the warriors of the Bailai number, claiming that due to the attack by the Chinese fleet on the sea, the head of the family returned home. Territory to defend their own city.

That night, in Iwasaki Valley in the northeast of Shiroyama Mountain, a thousand catties of gunpowder buried in a dangerous area was accidentally detonated by Tachibana Muneshige and the Shimadzu family's surprise attack troops. The boulder rolled down from the top of the mountain, and then the Chinese army ambushing on the ridges on both sides rolled down several large powder kegs, causing more casualties.

The night attack team of the Kyushu Allied Forces failed, and the main force of the Shimadzu family's attack force suffered more than 400 casualties and gained nothing.

The next morning, when most of the troops of the Ogura Domain and Matsumoto Domain had retreated, more than 4000 of the main force of the Kumamoto Domain and 4000 follow-up troops of the Nabeshima Katsushige of the Kashima Domain arrived on the battlefield one after another. The total strength of the Kyushu Allied Forces was still 4. More than ten thousand people.

General Itakura Shigemasa and deputy envoy Toda Ushitetsu were in the front line the day before, and today they rushed to Tachibana Muneshige's frontline position for inspection. They were also surprised by the casualties of the previous day, so they wanted to observe the enemy's situation. There was no telescope at this time, and they could only see an earthen wall built in front of the Inari River bank in front of the formation, with guns and human heads flickering faintly, but nothing else could be seen clearly.

If the Kyushu Allied Forces of Japan had a sufficient number of cannons, this thin earthen wall fortification was simply a decoration.

The problem is that the development of artillery technology in Japan is seriously backward.

Japan did not begin to manufacture artillery until the beginning of the 17th century. According to the records of Japan's "Analysis of World Affairs in the Current Dynasty", the earliest Japanese cannon was built by Riemon Shibatsuji in the Dangjin (Sakai) area. Living in Beizhuang Yingjie Street, in the 16th year of Qingchang (1601), Jincheng Japan's first iron artillery, with a caliber of 1.3 feet, a tail diameter of 1.1 feet, a length of 1 foot, and fired 51 kg shells. Manufactured under the order of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the equipment was given to the troops directly under the shogunate, and it was impossible to use it on the Kagoshima front.

Itakura Shigemasa and the deputy envoy Toda Shitetsu looked at each other, and only said a few empty words: "Everyone, work hard, we must win the first battle, so as to preserve the prestige of Japan's divine kingdom...", and then walked back to the main camp , They did not do anything about the several big names who withdrew their troops without authorization, and handed over the front-line command to Tachibana Zongshige. The suspicion that the daimyo army and the Chinese army fought bloody blood will not fall on the head of the Tokugawa shogunate.

They also have no interest in fighting for the Shimadzu family. The negotiations between the shogunate and the envoys of the six countries in Nagasaki have come to an end. The Chinese army will not continue to attack north. retreat.

In the view of Itakura Shigemasa and Toda Shitetsu, the battle of the Kyushu Allied Forces was fought for the reckless actions of Shimadzu Tadahiro, and it was also fought for the face of the Tokugawa shogunate, which has little practical significance; Retreat at sea, because the strength of the Chinese fleet is obvious to all, and Japan has no way to stop the Chinese fleet with the power of the whole country.

When Tokugawa Ieyasu sent them to Kyushu to supervise the war, he had secretly told them that this battle was used to consume the power of Kyushu's major names, especially after the Shimadzu family passed through the Sekigahara War. Still very uneasy in the depths, after all, Satsuma people have never been a law-abiding generation.

The place that Tokugawa Ieyasu is most concerned about right now is Osaka Castle.

What is his ultimate goal in dealing with Osaka Toyotomi's family? In fact, it is easy to understand what the strong lords did before their death in history. Taking China as an example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took care of everything before his death. The wife was killed. Why, it was to remove all obstacles for the weak son as much as possible. There are countless such examples. Tang Taizong Li Shimin, Song Taizu, Song Taizu, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, etc., all used this as a method to ensure that the next generation can Healthy growth, at least, will not encounter major obstacles before growing up.

The situation in Japan at that time was very similar. After several years of peace, the status of the Tokugawa shogunate seems to have stabilized, and the whole country seems to be in harmony, but the problem in Osaka has always been a chronic disease. As a result, 10,000+ leftover ronin and missionaries with ulterior motives Scholars are all gunpowder magazines that may be triggered at any time. Whether Hidetada can deal with these problems may be possible, but after all, it is easier for Tokugawa to deal with them, because it involves many foreign daimyos. However, if Tokugawa Hidetada handles this issue after Tokugawa Ieyasu's death, no matter how he handles it, he will leave an excuse for the daimyos, saying that Tokugawa is dedicated to protecting Hidetada. Lai, who was assassinated immediately after the old man died, the general is really unfilial.

In order to prevent his son from being in such a situation, Tokugawa Ieyasu will definitely solve the Osaka problem in his lifetime.

Therefore, the Kyushu Allied Forces' campaign to regain Satsuma turned into an anticlimactic farce. The Shimadzu family, who were not well-known, did not receive much sympathy. At the front, the other daimyo's troops were all responding negatively, and no one wanted to rush to the forefront.

Before the attack, Shimadzu Tadahiro rode to the front of Shimadzu Tadashi, Shimadzu Hisakiaki and his son, and handed Shimadzu the sword that Shimadzu Yoshihiro had passed to him: "The fate of the Shimadzu family depends on It's time for this battle, protect the cross-patterned battle flag well, see you, Shimadzu family samurai, "

Shimazu Hisaki watched Zhong Heng turn and leave, seemed to be in a heavy heart, and hurriedly asked his father: "What is Mi Jumaru talking about, it seems that the omen is not right..."

"Slap," Shimadzu Tada still slapped his son with his hands, and cursed angrily, "Is Zhonghengdian's nickname a junior like you? Idiot, Zhonghengdian is entrusting his funeral.

"What, don't tell me..."

Shimadzu Tadashi was still looking at the Honjin behind him, and the banner of the Shogunate was hanging lazily under the scorching sun.

"The Edo side didn't want to help us recover the lost ground at all. They completely forgot that at first the shogunate encouraged us to fight Taiwan and Ryukyu. Now that the Shimadzu family is in trouble, the old fox Tokugawa wants to abandon us. He wants to use the hands of the Chinese Eliminate our Satsuma Shimadzu family, so itakura Shigemasa and these guys didn't exercise the power of supervising the army at all." Shimadzu Tada still looked around and whispered to his son: "After the war starts, pay attention to the mountainous area on the right wing. From there We can go to the grounds of Iju-in and Irai-in, and we want to save some seeds for the Shimadzu family, do you understand?"

On the Kyushu Allied Forces' positions, the golden drums were loudly played, and the whole army began to attack ostentatiously. Twenty thousand Japanese soldiers were densely lined up on the nearly 4-mile-long front from the city mountain to the sea.

The massive general attack was like a tortoise in slow motion. The Japanese troops on all fronts were unwilling to speed up, and they were afraid that their troops would be too prominent.

Then, starting 1000 steps (about 1550 meters) from the Inari River, yesterday's unilateral massacre resumed.

The Chinese Army was assisted by Chen Zhongji of the Ryukyu Regiment last night. Chen Zhongji finally solved the Ryukyu problem. He was finally free to send Yan Siqi to lead 500 soldiers to Satsuma on the third support fleet.

The third batch of fleets brought several experimental howitzers using flower bombs. In the middle of the 16th century, European howitzers began to use spherical explosive bombs with wooden fuses, which could be used to kill enemy infantry on the land battlefield. Siege. In the 17th century, the name of the howitzer officially appeared in Europe. It refers to the artillery that fires explosive bombs and has a large firing angle. The British troops composed of Dutch soldiers were the first to be equipped with howitzers.

With the help of the Dutch, the craftsmen of the Weapons Research Department of the China United Company trial-produced a new type of explosive bomb howitzer. The deflagration of the charge ignites the fuse, and the shell can then explode when it reaches a certain range.

Although the explosive power of the iron shell of the howitzer is much smaller than that of a large-caliber mortar such as the bombardment cannon, the range is much longer, and the overall weight of the cannon is light and easy to transport.

Li Kuiqi did not hesitate to place six howitzers at the forefront. Therefore, after the Japanese army entered the artillery position within a distance of 700 steps (1100 meters), they were not only bombarded by more than 150 solid artillery shells of various artillery pieces, but also several times in a row. The attack of a hundred thunderbolt rockets, the most frightening thing for the Japanese army was the bombardment of six experimental howitzers. The explosive bombs could attack the enemy at such a long distance, which was completely unexpected by the Shimadzu family and the Kyushu coalition forces.

Within 200 steps of the Chinese army's position, dozens of landmines secretly planted by the Chinese army the night before were detonated, and at the same time, the huge explosive bombs fired by the five bombers that were urgently transported from the fortress at the mouth of the river to the position on the north bank of the Inari River also exploded. It began to fall on the head of the Shimadzu family's forward troops.

A total of more than 1200 samurai ashigaru led by Tadahiro Shimadzu's army and retainer Yamada Minbe, more than half of them were killed or injured in the impact distance of 1000 steps. The dense raindrops of grenades blew up dizzyingly, and they were also fired intensively by 20 muskets from the third battalion of the second regiment.

In the end, more than 100 Shimadzu family warriors climbed over the earthen wall fortifications and rushed into the position of the Chinese army. In the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, more than 100 Shimadzu family warriors were all killed, and Yamada Minbu was killed by a Chinese army soldier. The post chief was stabbed to death in the trench with a bayonet, and Tadahiro Shimadzu, who led the charge, was missing and may have been killed in the previous artillery attack.

Almost all the forward troops of the Shimadzu family were broken, and the Kyushu coalition forces on other fronts hesitated to move forward. A strange phenomenon appeared on the battlefield: the Kyushu coalition forces shouted loudly, but they retreated step by step.

Tachibana Zongshige saw that all the forwards of the Shimadzu family rushed into the gunpowder smoke, and none of them returned. He couldn't help sighing. Although the Shimadzu family and his family were feuds, he believed that the Shimadzu family's bravery and good fighting skills were indeed worthwhile. Admire.

Right now, there is no news about the Kumamoto Clan's surprise attack force at the northern foot of Shiroyama. All other fronts are retreating. Having been in such a complicated and bewildered situation, I couldn't help feeling worried.

The Kumamoto Domain’s attack on the northern foot of Shiroyama started almost at the same time as the battle on the Inari River front line. When the Kumamoto Domain soldiers made a detour to the northern foot of Shiroyama, they were attacked by the Luo Aquan Special Battalion, and it was already daylight when they arrived at the starting point of the attack. However, the 400 first regiment soldiers of the Chinese Army, under the command of Yu Zigao and the supervising army Yan Cheng, took advantage of the favorable terrain by relying on the half-person-high civil parapet fortifications. He just blocked more than 2000 Kumamoto soldiers at the foot of the mountain.

When the battle was in full swing, the Kumamoto Fan soldiers used 300 iron gunners to contain the firepower of the Chinese Army, dispatched almost all the remaining troops, and rushed to the ridge position all over the mountains and plains.

At this time, Yu Zigao did something he never thought he would do; he jumped out of the parapet, threw a grenade, and then took a shot with a bayonet-loaded musket, and then shouted: "Bayonet on, charge,"

When he was a child, he had heard some theories: For example, as a famous general, there is no need to fight in person; the role of strategy is more than that of force and weapons, etc...

Since he started studying undercover while studying at the Zhonghua United Company Military Academy, his previous worldview has been hit hard, and his understanding of war has been completely subverted.

Any strategy or strategy can play a big role when the weapon technology, strategy and tactics of the two sides are relatively similar, but in the face of absolute strength, strategies and strategies are child's play and have no practical significance.

Yu Zigao had great confidence in the Chinese army he was in, and the enemy he was dealing with was the Japanese pirates, his father Yu Dayou's lifelong enemy. Therefore, his character broke out in the fierce battle, and he led a bayonet charge. The Kumamoto army was bombed head-on by a burst of grenades Before they could react, countless ruthless Chinese soldiers rushed out of the smoke and mist, stabbing them to death one by one with bayonets. The soldiers of the Kumamoto clan, driven by their own forces, drove them several miles away.