I

Kagoshima Bay, the northernmost point.

More than a dozen Satsuma clan's Zhuin ships and more than twenty offshore small ships have been forced to retreat by the Datong Navy.

If we retreat further, it's time to go ashore.

"Boom boom boom!"

Dozens of Datong Navy warships fired at the Japanese fleet in a fan shape. There is no strategy to speak of. This bay is too narrow and there is no room for the fleets of both sides to cruise.

It's a formation bombardment, to see whose ship is stronger and whose cannon is accurate.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa stood on the wall of Tsurumaru Castle, holding a telescope to watch the battle. But the battle site was thirty miles away from the city, and telescopes really couldn't observe thousands of miles away.

At the fourteenth minute of the naval artillery battle, a large hole was blown out of an unlucky Satsuma feudal warship and water began to enter. Immediately afterwards, at the 28th minute, the captain's cabin of Satsuma Domain's naval flagship was smashed to pieces.

For the Satsuma navy, this kind of naval battle was impossible to fight. Chinese warships have more numbers, greater tonnage, and stronger artillery. The sea area where the battle is taking place is still very narrow, and there is no way to hide. They can only choose to bombard them where they are.

Those small offshore ships of the Satsuma Domain were the first to escape.

How to escape?

The ship docked and all the soldiers and sailors landed, planning to run thirty miles back to Tsurumaru Castle.

Li Dingguo put down his telescope: "Send the order, don't let a single enemy soldier go!"

Three thousand Datong army officers were waiting near the Kagoshima Prefecture Police School hundreds of years later. This was the only way for the enemy navy to escape back to the city.

"kill!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

More than 400 Japanese troops were defeated, and finally escaped from the sea, and ran into a volley of gunfire from the Datong Army.

Some fell down on the spot, some knelt down and begged for mercy, and some turned around and fled to the northern mountains.

Miyazaki Shiro drew his sword out of its sheath and said to the more than twenty wild warriors behind him: "The time has come for us to show off our skills. Long live His Majesty the Emperor of China!"

"Onboard, onboard!"

A group of wild samurai shouted slogans on board and raised their samurai swords to chase down the defeated soldiers trying to enter the mountain.

These guys have never had a full meal for a few days since they were born. After joining the Datong Army, their bellies were bloated that day. The favor of a full belly is repaid with death. It is truly a lifeless charge.

Shiro Miyazaki rushed the fastest, sounding the kindness of General Li Dingguo to him. He even had tears in his eyes when he charged.

What favor?

But Li Dingguo saw that this man was wearing tattered shoes, which were really shabby, so he threw his old boots to him.

These are a pair of cowhide boots that Shiro Miyazaki has never dreamed of. Although the size was too big and didn't fit, Shiro Miyazaki was so grateful that he even kept it carefully and refused to wear it. He only wore it on formal occasions to show his identity.

"Bah!"

Miyazaki Shiro roared and raised his sword to slash at the defeated soldiers in front.

The defeated soldier was stabbed in the back, fell to the ground and crawled forward, then turned over and begged: "Spare my life, spare my life, I surrender!"

Miyazaki Shiro looked ferocious, holding the knife in his backhand and stabbing it. Not only did he stab the defeated soldier in the stomach with his knife, he also twisted it half a circle and shouted: "General Li's enemies must die!"

After finishing this man, Miyazaki Shiro pursued another defeated soldier.

The defeated soldier stumbled over a stone and fell to the ground. Seeing Shiro Miyazaki chasing after him, he was so frightened that he forgot to run for his life. He knelt down and kowtowed to the opponent.

Miyazaki Shiro raised his sword and slashed fiercely. His sword skills were so accurate that a head flew up instantly.

The defeated soldiers quickly reacted and ran towards the Datong soldiers. Because as long as they kneel down and ask for surrender, Datong soldiers will not kill indiscriminately, but those wild warriors who surrender will definitely die.

After a battle, Shiro Miyazaki looked at the many prisoners and said with emotion: "General Li is so kind!"

The wild samurai next to him is called Kito Shiba. His ancestors must have been wealthy, because this surname is a surname given by the emperor. Ghost Head Forty-eight's attention was not on the prisoners, but on the Datong soldiers with an envious look: "The heavenly soldiers of the Tang Kingdom, even Ashigaru, have armor. If I have a set of this kind of armor, I can definitely revive the family. "

Miyazaki Shiro said: "So we must serve General Lee to the death. Not only can we have enough to eat, but if we make great achievements in the future, we may even be given a set of armor."

Ghost Forty-eight thought of those old boots, and suddenly began to envy Miyazaki Shiro again. Those were the cowhide boots worn by General Li. They were so precious. If he had been the first to seek refuge, they would have been given to him. How could he have been given to Shiro Miyazaki?

Li Dingguo called these wild warriors over and reprimanded him coldly: "What did you say before the war? As long as the enemy puts down their weapons and surrenders, they are no longer allowed to kill. If you commit the first offense, your meal will be halved today, and you will be severely punished next time!"

Seeing Li Dingguo's anger, the wild warriors knelt down and begged for forgiveness.

The Datong army moved toward the northeast, and the naval battle had already been decided. Two-thirds of the Satsuma clan's Zhuin ships directly chose to surrender with their ships, and only a few went ashore to escape. There was still some fluttering in the sea, but the ship was destroyed and they were desperately swimming to the shore.

"Intercept and defeat the troops!" Li Dingguo ordered.

Miyazaki Shiro immediately drew his sword and rushed out with the wild samurai, shouting and admonishing: "Listen to General Li and don't kill the prisoners!"

Kidou Shir8 became increasingly unhappy. He was of a nobler background than Miyazaki Shiro and should be the leader himself.

After getting rid of the Japanese navy in Kagoshima Bay, Li Dingguo sent his troops to bombard Tsurumaru Castle that afternoon.

To be honest, this thing is not easy to fight.

The castle was built a hundred meters up the mountain, surrounded by a stone wall and three walls inside.

At this moment, the Satsuma clan had gathered more than two thousand troops, climbing up from the west side of the mountain, and all of them were guarding Tsurumaru Castle.

Of course, there are only so many defenders, and it is impossible for subsequent reinforcements to enter the city. Because this mountain is not big, the sentinels of the Datong Army have already spread out, and subsequent Satsuma Domain reinforcements will die as soon as they arrive.

"Division commander, enemy troops were found in the west, there are about two to three hundred people!"

The sentry came back and reported: "According to the wild samurai who surrendered, those enemies are from Ijuin."

"Pursue carefully, don't get caught in an ambush." ​​Li Dingguo ordered.

After a while, the battalion commander in charge of the pursuit sent troops back to report: "Division Commander, the enemy is running too fast and is familiar with the terrain. We really can't catch up."

Li Dingguo called Miyazaki Shiro and asked, "Why is it that the main house was surrounded and the reinforcements just ran away?"

Miyazaki Shiro explained: "General Keizhen, the lord of Ijuin, is the eleventh brother of the Shimazu family governor Mitsuhisa. Since the family has been separated, it can be one family or not. Also, in order to consolidate, Shimazu Mitsuhisa Rule, once killed Shimazu Hisaki and Shimazu Hisakei. Both of them were his brothers-in-law, and the former was the head of the Shimazu branch."

"I understand." Li Dingguo suddenly laughed.

Under the rule of the Japanese shogunate, there were feudal lords, large and small.

Under the feudal lord, there were city lords, large and small. In order to consolidate his rule, Shimazu Mitsuhisa directly killed his two brothers-in-law, one of whom was the head of the separate family. What did this make the other castle lords and heads of Satsuma Domain think?

Take the lord of Ijuin, Shimazu Hisakuni, for example. His territory is not far from the main sect, and he is the feudal lord's younger brother. Of course, he has to be on guard at all times.

Shimazu Hisakuni led two to three hundred troops to come to the rescue, but when he encountered the Datong army, he ran away. If the Datong army can capture Tsurumaru Castle and kill the feudal lord, maybe he can succeed as the governor of the family. Even if the feudal lord was not dead, he could still explain that he had sent troops to rescue him, but it was a pity that he could not defeat the Datong army.

I am afraid that many city lords of the Satsuma Domain have the same idea, causing Li Dingguo's plan to siege the city and rescue the city to fail.

Poor Shimazu Mitsuhisa, as the lord of the Satsuma Domain, only had more than 2,000 people guarding the city, and all reinforcements were in a wait-and-see state.

Faced with this embarrassing situation, only with the personal order from the shogunate, reinforcements from all walks of life would actually gather to rescue.

…

Edo, shogunate.

Tokugawa Iemitsu has received the news. He has a strong desire for control. His first reaction is to be angry and want to gather troops across Japan to fight China.

Abe once again advised: "General, China gave two excuses for its expedition to Satsuma. One was to secretly annex Ryukyu, and the other was to plunder Chinese merchant ships. The Tang soldiers only attacked Tsurumaru Castle, which proved that they were unwilling to fight with The shogunate started a war, and there was really no need for the shogunate to raise troops because of this."

Matsudaira Noriju also said: "General, the grain harvest has been poor in recent years, and there are always droughts and snowstorms in various places. It's okay to fight a small war, but we really don't have food to fight a big war. Forcibly summoning the armies of each vassal and sending more farmers to fight with food will inevitably It will trigger civil unrest again. The Chinese army will leave after attacking Tsurumaru Castle, but the violent people will not stop fighting."

Tokugawa Iemitsu was also smart. After being persuaded by the two ministers, he gradually calmed down. But he still spoke in a very unhappy tone: "Could it be that the shogunate pretended not to know when the Tang soldiers invaded? Even if China withdraws its troops, the shogunate will be disgraced!"

Abe Shigege said: "General, it was the Satsuma clan that angered the Chinese emperor. Although the shogunate allowed him to send troops to Ryukyu and even increased the Shimadzu family's salary, they did not allow them to rob Chinese merchant ships. Those Chinese merchant ships were all from Japan. Saki was doing business with the shogunate. The Shimazu family's plundering of Chinese merchant ships was plundering the shogunate's property and should be severely punished! Also, I heard news from the Chinese envoy that the Shimazu family had been occupying the Ryukyu Islands. Island. The shogunate was not informed of this situation, and the tribute was not handed over to the shogunate. Shimazu Mitsuhisa deserves to be punished!"

Matsudaira Noriju said: "We should take two steps. First, issue an order to denounce the Shimazu family's crimes and remove Shimazu Hisamitsu from the position of family governor; second, send envoys to mediate and see how Tang soldiers are willing to withdraw."

Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded in agreement, and suddenly asked: "Can the shogunate's navy fight with the Chinese navy?"

Abe replied again: "They should be equally matched. However, China has a vast land and rich resources, and at this time, the founding hero is in charge. Even if the Chinese navy is defeated, it will be able to build big ships in two or three years. But the shogunate's warships will only sink one Without one ship, we will eventually be unable to defeat the Emperor of China."

As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent, thinking of the war decades ago.

Japan invaded Korea and although it won many battles, it could not withstand a few defeats. The Ming Dynasty's army was not successful in the initial battle, so it continued to send reinforcements. As a result, the Chinese army fought more and more, while the Japanese army fought less and less.

Tokugawa Iemitsu was not very happy. After letting the ministers leave, he asked Yagyu Jubei: "Have you ever met the Chinese emperor? What kind of person is he?"

Yagyu Jubei replied: "Young, heroic, majestic... He likes to laugh, and he is very kind and tolerant when he smiles."

Tokugawa Iemitsu thought for a long time and then ordered: "The envoys sent to negotiate with China will go over in a large sailboat and let the Tang people see our warships!"

Japan has Spanish galleons, two of them.

One is more than 200 tons, and the other is more than 500 tons. They were built by the Spanish before they fell out with Spain.

(The emperor's new book "The Number One Scholar in Brocade" is about the events of the Zhengde and Jiajing dynasties. It is a great work and highly recommended. I watched "Iron Bones" so much that I forgot to eat and sleep.)