1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2106
The older the rivers and lakes, the less courageous they are.Haihan has accumulated rich practical experience in overseas battles over the years, but this has not made the military generals take it lightly in the face of another upcoming combat mission, even if the opponent's paper strength seems to be completely different from his own. On a higher level, Qian Tiandun and others who were in charge of commanding the operation did not dare to be careless in the slightest, and were still working hard to improve the combat plan and try their best to avoid possible variables in the course of the operation.

But there will still be some signs before the start of the war, which will gradually appear due to Haihan's military mobilization and material procurement.Even though there is no definite news on the market, the nature of merchants to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages is very keen. Since March, the number of merchant ships heading from Daming to Japan has gradually decreased.

Especially in the two regions of Zhejiang and Fujian with a relatively large trade volume with Japan, the reaction of the merchants was even more significant. Well-informed businessmen silently canceled the original shipping arrangements to Japan, and ordinary merchants without inside information also Everyone has seen a little knowledge and noticed that there seems to be some potential risk in the trade route to Japan. Except for a very small number of adventurers who want to seize this opportunity to make a fortune, most businessmen will still follow the principle of seeking benefits and avoiding disadvantages. Give up going to Japan for the time being.

As for the Netherlands and Portugal, which had already received Haihan's warning before, it is even more impossible to ignore Haihan's warning. He was accidentally injured in a military operation.

So although Haihan's military and intelligence agencies have managed to do a lot of work to prevent military information from leaking, there will still be a lot of information that will slowly spread through various channels.During this period, of course, some Japanese businessmen who visited Daming Port got some faint news. Most of the businessmen who were able to leave Japan to conduct overseas trade activities during this period had official backgrounds, so it is still difficult to avoid rumors here. Some time passed back to Japan.

As for the Shiba Zhiyu Party hiding in the Hirado Domain, they probably got the news earlier, and the place where the news was sent back was far from Sun Feizhou in Ningbo City, so before the official launch of the Haihan Army, Ping Hufan has actually received some bad news.

However, Matsuura, the lord of the Hirado Domain, believes that the situation should not be as bad as the rumors. It seems that Haihan Kingdom has no good reason to launch a cross-sea war. Even if there is such an intention, it is unlikely to launch an action so soon.After all, in their perception, it took Toyotomi Hideyoshi a full year to complete the preparatory work for attacking North Korea. Although they heard that the Haihan Army was very powerful, it was absolutely impossible for them to fight immediately. Fighting, and Haihan Kingdom is far away from Japan, how can it be said that it is easy to fight.

The Matsuura family's cognition is of course very one-sided. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched the war in 1592, he mobilized a total of 30 troops, and the First Army Corps, which acted as the vanguard, had more than [-] troops.With such a scale of troop dispatch, the preparation work required is naturally very complicated.At that time, not only did every daimyo have to be conscripted to send troops, but the daimyo near the sea had to be responsible for building warships and recruiting sailors, and completing the coordination of materials and personnel was considered a major project, which could not be completed in a short period of time.At that time, it was almost the power of the whole of Japan, and it took a year to send troops from Tsushima Island to North Korea.

However, the scale of Haihan's troop dispatch is not that large at all, and the combined forces of the north and the south are less than [-]. In addition, the operation of the preparation work is more efficient. Compared with the war presided over by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, it is indeed easier to complete the deployment of personnel and materials. assemble.

As for the distance between Haihan Country and Japan is indeed very far, but Japan is not particularly aware of the existence of overseas colonies due to its seclusion, and it is not clear how strong the military forces Haihan deploys overseas are. Some misjudgments occurred in the situation, thinking that Haihan sent troops from the South China Sea, so the difficulty of sending troops to Japan was naturally unimaginable.

Of course, the Hirado clan is not without discernment. As a vassal of the Matsuura family, the Tagawa family believes that Haihan is not just bluffing, but really intends to take some military measures against the Hirado clan.

This view, of course, comes from the Eighteen Zhiyu Party who worked for the Tagawa family.These people are well aware of how terrifying Haihan's military strength is. At that time, Shibazhi underestimated Haihan's strength. They did not expect that Haihan would send troops to Fujian to attack Penghu. As a result, they were insufficiently prepared for the battle, and soon died in the decisive battle. defeated.

They don't want to make such a mistake again, so these people attach great importance to some rumors they have received recently, and after analyzing them, they suggest that the Patriarch of the Tianchuan family start preparing for war immediately.

The main basis for making this judgment comes from the layout of the Tian Chuan family on the southeast coast of Daming.A large number of secret strongholds have had accidents in recent months. Either they were arrested by the local government on various charges and ransacked their homes, or they disappeared from time without a sound. In the end, they sent messages back from Ningbo through Feige , Only then did I know that I had followed the vines to find out the Japanese side.

With Haihan's style of doing things, at this level, they should not sit back and watch them hide in Japan and develop quietly. It is only a matter of time before they start.Now that there are already some signs of the Haihan army going out in Zhejiang, it is probably a matter of time before the war breaks out.

Of course, these people also know that their side does not yet have enough combat power, and they should try to avoid confrontation with the Haihan army, so the strategy for the battle should still be to attack and harass.The most important thing is to leave a way out, once the situation deteriorates, escape from Haihan's attack range as soon as possible.Japan is such a big country, they should also be able to find other places to stay.

There is another coping strategy, which is to immediately ask the shogunate for help, and the shogunate will organize reinforcements, and wait for Haihan to attack.However, there are too many restrictions on this kind of plan, and the Hirado clan has not been favored by the shogunate in recent years. Such a request for help may not be successful, but it will expose its shortcomings to the shogunate, so that the shogunate can logically Take away the current foreign trade privileges of Hirado Port.It is not advisable to initiate such a response plan unless it is absolutely necessary.

So in the end, the Eighteen Zhiyu Party's suggestion to Tian Chuan was to prepare for both hands. While preparing for the war, they should also be prepared to retreat, and get out as soon as possible if the battle is unfavorable.

As a large amount of funds and military technology were provided to the Tagawa clan, which helped the Tagawa clan become a prominent figure in the Hirado domain, and there was even a faint tendency to replace the feudal lord Matsuura clan, so the Eighteen Shibayu Party has a very strong position in the Tagawa clan. influence, and most of these recommendations have been adopted.It's just that when Tagawa reported it to the feudal lord, the response he got was not ideal, and there were obvious differences of opinion between master and servant.

This cannot be completely blamed on Matsuura's short-sightedness. Comprehensive preparations for war will mean huge military expenditures, and will definitely affect the current trading environment of Hirado Port.However, there is currently no concrete evidence to prove that Haihan is about to launch an attack on Hirado in the near future. The so-called warning information may be just a false alarm. It may be a waste of money to prepare for the war.

If you have to ask the shogunate for help for this, it will make the Hirado clan passive in the game with the shogunate.Even if the shogunate is willing to organize troops to assist the Hirado Clan, it must be at the price of the Matsuura family agreeing to a series of harsh conditions, and it may even cause Hirado Port's foreign trade qualifications to be taken away by the shogunate.If such consequences occur, it may be more difficult for the Matsuura family to accept than the Haihan people.

Although the Matsuura family and the Tagawa family are both in the same camp, due to the existence of the Eighteen Zhiyu Party, they actually have different starting points of interest, and it is inevitable that there will be differences of opinion when considering the current situation.After many consultations with the feudal lord, Tagawa finally lost his patience.

In the Tagawa family house next to Hirado Castle, an old man was sitting in the north head with his eyes closed, and next to him was a young boy with a calm face. In front of them were more than ten people kneeling neatly on the floor. They all looked at the old man with closed eyes, as if waiting for him to speak.

After a long time, the old man finally opened his eyes. Although his eyes were cloudy, it did not affect him to express his attitude clearly: "As a feudal vassal, I, Tagawa Suke, should consider the people of the Hirado feudal clan. Being in a dangerous place and not paying enough attention to the upcoming war, I should stand up and do something for the people."

The old man who spoke was Tagawa Clan's current patriarch, Tagawasuke, and the young man sitting beside him was the designated successor, Tagawa Nanazawaemon.

Of course, Tagawa Shichizaemon is not his heir, but Zheng Zhilong's second son, who gradually obtained the qualification to inherit the Tagawa family after being adopted by the Tagawa family.Tagawa Shichizaemon was able to sit here, in addition to the fact that the Tagawa family was the natal family of his mother Tagawa Matsu, there was another very important reason, which was the support provided by the Eighteenth Remaining Party for Zheng Zhilong, the youngest son.

The people kneeling in front of Tian Chuansuke are basically the capable generals of the current Ta Chuan Clan, but not all of these people have the surname of Ta Chuan, and two-thirds of them are not Japanese at all, but are from Daming Jiang. , Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places of the Han people.These Han people also have a common identity, that is, they used to serve the Shibazhi group, and some of them were even Zheng Zhilong's cronies.

These people were all leaders of a certain level at the beginning, and they respectively controlled the wealth, connections, technology, armed forces, etc. left by Shibazhi, but because all the big bosses of Shibazhi were gone, it was difficult for them to rely on their own With the power to make a comeback, wandering outside may be hunted down by enemies, so he hid in the Hirado domain, serving Tagawa Qizaemon as the main, and used various resources at his disposal to support and strengthen the Otagawa clan.

Although Tagawa Qizaemon's surname is no longer Zheng, these people don't care. On the one hand, they need such a spiritual symbol to integrate the remaining power of Shibashiba, so that everyone can work in one direction; On the other hand, they think that Zheng Zhilong's blood is only one branch, and when Tagawa Nanizawaemon becomes an adult, he can be alone without having to depend on others. It is also feasible to persuade him to change his surname back to "Zheng".

In this era of Japan, there is no taboo about things like Xia Keshang, so these people have already been planning to support the Tagawa family with the resources left over from Shibashi on hand, and let the Tagawa family replace the weak and incompetent Matsuura family at the right time. Conquered the Hirado domain for himself.And Tagawasuke has no heirs, only Zheng Zhilong adopts his adopted son Tagawa Qizaemon, and all the family business will be inherited by him at that time.After such an operation, it only takes a few years for the Hirado clan to change its surname to "Zheng", and Shibazhi's comeback is expected to come true.

At that time, the many secret strongholds they have set up along the coast of Daming will be able to mobilize thousands of armed personnel, at least.There are also many allies at home and abroad. After several years of operation, they should all have considerable strength. If everyone joins hands to deal with Haihan, they should have the strength to fight.To avenge the relatives and friends who died under the guns of the Haihan Army may be realized in their lifetime.

Now Tagawasuke is getting old day by day, no accidents, after a few years, Tagawa Shichizaemon will be able to successfully take over the Tagawa clan after he becomes an adult. At that time, whether he will launch an armed coup, or force the Matsuura clan to abdicate with both soft and hard methods, in short, he will win the Hirado clan The right to rule should not be too difficult.But Haihan is already unwilling to give them so much time to develop slowly, and the Matsuura family is unwilling to follow Tagawasuke's suggestion to prepare for the war. If they want to make full use of the resources of the Hirado Clan to counter Haihan's military strike, then It is necessary to seize power from the Matsuura family.

Although the influence of the Tagawa Clan in the Hirado Clan is very strong today, the nominal lord is still the Matsuura Clan, and it is unlikely that the Matsuura Clan will cooperate with handing over the power in their hands, so they asked Tagawa Clan Put forward a suggestion to complete the seizure of power as soon as possible and integrate the power of the Hirado Domain in order to try our best to resist the military attack that Haihan may launch within the year.

Tian Chuansuke didn't know exactly when Hai Han would activate it, but the situation reported by these subordinates did make him feel very dangerous.According to the subordinates, if the power of the entire Hirado clan can be mobilized, they may be able to fight Haihan, otherwise, when the opponent hits the door, they will have to wash their necks and wait to die.For the current plan, we can only use unconventional methods to prepare for the battle and strive for the chance to defeat the opponent.

Of course, in addition to this, there is another reason that fascinates him, and that is to become the lord of the Hirado domain during his lifetime.At least in the genealogy handed down to later generations, Kawasuke Tata is the feudal lord of the Hirado clan of the Hizen Kingdom in Japan, not the number one retainer of the feudal lord.Although the difference is only a few words, it means that he is the No.1 who opened up a glorious history for the Tagawa family, and will be praised and commemorated by future generations after thousands of years.

(End of this chapter)