1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2142
The battle that took place near the northern coastline of Kyushu lasted just over an hour before it was basically declared over. The Fujian navy successfully defeated the main force of the Hirado navy they had been searching for, consisting of seventeen warships and seven cargo ships. None of the ships in the formed naval fleet escaped from Kaya Bay, and most of them were sunk or damaged. Only five ships remained relatively intact when they were captured.

About four hundred enemy personnel were taken prisoner, half of them from the last few cargo ships captured.According to Xu Yuzhuo's estimation, the number of enemy troops who died in this battle should not be less than 500, but some fish that slipped through the net took advantage of the abandoned boats to swim ashore and escape into the inland area.However, this is harmless and cannot change the reality that the main force of the Hirado navy is basically wiped out.

However, the Fujian Navy also paid a high price in this battle. Two warships were sunk by the opponent's artillery during the battle, and another seven or eight ships were also seriously damaged. Just make repairs.The number of casualties is of course much better than that of the opponent, but the number of dead and missing people has reached about a hundred, and the price is really not light.

It takes far more time to clean the battlefield than to fight. Xu Yuzhuo has to be patient and let the warship search the sea in Kawu Bay again, trying to catch all the drowning personnel of the Fujian Navy, even those who have already died. personnel, they have to bring their remains back.

In addition, he also needs to make a decision based on the specific conditions of the severely damaged warships, whether to carry out damage management and maintenance on the spot, bring these damaged warships back to Hirado Port, or abandon the ship decisively. personnel to other ships and return as soon as possible.But no matter which option is chosen, it is not an easy task that can be completed in a short time for the naval fleet that has just experienced a life-and-death battle.

But in any case, the combat goal that Xu Yuzhuo had been thinking about for many days was finally basically achieved, so even if he evacuated Hirado and returned to Fujian, he would have a good record to compete with Xu Xinsu.Of course, if you can follow the vine and find the high-level figures of the Hirado clan hidden in Kyushu, it will definitely be a great achievement.

Thinking about this episode, Xu Yuzhuo decided not to return to Hirado Port in a hurry, but to see if he could get some useful news from the prisoners while the damaged warship was undergoing damage control and maintenance.

Without much effort, Xu Yuzhuo confirmed that the warship he identified was indeed the flagship of Wei Zhi, the commander of the Hirado Navy, but at this time the stranded ship was still burning, and it was impossible to confirm that Wei Zhi Zhi's life and death, it seems that it is very difficult to obtain some key information.

At this moment, the gunpowder on the warship exploded again, blowing up the nearly half-burned hull into several pieces, making it even more impossible to implement it now.

Although Xu Yuzhuo felt a little regretful, he didn't regret the previous measures. He hesitated a little at that time, and maybe he let the people on that boat go ashore to escape. That was the result he was least willing to accept.

Xu Yuzhuo interrogated several people, basically confirming that the fleet has been hiding in this secret Kaya Bay since it withdrew from Shanda Island in the north of Hirado a few days ago, and these ships are the remnants of the Hirado Navy All power up.

However, what Xu Xinsu is most concerned about at the moment is whether the captives have recently escaped from the area blocked by Haihan in the northern part of Hirado Island. These prisoners are not very clear.Xu Yuzhuo was also a little helpless about this. The relevant insiders should all be on that damned flagship, but at this time, it is definitely impossible to get the news out of the mouth of the dead.

It is undoubtedly a pity for this operation that the whereabouts of Tagawa and his son could not be tracked down.After confirming that the damaged warships had recovered their sailing capabilities, Xu Xinsu ordered the withdrawal of troops, and the navy fleet gathered its formation and returned straight to Hirado Port.

So far, almost all the elite troops belonging to the Hirado Domain have been exhausted in this battle.Although there are still a few armed men under the command of Tian Chuansuke in the ruling area of ​​Kyushu Island, they can no longer affect the current battle situation.And the armed forces of the Hirado clan have also fallen to the lowest point since the founding of the clan. At this time, any force that covets Hirado will surely make it difficult for Tagawasuke to parry.

Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen were also a little surprised to learn that the Fujian Navy had wiped out the main force of the Hirado Navy in the direction of Kyushu.It's not that the combat power of Xu Yuzhuo's fleet exceeded their expectations. After all, he knows the basics and dares to let him act alone. It's that the place where the battle took place is not too far from Hirado, and even the Haihan warship has been there. They searched the sea area, but failed to find the hiding place of the enemy fleet like Xu Yuzhuo did. They originally thought that the opponent had gone away to hide, but they never thought that the fleet was tens of miles away from Hirado.

They saw that several warships had already tilted obviously due to water ingress when they docked at the dock. From this, they could imagine that the battle situation at that time was definitely not one-sided suppression. The desperate counterattack of the Hirado Navy also gave Fujian Navy The teacher caused quite a bit of trouble.

But in any case, being able to complete the task of searching and destroying the enemy alone is definitely an excellent performance worthy of appreciation.Even though Xu Yuzhuo later explained to them that he failed to capture the enemy commander alive and found no further clues to the whereabouts of Tian Chuanjie and his son, Qian and Shi still gave a very high evaluation of the performance of the Fujian Navy.

After destroying this armed fleet, the Hirado Domain is temporarily unable to launch a counterattack from the direction of Kyushu Island, and the coalition forces do not need to spend a lot of energy to guard against this hidden danger, and can focus on the personnel and supplies of Hirado Island. Clean up work.

After nearly ten days of rush transportation, almost all the population in the north-central area of ​​Hirado Island was transported to Seogwipo, and various supplies on the island were gradually emptied.When the last batch of local people was escorted on board and set off, the coalition forces began to execute the last step.

The coalition forces set up dozens of burning points in the urban area, and then ignited these burning points made of dry firewood, straw, bamboo branches and other inflammable materials one by one from west to east.The fire quickly spread in the urban area, and the personnel responsible for setting the fire quickly evacuated to the port after completing the operation.Of course, the official residences located on the high ground on the south side of the port area also failed to escape the disaster.

On the sea a few miles north of the Hirado Strait, Qian Tiandun, Shi Diwen, Shen Xueyi, Ximang and others watched the tragic scene of the Hirado city gradually being engulfed in flames from the deck.The local buildings are mainly made of bamboo and wood, and the fire spread very quickly. In just one or two hours, the sky above the northern tip of Hirado Island was already full of flames and thick smoke. Should be able to see.

Compared with this overwhelming fire, the fire that burned Hirado Castle more than 30 years ago can only be regarded as pediatrics.The situation that Hirado has gradually managed since the opening of the port was basically completely wiped out by this fire.

The losses that this fire will cause to the Hirado Clan cannot be estimated with pure economic figures.In the future, anyone who wants to rebuild this place will have to reconsider whether it is worthwhile—even if the funds needed for reconstruction can be raised, even if the trading status of Hirado Port can be regained, it may not be able to withstand external pressure. Another military strike.

The Haihan people dared to do everything they could, and burned Hirado to the ground in a fire, so who would dare to take the risk to bet that they would not make a comeback in the future?

With the cut off of trade, the most important source of income, the ruling body of the Hirado domain will face the problem of insufficient operating funds. It is hard to say whether this domain can continue to be kept.
The people are gone, the money is gone, the property is gone, and the mess left behind is tasteless to the troubled Hirado clan.When Tagawasuke returns here a few days later and sees Hirado who has turned into scorched earth, will he still have the confidence to continue fighting with Haihan?

"Perhaps after this fire, the Japanese shogunate will re-examine their foreign policy." Shi Diwen looked at the fire in the distance and said: "Our actions may further catalyze the speed of the shogunate's implementation of closed-door policy, and they probably won't be interested. Do business with us."

"That's not necessarily the case, maybe it will have the opposite effect." Qian Tiandun said meaningfully: "If they realize that there is an unimaginably powerful civilization outside, they may also repeat what they did hundreds of years ago. Responses."

"You mean, the shogunate might send people to study in our country just like sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty?" Shi Diwen also replied as if he had realized something.

"Yes, one of the cultural traditions of this country is to obey and imitate the strong. Whoever has a harder fist than him can beat him, and he will strengthen his own strength by imitating him." Qian Tiandun said eloquently Talking: "They have done this before, and I think they will continue to do this now and in the future. This is their nature. This big fire may be able to burn the Japanese's idea of ​​​​resistance and make them realize ours. The strength."

Beginning in the seventh century AD, Japan sent 200 envoys to the Tang Dynasty to China in more than [-] years, each time with more than [-] people, and even as many as [-] people in the largest mission.These elites selected from various fields came to China to learn all aspects of advanced production skills, knowledge and systems, and gradually introduced them to Japan, which greatly promoted the spread of Han culture in Japan.

The strength and advancedness of Haihan have obvious advantages over all the countries of the time. Whether it will be feared or admired may depend on the personal wishes of the people in power in the country.Although the opinions of Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen are very different, they are both possible situations.

Shen Xueyi and Simao were listening to this discussion beside them, and they couldn't help but feel their hearts surge. General Haihan talked about the impact of this war on Japan so calmly. His understanding and long-term vision are enough to make people They admire it.At the same time, they couldn't help secretly rejoicing that their country and Haihan were allies with common interests, so they didn't need to worry about facing Haihan's merciless military attack.

The fire in Hirado lasted far longer than expected by the coalition forces. After the fire engulfed the entire city, it gradually spread to the forests outside the city, and then slowly expanded southward.After the embers of ashes drifted across the Hirado Strait, which was less than two miles wide, they ignited part of the forest on the west coast of Kyushu, causing the fire to spread in the northwest corner of Kyushu.

However, at this time, the coalition fleet has already gone to the waters near Fukue Island, and they don't know that the fire here is still expanding.And such a fire is far from being able to be extinguished by manpower, and the locals can only watch the fire raging everywhere.

It wasn't until three days later, perhaps God couldn't stand it anymore, that a heavy rain from the sky finally brought the fire to an end.

The fire that destroyed most of the Hirado clan in the 15th year of Kanei, Japan, was later recorded in Japanese history books.In order to distinguish it from the fire that burned Hirado Castle during the Keicho period, this fire, which took place more than 30 years ago, is also called the "Fire of Haihan".However, because the Haihan army who attacked Hirado evacuated all the local people before setting fire to it, although the area burned by the fire was large, the casualties were very few.

In this era, Hirado Port, Japan's leading foreign trade center, was completely destroyed by the fire. Nagasaki Port, which was directly under the jurisdiction of the shogunate, quickly replaced Hirado's trade status and became a new foreign trade center.

Around the power change of the Hirado Domain, a series of bloody battles were launched within the Hizen Kingdom.Although there is no need to rebuild Hirado, which was burned into ruins, there are still many ambitious people who hope to inherit Hirado's trade connections and unique Japanese military technology.And Tian Chuan and his son, who have lost most of their armed forces, do not seem to have the ability to keep these secrets, so many people have their ideas on them.

However, these internal struggles in the Hizen Kingdom are already insignificant to the coalition forces headed by Haihan.Although they failed to wipe out all the target persons in this Eastern Expedition, the strategic goal of attacking the Hirado Clan and the Shibazhiyu Party has been basically achieved, and they have destroyed the opponent's basic market, leaving almost nothing for the opponent. A chance for a comeback.

The military expenses spent by the coalition forces during the operation were partially recouped through the massive supplies seized from Hirado after the war. In addition, the thousands of Japanese people who were transported out of Hirado were also a considerable income for Haihan. .Haihan's intake of immigrants in the northern regions is slowing down, and these Japanese people can also slightly alleviate the local population demand after being distributed and resettled.However, according to the current civil affairs system of Haihan, if this group wants to obtain Haihan nationality, they still need to slowly go through a period of hardship.

The coalition fleet returning to the west did not spare the Five Islands. It took three days to forcibly gather the people on each island and transport them away as spoils of war.After being plundered by Haihan, the population size of Hirado Island and the Goto Islands directly regressed to the level of several centuries ago.

(End of this chapter)