1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2352
By observing the current situation of Hirado Port, the Haihan Army can basically infer the progress of the restoration of the Hirado Domain.The rise of the Hirado Clan is closely related to the prosperity of Hirado Port. As long as it cannot continue to obtain wealth through maritime trade, it will be difficult for the Hirado Clan's military strength to return to its previous level.

Now there are only two things that Hirado Clan can still interest Haihan, one is the whereabouts of Tagawa Nanazawaemon, and the other is the extent of the transaction between Hirado Clan and Man Qing.However, these two incidents probably can only be found out if important figures like Tian Chuansuke are caught first.

It is not the main task of Wang Tom's trip to track down these two things, as long as he confirms that the Hirado clan will no longer be able to pose a substantial threat to Haihan in the short term.In Wang Tom's opinion, the exploration of unknown areas is far more important than entanglement with the remnants of the Hirado clan here.

Kyushu Island, separated from Hirado Island by a narrow strait, is the third largest island in Japan with an area of ​​more than 3 square kilometers, slightly larger than Hainan Island.The east side of Kyushu Island is adjacent to Honshu Island and Shikoku Island respectively. There are Chikuzen, Chikugo, Buzen, Bungo, Hizen, Higo, Hyuga, Satsuma, and Osumi Nine Kingdoms on the island, so it is called Kyushu Island.The Hirado clan, which was severely injured by the Haihan Army, belonged to the territory of the Hizen Kingdom.

In 1633, as soon as Haihan occupied Zhoushan, a fleet led by Chen Yixin went north to conduct reconnaissance in the waters near Kyushu Island.At that time, on the one hand, it was to find out the Japanese pirates' lair, and on the other hand, it was also a field investigation of the maritime trade routes between Daming and Japan.

Kyushu Island does not have any special products, only the two trading ports of Hirado and Nagasaki are quite eye-catching.However, Haihan has relatively strict standards for the selection of overseas colonies, whether they are geographically important places, such as Xingdao, Hong Kong, Penghu, etc., or have high-value products, such as Shandong Fushan Copper Mine, Annan Heitugang Coal Mine , Taiwan Jinguashi gold mine, etc., or it is a natural port with excellent conditions, such as Manila and Cam Ranh Port.

Judging the island of Kyushu by these standards, it is obvious that none of them meet Haihan's requirements.To put it bluntly, there is only the last point that can barely meet the military's standards-Sasebo Bay, located on the west coast of Kyushu Island, is a place that is very suitable for establishing a naval base.The military conducted two on-the-spot inspections to this place, and concluded that if Haihan wants to establish a military base in Japan in the future, then this place can be the first choice.

However, the shortcomings of Sasebo Bay are also very obvious. Its location is not a geographical hub, but the westernmost tip of the entire Japanese territory. It is difficult to establish a base here to have an impact on important cities such as Kyoto and Edo thousands of miles away.Moreover, there are not many permanent residents in the area, and a large number of laborers need to be immigrated from other places during the development and construction phase. This is not worth it for Haihan, who pays attention to cost performance.

Haihan executives also have a point of view. If they really want to establish a colonial port in western Japan in the future, instead of choosing the baseless Sasebo Bay, it is better to simply capture Nagasaki and take this ready-made trading port.

Nagasaki Port is only a hundred miles away from Sasebo Bay, and the natural conditions of the harbor are not bad. After six to seventy years of continuous development and construction, the population size and port facilities can meet the requirements of Haihan.If this kind of place is occupied, everything including trade objects is ready-made, and it can be used immediately. Wouldn't it be much better than a place like Sasebo Bay?
Of course, if Haihan really sends troops to occupy Nagasaki, it will inevitably provoke a strong counterattack from the shogunate. After all, after the destruction of Hirado Port, Nagasaki has become Japan's most important transnational trading port. Goods from Ming Dynasty and Western countries They all enter Japan through here, and the profits generated from this are an extremely important source of income for the shogunate. It is absolutely impossible to sit back and watch other countries take control of Nagasaki Port.

Previously, Haihan's attack on Hirado did not provoke a strong rebound from the Japanese shogunate because of the competitive relationship between Hirado and Nagasaki. Haihan's move happened to solve Hirado's trouble for the shogunate.But if Haihan wants to move Nagasaki, the resulting war may not be so easy to quell.

It is precisely because of this risk that the Executive Committee did not make a more detailed plan for the plan to send troops to occupy Nagasaki.After all, Haihan's deployment of troops in Northeast Asia is limited, and the focus of using troops has always been Liaodong, and he has no great interest in Japan, a country that lacks mineral resources.

Wang Tom is of course a member of the main combat faction. From his point of view, he wished that Haihan's military ports could be found everywhere in the world.Whether it is Sasebo, Osaka Bay, Ise Bay, or Tokyo Bay, as long as it is a harbor suitable for establishing a military base, he wants to occupy it.However, Haihan's current national strength is obviously difficult to achieve such an ambition, so he can only put his energy into exploring unknown regions.

From the Hirado Strait to the northeast along the coast of Kyushu Island for two hundred miles, you will arrive at the Shimonoseki Strait between Kyushu Island and Honshu Island.This is the west gateway of the Seto Inland Sea, the hub of sea and land transportation in western Japan, and its strategic value is far superior to "remote areas" such as Sasebo and Nagasaki.As early as the eighth century, the Fujiwara Hiroshi Rebellion and the Genpei War in the twelfth century were famous battles that took place in this place and were recorded in Japanese history books.

The narrowest part of the Shimonoseki Strait is only about [-] feet wide, and the current in the strait is turbulent, which is not a small test for sailors who are not familiar with the sea conditions here.However, Wang Tom does not intend to enter the Seto Inland Sea through this place. Although most of Japan's important cities are concentrated near the south coast, if you want to visit these places via the Seto Inland Sea, the increased voyage will take at least ten and a half days. If you want to stay on the way, this time is likely to be extended a lot.

Wang Tom believes that there is no need to take the initiative to contact the Japanese shogunate at this stage, so the route he made will continue to travel along the north coast of Honshu Island to avoid complications.

But even if this "shortcut" is taken, the entire voyage from the Shimonoseki Strait along the coastline to the Tsugaru Strait at the other end of Honshu Island is more than [-] miles.Based on the current average speed of the fleet, it will take about a week to arrive smoothly.If Wang Tom wants to go further north this winter, he really can't delay too much time on the way.

Since becoming the commander of the navy, Wang Tom has spent most of his time commanding combat operations in various places, and has rarely had the opportunity to freely explore unknown seas.After leaving Kitakyushu, he no longer has any specific tasks to perform, and the next itinerary can be arranged freely according to his own wishes.Although the weather gets colder the further north you go, but for Wang Tom, this kind of free and easy journey is a great enjoyment, and the influence of the weather can basically be ignored.

The fleet's route was kept at a distance of about [-] to [-] miles from the coast, passing through Nagato, Hamada, Izumo, and Matsue all the way, until it entered the Tottori domain, and King Tom ordered to dock to replenish fresh water.

"Ahead is the estuary of the Chiyogawa River. We will stop there for a while and replenish fresh water before going on the road." Tom Wang gave the order, and the fleet turned to sail to the coast.

The coastline near here is very straight, all of which are sandy beach terrain, and the famous Tottori sand dunes are here.Since there is no natural harbor, it is impossible to build a large port. For Wang Tom, it means that the vicinity is a safe area, and there is no need to worry about hitting an armed fleet here.

The Chiyogawa River is not considered a big river, and the mouth of the sea is only a hundred feet wide. After finding out the ice situation at the mouth of the sea, the fleet slowly sailed into the very narrow river channel, and finally stopped at a place only three miles away from the mouth of the sea. The fork river began to draw water for replenishment.

Some residential houses can also be seen on the river bank near the river, but the local people's fear of these outsiders is obviously greater than their curiosity, and no one dares to take the initiative to approach this fleet.

Wang Tom specially borrowed his Japanese military officer Amakusa Shiro from Qian Tiandun for this trip, which came in handy at this time. Get some other supplies.

In the face of these local farmers and fishermen who are ignorant of the world, there is no need for the Haihan army to use force. Shiro Amakusa brought money to buy supplies from the people.

But the barrenness of local products is beyond their imagination. The paddy fields planted nearby don't produce much, and they don't even have enough food for themselves, and there is no surplus food to sell.After winter, there are no fresh fruits and vegetables produced in the local area, and the people usually eat only pickled vegetables and seaweed.Amakusa Shiro went around the village and only bought a dozen or so chickens and ducks. For a fleet of thousands of people, it can only be regarded as better than nothing.

Wang Tom is not too surprised by such a result. In this era, Japan's agricultural production level is still quite primitive. In addition to its geographical environment, it is indeed unlikely that there will be output all year round like Hainan Island.The food that the fleet brought with them when they set off was sufficient, even if there was no supply on the way, it would be enough to complete the voyage plan. The reason why Shiro Amakusa was asked to purchase was mainly because he wanted to obtain some fresh meat, vegetables and fruits.But now it seems that a rural place like Tottori is obviously still unable to meet the needs of the entire fleet.

"Let's rest here for the night and set off tomorrow." Wang Tom was also very considerate of his men's hardships in sailing at sea for days. Since the nearby sea area is relatively safe, he simply ordered to stop and rest for a day.Although there is no harbor nearby, the weather has been fine in recent days and the sea has been calm, so anchoring near the coastline is not a big problem.

At this time, it was still early before dark, so Wang Tom took a few entourages and went ashore to visit the nearby Tottori sand dunes.

The Tottori sand dunes are more than [-] miles long from east to west, and about four to five miles wide from north to south. The height of the sand dunes can reach twenty feet, and there are also depressions as deep as ten feet.Looking at the past from the coastline, as far as the eye can see is a piece of yellow sand.Such a large stretch of coastal sand dunes is very rare in Northeast Asia. Even if Shiro Amakusa was born in Japan, he couldn't help but be amazed when he saw such a scene.

"Your Excellency, you have never been here before, but how did you know that there is such a magnificent scenery here?" After receiving the visual shock, Shen Xueyi couldn't help but be a little curious about the temporary visit arrangement made by Tom Wang.

Amakusa Shiro next to him answered Tom Wang's question: "Master Shen, General Wang has extensive knowledge beyond what we can imagine. This is not surprising."

However, Shen Xueyi was a little unconvinced, and continued to ask: "Then we traveled all the way east from Hirado Island, but there are only large sand dunes on the coast here. What is the reason for this? Can General Wang explain this to me? ?”

Tom Wang smiled after hearing this, and said in his heart that you really want to create an opportunity for me to show off my knowledge.Since he knew that there are special scenic spots like the Tottori Sand Dunes here, how could he not have studied the causes of the sand dunes.

"These sand dunes are not the sand in the sea, but the volcanic ash transported by the nearby Chiyogawa River and other rivers, slowly accumulating here, and after tens of thousands of years of wind and waves, the sand dunes we see are formed. This is This kind of scene can only be seen in this place, and there will be no such unique scenery on the coast from east to west."

Although Shen Xueyi didn't know whether Wang Tom's explanation was true or not, but seeing his calm and confident demeanor, he believed it ninety percent, and now he admired his knowledge even more.Such a place that he has never been to before, Tom Wang can know it so clearly. No wonder there are rumors that the high-ranking officials of Haihan are descended from the stars in the sky, and their vision is very different from that of ordinary people.

After Tom Wang finished speaking, he ordered the team to be disbanded, and everyone can move around by themselves.Wang Tom walked slowly on the sand dunes with his hands behind his back, and his subordinates took the initiative to keep a distance from him so as not to disturb his thinking.

In fact, Wang Tom didn't think about any serious things at this time, but he thought that such a unique landscape, these warriors may not know how to appreciate it, let alone how difficult it is to form such a natural landscape, maybe it can only be done with him at the same time. Only modern people will understand their own feelings.

It's a pity that there are no other traversers in this fleet, which makes Tom Wang's specially arranged tour itinerary seem a bit high-spirited.

Wang Tom did not return to the flagship that night, so he camped on the sand dune.At night, he dreamed that he was in the desert of North Africa, but the sand under his feet suddenly turned into sea water, causing him to fall into the boundless sea.However, he didn't panic, he shouted "the ship is coming", a deck appeared under his feet, and then a battleship carried him out through the waves and sailed on the sea.

Wang Tom recalled the dream after waking up, and felt that this was probably because he had been to the North African desert before crossing, and this time he came to the Tottori sand dunes, which reminded him of his past experience subconsciously, which led to such a strange dream.

However, he was very satisfied with his calm and unhurried performance in the dream, which should be a good sign in his opinion, so he was in a good mood.After breakfast, he ordered to break camp and board the ship, and continued to set off eastward.

(End of this chapter)