1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 737 Chrysanthemum and Sword ([-])

On February 1658, 2, Hanxing Island (today's Miyako Island).

Several long queues of immigrants slowly extended towards the pier. After several months of immigration, the complexion of the immigrants seemed to be more energetic, and everyone had a look of anxiety and longing on their faces.Leaving the war-torn Ming Dynasty and going to the Hanzhou Continent thousands of miles away has become the best choice for countless helpless refugees.

There are countless fertile fields that will be distributed to every immigrant who arrives. After a few years of hard work, he can still build a warm and spacious house for himself and his family.More importantly, in Hanzhou, everyone no longer has to worry about war. There is no widespread plague or desperate famine.Everyone can eat well, and everyone can have soft and comfortable cotton clothes.

Outside the barracks not far from the pier, hundreds of people knelt and sat silently on the ground. They were all topless, with a white belt tied on their foreheads, surrounded by soldiers in black with live ammunition, and their eyes were cold and bright. The bayonets were pointed at the group of kneeling people in the distance, several big dogs kept barking, if not for the tight ropes, they seemed to rush over fiercely in the next moment and bite those kneeling people "enemy".

Seeing this situation, the passing immigrants couldn't help but feel anxious.But seeing the soldiers on both sides of the team maintaining order, they seemed to be relaxed, and gathered together in twos and threes, talking in low voices.

"Erwazi, what do you think these loyal Japanese are thinking? They've been kneeling here for a long time, do you still want to ask for an explanation for yourself?"

"How do I know?" The village soldier called Erwazi looked up at the barracks, shook his head and said, "I probably want to kneel here and beg for mercy from the adults. A week ago, our people were in the southern part of Ryukyu Island Landed, fought several battles with the Japanese, and captured hundreds of people back. Didn’t those prisoners who were tossed to the brink of death be hanged at the seaside a few days ago? The captured Japanese prisoners were all beheaded. It is estimated that these loyal Japanese soldiers were frightened and wanted to use this method to find a way out for themselves."

"That's right. We are fighting with Japan. If these Japanese in the Loyalist Army stab us in the back, we will have to bear it. Let's kill them all, just in case."

"All of them were slaughtered!... But, these Japanese are very well-behaved on weekdays, and they even fought against the Tartars in the territory of Ming Dynasty for our Qi State, so they can be regarded as meritorious ministers."

"Haven't you heard a word? It seems to say that if you are not of our Han ethnicity, you don't have one heart with us."

"This is 800 people!..."

Standing in front of the barracks, Tian Xiuhong looked at these former compatriots with some sympathy, but he didn't dare to say any words of intercession, and could only stand silently behind a group of officers.

Seeing a group of officers coming, the loyal soldiers who were kneeling on the ground immediately straightened up and lowered their heads slightly to show their respect and obedience.A squad leader of the Loyalty Army in the front row looked excitedly at the arriving officers and loudly expressed their wishes.It may be that I joined the Zhongyi Army not long ago, and I am not very fluent in Chinese, and there is a lot of Japanese mixed in during the term.

He Yunfeng listened to the narration of the leader of the Loyalty Army with a blank face, and even guessed what he meant.Since they are the loyal and righteous army of the Qi State and receive Qi State's salary, they should take Qi State as their name for loyalty to the patriarch.Now that the Qi State is conquering the Satsuma Fan, they are excluded, and even some of their firearms are confiscated, showing deep suspicion. This is the greatest humiliation for a loyal and brave warrior.

After expressing his dissatisfaction and samurai oath, the leader of the Loyalty Army suddenly pulled out a dagger from his ribs, laid it across in front of his face, shouted "Onboard", and then stabbed it fiercely in his heart .

The faces of all the officers of the Qi State who rushed over suddenly changed. They watched in amazement that the leader of the Loyalty Army fell in a pool of blood so resolutely.

Just when everyone was astonished, another person came out from the ranks of the loyal army. He first bowed deeply to the officers respectfully, then knelt down on the ground, drew out a short knife, stabbed it into his heart without any hesitation, and then slowly Slowly crooked to the ground.

"Let them all stop!" He Yunfeng saw several soldiers of the Loyalty Army stand up again, with a look of determination on their faces, he stopped immediately and said: "What the hell, since they all want to die, then let them be done. Order the Loyalty Army to dispatch three soldiers." Hundreds of people, form a death squad, and prepare to land in Shuri Port with the army."

After all, he turned and walked towards the city.Soon, cheers and shouts erupted behind him.

"The Japanese are a bunch of lunatics!"
-
February 2, Ryukyu, Shuri Port.

There are more than 20 large and small ships gathered on the sea, except for more than ten warships belonging to the Qi State Navy, the rest are all Zheng Sen and Gu Rong's navy ships.The Satsuma Clan's only [-] or so Guan and Xiaoba boats in Ryukyu knew that they were invincible, so they hid wisely in the port, preparing to rely on the two forts at the pier to resist the landing of the coalition forces.

"I still haven't figured out why the Satsuma clan suddenly turned their faces." After the commander of the Ryukyu Fleet and General Guangwei (Major Admiral) Luo Rucheng ordered several warships to arrive and bombard the pier fort, he held up his binoculars and carefully observed the situation on the shore. "They clearly know that our Qi State has absolute sea control in the Ryukyu area, and they dare to raid our trading stations and the territory of Hanxing Island. Aren't they afraid that our ships will blockade the sea area from Kagoshima to Ryukyu, and Will they be completely expelled or wiped out in Ryukyu?"

"Yeah, we didn't expect that either." Wu Guangxu, the manager of the Ryukyu Trading Company, looked at the water column and rising fireworks in the port with a grim expression on his face, "Even if they took our Ryukyu Trading Station away, even After completely occupying Ryukyu, will they be able to exclude our country of Qi once and for all? Shimadzu must have been so drunk that he was so dizzy that he would do such crazy things."

"Hehe, as a daimyo feudal lord, how could he rashly start a senseless war just because he was drunk?" Luo Rucheng shook his head, "I think it may be because of our Ryukyu General District or your Ryukyu Trading Company's actions. Such a move that caused the Satsuma clan to run away, and then launched this war very recklessly."

"What does the general mean?" Wu Guangxu turned his head to look at Luo Rucheng in surprise, "You know, decades ago, Japan used the power of the whole country to attack North Korea and fought fiercely with tens of thousands of Ming troops for years. If it wasn't for that time The national treasury of the Wanli Dynasty was relatively abundant, and the military strength was not bad, so maybe the Japanese invaded Liaodong. From this we can see that there is a lesson from the past for the crazy actions of the Japanese!"

"That's true." Luo Rucheng nodded and said, "However, in the past few months, I have collected a lot of information in Japan. There is a so-called Mandate of Heaven among the Japanese, and they follow the behavior of lowering and restraining superiors. In addition, they also have a so-called The idea of ​​slashing is that even a monarch should be exiled if he loses his virtue. This point is somewhat similar to that of princes and generals in my Chinese culture."

"The Japanese are aggressive by nature, but they also like to behave politely, they are silent and beautiful, they are stubborn but weak and changeable, they are loyal but easy to rebel, they are brave and cowardly..." Wu Guangxu shook his head and said, "It's true. Because of this, the Satsuma clan is so unreasonable, brazenly challenging our country of Qi. This time, we must teach the Shimadzu a profound lesson, and use this to deter all the Japanese in Japan. It is said that the Japanese have always respected the strong and worshiped force, but bullied the weak wantonly."

Luo Rucheng smiled slightly. Most of these merchants wanted to take advantage of this war to subdue the Satsuma clan and then take advantage of the situation to enter the Japanese market, instead of engaging in smuggling trade secretly like before.

After a half-day bombardment by the coalition naval guns, the only two forts in Shuri Port were completely destroyed, and thousands of coalition officers and soldiers who had assembled in advance on the floating island at the mouth of the Zhichuan River immediately launched a beach landing.

Perhaps because of the disparity in combat power, the Satsuma army did not resist at the pier, but withdrew to the outer port city of Shuri, preparing to rely on the still strong city defense to resist the attack of the coalition forces.

"There are less than a thousand Japanese troops in the city, most of them are equipped with swords and spears, and there are a few iron guns." Zheng Yu, a descendant of 36 Hokkien surnames on Fudao Island, introduced the situation in the city. "Originally, the Ryukyu officials and people in the city Nearly half of them were massacred by the Japanese, and the rest were also made slaves and handymen, helping the Japanese to do some coolie errands. Oh, by the way, the cannons on the city wall were from the Qi State Ryukyu Merchant Station by the Japanese. The unloaded ones may cause certain casualties to our siege operation."

"Are there still people from my country of Qi in the city?" He Yunfeng asked.

"...should be gone." Zheng Yu looked carefully at He Yunfeng, "After the Japanese launched a surprise attack last September, they slaughtered all the Qi people in the city and in the wharf warehouse. If it wasn't for a merchant ship that saw the opportunity quickly and hid Entering my floating island, I am afraid I will suffer the same bad luck."

"What's the situation in Shuri Castle?"

"The Japanese controlled the King of Ryukyu and all the civil and military ministers. At the same time, in order to frighten the people of Ryukyu, they killed many people in the city, including some princes and ministers and military generals." Zheng Yu said bitterly: "All the Ryukyu officers and soldiers in Shuri City They were disarmed by the Japanese, and they were all guarded in the barracks in the city. In response to your Qi attack, the Japanese confiscated all the food, cloth, iron and other combat materials from nearby villages and towns and other towns on the island, and moved them all into Shuri Castle After several months, the people of Ryukyu were massacred by the Japanese, and because of the lack of food, countless people from all over the country starved to death."

"Heh..., the Japanese are going to fortify the walls and clear the fields, and fight a city offensive and defensive battle with us?" Ren Maoyong, the commander of the third battalion of the Marine Corps and Lieutenant Xuanjie (Major), sneered, and said, "Just rely on the defense of the city wall of Shuri Castle." , I’m afraid they won’t be able to stop our heavy artillery bombardment.”

"What I'm afraid of is that the Japanese will use the Ryukyu people as human shields to deal with our artillery attack." Wu Fuyuan, the commander of the Fifth Marine Battalion and Lieutenant Xuanjie (major) glanced at several Ryukyu officials who came with the army. He said with some concern: "Besides, the Ryukyu King and all the princes and ministers are still in Shuri Castle."

"We haven't taken Liangang City yet, so you guys are worried about the offensive and defensive battle in Shouli City." He Yunfeng smiled and said, "Wars will inevitably hurt innocent people. But during the battle, everyone must not do so because of this." And disregarding the safety of his brothers. In order to liberate Ryukyu and rescue the Ryukyu king, some civilian casualties are worth paying for."

After this battle, it should be possible to completely drive out the forces of the Satsuma clan from Ryukyu. After that, Qi will replace the Japanese and become the actual controller of Ryukyu.As for how many Ryukyu people will die in this war, He Yunfeng doesn't care at all, let alone have any scruples.If we can take the opportunity to consume some Ryukyu natives and then fill in some Han Chinese, perhaps, in time, it will be much easier for Qi to swallow Ryukyu in one gulp.

On the top of the port city, Ryuji Oe, who was appointed by the Satsuma feudal lord Shimadzu as the guard general, and several banner warriors looked worriedly at the coalition army camp outside the city.They never expected that the State of Qi could gather so many warships and troops in less than a few months, and attack Ryukyu Island with coercion.

In September last year, the Satsuma clan secretly gathered more than 100 soldiers, and quickly captured Shuri Outer Port and Shuri Wangcheng by means of a surprise attack.Although it took a little effort to attack the commercial station in Hong Kong City of Qi State, with more than [-] casualties, in the end, by virtue of the advantage of numbers, they captured this small fortress-like commercial station and obtained some artillery and muskets.

Subsequently, the Satsuma army took dozens of ships of various sizes and immediately attacked Hanxing Island and Xinghe Island, but they were still unable to enter the port under the bombardment of the opponent's fierce shore fire artillery.More than half a month later, more than [-] Satsuma troops came from Kagoshima. As a result, the old Yoshio Ueda, who was in charge of the command, had more than [-] soldiers in his hands.Immediately, he ordered the troops to bypass the position of the port fort on Hanxing Island and land from the southeast side of the island.

However, the Satsuma army who landed ashore in batches, in front of the tight musket array of the garrison and township soldiers on the island, seemed to be shot down on the beach one by one like rows of falling wheat.More than [-] loyal and brave warriors launched a desperate charge to the shore in the shallows in vain, but under the continuous fire of muskets, they fell on the beach one after another, and the sea was crimson.

Seeing that he could not attack Hanxing Island, Yoshio Ueda had no choice but to withdraw his troops and turned to attack the nearby Yutou Island (Irabu Island, northwest of Miyako Island in Japan today).Because the island lacked the necessary defense and garrison forces, it was conquered by the Satsuma army in just half a day, and all the more than a thousand immigrants on the island became prisoners.

In order to vent their anger and warn the soldiers and civilians of the Qi State on Hanxing Island, the Satsuma army beheaded all the men, the old and the weak among the immigrants by the seaside, and the remaining women were all bullied.

After capturing Yutou Island, the Satsuma army was greatly encouraged and led troops to Xinghe Island, more than 100 kilometers away, but was strongly blocked by the island.

From late September to the end of October, the Satsuma Army also intercepted and attacked more than ten Qi immigrant ships in the Ryukyu waters, captured two unarmed ships, and captured more than [-] sailors and immigrants.

In the first ten days of November, several warships from the State of Qi arrived at Hanxing Island and began to expel the naval ships of the Satsuma clan. After being sunk and damaged more than [-] ships of various sizes, the remaining ships of the Satsuma clan might escape into Ryukyu. Or avoid Kagoshima, and the Qi Navy will once again control the Ryukyu waters.

After half a year of planning and several months of hard work, the Satsuma clan only recaptured Shuri Outer Port and Shuri King City, and the captured Gouji Island was quickly lost under the attack of the Qi State Navy.As for Hanxing Island and Xinghe Island, they were driven away without even touching the borders. Even the small Anton Fort in the northwest of Ryukyu Island was besieged for several months and paid hundreds of people. The casualties, but did not shake the opponent's defense at all.Such a result was far lower than the Satsuma domain's pre-war combat expectations, which made the domain lord Mitsuhisa Shimadzu very dissatisfied.

A month ago, seeing more and more ships and troops from the Qi State gather on Hanxing Island, in order to prevent the opponent from directly attacking the Satsuma Domain, Mitsuhisa Shimadzu withdrew more than 500 troops and returned to Kagoshima to strengthen the local defense.On the entire Ryukyu Island, there are only less than [-] Satsuma troops, and as for Shuri Port City, there are less than [-] people.

"My lords, although the people of Qi have an absolute advantage in numbers and firearms, we have a strong Bushido spirit. This spirit is everything, and the spirit will last forever. We are all samurai who have undergone hard training and have perseverance. Faith, but also a fearless spirit of devotion to the patriarch. Therefore, to face our enemies with our flesh and blood and the sharp long knives in our hands, I believe that under the guidance of the extremely powerful Bushido, we will eventually defeat the enemy's firearms." Oe Ryuji stood on the tower and said loudly.

"Onboard!"

"Onboard!"

"..."

(End of this chapter)