1635 Han style rises again

September 1674, 9, Osaka.

During this period, Osaka Castle, located in the Kinki area, was not the Osaka city known for its prosperous business in later generations. During the Meiji Restoration, which represented the end of the samurai era, it was taboo because the word "Saka" could be dismantled into "Shifan", and there was "Samurai" Rebellion" taboo, so that it was renamed "Osaka" in the third year of Meiji (1870).

In 1583, Toyotomi Hideyoshi built Osaka Castle on the land of the old Ishiyama Honganji Temple, taking Osaka as the central city of his rule.But there are no holidays. In the third year of Qingchang (1598), Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in Fushimi Castle, and Qianqiu Baye made wedding clothes for the Tokugawa family.

In the 19th year of Qingcho (1614) and the 20th year of Qingchang (1615), Osaka Castle experienced the Winter Battle and the Summer Battle successively. The Tokugawa clan completely captured Osaka, the Toyotomi clan perished, and the world was finally unified.

After the war, the Tokugawa clan brought Osaka into the Tendom, appointed their confidantes as the governor of Osaka, and revived Osaka Castle from the scorched earth, making it a well-known "Kitchen of the World" throughout Japan and a "circulation base" for collecting and distributing materials from all over the country. It was the largest economic city in Japan at this time, and the market of Dojima rice market was regarded as the standard of the market of the whole Japan.

A few months ago, the local government and the local garrison in Osaka captured a smuggling merchant ship from the Qi State and detained more than 60 sailors from the Qi State through reports from market merchants.

Qi State is one of the only three foreign trade countries in Japan, and it also has considerable influence in countries and regions such as Ezo, Ryukyu, North Korea, and Ming Dynasty. The Tokugawa Shogunate was very cautious in the process of handling this matter. I just want to take this opportunity to warn the merchants of the Qi Kingdom to restrain them from the current smuggling trade.

However, subsequent developments made the whole situation deviate from the shogunate's vision.The local government of the Ming Dynasty from Ezo sent several gunboats to Edo and Osaka, and threatened the shogunate with force to demand that the shogunate release the people immediately, and apologize and compensate the businessmen of Qiguo.

Tokugawa Kazuna in Edo Castle was astonished, and then became furious.He expelled the Ming people who came ashore to negotiate, and sent a message to him that the people of Qi must come forward to negotiate with our shogunate for the conclusion of this matter, and it is not up to you, the local government of Ming, to intervene.

However, Osaka Makoto, the local bannerman and samurai appointed by the shogunate, acted more fiercely than the general. Under the threat of several Ming gunboats in the Ezo area, they directly sentenced all The sailors of Qi State were hanged and implemented immediately.

When the envoys of the shogunate arrived at Osaka Castle and were about to bring all the sailors of the Qi State to Edo, they only saw more than 60 corpses of the Qi State people hanging by the sea, swaying with the sea breeze.

After the businessmen of Qi State in Nagasaki heard about it, they issued a stern protest to the shogunate through Nagasaki's implementation, and released harsh words, declaring that the whole of Japan would pay a huge price for this.

In less than half a month, the merchants and family members of the Qi State living in Nagasaki withdrew one after another, followed by an increasing number of Qi State gunboats, swimming between major coastal port cities in Japan, implicitly threatening the shogunate with force .

In June, the gunboats of the State of Qi began to blatantly intercept all incoming and outgoing merchant ships and fishing boats along the coast of Japan, prohibiting Japan's foreign trade and normal fishing activities, and blocking important ports, making the whole situation even more tense.

On September [-], Qi State mobilized more than [-] large and small warships and gathered in Edo Port. After issuing the letter of war to the general, it launched an attack on Edo at noon.

It is reported that under the bombardment of naval artillery for more than two hours, the entire Edo Port Wharf was blasted into a piece of white ground, and all buildings such as the ship repair station, the Fishery Administration Office, the fort, government offices, military camps, and museum buildings were razed to the ground. Flat land.The shogunate assembled more than [-] troops on standby at the pier. Under the bombardment of artillery, they were even more defeated, with more than [-] casualties, most of whom were capable warriors. The overall loss was extremely heavy.

Masatoshi Hotta, who presided over the battle, withdrew all the troops from the shore and temporarily stationed near Edo Castle, preparing to fight again when the Qi army landed ashore.

In the next few days, Qi's gunboats approached the coast of Edo every day, bombarding nearby villages, towns, wharves, and fishing ports in turn, showing off their military power, and at the same time demonstrating to the shogunate.Of course, it is also possible that they are clearing the way for their subsequent large-scale landing operations.

Prior to this, the general had issued a military call-up order, ordering the Daimyo and the pro-vassal daimyo from all over the place to recruit samurai and ashigaru to Edo "King Qin".After Edo was bombarded by the Qi State, the shogunate was deeply shaken. The overwhelming artillery fire and the power to destroy the world were not something that human power could contend with.

Thousands of loyal and brave warriors were covered by ferocious firepower before they could meet the enemy. After more than ten years of painstaking training in swordsmanship, they were easily killed by a single shell.After the bombardment that day, the samurai who were full of confidence began to waver in their belief in victory.

Even the sharpest samurai sword is hard to compete with the power of artillery.

Three days ago, more than [-] samurai stationed in Osaka received an order from the general and hurried to Edo to increase the defensive force there.With the powerful force displayed by the Qi State, the more than [-] shogunate troops and the more than [-] pro-vassal daimyo troops who arrived may still be beyond their capabilities, and more troops need to be gathered to respond to the threat of the Qi State.

Just when the soldiers and civilians in Osaka City were worried about the safety of Edo, there was a warning message from the seaside.

The people of Qi are here!
Hiroshi Watanabe, following Hiroshi Watanabe, looked solemnly at the Qi State warships with heavy sails on the sea. There are so many Qi State ships attacking, and they are so powerful, I am afraid it is not a simple act of harassment.

"They are here to attack Osaka Castle." Hiroshi Watanabe said: "The whole city is immediately on alert, ready to fight!"

"Yes, my lord!...Do we need to ask Edo for help?"

"...send someone to report to Edo." Hiroshi Watanabe thought for a while and nodded back.
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Maybe it was because there were not many defensive troops in Daban City, or maybe it was because they knew that they could not withstand the fierce artillery bombardment of Qi State.

However, at the two-kilometer-wide landing field, countless soldiers and supplies of the coalition forces are constantly pouring ashore in an extremely chaotic order, people shouting and screaming, and the noise is abnormal.

"Damn it, the training was done well before the war, but at this moment, the whole landing operation is like shit!" Su Zhongfu, the commander-in-chief of the coalition landing force and general (major general) Guangwei of the Qi Army, stood on the side of the ship and raised his hand. Looking at the mess on the shore through the binoculars, he cursed angrily: "They are all idiots! At this time, if the Japanese dispatched cavalry and launched a sudden attack, even if they could not drive all the landing troops into the sea, the casualties would be inevitable. .”

"General, our fleet has been bombarding Edo for days and made a large-scale landing, which must have caused the troops of Osaka Castle to be transferred there. It is estimated that there are not many Japanese troops here, and I am afraid they will not dare to go out of the city to fight." A staff officer next to him spoke in relief.

"There is no room for negligence or carelessness in the battle formation, and don't pin all your hopes on the enemy's stupidity and weakness." Su Zhongfu glared at the staff officer, "Immediately convey my order, the front landing field must be completed in the shortest possible time. Here, I sent the cavalry from Yunzhou Town ashore to cover the landing site.... All the troops that have landed, no matter which vassal state they belong to, are under the unified command of Cao Guangsheng, and they are not allowed to attack Osaka City for the time being. defensive positions."

"Yes, General!" The staff officer paid a military salute, turned and left, preparing to board a boat to convey Su Zhongfu's order.

During the conquest of Japan, Qi dispatched ten land battalions, two artillery battalions, and more than 100 officers and soldiers. In addition, it mobilized more than 2 troops from nine vassal states, with a total of [-] soldiers.

According to their own strength, the number of troops sent by each vassal state ranged from 500 to several thousand. Among them, Yunzhou Town had the largest number of troops. It not only dispatched more than 800 large and small warships, but also dispatched more than [-] army troops and [-] cavalry. Many, accounting for nearly [-]% of the total military strength of all vassal states.

The entire coalition forces were under the command of Wan Changshu, the commander-in-chief of the Ryukyu Fleet of the Qi State Navy and General Zhen Guo (Lieutenant General).According to the pre-war military proposals, the coalition forces first gathered all professional warships, gathered at Edo Bend (today’s Tokyo Bay), and bombarded Edo Port and nearby coastal towns with fierce artillery fire. Gather here.

Afterwards, the coalition forces made a feint and took all the landing troops to attack Osaka, occupying this most important commercial center and material distribution center in Japan, and seized a large amount of grain, meat, poultry, non-staple food and other materials stored and traded there for subsequent supplies of the coalition forces.

If the shogunate army is unmoved, it will go north to attack Kyoto and seize the capital of the Japanese emperor.

That's right, during this period, the nominal capital of Japan was still Kyoto, not Edo, the seat of the shogunate.

Regardless of whether the coalition forces can capture Kyoto, the shogunate army is bound to come to the rescue with all its strength.At that time, according to the scale of the shogunate army's mobilization, the coalition forces will either annihilate it in the field to help the shogunate army, or abandon Kyoto and retreat to Osaka, and then turn to Edo by boat.

It is believed that after such a mobilization, the main force of the shogunate is already exhausted, and it is difficult to deal with the next mobile guerrilla of the coalition forces. Maybe it can defeat Edo in one battle.At worst, it can also take down several important coastal towns under the control of the shogunate, weakening the strength of the shogunate to the greatest extent.

A country like Japan with a narrow land and dense population, and most of the important cities are less than [-] kilometers away from the sea, so it is impossible to deal with a large-scale attack by a country with absolute maritime superiority.

Therefore, the coalition forces in this battle have complete initiative and can choose the most beneficial attack target and combat method for themselves.

"Order the [-] cavalrymen from Yunzhou Township to withdraw and cover the left and right wings of the landing site; order the Champa Firearms Battalion, the Second Battalion of the Weiguo Shenhuo Army, and the Pioneer Battalion of Hexian Township to stop advancing, build fortifications on the spot, and wait for further advances." The command."

After receiving Su Zhongfu's order, Cao Guangsheng, the commander of the No. [-] Mixed Regiment who had landed ashore, Lieutenant Zhaoxin (Colonel), couldn't help curling his lips, and said helplessly to the messenger.

Although the landing site was extremely chaotic, Cao Guangsheng, as the supreme commander of the first batch of landed ashore, immediately took over the command of all the troops, and gathered more than [-] troops from various vassal states and a battalion of the Qi army who had already landed. Together, prepare to use offense instead of defense, and pull the battle line directly under the city of Osaka.

However, the prudence and care of the top commander of the army made him lose the opportunity to attack Osaka in the first place, and he felt regretful.In his opinion, when the coalition forces launched the landing operation, it was the weakest and most powerless moment. As long as the defenders of Osaka gathered their courage and dispatched thousands of troops, they could definitely cause serious damage to the coalition forces.

However, the defenders of Osaka chose to defend the city, ignoring the landing operations of the coalition forces.This shows that their troops are very weak, or their morale is not high, and their fighting spirit is not strong, so that they dare not go out of the city to disturb the landing of the coalition forces.

According to reports from the black guard's spies and the sailors of the Ryukyu Trading Company, the defense of Osaka Castle is not tight.When Tokugawa Ieyasu attacked Osaka twice, almost all the defense facilities of the city were destroyed.

Later, even though Osaka underwent a large-scale reconstruction, it did not restore the tight city defenses of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's period.It is estimated that with the powerful strength and mighty power possessed by the Tokugawa Clan, no vassal state would dare to attack Osaka Castle.

"Decades ago, the city of Daban experienced the so-called winter battle and summer battle. Now, in autumn, our Qi State and the allied forces of the vassal states attacked Osaka. Didn't we gather another autumn battle for them? "Zhu Maohui, Commander of the Fifth Battalion of the Qi Army and Lieutenant Xuanjie (Major), said with a smile.

"The Formation of Autumn?" Cao Guangsheng smiled wryly, "The defenders of Osaka must cooperate with all their strength to pull out all the troops and fight with us in a dignified manner, which is worthy of the title of the Formation of Autumn. But look at this In such a situation, the defenders of Osaka are determined to defend the city and fight against trapped beasts."

"That means they don't have many troops, so they can only defend against danger." Zhu Maohui set up a pergola and looked towards the distant Osaka City, "However, we must make a quick decision and capture Osaka as quickly as possible. Otherwise, Let the shogunate army in the city come to their senses and burn the supplies in the city with a fire, then it will be a waste of our busy work."

"The defenders in Osaka City should not be so decisive, right?" Cao Guangsheng shook his head and said, "It is said that this city has a population of 30 to [-], and the daily consumption is a huge number. The largest commercial center, together with Edo and Kyoto, are known as the three capitals of Japan. Such an important city, the shogunate army must not dare to deliberately destroy it so resolutely."

"That would be the best. As long as we take down this Osaka Castle, we can fully realize the strategic policy of defeating the enemy with food that we set before the war."

"Sir, the cavalry of Yunzhou Town reported that thousands of shogunate troops were gathered on both sides of the Yodogawa River ahead!" At this time, a combat staff officer hurried over and reported a very unexpected military situation.