Starting in Saarhu, it is a bit difficult to make a comeback.

Chapter 244: The Fall of the Alliance (please subscribe for monthly tickets)

Edo Bay would later become Tokyo Bay.

Although the Tokugawa shogunate implemented a policy of isolation from the country, it did not mean that they did not have a navy.

However, the navy under the control of the shogunate was mostly Anzha ships suitable for offshore operations.

The Anzha ship is huge and can carry an army of more than a hundred people.

Although its sailing speed is not fast, it has the advantage of being able to operate flexibly with only dozens of sailors during battle.

The Japanese navy often used the Anzha ship as the main warship, and paired it with smaller speedboats such as Kanfune and Kozaya as escorts to form a naval fleet.

There are also large Anzaku ships. It is said that the larger ones can reach 50 meters long and more than 10 meters wide, and are called "Oyasaka". In the Edo period, a -meter-long Oyasaka was built in Lake Biwa, but it was basically lost. Mobility.

However, the Tokugawa shogunate strictly prohibited the construction of large-scale anzha ships with a weight of more than 500 koku, and all large-scale anzha ships in the Japanese kingdom were confiscated and destroyed.

As a result, there were only six large 6-ton house ships in Japan.

In the original Fuchuan era, these Anzhai ships were no match for the Ming Navy.

What's more, China has already entered the era of sail battleships, and the new sail battleships under construction have a displacement of nearly 3000 tons.

How can you kill a chicken with a knife?

Even the 800-ton supply ships in the Chinese fleet were huge in front of them.

Galenic sailing ships of more than 1000 tons, dealing with these house ships is like ordinary target shooting.

As the rumbling artillery sounded, Japan's so-called fleet was quickly wiped out.

The sea was littered with shipwrecks and struggling Japanese sailors.

The Chinese sailors raised their muskets and fired freely on the ship.

In particular, some Japanese soldiers who finally drifted to the coast were attacked by cannons and cannons from Chinese warships as soon as they climbed to the shore.

Before the expedition, His Majesty had issued a death order. Anyone who took up arms against the Chinese Japanese would be killed without mercy.

These Japanese pirates had been raging along the coast of the Ming Dynasty for many years, and the Chinese soldiers at this time naturally had no mercy for them.

After eliminating the Japanese navy in Edo Bay, they began to bombard the port of Edo.

Although Edo was not a port open to the outside world, and its port size was far inferior to that of Nagasaki Port, it was, after all, the core of the Tokugawa shogunate's rule.

In 1612, the shogunate expanded the area into a large port and named it Edo Minato.

Soon this wharf became a famous market in the Edo area, and many seafood and grains were traded near the wharf.

When the Chinese navy sailed into Edo Bay, it was the peak period of trade, and people near Edo Minato were driving.

Of course, this cannot be blamed on their low vigilance. In fact, the Japanese navy collapsed a bit quickly.

By the time these people reacted, China's artillery shells had already fallen into the market.

Edo Minato was originally a port market with wooden structures.

Huaxia's explosive bombs caused a lot of casualties, and soon the place turned into a sea of ​​fire.

A large number of panicked Japanese poured into Edo Castle.

In the 1590th year of Tensho (), Toyotomi Hideyoshi used an excuse to attack the Hojo clan and captured Odawara Castle in the Battle of Odawara. He confiscated the territory of Hojo. Tokugawa Ieyasu encircled Kanto and made Edo his residence. Edo Castle began to prosper. .

On November 1601, the sixth year of Qingchang's reign (11), the Edo Fire burned down the entire city.

In the eighth year of Keicho (1603), Ieyasu established the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo, which lasted for more than years, and began to build Edo Castle, the largest of which had a five-story and six-story castle.

Large-scale construction of Edo Castle began in the 5.5th year of Keicho. Edo Castle is about 4 kilometers from east to west and about kilometers from south to south.

There are inner trenches and outer trenches all around. The outer trench has a circumference of about 16 kilometers.

There are two levels of city walls, with the total area of ​​the inner wall being 264 million square meters.

The buildings in the castle are magnificent, with 20 turrets, 36 gates, and palaces such as Honmaru, Ninomaru, Sannomaru, and Nishinomaru.

Although Edo Castle had a huge stone wall as a cover, like most cities in the Japanese country at that time, its interior was mostly made of wooden structures and could easily catch fire.

The fire in Edo Minato really shocked Tokugawa Iemitsu.

Fortunately, Edo Castle is still some distance away from the coastline, more than 20 miles, making it beyond the reach of Chinese naval guns.

However, some strongholds outside Edo City were still bombarded by Chinese artillery.

What's even more frightening is that the Chinese took advantage of the night to occupy the port of Edo Minato and built a line of defense outside the port.

At this time, the Tokugawa family had assembled 8 shogunate troops near Edo Castle, so they naturally would not sit back and watch the Chinese army land.

However, there were Chinese warships near the port, and the shogunate army was blown to pieces by the artillery on the warships before they even approached the port.

In order to boost morale, Tokugawa Iemitsu sent his younger brother Masayuki Hoshina to lead 5000 elite warriors of the Tokugawa family to attack Edo Minato at night.

At night, unlike during the day, naval gun strikes are less targeted.

Although the Japanese pirates' intentions were discovered, the Chinese naval guns still fired.

But these Tokugawa samurai still took advantage of the night to reach near the port.

At this time, a huge trench lay in front of them. Just as the Japanese soldiers were thinking about how to cross the trench, some huge fireworks rose over the port. The moment these fireworks burned in the air, they illuminated the surrounding area very brightly.

These Japanese soldiers discovered that the Chinese had already built a wall several meters high outside the port.

Even after they filled in the trench, they still couldn't get over the wall.

Suddenly, the sound of "bang, bang, bang" firecrackers broke the silence of the night.

I saw white smoke rising from the city, and the Japanese soldiers below the city were howling like ghosts.

Although the Chinese flares quickly dimmed, the location of the Japanese soldiers was now undoubtedly exposed.

Under the intensive firecrackers fired by the Chinese army, the air was filled with a smell of blood.

Upon seeing this, Hoshina Masayuki had no choice but to order a retreat.

Tokugawa Iemitsu never expected that the Chinese would land directly outside Edo Castle.

If Edo Castle was lost, it would be equivalent to announcing to the feudal states everywhere that the Tokugawa family was in ruins.

Naturally, the recapture of Zuodu Island is no longer considered. The only solution for now is to recruit soldiers and horses from various vassal states to come to Edo.

In fact, the number of Chinese naval forces attacking Edo this time was not large, and there were only 2000 Chinese soldiers who landed in Edo.

Li Xianzhong's purpose was not to capture Edo Castle at all, but to prevent the Tokugawa shogunate from paying attention to other battlefields.

At this time, the eyes of all Japanese daimyo were focused on Edo Castle. The Tokugawa family could not lose this battle and could not afford to lose.

Soon, the vassal states loyal to the Tokugawa family in Japan sent reinforcements to support Edo.

Even the main force of 5 shogunate troops stationed in the northern part of Kyushu Island was ordered to return to aid Edo Castle.

If Edo was taken away by the Chinese, what was the point of them holding Kyushu Island?

As time passed, people from various vassal states outside Edo City also arrived one after another.

People from all over Tokaido and Kansai came to help. In just over half a month, the strength of the shogunate army in Edo surged from 8 to 16.

Although many vassal states deliberately delayed the speed of reinforcements, after all, the Tokugawa family did not show their defeat at this time, and they still had to be ordered to reinforce.

Especially the Nagasu Domain located at the western end of Honshu Island, the Satsuma Domain and Hizen Domain on Kyushu Island, and the Tosa Domain on Shikoku Island.

These four powerful vassals are like sitting on a mountain and watching the fight between tigers and tigers.

They themselves are relatively far from Edo, marching less than 20 miles every day.

The relatively close Tosa Domain also used the excuse of encountering a blockade by the Chinese navy at sea and has not sent reinforcements for a long time.

Just when the main force of the Tokugawa shogunate was confronting the Chinese army in Edo, the Chinese army made new moves.

The Chinese army located on Zudo Island took advantage of the vassal states' reinforcements to Edo and landed in Echigo Country, which was closest to Zudo Island.

At this time, the Echigo Kingdom was no longer the powerful feudal lord of the Warring States Period during the Uesugi Kenshin period. Even the famous Kasugayama Castle in the Echigo Kingdom was ordered to be demolished by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1607.

This was originally a move by the Tokugawa family to weaken the Echigo Kingdom, but now it helped the Chinese army a lot.

Azig led his Imperial Alliance Army and a 30,000-strong coalition force composed of Yehe Horqin's tribe and quickly captured most of the seven Echigo counties.

And after half a month of siege, Fukushima Castle was captured.

News of China's occupation of Echigo Kingdom soon reached Edo.

This caused the major vassal states that sent troops to support Edo to waver.

The Huaxia Kingdom has the convenience of a navy and can land in any area of ​​the Japanese Kingdom. This time it is Echigo. Will it be its turn later?

At this time, Tokugawa Iemitsu's face was ashen, and the Tokugawa family was once again questioned!

The Chinese in Edo relied on the cover of the huge cannons on the battleships, and the shogunate army was helpless.

The mountains of Echigo must be far away from the sea, so he must respond quickly on behalf of the shogunate.

Soon a coalition of 60,000 people, led by Masayuki Hoshina, attacked Echigo Kingdom.

Echigo is mountainous, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

In fact, the mountainous area here is quite similar to that of Hetuala.

The Jianzhou Jurchens are very good at this kind of mountain warfare.

The shogunate's coalition forces soon advanced to the Kawanakajima area in Northern Shinano.

It is not far from Kasugayama Castle in Echigo, where the famous "Battle of Kawanakajima" during Japan's Warring States Period took place.

Takeda Shingen, known as the "Tiger of Kai", fought five battles here with Kenshin Uesugi, the "Dragon of Echigo", and both sides suffered heavy casualties.

Li Xianzhong, who was familiar with this period of history, naturally also understood the importance of the Kawanaka Island area. He ordered Azig to go north from Echigo early and occupied Kawanaka Island City first.

The Chinese army relied on cement to quickly heighten and strengthen the city wall of Kawanaka Island.

The Japanese army charged again and again, but all failed in the face of Chinese military guns and thunder.

After several days of siege fighting, the shogunate coalition forces led by Masayuki Hoshina had killed tens of thousands of people.

The Japanese army, which has always been good at iron cannons, did not expect that the Chinese firecrackers had become so sharp now. Not only did they have a long range, but they also fired very fast.

Even elite warriors wearing iron armor are unable to resist.

The shogunate army could only be stationed outside Kawanakajima Island to confront the Chinese army to prevent the Chinese army from advancing further into the hinterland of the Japanese country.

After all, it is not too far from Edo Castle. If the Chinese army chooses to attack Edo from land, the situation of the shogunate will be even more precarious.

Although Japan is a country on the surface, the emperor has become a "mascot" at this time.

In fact, the country was controlled by the vassal states where each daimyo was located.

Although the Tokugawa shogunate ostensibly unified all the forces in Japan, in essence it was nothing more than an alliance leader with stronger power in its own right.

When the shogunate was strong, the various vassals naturally followed its orders.

But if its own strength is weakened, each vassal country will of course have its own ideas.

The Chinese army's landing at the Tokugawa family's Edo Castle was originally a direct slap in the face.

Now that the Chinese army has captured Echigo Kingdom and severely damaged the shogunate army on Kawanaka Island, the reputation of the Tokugawa family has been further questioned.

Especially Kansai, which originally supported the Toyotomi family, and the various vassal states of Shikoku and Kyushu.

Zheng Zhibao appeared in Kagoshima again.

The purpose of his trip was very simple, which was to urge the Shimazu family to rebel against the Tokugawa family for a long time.

Zheng Zhibao said: "Now that the main force of the Tokugawa shogunate has been attracted by our Chinese army and returned to their home base of Edo, our army has severely damaged the shogunate army on Kawanaka Island. What are the heads of the Shimadzu family waiting for?"

"Does it mean that the head of the Shimazu family will not be willing to take action until our Chinese army has captured the entire territory of Japan? Will it be your Shimazu family's turn to be the general of the conquest of barbarians at that time?"

"I believe that in the Japanese country, you are not the only one who is interested in this general who conquers barbarians."

Shimazu Iejiu understood that his delay in taking action had angered Li Xianzhong.

At this time, there are not many shogunate troops on Kyushu Island. If he doesn't take action, I am afraid that the Chinese will come over.

Now that the Tokugawa family has too much to take care of, it is indeed a good time for the Satsuma clan to annex Kyushu Island.

The Hizen Domain in the northwest corner of Kyushu Island owns Nagasaki Port and is second only to the Satsuma Domain in power.

The Shimazu family did not want to be enemies with the Hizen Domain for the time being. As for other feudal states, they were not the opponents of the Satsuma Domain at all.

On the eighth day of July in the third year of Qianxi, Shimazu Iehisa formally attacked the Hyuga Domain, which was also on Kyushu Island.

Relying on the armor and artillery they obtained from China, the Shimazu family quickly gained the upper hand, and in just over half a month they occupied large tracts of land in Hyuga and Higo countries.

The Hizen Clan, which was also on Kyushu Island, saw how quickly the Shimazu family took action, and also sent troops to occupy the Chizen area close to itself.

Soon Satsuma and Hizen annexed the entire Kyushu Island, and the two sides also formed an offensive and defensive alliance.

Although the Tokugawa shogunate angrily denounced their behavior of seizing territory privately and threatened to send troops to conquer.

But for now, it’s good that the Tokugawa family can keep Edo. Where can they find the troops to conquer Kyushu Island?

Nagasu Domain and Tosa Domain saw that this was back to the Warring States Period.

Instead of taking advantage of the Tokugawa family's busy time to take care of themselves and expand their territory, why not wait until the shogunate regains its strength to get rid of itself?

Soon the two vassals also began to annex surrounding territories.

The Tosa Domain located on Shikoku Island quickly occupied the entire Shikoku Island, and the Nagasu Domain also moved eastward to capture Iwami and Izumo Kingdoms.

The Tokugawa shogunate saw that the four feudal lords wanted to fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the situation.

So a crusade order was issued.

Order the surrounding vassal states to jointly attack these four vassals.

When the four major vassal states saw that Tokugawa Iemitsu had taken the initiative to break up his reputation, they simply elected Shimazu Iehisa of the Satsuma clan as their leader and formed a "collapse alliance."

For a time, the two sides were at war with each other, and the war was likely to expand further!

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(End of this chapter)