Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 596: The Shogunate Victory
When the warriors wearing armor, carrying swords and holding spears encountered the teaching team sent by the Zhou Empire, they were filled with fear and despair in their hearts.

[Back in Korea, the warriors during the war period also encountered the ancestors of these people, right? 】

It was really desperate, there was no way not to be desperate. First of all, the height was the reason. This group of people were specially selected, all of them were over 1.8 meters tall.

Standing together, the height difference is the same as that of an adult and a child! Many Japanese warriors have been thinking about this. Why not learn from their ancestors' practice of crossing the lineage during the Northern Song Dynasty?

The mere difference in height is not enough to make people scared or despair. The key is that the people in the teaching team are really capable.

Shooting is a basic skill. Each person holds a rifled flintlock rifle and fires ten shots at a distance of one hundred meters, without missing a single shot.

In a stabbing fight, the unconvinced warriors challenged each other in a one-on-one duel, and the battle was over in an instant.

Throwing bombs is considered an illegal combat mode for Japanese samurai.

The main reason is that grenades are cheap. They are made of black gunpowder, so how can they be expensive? Produce 200,000 of them and provide them to the shogunate.

The teaching team specially selected a day to demonstrate military skills, and all the samurai under the shogunate were convinced after witnessing it with their own eyes.

Everyone is thinking about how to learn more from the teaching team, otherwise they will be eliminated by the times.

How to fight with a cannon + rifle combination with a katana. I can only say that Jia Lian was sincere in assisting the shogunate.

The cannon was a new type of field gun, and the rifle was a rifled flintlock. The combination of the two made the Japanese samurai feel despair and fear when they faced it.

The teaching team quickly got into the game and conducted strict drills on the shogunate's army. With enough rice and some fish for every meal, the shogunate's army began to take shape in two months.

At this time, as the party resisting the shogunate, although they had a large number of people and strong power, they also had disadvantages, that is, there were many things to do with cooperation and coordination, and their efficiency was not high. As a result, they were still in a state of wrangling for a full three months, including who would be the leader, how many troops would be provided, how many supplies, etc.

It was three months later when the anti-shogunate alliance was officially established and an army of 50,000 was formed to set out to attack the shogunate.

During this period, the shogunate's new military training had already taken shape. Although it was not a qualified army, it could still fight if it had the advantage of equipment.

The Tokugawa general was a very sensible man. He accepted the teaching team's suggestion and asked the anti-shogunate faction to gather together first, and then fight a decisive battle in one go to completely defeat the opponent militarily, and then things would be easy.

Therefore, the shogunate during this period seemed very cowardly and hid in the Edo region. In terms of intelligence, it was difficult for outsiders to understand the specific internal situation. The anti-shogunate alliance only knew that the Zhou Empire had provided assistance to the shogunate, but did not know the specific situation.

The shogunate did not take the initiative to attack, and the anti-shogunate forces dragged their feet, only setting out three months later and spending another half a month on the road. When they arrived near Edo, the shogunate's new army took the initiative to fight.

The two armies met twenty miles outside Edo Castle. Before that, a fierce skirmish broke out between the large number of scouts sent out by both sides.

The shogunate scouts, armed with rifled flintlock rifles, gained an absolute advantage in this series of battles and basically achieved intelligence suppression.

As the leader of the anti-shogunate alliance, the Mori family was in the lead and originally competed with the Shimazu family of Satsuma. However, after the new year, the Satsuma family sent a letter to explain that they were attacked by the navy of the Zhou Empire and could not send troops.

The fact that the Shimazu clan sent troops to Ryukyu was no secret among the daimyo. As a vassal state of the Great Zhou Empire, Ryukyu received protection from the Great Zhou, which was not new. In the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty in history, the Ming Dynasty was in such a state, but it still beat Toyotomi Hideyoshi severely in Korea.

The Japanese daimyo of this period, with the help of merchants and monks, had the courage to rebel against the shogunate, but they really did not have the courage to fight against the Zhou Empire.

The Mori family, as the main force, sent out 15,000 troops this time. The merchants not only provided money, but also sponsored a batch of military equipment (Vulcan guns), while the monks mainly supported food.

Why were merchants and monks the ones who funded and encouraged this? The reason was simple. Japanese merchants and monks were powerful forces, and their interests suffered a huge impact from the cheap dumping of the Zhou Empire. If the price of cotton cloth was lower, it would still be bearable. However, after the price of food in Japanese cities was driven down by Nanyang rice, merchants and monks could no longer tolerate it.

As the Iwami Silver Mine was almost mined, Japan's trade with Zhou was no longer sustainable. It can only be said that Japan was really poor. There were mines to be mined before, but now the mines have been almost mined.

In terms of foreign trade, we used to be exploited by the European and American devils, but now we are exploited by the Great Zhou. The European and American devils are thousands of miles away, so even if we suffer a little loss in trade, it is limited. The Great Zhou is close at hand, and the sea merchants come so frequently. Who can resist this? In today's words, the increasing trade deficit in the past ten years has made it unbearable for all classes in Japan.

At the beginning, they encouraged the shogunate to take the lead in opposing Zhou, but of course the shogunate refused. Others might not know how powerful the Chinese Empire was, but how could the Tokugawa family not know?

The current shogunate is a bit like the head of a comprador group because it is cowardly and allows the goods of the Great Zhou Empire to enter. The core interests of the shogunate have not suffered any loss. Not only that, but they have made a lot more money, which makes the daimyo and the people below suffer.

In the early days of the anti-shogunate alliance, it would be impossible to say that Shogun Tokugawa was not panicking, but the Zhou Empire reacted quickly, and aid arrived before the shogunate could make a decision.

In this war, the teaching team not only helped train the army, but also served as a staff.

At night, the lights in the central military tents of both sides were brightly lit. On the anti-shogunate alliance side, Mori called a meeting of all twelve daimyos, assigned tasks for tomorrow's battle, and then conducted some agitation.

"Gentlemen, your lives and property depend on this battle."

Inside the shogunate's tent, General Tokugawa, wearing a new military uniform, listened to the training team's officers talk about some plans for tomorrow's battle.

"General, rest assured. As long as we perform normally tomorrow, the enemy will be defeated."

The next morning, the two armies went out and formed their own ranks.

The tactics adopted by the teaching team were actually very simple and crude, namely the central breakthrough tactics.

It's not that there are no other tactics, but that other tactics are not suitable. Does the shogunate have cavalry? Yes, but only a thousand cavalry, all of them are short Japanese horses. What can this thing do?
So just stay on the flank and wait for the breakthrough in the center, then be responsible for the pursuit. At other times, you can just ignore the cavalry.

Forget about all the flanking maneuvers and V-formation tactics. The Japanese didn't understand these tactics even during the Anti-Japanese War, not to mention now.

Don't believe it? Let me ask you, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, when did Japan manage to surround the main force of the Nationalist army and annihilate it?
In contrast, our army performed well in the Korean War. Facing the mechanized American army, we were able to annihilate tens of thousands of troops in two battles. This is the difference.

General Tokugawa, dressed in military uniform, accompanied by the officers of the training corps, gave his subordinates the final pre-war mobilization.

"Gentlemen, the rise and fall of the shogunate depends on this battle. This time the thirteen daimyo are rebelling against the shogunate. If you win, the shogunate will not take an inch of land, but will give it all to you gentlemen. If you lose, this general will commit suicide to thank the world!"

All the generals dismounted, prostrated themselves on the ground, and said in unison: "How dare you not fight to the death!"

The shogunate army, with high morale, responded to the enemy in multiple square formations under the command of various generals. The shogunate artillery, under the command of the training team, pulled the convenient horse-riding field artillery forward and quickly stopped and reloaded 500 meters in front of the formation.

The twenty guns were not used separately, but were concentrated and sent into battle in the name of a field artillery battalion.

After a flurry of activity, they completed the quick reload in a relatively orderly manner. They fired fiercely at the enemy troops approaching 200 meters away, loaded the guns and ran away, never looking back to see the explosion.

In fact, there was no explosion, as they were all fired with solid bullets.

Relying on its high mobility, the artillery battalion completed three rounds of shooting before the vanguards of the two armies approached within 500 meters, causing great psychological pressure on the center formation of the anti-shogunate alliance.

The damage is actually not high, after all, they are all solid bullets. This thing is mainly a psychological effect. Those who are hit cannot fight back. The morale of the Maori army, the main force in the central army, has dropped greatly.

Only by the generals' constant encouragement of their subordinates could the army avoid collapse.

Taking advantage of the enemy's unstable position, the shogunate army launched an assault from the center and took the initiative to press forward.

From a distance of 100 meters from the enemy, they fired continuous volleys of gunfire.

The vanguard of the Maori army launched an attack, but was hit by intensive volley fire. Several military formations were defeated. The Maori army, who were risking their lives, did not dare to retreat, and the follow-up troops took over.

At the same time, a large-scale fierce battle broke out between the two armies.

After a fierce battle that lasted for a whole morning, the anti-shogunate alliance was on the attack while the shogunate army was on the defense.

Both sides have reasons to win, so their will to fight is particularly strong.

However, the outcome of the battle was not determined by the will of an individual. By noon, the fierce battle had lasted until the anti-shogunate army, which had suffered heavy losses, could no longer resist. The first to be breached was the Mori army of the Choshu clan in the center.

After dozens of rounds of fierce bombardment by the flexible and mobile artillery team, and after several active attacks were repelled by volleys of gunfire, the Maori army, which had lost more than half of its troops, finally collapsed.

No matter how Maori tried to restrain them, the central army dropped their weapons and turned around in defeat.

The central army was defeated, and the armies of the various feudal domains on both wings retreated voluntarily. The shogunate army took advantage of the situation to counterattack. After half a year of struggle, the anti-shogunate alliance was defeated in just one morning.

The shogunate cavalry, who had never had a chance, finally had a chance to show their skills. They were responsible for the pursuit. The general repeatedly asked them to capture more prisoners, as dead people were worthless.

In this battle, the shogunate army, with 20,000 troops against 50,000, fully utilized the power of artillery + rifles + grenades at various distances and achieved an unprecedented victory.

Annihilate them? That didn't happen. In total, only about 5,000 anti-shogunate troops were killed or wounded, and more than 5,000 were captured. The rest escaped.

It doesn't matter if they run away. The enemy is now frightened and the shogunate army can take them down one by one.

After winning the battle on the front line, Shogun Tokugawa immediately turned back to Edo and launched a fierce revenge.

Who were the targets of the revenge? Of course, the big businessmen and the monks. Did they really think Tokugawa was a fool? I wonder who organized the anti-shogunate alliance this time?
Representatives of merchants and monks in Edo Castle were "invited" to the shogunate by the shogun's guards.

The victorious Tokugawa Shogun informed this group of people in a proud and arrogant manner.

"Today our army has won a great victory. The anti-shogunate alliance will soon vanish into thin air, and the leader of the rebels will not have a good end. Do you have any advice for me?"

The representatives were silent, bowed their heads, and forced themselves to endure. There was no other way. What they couldn't get on the battlefield, they couldn't get at the negotiation table.

Not to mention, this is not a negotiation, it's a notification.

"Since you all have nothing to say, I have something to say. Today, my army of tens of thousands is gathering to fight. The daily expenditure is huge. So far, I have spent more than 200,000 gold coins (a kind of Japanese gold coin). I have always respected you, and you should also repay me. How about this, 500,000 gold coins, and pretend nothing happened?"

The representatives said that they could not make the decision. Tokugawa was not in a hurry and asked them to go back and pass on the message, giving them a month to pay 500,000 gold, otherwise they would not blame the Shogunate for being ruthless.

How can I describe the upper class of Japan during the shogunate era? The composition of the upper class was very unique, consisting of three parts: samurai, merchants, and monks.

What are the characteristics of the last two parts? They are rich!

As for why the Tokugawa shogunate did not directly eliminate them, the reason is very simple. The purpose of eliminating them was for money. Now it is more convenient to let them hand it over with both hands than to send troops to rob them, right?

Besides, it was only 20,000 new shogunate troops, no matter how good they were at fighting. These two groups, in cooperation with other daimyo, united to resist the shogunate, which was a huge force in itself, enough to reverse the political situation in Japan. Before the decisive battle, Shogun Tokugawa had already suffered from insomnia and a bit of neurasthenia.

The victorious side seized a large amount of weapons and food. The shogunate army began to sweep through the houses one by one, but that is not the story for another time.

For the daimyo, they could be swept one by one, but for merchants and monks, this could not be done.

The reason is very simple, these two types of people are national forces, unlike the daimyo, who can only influence their own territory.

The training team ignored General Tokugawa's choice, as they were there to help win the war anyway.

After the fight, we packed up and prepared to say goodbye and return home.

Shogun Tokugawa repeatedly asked them to stay in Edo for a few more days, as the Shogun's mansion had a batch of gifts that he wanted them to take back to Da Zhou.

Through the rapid transmission of the message by the clipper, Jia Lian received a notification document from the teaching team ten days later. He took a look at it and threw it aside.

To Jia Lian, the anti-shogunate alliance was a joke. The greatest significance of defeating them was to further gain access to Japan's market and population.

Apart from that, there is no other meaning. On the other hand, the navy's actions this time were a bit slow, and there has been no news that the Satsuma Domain has been dealt with.

As I said, don't be in a hurry, just kill the other side bit by bit. It's just a Satsuma domain, Jia Lian has instructed the navy to cut the grass to the root.

(End of this chapter)