The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 341: Surprise Attack, Edo Bay! (Please subscribe, please vote)
February 3, 1854.

Edo Castle, Kuro Shoin.

A room full of shogun's elders, retainers and "Yuma lords" in Edo sat in silence, staring blankly at a copy of the draft treaty placed in front of each of them. The brain-dead shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Iesada, was supported by two young men and sat in front of a Chinese landscape painting (Tang landscape), drowsy.

It is said that this general was fed poison when he was a child because of the struggle in the O-oku, which hurt his brain and made him confused and sometimes even crazy. However, Tokugawa Ieharu had only one son, so he had to succeed him after he passed away. In order to prevent the general from making a fool of himself in public, the general's side servants and concubines often fed him some medicine to make him fall asleep before he needed to meet with important officials of the shogunate or make a decision. Anyway, according to the rules of the Tokugawa shogunate, the general can rule the world even when he is asleep!

The servants would read the decision made by the elders in front of the sleeping general, and as long as the general did not object, it would be considered approved.
The lighting in the Kuro Shoin located in the Honmaru of Edo Castle was very poor, so they had to light a dozen oil lamps for illumination. The dim light flickered on the copy of the draft treaty, making every important official of the shogunate who was looking at the copy in front of them feel even more uneasy.

The content of this copy was obviously something that the Tokugawa shogunate could never accept - at least not before being beaten!

After all, the shogunate is a samurai regime that advocates the spirit of Bushido!

How could they surrender without fighting? The Qing Dynasty next door also rose up in resistance when facing oppression from the British. Although the battle was a mess and they signed an unequal treaty that ceded territory and paid compensation, and lost their rights and humiliated the country, they also resisted. There was nothing they could do if they couldn't win!

Now the matter falls to the Shogun of the Tokugawa family. If he doesn't even fight and directly signs an unequal treaty, wouldn't he be a Shogun who does not resist?
How can I explain this to all the samurai in Japan?
It turns out that Tokugawa Iesada, the pillar of the samurai regime, was actually a general who surrendered without a fight and did not resist. Is such a pillar of the samurai regime, who does not have any bushido spirit, worthy of the loyalty of the Japanese samurai?

But if the Tokugawa shogunate rejected the unequal treaty of the great powers and chose to resist, would the dozens of light artillery on the Shinagawa Fort be able to defeat the dozen or so powerful steam warships on the waters of Edo Bay?

If we cannot defeat them, the unequal treaties imposed by the great powers will become even more unequal!
We will definitely have to cede land and pay compensation by then!
The brain-dead military leader was getting more and more sleepy and was about to fall asleep, while the air pressure in the Black Academy was getting lower and lower. The elder of the Tokugawa Gosanke, the former lord of Mito Domain, the current shogun's coastal defense official, and the leader of the shogunate's anti-foreign faction, Tokugawa Nariaki, sat there, getting angrier and angrier. He took another look at the demented shogun Iesada and suddenly couldn't bear it anymore. He slammed the tatami and said, "The Tokugawa family will never tolerate the humiliation of surrendering without a fight! The shogunate should have fired cannons to drive away the black ships of the foreigners last year!"

He took a few steps forward in a weird walking posture with his knees curled up, and then saluted stiffly to the sleeping general: "Sir! Please immediately give the order to the Shinagawa Battery to open fire! The samurai on the battery have already made up their minds to die with honor! In addition, please order the samurai to be summoned from the mansions of the various feudal domains in Edo Castle!
The entire Mito clan begs the Lord of the Imperial Court with tears in our eyes to allow us to sacrifice our lives for our country!"

The Black Academy was filled with solemnity, and then most of the old eunuchs, side servants, and princes all saluted respectfully to the sleeping general, and shouted: "We beg you to order the battle, Lord Gongfang. We are willing to sacrifice our lives for our country!"

Abe Masahiro, the chief shogun, who was only in his thirties, a little fat, with a big and sharp nose, looked particularly treacherous. He sat in the seat closest to the general, motionless. The breathing of a group of noble lords of the city became heavier and heavier. Finally, Tokugawa Nariaki raised his head again and said to the general who finally fell asleep, "My lord!"

Abe Masahiro slowly turned his head, his cunning face full of helplessness. He looked at the Satsuma lord Shimazu Nariakira, who was shrinking to the side and also silent. "Lord Satsuma, do you think you can fight?"

Shimazu Nariakira's face was ashen, his chest heaving violently: "Marquis Fukuyama! The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's special envoy is now in the Satsuma Domain. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom never bowed to the powers, so how can we Japanese warriors be worse than them? Even if we lose today, as long as we follow the example of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Shanghai Military Governor's Office of the Qing Dynasty, we will be determined to innovate and make progress bravely, and there will definitely be a time for revenge in the future. If we surrender without a fight, not only will we be despised by the powers, but we will also chill the hearts of loyal people all over the world!"

Although Abe Masahiro was a peace advocate, he knew that he could not accept the treaty brought back by Lin Fuzhai.

These foreigners are so evil that they don't give the Tokugawa shogunate any chance to compromise without a fight!
The purpose of compromise is to prolong your life, not to be hacked to death as soon as you leave Sakurada Gate!
But if we start a war now, will there be even a slight chance of winning?
Thinking of this, he looked at the Coast Guard General Tokugawa Nariaki and asked, "Can Mito Chunagon win?"

"Yes!" Tokugawa Nariaki said firmly.

"How to win?"

"Surprise attack!" Tokugawa Nariaki had already come up with an idea, saying, "We can only launch a surprise attack when the enemy is unprepared!"

Abe Masahiro sighed, then glanced at the Tokugawa Shogun who had fallen asleep, nodded and said, "Okay! The Lord has agreed to go to war!"

His tone was as hard as iron, and his face was ashen: "Gentlemen, since we are going to start a war, then this war must show the power of the Tokugawa Shogunate and Japan, and we must let the great powers see the loyalty and bravery of our Japanese warriors.

Only in this way can we survive and fight for a way out for the shogunate, for Japan, and for ourselves! "

He bowed to Tokugawa Nariaki again and said, "Mito Chunagon, please serve as the deputy commander of the shogunate!"

Tokugawa Nariaki looked tragic and nodded heavily: "Hi!"

Edo Bay, sea area near Shinagawa Port.

In the early morning, the sky was slightly brighter.

More than twenty warships and transport ships were sailing slowly at a low speed of two to three knots, forming a double column in the darkness, cutting through the waves.

Most of the officers and soldiers were very relaxed and immersed in dreams at this time. Only Luo Xueyan, who was very familiar with the style of that island country, felt extremely uneasy at dusk and early morning every day.

With the strength of the shogunate navy, there is no chance of causing damage to the four-nation combined fleet except for sneak attacks. And given the nature of the Japanese devils, it is impossible for them to surrender without a fight. The conditions proposed by Luo Xueyan to Britain, the United States, France and the Qing Dynasty were too harsh.

Even if the Qing Dynasty had not fought the Opium War, it would not have accepted such conditions, let alone the Tokugawa Shogunate?

So, war is bound to break out!
And Japan will definitely launch a surprise attack!

The time for the sneak attack was either in the evening or in the early morning. Because they couldn't attack during the day, and it was too dark to see the target, so the best time was in the morning or evening when it was twilight. Compared with the evening, the possibility of the early morning was undoubtedly greater.

However, Luo Xueyan did not tell this judgment to the commander of the Combined Fleet, Major General Matthew Perry.

What he was expecting was a sneak attack, one that would anger Matthew Perry.

Only in this way can this American Navy rear admiral order severe retaliation.

Just sitting there on a cruiser that could be attacked by surprise, waiting for an enemy bombardment, was certainly not conducive to sleep.

So these two days, Luo Xueyan had trouble falling asleep in the second half of the night.

At this time, he would dress and run to the best-protected command room on the cruiser to chat with the American officers on duty, or simply stand at the window and gaze at the coast of Edo Bay and the nearby Edo Castle Town, which were hazy in the night.

Edo is really big, but it's still a little dark, and I can't see anything clearly...

Luo Xueyan had just thought of this when he suddenly saw a flash of light in the darkness.

This is the muzzle flash!
Has it started yet?
Luo Xueyan, who had been on the battlefield before and had seen many artillery bombardments, immediately understood what was happening.
This is exactly what he was looking forward to!
"Bombard! Captain Henry..." He turned around and yelled at Captain Henry who was on duty in the command room today.

"Rumble..."

However, as soon as he shouted, the roar of dozens of Japanese cannons was heard at the same time.

The American Navy captain who had been yawning just now suddenly started to shudder and then shouted: "Enemy attack, sound the alarm..."

"Woooo..."

Then the whistle sounded loudly on the American cruiser.

"Boom boom boom..."

Another round of shelling!
At the same time, countless burning small boats suddenly appeared on the sea.

Balls of fire flickered on the sea!
"Oh my god! It's a fire ship..." Captain Henry exclaimed, "What era is it now? There are still people playing with it like this!"

"Boom boom boom..."

The Japanese artillery bombardment continued, and another round of salvos, dozens of solid bullets crossed the surface of Edo Bay and landed on the sea near the cruiser Powhatan.

"Damn it!" Captain Henry cursed, then he went over and grabbed the rudder and started to steer the boat himself.

But steamboats accelerate very slowly these days...the water has to be boiled slowly!
Therefore, the speed of the Powhatan could not be increased immediately, and it was relatively large, with four masts for hanging sails. Even in the cover of night, it was still a very conspicuous target, attracting all the firepower of the nearby Shinagawa Battery.

When the Japanese bombardment reached the eighth round, Luo Xueyan suddenly felt the floor beneath his feet shaking. Although he had been prepared, he still lost his balance and almost fell to the ground, but was supported by a strong hand.

A voice full of anger and a little rough, speaking English with an American accent, said to Luo Xueyan: "Xueyan, are you okay?"

"Nothing." Luo Xueyan knew without even looking that it was Matthew Perry. "Matthew, we were ambushed!"

"And he got hit!"

Matthew Perry did not sound panicked at all, just quite angry.

Luo Xueyan said: "General, we must fight back! Fight back hard... I suggest using incendiary bombs to bombard the wooden houses near Edo Bay!"

Matthew Perry grinned and said, "That's a good idea, I like it!
But before that, I'm going to use explosive bombs to destroy the Shinagawa Battery!
Send an order, order all ships to concentrate their firepower and destroy the Shinagawa Battery!"

"Yes, General!"

(End of this chapter)