The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 675: Surprise Attack on Hakata Port

The midnight tide left a long, dirty strip of slime and black oil on the beach.

Even in the cabin you could smell the stench.

Siren's corpse oil?
Could it be that Emperor Cao Mengde and Wei Zheng were possessed, and could they kill people in dreams? No, it was to slay demons.

I wonder how many more sirens there are?

The divine wind that Tokugawa Iemitsu had been dreaming of had died down.

The sea was as calm as a woman about to enter her bridal chamber.

The fleet set off towards Hakata Port under the cover of night!
The emperor gazed at the dark sea.

Layers of dead fish and rotting jellyfish rose to the surface and washed gently onto the beach.

"Amaterasu, Gon-sho, you are both descendants of evil gods. No wonder you have committed so many evil deeds. If I don't kill you all this time, I will be sorry for the lives that have died over the past tens of thousands of years."

The fact is very clear, the people of Japan are all descendants of evil gods.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be so perverted and cruel.

More than ten years ago, the huge explosion that changed the direction of the empire was most likely caused by the Japanese siren.

The retired emperor clenched his fists, and a murderous look that had never appeared before appeared on his face.

~~~~~
The wooden boards creaked and there was thunderous snoring in the second-floor gun turret. As the night deepened, rats began to run out from under the deck and gnaw on the wood.

The whale oil lamp was about to burn out, and the oil was crackling.

A tabby cat quickly ran across the crowded sailors' bunk beds, casting a huge shadow on the sailors who were crammed like a can.

Song Dingbo woke up with a startled look in his eyes. He turned over and found people on both sides, unable to move. The air around him was filled with a disgusting stench.

The sailing ships could only carry very limited supplies, and all the space was given to ammunition, fresh vegetables, meat and fresh water.

Sailors were not allowed to carry any extra clothing.

Taking a shower after going out to sea is also a fantasy unless it rains heavily.

So, sailors have always been smelly.

As long as there is that smell, it means the battleship has been out for a long time.

Song Dingbo finally reached the edge of the dormitory. He was wearing a short jacket with a lapel, a linen shirt, double-thread socks on his feet, and his leather boots.

The battle could start at any time, and getting dressed would only waste precious time.

The weather in Kyushu is freezing cold at the end of September, and wearing too thin clothes will cause you to catch cold.

As a musketeer, Song Dingbo did not envy these gunners who slept soundly.

After the battle began, the musketeers could climb onto the deck and get some fresh air under the hail of bullets.

And these poor gunners can only stay in the low and cramped space of the gun deck.

For half a month or even longer, they had to stay together like this, resting in the water. Not to mention personal space, it was difficult even to turn over.

There is no way around it. This was how naval warfare was in the 17th century. No matter whether you were from the East or the West, rich or poor, survival was difficult in troubled times.

The Jingyuan, where Song Dingbo is located, is over 2,000 tons, 100 meters long, and has a total crew of 1,000 people. It currently carries more than 860 people.

The port side is a three-deck structure.

When the gunners fire together, it must be a magnificent scene.

Various shells filled the layers, including solid bullets to destroy the hull, and shot and grapeshot to kill personnel.

The Jingyuan has a huge iron anchor and anchor cable.

Two large iron anchors weighing about 260 kilograms were used to hoist the anchors and set sail. The double-disc windlass in the middle of the ship lifted the heavy anchors and hung them on the anchor rods. The capstan drum had many long locust wood poles as the spokes of the capstan. Even so, it took people to pull the capstans simultaneously.

When it was time to weigh the anchor, a drummer stood on the deck and played the bugle call to coordinate everyone to work together.

The Jingyuan is one of the main flagships of the Sixth Fleet. The captain's surname is Ding, an officer from Shandong Province. It is said that he was originally a boat tracker.

Among the 866 people on board, there were 14 officers, including the captain, quartermaster, chief surgeon, and 9 battalion officers;

There are 380 sailors, 129 Marines, 129 auxiliaries, 3 armorers, 5 battlefield doctors, 11 handymen and 9 firemen.

Since there was no steam power, a large number of sail and gun crews were required.

Ding Wuchang's staff are as follows:
2 boatswains with 25 subordinates, 2 helmsmen with 13 subordinates, 1 gunner with 55 subordinates, 2 forge masters with 13 subordinates, 1 carpenter with 7 subordinates, 1 caulking master with 7 subordinates, 1 sail repairer with 2 subordinates, 1 pacification soldier, and 60 ammunition and food porters (mainly Koreans).

After repeated analysis, the Imperial Navy finally decided to classify sailing warships into the following grades based on the number of guns they were equipped with:
First-class ship: 3 gun decks, more than 100 guns, a crew of more than 875 people, a displacement of 2500~35 tons, high cost, and the few ships are currently parked in southern Liaoning.

Second-tier ships: 3 gun decks, 90-98 guns, crew of around 750, displacement of 2000-2500 tons. Mostly used as fleet flagships, such as the Jingyuan we are on.

三级舰: 2~3层炮甲板，火炮64~8O门，定员490~720人，排水量13O0~2O00吨。这是海军中数量最多的舰只，这次共来八百余艘。

This type of warship was the largest number dispatched by the Sixth Fleet during the Eastern Expedition to Japan.

经远号共装有100门火炮，其中下层火炮甲板安装有39门45斤炮，中层火炮甲板安装28门25斤炮，上层火炮甲板安装30门15斤炮。除此之外，顶层船尾炮台安装10门6磅炮，船首安装2门6磅炮。

The Jingyuan carried a total of 122 tons of projectiles and 35 tons of gunpowder. In addition, the ship also carried a large number of flintlock rifles and hundreds of marines.

This does not include the piles of Divine Fire Crows and two hot air balloons in the bottom of the cabin.

It is said that there is an airship on the flagship that is specially used for dropping bombs, which is more maneuverable than a hot air balloon.

With such armaments and military morale, not to mention dealing with Japan, even if they went to Europe, they could force several European kings and queens to abdicate early.

All the shrines on Tsushima Island, such as the Hotatumi Shrine and the Komodahama Shrine (which enshrines the Tsushima Japanese pirates who died in the "Clash of the Genkou"), were burned down by the Eighth Corps.

In the castle of the feudal lord So, Kinishi Castle, blood flowed like a river. When the Second Corps arrived, there were few living Japanese people in the city.

~~~~
The Japanese pirates said that the emperor was the descendant of God and represented God in ruling the world, and that the Yamato people were a nation that worshipped the emperor.

The training officers of each camp revealed the cruel truth to the soldiers: the Japanese pirates were not serving gods at all, but sea monsters, sea monsters that devoured living beings.

On the night of September 18th, tens of thousands of soldiers witnessed the true face of the sea monster and saw it being killed by the retired emperor. Therefore, their eastern expedition this time, in addition to avenging the dead soldiers and civilians of Qi, now has the additional meaning of slaying demons and eliminating evil.

The truth is within gun range.

This time, the Jingyuan, along with 300 third-level ships, attacked the Port of Hakata in northern Kyushu, which was a surprise attack to be more precise.

In the south of Kyushu, the 4th Corps and several brother corps have begun to attack the Satsuma Domain, but their attack is just a feint.

In this eastern expedition, the real focus of the Qi army was Hakata Port in the northern part of Kyushu Island. As long as they quickly occupied northern Kyushu and moved eastward, Edo and Osaka would not be able to hold out for long.

If we land in Edo directly, we will be attacked by Japanese pirates from both sides, which will not be worth the loss.

Hakata Bay is a bay on the Tsushima Strait. It is a C-shaped harbor composed of peninsulas and islands. It controls the throat of the Sea of Japan entering and exiting the Pacific Ocean, and is also a place of strategic importance.

Historically, the two naval battles between the Yuan Dynasty and Japan took place around Hakata Bay. The brave and warlike Mongolian soldiers were invincible on land, but because of the harm of sea monsters, they were eventually defeated in the storm. Kublai Khan's two eastern expeditions ended in failure, and the third eastern expedition was postponed indefinitely.

Later, in the Russo-Japanese War and the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Hakata Port served as a strategic supply base for the Japanese Navy.

Based on the experience of the previous fight against the Yuan army, the Tokugawa shogunate had ordered the construction of a large number of defensive fortifications along the coast of Hakata Bay, and there were as many as 50,000 to 60,000 Japanese troops gathered behind the port.

On September 20th of the fourth year of Guangde, the water of Hakata Bay was bright and the islands were vaguely visible.

This port, which has witnessed countless pieces of history, will once again witness blood and fire tonight.

Under the cover of night, a huge hot air balloon slowly rose from the deck of the ship and drifted towards the sky above the port of Hakata Bay like a ghost. After rising into the clouds, it began to drop incendiary bombs at the densely packed military camps in the port.

(End of this chapter)