The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 681: The End of the Shimazu Family

With a loud bang, thick smoke filled the side of the Hiryu battleship docked in the waters near Sakurajima.

A twenty-jin iron ball flew over the heads of the landing musketeers, over the black tide of Qi army flags, and hit the Terukuni Shrine three miles away.

The tablet of Shimazu's ancestors was smashed to pieces.

The shrine collapsed.

A group of Shimazu warriors crawled out of the ruins howling, their faces and bodies covered with dust and dirt.

Before they could catch their breath, thousands of rockets soared into the sky from the sea on the east side and slammed into the Shimazu army positions. Two of them landed squarely in the shrine. With the violent explosion, the souls of the ancestors of the Shimazu family returned to heaven.

Outside the shrine that had been bombed into ruins, the Satsuma clan's Maru Cross-patterned Horse Seal flag was still flying brightly.

The Shimazu family crest is a round cross. It is said that in the Warring States Period there was no outer circle, only an inner cross.

By the Edo period, most samurai families added a circle outside their family crests, and the Shimazu family was no exception.

Fifteen thousand Shimazu troops assembled and lined up to fight against the Tatar army coming from Sakurajima (Note 1).

Among them, 5,000 foot soldiers with flags and muskets on their backs stood in the front row of the square formation.

By the late Warring States period, whether it was the powerful princes such as the Takeda family, or the hegemonic families such as the Oda family and the Toyotomi family, they all implemented the policy of "separation of farmers and soldiers". Ashigaru became a synonym for lower-level samurai, and they were no longer just there to watch the show on the battlefield.

As the Tokugawa Empire successfully moved from "arbitrary rule" to "virtuous governance", the Ashigaru were transformed from "being ready to fight at all times and serving as the fortress of the dukes and nobles" to guarding the palace and city gates and being the Ashigaru of books - that is, grassroots public officials.

Because Tokugawa Iemitsu launched the Western Expedition, the various feudal domains were short of troops, and some foot soldiers who were originally classified as "clerks" were re-recruited into the army.

The ambitious Satsuma Domain was different from most domains.

The Shimazu family never stopped training their foot soldiers.

After the Tokugawa shogunate took over the country, most parts of Japan entered a so-called era of peace and prosperity.

In the Satsuma Domain, which was full of martial virtues, from the first Shogun to the third Shogun, for thirty or forty years, the Shimazu family either fought against Ryukyu or the Ming army, and even participated in the war to pacify Christians (Shimabara Rebellion).

Now, they are going to fight against Tatarstan again.

Therefore, unlike other feudal clans that had ceased operations, the Shimazu clan continued to sharpen their swords, and their foot soldiers were almost trained into elite troops.

~~~~~
Shimazu Hisayoshi sat under the flag of Mainjima, looking as calm as a mountain, and looked confidently at the neatly arrayed Ashigaru troops in front of him.

Three miles away on the Kagoshima beach, more than 5,000 vanguard troops of the Qi army, under the cover of naval guns and divine fire crows, were rushing towards the shrine position.

The fortifications built on the coastal mudflats had long been destroyed by engineers, and the red cannons that the Shimazu lord had high hopes for had all been silenced before the landing.

Shimazu Hisayoshi looked through the telescope at the smoking gun mount in the distance and the dead and wounded Shimazu gunners lying all over the ground, and his fingers couldn't help but tremble.

The Satsuma artillery and the Tatar naval guns only lasted half an hour before hundreds of red cannons were completely destroyed by the enemy.

Those dead gunners had been trained by the British at great expense, but they didn't expect that they would all be killed here just as the war started.

After fifteen years, the fighting power of Tatar Qi has far exceeded Shimazu Hisayoshi's imagination.

"When the old lord fought against the Ming army, both sides were able to fight back and forth."

Shimazu Hisayoshi muttered to himself. He had participated in the Battle of Tsushima and the Kyushu Pursuit Campaign for more than ten years, and was shocked by the combat effectiveness now displayed by the Qi army.

Warriors in brightly colored armor rode on horseback on both wings, maintaining the ashigaru square formation.

There was a constant stream of scolding and cursing, and the warriors were waving their swords as if they were driving cattle.

More than 2,000 well-trained foot soldiers, wearing black hats, domaru armor, carrying muskets on their shoulders, short swords on their waists, and straw sandals on their feet - carrying large and small bags on their backs - were said to be prepared to carry spoils of war.

It can be seen that the Satsuma clan was still full of confidence in defeating the Tatarstan.

The Qi army's ships gathered in the waters east of Kagoshima, and the soldiers landed on the coast in small boats. After landing, they deployed in groups of sixty people in flag teams, taking turns to cover the advance.

The vanguard troops were all musketeers. Apart from the auxiliary soldiers who were specifically responsible for cutting off heads, there were almost no cold weapons in the team.

After the three thousand or so naval guns had completed their destruction of the enemy's artillery, they raised their muzzles slightly and unleashed a dense barrage of bullets thirty to fifty paces in front of the musketeer line.

Dozens of Japanese warriors who were spying on and harassing the landing troops in front of the musketeers were instantly covered by dense artillery fire. The short war horses died together without even saying goodbye to their short masters.

The rumbling sound of horse hooves echoed along the coast, and dense clouds of Satsuma cavalry came from the west.

"idiot!"

Shimazu Hisayoshi hurriedly waved the Maru cross-patterned flag and ordered all the Satsuma cavalry charging from both wings to withdraw.

He decided to temporarily switch to traditional Japanese cavalry tactics, first letting the foot soldiers fight with the enemy, and then use cavalry assaults to expand the results of the battle after a gap was opened.

Shimazu Hisamoto rode his horse to Jiuqing, waving his whip and shouting:
"Don't you see? The Tartars are all armed with muskets, and there are no long spears guarding the flanks. The boats are exhausted and will surely be unable to resist. I ordered the warriors to attack from both sides and break them in one blow! Why are you trying to stop us?"

Shimazu Hisamoto was the uncle of the lord of Satsuma Domain and a veteran of many battles. He saw the flaws in the Qi army's phalanx at a glance and led his cavalry to charge despite the commander's obstruction.

Shimazu Hisayoshi put down the telescope and said thoughtfully:

"Their muskets seem different from before. I heard from Koxinga that the Tartars' muskets can fire at a distance of three hundred steps..."

"Let the ashigaru test it first."

As they were speaking, the Qi army phalanx suddenly stopped, and some soldiers walked out of the team and began to set up anti-horse fences around the phalanx. Some light artillery were also pushed out from the phalanx.

Shimazu Hisamoto's face turned pale with anger. He pointed at the defensive position that had been formed five hundred steps away and said angrily:

"The opportunity is fleeting, see? We've missed the best time to attack!"

Shimazu Hisayoshi remained silent. Just as he was about to wave his flag to order the foot soldiers to attack, he saw that the cavalry had already launched. Shimazu Hisamoto turned around and shouted, "Even though we missed the best opportunity to attack, we can still win by attacking now!"

They divided themselves into teams of thirty to fifty men and began to attack the horse fence at an accelerated speed.

Shimazu Hisamoto was five feet tall, wearing a golden ume sandalwood and dovetail plate armor, a sunshade on his head, and the famous Oshu horse under his crotch seemed particularly excited.

He took the lead, loosened the reins, waved his flute, and whipped the horse's belly hard.

"Onboard!"

Behind him, eight hundred Japanese cavalrymen charged forward towards the Qi army's musket formation.

During the Warring States Period, due to various reasons, cavalry only accounted for about 10% of the troops, and their number was scarce.

However, there are exceptions to everything, and the wealthy Satsuma Domain is one of them.

The Shimazu family could not only afford a cavalry of 800 horses, but also equipped them with precious horse armor (which was indeed precious for Japan).

Most importantly, the Satsuma cavalry also had lances.

The fact that all 800 cavalrymen were brought together shows that the Satsuma clan was really determined to fight to the death with the Qi army.

However, under the overwhelming power, personal determination and will play a very small role on the battlefield.
A brilliant orange-red artillery fire like the morning glow instantly engulfed the Satsuma cavalry.

A divine fire crow with a long tail of flame descended to the earth, and the raging fire roasted the descendants of the evil god like the Last Judgment.

At the same time, lead bullets as dense as the Milky Way covered the front of the cavalry line. More than 5,000 Minié rifles fired simultaneously in four directions, forming an impenetrable and extremely lethal death net.

Any living creature that comes within 300 meters will be caught in this huge net and torn into pieces.

"Onboard!"

Shimazu Hisamoto was hit by several bullets. The Minié bullets deformed and expanded in his body, crushing his internal organs into pieces. Large mouthfuls of blood spurted out, and the warhorse under his crotch lost its front hooves and fell limply to the ground.

Behind him, countless horses galloped past, trampling over the long-dead Shimazu Hisamoto.

It's a pity that the famous Satsuma general was reduced to dust, but his fragrance remains the same.

After two rounds of bombing by the Divine Fire Flying Crows, thick white fog filled the Kagoshima beach, and the intensive sound of rifle fire swept across the land like a tide, carrying away those Japanese pirates who refused to leave.

At this time, the warships anchored in the nearby waters also joined in the massacre of the Japanese pirates.

The naval guns began to accurately bombard the Japanese cavalry who tried to approach the phalanx.

Although from a military perspective, after the baptism of the Divine Fire Flying Crow and the intensive fire of the Minié rifles, such a bombing did not have much military significance when the enemy had suffered heavy casualties, the shells still turned the few fish that escaped the net into meat paste, which was better than nothing.

After an unknown amount of time, the thick smoke from the various firearms finally dissipated.

All that was left on the battlefield were heart-wrenching howls.

The engineers rushed out of the phalanx again and began to dismantle the cavalry positions that had just been set up.

As the drums sounded, the musketeers marched forward.

Five thousand bayonets thrust out at an angle, advancing westward as fast as razors.

Most of the cavalrymen on the ground who were lucky enough to survive were injured and had nowhere to escape.

The musketeers raised their bayonets and killed the wounded Japanese pirate cavalry one by one.

The sharp bayonet easily pierced the Japanese pirates' armor, and the blade broke the bones of the evil god's servants, making an unsettling clicking sound when the Japanese pirates were dying.

In less than half an hour, all 800 elite cavalrymen of Satsuma were killed or wounded, and only less than 50 of them escaped back to the main camp.

The sound of strong drums and gongs came from the direction of the Qi army's main formation. The captains of each flag immediately blew their bamboo whistles, commanding the soldiers to form a skirmish line and accelerate their advance towards the foot soldiers' formation.

At the same time, each corps dispatched its own cavalry to strengthen the protection of the weak points on both wings of the musketeers.

The tall and strong black cavalry suddenly appeared on the battlefield, like a god descending from heaven, causing a commotion among the opposing foot soldiers.

"Boom! Boom!"

The ships anchored off the coast of Kagoshima suddenly opened fire, but the 30-jin cannons had little accuracy, and several shots fell far behind the assembled Satsuma foot soldiers.

At the same time, the cavalry, divided into teams of twenty, attacked the two wings of the Ashigaru using wave-charge tactics.

Having lost the cover of the cavalry, the Satsuma foot soldiers had no power to fight back against the cavalry and could only passively take the beating.

The tall and strong Qi cavalry caused great panic among the Japanese pirates.

Of course, even greater panic came from the Qi army musketeers directly opposite.

The Qi army advanced to three hundred steps away and suddenly stopped, followed by a burst of gunfire.

What is shocking is that the Qi army did not adopt the volley tactics, but allowed the soldiers to fire freely.

As the Tatar cavalry continued to plunder both wings, the Satsuma foot soldiers could no longer bear it and began to imitate the opposite side and shoot freely.

However, the range of their matchlock guns was far inferior to that of their opponents.

So these foot soldiers who were arranged in a square formation were shot by the Qi army's musketeers like targets.

The battlefield soon became a one-sided massacre.

Note:
1. Sakurajima: A volcanic island in Kagoshima Prefecture, it faces the former site of Tsurumaru Castle across the sea. It is connected to the Osumi Peninsula in the east and is surrounded by Kagoshima Bay on the north and south.

(End of this chapter)