Kowloon wins

Chapter 480 Tokugawa Yoshimune's Response

On November 50th, [-]th year of Kangxi, at three quarters of the unitary hour, the night had already fallen, and the sparse snow was still falling. Although it was not very heavy, it was annoying. From time to time, there was a sound of fluttering on the top of the tent. This made Tokugawa Yoshimune, who was already quite upset, a little bit more annoying, but as the commander of an army of tens of thousands, no matter how upset he was, he couldn't show it, he could only sit patiently In the big tent of the Chinese army, holding a book, pretending to study it seriously.

It has been five days since the troops were dispatched, and the progress seems to be going well. With three more days to go, it is time to arrive at the city of Kyoto. The journey is calm and there is no obstacle. The army's 13 troops have increased to the current [-], and the morale of the army is also very high. I really don't see any problems at all, but Tokugawa Yoshimune always feels that something is wrong. Can he tell me what is wrong? But I really can't tell why, and it is precisely because of this that Tokugawa Yoshimune feels quite irritated, nothing else, it is purely the intuition of a general!

"General, Honda Henglong, the flag of the Edo Navy, sent an emergency messenger from Hamamatsu."

Just when Tokugawa Yoshimune was restless, he saw the curtain of the big tent move, Tai Dao holding a small surname (the official name of the Japanese country, equivalent to the middle officer in the Qing military system) Pingyan Akishi strode in from outside the tent , rushed to the front of a few sons, bowed, and hurriedly reported.

"Ok?"

Hearing what Hiraiwa Koishi said, Tokugawa Yoshimune couldn't help being stunned, an uncontrollable premonition surged up from the bottom of his heart, nothing else, according to the original battle plan, at this time Jiang Tomizu should still be on his way to Osaka Bay, and it is unlikely that he will appear in Hamamatsu Port. Furthermore, even if there is something wrong with the navy, it should be reported by the old Nakasakata Yokozo, and it will never be Honda Henglong's turn. There is no doubt that something happened to the Edo Navy, but it’s just that something happened, but they haven’t found out about it. Thinking of this, Tokugawa Yoshimune’s brows immediately frowned. Without hesitating for too long, his face sank like water and he said: "Xuan!"

"Hay!"

Since Tokugawa Yoshimune had given such instructions, Pingyan Akishi didn't dare to neglect, and hastily responded, and hurriedly exited the big tent. After a while, he saw a person outside the tent rushing in sweating profusely.

"The villain's navy's rear army banner Honda Henglong's envoy Fan Jiuwei Saburo kowtowed to the general."

As soon as the visitor got in front of a few sons, he immediately gave a respectful gift and announced his family name.

"Well, does your flag have anything to report?"

Although the uneasiness in his heart became stronger and stronger for a while, Tokugawa Yoshimune never brought it to his face. Facing the envoy's visit, he just nodded expressionlessly and asked calmly. .

"General, my Edo navy encountered the main fleet of the Chinese people in the waters of Enzhou Beach yesterday afternoon. After a fierce battle for half a day, they were defeated. Lord Sakata and the main force of the fleet were all destroyed. Honda Banner led the remaining troops to retreat to Hamamatsu Port, and sent villains to come. Tell the general that the main fleet of the Chinese may be targeting our Edo Castle, and please be careful of the enemy's attack."

The envoys of the Japanese army never used letters to deliver messages, but word of mouth, fearing that the letters might fall into the hands of the enemy, but those who can serve as envoys are all dead soldiers. The envoy who came to report the letter also fell into this category. He did not show any letter, but just repeated the original words of Honda Henglong.

"Oh? There is such a thing? Is there anything else you want to say about your banner, huh?"

Although he had already expected the bad news in his heart, Tokugawa Yoshimune still couldn't help turning pale when he heard the news of the destruction of the Edo Navy, but soon he came back to his senses, and continued calmly Asked down.

"Returning to the general, Mr. Honda still has to explain, saying that the artillery of the Chinese people is extremely sharp, with a range of more than two hundred feet. It may be difficult to prevent the Chinese fleet from entering Edo Bay with the Miura Fort and Bosso Fort alone. , Edo Castle may not have the power to fight, I remind the general to be careful."

Hearing Tokugawa Yoshimune's question, the envoy didn't dare to be negligent, and hurriedly recounted Honda Henglong's final confession.

"Well, I see, let's go down."

Tokugawa Yoshimune didn't ask any more questions, he waved his hand as usual, and pushed the envoy Fanping away, but he got up suddenly, pacing back and forth in the Chinese army's tent with a slight frown, for a long time Not a word.

"My lord, all the family members of our soldiers are in Edo. If Edo is lost, the consequences will be dire. The subordinates think it's not good, it's not good..."

Seeing Tokugawa Yoshimune was speechless for a while, Hirai Akishi who was standing aside suddenly lost his breath, so he plucked up the courage to speak up, but his voice became weaker and weaker, and at the end, it was already nana I don't know what to say.

"It's too late! Honda Henglong is right. The Chinese fleet is about to reach Edo Bay at this time. Even if our army returns to the division immediately, it will not be able to keep Edo Castle. It will only mess up."

Tokugawa Yoshimune shook his head painfully, giving an extremely pessimistic judgment.

"Then..., General, do you want your subordinates to seal up that envoy's mouth?"

Hearing Tokugawa Yoshimune's words, Koishi Hiraiwa's face turned extremely ugly in an instant, but he couldn't find a reason to refute it. He couldn't help worrying that if the news leaked, it would cause a fatal blow to the morale of the entire army. He gritted his teeth and suggested a sinister sentence.

"It's useless. My Edo soldiers are not the only ones in the army. There are also many soldiers from Tone and Suruga. After all, we can't kill them all. This news cannot be sealed."

If he could keep his mouth shut, Tokugawa Yoshimune would be very happy to do so. In fact, it's not that he didn't think about it, but it's a pity that he couldn't do it.

"Ah, this, this..."

As soon as Tokugawa Yoshimune's words came out, Koishi Hiraiwa was dumbfounded, but when the news spread to the whole army, his army's morale was doomed to collapse, and his complexion turned pale instantly.

"Go, beat the drums and gather the generals!"

Tokugawa Yoshimune obviously had made a decision, and he didn't say any more with Hirai Akishi, but ordered with a solemn face.

"Hay!"

Tokugawa Yoshimune made such an order, although Pingyan Koshi was still worried, but he didn't dare to procrastinate, he hurriedly responded, and hurriedly withdrew from the tent of the Chinese army, and after a while, he heard the sound of drums outside the tent With a loud sound, the originally quiet camp suddenly boiled up, and all the big names, chief generals, etc. all rushed towards the big tent of the Chinese army.

After the three-way drum sounded, all the generals who were qualified to go to the big tent to discuss matters had arrived. The four veterans in the front row were Tokugawa and his party, Mizuno Tadashi, Abe Masakayo, and Kuze Shigeyuki. It is the four Wakanian (the official name of the shogunate, second only to the old middle school, who is the leader of many generals and royal families), namely Okubo Kangjian, Matsudaira Katsuyao, Naito Longbow, Honda Hiroaki, and again It is Xixiang Mingyi, Toda Masao and other eight generals, as for those big names of each feudal clan, they can only be ranked outside the account.

"Gentlemen, it's so late, I still invite you to come here. I have something to announce. According to investigations, the main force of the Chinese fleet has gone out to sea and is rushing to Edo Castle. My Edo navy is at a disadvantage in the battle. The whole army has been crushed!"

As soon as the drum beat stopped, all the generals had already arrived. Tokugawa Yoshimune didn't say much greetings, nor did he cover up his mistakes, and he directly stated the unfavorable situation he was in.

"Om..."

As soon as Tokugawa Yoshimune's words came out, the generals immediately became confused. Nothing else, Edo Castle is the foundation of the shogunate. If there is a mistake, the retreat of our 10,000+ army will be cut off. , and the Qing army besieged the capital ahead, our side was obviously in a dilemma, let alone encountering such a predicament, it was a headache to think about.

"You don't need to panic. The Chinese people's move is just to disturb the morale of our army. Their main force is still under the city of Kyoto. It is just a navy to go to Edo. What's wrong with me in Edo, besides, this general has ordered Tokugawa Masao to guard Edo tightly, and he should be able to stop the Chinese for more than half a month. If our army can break the enemy under the capital, this battle will be a big victory for our army. In this battle, there is no way for our army to retreat. We can only go forward bravely, put them to death and survive. Do you dare to fight with this general?"

Tokugawa Yoshimune ignored the panic of the crowd, and pressed his hand with a calm face, signaling to the crowd to be quiet, and then analyzed it calmly and calmly.

"Battle! Fight! Fight!"

As soon as Tokugawa Yoshimune said these words, Tokugawa and his party were the first to draw out the samurai swords around their waists, raised them high, pointed at the top of the tent obliquely, and shouted loudly.

"Battle! Fight! Fight!"

With Tokugawa and his party taking the lead, the blood of the generals immediately boiled up. They drew out their samurai swords and shouted in unison. The morale that had been low due to panic suddenly rose to a peak.

"Okay, this general will fight to the death together with you, and the Chinese people are at odds with each other. Please listen to the order: You all go back to the camp, inform all the ministries of this news, and express the determination of this general to fight to the death. The soldiers are united as one, wipe out the Chinese people, and restore the peace of Dongying!"

Tokugawa Yoshimune also drew out the samurai sword at his waist, raised it high, and gave the order in a heroic manner.

"Hay!"

Now that Tokugawa Yoshimune had given the order, the generals did not dare to be negligent, and they each bowed to their promises, and returned to the various ministries one by one energetically, following Tokugawa Yoshimune's instructions, conveyed the determination to fight to the death When he arrived in the whole army, for a while, the morale of the army, which had been slightly chaotic due to rumors, not only stabilized, but also became more tragic and heroic...

(End of this chapter)