Qing fleet? Shimazu Qixing, who is in his early forties but is well maintained, sank, what should have come has come after all, he really didn't expect that the Qing people would kill a horse pistol, did the talks with the shogunate collapse?

"Lord!" Guangxiang of the old investigation office hurried over and reported: "The Qing fleet is divided into two routes, and it is menacing, it must be coming from Otsurumaru City, and I also ask the lord to go out of the city as soon as possible to persuade Osumi, Higo, and Hyuga to come to help." Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Why did the rescuers have to go to him, the governor of the house, in person? The other party's meaning is clearly to tell him to go out of the city, Shimazu Qixing's face is a little uncertain, as a family governor, if he abandons the city, he will inevitably be unstable, and Tsurumaru City will inevitably not be able to defend it, how can he bear to watch the hundreds of years of inheritance destroyed in his hands, besides, Tsurumaru City stores the huge wealth he has accumulated over the years, how can he be willing to give it up?

He asked in a deep voice, "How many troops does the other side have?" ”

"At least more than ten thousand." The mediator Guangxiang said in a deep voice: "The enemy is strong, but Tsurumaru City is extremely strong, the lord does not need to worry, we will definitely be able to support until the lord returns." ”

Shimazu Qixing slowly shook his head and said, "As the family governor, how can I leave at this time?" As he spoke, he said in a deep voice: "Order, shrink the troops, give up the periphery, all enter the city, and wait for help!" Also, send people to ask for help! ”

The dispatch office also knows that if the governor abandons the city and flees, it must be that the army is discouraged, and it is difficult to say whether he can wait for reinforcements to come, but if the governor personally supervises the battle, with the strength of Tsurumaru Castle, hold on for a few days, and wait for reinforcements is more likely, however, the risk of doing so is not small, but the governor is determined to defend to the death, he knows that persuasion is useless, the situation is urgent, he simply does not persuade anymore, and bows down to receive orders.

As one order after another was issued, the soldiers and horses stationed in various parts of the Satsuma Domain withdrew to Tsurumaru Castle as quickly as possible, and Yan Yangtian led the vanguard to land easily from Kagoshima Port, and then quickly climbed to the top of the mountain, quickly interspersed from southeast to northeast to cut off the opponent's retreat.

Yi Zhizu led most of the people up the mountain and came to the foot of Crane Pill City, and when he saw this fortified city in Cai Qiyun's mouth, he couldn't help but laugh dumbly, and Feng Renxuan also smiled: "This is also a strong city?" It's really a frog at the bottom of the well. ”

This is really not mean, Tsurumaru City is a flat city, at most it can only be said to be a little distinctive, built according to the topography, the scale is not large, the city wall is higher than the general Japanese city, but it can't be compared with the city of the Qing Dynasty, even the general city is not as good, not to mention the big cities such as Guangzhou Jiangning Jingshi.

"Military Gate." Feng Renxuan said: "There is no obstacle all the way, and the other party is obviously all retreating into the city, intending to defend the ...... according to the city." Before he could finish speaking, a firework exploded in the northeast direction.

This is a signal from Yan Yangtian, Yi Zhishu glanced up and said, "The enemy has not fled, it seems that they are indeed all cowering in the city, which saves us a lot of hands and feet." What he was most worried about was seeing Shimazu seeing that they were powerful and escaping with gold, and if he really wanted to do that, it would be a little troublesome.

After a pause, he said, "Summons, Yan Yangtian led his troops to move towards Tsurumaru City. As he spoke, he took out his pocket watch and looked at it, it was twelve o'clock, "Order the rocket to come up as soon as possible, and strive to break the city today!" ”

The rocket equipped by the Nanyang Navy is imitated by the Guangzhou Ammunition Bureau according to the British Congreve rocket, and it is still in the trial production stage, and the output is not large, this is the first time to supply the navy, for this kind of small scale, the buildings in the city are basically bamboo and wood structures, and the lethality and destructive power of the rocket should not be underestimated.

After a little hesitation, Feng Renxuan said: "This mountain is not high, and the slope is not large, so it won't be too difficult to pull the land cannon up......." ”

"It's farther away." Yi Zhizhi said: "Wait for the land artillery to come up, and then we can launch an attack tomorrow." ”

"It's not too late to attack early tomorrow morning." Feng Renxuan said: "According to Lord Cai, the Satsuma soldiers are extremely strong and ferocious, which is not comparable to ordinary Japanese soldiers, and with the cooperation of artillery, at least it can greatly reduce casualties." ”

Yi Zhishu was worried that the night was long and dreamy, after all, it was on the territory of the Satsuma Domain, and besides, he was even more worried that the other party would break through at night, he didn't want the boiled duck to fly, and he groaned slightly, and then he said: "Order, the port defenders will not use any method, and transport ten and eight marine guns as soon as possible." ”

A few puffs of smoke rose into the air, and Feng Renxuan said puzzledly: "We haven't set the fire yet, why did the Japanese people set the fire themselves?" ”

Yi Zhizu shook his head slightly, he didn't know, it is estimated that Shimazu Qixing is worried that they will use these houses to get close to the city wall, or they are afraid that they will demolish the houses and use wood to make siege tools, I have to say, there is ruthlessness!

On the city wall, Shimazu Qixing, who turned around and returned to the East Gate Tower, pretended to be calm on his face, but his heart was cold and cold, and it was roughly estimated that the Qing army was at least five or six thousand people, almost three times the strength of his defenders, once the Qing army attacked from all sides, the consequences would be unimaginable! It will take three or four days for reinforcements to arrive at the earliest, can they hold on for three or four days?

The sea was windy, the wind helped the fire, the large number of houses outside the city burned clean in less than an hour, and the outside of the city wall became extremely open, a fire disrupted Yi Zhi's plan, he had to avoid the east gate, the most remote north gate as the main direction of attack.

A group of scattered Qing soldiers tentatively approached forward, stopped at a distance of four hundred meters from the city wall, and then actually raised their muskets to aim at the city wall. They all stared wide-eyed, and a few cannons on the city wall did not fire, and the sparse hundred and ten people did not waste shells, and even if they fired, it was estimated that they would not be able to hurt two, and it was not like they were besieging the city.

"Pay attention, aim at the artillery!" Platoon commander Hong Gensheng said loudly: "Our task is to suppress artillery!" ”

"Company commander, there's a big guy on the city tower!"

The big guy in the soldier's mouth is naturally Shimazu Qixing, as the main force of the Qing army gathered at the north gate, he also led a large group of soldiers to follow, however, his bodyguard was very vigilant, seeing that the other party raised his gun to aim, although the distance was very far, but out of caution, he quickly pulled him back.

Hong Gensheng glanced over, and just saw that Shimazu was pulled back, and he didn't know what the identity of the other party was, so he immediately shouted, "Don't be half-hearted, aim at the artillery." ”

"Ping Pong." The scattered gunshots rang out, and dozens of Satsuma soldiers standing next to the artillery on the city wall fell down in response, seeing this situation, the Satsuma soldiers on the city wall who were pestled like wooden stakes were frightened and scattered, and hurriedly squatted down to hide behind the wall battlements, one by one with a frightened face, what kind of musket did the Qing army use? If you can hit that far, even if you hit far, you can still hit so accurately! How can this battle be fought?

Shimazu Qixing was also stunned by this shot, and his face turned extremely pale, if he hadn't been pulled back, it was estimated that the jade would have broken before the war started! The muskets of the Qing army were so powerful? When he came back to his senses, he commanded, "Go and see, what's going on?" He still couldn't believe that the musket could hit so far and so accurately!

Soon, several samurai ran back, and when they heard that they were indeed killed and wounded by musket bullets, Shimazu Qixing was speechless for a long time, how could this battle be fought? The muskets on both sides are not at the same level at all, no wonder Yuan Qi Tuanlian was able to defeat Yingli several times and three times, it turned out that it was this new type of musket! When did the Qing invent such a powerful musket? So with muskets, what about artillery?

"My lord. The Qing army is coming! ”

Shimazu Qixing hurriedly walked to the wall buttress and poked his head out, and saw that the Qing army of the brigade stopped a mile away, and was busy arranging something, he hurriedly raised the telescope to inspect, and looked carefully for a long time, but he never understood what kind of weapon it was, just when he was full of doubts, several rockets shot out.

Watching those few rockets cross the city and fall into the city, making a few muffled sounds, Shimazu Qixing finally reacted, rockets! It's a rocket! The rockets that the English used to fight the Qing Dynasty! It's not good, the Qing people are planning to attack with fire!

However, when he reacted, it was too late, dense rockets broke through the air and fell into the city, the sky was full of arrow rain, magnificent, and a dense explosion sounded in the city, it was the middle of summer, the bamboo and wood structure of the house burned when it caught fire, after three waves of rockets in a row, the city has become a sea of fire.

Looking at the billowing smoke in the city, Yi Zhizhi leisurely lit a cigar, although the rocket is not accurate, but it is used to carry out a covering strike, the effect is still quite good, especially for a small city like the Wa Kingdom, it is a big weapon!

The fire outside the city was extinguished, and the inside of the city continued to burn, and the small city was in a panic, with firefighters, rescuers, shouting for lost relatives, shouting and scolding, shouting for help, running around to find a safe place to hide, it was a mess.

Looking at the chaotic situation under the city, Shimazu Qixing's eyes were a little dull, this is not yet the official battle, Tsurumaru City is already over, no matter whether this battle is won or lost, Tsurumaru City is over! The Satsuma Domain is also over!

"My lord! The artillery of the Qing army is coming! ”

Artillery up? So fast? Shimazu Qixing hurriedly cheered up, and when he looked at the battlements, he saw the Qing army dragging artillery with huge wheels moving forward, this is Western artillery?

More than 10 artillery pieces were transported, and Le Xiaoqi and Tang Bingcan, who stayed in the port, not only collected a large number of livestock, but also captured many sailors and sailors who did not have time to escape, forcing them to pull the artillery, and brought in 30 marine guns and a large amount of ammunition at one time.

It's too much of a bully! Shimazu Qixing looked at the long artillery with a pale face, and his heart was aggrieved, not to mention the huge disparity in the strength of the two sides, the disparity in weapons was even greater, his artillery had no wheels, and it was impossible to transfer all of them to the north gate in a short time, besides, even if it was transferred, it was useless, the artillery could not show up at all, and as soon as they appeared, they would be shot! How can this battle be fought?

"Lord!" Guangxiang of the old family investigation office hurried over and said eagerly: "The lord quickly leads people to break through from the east..... ”

"Breakout?" Shimazu Qixing sighed, surrounded like a bucket, how to break through? The opponent's musket hit far and accurately, and when he went out of the city to fight, he was simply looking for death!

"If the lord is unwilling to break through." Guangxiang said in a sincere tone: "Please allow your subordinates to go out of the city to negotiate with the other party, and ask the lord to think about the people of the city." ”

"Let's talk." Shimazu Qixing said in a muffled voice, he knew very well that this battle could not be fought at all, and it was impossible to support reinforcements at all, and it was expected that the city would be broken before dark, and those who asked for help were afraid that they had not yet run to the side.

Guangxiang hurriedly went out of the city to negotiate, and he didn't even see Yi Zhi's face, but Yi Zhixiang brought him a sentence, "Within two quarters of an hour, unconditional surrender, outdated shelling." ”

Unconditional surrender? Shimazu Qixing's nose is almost crooked! Originally, he wanted to give up his wealth to avoid disasters and send some gold to let the other party retreat, but he didn't know that the other party's appetite was so big! He was angry and ruthless, "Hold on!" Even if you die, you have to gnaw a bite of his flesh! ”

"Boom, boom." The dull sound of artillery was like a burst, and the cannonballs rained down on Tsurumaru City, and today's Marine artillery was not comparable to the previous battle with the British army, and the fighting was fast, accurate and ruthless, and the shells exploded in the air above the city wall, and there were no people standing on the city wall at all, but everything that remained on the city wall was shot like a sieve by shrapnel.

As the artillery fire extended forward, the infantry who had been waiting for a long time rushed to the city wall like a tide, climbed the city wall without much effort, quickly controlled the northern section of the city wall, and did not wait for the north gate to be opened, and Shimazu Qixing, who was determined to defend it, raised the white flag in the city lord's mansion!

The city gate was opened, Shimazu Qixing and Dispatch Guangxiang led a large number of soldiers out of the city to surrender, and the matter of surrender was easily known to Feng Renxuan to deal with, but people brought Shimazu Qixing over, and asked condescendingly: "How much gold is stored in the Satsuma Domain?" ”

Shimazu Qixing, who was completely frightened, did not dare to hide it in the slightest, and said honestly: "Two and a half million taels." ”

"The two of the Wa Kingdom?"

"Yes, about two taels of your country."

There are really more than two million taels of gold! When converted into 1.2 million taels of gold, when converted into silver, it is nearly 20 million taels! Even if the fineness is insufficient, fifteen or six million taels of silver are still available, and Yi Zhishu doesn't know what to say for a while, just one Satsuma Domain, so rich! This trip to the East is finally worth it!

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Yi Zhizu asked in a calm tone: "Of the surrounding domains, which one is rich?" ”

"Hizen." Shimazu Qixing said without hesitation: "The wealth of the Hizen Domain is still above that of the main domain. ”

After all, Nagasaki is the port designated by the Wa State for maritime trade with the Great Qing Dynasty, and if you really want to fight Hizen, even if you ignore the reaction of the Wa Kingdom, you can also take into account the reaction of the Qing Dynasty maritime merchants, and groaned slightly, before he said: "Higo, Osumi, and Hyuga, how is the situation?" ”

Hearing this, Shimazu Qixing's heart sank, Osumi and Hinata were all from the Shimazu clan, and he hurriedly said: "These three feudatories are not rich, the reason why Satsuma is rich is because of the hijacking of Ryukyu and controlling the maritime trade of Ryukyu, and the southwestern feudal domains, the real wealth is Hizen, Satsuma, Choshu, and Tosa. (To be continued.) )