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"Poof......

The knife-like bow of the shear-bow sheared the waves, and the water splashed endlessly. The sails were blown, and the battleship was like an elven fish, rapidly approaching the north in a zigzag shape on the sea.

This is a medium-sized flying shear bow warship under the Southeast Naval Division. Behind this warship, there were two warships of the same size, and in these three flying shear bow warships were arranged in a triangular shape. Behind them, five medium-sized Western sailing ships of 1,000 tons and more than a dozen transport ships of similar size were lined up in two neat formations, advancing towards Tanegashima Island in the north.

Tanegashima Island, at the southern tip of the Osumi Strait, was one of the naval garrisons of the Satsuma Domain, and after the loss of Amami Oshima, only the Osumi Islands remained in the Satsuma Domain's maritime defense line.

Among the Osumi Islands, Tanegashima is more important than Yakushima.

The Satsuma clan not only deployed naval warships on Tanegashima Island, but also stationed troops on it, but did not build forts. Because the Satsuma Domain has a limited number of large tubes, all the large tubes are concentrated in Kagoshima Bay.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

When the sun was in the west, the bright sound of cannon rang out at the northern end of the Osumi Strait.

The sound of gunfire echoed across Tanegashima Island, and shells rained down in the air, forming a continuous whistling sound.

Zhang Qiu held a telescope, his current location was on the west coast of the northern tip of Tanegashima, and on the shore was the home of the Tanegashima clan, who used to rule this Tanegashima clan. Later, the Tanegashima clan was moved, and Tanegashima became the direct domain of the Shimazu family, and it is still the largest gathering place for Japanese people on Tanegashima.

In the last two years, the Shimazu family has built a small castle here, and the castle town has also been officially known as Nishinomote Town. The population is about 1,000 people.

The attack of the Southeast Navy Division on this place was unusually smooth, and compared to the strength of the Southeast Navy Division, the defense of the Satsuma Domain in the Osumi Islands could not be described at all. In the case of the Satsuma sailors at the wharf of Nishinomote-cho, ten small and poor boats were directly sent to the bottom of the sea by the artillery fire of the Southeast Sailors.

The port was easily captured by the Southeastern Naval Division. Then there was the attack on the city. The Southeast Naval Division moved out the fire dragon bomb, although the Japanese have worked hard to build this small city, but under the rocket, everything is as fragile as tissue paper.

……

Five days ago, Kyoto's ministers announced their investigation, and they said they had found the truth. The murder was the result of the arrogance of the Chinese Mission in Japan that angered the pride of a Japanese samurai, who then infiltrated the Chinese Mission's residence and killed three members of the Mission with a knife.

The Japanese took out a corpse, because the latter committed suicide by disemboweling after voluntarily surrendering. The identity of that samurai was a very ordinary low-ranking samurai in Kyoto City.

The Chinese side has disputed this investigation, which is causing Wang Jun to demand that the Chinese side fully intervene in the investigation. Later, the second Prince of Kyoto, Kanin Miyahito, on behalf of his eight-year-old sixth son, Emperor Kokaku of Japan, and on behalf of the Japanese imperial family, officially announced his rejection of the Chinese side's request to intervene in the investigation, and rejected the Chinese side's request for the Japanese emperor to apologize to China, and then the contradictions between China and Japan were officially put on the surface.

The Imperial Family and Ministers of Kyoto brought a catastrophe to Japan. And now China's punishment for Japan is coming.

Throughout the negotiations, China's spearhead was directed at the Japanese emperor, not at Japan's de facto ruler, the Tokugawa shogunate. Because the legitimacy of the Tokugawa shogunate was formally authorized by the emperor, the emperor of Japan was the nominal supreme ruler of Japan. Although the general of Seiyi, as the ruler of Japan, had the obligation to protect Japan's rights from being violated. Although Chen Han did this to a certain extent, affecting the authority of the Tokugawa shogunate. But part of the responsibility for doing so has also been thrown on the heads of the royal family and the ministers.

And the most important thing is that the current Tokugawa shogunate era is not the original Kamakura shogunate, hundreds of years of shogunate rule, hundreds of years of samurai rule, the emperor and the public family of Japan have long since become a puppet ornament like a tablet. And now these weak puppets, things like paper towels, invite huge trouble, causing huge losses to the samurai class.

The status and influence of the Tokugawa shogunate will be affected to a certain extent, but when many of the daimyo saw the tragedy of the Satsuma Domain, will they have more of a tendency to 'respect the king' in their hearts, or will they hate the emperor more for causing trouble?

Many people may not know that the views of the second Prince Kanin Miyahito were not shared by Tokugawa Isaharu at all. And what are the plans of the imperial family and the ministers Tokugawa Isaharu was also very sober, and when he got the news, he quickly ordered the Kyoto Institute to take control of the entire Kyoto Castle. But the news has already spread, and even if Tokugawa Ieji chops the second generation of Prince Naohito of Kanin Palace into a pile of meat puree, he can't take back what he says.

The Sino-Japanese war is together, which is in the hands of the royal family and ministers. I don't know how many people will shout that they want to defend Japan by force, but if China really uses force against Japan, how can Japan's rights be preserved? Whether it was the warships in the North Sea or the fleet in the Ryukyus, the Chinese had blocked Japan's sea routes.

It was impossible to win the war, even if more and more samurai in the army of the Tokugawa shogunate took up muskets in the past two years, and the Westerners also reinforced Japan with a batch of muskets and barrels, but this little bit of strength was too far behind China.

If the war is lost, Japan will definitely suffer heavy losses, cede land and pay reparations, open ports, and any crime will be enough for Tokugawa Ieji to drink a pot. And if he yielded in the face of China, the Tokugawa shogunate would become a traitor to the country and a traitor! So Tokugawa Isaharu was in a dilemma. But at that time, if Tokugawa Isaharu still gritted his teeth and did not let go, the Edo shogunate was afraid that it would be dismantled by the Chinese naval warships, right?

Tokugawa Ieji's greatest joy now is his private connection with China, and China's Chen Han Dynasty still took good care of the Tokugawa shogunate. These problems were directed at the emperor in Kyoto and at the papier-mâché court, rather than forcing the Tokugawa shogunate to make a decision. Otherwise, Tokugawa Isaharu will really be roasted on the fire.

……

Kagoshima Bay is a bay surrounded by two jutting peninsulas, the Satsuma Peninsula to the west and the Osumi Peninsula to the east, like a pair of tusks sticking out of the fat worm of Kyushu Island to the south.

It was the foundation of the Satsuma Domain.

The sea at its entrance and exit was more than 20 miles wide, and the Satsuma clan did not waste any effort to place precious cannons on both sides.

Thirty-two-year-old Shigehiro Shimazu concentrated ninety percent of his cannons on Kagoshima Castle and Sakurajima on the opposite side. The latter is an inner island in Kagoshima Bay, seven or eight miles away from the Kagoshima Fort, and already has a certain defensive value. The waters behind Sakurajima, the deepest part of Kagoshima Bay, are the anchorages of the Satsuma Domain.

The news of the invasion of the Chinese sailors and the loss of Tanegashima arrived at Kagoshima Castle one day. Shimazu Shigehiro knew how great the disparity in strength between the two sides was, although because of the renaming of Kyushu Island, the Dutch and the British, who were stronger than the Netherlands, secretly approached the Satsuma Domain, and the demand for money and guns and artillery The Satsuma Clan held its breath firmly and dragged the Chinese back. But the two sides are going to really fight, and Shimazu Shigehiro knows very well how slim the chances of the Satsuma Domain are.

The battle has begun.

Since yesterday, the Chinese have broken into Kagoshima Bay and shelled important coastal towns such as Sata, Nezhan, Ibusuki, and Tarumui. Now they're in Kagoshima Castle.

The cannon rumbled, and Shigehiro Shimazu heard it clearly.

Although it is sad that the Chinese really attacked Japan, and the Satsuma Domain became the first target of the Ryukyu Fleet, the Satsuma Domain was not hopeless.

There were more than 30 cannons in the fort outside Kagoshima Castle, and in order to meet the battle, the samurai of the entire Satsuma Domain gathered under the banner of the Shimazu clan, and reinforcements from the Hizen Domain were on their way.

Shigehiro Shimazu is not of good shape, but he is a very bold person. Rubbing the handle of the katana in his hand, Shigehiro Shimazu's eyes shone with hope.

If God forbids the Satsuma Domain to withstand the attack of China, then how great will this be for the entire Satsuma Domain? As soon as Shigehiro Shimazu thinks about this, all the pressure turns into endless expectations.

Gambling.

Although Shigehiro Shimazu put a lot of chips down on the table, his opponent also gave him a corresponding price. As long as they can win, Shimazu Shigehiro and the Satsuma clan will gain far more than they can pay.

But Shigehiro Shimazu wasn't much of a win. Otherwise, he wouldn't have touched the knife in his hand.

The Satsuma Domain, which nominally had a height of 770,000 koku, had an actual income of only about 400,000 koku, and after being robbed of Amami Oshima, which was 40,000 koku high, it was also put on the side of Shimazu Shigehao, a luxurious 'faint lord', and if it were not for the covert support of the Dutch and the British, a huge feudal debt crisis would have erupted.

If you win this gamble, it's easy to say, but if you lose, it's hard to imagine what kind of disaster it will bring to the Satsuma clan.

Even if the entire Satsuma Domain collapsed because of this, it would not be uncommon.

As one of the thorns in the side of the Tokugawa shogunate, the latter would certainly be happy to see the collapse of the Satsuma Domain.

The old Ichichi Tian Sheng often ran in from the outside quickly, and he couldn't even care about the etiquette, "Lord, Lord, Takahashi has sent back the news that the Chinese fleet carries three thousand marines......"

Takahashi is a veteran power family of the Satsuma Domain, and Takahashi is two years younger than Shimazu Shigehiro and is Shimazu Shigehao's confidant. When the Satsuma clan was knocked out of the Ryukyus by Chinese sailors, he was sent to the Ryukyus as an agent as an Osaka merchant.

"Nani!" Shimazu Shigehiro was about to faint when he heard that his body was about to faint, and the knife in his hand fell to the ground, Ichida Moritsune hurriedly went up to support his cheap son-in-law, he was able to jump to the position of the elder of the Satsuma clan as a light foot in Osaka, but it all relied on his daughter to be Shimazu Shigehao's side room.

Shimazu Shigehiro seemed to have received a heavy blow to his head, "It's over, it's over, the Satsuma Domain is really going to perish, and I, Shimazu Shigeo, have become a sinner of the Shimazu family and Japan now!" ”

What is the concept of 3,000 marines? The Chinese had enough forces to capture Kagoshima Castle.

During the Ryukyu War, the soldiers of the Satsuma clan experienced the power of a Chinese soldier. Three thousand, this is already a number beyond the psychological tolerance of Shigehiro Shimazu.

"Lord, this war is not something that the Satsuma Clan can deal with alone, and what the Chinese have to deal with is not a corner of our Satsuma Domain, but the whole world, the whole of Japan!" All of them had to concentrate the forces of the whole of Japan in order to resist, and it was absolutely impossible to rely on the power of the Satsuma clan alone! Please ask the Shogunate for help immediately! ”

Ichida Moritsune's body was lying on the ground.

Three thousand Chinese marines, is he going to pee? This is not something that the Shimazu family can compete with at all.

In the past two years, the Satsuma Domain, which had received covert support from the Dutch and the British, formed a new army of 3,000 men, one of which belonged to artillery and some to sailors. The real land new army was only one thousand and a half hundred.

It seems that there is not a huge difference in personnel, but the difference in actual combat effectiveness is so huge that the entire Satsuma Domain cannot say how huge it is.

"How could the shogunate rescue Satsuma?"

"Far water can't save near fire. By the time the news reached Edo, the whole of Kagoshima had been razed to the ground. ”

"Yes, the Chinese are right in front of you, and even if the shogunate sends troops, it will be too late. In this battle, the samurai of Kagoshima must defend their homeland with their own strength! ”

……

The port of Kagoshima Castle is full of gunsmoke in Odaiba all around. The artillery battle is still raging.

Many Kagoshima samurai, who had only one katana, watched the Western-style artillery battle up close, but when the ships of the Southeast Naval Division began to shoot their muzzles and incendiary bombs at Kagoshima Castle Town, the whole of Kagoshima was bustling with activity.

At this time, almost all of Japan's cities were made of wood, and the damage caused by the scorching arson bombs was far less serious than the damage caused by the subsequent fires that ignited Kagoshima Castle.

For the Kagoshima samurai who gathered around the dock area, hand-to-hand combat was their favorite form of fighting, even if they fell close to the Chinese.

They are not afraid of the bullets and bayonets of the Chinese, but they must be afraid in the face of fire.

Brave samurai are not afraid of sacrifice, but it is not worth it to be burned to death by fire.

Screams, shouts, cries......

It is the Japanese civilian population that suffers the most. Traditionally, wars rarely reach castle towns. Although many Japanese civilians knew that war was coming, many stayed in their homes rather than fleeing the countryside.

Now the entire castle town is in chaos, and the residents of Kagoshima, who had been calm under the sound of the cannons, are suddenly in a panic. They were crying in front of the houses that had been set on fire by the shells, they were wailing helplessly, and countless people were screaming and fleeing inland for their lives before they had time to take any possessions, and the whole city was in chaos in an instant! (To be continued.) Mobile phone users, please browse and read, a better reading experience.