"No...... Don't worry about me......" Sakurada sat down on the wall of the command tower, his breath faint due to excessive blood loss, "Quick! Reversing! Get out of the enemy ship! ”

The Satsuma sailors struggled to maneuver the "Lei 4" pole mineboat to retreat, but the thunder rod was stuck too tightly and could not get rid of it. The "Lei 4" pole mineboat, which had been trying to reverse with maximum strength, finally broke free and fled the battlefield at high speed.

The seriously wounded "Lei 4" pole mineboat finally anchored in the vicinity of the Qianguo warship "Yuankai" outside the battlefield. "At the beginning of the mine of the 'Fusang', there was a mine boat coming from above, and it was close to the port side of our ship ('Yuankai'...... The surface of the boat was pierced by enemy bullets like stars, and the flesh and bones flew sideways, which was miserable and abnormal. …… The captain named Sakurada was shot in the neck, and he insisted on commanding in the tower, and his body was bleeding profusely, and our ship rescued the wounded of the ship, but the captain bled profusely, and although he was treated in many ways, he was unable to save his life...... while the "Fuso" ship reluctantly sailed to the shallow water area around the island under the command of Tsuboi Kozo to anchor in the shallow water area around the island and urgently repair the damaged area.

Probably because they were afraid of the "Fuso's" 240-mm heavy guns, when the "Fuso" sailed to the shallow waters on the shore of the island to save itself, the "Hiei," which had already set anchor, and the "King Kong," which had extinguished the fire, did not come forward to attack the "Fuso," but instead occupied the positions on both sides of the "Fuso" close to the channel.

"We've fallen into the enemy's trap!" Inoue Ryoshin said to Tsuboi Kozo with some regret. At this time, he had already seen clearly that the wounds of the "King Kong" that had been fighting with the "Fuso" for a long time were not so serious, and the flag of the great general Saigo Takamori was still flying high on the mast of the "King Kong". The reason why he made a gesture of running away just now. It was all about luring the "Fuso" to come in pursuit.

"I regret that I shouldn't have listened to your advice! It's too late to regret it now! "I thought that the ironclad ship "Fuso", which Emperor Meiji called "the important weapon of the country", was damaged in his own hands. Inoue Ryoshin was angry and wanted to die for a while.

"The damage to our ship is not too serious, and it should be able to be repaired before dark." Tsuboi Kozo didn't care about blaming Inoue Ryoshin at this time, but said with a gloomy face, "I'm afraid that the enemy army will not succeed in a plan, and another plan will be made, and our ship will be unable to deal with it, so it will be difficult to get out." ”

"Is there enough ammunition for my ship?" Inoue asked with a sigh.

"The ammunition for the main and secondary guns is still sufficient, and there is no problem in holding out until the evening." Kozo Tsuboi had already asked his officers. replied.

Hearing Tsuboi's answer, Inoue Liangxin was relieved, but as soon as he thought that the damage to the "Fuso" might affect the success or failure of this great counterattack, his heart became anxious again.

And what struck him as strange was that the two Satsuma ironclads in the distance seemed to be just watching them there, and there was no sign of attacking.

Inoue Yoshishin and Tsuboi Kozo were all in doubt, but now the rudder blade of the "Fuso" was injured, the hull was damaged, and it was impossible to move forward. They could only send people to urge the sailors to repair their wounds, and always observe the enemy's every move.

Inoue didn't know. If he had looked more closely in the direction of the shore, he would have noticed that on a hillside on the shore, there were several people, holding binoculars, carefully observing the wounded "Fuso".

On the hillside, Lin Yiqing put down the telescope after carefully observing for a while.

"I was able to destroy three mineboats of my Strange Troop, it seems that the gunners of the enemy ships are really clever!"

"Yes! Three of our mineboats were sunk, and the enemy's guns were so ferocious and accurate that they were so fierce. Nomura Shinosuke couldn't help but sigh when he thought of the thrilling battle that had just happened.

"However, no matter how stubborn the enemy ships are, they will not be able to escape the fate of destruction today." Lin Yiqing sneered.

"Is Lin Jun going to send another ship to attack?" Nomura Shinosuke ordered.

"There's no need to storm them, it's just to prevent them from escaping before dark." Lin Yiqing smiled and said, "Tonight, I guarantee that you and the general will definitely see the enemy ship sunk!" ”

"Then how does Hanpeng prevent the enemy ship from escaping?" Nomura Shinosuke asked curiously.

"The enemy spies have secretly planted fishing nets in the harbor and entangled the propellers of our ships, causing our ships to suffer greatly, and this time we will give them this fishing net in return, so that they can also taste it." Lin Yiqing turned around with a smile and gave an order to a herald warrior, who bowed down and took the order.

A short time later, a signal rocket took off into the air, and the captain of the "Hiei" ironclad saw the signal rocket and nodded to an officer, "Smoke is cast." ”

At the other end of the channel, the "King Kong," which received the signal, also released smoke, and after a short time, the sea was filled with smoke.

"Watch out for all gun emplacements! The enemy's pole mineboats may be on the attack! Tsuboi noticed that the visibility on the sea around him had dropped sharply, and the shadow of a small boat seemed to be shaking in the smoke, and immediately ordered loudly.

Hearing the order of Tsuboi Kozo, the gunners of the "Fuso" all widened their eyes one by one and stared nervously at the sea.

Although the government officers and men of the "Fuso" were extremely nervous, there was a dead silence on the sea, there was no sound, and the enemy did not attack.

After about an hour, a strong sea breeze blew the smoke away, and Inoue Yoshishin was shocked to discover that the two Satsuma Navy ironclad ships, the "Hiei" and the "Kongo," which had been keeping an eye on the "Fuso," had actually left their original positions and ran to the shore.

Inoue Ryoshin was a little confused for a while, and turned her head to look at Tsuboi Kozo, who was also full of doubts, not understanding what the Satsuma Army was going to do.

"Second Lieutenant Iwasaki, go to the bilge to check on the repair of the damage, and ask them how long it will take to get the battleship back in action." Tsuboi Kozo turned his head and ordered Eiya Iwasaki.

Iwasaki Hideya took the order and quickly left the bridge and came to the bilge of the "Fuso", where he saw a group of sailors going into battle shirtless under the leadership of the damage officer, using various materials and tools to repair the breach that had been blown open by the enemy's pole mine, and some soldiers were busy pumping water.

"How's it going? How long does it take to fix it? Eiya Iwasaki asked.

"Rudder blades are very difficult to repair underwater. Now we're all working on it. Restore the rudder blades. It will take a lot of time, and it is estimated that it can be repaired before dark. The damage management captain stopped what he was doing, pointed to the place where it was being repaired, and said, "It is estimated that it will be repaired in two hours here." ”

Eiya Iwasaki nodded, quickly left the bilge, returned to the flybridge, and reported the situation to Tsuboi Kozo.

"Before dark. Hope we get out of here safely! Inoue Yoshishin said with a sigh after listening to Eiya Iwasaki's report.

On the shore, a herald warrior hurriedly ran towards Lin Yiqing.

"Report to the General, the fishing nets have all been laid out." The herald samurai reported to Lin Yiqing.

"Inform Ito's submarine squadron to make all preparations and attack when it gets dark." Lin Yiqing nodded and ordered.

Ordering the samurai to take the order away, Lin Yiqing looked up at the sky, and then took out his pocket watch and looked at it.

"Is Lin Jun going to use that submarine?" Hearing Lin Yiqing's order just now, Nomura Shinosuke's face showed excitement.

"Yes! Just use this submarine. Let's end the life of the enemy ship! Lin Yiqing looked at the ironclad ship "Fusang" on the sea in the distance, and let out a long breath.

The forest sea at dusk seems to be an endless layer of clouds rolling in the sound of the waves. The yellow sun stained the clouds with a magnificent color, and the blue sky hung brightly in the west. At this time, it was already evening, the mountains and forests were silent, silent, only the faint sunlight before dusk was softly sprinkled through the branches and leaves of the bamboo forest, and from a distance, there were only a few occasional birdsong in the cold air, and it was quiet again.

At this time, the captain of the submarine team, Ito Yunao, was galloping on horseback in the forest wilderness with three retinues. The mountain air near dusk is fresh, and the sound of spring water can be faintly heard, and the emerald green branches of the trees fly past in front of you, and from the horse, you can see the fresh and beautiful scenery that only belongs to dusk. The horses began to cross the black water, and there was a rumbling in the dark water, and the reeds in the water swayed softly with the sound of the horse's rump, and the black water splashed up, but only wet the horse's belly, and the white pebbles floated with the water on the shallows, and the horse snorted, and slapped the horse's rump with his tail, and jumped up into the shallows. A wild duck leaped up from the thick artemisia grass with a scream, and several black horses leaped out of the water, splashing in all directions. I could only hear the wild rock pheasant quacking in the deep sky. Under the golden sun, the deep blue sky with a faint smell of water and grass is reflected in people's eyes.

Expressionless, Ito jumped off his horse, handed the reins to his attendant, and walked to a carriage by the stream, where one of his attendants opened the door for him. He had been hunting in the mountains all day, and as soon as he received the order to fight, he hurried out of the hunting ground, and the coachman who picked him up waved his whip, and the carriage drove up in a hurry, and the scenery around him began to move rapidly again. Ito stared coldly ahead, his eyebrows pressed against the bottom of his hat, and a shadow faintly reflected his grim side. From this point of view, Ito, who came from a military family, undoubtedly has the resolute and resolute expression of a Japanese officer. Now he was staring coldly out the window. Everything here was too much like the scenery of his hometown, the air was filled with the peculiar smell of cooking smoke, and the bugs were buzzing around in the grass.

These memories of his hometown were all put into his mind from the moment he left, not to mention how much he loved them, they were just plainly reflected in his mind and taken away by him plainly. From a very young age, he developed a strong sense of self-centeredness, and he didn't care about anything except his parents and Sakura. So he didn't have the homesickness that usually civilians and low-class soldiers have, and sometimes even ridiculously pitiful to him. In a way, it should be admitted that he is a thoroughly cold guy. Because he was praised by a similar genius since he was a child, and because he was the first child of his parents, he was expected and consciously expected to have high achievements in the future, and he worked hard to practice judo and swordsmanship from the age of five, and was taught military theory by his father, and then worked hard in various courses in the boys' middle school, and has always been the champion of various sports activities in the school, and he completed the four-year course of others in only two years in the military school, and the result of all his efforts is just to realize that lofty dream. Become the best professional soldier with great honor in Imperial Japan!

The ideal seemed to be easily attained when he set foot on the land of Moss Bay. When rushing towards the enemy. Indeed, the thrill of striking control has deadly sent man's vanity to its highest point. He thought that this was the ultimate realization of the ideal, but the fluttering opium-like pleasure did not last long before he was struck down by the unforgiving reality.

It is only when one falls to the ground that one realizes that reality is so ugly. The dreams of glorious Imperial servicemen were put into doubt. As the inheritor of the old-school soldiers' thinking, Ito found the woman in the wounded barracks for people to have fun, and like many soldiers who only want to fight for the future of the empire, he hated this ugly scene, believing that it was these indiscriminate things that slowly caused the empire's army to slowly decay, and also caused the entire empire to go to shameful decay. A despicable health captain actually said shamelessly that these women were all family members of the enemy. You can do whatever you want with them!

On that occasion, he even shot the health captain in a fit of rage. It's so damning! They were not only with the people of Mowan Shengfan and Qianguo, but also with their own wounded. Someone actually took advantage of the wounded to get out of the line of fire and was seriously injured, and plundered the property of the wounded, what is the difference between the robber? How can people be despicable like this? Is the image of the Imperial soldier so filthy? It is said that the cadres take women and children with them wherever they go, but what is the difference between us and them?

Bitterness makes people miserable, but what can he change when he is soft-spoken? The longer the war dragged on, the more despair and boredom creasured throughout the ranks of the soldiers, and the more people were killed, the more the ugly desires swelled like never before, and the fear of imminent death made people lose their minds. Become wild and hooligan and fall into the abyss of despicable and depraved sin. In that last moment of life, there was something to grasp and something not to grasp. Many young beings have been driven from the countryside to fight on the land of Moss Bay without even touching the girl's hand, and they have to get satisfaction from the captive women before they can die in peace, if there are no women then they will rob and kill, fear and despair will uproot the ugly and despicable bad nature - everything has gone out of control, and they will never kill with the same restraint as before, as long as they are Moss Bay people, whether they are armed or not, they will shoot without blinking an eye, Even if some of them are very much like your brothers, your parents? A bunch of cowardly and despicable fellows who have only ambition and no real great heart!

The divine ideal of glory was destroyed the moment the bullet struck him and caused him to fall face down to the ground, and the moment his life was about to be destroyed. Those who have died once dragged their seriously injured bodies to the only instinct of survival in those seven days of running for survival in the land and wilderness. The black water was full of deadly locusts, and in the swamp of the forest sea were three mosquitoes that could be used as dishes, and under the snow-white reed flowers were four-legged gray lizards that scurried in and in, and cut them down with a single swing of a knife, only the tail of the lizard scorpion was there to beat in despair like a man. During the seven days of empty and lonely escape, there was only one question on my mind, and that was how to survive. The cadres hiding in the forest and the sea are not terrible in the grass, but the terrible thing is that hunger is malaria and black water that may be poisoned if you drink it. In the dark night with stars, when he lay alone on the branches to rest, he gradually understood that he could no longer be a glorious samurai, and his ideals were gradually shattered, slowly shrinking like a balloon, that arrogant and unrealistic ideal! It's just what's the point of living, why live? Ideals are like beliefs, once they collapse, they will be difficult to hold up. Loyalty is death, bushido is death. In a fit of rage, he even picked up the barrel of the gun. Is it just a silent death in an empty and uninhabited wilderness? Shoot yourself to death, like those soldiers who have been killed, and then be thrown into the wilderness to be eaten by hungry wild dogs...... No, it must not be! He is not reconciled, this is the end of my death in the wilderness? How many soldiers died inexplicably and cruelly like this, and when they died, they didn't even have a name left, no, this is not my end, I want to live, no matter what!

That day, he finally didn't shoot himself, but without an ideal body like a walking corpse without spirit, after being rescued in the wounded soldier hospital, he never had the spirit to face today's sunshine, like all soldiers, disgusted with the reality that he might die soon, and only thought about the good life in his hometown, those memories that seemed extremely dull before, have become the best memories at this moment.

In the end, the army suffered a complete defeat, and he was taken prisoner of the cadres along with many soldiers until the end of the war, when he returned to Japan.

However, he and all the soldiers of the conscription army did not expect that after returning to Japan, they were not only stigmatized as "thieves", "dry agents", and "traitors", but many people were also tried by military tribunals and thrown into prison!

Although Ito was not tried and imprisoned in the end, but was deprived of his military position and returned to his hometown without a penny, the imprint of shame and hatred was already deeply imprinted in his heart.

This is also why when Saigo Takashi was in a grand event, he did not hesitate to join the Satsuma samurai. (To be continued......)

PS: Ask for collection! Ask for recommendations! Ask for a subscription! Click! Ask for a commuter pass!