Time passed, and another three days went by.
Saigo, with his remaining three ships, sailed at full speed and finally arrived at Chuanxi Port.
Upon setting foot on land, Saigo Ryo dared not rest. He immediately led his men on horseback, embarking on the journey to the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
Japan is not vast, and the Kyoto Imperial Palace is only a day's journey from Kawanishi Port. As night fell, Saigo Ryo, who had been traveling in a hurry, finally arrived at the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
At this moment, in the side hall of the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
The candlelight flickered slightly, and a somber atmosphere filled the hall.
Wearing a yellow-dyed imperial robe and a crown with standing tassels, Emperor Akihito stared coldly at Saigo kneeling on the ground.
Saigo knelt on the ground, his face pale and his body trembling slightly.
On either side of him stood several ministers, all with solemn expressions, their cold eyes making Saigo feel extremely uneasy.
"Before they even landed, they were defeated, and only three ships of men managed to escape."
You've disappointed me so much!!!
Emperor Akihito was not tall, only five feet, but at this moment he exuded an aura of majesty. As he finished speaking, Saigo hurriedly said:
"Your Majesty, it is not that we are incompetent!"
"I really didn't expect that they... they had already occupied Shawan Port, catching us completely off guard, which led to our defeat!"
"What's more, we clearly saw Miura at the port! That Kentaro Miura! He betrayed us!"
Akihito's face was full of anger. He glared at Saigo and shouted:
"A defeat is a defeat!"
"What excuses are there? If you had been more cautious, how could you have suffered such a crushing defeat?!"
"Saigo, I have high hopes for you this time!" Akihito's eyes narrowed, and his voice grew increasingly cold.
Saigo felt a pang of anxiety and retorted:
"Your Majesty, you should know that Murata and his men were defeated long ago."
"After General Ito arrived, I assumed they were still locked in fierce battle with the Yan Kingdom's troops. There was no way the port could have been captured in such a short time!"
"How could I have imagined that we would be ambushed by them so soon after arriving in Yan Kingdom?!"
"This is really not our fault. If General Ito had not been defeated, or had not been defeated so quickly, we would not have been defeated so easily."
"This...this really isn't because we're incompetent!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Saigo Jun, who was standing to the side, turned ashen-faced, but coughed lightly.
On the other side, Yamanaka Takuma's face was flushed, his fists were clenched, and his body was trembling slightly.
Saigo's hasty return was accompanied by the news that his son, Yamanakajima, had died at sea—no, not only his son, but also the samurai!
Previously, Murata had taken a considerable number of troops with him when he went to Yan Kingdom, and now his son had taken another batch, but they all died in battle one after another.
In addition, his eldest son, Hidehito Yamanaka, was still in Kogoro Province, and he had brought quite a few troops with him. On Iwo Jima, although the main force was Sakamoto's men, he had also sent some troops himself.
Thus, on their home turf, most of their troops consisted of new recruits who had only been in the army for a few years, with veterans making up only a minority.
Now, the campaign against Yan Kingdom has resulted in repeated defeats, with most of the dead being veterans. Although people in the country are constantly joining the army and the military strength is increasing daily, the number of casualties in the past month is simply unimaginable!
The battle losses are truly terrifying!
In the beginning, the war in the East China Sea went very smoothly before we went to Yan Kingdom. Although there were some casualties, they were negligible and completely within our tolerance.
In the very beginning, they won every battle. If they had continued to fight with the momentum, conquering the entire Yan Kingdom would have been a natural outcome.
But after Qin Ze led his army to the East China Sea, the battles that followed were completely different!
Including the most recent battle, three waves of troops have been sent and all have been defeated. Saigo's crushing defeat undoubtedly means that Ito Sumiyoshi and his army have also been completely wiped out!
Yamanaka Toma took a deep breath. At this moment, he had no time to think about the grief of losing his child. What lingered in his mind was a strong sense of crisis!
Whether it was the Great Gan of the past or the Yan Kingdom of today, it has always been a behemoth!
Previously, it was thought that Da Gan was weak and had declined, but now it seems that even a centipede with a hundred legs does not die easily!
No! That's not all!
To be precise, this is a behemoth that is recovering!
These battles are signaling that it is recovering, or rather, recovering in an extremely terrifying way!
He knows the Yan Kingdom and its people too well.
If this behemoth were to return to its former state, there would be no doubt that it would unleash its fury, for on that vast land there are people far more numerous than those of Fusang.
in this way........
"Buzz—"
As he thought of this, a buzzing sound suddenly came to Yamanaka Toma's mind.
He swayed for a moment, and it took him two breaths to regain his footing.
No one noticed Yamanaka Takatsumi's unusual behavior; at that moment, everyone in the hall was focused on Saigo Ryo, who was constantly trying to explain himself.
Saigo's face flushed red as he kept arguing that the defeat was not his fault, while Emperor Akihito's expression grew increasingly grim.
He was furious.
To conquer the Yan Kingdom, to make it our future home, and to make this vast land of Yan belong to Fusang—this has been the long-cherished wish of every emperor for thousands of years!
Now that it's my turn in this era, I've finally found an opportunity to conquer the Yan Kingdom.
But now... not only have they failed to completely conquer even the East Sea, they have also been defeated one after another, and hundreds of thousands of people have died in Yan Kingdom!
"call--"
Akihito clenched his fists, exhaled a breath of stale air, a strong sense of defeat lingered in his heart, and anger continued to fester, but there was nowhere to vent it.
At this moment, Saigo Ryo's voice continued to come:
"Your Majesty! In my humble opinion, we cannot continue fighting against the Yan Kingdom!"
"Sending more men there will only result in more deaths!"
"The Yan Kingdom's army is completely different from what it used to be!"
"Your Majesty! We shouldn't have gone to Yan Kingdom this time. Too many people have died! This... this is impossible to fight! We can't even win a single battle now, let alone conquer the entire Yan Kingdom."
"If this continues, I'm afraid even if we send all our people to Yan Kingdom, we still can't afford to lose them!"
Saigo continued speaking, one sentence after another.
The ministers remained silent, most with their heads bowed and brows furrowed in worry. Saigo Hayato quickly gave his son a meaningful look, but Saigo Ryo seemed oblivious.
“Your Majesty, look…” Saigo Ryo was still talking.
Akihito's face was now as cold as frost. Saigo's words made him even angrier. He stood up from the throne with a gloomy face.
Then, he grabbed a short knife from the knife rack and threw it violently off the stage.
"Just kill yourself!"
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