Chapter 115: Decisive Battle (Part 1)
Since February 28th, when the Emperor Xingxian came into close combat with the shogunate warships, the maritime situation between China and Japan has become extremely tense and on the verge of breaking out. However, this naval confrontation was very subtle, showing characteristics that were very different from previous national wars: until the contradictions were completely intensified, neither China nor Japan declared war, nor did they even show any signs of entering a state of war. If we examine the administrative records of both sides, we will find that until Emperor Xingxian fought a fierce battle with the Japanese, the Japanese shogunate still had not figured out who their enemy was. They just wishfully believed that it was the revenge of the Zhejiang government for the previous invasion of Japanese pirates, but the revenge was particularly strong. As for Da'an, which was said to have "initiated a war against Japan" - judging from the schedule of the Tongzhengshisi, the focus of the Da'an court at that time was to mobilize the six ministries to impeach the prince of Duke Mu.
Therefore, this Sino-Japanese naval battle was also called the Blind and Foolish Battle by later generations. Among them, the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan was "blind". It did not know what it was fighting against until it was slapped in the face. It was in confusion and ignorance throughout the whole process. Such blindness was enough to be laughed at by future generations, but compared with its opponent, the Da'an Central Government, which was called "stupid", it was nothing - according to the notes and memorials of officials at the time, until the end of the naval battle, the Da'an court might not have known that it had actually fought a war with the Japanese. At that time, the civil servants were all busy cleaning up Duke Mu's mansion.
One is blind, the other is foolish; one does not know who the enemy is, the other simply does not know that the war has begun. This was the wonderful matching mechanism of the East Asian region at that time. The passionate collision between Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick was so charming.
It is precisely because of this that the process of the war between the two sides seems so absurd, funny and incredible. For example, later historians have made great fuss about the significance of the so-called "Xingxian Emperor" intercepting the warship and the "First Battle between China and Japan", but they always avoid the specific details of the battle; and according to the captain's recollection (an old sailor who knew a little about paperwork, his record is quite credible), when the sailors who had never seen the world first came into contact with the Japanese warship, they were actually "very surprised" and "in chaos", and hurried to keep their distance to prevent any accidents. As a result, a novice made an operational error and accidentally launched the Feixuan Zhenjun prepared on the deck. More than a dozen rockets came out and actually blew the surrounding warship into a sea of fire. The panicked sailors looked at each other in confusion, and only then did they "suddenly realize" what was happening amid the explosion and screams.
The so-called blind and foolish war is probably at this level.
But no matter how weaklings fight each other, they still have to fight; the weird performances of both sides will be recorded in history forever, and the impact will be immeasurable. Here, we will only list the major events in the naval battle:
On March 5, the Empress Koken, which was out on patrol, encountered the warships of the Saga Domain and a fierce battle broke out again, and the Saga Domain was defeated. All the daimyo in Japan were shocked. On the same day, the anti-Mu Zheng trend in the Da'an court reached its peak. The impeachment memorial went through all the procedures and was finally submitted to the six ministries for public discussion. The news leaked and public opinion was surging and indecisive.
On March 18, the Emperor Xingxian, on another cruise, encountered a merchant ship transporting swords from Luzon to Kumamoto and Fukuoka. In accordance with the "Navigation Regulations" promulgated by the cabinet (drafted by Hanlin Academician Zhang Taiyue and Ministry of Works Vice Minister Yan Donglou), it was temporarily detained. When the news reached Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate prepared to convene powerful vassal states to discuss the overall situation. At the same time, the six ministries of Da'an had been arguing for many days and had decided on the crime. They believed that the Prince of Mu was "arrogant and confused" and had committed countless faults. They suggested that he be dismissed from all his positions, expelled from the capital and exiled to Nanjing, and handed over to his father for custody; all his accomplices were imprisoned.
On March 25, the Emperor Xingxian and Empress Xingxian, which were converted from Portuguese flagships, were reassembled into a fleet and cruised over a thousand miles from the East China Sea to the South China Sea, completely cutting off the trade route from the Spanish colonies to the Japanese mainland. The navigation technology at that time was still not developed enough. In the open seas where there was a lack of coordinates and hydrological data, bulky merchant ships could only sail along a few specific routes. Once these routes were controlled, even if the ocean was vast and boundless, it would be difficult to travel freely.
This is a clever strategy to control logistics and surround and attack the reinforcements. As long as we can continue to control the trade routes, the Japanese pirates can be surrounded and killed. In fact, the makeshift fleet was so effective that it indeed nailed down the lifeline of Japan's vital arms trade and caused turmoil that the shogunate could hardly cope with. But this war between the Crouching Dragon and the Phoenix was as stable as ever - after intercepting the logistics for more than half a month, Qi Yuanjing, who was ordered to command the naval battle, had to adjust his strategy, withdraw the fleet, and prepare for a large-scale decisive battle.
This change was not due to strategic failure, but purely due to tactical incompetence. In order to prepare for coastal defense, Prince Mu recruited a large number of workers in the suburbs of the capital and Tianjin to manufacture firearms, and produced a huge amount of rockets and gunpowder at all costs. But even such expensive firearms could not withstand the consumption of naval battles - the sailors who drove the warships had no experience in naval combat at all. They could only pour gunpowder madly and rely on the advantages of their equipment to win victory. As a result, the number of rockets wasted in indiscriminate firing far exceeded estimates, so that even the stock was not enough.
In the words of Ruwang, who was observing the naval battle, the Chinese way of thinking about warfare was simply "an atrophied brain directing muscular limbs that could only wave their fists around randomly"; it's just that the fists were too big and too powerful, so even a turtle punch was enough to kill the master.
However, this kind of punching method wastes too much energy and cannot be sustained at all. If they launch a siege war to cut off foreign aid, the Rockets' reserves may be exhausted first. Therefore, after a long debate, Qi Yuanjing, Yu Zhifu and others adjusted their strategy, gathered the warships and supplies in their hands, and prepared to cross the ocean to attack the nest and eliminate the root.
This is a helpless measure, a stupid move forced by reality. The warships were assembled to gather combat power, with flags covering the sky and oars spanning thousands of miles, which reminded people of the flag that Cao Mengde had set in front of Chibi. Not only was there no beauty of strategic planning, but the Portuguese warships also completely lost all the advantages of agility and convenience. They were simply a matter of overpowering others with force. But the inexperienced sailors were clumsy and foolish, and it was difficult for them to arrange any tactics, so they could only use this iron chain trick.
It was after this decision was made that the biggest disagreement in history emerged. According to Da'an's official history books, after more than half a month of discussion, on April 22, the six ministries and the cabinet jointly issued a document, strongly accusing the Prince of Mu of his previous illegal behavior in extremely harsh terms, and ordered the three judicial departments to hold a joint trial and determine the charges. After receiving the official document, the prince of Duke Mu, who was wandering between Shandong and Tianjin, behaved quite frightened and docile. He saluted solemnly in front of the document, expressing that he deeply understood the intention of the court to reward the good and punish the evil and maintain discipline, and was determined to deeply reflect on his past mistakes and never dare to disobey. Afterwards, the prince imprisoned himself in an abandoned temple somewhere on the outskirts of Denglai, Shandong, where he reflected on his mistakes behind closed doors and waited quietly for the court's decision.
——This is the official version that has been circulated for hundreds of years since the discovery of "Ruwang Diary". For hundreds of years, Mu's image of being weak, timid and indifferent was also shaped by this version.
But in "Ruwang Diary", another version of the facts is recorded. Ruwang spent a lot of space recording the naval battle, and solemnly pointed out that the prince, who seemed docile and obedient and followed the court's instructions in everything, did not abide by the discipline at all; in fact, on the second day of the so-called "closed-door reflection", the prince quietly slipped out of the temple, changed his name to "Mu Qi", boarded the ready-to-go Emperor Xingxian, and headed straight to Japan for the decisive battle to plow the court and sweep the holes.
"This is the most important battle, and we must bet everything on it." The prince told Ru Wang on the boat: "If we lose this battle, even if I repent in the temple until the sea dries up and the rocks crumble, the court will not let me go, right? On the contrary, if we win this battle, I will certainly not let them go--"
After saying that, he vomited again with a "wow" sound.
·
On May 22, after a month-long journey, the fleet sailed downstream with the wind and headed straight for Edo Castle.
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