Chapter 760: The Samurai Sword of Daming (Fourth update, please subscribe)
April 1875 was the season when cherry blossoms were in full bloom. In previous years, this was the time when people on the Japanese archipelago would enjoy the cherry blossoms, but at that time Japan was in the midst of a civil war.
As the New Year was about to pass, the invasion of Britain, the United States and the United States reduced the Japanese attention to the civil war to a certain extent, but when the British, the United States and the United States withdrew, the civil war broke out again.
April 1st is April Fools’ Day.
On this day, nearly 10,000 Ming expeditionary forces boarded transport ships and arrived at the Wakayama coast under the cover of the fleet.
After the fleet arrived, at noon, the fleet led by the "Zhenyuan" launched an artillery attack on Wakayama. All the warships supporting the landing battle fired hundreds of cannons at a rate of less than one round every two seconds, shaking the sea like a huge wave.
Every time a shot was fired, there was a loud bang on the warship, causing the hull to shake and waves to surge all around.
After the first round of artillery fire, the simple artillery fort at Wakayama was completely destroyed. In front of the 12-inch cannon, the old-fashioned artillery fort was simply vulnerable. Then came the sporadic bombardment. The deafening booms of the cannons were clearly defined one after another, and it sounded like a train flying through the sky, whistling in the air, then falling on the ground, and then setting off a violent explosion on the ground.
In the explosion, houses collapsed.
Some houses caught fire in the explosion, and balls of red flames shot up into the sky, illuminating a corner of the coast. Several shells hit the center of the flames, causing the flames to shoot up even higher, and thick black and red smoke billowed straight into the sky.
The artillery fire hit the coast of Wakayama as if it had peeled off a layer of skin. It was not until this time that the troops began to land on the Shiozu coast on the south side of Wakayama. The whole process encountered no resistance at all - in the fierce bombardment, almost all the defenders of the artillery positions on the shore were killed. Even for the few lucky ones who survived, the violent explosion of the twelve-inch shells blew away their souls. They were so scared that they all fled in all directions. There was no resistance left.
"You are truly worthy of being called the Heavenly Soldier of the Celestial Empire!"
Aritomo Yamagata, who was standing on the deck and witnessed the bombardment, said in shock.
"Commander Zhao, with the mighty military power of the Ming Dynasty, we will surely win this battle!"
In response to Yamagata Aritomo's compliment, Zhao Zhiqiu smiled.
"This is also the good battle plan made by General Yamagata. He used mobile forces to land behind the Tokugawa Army and cooperate with the Nagoya Garrison, so that they would be attacked from both sides. This is a very good plan..."
It's just a compliment.
What is the attack from behind? It is just a roundabout way to attack. The Ming Dynasty is an old expert in this. However, in Japan, it changed to landing in the rear and launching an attack from the rear. However, unlike the plan made by Yamagata, the Ming Dynasty's plan is to attack the dragon directly - attack Wakayama, which is the foundation of Tokugawa Shigenori.
Although the two have different plans, the compliments are mutual. After all, they will be serving as ministers in the same palace in the future.
"General, thank you for your praise. Although the plan is good, it cannot keep up with the changes!"
When talking about the changes, Aritomo Yamagata, the former Japanese Army Adviser, felt extremely heavy-hearted. He formulated a plan of "attacking the army from behind", and it was this plan that dragged Japan into a desperate situation.
First, the Hiroshima garrison was completely wiped out by the British Navy, and then Britain and the United States invaded Tokyo... Japan!
Maybe this is God's will!
Fortunately, now there is a stronger person who has become the ruler of Japan. Although he knew that the Ming Dynasty was strong, Yamagata Aritomo was still a little curious about how the Ming army fought.
"I just don't know how the general plans to fight next?"
"Nothing else, just crushing with ease!"
After saying this, Zhao Zhiqiu, the commander of the special expeditionary force who had led his troops to Ryukyu more than a year ago, smiled.
"Five days!"
"What?"
"Defeat Tokugawa Shigeharu within five days!"
Faced with such confident words, Aritomo Yamagata was dumbfounded. What was he talking about?
Five days?
Looking at the Ming army landing, Aritomo Yamagata gave a special reminder.
"Sir, Tokugawa Shigemura has more than 50,000 troops under his command."
"That's perfect. With such superior forces, they will definitely take the initiative to attack! That way we can catch them all in one fell swoop!"
Before Zhao Zhiqiu finished speaking, a staff officer reported.
"Reporting to the commander, the reconnaissance airship has discovered the movements of the Tokugawa army. They have built fortifications in the Osaka area, which is less than six kilometers from the coast."
“Osaka…”
Zhao Zhiqiu thought about the place name and then said.
"Telegram to your Majesty, my troops will be in..."
Looking at his watch, Zhao Zhiqiu said.
"Tomorrow morning at 5:00, we will launch a general attack on Osaka. It is expected that we will capture it within 48 hours!"
What is self-confidence? This is self-confidence.
However, for Emperor Zhu, he didn't care about Tokugawa Shigenari's life or death at all, because this guy was doomed to die.
In addition to Zhao Zhiqiu's special expeditionary force transferred from Ryukyu, the Third Army Division that accompanied Emperor Zhu in person set out from Tokyo and joined the so-called "Tokyo Garrison" to reinforce Nagoya. Together with the garrison of Nagoya, Emperor Zhu had deployed as many as 32,000 troops. Even if 17,000 of them were Japanese soldiers, this was the first time that the Ming Dynasty had been attacked by such a superior force!
When did the Ming Army ever bully others by relying on its superior numbers?
Using 14,000 elite Ming troops to fight Tokugawa... is simply using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. If it weren't for the fact that Emperor Zhu needed a great victory, or if he wanted to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys and let the Japanese see the power of the Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid he wouldn't have attacked so hard at all.
When receiving Zhao Zhiqiu's telegram, Emperor Zhu sighed.
"Even if we win, it's still an unbeatable victory!"
For Tokugawa Shigemitsu, he would have been so depressed if he knew that in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, he was just a chicken. However, this is how the world is. Some people are chickens, born to be killed for monkeys, and some people are monkeys.
Chickens have their own fate, but what about monkeys?
Monkeys also have the fate of monkeys.
Tokugawa Shigenari is the chicken, and Saigo Moritaka is the monkey.
It was a monkey that Emperor Zhu was determined to tame.
When Zhao Zhiqiu's special dispatched army attacked Osaka, Emperor Zhu was in Tokyo... no, it should be Edo.
There is no Japan in the world anymore, and of course there is no Tokyo either.
Let’s just call it Edo!
This name is not very good either!
In fact, this is also to take into account the feelings of local people. Otherwise, it can be changed to some names such as Zhenwo.
However, since Japan did not change the place names of Korea to Japanese ones when it occupied Korea, the tolerance of the Ming Dynasty cannot be inferior to that of the little Japan.
Well, let’s just call him Edo.
He was admiring the cherry blossoms, but he was not drunk with Hu Ji. There was no other way. After getting used to the big foreign horses, Emperor Zhu really looked down on the Japanese girls who were less than 1.5 meters tall with bow legs. He even felt a sense of guilt.
Still the long legs of foreign horses are better!
"Xiang, what choice do you think your brother will make?"
In response to His Majesty's question, Saigo Jōdō pondered for a moment and then spoke.
"Your Majesty, I don't know what choice my brother will make, but Your Majesty, everything Longsheng did was for the ordinary samurai. He was..."
When the words "loyal to the emperor" were on the tip of his tongue, Saigo Tsumichi took them back.
Now that there is no emperor, what’s the point of talking about loyalty to the emperor?
Emperor Zhu didn't care about Saigo Takamori's hesitant words. At the moment, he cared more about Saigo Takamori. After all, if this guy surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, then other Japanese samurai would naturally surrender to the Ming Dynasty. After all, to a certain extent, Saigo Takamori is now the idol of many Japanese lower-class samurai.
"Congdao, go tell Longsheng that I am going to recruit 200,000 samurai. His idea can only become a reality with me. If he really cares about the interests of the lower-class samurai, he should come to Edo to see me!"
(End of this chapter)
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