The Guards Fleet was sailing in the rough Bashi Channel, and even the 1,300-ton Jiangnan was still shaking violently.
The huge warship was repeatedly thrown up and then fell heavily on the sea. The turbid waves were so large that they could easily pass over the high deck and submerge the entire ship, leaving only half of the mast exposed.
But the marine officers and soldiers didn't care. They were used to the wind and waves and knew that this level of test would not be able to withstand the sturdy steel-clad wooden hull. They only needed to lower the topsail, secure everything on the ship, and arrange the duty. The rest of the people could hide in the cabin and entertainment room and enjoy themselves.
In the luxurious commander-in-chief suite on the stern deck of the Jiangnan, the lights on the wall were bright and stable, not affected by the turbulence at all.
Yes, it's a light.
The application of radio has led to the continuous improvement of battery technology. The continuous improvement of battery performance has made it possible to use electric lights for lighting. This is easy to achieve in theory - when current passes through the filament, heat is generated, causing the temperature of the filament to continue to rise, just like red-hot iron can emit light and emit light.
But under the blockade of Zhao Hao's finite generation difference theory, it is still a long way to go before electric lights illuminate the night of this world. Therefore, the Institute of Taoism and Law did not spend too much effort on this, and only made a few light bulbs for the institute and Zhao Hao to enjoy privately.
The light in Zhao Hao's room is made of a carbonized bamboo filament in a vacuum glass bottle, which can last for 500 hours. Although it is a bit troublesome to change the light bulb every two months, he doesn't have to change it, so he is happy to use it.
At this time, Jin Ke, Zhu Jue and Ma Yinglong, the three giants of the Coast Guard, gathered together, but no one was interested in electric lights.
They had long been accustomed to the commander-in-chief's endless new inventions, and they thought this thing was mediocre.
There was no way. Ever since the magical radio came out, their threshold had been so high that they would not be surprised by anything Zhao Hao took out.
At this time, Zhao Hao was sitting alone on his beloved single rhino leather sofa, smoking and talking with the three people.
"So, are the officers and soldiers very emotional after hearing the 'retreat southward order'?" Zhao Hao was smoking his willow wood pipe, with a thick beard growing around his lips, making him look more like a kind father.
"Yes." Zhu Jue nodded and smiled bitterly, "Everyone is asking why we should listen to the court? The old emperor has a few ships, so we have to do whatever he tells us to do."
"Indeed, there are even more violent ones." Ma Yinglong nodded, and skillfully cut the cigar head with a cigar cutter, saying: "At the heart-to-heart talks among the ships, a large number of officers and soldiers said that they should just rebel. Why should they endure the humiliation of that damn emperor?"
"We still need to make it clear to the officers and soldiers that we retract our fists in order to strike out. If we don't clear the North Sea, how can Toyotomi Hideyoshi make up his mind to stretch out his black **?" Zhao Hao took a light puff of his pipe.
"It's not easy to do this kind of ideological work now." Jin Ke is also in his sixties. His gray hair, bronze skin and deep wrinkles are the marks of his hard work. But his back is still straight, and he always maintains an impeccable military posture.
"In recent years, the coast guard fleets in various war zones have bullied people all over the world, and they have all become arrogant and brave generals who are happy to hear about war. When faced with a tough battle, they write blood letters to ask for battle, and rush to the front. When they need to be patient and retreat, they are full of complaints, say strange things, and are as irritable as Monkey King who is the horse keeper."
"Oh, you also read "Journey to the West"? " Zhao Hao couldn't help but envy. It would be worth it for a writer to have such a magical book that has been passed down through the ages.
"Haha, we are all watching." Jin Ke and the other two nodded and laughed.
"The most popular cartoon in the army right now is 'Havoc in Heaven'. Everyone asks, when can we also make 'Havoc in Heaven'?" Ma Yinglong lit his cigar with a lighter and asked with a smile.
"Hahaha, I finally understand." Zhao Hao pointed at Ma Yinglong with the butt of his pipe and laughed out loud, "Why are the grassroots commanders so impatient? The root cause lies with you leaders. You yourselves like the fighting, howling troops, so they are so belligerent!"
"Hehe, the army should be belligerent. This is a shortcoming that cannot be corrected..." Ma Yinglong touched his head and said with pride.
"Hahaha!" The four of them burst into laughter again.
"But no matter what, our retreat is still useful." Zhao Hao smiled and handed a letter to the three people, saying, "I just received this."
When the three of them saw that the letter began with "Your Excellency Father", they knew without even looking at the signature that it was a letter from the commander-in-chief's good son, the Japanese great Zhao Jiakang.
~~
Ieyasu's letter said that Toyotomi Hideyoshi had learned that the Emperor of the Celestial Empire had re-imposed a maritime ban, and that all the fleets under the ban had been withdrawn, and even the Iwami Silver Mine and the Sado Gold Mine had been abandoned...
This made Monkey ecstatic. Just as Zhao Hao expected, after pacifying the three islands of Japan, he began to daydream about invading the mainland.
"As long as I live, I will bring the Tang territory into my territory." Toyotomi Hideyoshi made this bold statement in public not long ago.
In fact, Hideyoshi had wanted to do this a few years ago, instead of doing boring and troublesome things like land inspection and sword hunting.
However, his younger brother and right-hand man Toyotomi Hidenaga kept admonishing him: "Years of foreign wars have cost countless men, horses, food and money, and the people are not convinced. What we have gained is not as much as what we have lost. Therefore, using more diplomatic means to make foreign countries submit and focusing more on domestic affairs is the best way to enrich the country and strengthen the army."
But Hidenaga, the only person who could stop Hideyoshi, died of illness not long ago, leaving Monkey without any resistance. He could finally realize his ultimate dream of first annexing Korea and then destroying the Ming Dynasty!
Of course, Hideyoshi was definitely not a fool, as he was able to grow from an ugly farmer to the master of Japan.
Before deciding to invade Korea, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was always cautious, had weighed the pros and cons for a long time.
No matter how he thought about it, he felt that the prospects of this war were very optimistic. At least the war of aggression against Korea was a sure victory.
Monkey's confidence is not groundless. The three islands of Japan have just ended the Warring States Period that lasted for a hundred years in his hands. It is no exaggeration to say that every citizen has become a soldier.
Now he has millions of brave soldiers under his command, all of whom are experienced in battles. Among them are large-scale musket troops, and they have mastered the three-stage attack tactics.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Japanese army's combat effectiveness, equipment tactics, and combat experience were all at their peak. No wonder the monkey would become so inflated that he thought he was King Kong.
And their opponent in this war, North Korea, is simply the worst of the worst - the worst of the worst.
Since the Li Dynasty settled down to be a good son of the Ming Dynasty, it basically never fought a war. As the saying goes, "During the two hundred years of peace, the people did not know how to fight." Their army was just like the Ming Dynasty's garrisons.
The Li Dynasty not only had the same shortcomings as the Ming Dynasty, but also had more shortcomings. For example, they entered a brutal era of party struggles several decades earlier than the Ming Dynasty, and the eastern, western, southern and northern parties fought each other to the death.
In addition, they still retained the samurai system. The descendants of the yangban nobles would always be nobles, and the descendants of the untouchables would always be untouchables...
In short, the Joseon Dynasty perfectly demonstrated to the world what a mess an East Asian country would become without any external pressure.
No wonder Toyotomi Hideyoshi could not stop thinking about them, they were a piece of cake!
However, when beating a dog, you have to consider the owner first, let alone beating someone else's son. You have to think about whether you can beat his father.
Compared with Korea, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's understanding of the Ming Dynasty was very limited.
Because the Japanese of that era were short and ugly, and were a completely different race from the Chinese, it was difficult to send spies to infiltrate the Ming Dynasty for spying.
Their sources of intelligence about the Celestial Empire were Japanese pirates and Tang merchants. These two types of people disappeared after the rise of the Coast Guard Fleet, and Zhao Hao began to strictly block the news.
Therefore, Monkey's understanding of the imperial army is still at the level of the small group of Japanese pirates who came to the coast of Ming Dynasty to rob and enter the land as if they were in no man's land. The son follows the father, so it is reasonable that they are as bad as North Korea.
The only thing Toyotomi Hideyoshi was worried about was the Coast Guard Fleet. The Battle of Kanmon Strait twenty years ago and the destruction of Kuki Yoshitaka's ironclad ship twelve years ago left a deep impression on him.
However, the only obstacle seemed to have lost interest in the Japanese three islands with a large population and a small land area, and shifted its focus to the South China Sea more than a decade ago. Later, the number of coast guard warships appearing in Japanese waters decreased year by year, and the three-island ban was also in name only.
The fact that his army crossed the Seto Inland Sea to pacify Shikoku, and crossed the Kanmon Strait to conquer Kyushu, both did not encounter interference from the Coast Guard warships!
It's ridiculous that Lord Tokugawa shamelessly accepted his godfather, but the godfather abandoned his godson in the blink of an eye...
However, Hideyoshi, who was cautious by nature, was still worried that once his army crossed the sea, the Joseon Dynasty would definitely ask the Ming Dynasty for help. What if the emperor of the Celestial Empire ordered the coast guard fleet to go north and block the Tsushima Strait?
At that time, his army not only lost its logistics and support, but also could not retreat. That situation was too dangerous - this was also an important reason why Hidenaga opposed him.
However, at this time, the Emperor of the Celestial Empire actually abolished his military power and re-imposed a maritime ban! The Coast Guard Fleet was also declared illegal and disbanded within a time limit... Although they are unlikely to be so obedient, they will definitely not obey the orders of the Emperor of the Celestial Empire anymore, and may even rebel directly!
In short, the biggest obstacle on Hideyoshi's road to invasion of Korea disappeared just like that.
Things went so smoothly that he even started to wonder if there was a trick going on. Did China know that I was going to attack North Korea and deliberately lure them out?
The monkey thought, "That's impossible. I have never publicly expressed my intention to attack North Korea. How would the Celestial Empire know about it?"
In the end, Nobunaga could only attribute his success to the blessing of Amaterasu. He even suspected that he was the illegitimate son of Amaterasu. This life of success seemed to be arranged by someone in secret.
So Hideyoshi went to Ise Shrine in person to offer sacrifices and conduct divination, and received the revelation that "the Three Kingdoms will be unified". Now he made up his mind completely, summoned daimyo such as Ieyasu and Mori Terumoto, and announced his plan to annex Korea with the whole country's strength!
The daimyo was worried that the Celestial Empire would send troops to aid Korea, so he said contemptuously: "The Ming Dynasty is a country of long robes and big sleeves, it can't withstand a single blow!"
The invasion of Korea became a foregone conclusion.
p.s. Write another chapter.