1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 274 Strategies against Japan

"What happens after you're caught?"

Liang Yao was speechless at Miller's words and once wondered how Miller managed to get the position of captain in the navy.

"The purpose of our visit to Japan is called an expedition, but in fact our purpose is not to government Japan, but to open up Japan's market and engage in fair and free trade with us."

Although Liang Yao didn't have a good impression of Japan as a country, he still stayed awake.

It is certainly possible to attack Kyoto and Edo and capture the emperor's general alive.

But this is not the best choice. His purpose of coming to Japan now is for economic benefits, not to conquer Japan.

Japan is not small, the United States and California are not big, and their strength is not very strong. It is impossible to conquer Japan like the British conquered India.

Furthermore, even if Japan wants to fight, it must do so quickly. Delaying the war for a long time will not be good for Fillmore's re-election.

"Miller! Shut up!"

Perrier thought Miller's remarks were ridiculous and told Miller to shut up.

Perry stared at the fragmented map of Japan. He was one of the few people in the top management of the United States who knew the Far East, but Perry knew that his understanding of the Far East was not as good as Liang Yao's.

Although the two had some differences in some aspects, such as the Formosa issue, in the face of major issues related to national interests, Perry still put down his dignity and humbly expressed his gratitude to the man in front of him who was inferior to him in terms of age, qualifications, and military rank.

The Army Colonel asked for advice.

"Colonel Liang, I want to hear your opinion." Perry poured a glass of rum for Liang Yao and asked for Liang Yao's opinion.

"Control Japanese with Japanese!" Liang Yao took the rum from Perry, "The southwestern vassals are at odds with the Edo shogunate. This is beneficial to us and can be exploited. These places are also relatively economically developed in Japan.

The atmosphere is also relatively open, especially in Nagasaki on Kyushu Island!”

This was Liang Yao's prediction of Japan. If Japan was founded, after the United States, other European powers would also come one after another.

Just like after the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, France and the United States followed Britain's lead and couldn't wait to force the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Wangxia and the Treaty of Huangpu.

If you want to continuously obtain economic benefits in Japan and gain an advantage among the major powers, it is not enough to just sign a "Japan-US Goodwill Treaty" as in history. You must deepen your control over Japan and control costs, as well.

It must be within the scope acceptable to Liang Yao and the American government.

Perry's brain was obviously much better than Miller's. After all, Jiang was still smarter. Perry quickly understood what Liang Yao meant.

"Colonel Liang means to win over the feudal lords in the southwestern region of Japan and cooperate with these feudal lords?"

"It's not to win over, it's to support." Liang Yao corrected.

This is not a relationship between friends, but a relationship between father and son. The seniority cannot be messed up.

"There are so many vassals in Japan. If we want to support them, the cost will probably be very high." Perry scratched his beard.

Liang Yao's idea is certainly a good one, but it only costs money to support it, and it costs a lot of money. And once it involves spending money, especially big money, the resistance from the Congress will not be small.

The United States is not financially rich either. This expedition was only possible with the strong support of President Fillmore, who tightened his belt and squeezed out money.

Liang Yao turned around and asked Liang Sen: "Our declaration of war has already been submitted to the Tokugawa Shogunate. What is the attitude of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the feudal lords?"

"Nothing happened. The Tokugawa shogunate and the feudal lords did not take our declaration of war by the United States seriously." Liang Sen said truthfully.

The Tokugawa shogunate had isolated the country for two hundred years. Among the Western countries, the only one that still maintained exchanges was the Netherlands.

On the contrary, the Tokugawa shogunate knew nothing about the United States, the Western power closest to them, and did not believe that this distant country, the United States, could pose a threat to the Japanese archipelago.

I am afraid that no one in the entire Tokugawa shogunate knows what kind of country the United States is, and the reaction of the Tokugawa shogunate was also within Liang Yao's expectation.

If after receiving the declaration of war, everyone in the Tokugawa shogunate felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy, they would be in trouble.

Liang Yao picked up a pencil and drew a route on the map. This route started from Xiangshan, went north through the Formosa Strait, Ryukyu, arrived at Nagasaki, then entered the Seto Inland Sea, and headed for Edo along the coastline.

, showing off force to various Japanese feudal lords along the way, in order to achieve the purpose of frightening each feudal lord with force.

Let the Japanese feudal lords see what the fuck is called a modern army.

"General Perry, follow this route. Since the Tokugawa shogunate and the Japanese feudal lords have not responded, we will give them a response and let them see what the power of civilization is." Liang Yao put down his pen and said to Perry.

"Taking this route, we have to enter Japan's inland sea." Perry still had a little concern.

"We have declared war on Japan, and the United States and Japan are already in a state of war. Is it possible that the mighty American Navy is still afraid of those small Japanese sampans?" Liang Yao said with a hint of disdain.

"Then let them see the world-famous power!"

In front of the Army, Perry naturally did not want to appear timid.

The warships of the American East India Fleet, puffing out thick smoke and accompanied by a piercing whistle, sailed out of Xiangshan and headed north along the coastline.

The black warships of the American East India Fleet first appeared in Nagasaki.

At this time, Nagasaki was a relatively special existence in Japan. It was Japan's only window to the outside world and had two foreign settlement areas, Tangkan and Lankan.

The so-called Tang Pavilion is easy to understand. It is a residential area for Chinese businessmen. As for Lan Pavilion, it is a residential area for Dutch businessmen.

In addition to China and the Netherlands, Nagasaki also had merchants from Korea and Ryukyu, but merchants from Korea and Ryukyu did not form settlements like Tangkan and Lankan.

Nagasaki, as well as Kyoto, Osaka, Fushimi, Sunfu, Nara, Yamada, Nikko, Sado, Uraga, Kanagawa, Hakodate, Niigata, Shimoda, Hyogo and other important places, have offices as the highest in Nagasaki.

Administration.

To put it bluntly, it is the leader of the shogunate, but the Nagasaki office is different from other offices. Instead, it focuses on transactions, and the rest is like branches and leaves.

In addition to guarding against the invasion of foreign enemies and the spread of Christianity, Nagasaki also has commercial officers responsible for trade affairs, negotiating with foreigners coming to Nagasaki, and having commercial and diplomatic functions.

However, in other offices, the focus was on preventing foreign invasions and being responsible for local security, while in Nagasaki, it was more focused on managing foreign trade and making money for the Tokugawa shogunate.

Of course, due to the complexity of the situation in Nagasaki, the Nagasaki Administrative Office could not shoulder the important task of guarding Nagasaki. In fact, the defense of Nagasaki was handled by the neighboring Hizen Saga Domain and Fukuoka Domain.

When the American East India Fleet arrived in Nagasaki, the Hizen Saga Domain was responsible for the security of Nagasaki.

As expected, when passing the destination outside Nagasaki, the American East India Fleet was blocked by Japanese ships.

Hundreds of artillery pieces on the outer fort had already pointed their muzzles at them.

Perry looked through the telescope at the iron cannons and bronze cannons on the external fort. Unexpectedly, he was blocked at the first stop in Japan.

"These Japanese artillery pieces look better than those on the Xiangshan Fort." Perry put down his telescope and said.

Perry's evaluation of the Nagasaki Outer Fort was higher than that of the Guangdong Xiangshan Fort, which made Kang Enze on the side a little uncomfortable. The Qing Dynasty was a majestic country, but in the eyes of this foreigner, the Qing's forts were still

Not as good as the Japanese pirate fort.

"The fort outside Nagasaki is indeed better than the Xiangshan fort, but it is only better than the Xiangshan fort." Liang Yao said.

"The external iron cannon was cast just nine months ago. After the Feito incident in August of the 5th year of Bunka, the Hizen Saga Domain regarded this incident as a great shame and humiliation, and paid more and more attention to the Nagasaki coastal defense.

Namasa Nabeshima, the current feudal lord of the Hizen Saga Domain, is proficient in orchid studies and has established a department of fire arts directly under the feudal lord. In the fire arts academy, experts in artillery, orchid studies, swordsmithing, casting, and arithmetic are gathered.

Experts, develop cannons, these cannons are the products of the fire arts side. Naomasa Nabeshima himself is also an expert in orchid science."

Liang Sen said to Liang Yao.

"But don't worry, Colonel, we are still outside the range of the outer fort, and those cannons can't hit us."

The so-called Feidon incident was that a British warship pretended to be a Dutch ship, arrested two Dutch merchants, took them hostage, and demanded fuel, water, and food used by Nagasaki in exchange. The British threatened

If Nagasaki refuses, they will burn all Japanese ships in the port.

The Hizen Saga Domain was weak and had insufficient troops. In the end, the Hizen Saga Domain and the Nagasaki Administrative Office had to obey the British's request. The British warships sailed away proudly after achieving their goals.

In order to take responsibility, six elders of the Nagasaki Office and the Saga Domain committed seppuku. Nabeshima Naomasa's father, Nabeshima Sainao, was also sentenced to 100 days of confinement due to poor security. Bells were prohibited from ringing outside the castle, and the public hall gate was closed.

, the feudal lords could not even shave their beards.

This incident has always been a scar for the Hizen Saga Domain and has always been regarded as a great shame and humiliation.

As for orchid learning, it is Dutch learning. After the Japanese lockdown was promulgated, only the Netherlands was allowed to be the only Western country allowed to trade with Japan.

Therefore, before the founding of Japan, Lan Xue also referred to Western Xue in Japan.

It's just that studying the Netherlands in the mid-19th century was no different from joining the national army in 1949. The Hizen Saga Domain learned from the wrong person.

"But they are already within the range of our cannons." Liang Yao stared at the cannons on the outside with cold eyebrows.

Liang Yao was not very clear about the range of Perry's warship artillery, but the naval guns on the Roland, Chaoyong and Yangwei could all hit the external turrets, and could also fire grenades.

Facing the threat from the Waimu Fort, Liang Yao didn't feel much pressure.

"No foreign ship is allowed to enter Nagasaki without permission! If you are wise, leave Nagasaki as soon as possible!"

The retainers of the Hizen Saga Domain and the envoys from the Nagasaki Administrative Office came to send a message, asking Liang Yao and Perry to leave the waters of Nagasaki as soon as possible.

The retainers of the Hizen Saga Domain and the envoys from the Nagasaki Administrative Office spoke in a more forceful tone. It seems that their confidence came from the artillery on the Soteme Fort.

(End of chapter)