New Shun 1730

Now that everything is ready, even the "East Wind" is available, Li Li finally issued the order to board the ship and leave Yonago.

The light cavalry scouts in front quickly retreated after harassing Ota Sukeharu with all their strength; the marines, who had been practicing boarding and assembling all day, assembled in a temporary military camp near Yonago.

The preparations on the Oki Island are ready and can set sail at any time.

The marines of the navy are all on the navy's own transport ships. The fleets that are coordinated by the requisitioned trading companies only need to send more than a thousand land forces and war horses at one time, which is not too difficult to transport.

Horse feed, donkeys, gunpowder, and food are all ready.

The main fleet of the navy will lead the marines to attack Obama first, stagger the time, and the cavalry will land later.

Before leaving Yonago for the last time, Li Li asked the officers what Liu Yu did in Tosa that day.

If the Dashun Army withdraws, the people of Japan will definitely suffer.

Once the Japanese warriors come, they will kill all the rebels and the people who helped Dashun build the city and dig the earth for the crime of treason.

Few people in the army really care about it, and they can't even take care of their own people.

But some naval officers who have always known Liu Yu's general situation have thought about it and think that it seems to be a good location to open a port as a customs, so it's better not to just leave like this.

If the recognition and trust of the local people for the Dashun army can be retained here when the port is opened, it will undoubtedly be of great use.

This place forms a triangle with Vladivostok and Busan. If the port can be opened during the negotiations, the location is excellent.

As for Osaka, Obama and other places with better locations, it is estimated that the Japanese side will not agree during the negotiations. Just like if Dashun was beaten to the point of being forced to open at this time, it would be difficult to accept the direct opening of Tianjin.

The two best places are too close to the two political centers of Japan, so it is better to settle for the second best.

The staff officers told Li Li about this idea. Li Li thought that you are thinking long-term. You have already started to think about how to negotiate before the war is over.

Then he thought that the negotiation of conditions must not be done in the army, but in the court. Whether it can be negotiated here is still uncertain, but it is always right to make some preparations and lay a good foundation in advance.

Besides, he had promised the local people as a prince before that he would ask for some benevolence for them. Although he is not an emperor and cannot be described as a golden mouth and jade mouth, as a prince, some words cannot be regarded as farts.

Before withdrawing, Li Li met with the lower-level samurai who led the local uprising, Matsuda Kanemon, and some leaders who led the uprising under him.

"Prince of Tang, are you going to withdraw now?"

"Yes, we will temporarily withdraw. But don't worry, I wrote a letter to the general leading the army and asked him to pass it to your shogun. I will protect your lives and your innocence. I still have some samurai in my hands. If he doesn't listen, I will kill them."

The leaders of the uprising have long been indifferent to life and death.

In most cases, the leaders of the uprising have no good end. Even if it is an organized petition rather than an armed riot, they will die.

These people know it very well.

The rules of Dashun are completely different from those of Japan. The leaders of the uprisings on both sides are abiding by the rules of their respective countries.

The rules of the Celestial Empire are to dare to pull down the emperor at the risk of their lives. Are there any kings, princes, generals, or ministers? You can be the emperor, why can't I?

The Japanese rule is that people dare to move only when someone takes the lead, and both the people and the leader know that the leader will be sacrificed in the future.

Those who know they will be sacrificed are full of satisfaction, as if they have become "saints". The body perishes, but the dopamine in the brain is secreted rapidly, and they directly experience the spiritual high-level aristocratic feeling before death, because the body cannot jump to the high-level aristocracy under the samurai system.

The two sides have different ways of thinking, so Matsuda Kanemon did not accept the letter, but smiled and said: "Prince of Tang, we are not afraid of death. We just hope that you can keep your promise and practice benevolence. We have long been aware of death."

"As for the little people who follow you to serve, when they follow you, they should also be prepared for failure in the future."

Li Li did not comment.

The officer on the side thought, this may not be the case. You seem to be very willing to make decisions for others. We don't really care whether you live or not. But if too many local people die because of helping us, it will be inconvenient to open the gate here in the future.

When he was about to persuade Li Xi, Li Xi took the initiative to say: "You all have the will to die, but I have also said that I will do benevolent things. You have your awareness, and I have my benevolence. Just give them the letter."

The letter was handed to Matsuda Kanemon, and he asked people to post notices in Yonago, indicating that the Celestial Empire would not forget those people who helped the Celestial Empire to dig soil and transport grain, and that the safety of the people must be protected, and the letter should be handed over to the Japanese generals. If one civilian was killed, a captured samurai would be killed; if one thousand civilians were killed, a mountain city would be destroyed, and so on.

Then, overnight, the army of Yonago withdrew without a single one left.

Except for the stove pits and traces of camping left behind, it seemed as if the Dashun Army had never been here. The timid people hid in the mountains, and those who believed in Dashun stayed at home waiting for the verdict of their fate.

The leaders of the uprising, such as Matsuda Kan'emon, held their swords and carried letters, waiting for the army to arrive.

With the help of this letter, Matsuda Kanemon and others met Ota Shiharu.

After reading the letter, Ota Shiharu's face was extremely ugly. Before the Dashun Army withdrew, they posted notices everywhere, for fear that others would not know that they were interceding for the local people and threatening them.

If you kill them, the local people will know that Dashun is good and the men on the mountain above them are bad.

If he didn't kill him, the local people wouldn't be grateful to Ota Ziqing at all. Instead, they felt that Dashun's threat had an effect.

Ota Shiharu thought to himself that he was indeed a figure in the Celestial Dynasty, and his deep thoughts were truly astonishing. Making good use of public opinion is beyond your own power.

His face was extremely ugly, and he finally asked Matsuda Kanemon sarcastically: "Since you are a samurai, if you want to do great things, you must be willing to die. Do you have to rely on other people's pleas to save your life?"

"My lord is wrong. I just want to fulfill the benevolence and righteousness of the Chinese prince, and I want to know if I am wrong. If he can do what he said about benevolence and righteousness, then I have done nothing wrong by leading people to help him attack Songjiang City. "If I can't live up to the benevolent words he said, then I will commit suicide. Do you think I am sending this letter just to survive?"

Ota Shiharu, who couldn't speak any more, asked people to imprison the leaders first. But then he ordered his men to save their lives.

Will Dashun really seek revenge for the people of Yikui? Ota Shiharu couldn't tell for sure, but he knew not to do anything wrong.

Because... he felt that there was no hope of winning this war.

Within a day, they were all evacuated; during the period of stationing, Yu Baimingqiu did not commit any crimes, and even bought things and gave them money.

These two points alone made him feel desperate.

And the greater sense of crisis only intensified in the subsequent thinking.

The fire-fighting tactics seemed successful, but in fact they were useless. Among the castles along the coast, taking Songjiang Castle as a model, I am afraid that none of them can survive until the fire brigade arrives.

This is like the fire that broke out in Edo all day long. After the fire brigade arrived, the fire burned everything that should be burned, but who knows where the fire will ignite next time?

According to local people, a large number of Dashun troops landed this time.

But apart from capturing the unimportant Songjiang City, there was no other action. Instead, all the mobile forces in the central region were mobilized.

Instead of fighting, take a boat and run away.

Is it because I handled it well, allowing the Okayama Domain to march quickly and supporting it with all my strength, and the Dashun Army had to withdraw when they saw that they were invincible?

Or... the Dashun Army never thought of staying here for a long time from the beginning? The purpose itself is to mobilize his troops?

If it is the former, Japan will definitely lose, because practice has proven that fire brigade tactics can only arrive after the fire has burned out.

As long as their warships are still there, these thousands of people can stir up the samurai throughout Japan day and night. In less than a year, the shogunate will be brought down.

If it's the latter... it's even more terrifying.

Dashun did this huge deception, but what was it for?

Where can Dashun be qualified to make such a big move?

…………

Kohama.

Three warships were on the sea outside the bay, defending against the extremely unlikely possibility that the Japanese had anticipated Dashun's actions and hid a naval force in a corner. Once all the main force of the Dashun Army's navy entered the bay, the navy blocked the entrance to the bay and relied on the terrain advantage to attack with arson ships, severely damaging the navy that Dashun had accumulated for nearly ten years...

Even though this possibility was slim, under the advice of his staff, Li Hu ordered three warships to be patrolled in the open sea.

The fleet arrived early in the morning, and in the morning, ships broke into the bay and measured the water depth and channel.

At noon, the general attack officially began.

The main force of the fleet broke into the bay and aimed its naval guns at Kohama Castle on the seaside. It was planned to bombard Kohama Castle until two o'clock in the afternoon, when the Marines landed and captured Kohama Castle.

This may be the most enjoyable shot fired by naval gunners since Dashun established the navy.

The special shape of the small bay forms a natural wave barrier. Even if it faces the Whale Sea, the entrance to the bay is only three or four miles wide, so there are actually no waves in autumn and winter.

This is really a place where you can use a bathtub as a boat.

Even during training in Weihai, the gunners had to endure the rhythmic swaying of the ship under the waves. Relying on the fusiliers, only the most experienced gunners could fire accurately.

There are really almost no waves here.

There are no forts on the shore, because both the forts and the main city need the permission of the shogunate to build them. Generally, the feudal lord will not find trouble to say that he wants to build a city, so as to avoid the suspicion and dissatisfaction of the shogunate.

Kohama Castle has not changed since it was built a hundred years ago. When the city was built a hundred years ago, it was not considered that foreign warships would come here.

So Dashun's warships almost came under the nose of Xiaobincheng. In the eyes of the gunners who watched the sampan training all day long, Xiaobincheng was as big as Liugong Island.

The original plan was to carry out the bombardment until two o'clock in the afternoon, but in fact it was only at one o'clock that the castle tower collapsed.