Wild North America 1846

Chapter 400 The Choshu Domain in the Light of Fire

Fuso Islands, Maguan

The fire in the city has been burning for 5 days and 5 nights. Countless hot soot is floating in the sky of Shimonoseki City. The city is a piece of burnt blackened ruins. When the sea breeze blows, it floats into the sky like black mist.

Standing on a high fort

The hard-line bosses such as Mouri Noto and Hisasaka Genzui, the chief of the Choshu clan, and Takasugi Shinsaku and others who organized a special team of samurai, farmers, and townsfolk at lower levels, looked at the burning city with splitting eyes and bloodshot eyes.

After a long time, Mouri Noto sighed: "Our majestic China has never suffered foreign aggression since ancient times, but the slights it has incurred today are extremely small."

"My lord, the ships of European and American countries are strong and powerful, and the forts of the Ogura clan cannot hold out for long. I suggest that if necessary, you can temporarily avoid the enemy and attack them after they land." Hisaka Genzui said in a dry tone, obviously unwilling to do so.

Takasugi Shinsaku hurriedly stepped forward, bowed and said, "This must not be the case. I have served in the Tang army for many years and know its ins and outs. The Tang army has always been ruthless in war and killed many people. Once they are allowed to land, they will be killed."

A great disaster is coming, and all the cities and towns in our Choshu Domain will be razed to the ground. Please think twice, sir, please."

The Choshu Domain Chief Mouri Noto was silent for a long time with a livid face. At this time, a feudal soldier with a flag on his back ran over quickly, knelt down in front of the Chief Minister and reported loudly: "Sir Kaiso,

Western warships have entered the bay again."

"What……"

General Mori Noto stood up in surprise, took a few steps forward, picked up a telescope and looked into the distance of the strait.

at the end of sight

One after another, dark steam ironclads emerged on the sea, their tall triangular masts exuding an icy sheen, and their huge chimneys spewing thick black smoke as they sailed across the waves, bringing with them an atmosphere of endless murderous intent and destruction.

My hands and feet felt cold.

Noto Mouri recognized it at a glance. The two steam-armored giants at the front were the "Tang Feng" and "Bad Wind" armored cruisers from the Tang Dynasty, followed closely by the four "Akiyuki" class armored destroyers.

, these six ships were the main culprits in the complete destruction of Shimonoseki City. The artillery fire fired by them was so powerful that it ignited the entire city's buildings.

"Your Majesty, we must prevent the foreign ships from approaching. Please order the fort to fire. The troops under my command are willing to fight bloody battles and hold the enemy in the bay to the death." Takasugi Shinsaku bowed deeply again and asked for battle.

Seeing a dozen steam-armored battleships gathering in the Chofu Strait, Kusaka Genrui showed a look of fear on his face and opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Nowadays, the "Movement to Honor the King and Reject the Barbarians" in Fusang has become increasingly fierce, which has finally triggered military intervention led by Tang, Britain, France, the Netherlands and other countries. With such serious consequences, it is unknown how many people will die. It is false to say that there is no psychological regret.

But now that the matter has come to this, we can only bite the bullet and go on.

In 1858, the shogunate signed a "Trade Treaty" with the Tang Dynasty, Britain, France, Russia, the Netherlands and other great powers, namely the "Treaty of Ansei Five Countries", which stipulated the opening of Yokohama port.

The great powers asked Yokohama to open a port for trade, but Yokohama's military value cannot be underestimated.

Yokohama Port is one of the sea lanes in East Asia. Together with Shanghai and Hong Kong, it constitutes the three major transportation hubs in East Asia. With today's navigation technology, it is not possible to cross the Pacific Ocean directly from America to China, so it is necessary to go to Japan to supply supplies and coal. Yokohama Port

It was also the logistical support base for the large-scale immigration of the Tang Dynasty.

After the opening of the port, Yokohama and Nagasaki became important international trade markets. Because of its huge military value and an important logistical supply base on the immigration route, the Tang Dynasty naturally attached great importance to Yokohama.

After the opening of the port of Yokohama, foreign residences were gradually formed in Yokohama. The status of the residence is similar to that of a concession. The residence has a scope and boundaries.

On the land leading to the settlement, the shogunate set up checkpoints. Ordinary Japanese were not allowed to enter at will, but European and American foreigners could come and go freely.

The "Ansei Treaty" also stipulated that the foreign powers would open consulates in Edo, which greatly stimulated the anti-barbarian faction.

In the hearts of the fallen warriors, the Fuso Islands are the "Kingdom of God". How can the "Kingdom of God" be trampled upon by foreign barbarians?

Edo actually played the role of the capital of Fuso. Foreign barbarians dared to openly enter and exit and live in the "great capital". This was really intolerable and unbearable!

Therefore, assassinations of foreigners often occurred in Edo and Yokohama, represented by the "Naumai Incident", "Idodani Incident" and "Tozenji Incident". The extremist samurai's terrorist actions against foreigners intensified, eventually leading to the "Burning of the Consulate Incident"

”, which caused European and American countries to request the garrison of troops in Yokohama to further strengthen their control and occupation of the Fuso Islands.

The incident of Russia's seizure of Tsushima Island in 1861 made Britain and Tang Dynasty wary at the same time. They were worried that Russian forces would further occupy the Fuso Islands, which was inconsistent with the fundamental interests of Britain and Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, it makes sense to act before the Russians and deepen their control over the Fuso Islands.

France was the first to formally station its army in Fuso. On April 5, 1863, more than 250 officers and soldiers of the third battalion of the French African Light Infantry were stationed in Yokohama. The number of French troops stationed in Japan has been maintained at about 200-300.

Later than France, the United Kingdom and the Tang Dynasty officially stationed troops in Yokohama on May 22, 1862 and the following three days. The British army had more than 1,760 people when it came to the scene. The Tang army directly stationed two infantry regiments of the Royal Navy and a

The artillery regiment has a total of more than 7,860 people.

The garrison operations of Britain, France, Tang and other countries deeply stimulated the "respect the king and reject the barbarians" faction, so there were bad incidents such as the Choshu Domain fort shelling American and Dutch merchant ships, which further aroused the anger of European and American countries, and the coalition forces decided to implement war punishment.

"Bombarding Shimonoseki" was a tough response from the coalition forces. Now, a few days later, the coalition fleet entered the Chofu Strait again with murderous intent. It was definitely not doing good deeds.

Inside the command tower of the steam ironclad cruiser "Tempest"

The commander of the fleet, Major General Zheng Shuyu, has a clear goal, which is to attack the Ogura Domain fort with concentrated fire and artillery, completely destroying the hastily repaired fort, and then transport the landing officers and soldiers ashore to use brutal force to frighten the Fuso people, thus "killing the chicken to scare the monkeys."

effect.

Amid the rumble of gunfire

The combined fleet's bombardment on the shore had already begun. The Japanese defenders of the Kokura Domain fort were not to be outdone and fired back. The two sides fought back and forth in a lively manner.

more than an hour later

The Kokura Domain fort was completely misfired. The corpses of the soldiers on the gun emplacement were lying on the pillows. The layers were horrifying to look at. Under the fierce attack of the advanced artillery fire of the combined fleet, most of the more than 830 artillerymen of the Kokura Domain fort were killed. The artillery was damaged and the fort was also destroyed.

It was riddled with holes.

Under the cover of the steam ironclad battleship, the steam freighter transporting the soldiers docked at the shore, then lowered the boat to transport the landing soldiers to the beach one after another.

A team composed of feudal soldiers and Takasugi Shin as a surprise force, a punishment team composed of Fuso civilian samurai and town people, a Hachiman team, a guerrilla team, and other teams rushed out with muskets and shining swords, trying to fight back the landing soldiers.

Tang, who was well prepared, and the British and British soldiers lined up in two lines, with one group squatting and shooting, and the other standing shooting. Amidst the neat rows of "crackling" gunfire, they knocked down countless Fusang people who were roaring and charging towards them.

Cannot get closer than 150 meters.

The fierce battle lasted for several hours, and most of the coalition soldiers had landed. However, the bodies of the Fuso people on the beach were so black that it could not be seen at a glance. Thousands of people were killed or injured.

However, the number of casualties suffered by the Union soldiers was very few.

Under the attack of advanced weapons, any bravery will be lost. The landing coalition soldiers swarmed the fort in a black mass and mercilessly killed the remaining Fuso people who resisted.

"Get out of here quickly, Takasugi-kun. If you rush forward now, you will risk your life. Fuso Country needs people with lofty ideals like you! Please think twice!" Captain Hirobumi Ito of the Eighth Division grabbed Takasugi Shinsaku's clothes tightly to prevent the impulsive Takasugi from letting go.

Jin Zuo fought tooth and nail with the enemy.

Looking at the tragic battlefield in front of him, where the warriors of the Qi Force were dead, Takasugi Shinsaku was filled with great sorrow. His voice was hoarse and he said in pain: "I am too conceited. My power in Fuso Kingdom is far from being comparable to that of others."

When the foreigners were fighting, I made wrong decisions based on my passion. I should have had a disembowelment to apologize to the emperor for causing trouble to the people."

"Takasugi-kun, don't just die. That is a coward's behavior. I hope you will serve the country until you are useful!"

"Ito-kun, my heart is bleeding!" Takasugi Shinsaku calmed down and said with an even more sad and indignant expression; "The army of the Tang Dynasty was particularly brutal. Looking at the cruel ways they treated whites and Indians in North America, I felt it from the bottom of my heart.

Waves of trembling! My biggest mistake was that I should not have provoked the Tang army, but now I need the efforts and lives of countless compatriots to atone for my sins. I am really sorry!"

"Well, now that the matter is over, let's not say any innocuous words."

Ito Hirobumi was bleeding in his heart at the moment. His Hachiman Squadron was almost completely dead. The feudal soldiers and the Kaibi Squadron, the Punishment Squadron, the Hachiman Squadron, the Guerrilla Squadron and other teams that originally carried flags numbered tens of thousands. Now only the remaining

There are more than a thousand people in the lower area.

Moreover, the courage of these more than a thousand people was frightened, and they were no longer able to fight anymore.

Looking at the dark crowd of coalition soldiers, if they didn't want to die here, they would have no choice but to run away.

After suffering a brutal blow from the European and American armies, the "King-Resisting and Expelling the Foreigners" faction on the Fuso Islands finally woke up and realized that challenging the foreign barbarians with the current power of the Fuso Islands would only bring ruthless destruction and death.

However, it was too late to realize this. The armies of Tang, Britain, France and other countries armed to the teeth had already come to kill. The cities and villages of the Choshu clan were ablaze, and screams were endless...

a few days later

Yoshida Castle in Aki County and Ogi Castle, where the feudal lord Mori clan lived for a long time, were successively attacked. The ferocious Tang army and the British and French troops burned, killed and looted, burning these two centuries-old cities to the ground.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians were displaced during the war and were forced to flee in all directions. How can this situation not be heartbreaking?

The Chief of the Choshu Domain adheres to Mouri Noto, and hardline leaders such as Hisaka Genzui kneel down on the roadside and commit suicide by caesarean section to atone for their sins. However, the culprits such as Takasugi Shinsaku are far away, and their whereabouts are unknown?

(End of chapter)