Wild North America 1846

Chapter 535 Mediation by force

Author: Portuguese toothless

April 1870

The Tang Empire stationed in Edo and Nagasaki mobilized a total of 2,537 troops on a large scale and entered the frontal battlefield between the southwestern vassals and the shogunate army. They used force to mediate the civil war between the two sides and ordered the warring parties to disengage, otherwise they would be severely punished.

This aroused strong dissatisfaction from Omura Masujiro, Kido Takayoshi, Saigo Takamori and others, the main militants of the powerful southwestern feudal lords. They bitterly denounced the tyrannical behavior of the Tang Dynasty imperialism, which was a unilateral suppression. The traitors in the shogunate " committed suicide by breaking their stomachs

To thank the Emperor.”

Because of this, the army of the "Sachō Alliance" and the people of the feudal territory fought bloody battles that risked their lives, and gradually recovered the huge disadvantage at the beginning of the war. They caused heavy damage to the shogunate army who had divided their forces to eliminate them, and finally regained the entire army.

The crisis of annihilation.

At this critical moment

The "Sacho Alliance" mobilized the people to prepare for a major counterattack, trying to drive the brutal and cruel shogunate army out of the domain in one fell swoop, cutting off the enemy's heads with samurai swords, and washing away the shame and hatred...

At this critical moment, the Tang Empire stood up and shouted "stop". You can imagine how angry it was.

The troops of the "Sacho Alliance" deliberately avoided the mediating troops of the Tang Empire that rushed into the battlefield, and instead actively attacked the shogunate army. The civil war on Fuso Island became more intense in April.

On multiple fronts extending hundreds of kilometers, the Tang Empire's more than 2,500 armed mediation troops were of no avail and could not be taken care of at all.

This blatant offensive behavior completely angered the Tang Empire's military, and they immediately took a series of disciplinary actions.

May 6

A total of five "Han" armored ships of the naval fleet stationed at the base in Beihai Province moved south in large numbers, joining an expeditionary fleet led by the armored cruisers "Storm", "Badwind" and "Yamakaze" that came from the empire to attack the Satsuma Domain.

The lord city of Kagoshima launched a fierce bombardment, with a total of more than 6,300 artillery shells being poured out.

this day

Kagoshima cried under the fierce artillery fire. Building walls collapsed and houses collapsed during the artillery fire. The fireballs generated by the violent explosion blew human remains and masonry into the sky, and an even greater disaster was to come.

Kagoshima is an Edo period town with mainly wooden buildings. The fireball caused by the explosion ignited the houses. After the bombardment continued for more than two hours, a large fire broke out. The entire Kagoshima Island was engulfed in raging flames.

Seeing this astonishing scene, the commander of the expeditionary fleet, Rear Admiral Fan Guangfu, was also stunned and quickly ordered the fleet to stop the bombardment, but it was already too late.

Since each ship was able to disperse and fire freely, the cannonballs landed all over Kagoshima Castle.

This caused the rapidly burning fire to become more fierce with the help of the wind, and fires broke out everywhere. Many townspeople and wandering samurai in the city had nowhere to escape, and were buried alive in the sea of ​​​​fire.

Afterwards, according to Satsuma Domain statistics;

As many as 43,700 townspeople were killed in the Kagoshima fire, a total of about 115,000 houses were burned, and more than 300,000 people were made homeless, causing countless losses.

four days later

The Imperial Expeditionary Strike Fleet moved to the sea off Kochi County and issued an ultimatum to the "Sachang Alliance", limiting it to unconditionally "participate in the armistice mediation led by the Tang Empire and the United Kingdom" before 1:00 p.m. Otherwise, we will all be destroyed. It is too late to regret.

!

The Fuso people's stubborn style once again refreshed the perception of Rear Admiral Fan Guangfu, the commander of the expedition fleet. The Tosa Domain actually rejected the ultimatum.

"These despicable commoners of the Tosa Domain are all dead. Dead, Fan Sang, please order your powerful fleet to open fire! Burn them all to death with steel flames. This is a group of ignorant and stupid people, please!"

"

The president of the Shogunate Navy, General Moto Takehiro, and others, as local snakes, had the honor to board the armored cruiser "Storm" to lead the expedition fleet.

Seeing that the Tosa clan dared to reject the ultimatum issued by the Imperial Government, General Mototake couldn't help but blush with anger. As if they were deeply humiliated, they all bowed down and asked to use artillery fire to eradicate these rebels.

Major General Fan Guangfu looked at the Japanese people who looked like kowtow-headed insects in front of him with great contempt in his heart.

He took out his pocket watch and checked the time, and ordered with a cold expression: "Raise the battle flag, order all ships to prepare for bombardment, and the 20-minute countdown for bombardment begins..."

"As you command, sir."

The alarm bell of the "Storm" ironclad cruiser sounded, and the battle flag was raised high on the mast. The sailors in the cabin ran out and quickly entered the combat position. The ammunition handlers worked in groups of three and used small carts to push ammunition boxes to each gun.

Stacks of shell boxes were piled up.

The gunners took out the crowbar and opened the shell box with a quick movement. Inside was one shiny copper shell after another. Each 18-pound secondary gun copper high-explosive anti-personnel shell was worth nearly 10 Tang Yuan.

A few thousand coins means tens of thousands of Tang Yuan coins are gone.

The main gun shells of the armored cruiser are even more expensive, costing tens to hundreds of dollars. It is too wasteful to use them to bombard cities, and the fleet commander, Major General Fan Guangfu, is reluctant to use them.

The steel warships scattered on the seaside were prepared for artillery fire. They aimed their broadsides at the coast. They only waited for an order and opened fire in unison, burying Kochi Castle in the flames of steel.

As time passed, the chilling atmosphere in the air became more and more intense.

1:00pm sharp

Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Fan Guangfu looked at his pocket watch seriously, and then decisively ordered: "All fleets are free to bombard, open fire!"

"As ordered, everyone is free to bombard and open fire..."

As soon as the order for the bombardment was passed on, more than a dozen armored gunboats along the coast roared and fired hot shells.

In the blink of an eye, huge flames erupted in Kochi Prefecture, and buildings collapsed in a series of powerful explosions. The tragedy happened again.

Facing the aggressive expeditionary strike fleet of the Tang Empire, Kochi City on the shore was like a little daughter-in-law who endured the humiliation. She could not fight back or retaliate, but silently endured the stormy attack.

The shelling lasted only ten minutes

You can see a large number of people holding white flags rushing out of Kochi Castle. From the telescope, you can see that these people are luxuriously dressed and should be powerful figures in the Tosa Domain.

They cried bitterly and came to the coast, waving the white flags in their hands desperately, hoping that the sea fleet would stop the bombardment and stop this cruel tragedy from happening again.

"What a bunch of cheap guys. If they don't fight, they won't have long memories." Major General Fan Guangfu commented coldly.

President Benwu Yang of the Navy stood aside and nodded in greeting: "What Fan Sang said is so reasonable. These despicable Fusang people should be severely beaten. Otherwise, how can we know how powerful the Celestial Kingdom is?"

Major General Fan Guangfu; "..."

Okay, I am really defeated by your shamelessness!

"Order the entire fleet to stop bombarding. I also need money to buy my shells. I will also send a small boat to send over whose representatives I want to question."

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander."

After a while

Three old men from the Tosa clan who were crying and had snotty noses boarded the armored cruiser. They were also carrying a few bloody human heads in their hands. They knelt on the ground and kowtowed "bang bang" while they were far away, and kept saying "bang bang" in their mouths.

I prayed for forgiveness, which made me cry like a child.

Major General Fan Guangfu saw that they had left blood everywhere on the deck of the warship, and several severed human heads were placed staggered on the deck. Not to mention how disgusted he was, he still had to be patient and ask.

Things were soon figured out

The feudal officials led by die-hard resistance factions such as Itamoto Naoto, Saigo Takamori, and Yokoi Konan secretly withheld the empire's ultimatum. As a result, the news was exposed after the bombardment of Kochi Castle, and the Tosa clan elders led soldiers to have their heads chopped off, and then hurriedly

Come to beg for mercy...

No...those heads are the heads of Naoto Itamoto's group. There are more severed heads in Kochi Castle, but there are too many and there is no way to bring them here.

The Royal Navy’s Expeditionary Strike Fleet ultimatum is clear;

After the bombardment of Kochi Castle, the next target is Fukuoka, and then Hiroshima. They will be blown into ruins one by one. It depends on whether you surrender or not?

The Fuso Islands is a typical island country, with all its important cities on the coast, and the powerful vassals in the southwest are no exception. Such a blow is almost unbearable.

It just so happens that at this time

The British, who strongly supported the "Sa Chang Alliance", became silent, the Dutch retreated, and no one was willing to fall out with the Tang Empire over this trivial matter.

The situation of the weak country was exposed at this moment, and it was easily abandoned by the British, who were good at weighing the importance, in exchange for closer cooperation between Britain and Tang after the war. Otherwise, the Tang Empire would not go to war.

The reason is the same

It's really not worth getting into trouble with the British over something as trivial as the Fuso Islands.

The two countries have already had comprehensive communication in private. Since both sides will suffer if the war continues, it is better to find a way to end it decently. The shogunate and the "Sakuchang Alliance" each take a step back and implement social reform methods that are acceptable to each other.

If they really destroyed all the islands, what do the British want?

So on May 11

The unprecedentedly bloody and cruel "Boshin War" came to an abrupt end in its third year. The two sides of the civil war began political negotiations in Edo Castle to jointly find a way to govern the country by seeking common ground while reserving differences, rather than using war to resolve disputes.

The Tang Dynasty and the British Empire acted as mediators and presided over this post-war negotiation, which was destined to be difficult and tortuous. After several months, no results were achieved.

But the war was finally over, and the victims of the war returned to their hometowns one after another, began to rebuild, and began to rush to plant sweet potatoes, corn and other crops with short growth cycles to solve the urgent food famine.

It only takes more than two months for sweet potatoes to mature after planting. The leaves and shoots of sweet potatoes are edible, and the yield is high. It is almost the best choice for saving lives.

Three years of civil war devastated half of the Fuso Kingdom. About two to three hundred thousand officers and soldiers from both sides died in the war. However, millions of victims died of hunger, disease, and turmoil, bringing serious disaster to this island country.

.

But that is a matter of the Japanese people and has nothing to do with the Tang Empire.

At present, the situation in Europe is becoming more and more critical, so the Tang Empire cannot help but send diplomatic missions to Europe to mediate, trying to find a way to ease the situation and avoid the outbreak of war in Europe.

The eyes of the French are all red, and what they lack now is an excuse to start a war.