The architectural style of Shuri Castle is very similar to that of the ancient buildings of the Central Plains, and it is also important to sit in the north and face south, and the largest gate is due south, and a central axis runs through the entire imperial city.

However, Naha Port is a city where mountains and seas meet, and there is not much flat land to build on, and Shuri Castle is surrounded by gentle slopes and cliffs to the west, facing the sea, and you can look down on the ocean.

By this time, the Japanese navy, which had been blocked by foreign merchant ships on the sea, had already gotten rid of the darkness of the night, and they abandoned their earliest target, the port of Naha, and chose to carry out artillery bombardment directly on Shuri Castle from the sea.

The current situation on the battlefield is very obvious, the flag of the Ryukyu Kingdom and the flag of the Han people in Shurijo Castle are still flying, while the main formation of Kayama Kurigen has been transferred to the eastern rocky area of Shurijo Castle, which shows that the army has been defeated.

The Japanese navy is not stupid, on the contrary, they are a group of people who are extremely sensitive to war, and when they see the current situation on the battlefield, they open fire on the spot without saying a word.

Although there were only six or seven small-caliber front-loading naval guns on the Japanese ship, and the guns were all eliminated from the West, the visual conflict between ten battleships firing at the same time was also very terrifying.

The vibration of the gunpowder explosion caused ripples on the sea, and the entire hull of the wooden warship trembled. Looking at the western wall of Shuri Castle in the distance, black smoke and dust rose out of thin air, and the city wall was full of frightened and fleeing figures.

"Keep firing...... Loading ammunition! Loading iron pellets! Shooting at Shurijo Castle......"Under the commander's order, ten small ships poured fire desperately on Shurijo Castle by the light of the rising sun.

Cannons are really the kings of the battlefield, although these old cannons only fire solid projectiles, but this solid iron pellet is the nemesis of the city wall, every iron pellet hit the city wall, can cause a large number of stones to splash around, large and small potholes appear on the city wall.

They were watching the battle in the east of Huashan Liyuan, and now they were excited and burst into tears, "Yo West, Yo West...... The navy is still reliable, and their courage is greatly ......"

Kayama Kurigen has now given up paying attention to the affairs on the battlefield, and his energy is all focused on post-war diplomatic negotiations, this conflict has been seen by Western countries, and it is impossible to hide it from the Tokugawa shogunate, if you want the Shimazu family to survive this catastrophe safely, you must let King Shotai turn against him.

As long as King Shotai is in his own hands and gives circumstantial evidence in the name of the Ryukyu Kingdom, this can stop the Tokugawa shogunate, and when the time comes, the entire conflict can be blamed on the law and order incident, and the Shimazu family can get rid of punishment.

But now it seems that this Xiao Lotian is a very difficult person to deal with, will he bow his head lightly? I didn't see him flinch after killing all night last night, and the violent explosion on the dock didn't frighten him, this is really a different kind of countryman.

Just as Kayama Kuriten was reconsidering the division of interests after the war, the artillery fire of Shurijo Castle's counterattack finally rang out. Don't look at Shurijo Castle, the armament is extremely weak under the suppression of the Japanese, but there are still a few artillery pieces equipped with a façade, and under the operation of Luo Huo and others, these old-fashioned batteries finally opened fire, and there was a tall splash of water on the sea.

The Japanese navy had long known every location of the Shurijo Castle forts, and they were also very aware of the performance of these ancient forts, and they were not at all worried about the counterattack of the Ryukyu people, and the guns on the ships fired more violently.

At this time, the foreigners on the sea had already been stunned, and this ancient artillery battle made them want to laugh, but every time they saw the bombed corpses on Shuri Castle, their laughter turned into a chill.

The captains of the foreign ships knew very well that these old guns were completely different from the self-defense guns on their merchant ships, and now the warships of various European countries have even begun to try to load breezed guns, and the flowering shells have become popular, and there is no interest in this kind of primitive artillery warfare that fires solid projectiles.

However, after all, this is a real war, death and blood cannot be faked, and the question of the ownership of the Ryukyus after the war also involves the commercial interests of the merchants, if the Qing people win, then Naha's business model is very likely to change, and what kind of changes will Naha have under the management of a great master of Western studies? The foreign merchants present were looking forward to it.

On the American merchant ship Endeavour, Captain Daniel stayed awake all night, he stood on the deck with bloodshot eyes, as an American businessman with a clear conscience, he was very indignant at the despicable act of the Japanese mob to slaughter the Chinese, but as a businessman, he could only choose neutrality and pray to God for the safety of these Chinese.

But they never expected that just when everyone thought that the group of Chinese who had attacked Shuri Castle had won the final victory, the Japanese warships on the sea actually opened fire brazenly. Although the foreigners blocked their way last night, they did not expect that they would directly block the Japanese fleet on the west side of Shuri Castle.

This is good, there is no need to readjust the ship's attitude, and the artillery can fire directly.

When the Japanese began to bombard artillery, the foreigners on the sea were immediately stunned by the madness of the Japanese, no matter how weak the Ryukyu Kingdom was, it was still an independent country recognized by all nations!

Almost subconsciously, all merchant ships distanced themselves from the Japanese warships, and some radical merchant ships had secretly aimed their guns at the heads of these crazy thugs.

Captain Daniel is now very entangled, dozens of sailors in his hands have all been armed, whether to stay or leave or to intervene by force, the experienced old captain is also entangled. At this moment, a small sampan suddenly rushed over the sea and went straight to the Endeavour.

"Captain, I'm Mike...... Request to board ...... ship" The sailors on the Endeavour all knew this young man from the Carnegie family, and the most unsellable Spencer rifle on the ship was bought by Mike, and Captain Daniel wanted to send someone to find him when the merchant ship left port last night.

The sailors put down the rope ladder and pulled Mike and Xiang Shaolong up with all hands and feet, "Mr. Mike, where have you been this night? God bless you are finally safe......" After speaking, everyone still stared at Xiang Shaolong with a murderous aura with puzzled eyes, and people knew by feeling that this Chinese was not easy to mess with.

I don't know what happened to Mike and Xiao Lotian after they broke up, anyway, now his face is covered with black ash, holding on to the mast and panting "Mr. Daniel...... Could you please ...... Please intervene immediately and open fire on these Japanese immediately......"

"What? Young man, are you kidding? You want me to join the war between the Chinese and the Japanese? Are you sure my brain hasn't been hit?" But then Mike's words startled the captain's eyes almost dropped.

"Mr. Captain, there are our American citizens in there, and Mr. President's friends are in there...... Xiao Letian is not from the Qing Dynasty, he is an American, an American citizen...... Ahem, ahem!" Mike roared almost with his life, and the entire crew of the Endeavour was dumbfounded.

"Wow, Mike, are you crazy? Are you kidding?" the people asked. Without saying a word, Mike directly took out the special Colt revolver with ivory as the handle from Xiang Shaolong's arms, pointed to the president's name engraved on the handle and asked.

"See for yourself, this is the gun that Mr. President gave Xiao Letian, which is specially thanked for Xiao Letian's life-saving grace. Haven't you heard about the assassination of the president? It was only after receiving accurate information from Mr. Xiao Letian that His Excellency the President escaped the catastrophe......

The Americans on the ship are crazy, President Lincoln is at the height of his prestige, and coincidentally, the Americans who control the Pacific trade are mostly Northerners, which is the concentration of President Lincoln's fans.

"Captain, if that's the case, we have an excuse to go to war, and it's the responsibility of every American citizen to protect our own people, let's go to war......"

"That's right, with the weak combat power of the Japanese, the artillery on our ships is enough to take them over...... If it doesn't work, we can get close to the broadside and let them know our marksmanship......"

Captain Daniel frowned and said with a bitter face, "Mike, don't give me a problem, can't I get involved in the conflict between countries just because of a pistol that is difficult to distinguish between real and fake......?"

Before Daniel could finish speaking, Mike shook his head, "I swear in the name of God, Xiao Lotian is really an American citizen, and he is really the savior of His Excellency the President...... As for the gambling you mentioned, I'll admit that I have gambling intentions, but you never know how much we will gain if we win this bet......"

"Yes, I'm talking about us, not me...... Daniel, I tell you clearly, I'm not just gambling for me and my family, I'm gambling for our country...... After the civil war, do you know how much the country wants to have new markets, new orders?"

Saying this, Mike was roaring with almost all his strength, and he even snatched the loaded Colt from Long Ye's hand, slowly broke the trigger, and aimed the gun at Captain Daniel.

"How many people have died in this damn war? 400,000 or 500,000? Or more...... The war has completely destroyed the American economy, and you know how difficult it is for the wartime economy to be transformed back?"

"The United States needs colonies, the United States needs new markets, and the United States after the Great War has no strength to compete with Britain and France, we need to expand the market peacefully...... And now, it is our country's greatest opportunity, an opportunity to pry open the door by peaceful means...... You don't want it, but the United States wants ......."

Mike's face was now flushed, his hands were trembling slightly, and Daniel and his sailors were already stunned by Mike's momentum, and the old captain's eyes were a little blurred, and there seemed to be a feeling in his heart that had been fluctuated.

The Star-Spangled Banner fluttered above their heads, and the old captain suddenly remembered his nephew and his friends who had died in battle, and what they had sacrificed for.

Daniel wiped the corner of his eye with his sleeve, and was about to speak, when suddenly the roar of the lookout came from the lookout: "Captain, look, the Japanese battleships are fighting on their own, and they are in civil strife...... "K."