Historically, in 1863, there was a battle between the British and the British after the victory of the two crows, but it was only a small victory. Therefore, Britain changed its attitude towards the Satsuma Domain and supported the Satsuma Domain behind the scenes.

In Weese's time and space, Britain fought to the death with the Liberation Army in the Two Crows, not only did they not win, but they also suffered considerable losses. Although the Manchu Qing in the north were severely beaten in the north, the Guangfu army controlled Guangdong and threatened the British rear. In addition, Britain's ally, France, suffered great losses in the conflict with the Liberation Army, and Britain really had no intention of continuing northward.

Forcing Japan to completely open the country was also the goal of the British, and when they learned that the Liberation Army was preparing to fight the Satsuma Domain for the control of the Ryukyu vassal states, the British immediately contacted the Satsuma Domain. After hundreds of years as a-stirring stick, Britain has mastered these tricks. If you report to the Satsuma Domain, you will first get the favor of the Satsuma Domain. If this approach had allowed the Satsuma clan to be prepared and resist the attack of the Kotsu army. That-you-you-you-small-say-more-new-most-fast-www.uuxs.cc-why the British have room to bargain with both sides at the same time. Britain, which is in a position of "friendly neutrality", can also make full use of the information it has to choose sides twice before the war becomes clear, so as to achieve Britain's best interests.

The Satsuma Domain is a powerful feudal domain in Japan, and the current lord of the Shimazu family is Shimazu Tadashi, but the real power is in the hands of Shimazu Tadashi's father Shimazu Hisamitsu. Shimazu Hisamitsu was the half-brother of the previous feudal lord Shimazu Saibin, and once competed with Saibin for the "family governor", but ultimately lost. After the death of Shimazu Saibin, according to his testament, Shimazu Tadashi, the son of Shimazu Hisamitsu, succeeded him as the lord of the domain, and Shimazu Hisamitsu held real power as the father of the nation.

For his brother Shimazu Qibin, Shimazu Tadayoshi is both loved and hated. No matter how fierce the competition was during the battle for the governor, the two brothers did not tear their faces apart, and in the end, the power of the Satsuma Domain still fell into the hands of Shimazu Tadashi. It's just that the old man is no longer there, and the government is completely in hand, so Shimazu Tadayoshi's attention has shifted to his own affairs.

News from England was received, and the Shimazu family's ship was expelled by Chinese warships in the Ryukyus. After the confirmation of the two compartments, there is no room for doubt about China's plan to regain control of the Ryukyus.

In March 1866, a fleet headed straight for the Ryukyus. In this fleet of more than 20 ships, there were three steamships, and although the tonnage was not large, they were also steam-sail hybrid ships, and the chimneys were much thicker than the masts, which were very eye-catching.

As we approached the outer islands of the Ryukyu Islands, several clouds of wolf smoke rose from the islands. Although it was not known if this thing could actually serve as an alarm, the commander of the fleet, Saigo Takamori, had already frowned.

And the defense forces on the island did not simply think that smoke could help, and huge fireworks flew straight into the sky, exploding in the sky, forming colorful clouds. Soon after, columns of smoke and fireworks appeared in the distance. One by one, these signals, which are very striking under the blue sky, appear. At this time, Saigo Takamori's brows tightened even more, and wars at sea often relied on the effect of surprise attacks, and once the fleet's actions were exposed, this effect was greatly reduced.

"My lord, should we send someone to kill all the guys on the island?" The subordinate next to him asked.

Saigo Takamori thought for a while and denied his subordinates' construction, "This is too much of a delay, so we will advance towards the Ryukyus." ”

The crew of the Satsuma Domain, who had returned to report the news, described the size and horror of the Chinese warship in a frightened tone, which left a deep impression on Saigo Takamori. In fact, according to his original idea, he wanted to send a fleet to explore the truth first. But the situation really didn't give him time.

The year before, in 1864, the Kyoto Forbidden Gate Rebellion broke out, and the Choshu Domain attacked Kyoto. The Satsuma Domain, which had originally agreed to attack the shogunate with the Choshu Domain, defected and joined the ranks of the Shogunate Army, but the Choshu Domain was defeated, and after the first Choshu Raid, Choshu could not resist, and the conservative forces within the Choshu Domain came to power, and the Shogunate faction was expelled and imprisoned.

In 1865, the forces that had fallen within the Choshu Domain revolted, and the armed forces led by Shinsaku Takasugi of the Odd Soldiers counterattacked the Choshu Domain, defeating the conservative forces and regaining power again.

At the beginning of 1866, under the coordination of Sakamoto Ryoma, the Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Domain concluded an alliance with the Satsuma Domain, and instead of pursuing the policy of rebellion, they focused on the downfall. It was at this time that China garrisoned the Ryukyus to expel the Satsuma Domain's influence in the Ryukyus. According to the information brought back by the ships of the Satsuma Domain, the Chinese Navy has begun to station in the Ryukyus.

Although it was not recognized, the Satsuma clan also established a position of 120,000 koku in the Ryukyus. The Ryukyus had to pay a tribute of 8,000 koku of rice a year, which was by no means dispensable for the Satsuma Domain. Now China has put forward a formal attitude towards the Ryukyu issue, and the Ryukyus are owned by China. If the Satsuma clan threw itself into the battle with the shogunate, the Satsuma clan had no idea how long the war would last. In the covenant of the Sacho Alliance, he bluntly made a plan for defeat, and if Choshu was completely annihilated, the Satsuma Domain would have to do its best to clear the reputation of the Choshu Domain as a traitor.

If the war is prolonged, it will even be lost. With the virtues of the shogunate, the Satsuma clan did not think that the shogunate would fight against China at all. The Chinese army, which has now begun to be stationed in the Ryukyus for a long time, will only allow China to take the Ryukyus completely and securely. Others are unreliable, and the Satsuma clan can only show its own attitude. Of course, this attitude will not be an obedient two-handed offering of the Ryukyus.

Half a month ago, the First Fleet of the Chinese Expeditionary Force had also arrived in Ryukyu and joined up with the fleet that had been anchored in Ryukyu before. The latest news from China made Commander Liu Sha frown, and he had already sent troops to land island by island during this period of time, and investigated the situation of the entire Ryukyu Islands and even the islands further north. Knowing that the ultimate goal of the fleet is to attack the Satsuma Domain is a bit beyond the combat capabilities of the current navy.

Even now, the Liberation Army Navy has not been able to fully understand the reasons for the rise of the Navy. The other branches of the armed forces gave all the unexplained victories to Weeser, and the same was true for the navy. And this simple and crude explanation is infinitely closer to the truth. Born into a shipbuilding family, he obtained a master's degree in marine propeller in the 21st century and has interned in various shipbuilding workshops. All the shipbuilding ideas of the Guangfu Navy were put forward by Wei Ze, and the main designs were also completed by Wei Ze. The Chinese are very smart, even if they don't understand it now, but they really come up with a set of ideas and give most of the design drawings, and there are still people who can turn these designs into reality.

Of course, there are many problems with these designs, after all, Wei Ze did not engage in ship design in the 19th century, and the Chinese shipbuilding industry is not developed. Weese paid great attention to the speed and endurance of the warship, and the more armor there was, the slower the ship's speed, and he also encountered the ship's center of gravity problems. Eventually, the warships of the Liberation Army became thin-skinned ships.

In fact, the Liberation Army and Navy had no opponents, and the warships of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were even more scummy and few in number. So they took the intelligence they got from Europe and the United States as their research direction. Liu Sha said very bluntly: "Our ship can't carry too big a cannon." ”

According to the intelligence gathered by the Navy, Britain, France, and the United States all have their own ironclad ships. It was a big monster made of a 60-centimeter-thick wooden base and a 20-centimeter-thick iron frame. Not to mention the steel naval guns with a caliber of less than 100 mm that are now installed on the warships of the Liberation Army, the caliber of a typical 24-pounder gun is 5.83 inches (148 mm), and the shells fired by this caliber gun cannot penetrate this iron frame, and even the 36-pounder and 42-pounder heavy guns are helpless against the armor of this ironclad ship.

Because of the short research time, even with the converter steelmaking method, the eight-centimeter-thick steel armor still has the problem of being too brittle and hard, and the high-toughness steel is used as a consumable armor, and the Guangfu Army really can't afford to use such expensive equipment. It proved that the eight-centimeter-thick steel armor made of ordinary crude steel was not enough to withstand the bombardment of a 24-pounder gun.

The problem of armor is only one of them, and the problems of naval warships are piling up. Shipyards in Guangzhou and Shanghai are busy repairing naval warships every day. Some warships spend two-thirds of the year repairing. Therefore, the navy very much hopes to be able to use armor to make up for other problems, even if it encounters problems in battle, the warship that loses power can at least become an unsinkable fortress at sea and continue to exert combat effectiveness.

As the deputy commander of the fleet, Liu Sha is also working hard to build a maintenance plant in the Ryukyus, making such relatively unoptimistic preparations. Having received news of the approach of the Japanese fleet, Liu Sha proposed an even more negative proposal. "Bring the king of the Ryukyus on board, and let this guy go to Nanjing, and this guy will push and block. Let him see how we deal with the Japanese Navy, and this guy will know how good we are! ”

Although the political commissars felt that this was a bit too tough, everyone also felt that it was not an option. The political commissar of the new fleet took a softer angle, "Just bring the son of the king of the Ryukyus, there is no need to do the same thing as robbing men and women." ”

The remark sparked a burst of laughter, and the Navy is now on 24-hour duty and training. As the commander of the detachment, Liu Sha rushed to board the warships assembled near the port in a speedboat. Four 3,100-ton warships were patrolling at this time, so the first detachment they formed immediately set off and headed in the direction indicated by the siren signal.

Steam engines were unreliable in this era due to machining accuracy and material problems. Most warships still have sail power, but the sail is driven with steam power, and the high-temperature smoke from the chimney has a great impact on the life of the sail. Liu Sha couldn't take care of it so much at this time, anyway, the logistics fleet had just arrived in Ryukyu, and there were a lot of replaceable canvases piled up in the warehouse at this time. It doesn't matter if you break a few sails.

Compared to this loss, the importance of engaging the enemy early is incomparable. Capturing the enemy's fleet is the key in naval warfare. It is easy to be a thief in a thousand days, but it is difficult to prevent a thief in a thousand days. Beat the thief to death with a stick, and everyone's pressure will be greatly reduced.

Liu Sha's luck was good, the Liberation Army could burn one or even two sails for a naval battle, and the navy of the Satsuma Domain was not so wealthy. So three hours later, the fleet of four warships saw the shadow of the Japanese Navy in the distance. R1058