In Japan's shogunate system, although the shogunate had an absolute advantage in economic power, as a system of daimyo and foreign powers, it was also very powerful, and it can be said that at some times it was not inferior to the shogunate.

The daimyo mainly refer to those who were the same daimyo as Tokugawa Ieyasu before the Battle of Sekigahara, and there are also some daimyo who were loyal to Toyotomi Hideyori during the war, and the daimyo who surrendered after the war, in short, were once enemies of the Tokugawa family, and these people usually had very strong strength, but they did not have any power in the shogunate, and most of them were in remote places.

Compared to the power controlled by the shogunate, the daimyo was not bad, such as the Kaga domain had 1.2 million koku territory, the Satsuma domain had 700,000 koku territory, and the Sendai domain had 625,000 koku territory, and the shogunate currently controlled only 4.5 million koku.

Of course, there was no unity among the daimyos, and the relationship was extremely complicated, such as the Ikeda clan, the Kuroda clan, and the Hosokawa clan, and the Tokugawa clan had always had a good relationship with the Tokugawa family, while the daimyo clans such as the Mori clan, the Shimazu clan, and the Uesugi clan who surrendered after the Battle of Sekigahara were naturally relatively poor.

Therefore, the advice given by Yukiharu Kurahisa cannot be said to be good or bad, after all, it is impossible for most of the external daimyo and the Shimazu family to wear a pair of pants, and everyone still hopes to please the Tokugawa family, so they will not risk angering the Tokugawa family to help the Satsuma clan.

Despite this, Shimazu Jifeng decided to still follow Xue Qing Cangjiu's suggestion, after all, there is no better idea at the moment, and there is a behemoth like Ning Chu in this matter, and other daimyo should help even if they are worried about the death of their lips and teeth.

It's just that just when Shimazu Jifeng was connecting all around, Ning Chu's Sixth Division was already preparing to board the ship in front of the Shanghai dock, and when the time came, it would set off directly to Kyushu Island to attack the Satsuma Domain, and after taking the Satsuma Domain, it would turn around and attack the Ryukyus.

After all, not only Shimazu Jifeng is anxious, but Ning Chu is also anxious - after fighting the Satsuma Domain, I am afraid that he will start preparing for the Northern Expedition, and everyone can not look down on the small profits of the Satsuma Domain, only the Northern Expedition is the real goal in everyone's hearts.

Groups of soldiers of the Fu Han Army, carrying long flintlock muskets, boarded the ships prepared by the Ningchu Navy, which were probably able to carry nearly 5,000 people to sea at the same time, so it was the establishment of two regiments of the Sixth Division of the Fu Han Army.

In the context of everyone boarding the ship, several generals of the Fu Han Army stood in front of the dock, looking at this exciting scene, with a little pride on their faces.

"The strength of two regiments is enough to deal with one Satsuma Domain."

Deng Ziyi, the commander of the Sixth Division, said in a light tone, but he was full of confidence, in his opinion, with the current combat strength of the Fu Han Army, he had not encountered any decent opponents, and 4,000 people would definitely be enough.

However, Qiu Ze, the admiral of the navy on the side, was more or less regretful, he looked at the warships in front of him, and couldn't help but sigh and said: "These warships are basically captured by the Qing army, and there are not many of our own." At present, in the shipyards of Fujian, Shanghai and other places, there are some new three-masted warships under construction, but they will really wait for service - I am afraid that it will be next year. ”

Since Ning Yu changed the naval division into a navy, almost everyone can feel Ning Yu's deep expectations for the navy, and specially allocated a sum of money from the budget to build shipyards, build new warships, and open naval academies, these measures all cost a lot of money, and even caused some dissatisfaction in the army.

If the money allocated to the navy is not deducted, the army will not say that it will organize another 10 divisions this year, even if it will organize another 20 divisions, it will be certain.

"General Qiu, I once heard His Majesty say that naval construction is not the same as army construction, the army can become an army in one year, and it will become an elite in ten years, but the navy often takes decades or even hundreds of years...... There is still a lot to go through in the future! ”

Deng Ziyi smiled, he knew a lot about this.

Qiu Ze didn't care, and snorted coldly: "But Your Majesty has also said that in the future, Da Chu will have an invincible fleet in the world, so as to ensure the interests of Da Chu in the world!" ”

Perhaps what Ning Yu didn't expect at all was that in his army, there were already faint signs of sea and land disputes, although it was still in its embryonic state, but with the simultaneous development of the army and navy, the future differences may also be further increased.

After all the troops of the two regiments of the Sixth Division were on board, Deng Ziyi also accompanied the naval admiral Qiu Ze to his flagship, preparing to set off directly on Kyushu Island and attack the Satsuma Domain.

........

The Satsuma Domain is located in the southwest of Kyushu, the westernmost direction of Japan, and its territory controls the Satsuma Province, Osumi Province and part of the Hyuga Kingdom.

These Satsuma soldiers all have iron cannons in their hands, and they are very popular, and there are dozens of artillery guns arranged on the shore defense positions, which can be regarded as a rare elite in today's era!

Shimazu Jifeng looked at the gathered Satsuma clan soldiers, with a somewhat smug look on his face, and said proudly to Xue Qing Kurahisa beside him: "Military advisor, even if the shogunate secretly plots and tricks this time, this general is also confident that he will drive Chu Kou away, with our 8,000 feudal soldiers, who can be the enemy in Japan?" ”

Shimazu Jiyu's words are really not a big deal, because the combat effectiveness of the Satsuma Domain is so good in history, and it has experienced a series of major battles!

Due to its geographical location, the Satsuma clan became the first prince to come into contact with the West, and the development of its iron cannon (i.e., musket) technology far surpassed that of other daimyos, so its combat effectiveness was greatly improved, and the Shimazu family was like the rising sun, and its power was thriving, successively defeating the 40,000 army of the Otomo family and the 30,000 army of Ryuzoji Temple, and even killed the head of the Ryuzoji family, Ryuzoji Takanobu.

At that time, the Satsuma Domain was almost impeccable, completely bulldozing the island of Kyushu, but at that time, there were earth-shaking changes outside Kyushu, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed the unification of Honshu and became a member of the world, so the Satsuma Domain had to choose to be a vassal to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

In the Korean battlefield at that time, the Satsuma army was very crazy and aggressive, and the will to fight was particularly tenacious, so it was very tricky in the eyes of the Sino-Korean coalition army, and even the Korean army called Shimazu Yoshihiro, the main general who led the Satsuma army at that time, "Onishi Manzi".

In addition to these reasons, the samurai of the Shimazu family have always been known for their ability to endure hardships and be brave and warlike, which is why Shimazu Jitoyo has such great expectations.

However, Xue Qing Cangjiu did not have such a high level of confidence, no matter how good the Satsuma Domain used to be, but after all, it had not been a war for so long, and Ning Chu on the other side was different, they were just from the flames of war, can they really have a good fight?

"General, if you can not fight this battle, it is better not to fight...... After all, if we can win once, can we win ten times and a hundred times? Especially since the shogunate is still eyeing the side, as long as we show a little military might, I am willing to go to negotiate peace with the commander of the Chu army on behalf of the general, presumably they will also judge the situation. ”

Shimazu Jifeng frowned slightly, although he agreed with Xue Qing Cangjiu's opinion from the bottom of his heart, but he still didn't believe in evil to some extent, could it be that Chu Kou was really iron-clad?

"What the military advisor said is extremely true, but the left and right sides have to wait for the front line to finish, so let's fight first and then talk about it!"

In March of the third year of the Reform, the forces of the Ninchu Navy and two regiments of the 6th Division arrived in the waters near Kagoshima and prepared to land and directly attack Tsurumaru Castle, where the Shimazu family was located, to completely achieve the strategic goal with the decapitation tactic.

Kagoshima is located in the southernmost part of Kyushu, and there is almost no strategic depth to speak of, and Tsurumaru Castle, where the Shimazu family is located, although it is located on a mountain and surrounded by cliffs, it is itself located at the front, so it has been captured more than once in history, and this time Ning Chu's plan is to directly occupy Tsurumaru Castle and force the Shimazu family to make concessions.

When the warships of Ningchu covered the sky and covered the sun approached Kagoshima from the distant sea, all the Shimazu clan vassals in Kagoshima were more or less psychologically shadowed, how should such a huge fleet be destroyed?

The Satsuma Domain itself also had a naval division, but the Satsuma Domain was not the reformed Satsuma Domain after all, and the original warships were scattered thirty or fifty ships, all of which were small boats, and the person who commanded this thin naval division was Shimazu Yoshitoyo's confidant Mizuiwa Makiyuki.

"Family Governor, I'm afraid this battle is nine deaths, and the minister is willing to repay the family governor with death!"

Facing Ning Chu's hundreds of warships, Shui Yan Muzhi had a sad look on his face, of course he knew that with the thirty or fifty small warships of the Satsuma Domain, it was almost impossible to defeat Ning Chu's sailors on the other side, and this time he was afraid that he could only repay the feudal lord with death.

Once he made up his mind, Shui Yan Muzhi couldn't control it so much, so he sent an order to let the warship carry more gunpowder and other materials, set sail to intercept Ning Chu's warship, and if he could get close, he would ignite the gunpowder on the ship, and die with Ning Chu's warship.

I have to say that this is a jade-burning style of fighting, crazy and desperate, but this is also the only effective combat method that Mizuiwa Muyuki can think of, because if you use ordinary iron cannons and other objects, I am afraid that the Satsuma Domain warship will not be able to pose any threat to Ning Chu's tall warship at all, and it will be sunk in vain when the time comes.

With the order of Mizuiwa Makiyuki, dozens of warships of the Satsuma Domain docked on the docks of Kagoshima, after nearly half an hour of preparation, chose to set sail to intercept the Ningchu warships that were moving towards this side, and these Satsuma Domain sailors more or less knew in their hearts that it would be difficult to survive this battle, so everyone was full of tragedy.

Looking at the Satsuma Domain's warships that were heading in their direction, a trace of disdain flashed in the eyes of Qiu Ze, Admiral of the Ning Chu Navy, they probably had never seen the firepower of the Ning Chu Navy at all!

Although most of the warships of the Ningchu Navy are captured from the Qing army, the Ningchu Navy has renovated them, at least the gun positions have been increased a lot, and they are all eighteen catties of artillery, which is quite extraordinary, and it is by no means comparable to the warships of the Qing army in the past.

"Order, start the first round of test firing, and leave the sailor in front of you."

Qiu Ze looked in the direction of the Satsuma Domain with a clairvoyant mirror, and at the same time gave the order with great calmness, although he disdained the combat methods of the Satsuma Domain's naval division, but also expressed a certain respect for his courage.

It's just that this world can't be played by courage for a long time, otherwise it won't necessarily be the Fu Han Army that is coming to the city right now.

Dozens of Satsuma Domain's warships rode the wind and waves, and began to narrow the distance with the Ningchu Navy little by little, their faces were full of nervousness, since the Battle of the Ryukyus, the Satsuma Domain has actually not used much sword soldiers, and now it is inevitable that they will be a little uncomfortable when they suddenly go into battle.

"Boom—boom—"

When the distance between the Ningchu warship and the Satsuma warship was closer, the guns on the Ningchu warship took the lead in roaring, and the Furlong machine guns on the Satsuma Warship were too far away to reach after all.

One after another, the projectiles fell, causing a splash of water around the Satsuma Domain's warship, and although it had not yet hit, everyone knew that it was going to happen sooner or later....... As long as the distance continues to close, the dense firepower will eventually be able to touch a few dead rats.

It wasn't until a quarter of an hour later that Ning Chu's artillery finally succeeded, and the dense projectiles hit the four Satsuma Domain sailors at once, and the violent explosion directly sank the four small boats to the bottom of the sea, and the sailors on it didn't even have time to escape, so they were carried into the bottom of the sea by the warship.

Shui Yan Muzhi, who was supervising the battle on the flagship, had a condensed look, and knew in his heart that he couldn't continue, otherwise the Satsuma Domain's sailors would not be able to get close to Ning Chu's sailors at all, so he hurriedly asked his subordinates to blow the horn, and this signal was to tell all the other warships that they didn't need to continue to form a battle formation, but spread out their formations and drove directly towards Ning Chu's warships at full speed.

"Hmph, do you want to close the distance at all costs?"

Qiu Ze on the flagship looked at the actions of the Satsuma Domain Sailor, and couldn't help but smile coldly, of course he understood the intention of the Satsuma Domain's Sailor's move, which was nothing more than to completely abandon the battle formation method, just to seek a chance to get close - as for the battle method after getting closer, it was nothing more than a fire attack or a full load of gunpowder impact.

It is impossible to hide Qiu Ze, who is old in the battle formation, after all, he is also from the Fujian Navy Division of the Qing Army, and he has experienced a lot of facts about the surface warfare, and the other party's intentions are simply lice on the monk's head - something that is obvious.

"Pass the order, the whole army will maintain formation, slow down, and strike with all your might!"

The sailors on Ning Chu's flagship quickly raised the flag and carried out Qiu Ze's orders, since the sailors of the Satsuma clan wanted to close the distance, then they would slow down and create more opportunities to strike!

The remnant sun was like blood, and there was a roar on the sea, accompanied by the splashing of water everywhere, as if playing a final elegy.