"Good! It is worthy of being a marine, and it is really elite! ”

Li Yuanyin, the commander of the First Division of the Army, who was standing on the Fuqing with Zheng Jiangong to supervise the battle, smiled with satisfaction when he saw that the Japanese army was repelled cleanly by the marines, put down the binoculars in his hand, and said: "Great, the beachhead has been captured...... So that my army can go up! As long as 5,000 people land on Sakurajima, the Sakurajima Fort of the Satsuma Domain will definitely be able to be defeated, and we will win! ”

"I'm afraid that the Sakurajima Fort is not so easy to fight, right? The samurai army of the Satsuma Domain must be very tenacious, and they will not hand over the Sakurajima Fort until they fight to the last man.

Other than that...... The fleet of the Spaniards is not known where it is yet? ”

Zheng Jiangong is not as optimistic as Li Yuanyin, he is a real Japanese school...... Know the stubbornness of the Saskatchewan samurai!

In fact, they fought very bravely on the beachhead of Sakurajima. Even though they were killed and wounded by the Ming marines with flintlock pistols, they still did not lose their fighting spirit, and in the face of the bayonet charge of the Ming army, there were still many samurai who resisted desperately with katanas.

Fighting on the beach...... It gets quite bloody, and there are dead and dying people everywhere!

Of course, no matter how tenacious the Japanese army was, it was also at an extreme disadvantage - the Ming marines were only in the first wave, and the two battalions of the army in the second wave had already begun to rush to the beach on sampans.

And the troops of the third wave of landing, which are now being transferred (they will board the sampans used by the first wave of landing forces), will soon go on the offensive.

If nothing else, the landing has been successful......

But I'm afraid victory won't come so easily!

An officer at the level of Zheng Jiangong sees more of the overall situation of this war.

In his opinion, what was going on now was not a war against the Satsuma Domain, nor a war of Japanese conquest, but a war in the Pacific!

The tiny island of Sakura Island is actually the balance point of attack and defense in the Pacific Ocean!

Once Sakurajima falls into the hands of the Eight-Nation Alliance, Kagoshima Bay can no longer be a refuge for the Spanish Oriental Armada.

Without the stronghold of Kagoshima Bay, it would be difficult for the Spanish Oriental Armada to gain a foothold off the coast of Japan.

Since most of Japan was still under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, it was impossible to lend it to the Spanish Oriental Armada for use.

As for another important port that the Satsuma clan now controls, Funai Bay in Bungo Province, it can also be used as an anchorage for the Grand Fleet. However, the entrance to Funai Bay was too wide, more than 20 li wide, and the fleet anchored in it was too vulnerable to surprise attacks. In particular, when Kita Goto Bay, Kagoshima Bay, and Tanegashima are all controlled by the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Eight-Nation Fleet can completely touch the gate of Funai Bay without knowing it......

With Funai Bay unavailable and Kagoshima Bay under the control of the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Spanish Oriental Armada had no choice but to leave Japan's territorial waters and either go to Vladivostok or Busan to be stationed, or simply leave and run away to the New World!

Either way, the Ming would have been given a springboard to take advantage of the Kuroshio Current's eastward expansion, as well as resources from Japan to move eastward into North America.

With Kitagoto Bay, Kagoshima Bay, and Tanegashima as the three key strongholds located at the starting point of the Kuroshio, Daming will be able to send a large number of people and materials to the Americas at a lower cost!

So the next battle between the Ming and Spain is very likely to take place on the American continent!

Zheng Jiangong knew this truth, and Admiral Garcia certainly knew it.

Therefore, at the beginning of the Eight-Nation Alliance's attack on Sakurajima, Admiral Garcia led 22 armed Galen ships of the Spanish Oriental Armada to hide in the bay of Uchinoura on the east side of the Osumi Peninsula.

The Uchioura bay is surrounded by the territory of the Liver Fu family, and the entrance to the bay is relatively narrow, less than seven miles. Except for a small flat area at the bottom of the bay, the rest of the place is hills, and the sea is surrounded by cliffs, which are very dangerous.

When Garcia first arrived in the Satsuma Domain, he wanted to choose Uchioura as a large base, but he abandoned Uchioura when he discovered that the terrain was more favorable in Uchi-Kagoshima Bay.

However, he is still very familiar with the terrain of Uchinoura.

That's why after the Eight-Nation Coalition fleet entered Kagoshima Bay, it quietly entered Uchioura.

"Admiral!" Colonel Barbossa, the captain of the New Spain, walked quickly into the command room and gave Garcia a military salute, "The Ming army has landed on Sakurajima!" ”

"The direction of the wind?" Garcia immediately asked.

"Southeasterly wind." Barbossa replied.

"Not bad...... We're taking the opportunity to raid! Strike tonight! Their landing operation should not be over so soon! Garcia took a breath and added, "Order all ships to transport all the excess gunpowder by sampan to the port of Uchinoura...... You only need to keep the amount of one engagement! ”

"Admiral," Barbossa hesitated, "in case ......"

Garcia waved his hand, "What's the case, the Satsuma clan will need that gunpowder more than we do...... And carrying so much gunpowder, it's too easy to detonate! ”

The battle of Dinghai Anchorage has taught a profound lesson! Now the Spaniards had no way to restrain the flowering bombs, and the only thing they could do was to remove the gunpowder so that it would not be blown up.

Garcia paused, "Let Debescora's Pacific Star leave the team and go to New Spain with a sample of the Ming Country's flowering bomb...... I think Spain will need them! ”

"Obey, I'll arrange it!"

Garcia's order did not keep the Spanish fleet busy for long, and in the afternoon a San Andrea flag was raised on the mast of the New Spain.

Admiral Garcia officially issued his combat order: "Spanish Navy, will fight to the end!" ”

Twenty-two Spanish armed Galen ships flying the flag of San Andrew, under the guidance of the New Spain, slowly sailed out of Uchinoura Bay, and then turned a bay at sea, formed two columns, and quickly headed for the Osumi Strait with the thrust of the southeast wind.

As soon as they pass through the Osumi Strait, Kagoshima Bay is in sight......

The first cannon shot of the naval battle that would later be known as the "Battle of Sakurajima", which decided the transition between attack and defense in the Pacific War, was fired in the Osumi Strait.

As night was about to fall on the evening of 18 February, an armed Galen ship of the Dutch East India Company spotted the Spanish fleet in formation, fired an early warning rocket into the air, and then turned its bow to flee in the direction of Kagoshima Bay, firing a shell at the pursuing Spanish fleet with a 24-pounder bombardment mounted on the stern of the ship.

However, the fleet led by Garcia did not chase with all its might, but just hoisted behind the 200-ton clipper and rushed towards the bay of Kagoshima.

When Zheng Jiangong received the report of the Spanish fleet's attack, he was planning to storm the Sakurajima Strait with a large bird boat—the strait was narrow, but it was still worth rushing. Because when his 45 large bird ships passed in a platoon, 180 bombardment guns could use their firepower, and it was possible to completely destroy the Kagoshima and Sakurajima batteries...... Of course, the battle to storm the strait is not imminent, but must wait until the landing is completed.

"What?" Zheng Jiangong was still a little surprised by the sudden appearance of the Spanish fleet. He didn't expect the Spaniards to come so quickly...... Doesn't that mean that the Spaniards have always been near Kagoshima Bay?

"Admiral," suggested Shi Lang, who had just been transferred to Zheng Jiangong's side as a staff officer, "the landing should be stopped now, and then the operation of storming the strait should be carried out immediately!" ”

"Immediately carry out the storming of the strait?" Zheng Jiangong was stunned, "Are you worried about David. The fleet commanded by Jones could not defeat the Spaniards? ”

"No," said Shi Lang, "the presence of the Spaniards in the Osumi Strait means that the bay of Kagoshima is empty." The northeastern part of Sakurajima, on the other hand, has better terrain and is more suitable for landing...... Moreover, as long as we enter Inner Kagoshima Bay, we can block the entry of the Spanish fleet, so that no matter what the battle in Outer Kagoshima Bay turns out, we will be undefeated! ”

"But what about the fleet supplies?" Zheng Jiangong asked.

Shi Lang smiled: "Go ashore and grab it!" ”