Chapter 7 Supplying Ezo Island and burning Kyoto, Japan

The two warships that opened the port of Yanyuan directly to the north have been moving at full speed after leaving the port, and they have not encountered many ships on the way, because the farther north they go, the colder it becomes, and the fishing boats have not yet reached the season of going to sea.

Therefore, although the two warships braved the north wind, they still reached the surface of Ezo Island a few days later.

In February, when the sea ice near the coast of Ezo Island had not yet been civilized, the two steel-hulled ships broke a part of the ice with their hulls, and when they docked, the ice did not break, and they leaned on the ice and contacted the group on Ezo Island by radio. This infantry regiment almost went crazy with joy when it heard that its naval warship was coming. In this icy and snowy place, far away from the motherland, I really hope that my own people can come. They also knew that when their ship came, it would definitely bring a lot of provisions. Although there is no shortage of food here, there are no vegetables at all, and there is no seafood on the frozen sea, so it is extremely cold, and it is not easy to go out hunting.

The infantrymen drove their horses and plows from the ice to the ships at the kiln hill and brought them vegetables, fruits, meat, and other supplies back to the shore. The soldiers of Ezo Island also took turns to come to the warship to take a hot bath.

The regimental commander and political commissar stationed on Ezo Island, with roe deer pheasants and other wild things brought by the soldiers, also came to the warship to comfort the officers and soldiers who came from afar.

The officers and men of the Navy also briefed the officers and men on their operations along the way.

The arrival of the Yaogang warship greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers on Ezo Island.

The fact that the officers and men of the two sides can meet each other in such a cold and snowy place is an encouragement to both sides.

After staying here for a few days, the two ships headed east through the strait between Ezo and Honshu (Tsugaru Strait), where they headed south to join the ships heading north from the south. Of course, the two warships marched along the east coast of Honshu Island and encountered the harbor wharf, and they would unceremoniously shell them, so that the Japanese, who had not been disturbed by foreign attacks here, would taste the taste of being beaten.

After attacking the port of Kagoshima, Muyi and his fleet turned back through the Osumi Strait and headed south at full speed. They were to join two ships from north to south.

After General Tokugawa Ietsuna received the news that Tsushima Island was occupied by the Ming Dynasty navy from Kyoto, a cold sweat came down, and Tokugawa Ietsuna knew that this probably meant that the fleet he sent to occupy Jeju Island was defeated, and the Ming Dynasty navy took the opportunity to capture Tsushima Island. However, the news was very inaccurate, and Tokugawa Ietsuna believed that it was impossible for his more than 200 ships to be sunk by others, and at most they could not defeat them, so they scattered and fled. The sea is very big, and if you can't fight it, the possibility of escaping is still very high.

One of the staff members said, "Master, are we going to organize forces to take Tsushima Island back!" Otherwise, not only will we be ugly, but other daimyo and the emperor of Kyoto will see the joke. Also, the people of the Ming Dynasty occupied Tsushima Island, and the next step must be our big islands. ”

Tokugawa Ietsuna gasped and said, "Hmm! The daimyo were ordered to deploy ships and troops according to the rules of the last time they sent troops to Korea, and we must first retake Tsushima Island, and then prepare to send troops to Korea again. This time we have to make a decision with the Ming Dynasty. ”

The order was passed down, but the information could come every day, and the information every day was the information that made Tokugawa Ietsuna upset, either the ship was threatened by the Ming Dynasty navy, or the ship was rammed and sunk. Tokugawa Ietsuna was suddenly startled, and said in his heart: "The Ming Dynasty's naval army is not small, and it actually wants to blockade the whole of Japan from the sea. But soon he let out a sneer from his heart, "You Ming Dynasty people are also arrogant, you don't know how long the coastline around Japan is, how many harbors and docks there are, don't you know?" How many ships, you don't know, right? He is arrogant and wants to block us, I really don't know how thick the sky is! ”

The staff of the Tokugawa family also felt that the naval army of the Ming Dynasty was some fanatics, and thought: If this is the case, they really don't have to worry.

However, a few days later, the news came that Ikishima Island had been occupied and several seaports had been destroyed, and Tokugawa Ietsuna was a little confused, he didn't know how much strength his opponent really had. However, one of Tokugawa Ietsuna's aides said, "Shogun, don't worry, we should have sent a letter to Shimazu Mitsuhisa, the daimyo of the Satsuma Domain." Shimazu Mitsuhisa can't be humiliated like this, his strength is the strongest among us, and they will definitely give the Ming Dynasty Navy a little color. ”

Tokugawa Ietsuna calmed down a little at this time, nodded and said, "Hmm! We have the Satsuma clan to resist in the south for a while, and we have to step up our preparations in the back. ”

Tokugawa Ietsuna did not wait for the news of the fleet they sent, but the news that the fleet sent by Shimazu Mitsuhisa, the daimyo of the Satsuma Domain, was completely wiped out, and that the port of Kagoshima and Kagoshima Castle were completely destroyed by the Ming Dynasty naval army.

All of a sudden, Tokugawa Ietsuna was quite frightened.

One of the staff members said, "General, we have to prepare early." Judging from the information we have obtained, the naval army of the Ming Dynasty is much more powerful than we imagined. I know that if you want to enter Kagoshima Port, you have to pass through many forts, and they are all carefully arranged by the daimyo of the Satsuma Domain. The fact that the Ming Dynasty naval army was able to break through shows that they are really powerful. In my opinion, the fleet we sent out is likely to be more than lucky. ”

Another staff member said, "Master, if they can attack the port of Kagoshima, they will be able to come to our Edo (Tokyo)!" We still have to prepare early. ”

"Prepare? What are you going to do to escape? Tokugawa Ietsuna was not satisfied.

"Prepare for war, I'm talking about preparing for war!" When the staff member heard that Tokugawa Ietsuna was angry, he quickly changed his words.

Tokugawa Ietssuna not only urgently mobilized a large number of warships to guard in front of the port of Edo (Tokyo), but also ordered the fast horses to notify all localities to take strict precautions. Tokugawa Ietsuna also understood that at this time, they could not concentrate much strength to deal with the Ming Dynasty naval army, and the defensive forces everywhere could not be stronger than the Satsuma Domain. Tokugawa Ietsuna knew better in his heart that now he was concentrating his forces, and he was not necessarily the opponent of others, and if he could not deal with others by concentrating his forces, then Japan would be finished. At this time, Tokugawa Ietsuna had an idea in his heart that he looked down on himself, and it was best not to have a decisive battle with the Ming Dynasty naval army now, because if he didn't fight, he was not defeated, and there was still a chance.

Fortunately for Tokugawa Ietsuna, two Ming warships were found off the coast outside the river, but they only fired a few shots outside the harbor near the coast, sank a few ships, and then went south without stopping. The Ming warship was discovered so quickly, and although Tokugawa Ietsuna was frightened, he also breathed a sigh of relief. Based on his experience, it is now a north wind, and since the Ming warships have gone south, it is not easy to return.

Due to the speed of the two warships sailing from north to south, they and Muyi met in the sea outside the Kii Channel in mid-February. After the confluence, the fleet entered the Kii waterway, and after a quick pass, entered Osaka Bay, and the fleet did not stop, immediately entered the Yodo River from the mouth of the Yodo River, and marched to the vicinity of the Osaka pier, where all the warships of the kiln gang opened fire on the ships on the pier at the same time, and after some rage, began to fire on the city of Osaka. It's still the old way, after a batch of high-explosive bombs, there is another burst of ***.

Despite the fires that started in Osaka's wooden houses, the four steel-hulled warships of Yaogang continued to swim upriver on the Yodo River, as they were flat-bottomed warships suitable for inland river navigation. The four steam ships and two steam warships in Yaogang did not dare to go upstream, because Zheng Zhilong did not know much about the situation on the inland river. For the sake of safety, the four steel-hulled warships of the kiln continued to move upstream.

The four warships did not care about the ships on the shore and in the river along the way, and accelerated to the march. Until the range of the cannons on the warship could reach Kyoto. Zheng Zhilong, who was looking at the map, said to Mu Yi: "Commander Mu, I think it's going to stop here!" ”

Mu Yi said: "Aren't we going to the shore to pay our respects to His Majesty the Emperor?" ”

"We don't need to dock to comfort the emperor, we just need to use cannonballs!"

"Haha!" Mu Yi said, "The Japanese will definitely be able to remember such a condolence method!" However, I think it's better to clean up the target on the shore first! There are a couple of batteries there! ”

"I'll do the work!" Zheng Zhilong said and picked up the radio microphone and said: "Attention all boats, stop moving forward immediately, first clear the batteries on the left bank, and then the ships and buildings on the dock." In the end I will give the parameters for shooting Kyoto. Let's get started! ”

The Yaogang fleet came too fast, and the batteries on the shore did not react at all, these batteries were too close to the river bank, and the Japanese probably never dreamed that the batteries here would be used, and the four warships of Yaogang used 203 caliber cannons to fire at close range, and soon bombed these batteries away. Then they began to destroy the large and small ships on the docks, and behind them were the dotted buildings on the shore, all named with 130 cannons.

Finally, Zheng Zhilong gave the approximate parameters of Kyoto, four warships with four 203 caliber cannons, sixteen 130 caliber cannons, and simultaneously carried out indiscriminate bombardment of Kyoto. There was a burst of high-explosive shells, and another burst of ***.

Mu Yi took special care of Kyoto and left almost all the rest of the *** to Kyoto. Kyoto, known as the thousand-year-old capital, has exquisite buildings, almost all of which are made of wood, and it quickly burned into a burning city. Even the Japanese Imperial Palace has fallen a few ***, and the fire in the Imperial Palace is particularly vigorous.

The lookout on the mast reported that Kyoto, a dozen kilometers away, had become a sea of fire. Zheng Zhilong said to Mu Yi: "The matter in Kyoto is over, let's go back and clean up those guys along the coast!" ”

"Huh! On the way back, those guys should be on guard, right? Mu Yi asked.

"They won't react so quickly," Mr. Zheng said, "but if they are prepared, can they help us?" ”

"Also, let's go slowly down the river and let all the warships shoot freely!" Mu Yi ordered.

The Yodo River, a river that flows from Lake Biwa and flows directly southwest from Osaka Bay, has traditionally been the most developed area in Japan, with numerous docks and moored along the coast.

When the four warships of Yaogang passed by, they could only choose the larger ones to shoot, and the small boats were handed over to the machine gunners. Although the warships of Yaogang were shooting as they went, the damage caused to both sides of the Yodo River could be described as terrifying.

The damage is not only reflected in the direct damage, but also the mental blow to the Japanese is particularly severe. Many years later, the Japanese along the Yodo River still talked about the Yaogang warship.

Mu Yi and Zheng Zhilong went to attack Kyoto with four warships, and the four steamships and two warships left behind were not idle, and they sank a lot of Japanese warships that came out to intercept the Yaogang warships, and then sailed along the coast of Osaka Bay, destroying a lot of buildings on the wharves and riverbanks along the coast.

For a whole day, the Yaogang fleet wreaked havoc on the Japanese towns and docks along the Yodo River and Osaka Bay, and by the time Muyi and his warships joined up with the fleet that had stayed in Osaka Bay, it was already evening.

Zheng Zhilong looked at the sky and said to Mu Yi, "Commander Mu! I think we'll choose a place to anchor at the mouth of the Yodogawa River tonight. It's getting late, and if we want to cross the Seto Inland Sea, we'll have to wait until daylight tomorrow. ”

Mu Yi knew that the Seto Inland Sea was complicated, and said: "I agree with you, it is safer for us to walk during the day tomorrow, and we can also leave the shells we brought to the Japanese by the way." ”

This is also because the Yaogang people are so confident that they actually found a sheltered place at the mouth of the Yodogawa River and the fleet dropped anchor. However, at night, the searchlights of all the warships in Yaogang were lit, and they crossed to the sea, and one by one dazzling pillars of light swept across the water and shore of the Yodo River. Those bold Japanese people secretly looked at these pillars of light and felt like seeing the devil, and after they went back, they became more and more divine. Many people know that the Ming Dynasty will cast spells and can invite the devil.

Ignoring the Japanese who cried for their fathers and mothers, after a day of fierce fighting, the Yaogang Navy left some sentries to stand guard on duty, and the others had already fallen asleep beautifully. Most people have no dreams, and after getting up in the morning, having breakfast, the Yaogang fleet pulls anchor and sets sail again in the morning light.

The flotilla left the mouth of the Yodo River, leaned towards Kobe and Akashi City in Osaka Bay, and threw a row of shells and *** into the docks and castles of Kobe and Akashi, and sailed directly into the Seto Inland Sea without stopping. In the Seto Inland Sea, they encountered many wooden ships that came out to intercept them, and the steel-hulled warships of Yaogang directly knocked them into and sank them without delaying their trip at all. Valuable targets were seen on the way, and the boats fired freely.

It wasn't until Shodoshima and Takamatsu that they made a single shot. I didn't stay long, I finished firing, and I set sail again without stopping.

After the convoy set sail from Yodogawa this time, it traveled day and night, considering that there were not many shells left, and after Takamatsu unified firing, they did not stop the ships and fire their guns until Kitakyushu and Shimonoseki, and when they encountered valuable targets, each ship carried out shelling independently.

Due to the very narrow strait between Kitakyushu and Shimonoseki, the flotilla did not dare to stop when it passed, and as it went, large and small artillery opened fire at the same time, turning Shimonoseki and Kitakyushu into a sea of fire, especially several large piers in Kitakyushu were devastated. Although they were notified in advance to guard against the Ming army, how did they know that the artillery fire of the Ming army would be so fierce, in fact, what could they do if they knew?

After leaving Kitakyushu, the Yaogang fleet suddenly received a telegram from Ikishima that they had encountered an attack by several Japanese ships, and some Japanese landed from the west of Ikishima, but were repulsed by the Yaogang army and captured more than 100 people.

It turned out that after Kuroda Tadayuki, the daimyo of Fukuoka Domain, heard that Iki Island was occupied by the Ming army, he was furious, it was the territory of the Kuroda family, how could it be occupied by the Ming army. Not only was Ikijima occupied, but many ships from Fukuoka also came back to report that they were threatened not to go to sea again or they would be sunk, and some unconvinced ships had been rammed and sunk by the ships of the Ming navy. They say that the ships of the Ming army were made of iron.

Kuroda Tadayuki could not believe that iron could still build ships anyway, so Kuroda gathered his samurai and warships to recapture Iki Island and, if possible, Tsushima Island. Kuroda thought that if we recapture Tsushima Island, it will belong to our Fukuoka Domain.

The governor of the Fukuoka Domain and his staff tried to persuade him to no avail, Kuroda Tadayuki left Fukuoka with dozens of warships and headed for Iki Island, they received news that many cannons had been erected on Iki Island facing east, Kuroda Tadayuki and his people made a detour to the west of Iki Island and suddenly landed, and when the infantry in Yaogang found out, there were already hundreds of samurai landing. A company of infantry rushed directly without arranging any formation.

At this time, Kuroda Tadayuki knew that the Ming army had stopped fighting with swords and guns, and the weapons in their hands were like the devil's scythe, and after a while, they killed their martial arts warriors. As a result, of the dozens of ships and ships that went, only a dozen escaped.

After reading the telegram, Zheng Zhilong said angrily: "Damn! When we leave Ikishima, we should have flattened Fukuoka first. ”

Mu Yi smiled and said, "Japanese! If you don't clean them up, you won't know how powerful. However, we don't have many shells, so I think we'll go back to Tsushima to replenish it, and then go back to clean up the Fukuoka Domain. ”

It is true that there are not many shells on the ship, Zheng Zhilong said: "Okay! Let's make this Fukuoka domain clean first! We'll bring more *** next time, this thing is very useful against the Japanese, these wooden houses! ”

"Huh! Lao Zheng, you are getting darker and darker! "However, I have heard that the Japanese wooden houses are very beautiful!" Is it? ”

"I don't like it, I still like the house in our hometown in Fujian," Zheng Zhilong said, "don't look at me in Japan for so long, but we don't have a good impression of Japan!" ”

"However, I think there is one exception, you have a good impression of Japanese women! Hahaha! Mu Yi joked, because Zheng Zhilong married a Japanese woman.

Yaogang received the news that Mu Yi and the others had played around and returned to Tsushima Island, and they were all happy. This is enough for the Japanese.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard the news, he was also excited to constantly compare with Zhang Zhimu in front of the map. After sitting down, Emperor Chongzhen said: "Tomorrow, the secret envoy of Xiaoliuqiu will be able to go to the kiln." Isn't it better for them to do their job? ”

"Hmmm! That's not even more so. Zhang Zhimu said, "The effect of our naval raid has been achieved, and there is no longer a need to keep it secret, so I will let the radio broadcast the news as soon as I go back." Let everyone in the world be happy. Boost the morale of the military and civilians all over the world! ”

"Yes, yes! That's what I was trying to say! Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and said, looking very imposing.

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New progress in "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty": the Battle of Yashan, the defeat of the Yuan army, the counterattack of the Song army, and the landing in Fuzhou.