When the sun rose again, the Shogunate Fleet stationed off Kagoshima finally received a response from the Satsuma Domain, and one of the Shogunate warships that had gone to negotiate was driven back by the artillery fire of a battery near the port.

Mu Tianbo, who was standing on the side of the ship and observing Kagoshima Castle with a telescope, was also a little surprised by this, and he couldn't help but say to Yoshikawa Kosuke beside him: "It seems that the Satsuma people have no intention of giving in to us, should we wait for the army transport ship to arrive before attacking?" With the strength in our hands, we can occupy a port at most, and if we want to take down the castle built on the foothills, I am afraid that we will not have enough strength. ”

Yoshikawa Kosuke, who was standing next to Mu Tianbo, was also observing the city of Kagoshima, but he was much more familiar with this city than Mu Tianbo. Even with his eyes closed, he was able to roughly draw the outline of Kagoshima City.

Kagoshima is a city built on the top of a mountain near the sea, and the castle where the daimyo lived was built almost along the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, thus creating a fortress that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and was the foundation of the Shimazu clan. The area near the foot of the hill near the castle was the residence of the samurai who guarded the castle, and the closer you were to the castle, the more gorgeous and spacious the building became, which incidentally indicated the noble status of the owner.

There are many rivers that flow through Kagoshima City, but the two main rivers are the Inari River in the north and the Katu River in the south, both of which flow from west to east through the castle town of Kagoshima and then into the bay of Kagoshima. In the past, the mouth of the Inari River was a very busy trading and fishing port in the area, so the area from the mouth of the Inari River and the river to the coastal embankment was mainly occupied by the common people, and it was called "Shitamachi". This area is also known as a willow town because of the large number of willow trees planted.

Originally, there was only a rice field between Upper and Lower Town, but as the Shimazu clan grew stronger, it became a middle town where low-class samurai mixed with wealthy families and craftsmen.

Of course, the most prosperous area of Kagoshima is the banks of the Koto River, which runs along the eastern foot of the castle mountain and then turns east into the sea.

After Japan was opened to the outside world, the rise of overseas trade led to the expansion of the old port originally located at the mouth of the Inari River to the mouth of the Katu River, which greatly promoted the scale of Kagoshima's foreign trade. At this moment, the gun that was firing at the shogunate warship was the battery located on the south side of the port of the Koto River.

Yoshikawa Kosuke's tone was respectful, but he replied to Mu Tianbo very firmly: "Grandpa don't worry, the Satsuma Domain will give in, as long as we show a little tougher, such as destroying one or two batteries on the opposite side, or seizing a part of the port area." The current bombardment of the Satsuma clan does not mean that they have the determination to break with the shogunate completely. ”

Mu Tianbo still looked at him with some suspicion and said, "Are you really sure that we are here to force the Satsuma Domain to submit to the will of the shogunate, not to force them to take risks and completely turn against the shogunate?" Ever since we broke into Satsuma Bay, the Satsuma people's spontaneous rebellion has not stopped. ”

Kosuke Yoshikawa replied confidently, "Yes, I'm sure. The bones of the Satsuma people may indeed be hard, but the bones of the Shimazu clan are not as hard as they seem. As long as the shogunate showed its strength, the Shimazu clan would definitely choose to seek a compromise with the shogunate. ”

Mu Tianbo nodded to him and said, "Okay, you are the commander-in-chief of this war, and I obey your orders." However, the ship may be a little turbulent and it is advisable for non-combatants to return to the cabin to rest and not interfere with the crew's movements. ”

Kosuke Yoshikawa complied, turned to give orders to several shogunate officials behind him, but he and Gamo Naoyu had already stayed on deck, trying to see how the fleet would fight.

Although the fleet they were in was called the Shogunate Fleet or the Combined Fleet, in fact, the Shogunate's warships could only be used as auxiliary and transport ships, and the main force of the fleet was the Ming Squadron in Japan composed of one Jianghu-class and three Ming-class warships. Of these four Ming warships, three Ming-class warships belong to the East China Sea Patrol Office, and the giant ship with a displacement of 1,452 tons at the feet of Yoshikawa Kosuke is Mu Tianbo's ship.

Although Chongzhen drove Mu Tianbo to Japan, he still gave him this thousand-ton warship launched last year to show his identity. The keel and ribs of this Jianghu-class warship, named "Lancang", are made of the finest basswood from the Northeast, the hull is made of teak from the South Seas, the deck is also made of walnut from the South Seas, and the three thick masts are made of cedar wood selected from the Siberian region.

This "Lancang River" not only represents the highest level of Daming's shipbuilding technology, but also demonstrates the vast scope and depth of Daming's current overseas control area. If one of the above two is missing, this "Lancang River" cannot be built.

Of course, in addition to the excellent level of materials and craftsmanship, what really makes this warship a formidable monster of the sea is naturally its three-tier gun deck structure and its powerful fire attack capability equipped with 56 guns.

The appearance of the three-layer gun deck also means that the Ming craftsmen have truly understood the connotation of the structural design of Western ships, and mastered how to share the recoil of artillery shots with a reasonable ship structure, so that the warship can obtain the best firepower layout and load distribution. In the design and manufacture of warships, the East and the West are finally standing on the same starting line again.

However, at this moment, the owner of the "Lancang River" did not think about such a boring question, he was just a little impatient to test the ability of his ship. It is also pitiful, although he was appointed as the captain of the "Lancang River" early on, and even personally funded the renovation of the captain's cabin, but when he actually boarded this ship, it was when he rode it to Japan. Because as the first warship with a three-deck gun deck, this ship has been undergoing various tests under the control of the Navy Staff Headquarters since its launch, and it was not handed over to him at all.

Now that it is rare to encounter such an opportunity to give full play to the ability of the "Lancang River", Mu Tianbo naturally quickly forgot about Yoshikawa Kosuke and others, and concentrated on manipulating his big toy.

After listening to his adjutant's report on the battlefield situation, Mu Tianbo issued his first order: "Let the other ships of the fleet stay in place, and the Haiyang will follow behind our ship, and the speed should not be higher than two knots."

The Haiyan and Haibo, as the first detachment, marched along the port of Katuchuan to the port of Inarigawa, and the distance from the coastline should not be less than 1,500 meters, and the speed should be 3-4 knots, the main purpose of which is to induce the shore batteries to open fire, and to estimate the number of guns and the attack distance of the batteries for the ship..."

It should be said that the weather in Kagoshima Bay today is still very favorable for the fleet to fight, the sun is shining, the view is good, and the westerly wind is gentle but not violent, which is very suitable for the turning of sailboats. Of course, this weather was also a good day for the Satsuma samurai stationed at the harbor fort to display the power of artillery.

It's just that after watching the shooting of several forts in the Satsuma Domain, Mu Tianbo put down his binoculars with some disappointment and said, "Do these people think that they can shoot cannonballs out of the area beyond the thrust of gunpowder just by virtue of courage and courage?" Didn't they even learn the basic principles of distance measurement and ballistics? Are we at war with a group of farmers? ”

Yoshikawa Kosuke and the others on the side were silent, but the adjutant of the fleet standing on the side replied to Mu Tianbo with a glance: "According to the test of the first fleet, there are a total of six batteries along the coast, but only the guns of three batteries can shoot a distance of more than a thousand meters, and the other three batteries can only deal with small boats for landing operations.

Judging from the overboard condition of these shells, the three batteries, which could shoot at a distance of 1,000 meters, should have used 16-18-pounder guns common on European merchant ships, and their effective range should be between 800 and 1500 meters.

However, their gunpowder ratio is not right, so it is difficult to exceed the range of 1200-1300 meters. If they increase the range by increasing the amount of gunpowder, it will be more difficult to target moving targets at sea. Therefore, Xia Guan suggested that the ship should be able to achieve the best shelling effect by cruising at a speed of 1-2 knots at a distance of 1200-1500 meters. ”

Mu Tianbo nodded, agreed with the adjutant of the fleet, and then he said: "Record, according to the arms export regulations formulated by the ASEAN, the export of cannons with specifications of more than 9 catties to the Satsuma Domain needs to be reported, and after the war, check whether they have reported these artillery, and if not, who sold them privately..."

Although the Lancang River was nearly twice as large as the Haiyang behind it, its huge hull did not hinder the flexibility of the ship's movements. Under the command of the first mate, the huge ship, driven by the force of the sails, gently parted the waves of the sea, and turned its head like a huge shark and sailed towards the mouth of the Katu River.

After determining the approximate distance between the ship and the battery through cross-fire, the bottom and middle deck muzzles of the "Lancang" roared in turn, and in just three minutes, two rounds of nearly 44 shells were fired at the first battery. The open turrets made of stone and wood turned into a hell of flesh and blood.

Although the hit rate of the "Lancangjiang" artillery was only three and a half percent, the damage caused by the 21-kilogram and 18-kilogram shells on the open turret was not only the lethality of the cannonballs themselves.

Obviously, the Satsuma clan, which was the first to come into contact with the development of firearms in the outside world, learned about the great role of artillery and muskets in warfare, but they had no idea how to deal with artillery fire, especially heavy artillery that could be mounted on ships, and only relied on the experience of cold weapons warfare in the past to build these coastal defense batteries.

When the real war of firearms came, these Satsuma realized that they had misestimated the power of heavy artillery and overestimated their own capabilities. This battle of warships against shore defense batteries ended with the complete victory of the warships. Relying on the powerful firepower of the "Lancang River", the six forts built by the Satsuma people were like hammers smashing eggs, and they were easily smashed and smashed everywhere.

According to the citizens who stood on the high ground in the city to watch the battle that day, "I saw a wisp of green smoke coming from the muzzles of the ships on the sea from a distance, and then a large number of batteries or buildings on the shore collapsed, as if some kind of magic was cast..."

(. = )