Chapter 16 Pistol Contest Champion Protect the King of the Ryukyus

In order to select which divisions to march into Japan, Jiang Pai gathered the most fierce division commanders under his command and said to them: "Everyone wants to march into Japan, and they are fighting fiercely. Actually, needless to say, with our equipment, to deal with those Japanese squirts, which division is the same in the past. I also know that you will not be satisfied with who does not go, I think we will have a fair one today, we will compete today, whoever wins will go. If you lose, blame yourself for not being capable, don't blame others. What do you think? ”

As soon as the division commanders heard this, there were a lot of discussions, and some people were worried. Because if you win, you won't be afraid, everyone will be happy, and if you lose, it will be miserable, not only will you not have the opportunity to go to Japan, but you won't be able to raise your head when you return to your division.

Jiang Jian also understood what they were thinking, and said with a smile: "However, if you abstain, I am more welcome, just think that your style is high!" ”

No division commander would give up such an opportunity, and if he gave up the opportunity, he would not be able to explain it when he returned to his own division. Seeing that none of the division commanders abstained, Jiang Ping said: "Come on, let's not make too much trouble!" In a moment we go out for a pistol shooting competition, and whoever wins goes to whoever! Fair enough, right? ”

None of the division commanders spoke, they all weighed their pistol shooting skills. A few of them wanted to slap their mouths after listening to Jiang Ping's words. You must know that pistol shooting still has such a use, so it is better to practice it well.

There was no way, so these division commanders had to go outside and decide the winner by pistol shooting, and Jiang also selected two infantry divisions and one cavalry division to attack Japan. As soon as these troops received the order, they returned to the south. They were to assemble at Vladivostok (Vladivostok), where a small fish village already had an army from the kiln. They needed to build a wharf there and wait for the ship from Yaogang to pick them up before heading for Japan.

Mu Yi and Zheng Zhilong didn't expect the plan on the kiln side to change so quickly, and now they have decided to solve the Japanese problem immediately. Holding the telegram, Mu Yi read it a few times uncomfortably before handing it to Zheng Zhilong, "Old Zheng, this change is too fast!" Do you take a quick look at it? ”

Zheng Zhilong took the telegram, read it twice, and said to Mu Yi: "Zhou Yuji's life is so good, he actually solved the Mobei Mongols in one battle. He has a good life and brings us good luck, so I think we are welcome. Let's call on the envoy of Tokugawa Ietsuna right away! ”

Mu Yi said: "Yes! We can't afford to be slow with our guests, please! ”

Mu Yi and Zheng Zhilong's current office is the original residence of Tsushima, and several Tokugawa shogunate envoys came here, and their feelings were also very complicated, but when they came here and received them, they were very polite, and their hearts were a little more peaceful.

The people who greeted the guests introduced Mu Yi and Zheng Zhilong to them, and introduced five envoys to Mu Yi and Zheng Zhilong. One of the leaders was the leader, and after he took out a letter from Tokugawa Ietsuna, and after confirming his identity, he said: "We, General Tokugawa Ietsuna, sent us here to ask the generals, we have been living in peace with the Ming Dynasty for a long time, why is there another war?" ”

Zheng Zhilong said: "Didn't you always dream of occupying North Korea and then conquering China? We won't bother you to mobilize the expedition, wouldn't it be good to take the initiative to come to the door? ”

"What did the general say, we have always admired Chinese culture, how can we have the heart to conquer the state?"

"Isn't that what you attacked North Korea twice for?"

"That's all stupid things done by those bastards of the Toyota family, and our Tokugawa family would never do such a thing."

"Since you admit that you have done something wrong before, what do you want to do? You can't kill so many people and destroy North Korea as it is, right? ”

"Shogun, that's not what our Tokugawa family does!"

"Anyway, it's what you Japanese do, and we don't care who you do." Zheng Zhilong was not polite.

"When we came, Shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna was very sincere in living peacefully with you. If we want to end the state of war as soon as possible, we can trade to and from each other in a mutually beneficial way! ”

"Peace is good!" Mu Yi said, "Then let's talk about your sincerity specifically!" Mu Yi's words were compelling.

"This!" Originally, the envoy wanted to give up Tsushima Island and Ikishima Island when bargaining, but now he can't talk about it at all without saying some benefits, so he gritted his teeth and said, "If we can stop the war, we can give Tsushima to you!" ”

"Huh!" Mu Yi and Zheng Zhilong glanced at each other and smiled.

Zheng Zhilong said: "Mr. Special Envoy said with a smile, now that Tsushima Island and Yiqi Island are ours, do you still need you to give them to us?" ”

"That's what you occupied!"

"Yes! It's us, yes! Zheng Zhilong deliberately said, "Aren't you Japanese the most powerful?" That's what we're capable of. By the way, the envoys don't know yet! While we were not in Tsushima, we went to Edo (Tokyo) Bay and greeted your Tokugawa Ietsuna, and I wonder if he is still alive. I think that's also a sign of strength. ”

Hearing that Edo had been attacked by Ming warships, several envoys were a little panicked. The envoy couldn't help but ask: "General, can you tell me directly, what do you want to do when you come to Japan?" How can you cease fire and stop blockading us, Japan? ”

"This?" Zheng Zhilong said, "We want you Tokugawa Ietsuna to surrender completely!" ”

Before Zheng Zhilong finished speaking, the envoy immediately said, "General, you don't know about us Yamato, we would rather die than surrender." Never surrendered either! ”

"Huh!" Zheng Zhilong smiled and said, "It's good to surrender once, and it won't be difficult to surrender next time!" ”

Mu Yi said: "Lao Zheng! The shogun won't surrender all at once, so how about you give us Kyushu Island first? ”

"That's absolutely impossible!" The envoy shouted.

"If you don't agree, we'll do it ourselves, and how about we occupy Kyushu by ourselves right away?" Zheng Zhilong cooperated with Mu Yi and said.

"Humph! We can't beat you with the navy, and when you go ashore, our samurai won't let you take advantage! "The envoy originally thought that it would be enough to cede Tsushima Island and Iki Island to the Ming army in exchange for a truce for the Ming army, but he didn't expect that the Ming army had a big appetite and wanted to swallow Kyushu Island, he absolutely couldn't agree, and he didn't dare to agree, let alone have the right to agree.

Zheng Zhilong asked slowly, "Does the envoy want to see how we occupy Kyushu Island here, or do you want to go back and discuss this matter with your Tokugawa general." ”

"You, you have gone too far, we Yamato people will not be kind to you. We won't lose Kyushu. ”

"Don't get excited, we didn't invite you here, you came to the door yourself!" Mu Yi said, "I think you should go back quickly, and if Tokugawa Ietsuna is not dead, you can ask for instructions and bring our opinions to him." However, we can't guarantee that getting Kyushu Island doesn't want Honshu Island! ”

Mu Yi and Zheng Zhilong's plan is also to take Kyushu Island first, where the climate is warm, and Kyushu is also rich in coal, so that the coal used by warships in the future will not need to be transported from China. Steam ships can carry less coal, and coal can also be replenished here. That's a big deal.

Tokugawa Ietsuna's envoys wanted to go back, and Muyoshi was also very polite to send them to Fukuoka. However, Fukuoka had already exploded into a mess, and the ship was near Fukuoka to bring them ashore.

In order to take Kyushu, Mu Yi and Zheng Zhilong sent two steel-hulled warships to patrol the Japanese islands in turn, blockading Japan, prohibiting their sea ships from going to sea, and not allowing outside ships to enter Japan. And Mu Yi and Zheng Zhilong led a group of staff officers to study the occupation of Kyushu.

After Fan Chengkun got the matter of cleaning up the Ryukyus, of course he was very happy, because leaving the Ryukyu area, the eastern sea is an uncertain factor. This time, Li Jing heard that he was going to send someone to the Ryukyu Kingdom to deal with the Japanese, and there were any masters there, so he wanted to bring someone over in person. Chen Yufeng didn't agree at all, he had a lot of things to do here. Besides, the kiln gang can't leave people. Li Jing felt that this matter could not be messed up, so he sent his right-hand man Wei Qing to lead the team to follow. This person's martial arts are no worse than Li Jing, and no one is convinced, but he admires Li Jing very much. Li Jing only sent him out at a critical time. He is usually responsible for training newcomers, and only those who can pass his level are qualified, and Li Jing also trusts him very much. The prince of Jinyi Wei also sent three masters, and Li Jing also sent a special forces company to help in the battle.

Fan Chengkun understood that this was a matter that the Yaogang Command Center attached great importance to Ryukyu. Therefore, as soon as the two new warships carrying the Ryukyu secret envoy and Wei Qing and the three Jinyi Wei masters arrived in Quanzhou, Fan Chengkun arranged them to a secret place. After drawing up a detailed battle plan, two warships of 1,800 tons accompanied them to accompany a merchant ship to set off.

These two warships, which have just completed sea trials, are the highest achievements in Yaogang shipbuilding technology. They not only adopted the Fuchuan system, but also used high-temperature and high-pressure alloy steel as the boiler, the pressure of the boiler has increased a lot, the power has been greatly improved, and the efficiency has been improved more. The ability of the Fuchuan system to resist wind and waves at sea has also been greatly improved, and it has just been equipped with underwater acoustic detectors and radio detectors. Although these things are still very troublesome to use, but with them, the captains of these two ships almost knelt down for Shi Tao, who came to deliver the equipment. They're all old seafarers, and they know too well what this thing means. What makes the two captains even more proud is that their firepower is not comparable to the original five flat-bottomed warships. Now the two new ships are equipped with two 203-mm guns, and three 130-caliber cannons are also installed on the fore and rear decks. The only pity is that the radio sighting equipment did not catch up with the new ship's equipment. In addition, the radio navigation stations in Quanzhou, Shandong's East Peninsula, Guangdong, Xiaoliuqiu (Taiwan), Hainan, and Liaodong Peninsula have not yet been built, otherwise the ship's radio navigation can be used.

This time, they set off much slower with a merchant ship, but there was nothing they could do, because their mission was not only to drive away all the Japanese in the Ryukyus, but also to protect the safety of the Ryukyu king. If it was attacked, those Japanese in the Satsuma domain would know that it was the king of the Ryukyus who went to the Ming Dynasty for help, and it would be difficult to guarantee the life of the king of the Ryukyus. Therefore, these Ryukyu envoys also had to return to Ryukyu on a merchant ship, and of course the crew members on the merchant ship were all people arranged by Fan Chengkun and them. They were to follow these Ryukyu envoys ashore and come to the Ryukyu king to protect him. The rest is simple.

After leaving the port of Quanzhou, the three ships drifted at sea for several days, and finally came to the sea west of the island of Okinawa.

When a merchant ship comes, it's a festival on the pier. However, the people sent by the Satsuma clan in the Ryukyus already knew about the Ming army sending ships to attack Japan, and they were especially wary of the merchant ships coming here from Quanzhou. Because the name of the merchant ship was not that of the Ming Dynasty but of Sulu, these people of the Satsuma clan were not so nervous, but they also strictly limited the number of people on board the ship. Of course, the merchants who accompanied the ship could not help but let the family go ashore, and the restrictions could only be those crew members. However, there were still a few people in the Satsuma Domain, and it was the Ryukyuan people who were in charge of things on the docks. When the people of the Satsuma clan left, the Ryukyu envoys gave some money, and those people opened their eyes and closed their eyes. So the people who should go ashore still went ashore. This time, the Ryukyu envoys were not afraid of being discovered by the people of the Satsuma Domain, and they left the dock and went straight to the palace with Wei Qing's people and a group of more than 30 people from the Jinyi Guard.

The palace guards did not know the secret envoy sent by the king of the Ryukyus, not only did they not know him, but the ordinary officials did not know about it, so they did not let them enter the palace at all. Wei Qing saw that this was not going to work, and as soon as he saw it, the special forces took action to knock down the guards, and then they rushed into the palace, and when they encountered the guards who intercepted them, they were all put down. There are also martial arts masters among the secret envoys, and the palace guards are not ordinary soldiers, but they saw the skills of the special forces in Yaogang, and they were completely convinced. I was afraid of the worries of those who endured the masters to hurt the king, and I was relieved.

Hearing the commotion outside, the king of the Ryukyus was about to call someone out to ask what was going on, when he saw a group of people rushing in, and the king was frightened.

At this time, suddenly two masked men suddenly appeared in front of the king like ghosts, blocking between the king and the comer. Of course, the king knew that these were Japanese ninjas, but how they suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, the king couldn't figure it out.

Of course, the king of the Ryukyus didn't understand, these ninjas would use stealth techniques when they practiced to a certain extent. Chinese Taoists also have such spells, but it is very difficult for anyone to practice to this extent. The Satsuma clan sent two masters to hide the Ryukyu royal palace and monitor the Ryukyu king's every move, and those who conspired with the king could not escape their clutches. This is the most labor-saving and economical way, these ninjas usually do not delay their cultivation, and they can still earn a lot of silver. Both were happy.

However, Wei Qing and the others saw that they were about to come to the Ryukyu King just now, and suddenly two masked men flashed out, and he knew that this was a Japanese ninja. When they were in the kiln, they also studied the affairs of Japanese ninjas, and because there was no further information, they knew very little about them, but there were more legends and myths.

Wei Qing's brain was very fast, and he shouted: "Kill the king!" ”

The Ryukyu secret envoy was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood what Wei Qing meant, he was using the two ninjas not knowing that they had just landed to protect the king, and wanted the two ninjas to misunderstand that they were here to kill the king, so that they would not pose danger to the king, so a secret envoy shouted loudly in Ryukyuan dialect: "Rush over and kill the king!" ”

Of course, the two ninjas could understand the secret envoy's words to kill the king, so although they just heard it seemed to be the Ming Dynasty dialect, and some felt that something was wrong, they heard that someone was going to kill the king, so they stopped doing it. If someone killed the king in front of their eyes, they would have to kill themselves. Therefore, the two ninjas waved the waist knives in their hands and waited for the opponent to attack.

Li Jing's special forces were not ambiguous, and they had immediately dispersed, forming a fan-shaped encirclement around the two of them, both of whom were left-handed knives and right-handed ****. The three brocade guards suddenly disappeared. Wei Qing completely trusts them, they are all masters elected by the prince, and if they are gone at this time, they are definitely not running away, they must have some good moves.

The two ninjas protected the king behind them motionless, Wei Qing felt that not only were they not nervous, but their breath had not changed, and he knew that their internal strength was not ordinarily strong. However, Wei Qing knew that they were human beings, and they couldn't take advantage of them today.

Wei Qing stretched out his left hand to them and pointed with his fingertips, although the two ninjas were motionless, it was impossible for their attention to be still, at this time, more than 20 **** special forces shot at them crosswise. The two ninjas were really extraordinary, and suddenly rose into the air to avoid the thunderous rain of bullets. But the well-trained special forces waited for them to jump up, cross-fire and follow at the same time, all like lightning. If ordinary people were in the air, they would have nowhere to focus, and they would have been beaten into a sieve long ago. But these two people, their waists flashed out of thin air, and they dodged the second blow, and just when the special forces wanted to follow the third blow, it was the three ninjas who split two swords from their heads. It was two brocade guards who came out. The two ninjas blocked with their knives in the air, and shot a string of smoking hidden weapons from their hands.

The two brocade guards drew their swords and dodged the blow of the hidden weapon, but one ninja had not yet fallen, and had already been pierced through the chest by another sword. It was the third brocade guard to make up for a sword.

When the two ninjas landed, they rolled at the same time, dodging the third blow of the special forces, and one of them rolled over and bounced directly out of the window, but before he could get out on the windowsill, several bullets hit him head-on.

The ninja who didn't get up after rolling, after being hit by a few bullets, suddenly white smoke came out of his body, and then the gas fire on his body quickly burned himself to ashes. The ninja who had been hit by a few bullets in the window fell out of the window and was motionless. It is estimated that the bullet hit the heart directly.

It turned out that several special forces in the back reacted quickly, and they blocked the window from behind.

The ninja who was stabbed through the chest with a sword didn't die at the time, and he knew that he couldn't do it, so he set himself on fire.

Just as the two ninjas jumped up, Wei Qing had already come to the king's eyes and protected the king. At this time, the king trembled with fear, and thought that he was going to die. Unexpectedly, Wei Qing, who came to him, didn't kill him, but still held a sword and blocked him behind him.

Everything happened too fast. The frightened secret envoy hurriedly stepped forward to bow down in front of the king and said, "Your Royal Highness, the rescue soldiers of the Ming Dynasty we invited are here!" ”

Only then did the king see that the messenger he had sent had returned. The king wept aloud for a while and said, "As soon as you are gone, there is no news, and I think you have been killed by them again." I didn't expect you to really invite the rescuers back! Thank you for the great kindness of the emperor! ”

At this time, there was another big mess outside! Wei Qing and the others did not wait for the king to finish speaking, and immediately surrounded him.

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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.