After 17,000 Kyushu coalition troops crossed the Shimonoseki Strait, Mori Shu, the second-generation lord of the Choshu Domain, finally achieved a dominant position in the domain, and Mori Hidemoto, the Gomi who had originally presided over the feudal administration, had to return power to Mori Shusa.

However, under the persuasion of the important minister Masuda Motosho and other retainers, Mori Shu decided to reconcile with Mori Hidemoto in order to unite all the forces in the domain against the shogunate. For the Choshu Domain, regaining the lost territory at this time was much more important than the political strife within the domain.

The combined Kyushu coalition army was only 17,000 people, but the Choshu domain cobbled together more than 8,000 people, plus the 3,000 men of the Ming people, and the number of coalition troops soon swelled to nearly 30,000.

The allied fleet, which controlled the sea lanes, did not initially want the Jeju 1st Corps led by Lu Xiangsheng and the 5th Wing of the Haiphong Battalion transferred from Tanegashima to join the war of the Japanese princes' coalition forces.

The Dutch in the Northern Route Fleet preferred to use this Ming army to capture Iwami Ginzan and Sado Treasure Island, but Lu Xiangsheng vetoed the Dutch's suggestion. He believed that he had crossed the sea with this army, not to rob any gold or silver, but to test the role of new weapons and tactics in warfare.

The great battle between the coalition forces of the southwestern princes and the coalition forces of the shogunate princes was a rare testing ground, how could they miss this great battle. Although the Dutch were annoyed, they saw that even Zheng Zhilong, who had always been unruly, was obedient in front of this Ming ** official, and they could only succumb to Lu Xiangsheng's decision.

Zheng Zhilong's deference to Lu Xiangsheng is naturally not because he is afraid of his current official position, but because of Lu Xiangsheng's background as a scholar. Now that he has submitted to the imperial court, not offending civil officials has become Zheng Zhilong's code of conduct.

The Dutch didn't know about Zheng Zhilong's mentality, but they still followed Zheng Zhilong's decision, because they also wanted to see how the Ming army really performed on the battlefield.

Led by the forces of the Choshu Domain, who were familiar with geography, and aided by a combined wing that controlled the sea lanes, the coalition forces soon opened the road to Hiroshima and approached the Hachimangawa River, west of Hiroshima Castle.

Aki Province, where Hiroshima is located, is full of mountains and rivers, but the most suitable places to live are the Delta of the Ota River, where Hiroshima Castle is located, and the Yawata River Valley, which is not far from Hiroshima Castle.

The Hachimangawa River Valley Plain is about 45 kilometers long from north to south and 3-4 kilometers wide from east to west, and rapidly expands into a coastal plain and wetland near the mouth of the sea. In the southwest sea at the mouth of the Hachiman River is Miyajima, which is said to be the most beautiful sea in Setouchi.

The Hachiman River originates in Mt. Akamatsu to the west of Aki Province and joins many tributaries along the way, the largest of which is the Ishinai River from the east.

After all, Asano Nagasaki was a man who had experienced the Battle of Sekigahara and the winter and summer battles in Osaka, and after seeing the soldiers sent by the various Chinese princes, he knew that this improvised and demoralized coalition army was unlikely to fight for long.

Moreover, with the savings of the Hiroshima Domain, it was impossible to support the supply of this growing army for a long time. Under the orders of the shogunate, and fearing the invasion of the Kyushu-Choshu coalition, the princes of the Chugoku region did their best to fulfill the shogunate's orders for the first time.

As a result, by the time the Kyushu-Choshu coalition appeared near the Hachimangawa River, more than 80,000 soldiers had gathered in the barracks outside Hiroshima Castle. After much thought, Asano decided to send this army to the battlefield before they were tired of the war, and to repel the Kyushu-Choshu coalition with an absolute numerical advantage.

In addition to the Delta of the Ota River outside the castle, only the valley plain area of the middle and lower reaches of the Hachiman River was left on the battlefield that could accommodate more than 100,000 troops. Compared to the Delta of the Ota River, which is divided into countless small pieces by the river, the Hachimangawa River area is more suitable for large armies to fight in formation.

Having never fought in the battlefield, the young Ikeda agreed with Asano's decision, which forced the other princes to abandon the idea of relying on the defense of Hiroshima Castle.

The 45-kilometer-long valley plain from the mouth of the Hachimangawa River to the sea was wide in the west and narrower in the east, especially in the central and northern parts of the country, which hindered the depth of the Hiroshima coalition forces.

Since the northern side of the valley is divided into three landmasses by the Hachimangawa River and its tributary, the Ishinai River, and the middle area is mostly occupied by hills, so both sides have invariably concentrated their main forces on the lower plains.

The formation of the Hiroshima coalition army was 38,000 men on the left flank, with the Hiroshima domain as the main force; 19,000 people in the middle road, presided over by Tadao Ikeda; There were 30,000 people on the right flank, and Tadanaga Asano and Shigean Ueda were in command.

On the side of the Ming-Kyushu-Choshu coalition army, there were 14,000 people on the right flank, with Satsuma and Kumamoto as the main forces; 9,000 people in the middle lane, with the Maori family as the main force; The left flank of 6,500 people was under the command of the Ming general Lu Xiangsheng.

The geographically advantageous Hiroshima coalition had already lined up positions on the east bank of the Hachimangawa River before the arrival of the Daming-Kyushu-Choshu coalition forces. Looking at the endless barracks and flags on the other side, the Ming-Kyushu-Choshu coalition army also discussed it for a long time before deciding to engage in a battle with the Hiroshima coalition army here.

The Kyushu coalition army, which had been outnumbered all the way, was the first time to encounter a battle with superior numbers on the opposite side, and the soldiers who entered the position couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

Compared with these allied forces of the princes, although the number of left-wing troops commanded by Lu Xiangsheng was small, the main force of the Jeju 1st Corps and the 5th Wing of the Haiphong Battalion were both standing armies that had been trained for a long time.

The 3,000 Kyushu princes' army allocated to Lu Xiangsheng also slowly relaxed their emotions and focused on how to fight after seeing these colleagues preparing for battle in an orderly manner.

The Kyushu coalition army only entered the position in the afternoon of the day before the battle, and in order to prevent the Kyushu coalition army from seeing through the reality of their side, Asano Nagasaki simply sent someone to send a letter to the coalition army. The letter said that he would not interfere with the deployment of the coalition forces on the other side of the river, and hoped that the two armies would have a fair battle tomorrow.

Before entering the position, Lu Xiangsheng held a final military meeting with these princes' allies. However, in addition to deciding on the deployment of troops on the left, center, and right sides at the meeting, the generals of the coalition forces were vague and could not determine the battle plan for the entire battle, which made Lu Xiangsheng very disappointed.

In Lu Xiangsheng's view, this pre-war military meeting was a farce, and the generals of the coalition forces did not come up with any feasible battle plan except to embolden each other and belittle the opposing army. If these people were his subordinates, he felt that he would send them all to a closed room to sober up.

However, he was relieved that after he returned to his unit, the staff officers of the infantry regiment, who had entered the left flank position before the troops to reconnoitre, had come up with a preliminary battle plan.

Although the establishment of the Jeju First Division Corps is only more than 1,500 people, it has nearly 700 non-commissioned officers, and the ratio of officers and soldiers is close to 1:1. As an experimental unit, the quality of the officers and men of this unit in the Daming New Army is also unique.

Most of these non-commissioned officers who graduated from the Army Military Academy received 9-14 months of military education, and for most of them, this war was the first major war after graduating from military school. This made them eager to try and test what they had learned in military school on the battlefield.

The combat plan proposed to Lu Xiangsheng by the staff officers of the infantry regiment was to actively bring into play the advantages of the infantry regiment's relatively strong firepower while the number of people was inferior.

With the six light guns equipped with the infantry regiment and the eight guns dismantled from the ship as the core, the fire was first projected on the enemy's right flank, and after the enemy array was crushed, the cavalry charge was launched to drive the enemy's right flank troops to attack their own Chinese army, creating opportunities for friendly and neighboring troops.

The artillery company of the infantry regiment had 4 three-pound guns and 2 six-pound guns, the total weight of which was 1875 kg and 370 kg, respectively. At an angle of 5 degrees, the range is meters.

Although the 8 cannons dismantled from the battleship were all six-pound guns, the firing range was as high as 1,320 meters at a 5-degree firing angle, but the weight exceeded 750 kilograms, making it difficult to move.

According to the measurements of the staff officers of the infantry regiment on the ground, there was a river beach protruding to the east in their own position, which had a wide field of vision and happened to be facing the middle of the opposite position.

From 5 to 600 meters to the east, the land is cut by the Hachimangawa River and its tributary Ishunai River, and the 5 to 600 meters beyond the Ishinai River is a hilly area, and there are obviously no ambushes on the hills.

The Hiroshima coalition was stationed between the Ishiuchi River and the hills to the east, and it was clear that they intended to use the plains between the Hachiman River and the Ishiuchi River as a place of battle.

If eight cannons were placed on this protruding stretch of the river, the positions on the right flank of the Hiroshima coalition would be almost entirely within the range of the cannons.

More than 600 meters to the north, there is a hilly area between the two rivers, most of which are more than 100 meters above the flat ground, and because they are close to the edge of the battlefield, the Hiroshima coalition forces only stationed a force of more than 1,000 people on it.

The final plan drawn up by these staff officers was to rely on the Yawata River for defensive operations first, and lure the main force of the right flank of the Hiroshima coalition to cross the Ishiuchi River. A detachment was sent to cross the river from the upper reaches of the Hachiman River and seize control of the hilly terrain between the two rivers.

The light artillery of the artillery company moved to the hills, condescendingly fired at the enemy from the flank, and the cannons placed on the west bank of the Hachiman River counterattacked at the same time, and after the enemy was disrupted by artillery fire, the left flank launched a full-scale attack.

The Hachiman River and Ishiuchi River, which are in the dry season in late autumn, are only 3 to 40 meters wide, and most of the river has a pebble bed exposed, and the deepest part of the river is no more than the thighs and waist.

After observing the geography of the vicinity, Lu Xiangsheng quickly agreed to this plan. Zhou Yuji of the 1st Infantry Battalion and Cao Dagong of the Artillery Company were in charge of the roundabout mission, and they would take advantage of the darkness to move to the upper reaches of the Hachiman River and attack the enemy forces on the hills from the northwest. A Maori unit familiar with geography will operate with them.

The remaining 5,000 men built barracks on both flanks with the predetermined cannon positions as the center to cope with the enemy attack on the opposite side.