"Change to standard live ammunition! The hot air balloon lifted into the air," Chen Xin ordered at this time.

On the ships approaching Kagoshima, the hot air balloon, which had already been ready to take off, cut one of the fixed cables, rose under the blowing of the sea breeze, and in the fastest possible time, a rough sketch of the detected detection was sent to the vicinity of the artillery position on the shore through the kite line.

The 200-pound body-barreled light artillery that had already landed ashore was also prepared for shelling as quickly as possible, and hundreds of light guns that had been deployed at the first time continued to fire one after another at a distance of about a mile.

Although the projectile fired by the artillery weighed only about two catties, and the body tube was only about two hundred catties, it seemed that it was not much inferior to the thousand-pound heavy artillery used by the Ming army before. The fortresses at the head of the city, which were quite strong for resisting large barrels or light artillery, were under the continuous and fierce bombardment of artillery with an initial kinetic energy of more than 100,000 joules, although the entire wall was still safe, but the battlements and even the fortress on which the battlements were relied were covered began to be bombarded with holes under the fierce fire.

However, perhaps because he was careful about military affairs and had accumulated a lot of actual combat experience in past battles, Shimazu Tadashi's perception of the battlefield was quite acceptable, and he ordered some of the teams guarding the fortress to be removed from the fortress, and the troops on the castle head were also dispersed in the direction of evacuation as much as possible.

However, after about a quarter of an hour, more and more field guns and marines came ashore, and eventually as many as 200 field guns bombarded the entire Kagoshima defense system. In just an hour or so, more than 20,000 rounds of solid shells and submunitions, including thousands of shotguns, were fired, and the entire Kagoshima defense system was shattered, and thousands of marines who had come ashore began to surround the enemy's heavy town from all directions.

The armed forces on the defensives also took advantage of this opportunity to decisively launch an assault of concentrated forces under the cover of firepower, but the seemingly thin foreign enemy's defensive line, no matter which direction it launched a tentative attack, would encounter at least hundreds of three-tael guns within a range of at least one and a half miles, and even thirty or forty field light guns attached to more than five companies, after paying more than a thousand casualties and losses, and not many people approached a distance that could be effectively and accurately suppressed with ordinary iron artillery. The besieged defenders also seem to have finally given up on their plans to launch a fierce breakthrough during the day.

Chen Xin did not order the team to stop, but continued to shrink the encirclement and launch a side fire at a certain angle at a distance of about 100 paces from the head of the enemy city.

There is no doubt that the combat method of using artillery bombardment and long-range fire strikes as absolute means of destruction against the opponent in defense is inefficient, especially when the opponent is still smart, but in the face of an opponent who does not have many troops, the Marine Corps at this time finally has the conditions to use firepower as an absolute means of attack.

From the beginning of the landing of the army to the estimated land and sea strength of the Shimazu family, which killed and injured at least 3,000 or more, only one person was killed and five were killed or wounded, two of whom were injured by firearms accidents and stray bullets. This kind of warfare, which is like a firepower exercise, is something that many ordinary officers and soldiers who participated in the war did not fully think of before.

Seeing that the battle situation was like this, Shimazu Tadashi also had to temporarily convene a military meeting as quickly as possible to discuss the issue of persuasion of the other side to surrender.

"I agree to make peace with them for the time being, or to make conditional compromises, and to give them a small amount of compensation.

"Did any of them suggest a reason for sending troops this time?"

As for whether the opponent who led the fleet to attack Kagoshima was the country to the west that had suddenly become powerful, no one doubted it anymore.

It was confirmed by the arrow correspondence that it was an examined letter: "A retainer brought up a note that looked very undignified.

"They don't ask us for any compensation for land cession, but ... We are asked to give up our arms completely, surrender unconditionally, and accept punishment as war criminals for what happened in the Ryukyus... ”

"There's no room for maneuvering?"

"It doesn't seem to be ... In the first letter they fired, they said: If you do not agree to surrender unconditionally, you will launch a general attack in half an hour, leaving no prisoners... ”

"In that case, I think you can make a choice now: if you are willing to surrender, you can leave now, there is not much armed here at this time, you don't need to worry about me suddenly doing the opposite" Shimazu Tadashi did not expect that those people in the west would suddenly become so unsparing in negotiating and doing things. It is true that the Shimazu family is different from the powerful feudal clans in many other places, and not many people choose to surrender voluntarily at this time.

The choice of the Shimazu family also made Chen Xin feel a trace of admiration, and after the time was up and the demolition team was ready, the fierce blasting attack was launched during the day. Unlike the previous blasting attacks, this time thousands of heavy lead bullets weighing about 100 pounds were fired, and the guns and craters were fired at a distance of about half a mile to 200 paces.

Thousands of explosive projectiles, like heavy projectiles fired from top-of-the-line counterweight trebuchets, dismantled some of the seemingly sturdy fortresses around Kagoshima in an instant, almost like a mudslide. Just as the defenders had regained their will to fight and were preparing to deal with the infantry that was likely to follow closely, they were greeted with another raindrop of shotguns, and this time the fortifications of the former fortress did not seem to provide as much cover as before.

The rain of arrows then covers a succession of blasting attacks from the Bombardier and Demoman, and finally the arson attack at the end. Many samurai's last-minute counterattacks still brought a certain number of casualties to the attacking team, but they did not change the outcome or even the rhythm of the battle.

In the town near the fortified area, a raging fire soon broke out, and many ordinary people who were not the core samurai of the Shimazu family did not seem to be too resolute and fled from the castle. There were also sporadic deserters who were forced to surrender to the landing team at this time.

Chen Xin did not really leave no way out of the people who began to surrender because of the fierce resistance of the other party as mentioned before, after all, whether it is to pursue and confirm the remnants of the enemy or dig up land and wealth, it also needs the cooperation of these people.

(End of chapter)