Chapter 653: The Pacific War
Hungry and thirsty, their eyes glowing green, the Japanese sailors landed on a paradise land full of warm sunshine, soft sand, fresh water, fruits, and other much-needed things. The two captains, Masuda Toranosuke and Shimada Kameshiro, saw something different, although they knew that this could not be Japan, but they did see Japanese-style buildings in the telescope, as well as some yellow people who looked like the Japanese, as if they had returned to the embrace of the motherland.
Masuda Toranosuke and the others landed not in a no-man's land, there were people living not far from them, and the fruits they ate were obviously the product of artificial cultivation. The local residents had already spotted them, but seeing that the group of people were like hungry wolves and still holding weapons in their hands, they had been cowering and did not dare to approach, and Masuda saw these people in the telescope. The owner of the orchard watched for a long time, and saw that these men did not seem to be further aggressive except for the particularly brutal things they could eat, so he came boldly and came over, of course, not alone, but with a group of brown-skinned workers with flintlock muskets in their hands.
"You're Japanese?" As soon as the master approached, Masuda Toranosuke, who was anxious to find out where he was, greeted him. After walking in and seeing the other party's face clearly, without waiting for the master to speak, Masuda opened his mouth and asked first.
"Hay, who are you?" The owner of the orchard is indeed from Japan, but he has been away from Japan for a long, long time. Listening to Masuda speak the long-lost hometown dialect, the orchard owner was also a little kind, but the orchard owner was still very wary of his fellow villagers with weapons.
"We are the Imperial Japanese Navy, I am the Imperial Navy's Captain Toshisuke Masuda, and this is His Excellency Kameshiro Shimada, the captain of the Kuaikaze!" Masuda Toranosuke didn't care if the owner of the orchard was a former fugitive, and he was thankful to meet someone who knew Japanese.
"In Shimo-Toshima Gentaro, please give me a lot of advice!" The owner of the orchard also reported his name, a Japanese commoner who had fled overseas to earn a living during the shogunate's lockdown, and had no surname at all. After years of hard work, he has his own family business, and he remembered to give himself a surname, the place where he stayed was not Japan, and no one cared about what he wanted to have a surname, so he looked forward to the abundance of the island, so he gave himself the surname Toshima.
"Where is this? And how many Japanese! Masuda Toranosuke did not ask why Toshima was here, because it was obvious that at this time, 99 percent of the Japanese overseas at this time, except for the envoys sent by the government, were originally people who had escaped, and there were very few fishermen who were shipwrecked. As a government officer, if Masuda Toranosuke mentions this matter, I'm afraid that there will be a gap between the two sides, and this is the time to use Toshima, of course, it can be won over as much as possible, and some words that will embarrass both sides can be said or not said.
"Your Excellency, what are you doing here?" Toshima was still very careful, he still didn't know what the current situation was in Japan, so he was very worried that Masuda Toranosuke's gang was here to punish them for fleeing the country.
Masuda Toranosuke didn't want to talk about his experience in front of Toshima, a sinner who had fled the country, but there was really no way to do it right now. If you don't make it clear, it's really hard to dispel Toshima's defense, and even if Toshima is arrested and tortured, in order to protect his family, Toshima won't tell the truth. And now that the Japanese army is in a critical situation, if Toshima uses lies to give them another trick, it will be very difficult for them to turn over, so it is better to tell the truth, Masuda Toranosuke can only gamble that Toshima still regards Japan as his motherland in his heart.
Masuda Toranosuke told the original changes in Japan, as well as a series of unfortunate things that he had recently encountered, of course, the Manchurian army sent them supplies along the way, which was too embarrassing, and was skipped by Masuda with spring and autumn brushwork. When he heard that Japan had been founded and that the emperor had taken power again, Toshima was so happy that he even bowed to the north and shouted "Long live His Majesty the Emperor." Although it was just an expression of emotion, it also made Masuda very pleased, it seems that Toshima is still patriotic and loyal to the emperor, and he won the bet this time.
"This is Hawaii, and there are many of our compatriots, probably tens of thousands! Food and fresh water are available here, and some are available here if you need medicine, but coal is scarce here, and you have to go to Honolulu or a few other ports. Where was leased to the US Navy a few years ago, where did they hoard a lot of coal! In 1863, the U.S. Navy forced the Kingdom of Hawaii to sign a treaty to lease several of Hawaii's major ports to fight against the Confederate in the Pacific. The U.S. Navy has thousands of soldiers and five warships stationed in it, so naturally it needs a lot of supplies, and Toshima Gentaro often sends bananas there, so he knows it very well.
After receiving the guidance of Toyoshima Gentaro, Masuda Toranosuke immediately promised Toshima Gentaro a lot of benefits, which were nothing more than how the Japanese government would reward him for his loyalty. Nine out of these promises will not be kept, but Masuda Toranosuke can only fool people with these verbal things, and there is not much difference between him and fleeing now. Fortunately, the two thousand years of class suppression in Japanese society made the subordinates have great respect for the samurai and the government, so Toshima, who got Masuda's promise, didn't think much about it at all, and happily cheered for Masuda.
Under the guidance of Toshima, Masuda first met with some local Japanese nationals, obtained a large number of material gifts from these people, and then these people came forward to hire a large number of tugboats to tow the East Ship and the fast wind, which had lost power, to Oahu. Although there was a tugboat towing it, the East Ship and his party wandered the sea for three days before they saw the port of Honolulu from afar. The U.S. Navy, close to the later Pearl Harbor, built an independent port area of its own, which was largely independent of the port of Honolulu and did not affect the navigation of other ships in the port of Honolulu. However, the two sides are not far away, and after Masuda Toranosuke and the others approach the port of Honolulu, they can clearly see the warships of the US Federal Navy.
"After refueling and correcting the charts, we need to buy a transport ship so that we can return to Japan smoothly!" The Japanese expatriates provided a lot of money to Toranosuke and others, who had empty pockets, otherwise they would not have been able to buy coal in Honolulu without a dime. However, Masuda and the two, who have money, have a new plan, and they have to reserve more supplies.
"Your Excellency, rest assured! We also have compatriots who are familiar with the shipping company, and it will not be too troublesome to buy a transport ship! "Gentaro Toshima has done things for the motherland, but he is very attentive.
Masuda and the others immediately thanked Toshima, and they really felt that these overseas compatriots were good. The fleet was still a few nautical miles away from the port of Honolulu, and while several people were complimenting each other and laughing at the bow of the ship, a puff of black smoke suddenly approached at high speed behind them. The relaxed Japanese did not notice the situation behind the scenes, but the American troops in the harbor were very nervous, and they discovered the abnormality in time. When the east ship approached, they were prepared, and when they saw the smoke rising from the high-speed operation of the steam boiler behind the east ship, how could they not respond. All the American warships in the harbor were set to anchor and raised their battle flags, ready for engagement. Although they did not know who the enemy was, Honolulu was a place they had rented and they would not allow anyone to invade it.
After discovering that the U.S. military was tense, Masuda and the others of course also paid attention to the back, and when they saw those billowing pillars of smoke, they immediately understood, and they caught up with their enemies all the way. The Kuaifeng can run, but the speed of the Kuaifeng will have to be caught up by others in less than half an hour, and it doesn't matter if one of their transport ships can run or not. The East Ship is the main battleship, but now it has lost all power, and it can only be regarded as a floating battery, and where is it the opponent of the fierce Manchurian battleship. These mysterious enemies have suddenly disappeared for a few days, and the devil knows what they have done and what new tricks they have come up with, and they may not let the East Ship go again this time.
"They're still here!" Shimada Kaushiro let out a desperate sigh, but there was also a hint of relief in his tone, they should have come eventually, and they were relieved now.
"Speed up, rush into the harbor at full speed, as long as we get in, it's safe!" Masuda Toranosuke was also desperate for a while, but he quickly found a way to survive.
A few years ago, there was a group of villains in Japan, that is, the Far East Fleet of the British Empire, who was blocked by the Manchurian North Sea Fleet. The Manchurians hated the Far East Fleet to death and vowed to kill these guys, but the Manchurians never attacked by force, let alone entered Japanese ports, except for exerting diplomatic pressure on Japan. The way Masuda Toranosuke thought of was to enter the port of Honolulu, the Hawaiian Kingdom did not provoke North Manchuria, as long as they hid in the territory of the Hawaiian Kingdom like the Far East Fleet back then, North Manchurian would definitely let them go for the time being as it did back then. As for what to do in the future, we can only think about it then, otherwise today will be the day of the complete destruction of the Japanese Navy.
The speed of the tugboat is very low, even if it is overloaded and sprinted, there is absolutely no way to exceed six knots, the North Manchurian Navy is rushing over at a speed of more than thirty knots, and whether the east ship can enter Honolulu Port can only depend on luck. Fortunately, the East Ship was already very close to the port, and the Manchurian Navy was still ten nautical miles away, so the East Ship still had hope of success. In the prayers of Masuda Toranosuke and others, the East Ship finally entered the main channel of Honolulu Port, and everyone was finally safe. But the Manchurian navy, breaking with their convention of not attacking the ports of non-belligerents, began to launch artillery bombardments at extremely long distances.
The Manchurian Navy has always been accurate in gunnery, but this time the distance was too far away, and they failed to hit the East ship, but only hit the column of water that soared into the sky on the main channel behind the East ship. The East Ship continued to move forward in prayer, and the U.S. Navy and the defenders of the Kingdom of Hawaii reacted, they did not see the flag of the North Manchurian Navy clearly, but they knew that the enemy was coming, and the naval guns of the U.S. Navy and the shore defense guns of the Kingdom of Hawaii were all aimed at the North Manchurian Navy approaching at high speed.