Chapter 672: The Battle of Tokyo Bay - Encirclement

Saigo Takamori could choose to be loyal to the death, and Emperor Meiji was happy to see such an outcome, but Tokugawa Yoshiki, who was in charge of the overall situation, would never allow such a thing to happen. The coastal defense line can collapse, hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops can die in battle, as long as the elite still exists, the Japanese army will not perish, they can retreat into the mountains and recruit troops to fight again. But if Saigo Takamori died, the soul of the Japanese army would die with it, the Japanese army would have no hope, and Japan would also perish.

Tokugawa Yoshiki is the leader of the samurai, and Saigo Takamori is the soul of the Japanese army, so Tokugawa Yoshiki has always arranged for people to protect Saigo Takamori. The coastal defense line tends to collapse, and Saigo Takamori has launched a decisive charge for a while, and the reason why the people sent by Tokugawa Yoshiki have only arrived now is because Tokugawa Yoshiki is also facing great trouble, and Yama Prefecture Kyosuke has been defeated.

After the defeat of Asakusa, Yamaguchi Kyosuke has not been able to get rid of the entanglement of the Manchurian cavalry. The cavalry commanded by Uligi was like maggots attached to the bones, biting the Japanese army to the death. Moreover, the Manchurian cavalry never engaged in frontal battles, they were all engaged in surprise attacks, and suddenly they ran away with a hammer, and Yama County Kyosuke didn't even have a chance to counterattack. There are few mountains on the outskirts of Tokyo, and the speed of the cavalry can be used to the extreme, and Goyama Kaisuke tried desperately several times to find no opponent, but as soon as he moved, he was attacked by the trailing cavalry.

Yama Prefecture only insisted on Nakano, and then could no longer move, in order not to give the Manchurian cavalry a little grind to death, Yama Prefecture Yama chose to stop in Nakano and not move. Yama Prefecture Kyosuke ordered the soldiers to dig trenches, ready to defend to the death, he has an absolute superiority in troops, and the food is also sufficient, and the Manchurian cavalry will be consumed until the New Year. Yama Prefecture Kurosuke's method was also effective at the beginning, and Uliji made several surprise attacks, but he successfully drove them back. Although the Japanese army's weapons and equipment were relatively backward, and the rate of fire and firepower density were insufficient, the cavalry still had no way to face the infantry who were waiting for the battle.

It's a pity that this is not a war between Uliji and Yama Yama Raksuke, but a decisive battle between the two countries, and after Urigi found himself gnawing on Yama Yama Kuisuke, he decisively gave up the siege of Yama Yama Ransuke. When the Manchu cavalry left, all the Japanese troops were cheering, and even Yamaguchi Kyosuke felt that he had won, but after detecting the whereabouts of the Manchurian Army, Yamaguchi Kyosuke had the intention of committing suicide. The Manchurian cavalry made a detour through Toshima and pointed their troops straight at Arakawa, completely attacking Tokyo from the north.

Took away more than 20,000 absolute elite Yama Prefecture Kuyosuke of Tokugawa Yoshiki, but he had a fatal task, but he couldn't protect himself, he had to keep the Manchurian cavalry out of Tokyo, and he couldn't let Tokugawa Yoshiki's army suffer from the enemy. Now that Uliji's army has left Yama Prefecture Kosuke and gone straight to Tokyo like no man's land, Yama Prefecture Kansuke naturally can't sit still. In order to protect the emperor and give an account to Tokugawa Yoshiki, who trusted him, Yamaguchi Kurosuke left all his useless baggage and went mad and chased in the direction of Uriki's cavalry.

The infantry chased the cavalry, and they couldn't catch up, and it was the Yama County Crazy who suffered a loss in this regard, so he was forced by Uliji to be in a dilemma, and naturally he had a deep understanding. Therefore, the Japanese army did not follow the trajectory of the Manchurian cavalry, but chose to outflank the inner line, running wildly from Shinjuku and Chiyoda, wanting to rush to Sumida to fortify before the Manchurian cavalry and block the enemy's footsteps approaching Tokyo. In terms of military literacy and command level alone, Yama Prefecture Kyosuke was higher than Uliji, and Uliji did not expect that the Japanese army would run in front of him. If the two sides had fought fairly at the same level, Uliji would have hit the iron plate in Sumida, but it wasn't a fair fight. The Manchurian airship has been cruising in the sky, and all the troops of Yama Prefecture Yakini are in the eyes of others, and Uliji has long known Yama Prefecture Yama Clan's route of march and his possible plans.

Yama Prefecture Kurasuke, who played the cards, was naturally no match for Uliji, who had a cheat, so the Japanese army would never be able to run to Sumida, and they were ambushed by the Manchurian Army as soon as they arrived in Taitung. The rumbling sound of iron hooves shook the earth again, and the Japanese troops in the frenzy once again met the onslaught of the cavalry in the form of a marching army, the sabers chopped off the proud heads, the blood spilled on the land of their homeland, cold weapons dominated the battlefield, and the cavalry declared the authority of their land overlords. The cavalry scattered everything, turning the disciplined forces into a plate of scattered sand, and the fleeing infantry became the target of the cavalry to show their horsemanship, and Yamaguchi Kurasuke was defeated again and fled.

Yamaguchi Kurosuke retreated all the way to Setagaya, and this time he didn't even have a chance to choose a place to hold on. The cavalry were driving them all the way, and Yama County Kyosuke had no chance to form a team at all, so he could only run wildly all the way, using the death of backward soldiers to fight for the hope of life for the large army. By the time the Japanese army arrived in Setagaya, the elite who were considered treasures by Tokugawa Yoshiki had lost all their equipment, and their number had dropped to less than 8,000. The only way for them to stop the Manchurian cavalry now was to go to the Manchurian army's horses and send them to their deaths, using their necks to resist the sabers, and buy a little time for Tokyo.

It's a pity that the matter of sending him to death was done by Yama County Kuaisuke and one or two loyal people, but the 8,000 Japanese army can't be like this. The Japanese army, which has lost all its formation, has become a rabble, let alone going out to stop the enemy, and even an ordinary march cannot be done. Yamaguchi Kurasuke has completely lost the ability to fight, and the only thing he can do is to thank the emperor with seppuku and rejoice with Xie Tokugawa. However, Goyama Prefecture is not a person who gives up easily, he always feels that he still has hope, so he did not cut his stomach, but worked hard to reorganize the troops. Yamaguchi cursed Uriji in circles, praying that the enemy would suddenly get lost and give him a chance to fight again.

It's a pity that the power of Yamagu's circle is limited, and Uriji, who has different beliefs, was not affected by his curse, and after leaving him, he went straight to Tokyo City very smoothly. The Japanese troops stationed in various places were also trying their best to resist, but their strength was limited, and their equipment was almost half a century behind, how could they stop the Manchurian cavalry that was fully and nearly modernized. Even if the character of one or two small cities broke out, Uliji could not conquer it for a while, and the Manchurian cavalry did not fight at all, gave up the attack very happily, and then passed around the city without any scruples.

Each city fortress of the defenders is a stronghold of their troops, and it is also the foundation of their defense of the main transportation routes. If the attackers are unable to conquer these cities, they will have no way to control the roads and will be unable to resupply. It's a pity that the Mongol cavalry didn't need supplies, everything they had was on horseback, and they didn't need a rear road at all because they had food for the enemy. Moreover, there is the main force of the Manchurian Army on the coast of Tokyo, and they can get everything when they get to Tokyo, and it is obviously faster and faster to go to Tokyo if they need to be replenished. Therefore, Wuliji's cavalry followed the routine of Jin to destroy the Northern Song Dynasty, ignoring the cities along the way, and penetrating the opponent's center all the way.

The Japanese, who had never experienced this before, watched the Manchurian cavalry walk around the city in a foolish manner, and did not do anything to stop them. Uriji easily bypassed a few hard bones and reached the city of Tokyo, and then Tokugawa Yoshiki was unlucky. As the advance base of the Japanese counterattack and the second line of defense against the Manchurian Army, all the preparations of Tokugawa Yoshiki were facing the sea. Although he knew that there was a Manchurian cavalry behind him, Tokugawa Yoshiki believed in Yamaguchi very much, and he thought that this general, who was very brave when he fought himself, would definitely be able to stop the Manchurian cavalry, so he did not make any arrangements for his back.

The defeated Yamaguchi Kyosuke sent a messenger to deliver a message to Tokugawa Yoshiki, but unfortunately the Japanese signal corps on inferior horses ran too slowly, and Uriji appeared behind Tokugawa Yoshiki in front of them, giving the former general a big surprise. The fierce Manchurian cavalry entered the camp from behind, and the Japanese troops who were resting were defenseless. They panicked by the light artillery carried by the cavalry, and the galloping horses scattered the troops that had been easily organized, and Tokugawa Yoshiki's main camp fell into chaos in an instant. The war horses that came and went to the conflict used the leveled camp as their racetrack, rushing and slashing everywhere. The panicked Japanese troops fled in all directions, bringing the camps that had not yet been attacked into chaos, and the Japanese troops running around like headless flies trampled on each other, making the defeat uncontainable.

The brave Yeli Aki Tong also had to protect Tokugawa Yoshiki to retreat into the castle first, and then gather the defeated troops and slowly retreat. Many people withdrew, but the lost equipment was Tokugawa Keiki beat his chest. The fall of the position under the city cut off the back road of Saigo Takamori, and the coastal defense line fell into a situation of no return. Tokugawa Yoshiki originally wanted to send someone to inform Saigo to abandon the coastal position and retreat, and cooperate with him to recapture the castle position, and then make plans. But when I looked in the direction of the coast, I found that Saigo Takamori was worse than them.

Tokugawa Keiki thought that Nori Akiki gave an order to bring back Saigo Takamori, and Nori Akiri, who cared about his teacher, rushed out of the city with a hundred people who dared to die. However, at this time, the city of Tokyo has become a ranch for the cavalry, and there are many knights chasing and killing stragglers in conflicts, and no matter how brave Yeli Qiutong is, he is also an infantry, so he has a very difficult way to go. When he arrived in front of Saigo Takamori, there were less than twenty people in one hundred dead, and Yeli Qiutong himself was slashed by a saber.

"Your Excellency, Mr. General, please put the imperial kingdom first, regardless of personal honor, and endure humiliation and burden in order to protect the family and country. Otherwise, Mr. will become a benevolent man today, and tomorrow will be the day Japan will die! "Yeli Akiki used to look down on the shogunate, and he even had the heart to kill Tokugawa Keiki, but today he used honorifics for Tokugawa Keiki, and he recognized the leader of the samurai of the world.

"Help me go back, go back!" Saigo Takamori was not a hesitant person, and decisively gave up and committed suicide, but a line of tears inevitably fell in his tarnished eyes.

After seven hours of fierce fighting, a total of 140,000 remnants of the Japanese army fled back to Tokyo, and the main force of the Manchurian Army landed and completed the deployment outside Tokyo, officially encircling Tokyo!