In the center of the fortress near Nishinomote Port is a small three-story building, and in the large conference room on the second floor of the small building, representatives of various parties are nervously holding a strategic meeting to deal with the shogunate.

After listening to the representatives of Choshu, Kumamoto, and Satsuma arguing with the representatives of the Netherlands and Spain for nearly an hour, Ye Yuxuan suddenly slapped the solid wood table in front of him with his hand, quieting down the two sides of the quarrel.

He looked at the delegates seated on either side of the long table and said, "I don't think there is any need for people to quarrel over how to fight with the shogunate, whether to cooperate with the ships at sea with the war on land, or the army on land to fight at sea, in the final analysis, everyone's goal is the same, to make the shogunate submit."

I don't know what the situation is now, but the 8,000 fighters and 4,000 auxiliary personnel of the China-North Korea coalition army will spend more than 9,400 yuan on daily food alone, which is nearly 300,000 yuan a month, not including other expenses. Every hour we sit here arguing now means that money is wasted.

Therefore, no matter what calculations you are making, I have to come to a conclusion at today's meeting. In addition, I would like to advise you that whatever you want, until the shogunate is defeated, it will only be a flash in the pan..."

Ye Yuxuan's words made it difficult for the representatives of the three feudal clans in the southwest to refute, and the representatives of the three feudatories actually knew very well that without the support of the Ming Dynasty and these southern barbarian merchants, it would be difficult for them to resist the shogunate alone, not to mention that the three feudatories had also borrowed a large amount of money from the Ming branch to reorganize the army, let alone the object that the three feudatories could turn their faces.

The representatives of the Netherlands and Spain, who were opposite the representatives of the three feudal domains, also settled down a lot after understanding what it meant to be a mirror from the translator. They want to fight for the dominance of this war, and they just want to get more benefits after the war. But as the Chinese said, if they can't win this war against the shogunate, they won't gain anything.

Compared to the rest of the fleet, the Dutch, who had lost two ships before the shogunate had even started a war, did not want anything to happen in this war. The mobilization of 8 ships and 600 troops at one time was also a huge expedition for Batavia. Not to mention, this is still the time when the war between Batavia and the Mataran Kingdom has just subsided, and it has not yet fully recovered. Batavia needed them to bring back a victory to motivate the members of the company who had been expelled by the Japanese shogunate.

Manila's Attorney General, Monfalcon, who was also the commander of the Spanish fleet, was the first to break his silence and said: "On behalf of the Kingdom of Spain, I support the proposal of the representative of China, and we should be united, at least in this war." The Shogunate's past cruelty to European merchants and servants of the lord should be punished and adequately compensated. The decisions taken at today's meeting will also be the embodiment of the will of our Kingdom of Spain. ”

The commander of the Dutch fleet, Putmans, glanced at the Spanish delegate before he said: "Batavia also supports the final decision made by the conference, and any individual and fleet that violates the decision of the conference will be regarded as a provocation against Batavia." ”

Methwold, the representative of the British fleet, and Sarmento, the representative of the Portuguese fleet, also took the oath without exception.

Seeing these Nanban swear one by one, Shimazu Hisamoto, the representative of the Satsuma Domain, exchanged glances with the representatives of the Choshu Domain and the Kumamoto Domain, and also swore that they were willing to obey the decision of this meeting.

Lin Qingye, the North Korean Sandao Water Envoy sitting next to Ye Yuxuan, had not yet reacted, he was an ordinary military minister who represented the Korean Kingdom instead of the Ming Dynasty, and only after Ye Yuxuan's reminder did he stammered an oath on behalf of North Korea.

Whether it is a European or a Japanese, they are really not interested in these Koreans who follow behind Daming. In fact, they all agreed that the ships and troops of the North Koreans were almost useless in this war and could only afford some logistical transportation. But the Ming people wanted to pull North Korea in life and death, and it was clear that they wanted to share an extra piece of victory after the war, which made them helpless.

Therefore, everyone automatically ignored Lin Qingye's oath, and Putmans asked Ye Yuxuan, Xu Xinsu, and Zheng Zhilong: "China, as the initiator of this war and the planner of the entire war, has now won the first victory in Osaka City, we want to know your overall plan for this war, otherwise we will not be able to discuss an effective plan for sending troops at the meeting." ”

Ye Yuxuan and Xu Xinsu whispered a few words before they spoke: "Our plan for this war is only a crude framework, and we really hope that you can supplement and improve this framework.

First of all, we had already issued an ultimatum to the Edo shogunate three days ago in the name of the Toyo Association, demanding that the shogunate return the Ming merchant ship and its personnel within 10 days, and make compensation.

The shogunate must also stop the implementation of the lockdown decree and grant merchants of ASEAN member countries or companies the right to trade freely in Japan. In addition, in view of the non-disclosure and unfairness of Japanese law, we require that any trial involving the citizens of ASEAN member countries must be attended by representatives of each country, and the outcome of the trial must conform to the legal concepts recognized by ASEAN.

Finally, the shogunate should put an end to the persecution of Catholics, release the imprisoned Catholics, and make reparations..."

This ultimatum was unknown only to the Japanese and the Dutch, so when Ye Yuxuan made the announcement, their faces were a little unpleasant.

Ye Yuxuan also ignored it, and he continued: "This ultimatum, the shogunate should not accept it. But this is an opportunity for us to intervene in Japan's internal affairs. I'm sure you won't object, after all, so many of our fleets are not here for an outing.

Then came Japan's internal affairs, when Tokugawa Tadanaga, the younger brother of the shogun, rebelled against his brother, thus giving Satsuma, Choshu, and Kumamoto the opportunity to raise troops to support Tadashi against the shogunate.

The next step is that for the Edo shogunate, which rejected the ultimatum of the Tokyo, we will support a new shogun and sign a peace treaty with the new shogun.

The Toyokyo Kyo will gain the right to free trade in Japan, His Royal Highness Tadashi will receive the position of shogun, and the three Japanese daimyo will gain the territories they have lost. This is an initial framework that we have set, and what objections do you have? ”

After hearing this, Kato Lordui, the representative of the Kumamoto Domain, couldn't help but ask, "After defeating the shogunate, Daming really just wants a free trade agreement?" And then just withdraw the troops? ”

Ye Yuxuan glanced at everyone present, and found that everyone was looking at him with great concern, so he smiled and said: "Japan is a country that is not conquered by Emperor Hongwu, and the friendship between China and Japan began as far back as the Han Dynasty.

As long as Japan can't move the archipelago, we will eventually be neighbors. Therefore, before setting out on the expedition, Your Majesty has said in advance, we sent troops this time to protect the free trade rights of Ming merchants and the safety of Ming people outside.

As long as the shogunate can face up to the demands of the Ming Dynasty, our country will naturally not have any thoughts about Japan. As long as the new shogunate does not try to provoke the power of the Ming Dynasty in East Asia, we will naturally withdraw our troops. ”

Ye Yuxuan's statement not only relieved the representatives of the three feudatories, but also relieved several European representatives. As long as the Chinese army left Japan after the war, the representatives of the three feudatories felt that it would not be difficult to deal with the remaining Nanbanians. And several representatives of the European colonizers believed that the withdrawal of Chinese troops would help them gain the opportunity to monopolize Treasure Island.

Ye Yuxuan's overall plan had solved the most important strategic part of this war, and even the Dutch and Spaniards, who had experienced many colonial wars, could not find fault with this plan.

After all, the Chinese had already given them too many surprises, not only pulling the curtain down on the southwestern San Francisco, but also pulling in a rebel force within the shogunate. Under such conditions, it was not impossible to defeat the shogunate, even if it wanted to conquer Japan.

Once you have an overall battle plan, it's pretty straightforward to fill it in with tactical content.

On the island of Kyushu, the Kumamoto Domain and the Satsuma Domain already occupy almost half of Kyushu. The only ones who could compete with their two feudal clans were the small feudal clans led by the three shogunate cronies of the Nabeshima clan, the Hosokawa clan, and the Arima clan. In addition, the two princes of Matsudaira and Yamauchi on the island of Shikoku may cross the sea to support.

After discussing it for a while, Zheng Zhilong made a suggestion that the Satsuma Domain could raise troops in response to Tadashi and use this as an excuse to attack the Kumamoto Domain. Then, the Kumamoto clan asked for help from the surrounding domains, and if the feudal domains did not help, the Satsuma clan sent another group of men and horses to attack from Hinata, Bungo, and Bunzen, and defeated each of them.

If the feudal domains came to their aid, the Satsuma Domain would choose a favorable terrain for a decisive battle between the two armies, and then the Kumamoto Domain would defect and defeat the allied forces of the feudal domains at once and completely control Kyushu Island. As for the reinforcements on Shikoku Island, the coalition forces could send warships to block the waterways, so they didn't have to fight the pro-shogunate forces on the island.

Once the island of Kyushu was captured, the troops of the Kyushu feudal domains could be requisitioned to cross the sea to assist the Choshu domain, all the way east until it joined the Osaka rebels. Then they seized Kyoto, cut off the imperial court from Edo, and abolished the special political status of the Edo shogunate.

The Kato lord of the Kumamoto clan couldn't bear it, and he felt that this plan was too vicious. Shimazu Hisamoto's eyes lit up, and he felt that this plan was really outstanding.

Methwold thought for a moment and said, "I think it's a good plan, and if that's the case, we might as well split the fleet into two."

One squadron was responsible for the naval blockade south of the Japanese archipelago, and the other was responsible for the naval blockade to the north of the Japanese archipelago. ”

Methwold's proposal was approved by the Spaniards and Portuguese, and Xu Xinsu thought for a while and said: "I am in favor of splitting into two fleets, the main fleet is placed between Osaka and Edo, and the sub-fleet is used to protect the eastward advance of the combined forces of Kyushu and Honshu..."

The Dutch only hesitated for a moment and agreed to the plan. With these Japanese feudal troops as cannon fodder, they can reduce the risk of personnel landing.