The commander of the 1st Wing of the Satsuma Division, Kaneya Liver Fuki, stood on the right bank of the Kotu River, near the starting point of Chigokubaba Street, not far from Tsurumaru Castle, and looked at the smokey battlefield near the harbor in the distance for a long time, before he said to Shimazu Kukei's confidant Sahataro Saemon, who was constantly urging him forward: "The two Highnesses Hisasho and Kukei transferred the first wing back from Chiran just so that we could resist the shogunate army coming ashore?" ”

Although Sahataro Saemon looked at the port that was being bombarded by the shogunate fleet, he was anxious, but he didn't dare to say anything about the famous family of Kaneya, so he had to say with a smile patiently: "It was the shogunate who first made an rude request to the family, and the two highnesses of Kusho and Kukei issued a military order to the lord, using force to teach the shogunate army a lesson, and let the shogunate know that I, the Satsuma people, can not be bullied at will, so that the lord gave the order to allow the two highnesses to mobilize all the forces of their own family to resist the invasion of the shogunate army." Please also ask His Highness Hefu to quickly step forward with the first wing to prevent the shogunate army from landing on the shore. ”

Sitting on the horse, Kaneya raised his horsewhip and pointed in the direction of the port, and asked in an unkind tone, "Do you call this scene a lesson for the shogunate army?" Are you blind?

Also, do you know what the identity of this division is? We are an imperial army established at the expense of the shogunate, not a samurai army supported by our own family. You asked us to stop the shogunate from going ashore, what is the difference between this and betraying the imperial court?

The movements of the division are not under the influence of the two highnesses Jiuzhang and Jiuqing, even if the division is to betray the imperial court, it must be ordered by His Royal Highness Shimazu Mitsuhisa, the commander of the division. We were ordered to defend Tsurumaru Castle, not to attack the shogunate troops ashore. ”

After he finished speaking, he turned his horse's head and ordered the more than 1,000 officers and soldiers of the First Wing who were lined up in four columns behind him: "All turn back, the target is Tsurumaru Castle, and we will first go to receive the lecture of the division commander." ”

"Stop, stop. This is the order of the two highnesses, Hisasho and Kukei, do you want to..."Sahataro Saemon finally couldn't help but jump out, trying to stop the departure of Kaneya of Hetoki.

Before Sahataro Saemon could finish his words, he was forced by a group of officers and soldiers with spears. Among the standing divisions formed by the Osaka shogunate, except for those under the direct control of the Governor's Office, which were fully equipped with firearms, divisions and regiments with higher local tendencies such as Satsuma and Choshu were treated much worse.

For example, the firearms of the Satsuma division are less than half, and the firearms are still old arquebuses and Fran cannons, which is nothing to fight a dozen old-style samurai regiments, but let them fight against huge ships equipped with heavy guns, it is no different from suicide.

However, although these officers and soldiers did not dare to go to the beach to fight against the cannons of the giant ships, they were not afraid of these samurai of their own family. Although the number of drills has led to a much reduction in the number of officers and men of these Satsuma divisions due to the difference in logistical supply capabilities, their ability to deal with their own samurai regiments that still rely on individual force to fight is still more than enough.

Therefore, when Sawataro Saemon jumped out, a small group of officers and soldiers immediately came out and held spears against Sabetaro Saemon and his companions, and they moved so quickly that they did not even have a chance to draw their swords.

Kaneya looked back at Sagetaro Saemon, whose face was dark, and ordered his subordinates without giving him a chance to explain: "Unload their weapons and escort them to Tsurumaru Castle together, if you have any opinions, just complain to the lord, I'm not interested in listening to your nonsense." ”

Looking at the back of the liver fuge Kaneya walking away, and then at the expressions of these officers and soldiers who were holding spears against their own people, Sahatarozaemon finally gritted his teeth and ordered his companions: "Don't do anything, just follow them to Tsurumaru Castle and wait for the lord's fate." ”

As a Satsuma division organized according to the national standing army, there is naturally no shortage of people with lofty ideals within the division, but the goals pursued by the respected warriors within the Satsuma division are different from those of the low-level samurai of Satsuma. Although their big goal was to honor the king, what they pursued was to abolish all unequal treaties signed with foreign countries, establish a centralized state similar to the Ming Dynasty, and expand overseas to solve the problems of people's livelihood at home.

After all, the Satsuma Division's funding came from the Shogunate, and although the weapons and equipment were not as good as those under the direct jurisdiction of the Shogunate, their personal treatment was not much lower than that of the Shogunate's direct divisions. Although the Governor's Office and the Shogunate were wary of these overly powerful divisions, they also knew that since they were nominally a national standing army, they should not be treated too harshly, otherwise they would only anger these divisions against Osaka and strengthen their independence tendencies.

Therefore, when the families of the samurai at the bottom of the Satsuma Domain were hungry, the officers and soldiers of the Satsuma Division still had the energy to think about what the future of Japan should be. Everyone is in a different environment, so it is naturally difficult to have the same hatred.

The officers and men of the Satsuma Division wanted to respect the king and resign themselves to the throne by the imperial court, and then to abolish treaties with foreign countries as a unified country. And those low-level samurai and ronin in the eyes of the revered king, is to overthrow the lackey of foreigners, the current shogunate, rebuild the new shogunate with a powerful and powerful daimyo, and then drive foreigners out of Japan, and restore the old order of daimyos-samurai-commoners. Of course, in this process, it is also appropriate to raise the class for yourself by the way.

Therefore, when the shogunate fleet appeared in Kagoshima Bay, the middle and lower samurai of Satsuma were extremely angry and wanted the lord to take them to fight the shogunate to the death. However, the Satsuma Division, which supported the founding of the country, was not interested in starting a war with the shogunate, and they even thought that it was only right to surrender the murderer who planned the attack on the assassination of the Minister of Internal Affairs in order to appease the anger of the imperial court and the shogunate.

When the guns of the giant ships of the Akito destroyed the batteries and buildings of the harbor in an irresistible posture, the officers and men of the Satsuma Division were even more insistent on their views. Therefore, the decision of Kaneya was not opposed by the officers and soldiers, and they even actively took down what they thought was the evil party that tried to provoke the family to break with the shogunate, Sahataro Saemon and others.

When Shimazu Kutsu hurried to the courtyard of the palace where the head of the house lived, he found that Shimazu Mitsuhisa was holding a monocular and watching the battle taking place in the port, and the expression on the face of the head of the house was obviously not very good.

After hearing the footsteps of Shimazu Hisatsu approaching, Shimazu Mitsuhisa waved his hand to keep the little surname who led the way away from the two, and only then did he ask Shimazu Hisatsu, "What happened?" ”

Shimazu Kutsu hurriedly replied: "Hefuden was unwilling to take his subordinates to the docks to participate in the battle, and forcibly issued the weapon of the herald messenger who urged him to send troops. When Jiukeiden heard the news, he came to the city and quarreled with Liverpayen, accusing him of being greedy for life and afraid of death, unworthy of being a Satsuma samurai, and asking Liverfuden to hand over the command of the First Wing.

Liver Fuden accused Jiuqing and Jiuzhang of being ignorant and using their own military force to attack the shogunate army on behalf of the imperial court, which was a rebellious move. The two were now arguing in the front hall, and the other retainers could not persuade them, and now they asked the lord to come forward to adjudicate. ”

"At this time, do they remember that there is another lord? What a bunch of bastard stuff. Shimazu Hisamitsu suddenly reprimanded angrily, and Shimazu Hisatsu was silent and did not answer the other party's words.

After a while, Shimazu Hisamitsu adjusted his mood and asked a little calmly, "How much has the family lost to guard the harbor and forts?" What is Hisaaki Shimazu doing now?"

Shimazu Hisatsu quietly exhaled and said: "The report I just got from the front is that the four forts and more than ten houses have been completely destroyed, the samurai of this family have sacrificed at least more than 300 people, and the number of injured people has exceeded 200, and the defense force of the port has basically been broken."

It now seems that Kushoden has rushed to the foreigners' quarters, as if to negotiate with the Dutch in the hope that they will intervene to stop the shogunate fleet from continuing its attack. After all, the only ones who could secretly sell artillery and gunpowder to us without scrupling with the Ming people were the Dutch. If they can openly stand on the side of their own family, maybe the shogunate will still have some concerns. ”

Shimazu Hisamitsu looked at the shogunate warships that were shooting at ease on the sea for a long time, and suddenly changed the subject and asked, "If the family mobilizes all the forces, do you think we can stop them from going ashore?" ”

Although Shimazu Hisatsu didn't know why the other party had changed his mind again, he still replied honestly: "In the face of such a cannon, whether it is a stone wall or a wooden shield, it is undoubtedly waiting for death to guard the shore." In my opinion, the only way to do this is to withdraw from the range where the opponent's artillery can fire and rebuild the defensive line. ”

Shimazu Hisamitsu looked at the castle town below and said slowly: "In that case, most of the castle town will be destroyed by the shogunate army." And ships can't go ashore, but cannons can move ashore. In this case, the entire city of Kagoshima will be destroyed except for Tsurumaru Castle, how can the family withstand such a loss.

You go down first, tell the two of them, just say that I have an unbearable headache, and I am asking the Chinese medicine to acupuncture, let them wait first. Send someone to keep an eye on Shimazu Hisaaki, and if the Dutch are willing to intervene, we will wait. If the Dutch refuse to act, then go about arresting the rebels. But in this case, the face of the family will be lost..."

Shimazu Hisaaki consulted with the Dutch counselor at the merchant house in Kagoshima for a long time, but the other party refused to agree to mediate. Shimazu Hisaaki couldn't help but be a little annoyed and said to the other party: "Those Ming people not only attacked your territory in the South Seas, but also hit your ships parked in the harbor in the shelling just now, can you also endure it like this?" As long as you are willing to support our Satsuma Domain, we are not without a chance, and this is not the land of the Ming Dynasty after all. And we don't want to start a war with the Ming Dynasty, but to oppose the shogunate's rude attack on the family, even if the Ming people are domineering, they must always be reasonable, right? ”

"Calm down, calm down, Shimazu-sama. If the Ming people mistakenly attacked our ships during the war, it was natural that our country would protest at the ASEAN meeting after the war. But you want me to participate in this war, it doesn't make sense.

The company can sell you some artillery and gunpowder, it's just a business, but it's impossible for the company to challenge the Ming Dynasty for the sake of the Satsuma Domain.

And what you said is also not right, for the weak, whatever the strong do is justified. I don't think there was anything overbearing about the Akito's shelling of Kagoshima. On the contrary, you who refuse to go ashore are the rude ones in my opinion..."

After leaving the Dutch settlement, Shimazu Hisaaki lost even the strength to be angry. He couldn't understand the way these Dutch people viewed the Akito helping the shogunate to shell Kagoshima, which was completely inconsistent with the concept of life he had cultivated since childhood. Just as he was sitting in the sedan chair and repairing his worldview, the sedan chair driver suddenly stopped.

He couldn't help but open the small window on one side and looked out, only to see a small surname next to Shimazu Mitsuhisa with a team of samurai surrounding his guard, this little surname stepped forward to salute him and said, "The lord has an order, asking you to go to Tsurumaru Castle immediately and explain the reason for the failure of the port guard." ”

Shimazu Hisamurai glanced at the samurai around him, watching them look at the sedan chair with fierce eyes, and his hand unconsciously pressed the handle of the knife, and his heart suddenly sank. He rolled his eyes and said to the palanquin man with an expressionless face: "Do as he says..."

(. = )