When Xu Xinsu led the army out of the city, the British, Spaniards, Portuguese, and Dutch all stood on the walls of Osaka, taking advantage of the condescending advantage and the excellent telescopes produced by the Ming Dynasty to observe the battle.

Both the British and others believed that the victory of the war had fallen to the Osaka Army, but they never thought that the Osaka Army would win the war without firing a shot.

The failure to see the expected bloody battle made the faces of these European colonists gloomy. For them, they don't want to see such a one-sided war.

The Akito gained control of Osaka Castle by a first-mover advantage was not something that the European colonists wanted to see. Because this means that they will not be able to achieve the same status as the Ming people in Osaka Castle. And the fertility and excellent geographical location of this land make them salivate and it is difficult to give up.

If the Osaka army led by the Akito and the shogunate army were able to defeat both sides, then the coalition forces would have an excuse to intervene in the defense of Osaka Castle, and the weakened Akito would have to make concessions to them and share the ruling power of Osaka Castle with them.

However, when the shogunate army on the opposite side walked out of the barracks empty-handed and surrendered to the Osaka army, the European colonists of the city wall knew that their expectations had been disappointed.

Methwold, who had retracted his gaze, looked at the Dutchman not far away, and when he noticed that the other man seemed more angry than himself, his mood suddenly improved a lot.

Compared with the British, Spanish, and Portuguese forces in East Asia, only the Dutch were able to send a force similar to that of the Ming Kingdom. If the Dutch had known that the Japanese shogunate was so weak, it is estimated that they would not have swallowed their anger against the shogunate for so many years, and then they would not have been taken advantage of by the Ming Kingdom today.

After laughing at the Dutchman in his heart, Methwold immediately restrained his expression and said to the people around him, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is really a brilliant victory, and I don't think the shogunate will send any more troops to attack Osaka for the time being."

As a member of the coalition forces, the victory of the Chinese is the victory of the coalition forces, and I think everyone should congratulate the triumphant return of Xu Patrol and Deputy Envoy Li..."

After receiving the news that Naotaka Ii had fled and that Abe Masaji had surrendered with the former army, Li Chenfang handed over the affairs of the west bank of the Yodo River to Zuo Nobutaka, and he took the Numata brigade back to the east bank by boat, and then ran directly to the front army camp of the shogunate army.

When he arrived outside the camp, Xu Xinsu, who received the news, waited in front of the gate with the senior generals of the Osaka Army. Xu Xinsu and other Ming people only had a little more respect in their eyes towards Li Chenfang, but the Japanese generals such as Yuta Higuchi, Goro Hirano, and Kojiro Sasaki looked at Li Chenfang with extremely fanatical eyes, as if they saw the gods they worshipped.

When walking side by side with Li Chenfang towards the big tent, Xu Xinsu couldn't help but say a little sourly: "After today, the citizens of Osaka City will probably worship you as a military god." I really didn't expect that it only took you three days to turn the situation of the entire battlefield around, which is really amazing..."

Li Chenfang was as calm as ever, and was not carried away by the cheers of the soldiers, he unceremoniously blocked Xu Xinsu's praise of himself, "This is nothing to boast about, what I defeated is just a group of rabble."

The bottom of this army was the farmers who had been forcibly recruited by the shogunate, and they only wanted to save their lives on the battlefield and return home safely.

The high-ranking samurai spent most of their minds on greeting the shogunate's envoys and scrutinizing the shogunate's orders, fearing that the shogunate would deprive them of their territory.

The low-ranking samurai who commanded the Ashigaru battle did not know how to organize the Ashigaru battle, nor did they understand what it meant to be a combat commander. Their only outstanding performance was to rush forward with their weapons to show their bravery.

However, once these low-level samurai were eliminated, the entire Ashigaru squad immediately collapsed. And the high-ranking samurai, without the low-level samurai to convey orders, they can't command the ashigaru who are fleeing in all directions.

And my subordinates and I both know that we are fighting for the Ming Dynasty. Whether injured or killed, Daming will be responsible for us and our families. Even if we lose a third of our men in battle, my men will still fight alongside me.

So, do you still think that our victory was just a fluke? ”

Xu Xinsu laughed a few times, and quickly diverted the topic and said: "According to the information brought back by the sentinel, Naotaka Ii did not go to Hirakata, but went to the direction of Nara.

We probably can't catch up with the red reserve team he personally leads, but the thousands of infantry he used to cushion behind, if we work hard, we can still stay..."

Li Chenfang thought for a while and said, "We have already won the victory, there is no need to let the soldiers sacrifice in vain." Just let Yuta Higuchi lead the 1st Division to escort them into Mt. Ikoma, and then block the pass. Next, it will be up to the shogunate and the Kwantung princes to react to this battle..."

The one who reacted most sensitively to this war was the Kii Domain. Under the pressure of the shogunate's envoys, Tokugawa Yorinobu had to send 1,500 troops to cooperate with the attack on Osaka by the armies of Naotaka Ii and Masaji Abe.

The one who leads this army is still that Usami Dingyu. It's not that Tokugawa Yoshinobu didn't know that this person was incompetent, but he couldn't admit that he had been fooled by an incompetent person, which not only damaged his image, but also ruined the good reputation he had painstakingly managed in Edo.

However, Usami finally woke up in the previous battle of Sakai, and writing and directing operations are completely different things. Therefore, after being put back by Osaka, he was much more low-key, and he hugged his thighs even more tightly for Tokugawa Yorixuan, not daring to disobey any of his instructions.

For such an incompetent but only loyal to himself, Usami Dingsuke, became the most relieved general of Tokugawa Yorisen, because even if the shogunate envoy pulled him over, it would be useless, and the soldiers below would not listen to him. And as long as Usami Dingsuke does exactly what he orders, the actions of this army are still in his hands.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu naturally did not rush to fight for Naotaka Ii and Masaji Abe, so he only had one procrastination for Usami Dingyu's order, and the army of the Kii clan would not cross the border agreed with the Osaka rebels before waiting for the victory or defeat under Osaka Castle.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu didn't want the Osaka Army to fail so quickly, after all, the land he got from the Osaka Army had not yet been warmed up. But he really didn't expect the Osaka army to be so capable of fighting, and without relying on Osaka's city defense, he defeated the two armies of Abe Shoji and Ii Naotaka.

Under such circumstances, no matter how well the envoy sent by the shogunate was, it could not stop him from withdrawing Usami Dingyu's army to Wakayama Castle. In addition, he also wrote to Edo, criticizing Abe Masaji and Ii Naotaka for taking the war as a child's play, and the light army advanced to cause this defeat, and it turned out that his previous idea of heavy use of troops was correct.

Naotaka Ii, who had retreated to Nara, was not idle, and he wrote to Kyoto and Tokugawa Yoshinao, accusing them of organizing a rear army for its slow movement, which gave the Osaka army an opportunity to cut off its own food routes.

On the other hand, he wrote to Edo and put the letter sent by Li Chenfang in this letter. In his letter, Naotaka Ii admitted the defeat of the expedition to the Daigosho and the shogun, but he shifted five points of responsibility to Abe Shoji and three points to Kyoto Toshiyo and Tokugawa Yoshinao.

At the end of the letter, Naotaka Ii swore solemnly: "... The minister knew that he had sinned deeply, and he had failed the expectations of the two highnesses, and he should not have lived in the world.

It's just that the Osaka rebels defected to foreign countries and were arrogant and domineering, and the criminals did not dare to apologize for their crimes, and abandoned the people of Nara again with their own selfishness.

Therefore, the criminal minister led 3,000 Akabei and 3,000 feudal troops, and swore to defend Nara for the shogunate, and never let the Osaka rebels cross the Ikoma mountain range. When the shogunate sends an envoy to replace the guilty ministers, it is the day when the guilty ministers cut their stomachs to thank the two highnesses..."

Regarding Ii Naotaka's shirking of responsibility, in addition to Abe Massaji, who had been captured by the Osaka army, could not defend himself, Kyoto Sojidai and Tokugawa Yoshinao naturally did not recognize Ii Naotaka's statement, believing that the defeat of this war was entirely due to Ii Naotaka's rash advance and Abe Masaki's incompetence.

The elders of the Edo shogunate were speechless in surprise when they heard the news of the defeat of the two armies of Naotaka Ii and Masaji Abe. When I saw the documents of Kii Domain, Ii Naotakaka, Tokugawa Yoshinao, and Kyoto Soshiro who shirked their responsibilities to each other, I was even more speechless, and I could only leave the matter to the two of Shogun Iemitsu and His Royal Highness the Great Imperial Palace.

It's just that before Tokugawa Hidetada and Tokugawa Iemitsu father and son can recall the news of the defeat in Osaka, another shocking news has reached the two again.

On the same day that Naotaka Ii fled to Nara, Asano Nagasheng and Ikeda Tadao led a coalition of 87,000 Chinese princes to fight against the Daming-Kyushu-Choshu coalition army of nearly 30,000 at the Hachimangawa River west of Hiroshima Castle.

More than 30,000 people were captured in this battle, and more than a dozen Chinese daimyo including Tadao Ikeda were captured, and although Asano Nagasaki fled back to Hiroshima Castle in time, he surrendered to the Kyushu coalition forces that came to his door in the early morning of the second day.

After this battle, there was no longer any obstacle between the coalition forces of the southwestern princes and Osaka, and not only did the princes of the Chugoku region surrender to the coalition forces, but the princes of the Shikoku region were now becoming unreliable.

Tokugawa Iemitsu, who had not been interested in Naotaka Iii, Tokugawa Yoshinao, and Kii Fan before, and thought that they should be forced to continue to fight the Osaka rebels, was also shocked and speechless at this time.

It was a long time before he asked the messenger who had delivered the message, "How did this battle go?" 87,000 people can't beat the 30,000 people on the other side? ”

The messenger didn't dare to look up at Iemitsu, and replied tremblingly: "It's really that the artillery fire of the Ming army is too fierce, and the right-wing army formation led by Asano Tadanaga and Ueda Shigean completely collapsed under the gun bombardment of the Ming army, and the Ming army took advantage of the situation to launch a charge, causing the collapse of our army on the whole front..."