Because of the need to seize Kagoshima Castle and completely destroy the Japanese coastal defense forces in Kagoshima Bay, before the artillery bombardment of Kagoshima Castle Town was over, Wang Fu, commander of the Wu Army's fleet, had already sent people to lead Huang Yuanbao of the Wu Army's land division, so that Huang Yuanbao began to prepare for the implementation of a beach-grabbing landing battle, so as to seize Kagoshima Castle Town, which was relatively rich and prosperous.

Huang Yuanbao happily took the order, arranged the commando team to land on the beach early, and gritted his teeth to Liu Jianchao, the henchman who served as the commando captain, and said: "Tell your subordinates, this battle is beautiful, and the military reward is easy to say, if the fight is ugly, Lao Tzu will lose face in front of the sailor, and when the city is attacked, all of them will be given to me to fight ants!" ”

Huang Yuanbao's threat had a satisfactory effect, and after Liu Jianchao conveyed his request, the Wu army commando team composed of 300 elite veterans suddenly screamed and swore that if they couldn't rush to the beach and seize the landing position, they would never come back alive!

However, it is a pity that the Japanese army did not give the Wu army's land division commando a chance to show its skills, because the firepower of the Wu army fleet was too fierce, and Shimazu Hisamitsu, who was still a bit of a brain, decisively ordered Okubo Toshitsu, a retainer who commanded the Japanese army division, to abandon the beachhead and withdraw the army to the range of the Wu army fleet to stand up and intercept it, resulting in the Wu army commando team successfully rushing onto the beach and seizing the beachhead without a single shot. Then, because of the need to cover the landing of the rear army brigade, the Wu army assault team still failed to take advantage of the situation to launch an attack on the Japanese position, and could only stop with great fire to cover the landing of the rear brigade, and worked hard for the pre-war mobilization in vain.

Then, when the Wu army land division stepped forward to capture the castle town of Kagoshima Castle, the Wu army infantry and the Japanese army had a sporadic exchange of fire, but unfortunately, because of the fear of the strong artillery fire of the Wu army fleet, the Japanese army still did not dare to send a large team to engage the Wu army land division, only a small number of Japanese troops guarding the castle town and the Wu army exchanged fire in the street battle, and soon took the initiative to withdraw from the castle town battlefield and retreat to the direction of the Thousand Eyes Temple, the Wu army land division continued to successfully occupy the castle town, and failed to fight a decent battle, neither showed the strength of its own army, and failed to take the opportunity to find out the situation of the land division of the Satsuma Domain.

But it doesn't matter, the main force has already landed on land, and it is only a matter of time before they want to fight with the Japanese land division, and at the same time, several Japanese who claim to be masters of Sinology and disciples of Sinology also took the initiative to come to inform, saying that Shimazu Hisamitsu and others did not transfer the food and materials in Kagoshima City in advance because of the light enemy, and a considerable part of the Satsuma Domain's grain stock is still waiting for the Wu army to grab it in Kagoshima Castle, and the Wu army has a lot of room for tactical choices next. Therefore, Wang Fu did not rush to launch a decisive battle on land, and after appeasing Huang Yuanbao, he decided to establish a land camp in the area of Tianbao Mountain, and the fleet was temporarily anchored in the sea near Tianbao Mountain, preparing to stand firm first, and then consider the next military action.

It may be that the Satsuma clan deliberately wanted to disgust Huang Yuanbao, the fierce general of the Wu army who was in a hurry to make meritorious achievements, and just in the evening, Shimazu Hisamitsu actually sent a Chinese-speaking retainer Saigo Nomichi, and an English-speaking retainer Fukuzawa Yukichi to ask to meet Wang Fu, commander of the Wu Army's expeditionary fleet, and Blumney, the British counselor, in the name of the envoy, and directly stated that they had come to seek peace. As a result, Huang Yuanbao was angry when he heard this, and roared in front of the envoy of the Satsuma Domain: "What? Sue for peace? Just after a war and suing for peace, how did you Japanese have a long skin? If you lose the battle, you will kneel immediately, and you can do it! ”

"Mr. General, please forgive me, and please understand the hardships of our Father of the Nation." Saigo nodded his head and said in barely proficient Chinese: "The cause of today's battle is indeed because our Satsuma Clan Tang suddenly offended the relationship between the Qing Kingdom and the Ryukyu Kingdom, and after being taught a lesson, our Father of the Nation has understood his own mistakes and the strength of the Qing Army, so our Father of the Nation immediately decided to sue for peace with your country, ask for forgiveness from your army, and be willing to compensate for all the losses caused thereby." ”

After all, Saigo Congdao and Fukuzawa Yukichi were envoys sent by the Satsuma Domain, and Huang Yuanbao just didn't want to talk about the peace talks anymore and didn't have the courage to hide it, so he could only obediently send someone to send Saigo Congdao and Fukuzawa Yukichi to the flagship to meet Wang Fu, and then Huang Yuanbao felt a little uneasy when he thought about it, so he temporarily entrusted the camp to his subordinates to manage, and he also took a boat to the Wu army's flagship Zeng Guofan, thinking that Wang Fu and the Satsuma Domain would reach peace talks no matter what.

Huang Yuanbao soon found out that he was worried in vain, and after leading the Japanese peace envoy to meet with Wang Fu and Bloney, the British counselor Bloney was very talkative, and promised on the spot that as long as the Satsuma Domain compensated 150,000 pounds sterling and handed over the murderer of the Satsuma Incident, he could abandon the hostile actions against the Satsuma Domain. Wang Fu, who has always been mild-tempered, sneered and said, "Want to make peace? Yes, there are three conditions, first, to compensate us with three million taels of silver; second, let Saigo Takamori and Okubo Ritsu commit suicide by seppuku; Thirdly, let Shimazu Hisamitsu, the founding father of your Satsuma Domain, go to China, confess his guilt to our King Jinnan in person, accept the punishment of our King Jinnan, and return the real power of the Satsuma Domain to your lord Shimazu Tadayoshi. As long as you agree and fulfill these three conditions, we will immediately withdraw our troops and return home. ”

"Three million taels of silver? Want my brother and Okubo Ritsu seppuku? Do you want our father of the nation to go to the Qing Kingdom to confess his guilt? Saigo's hair was about to stand on end, and he exclaimed and asked, "General Wang, are your conditions too harsh, how can we accept them?" ”

Wang Fu didn't bother to take care of Xixiang Congdao, but just said to Gong Cheng Nunu next to him, Gong Cheng understood, and immediately stood up and said: "Mr. Saigo, it's not harsh at all, three million taels of silver is calculated by us based on the losses of the Ryukyus over the years and the cost of our expedition, in fact, we have made a big concession." As for asking your elder brothers, Takamori Saigo and Ritsu Okubo, Seppuku, Mr. Saigo, say that as the two most important ministers of your Satsuma Domain, shouldn't they, be held accountable for their crimes of invading the Ryukyus and offending our king of Jinnan? Isn't it reasonable to ask them to commit suicide? ”

"As for asking your father to come to our king of Zhennan to confess his sin, there are two reasons." Gong Cheng smiled and said, "First, from the information we have, we know that His Excellency Shimazu Tadayoshi, the lord of your domain, has actually never held real power, and whether the Satsuma clan invades the Ryukyus or offends our king of Zhennan, it is actually a decision made by your founding father, Shimazu Hisamitsu, so we must punish the culprit." ”

"The second reason is simpler, we are also a young man who has been in charge of power since he was in his twenties, and our king Zhennan is very sympathetic to the misfortune of His Excellency Shimazu Tadayoshi, and is determined to help His Excellency Shimazu Tadayoshi grasp the actual power of the Satsuma Domain, so that the Satsuma Domain can always be friendly with our Qing rebel army! Therefore, your Father of the Nation must come with us, and he must exchange the real power of the Satsuma Domain to His Excellency Tadayoshi Shimazu! ”

"Ridiculous! What qualifications do you Qing people have to meddle in the family affairs of our Satsuma Domain? Saigo said angrily: "We must not accept such conditions!" ”

"Then you can go back and prepare for war." Wang Fu replied very simply, and said: "If you don't agree to our conditions, it is your freedom. What we do next is our freedom. If you don't agree, we will use force to get three million taels of silver in the territory of the Satsuma Domain, personally kill Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshitsu, and personally capture your founding father, Shimazu Hisamitsu, and hand it over to our Zhennan King, and then return the real power of the Satsuma Domain to your lord. ”

After listening to Wang Fu's answer, he never expected Wang Fu to be so direct Saigo Congdao was suddenly on the spot, and after the interpreter translated Wang Fu's words into Japanese, Fukuzawa Yukichi, another envoy of the Satsuma Domain next to him, was also anxious, and hurriedly said to the British Counselor Bluni in still somewhat rusty English: "Mr. Bloney, I must make it clear that the peace treaty between my domain and your country can only be implemented after the consent of our Father of the Nation, and if your country still wants to pay compensation, ......." ”

"Mr. Bloney, don't worry." Gong Cheng interrupted Yukichi Fukuzawa's words and said in very proficient English: "We can ask Mr. Shimazu Tadayoshi, the real feudal lord of the Satsuma Domain, to hand over the compensation and murderers demanded by your country, so even without Mr. Shimazu Hisamitsu, your country does not have to worry about finding someone to collect debts." ”

Although I don't understand why the Wu army would put forward such harsh conditions to the Japanese, but Bruni is not willing to offend the current military allies in order to stand up for the Japanese, and Gong Cheng has also made a clear promise, Bruni can only shrug his shoulders to Fukuzawa Yukichi and said: "Mr. Fukuzawa, it is very regrettable that my boss has concluded an alliance with the King of Zhennan of the Qing Kingdom, and in this war, we must reach peace talks with you together with the representatives of the King of Zhennan, and we cannot negotiate a truce alone." ”

Fukuzawa Yukichi had no choice but to shut up, but Wang Fu yawned and said: "If there is nothing else to discuss, please go back, tell your father of the nation and your lord of our terms, and tell them clearly for me that we are welcome to negotiate at any time, but we will never make any concessions on our terms." ”

Yukichi Fukuzawa and Saigo walked away from the road, and Bluni also left accompanied by Gong Cheng, but it was also at this time that Wang Fu smiled at Huang Yuanbao: "What? Are you worried that I will make peace with Fuso Wako and lose your chance to perform in Japan? ”

Huang Yuanbao smirked, and directly acquiesced to Wang Fu's question, and Wang Fu smiled again: "Don't worry, if you want to fight, there is a chance, the king of Zhennan has a secret order for me, we still have to fight this battle, not only do you have to fight a lot of battles on land, but I am likely to have another big battle at sea." ”

"So how far are we going to fight?" Huang Yuanbao asked curiously.

"Until the Japanese surrender to us forever, they will never be able to become strong, they can only be used as a stepping stone for us forever." Wang Fu replied very directly, fed Huang Yuanbao a reassuring pill, and said: "If necessary, the king of Zhennan will send more land troops to Japan, and you will be even more majestic at that time." ”

After that, Wang Fu waved his hand to Huang Yuanbao again, and said: "Okay, go back quickly, I can treat today's incident as if it didn't happen, and if you leave the army and leave the camp without permission in the future, I will be sorry." After all, your deputy is Li Xiucheng, and his loyalty to our Zhennan King has yet to be tested, and we can't be too careless about him. ”

Fortunately, Li Xiucheng did not take the opportunity of Huang Yuanbao to leave the camp to play any tricks, and on the morning of the next day, after personally surveying the terrain of Kagoshima Castle, Li Xiucheng also put forward a tactical suggestion to Huang Yuanbao, suggesting that under the cover of naval fire, the second-line army launched an attack on Kagoshima Castle, taking advantage of the Japanese army's unfamiliar siege tactics of the Wu army, and directly blowing up the city gate with explosives. At the same time, the elite troops were lined up outside the castle to prevent the main Japanese army of Senkoji Temple from sending troops to reinforce Kagoshima Castle.

"There's another important point." Li Xiucheng also pointed out: "We must fight this battle during the day, because none of our soldiers have ever been here, and the terrain in this area is relatively complicated. ”

"During the day, the city gates were blown open with explosives, and the second-line army was used to launch siege ......." Huang Yuanbao wanted to speak and stopped, and said: "General Li, our siege army will be under a lot of pressure?" ”

"The last general asks General Huang for permission, and let the last general lead the army to launch a siege." Li Xiucheng took the initiative to surrender his hand and said: "Please General Huang lead the army to stand outside the city and be responsible for blocking the enemy's reinforcements." ”

"General Li, our Zhennan King didn't misunderstand you." Huang Yuanbao was pleased with the approval, and said: "But I can't do this thing, I have to ask General Wang Fu first." ”

After learning the details of Li Xiucheng's tactical plan, Wang Fu agreed to this siege plan almost without hesitation, because the British consulate in Japan had already sent news that the new Japanese shogun, Tokugawa Yoshiki, could not withstand the pressure of the Japanese emperor and was already working on forming reinforcements to reinforce the Satsuma Domain. At the same time, the Wu army scouts also found that the Thousand Eyes Temple had sent a number of fast horses to the northern part of Kyushu Island, obviously asking for help from other feudal lords in Japan, so Wang Fu also clearly asked Huang Yuanbao's headquarters to prepare for the siege of the city on the same day, and send troops to attack Kagoshima Castle the next day, and take the food and materials in the city as soon as possible to prevent accidents.

Although the new soldiers in the army accounted for more than sixty percent, they could be carefully selected from hundreds of thousands of Taiping soldiers to supplement the ranks of the Wu army, and the new soldiers in Huang Yuanbao's army were of course all ruthless characters who had experienced a hundred battles, so Wang Fu's order was certainly not a difficult thing for Huang Yuanbao's army, and it took only one day to prepare enough siege equipment and prepare for the siege. In the early morning of the next day, the siege of the Wu army also began.

The preemptive attack was still the fierce artillery fire of the Wu fleet, because of the need to protect the food in the city, the Wu army fleet only used some picric acid shells to bombard the castle tower of Kagoshima Castle at the beginning, causing the castle tower and the superstructure of Kagoshima Castle to catch fire, and the Wu army immediately replaced it with solid shells to bombard the enemy city to cover the siege of the city. However, it doesn't matter much, Kagoshima Castle, which was rebuilt only 70 years ago, is still a product of the Cold Weapon Era, and the degree of solidity is not very high, and it is still difficult to resist the solid shells fired by the Wu army's fleet, and the fortifications on the city were soon bombarded by the Wu army's artillery fire, and the defenders of the city were forced to hide behind the wall to avoid the artillery, but even so, there were still walls that were constantly shattered by the Wu army's shells, collapsing down and smashing the soldiers behind the wall.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Xiucheng, a veteran of the battlefield, first sent his troops forward, rushed to build bulletproof fortifications on the side of the moat, and arranged Minnie gunners to suppress the defenders of the city, and then began to launch the city gate blasting tactics. At this time, Li Xiucheng made an unexpected decision, pointed at Chen Yucheng, the new general under his command, and instructed: "Chen Yucheng, take your headquarters and serve as a siege assault team, and after the city gate explodes, kill me immediately." ”

was very surprised to look at Li Xiucheng, Chen Yucheng then hugged his fists to take the order, Li Xiucheng got up and walked in front of him, held his hand and said: "Brother Yucheng, why did I let you fight the vanguard, I think you also know very well in your heart, this is the opportunity I won for you." Don't let me down, seize this opportunity and start your new life. ”

"It's useless to say anything now." Chen Yucheng replied very bluntly and said: "Only if I can blow up the city gate, can I tell you with facts whether I will fail you." ”

was expected by Li Xiucheng, because he had never encountered the Wu army's city gate blasting tactics, the defenders in Kagoshima Castle did not know that they should block the city gate in time to prevent the Wu army from attacking the city, and still used the old methods such as throwing fire and shooting to deal with the Wu army sappers who tried to approach the city gate, but under the cover of the Wu army's artillery fire and the guns and bullets of the front fortifications, after paying a certain price for casualties, the Wu army sappers who stepped forward in a group of three still rushed to Kagoshima Castle with difficulty against the thick planks, Dana explosives, which were large enough to blow open the large gates, were placed at the Kagoshima Castle Gate, and then ignited and detonated, and after a loud bang, the gates of Kagoshima Castle were completely reduced to powder, and the road into the castle was opened to the Wu army.

"If you want to be promoted and make a fortune, follow Lao Tzu! If you want to seal your wife's shadow, follow Lao Tzu! If you want to raise your head and be a new person, follow Lao Tzu! ”

After yelling three sentences to Lao Tzu, Chen Yucheng picked up his Mini rifle and was the first to rush to the gate of Kagoshima Castle, and more than 500 newly surrendered soldiers of the Taiping Army he brought from the Huaibei battlefield strode to follow, and launched an assault on Kagoshima Castle in turn with the sentinel as a unit. The soldiers of the Taiping Army, who had been at odds with the Wu army, were finally driven by Wu Chaoyue's persecution and launched a surprise charge against the enemy, proving their sincerity in surrendering to the Wu army with practical actions.