The main force of the Wu Army's land division boarded the troop carrier, and with the news that the Wu army fleet sailed out of Kagoshima Bay together, it was quickly sent to the decision-making level of the Sacho coalition led by Shimazu Hisamitsu and Katsura Kogoro, and what was sent to the Ishiki Besin was of course the military information that the Wu army deliberately spread among the Japanese people - the main force of the Wu army was to go to Edo Castle to settle accounts with the Japanese shogunate, and the Wu army had no interest in the Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Domain, which only dared to hide in the Ishiki Besin as a shrunken turtle.

The Japanese army did a very good job in intelligence work, and it was just in the evening of the same day, and the Sacho coalition army basically figured out the situation of the Wu army left behind in Kagoshima - the strength was only four battalions of 2,000 people, and two battalions were stationed in Kagoshima Castle, responsible for guarding Kagoshima Castle, which was hoarding grain and grass materials; Two battalions were stationed outside Kagoshima Castle and were responsible for affairs outside the castle. At the same time, the Wu army had already begun to develop trade with the Japanese people, build fortifications outside the city, and resume coal mining near Kagoshima, apparently preparing to build Kagoshima into an advance base for the Wu army's invasion of Japan.

In addition, the Japanese army also succeeded in finding out some important information about the Wu army, and learned that the commander of the Wu army left behind was Li Xiucheng, the former loyal king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, who surrendered to Wu Chaoyue only last year, and also found that the four battalions of the Wu army left behind in Kagoshima were mainly equipped with mini guns and flintlock pistols, not the screeching needle guns that had made the Japanese army suffer a lot. Therefore, before and after the intelligence summary report reached the decision-making level of the Sacho coalition army, Shimazu Hisamitsu and Katsura Kogoro and other high-ranking Japanese military officials were all excited, and they all said in their hearts: "What a chance! The Qing people are so careless, this is a good opportunity for us to take the opportunity to recapture Kagoshima Castle! ”

In addition to sending additional manpower to closely monitor the every move of the Wu army, they also hurriedly sent people to contact the Japanese military and civilians in the Ibusuki area to inquire about the whereabouts of the main fleet of the Wu army. At the same time, contact the neighboring Osumi Domain, and ask the Osumi Domain to help explore the whereabouts of the main fleet of the Wu army, and prepare to find out the whereabouts of the main fleet of the Wu army first, and then make other plans.

The good news kept coming, first of all, the Japanese army repeatedly confirmed that the overall strength of the Wu army's left-behind army was mediocre, and the Sachang coalition army had a great deal to deal with; Then an urgent report came from the Ibusuki area, confirming that the Kure fleet had sailed out of Kagoshima Bay; Then the Osumi clan also sent news that the Kure fleet had indeed bypassed Cape Sata and sailed in the direction of Edo to the northeast. As a result, it was also at this time that Shimazu Hisamitsu and Katsura Kogoro and others truly believed that the main force of the Wu army had indeed gone to Edo.

However, even so, Shimazu Hisamitsu, Gui Kogoro and others still did not make up their minds to take the opportunity to send troops, the reason is that there is enough time, and there is no need for the Sacho coalition army to rush to send troops so soon, and the second is that Shimazu Hisamitsu and Katsura Kogoro always feel that the situation is a little wrong, and they don't understand why the Wu army only left such a small number of troops to defend Kagoshima - although the Japanese army also reported that the Wu army despised the existence of the Sacho coalition army very much, and believed that the Sacho coalition army would never dare to take the opportunity to send troops to fight Kagoshima, But Shimazu Hisamitsu and Katsura Kogoro still dare not be gullible. After all, Wu Jun has already had two previous convictions for fraud, and no one at the decision-making level of the Sachang coalition army dares to guarantee whether there will be a third time.

On the evening of the third day after the main force of the Wu army left Kagoshima by boat, a man disguised as a Japanese civilian suddenly entered the defense area of the Sachang coalition army, took the initiative to hand over a letter written in Chinese to the Japanese soldiers who came to investigate, and said in stiff Japanese: "I am from the Qing country, and I am your friend." ”

Just one sentence of 'I am from the Qing country' was enough, and the Japanese troops present immediately took down the man, but because the man came too strangely, the Japanese soldiers did not dare to dispose of him without permission, but just sent him to Ishiki Besin along with the letter, and handed him over to Shimazu Hisamitsu's headquarters army. Then, the letter was quickly presented to Shimazu Hisamitsu, and when Saigo, a retainer who was fluent in Chinese, told the general meaning of the letter, Shimazu Hisamitsu was immediately shocked - this letter turned out to be a letter from Li Xiucheng's general Xie Changsha!

After the shock, it was extremely incredulous, and Shimazu Hisamitsu immediately asked, "How is it possible?" Now that the Qing army has the upper hand, why should their generals ask to surrender to us? Is there a reason for this? ”

"Got it." Xixiang Congdao carefully looked at the letter and replied: "This Qing general named Xie Changsha said that he was originally the general of the Taiping Army of the Qing rebels, and he had a deep hatred for the army of Wu Chaoyue, the king of Zhennan of the Qing State, and he was forced to surrender to the army of the King of Zhennan of the Qing State in order to survive, but he was not willing to be loyal to Wu Chaoyue, the king of Zhennan of the Qing State, and Wu Chaoyue was also very stingy with him, and only gave him a five-grade garrison, so he has been trying to find a way to escape from Wu Chaoyue's army. Now that he felt that the opportunity had come, he wanted to surrender to us, help us deal with the Qing army, and avenge his Taiping comrades. ”

Shimazu Hisamitsu, who was quite familiar with the situation in China, of course knew about the Taiping Army, and of course he was overjoyed when he heard that Saigo was in his heart, and quickly asked, "Then how is he going to surrender?" ”

"He said that as long as we agreed to accept his surrender, he would find a way to escape Kagoshima Castle as soon as possible with soldiers loyal to him, and come to Ishiki Besin to surrender to us." Saigo looked at the letter and replied, "He also said that if we want, he can help us take Kagoshima Castle and give it to us as a gift." Because he is currently actually in command of a battalion of 500 Qing troops, and his battalion still happens to be stationed in Kagoshima Castle, as long as we send troops to attack the city, he will launch an internal response and open the city gate to welcome us into the city. If he has the opportunity, he can also help us take out Li Xiucheng and make the Qing army lose its command. ”

Shimazu Hisamitsu was even more happy when he heard it, and asked Saigo to translate the content of the letter into Japanese and read it from beginning to end, seeing that the content was exactly the same as Saigo Michi's introduction, Shimazu Hisamitsu did not hesitate anymore, and quickly sent someone to call the messenger sent by Xie Changsha to the front, and asked Saigo to help interrogate him. The envoy sent by Xie Changsha answered honestly, saying that his name was Xie Chunlin, he was Xie Changsha's personal army captain and brother of the same clan, and he was also the Taiping Army who was forced to surrender to the Wu army.

After asking many questions carefully and finding no flaws, Shimazu Hisamitsu asked a key question through Saigo Shomichi, saying, "Why did you only leave 2,000 troops in Kagoshima?" ”

"I heard from my brother that Wang Fu, the general of the Wu thief, looked down on you and felt that you had been beaten, so he only left two thousand troops to guard Kagoshima." Xie Chunlin replied respectfully: "In addition, we also have a contingency plan, that is, if you really send troops to fight us, and if the situation is not good in the field, we will withdraw the army to defend the city, and wait for our main force to come back to the rescue." ”

"And when will your main force come back?" Shimazu Hisamitsu hurriedly asked again.

"I really don't know about this little one." Xie Chunlin spread his hands helplessly and said, "My brother didn't tell me, and I guess he doesn't know." However, the small estimate must be not short, because my brother said that Wang Fu and they are going to force you shoguns to negotiate compensation this time, and they will definitely not be able to come back in ten days and half a month, and it is not strange to delay forty or fifty days before coming back. ”

Shimazu Hisamitsu rolled his eyes and calculated, and after a long time, he waved his hand and said, "You go down and rest first, I'll think about it, and I'll give you an answer tomorrow." ”

Xie Chunlin agreed, and then saluted and thanked him before going down to rest with Shimazu Hisamitsu's surname, and Shimazu Hisamitsu first ordered Saigo to write Xie Changsha's book to Japan, and then ordered: "Tomorrow morning, convene the retainers to discuss the matter, and then invite Gui Kogoro and Yama County Youpeng to come, and we will discuss this matter together." ”

said that he was ready to discuss, but because the strength was placed here, and it had been repeatedly confirmed that the main force of the Wu army had really gone to Edo, Shimazu Hisamitsu had already made up his mind on the spot, and he was so excited that he couldn't sleep in the middle of the night.

The next morning, when Shimazu Hisamitsu announced the good news in front of his retainers and friendly generals, none of the retainers of the Satsuma Domain, led by Saigo Takamori, were not overjoyed, shouting Amaterasu Okami's blessing, and friendly generals such as Katsura Kogoro and Yama Prefecture Aritomo were also cheering, and they couldn't wait to immediately ask for a joint attack with the Satsuma Domain to launch a counterattack on Kagoshima Castle.

Only Fukuzawa Yukichi, a retainer of the Satsuma Domain, who was not very high, was cautious about this, and said, "Father of the Nation, Your Excellency Kogoro, do you think carefully before deciding whether to send troops?" The Qing people's military book says that soldiers are not tired of cheating, could this be what the Qing people said to lure the snake out of the hole? Deceive us into sending troops to a decisive battle and lure us into a trap? ”

"Fukuzawa-kun, you're too cowardly, how can this be a trap?" Shimazu Hisamitsu smiled and said: "The main force of the Qing people has gone to Edo, and there are only two thousand troops here in Kagoshima, and they must guard Kagoshima Castle, so there are still extra troops to set traps?" ”

"But what if the fleet of the Qing people suddenly turns around and kills back to Kagoshima?" Fukuzawa Yukichi raised the biggest danger and said, "When the time comes, if we can't immediately withdraw to Ishiki Besin and are forced to fight a field battle with the Qing people on the plains, it will be difficult to deal with the main force of the Qing country with the Nanban fast gun?" ”

"Fukuzawa-kun, your guts are smaller than a mouse." Yama Prefecture Youpeng took over the conversation, first laughed at Fukuzawa Yukichi, and then said: "The fleet of the Qing people has bypassed Cape Sata and gone to Edo, even if you come back immediately after receiving the news, it will take at least two or three days, at that time, with the help of the Qing traitor Xie Changsha, we have already taken Kagoshima Castle and killed all the Qing soldiers in the city." ”

Or because of the problem of communication by sea and the difficulty of ambushing on the sea, although Fukuzawa Yukichi still has doubts in his heart, he can only obediently shut his mouth. Over there, Katsura Kogoro said in a big way: "Your Excellency the Father of the Nation, I think we have to fight no matter what, anyway, our forces are superior, even if the battle is unfavorable, we can calmly return to Ishiki Bewon, and there will be no big losses." ”

Shimazu Hisamitsu also had this idea in his heart, so the decision-making level of the Sacho coalition also finalized the strategy on the spot, and decided to use the rest of the day to prepare, and then join forces to attack Kagoshima Castle the next day. Then Shimazu Hisamitsu announced Xie Changsha's personal soldier Xie Chunlin, and promised a heavy reward in person, asking Xie Chunlin to return to Kagoshima Castle and Xie Changsha immediately, and let Xie Changsha secretly prepare to meet the siege of the Sachang coalition army. - I have to explain that Shimazu Hisamitsu is actually a very careful person, in order to prevent accidents, Shimazu Hisamitsu did not say when the Sacho coalition army would send troops, but only said that it would send troops in the near future.

The day passed quickly, and after some intense preparations, in the early morning of the next day, the Sacho coalition army, with a total strength of more than 10,000 troops, suddenly dispatched an army of more than 8,000 people in one go, with the Japanese general Yama Prefecture Aritomo as the vanguard, carrying a variety of light and heavy weapons, suddenly slaughtered out of the mountain road where Ishiki Besin was located, and strode directly towards Kagoshima Castle.

Not to mention, because the Japanese army sent troops too suddenly, the Wu soldiers who were responsible for monitoring the mountain road were really killed by surprise, and they could only hurriedly abandon the simple sentry tower and flee back to Kagoshima Castle, and at the same time, the Wu army team that patrolled and monitored the Japanese people mining coal was also in a hurry, scrambling to flee for their lives under Kagoshima Castle, and several who fled slowly were shot and wounded by the Japanese pursuers, the scene was chaotic and embarrassing, so that the Japanese striker led by Aritomo in Yama Prefecture laughed very happily.

But then again, although most of the Wu soldiers did not know the inside story and showed panic, after all, they were all veterans of a hundred battles who had crawled out of the pile of dead many times, even if they were in a hurry, when Yama Prefecture Youpeng rushed all the way to Kagoshima Castle with the Japanese striker, most of the Wu soldiers had already returned to the camp and returned to the team, and entered the fortifications of the castle town to prepare for battle. At the same time, Kagoshima Castle was also closed with the gates closed, and martial law was imposed up and down, and Yamaprefecture Aritomo, who could not take advantage of the victory, had no choice but to let the army seize the terrain and stand in formation, waiting for the main force to come and attack.

After 9 o'clock in the morning, the main force of the Japanese army smoothly entered the position, and quickly arranged artillery to fire at the position of the Wu army, and the Wu army immediately returned fire with the only three rear-loading rifled guns with the old-fashioned artillery, and bombarded the Japanese army from a long distance, but because of the large gap in the number of artillery, the artillery fire of the Wu army was obviously not as fierce as the Japanese army, and the effect of suppressing the enemy's artillery fire could not be achieved. The Japanese army took the opportunity to throw in infantry and stormed the fortifications of Kure's castle town from three directions.

As a result, the battle quickly became white-hot, and the Japanese infantry who shouted that they were on board were in teams of five and repeatedly attacked the Wu army's positions with offensive tactics similar to those of the skirmish line, while the Wu soldiers who were at an absolute disadvantage relied on their fortifications to defend to the death, using muskets, mountain splitting cannons and a small number of grenades to resist the Japanese attack. On the battlefield, the gunfire was continuous, like bursting beans, interspersed with the roar of artillery and the unique slogans of the Japanese army, and from time to time soldiers on both sides were shot and fell, making a terrible cry for help, which was extremely fierce.

Because of the fortifications in the way, the Japanese army's strength advantage could not be brought into play for a while, but it didn't matter, the time was very sufficient, and the commanders of the Sacho coalition forces such as Shimazu Hisamitsu and Katsura Kogoro were not in a hurry, and they all invited each other to drink tea on the battlefield. However, just when Shimazu Hisamitsu and Katsura Kogoro were drinking together, a whistle they were very familiar with suddenly came from a distance, and then, without waiting for Shimazu Hisamitsu and Katsura Kogoro to turn their heads to look at the direction from which the whistle came, several whistle sounds came one after another, and the teacup in Shimazu Hisamitsu's hand suddenly fell to the ground, and said with a pale face: "How is it possible?" Here in Kagoshima Bay, how can there be steamboats? ”

"Father of the Nation! Deacon! Look, to the southeast, there's smoke! It's like a steamship is coming! ”

The heart-rending shouting of the surname made Gui Xiaogoro also change his face, and when he quickly turned his head to look at the southeast direction, the teacup in Gui Xiaogoro's hand suddenly fell to the ground, and his square face directly turned into dead gray - on the vast sea surface on the southeast side, there were indeed more than a dozen black smokes, representing the black smoke of the steamship!

The reaction of Shimazu Hisamitsu, Gui Kogoro and others was completely different, at the same time, on the bridge of the Wu Army's flagship Zeng Guofan, Aspen, the principal of the Wu Army's Naval Academy and the military adviser of the Wu Army's expeditionary fleet, was full of helplessness and puzzlement, and asked Wang Fu next to him: "Wang, why do you officers of the Hubei Provisional Government Army seem to have a bad habit?" Regardless of whether the enemy is strong or weak, you must first deceive the enemy with tricks? This time, you have a clear advantage in weapons and equipment and the strength of your army, why are you still unwilling to fight with the enemy in an upright manner? Do you have to find a way to deceive the enemy before engaging the enemy? ”

"Headmaster, this is the habit of King Zhennan, the habit of fighting all along." Wang Fu smiled bitterly and replied very frankly: "We have been fighting with him for too long, and we have been infected by him with this habit. ”

After answering with a wry smile, Wang Fucai gave another order to his subordinates: "Raise the flag, and after entering the position, all the ships will immediately fire at the Japanese position!" Hit hard! In this battle, we must kill the main forces of the Wako Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Domain! ”