At the same time that Abe Zhongqiu heard the sound of cannons, Yu Guozhen patted Jiang Youzhong on the shoulder and sighed helplessly.

"It's okay, you've done a good job, after all, it's your first time at sea, and it's inevitable that there will be some accidents, so it's okay if people are fine."

"It's really nerve-wracking, there should be no problem, but there are still some failures, but fortunately, there is still a spare sail, which floated to Keelung, and it took two days to repair. But, official, I didn't mistake you, did I? ”

Yu Guozhen was also a little helpless, strictly speaking, Jiang Youzhong came late, so the secret letter he brought with Jiang'an was also a little late.

Shogishi mentioned in the secret letter that he would take the initiative to attack Edo, the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, and destroy the city that symbolized the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate. As long as this can be achieved, then the entire Wa Kingdom will fall back into the Warring States period, when the feudal towns were divided.

Some of the powerful clans, such as the Date family of the Sendai Domain, the Maeda family of the Kaga Domain, and the Mori clan of the Choshu Domain, were uneasy, and if the Tokugawa family showed their weak side, they would pounce like hungry dogs.

And it was not difficult to do this, as long as the Tokugawa shogunate saw the hope of completely quelling the Shimabara rebellion, they would transfer their troops to Kyushu and Shikoku, and although most of the troops were from the vassals, the main force of the Tokugawa family had to be dispatched to suppress them. Under these circumstances, the Tokugawa family defended Edo and relied on forts and a small number of soldiers left behind.

In the hands of the generals, there are nearly 4,500 sailors and marines of the East China Sea Fleet and 3,300 men in one regiment of the Second Brigade of the Tiger Guard Army. In addition, the local troops of Shan'dong (including the Xiangma left behind by the Tenglai soldiers and the Lee brothers) that can be seconded, and the herdsman cavalry regiment on Tamna Island. The total is close to twenty thousand.

The most important thing is that the East China Sea Fleet has three battleships, 15 frigates, and more than 10 transport ships of various sizes, plus requisitioned civilian ships, and is fully capable of completing this kind of cross-sea transportation operations.

Moreover, Shogishi has always believed that the enemy that can be solved by diplomatic means should not be solved by war, and with Qin Qinsheng, a guy who is familiar with the situation of the Wa Kingdom and has a lot of connections at the top of the local feudal towns of the Wa Kingdom, it is completely possible to weaken the strength of the Tokugawa shogunate again by means of bribery and instigation.

Therefore. Shogishi suggested that the tactics set by the staff be revised and that Shiro Amakusa Shiro of Hoshimahara not die but abandon him. Let the Tokugawa shogunate devote more troops to the island of Kyushu, and at the same time spread rumors that the Tokugawa shogunate thought that the East China Sea Fleet was going to support Luzon - this news could be released through the Zheng family, and the Tokugawa shogunate would never have thought that the news from its allies turned out to be fake.

Unprepared by the Tokugawa, the First Fleet suddenly attacked, broke into the Uraga waterway, and then passed through several waterways such as Arakawa, entered the inland river, and attacked Edo Castle!

But the secret letter of the shogi. Because the steamship Huanghu broke down twice on the way, it was delayed for nearly 20 days before it arrived in Xinxiang.

Count the time, this plan has been carried out at this moment.

Yu Guozhen comforted Jiang Youzhong and asked him to study it himself, and now Yu Guozhen has nothing to guide Jiang Youzhong in the operation of the steam engine. He hoped that through the problems found in this voyage, Jiang Youzhong would be able to completely find a way to put the steam engine on the rail car, so that Xinxiang's transportation industry would truly enter the steam age.

"Please Mao Yuanyi, Song Xiance ......" Yu Guozhen named five names in a row, all of whom were members of the staff group.

The offices of these people were not far from him, in the same building, so it was only a few minutes later. And they appeared before him.

"It's better than we thought." Yu Guozhen handed them the letter in his hand, and after reading them one by one, he smiled and said, "When I asked the Yellow Falcon to go with the secret order, I once said that he could act cheaply, therefore. The decisions he makes now are within my authority. ”

This is because of the fear that some people will criticize the shogun for changing the plan without authorization. Since the appearance of Huo Yan, this point has always been a taboo for Xinxiang, and it is also the object of everyone's vigilance. With his endorsement of Jiangan's behavior, then even if Jiangan suffers a big defeat, he will not have to bear responsibility. This kind of trust is based on an understanding of the character of the Shogishi people.

At the point where Yu Guozhen is now, it is impossible to do everything personally, so it is necessary to let go of his subordinates in many cases. If everything is suspicious, and his subordinates are tied, it will be difficult to succeed, but Yu Guozhen has seen with his own eyes how Chongzhen used some good generals into slag.

"Let's evaluate how much success rate can be according to Jiang'an's plan." Yu Guozhen said again.

Xinxiang's staff committee has a set of war games to evaluate the victory and defeat of a war, and generally anticipates the enemy's leniency and strictness, so as to deduce the ratio of victory and defeat in a battle. With Yu Guozhen's words, a young intern staff officer immediately brought the map, because it was not an area where the Tiger Guard often fought, and they only had the Edo map in their hands, and there was no sand table that could be used better.

After an hour or so of the exercise, after considering the difference in strength between the enemy and the enemy, and the difference in morale and weapons, the group came to the conclusion that if they could break through the Uraga waterway and enter the interior of the Edo area, the battle would be won.

Edo Castle, which has only more than 10,000 defenders left, cannot withstand the same number of tiger guards, even if Edo Castle is well defended, it can be turned into scum in front of hot air boats and naval guns.

"I believe in shogishi to break into Edo." When Yu Guozhen heard this, he said with a smile: "Then the next thing we have to discuss is how to dispose of the city of Edo." ”

"Yes, it is impossible for us to occupy it, after all, it is impossible for the East China Sea Fleet and the 2nd Brigade to stay there for a long time. But we can't keep Edo, and if we can kill Tokugawa Iemitsu, it's fine, but if not, if we can't, and the Tokugawa family regains Edo, our strategic goal in this battle will not be fully realized. Therefore, the only option is to destroy the city. Song Xiance hurriedly spoke: "It just so happens that the people in the city can be brought to Luzon, and Luzon has newly discovered a large copper mine, accompanied by a gold mine, which is just right to use." ”

"The people in Edo City are not those Japanese peasants, and they are not as hard as them, many of these people are also small traders and peddlers, and many of them are simply hooligans. Transporting to Luzon can only corrupt the morals. Mao Yuanyi shook his head and objected: "According to the old foolish opinion." Slaughtered. ”

He said the word "Tu" very lightly, but found that Yu Guozhen was slightly distracted, Mao Yuanyi's heart moved, could it be that what he said was against the will of the lord?

He immediately thought about it, Yu Guozhen has always been generous to the people of the Ming Dynasty, even if he made a decision to continue to impact the Ming Dynasty economically and bankrupt millions of Ming farmers, he also tried his best to make up for it, and let Gao Erzhu guide those bankrupt farmers to flee to Xinxiang. But he is interested in foreign races, whether it is the Jiaozhi natives he came into contact with earlier, or the Koreans who claim to be Little China. Yu Guozhen is not fake color, when it is time to pick up the stick, no matter how the other party praises or pleads, he can't exchange Yu Guozhen with any mercy.

Soon. Yu Guozhen came to his senses, and he smiled: "I understand what everyone means, so let's write down the decision to dispose of Edo Castle, and then show it to everyone." ”

As he spoke, he took a piece of paper and began to write on it with a pen, and soon, the word was completed, and he passed the paper to Mao Yuanyi in his left hand.

Mao Yuanyi was stunned at first. Then he smiled knowingly: "The lord is worthy of the title of the first merry person on the bank of the Qinhuai River, elegant things, elegant things!" ”

Song Xiance only felt that his heart was itching, and he couldn't wait to snatch the paper from Mao Yuanyi's hand, Mao Yuanyi read it again, and sighed twice before passing the letter to Song Xiance.

"Sure enough, my lord, let me be the messenger, and the matter will go down in history. I also want to play a role in this matter, so as to leave a name in history! Song Xiance laughed out loud after watching it.

They were talking about elegant things, and they were naturally calm, but Abe Chukkai, who was far away in Edo Castle, couldn't calm down. Judging that the sound of the cannon may have come from the attack of the Tiger Guard, Abe Chukō was after the initial panic. Suddenly realizing something, he said sharply to the little surname: "Prepare armor for me." The Lord is about to summon me! ”

Sure enough, after a while, the sound of the Tokugawa family's summoning generals was heard on the castle tower. Abe Chukō hurried towards the castle tower, and soon, he saw his colleagues rushing one after another, and many of them were already dressed like him.

Tokugawa Iemitsu's face was pale, and his beard was curled and curled, which was caused by anger. He sat upright and watched the retainers arrive quickly, and many retainers from the martial arts family had already put on their armor and could go out at any time, which made his anger calm down a little.

"Let the envoy of the Zheng family come over." Seeing that everyone had gathered, especially important ministers such as Masayuki Hoshina and Abe Chukatsu had already arrived, Tokugawa Iemitsu ordered.

The envoy of the Zheng family is Zheng Zhilong's confidant general Zeng De, just like Shi Fu, he is also a sea tycoon who has followed Zheng Zhilong for many years, and has won Zheng Zhilong's trust. When he was brought to Tokugawa Iemitsu, his face was still drunk, because he had just climbed up from a Japanese woman, so his clothes were still a little untidy.

He was still a little confused about the situation, but when he saw the Tokugawa retainers he knew, he bowed his hand and was brought to Tokugawa Iemitsu, and then he realized that something had happened.

He had only seen Tokugawa Iemitsu once, and all the previous major events had been discussed with the old man appointed by the Tokugawa family, and he had not even seen the face of the elder Doi Toshikatsu.

"His Highness the General!" He saluted according to the etiquette of the Japanese people: "You are in such a hurry to summon me, but what is wrong with Shimahara?" ”

"It's not Shimabara, it's here, it's Edo, listen, what do you hear!"

"That's ...... The sound of naval guns? Zeng De broke out in a cold sweat: "What's going on, what's going on?" ”

"I also want to ask you what's going on, why did you say that Nankaibo's fleet had gone to Luzon, but they suddenly appeared outside Edo City?" Tokugawa Iemitsu gritted his teeth and asked, "You have to give me an explanation!" ”

How can Zeng De explain?

There was a dead silence in the council hall, but the sound of cannons outside was getting louder and closer, and in such a night, the other party was so arrogant, it was clear that he didn't take the defense of Edo Castle in his eyes, but it was this kind of night that made the Tokugawa family unable to see the situation clearly, and could only wait for dawn!

They didn't know what it would be like to wait for the dawn.

(Guess what, what is the "elegant thing" written by Xiao Yu?) (To be continued)