Lin Yiqing was about to speak, but suddenly heard a long hissing of a whistle coming from the sea in the distance. Murata Shinhachi noticed that Lin Yiqing's body seemed to tremble slightly, and couldn't help but be very strange.

In his impression, there seems to be nothing that can make Lin Yiqing behave like this.

Murata Shinpachi saw Lin Yiqing and immediately raised the telescope to look in the direction where the voice came from, so he also raised the telescope with him.

When he saw what the two small black dots in the telescope were that were gradually getting bigger, he immediately understood why Lin Yiqing behaved like that.

What appeared in the telescope were two ironclads that were larger than any of the current warships in the Satsuma Navy!

"It's the Hiei and the Kongo!" Murata Shinhachi's surprise was not trivial, he turned around sharply and shouted, "Hurry up and find a signal for the battery and the navy!" ”

"No need." Lin Yiqing put down the binoculars, stopped the warrior who was about to run to give the order, and said with a smile.

"Why?" Murata Shinpachi asked in surprise, "Once the enemy ships open fire, our army will be attacked by the enemy, and the whole army will be in chaos!" ”

"Murata-kun, take a good look at it, whether it's a 'friendly ship' or an 'enemy ship'." Lin Yiqing laughed.

Murata Shinhachi raised the binoculars again and watched carefully, at this time the "Hiei" and "Fuso" had already sailed closer, and Murata Shinhachi could clearly see the nameplate on the hull, and it was determined that it was these two ironclad ships that made it difficult for them to sleep as Satsuma samurai.

"It's 'Hiei' and 'King Kong'!" Murata Shinba was shocked, and turned his head to look at Lin Yiqing suspiciously.

"That's right, it's 'Hiei' and 'King Kong'. But these two ships are definitely not 'enemy ships' now! "Lin Yiqing elephant is deliberately trying to tease Murata Shinpachi. Said with a smile.

"Why isn't it an enemy ship?" Murata Shinhachi said in a hurry, and at this time he noticed that the samurai officers around him didn't seem to be in a hurry. The corners of someone's mouth couldn't hold back a smile, and they couldn't help but be stunned.

"Did Murata-kun miss something?" Lin Yiqing reminded him again.

Murata Shinpachi still didn't understand what was going on, Lin Yiqing smiled: "Murata-kun forgot to look at the flag, right?" ”

Murata Shinpachi woke up suddenly, hurriedly turned around, at this time the "Hiei" and "King Kong" had sailed closer, without binoculars, Murata Shinpachi saw the "Cross Pill" flag hanging high on the mast of the second ship, he recalled the promise that Lin Yiqing made in front of Saigo Takamori and the samurai, and admired Lin Yiqing for a while.

"Lin Jun. I didn't expect you to use such a method...... "Murata Shinpachi looked at Lin Yiqing and sighed, "You really hide it from us......"

"This is a strange danger, if the news leaks slightly, it will inevitably fail, it is because I am hiding it from everyone like this, just to succeed in one blow." Lin Yiqing looked at the two ironclad ships that had already hung the flag of the Satsuma Navy, and he was also emotional, "Fortunately, I have to fulfill the preface today and live up to my mission." ”

At this time, a large number of Satsuma officers and soldiers also saw these two ironclad ships flying the "Cross Maru" flag. For a moment, there was a thunderous roar, and the earth-shattering noise even alarmed the Satsuma samurai and the defenders who had rushed into the city from the gap blown open by the combat engineers.

The two ironclad ships slowly approached the coast, and Lin Yiqing saw that the battle flags were raised on the masts of the two ships, and the gun doors on one side of the ship were all opened. The muzzle of the black hole was exposed.

Soon, the muzzle of the cannon flashed with a dark red light, and a large cloud of black smoke was spewed. A barrage of shells flew straight towards the head of Osaka Castle and landed next to a fort and exploded.

Watch as huge clouds of black smoke rise. Rubble and bricks fell from the sky one after another, and the morale of the defenders collapsed in an instant. Although the first salvo of two ironclad ships was not accurate. It was not possible to hit and destroy the fortress, but the officers and men of the defenders inside still scrambled to escape from the door and ran backwards. When an officer saw his men fleeing, he shouted and drew his pistol, knocking down two fleeing government soldiers in quick succession, but the others ignored his threats and ran for their lives without looking back.

The defenders who were encircling the gap were shocked when they saw the two ironclad ships firing their guns, but now they were infected by the emotions of these people fleeing for their lives, and they also turned around and fled backwards, and the originally dense team suddenly dispersed.

Amid the earth-shattering shouts of slaughter, the Satsuma samurai who were fighting on the opposite side of the defenders poured into the city like a tidal wave through the gaps in the blasted walls.

Seeing that Osaka Castle was breached in this way, and the troops under his command were the first to enter the city, Murata Shinhachi was excited.

"Reward the general!" Shinpachi Murata said to a samurai who had given orders.

In the operational command room of the Osaka Zhentai Army Headquarters, Nozu Zheno sat alone at the table, silently looking at the katana on the table.

He had just received news that the southern wall had been blown down, and the morale of the defenders had completely collapsed after seeing the two ironclad ships that had defected, and the Satsuma army had entered the city through the gap in the city wall and was rapidly advancing in the direction of the headquarters location.

In order to block the attack of the Satsuma army, Nozu Zhenxiong has sent all the reserve troops out, and now he has no troops to send.

A muffled explosion was heard in the distance, and Nozu got up and went to the window, looked in the direction from which the explosion came from, and immediately saw billowing smoke rising up.

Nozu knew that this was the place where the walls had been blown open.

Today's weather was very clear, the sky was blue and cloudless, but now the sun has dimmed due to the thick smoke and dust generated by the violent explosion, as if it were rainy.

After learning that the Satsuma army captured Kumamoto Castle in only one day, and that Kumamoto Castle was also blown down in this way, he expected that the Satsuma army might use the tactics of "cave siege", and took certain precautions in advance, but he could not determine the direction of the opponent's attack in such a fierce battle, and as a result, he never thought that Osaka Castle suffered the same fate as Kumamoto Castle.

Nozu could imagine the scene: before the debris in the air had fallen, soldiers and citizens swarmed up the gap, like a swarm of heroic ants in the dust. They filled the gaps with everything from bricks and wooden blocks removed from the city's buildings, linen bags filled with sand, and expensive hand-woven tapestries...... He could even imagine how the dust soaked in the golden glow of the setting sun slowly drifted into the castle, like a golden shroud that gently covered the castle of Osaka.

"Report ...... Report! ”

The door opened, and a government officer stumbled in.

"How's the battle going?" Nozu Zhenxiong recognized the other party as a young man of the 1st Brigade under his command, and he looked at his subordinates with a bandage on his head and one arm hanging from his body, exuding the smell of fireworks and blood, sighed, and asked.

In fact, the current situation of the war is no longer important to him, because even if he knows where the situation is critical, he can't do anything about it.

"General, the thieves have entered the city, and our army ...... The entire line has collapsed, and the troops inside the castle are retreating outside the castle, and General Nozu Michikani begs you to ...... Withdraw from the city and join him......" the young man said.

"How's Dokan doing?" Nozu asked.

"General Daoguan personally led the army to rush to the front line, killing and injuring countless thieves, but the thieves fought back violently, General Daoguan was attacked by the gunners of the thief army, and was hit by three bullets, fortunately it was not critical...... "Shao Zuo said, lowered his head, "Now it should be in the field hospital for treatment......

"Got it, go ahead." Nozu Zhenxiong interrupted his answer and said calmly, "You can also retreat with Daoguan and them." ”

"General......

"Go ahead! You have done your best, and there is no need to stay here to die, to save your own lives in order to continue to serve His Majesty the Emperor. ”

"Yes! …… But general, you ......."

"Don't worry about me, you can go."

Shaozo bowed to Nozu Zhenxiong and silently retreated.

Nozu Zhenxiong watched this subordinate leave, looked away from the door, looked up at the window, at this time the dense gunpowder smoke was blown away by the sea breeze, through the clouds, Nozu Zhenxiong saw that the sun was shining through the clouds, sprinkling golden light.

If Amaterasu really has a miracle, now is the time to manifest it.

Nozu picked up the katana on the table, put it on his waist, checked the pistol again, got up and left the combat command room, and walked out.

The loyal guards who were guarding outside saw his figure appear and immediately gathered over.

"General......

"The people in the headquarters have all been dismissed?" Nozu Zhenxiong looked at the chief guard and asked.

"Yes, General." The chief of the guard replied, "They just evacuated with the troops of His Royal Highness Prince Nakasa. ”

"Good." Nozu nodded and looked around at the guards, "Would you like to join me in a fight to the death against the thieves?" ”

"I am willing to follow the general to the death and fight to the death with the thieves!" The guards replied in unison.

"Let's go!" Nozu said, turning on his horse and taking a rifle from one of the guards.

At dusk, the gunfire gradually subsided, and Iwasaki Yuka dared to climb to the roof of the trading building. As far as the eye can see, the battlefield in the distance can be seen.

On the sand that had been soaked in blood, there were corpses all over the ground, as if a dead man's rain had just fallen; In the distance, a large white smoke from the cannon that had just been fired was drifting across the battlefield, becoming the only light thing here; In the distance, under the lead-gray canopy, the tents of the Satsuma army were scattered as far as the eye could see, and the samurai banners of the forest fluttered in the damp sea breeze; In the bay in the other direction, the warships of the Satsuma Navy sailed on the sea, looking from afar, like black iron nails, nailing the blue sea to the ground, so that it could not rise and fall in the wind. (To be continued......)

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