"But with my current strength, it's really not enough to fight against a big country like Lucia!" Saigo Takamori sighed, "Now I know that the strength of a big country like Lucia can not be matched by the strength of my Satsuma Domain......" His gaze looked at Lin Yiqing, "Actually, if it weren't for Hanpeng, we wouldn't have been able to hold out for so long." ”

"Dongxiang-kun believes that our army will not gain anything except continue to suffer casualties and losses if it continues to fight, but this view is wrong!" Lin Yiqing said, "Even if our army cannot completely defeat the Lucia army, but it can deal a heavy blow to the Lucia army, even if our army is defeated, Lucia will also lose its strength, and it will fail in the battle with Turkey and be forced to sign a contract, it is afraid of the interference of the foreign powers, and it will definitely not occupy all of Japan, then Japan will have a chance to revive in the future!" If it surrenders without a fight, Japan will be the meat on the anvil and will be slaughtered! There will never be a day to turn over! ”

Listening to Lin Yiqing's words, Kirino Toshiaki felt like a fire burning, and he couldn't help but clench his fists.

"Yes! That's what we're all about! Kirino Toshiaki said loudly.

"Han Peng, what you said is very right, but as a samurai, even if we fight to the last man, we will die a well-deserved death, but those people who follow us, do they want them to die together with us samurai?" Saigo Takamori looked at Lin Yiqing and asked meaningfully.

Hearing Saigo Takamori's question, Kirino Toshiaki also understood Saigo Takamori's intention to ask such a question, looked at Lin Yiqing, and waited for his answer.

Kirino Toshiaki knew that Lin Yiqing was deeply in love with his daughter Chiho Kirino, and Chiho Kirino was completely devoted to him. If he dies on the battlefield. Chiho Kirino will definitely die together. Never alone.

When he said these words of "the soul is immortal", didn't he think about it for his wife and children?

"We are samurai, and it is our duty to die on the battlefield and shroud in horse leather. But the people who are with us must not die together. Lin Yiqing said, "Sir, have you forgotten what I told my husband." Can the gentleman follow Liu Bei's advice? ”

"Of course I remember......" Saigo Takamori remembered the scene of that day, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "Hanpeng, what exactly should I do, you can say it now." ”

"When our army attacked Kyoto the previous time, the government army was defeated by our army, and even set fire to the city, resulting in the destruction of the thousand-year-old capital. It is still inevitable that my heart aches from time to time, and it is a time of leisure. He often thinks about how to protect the people from being poisoned by the war. Lin Yiqing said, "At present, the Lucia army is strong, the artillery fire is fierce, and the Lucia people are as barbaric as beasts, and they will inevitably burn and loot everywhere, if they wait for them to attack the city and slaughter it, it is better for our army to abandon the city after striking it hard in the outer positions, and avoid the melee in the city, so as to prevent the spread of the fire and the innocent people." ”

Although Lin Yiqing said it very tactfully, Saigo Takamori and Kirino Toshiaki still understood what he meant.

"Han Peng, what do you mean, is it that in places such as Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka, our army will eventually abandon it?" Saigo Takamori let out a long sigh and asked.

"Yes." Lin Yiqing nodded, "In order to preserve the strength in order to make a comeback, after giving the Lucia army a blow, it is better to give up the Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe regions, and when our army withdraws, we can issue notices from many parties, explaining that our army's withdrawal is for the sake of cherishing the people, and those who are willing to stay can stay where they are, hang the Japanese flag, to show their obedience to the government, and avoid the slaughter of the Russian army. ”

"In other words, the next task of our army is not only to fight the Lucia army and weaken its strength, but also to cover the safe evacuation of the people." Kirino Toshiaki sighed, "It turns out that Hanpeng has already thought of it. ”

"Except for Sandu, is it true that all the places occupied by our army in Benzhou should be abandoned?" Saigo Takamori looked at the map, sighed, and asked.

"Yes." Lin Yiqing knew that Saigo Takamori had guessed his thoughts, so he directly said his next plan, "Our army should withdraw to Kyushu Island and Kuniguo Island, and defend it across the sea, the government has no navy available now, although the Lucia Army is strong, there are straits separated by it, and its navy is subject to the great powers and cannot come, then our army can hold on to this, the fire on land can be extinguished, and we will defend ourselves across the sea. ”

"Han Peng's foresight, we really can't catch up!" Saigo Takamori sighed when he heard that Lin Yiqing thought so thoroughly.

"Without further ado, tomorrow I will summon the generals to come to Osaka to explain Hanpeng's plan." Saigo Takamori said, "What does Richo think? ”

"What Mr. said is very true, let everyone know as soon as possible, and the military will be able to settle down as soon as possible." Toshiaki Kirino also nodded in agreement, but when his eyes fell on the letter written by Heihachiro Togo on the table, he couldn't help but sigh, as if he felt sorry for Heihachiro Togo, "Is Heihachiro also coming to the meeting?" He has begun to waver now, but I'm afraid that he is not suitable to be the commander of the Navy, right? Is it necessary to remove him from the post of commander of the Navy? ”

"Not for now, I want him to come to the meeting tomorrow!" Lin Yiqing thought for a while and said, "After all, he has made a lot of contributions before, and he is very popular in the navy, so he was dismissed without reason, it is difficult to ensure that the naval officer has no opinion, let's see how he behaves after the meeting, and then make a decision!" ”

"Yes, Heihachiro has made many military exploits, after all, he did it last time to rob the silver ship, and the Lucia people have filed a lawsuit with the International Maritime Court, Heihachiro studied in the United Kingdom and is familiar with maritime law, and now he is needed to deal with this matter, and he still has to be the commander of the navy." Saigo Takamori looked at the letter and said, "If you are worried about him being shaken, it is better to arrange for someone to look at him more, I think this is just his own opinion, and the navy may not all think like him." ”

At this moment, the trio of them have decided on a plan, and the history of Japan has undergone profound changes at this moment.

Ryukyu, Port Wynne.

Today, the port of Wynne is full of lights, gongs and drums, and there is a festive and lively atmosphere, and even the foreign warships and steamships in the harbor are full of colorful flags to show their celebrations.

Today is the anniversary of the renaming of Naha Port and Shuri, the capital of the Ryukyus Kingdom, as "Port of Wairn" and "Mori Castle", respectively.

In Hayashi, Yoshizhe sent a fleet of Harbour Masters and Sailors to take advantage of the victory in Moss Bay to destroy the Japanese military and police stationed in the Ryukyus. After helping the Ryukyus to restore their country. The Ryukyu monarchs and the people all rejoiced. In order to express his gratitude and commemoration, King Shotai of the Ryukyus sent a letter to the Imperial Court, requesting that Shuri, the capital of the Ryukyus, be renamed "Shoury" and Naha Port should be renamed "Port Waien", in order to show that Ryukyu will always keep the gift of the heavenly kingdom and forever remember the grace of "the restoration of the kingdom of the heavenly soldiers". After seeing the book, the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces was overjoyed and readily agreed, and the Empress Dowager Rentai wrote the book "Shouli Tianmen". Empress Dowager Renxi's royal pen "Huai'en Yonggu", made a gold plaque, given a silver seal, and rewarded with gold coins, jade ruyi, silk satin and other gifts. The Ryukyu King Shotai was grateful and chose an auspicious day for a grand name change ceremony and designated it as the "Waien Festival".

At this time, warships from various countries gathered in the harbor, and Western countries such as Britain, France, the United States, Germany, and Italy all sent warships to congratulate them, but Japanese and Russian warships in the harbor. But there was no bunting, obviously not to celebrate.

And sandwiched between Japanese and Russian warships. The Mt. Fuji, which is hung with the Satsuma "Cross Maru" military flag with a red ground and a white circle cross, is particularly unusual.

Because these three warships are here to fight a lawsuit.

After the Russian silver-carrying ship that departed from the port of Fuzhou in Qianguo was robbed by the Satsuma Navy and the Russian ships escorting it were also damaged, the Russian side wanted to dispatch the navy to retaliate against the Satsuma, but the Russian Navy's dispatch was tantamount to violating the principle of neutrality, and the Russians had no choice but to start a lawsuit with the Satsuma in the International Maritime Court in order to claim back the 6 million taels of silver ingots that had been robbed.

Because the stakes were so important and that they involved Russia, Japan, and Qianguo (the money was purchased from the Qianguo in order to bring in the Qianguo), the International Maritime Court did not dare to slack off, and set up a special tribunal to hear the case, and asked all parties to send personnel to participate in the trial.

After receiving the documents from the International Maritime Court, the Satsuma side decided after deliberation that Navy Commander Heihachiro Togo, who had studied at the British Merchant Marine Academy and was familiar with international maritime law, would personally intervene to deal with it, and Togo Heihachiro had come to Port Wynne on the "Mt. Fuji."

After the tragedy of the "Funing" was reported back to Russia, public opinion boiled and the crowd was agitated, demanding that the government take revenge on the Satsuma. At this time, the Russian Far East Fleet, which was cruising in East Asia, also made unusual military arrangements: the deputy commander of the fleet, Vlakinov, not only sent the cruiser "Admiral" to the accident site to search, but also sent the cruiser "Migne" and "Knyaz? The "Bojarsky" went to search for the Satsuma fleet and wanted to ask the Satsuma fleet for its guilt.

In a telegram sent to the Russian Admiralty, Vlakinov suggested: "We should demand the immediate dismissal and arrest of the captains of the 'Hiei' and 'King Kong' and those high-ranking officials who had commanded the warships involved in the incident during the negotiations." If I don't comply, I should be authorized to retaliate. Above all, something should be done to compensate for the insult suffered by the tricolor of the Russian Empire. ”

Vlakinov immediately informed the Russian ships in the waters of East Asia that they would be escorted with armed escort. At the same time, Vlakinov ordered the Satsuma fleet to stop exercising search rights against Russian merchant ships, ensuring that Russian merchant ships "should not be harassed under any circumstances."

Vlakinov's armed convoy plan provoked a fierce reaction from the Satsuma side and the British government. Heihachiro Togo and Tsunara Oyama immediately complained to the British side and protested to Russia, arguing that Vlakinov's intervention not only violated the rights of the Satsuma Navy, but was also inconsistent with the terms of the Russian government's neutrality statement. Oyama Tsunashi insisted that the Russian government order the withdrawal of Vlakinov's demand, and asked the British side to urge the Russian government to give an order.

In addition, from the incident to the issuance of Satsuma's official preliminary report, the Satsuma side took two important steps: First, Kagoshima Prefecture, who was in charge of Satsuma's diplomatic work, ordered Tsunara Oyama to investigate the incident in accordance with the procedures of a "civilized country." Within a week, the Satsuma side carried out a great deal of evidence preparation, mainly the investigation records of the officers of the Satsuma warships "Hiei" and "Kongo", the captain and chief mate of the "Funing", and the testimony of some other onlookers, such as the officers and men of the British and French warships, to form the "Report on the "Funing" Incident. The report, which was formally produced in full accordance with "international practice", came in handy at the two subsequent maritime trial hearings of the International Maritime Tribunal.

At the same time, Tsunashi Oyama represented the Satsuma government. Make your position clear to the Western powers. Satsuma will act in strict accordance with international law. Once it is determined that the responsibility lies with the Satsuma Navy, Satsuma will immediately assume all responsibility. Tsunashi Oyama himself personally reiterated and emphasized this point to the British Consul in Osaka.

The Russian side, on the other hand, collected the testimony of the officers and men of the cruiser "Askold", which was damaged by the Satsuma Navy, and on the basis of this, formed a report to be submitted to the maritime trial hearing. Subsequently, the Russian consul sent notes to the consuls of the United States, France, Germany, and Qian.

While Russia was drafting its opinion, the investigation report on the Satsuma side had already been sent to several authorities of international law. In this case, which for the first time began a war with an attack on a neutral ship, the opinion of experts played a key role.

Wilson, a professor at the University of Cambridge, published an article in The Times to defend Satsuma, arguing that the capture of the "Funing" by the Satsuma Navy was a reasonable and lawful act. His main points were threefold: first, the "Forin" was a service to the Russian military, which was a hostile act and could not be protected by the Russian flag and flag; 2. The Satsuma Navy cannot be forbidden to treat the "Funnin" as an enemy ship because the two sides have not declared war. Wilson argues that war is of course best preceded by a formal declaration of war, but in practice it is often the opposite. It's hard to do; "Funing" is already engaged in hostile activities and is no longer neutral; 3. The Satsuma side can prove that the silver ingots on board the "Funing" were sent to Tokyo to meet the urgent financial needs of the Japanese Government, and this is undoubtedly a hostile act, and the Satsuma Navy did have a military need to sink it.

$%^&(*)()*

The Battle of Sinop on November 18, 1853 (November 30) became the last naval battle of the sailing era, and the Turkish Navy lost 15 ships (a total of 7 cruisers, 3 small cruisers, 2 steamships, and 4 transport ships), achieving another glorious victory for the Russian Navy; However, it was precisely this victory that prompted Britain and France to prepare to intervene in the dispute.

At the outbreak of the Crimean War, the British fleet had 70 battleships, 63 gunboats, and 108 steamboats; The French fleet had 25 battleships, 48 gunboats, and 108 steamboats. The Russian Black Sea Fleet has 21 battleships, 7 three-masted gunboats, 23 cruisers, 138 boats, etc., of which in Sevastopol has 16 battleships, 10 cruisers, etc. In the war, the Black Sea Fleet ceased to exist. In the Battle of Sevastopol from September 13, 1854 to August 29, 1855 (September 25, 1854 to September 8, 1855), the Russian Navy scuttled 5 battleships and 2 cruisers on September 11 (September 23). to block the channel at the entrance to the North Bay (between the Konstantinov and Yalisandrov batteries); On February 15, 1855 (February 25), on the channel between the Nikolaev and Mikhailov batteries, battleship 3 and cruiser 2 were sunk. After 11 months of fierce fighting, the defeat of the Russian army ended with the loss of 102,000 men, and the fleet lost 14 battleships (also known as 12), three-masted gunboats 4 (also known as 2), cruisers 5, steamboats 5 and other ships 82. However, the greatest losses of the Russian Navy were the three outstanding admirals (all of whom were students of Lazarev) - Vice Admiral Kornilov, Chief of Staff of the Fleet, Vice Admiral Nakhimov, Commander of the Fleet, and Rear Admiral Istomin, whose bodies were buried with Lazarev in St. Vladimir's Cathedral in the city after the war, which was later renamed the "Cathedral of the Four Admirals", but unfortunately was completely destroyed by German artillery fire in another battle for the defense of the city more than 80 years later. The British and French navies dispatched 29 battleships and 21 cruisers in the battle, losing 73,000 men. In addition, the Russian army lost 14 warships and 50 merchant ships in the Sea of Azov.

In the Baltic Sea, Britain and France each sent a detachment of 20 battleships, 32 cruisers, and 50 other ships, and the Russian Navy had a total of 218 ships (26 battleships, 25 cruisers, 13 small steamboats, etc.) in the Baltic Sea at this time, organized into 3 corps, 2 stationed in Kronstadt, and the other stationed in Sviaburg. There were few operations during the war, mainly the capture of the fortress of Bomar Zonde by the Allied forces on July 26-August 3 (August 7-August 15), 1854 and the attack on the fortress of Sviaborg on August 6-August 11, 1855 (August 18-August 23), but the Allied forces basically failed to achieve their goals in the Baltic. The Baltic Fleet used mines for the first time in operations in 1854, and of course the British Navy also invented a method of minesweeping with small boats, which became the beginning of mine warfare.

In the Pacific Ocean, the Anglo-French detachment (cruiser 5, sailboat 1) attacked Petropavlovsk, which was defended by only 920 men (cruiser 1, sailboat 1, shore gun 67). On August 18, 1854 (8.30), the British and French troops began to land (more than 2,600 people, 216 naval guns), but the Russian army quickly counterattacked and repelled the enemy. On August 24 (9.5), the coalition forces attempted to land again, but failed, and finally had to cancel the capture plan, losing 450 men. The following year, in view of the superior forces of the opposing side, the Russian district fleet was forced to transfer to Nikolaevsk, but there were no losses. (To be continued......)