Iwasaki Yuka threw herself into his solid and warm arms, and tears flowed down her face.

The moment was so wonderful, all the sadness and fear that the nightmare had brought her was gone.

How she wished she could be held by him forever and never have to wake up again.

But she knew that dreams, whether nightmares or sweet dreams, had to wake up after all.

Iwasaki Yuga suddenly remembered something, she slowly raised her head, reached out and held his face, trying to see his appearance.

And at this moment, his figure gradually disappeared in a blur.

"Don't go! Let me see you......" Yuka Iwasaki opened her arms to hug him, but she threw herself into the air.

I woke up from the dream, and only tears were left on my face.

"Why can't I see your face every time......" She looked out the window at the dark sky, her heart full of melancholy.

It's back to reality......

Isn't reality the beginning of another nightmare for her?

It's just this nightmare, but it doesn't seem to have an end in sight.

Iwasaki Yuka is the youngest daughter of Yataro Iwasaki, president of Mitsubishi Trading Co., Ltd., and now the Osaka branch of the Mitsubishi Chamber of Commerce, the Iwasaki family is the only one left in her lonely spirit.

She has lived with her mother in Osaka since she was born, and her mother died three years ago.

In her impression, her father has always been very cold to herself and her mother, but her brother Hisaya Iwasaki (who is not the same mother as her) is not bad to him, although he is also very blunt with his mother.

It was in this environment that she grew up slowly.

At the age of 20, she finally found out. In the eyes of his father Yataro Iwasaki, in addition to the tools of political marriage. Nothing.

A life like a mother, a life that is used by men's power and desires. When she thought about it, she couldn't stand it.

So she worked hard, seized every opportunity, seized all the time, and continued to learn all kinds of useful knowledge.

Soon, her father noticed her ability and for the first time allowed her to participate in some of the family's business at Mitsubishi Trading's Osaka branch. From time to time, she seized this rare opportunity and took care of the business she was responsible for in an orderly manner, which won the praise of her father and the praise of her peers.

It's just that these businesses are compared to the huge business of Mitsubishi Trading. It's insignificant. It wasn't long before her father lost his interest in her and her work.

Something like this one is a good proof of that.

As early as when the "Western Expeditionary Army" was formed in Osaka, his father Yataro Iwasaki seemed to foresee that war might be ignited here, so he began to secretly ask the Osaka branch to prepare for it.

When the news reached Osaka that the landing force of the "Western Expeditionary Force" had been intercepted by Satsuma naval ships in Hakata Bay and suffered heavy casualties, the male members of the family, including his brother Hisaya Iwasaki, fled Osaka overnight because they had gone too hastily. Leave Iwasaki Yuka and a bunch of female dependents in the Osaka branch.

Thinking of the performance of his brother who loves him the most, Iwasaki Yuka felt as if the sky had fallen.

That's why she always has nightmares like that.

In her heart, she has always longed for one day to have a handsome and brave Prince Charming. will come and save her from the sea of suffering.

But will he really come?

It was finally dawn.

Iwasaki Yuka got up helplessly, the early morning sun shone on her, but she didn't feel the slightest warmth.

She doesn't know what she's supposed to do now.

After the "Great Governor of the Western Expeditionary Army's Rebellion", Prince Arisugawa Miyachihito, and the surviving government soldiers were rescued by the Qianguo warship and sent to Osaka. The city of Osaka was shaken and frightened, and General Nozu Zheno, commander of the Taiwan Army in Osaka, immediately ordered a comprehensive defense. It was also announced that all personnel and available supplies from Osaka Castle would be forcibly requisitioned for military use. Residents of Osaka Castle learned the news. They began to flee Osaka.

What worries Yuka Iwasaki the most now is how to lead these poor women who have been left behind.

But now it's not so easy to get out of Osaka.

In order to strengthen the army, Nozu Zheno ordered all men between the ages of 18 and 45 to be assigned to the Zhuangding training team to participate in training, so that they could be mobilized and deployed in the event of war. As a result, it will be even more difficult for Iwasaki Yuka to take everyone away.

In order to prevent the Satsuma army from attacking, Nozu Zheno mobilized the soldiers and civilians in the castle to dig trenches outside the castle and build a fortress. Trenches were dug in some parts of the castle to avoid Satsuma artillery fire, such as in the backyards of some large shops on the street where the Osaka branch was located, and the top of these trenches was covered with planks or branches, and a layer of earth was pressed on top. These trenches all have steps to enter, and Iwasaki Yuka has been to several of them when he was sending "condolences to help the army". She didn't know much about military affairs, but even she could see that if the enemy was under fire, the trenches were not strong enough to withstand the vibrations, so they were by no means safe.

In order to allow the residents to survive the large-scale shelling that the enemy might launch, Nozu also organized a number of preventive drills for the residents of the city: a large iron bell was erected on the top of a hill near the residential area, and the sound of the bell was used to indicate that the alarm was prepared, urgent, and disarmed. After each household is given a leaflet to identify the alarm bell, preventive drills are conducted during the day and at night. During the exercise, after the preliminary alarm sounded, all shops and households had to close their doors, pedestrians were allowed to move freely or enter the trenches, and the police also walked quickly to their respective areas to maintain order. Pedestrians are not allowed to move after the emergency alarm is sounded (continuous rapid ringing) and should stand or take shelter in place. For those who do not listen to orders, the police will beat them with batons. When the alarm bell rings (slowly), shops can open for business, pedestrians can enter and exit their homes, etc. If the lights are to be controlled during the evening exercise, each household should immediately extinguish the lights when they hear the sound of the preparatory siren, and if the food is being cooked, immediately extinguish the firewood in the stove to prevent the fire from escaping from the chimney. Violators are subject to penalties. For example, one night, when the alarm sounded, a woman in a bedroom in the Osaka branch did not turn off the lights in time because she was sewing clothes for the children. The mother hurriedly went downstairs to open the door, lied to the police that the child had wetted the bed, and admitted that the next time she would not commit the crime, the police stopped.

If you do this kind of drill every day, Iwasaki Yuka doesn't know if she will drive herself crazy, but fortunately, there are not many such drills.

The second trouble these women face is the "help" task assigned by Commander Nozu Zheno: to make cotton clothes for government soldiers.

At this time, it was already a cold winter, and the weather was extremely cold, but because of the hasty recruitment of soldiers, a large number of newly recruited government officers and soldiers did not wear cotton clothes to protect them from the cold, so the Osaka prefectural government asked the business community to launch a fundraiser to make a batch of cotton vests to "help the army", and the left-behind women of the Osaka trading company were also assigned the task of making about 300 cotton clothes. The production of this vest is very simple, with two layers of cloth, a layer of cotton in the middle, in the middle of the upper end of the first half of the middle of a round opening, the wearer can put the head into the round mouth, with the left and right corners of the second half of the piece and the upper end of each sewing a foot long cloth belt, after wearing the cotton vest as long as the cloth belt is tightened and tied forward. In order to complete this batch of cold cotton vests as soon as possible, Iwasaki Yuka and the ladies of the Osaka branch were busy day and night, and finally completed the task. Of course, the quality of the cotton clothes they sew is quite good.

Although the Satsuma Army did not arrive for a long time, after such a toss, the people in Osaka Castle were already panicked, and many of the women in the Osaka branch did not understand the cruelty of the war. They sometimes had the illusion that Osaka Castle might just be a base for sending troops to the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, that the rebellion would soon be quelled, that the war would not reach Osaka, that the patience would pass, and that the men would soon return, but later developments showed that they were completely wrong.

On January 23, 9079 (the 5th year of the Great Dry Guangxu and the 12th year of the Meiji era), the military issued a "port closure order", and all ships were not allowed to leave the port, and the atmosphere in the city suddenly became tense. At noon on that day, Iwasaki Yuka and her ladies heard several loud noises and were terrified. Iwasaki Yuka sent a trading company employee to inquire, and found out that it was the Satsuma warship that had come to reconnoiter and engaged in a short artillery battle with the harbor battery.

In the afternoon, several unkempt and ragged men appeared at the door of the Mitsubishi Trading Company's Osaka branch, and Iwasaki Yuka easily recognized them as the owners of the merchant ships of the Mitsubishi Shipping Company, who had been captured by the Satsuma Army in the port of Nagasaki, and quickly welcomed them into the trading company.

After eating the hot food that the women had brought them, the hungry men were disappointed to learn that there were only women and children left in the trading house, as well as some of the staff who had not left. Iwasaki asks them about what happened at the port of Nagasaki, and only then does he know how serious the situation has become.

"Miss! You'd better find a way to get out of here! One of the ship's owners cried and said, "Osaka Castle can't be defended at all!" ”

"How so? I heard that General Nozu had gathered an army of 20,000 men in Osaka......" Iwasaki Yuka's heart tightened suddenly, and he asked in a lost voice, "There are still troops coming from Kyoto one after another, how can they not hold it?" ”

"The number of the Satsuma thieves is almost 100,000." Another shipowner replied with a sigh, "The Tosa clan has all fallen to them, and now it seems that they will soon attack Osaka." (To be continued......)

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