The sound of gunfire and cannons echoed in all directions of Shuri Imperial Castle, and cannonballs and bullets rained down in the air, forming a continuous whistling sound.

Standing on the second floor of a Chinese-style house with a monocular, Bai Siwen looked at the situation of the war on the other side with his mouth open.

The war against the Ryukyu Kingdom should have been relatively smooth, and the coastal defense of the Ryukyu Kingdom can only be described as nothing, and the three major ports, including Naha Port, Tomari Port, and Anseo Port, were captured by the Russian fleet without much effort. However, the ensuing attack on Shuri, the royal castle of the Ryukyus, caused the Russians to suffer a lot. Although the castle town has been occupied by the Russian army, it has become the starting position of the Russian army. However, the terrain of Shurijo Castle is very treacherous, and the castle is located on a limestone plateau about 120 meters high, about 350 meters from east to west and 200 meters from north to south. To the north of the castle are Mt. Sueyoshi, Mt. Toranozu, and Mt. Bennogake, and to the south are the Kaneshiro River and the China Hills. Probably because the ships of Western countries continued to harass the Ryukyus, the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Satsuma Domain continued to strengthen the Shuri Castle Wall and stockpiled various materials in the past two years, and prepared for a long-term defense.

The Satsuma clan soldiers guarding the Ryukyus did not have the unrealistic idea of defending the enemy at the beachhead, but immediately reduced their forces and defended Shuri Castle after being attacked. The Russian marines who drove to the bottom of the Shuri Castle found that the 6-pounder and 9-pounder cannons they carried could not help the strong stone walls of Shuri Castle, and shouted that Ulla launched several waves of infantry attacks, but they were also repulsed by the Satsuma army that calmly responded, and received nothing but casualties.

It seems that this battle of the Ryukyus will not be able to match the bloodless sword!

The house where Bai Siwen lived was the tallest building in Shurijo Castle Town, and it was owned by the Shuri branch of HSBC. Although the relationship between the Russians and the Ming was not good, the Russian soldiers did not rob the bank. Vice Admiral Putilyadin, who was in charge of the attack, also sent a small group of soldiers to protect the bank. lest it be plundered. Obviously. The Russians have no intention of tearing their faces with the Ming Dynasty, at least not yet.

A solid cannonball flew far away and landed on the street outside the bank, flying so far that the cannonball had exhausted its kinetic energy, only to bounce on the ground and smash a few bluestone slabs.

Bai Siwen heard a scream, from the bank staff and their families. The bank's staff are all Chinese. The manager is an elderly Fujianese, who used to be the shopkeeper of a money bank, with a dough dough face that turned pale with fright, and kept chanting Amitabha Buddha in his mouth, while trembling and leaning to Bai Siwen's side.

"Sir, are you Chinese or Japanese?"

Bai Swen glanced at the man and said with a smile: "I am Chinese, I can speak a little Russian and Japanese, and now I am a general for the Russians." Sir, don't worry. The Russians are reasonable, they did not fight with the Ming. This bank is not enemy property, and they are obliged by the occupying authorities to protect it. ”

The old man sighed, and then showed a worried expression: "Alas, it is only a matter of time before the emperor and the Russians go to war, who doesn't know that the emperor and the Japanese Tokugawa shogun are better?" Our HSBC bank in Japan has no shortage of benefits...... It seems that this Ryukyu country can't stay anymore, so it has to be evacuated quickly. This gentleman, the old man sees that you are a talent, and you can speak Russian and Japanese, why bother to be a general for the Russians? What will you do if the Russians and the emperor fight? Why don't you withdraw with the old man, how about the old man introduce you to HSBC to do things? There are always hundreds of silver dollars a month, which may not be as much as the Russians, but that's a long errand. ”

Listening to the words of this "old shopkeeper", Bai Siwen suddenly smiled bitterly: "An errand of 100 yuan a month...... If I, Bai Siwen, were willing to work for him Emperor Zhu, I would now be the chief executive of HSBC! ”

The "old shopkeeper" glared at Bai Siwen and only treated him as a madman. Shaking his head, he went to arrange for the evacuation of HSBC's personnel and property in the Ryukyus. And the situation of the Battle of the Ryukyus also spread to China and Japan along with the evacuation of these foreign nationals from various countries!

……

"The Satsuma clan is losing the Ryukyus...... The Satsuma Domain has lost the Ryukyus after all! I am a sinner of the Satsuma Clan, a sinner of the Shimazu family, and a sinner of Japan! What can I do......"

Satsuma Province on the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima Castle. The 10th lord of the Satsuma domain, Shimazu Saikoku, sat in his room, muttering in a low voice, and holding a katana in his hand......

"Father's ......"

Shimazu Hisamitsu, the fifth son of Shimazu Qixing, climbed into the house with a roll, and saw that his father was playing with a knife with a gloomy face, and he was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and said continuously: "Father, you, you, you...... Hurry up and put the knife away, hurry up and put it away, things haven't come to this point yet, and the Satsuma Domain hasn't perished yet! ”

"Baga!" Shimazu Qixing glared at his favorite son fiercely, "What nonsense are you talking about?" The enemy is just attacking the Ryukyus, and it hasn't hit Kagoshima Castle, so do I need to cut my stomach? ”

OK! Shimazu Hisamitsu breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and then said with a sad face: "Father, Saigo Takanaga has returned from Edo with a letter, saying that Lucia, England and the United States are likely to invade Kagoshima Castle next!" ”

"Nani!" Shimazu Qixing heard that his body was about to faint, and the knife fell to the ground, Shimazu Hisamitsu hurriedly stepped forward to help his father, and heard Shimazu Qixing muttering: "It's over, it's over, the Shimazu family is really going to perish, and I, Shimazu Qixing, have become the sinners of the Shimazu family and Japan!" ”

As he spoke, Shimazu Qixing was about to touch the knife again, and Shimazu Hisamitsu hurriedly shouted to the little surname who was serving in the house: "Take the knife away, take it away, there is no need for ...... here."

"Hisashi! What nonsense are you talking about again! Shimazu Qixing pushed his son away, snatched the knife and stood up, "Go and gather the important ministers, I will personally lead the troops to rescue the Ryukyu Kingdom!" ”

The important ministers of the Shimazu family had already gathered in Kagoshima Castle, and they were all stunned when they heard that the head of the family was going to personally lead troops to rescue the Ryukyu Kingdom. Not because of the fear of death, of course, but because of the fear of drowning! Well, there doesn't seem to be any difference between the two. However, those small boats of several hundred stones in the Satsuma Domain must have been sent to death when they really reached the sea, and it is estimated that an old man will not be able to die and will be bombarded to pieces by Lao Tzu's big ship with artillery, is this way of death too cowardly?

After a while, I heard the old man Komatsu Kiyoyu say loudly: "Lord, this war is not something that a single domain of the Satsuma Domain can deal with, and it is not our Satsuma Domain that will be dealt with when the open ship is coming, but the whole world and the whole of Japan!" All of them had to concentrate the strength of the whole of Japan to resist, and it was absolutely impossible to rely on the power of the Satsuma Domain! Please ask the Shogunate for help immediately! ”

"Can the Shogunate Navy defeat Lucia's fleet? I'm afraid I won't be able to ask the shogunate for help......"

"The shogunate's new army is said to be very powerful, and if you can send it to Satsuma, you will not be afraid of the Lucia landing. But the Lucia people can't defeat Satsuma, they can attack other parts of Japan, or even attack Edo directly, and the shogunate will leave Edo alone to save Satsuma? ”

"Yes, the shogunate will definitely refuse to send troops, and the Satsuma man must use his own strength to defend his homeland!"

The following Satsuma feudal ministers all talked about it, and most of them were against asking for help from the shogunate, and the reasons sounded like the same thing, but everyone knew that it was not the real reason, and the main reason why everyone did not approve of asking for help was that they were afraid that they would not leave after the shogunate army came! This Satsuma domain may be Satsuma Prefecture by then......

Shimazu Qixing gritted his teeth and said, "Let's ask the princess for help!" Komatsu-kun is right, this war is not a war of the Satsuma family, but a war of the whole of Japan, and the prince is appointed by the emperor to govern the world, and we samurai should follow the prince to defend Japan!

This is the responsibility of the princess, and it is also the duty of us! If Lord Gongfang can protect this country from the invasion of the Westerners, why should we not be wholeheartedly loyal? ”

The Satsuma ministers in the room stopped talking, and they couldn't understand what they said. Defending Japan is the responsibility of the Tokugawa shogun, and it is also a prerequisite for the emperor to hand over the world to the Tokugawa family to govern. (To be continued......)