The news of the agreement reached between the crossing team and Britain, France, and the United States reached the port of Naha in the Ryukyus on the same day. It's been a week since the king arrived at Naha with the fleet.

The Ryukyu Islands are a group of islands in the western Pacific Ocean, located between the island of Taiwan and the Japanese island of Kyushu. Ryukyu used to be a vassal state of China. In the 37th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the Satsuma Domain, the Japanese Edo Shogunate, sent troops to forcibly occupy it, and Mingli served China as the lord but was secretly forced to pay tribute to Satsuma.

At the beginning of July, the ship "Prince" went to Japan and shelled Edo Castle, forcing the Japanese shogunate to sign a secret treaty." One of the secret treaties was that the shogunate recognized the Ryukyu Kingdom as a vassal of China, and Japanese katajia was not allowed to enter it.

Although the shogunate held the actual power, he was a courtier of the emperor in terms of rank, and he was only appointed by the emperor to manage the affairs of Japan. Historically, once the shogunate's control weakened, ambitious samurai and daimyo would soon jump out and bring down the shogunate under the banner of honoring the emperor.

After the "Prince" left Japan, the shogunate, in order to consolidate its dominance, on the one hand trumpeted the victory against the pirate invasion, and on the other hand, issued an order to withdraw Satsuma from the Ryukyu Kingdom in the name of "strictly sealing the country and resisting foreign invasions".

Seeing the documents sent by the shogunate, Shimazu Saibin, the lord of the Satsuma Domain, was suddenly troubled, and he hoped to strengthen trade with the Qing Dynasty through the Ryukyus in order to alleviate the growing financial crisis.

For a long time, the Tokugawa shogunate pursued a policy of seclusion and seclusion, and only in the Ryukyus, which did not belong to Japan, the shogunate's edict of seclusion was invalid.

However, Qi Bin could not turn a deaf ear to the orders of the shogunate, and his relationship with the shogunate had always been close, and now he was able to sit in the position of the lord of the Satsuma domain, which was also the result of the shogunate's help.

The former lord of the Satsuma domain was Shimazu Saiko, and Shimazu Saibin was the eldest son of the main family of Saiko, and he was the undisputed successor. However, Qi Xing has always liked the Shimazu Loyal Sect, and has suppressed the faction that supports the Shimazu Qibin for a long time.

Shimazu Saiko belonged to the conservative faction, and his sister-in-law, Shimazu Saibin, was a new faction, and the two were at odds over the problems of the feudal domain and Rangaku. Because of the financial crisis in Satsuma, Qi Xing vigorously promoted the reform of the feudal government, and various practices did not conform to the regulations of the shogunate, and the forces that supported Qi Bin took the opportunity to report to the shogunate, and finally Qi Xing was ordered to live in seclusion by the shogunate, and Qi Bin became the lord of the domain.

In the hall, Qi Bin helplessly said the secret order of the shogunate, and the important ministers of the Shimazu family were immediately excited.

Saigo Takamori immediately fell to the ground, "Lord, you can't retreat!" We can't quit the Ryukyus! ”

Saigo Takamori was originally a low-ranking feudal clan, but after the Imperial Family Riot (a disturbance caused by the inheritance problems of the daimyo family in the Edo period) was killed, Saigo Takamori was promoted as a feudal priest who was proficient in Rangaku and became a close confidant of the Shimazu family.

"Yes, we can't quit the Ryukyus!"

"Masahiro Abe, a national thief, controls the shogunate and gives such bastard orders!"

The important ministers responded one after another, "If you lose the Ryukyus!" We will all be sinners in Samosa~~~"

Japan is divided into Hokkaido, Honshu Island, and Kyushu Island, Edo, where the shogunate is located, is located in the center of Honshu Island, and Kyushu Island is at the southern end, separated by a strait from Honshu Island, and the Satsuma Domain is located at the southwest tip of Kyushu Island, which is too far away, so the Satsuma Domain has always been quite independent and dares to do all kinds of things that are not in the right direction with the shogunate.

"My lord, the shogunate's defeat of the pirates is very suspicious." Okubo Riyo is the elder of the Satsuma family, and he put down the shogunate's letter, looking a little worried, "The shogunate may have given Ryukyu to pirates. ”

Qi Bin was taken aback, "It's really something!" ”

Okubo Toshiyo said slowly, "Eight ~ nine is not far from ten, otherwise there is no way to explain." ”

Saigo Takamori immediately jumped up, "The shogunate is incompetent, and he has lost power and humiliated the country!" We should 'honor the king'"

In modern times, the impact of the West contributed to the national crisis in Japan, and at the same time, it deepened the crisis of the shogunate. Taking the impact of the West as an opportunity, the imperial court and powerful feudal clans under the control of the shogunate raised the slogan of "respecting the king and fighting the king" to oppose the rule of the shogunate.

The counterpart to this is the "Gongwu Combination", which is to unite the imperial court (Gongjia) and the shogunate (samurai) to transform the power of the shogunate. This policy was supported by the shogunate and some of the major vassals, and its main purpose was to combine the authority of the imperial court to suppress the rebellion of the emperor at that time, so as to avoid the fall of the shogunate and further strengthen the position of the shogunate.

Qi Bin has always been friendly with the shogunate, and after he took over as the lord of the domain, he has always promoted the "combination of public and military".

"Eight grids!" Shimazu Qibin was suddenly furious, stood up at once, kicked over the low table in front of the seat, turned around and walked into the inner room, and frightened all the important ministers of the Shimazu family to the ground.

Sitting in the inner room, Shimazu Saibin felt very angry when he thought about it, and in his opinion, Ryukyu had long been part of Japan and the Satsuma Domain. Shimazu Kibin loved orchidology, and liked to study steelmaking, cannons, steamboats, and trains, but after losing the Ryukyus and lacking financial support, orchid research became a mirror.

At this time, the door was pushed open, and Okubo Riyo walked in, "Lord ~~"

"I'm sick and need to rest~~" Shimazu Qibin waved his hand and blocked Okubo Rishi's words, "No matter what you do, I don't know anything!" ”

On the same day, Shimazu Qibin was sick in bed, ignoring political affairs, and all affairs were temporarily left to the eldest of the family, Kubo Riyo.

On the one hand, Okubo Toshiyo sent people to give gifts to the close ministers of the shogunate, saying that the withdrawal of troops from the Ryukyus was a major event, and it was necessary for the feudal lord to recover and make overall plans.

At the same time, Saigo Takamori was sent to Naha with 3oo feudal soldiers armed with imitation smoothbore guns on the shohei maru, and Shimazu Tadakyo was also brought with him on the ship. The Shohira Maru was Japan's first Western sailing ship, and although it was only 37o tons, it was also the largest ship in Japan at this time.

Although Shimazu Saibin sat in the position of lord of Satsuma, the faction that supported Shimazu's loyal religion was not punished for the riots. In order to remove the threat behind him, Okubo Riyo simply let Shimazu Tadakyo drive to the Ryukyus.

Okubo Toshiyo thought that as long as he could repel the harassment of the Sun and Moon pirates and defend the Ryukyus, the shogunate would be optimistic, and even if he was upset by being offended, he could blame Shimazu Tadakyo for everything.

Ryukyu Naha has a Satsuma Prefecture in Naha, which is guarded by more than 500 Satsuma samurai. Saigo Takamori led a team to help, and the number of Satsuma feudal troops and feudal lords in the Ryukyus reached 1,000, two-thirds of whom were equipped with smoothbore guns and arquebuses, and there were more than a dozen cannons available, all of which were 6-pounder and 9-pounder cannons.

When Wang Tiezhu led the steamship formation to approach the Ryukyus, a fort was built on the east and west sides of the entrance to Naha Port, forming a line of defense to guard the port.

Seeing the billowing smoke and murderous aura rising from the Daming Naval Division, the Satsuma army on the fort had already blown trumpets and drums, the whole army cheered up, and the feudal soldiers rushed to the gun position.

The Damei Navy Division came from the west, and the four warships spread out in an arc, the first of which was the West Fort of Naha Port.

A nautical mile from the battery, the flagship "Keelung" fired the first shell.

"Boom!" With a loud bang, the fort fell at the foot of the west fort, the mountain rocks were instantly blown to pieces, and the trees were blown up several meters high!

The leader of the feudal clan who was in charge of guarding the West Fort suddenly became anxious, "Eight grids, fire the cannon!" Shoot me right now! ”

"My lord, the pirate's cannon is so powerful that our cannon can't reach it at all!"

As soon as the words of the Satsuma gunner fell, the eight 60-pounder rifled guns of the Ming Army's naval division roared together, and the shells flew towards the West Fort like raindrops, and the billowing smoke instantly covered the entire West Fort.

The sound of the cannon was like a burst, and the earth and stone fragments flew in all directions, and the rolling air waves struck, and the leader of the feudal clan was crushed into the fort bunker, unable to move at all.

Just as the leader of the feudal clan was in a state of panic, the rumbling explosion weakened slightly, and he poked his head out to check the situation of the fort.

At this moment, a sharp whistle sounded, and the attendant beside the leader of the clan just said, "My lord, danger! ”

Before the attendant's words fell, the cannonball landed with a loud noise, and a wave of air swept in. The fragments of the exploding cannonball were swept forward by this wave of air, like a blade of wind, instantly pushing the leader of the clan and his attendants to the ground.

The leader of the clan felt a burning heat, and then saw blood spurting out of his chest, and he stared blankly at the sky above the gunsmoke-filled fort, "Nani, my blood has also flown into the sky!" Then he lost consciousness.

Saigo Takamori was sitting at the Zaiban Camp not far from the wharf, and his eyes were red when he saw that the West Fort was completely destroyed by the Daming Naval Division, and then the East Fort was ruthlessly destroyed by the Daming artillery fire.

"Your Excellency!" One of the vassal priests choked up, "Our fort is all finished!" ”

"Yaga! The battle has just begun. Saigo Takamori straightened his waist, "The order goes down, and the arson ship is ready to go!" ”

Naha was a port like a long pocket, and the batteries on both sides of the opening were knocked out, and the four warships of the Ming army lined up in a column and cut the waves and killed them.

In the port, hundreds of small wooden boats immediately surrounded them, and rushed towards the Ming fleet without their lives. The Satsuma clan who was driving the boat lit the firewood and grass on the wooden boat, and smoke billowed from the harbor.

"Row hard, hurry up!" Saigo Takamori stood in a small boat, brandishing a torch and shouting, "Let the Sun and Moon Pirates see the bravery of our Satsuma samurai!" ”

"Tutu Tu Tu Tu Tu ~~"

The heavy machine guns on the four steamships spewed out tongues of fire, and the more than a dozen fire attack ships in front of them were suddenly torn to pieces and jumped up.

"Kill, give!"

Suffering such a blow, the Satsuma vassals let out a hoarse howl, and one by one rushed to plug the hole in the gun hole of the wooden ship, and operated the arson ship to rush towards the Ming warship.

The firepower of the M2 heavy machine gun was too strong, and the bravery of the Satsuma clan was in vain, and the fire attack fleet was quickly defeated. The water surface of Naha Port is littered with clumps of burning wreckage and the remains of half-dead Satsuma feudal clansmen.

Before the battle at sea was over, Wang Tiezhu, who was located at the command post of the flagship "Keelung", had already issued an order, "Immediately release the dinghy to save people." ”

The cat was unhappy when he watched the lively Chen Deng on the slipway of the Keelung ship, "Sima Wang, this little devil still needs to be saved?" ”

Wang Tiezhu's brows furrowed slightly, and he glanced at Chen Deng, "Since we are Huaxia Zhengsu, then Master Wang's demeanor still has to be dropped!"

Seeing that Chen Deng was still a little unconvinced, Li Duoen, who was with the ship, enlightened, "Military is subordinate to politics, this is 1854, and Japan will not pose any threat to me in the short term." The only thing we have to do is to advocate that East Asia belongs to the same Chinese race, implement a policy of joint destruction, and infiltrate Japan little by little, so there is really no need to kill too much. ”