After the abolition of the feudal domain, most of the feudal lords were relocated to Tokyo, and after the Shimazu family was separated, Shimazu Hisamitsu and Shimazu Tadayoshi returned to live in Kagoshima for a time, but only two years later, they were recalled by the government to live in Tokyo. The government's intention in handling this is obvious, that is, to prevent them from coming into contact with the old ministry in the past, and there will be another incident similar to "leading troops to Beijing" to threaten the central government. A year before the Kagoshima Clan incident, people came to visit the Shimazu family in Tokyo from time to time, wanting to move the Shimazu family to escape from Tokyo and return to Kagoshima to "share the great cause", although Shimazu Hisamitsu and Shimazu Tadashi father and son refused, but the Meiji government, which received the news, was still very uneasy, and the suspicion of the Shimazu family became even heavier.

Now, the oldest samurai family in Japan, it can now be said that it has come to the end of history.

"Jiuguang Gong, it's not that I deliberately make things difficult for the junior official, but there are some things I have to ask clearly before I can explain to the top." Seeing Shimazu Hisashi's snorting, Osako Sadaharu sighed and said.

"Yoko is a woman, and she has no power to restrain the chicken, and the reason why she ran away was because she was scared by you people! They even said that she might be in collusion with the thieves," Shimazu Hisamitsu said angrily, "Why don't you send someone to get her back quickly?" ”

"The petty official's words are not false," Osako Sadaharu looked at Shimazu Hisamitsu, and his voice turned solemn, "After Miss Yoko left, she was checked by the guards, and the two detectives under the petty officials followed Miss Yoko, but yesterday they were found that her body was abandoned in the market. I guess Miss Yoko doesn't have the strength to kill an armed agent, right? ”

Dasuki Sadaharu's words were like a thunderclap, and Shimazu Hisamitsu's face became gloomy and he stopped talking.

"The Great Force-kun. At all costs. We have nothing to do with the thieves. Shimazu calmed down. said, "I think that Yoko has nothing to do with the deaths of the two agents, it may be a coincidence, and I ask Oko-kun to find out." If Da Qiang-kun can help us find Yoko, I believe Yoko will tell Da Qiang-kun the truth. ”

"Okay, since Zhongyi Gong said so, I will reply to Shangfeng and ask as such." Osako nodded her head. Said.

Osako got up to say goodbye, Shimazu Tadayoshi stood up to see him off, while Shimazu Hisamitsu remained seated.

When Osako Sadaharu walked to the door, Shimazu Hisamitsu suddenly said: "Yoko abandoned her family and ran away, no matter what happens, it has nothing to do with the Shimazu family!" If you catch her, do with her! ”

Hearing Shimazu Hisamitsu's words, both Osako Sadaharu and Shimazu Tadayoshi couldn't help but be stunned.

"I don't understand what Hisamitsu means." Osako Sadaharu and Shimazu Tadayoshi looked at each other and asked.

Shimazu Hisamitsu ignored Sadaharu Osako. Instead, he got up and went into the inner chamber and closed the door.

"What my father meant. It may be that if Yoko breaks the law, he should be justified and don't have to care about the face of the Shimazu family. Shimazu Hisamitsu hurriedly explained to Osako Sadaharu, "What my father said just now is angry, and I ask Osako-kun not to take it to heart, find Yoko as soon as possible, and ask the cause of death of the two detectives, so as to defend the Shimazu family." ”

"Loyalty, righteousness, rest assured." Da Saharu replied.

Sending off Osako Sadaharu, Shimazu Tadayoshi hurried back to the inner room, only to see his father Shimazu Hisamitsu sitting there, looking at the katana on the table.

"Father, how can you say that about your granddaughter? Yoko, she didn't do anything! If it weren't for Yoko's efforts over the years, the Shimazu family doesn't know how difficult it would have been, how can you say that about her? Shimazu Tadashi said urgently.

"Zhongyi, you are so confused! Your own daughter, don't you even know anything about it? Shimazu Hisamitsu turned around, glared at his son angrily, and said sharply, "Yoko is a person who will never give up until she achieves her goal, have you forgotten what she wanted to persuade us to do before she left?" ”

"Of course I do!" Hearing his father's direct rebuke for his beloved daughter, Shimazu Tadayoshi couldn't accept it at all, and replied loudly, "She is always resourceful, but she is worried about the safety of the Shimazu family and wants us to make a decision in time, which is why she said something like that!" What's wrong? Just having said something like that, where can it be proved that she is connected to Saigo Yoshinosuke and Ichigan? Saigo Yoshinosuke is such a hero, you and I father and son may not be in his eyes, how can he look at a weak woman in the Shimazu family? ”

"Father's love blinds you, Tadashi, you don't know Yoko, you don't know her at all." Shimazu Hisamitsu sighed and shook his head, not continuing to argue with his son, "You know what? Zhongyi, I actually like her very much, just like you, otherwise, I wouldn't have let her go outside all these years......"

"Then why did my father say that to Da Qiangjun just now?" Tadayoshi Shimazu asked.

"Tadashi, Yoko is too much like me when I was younger...... I sometimes really feel sorry, why is Yoko a daughter? ......," Shimazu Hisamitsu sighed, "I say that because a woman like her can easily set off a monstrous wave and swallow all of us!" I want to use this to clear up my relationship with her, so that she doesn't cause everyone ......"

"Loyalty, you will understand in the future." Shimazu Hisamitsu's gaze fell on the exquisite katana on the table, "Yoko, it's this treasure sword, once it is unsheathed, you won't stop without seeing blood......"

Hearing the father's evaluation of his daughter, Shimazu Tadayoshi was shocked.

He couldn't understand that the smart, sensible, beautiful and lovely daughter in his heart turned out to be a different one in his father's eyes.

Shimazu father and son were speechless for a while, and they all sat there, silently thinking about their thoughts.

Outside the window, a large cloud drifted in, blocking the sun, and the Shimazu father and son indoors looked up at the window in unison, and their mood was as low as the clouds in the sky.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Kyoto, a mountainous suburb.

At noon, a thin mist rose in the babbling valley, and the surroundings were unusually silent, and even the birds, which were usually the most lonely, stopped crowing.

Oji Yasumi Nakasa crouches behind a low wall to observe the enemy. In his binoculars, a figure that appeared and disappeared quietly in a circuitous way towards his left flank under the cover of the morning fog.

Yasumi Oji is a native of Kagoshima Prefecture and a graduate of the Japanese Army Reserve Non-commissioned Officer School. He always dreamed of making a career in war, because a soldier in war is very different from peacetime. Peacetime servicemen can be well-dressed, sit in high-class rooms like politicians, talk about intrigues, and intrigues. In wartime, soldiers use their military exploits and achievements to pave the way to success as generals. Oji Yasujun longs for in his heart. Apparently the latter.

But since he participated in the war in person, he has discovered that the achievements of war are not so easy to achieve.

After being ordered to defend this area, Oji Yasujun personally led his subordinates to observe the terrain. He found it surrounded by ditches and streams, suitable for the concealed movement of the infantry, and a mile away there was a grove of trees, and the small river in front of and behind the woods was covered with dense reeds. With the instincts of a professional soldier, he foresaw that the Satsuma Army would launch a sneak attack on the positions of the government forces. And the woods and reeds will become the only way to cover the enemy's sneak attack.

As expected, his prediction was confirmed.

In the binoculars, the long figure was still moving silently, and its spikes had crossed the woods and begun to detour to the side of the government army's position. An ensign whispered beside him, "...... There are a lot of enemies! Do you want to strengthen it a little more?"

Oji Yasumi shook his head, yesterday he only put a small force into the woods, and an ambush in front of the position to intercept the enemy's retreat. He expected that the sneak attack would only be a small group of assists, and the main attack direction would still be in front of the position.

"Wait for the enemy to enter the ambush circle and open fire at my command...... Be sure to catch a few live bites! ”

According to the experience of Yasumi Oji, the resistance of the Satsuma army was rather frenzied, and they often fought to the last man. Even the wounded will try their best to kill themselves once they are captured. This spirit of undying war became a myth and circulated among the government army, which behaved on the contrary.

Although the enemy who appeared in front of him was quite a few people who only attacked the troops. And the French Grasse rifle that was full of water looked much more powerful than the government army, but Yasumi Oji was still determined to defeat these enemies.

"Whoosh!" As a signal rocket lifted into the air, the silence of dawn was immediately broken by the sound of heavy gunfire. The enemy was ambushed, leaving behind many corpses and fleeing backwards. Government officers and soldiers emerged from ambush sites on all sides, shouting and pulling the triggers, as if beating a reservoir dog or chasing a thief, chasing the encircled enemies everywhere with bullets, knocking them to the ground one by one.

At this time, a gust of mountain wind blew and the fog dissipated, and Oji Yasumi was surprised to find that the number of Satsuma troops was much larger than he had originally expected.

"Up! Give it to me! A Satsuma Army officer shouted and brandished his katana as he drove the Satsuma soldiers, who were already in disarray under the fire of the government army's volleys, to charge forward.

The soldiers of the government army shouted, kept putting their guns, and the bullets rained down towards the Satsuma army, the formation of the Satsuma army was very dense, one person next to another, and as a result, under the fire of the government army's platoon guns, a large area fell in an instant, and the mountain artillery of the government army rang out at this time, and one shell after another flew over, falling on the rear of the Satsuma army, and the Satsuma army was suddenly killed and wounded, and the team became more chaotic.

At this moment, with a burst of shouts of killing, the government troops of the brigade rushed out and launched a counterattack on the retreating Satsuma army.

When the Satsuma army arrived on the outskirts of Kyoto, it launched a massive offensive with great vigour, and the government forces were largely on the defensive, but this time it was an exception.

In the face of the attack of the Satsuma army, the government army gradually figured out the tactics of the Satsuma army after several confrontations with the Satsuma army. Summing up his experience, Michikani Nozu said that the tactical core of the Satsuma Army was, in a word, to take the initiative to attack, and like them, the word "offensive" was also respected by the Japanese Army, which was modeled after the Prussian Army. However, the Achilles heel of the Satsuma army's offensive is that the tactics are rigid and similar, and they rarely change flexibly, such as where to attack, often return the same way, and refuse to change the route easily. According to the characteristics of the Satsuma Army's operations, Nozu Michiguan and Major General Masaaki Taneda, the general of Kyoto, carefully devised a battle plan to "lure the snake out of the hole" and prepared to lure out the main force of the Satsuma Army and destroy it.

Now it seems that the ploy has worked. When the Satsuma army launched an attack without distinguishing between fiction and reality, the Japanese army first opened fire with rifles to give the Satsuma army a head-on blow, and then artillery shells fell from the sky, blocking its retreat and falling in the preset area, causing the Satsuma army to cry wolf and suffer heavy casualties. Then the infantry charged.

Japanese journalist Tetsuichi Yamamoto described the scene he saw as follows:

“…… Many of our troops were recruits, and many of them were suddenly called together during training at the training camp. Then march overnight. I came to Kyoto. Most of them are children of peasant families. But his bravery in the face of the enemy was no worse than that of a soldier from a samurai background. ”

"The position we defended was the only way for the enemy's main force to rescue the besieged forward troops and enter Kyoto. The recruits entered the position in the afternoon, and the so-called position they saw was actually a small ridge about 300 meters long. The officers drew a line in the air behind the position with their horsewhips to warn that no one was to retreat, and that those who fled without permission should be punished on the spot. ”

"The first thing a recruit does when he goes to war is to dig fortifications."

Murakami soldier Cao instructed the recruits and said that you can't be lazy in building fortifications, you can only hide them by digging deep, otherwise you will have to be dead on the ground as soon as the shells go off. The artillery of the Satsuma soldiers is very powerful. Because it was a rugged mountain battle, the fortifications were not easy to dig, so they had to rely on danger, and everyone took turns working all night to connect the position with the trench. ”

"The battle broke out early in the morning of the third day."

"For recruits and first-time combatants like me, war is an unimaginably strange experience, even a little bizarre, like an earthquake in your sleep, the enemy has not yet appeared, and a strange noise waives in the air. Before anyone could react, the shells shook the ground and exploded. It was a breathless burst that shattered the night like glass. Recruits lie on their stomachs in trenches or caves. Covering his head tightly with his hands, he wanted to find a hole in the ground to get into. A samurai from Aichi Prefecture said to me loudly, 'Damn the thief's cannon, it's broken a lot of people's ears...... I heard that some troops were crushed by artillery before they could see the enemy. ’”

"Just after the shelling, the sound of the soldiers flew into the ears of the recruits like a mosquito, making it feel strange and unreal. He commanded: 'The enemy is attacking...... Get ready to shoot! ’”

The recruit quickly raised his head, and through the thin light, we saw that there were indeed many faint things slowly wriggling in the woods ahead. It was the first time the recruits had faced the vicious and cruel Satsuma soldiers, and without fear or timidity, he raised his rifle and pulled the trigger at the dark shadows. The recruits only buried their heads in shooting, until Bing Cao shouted a loud reprimand, only to realize that the enemy was long gone. ”

"The first battle was won, several enemies were destroyed, and the confidence of the recruits was greatly increased. When cleaning the battlefield, the recruits found many personal belongings from the corpses of the enemy, including amulets, letters from home, knives, etc., which was extremely novel. More attention was paid to collecting the weapons discarded by the enemy, because we were fighting for days and days, and the French Grasse rifles used by the enemy were much better than our Schneider rifles. Soon it was heard that our men had captured the artillery discarded by the enemy, and that there were quite a few shells, and everyone was very happy, and many people cheered. ”

"For several days, the fighting broke out sporadically, but each time it was fierce, and the recruits held their ground and repeatedly repelled enemy attacks. The people here have fled, the mountains and fields have become battlefields, and the smell of crops scorched by the war fills the air. ”

"I asked a recruit, his name is Aida, have you killed an enemy soldier?"

He modestly said, "It's only four or five."

"I asked: Have you ever fought an enemy in hand-to-hand combat, for example, at the height of the battle?"

I was surprised by his answer. He said that we did not have enough ammunition and not many people, unlike the enemy, who had a transport team in charge of supplying them, and that the enemy's stomach was basically hungry, because there were people in the rear to deliver food, and we could only guarantee one rice ball a day. Since ammunition is not effectively replenished, when fighting the enemy, everyone cherishes bullets very much, and only shoots fiercely when the enemy's ranks are at their densest, because the enemy is always so crowded in a mass to attack forward. As for hand-to-hand combat, it's a lot. Because the enemy likes hand-to-hand combat when attacking, they think that we are not opponents in hand-to-hand combat, but we resist the attack. ”

"Aida and the recruits have always been optimistic, believing that although there is a shortage of ammunition and food now, they are confident that His Majesty the Emperor will send reinforcements. ……”

Yamamoto Teruiichi's pen and ink revealed the predicament of the government army at that time, and Yamamoto Tetsuichi did not know that in a short time, there would be a white-knuckle battle that he wanted to see!

Seeing the embarrassed appearance of the retreating Satsuma army, Oji Yasujun stood up excitedly, waved his command knife violently, roared loudly, and ordered, "All attack!" ".

The government troops rushed out of their positions and rushed towards the Satsuma army. The teams of both sides scuffled together, and the battle immediately became white-hot.

The soldiers on both sides were desperately shooting fiercely, and when they saw the warriors of the Satsuma Domain drawing their swords and rushing towards them, the government officers and soldiers also raised their long knives one after another, and started a white-knuckle battle with the Satsuma army!

"General, this place is too close to the enemy's position, in case the enemy's artillery fire comes, there is nowhere to hide, it's too dangerous!" A samurai looked at Saigo Takamori, who was holding a telescope to observe the battle, and anxiously persuaded him.

"It doesn't matter, the enemy doesn't have many shells, and they won't be wasted. Besides, they didn't know I was here. Saigo Takamori said, his sturdy body still standing in the observation trench, standing still. (To be continued......)

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