Chapter Twenty-Five: Soldiers Descend on Hirado Castle

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the second representative meeting of the Chinese Renaissance Party was held as scheduled in the Anlan Assembly Hall in Keelung. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

In the center of the back curtain of the rostrum is the party emblem pattern of the dragon soaring, and 10 bright red flags are lined up on both sides.

On behalf of the Executive Committee, Bai Baoxiang made a keynote report on "The Current Situation and Our Tasks".

“…… Thanks to the joint efforts of our comrades, we made great achievements last year and laid a solid foundation for winning the national victory......"

The General Assembly Hall erupted in thunderous applause.

“…… In this year's military work, we have two goals: First, we will carry out the mainland strategy and carry out Fujian and Guangdong. The second is to start the Mediterranean strategy, so that the East China Sea can truly become our maritime ......"

Shimazu Tadashi listened carefully to Bai Baoxiang's report, and kept sitting in a pencil notebook to record.

The second representative of the Baath Party ~ the congress, the official delegates included 510 cadres and 57 indigenous representatives. Shimazu Tadashi is one of the indigenous representatives.

During the intermission of the conference, Zhongjiao asked Wang Wenli beside him in a low voice, "Lord Wang, Lord Jianguo is our emperor, and he should rule by hanging the arch!" ”

In Shimazu Tadadake's impression, the emperor is the supreme master, and it shouldn't be Zaisuke's responsibility to handle government affairs!

"You should call me comrade!" Wang Wenli said very politely, "Comrade Zhongjiao, as a member of the Chinese Renaissance Party, you must not only join the party organizationally, but also truly join the party ideologically!" ”

"Hey!" Shimazu nodded vigorously, "Please advise!" ”

Shimazu Tadakyo has been in Taiwan for more than a year and has learned a lot.

But the more he learned, the more he felt that the scientific and technological culture of the Ming Dynasty was like a majestic pagoda of Tongtian, no matter how hard he looked up, he couldn't see its huge and majestic figure.

A "Baath Party Manifesto" made Shimazu Tadashi admire it even more.

"Asia's ours! The earth belongs to China! ”

"Let the rulers of the old world tremble before the revival revolution of China! What the sons and daughters of China lost in the revolution was only chains, and what we gained was the whole world. ”

These words made Zhongjiao's blood boil.

Shimazu Tadashi had political ambitions, and he was always thinking about competing with Qi Bin for the dominance of the Shimazu family and the position of Samosa.

Knowing the lofty ambitions of these people in the Ming Dynasty, Shimazu Tadakyo resolutely raised his fist and joined the ranks of the members of the Huaxia Revival Party.

Zhongjiao was very enthusiastic about Wang Wenli, but Wang Wenli was dissatisfied with him.

Nima, a Japanese, or an old aristocrat, can also become his comrade!

I also want to be his deputy and attack North Korea with him!

Is there any reason to talk about this?

Fortunately, the Japanese behaved well, with a smile on their faces and a look of respect!

Wang Wenli reluctantly took over this rotten potato.

Since the beginning of the year, piracy has gradually become rampant in the northern waters of Kyushu, Japan, and merchant ships entering and leaving Nagasaki have been repeatedly robbed, and fishing boats have been repeatedly subjected to accidents.

For weeks on end, there was a lack of catch in markets in areas such as Hirado and Fukuoka, which was a big deal.

During the Edo period, the Japanese diet was mainly vegetarian, and the nobles did not eat meat, and their only meat dish was fish. Eating a piece of rice ball and stuffing a fish fillet into your mouth is a diet of rice and fish.

Most of the coastal areas such as Hirado, Bunzen, and Chikuzen are mountainous, and rice yields are low, and the common people mainly depend on fishing. The daily diet of Japanese dignitaries is indispensable for fresh catch.

The Hirado Domain, Fukuoka Domain, and Choshu Domain immediately strengthened the patrols of the navy in the vicinity of Tsushima Island, Iki Island, and Hirado Island.

In the early morning of March 6, in the waters north of Ukushima, five "Sekibunes" of the Hirado Domain were sailing with full sails.

Sekibune was a light dhow with a pointed bow, a slender hull, plates as armor, and weapons such as large barrels and iron cannons.

Yasushi Itami, the commander of the Hirado Navy, stood on the bow of the flagship "Ushimatsu Maru" and looked out into the distance.

On the vast sea, there was still a layer of mist, and several islands and reefs in the distance only showed faint outlines.

Thinking that today is the "sting", and before the first month, he was sent by the lord of the domain to cruise on the sea, Yi Dan Kangzhi couldn't help but sigh, "On New Year's Day, the world is lonely, and we are very lonely. ”

"Report to your Excellency!" The lookout guard suddenly shouted, "On the sea on the left, a centipede ship was found, and there was no flag!" ”

The Centipede Ship, a light sailing ship, was used by the recently active pirates.

Itami immediately raised his clairvoyant mirror to see a black centipede ship looming out from behind the reef.

After a while, the mist on the sea surface had dissipated a lot, and the centipede ship was clearly exposed to the sea. Five Hirado Domain garrison ships immediately rushed up.

The centipede boat quickly turned around and fled westward, and the five guard ships lined up in a wild goose formation, closely chasing after them.

Just your broken ship, you still want to run!

Seeing that he had reached the distance of the shelling, Yi Dankang snorted coldly, "Fire!" ”

Five garrison ships fired a succession of cannons and bombarded the Centipede boat.

Under the rumbling of cannons, the speed of the centipede ship slowed down slightly, but it still desperately fled in the direction of the island and reef.

Seeing that the pirate ship was a stone's throw away, it was already close at hand, and Itami Kangzhi commanded the garrison ship to outflank it.

Dozens of ashigaru climbed onto the mast and sail, eager to jump over.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and a column of rushing water exploded on the water surface more than 10 meters in front of the "Ushimatsu Maru" ship.

The waves rushed in, and the Ushimatsu Maru began to jolt up and down violently, and Itami fell straight to the deck.

He immediately woke up to the fact that this was shelling! Where did the shelling come from! So powerful!

"Big white boats, there's a big white boat behind the reef!" The guard howled.

Itankang got up, picked up the clairvoyant mirror in shock, and looked in the direction the assistant guard pointed. I saw a big white boat spitting black smoke in the direction of the island and reef, and there were still a few puffs of green smoke faintly behind the island and reef.

After a while, one, two, and three large white boats spewing black smoke appeared one after another behind the reef.

Wang Wenli led four coast guard ships to lie in ambush behind the reef for two days, and finally captured the target.

He excitedly ordered, "Quick! Rush over! Don't let any of them go! ”

At dawn the next day, the bright morning glow quietly appeared in the sky, and Hirado Castle, located on the small hill of Mt. Fukuoka, was shrouded in a brilliant red.

Under the blowing of the sea breeze, the sleeping Hirado castle town gradually woke up.

Hearing the noise of the castle, Taro Yamamoto, who was leaning on the battlements and napping, was suddenly startled and almost fell to the ground. He stood up and stretched, and stayed on duty on the castle tower all night, and it was time to be laid off!

Looking up into the distance, the ashigaru samurai Taro Yamamoto suddenly noticed that there were several light-colored shadows on the blue-black sea in the distance.

It was a ship, four smoky warships, and they were heading straight for Hirado.

A sharp whistle suddenly sounded on the walls of Hirado, "Enemy attack!" Enemy attack ......"

Hearing the siren, Ashigaru, who was guarding the fort, hurriedly ran to the fort and hurriedly opened the ammunition depot and loaded the cannon.

Seeing that the enemy ships were already approaching Hirado, the six eight-pounder iron cannons on the battery opened fire one after another.

The Ming warships immediately returned fire, and the Hirado Fort suddenly turned into a sea of fire.

"This is the warship of the Ming army! Their military flag was flown on the ship. ”

On the Hirado Castle Castle Castle Tower, the feudal lord Matsuura Yao was shocked, and he muttered, "I knew they were very powerful, but I didn't expect them to be so powerful!" ”

"Lord, don't panic! Our Matsuura Navy is first-class, and we also have more than 1,000 brave and unstoppable samurai. The old man Takesaki Okuma comforted, "As long as we can hold out for a few days, Saga, Nagasu, Tosa and other forces will definitely come to the aid of the starry night." ”

The castle town of the Hirado Domain was formerly Japan's main international trading port.

After the closure of Edo, the port of Hirado fell silent, and most of the people who came in and out were fishing boats, as well as naval warships.

In addition to the retainers of the Matsuura family, there were more than 1,000 samurai, thousands of miscellaneous soldiers, and 100 warships.

Hearing the alarm of the enemy attack and the signal of the shelling, the Hirado naval army rushed onto the ship like a tidal wave. After a period of chaos, the warships of the brigade left the Shuizhai dock in turn and went up to meet them.

The Ming warships immediately turned, and the four warships lined up in a column, with their sides aimed at Hirado Port, and eight M1841 long guns fired at the same time.

The sound of cannons on the sea rumbled, and fire, smoke and dust continued to rise on the warships of the Hirado Domain.

After four rounds of shelling, dozens of Hirado warships were shattered and became floating objects at sea.

The Hirado navy was suddenly crushed, and one by one they were busy turning their bows upside down and scattering across the sea.

Matsuura Yao couldn't be saddened, and immediately assigned Takesaki Okuma to lead a team of samurai to defend the Hirado Port Stone Embankment.

Four Ming warships slowly sailed into the port of Hirado and leaned towards the shallow water.

Without waiting for the Ming warship to approach, a row of bows and arrows on the shore "swished" through the air.

"Get on the arrow! Get on the arrow! ”

Takesaki Okuma continued to shout loudly, and the Hirado samurai drew a second arrow, and just as he was about to mount his bow, he heard the sound of a machine gun of "Tuk Tuk Tuk ~" from the Ming warship.

Eight tongues of fire swept over, and the Hirado samurai on the stone embankment lay down in a large area, and even Takesaki Okuma fell in a pool of blood.

Although the Japanese samurai are brave and good at fighting and are not afraid of death, they also know that they can bend and stretch, and heroes do not suffer immediate losses. Seeing the comrades around them fall in a pool of blood, they were defeated in a "whoosh".

Wang Wenli commanded the warship to anchor in the port of Hirado, and the muzzles of the four warships and eight M1841 guns were aimed directly at the castle town and the walls of Hirado Castle.

The gates of Hirado Castle opened, and the samurai of the feudal lord Matsuura Yao, Hisaku Chiyosuke, flew a white flag and came to the stone embankment.

Negotiations took place on a stone embankment.

"Your Excellency, my Japan has already made an alliance with the Upper Realm, and I will always be a vassal for generations to come." Matsuura held back his grief and indignation, "I don't know what we are doing to make your state go into a big fight and commit this killing in Hirado?" ”

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu sent envoys to Japan, demanding that Japan ban the Japanese and pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty. At that time, Japan was in the era of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and Prince Huailiang of the Southern Dynasty, who occupied the area around Kyushu, promised to ban the Japanese and accepted the title of "King of Japan" in the Ming Dynasty.

After the Muromachi shogunate expelled Prince Huaira's power, the Muromachi shogunate and the daimyo in the Kyushu area continued to trade with the Ming Dynasty under the name of "King Ryohuai of Japan".

In the first year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, envoys from Ryukyu, Japan, Siam and other countries went to China to pay tribute, establishing a relationship between the clan and the canonization. In 1404, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent another envoy to Ming to congratulate him on the establishment of the crown prince.

The Ming Dynasty gave Ashikaga Yoshimitsu a gold seal of "King of Japan", and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu replied to himself as "King of Japan, Minister Source Yoshimitsu", and Japan officially recognized itself as a vassal state of China.

At the beginning of last year, after the crossing team bombarded Kagoshima Castle with artillery, Minister Lu Yao signed another agreement with Japan, and Japan once again officially recognized itself as a vassal of China, and wished to live in friendship for generations to come.

"I am the official envoy of the Ming Dynasty to the DPRK." Shimazu Tadakyo said solemnly, "Yesterday, our fleet sailed normally at sea, preparing to attack Jeju Island, not wanting to encounter a surprise attack by the Hirado naval army. Today, the Hirado clan is also the first to open fire, attack, and fire arrows, provoking war without authorization. ”

Zhongjiao said unceremoniously, "As a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, he actually acted recklessly and sabotaged the military aircraft of the Celestial Empire, and the Hirado Domain must give an explanation to the Ming Dynasty, as well as Kyoto City and Edo Castle." ”