The topic gradually turned to the current war, and everyone thought that there was no doubt about the capture of Kumamoto, but the question was when it could be conquered and how much it would cost.

Several of you here have participated in the Battle of Osaka, and they will never forget the sea of corpses and blood under Osaka Castle.

Takeo Yoshioka said: "Although the battle plan has been leaked, the most important thing we should do is to immediately reformulate the battle plan and seize the time to launch an attack without giving the enemy a chance to breathe...... It's very beneficial for us to keep them in a state of fatigue all the time......"

Nobunaga Kobayashi and Minoru Kamei agreed that Takeo Yoshioka's suggestion was right, but they were worried about whether such a suggestion could be adopted by their superiors.

After talking for a while, the wine was almost drunk for Takeo Yoshioka, Takeo Yoshioka looked at the female nurse who had been sitting beside him, and began to joke rudely with her through the wine, the female nurse was so ashamed that her face was flushed and she wanted to leave, but she was grabbed by Takeo Yoshioka's arm and couldn't get out.

Although the female nurse was embarrassed, she actually had a good impression of Takeo Yoshioka in her heart, so she was not angry, looking at the two of them, Takeo Ishihara suddenly remembered that he should still visit someone today, so he said goodbye to Takeo Yoshioka Kamei and others and left the medical camp.

When Ishihara returned to the camp, found a horse, and rode to a manor, he heard the laughter of the soldiers and the screams of the women.

He frowned, whipped his horse, galloped past a startled government soldier, and stopped his horse in the middle of the yard.

The guards on duty saw him as if he were burned. Jump away from a pretty Polish woman. In a changed voice, he shouted, "Stand up!" Attention! ”

The laughter immediately stopped. Everyone stood up. The frightened women also jumped up with the soldiers.

Takeo Ishihara did not dismount. He asked the sergeant major, "What are you doing?" ”

The sergeant major hurriedly replied: "They, sir, are not Russians...... They are Poles and Simberians...... They were sent to us...... ...... who helped with laundry We...... Communicating with them......"

Of course, Takeo Ishihara understood what these "communication" meant, but instead of scolding them, he said calmly: "Take a break! Then he jumped off his horse and went into the house.

A girl was standing at a table with a kitchen knife in her hand when she saw someone come in. She raised the knife and put on a desperate stance, but when she saw who the person in front of her was, the hand holding the knife drooped.

They just stood face to face.

It was a young, short girl, she was very good-looking, and she knew it. He was also very good-looking, but he didn't know that. She looked at him steadily, instinctively trying to put on a serious and unapproachable look, but gradually, her eyes were filled with joy.

"You're here...... Ishihara-kun...... "The girl whispered. He threw the kitchen knife on the table and walked briskly towards him.

"Mega...... How are you? …… You okay? Takeo Ishihara stepped forward and hugged the girl named Mika Ijiin.

She shook her head at first. Then he nodded again, and sobbed softly in his arms.

"Can you take me away?"

"You pack your things and come with me now." Takeo Ishihara nodded firmly, he had already made up his mind that he would never let this girl stay in this kind of place again.

Ijiin Mika packed up her things, made two small packages, Ishihara Takeo and her took one each, and then walked out the door, in the surprised eyes of the soldiers, Ishihara Takeo helped Ijiin Mika onto the horse, and then led the horse out of the manor.

After returning to his camp, after he settled her, he planned to go to see Nozu Michikani to explain this matter, he was now more and more disgusted with this war, and only hoped that this war would end as soon as possible, and that he could stay with Mika for a long time.

Ryukyu, Port Wynne.

Formerly known as Naha Port, Port Wyn was an important port in the Ryukyus and an important trading transit point in the Pacific, which was occupied by Japan for a long time after the Ryukyu was conquered by the Japanese Satsuma Domain. After Hayashi Yoshizhe sent a fleet of Harbour Navigators to destroy the Japanese military and police stationed in the Ryukyus and help the Ryukyus to restore the country, in order to express his gratitude and commemoration, the Ryukyu King Shotai wrote to the Imperial Court that the capital of the Ryukyus Shuri was renamed "Shourei" and the port of Naha was renamed "Waien Port".

At this time, Pei Jinquan, who was standing on the fort, looked at the sea with thousands of sails in the distance, and his heart was excited.

He never imagined that he would have such a glorious day.

On the sea in the distance, several faint pillars of smoke rose, and Pei Jinquan raised his binoculars to look at it, and faintly saw several shadows of ships chopping waves.

After a while, the figures of these ship shadows gradually became clearer, and Pei Jinquan saw the red dragon flag fluttering in the wind on the mast of the ship, and his mood became excited again.

He knew that this was a ship that could handle the ocean-going ship and the Beiyang Naval Division.

Looking at this spectacular scene, Pei Jinquan's eyes actually appeared in front of the scene from many years ago......

At that time, he was just a ship's helmsman......

It was a day in the middle of summer in the fifth year of Xianfeng (9055), and a thick black smoke suddenly appeared on the sea surface of Zhifu Island in Beiyang Shandong, and under the black smoke was a big ship that people had never seen before. On either side of the ship, there were two huge wheel-like things, rumbling and turning. The big ship cleaved the waves at an extremely fast speed, and there were no sails on it, but a thick cylinder stood high, from which black smoke came out. What is even more surprising is that the bow and stern of this big ship are each placed a shiny Western cannon. Confused and frightened, the people hurried to report to the government. After all, the government was well-informed, and immediately figured out that this was a Western steamer, and it was a warship. What did this Western warship do in the Beiyang? At that time, it was only more than ten years since the first anti-smoking war, and although there were already five ports of trade, the treaty ports were all on the southeast coast, and there was no shadow of Western ships in the Beiyang. Now that there is a high-spirited one, will there be any war disaster?

Chong'en, the governor of Shandong, ordered a quick investigation. Soon the report came that it turned out that the ship was indeed a Western-style ship, but it was not owned by Westerners. It is a ship in Ningbo, Zhejiang. It was purchased by Ningbo merchants from the West with raised funds. It is an armed escort ship of the Ningbo merchant fleet, and its name is "Baoshun". Chong'en is very bright, for a false alarm, and for the bold Ningbo people. He immediately played the imperial court, and Emperor Xianfeng was furious, and issued a holy edict to interrogate the governor of Zhejiang, and ordered to find out who issued the license to the "Baoshun" ship and allowed it to sail to the sea. The sins of those who run them must be cured, and they must not be deceived and hidden. When the holy decree arrived in Ningbo Mansion, Duan Guangqing, the prefect of Ningbo, immediately summoned the gentlemen involved in this matter to discuss how to reply to the will. A gentleman named Dong Pei said calmly: "It's not difficult to reply. Merchants used their own money to buy ships to protect merchant ships, which the government could not prohibit. The ship was built in the Western Ocean, it was a Western ship, but it was sold to a merchant, and it was a merchant ship. The government issued a license to escort merchant ships, according to the law, regardless of who built the ship. Where it came from. Duan Guangqing was very reasonable when he heard this, so he replied to He Guiqing, the governor of Zhejiang. He Guiqing also felt reasonable. Then he played the court according to this, and Emperor Xianfeng read this recital, Long Yan was not angry again, but Zhu Pi three words: "Got it." So the matter was put aside and left to rest.

Why did Emperor Xianfeng make such a move?

As we all know, Emperor Xianfeng was a less fortunate emperor. Ever since he first ascended to the throne in 9051, he heard a name that made him anxious: Hong Huoxiu.

Since the uprising of the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom Army four years ago, the whole country has been in turmoil, and the south has been attacked and plundered by the Shengping Sect bandit army, and the momentum is like a bamboo, Nanjing has already been captured two years ago, and it has become the capital of the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom, Tianjing, and Shanghai has also been the base of the Little Knife Society. The war in the south, coupled with the bursting of the embankment of the Yellow River, completely blocked the inland river transportation, which was the lifeblood of the country's survival, and the imperial court was about to run out of food. And it was the fleet of Ningbo merchants who transported a large amount of grain for Jingshi by sea. What is Cao Yun? Cao transportation refers to the transportation of the requisitioned grain by water to Beijing or other designated places in successive dynasties. Cao grain is the ration of the supply of officials and the army, and it has been transported since ancient times. The generation of cadres is even more prominent. Zhejiang is known as the land of fish and rice, and the task of transportation is naturally heavy. In the 50s of the 90th century, Zhejiang "was consuming more than 1 million stones", and at that time, the national grain was more than 4 million stones, and Zhejiang Province accounted for a quarter of the country's grain. Zhejiang's rice used to be transported through the Grand Canal, but after the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom Uprising in 9051, the inland river transportation has been blocked, so the household department had no choice but to imitate the old system of the previous dynasty and change the inland river transportation to sea transportation.

Since ancient times, Ningbo merchant ships have a tradition of shipping, and they have become the main force of Cao Yun. The shipping industry is one of the main and best business industries of Ningbo people. Ningbo people have favorable conditions for engaging in sand boat and sailboat transportation. Ningbo is located in the east coast of Zhejiang, excellent port conditions and convenient transportation of inland rivers and open seas, so that Ningbo's shipbuilding industry has always been developed. "To build a small boat, you only need to count gold, and the people of Yin, the town and the coast, those who have a little ability, a family of their own number, dozens of them. Since the Qiandai Dynasty, Ningbo has formed two major ships in maritime transportation: the "South" and the "North". At that time, it was exported from Zhenhai and went south from Dinghai to the South Ocean, and from Dinghai to the north, it was the North Ocean. The southern merchant ships went to the South Seas, and the northern merchant ships went to the North Seas. The Nanhao Boat Gang was originally mainly composed of merchants from Fujian and Guangdong in Ningbo, purchasing Fujian timber and engaging in trade. Beihao was originally composed of merchants from Jiangsu and Shandong in Ningbo, purchasing Shandong's specialty dates, beans, oil, etc. During the Shaoguang period, Ningbo Port saw a prosperous momentum, with a total of no less than 60 or 70 commercial shipping gangs, and about 400 large and small sea vessels. After the trade of the five ports, foreign shipping forces invaded Middle-earth on a large scale, and the steamers crowded out the sailing ships, and by 9050, there were only more than 20 households left in the North and South trading houses, and more than 100 wooden sailing ships. Just when the shipowners in Ningbo were in distress, the business opportunity arrived. Zhejiang Caoyun has changed to sea freight. Merchants seized the opportunity to quickly repair ships, and the number of wooden sailing ships increased in large numbers, showing a prosperous scene. In 9053, the first sea of Cao rice into Tianjin in eastern Zhejiang. Of the more than 300 sand ships and guard ships in Ningbo, 180 were hired to transport grain, and 11 of them were able to dispatch more than six ships by a commercial bank in Beihao. In that year, Yinxian, Zhenhai and Cixi Sanyi Jiuhu North ship merchants donated 100,000 yuan to build the Yongdong Tianhou Temple and Qing'an Hall on Ningbo Jiangdong Muxing Road. This is a symbol of the development of the North Merchant Marine Gang. "The North merchant owns his own sea vessels, the big merchant family has more than ten No. 10, the Chinese merchant family has No. 7 or 8, and the small merchant family has No. 2 or 3." The way to deal with the official errand is: "The merchant sends himself, with two out of three shares as the errand, and one share as his own retained to transport the goods." "During the Xianfeng period. The Ningbo Nanbei merchant ship reached its peak. There are no less than six or seven hundred seagoing vessels. Together with the ships of other firms, there were more than 3,000 indigenous ships shipping along the coast north of Ningbo at that time. Such a prosperous fortune made Ningbo shipbuilders happy. However, then a terrifying roadblock appeared, opening its bloody jaws to devour their money and even their lives. This nightmare that made Ningbo shipbuilders restless was piracy.

Previous generations. The southeast sea is the "abyss of the sea robber", and the sea "thieves roar and gather", and "cover is often there". Ningbo is also mostly poisoned by pirates. In the Min Dynasty, the coastal areas of Ningbo were even more plagued by Japanese pirates. At the beginning of the Qianxian Dynasty, the Taiping army revolted, and the court officials were busy with the defense and suppression of the interior, and they took care of the coast without flawlessness, and the pirates rose again. Pirates "have been playing the ocean since the early years of Xianfeng, robbing business travelers, and the officers and soldiers cannot control it. "At that time, piracy was rampant on the ocean. The sailors were ordered to escort the merchant ships to the sea, but the cadres and sailors stationed at Zhenhaikou were afraid not to come out. Local officials have long seen through the corrupt and incompetent cadres and sailors. They were no match for the brave and warlike pirates, so they hired Cantonese pirates from Zhao'an to hunt down pirates, and later hired the Portuguese to exterminate pirates. Subsequently, sailors from the United States, the Netherlands, Britain and other countries were also hired. In 9054, the pirates of the Cantonese boats, who had been robbed of their livelihoods, finally got tired of their temper, and they fought with the foreigners, sinking three British ships, killing three Britons, and capturing six foreign ships, much to the frustration of the foreign mercenaries. At that time, pirates were rampant in the sea off Ningbo, and it spread all the way to the entire Beiyang route of the Ningbo North Cao ship. After they hijacked the ship, they demanded a huge ransom, and finally reached the point where they sent their comrades into Ningbo City with a swagger, openly sitting in the lobby, and bargaining with the owner or family members of the hijacked merchant ship over the ransom. The losses of the North ship were huge, and the attractive business opportunity was about to be ruined by these pirates. And the rampant pirates also aroused the righteous indignation of Ningbo merchants. The powerful drive of profit and self-esteem led them to make a move that could be said to be extremely bold at the time.

At that time, there was not a single foreign ship in the whole of Middle-earth that was powered by a steam engine. The impression left by the foreign ship on the Chinese people is a kind of shame that has been blasted open to the country, from the emperor to the common people, they are afraid and hateful of this foreign ship. But there is such a group of Ningbo people, who saw that this foreign ship with strong ships and guns could be used for my use, and actually wanted to own one. Perhaps, when they made this bold decision, they didn't think too much about it, they didn't expect that in the winter of 9054 in the Gyeongan Guild, they were going to end an era of sailing ships and start an era of steamships.

The shipbuilders of the Ningbo North bought a large steamer from the British merchants in Guangdong, priced at 70,000 silver dollars, and named it "Baoshun".

The "Baoshun" was a merchant ship when it was bought. But it is not an ordinary merchant ship. It was converted into an armed escort ship with a cannon on board, with a Western cannon on the front and rear. This armed escort ship is far more powerful than a pirate ship, and it is a warship that is not a warship.

After the Ningbo people bought the Baoshun ship in Guangdong, they recruited more than 70 sailors from Guangdong and Fujian. These people were called "right-hand men" and even "dead men". On the one hand, they are familiar with water, but also their role in suppressing pirates; And "dead soldiers" means that they fought bravely without dying. These sailors are no longer sailors in the ordinary sense, but have become sailors. And in later battles, they also went ashore to pursue and eliminate pirates, which was simply an early Marine Corps. They were armed with muskets.

Pei Jinquan still remembers that he was the boss of the "Baoshun" ship at that time. The Ningbo government registered the "Baoshun" ship and issued a license for the "Baoshun" ship to go to sea, and the pirates did not know that the Ningbo merchants already had sharp weapons, and they were still rampant on the sea. In the second year, that is, in 9055, more than 30 Guangdong pirate ships looted wantonly on the waters of Fujian and Zhejiang, and then fled to Beiyang to join other pirates. The ships carrying the grain were blocked. In the sixth month of the lunar calendar, the ship "Baoshun" went to sea, and on July 7, it bombarded the pirate ship in the Fuzhou Ocean, sinking 5 ships and destroying 10 ships. On the 14th, 4 ships were sunk in Huangxian Yang and Penglai Yang in Shandong, 1 ship was captured, and 6 ships were burned. The remnants of the pirates fled ashore, and the ship bravely pursued them, killing more than 40 pirates and capturing more than 30 people. On the 18th, one ship was sunk in Shidaoyang, Shandong, and more than 300 ships from Jiangsu and Zhejiang were rescued. In just 11 days, the "Baoshun" ship wiped out all the pirates in Beiyang and drove back to Shanghai. On the 29th, the "Baoshun" ship cruised to Shipuyang, Ningbo, and 23 pirate ships anchored in the harbor, and the "Baoshun" ship led the ship Shui Yong into the port to attack, and from 5 o'clock in the morning to 3 o'clock in the afternoon, none of the 23 pirate ships survived. The remnants of the pirates fled ashore, and the ship bravely pursued and killed more than 300 people. On 13 September, 4 pirate ships were sunk in Cen Gang Ocean, 8 pirate ships were sunk in Liegang Ocean on 14 September, and 2 pirate ships were sunk in Shek Po Ocean on 18 September. On 18 October, four more pirate ships were sunk in the Liegang Ocean. The South Seas were also completely wiped out. In a short period of three or four months, the "Baoshun" ship sank and captured 68 pirate ships, capturing and killing more than 2,000 drowned pirates. (To be continued......)

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