At 10 o'clock in the morning, six squadrons under the command of Nomura Shinosuke of the Satsuma Army began to attack Kasam. And stationed in Kasam were 4 squadrons of the 6th Brigade of the Kurokawa Railway. Relying on the favorable terrain, the government army stubbornly resisted, and Nomura Shinosuke sent a special force to attack the right flank of the government army, but it was still unable to shake the government army. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the Satsuma Army reorganized into three teams and launched assaults from different directions, finally breaking through the left flank of the government army. To this end, the 5th and 6th brigades of the government army each sent two squadrons to support. Yugoro Kawato also took part in the battle that day, recalling in "Bullet Rain Diary":

"At about one o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy braved the rain of bullets fired by me, and then attacked the top of the mountain, shooting like beans. Our troops also made efforts to carry out an attack with the aim of death, detouring to the flank of the dense force and striking fiercely. The enemy could not support his fierceness, so he took his gun and left. When my soldiers saw this, they raised their voices and laughed. On this occasion of mortality, the guns of the fleeing enemies are also discarded, and the wounded are not allowed to go. The ditch was full of blood, and the dead bodies in the field were lined up. The mountain trees are full of bullet marks, like a beehive, and there are piles of bullets left on the ground. Such a fierce war, to the point of abandoning the dead bodies, is shocking and tragic, and it is truly touching to see it. ”

On June 24, the Satsuma Army was deployed as follows: one group approached Isezaka from the front, and the other group detoured from the right flank to attack the left flank of the government army. Among them, Nomura Shinosuke's first part was the frontal force, and the rest was divided into two roads, one as the right flank, and the left flank of the government army was pressed to the Anyu area; The other way, as the left flank, advanced from the well and attacked the right flank of the government army. In addition, two other teams serve as reserves, ready to support at any time. The 2nd and 3rd Brigades of Shiro Ikegami were responsible for the frontal attack, and since Shiro Ikegami was wounded, he was commanded by Kuzo Koshiyama.

The frontal assault began at 6 a.m. Government troops in the forward fortress of Isezaka. Without firing a shot, they fled backwards. The excited Satsuma Army was in hot pursuit. However, as soon as they crossed the ridge line, the Satsuma army was completely bathed in a salvo of bullets from government troops. It is described in the "Southwest War": "The first brigade is advanced, and it is trapped in the first base of the government army, Naozhizaka Road. The government army was condescending, shooting like hail, and the Qinwang army would be injured when it entered, and if it retreated, it would die, and no one would be completely skinned. "The Satsuma army is in the midst of a bitter battle.

Battle in the direction of Aoyama-cho. The right wing of the so-called Satsuma Army continued to be commanded by Nomura Shinosuke, and the strength was increased to four brigades, which were even more intense than the day before. Sasa Yufang said in "Diary of a Battlerobe": "Since it is the most dramatic battle in this way, they shoot each other according to the boulder as a breastwork. The distance is only one town but two towns (one town is equal to 109 meters). The sound of iron cannons continued, the mountains roared and the valleys roared, and the universe was shaken. …… Two days later, he inspected the area where the enemy soldiers were strongholding, and there was blood everywhere. It can also hold an empty box of 500 rounds of ammunition. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of them on the side of the road. According to the estimates, the enemy's soldiers spent more than 100,000 rounds in a day. And our army spent no more than 30,000 or 40,000 rounds. "On the day. The government army suffered heavy losses, and the commander of the 5th Brigade, Major General Kurokawa Tsutsuki, was killed in battle. The details are as follows: At around 1 p.m., Kurokawa, who was commanding the battle in Aoyama Town, was spotted by Jiro Fujisaki, a samurai of the Tosa Army on the opposite side, who instructed his subordinates to snipe at Kurokawa and kill him. Fujisaki Jiro was also killed by a bullet from the government army on the same day. According to the "Southwest War Chronicle", in Aoyama Town that day, "1,152 officers and soldiers were killed and 1,265 were wounded." Lieutenants Eda Shosa, Captain Osako, Lieutenant Wasaki, Uenoyama and Yano were killed in battle, and eleven non-commissioned officers under Captain Hikosaka were wounded. Forty or less Satsuma officers were killed and killed, and many were wounded, and more than 1,000 soldiers were killed or wounded. ”

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a sudden thunderstorm fell, and the shooting on both sides was sparse. Murata Shinhachi, an artillery expert of the Satsuma Army who commanded the battle, ordered the whole army to storm on, and the mountains were filled with the shouts of the Satsuma Army's attack. In order to support the infantry onslaught, under the command of Shinpachi Murata, the Satsuma artillery even advanced the artillery to a point less than 300 meters away from the government position. Although the government forces relied on strong fortifications and favorable terrain, they did not back down and fought back fiercely, and on several occasions even nearly hit Murata Shinpachi, who was commanded by the former enemy. However, the onslaught of the Satsuma army eventually made it difficult for the government forces to resist, because the German advisers could not believe that the Satsuma army dared to bombard the artillery at such a close distance. After discovering the location of the government army headquarters, Murata Shinhachi did not hesitate to brave the rain of bullets to personally operate the artillery, and the shells hit the government army headquarters and directly destroyed the command headquarters, the former enemy commander of the government army, Major General Zeng Iyu, was wounded, many staff officers around him were killed, and many members of the German advisory group were also wounded, and the government army instantly lost command and communication and fell into chaos.

On June 25, it was still rainy and rainy, and the two sides fought fiercely. As the German advisers directly commanded the artillery operations, the distribution and use of government artillery fire was improved, posing a great threat to the Satsuma army, and the fifth squadron leader of the 4th Satsuma Brigade Nagayama Shuji was determined to seize the government artillery, so he engaged in a hand-to-hand battle with the government guards infantry, which was also composed of non-gentry families, who defended the artillery position. During the battle, Juro Kodamama, the half-captain of the 6th Squadron of the 1st Brigade, was killed in a battle with the 4th Squadron of the 1st Guards Wing. The government forces took the opportunity to counterattack, but were met with heavy fire from the rifles of the Satsuma Army, and thus were ultimately defeated. As a result of the fierce fighting, there were significant attritions on both sides of the warring. Zeng Youzhun had to order: "Non-commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers are allowed to replenish on the spot cheaply." On the same day, the Satsuma Army had seven squadrons drawn by Lin Yiqing from the defenders of Osaka Castle to help.

On 26 June, the Satsuma Army simultaneously attacked the government positions in Isezaka from three directions, and because the Satsuma Army's "sword drawing team," which was skilled in white-knuckle warfare, inflicted great casualties on the government troops, the government army also specially selected 35 officers and men from each major group who were good at sniping, and organized a sniper team, led by Captain Yoshinori Tsumiri, a student of Murata Nobuyoshi who had already been killed, and divided into three squads to snipe at the front line the Satsuma army, which had a tendency to fight white-knuckle warfare. But it was immediately broken by the strange team led by Eisuke Minamino under Lin Yiqing, and a total of 27 snipers, including Yoshitotsu, were killed.

On 27 June, because the front in the direction of Kyoto was relatively stable, after hearing about the battle situation, Lin Yiqing decided to ignore the government troops in front of Kyoto -- the government troops there had lost their offensive capability due to successive defeats in successive battles, and did not pose much threat to Kyoto -- and sent troops and horses from all walks of life to Osaka to support and defeat the "Chongbei Army" in one fell swoop.

Since the beginning of the war. Although Saigo Takamori is known as the commander of the Satsuma Army. But the actual supreme commander is Lin Yiqing. The specific battle plan was agreed upon by him and samurai leaders such as Kirino Toshiaki and Shinohara Kunikan, and Saigo Takamori approved it as a rubber stamp. Although Saigo Takamori has always been standing majestically as the commander in the main camp, most of the time, Saigo Takamori does not even participate in combat meetings, and spends his days hunting or reading all day long, and the specific affairs are all handed over to Lin Yiqing and Kirino Toshiaki and others. And Lin Yiqing lived up to expectations, and until now, he has been leading the Satsuma army to successive victories.

Due to the arrival of reinforcements one after another. The Satsuma army began to attack Anyu and Tenhara Dao again. On that day, the Satsuma Army repeatedly attacked the front line of the government army with swordsmen, and the snipers of the Odd Soldiers exerted considerable power. Captain Cheng was killed by a sniper. On that day, 796 Satsuma Army and 1,024 Government Army were killed. On the same day, the artillery of the government army, under the command of the German advisers, bombarded the forward troops of the Satsuma Army, and the Satsuma Army suddenly approached and bombarded the government troops in Anyu with three pieces of artillery, and the government troops fought back, but the shelling soon stopped. Until the defenders of Anyu retreated, they were not able to resume shelling. Therefore, the generals of the Satsuma Army judged that the ammunition of the "Rushing Back Army" was already insufficient.

As judged by the generals of the Satsuma Army, after several days of fierce fighting, the government army was extremely short of ammunition, and the reason was simple: after the destruction of the "Fuso", the fleet composed of "Kiyoki", "Amagi" and four mine-striking ships escorted the troop transports all the way back to Tokyo (without leaving the troop carriers, and they were still conscientious), and the government army's sea routes were cut off by the Satsuma Navy, and there was no way to replenish ammunition, food, and grass, and the situation became increasingly embarrassing.

On June 28 and 29, the battle was still deadlocked. On the 30th, the two sides ceased fighting for a day. On July 1, from dawn, the Satsuma army launched an attack from three sides: Mt. Suping, Anyu Tahara, and Isezaka. Behind it, the artillery fired heavily at the bandit to aid the battle. However, the thief is also good at holding on. The guns of the two armies rang out like a hundred thunders, shaking the mountains. On that day, the Satsuma Army's Strange Soldier Team led by Eisuke Minamino was very active, but at the same time suffered some casualties. By the evening of the same day, five people had been killed in battle, and six people under Eisuke Minamino had been wounded.

On July 2 and 3, the fighting continued, still fierce, and the battle line remained motionless. The intensity of the fighting can be seen from the Schneider rifle cartridges consumed by the 5th and 6th brigades of the government army: 161,000 rounds were consumed on June 30, 198,100 rounds on July 1, 358,000 rounds on July 2, and 140,000 rounds on July 3 alone. On 3 July, it was also worth mentioning that the government army received 500 police officers from Nagoya, the only reinforcement received by land, and 200 swordsmen with excellent swordsmanship were selected from among them to form a sword drawing team on the government side to fight against the Satsuma army sword drawing team that was rampaging through the battlefield.

On 4 July, the newly formed swords-drawing squad of the Government Army became very active. On that day, the sword drawing team and two squadrons were the vanguard of the assault on the Satsuma Army's position on the Anyukou side. With the sword drawing team in the center, and the two squadrons as the left and right flanks, they broke into the Satsuma army position. The battle of that day can be seen from the "Congzheng Diary":

"It is divided into battle formations, attack teams, and support teams, and the sword drawing team is also divided into three teams, pulling out the enemy base from the left and right and center, and the battle team is based on it. Such tactics were used that day. ”

"Deploy as above, attack from dawn. Unexpectedly, our army broke in and left in disarray. Therefore, the shelling was stopped, and the bayonet shouted in pursuit. ”

The sword-drawing team and the Zhentai soldiers marched forward with their swords, and then attacked the three fortresses of the Satsuma army. The Satsuma army abandoned the battle dead and retreated, or joined forces with the friendly forces of Isezaka to shoot at the officers and troops on the Sakado Road. The momentum was so fierce that the officers and soldiers could not chase it, and turned to artillery battles. By the afternoon, the Satsuma army's offensive had become more prosperous, and the officers and troops abandoned the fortifications they had occupied and retreated. ……”

"The Satsuma Army's sword drawing team has repeatedly troubled the officers and soldiers. On this day, the reason why the official and military sword drawing team can compete with the Satsuma army is that the sword drawing team is equal in combat strength, but compared with the two, although there are many officers and soldiers, the combat power of the civilians is not as good as that of the samurai. ”

Among the swordsmen of the government army were many of the former feudal lords of the Tohoku Domain, who were defeated in the Boshin War and were regarded as enemies of the Restoration, so they had a long-standing hatred for Satsuma, one of the four great feudal clans that had fallen to the shogunate. Among the participants, many of them participated with a revenge mentality. It is said that "there was a certain Aizu clan who stood up and fought and beheaded a thief." When it fights. He shouted, 'Revenge of Wuchen! Bojin's revenge! ’”。 New hatred, old hatred. This makes the battle between the two sword drawers extremely harsh. this day. The Satsuma Army lost 681 casualties and the Government Army 825 casualties.

On July 5, in order to relieve the threat of the Satsuma Army, the government forces launched a battle for Mt. Seiping. According to the results of the previous night's meeting, the "Attack Team" was to be put into operation, with three infantry squadrons under its command, Captain Sukita under its command, and three infantry squadrons of the "Support Team." The commander was Captain Yoshida, and in addition to the sword drawing team was also part of the support team, and there were four infantry squadrons in reserve.

In the early morning of July 5, it coincided with heavy fog, and it was impossible to tell the difference. The original plan of the government forces was to assemble at 5 o'clock and attack at 6 o'clock, but the Satsuma army touched it first. This army totaled more than 800 people, all equipped with new French naval magazine rifles, and was led by Kihachi Kono, the half-captain of the fifth squad of the fourth brigade. The Satsuma Army began its operations at 4 o'clock, and some reinforcements were later added. In the early morning, I had already touched the vicinity of the government army fortress at the foot of the Ping Mountain. Suddenly, a shout broke in, and the government army was caught off guard. Fleeing in disarray, the position fell into the hands of the Satsuma army.

When Nomura learned of the loss of his position at the foot of Mt. Napyeong, he ordered a squadron of Guards Infantry to come to support, and for this reason he changed his previous plan and concentrated his forces in the area of Mt. Napping. However, the terrain of Yuping Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, there are few trees on the mountainside, and there is a lack of objects to shelter, so if you raise your head slightly, you will be hit. Regardless of casualties, the government forces attacked repeatedly, and finally gradually repelled the Satsuma army. At one o'clock in the afternoon, government troops recaptured two forts. However, the Satsuma army still held out on the top of the mountain and sent more troops. The government army also concentrated its forces, sending 100 swordsmen to crawl forward from the small road, approaching 70 to 80 meters from the Satsuma army's position. Then they rushed forward with shouting and killing, and after paying a heavy price, finally occupied all positions at 4 p.m. However, in the evening, the Satsuma army, led by the strange soldiers, relaunched the attack, and annihilated all the government troops occupying the top of the mountain in one fell swoop, according to the description of the "Southwest War": "In this battle, the Satsuma army killed more than 700 and wounded 570. More than 1,200 officers and soldiers were killed in the battle, such as the so-called sword drawing team, among the 100, 52 were killed and 36 were wounded. "The sniper sniper team that the government army had just formed automatically disintegrated after the war because all of its members were killed or wounded. -- The intensity of the fighting on this day can be seen from this.

On the same day, heavy fighting broke out on other fronts. That night, the Satsuma army attacked the government forces on the Anyu side, and Kiyoshi Kishijima led the newly arrived Satsuma army to break through in a sword-drawing battle. The attack was a squadron of the 8th Wing of the former Osaka Zhentai Army, which was mainly composed of Osaka people, whose mission was to serve as a guide, and its combat effectiveness was low, and it was very unsuitable for the Satsuma Army's sword-drawing tactics, so it fell into chaos, and even killed friendly soldiers by mistake, or jumped from the ditch in a panic when fleeing, and was stabbed to death by the spears of the same team. Fortunately, the Guards infantry arrived to the aid and stabilized the battle line.

After several days of fierce fighting, the generals of the government army realized that the Satsuma army was difficult to defeat, that the strategic goal of retaking Osaka could no longer be achieved, and that without the support of the navy, the "Rushing Army" could be attacked by the enemy from the sea at any time, and fell into a desperate situation of being attacked by the enemy on their backs, so they began to withdraw their troops. However, now that the sea route was cut off and there were no ships, it was impossible to evacuate from the sea as he had come, so Kodama Gentaro suggested that he go north to find an opportunity to break through the siege, withdraw to Nagoya, and join the main force of the government army.

On 6-8 July, the fighting resumed. On the night of the 8th, the Satsuma Army held an operational meeting and decided to stop the attack on the 9th, reorganize the troops, and then launch a general attack on the 10th, with a view to breaking through the defense line of the government forces in one fell swoop. The plan was as follows: first launch a feint attack in the vicinity of Aoyama Town to attract the attention of the government army, and then boldly sneak in front of the government army position in Anyukou with the main force, and launch a straight assault regardless of the government army positions on the left and right. The reason why the main direction of attack was set in the area of Anyukou is because it is the shortest distance in a straight line from the pheasant, and once it breaks through, it can advance to the pheasant, and then threaten the entire situation of the government front. On that day, the total strength of the Satsuma Army was about 8,000 men, and the forward force used for the Anyukou assault was the sword drawing team and 10 infantry squadrons, and the general attack began with three cannon shots.

From the afternoon of the 9th, the Satsuma Army began to attack the area around Aoyama Town. The assault troops assembled at 5 a.m. and marched at 6 a.m., taking advantage of the darkness to quietly approach the government positions from the valley of Anyukou. As soon as the horn sounded, the assault troops rushed bravely, first forming a breakthrough on the right flank and capturing the fortress of the first line of government troops.

Satsuma artillery supported the area with 12 guns and opened heavy fire on the positions of the government forces in depth. Because the Satsuma Army's attack was unforeseen and the government army did not find the approaching assault force, the government army was panicked after being attacked, and the return fire was very messy, and it was quickly suppressed by the Satsuma army. (To be continued......)

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