Awaji Island, Suhonjo Castle, Castle Tower.

Dressed in a general's uniform, Takamori Saigo stands on the castle tower overlooking Osaka Bay in the distance, surrounded by a young officer in a blue military uniform.

At this time, the sky is blue, cloudless, and the seaside scenery is picturesque, which makes people feel relaxed and happy at a glance, but now Saigo Takamori, looking at all this, seems to have a melancholy color on his face.

The young officer next to him noticed that Saigo Takamori seemed to be oblivious to the beautiful scenery in front of him, but his eyes were always looking in the direction of Osaka Castle.

"Is my father worried about the war situation in Osaka?" Saigo Kikujiro, the son of Saigo Takamori, a young officer, asked softly, and he also saw that under the blue sky, only in the direction of Osaka Castle, a black pillar of smoke could be seen, which was extremely out of harmony with the surrounding scenery.

Awaji Island is the third largest island in Japan, located in the southern part of Hyogo Prefecture and the eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea. Awaji Island is bordered by Osaka Bay to the east and Harima Beach to the west, and is sandwiched by the Akashi Strait to the north and the Naruto Strait to the southwest. The island is full of myths, legends, and historical sites, and is the birthplace of the Japanese puppet theater "Bunraku". Mt. Mikuma, located on the south side of Sumoto City in the eastern part of Awaji Island, has the remains of the Honmaru Castle, a low stone wall built in ancient times, and the Honmaru that formed the center of the castle tower. From the castle tower of Suhonjo Castle, you can see the city and Osaka Bay, and you can also see many scenic spots, such as the Naruto Strait, which has many large and small whirlpools due to the current speed of about 10 nautical miles, and the beautiful coast of Goshikihama on Awaji Island, which is made up of sand formed by waves washing over various stones.

Awaji Island has been known since ancient Japan. Before the abolition of the feudal domain, Awaji Island was originally the domain of the Tokushima domain. It was incorporated into Hyogo Prefecture due to the "Rice Field Riots". The topography of Awaji Island is dominated by low mountains. A large plain divides the island from east to west, where most of the population, arable land, and major cities are concentrated. To the north of Awaji Island is the Tsuna Hills. The southeastern part is mountainous, and the two hills are sandwiched between the Sumoto Plain and the Mihara Plain. Dairy products, vegetables, flowers, fruits, pottery and pottery are produced here. It mainly supplies markets in the Osaka-Kobe area. There is also an abundance of fish on the east and west coasts.

"I can't bear to see the flames of war in such a beautiful place!" Saigo Takamori sighed. "Osaka Castle has been prosperous for a hundred years, and I hope it won't be ruined because of this."

"With Uncle Hanpeng's careful arrangement, Osaka Castle should be captured as quickly as Kumamoto Castle, right?" Saigo Kikujiro comforted his father and said that Saigo Kikujiro was as convinced of Lin Yiqing's ability as many Satsuma samurai.

Since Osaka Castle is a famous economic center in Japan and an important place for finance and taxation, Lin Yiqing believes that Osaka Castle should be seized as completely as possible without causing too much damage. Hayashi's suggestion was endorsed by samurai leaders such as Kirino Toshiaki, Shinohara Kunikan and Oyama Tsunayo. For this reason, Lin Yiqing further perfected the battle plan for attacking Osaka.

With the efforts of Hayashi Yiqing and Oyama Tsunara, the Satsuma Army completed the rearmament in Nagasaki Port, and on January 10, 9079 (the fifth year of the Great Dry Mitsui, the twelfth year of the Meiji era of Japan), 50,000 people of the Satsuma Army boarded the ship and went to sea, under the cover of the Satsuma Navy, and sailed to Shikoku Island to support the Tosa Army on Shikoku Island.

Previously, on January 6, after learning of Takashi Saigo's event. The Tosashi tribe responded by raising their flags on Shikoku Island and electrifying the whole country, announcing their acceptance of Saigo Takamori's leadership. Although Saigo Takamori did not like the Tosa people to see the wind and rudder during the Shogun War, he still chose to focus on the overall situation at this time (Tosa people's incident this time. Mainly due to Lin Yiqing's secret instigation), he decided to take this opportunity and go through Tosa. The capture of Osaka dealt a fatal blow to the Okubo government.

The Satsuma army formed a large fleet. Loaded with weapons and baggage, under the escort of all the capital ships of the Satsuma Navy. Flags covered by the sun, horns in the sky, starting from Nagasaki Port, heading north straight to Honshu, put on a posture of landing in Honshu, taking Shimonoseki directly, and attacking Choshu, the government army got the news, and hurriedly gathered heavy troops in Yamaguchi Prefecture to defend, but did not expect that the Satsuma army would swing a shot, swagger through the Kanmon Strait, sail straight to Shikoku Island, and land at Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture.

After the landing, the Satsuma army made rapid progress with the cooperation of the Tosa Allied forces, and by January 20, the four prefectures of Ehime, Kochi, Kagawa, and Tokushima were all occupied by the Satsuma army. At this point, the two major islands of the Japanese archipelago, Kyushu and Shikoku, were all owned by Saigo Takamori, and the southwestern half of Japan no longer existed.

After occupying the island of Shikoku, the Satsuma army captured Awaji Island as an outpost for the attack on Osaka, and Saigo Takamori himself moved with the army to watch the battle.

So far, the war has gone smoothly, and it can be said that it has greatly exceeded Saigo Takamori's previous expectations, and at this time, the Satsuma army is in full swing, and with the help of the Tosa Allied forces, and the command of fierce generals such as Kirino Toshiaki, Shinohara Kunikan, and Hayashi Yiqing, Osaka and Kyoto can be said to be just around the corner.

According to Lin Yiqing's strategic plan, after capturing Osaka and Kyoto, the Satsuma army cut off Japan's Honshu Island, and then divided the troops into two routes, all the way to the north, straight to Tokyo, all the way south and Kyushu's reinforcements swept the southern part of Honshu Island, captured Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, Shimane, Tottori, Okayama, Hyogo six prefectures, and Kyushu, Shikoku and eleven prefectures.

After this strategic plan was achieved, according to Lin Yiqing's prediction, the Japanese government could no longer fight, and could only choose the path of "peace talks to stop the war", the Okubo government would inevitably collapse, and then the war would stop, and Saigo Takamori would replace Okubo Ritsu to assist Emperor Meiji and preside over the Japanese government's "great plan."

The samurai can be said to have no doubt that Saigo Takamori will preside over the Japanese government in the future, and everyone thinks that it is a natural thing, but Saigo Takamori thinks that he will become Okubo Ritsu No. 2 in the future, and somehow he always feels inexplicably confused in his heart.

In the distance in the direction of Osaka Castle, the rumbling cannon rang out again, and the hounds beside him stood up alertly.

At this moment, a samurai ran in: "Shogun, there is a report that the enemy army has sent a small team to Awaji Island in a small boat with artillery, and in order to disadvantage the Shogun, General Kirino wants to ask the Shogun to move to the castle......"

"No need, the boat must be carrying light artillery, this is located on the top of the mountain, it is not within the range of its artillery, and it can't be hit here by upward fire." Saigo Takamori replied, his burly and fat body still unmoving, "How is the battle?" ”

"Generals Shinohara, Hayashi, and Murata have landed, and our army has formed a siege of Osaka Castle, and is already carrying out the method of storming as planned. Yesterday, the military envoy sent to the city persuaded him to surrender, but he has not returned yet. I'm afraid that they have been detained, and they have been asked by the guards of the city, Nozu Zhenxiong, and others to find out where the general's base camp is, so now they will send a team to attack and shell, and they want to disadvantage the general. ”

"Who is the envoy sent?" Saigo Takamori asked.

"It's Fujita Hiko, a Tosa feudal lord." The samurai replied.

"It's the Tosa Clan......" A wry smile appeared on Saigo Takamori's lips, he shook his head, and asked again, "What about the children on the front?" ”

"My lord, the day before yesterday, the troops of Nogi Noshinori, the vanguard of the enemy, encountered our landing force and the allied Kumamoto clan in the southeast of Osaka Castle, and fought in the forest of Tomita......"

"What, is it Nogi again? Didn't he have been intercepted by our navy in Hakata Bay and sunk with a troop carrier? ”

"General, this Nogi escaped with his life that day, and after returning he was promoted to Zhongsa, he led 2,000 troops to make a comeback when he landed with our army this time."

"I can't imagine that Nogi Noshinori of the Choshu Domain is also a person with a samurai spirit, and if there is a war with a big country like Russia in the future, Japan's armaments and weapons are likely to be inferior to the enemy, and only by relying on the indomitable samurai spirit can we win." Saigo Takamori sighed.

"What was the outcome of this battle?" Saigo Takamori asked again.

"General Yu, our army is full of spirits, the enemy occupies the high ground and shoots downward, while our army marches forward bravely, attacks directly from the back, and once again fights Nogi and flees in embarrassment, and has now fled back to the city." The samurai replied, "Our troops pursued quickly, but in the evening reinforcements from the enemy's general Nozu Zheno's troops arrived, and our troops withdrew to their original positions. Yesterday, the enemy's reinforcements arrived, more than 5,000 people came to fight with artillery, and the Nogi army was the front team, which went straight to the vicinity of Yuyuye, and our reinforcements also arrived, and fought fiercely with it. By the end of the day, the enemy had retreated slightly. Early this morning, our general Shinohara Kunikan arrived with the main force and fired directly at the enemy with more than 4,000 people in the front. In the fierce battle, our army has a total of about 6,000 people, and the enemy army has experienced reinforcements, which has reached nearly 8,000 people, and our army is not as large as the number of people, but our army is still in the upper hand, and the enemy has suffered heavy casualties, but still fights without retreating. ”

"Okay, I got it." Saigo Takamori nodded quietly.

The samurai, who had reported the military situation, withdrew from the house, looked in the direction of Osaka Castle, and because he was worried about the enemy's sneak attack, he told the samurai who were standing outside the door.

It's no wonder he's like this, because now the samurai's justice, honor, and everything are pinned on Saigo Takamori alone, and they must not let Saigo Takamori encounter even the slightest danger. However, it is precisely because of this that during the period from the beginning of the army to the present, Saigo Takamori can neither go to the front line to boost morale in person, nor can he go around to listen to the news, and all military information can only be reported by his subordinates, which is almost equivalent to being put under house arrest by these samurai who worship him madly.

In the castle tower, Saigo Takamori sat down and fell into deep thought: "I remember, Nozu Zheno and his younger brother Nozu Michikani are also from Satsuma, I saw them on the Fushimi and Toba fronts at the fall of the curtain with their demeanor of making the shogunate army frightened with one shot, plus this Nogi who will die if he bites, I'm afraid it will be difficult to entangle Hatsukino." However, our army's Murata Shinpachi is an expert in artillery, Ikegami and Shinohara are both good field generals, and Hanpeng's strange team is secretly strategic, so there should be no problem in defeating the enemy. (To be continued......)

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