In Edo Castle, Tokugawa Iemitsu received an urgent report that the armed merchant ships of the Ming people had been denied supplies and had harassed Edo Bay and shelled the port of Yokohama.

"Where is Akito?" Tokugawa Iemitsu asked Matsudaira Choshiro (Nobutsuna).

"It's a Ming man from Shandong." Matsudaira Nobutsuna replied, "Their ships are rampage through the bay, our ships are no match for them, and our artillery is not as far as theirs." ”

"Humph! These Shandong Ming people could never let them continue to expand their trade in Nagasaki, and the Ming people of Fujian sold us things for our enjoyment, and we only had to exchange them for gold and silver. However, the Ming people in Shandong not only sell what we enjoy, but also what we use for the common people, and as soon as their things come in, our peasants will lose their livelihoods, and the situation will become turbulent. These Shandong Ming people were so presumptuous that people expelled the Shandong Ming people in Nagasaki. Tokugawa Iemitsu snorted coldly, "The goods of the Dutch and the Fujian Ming people are enough for our needs. ”

"General, the Ming people in Shandong have all been evacuated a month ago, and the merchant houses they opened in Nagasaki have also closed." Matsudaira Nobutsuna said proudly, "Due to the new decree issued by our shogunate, the business of Shandong Akito can no longer be done. ”

"Evacuated?" Tokugawa Iemitsu was stunned, then turned to contemplation, and sighed softly, "I'm afraid this is not a good sign!" ”

Matsudaira Nobutsuna was very puzzled, but he didn't dare to ask more.

Tokugawa Iemitsu's concern was justified, and Shandong wanted to attach importance to Yumoto's trade, which last year was more than the total number of Dutch and Fujian merchant ships.

What a big chunk of wealth is this?

Even if he issued a new decree to restrict them, those luxury goods still had a market and were something that the shogunate welcomed, and there was no shortage of luxury goods among the goods of the Shandong Ming people, and many of them were not even available to the Dutch. With these luxury goods, you can still make a big profit in this book.

But now, he is not even in the luxury business, and this abnormal phenomenon has caused Tokugawa Iemitsu to worry.

"General." At this time, a man dressed as a samurai pushed open the door and walked in, and Tokugawa Iemitsu looked up and asked, "Inaba, is there any news from North Korea?" ”

"There is news, according to the news we got on Tsushima Island, at the beginning of the year, the Manchurian Emperor personally conquered Korea, and was surrounded in Korea by the Ming general Zhao Yan, after nearly two months of war, the 70,000 Manchurian army that entered Korea was completely wiped out by the Ming State, and the Manchurian Emperor also died in Korea." Inaba Chikumararu (Masakatsu) took a breath and continued: "The Koreans of Tsushima said that the general of the Ming Kingdom, Zhao Yan, imprisoned the king of Korea on the charge of surrendering the enemy without a fight, and then sent someone to take over the entire territory of Korea, and our people were able to sneak into Tsushima with great difficulty. ”

"The Manchurian army was so strong that it was able to break into the Ming Pass several times and plunder and retreat safely. It was completely wiped out by Shandong soldiers and horses. Tokugawa Iemitsu's face was full of shock, "It seems that within the Ming Kingdom, this Zhao Yan may also become a force similar to the shogunate in the future, and the Ming people have not come to the Shogunate for a long time, so it is very likely to be unfavorable to the shogunate." ”

After listening to Tokugawa Iemitsu's words, Inaba Masakatsu explained, "The ships of the Akito people in Shandong were transferred by their generals to transport soldiers and horses, so they did not come to Nagasaki for trade. ”

"Since they can use ships to transport troops and horses to attack North Korea, they may also attack our Tsushima Island, which is only separated from North Korea by a Tsushima Island." Tokugawa Iemitsu said, "Nobutsuna, you immediately ask all localities to strengthen their defenses. ”

"Hello~!"

…… On 21 June, Su Buheng, who had chosen a landing site, immediately commanded the fleet and brazenly rushed into Tokyo Bay, first engaging in a fierce battle with two forts in the Kaga waterway.

The dense rockets directly knocked the batteries on the high ground dumb. The fleet then left ten armed merchant ships to block the waterway, and the rest of the ships rushed in through the Kamaga waterway, and there was chaos in Tokyo Bay.

The return ships in the harbor could not resist these behemoths led by the First Fleet, and although these plundered European merchant ships were a bit complicated, they could sink those return ships even by colliding.

However, ships are a valuable means of sea transportation, and they are heading towards Yokohama.

After more than an hour of sailing, the fleet finally sailed to Yokohama, and the people in the port of Yokohama were overwhelmed when they saw such a large fleet arriving.

"All fire, bombard the battery." Su Buheng immediately ordered.

The flag was quickly raised on the flagship! And it was the first to fire guns into the port of Yokohama.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

The cannon roared to the sky, and a ball of light flew out of the cannon, and the people in the harbor screamed in horror.

The exploding shells blew up in the harbor, and the people on the harbor were either blown down on the spot or rushed to flee, only some samurai drew their swords and stood on the harbor with angry roars, directing the batteries to return fire.

The batteries in the harbor quickly returned fire to the First Fleet, but the shells fired from the harbor were really powerless. Although it can attack the warships of the First Fleet, because the distance is about two thousand meters, it is no longer lethal when it hits, unless someone is unlucky enough to be smashed on the deck.

But most of the sailors on the warship were evacuated to the cabin.

As soon as his battery returned fire, the First Fleet immediately gained insight into the location. After a minute of reloading and aiming preparation, the shelling unfolded again.

This time, the artillery was replaced with siege shells, which had very little shrapnel and were filled with gunpowder, and their blasting effect was very objective.

The turrets were blown through by shells, and some even collapsed.

At the same time, some artillery batteries on the high ground that could not be shelled were dealt with by rockets fired by armed merchant ships behind them. With the sound of the tail flame and the whistling of babbling, hundreds of rockets rushed out of the deck and flew towards the batteries on the high ground.

After nearly ten minutes of bombardment, the batteries in Yokohama Port were all silent, and the samurai in the port did not know where to go.

"Ready to land." Su Buheng saw that there was no resistance in the port, so he gave an order to prepare.

At this moment, the shogunate garrison stationed near the port of Yokohama arrived, a total of four or five thousand people, led by a group of samurai, rushed to support the port, and Su Buheng gave the artillery order again.

The artillery bombardment directly forced those shogunate garrisons back, and six warships approached the harbor, shelling the shogunate garrisons all the way.

As a mobile fortress on the sea, its firepower is so powerful that even if the enemy infantry is two thousand meters away, it can still inflict heavy damage.

At this time, the flagship waved the landing flag, and two merchant ships immediately came behind and quickly headed for the pier.

Under the continuous shelling, the shogunate garrison in the harbor could not raise their heads under the shelling, and the two merchant ships quickly approached the dock, lowered the hanging planks, and the pikemen on board could rush down and quickly form a defensive line.

"Onboard~!" Suddenly, a loud shout came from behind the ruins on the edge of the harbor, and I saw a samurai carrying a sword and rushing out with more than 200 people, and brazenly rushed towards the more than 500 pikemen who had already lined up.

"Flat gun...... Kill ......"

"Poof~!"

The spear pierced directly into the body of the shogunate soldier, and one of the samurai nimbly dodged the spear, and the sword in his hand swung rapidly, dancing in the light as if it was impermeable, and the reflection stabbed people in front of the eyes of a white man.

Suddenly, a spear pierced out of the second row!

Without any suspense, it stabbed directly into the samurai's body, and the samurai snorted, and the spear jerked sharply, and then knelt straight down, and then fell to the ground.

However, at this moment, the shouts of 'onboarding' continued to be heard from behind, and the samurai who had circled the dock from the back of the house led the soldiers to rush out.

The warships in the harbor did not dare to fire their guns at all under such circumstances, and the infantry on both sides were too close to each other, and if they fired at such a distance, their own people would be killed.

In less than half a minute, nearly two thousand people rushed out from behind.

But the five hundred pikemen were like machines, and the spears in their hands calmly continued to stab, stabbing the rows of rushing soldiers to the ground.

However, even so, the samurai were so crazy that they seemed to be not afraid of death at all, and they kept rushing forward like a tidal wave.

The pikemen's formation quickly burst into a hole, and several pikemen were still cut to the ground under the protection of the plate armor. Fortunately, the musketeers had already rushed up with waist knives in hand, making up for the disadvantage in close combat, and only then did they close the gap.

In melee combat, except for those Samurai, the other Samurai are much easier to deal with, but the Samurai are the key assassination target of the pikemen when they are close, so very few Samurai can get close.

With precise cooperation and a steady stream of support, the shogunate garrison finally could not hold it anymore after charging for five or six minutes, and retreated with the remnants of the army.

By the time they retreated, their men were less than a thousand, and on the charging line, more than a thousand shogunate garrisons fell to the ground, while only three pikemen and one musketeer of the Honshu mixed brigade were killed.

Precise coordination, as well as good protection, make pikemen the most dangerous and safe class on the battlefield, and almost nothing can break through their defenses, unless the opponent has a large number of artillery.

The landing began quickly, and ships approached the dock to move people and supplies off the ship.

After unloading the personnel and goods, the armed merchant ships immediately searched everywhere in Tokyo Bay, and although the ship was not large, it was a transport ship, and it was a good choice to snatch it back and use it for Hanoi transportation or offshore transportation.

With the disparity of power at sea and the blockade of the Kamaga waterway, it is almost impossible for ships in Tokyo Bay to survive.

Some of the ships took refuge in the docks of Edo, where the defenses were so strong that armed merchant ships would not go there for the time being.

But it is also a matter of time before you are captured.

...... "General, it's not good, General, it's not good." A squire ran into Tokugawa Iemitsu's room in a panic, and Tokugawa Iemitsu asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"General, the Ming people are coming, and they sent dozens of large ships to land in Yokohama with a large number of samurai." The attendant reported in a panic.

"What?" Tokugawa Iemitsu stood up with a shocked look on his face and asked, "How many of them are there?" ”

"According to the report from Yokohama, there were nearly 20,000 Ming troops ashore." The squire replied.

"Quickly call Matsudaira Nobutsuna to come to Honmaru quickly." Tokugawa Iemitsu immediately ordered.

"Hello." The attendant took the order and departed.

…… Twenty minutes after landing, Wang Wenyue immediately organized his troops to capture Yokohama. Yokohama Castle is about a mile away from the port and is completely within the range of naval shelling.

In order to cooperate with the action, Su Buheng opened artillery to bombard the city wall.

A huge breach was immediately blown open in the castle wall, and the Honshu Mixed Brigade Infantry Regiment rushed into Yokohama and engaged in a fierce battle with the shogunate soldiers and samurai inside the castle.

However, the army in the castle was too small to withstand the attack of the Honshu Mixed Brigade, and the shogunate soldiers and samurai in the castle soon fell silent in the street fighting.

Wang Wenyue entered Yokohama Castle and immediately ordered the capture and requisition of Japanese people in Yokohama Castle for tasks such as transporting materials, building warehouses, and defending the city.

In order to plunder the castle of Yokohama, Wang Wenyue sent soldiers to plunder only the shops and wealthy families in the city, as well as the samurai and officials.

At the same time, he quickly posted a notice to the people in the language, saying that the Ming Dynasty came to the Ming Dynasty because he had committed a crime for a long time, and he had no heavenly authority, and he had attacked the Ming coast all the year round, and launched a brazen invasion of Korea, and the Heavenly Dynasty sent the king to punish the shogunate.

It is said that this is a very deformed country, and its deformity is even worse than that of the Great Ming. About 20 percent of the population is dominated by rulers, and the other 80 percent are peasants.

The peasants did not have any land ownership, and the country was divided into feudal fiefdoms of various sizes.

The largest of these was the shogunate domain, which was under the jurisdiction of the shogun. The other realms belonged mainly to feudal lords called "daimyos". The daimyo had domains called feudal domains, and there were nearly 200 of them in the country. The size of the territory is calculated in paddy. At this time, the Shogunate produced about 25 million koku of rice throughout the country, with the shogunate's domain accounting for 8 million koku, and the daimyo domains ranging from 10,000 koku to 1 million koku. Large cities such as Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka and some mines were under the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate.

The samurai were fierce and mostly outlaws, while the peasants were very slavish.

After the capture of Yokohama, Wang Wenyue obtained a large amount of grain stored in the granary, totaling more than 200,000 stones, as long as some rice was given to these Japanese people so that they could live, they would not resist.

The Japanese people in the city were conscripted to carry supplies to the port, while Wang Wenyue transferred most of his troops to the outside of the city, and after purging the samurai in the city, only 2,000 defenders were stationed in the city, of which 1,000 pikemen were deployed in the city and half of the artillery battalion.

These forces were enough to suppress the craftsmen in the city. The reason why all the pikemen were left in Yokohama was because they didn't really need pikemen, because there were no cavalry, only some officers had horses, and the army didn't have to face the threat of cavalry, but they had cavalry.

The reason for the defense of Yokohama is because Yokohama will be used as a heavy place for stockpiling supplies. Wang Wenyue's task is still to rob, grab money, and rob people.

Other towns didn't need to be defended after they were captured, and his Honshu mixed brigade didn't have as many troops to defend them.

Wang Wenyue placed his troops and horses outside Yokohama Castle to wait for the soldiers and horses from the Edo side to come and attack. Although the defense in Yokohama Castle was foolproof, it did not achieve the purpose of attacking.

At this time, it was not the time to attack, and the supplies behind had not yet been loaded onto the ship, and the Japanese people in Yokohama Castle had to wait for the supplies to be unloaded before tricking them into the ship and transporting them to Shandong.

Yokohama was very close to Edo, and it only took a day to get there, and it was supposed that the Shogunate troops on the Edo side would soon reach Yokohama, but Wang Wenyue waited in Yokohama for three days and did not see the Shogunate army coming to attack.

In the past three days, the materials on the fleet have been transported into the warehouse in Yokohama. At the same time, Wang Wenyue snatched more than one million taels of silver worth of goods in Yokohama Castle.

These goods were directly loaded onto the ship by Wang Wenyue, and seeing that the Edo shogunate did not respond, Wang Wenyue immediately posted a recruitment order and ordered a forced conscription.

In the city, he himself, both men and women, as long as they were young and strong, forcibly pulled them onto the ship, like piglets, and stuffed them into the cabin.

At the same time, the cavalry went around and broke the tranquility of the villages around Yokohama, captured the Japanese people in the villages, and then brought them to the port and loaded them onto ships.

"A total of 20,000 Japanese slaves have been put on board this time, which is far from enough people to ship, but this is an extraordinary time, the fleet must return first to continue transporting supplies, and the next time we arrive in Tokyo Bay, our mixed brigade must capture enough Japanese slaves in order to maximize other benefits." The officer of the staff said: "Only half a month. ”

"We captured Edo in half a month." Wang Wenyue said resolutely.

"Report to the brigade seat, the shogunate has gathered 60,000 troops and is heading for Yokohama." At this time, a scout came running and reported, "And there are seventy or eighty export artillery pieces made in Shandong, which are fifty miles away from our army." ”

"Here we are." Wang Wenyue's spirits perked up and he ordered: "All units are ready for battle. ”

"Yes."

…… Tokugawa Iemitsu believed that under the strong invasion of the Ming army, it was necessary to mobilize enough troops to be able to defeat, and if the tactics of adding fuel were used, not only could not defeat the Ming army, but also lost strength.

Therefore, after nearly five days of troop mobilization, the first batch of 60,000 soldiers and horses were mobilized, and 80 artillery pieces purchased from Shandong were also brought with them.

And the second batch of soldiers and horses is already on the way, and after half a month, 80,000 troops can be drawn. At the same time, nearly 200,000 troops can be drawn from various domains.

And the Ming army was only 20,000!

No matter how strong the Ming army was, it would not be possible to defeat the shogunate army.

After the army was assembled, Tokugawa Iemitsu ordered Itakura Shigemasa as the commander to attack the Ming army! However, after sending these 60,000 troops, Tokugawa Iemitsu was not very relieved, and sent Matsudaira Nobutsuna to supervise the army, Matsudaira Nobutsuna was a retainer who had followed him since he was a child, and Tokugawa Iemitsu was 100% trusted.

"If the Ming army is tricky, it can't win in the short term, and surround the Ming army and wait for the reinforcements of all the armies." Tokugawa Iemitsu told Matsudaira Nobutsuna.

"Hello!" Matsudaira Nobutsuna nodded heavily.

(To be continued)