Julian sat up from his hammock, took a silver cigarette case from his pocket, opened it, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, and then pulled out a copper matchbox from the other pocket.

Pulling out a match, he skillfully swiped it on the sole of his shoe, and a small flame burst out.

I took two puffs, let the spicy taste turn around in my mouth twice, and finally spit out of my mouth, forming several very complete smoke rings.

"Borrow a fire."

David, who was sleeping on the shelf, smelled the smoke and immediately sat up, jumped out of the shaking hammock, walked up to Julian and said with a smile.

David was an old smoker, but he was also a poor man.

He's been out of smoking for days.

Although there was a lot of cigarettes in the room not far away, it cost money, and David was not only an old smoker but also an old poor ghost, and his money had long since been spent.

Julian has become accustomed to David's borrowing fire in the past two days, and borrowing fire is actually rubbing smoke.

He took one out of the shining silver cigarette case and threw it to David, and by the way, he lent him the cigarette in his mouth to light it. Taking the cigarette, David quickly lit the cigarette to the cigarette, took two puffs, and then returned Julian's cigarette to him.

"This big front door is really strong enough, I still like this taste, then China is actually a little soft."

Julian silently put away his silver cigarette case, which was one of the gifts given to him by his sister Lina, and he liked it very much. Silver cigarette boxes and copper matchboxes, these two things are the configuration of middle and senior officers in the Han army, and it is generally difficult for outsiders to buy them. I don't know where my sister got it. It is estimated that the Guo official brought it.

With these two things in my hand, I have a lot of face.

However, the silver cigarette boxes of the general senior officers are all military-supplied Chinese, as well as non-military and special ordinary versions. But the price is extremely high, the cheapest pack also costs two silver horns, and the most expensive kind costs one silver dollar per pack. The last time my sister gave him a silver cigarette case, she also gave him two packs of Chinese, not the kind sold outside, but military supplies. However, he didn't give up a single cigarette and gave a pack to the instructor of the training camp. Then give yourself a pack to the battalion commander.

David naturally has never smoked China, but he always boasts that Daqianmen is easier to smoke than China, and in fact, he has seen the officers of the Han Army smoke it. At most, I smelled a little smoke on the side.

These people usually smoke, and at most they smoke at the front door. The big front door is a mercenary favorite, spicy and strong, but cheap. A pack is only two cents. But compared to the tobacco leaves rolled by yourself. It is easy to smoke and convenient.

"Brothers, they're all done smoking, aren't they?" Julian asked David.

"I ran out the day before yesterday." David replied as he smoked a cigarette.

They were on an island at the northwest end of Sanyo Road, at the southwest tip of Japan's main island of Honshu.

This island belonged to the Nagato country, which was the domain of the Choshu domain.

As the Nagato between the Japanese island of Kyushu and the island of Honshu, it has always been an important place to connect the two sides, and it is also a place of contention in the event of war.

However, the Choshu Domain had already surrendered to the Han Dynasty and became the vanguard of the curtain.

This island was not captured by them, but a base camp for mercenaries assigned to them by the camp of the great general. There are more than twenty miles around the island. The hill on the island is about 100 meters high, and there was originally a small fishing village on the island. Hundreds of people, because of their arrival, have moved back to Hagi City, which is now the base camp of their mercenaries.

There are 5,000 mercenaries, and now all of them are thrown here, plus the Han army logistics personnel here, the island is full of people.

Although they were not regular troops, the Han army also included them in the military supply system, and they used a lot of food and drink, even cigarettes, tea, soap, etc.

There are rations, one per mercenary per month.

Each pack is a standard pack of ten, and each pack is a standard pack of twenty.

This cigarette is actually the same as what they eat and wear, and all the expenses will be calculated on their heads in the end. But there is no need to cash out anyway, and the mercenaries are very satisfied with it.

But if you are a smoker, one cigarette a month is definitely not enough. It doesn't matter, there is also a shop on the island that has cigarettes, toilet water, etc., and in addition to no alcohol, there is also a wide variety of goods. But you have to cash out for the things in this store.

And it's basically very expensive, to use the logistics person, they came from across the ocean. However, the price is three times that of the Tianjin training camp, which still makes many mercenaries very helpless. A lot of people don't think it's too expensive, but they can't come up with any money.

Julian took out two silver dollar coupons from his pocket, "Go to the small shop and get two large front doors, and a few cans of beef, and a few bottles of beer by the way." ”

David took it excitedly, the two big front doors were only four dimes, and there was still one yuan and six dimes left, and he could buy a small keg of beer and a few canned beef.

"Thank you, the cats fish on this island every day, and the birds are fading out of their mouths." David took the money, hummed a ditty and ran to the commissary.

Julian remembered what his sister had told him, in the army, be generous, usually spend some money to buy some cigarettes and alcohol for your brothers, and get along with everyone, maybe they can save your life on the battlefield.

And their family is indeed not short of the little money to buy cigarettes and alcohol now, Julian joined the mercenary army, not for a big Han household registration, he was awarded a knighthood for his meritorious service.

Although he is still only a small squad leader in charge of ten people, he believes that one day he will become a knight.

But I looked around and saw this noisy island, surrounded by waves, and all that was left was seabirds.

After staying on this broken island for half a month, Julian, like many mercenaries, was a little demoralized. When he first came out of Tianjin, most of the ambition to ransack Japan was now blown away by the sea breeze.

I don't know when I'll really land in Japan and do a big job.

A moment later, squad deputy David had already come over with a wine barrel, followed by two mercenaries from the squad. These guys are always so quick when they have to eat and drink. But it's also because of his generosity. The atmosphere of the mercenaries in their squad is much better than that of other squads.

"Damn, the price of beer has gone up again. It's so dark. The deputy put down the twenty-pound beer barrel and scolded him. Alcohol is forbidden in the military, but because this is not a front-line battlefield, beer has been a sideline, and many people say that beer is not alcohol.

With the acquiescence of the above, the commissary here got a batch of beer for sale, but the price was very high. The shop said that the wine was shipped from the port of Qingdao in Shandong. However, as everyone knows, this beer is actually produced in Hirado, Japan.

Hirado became the Great Han Concession for more than a year. This commercial port is very prosperous and has many workshops, including a brewery specializing in the production of beer.

Compared to the beer brewed in my sister's shop, the beer in Hirado tastes much worse. But it's better than nothing. Therefore, even if they often increase the price from time to time. But the European mercenaries still patronized from time to time. If it weren't for the lack of credit, I'm afraid that there wouldn't be enough wine for these guys to drink.

"I just met those staff officers in the shop who were also drinking, and I heard them say that we are going to go out in the next few days."

David thought of what he had just heard and hurriedly told Julian.

The mercenaries in the squad couldn't help but be shocked when they heard the news.

"Damn, is the fight finally going to start, I'm already impatient to wait."

David hurriedly relayed all the gossip he heard.

For example, the emperor came to Japan in person, and the four feudal clans returned to obedience. For example, Zheng Lian, the rear general of the Seventh Fleet, captured Tangjin in only one hour, and for example, the general of Zheng. The right privy envoy, General Liu Yunsheng, had just led five detachments to capture Fukuoka without bloodshed.

"The war has officially begun, and as soon as the war started, the six feudal domains have been broken in a row, and now most of the Kyushu Island has been captured by the Imperial Navy, and even the northwest tip of Honshu Island has two feudal domains that have been controlled by the Empire."

"Oh my God, this is too fast, these Japanese dwarfs are too useless." One of the mercenaries was surprised.

"What is surprising about this, considering how many people there were when I worked for the Dutch, but they also came all the way from Western Europe to the East Indies, and how many territories were snatched along the way. Under the cannon of the strong ship, relying on swords and arrows, it is not an egg to hit a stone. ”

David was also an old mercenary, and he was not surprised by the rout of the Japanese. At the beginning, the Dutch rode on warships, with huge cannons, and were armed with arquebuses, which was already extremely advanced. It can be compared with the Han army, but there is a big gap, not to mention the huge scale of the Han army, the guns of the Han army alone are much more advanced, and now some European countries have just begun to equip a small number of flintlock rifles, but the Han army has developed a new type of sharp flintlock rifles, and large-scale installation.

Not to mention that their artillery technology is leading the world, especially the artillery of the Han army, which is the world's first real regular artillery unit, the artillery of King Gustav II of Sweden is just a half bucket of water, but it has been beaten by European countries amazed.

In David's view, the Han army's eastward expedition to Japan was much easier than the Portuguese occupation of Malacca, the Spanish occupation of the Philippines, the Dutch occupation of Batavia and other East Indies.

The Netherlands and other countries, with more than a dozen ships and thousands of guns, can build a large colony in the East, can it be that thousands of warships and two or three hundred thousand navies of the Han Dynasty can't destroy a small Japan at their doorstep?

"I heard that the Imperial Navy has obtained more than 100,000 Japanese prisoners, it's only been a few days, damn it, those Japanese lords who surrendered have made a fortune, a population of two oceans at the lowest, and the price of young and strong craftsmen is even higher."

When David said this, his tone was full of envy.

The mercenaries were all counting on coming to Japan to make a fortune, and now they are trapped on this island, and they are already depressed, and they are not happy to hear that the Japanese daimyo who surrendered are making a fortune instead.

"Damn, you're so careless about this little Japan, won't they all drop before we play, right?"

"Probably not, I heard that Japan also has a population of more than 20 million, and if it is fully mobilized, it can raise a million soldiers."

The population of 20 million is placed in Europe, which is also a top power, such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden and other emerging powers, but they are neither big nor have many people, such as the Netherlands. Seven provinces are united, a lowland country where most of the country's land is below sea level, and the country has a population of only about 2 million.

"I hope that the Japanese emperor will hold out and resist. Otherwise, we won't even be able to drink a sip of soup. ”

"The Emperor of Japan is a woman, and I heard that she is still very young."

"Nonsense, how can there be an emperor in Japan, the biggest is a general, I heard that the surname is Tokugawa."

A group of mercenaries were arguing there, but Julian also secretly hoped that Japan would not surrender so weakly, and he did not want to make this trip in vain.

David scolded the Japanese with everyone. One will scold them for being soft, and the other will hope that they will pick up the courage to resist. But he wasn't idle, and he handed out the cigarettes first. Two packs per person. Then pry open the barrel and start dispensing the wine to everyone.

Each person brought his own kettle, and a barrel of wine was about exactly enough for each person to fill a kettle.

Julian and the other mercenaries were drinking and scolding the Japanese, in the middle of the Edo port. Liu Jun was listening to the generals' recitals.

The war went very well. The Imperial Navy attacked several times, but it was all Lion Botu, Karatsu, Fukuoka, Kokura, Omura, Shimahara, Amakusa, Kurume, and other feudal castles were captured one after another.

And several Japanese daimyo who belonged to Nabeshima, Shimazu, Matsuura, Mori, etc., also worked very hard to lead their troops to launch a surprise attack on the nearby daimyos.

In less than half a month, more than 20 feudal domains in Kyushu have been completely swept away, and they will either be destroyed or surrendered.

Outside of Kyushu Island, there was also the Mori family of the Choshu Domain, who captured the small Tsu and Noe domains. Approaching Iwami Province and Hiroshima Domain.

Although Kyushu Island was successfully taken as scheduled, it was very exciting for the Han army. However, it seems that Kyushu has more than 20 feudal domains. It sounds very powerful, but in other words, Kyushu Island is actually equivalent to the Shandong Peninsula, or the Liaodong Peninsula.

An island of Kyushu is less than one-third the size of Zhejiang Province. The so-called Kyushu means that there used to be nine Japanese reido countries, so it is also called Kyushu. And these nine countries are actually the size of a county in China.

The capture of the Nine Kingdoms in half a month certainly sounds very popular, but if it is replaced by the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, a total of twelve fleets and no less than 100,000 troops were gathered, and only eight or nine counties were captured in half a month, it would be very ordinary.

But this is still beyond the plan, in the Privy Council's plan, they estimated that the Japanese resistance may be more violent, and even some suicide samurai, peasant militia, guerrilla tactics or something, but in fact, before the battle began, several daimyo took refuge in the Han, and then there was no decent resistance, such as Fukuoka, the daimyo actually fled without a fight. A small feudal clan like Tang Jin resisted, but it didn't last an hour.

It's beyond what was originally planned, but it's a good thing.

Next, we plan to divide into three steps, one of which is to load the Japanese people captured by various feudal domains and send them to the Central Plains for resettlement after screening and registration. Second, the troops were divided into two routes, and our Imperial Navy attacked Japan's Nankai Province, that is, Shikoku Island, from the sea. Strive to quickly take over the entire island of Shikoku and exercise absolute control over it. On the other hand, the daimyo of the Japanese Vassals led his troops to land on Honshu Island in the Choshu Domain and marched to Honshu, and also transferred mercenaries to land on the coast of Honshu Island to carry out raid and harassment operations.

The reaction of the shogunate during this period is very interesting, they continue to send people to sue for peace, and on the other hand, they also completely abandon Kyushu. There was not enough sea power so that the Edo shogunate did not dare to counterattack Kyushu at all.

The staff officers judged that the shogunate's strategy was to retreat to Honshu Island, and now a large army was assembled in Iwami and Hiroshima, at the northwestern tip of Honshu.

Iwami Province is now the Matsue Domain, and its most famous mine is the Iwami Silver Mine, which can produce 1 million taels of silver per year. In the 40 years of Iwami, three feudal lords were replaced, and three years ago, the Echizen Matsudaira family moved to Iwami, and since then the Matsudaira family, a daimyo of the pro-domain, has become the lord of Iwami.

However, the Iwami Silver Mine, which had been fought over by various feudal clans for hundreds of years, had already been brought under the direct jurisdiction of the Tokugawa family and sent to manage it.

Matsudaira Naomasa, the daimyo of Matsue's feudal domain, has 180,000 kokugao, and to the south is the Asano family of the Hiroshima domain, with 420,000 kokugao.

Before the Battle of Sekigahara, the territories of Iwami and Hiroshima had been the domain of the Mori clan of the Choshu domain, but after the Battle of Sekigahara, the territory of the Mori clan was greatly reduced.

The Fukushima clan came to control Hiroshima, but 20 years ago, the feudal lord expanded the castle without permission, and the Tokugawa clan confiscated the territory, after which the Asano clan became the ruler, but the stone height has been reduced from more than 500,000 stone to 420,000 stone high.

The Choshu domain was returned to the Han army, and in one fell swoop it attacked and captured the 30,000-stone Tsuwano domain, and the front of the army was directed at Hiroshima and Matsue, which greatly made the two feudal domains very nervous.

The two feudal clans kept asking Edo for help day and night, and the Tokugawa family refused to back down. Not only could they not retreat any longer, but they also had to retake Choshu.

The Choshu Domain is located at the northwestern tip of Honshu, adjacent to Kyushu. This is the northwestern gateway to Honshu, and the Tokugawa family must recapture it and guard it. What's more, Iwami is still the largest silver mine in Japan, with an annual output of one million silver, and if Iwami is lost, the shogunate will lose a lot.

In this situation, where there was no way to retreat, the shogunate mobilized troops and horses, and now gathered more than 100,000 troops in Hiroshima and Iwami to prepare to meet the Han army.

"Iwami has abundant silver reserves, and there are also a large number of associated copper and iron ores, and today the annual production is more than one million taels of silver. If we ramp up our mining efforts and use our latest silver mining and refining technology, doubling production is not a problem. ”

Two million taels of silver a year, and if it is minted into various silver coins, it can be built into nearly five million silver dollars.

Of course, the Great Han did not lack five million, but what he lacked was silver. Nowadays, the Han Dynasty still uses the silver and copper double standard system, and the silver dollar coupons can be exchanged for silver at any time, which makes the imperial court have to ensure that it has sufficient silver reserves in order to maintain the increasingly large credit system of silver dollar coupons.

However, the silver reserves of the Han Dynasty are extremely low, and the output of that point is simply not enough, and the silver import from Japan is very important when the silver imported from the Americas through the South Seas is decreasing.

If you take the Iwami Silver Mine, after expanding the scale, you can maintain a mining volume of two million taels a year, which is a steady stream of silver money trees, which is quite important for the Han Dynasty.

Silver is no longer just a currency, but a guarantee of credit. Somewhat similar to the huge demand for the US dollar in China in the 80s and 90s, what is lacking is not the currency value represented by the US dollar, but the countless important roles played by the RMB in the international community.

In the eighties and nineties, China was desperately trying to earn foreign exchange, and now the Han Dynasty is the same, and it needs to work hard to earn silver.

But since Iwami Silver Mountain is so important, those staff officers seem to plan to let the Japanese feudal lords fight Iwami, and let the Imperial Navy fight Shikoku Island, which reveals a strong smell of driving away tigers and wolves, which is to make those Japanese imperial allies take advantage of the fire of the Han Dynasty!

(To be continued.) )

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