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"Takasugi-kun, what now?" In the night, Kusaka Genrui, who had just received the exact news, gritted his teeth and looked at Takasugi Shinsaku, "If they do this, we can't carry out a night attack anymore." ”

"There's no other way." Takasugi Jinsaku had a calm face, "For today's plan, there is only one word - withdraw!" ”

"Withdraw?" Jiusaka Genrui was stunned, and then his face turned angry, "You let me retreat without a fight......"

"We didn't retreat without a fight!" Takasugi Jinsaku immediately interrupted him, "We fought bravely, and we even raided, causing a lot of damage to them. So, Kusaka-kun, we've done our best and it's time to retreat. ”

"How can this be!" Jiusaka Xuanrui punched the small folding wooden table in front of him, "The lord handed over the horse pass to me, how can I give it to others?" We still have the strength to fight, so it's better to stay until the early hours of the morning, and take the opportunity to sneak in again and fight hard, and we will be able to win! ”

"Kusaka-kun!" Takasugi Jinsaku couldn't help but raise his voice, "We still have so many people, and the lord still needs support, we can't abandon so many people for the sake of your momentary righteousness!" In addition, the tactics you are talking about are not feasible at all! There are more of them than us, and they are stationed in the city, and they are clearly guarding against us, since they are guarding against us, how can they not know that the early morning is the most dangerous time? And how is it possible not to send sentries in turn?

What's more, they are divided into battalions one by one, even if we can break through one, the others will wake up, and when the time comes, they will line up with guns and have naval artillery support, and our people will not be enough for them to kill! ”

"But ......"

"Yoshisuke!" Takasugi Jinsaku suddenly called him by another name, which is also a name that only close friends in private will call. And he called this name, which shows that Takasugi Shinsaku is now in a very solemn moment, so that he has to play the emotional card.

Genrui Kusaka and Shinsaku Takasugi were two very famous people in the Choshu Domain, known as the "twin bi of Matsushita Murajuku", and these two men, at least during this period, were the backbone of the Emperor's Shoyi faction, and they were also the best of them.

However, in comparison, Takasugi Shinsaku's talent is much higher than that of Kusaka Genrui, but Takasugi Shin is low-key and introverted. It's not as good as Kusaka Genrui's publicity, plus Takasugi Jinsaku's early preference for wandering around, living in no fixed place, and not being very liked by Maori's relatives, so his reputation and status at this time are far inferior to Kusaka Genrui, who is flamboyant and eloquent.

Therefore, although it is said that it is a double wall, some people often compare the two of them, but those who have really come into contact with them will know that Takasugi Shinsaku's vision is far better than that of Kusaka Genrui.

Shinsaku Takasugi has one characteristic. That is, when talking about military strategy formally, they don't play emotional cards, they all have one thing to say, and call each other the official names. Playing the emotional card like this now shows that Takasugi Shinsaku is serious, and he is also showing his determination to never back down.

What many people don't know is that once Takasugi Shinsaku plays the emotional card. It's just a last-ditch effort of persuasion, and if you don't agree with him, it's just a private ordinary discussion. That's nothing, at most, he will find a way to change the topic and not discuss it with you, but if it is a formal military strategy discussion, especially this kind of situation that involves many lives and grand strategy at every turn, Takasugi Jinsaku is likely to turn his face on the spot, and while you are not paying attention, he will slash the other party with a knife, regardless of whether you are his iron buddy or not.

In other words, Takasugi Shinsaku is a person whose reason is far greater than his feelings, and he is a guy who can do anything for the righteousness in his heart, and of course, his vision and wisdom are indeed higher than ordinary people, so it is usually his decision that is more correct.

"Listen to me, Yoshisuke!" Takasugi Shinsaku pressed his hands on the shoulders of Kusaka Genrui, stared into his eyes and said, "I know you are very sad and angry, but this is not your business alone, or even the affairs of the Choshu Domain, but the affairs of the whole of Japan!" We have to leave it to work harder!

That's right, a blow of anger, but just a death, seems to be heroic, but in fact it is light-hearted, but in today's situation, life is more important than death, and it is more difficult and more important!

There is no doubt that at this moment, anyone with great ambitions is worse than dead, because to live is to take on more important responsibilities and to endure more suffering. So, do you want to die like a coward, or do you want to live like a real samurai? ”

"I ......" Kusaka Genrui gritted his teeth, and finally avoided Takasugi Shinsaku's eyes and looked directly, "Okay, I understand, I listen to you, retreat!" ”

"Good!" Takasugi Shinsaku nodded, and his hands left Kusaka Genrui's shoulders, "You're really still the Yoshisuke I know!" If you can stretch and bend, endure humiliation and bear the burden, you are the real husband! ”

When he said this, Kusaka Genrui didn't notice that Takasugi Jinsaku subconsciously held his knife handle with his hand, and he didn't know that he had just walked away from the Ghost Gate.

That's right, Takasugi Jinsaku actually had murderous intent just now, because he couldn't watch Kusaka Genrui take the whole army to death.

You must know that although the army in front of him, whether it is formed or trained, is actually planned and implemented by Takasugi Shinsaku, but in the end, Kusaka Genrui is their leader, if Kusaka Genrui insists on going his own way, then these people will definitely listen to him, not to themselves.

Therefore, just now, after Takasugi Jinsaku heard that Kusaka Genrui planned to lead someone to carry out a decisive assault, he had the idea of killing the other party, so he pressed his shoulders with both hands during persuasion.

Holding down the shoulder, not only care, but also means that the other party's arms are controlled, and once the conversation is not close, Takasugi Jinsaku will immediately take advantage of the other party's inattention to draw a knife and sneak attack.

At such a close distance between the two sides, Kusaka Genrui didn't have time to draw out the long-handled sword, on the contrary, Takasugi Shinsaku carried a short-bladed small sword, also called Wakicha, and at close range, the other party would never be able to stop him, even if the opponent's swordsmanship was very high.

Of course, Takasugi Shinsaku will not take risks blindly, and he will not play assassination regardless of a qiē, on the contrary, he has actually expected this situation for a long time, and the reason is very simple. That is, Takasugi Shinsaku knows this friend's character too well.

You must know that in terms of intelligence gathering, Takasugi Shinsaku has always been directly responsible, and he also has a ninja army under him that only obeys him, so he knows about the situation of the Shikoku Combined Army earlier and in more detail than Kusaka Genrui.

It was because he knew more, and because he knew his friend better, he knew that the other party was actually an impulsive person, so he arranged this military strategy seminar.

Since it was a military strategy seminar arranged by Shinsaku Takasugi. Naturally, it was already arranged. In fact, around the Chinese military tent surrounded by this curtain, the guards are all Takasugi Shinsaku's henchmen, and this Chinese military tent is relatively hidden, so as long as Takasugi Shinsaku is quick enough to take it by surprise and not let the other party cry for help, then it will be unaware.

When the time comes, as long as Genrui Kusaka is dead. Takasugi Shinsaku can blame his death on the Shogunate Assassins, anyway, the people around him are his people and can help testify, and everyone knows that the two have a good relationship. I won't believe that I attacked Genrui Kusaka.

In other words, this assassination plan was thought of early in the morning, but what. This is only an alternative, and it is launched when persuasion fails, if there is a chance that persuasion will succeed. If you can't use it, you don't need it, after all, Takasugi Shinsaku still has some feelings for Kusaka Genrui.

Sure enough, when Takasugi Jin made a camp, the samurai guarding the door immediately nodded and saluted him, but when he raised his head, he looked at Takasugi Jinsaku prettyly, which seemed normal, but he was actually asking what the situation was, whether to implement the second set of assassination plans.

In this regard, Takasugi Jinsaku was expressionless and continued to leave unhurriedly, but he shook his head slightly when he left, as if he was subconscious, but in fact, it was a code, telling the other party to cancel the action.

After walking all the way away, Takasugi Jinsaku looked at the night sky and exhaled softly: "Kusaka-kun...... Don't let me down! ”

Due to the unanimity of the leaders, as well as the early preparation and training, the retreat of the defenders of Shimonoseki was quite simple. Not only that, Takasugi Shinsaku also sent a few ninjas to quietly approach the Japanese concentration camp that was forcibly expelled by the Shikoku Coalition and learn the call of an owl.

Those seemingly normal owl calls are actually a reminder to the ninjas, or tanma, who are mixed with the ordinary civilians, and tell them not to act rashly and continue to lurk, because the army here is about to retreat.

This is a kind of one-way notice, whether the scouts in the concentration camp heard it or not, the Japanese defenders will retreat on time at that time, and will definitely not change their plans for a few scouts.

Of course, it can also be seen from this hand that although Takasugi Shinsaku does not have so many high-tech weapons, such as radio communications, he is indeed a master of strategy, and he has actually used intelligence warfare to the extreme under limited conditions, and has tried his best to know himself and his opponent, so as to make himself advance and retreat freely.

After all, the strength of the combined army of the British, American, French and Dutch countries is far greater than that of the Xiaguan garrison, in the case of an overall inferiority in numbers and weapons, the battle is like this, and the overall exchange ratio can still reach one to one, Takasugi Jinsaku can really be proud, although it is not comparable with the Taizu of the Red Dynasty in another time and space, but it has initially possessed some characteristics of guerrilla warfare.

There is no doubt that if Takasugi Shinsaku really holds the military power and is really determined to fight to the end, it will be a big trouble.

You know, although Takasugi Shinsaku's tactics are only a little rudimentary, and they can't be compared with the Red Dynasty Taizu in another time and space, but his opponent is also very poor, at least in terms of weapons, he does not occupy any insurmountable advantage, and the number of people is not particularly superior, but the hearts of the Japanese people are all on the side of the Choshu Domain, plus Japan's road facilities are not good, there are deep mountains and dense forests everywhere, and it is summer, this is simply a paradise for guerrilla warfare.

The next day, they continued to start the operation of raiding houses and houses, turning the whole port upside down, and when it was in the afternoon, they hurriedly took the big bags and returned to the dock to continue the alert posture of the first day.

Of course, during this period, the allied soldiers did not care about the besieged Japanese at all, but brought them a minimum of drinking water and food, so that they could not starve to death, but also definitely did not have much strength.

For three days in a row, especially when the team sent to visit the horses and report that there was no shadow of the Japanese army around, the allied soldiers relaxed a little.

Although the port town of Shimonoseki Port is also good, it is not the essence of Nagato Province, and the real essence is in Nagafu Castle, which is not far away.

Chofu Castle is not actually a castle in the true sense of the word, but was originally a castle town of the former Nagato Castle. But the Tokugawa shogunate period. The One Country, One Castle Decree was issued, Nagato Castle was abolished, and Nagafu Town prospered with its port and geographical advantages, and it became the essence of Nagato Province.

In other words, Changfu Castle is actually a city without walls, and it is quite large, not only prosperous in commerce, but also quite good in agriculture, after all, the terrain here is flat and the land is fertile. The climate is very good, the water conservancy is also good, and the rice and vegetables produced are also famous.

In short, at least two-thirds of the Chōshōshō Domain's economic income depended on Nagato Province, and most of the Nagato Kingdom's income depended on Chofu Castle and Shimonoseki Port. Although Shimonoseki Port was relatively important, at this time, the area near the sea was not suitable for habitation, so it was closer to the inland town of Nagafu. is where the real prosperity lies.

The combined forces attacked the Choshu domain this time, and it was clear that they wanted to make money and gain territory, so although they were very satisfied with the geographical location of Shimonoseki Port, they decided to occupy this place as a concession. But they can't just play a lower level and be done.

After all, although the income has not yet been accurately counted, according to preliminary calculations, the total amount of property looted by the coalition forces in Xiaguan does not exceed 60,000 taels of silver. That's too far from what they expected.

You know, Shimonoseki was the hub connecting Kyushu with Honshu before the 19th century. The strategic and economic position of the place is quite prominent, and the business is prosperous. Although the deep-water port had fewer berths and could not accommodate too many large ships, it gradually lagged behind the ports of Nagasaki, Kobe, Osaka, and Yokohama, but in 1862, the Shimonoseki area was still known for its prosperity.

So, in such a prosperous place, it is a raid and looting, how can it only find more than 60,000 taels of silver? That's not right at all!

According to Augustus's estimate, even if you can't compare it with Osaka, you can't find 10 million taels, but it should be no problem to get a million taels, but it turns out to be so poor, and the appraised price is only more than 60,000 taels of silver, which naturally makes everyone very angry.

Actually, this is because Augustus thought badly, and he didn't know the situation in Japan, nor did he know the situation in the Choshu domain.

Japan, a country that was similar to the Manchu Qing Dynasty before the Meiji Restoration, was also weak and poor, especially the word "poor people", which can be said to be far worse than the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Historically, during the reign of Emperor Meiji's father, Emperor Komei, the Japanese people could not guarantee even the most basic food and clothing, and most of the peasants were still living a half-starved life, which was a combination of high birth rate and high mortality rate, and the average age of the Japanese was not as good as that of the Manchus!

In other words, don't look at those big river dramas, how wise the Japanese samurai are, how majestic, how they worry about the country and the people, but these Japanese samurai are the ruling class, the real majority of the ruled class, and the life is called ragged and hungry.

The same was true of the Choshu Domain, which, under the rule of Mori Kokin, made efforts to introduce Western technology and learn from Western military technology, but it was mainly military, focusing on strengthening the armament of the domain, but it did not make much progress in domestic affairs.

In other words, the reform of Maori respect for relatives is that strong soldiers are given priority over rich countries, foreign guns and cannons have been introduced in the army, and Western military systems have also been introduced in the military, but the life of the common people is not much better, but it is more difficult than before, because the taxes are heavier than in the past.

Maori not only increased agricultural taxes, but also increased commercial taxes, and even minted copper coins privately, in short, in order to strengthen the army, and went to great lengths to make money, rather than using their minds to improve people's livelihood.

Of course, Maori Jingqin can not only loot, he himself is also very thrifty, and does not advocate luxury, in other words, he used all the money he looted to engage in armaments, in this regard, he is much worse than the former lord of the Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Qibin, although the people Shimazu Qibin is also military-oriented, but at least he knows how to engage in some industry, and he also knows how to make some people's livelihood, which is much better than Maori Jingqin's scraping the ground.

Because of the Maori reform, although the port of Shimonoseki seems to be prosperous, the income of the local residents of the port is not high, because a little money is quickly confiscated.

Of course, Shimonoseki, or Maseki Port, has a long history after all, and the accumulated wealth is still considerable, but as mentioned earlier, during the reign of Genrui Kusaka, Takasugi Shinsaku encouraged him to use local taxes to form two troops, namely the Writer's Front Team and the Odd Soldier Team.

However, when Mori ordered the shrinkage of his troops to Yamaguchi Castle, he had already expected that the port of Shimonoseki would not be able to hold it, and Soyi had already looted all the money and grain in the treasury. They were all transported to the new Yamaguchi Castle, so when Genrui Kusaka was in power, there was not much money in the treasury of the Shimonoseki area.

Since the treasury had no money, in order to gather the money for the formation of troops and the purchase of arms, Kusaka Genrui simply forcibly asked the local big merchants in Shimonoseki to collect a sum of money and grain, which was used to form an army.

In this way, most of the local big businessmen in Xiaguan are very sensitive, and they feel that the signs are wrong, and those who have money and ability have run away in advance and stayed. They are all people who don't have much money.

This is different from the original attack on Osaka, because when the expeditionary force attacked Osaka, yes, it was a surprise, and no one expected that they would have the audacity to attack Osaka Castle directly, and as a result, the big merchants of Osaka Castle did not succeed, and as a result, a lot of wealth was looted.

Edo Castle was the same, because Katsu Haizhou made a quick decision at that time, the people of Edo Castle did not expect that Katsu Haizhou actually colluded with the Chinese to turn against him, and in the end he did not run away in advance. That's how much wealth was looted.

However, the port of Shimonoseki was different, and earlier, the expeditionary force had revealed that it was going to fight the Choshu domain. It has already made local merchants afraid for a while, and arrangements were made in advance, and later, although the expeditionary force did not succeed, soon came to the Chinese. And the Choshu Domain and the new shogunate have been in a state of confrontation, so the sensitive rich people have long been trying to escape.

As I have long said about the situation in Japan, the people are poor and the country is weak. But the more this is the case, the more polarization becomes, so a very small number of people have a lot of wealth, and this very small number of people are those big businessmen.

As soon as this big merchant ran away, this gold and silver and the like, either ran away with the merchant, or buried in some hidden places on the spot, and even the locals couldn't find it, let alone the Four-Nation Alliance.

Therefore, it makes sense that the coalition forces did not have much money to loot locally.

However, the coalition forces did not know this, and they thought that the money had been transferred to Nagafu Town, or to other castles, so they hurriedly continued their attack.

Nagafu Town is not far from Shimonoseki Port, and it can be reached in less than a day if you walk or march quickly.

The Four-Nation Coalition Army was also careless, thinking that after this battle, they had broken their courage and had broken into an army and fled in all directions, so they were a little bold in their actions, and even sent 4,000 people to attack Changfu, and the people who stayed in Xiaguan to guard the port were only about 2,000 people, and they were scattered all over the place.

Sending 4,000 people was naturally not afraid that there would be any decent resistance from the Changfu, but purely in the hope that there would be more people and more things to move back.

Maybe you have to say, you still use yourself to move things? Directly forcing the local Japanese residents to transport is.

It seems like this, but don't forget, it was confiscated that was transported, or it was to be given to the boss, how could he personally participate in the robbery. Rob, you took the opportunity to stay?

In other words, the Four-Nation Coalition was temporarily assembled, and the discipline was not at the same level as that of the Chinese Expeditionary Force or the Japanese Dispatch Force, so it was impossible to completely prohibit the act of stealing chickens and dogs.

In fact, stealing chickens and dogs is also a benefit for the soldiers of the Four Nations Alliance, otherwise, they would not have divided into several waves and took turns to rob in the city. Robbery.

However, what they didn't expect was that the troops led by Genrui Kusaka and Shinsaku Takasugi did not go far at all, did not retreat to the Changfu, nor did they disperse, but hid in the nearby mountains and forests, living on the grain and mountain spring water they had stored earlier.

Not only that, but the spies of this army never stopped scouting the Four-Nation Alliance, and when it was discovered that they had divided their forces, and that the large army had gone to the Governor's Palace, leaving only 2,000 men in the port, Takasugi Jinsaku felt that his opportunity had come.

It was also a beautiful day, just when the coalition army divided its troops to attack Changfu, the area around Xiaguan was covered with dark clouds, and when it came to the next night, the pouring rain began to fall.

In this kind of weather, not to mention the muskets of the defenders of Shimonoseki Port, even the naval guns in the harbor are very powerful.

You must know that the troops of these four-nation coalition forces are not really elite troops, but colonial troops, although their muskets are generally updated with a new generation of muskets, but they are basically front-loading rifled Mini rifles, and although the firing device has been canceled flint, it has been replaced by fire. hats, but they are not protected from rain, especially not in heavy rains.

The same is true for artillery, although the artillery loading is less affected, after all, most of the artillery is in the cabin, but the rain is so heavy that Yan zhòng affects the aiming, so they cannot provide accurate fire support.

In other words, the night and heavy rain limited the firepower advantage of the Xiaguan defenders to the greatest extent, and the leather boots and clothes of the officers and soldiers were also very unsuitable for this kind of slippery ground. On the contrary, the Japanese army led by Genrui Kusaka and Shinsaku Takasugi was able to take advantage of their cold weapons, and their short height and straw shoes were more adapted to this kind of terrain.

In this way, on a rainy night, Genrui Kusaka and Shinsaku Takasugi, who had been lurking for many days, led all the men and horses, divided into two teams, each wearing two swords, biting a branch in their mouths, and quietly launched a surprise attack on the defenders of Shimonoseki Port amid the roar of rain and thunder.

In this way, the battle of Shimonoseki, which shook the whole of Japan, is known as the contemporary barrel saga, and is remembered by the history of Japan and the world. (The novel "Time and Space Smuggling 1859" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lottery gift for everyone!) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner "Add Friends", search for the official account "ddxiaoshuo" and follow, hurry up! (To be continued......)