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"Retreat! Retreat quickly! "Abe Tadaaki has lived for decades, and he has never seen such dense artillery fire, nor has he ever seen such a powerful shell. Blossom bombs exploded not far in front of him, and every loud bang would take seven or eight lives. After the first round of shelling, he didn't pay much attention to it, who would have thought that by the second round of shelling, the number of shells would double.

Thirty-five fourth- and fifth-class warships sailed into Arakawa one after another, and Abe Tadaaki's team also narrowed the distance. The artillery fire of the thirty-five warships covered almost the entire phalanx of the Japanese invaders, and 800 shells fell beside the Japanese and exploded, and the power can only be described as earth-shattering.

After only three rounds of artillery bombardment, most of the 5,000 Japanese cavalry and 25,000 Japanese infantry were reimbursed, and less than 5,000 people were able to stand up. The Mawei battleship continued to fire for another round, and then stopped, and for a few minutes, it was not bombed, and its legs and feet were far away from the area covered by the artillery fire, and most of the corpses that remained were dead. Even if the few who didn't die, they probably won't live long. Abe Tadaaki's luck was better, although he was at the forefront of the Japanese army, but several of his subordinates protected him and pressed him down, so he was not harmed.

The flowers bloomed two and one on each branch, and the Arakawa side won a great victory, and the Edogawa side also achieved a lot of results. About 30,000 feudal lords living in Edo have gathered their own personal guards and are already on standby in the south of the castle, and these feudal lords are the least powerful, with few territories, populations, and troops. Therefore, he lived in Edo Castle with his family. After all, Edo was far more prosperous than their rural areas. Their personnel composition is more complex. It is a coalition of many daimyo troops, so the speed of assembly is not as fast as that of the directly subordinate retainers. After spending nearly an hour assembling the team, they were ready to follow their retainers to Edo Port.

Thirty-six ships of the 4th, 5th, and 6th fleets entered the Edogawa River and traveled five kilometers without finding anything unusual, but after about a kilometer further, the river forked. Originally, there was also a spacious river that connected the Edo River to the old Edo River. This section of the river is just south of Edo Castle, and the width of the river is 100 meters. The depth is also eight meters. Thirty-six warships sailed here, and began to diverge, after all, this section of the river was not as wide as the Edogawa, so only fifteen fifth-class warships diverted into this section of the old Edogawa, and the other fifteen fourth-class warships and six fifth-class warships continued to move north along the Edogawa.

This small tributary that connects the two rivers of the Edogawa River and the old Edogawa River is like the first stroke of the kanji "ren", which flattens a little bit, and the whole shows the east-west direction. Fifteen fifth-class warships followed the east wind and quickly headed towards the south side of Edo Castle. The coalition of 30,000 feudal lords gathered in the south of the city happened to encounter these fifteen warships that came by surprise, and the captains of the ships did not say a word. As soon as the distance was closer, the cannon was immediately fired.

The direct retainers on Arakawa's side are finished. Less than ten minutes after the cannonade stopped, the sound of cannons and explosions rang out again from the south side of Edo Castle. This time the artillery density was far less than just now, and there were only 300 guns on the fifteen fifth-class battleships, and there were no 30-pounder or 60-pounder guns. Of the twenty guns per ship, four were six-pounder, six eight-pounder, six twelve-pounder, and four eighteen-pounder. The number of sides of each type of artillery ship is equal and the placement is very symmetrical.

Fortunately, this river is not far from the location where the feudal lord's coalition forces are assembled, only 600 meters away, and although the six-pounder cannon is out of reach, it is within the range of the eight-pounder cannon. Fifteen warships, one hundred and twenty guns of more than eight pounder guns on the right side opened fire in unison, which also caused heavy casualties among the pirates. The shelling was also carried out three times, and all the feudal lords' coalition forces were scattered. In the open space where the original assembly was gathered, there were dead bodies left in one place, and according to later statistics, more than 12,000 people died here.

The fleets on both sides did not stop crushing the Japanese army, but turned their guns and began to bombard the buildings in the city. According to Geng Jingzhong's orders, not too many shots should be fired into the city, and one shot per cannon would be enough, so as not to kill and wound Edo Castle too much, which provoked the Tokugawa shogunate to resist desperately regardless of a single qiē. This is also because Geng Jingzhong's troops are too small, and there is no way to gain a foothold in any part of the Wa Kingdom, if he can hold more than 100,000 or 200,000 male soldiers, it is not a big problem to take Edo Castle immediately and swallow the entire Wa Kingdom. This little bit of his strength had to be left to deal with the army of the Manchu court, and he couldn't just put it here.

Seventy-one fourth- and fifth-class battleships, with a total of 1,130 guns on one side, excluding 230 six-pounder guns, a total of 900 guns fired shells into the city. Nine hundred shells landed in the city, and the naval soldiers didn't know at all, they just fired at the city. After the naval fleet was finished, it simply began to turn around and return home. In this attack, the fleets on both sides gained and eliminated a lot of pirates. The only things that didn't happen were the fourth-class warships that diverted into the Edogawa River, and they drove straight inside, and not a single Japanese soldier noticed it, so they had to fire a cannon into the city as ordered, and then returned sullenly.

"Shizi, the fourth, fifth, and sixth fleets in the east have also returned, and it seems that all the tasks have been completed!" Wang Zhenbang saw the last twenty-one battleships returning from the telescope, and said to Geng Jingzhong with a happy face.

"Okay, the combat mission here is over, order all the warships to set off for Yokosuka, and we will camp there tonight!" Geng Jingzhong was quite satisfied with this battle. In only half a day, the Edo Naval Division was annihilated, the retainers directly under the Tokugawa Shogunate were destroyed, the feudal lords' coalition forces were scattered, and Edo Castle was also dealt a blow.

The ultimate goal of Geng Jingzhong's series of methods is only this one, that is, to force Tokugawa Ietsuna to take the initiative to negotiate peace. Showing the Tokugawa shogunate's strong muscles to the horsetail army first, and then talking to them at the negotiating table, is the most direct and effective, and can also get more benefits

It had been a while since the Mawei fleet had been gone before Abe Tadaaki crawled out of the pile of dead. He shook his head vigorously. The cannon was so intense. Until now, his ears were still ringing. He staggered to his feet. Looking at the corpses all over the ground, I can't help but feel sad. This was all caused by his unknown circumstances, and he did not expect that the guns of the Mawei fleet could hit so far, and that they were so powerful. Tens of thousands of elites, just like that!

He swallowed deeply and shook his feet twice. He drew the short knife from his waist and knelt down facing Edojo. This knife was given to him by the former shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, who held the sword. After a gesture in his abdominal cavity, he brushed it, inserted it, and then pulled it horizontally, and Tokugawa Ietsuna's right-hand man went to see the three generations of shoguns.

The previous round of artillery bombardment by the Mawei fleet did cause heavy casualties in Edo Castle. Although there were not many people on the streets, it was because of this that the collapsed houses took more lives. The 900 shells also caused fires in many parts of the city, but fortunately the fire was small and was quickly extinguished by the actions of the city's rapid reaction forces. That's it. Edo Castle has been busy inside and outside for an hour, and our panicked feelings are gradually calming down.

Honmaru Hall. Together with Tokugawa Ietsuna, Masayuki Hoshina silently looked at the few generals who were silent under the steps. Masayuki Hoshina glanced at them and asked in a deep voice, "Where is Abe Tadaaki?" Are the specific casualties counted? ”

Matsudaira Tadacho, the chief flag of the retainer regiment directly under him, lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "Lord Abe Tadaaki committed suicide!" There are only 5,000 infantry left in the 30,000 retainers' regiment, and there are still 18,000 in the feudal lords' coalition army, and the losses in the city are not clear, but it is estimated that there will be no less than 30,000 casualties! ”

"Yaga! How could he die! And 37,000 samurai were killed in this battle? Bao Ke stood up and shouted in disbelief. Although Tokugawa Ietsuna did not speak, his face was full of anger.

37,000 is still a conservative number, and many are seriously injured, and in this era of extremely poor medical conditions, not many people are destined to survive. The lethality of the artillery of the Mawei fleet was too great, but Matsudaira Tadanaga personally led the troops into battle, and had a deep experience of the power of the artillery bombardment, if he hadn't run fast, he would have been one of the lying down at this moment.

Masayuki Hoshina quickly realized his gaffe and slowly sat down. Although he had expected that the loss would not be small, he did not expect such a heavy loss. What's more, without even seeing the enemy's figure clearly, it has already become like this, will the samurai still have the courage to face the Mawei fleet in the future? Human life is simply worthless in the face of artillery fire!

Tokugawa Ietsuna also kept thinking that such a loss was too great. Not only his army, but also the common people of Edo Castle had been frightened by the Mawei naval fleet, and the fierce artillery fire made him feel terrified. The Mawei fleet only fired nine hundred shells into the city, did they run out of ammunition? Absolutely not, it's a warning to them.

Tokugawa Ietsuna raised his head and said to Masayuki Hoshina: "Uncle, we can't fight with the Mawei fleet anymore, we must send an envoy to negotiate peace." ”

"Envoy to make peace?" Bao Ke Zhengzhi couldn't help but pause, staring at him with a surprised face and said, "What does the general mean is to conclude an alliance with them under the city?" Although we have suffered a lot of losses today, the army we have gathered is almost here, and we can still fight. ”

"You're wrong, uncle." Tokugawa Ietsuna shook his head with a heavy face and said: "You have also seen that the Mawei Army can go up the river and shell Edo, and today's shells are just a warning to them, they just want to force us to take the initiative to sue for peace." We have no means to deal with the Mawei fleet now, and if they go up the river again, shelling Edo, or even burning the castle, how will my uncle deal with it? ”

Hoshina Masayuki's face changed again, what Tokugawa Ietsuna said was not wrong at all, today's shells were just a warning from the Mawei Army, and he would not be naïve to think that the Mawei Army had run out of ammunition. The guns of the Mawei fleet were so powerful that if they really came to shell Edo again, or set fire to the city, Edo would have no means to stop them.

Seeing that Hoshina Masayuki was silent, the Tokugawa family continued: "My Tokugawa family has already established itself in Edo, and once it is destroyed, my Tokugawa family will not only lose face and lose its strength, but the powerful feudal clans in various places will definitely covet it." Then the whole country will be thrown into chaos. At that time, there will be a strong enemy outside, and there will be endless conquests inside, how will my uncle deal with it? ”

Baoke Masayuki suddenly felt sweat on his forehead and was speechless. (To be continued......)

PS: Hey, it's always at this time that the yard is finished, and my waist is so sore. Brothers, little brother once again brazenly asks for all kinds of support, thank you!