Although the incident happened suddenly, Li Hongzhang quickly adapted to it and knew that the situation was urgent, so he simply negotiated a few conditions with Sheng Haizhou and agreed to Sheng Haizhou's request to send troops.

Li Hongzhang's conditions are not many, they are nothing more than three points.

The first point is that the expeditionary force accepted the employment of Sheng Haizhou in the name of mercenaries, and what they did did not represent the Chinese government, and they were counted as Sheng Haizhou's banner.

The second point is that although the expeditionary force is in one place with Sheng Haizhou, and nominally under the command of Sheng Haizhou, in fact, they go their own way, and the most that everyone can do is to discuss strategic issues, and as for where to fight and how to fight, Sheng Haizhou has no right to interfere, and the expeditionary force itself has the final say.

Thirdly, the military expenses of the hired expeditionary force can be owed in advance, but half of the income captured is distributed to the expeditionary force, which is counted as the military expenses for accepting the army.

For these three requirements, Sheng Haizhou agreed, after all, strictly speaking, these three conditions are not harsh, at least there are no requirements such as land cession and concession, if you remove the nature of the foreign army of the expeditionary force, these three requirements are commonplace, even if you command an ordinary vassal army.

But in fact, Li Hongzhang and Sheng Haizhou both know that these three conditions are for outsiders to see, once the rebellion is successful, then Li Hongzhang must have other conditions waiting.

Simply wrote two handwritten copies of these three conditions in duplicate, and then after both parties signed and drew the pledge, Sheng Haizhou actually did not stay to rest for a while, and immediately rode back with a handwritten letter.

Li Hongzhang couldn't stop it, so he sent two people with a radio intercom to follow each other back, so as to facilitate the central contact.

Although Sheng Haizhou was very tired, he was also very curious after listening to the radio intercom that could transmit sound for thousands of miles, but unfortunately the time was urgent. I couldn't figure it out carefully, but I just tried it briefly, and I quickly took someone away, planning to check slowly after I went back.

In this way, Sheng Haizhou came and went in a hurry regardless of fatigue, leaving Li Hongzhang sighing inexplicably in the back, feeling that the situation in Japan was really unpredictable.

But isn't it, he has just dealt with the British Minister to Japan, Ali Guo, and is worried about when to send troops to the Changzhou Domain. I'm still struggling with whether to fight the Choshu Domain, and when I turned around, I heard the news of a coup d'état in the Japanese General's Office, and then they wanted to borrow their own troops to help quell the rebellion.

Of course, there is actually nothing to discuss about this matter, because Li Hongzhang knows that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he finally bumped into it, and if he doesn't use it, he will really regret it for the rest of his life.

"But is this really credible?" Obviously. Tang Hailong was still a little suspicious, "A big general was quietly placed under house arrest, and people outside don't know much about it, but that Sheng Haizhou is so clear?" ”

"It's really important whether it's true or not." Li Hongzhang smiled. "The point is that we got an invitation, a real invitation. Well, I think that's it for Osaka, although it's almost bloodless. But the constraints are too great. Edo is different, Edo is said to be quite prosperous, and this time we are going to put down the rebellion. It's accompanied by friendly troops, and if it comes into conflict with the defenders of Edo, there will inevitably be casualties. In the fire, nothing more. ”

"You can't say that." Shi Dakai said, "I'm afraid that this thing is fake, it's Na Sheng Haizhou himself who wants to rebel, if that's the case, then won't we become accomplices?" You know, Nakatsu Kaishu came and went in a hurry, and it was a bit hasty to ask us to lead our army to Nagoya in five days to join his army, and then march to Edofu together. ”

"Even if there is fraud." Li Hongzhang glanced at Shi Dakai, "There are only 5,000 people in Nasheng Haizhou, so he can't help us, and in fact, he will never dare to play any tricks on us." ”

"I didn't mean that." Shi Dakai said, "I'm not worried that Sheng Haizhou is not good for us, I'm worried that this matter is actually Sheng Haizhou wanting to rebel." It seems a little inappropriate for us to get involved for no reason. ”

"There's something wrong." Li Hongzhang said, "Even if Sheng Haizhou wants to rebel, what if he wants to? Can't we defeat Edo with our strength? We used to have concerns because of political issues, but now we are still employed in the name of mercenaries, and there is no difference in nature. Once Edo is defeated and Katsu Haizhou is allowed to take charge of the shogunate's affairs, isn't that tantamount to controlling the Japanese government? What could be better than that? ”

Speaking of this, Li Hongzhang glanced at Tang Hailong and Shi Dakai, and found that they were still a little hesitant, so he simply took out the handwritten book written separately from Sheng Haizhou and slapped it on the table, and said earnestly: "Don't miss the opportunity, the time will not come again!" Ladies and gentlemen, I will bear this matter with all my might, and if something happens, it will be mine, and if there is a benefit, everyone will share it, this is all done, right? You see, I and Na Sheng Haizhou have even written the conditions, and they can't make me that trustless villain, right? ”

Hearing that Li Hongzhang had said this, Tang Hailong and Shi Dakai glanced at each other, and finally nodded and agreed to the request to send troops.

Thus, on the next day, July 6, 1862, the expeditionary force left one battalion to remain in Osaka Prefecture, while the rest of the troops sailed directly by sea to Nagoya Castle, and two days later, finally reached anchor thirty miles outside the port of Nagoya.

Thanks to the radio intercom, Katsukaishu soon knew that the expeditionary force had arrived, so he quietly ordered all of them to board the ship and join the task force in the sea outside Nagoya.

After the two armies converged, the leaders of the two sides got together for a little discussion, and soon came up with a plan, that is, to attack Yokohama first while the other side had not yet reacted, and then use Yokohama as a base to launch a banner of rebellion and attack Edo directly by land.

The reason for this is that the hydrological conditions of Yokohama Port are good, large ships can dock directly without rushing to cross, and most of the local defender generals are protégés of Katsukaishu, so it is easier to take this place.

In contrast, the conditions of Edo Port were far inferior to Yokohama at this time, and Edo Castle had strong defenses, a large number of troops, and coastal forts, so if it could not be attacked at one time and the stalemate continued, the consequences would be unpredictable, so it was necessary to take Yokohama by surprise attack first, and then use Yokohama and Kanagawa as bases to enter Edo Castle.

The plan has been decided. Everyone was also very fast, and when the other party hadn't reacted, they immediately went straight to Yokohama.

Although the situation after the meeting was a little chaotic because the two armies had not cooperated before, in the absence of foreign enemies, it was okay to be careful. In this way, it only took two days for the task force flying the banner of Katsukaishu to arrive in Yokohama first, and then did not say hello. Relying directly on the ship's strong artillery, he directly occupied a berth, and while continuing to fire fast guns, he used the berth to directly put down a regiment of marines from the ship.

This time, it was Peng Yulin's third regiment as the vanguard, and Peng Yulin's troops had basically never fought a happy battle since they participated in the expeditionary force. It was simply a hungry tiger going down the mountain, unstoppable.

Under the personal leadership of Peng Yulin, the officers and men of the Third Regiment relied on the cover of the naval guns in the rear, and they did not care what formation they were in. The routine is not routine, and the rifle with the bayonet on it rushed and slammed violently, and actually used the cluster charge of the Taiping Army era again.

But don't say it, it's a bluff. At least those Japanese defenders were frightened, and few dared to resist, and the result was a charge of the third regiment. They quickly rushed into the city and occupied the town of Yokohama in one fell swoop, completely breaking up the organized resistance of the local defenders.

Of course, the officers and men of the Third Regiment were too brave and took the other side by surprise, and the advanced weapons were also an important reason that could not be ignored.

You must know that the third regiment is generally equipped with Hua 2 rifles, which are all rear-loading rifles with fixed ammunition, and the performance and power are not comparable to the local defenders, plus the ferocious machine guns and grenades, as well as the support of naval guns, it is hell that the Yokohama defenders who met the enemy in a hurry can block it.

However, being able to go so smoothly is also related to the fact that the Yokohama defenders are not strong in combat.

Although the defenders of Yokohama were armed with many muskets and introduced Western French drills, they used old-fashioned front-loading firearms, and the military organization was still the old-fashioned line infantry system, which is also known as the line shooting method.

Such a unit is just a unit in the face of cold weapons, but in the face of troops with stronger firepower and a longer range, it is purely to find death, and it is better to charge with stragglers holding cold weapons.

When the 3rd Regiment was charging with all its might, it was always easy to defeat or completely annihilate their line infantry, but after the opponent was scattered, when it entered the street fighting stage, his own family was accidentally injured by a few men armed with katanas.

In other words, the opponent's organized resistance did no harm to the third regiment, but the opponent's resistance after it was broken up was a headache.

Fortunately, most of the soldiers of the third regiment were the old Qing army, and they also survived the cold weapon fighting, coupled with the ferocious firepower and stronger organization, once they reacted and formed one squad after another, they could no longer suffer any losses in the street fighting, and when the other party's town was captured, the enemy's resistance was completely over.

This is the advantage of not awakening the concept of the nation-state, the strength of resistance depends on the general, as long as the general surrenders or is killed, usually the resistance below is over. As for the bushido that would rather die than surrender, well, that's a legend, at least during this period, the Japanese were not so highly conscious.

In this process, although Sheng Haizhou did not send troops to follow him at the first time, he was also on Tang Hailong's flagship Pingyuan, quietly observing this qiē with a telescope.

Although Sheng Haizhou had not seen the combat effectiveness of the Chinese with his own eyes in the past, he had already given a very high evaluation according to the level of the opponent's weapons, but he never expected that when the actual combat started, it would be more fierce than he expected.

When he saw that the officers and men of the 3rd Regiment were irresistible at all, although he was silent on the surface, he was quite shocked in his heart. He was not only shocked by the sharpness of the opponent's weapons, but also shocked by the opponent's bravery, because he had seen with his own eyes that those Chinese really dared to hedge against the Japanese samurai white blade.

In fact, although white-knuckle combat is a necessary lesson for the Chinese Imperial Army, in the actual combat process, the Imperial Army does not advocate white-knuckle charging, but pays attention to using firepower to kill and injure the enemy as much as possible, that is to say, the white-knuckle training course is more about exercising the martial spirit of the soldiers.

However, most of these theories of the supremacy of firepower are only observed by the Praetorian Guard or the senior Wehrmacht, and the reorganized troops like the Third Regiment, which are halfway home, although they have been equipped with new weapons, it is difficult to change the old habits at once, especially when they are red-eyed, they always unconsciously like to play white-knuckle warfare.

It's like when the 3rd Regiment first started to attack the enemy, when it encountered a large group of men, it was of course greeted with firearms. All rifles and machine guns burst through, but once the other side was scattered and fled, many of them no longer wasted bullets, but chased after them with bayonets to play assassination, and many casualties at the beginning were generated in this situation.

Although this practice will cause more casualties, there is no doubt that it can easily boost morale and intimidate the enemy, because white-knuckle combat is the most shocking.

In a word. The original plan was for the 3rd Regiment to occupy an offensive position and then receive the follow-up troops, but who knew that because the 3rd Regiment was too brave and unconventional, the follow-up troops did not have time to disembark and land, and only the 3rd Regiment occupied the entire port of Yokohama in more than three hours and less than 30 casualties.

When the follow-up armies landed one after another, Sheng Haizhou served as the commander of the whole army. The banner of rebellion was raised on the spot, and then a little rectification was made in Yokohama, and the next day, troops were sent to Kanagawa. A soldier is coming.

At this time, the Port of Yokohama was actually under the jurisdiction of Kanagawa in terms of administration. In other words, the Port of Yokohama is at most a trade-oriented economic town, a real political and military center. It is the Kanagawa Castle, and the location of this shrine is in Kanagawa Castle, a small Japanese-style castle that existed in the Warring States period of Japan for the purpose of military defense.

Since it has not yet been fully civilized, the Kanagawa office is actually in Kanagawa Castle, and the position of Kanagawa is no different from that of the castle lord.

Although Kanagawa is a castle, these are all old guys from hundreds of years ago, and in the face of new artillery, it is useless.

Sino-Japanese alliance, no, it was Katsu Kaishu's rebellious army that only let the independent artillery battalion of the expeditionary force fire a round of artillery, which not only blew off the gates of Kanagawa Castle, but also blew up the defenders in the city with heavy casualties, and then, before Katsu Kaishu ordered a charge, Kanagawa's defenders surrendered.

Breaking through Yokohama and Kanagawa one after another, the morale of the entire rebel army was greatly boosted, not only the Chinese were jubilant, but the Japanese army that originally belonged to Katsukaishu's department was also elated, and it seemed that the victory of the rebel was just around the corner.

Just when the Sino-Japanese coalition army was celebrating its victory in a grand celebration outside Kanagawa Castle, Katsu Haizhou, Shi Dakai and others held a military meeting overnight to discuss the next march move.

"I think that the morale of our army is like a rainbow, and we should take advantage of the victory to attack." Shi Dakai pointed to the Edo Prefecture on the map, "The so-called soldiers are fast, while the shogunate has not completely reacted, we will raise troops tomorrow, and the whole army will go straight to Edo, I don't know what the marshal thinks?" ”

Sheng Haizhou is now the nominal commander, and the expeditionary force is Sheng Haizhou's nominal mercenary, so Shi Dakai called him the marshal.

At this point, Shi Dakai is still quite open, unlike Tang Hailong, who refuses to call Sheng Haizhou a handsome.

"Straight into Edo." Sheng Haizhou looked at the map and shook his head calmly, "Although our army's morale is like a rainbow and its attack power is strong, but Edo Castle has been in operation for hundreds of years, and it is definitely not so easy to take it lightly, even if it can be defeated, the losses on both sides will inevitably be very large, and if the general has some accidents again, it will also be a trouble for us." After all, we sent troops in the name of saving the general. ”

"What do you mean?"

"Show the enemy to be weak, and lead the enemy to attack!" Katsu Haizhou said, "The shogunate doesn't know about you coming to help me, and I'm playing my own banner, everyone knows that I only have about 5,000 soldiers and horses, even if Sanjo Minoru is timid, he must not be afraid of my 5,000 people." You must know that there are more than 5,000 people in the main army in Edo Castle in Guang, and it is not a problem to gather an army of 10,000 or 20,000 if you gather a little. ”

"So what are you going to do about it?" Shi Da opened the way.

"We should hold Kanagawa with great fanfare, and then release false news to lure the other side to attack." Katsukaishu said, "Between Kanagawa and Edo, it is only a five-or six-day walk, we can send a forward force of 1,000 men to attack, and then pretend to be defeated and retreat, the other party will see that we are so easy to fail, it will be careless, and will send a large army to attack us, and when the time comes, we will wait for work, and we will fight with the enemy in the field under this Kanagawa, and we will definitely be able to annihilate it in one fell swoop." ”

"If you do that, how long do you think this battle will last at the earliest?" Shi Dakai frowned.

"It's hard to say." Sheng Haizhou shook his head, "This back and forth, plus the other party's preparation, well, if it's fast, two or three months is enough." ”

"Two or three months?" Shi Dakai was stunned for a moment and shook his head, "It's not good." It's too slow. ”

"It's not slow." Sheng Haizhou said, "This is a big battle, two or three months, it's nothing, after all, they still have to organize people, we still have to lure the enemy, plus tactics such as tired enemies, two or three months is enough." ”

After a pause, Sheng Haizhou said: "Actually, we are not afraid of slow, the slower." The more opportunities we have. I'll tell you the truth, my real intention is that we will delay the army here, and then I will quietly send my men to contact the Edo Uchio, and when their main force is entangled with us here, the Edo side will be empty, and my men may not be able to take Edo, but it must still be possible to rescue the general. ”

"Oh, I see." Shi Dakai nodded. "So, do you want us to lure out the opponent's main force here, and then slowly drag the other party, and then you take the opportunity to send your spies to rescue the general?"

"Yes." Katsukai Boat Road. "If we attack Edo Castle directly, and they have the Shogun in their hands, it will be very troublesome on my side, after all, my people are actually sent to me by the Shogun. If the general himself is forced to appear at the head of the city, say that we are a rebel, and order us to withdraw our troops. It's hard for me to guarantee that my people won't have problems. On the contrary, if the general is not there, whether he is dead or rescued by us, we will no longer have to worry about the name problem, and we can attack with confidence. Once my people can give it a go, with the three of them, no amount of people is enough. ”

"Oh, I see." Shi Dakai nodded, "So, in fact, you came to us mainly to guard against the general?" Afraid that your men won't fight Edo with you? ”

"Yes." Sheng Haizhou nodded, "If they don't control the general in their hands, just with the three of them, the five thousand people in my hands are more than enough, but if they have a general, it will be difficult for me." ”

Shi Dakai, who understood, nodded: "No wonder you have to ask us to borrow troops." However, although your idea was good, I could not accept it, and I still stuck to my plan to attack Edo directly. ”

"Why?" Katsu Kaishu asked, "If you attack Edo directly, it will take a lot of effort and casualties, so why don't you stay here and wait for your work?" Don't worry, I'll leave everything to lure the enemy, you just need to recuperate here in peace and go out when the decisive battle comes, so why do you have to bother with that effort to attack Edo? ”

"I'm sorry, I can't say why." Shi Dakai shook his head.

Indeed, Shi Dakai can't sue Sù Sheng Haizhou for the reason, because he can't sue him, and we will have to leave Japan after staying for a month at most.

It was now July, and according to Shangfeng's order, the expeditionary force would stay until August at most, and they would leave Japan and board a ship for America, where Li Yongji had been waiting anxiously for a long time.

Moreover, according to Li Hongzhang, the Japanese dispatch force in China has already been organized, and it is estimated that it will arrive in Japan by the end of July, and then they will garrison troops in Satsuma and Osaka respectively to take over the territory laid down by the expeditionary force.

In other words, if there are no accidents, the campaign to attack Edo is likely to be the last battle of the expeditionary force in Japan, and if it cannot be resolved quickly and dragged on, it is likely to be abandoned halfway through.

Once they give up halfway, they fight the battle, but they don't get much benefit, it is definitely not a happy thing.

Of course, if the Japanese army was strong, he would not have forcibly attacked Edo regardless of the life and death of his brothers, but after a series of previous battles, especially after the Battle of Yokohama, he found that the Japanese soldiers were only as strong as that.

The Japanese were not at all as fearless as those books depicted, on the contrary, their troops were demoralized and tactically outdated, and even the few so-called samurai seemed bluffing, but they were not worth mentioning in the face of their modern weapons.

This is also true, at this time, the Tokugawa shogunate was already in the twilight, and the Western-style reform of the army had at most one or two pilots, which had not yet been fully launched, and the spirit of bushido had not been fully strengthened, so such a shogunate army, whether it was the will to fight or the actual combat ability, was quite backward.

In other words, Japan, which did not have the Meiji Restoration, was still only a semi-colonial feudal country, and the army of such a backward country could only be slaughtered in the face of the modernized Chinese expeditionary force.

This gave Shi Dakai a lot of confidence, he felt that since his strength was fully superior and the time was not sufficient, he should not play any tricks, just push it flat, and crushing it with strength is the best way.

"In short, I have my problems, and I have to solve them quickly." Shi Dakai to win the sea boat road,

"Well, if you are afraid that your subordinates will be disobedient to the general and will not be able to control it, then you can lead your troops to guard here, and leave the task of attacking Edo to us alone, so that our expeditionary force can complete the task of attacking Edo independently. When the time comes, all you need to do is send me a few guides, and I promise to take Edo in the shortest possible time! (To be continued......)