The task force's shelling operations continued, and because of the daylight, the accuracy was greatly improved, and the power naturally increased.

In particular, the burning of the bombs could not be extinguished with water, and the buildings of Kagoshima Port were mostly made of wood, so the fire was never finished as soon as it started.

Especially in large-scale fires like this, because of the high temperature in a large area, it attracts the surrounding air currents and forms strong winds, and then the wind helps the fire, which will make the fire bigger and bigger, spread more and more widely, and it is simply not something that can be extinguished by manpower.

In the end, even Tang Hailong couldn't stand it anymore, and when it was eight o'clock in the morning, he took the initiative to order the shelling to stop, because a fire like this spread throughout the port, the castle town, and even the main city could not be spared, and it was useless to shell again, it was a pure waste of ammunition.

You must know that Tang Hailong's original plan was to shell at least one day, so when he set off, he also deliberately brought a lot of supply ships loaded with shells, who knew that he didn't even need to fight like this in the morning.

"This kind of burning * burning-bomb is really powerful." Tang Hailong, who put down the binoculars, shook his head, sighed slightly, and said, "It's really hurting the heavens." ”

"That's Japanese." The adjutant behind Tang Hailong was a young man in his early twenties, young and vigorous, and full of imperial and Han thoughts, so he immediately said, "The Japanese deserve to commit a crime." Furthermore, in this world, the strong are respected, and the weak are to be ruled by the strong. Who made the Japanese weak, and if they were strong enough, or stronger than us, then we would be the ones who suffered. ”

"Well, that's right." Tang Hailong casually agreed, but said no more. Because he knows that continuing to entangle will only make him more troubled, because these young people think completely different from his own group, and you will never win by arguing with them.

"Lord Admiral......"

"Wrong. I'm not an admiral yet. Tang Hailong immediately corrected, "We are a task force and a commercial fleet, so we can't be called Admiral, understand?" Admiral can only be called by the Imperial Navy, and I can only be called Commander! ”

"Yes, Commander." The adjutant immediately changed his words, not knowing that Tang Hailong was just pretending, "Commander." Since the enemy has no power to resist, should we inform the expeditionary force and let them start preparing for the landing operation? ”

"Now? No, no, no, it's not time yet. Tang Hailong shook his head, "Look at this fire, it is estimated that it will not be over if it doesn't burn for a day or two, and it's useless to notify them now, let's talk about it in two days." ”

"So what do we do?" The adjutant asked, "Do you want to stay here and watch?" ”

"We." Tang Hailong suddenly frowned. "Have you noticed that the weather seems to be a little cloudy and windy?"

"Huh?" The adjutant was stunned, then looked out through the glass of the captain's room. "It's a bit cloudy, but if you do this kind of chengdù, it's not enough to rain, on the contrary. The more this kind of weather, the more helpful it is to the fire, so to speak. Don't worry, it won't rain anytime soon. ”

"No, no, no, you misunderstood." Tang Hailong continued to frown, and pointed to the fluttering flag on the Zhengyuan outside the window, "It doesn't matter if it's cloudy, the key is the wind...... Don't you think the wind is getting a little bit louder all of a sudden? ”

"Wind?" The adjutant looked at the Golden Moon Season flag on one of the friendly ships outside, and sure enough, it was hunting, and it seemed to be very windy.

"The wind is a bit strong." The adjutant nodded, "But it's not a big deal, the sea breeze is already strong, and the whole harbor over there is burning, and the heat is rising, which will definitely attract the surrounding wind, it's not strange." ”

Tang Hailong shook his head, continued to frown tightly, and did not speak again.

"Commander?" The adjutant looked at Tang Hailong frowning, "What are you worried about?" ”

"Typhoon!" Tang Hailong said solemnly, "I'm worried about the typhoon!" ”

"Typhoon?" The adjutant blinked, "Commander, are you a little too worried?" This is only the month of June, not counting the frequent typhoons. And in the past few days, it has been calm, and there is no sign of a typhoon...... You don't really have such a superstitious idea that Japan really has kamikaze protection, do you? In this case, I have to say a few words, the soldiers of our empire are now paying attention to science, and feudal superstition is unacceptable. ”

"You know!" Tang Hailong just wanted to continue scolding, but suddenly thought of this guy's background, and suddenly stopped talking again.

The reason is very simple, this adjutant doesn't look young, but he has a lot of background, and he is a member of the Qi family among the four major families.

The Qi family has the most people, and there are many descendants, and they are involved in all aspects, such as the navy, and the people of the Qi family are the most involved among the four major families.

Although the family background of the Tang Hailong family is not weak, the Tang family is also one of the first few major families in the founding period of the Imperial Navy, but compared to the four major families, it is still a little worse after all.

Of course, this is also divided into people, if it is replaced by Mo Haihu or Mo Haiwen here, it will definitely be unpretentious, but although Tang Hailong is not very old, he has always been tactful, so under normal circumstances, if it is not necessary, he is still not willing to offend the people of the four major families casually.

"Ahem." Tang Hailong coughed lightly, and then said, "Xiao Qi, you don't understand, this Japan is a typhoon-prone area, and it will enter the typhoon-prone period in May and June." Typhoons are different, and it is generally difficult to prevent them in advance, but generally speaking, there will be some signs before a typhoon comes, and old sailors can still detect one or two in advance. ”

"So you're saying that, in your experience, there will be typhoons in the next few days?" The adjutant asked quickly.

"It's hard to say." Tang Hailong shook his head, "Whether the typhoon comes or not depends mainly on luck." I look at the current weather, but there is a possibility of a typhoon, but it is also possible that it is simply cloudy, relatively speaking, the possibility of a typhoon is a little smaller. But we can't afford to lose, so we have to avoid even the slightest possibility, you know what I mean? ”

"Understood." The adjutant nodded, "The greater your advantage, the more cautious you must be, even thinking of the worst, what you have been taught in school." ”

"It's good to understand." Tang Hailong exhaled, "Pass my order, the whole army will pull anchor and set sail, let's go back to Shanchuan Port, go hide for two days first, and see the limelight." ”

"Yes!" The adjutant saluted, and then prepared to issue the order, but soon he said curiously. "Commander, even if you are afraid of typhoons, is it necessary to be so careful? Wouldn't it be good to stay a little longer? ”

"Be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years." Tang Hailong said, "Suddenly there is such a strong wind, I always feel a little strange. Besides, what else to watch, is it fun to watch people being burned from afar? It's better to go back and rest quickly. ”

"Don't you need to leave the observation ship behind?" The adjutant asked again.

"Leave a fart observation boat." Tang Hailong said, "It's all burned like this, what's left?" In this way, send someone over in three days to check on the situation, and if it is okay, then talk about it. ”

That's it. After burning Kagoshima Port, the five Yuanzi-class warships of the task force simply turned around and returned directly to Yamakawa Port, where they anchored and waited quietly.

Just as the task force turned around and left, there was also a fleeing crowd on the northern outskirts of Kagoshima Castle, most of whom were gorgeously dressed. Riding a horse, at first glance it is not an ordinary person.

That's right, this fleeing cavalry team is the 22-year-old young head of the Shimazu family, Shimazu Tadayoshi, and his entourage.

Due to the early run. In addition, there are horses to ride, so this team has run out of the range of fire at this time, but after all, it is not far away, and you can still feel the heat rushing to your face.

"Phew!" Suddenly. Komatsu, who was at the front of the way, took a knife and grabbed the reins, and the others noticed the situation and thought something was wrong. The horses also stopped.

"Shogoro!" Later, Okubo Ritsu pulled out a pistol and cautiously urged forward, "What happened?" ”

"Nope." Komatsu shook his head with a knife, and then touched the head of the horse under him, "It's just that we are running too fast, and the horsepower is already slightly insufficient, and if we continue to run like this, the horse will run to death." ”

Listening to Komatsu's words with a knife, Okubo Ritsu was slightly stunned, looked down at his horse, and sure enough, he was already sweating all over, and he kept panting, and he was on the verge of losing his strength.

Their horses are not the original Japanese horses, but the Western oceanic horses introduced in the Shimazu Saibin era, which are characterized by fast speed and strong impact, but they are not endurance and are not resistant to rough breeding, which is far worse than the Ili horses and quarte horses that the Chinese Empire got from modern society.

Okubo Ritsu is also a person who is familiar with the nature of horses, and knows that if they continue, although the horses can barely run for another part, it will take a long period of recovery later, and some of the gains will outweigh the losses. So the best thing to do is to get off the horse and rest, let the horse breathe, recuperate, drink some water, eat something and then continue running.

Thinking of this, Okubo Ritsu blushed slightly, because he actually knew this, but he didn't pay attention to it when he was busy running away and kept whipping up.

Now that I think about it, because they retreated early, they didn't need to ride their horses like before, and they could run out if they ran slowly, but unfortunately, they were all frightened, and they subconsciously kept hitting the horses, which made the horses maintain a high-speed impact posture and let the horses get out of force early.

Soon, but Okubo Ritsu is very well in the city, and the shameful thoughts quickly passed, and then he nodded pretending to be stern, and then returned to Iji Chi Masaharu to tell the matter.

After listening to Okubo Ritsu's words, Ichi Chimasaharu also nodded, and then ordered the whole army to dismount and rest.

During the whole process, Shimazu Tadayoshi didn't speak, but he was stunned by Iji Chimasaharu to give orders, and waited until a group of important ministers gathered around again, and everyone realized that something was wrong.

"Phew!" Masaharu Ijichi, who has the most prestige, age and power, suddenly shouted, and then slapped Shimazu Tadayoshi in the face twice, waking Shimazu Tadayoshi up in one fell swoop.

"Lord!" Seeing Shimazu Tadayoshi restoring his clarity, Okubo immediately asked with concern, "Are you okay?" ”

"I, I'm ......" Shimazu Tadayoshi was stunned, then quickly turned around and looked at the monstrous fire behind him.

With a puff, Shimazu Tadayoshi knelt on the ground, and then beat the ground with tears streaming down his face: "Father, father, ah......"

"Lord!" Seeing this situation, Okubo Ritsu originally wanted to go over to comfort him, but he didn't expect that as soon as he took half a step, he suddenly felt that his arm was being pulled, and when he looked back, it was his friend Saigo Takamori.

"Let him go." Saigo Takamori shook his head, "He needs to vent now, otherwise, he will be suffocated." ”

"Yes." Okubo nodded, and then stopped moving.

Soon, Okubo Ritsu also followed the example of Saigo Takamori, sat down cross-legged, and then looked at Saigo Takamori and said, "Now you have seen it, this is the end of the rue!" Until now. Do you still adhere to your idea of respecting the king? ”

"Of course." Saigo Takamori glanced at him, "This fire was not set by the Westerners, it was Chinese, can't you see this?" ”

"Chinese?" Okubo Ritsu frowned, "How is that possible?" Why are the Chinese beating us? Well, even if you want to fight, it's impossible to come over without saying hello, right? That's not their style! ”

"Humph! Ridiculous, ridiculous. Saigo Takamori shook his head, "Isn't it ridiculous that you've been beaten like this, but you don't even know who hit you?" ”

Although it was so sarcastic by Saigo Takamori. However, Okubo was not moved, but wondered: "How do you know that it is Chinese?" Is there any basis for this? Do you know who that fleet is? ”

"No, it's so far away (five kilometers), how can I see who they are." Saigo Takamori said, "I don't have a very definite basis, I only speculate." ”

"Speculation?"

"Yes, speculation." Saigo Takamori said, "You think, the Satsuma clan has recently been separated from Chinese. did not offend any outsiders, so from this point of view, the Chinese are the most suspicious. Also, if it's British, French, or American. They are accustomed to giving an ultimatum first, first using guò diplomatic means to achieve benefits, and they will only use force if diplomacy does not work, and they will not play sneak attacks like this. Only we Easterners like to go to war without declaring it. In the end, excluding Westerners, there is the ability to destroy the Satsuma clan in such a short period of time. It seems that there are only the rapidly rising Chinese. Therefore, comprehensive analysis, only the Chinese are the most suspicious. ”

"Why do the Chinese do this?" Okubo Passage, "If it was for the Yoshidaya matter, didn't we already detain the samurai who made trouble, and also sent an envoy to explain to the Chinese, why should this happen?" ”

"Why? Do you need to ask? Saigo Takamorido smiled coldly, "The Chinese have confidence and are ready to rob the colonies like other powers." And we, Japan, are closest to China, who are they robbing us if they don't rob us? ”

"But, but ......," Okubo Ritsu frowned, "China has always been a country of etiquette, especially after the rise of that Han boy, he has restored his Chinese clothes, and, moreover, ......"

"And they have already conquered North Korea." Saigo Takamori said, "Actually, since the Chinese conquered Korea, I knew that Japan was the next target, but I didn't expect it to come so soon." ”

"So, you believe that the Chinese did this qiē?" Okubo asked.

"Hmph, it's obvious!" Saigo Takamori sneered, "It's just that you're lucky, because you're afraid, afraid that Japan will become the next Korea." ”

Listening to Saigo Takamori's words, Okubo Ritsu was also silent, because he was right, Okubo Ritsu actually thought of this, but he didn't want to admit it, and he had been lucky.

"Yaga!" Suddenly, an angry roar sounded, and Okubo Ritsu looked back, but Shimazu Tadashi, who didn't know when he came over, was glaring at Saigo Takamori with an angry face.

"Oh, it turned out to be the young master of the Shimazu family." Saigo Takamori was not afraid at all, and nodded slightly, "In the future, the burden of the Shimazu family will be on you, please take care of yourself." ”

"You!" Shimazu Tadayoshi walked over in a few steps and grabbed Saigo Takamori's collar, "What did you just say?" You say, is it the Chinese who did this qiē? Isn't that so? ”

"I'm just guessing." Saigo Takamori stretched out his arms, "Of course, I don't think there should be any problem with this, normal people can think of it after a little thought, don't you say?" ”

"Ahh Shimazu Tadayoshi suddenly let go of Saigo Takamori's collar, and then continued to walk a few steps quickly, took out his waist knife, and slashed at a big tree, but because of too much force, the knife fell into it, and he couldn't pull it out for a while.

Seeing that he couldn't pull out the knife for a while, Shimazu Tadayoshi simply let go of his hand, and then kept kicking the tree with his feet: "Bastard, bastard, bastard!" ”

After kicking for a while, Shimazu Tadayoshi fell to his knees again, and then cried loudly: "Chinese, I will not kill all Chinese, I will not be human!" ”

Seeing him like this, Iji Chi Masaharu frowned and glanced at Saigo Takamori, and finally couldn't look past it, so he walked over and helped Shimazu Tadayoshi up: "Young master! The Shimazu family still needs you to revitalize it in the future, how can you be like this? Are you worthy of the sacrifice of the old master? ”

Hearing this, Shimazu Tadayoshi sobbed, wiped his eyes vigorously, and stopped crying. Instead, he bowed to Ichi Chimasaji: "Hey, it's me who doesn't know the severity, please punish me." ”

"Hey." Ichi shook his head and patted Shimazu Tadayoshi on the shoulder, but said nothing more.

Seeing this, Saigo Takamori and Okubo Ritsu looked at each other and stopped talking, as if to show respect for the old lord of the Shimazu family.

Actually, as early as the time when the ships in the port were extinguished and the castle town caught fire. The original head of the Shimazu family, Shimazu Hisamitsu, knew that the main city would not be spared, so he made retreat arrangements in advance.

The castle lord's main castle is independent of the castle town, so the reaction time is faster than that of the common people, plus they also have horses, so if you plan ahead, you can still avoid it.

However, Shimazu Hisamitsu only asked his son Shimazu Tadayoshi to bring a group of retainers immediately, but as for himself, he had to stay. We want to live and die with this Kagoshima castle.

At that time, many people persuaded him to leave, but Shimazu Hisamitsu didn't listen, and finally. Seeing that Shimazu Hisamitsu was resolute, everyone no longer persuaded them, but after kneeling down, they quickly rode out of the city.

Shimazu Hisamitsu seems stupid to do this. In fact, it was a deliberate move, because he was going to die as the lord of the city.

In this way, no matter what the reason is, the other party will retaliate so tragically. He has done this as the city lord, so no matter what grievances he has, he should write them off. Moreover, it can also give him more sympathy points, which is the only resistance he can do when he is unable to resist.

If this was done, not only would the enemy have no excuse to be aggressive, but other neighbors, even the shogunate, would not be able to take the opportunity to deprive the Shimazu family of their territory. As long as Shimazu's territory is still there, the talents are still there, and Shimazu Tadayoshi is still there, then the Shimazu family will rise again one day.

That's right, Shimazu Hisamitsu thought so, and he also thought that nine times out of ten this thing was done by Chinese, because only Chinese have this ruthlessness! What's more, he has only had holidays with Chinese recently, and others have no reason to do so.

In fact, after the Yoshidaya incident, Shimazu Hisamitsu made a series of corresponding arrangements, such as he arrested all the samurai involved, and then took the initiative to send people to China to explain the matter in detail, which can be said to be quite low.

The reason for this, of course, is not that Shimazu Hisamitsu has changed his character, on the contrary, it shows that his mind is quite clear.

Shimazu Hisamitsu is not a person from the Shoyi faction, and the current measures are just to consolidate his power and remove the influence of Shimazu Qibin, but in his heart, he still admires and agrees with some of Shimazu Qibin's measures.

In addition, Shimazu Hisamitsu is not good to foreigners now, mainly because of the shogunate.

You must know that at this time, whether it was the British or the Americans, these Westerners supported the shogunate anyway, and the relationship between the shogunate and the Shimazu family was now tense, so it also led the Westerners to show a suppressive posture against the southwestern lords, and they were no longer as friendly as before.

When things came to this point, then Shimazu Hisamitsu naturally had to oppose it even with the British, so he was so tolerant of the Shoyi faction, and even Saigo Takamori, a representative figure of the Emperor of the Emperor, agreed to accept it, just to attract the people of the Shogunate to deal with the shogunate.

The reason why Shimazu Hisamitsu has this confidence is because he feels that Westerners are guests from afar, and in Japan they are just seeking money, so they can be a little tougher and gain benefits by being tough.

As long as he showed that he was stronger than the shogunate, the British would sooner or later regain their support for him, and he was convinced of this.

However, this can be done for Westerners such as the British, but not for the Chinese across the water.

If China was still the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the past, then he didn't have to worry about it at all, but now that China has undergone great changes, Japanese people with lofty ideals are very clear, especially his Satsuma Domain, which is close to China, attaches great importance to relations with China.

Now, the main trade object of the Satsuma clan is the Chinese, and even Shimazu Hisamitsu has sent many young people to China just to learn the way of China's rise.

Just as the old China once studied Japan in another time and space history, the Japanese at this time felt that China and Japan were in a similar situation, and they were both in the same line, and learning how China rose in the encirclement of the great powers was the consensus of most people of insight.

On the contrary, the Japanese at this time felt that it was useless to simply study the West, because the situation between Westerners and the Japanese was too different, and learning from the West could only make them more and more chaotic and would not get a real rise.

Because of this, Shimazu Hisamitsu knows a lot about China's intelligence, at least knowing that China has a terrifyingly powerful army and a navy that is small in number but not bad in combat.

Therefore, for a behemoth like China, which is already on the rise, Shimazu Hisamitsu has always looked at it with a cautious mood, in other words, he has a very low posture, and has never thought of any disrespect for China.

Therefore, after the Yoshidaya incident, Shimazu Hisamitsu did his best, not only arrested his own people, prepared compensation, but also sent someone to China with silver to intercede, hoping to suppress this matter.

Unexpectedly, the other party's revenge came so quickly that it looked like it was premeditated.

Shimazu Hisamitsu knew that China was not comparable to the Satsuma Clan, or even the current Japan, and no one would seek justice for him, so he had to die, use his own death, and use the destruction of Kagoshima Castle to calm the anger of the Chinese, and only in this way could he preserve Shimazu and leave a chance to make a comeback.

Shimazu Hisamitsu has never said these words to others, not only did he not say it to his son, but he also did not say it to Okubo Ritsu who he fancied, but only said it to himself Iji Chi Masaharu, and what he likes is his stability.

Of course, Iji Chi Masaharu didn't tell Shimazu Tadashi these words, because he felt that this young master was not yet able to listen to these words.

"Minami no Hachiman Great Bodhisattva!" Ichi Masaharu suddenly folded his hands and slowly knelt on the ground, "Please, let's have another kamikaze!" Nan Wu ......" (to be continued......)