After stabilizing the shape of Kyushu, the Taiping army began to march towards Honshu.

Honshu Island, the main target of the Taiping Army's attack on Japan.

But why did the Taiping Army value Honshu so much?

That's because, at this time, the political, economic, and cultural center of Japan was in Honshu, and Honshu included almost several of the most important cities in Japan, including Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya......

What's more, Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is also on the island of Honshu.

Taking Honshu is equivalent to almost controlling the center of Japan, and the Taiping Army can't pay attention to it.

And Honshu is so important, will the Japanese indirectly abandon Honshu as they did with Kyushu?

The answer is definitely no, judging from the intelligence detected in advance, the Japanese army has put on a posture and is ready to defend Honshu.

Honshu is not only the political, economic, and cultural center of the Japanese, but also the spiritual and spiritual pillar of the Japanese, and if the Japanese army abandons Honshu, it will be a disaster for the Japanese, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

Therefore, the Japanese army must be holding on to Honshu.

Even so, the Taiping army will also be ready to fight to the death.

For this battle, Huang Xu had handed over his front-line command to Li Xiucheng, and Li Xiucheng, the commander of the 10th Army, led the crowd to advance into Honshu.

And the first target of the 10th Army was Kobe.

In addition to being the gateway to Honshu, Kobe is also one of Japan's most beautiful cities.

It has a history of 1,000 years and is located between the lush mountains of Mt. Rokko and the turquoise waters of Seto. The natural environment is superior, the climate is warm, and the four seasons are distinct.

The Japanese Imperial Family has long built a sanctuary here, and members of the Japanese Imperial Family enjoy coming here to enjoy the cherry blossoms and the Sangakudo in the spring when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom and in the hot summer.

With the arrival of the Taiping army, the Japanese had long lost such leisure, and instead, they built a large number of fortifications here and stationed heavy troops in the hope of stopping the Taiping army from advancing.

And what's even more surprising is that. The Japanese general in charge of defending this place was a female general. And she is also one of the members of the Japanese imperial family, the sister of the Japanese Emperor Meiji, Princess Sakurako.

Female, still a female general. And it's a princess. It's not enough to be eye-catching.

But. This Sakurako princess is not a vase, she has a lot of background.

In Japan, Sakurako is known as Mu Guiying of Japan.

That's just the name. It makes people put away their contempt for it, and the real Sakurako princess does live up to this name.

Sakurako has been practicing martial arts with famous teachers since she was a child, learning the art of war in battle formations, and she is proficient in all eighteen kinds of martial arts, and what is even more commendable is that she was born with the talent of a general, and has a high attainment in the study of the art of war and battle formations, at this point, even Ito Hirofumi is quite admired.

If it weren't for the fact that she was a woman, and because of her status as a princess, Sakurako would have already become a shining star in the Japanese army.

However, as the Japanese army was defeated and retreated, there were no more generals to deploy in the Japanese army, especially the total annihilation of the Japanese navy and the death of Togi Takayoshi, which made the current situation of the shortage of generals in the Japanese army even worse.

And Ito Hirobumi, who commanded the army, had really become a bare-bones commander at this time, and the shape faced by the Japanese army was really in a precarious position.

It was in the autumn of survival that Sakurako took the initiative to ask Emperor Meiji to fight to resist the attack of the Taiping army.

In normal times, Emperor Meiji would definitely not agree to the dignified princess of the empire to do these things that should be done by men, but he had to back down.

Therefore, in the end, he had no choice but to agree to let Sakurako lead the army to fight the Taiping army.

After consulting with Ito Hirobumi, Sakurako was sent to Kobe to take charge of the city's defense.

And Li Xiucheng's encounter with a female general is indeed interesting.

Before Li Xiucheng arrived in Kobe, he had already learned from intelligence that the person in charge of defending the city was a female general, and she was also a princess.

Li Xiucheng shook his head desperately at that time, he felt that Japan was really going to end, and he couldn't even send a general, so he asked a female princess to defend the city, there was really no one.

However, Huang Xu doesn't see it that way, he thinks that this woman will not come out, and it must be difficult to provoke when she comes out, so he told Li Xiucheng not to be too careless, and he must be careful of this woman, but Li Xiucheng promised it in his mouth, but he didn't take it seriously in his heart, he thought, isn't it just a woman, what's the big deal.

And it was such a heart of contempt for the enemy that made Li Xiucheng suffer a big loss, if it weren't for Huang Xu's expectation, he would have responded from behind, Li Xiucheng might have even taken his life.

Of course, that's just for later.

Here's the first thing to talk about after Li Xiucheng arrived at Kobe Castle.

After Li Xiucheng arrived, he first had a little contempt in his heart, and without saying a word, he directly ordered the Tenth Army to start attacking the city.

Li Xiucheng felt that with the power of their powerful firearms, wouldn't it be a piece of cake to capture this Kobe?

Maybe it's because he has won too many battles during this time, and Li Xiucheng, who has always been steady, is also a little fluttering, and he doesn't pay attention to this Sakura and the Japanese army at all, he only cares about ordering the army to attack the city.

However, the Taiping army attacked from morning to afternoon, and in the end, the city was not captured, and Li Xiucheng was so angry that he was angry.

Helpless, angry to angry, for a while, Li Xiucheng really had nothing to do with Kobe, there was no way, so he could only withdraw first, and then find a way to break the city.

After the army withdrew, it was late, and the Taiping army was in a hurry to toss for another day, that is, people were sleepy and tired, so Li Xiucheng ordered the army to clean up, bury the pot and cook, and then after a full meal, the army lay down.

Who knew that in the middle of the night, shouts suddenly broke out in the Taiping army camp, and Li Xiucheng heard people shouting in a daze that the Japanese army had robbed the village.

Thinking of the word robbery, Li Xiu broke out in a cold sweat, and the person was also sober, and when he heard the shouts and killings outside, he understood in his heart that he had really been robbed.

However, when he got up angrily and rushed out of the tent, ready to see who had eaten the bear-hearted leopard and dared to rob his village, a small school came to report that the robbers had finished robbing the village.

Hearing this, Li Xiucheng was furious, and more than that, he later heard that the person who led the army to rob the village was the Japanese princess Sakurako, Li Xiucheng was even more angry.

He secretly swore that if he didn't capture this woman alive and didn't take down this Kobe, his name Li Xiucheng would be written upside down.

And after that, for a few days, Li Xiucheng commanded the army to desperately attack Kobe City, and he didn't believe it, and with their powerful firepower, they couldn't capture this Kobe.

However, Li Xiucheng commanded the army to attack for a few days as if he was fighting for his life, but he really failed to capture Kobe.

Li Xiucheng is angry and angry, and he is even more angry.

However, Li Xiucheng is well aware of the situation of the army.

The army has been attacking the city for days, and it is already quite tired, so it will not work without resting.

Therefore, Li Xiucheng had to endure this breath for the time being, and ordered the army to suspend the siege, and then change the attack to a siege, while the 10th Army Corps would temporarily garrison outside the city to rest and wait for the strength to recover before fighting.

As a result, the Taiping army withdrew.

However, no one expected that when the Taiping army was retreating, the Japanese army suddenly rushed out of Kobe in multiple ways, and the Taiping army's position was suddenly disrupted.

Although they had sophisticated firearms, they could not exert the power of these firearms in the face of the Japanese army's close combat, but they could only fight one-on-one with the Japanese army.

As a result, the Taiping army fell into a comprehensive disadvantage.

And Li Xiucheng, who was angry and angry, in addition to drinking the army to fight back desperately, was also very anxious about the current situation, and he was also in a dilemma.

He didn't know whether to order the withdrawal or fight to the death with the Japanese army.

If the retreat continues, and the Japanese army rushes back like this, the Taiping army may be crushed for thousands of miles, and it will be out of control, and if it fights to the death with the Japanese army, I am afraid it will not work, and short-handed combat is not the strength of the 10th Army, if the war continues for a long time, the 10th Army will have heavy casualties, which is not what Li Xiucheng wants to see.

In the face of the crisis, for a while, Li Xiucheng really didn't know what to do. (To be continued......)