It was night when Yu Zhong arrived at Ishikari Port, and Ishikari Port was a military port, and idlers were usually forbidden to approach, so it was unknown to others except for one Matsumae Hengsuke, even Matsumae Hengsuke, and I didn't know how many soldiers and horses his warships brought.

Of course, he also designed it in advance. …… Before he became the commander of the Vladivostok Navy, he was already thinking about instigating the Qing court to fight Japan, and after he commanded the Navy, he had always regarded Japan as an imaginary enemy, thinking of one day taking Japan to attack, and now, everything is just going according to plan. As for what the outcome of the outcome will be, there is no need to think about it. Just like what he said to Yue Zhongqi and others before, a country like Japan, which is surrounded by the sea, has no coastal defense, and there is only one way to be beaten!

"I just don't know if the Japanese will really start fighting. If they don't fight, I'm going to suffer. Yu Zhong pondered. It's a good thing for the commander to have the talent under his command. Since Yue Zhongqi and others went back to Ishikari Port to do things, Yu Zhong, who didn't have to worry about it, was walking outside Fukuyama City with a team of guards at the moment. The current Fukuyama Castle, except that the walls are taller, is still the same as before, and the surrounding population is currently only 30,000 or 40,000 people, and many Japanese civilians who have taken refuge in the Matsumae Domain have been taken away by the Manchurian sailors stationed at Ishikari Port...... For these Japanese aristocrats, Yu Zhong was unwilling to trust them in his heart.

"Junmen, do we really want to fight the Japanese?" Long Keduo saw that Yu Zhongzhong was in a good situation, and finally couldn't help but ask. Since arriving in Vladivostok, he and Oro Dai and a group of clan brothers have lost their noble status. started as an ordinary soldier, and until now, he has only achieved the promotion of thousands of people around him. This is still Yu Zhongnian's special promotion because he may have an extraordinary status in the future and his performance is also good. As for the others, except for Yanxin, who has the title of general of Fengguo, who also became the president of Qian, they are still just holding back on the post of general manager; Oro Dai is even more miserable, this guy has been assigned by Yu Zhongfa to a small island called Ulleungdo in North Korea as a small soldier because of repeated teachings.

"yes. Since you want to make trouble, make a big fuss. Otherwise, the soldiers may have complaints. Yu Zhong glanced at Long Keduo and smiled.

"Then how are we going to explain it to the court?" Roncodo is still the problem.

"Explain? Ah, of course explain! …… Hokkaido is sincerely naturalized, but the Japanese are blatantly trying to do it, so naturally we have to protect our subjects, don't you say? Yu Zhong said with a smile. The emperor is far away, and there are many things in the southwest that make excuses to start wars at will, not to mention that he is still separated from Beijing by several seas?

"Junmen, I'm ......" Long Keduo was noncommittal about Zhong's words, and stopped talking.

"What am I? If you have something to say, say it! Yu Zhong glanced at him and said.

"Military gate, Oro Dai Tuo people give a message to the lowly position, he ...... He wants to come back! Roncodo said carefully.

"Orodai? How? He can't stay on the island? Yu Zhongxiao asked.

"Junmen, Oro Dai admits his mistake. He said that from now on, he will never violate your military orders again! Seeing that Yu Zhong didn't seem to be angry, Long Keduo became a little bolder, and continued. Ulleungdao is only ten miles from north to south and east to west, and it is very small, and Oro Dai has been there for more than a year, and he can't hold it back for a long time.

"Mistaken? Hehe, the squid near Ulleungdo is very good, so let him eat it for a while longer! Yu Zhong shook his head and said.

"Military Gate ......"

"Don't intercede for him. Hmph, didn't that kid say he wouldn't break my military orders? Then let him stay on it, and let me see if he really admits his mistakes...... If he finds it annoying, you can send someone to send him a few Buddhist scriptures to quench his anger. By the way, when you deliver the book, let someone tell him by the way, I will release him when I should, but if he dares to mess around before then, I will send him to the newly discovered nameless island (Kamchatka) to defend it. Yu Zhong said.

"Yes! Humiliation knows! Roncodo sighed secretly. People are all fiery, and Oro Dai has repeatedly caused trouble, which seems to have really aroused the disgust of Yu Zhong, otherwise, with the temper of Yu Zhong that he has seen in the past two years, he would not be so ruthless.

……

*******

Sakai Tadanobu didn't let Yu Zhong suffer, he still started fighting after all, and he shot quite quickly, without waiting for the shogunate's order at all.

In fact, he can't fight this time.

If you don't fight, it will be a small matter if you lose Ezo, and it will be a big deal if those daimyo will learn from Matsumae Domain in the future; If it is not fought, in the future, the Qing State will be able to encircle Japan on both sides of Korea and Ezo, and it will be difficult for Japan to maintain its current state of independence, and it will be reduced to the same situation as Korea; If you don't fight, Ezo will be occupied, and the Qing Kingdom will be on the verge of Japan, and at that time, those daimyo may gather around that behemoth, and it will be a dream for the shogunate to control Japan again; If he does not fight, it is tantamount to admitting that the views of Yanagisawa Yoshiho and others are correct, and it is not conducive to his Sakai Tadashiyo regaining the power of the shogunate; If he didn't fight, how could he, who was temporarily appointed by Tokugawa Tsunayoshi as an old man, ostensibly to negotiate with the Qing army, but in fact was thrown out as a scapegoat as cannon fodder if something happened? …… fighting, just to drag the shogunate to his side; And the reason for starting the battle so quickly was to take it by surprise and achieve the greatest victory at the lowest cost, because if the war was declared before the war was declared, it was very likely that the Seikuni naval division stationed at Ishikari Port would cut off the Tsugaru Strait, which would become an insurmountable barrier. Japanese sailors can't, he knows that very well.

After the start of the war, he first sent his army on a raft to force the crossing of the Tsugaru Strait, although Fukuyama Castle has never had the opportunity to bombard the sea with the ten guns of Faturi City, but it was basically fruitless, if it were not for the strong wind and waves in the Tsugaru Strait, coupled with the help of thousands of Qing musketeers who suddenly appeared, maybe the shogunate's army would have been able to break through this trench at one time.

However, Sakai Tadanobu was not a person to give up easily, and after the failure of the first forced crossing, he organized a second and third forced crossing, although both failed, but this also showed his confidence in the decisive battle.

"As an old shogunate, I will never give up on recovering the shogunate's land! I'm not going to let those incompetent guys Yoshiho Yanagisawa see my jokes! After the failure of the first day, he shouted in the face of the doubts of the generals sent by the daimyo.

"But we can't make it to the other strait!" As landlords, the Tsugaru family would be very tired of the territory where the army was stationed, and the Tsugaru family did not really want to go to war because of the profits they had made in the course of trading with the Matsumae clan for two years. However, since Sakai Tadakiyo was the commander in charge this time, he said that the only way to start a war was to start a war, otherwise, as a shogunate elder, he had the right to supervise the daimyo in various places, and he could have ordered anyone who did not obey the order to be killed.

"yes. Without the order of His Excellency the General, we will send troops on our own, and what if we are condemned? Someone from the southern family of the Morioka clan asked.

"As long as we cross the strait and recapture Ezo, the general will not blame us!" Tadashi Sakai shouted.

"The Tsugaru Strait is stormy all year round, and we can't get through it with those boats and some rafts alone!" The people of the Black Stone Clan shouted.

"You're all wrong! We can get through it, and we will ...... it quickly," Sakai said confidently.

……

It's fast indeed!

In just two days, Sakai Tadashi was already able to ride a horse in armor and smile proudly in front of Fukuyama Castle, which was on fire.

The method he used was not very complicated, that is, to lure the enemy head-on and attack from the side.

In fact, when he first returned from Fukuyama Castle, he ordered 2,000 elite samurai and a part of the ninjas to move to the area of Shiriyazaki. Fukuyama Castle of the Matsumae Domain is located on a peninsula that looks like a crab leg jutting out into the sea in Ezo, and is located right at the tip of one of the crab claws, facing the sea. On the other hand, Shiriyazaki and the other side of the crab claw face each other across the Tsugaru Strait, and the distance is very close. Sakai Tadasei used the method of sending troops to force the crossing opposite Fukuyama Castle to "draw" the attention of the Qing army and the Matsumae Domain, and then sent the 2,000 elites of the shogunate and the group of ninjas to secretly cross the strait from the other side at night, and then launched a surprise attack from behind and captured Fukuyama Castle. He calculated very well, even if Matsumae Hengsuke reported to Ishikari Port in a hurry after being attacked, and then the Qing army from Ishikari Port gathered to rescue, it would take two or three days, and during this time, his plan had been completed. And so it turned out, his plan was a "big success".

Although the 1,000 Qing troops broke through the interception and ran away, Fukuyama Castle could not escape. Before all the shogunate forces under his command could cross the strait, the castle was breached.

"The rest is a decisive battle on land. Without the Tsugaru Strait, it will be difficult for the Qing army to compete with our 50,000-strong army, and when the time comes, we can easily drive them out of Ezo. At that time, as long as Tsushima Island was held, it would be difficult for the Qing people to do us any harm, especially since they still needed our copper. When the time comes, as long as they show weakness, give them some high hats to wear, lose some money, and promise to sell them more copper, there is a good chance that they will not send troops. …… I don't know what kind of expression that arrogant general of Qingguo will have when he sees me again. ”

Sakai Tadashi smiled slightly.

**********

"Junmen, there are a lot of muskets in the Japanese!"

Sakai Tadashi was thinking about fighting the Qing army, and Yu Zhong and his gang, who had returned to Ishikari Port, were also discussing their next move.

"Definitely. The Japanese army also had at least one or two thousand muskets in it. ”

"Japan already had a lot of muskets in the pre-Ming Dynasty. They are alone overseas, and they have come into contact with those Westerners earlier and longer than we do, so it is not surprising that there are so many muskets! Yu Zhong said. To make a move against Japan, of course, it is necessary to figure out Japan's strength. In fact, the Japanese were already better at using muskets than the Europeans at the same time during their Warring States period. Oda Nobunaga had a "three-stage shooting method" in which soldiers were divided into three groups, one group of soldiers was fired, and the other two groups were reloaded and ignited. With an interval of seven or eight seconds between each blow, this rotational shooting, combined with the anti-horse barrier, is a great example of Nobunaga's ability to innovate ahead of his time, and similar tactics appeared in Europe after the 17th century. Shigehide Suzuki has the "Iron Cannon Sniper Method" - the Japanese also call the musket an iron cannon, and Suzumori Shigehide's method is that each iron cannon is used by four people. There is one person on the left and one behind the shooter. After each shot, the person on the left is loaded with bullets, the person on the right is filled with fire, and the one behind is responsible for ignition. It only took 4 or 5 seconds between each shot, which was really the fastest way to use a musket at the time. In addition, Date Masamune's "riding iron" tactic, in which cavalry armed with muskets rushed forward, cold-armed cavalry followed behind, and infantry was the last offensive tactic. In other words, although Japan has been closed to the rest of the country for so many years, this does not mean that it is easy to bully, it is actually just a little inferior in artillery, and if it really wants to let other armies of the Qing court attack it, I am afraid it will hit a big nail.

"Junmen, since this Sakai Tadashi came by himself without waiting for us to lure him, do you want to block his retreat now?" The generals all asked eagerly.

"Seal it! 50,000 people, Fei Lao is asking the imperial court to open an iron mine in Liaodong, if the imperial court agrees, these people to mine is very suitable. Yu Zhong said.

"Junmen, what am I doing?" Murcha asked, gesturing to himself.

"Of course you're going to seal the Tsugaru Strait! Not only can't Sakai Tadashi escape, but he can't let his reinforcements cross the strait half a step. …… Tomi! Yu Zhong sent Murcha away, and shouted at Yue Zhongqi again.

"The last general!"

"There is Murcha on the waterway, I will give you 5,000 soldiers and horses, you must lock Sakai Tadashiyo firmly on that peninsula for me, and do not allow him to set foot on the main island of Hokkaido!" Yu Zhong ordered.

"The last general commands!" Yue Zhongqi's face was a little red, but everyone knew that he was excited, with 5,000 to 50,000, although he knew that most of the Japanese army was a temporarily organized ashigaru team, but in any case, it was also a huge feat.

"For the rest, come with me to Honshu Island to play!" Yu Zhong said again.