Edo Bay was later known as Tokyo Bay.

Although the Tokugawa shogunate pursued a policy of seclusion and seclusion, it did not mean that they did not have sailors.

However, most of the sailors under the control of the shogunate were Ataka ships that were only suitable for offshore warfare.

The Ataka ship is large and can carry an army of more than 100 people.

Although it is not very fast, it has the advantage of being able to operate flexibly with only a few dozen sailors in battle.

The Japanese navy often used the Ataka ship as the main warship, and the smaller clippers such as Sekichuan and Xiaozao as escorts to form a naval fleet.

There are also large Ataka boats, which are said to be as large as 50 meters long and more than 10 meters wide, and are called "Oyataku", and in the Edo period, a 50-meter-long Oyaku was built on Lake Biwa, but it basically lost its ability to maneuver.

However, the Tokugawa shogunate strictly forbade the construction of large Ataka ships weighing more than 500 koku, and all large Ataka ships in the Wa Kingdom were confiscated and destroyed.

So much so that there are only 6 large 200-ton Ataka ships up and down the Wa country.

In the original Fuchuan era, these Ataku ships were not the opponents of the Ming army and sailors at all.

What's more, today's China has already entered the era of sail battleships, and the displacement of new sail battleships under construction is close to 3,000 tons.

Don't use an elephant to crack a nut?

Even those 800-ton supply ships in the Huaxia fleet were behemoths in front of them.

Galen sailing ships of more than 1,000 tons, dealing with these sataku ships is like a usual target shooting.

With the rumbling of artillery, the so-called fleet of the Wa Kingdom was soon wiped out.

The sea was littered with wrecks of ships and struggling Japanese sailors.

The Chinese sailors raised their guns and fired freely from the boats.

In particular, some Japanese soldiers who had managed to drift to the shore were attacked by artillery from Chinese warships as soon as they climbed to the shore.

Before the expedition, His Majesty had already issued a death order, as long as he took up arms against the Chinese Japanese, he would be killed.

These Japanese robbers have ravaged the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty for many years, and the Chinese soldiers at this time naturally will not have pity for them.

After dealing with the Japanese sailors in Edo Bay, they began to bombard the port of Edo.

Although Edo was not an open port and was far less than the port of Nagasaki, it was the core of the Tokugawa shogunate.

In 1612, the shogunate expanded the area into a large port and named it Edominato.

Soon this pier became a famous bazaar in the Edo area, and many seafood, grains were traded near the pier.

When the Kaka sailors sailed into Edo Bay, it was at the height of trade, and there were people around Edominato.

Of course, this can't be blamed for their low vigilance, it's really a bit fast for the sailors of the Wa Kingdom to collapse.

By the time these people reacted, Huaxia's shells had already landed in the market.

Originally, Edominato was a wooden port market.

Huaxia's flowering shells caused a lot of casualties, and soon the place turned into a sea of fire.

A large number of panicked Japanese invaded Edo Castle.

In the 18th year of Tensho (1590), Toyotomi Hideyoshi took the opportunity to defeat the Go-Hojo clan, captured Odawara Castle in the Battle of Odawara, confiscated the Go-Hojo territory, and Tokugawa Ieyasu entered the Kanto region, with Edo as his residence, and Edo Castle began to prosper.

In the 6th year of Keicho (1601), on November 2, Edo was burned down by fire.

In the 8th year of Keicho (1603), Ieyasu opened the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, which lasted for more than 200 years, and began to build Edo Castle, the largest of which was a five-story and six-story castle tower.

Edo Castle was built on a large scale from the 11th year of Keicho and is about 5.5 kilometers from east to west and 4 kilometers from north to south.

There are inner and outer moats around it, and the circumference of the outer moat is about 16 kilometers.

There are two layers of city outline, and the total area of the inner outline is 2.64 million square meters.

The castle is a magnificent building, with 20 prospective buildings, 36 castle gates, and palaces such as Honmaru, Ninomaru, Sannomaru, and Nishinomaru.

Although Edo Castle was covered by a huge stone wall, like most of the cities of the Wa Kingdom at the time, its interior was mostly wooden and prone to fire.

The fire in Edominato really startled Tokugawa Iemitsu.

Fortunately, Edo Castle was still some distance from the coastline, more than 20 miles, making the Chinese naval guns out of reach.

However, some strongholds on the outskirts of Edo Castle were still bombarded by Kaka artillery.

What was even more terrifying was that the Huaxia took advantage of the darkness of night to occupy the port of Edominato and built a defensive line outside the port.

At this time, the Tokugawa family had gathered 80,000 shogunate troops near Edo Castle, so naturally they would not sit back and watch the landing of the Kaka army.

However, there were Chinese warships near the port, and the shogunate army was blown up by the guns on the ships before they could get close to the port.

In order to boost morale, Tokugawa Iemitsu sent his younger brother Masayuki Hoshina to lead 5,000 elite samurai of the Tokugawa family to attack Edo Minato at night.

At night, unlike during the day, the targeting of naval artillery is poorer.

Despite discovering the intentions of the Japanese invaders, the Chinese naval guns still fired.

However, these Tokugawa samurai took advantage of the darkness to touch the vicinity of the port.

At this moment, a huge trench lay in front of them, and just as the soldiers were thinking about how to cross the trench, some huge fireworks rose over the harbor, and these fireworks lit up the surroundings very brightly when they burned in the air.

These soldiers found that the outer perimeter of the port had already been built by the Chinese people and a wall several meters high.

Even if they filled in the trench, they still couldn't get past the wall.

Suddenly, the sound of firecrackers broke the silence of the night.

I saw white smoke rising from the city, and the soldiers under the city were a ghost crying wolf.

Although the flares of the Chinese people were quickly dimmed, the position of the Japanese soldiers was undoubtedly exposed at this moment.

Under the intensive fire of the Huaxia Army, the air was filled with a bloody atmosphere.

Seeing this, Masayuki Hoshina had no choice but to order a retreat.

Tokugawa Iemitsu never expected that the Huaxia people would actually land directly outside Edo Castle.

If Edo Castle was lost, it would be tantamount to announcing to the feudal states everywhere that the Tokugawa family was no longer in order.

Naturally, the reconquest of Zondo Island was no longer a consideration, and the only way to do this was to recruit soldiers and horses from various vassal states to come to Edo.

In fact, the number of Chinese sailors who attacked Edo this time was not large, and the number of Chinese soldiers who landed in Edominato was only 2,000.

Li Xianzhong's goal was not to capture Edo Castle at all, but to make the Tokugawa shogunate have no time to take care of other battlefields.

At this time, the eyes of all the Japanese daimyo were focused on Edo Castle, and the Tokugawa family could not and could not afford to lose this battle.

Soon, the feudal states loyal to the Tokugawa family in the Wa Kingdom sent reinforcements to support Edo.

Even the 50,000 main forces of the shogunate army stationed in the northern part of Kyushu Island were ordered to return to Edo Castle.

If Edo was destroyed by the Chinese, then what was the point of them holding Kyushu?

As time passed, the feudal kingdoms outside Edo Castle also arrived.

People from Tokaido and Kansai rushed to help.

In just over half a month, the strength of the shogunate army in Edo soared from 80,000 to 160,000.

Although many feudal states deliberately delayed the speed of reinforcements, after all, the Tokugawa family did not show defeat at this time, and they still had to be ordered to reinforce.

In particular, the Nagasu Domain located at the western tip of Honshu Island, the Satsuma Domain and Hizen Domain on Kyushu Island, and the Tosa Domain on Shikoku Island.

These four powerful feudal clans have the meaning of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight.

They themselves were far from Edo, marching less than 20 li a day.

The Tosa Domain, which was relatively close, did not send reinforcements for a long time under the pretext of encountering a blockade by the Huaxia Navy at sea.

Just when the main force of the Tokugawa shogunate confronted the Kaka army in Edo, the Kaka army had a new move.

The Kaka Army, which was located on Zuodu Island, landed in Echigo Province, the closest province to Zuodu Island, while the feudal states were sending reinforcements to Edo.

At this time, Echigo Province was no longer a Warring States powerhouse during the Uesugi Kenshin period, and even Kasuga Mountain Castle, a famous castle in Echigo Province, was demolished by order of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1607.

This was originally a move by the Tokugawa family to weaken the Echigo Kingdom, but at this time it helped the Huaxia Army a lot.

Azig led his Imperial Allied Army and a 30,000-strong coalition of Yehe Korqin troops to capture most of the seven prefectures of Echigo.

And after half a month of siege, they conquered Fukushima Castle.

News of the Chinese occupation of Echigo Province soon reached Edo.

As a result, the major feudal states that had sent troops to support Edo were also shaken.

Huaxia Kingdom has the convenience of a sailor, and can land in any area of the Wa Kingdom, this time it is Echigo, will it be his turn after that?

At this time, Tokugawa Iemitsu's face was pale, and the Tokugawa family was questioned again!

The Hangis in Edo relied on the huge cannons on the battleships to cover them, and the shogunate army was helpless.

Echigo's mountains are always far from the sea, and he must react quickly on behalf of the shogunate.

Soon, a coalition of 60,000 troops under the leadership of Hoshina Masayuki slaughtered Echigo Province.

Echigo is mountainous, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In fact, the mountainous area here is quite similar to Hetuala.

The Jianzhou Jurchens are very good at this kind of mountain warfare.

The Shogunate coalition forces soon advanced to the Kawanakashima area in Kita-Shinano.

Not far from Echigo's Kasuga mountain castle, the famous Battle of Kawanakama took place during Japan's Warring States period.

Shingen Takeda, known as the "Tiger of Kai", fought five battles here with Kenshin Uesugi as the "Dragon of Echigo", and both sides suffered heavy casualties.

Li Xianzhong, who was familiar with this period of history, naturally understood the importance of the Kawanaka Island area, and ordered Azig to go north from Echigo early and occupy Kawanaka Island Castle first.

With the help of cement, the Huaxia army quickly heightened and strengthened the city wall of Chuanzhong Island.

The Japanese army's repeated charges were all in vain under the greeting of the Chinese arms and thunder.

After a few days of siege battles, the shogunate coalition led by Masayuki Hoshina lost tens of thousands of casualties.

The Japanese army, which has always been known for its iron cannons, did not expect that the Chinese people's guns have now become so sharp, not only with a long range, but also with a fast shooting speed.

Even elite samurai in iron armor are hard to resist.

The shogunate army could only be stationed outside Kawanakajima to confront the Huaxia army in order to prevent the Huaxia army from advancing further into the hinterland of the Wa Kingdom.

After all, it was not too far from Edo Castle, and if the Huaxia army chose to attack Edo from land, the situation of the shogunate would be even more precarious.

Although the Wakoku was ostensibly a country, the emperor had become a "mascot" by this time.

In fact, the country was controlled by the feudal states where the daimyo were located.

Although the Tokugawa shogunate ostensibly unified the various forces of the Wa Kingdom, it was essentially nothing more than a powerful alliance of its own.

When the shogunate was strong, the feudal states naturally obeyed its orders.

However, if its own power is weakened, each vassal state will of course have its own ideas.

The landing of the Huaxia army at the Tokugawa family's Edo Castle was originally an act of directly slapping the face.

Now that the Kaka army had captured Echigo Province and inflicted heavy losses on Kawanaka Island, the prestige of the Tokugawa family was further questioned.

In particular, the Kansai region, which originally supported the Toyotomi family, as well as the various feudal states of Shikoku and Kyushu.

Zheng Zhibao appeared in Kagoshima again.

The purpose of his trip was simple, that is, to urge the Shimazu family to rise up and oppose the Tokugawa family.

Zheng Zhibao said: "Now that the main force of the Tokugawa shogunate has been attracted back to its hometown Edo by our Huaxia army, and our army has severely damaged the shogunate army on Kawanaka Island, what is the head of the Shimazu family waiting for?" ”

"Do you have to wait until our Huaxia army captures the entire territory of the Wa Kingdom before the head of the Shimazu family is willing to make a move? At that time, can the position of the general of Seiyi still be done by your Shimazu family? ”

"I believe that in the territory of the Wa Kingdom, it is not only your Satsuma clan that is interested in this general of Zhengyi."

Shimazu Jiajiu understands that his delay in making a move has annoyed Li Xianzhong.

At this time, there were not many shogunate troops left on Kyushu Island, and if they didn't do it themselves, I was afraid that the Huaxia people themselves would have to fight over.

Now that the Tokugawa family is taking care of themselves, it is indeed a good time for him to annex the island of Kyushu by the Satsuma Domain.

The Hizen Domain, located in the northwest corner of Kyushu Island, owned the port of Nagasaki and was second only to the Satsuma Domain.

Shimazu Iehisa didn't want to be an enemy of the Hizen Domain for the time being, and the other feudal kingdoms were no match for the Satsuma Domain.

On the eighth day of the seventh month of the third year of the reign of Qianxi, Shimazu Iehisa officially attacked the Hyuga Domain, which was also on the island of Kyushu.

The Shimazu family, with the armor and artillery they got from Huaxia, quickly gained the upper hand, and in just over half a month, they successively occupied a large area of land in Hyuga Province and Higo Province.

The Hizen Domain, which was also on Kyushu Island, saw that the Shimazu family was so quick to attack, and also sent troops to occupy the Chikuzen area close to him.

Soon Satsuma and Hizen annexed the entire island of Kyushu, and the two sides formed an offensive and defensive alliance.

Although the Tokugawa shogunate angrily rebuked them for grabbing territory without permission, they also threatened to send troops to fight against them.

However, it would be good if the Tokugawa family could keep Edo now, where would they have the troops to crusade against Kyushu Island?

The Changzhou Domain and the Tosa Domain looked at it, wouldn't this be a return to the Warring States period.

If you don't take advantage of the Tokugawa family's self-care to expand your territory, will you wait for the shogunate to recover and get rid of yourself?

Soon, the two feudal domains also began to annex the surrounding territories.

Located on the island of Shikoku, the Tosa clan soon occupied the entire island of Shikoku, and the Nagasu clan also went all the way east to conquer Iwami Province and Izumo Province.

The Tokugawa shogunate saw that these four feudal domains wanted to fish in troubled waters and rob while they were fired.

So a crusade was issued.

Ordered the surrounding feudal states to jointly crusade against the four major feudal domains.

The four major feudal states saw that since Tokugawa Iemitsu took the initiative to tear his face, they simply elected Shimazu Ihisa of the Satsuma Domain as the leader of the alliance and formed a "fallen alliance".

For a time, the two sides were tense, and the war had a tendency to further expand!

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(End of chapter)