"SakUra~SakUra~"
The samurai sang songs about their hometown loudly, and the 20,000 Kyushu Division and 30,000 auxiliary troops (Ashigaru) marched north along the west coast of Kagoshima.
After the Kagoshima Spring Battle in 1801, the Ming Dynasty made a strong claim to Kyushu Island.
At the same time, the Kyushu Division was established and was reorganized and trained by Nara Ichibei.
According to the original plan, the Kyushu Division would need at least 6 months of training before it could become an army.
But things have changed.
Choshu Domain Mori Qifang could not wait any longer, and after deliberation, the northern vassals on Kyushu Island decided to change from passive to active.
30,000 samurai and 50,000 ashigaru from each domain are gathering in Kumamoto.
At the same time, 40,000 reinforcements from each domain on Honshu Island also entered Fukuoka, Kyushu.
The two armies echoed each other, and their fronts were directed at Kagoshima and Miyazaki.
The Kyushu Division was stationed in Kagoshima, and Taka Kyosuke, the former lord of the Hyuga Domain, was stationed in Miyazaki.
As the saying goes, pick the soft persimmons.
Seeing that the Kyushu division was difficult to fight, Maori Qifang came up with Miyazaki's idea and sent a letter to Otomo's house.
Otomo Yoshito led 3,000 samurai and ashigaru to march toward Miyazaki overnight, but was blocked by the Ryōjo Fortress in the west of Miyazaki.
The fortress complex built by the Hyuga Domain in Ryōjo to resist the Satsuma Domain played a role.
Dayou's four dynasties captured a large number of people by force and stormed Lingcheng to no avail.
It's the end of April.
A telegram from Jinling was sent to Kagoshima. His Majesty Zhu Zaiming, the Ming Emperor, stated that the situation in Kagoshima was tense.
It’s time for Kyushu Division to go out and do some activities.
As a result, Nara Ichibei pulled the Kyushu Division, which had not yet completed training, onto the battlefield.
If you want to change the passive situation of the Kyushu Division and give Kagoshima and Miyazaki a comfortable environment, the Kyushu Division must fight out.
After carefully planning the map, Nara Ichibei decided to march towards Kumamoto Castle.
Launch a Kumamoto Spring Formation.
Prioritize the annihilation of 80,000 people in Kumamoto Castle and advance the front to the Kumamoto-Aso line.
The Kyushu Division moved.
The "Tiger of the Nara Family" and the "Famous General of the Ming Empire" led an army of 50,000 to march along the west coast of Kagoshima.
When the news reached Kitakyushu, people's hearts were moved.
Mori Qifang personally went to Kumamoto Castle to supervise the battle.
The battle to determine the fate of Kyushu Island officially began.
After experiencing the Kagoshima Spring Formation, all feudal armies understood that it was impossible to defeat the Kyushu Division in a positional battle.
Mori Qifang discussed countermeasures with various retainers while strengthening the defense of Kumamoto Castle.
On the one hand, mobile troops were dispatched, preparing to rely on Japan's mountainous environment to launch guerrilla tactics against the Kyushu Division.
Because the mountain roads were difficult to travel, and the Kyushu Division had an artillery brigade with more than 300 large and small artillery pieces, they could only choose to march along the coastline.
The whole army stretched very far.
In order to ensure the safety of heavy firepower, Nara Ichibei strictly ordered the artillery brigade not to stray far from the coastline, and arranged a large number of patrol teams into the mountains.
During the period when the army was marching, bursts of gunfire could be heard in the mountains almost every day.
The decision-making level of Mouri Qifang is still quite good. The samurai of these feudal lords were broken into pieces and entangled with the patrols of the Kyushu Division in the mountains.
Such non-stop harassment slowed down the marching speed of the Kyushu Division.
If possible, Mori Qifou would even gather samurai somewhere in the mountains, ambush and annihilate several patrols, and capture a large number of muskets.
These muskets were all captured by the British army. In this era, the quality was first-class.
When Zhu Zaiming learned about the situation here, veins popped up on his forehead. A telegram was photographed on Nara Ichibei's face. The words were so harsh that Nara Ichibei even wanted to commit seppuku.
“Sweep!
Those samurai, ashigaru, and the common people who help them, don’t let anyone go! "
Nara Ichibei slapped the table hard, and the simple bamboo wooden table used for marching could not withstand his anger and collapsed.
As the order to sweep was issued, Owari Sukeo personally led two regiments totaling 3,000 people into the mountains in a mighty manner.
On the mountain trail, a company of the Kyushu Division carried a flintlock rifle and scanned the surroundings vigilantly.
The auxiliary soldiers walked in front, driving a group of people who did not cooperate with the Ming army to clear the way.
One of the party leaders waved a folding fan, pointed to the village in the distance like a pug, and said something to an officer of the Jiuzhou Division.
"Taijun, Inoue Village is ahead.
The warriors and rogues were all inside. "
"Yoshi, you are a good citizen!"
"It's a small blessing to be able to serve Taijun!"
The leading party was so humble that they betrayed their clansmen completely for the sake of the nourishment of life and all kinds of ambitions.
The officer held up a monocular and looked in the direction of the leader's finger.
I saw a village at the foot of the mountain, with smoke rising from the cooking pots, and a few warriors could be vaguely seen squatting under the trees and working hard.
The officer put down his binoculars and took off the flintlock from his back to inspect it.
“Yoshi.
Enter the village quietly, no need to shoot!
Haha dog~"
The auxiliary soldiers drove the rioters aside, and the Jiuzhou Division company passed through the dense forest under the leadership of the officers without making a sound.
But at this moment, the mob suddenly surged up and started shouting.
The shouts reached the village, a gong sounded, and the Choshu clan warriors from all over the village began to gather and deploy defenses.
Some of them hid behind earthen walls, some climbed up giant trees, and some lay on the roof.
Upon seeing this, the officer had no choice but to give the order to stop the attack.
Without heavy firepower, the musketeers of the Kyushu Division were risking their lives by entering unfamiliar villages and fighting the enemy on the streets.
"idiot!"
When the company returned to the mountain road, the officer roared angrily at the rioters.
Today's raids were fruitless, and these warriors who were eager to perform meritorious deeds vented their anger on these troubled people.
Blood was flowing, and dozens of corpses lay scattered on the road, telling the story of what happened here.
Nara Ichibei was in the camp, sorting out the results of these days' raids.
Killed and captured more than 1,000 soldiers of the Choshu clan, and killed countless civilians.
It suffered 67 casualties.
Such casualties are completely bearable for the Jiuzhou Division.
However, this was not the result Nara Ichibei wanted.
Only a few of the villages in the nearby mountains were dedicated to the Ming Dynasty.
The Japanese daimyo's rule over the Japanese people was too stable, and coercion and inducement had limited effect.
Nara Ichibei had a headache.
The Ming Dynasty cabinet also had a headache.
Judging from the feedback during this period, the more educated Japanese people are, the more educated they are, and the more they aspire to the Ming Dynasty.
Those common people who didn't know a word of Chinese characters actually burst out with feelings of vassal state, which surprised Zhu Zaiming.
"Pa bang bang~"
Zhu Zaiming patted the balcony and looked at the bright sunshine outside the window.
In my heart, I sentenced these Japanese people who had no Chinese blood and did not want to integrate to death.
“Let’s do this, issue a border relocation order on Kyushu Island.
All people who recognize the Ming Dynasty and meet the conditions will be issued with a Ming Dynasty naturalized identity card, and all others will be ordered to leave the country.
Those who are unwilling to leave, all good citizens with ID cards have the right to obtain all the property of these people.
Including life! "
