The architectural style of Shuri Castle is very similar to the ancient buildings in the Central Plains. It also faces south. The largest gate is directly south, and a central axis runs through the entire imperial city.
But Naha Port is, after all, a city where mountains and seas intersect. There is not much flat land for building a city. To the west of Shuri Castle are continuous gentle slopes and cliffs, facing the sea. From here, you can overlook the ocean from a high position.
At this time, the Japanese navy, which was blocked by foreign merchant ships on the sea, had got rid of the trouble of night. They gave up their earliest target, Naha Port, and chose to directly bombard Shuri Castle from the sea.
The current situation on the battlefield is very obvious. The Ryukyu Kingdom flag and the Han Chinese character recognition flag are still flying in Shuri Castle, but Kayama Rigen's main formation has moved to the eastern rocky area of Shuri Castle. This shows that the army has suffered a disastrous defeat.
The Japanese navy are not fools. On the contrary, they are a group of people who are extremely sensitive to war. When they saw the current situation on the battlefield, they opened fire on the spot without saying a word. Please come to more and faster chapters.
Although the Japanese ships only had six or seven small-caliber forward-mounted naval guns, and the artillery pieces were all obsolete from the West, but if ten warships opened fire at the same time, the visual conflict would be very terrifying.
The shock of the gunpowder explosion caused ripples on the sea, and the entire hull of the wooden warship shook. Looking at the west wall of Shuri Castle in the distance, black smoke and dust rise out of the sky, and the walls are full of figures fleeing in terror.
"Fire! Continue to fire... Load ammunition! Load iron pellets! Fire at Shuri Castle..." Under the commander's order, ten small seki ships poured firepower toward Shuri Castle in the light of the morning sun. Update as soon as possible
Cannon is indeed the king on the battlefield. Although these old cannons only fire solid projectiles, these solid iron pellets are the nemesis of the city wall. Every iron pellet hitting the city wall can trigger a large number of rocks and rammed earth. Splashing everywhere, potholes of various sizes appeared on the city wall.
Kayama Rigen and the others, who were watching the battle due east, were now bursting into tears with excitement, "Yo Xi, Yo Xi... the navy is still reliable, and their courage is great..."
Kayama Rigen has now given up paying attention to things on the battlefield. He has focused all his energy on post-war diplomatic negotiations. This conflict has been seen by Western countries. It is impossible to hide it from the Tokugawa shogunate. , If you want the Shimazu family to survive this disaster safely, you must get King Shangtai to switch sides.
As long as King Shotai is in his own hands and provides circumstantial evidence in the name of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Tokugawa shogunate can be silenced. Then the entire conflict can be blamed on the security incident, and the Shimadzu family can escape punishment. Update as soon as possible
But now it seems that this Xiao Letian is a difficult person to deal with. Will he bow his head easily? After killing all night last night, I didn't see him flinching at all. The violent explosion on the dock didn't scare him. This is really a different kind of Chinese.
Just when Kayama Rigen was recalculating the division of interests after the war, the artillery fire of Shuri Castle's counterattack finally started. Even though Shuri Castle's armaments were extremely weak under the suppression of the Japanese, there were still a few artillery pieces installed for the purpose. Under the operation of Luo Huo and others, these old-fashioned forts finally opened fire, causing tall splashes of water to appear on the sea. .
The Japanese navy has long known every location of the Shuri Castle fort, and is also very aware of the performance of these ancient forts. They are not worried at all about the Ryukyu people's counterattack, and the artillery on the Guan ship fired even more fiercely. Please come to more and faster chapters.
At this time, the foreigners on the sea had already been stunned. This ancient artillery battle made them want to laugh, but every time they saw the bodies blown up on Shuri Castle, their smiles all turned into silk. Silk chill.
Foreign captains know very well that these old artillery are completely inferior to the self-defense artillery on their own merchant ships. Now European ships have even begun to experimentally load breech-loaded artillery rifled artillery, and explosive ammunition has also become popular. There was no interest at all in this primitive artillery battle of firing solid projectiles.
However, this is a real war after all, and death and blood cannot be faked. Moreover, the issue of the ownership of Ryukyu after the war also involves the commercial interests of merchants. If the Qing people win, then Naha’s business model will be very good. Changes may occur. How will Naha change under the management of a great master of Western learning? The foreign businessmen present were looking forward to it. Update as soon as possible
On the American merchant ship Endeavor, Captain Daniel stayed up all night. He stood on the deck with bloodshot eyes. As an American businessman with a clear conscience, he was very indignant at the despicable act of Japanese thugs massacring Chinese people. However, as a businessman, he could only Choose neutrality and pray to God that these Chinese people are safe.
But they never expected that just when everyone thought that the Chinese who had invaded Shuri Castle had won the final victory, the Japanese warships on the sea actually opened fire. First update: Although the foreigners blocked their way last night, they didn't expect them to directly jam the Japanese fleet directly west of Shuri Castle.
This is great, there is no need to readjust the attitude of the ship, the artillery can fire directly.
When the Japanese began their artillery bombardment, the foreigners on the sea were immediately stunned by the Japanese's frenzy. No matter how weak the Ryukyu Kingdom was, it was still a country recognized by all nations! Will the palace be blown up if it says so?
Almost subconsciously, all merchant ships distanced themselves from the Japanese warships, and some radical merchant ships had secretly aimed their artillery at the heads of these crazy thugs.
Captain Daniel is now very entangled. The dozens of sailors in his hands have all been armed. Whether to stay, leave, or intervene with force, this experienced old captain is also entangled. At this moment, a small sampan suddenly rushed across the sea and headed straight for the Endeavor.
"Captain, this is Mike...requesting to board the ship..." The sailors on the Endeavor all know this young man from the Carnegie family. The most difficult-to-sell Spencer gun on the ship was bought by Mike. Yes, Captain Daniel wanted to send someone to find him when the merchant ship left port last night.
The sailors put down the rope ladder and pulled Mike and Xiang Shaolong up with all their hands. "Mr. Mike, where have you been this night? God bless you and you are finally safe..." After saying this, everyone still expressed doubts. Staring at Xiang Shaolong, who was full of murderous intent, people knew by instinct that this Chinese was not easy to mess with.
I don’t know what happened to Mike after he and Xiao Letian broke up. Anyway, now his face is covered in black ash, holding on to the mast and breathing heavily, "Mr. Daniel...please...please intervene with arms immediately, Open fire on these Japanese immediately..."
"What? Young man, are you kidding? You want me to join the war between the Chinese and the Japanese? Are you sure your brain has not been hit?" But then Mike's words shocked the captain's eyes and almost dropped his eyes.
"Mr. Captain, there are our American citizens in there, and Mr. President's friends are in there... Xiao Letian is not from the Qing Dynasty, he is an American, an American citizen... Cough cough cough!" Mike shouted almost with his life. , the entire Endeavor crew was dumbfounded at that time.
"Wow! Mike, are you crazy? Are you kidding me?" People asked in all directions. Without saying anything, Mike took out the special Colt revolver with an ivory handle from Xiang Shaolong's arms, pointed to the president's name engraved on the handle and asked.
"See for yourselves, this is the gun given to Xiao Letian by Mr. President. This is specifically to thank Xiao Letian for saving his life. Haven't you heard about the assassination of the President? It is because you have received accurate information from Mr. Xiao Letian, the President Your Excellency just escaped a disaster..."
The Americans on the ship were all crazy. President Lincoln was at the height of his popularity. Coincidentally, most of the Americans who controlled the Pacific trade were northerners, and this was where President Lincoln's fans concentrated.
"Captain, if this is the case, we have an excuse to join the war. It is the responsibility of every American citizen to protect our own people. Let's join the war..."
"That's right, with the Japanese's weak combat power, the artillery on our ship is enough to deal with them... If it doesn't work, we can get close to the side and engage in a battle to let them know our marksmanship..."
Captain Daniel frowned and said with a grimace, "Mike, don't give me any problems. Can't I get involved in conflicts between countries just because of a pistol that's hard to tell whether it's real or fake? I know what you're thinking. You need to Orders from the Qing Dynasty, but if you want an order, you can’t bet so big..."
Before Daniel could finish speaking, Mike shook his head, "I swear in the name of God, Xiao Letian is really an American citizen, and he is really the savior of His Excellency the President... As for the gambling you mentioned, I admit that I have gambling. Thoughts, but you will never imagine how much benefit we will get if we win this bet..."
"Yes, I'm talking about us, not me... Daniel, I tell you clearly, I am not just gambling for me and my family, I am gambling for our country... After the civil war, nothing will happen. Xing, do you know how much the country hopes to have new markets and new orders?"
Speaking of this, Mike almost yelled with all his strength. He even grabbed the loaded Colt from Master Long's hand, slowly pulled the trigger, and pointed the gun at Captain Daniel.
"How many people died in this damn war in the United States? Four hundred thousand or half a million? Or more... The war has completely destroyed the American economy. Do you know how difficult it is to transform the wartime economy back? "
"The United States needs colonies, the United States needs new markets, and after the war, the United States simply did not have the power to compete with Britain and France. We need to expand markets peacefully...and now is the biggest opportunity for our country, a country that can use peaceful means to The opportunity to pry open the door...Daniel! You don't want it, but the United States does..."
Mike's face was flushed now, and his hands were shaking slightly, while Daniel and his sailors were stunned by Mike's momentum. The old captain's eyes were a little blurry, and there seemed to be an emotion in his heart.
The Stars and Stripes were flying above their heads. The old captain suddenly thought of his nephew and his friends who died in the battle. What were their sacrifices for? Maybe now is the time to sacrifice yourself.
Daniel wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, and was about to speak when suddenly the lookout shouted from the observation deck, "Captain, look, the Japanese warships are fighting on their own, they are in civil strife..."
