General Cai Hao has never been so nervous in his life. He never felt this way even when Xiao Letian led them to fight the Japanese. But just now when Xiang Ying sent the latest information through Commander Hu, Cai Hao's eyes darkened. He fell to the ground.
Two of the ten French warships mysteriously disappeared. According to the tonnage of these French warships on the sea, this proves that at least hundreds of artillery pieces and more than 600 French sailors are missing. Now almost more than 90% of Ryukyu's military power is concentrated in the southern port.
"Guotou Village! Guotou Village? Come here, bring me the latest defense map that Liang Kun sent before..." When Cai Hao opened the map in his hand, a cold air rushed up his back.
Ryukyu Island is where Naha Port and Shuri Castle are located. In ancient times, it was also called Zhongshan Kingdom. At that time, the small Ryukyu Island was divided by three countries, which were actually three larger tribes.
The three kingdoms of Nanshan, Zhongshan, and Beishan have been fighting together for hundreds of years without a winner. In the end, Zhongshan was the smartest, embracing the strong legs of the Ming Dynasty early and finally unifying the Nanshan and Beishan kingdoms.
The current Shuri Castle is roughly located in the Nakayama country area, while Naha Port is close to Nanshan country. As for the Kitayama area, it is a relatively backward area on Ryukyu Island, with only some fishing villages and ranches.
It is precisely because of the serious shortage of domestic troops in Ryukyu during this defensive battle that the defense of Kitayama is also the lowest. The regular New Army only has one company of troops, and the remaining more than a thousand people are just temporary militia groups.
"Damn it, what do you mean Liang Kun asked you to send me the news? He is responsible for the defense of the island. Knowing that there are loopholes in the defense line, why didn't he send troops to plug it immediately?"
Commander Hu was stunned. "General... I, how do I know? This is the news just sent by Xiang Ying, your daughter, and, by the way, Lin Zhen and Little Fatty Jin. In addition to this information, There is nothing else to say..."
Cai Mao grabbed his arm and asked sharply, "Where are the people? Where are these bastards?"
"Let's go... They said they should go back to school to hide, and they ran away..." Commander Hu already realized that the atmosphere was not right and his voice was vibrating.
"Asshole! No matter how stupid Liang Kun is, he can't let them deliver the message. There may be some hidden secret here! The telegraph room..." Before Cai Hao could say anything about me, there was a loud bang above everyone's heads. Shuri Fort shook like an earthquake.
All the dust in the entire fort flew up, and the cement pieces above their heads fell down with crackling sounds. Everyone's ears seemed to have a gong and drum troupe stuffed into their ears, making a buzzing sound.
The French artillery shells poured in the direction of the Shuri Fort. Almost all the plants near the cliff have been blown up, and now only the reinforced concrete fortifications are left standing here.
Without the cover of green vegetation, the gray fort became extremely eye-catching. Under the focus of the French fleet, more and more artillery shells began to concentrate on the fort. Good luck is always a luxury in war. Once the first shell hits, there will be a second one.
The fortifications were now in chaos, with the wounded lying in a pool of blood wailing desperately, medical soldiers running back and forth carrying stretchers, and old Max organizing the soldiers to reload ammunition and continue shooting at the French fleet.
"Don't stop, everyone, don't stop... The only way to deal with the enemy's bombardment is for us to keep firing... This is a battle of momentum. As long as the French find that we are afraid, their attack will be more violent... This group Asshole, what he is best at is bullying honest people..."
Under the command of Old Max, the 280-caliber cannon continued to fire tenaciously at its own pace, spitting anger at the fleet on the sea. But looking at General Cai Mao on the other side, he was not so lucky. The shell just now not only killed six of his messengers, but even scared away the last batch of horses.
"General! All our horses were frightened and dispersed... Six soldiers were seriously injured and died..."
"Where is our telegraph line? Can we still send messages..."
"No, the telegraph line was also blown up, and the line must be re-laid..."
Cai Mao punched the concrete wall, pointed at Commander Hu and shouted, "Take your people to find Liang Kun... ask him to send reinforcements north immediately, be sure to hold the beach, and never allow the French to land..."
Commander Hu was so anxious that he almost cried, "General... General! I don't know where General Liang Kun is? No one told me the location of the temporary headquarters just now... I can't find it!"
"Besides, what's the use of finding General Liang Kun now? Does he still have extra troops? You can't drive the people to defend, right? What's the difference between that and committing suicide..."
Commander Hu was right. On the entire Ryukyu Island, apart from the docks, there were a total of 13 areas where the enemy could land on the beach. However, Liang Kun had only 700 veterans trained by Xiao Letian. Even if he worked hard in the past few months, The expansion of the army increased the number of troops to 3,000, but with the expansion of the number of people, the combat effectiveness decreased sharply.
Three thousand people want to defend the entire city and add 13 beaches. This task is not something ordinary people can accomplish. The Ryukyu Kingdom has no choice but to temporarily recruit a large number of young men without military training.
But God knows whether these young men are full of enthusiasm but will be useful on the battlefield. Perhaps these young men can still create a small miracle when facing the Shimazu Ashigaru, but today's enemy is not the Japanese, but the French, who are known as the world's strongest army!
If it were Cai Mao before he met Xiao Letian, he would probably not even blink when faced with such a predicament. He would quickly send thousands of young men to the north to resist the enemy's attack.
This is not to say that he was cruel and ruthless, but that Cai Mao at that time was completely ignorant of modern warfare. This is what the so-called ignorant people are not afraid of.
But it's different now. Cai Mao's vision and knowledge have been rising steadily since he met Xiao Letian. Under the training of Xiao Letian and countless foreign instructors hired with high salaries, these officers who came out of the Middle Ages finally finally Understand, what is infantry-artillery coordination, what is firepower density, what is flat-fire artillery, what is curve-fire artillery...
Especially during the several test cannons after the Shuri Fort was completed, the moment the 280-caliber high-explosive shells exploded, he knew that the only thing that could resist steel was steel.
Just when Cai Mao was hesitant, a pitiful cry suddenly sounded outside the fort fortification: "Please let me go... I beg you, I am from Jin Shangshu's family... I want to see the general, our young master." And something happened to the general’s young lady…”
Amidst the roaring shelling, the voice of the old servant Ding was extremely miserable. He must have been crying for a long time, but it never reached Cai Hao's ears. It was not until this moment that Cai Hao faintly heard what he was shouting.
"Tell him to come in!" When the old servant was carried to the fort, he suddenly collapsed to the ground. He knelt in front of the general and repeated the feats of several young ladies. Even though the cannons were rumbling around, the people in the fort The soldiers listened dumbfounded one by one.
Cai Hao's expression almost froze, and he didn't speak for a whole three minutes. In the end, he suddenly slammed the table and shouted in tears, "Well done, these little bastards have skills, and so does my daughter! At least they know how to overturn it." There are no unfinished eggs under the nest..."
Cai Mao pointed at Commander Hu and yelled, "Pass my order. The Imperial Forest Army of Shuri City will allocate 700 people. You will be the commander to reinforce Shanbei..."
"What? General, you can't do it. The Imperial Guards at Shuri Castle are gone. What will your Majesty do? There are only a thousand Imperial Guards left by Your Majesty!" Commander Hu screamed as if he had seen a ghost.
Cai Mao felt as if he had stuffed a handful of burning thatch in his heart. The choking smoke came out of his stomach, and his mouth and nose were all spicy.
"Your Majesty? Tell me, Your Majesty! The Ryukyu National Ancestral Temple is about to be destroyed. How can you say it is safe or not? Even if you leave more than a thousand imperial guards, do you think you can stop the French? Tell me... "
Cai Mao was shouting wildly in the fort, but Commander Hu had been suppressed and could not say anything. At this moment, Cai Mao suddenly grabbed the collar of Commander Hu's clothes, whispered into his ear.
"Let me tell you the truth, Ryukyu is on the verge of extinction now. The Japanese, Qing people, French and even the British who have never appeared have long regarded Ryukyu as their meal..."
"Keep this sentence in mind for the rest of your life. Ryukyu is so important. Whoever can control this place can control the oceans of East Asia. Who does our Ryukyu ancestral temple count? In the eyes of these bandits, it is nothing, not even It doesn’t even count as a fig leaf!”
"You may die if you stand up to fight, and you may die if you are a coward, but if you stand up and fight, you may have a one-in-a-ten thousand chance of protecting our country... Do you fight or don't fight?"
Commander Hu had never seen Cai Mao look so ferocious in his life. He couldn't think of any words to retort for a moment. He could only nod subconsciously, but before leaving, he asked one more question.
"Your Majesty...can he agree?" Cai Hao waved his hand feebly, not even having the strength to respond.
Commander Hu really didn't expect that when he returned to Shuri Castle with Cai Mao's order, King Shangtai, who was hiding from the artillery fire on the city wall, didn't even hesitate and directly assigned 900 imperial troops to Commander Hu.
"This is a national war. Life and death hang on the line. If you win, the country will last at least a hundred years. If you lose, you will die without a burial! If you don't have the heart to die, you can stay in Shuri Castle... I am willing to lead the battle myself!"
When Commander Hu heard these words, he knelt down at the top of the city without saying a word, "I have received the favor of my country, and I would rather die than let down your majesty's grace! This battle is either victory or death..."
"Forest Guards! Follow me north... Either the enemy will die, or he will die by stepping on our corpses!"
...
