The fierce artillery fire not only destroyed the lives and property of the people of Ryukyu, but also destroyed their fragile military morale. Although Xiao Letian used all his time to make the people of Ryukyu the most popular in East Asia, his time was really short. It's too short, and his foundation is too weak.
Amidst the rumbling cannons, Naha City was like a burning ant nest, and the black people fled into the mountains like ants. Everyone's faces were full of fear, and screams were endless.
Is there a safe place in the mountains? That is not necessarily true. The warships that have circled to the Pacific Ocean on the east side of Ryukyu Island are, under careful guidance, razing their hiding places to the ground one by one. As long as they are within the range of the artillery, all two legs All living creatures were subjected to intensive bombing.
In the 19th century, this was the era of big ships and big guns. The most lethal weapon on earth was the sail battleship. At that time, this kind of super powerful battleship was no less important than the atomic bomb of later generations in the weapons arsenal of the great powers.
"Any coast covered by naval guns is a colony of Western civilization. Whether you indigenous peoples are willing or not, in the flames of destruction that tear the world apart, the only fate of backward peoples is to be beaten..."
This is a truth that Xiao Letian explained more than once in military academies, universities, and secret classrooms. Perhaps many people at the time could not understand Xiao Letian's exaggerated description, but after this practical education from the French, everyone recognized it. Xiao Letian's truth.
This is simply not a destructive force that can be resisted by manpower. Except for the forts built by Xiao Letian, which Xiao Letian paid a lot of money to the Americans to build, which can restrain the warships a little, the rest of Ryukyu is beaten in vain.
Maybe people still remember the miracles created by Xiang Ying and the others, but they cannot be replicated. The Kunito Water Ghost can sneak attack once but not twice. The French fleet will never stay in the same place now. All warships are on the move. , and countless sailors focused on underwater defense, giving the new army no opportunity to take advantage of it.
Beating, beating, beating all day long; explosion, explosion, the entire Ryukyu Island was burning as far as the eye could see.
Cai Mao and Liang Kun were completely helpless in the face of such strategic bombing. Facing the most powerful weapon of this era, Ryukyu had no other choice but to suffer and surrender.
King Shangtai was already crazy. He pulled his neck in the entanglement of the civil servants and shouted, "Let me go, I want to lead the army to conquer... The country is about to perish, I shouldn't lock my head..."
At this time, the civil and military officials no longer had time to care about His Majesty's dirty words. The old ministers were all crying and knelt on the ground, begging Your Majesty not to take risks.
There was only one exception, and that was Jin Changsen. The Minister of Rites stood by with a livid complexion and didn't know what he was thinking. At this time, a messenger rushed from the horse path of the city wall, shouting loudly.
"Report...report to Your Majesty that General Liang Kun led two hundred personal guards to rush towards the country, but...but suddenly encountered a stray bullet attack by the French on the path of Qixing Mountain. The mountain collapsed and the casualties are unknown..."
"Ah." Everyone was shocked. Liang Kun was the army commander left by Xiao Letian. If something happened to him, Liu Qiu would immediately break an arm.
At this time, a group of people suddenly ran up on the horse road. They looked at it and saw that it was Shopkeeper Fan and his subordinates from Lotte Bank. The old man rushed up and tried his best to pull aside the old ministers who were kneeling to entangle King Shangtai. "Go away...get out of here, who are you? Don't stop His Majesty."
The crazy Fan Lian scared everyone present, even King Shang Tai was stunned.
"Your Majesty, you are right. There are no unbroken eggs when the nest is overthrown. We in Ryukyu can have a subjugated king, but we cannot have a useless king. It is better to die in battle than to die from fear..."
"Shopkeeper Fan..." King Shang Tai burst into tears.
"But Your Majesty, you cannot go to the battlefield, because your battlefield is not at the head of the country, but among the people... Under your Majesty's bright yellow umbrella, escorted by the Royal Forest Army, you go to inspect the people. Amidst the sky full of artillery fire, you are personally with the people. ...If we stabilize the people's hearts, Ryukyu will not be subjugated..."
Everyone's hearts trembled when they heard Fan Yan's hoarse voice, which was dripping with tears. "Your Majesty, during the rice riots last night, I already understood that the people are not without conscience, but they want to see if we have any officials first." Conscience...I absolve the people of the crime of robbing the military rations. I also opened a warehouse to release food to help the people, and the rewards they gave us are beyond my imagination..."
"Within an hour, the kind people actually replenished the rice warehouse. They used their life-saving rations to make up for the shortage of military rations. With people like this, our Ryukyu will never be destroyed..."
Fan Qian smashed his chest and shouted to the officials on the city wall, "As long as we behave, as long as we let the people see our conscience, the rewards they will give us will be ten times a hundred times... We are officials, officials." To put people’s hearts first, we must first set an example..."
"Come here, raise your majesty's guard of honor...the emperor guards the gates of the country, and the king dies in the country."
This sentence shocked everyone's hearts. Now no one could stop King Shangtai. Countless eunuchs led horses and flags, and soon the guard of honor for King Shangtai's trip was assembled.
The gate of Shuri Castle slowly opened, and the young king rode his war horse and was the first to walk into the city under continuous gunfire. The pungent smell of cigarette smoke made the war horse sneeze.
"Have mercy on my Ryukyu, have mercy on my people..." What was flowing in King Shangtai's eyes was no longer tears, but blood.
The whole city was burning, and the streets were full of people fleeing for their lives. Their numb expressions did not change even when they saw the king's bright yellow umbrella.
"My people... don't be afraid... I will not abandon you... God bless Ryukyu..." The young King Shangtai roared at the top of his lungs on horseback, followed by a large group of civil servants who also yelled at their necks.
"Common people, Your Majesty is here to comfort you... Don't be alarmed. Your Majesty is here..." Just as I was shouting, suddenly there was an explosion in the block next door, and a two-story building was immediately blown into ruins. The flying dust destroyed this small comforter. The team was swallowed up.
"Ahem... Your Majesty... It's too dangerous here... Let's go back to Shuri Castle... The French don't dare to open fire on the Imperial City..."
"Fart, you fart... The French even dared to burn the Old Summer Palace, so why don't they dare to blow up Shuri Castle? Your Majesty, please retreat into the mountains as soon as possible..."
"Ahem...retreat. Your Majesty, don't worry about these people. They are stupid now and have no expression when they see Your Majesty..."
King Shangtai listened to the civil officials' persuasion, and then looked at the people on the street who were numbly running for their lives and ignoring him. Something seemed to be broken in the young king's heart, and there was a bone-piercing pain.
This is actually the typical relationship between the king and the people in the Middle Ages. The emperor and the king are actually just illusory existences in the hearts of the people. Everyone knows that he is in the palace, but no one has a clear image concept in their mind.
People have been saying from generation to generation that they should be loyal to the emperor and love the country, but in the end, the people have no practical concept of what the emperor is and what the country is.
At that time, the emperor was more like a Buddha statue in a shrine, nothing more than a spiritual sustenance for the people. Generation after generation, people hoped that a wise king would rule the world, but no one could tell how many truly wise kings there were.
All paintings will be torn apart when the sky falls and the earth falls. The young King Shangtai finally understands that although he is the monarch of Ryukyu, the people will not pay attention to him and the officials in the court when it comes to life and death.
Just when King Shangtai was denying himself, suddenly there was a burst of chaotic footsteps at the corner ahead, followed by a group of soldiers wearing New Army uniforms, leading a large group of people to retreat out of the city.
"The villagers are following... It will be safe once we enter the mountain... Come here, kid, I will carry you..."
"Don't be afraid. If the French want to invade, they will have to step on our corpses... And don't worry, the crazier the enemy is, the more timid they are. The final victory will be ours..."
Four or five soldiers were running while encouraging the people behind them. The young soldier at the front was carrying a little boy with an injured calf, and nearly thirty terrified people were following them.
The smoke, flames, and smoke from the explosion interfered with people's vision. This small team passed more than 20 meters in front of King Shangtai, but no one noticed the king or the Manchu civil and military forces.
King Shangtai was shocked. At this moment, there was a sudden click in his heart, as if something broke through the old ideas and was sprouting in his heart.
"I understand, I already understand, this is the national justice that the Prime Minister said, this is the new type of country that Master Shangfu said... Hahaha, I finally understand, I finally understand, it turns out that I have always been It’s wrong, it’s so wrong.”
Shang Tai was laughing wildly, but what was flowing from his eyes were tears. He turned over and dismounted, and ran towards the rescue team while everyone looked at them in disbelief.
"I am not a king now, nor am I... I am just a citizen of Ryukyu. I want people to love me and respect me, not because of my reputation, but because I personally go out to the people and see how I behave. Do."
"When the sky fell and the earth fell, the people chose the New Army instead of us. That's because we never fought against each other from the beginning to the end... Hahaha, I think this Ryukyu should be destroyed."
Shang Tai finally understood. He finally understood that to inspire people's morale, it does not rely on the majesty of tall horses and royal honor guards. It relies on you throwing yourself beside the suffering people, helping them personally, encouraging them personally, and talking to them. Sweat and bleed together.
"Man is doing it, and God is watching. What is God...all the people are God. If I, Shangtai, do not bleed with all the people today, I am not worthy of being the King of Ryukyu."
King Shang Tai ran wildly in front, and behind him were a group of civil servants and imperial guardsmen whose faces were pale with fright. A large group of people were running on the street like running on a train, risking their lives.
Soon, the chaos alarmed the soldiers who were evacuating the people in front. As soon as the few New Army soldiers turned around, they jumped up in fright and almost pushed the boy with the injury on his back to the ground.
"Oh my God, look... our king, what's going on? Could it be that Shuri Castle was destroyed by a bomb?"
