After the bloody battle, Osaka Castle was filled with a strong smell of blood, and most of the castle town had been burned down. The businessmen and people who were hiding at home with a sense of luck abandoned all their delusions and escaped under the cover of night. The castle town has completely turned into a dead city.
Only the tall Osaka Castle was still bustling with people. The walls were covered with corpses of fallen army soldiers and ninjas. Many of them were still fresh, with blood dripping down.
The seaport has always been under the control of the shogunate navy. Big bags of rice, medicines, kelp, dumb...as well as weapons and ammunition, and new recruits are constantly being replenished through the Seto Inland Sea.
Tokugawa Keki, who was hiding in Osaka Castle, knew that if Osaka Castle was lost, it would also mean that Kansai was lost. Without the castle to monitor the emperor, the overthrow army would definitely cooperate with the emperor to control the entire Gyeonggi area. By then, half of southern Japan would But it was all lost.
Both sides knew the importance of Osaka Castle and that this battle was a battle that would determine the fate of the country. Its importance definitely exceeded the Battle of Sekigahara.
Tokugawa Keiki had already spent two hundred years of wealth. The Osaka Castle defenders ate and drank all the best, including rice balls with dried plums and kombu tofu soup. Even if they were placed in the daimyo's house, There are also good dishes on the table, and today they are all served to these soldiers.
Not only that, there are ashigaru captains and senior samurai surrounding the fire, who are distributing rewards to their subordinates according to their military merits. An enemy's head is exchanged for a Ryukyu dragon pattern silver coin, and there are even Japanese silver ingots minted during the Warring States Period. As long as you If you have merit in battle, you will never be stingy with rewards.
Every time the silver coins were distributed, there were bursts of cheers. The Ashigaru who were eating rice balls took the silver coins and kowtowed desperately on the ground to thank them. At that moment, they were ready to die for the Tokugawa family.
Silver coins were hidden close to the body in the pockets of clothes. Almost all poor soldiers had such a pocket for hiding money. It was sewn for them by their mothers and wives at home. It contained not only money but also various peace charms. .
It doesn't matter if you have money and work hard. It's so difficult for the low-level untouchables to survive. Don't think about tomorrow in a muddy life. It's true to seize the immediate benefits.
It was enough for the soldiers at the bottom to give silver coins, while the senior samurai generals used the gold stored in the Tokugawa family. Generations of gold sand and gold plates pressed into sheets became rewards for the senior generals to fight the enemy bravely. The castle tower There were cheers everywhere.
Soon the Choshu Domain ninjas hiding on the roof were discovered. The Kirigakure kid led the Tokugawa family ninjas to the roof and started chasing them. After a while, the four ninjas were slaughtered. Three of them were killed, and the remaining one was seriously injured and fled back to the coalition camp.
"Nani, the political hostage of Okouchi is actually using gold and silver to boost morale. There are actually dragon-patterned silver coins from Ryukyu. All the gold in the storehouse has been taken out." Saigo Takasaki was shocked.
The injured ninja gasped and said, "That's right. Mr. Taiga told the Tokugawa generals with tears in his eyes that this was a last-ditch battle. If the Tokugawa family in southern Japan was thrown away, it would be the end. So he had already asked the general for instructions and used the two The fortune accumulated by the Tokugawa family over more than a hundred years..."
"The secret warehouse in Edo Castle has been opened... They are going to fight hard."
"Add troops, increase troops immediately." The one who jumped out was the captain of the land aid, Shintaro Nakaoka. The fanatical samurai drew his sword and shouted in the command tent.
Ryoma Sakamoto was relatively calm, "Please be careful, be careful. Osaka Castle is a famous city during the Warring States Period that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Moreover, our navy does not completely control the Seto Inland Sea, and the enemy's reinforcements will continue to flow."
But Sakamoto Ryoma's voice was met with blank looks from others, and the distrust there made Ryoma-kun heartbroken.
Saigo Takamori is also considered a famous Japanese general. In history, he dared to confront the emperor's army. This kind of person is very determined and stubborn.
"During the continuous fighting, I didn't find that the enemy's morale has slackened at all, and the supplies in the city are still very sufficient. Even ordinary Ashigaru can eat bonito bonito flowers. This shows that the Tokugawa family is really diluting its laurels."
"It's a pity that the artillery we ordered from Ryukyu didn't arrive. If there were enough artillery...forget it, after all, we can't rely on others forever, we have to rely on ourselves for everything. I have decided to activate the reserve team."
"Master Saigo, please think twice." Ryoma-kun stood up and knelt on the ground, but no one listened to his opinion.
When he walked out of the military tent, everyone ignored him, and even Nakaoka Shintaro bumped into him hard. Ryoma-kun knew that everyone regarded him as a traitor. To be honest, if Xiao Letian hadn't supported him behind his back, if he hadn't looked at the Prime Minister Because of his face, he was not qualified to attend the meeting.
"Why doesn't anyone listen to me? It's too imprudent to blindly invest in the army before controlling the sea. It's not easy for the four southwest vassals to accumulate such wealth. How can they be ruined so easily?"
What made Ryoma-kun even more worried was what happened the next morning. A group of elite cavalry warriors suddenly appeared from the west side of the battlefield, escorting a large group of white-clothed priests and the emperor's imperial edict.
Prince Ninwanomiya Yoshiaki was appointed by the Emperor as the General of the Conquest, nominally commanding all the coalition forces. Of course, it was Saigo Takamori and the others who had the final say on how to actually fight the war, but this kind of ceremonial appointment was too stimulating for morale, and ordinary people revered the Emperor. The heart is the source of morale.
More importantly, Prince Ninwanomiya Yoshiaki also brought a 'Nishiki Flag'. This flag was uniquely designed by Iwakura's counselor Tamatsuso, with a golden sun and a silver moon corresponding to the pattern. However, since the Middle Ages, it has also The "official army" flag seal used to conquer the Korean enemy was sent to Kyoto with the help of Okubo and Shinagawa Yajiro. The fabric and pattern of the banner were sewn at Choshu Yamaguchi and secretly sent to Kyoto.
The moment the flag was raised, the coalition troops cheered loudly, and the emperor actually took out the flag seal to attack the enemies of the DPRK. This showed that the emperor already regarded the Tokugawa family as rebellious.
Encouraged by the flag, the coalition forces launched a desperate charge towards Osaka Castle. The battlefield was filled with the roar of "The Emperor is on board". The samurai with tachi in their mouths climbed up the city wall with their hands and feet. Even the ninjas gave up hiding. Choose to show up on the battlefield and charge.
After one group died, another group rushed forward. The Tokugawa army struggled to resist the enemy's attack, and many soldiers were even exhausted.
Looking at the city gate again, Ashigaru's bodies have piled up in a mountain. In order to resist the crazy coalition attack, the Tokugawa family even poured black gunpowder down and set fire to the formation. At that time, the supply of boiling oil and boiling water in the city was no longer available. .
Osaka Castle fell three times in one day's battle. In the end, Okawachi's political hostage actually used gold to recruit dead soldiers, and then wrapped his body with explosives to launch a suicide attack on the coalition forces, thus preserving the safety of the city.
In the end of the day, two thousand people were killed and injured in Osaka Castle, and countless people were injured. The thick smell of blood was nauseating, and both sides were so tired in the end that they no longer had the energy to collect the corpses.
Such a tragic war shocked Prince Ninwanomiya. Finally, he took out the authority granted by the emperor and ordered, "More troops, we must increase our troops. If we continue to fight like this, even if all our blood is exhausted, we will never win."
The prince's order was supported by 90% of the generals. The reserves in the rear began to gather on the battlefield, and the reinforcements from the four southwest lords also moved north. At this point, the Tokugawa family's strategic deception was complete.
At this time, the Tokugawa navy that had been hiding in Kumano Beach began to set sail. On the deck, the French Minister Roche and the French instructor Chédovan who had just arrived had already joined.
"Your Excellency, the number of coalition forces under Osaka City has exceeded 30,000, and they are all the most elite legions. As long as we eat this piece of cake in one bite, the four southwest vassals will only have recruits and old and weak soldiers. Your strategy is too successful. "
Roche had just enjoyed the service of the beautiful women provided by the Shimadzu family in the cabin. Now he felt refreshed and full of energy. "Well, we don't have time to spend a long time with these barbarians. All the results are achieved in one battle. This is a Chinese proverb. I I think it makes perfect sense.”
"It's time for them to understand what modern warfare is. If we can't deal with Xiao Letian, why can't we deal with the little Japanese? I really thought that buying some weapons would be a new type of army. Go ahead and dream... Go ahead at full speed, prepare to fight in the world Town landing."
Under the order of Minister Roche, the fleet was fully armed and marched to the Seto Inland Sea. Several fishing boats were also scattered along the way. The merchant ships in the distance fled in shock.
Luo Shi didn't know that among the escaped merchant ships, Xiao Letian's work was included. According to Kirigakure's intelligence, the four feudal clans had offended Xiao Letian and rejected Xiao Letian's request to send troops for support three times.
The French are well aware of Xiao Letian's pride, and they also know that in the Chinese philosophy, things should be done in three ways. Of course, one should not put one's face on one's butt, so they concluded that the possibility of Xiao Letian's military intervention was very low.
What's more, they don't believe that Xiao Letian has the ability to mobilize the military so quickly. Fighting a war is no joke. It would take more than ten days just to prepare supplies, and then add the military mobilization. It is estimated that after Xiao Letian's army arrives in Japan, The war is long over.
However, Luo Shi never expected that Xiao Letian's army preparations were completely based on the standards of later generations' rapid reaction forces. The warehouses have been storing materials that can sustain a three-month high-intensity war. If they really wanted to fight a war, their reaction speed would even exceed that of the British. .
The spy ship quickly found Xiao Letian's fleet, and all the intelligence confirmed the previous judgment. Osaka City was a trap, with the purpose of attracting all the main forces to overthrow the four feudal lords.
Japan is not China. Each daimyo has thousands of professional soldiers under his command. In fact, most of them are peasant soldiers. The 30,000 elites gathered by the four feudal clans are already a collection of all professional soldiers.
If these 30,000 troops were eaten by the French, there would no longer be professional soldiers in southern Japan.
"Advance... the fleet accelerates... and hangs behind the enemy. It's our harvest season again... When the last drop of blood is shed by the four feudal lords, it will be the time for our new army to make contributions..."
"My two thousand new troops will change the history of Japan this year."
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