In October of the sixth year of Kanei (1622), the hurricane that had been raging in the Sea of Japan for nearly half a month finally stopped, and the vast sea area from Hokkaido to Ryukyu gradually became calm.
The "barbarians" from the west have not yet crossed the sea to attack. The kamikaze that the shogunate and the daimyo had been thinking about suddenly disappeared, and an inexplicable feeling of uneasiness began to spread among the western vassals.
The barbarians became more and more immobile, and the daimyo became more and more frightened.
After entering October, various rumors began to spread among the various vassals in Kyushu.
It is said that the invasion force of the barbarians exceeded one million, and the warships were connected for hundreds of miles. The scale was far greater than that of the foreign wars of that year (i.e., Kublai Khan's conquest of Japan);
Some say that the barbarian leader was actually a Ming Dynasty daimyo with the same surname as Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. Not only could he kill white snakes, but he also had soul-calling skills and could resurrect the dead on the battlefield like Amaterasu;
Of course, the most credible news is that the Liaodong barbarians have gathered hundreds of thousands of Tang people, Tatars, Jurchens, Koreans, and even red-haired barbarians and Francois, and are about to come from the sea and land in Kyushu.
The barbarians have issued a declaration of war to the emperor, demanding that the shogun immediately order the release of Catholic believers imprisoned in each domain and declare Catholicism as the state religion of Japan;
Immediately cede Kyushu Island to the Ming Dynasty, which has had sovereignty over the island since ancient times;
Immediately expel all British and Dutch people in Japan. From now on, only the Portuguese and Tang people will be allowed to do business here, and they must enjoy one-sided preferential country treatment;
Thirteen cities including Nagasaki and Nagoya were opened as trading ports, allowing Chinese and Portuguese ships to sail freely here;
Of course, before the war begins, the shogunate must also pay the enemy 10 million taels of silver or its equivalent as war compensation.
In other words, Japan needs to pay reparations before the war begins.
It was impossible for Tokugawa Hidetada to agree to any of the above terms.
Otherwise, the shogunate's rule will immediately collapse, and the Tokugawa clan's status as co-leader of the world will immediately disappear.
Since the Mongolian invasion, the most serious threat - and the only one, the other being North Korea's invasion of Tsushima - came to Japan.
At present, there is a powerful enemy. From Edo to Satsuma, from Kanto to Kansai, the daimyo of each domain should have shared the same hatred of the enemy and fought against the national calamity together.
However, under the haze of war, suspicions and struggles began to arise between the daimyo and the shogunate, and between the daimyo and the daimyo.
This is of course not because the Yamato nation is good at internal fighting, but because the enemy added at the end of the letter of war submitted to the emperor:
"(Surrender) Those who take the lead will be rewarded, and those who come later will be punished."
It was clearly stated that the first three daimyo to submit and surrender would be able to retain their family property and samurai, and would become the new shogun candidates.
The story of Qianjin Shima is known to all the famous people, so the conditions offered by the Ming army will definitely be fulfilled.
At this time, the Battle of Osaka had only been over for a few years. The Kansai feudal lords had not completely surrendered to the shogunate. They had just brutally suppressed the Catholics. The shogunate had no trust in Satsuma Chikugo Bunzen and other feudal lords on Kyushu Island.
With this mutual distrust, disaster would soon strike.
During the Battle of Sekigahara, the nine vassal states on Kyushu Island all belonged to the Toyotomi clan, belonged to the Western Army, and fell into an enemy relationship with the Tokugawa family.
Edo City disliked these nine daimyo who did not obey the shogunate very much, and hoped to strengthen surveillance on them.
At the beginning of this year, Tokugawa Hidetada exiled his nephew Matsudaira Tadanao, who received 670,000 koku from Echizen Fukui, to Kyushu (Bungo) in the name of not participating in the attendance report on time.
It is said that the shogunate specially arranged for Tadanao to be exiled to Bungo (Note 1).
On the surface, this cover was used to monitor Tadanao, but in fact it was a "radar" used by the shogunate to detect the movements of Kyushu daimyo, and became its stronghold to dominate Kyushu.
Hearing that North Korea colluded with Liaodong barbarians to invade Kyushu, Tokugawa Hidetada only sent a symbolic reinforcement of 2,000 people, including many ashigaru.
Before the strength of these powerful southwestern vassals on Kyushu Island is exhausted, the cunning Tokugawa Hidetada will not easily dispatch the elite shogunate.
Even within the nine countries including Satsuma, Hizen, and Chikugo, everyone has different opinions on how to fight the enemy.
The Lord of the Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Tadahashi (Note 2), called on the other feudal clans to gather heavy troops and take the initiative to attack.
Specifically, they used warships to transport samurai ronin to Busan and Inchon, and then attacked them from the north and south. They adopted the tactics of the Bunroku and Keicho battles, intercepted the enemy troops, blocked the northward escape route of the barbarians, and waited for the shogunate's army to arrive. Destroy the enemy in one fell swoop.
However, Shimazu's plan was too bold, and no other daimyo supported it except himself.
More people hope to defend the enemy on Tsushima Island, or to defend themselves layer by layer to lure the enemy deeper, and then wait for the enemy to land on Kyushu for a decisive battle. This is how the Kamakura shogunate army defeated Kublai Khan.
Kagoshima Castle Town of Satsuma Domain on Kyushu Island.
Daimyo Shimazu stood up and said angrily to the surrounding feudal lords:
"A bunch of idiots, don't talk about the Battle of Bunyong! Today is different from the past. Back then, the Mongols were not good at water warfare, and their warships were not strong. They lost supplies as soon as they landed ashore, so they were later defeated by the Japanese samurai. And this This time, our opponents completely avoided the divine wind, and their ships were stronger, and they had stockpiled tens of thousands of stones of food and grass in Busan early."
Shimazu glanced at the people around him and said harshly:
"Only by fighting to Busan and burning all their supplies can Kyushu have a chance of winning! Otherwise, we can only wait for death!"
At the age of fourteen, Tadashi Shimazu followed his father, Yoshihiro Shimazu, known as "Oni Shimazu", to participate in the Korean War, and emerged on the battlefield at a young age. It is said that Toyotomi Hideyoshi had high expectations for his son. .
In the past three months, the Satsuma clan has successively sent more than 200 ninjas to Busan in Korea, Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty and other places to inquire about information. Although only a dozen people came back in the end, from the mouths of these ninjas, Shimadzu opened fire on the original army. I have a clear understanding of my strength.
Hosokawa Tadaki, the lord of the Ogura Domain standing next to him, also said:
"They recruited thousands of warships, and were assisted by the red-haired barbarians who were driven away by the shogunate. Their ships were lower than the lucky ships, their center of gravity was under the broadsides, and they were faster."
"So, the only way to win is to fight them on land, preferably in Busan."
The feudal lords showed disdain.
"What if the army is surrounded by the other side in North Korea?"
"Just like when we were trapped in Pyongyang, do you want the army to be surrounded again?"
·····
In the end, everyone agreed that their plan was too risky and not feasible at all.
To deal with the invasion of barbarians, we must defend ourselves continuously and not engage in sea battles. As for landing in North Korea, that is even more delusional.
Since then, the nine great names have already started chaos on their own before the barbarians come to kill them.
Shimazu and Ogura looked at each other, but neither spoke.
The two were about to continue their persuasion when they suddenly heard a knock on the door.
A panicked warrior came in.
Shimazu recognized this man as Akutsu, the flag warrior stationed in Ryukyu.
"Akutsu? If you are not guarding Okinawa, what are you doing here!"
Akujin looked horrified, kneeling on the ground and repeatedly buttoning his head.
"Shimazu-sama, Ogura-sama, something bad has happened! Ryukyu was attacked by barbarians?"
Shimazu Tadahashi was stunned on the spot and said loudly:
"Asshole! What nonsense! The barbarians have always been north of Tsushima Island! They are going to attack Tsushima Island! How could they appear in Ryukyu! Ryukyu is at fault, shouldn't you commit seppuku?"
Akutsu didn't have time to care about the issue of seppuku and quickly replied:
"They are Li Dan's pirates. He brought five Ming Dynasty ships and about 3,000 barbarians with sharp artillery. After landing on Ryukyu, they burned, killed and looted all the way. Now they have captured Amami Island and Tokunoshima Island, and are currently on the way. Attack Okinawa. We escaped on a Dutch clipper! My lords, I came back to report!"
The surrounding vassals all exclaimed:
"All the Ryukyu garrison troops were mobilized north to participate in the Battle of Kyushu. I didn't expect the barbarians to land in the south!"
"The defenses in the south are empty. We must immediately mobilize samurai to go south and ask the shogun to reinforce us as soon as possible!"
Shimazu looked at the people in front of him coldly, and suddenly remembered what he had heard from Ming Dynasty businessmen in Nagasaki.
"Back then, the Grand Master of the Ming Dynasty used this trick to kill the Jurchens!"
The Lord of the Ogura Domain also murmured to himself:
"Standing upright is amazing, making noises in the east and attacking in the west. We are really good at using troops! Now Kyushu is in danger. We will be attacked from the north and south by the enemy."
Everyone was still talking, but when they heard a popping sound, Akutsu had already cut open his lower abdomen with a short knife, looked up at Shimazu Tadahashi, and begged with a ferocious expression:
"Shimazu-sama, please be my intermediary!"
Note:
1. Mofu: The so-called sentinel in Japan means a person who carries out supervision and surveillance work.
2. Shimazu Tadahashi (Japanese: しまづただつね, November 27, 1576 - April 7, 1638) was the first generation lord of Satsuma Domain in the Edo period. He was fond of martial arts when he was young, and his martial arts name began to spread when he went to Korea with his father at the age of 14.
