“Japan is a feudal country with a good military tradition, and it is also an island country composed of many islands. Moreover, the terrain on the Japanese archipelago is very complex, with dense mountains and narrow plains, which is very conducive to the existence of small separatist regimes.
Therefore, it is very difficult to use a huge army and navy force to carry out a short-term attack on Japan and make it completely surrender. On the contrary, you will face a situation where the gains outweigh the losses... You must know that Japan's military power is composed of countless feudal samurai families, which are very scattered and usually small but powerful. It is unlikely that the invaders can be annihilated in a few large-scale battles. Even if the assembled Japanese samurai army was severely damaged, it did not mean that colonial rule could be quickly established. Because the Japanese military power based on the samurai family can be replenished several times quickly. After all, a samurai family usually does not have only one male capable of going into battle.
However, Japan's military power also has a fatal weakness! Even as an island nation, Japan has long been sequestered, so it does not have outstanding navigation capabilities. There is a serious shortage of sailors and merchants in the country, and it is unable to build a strong navy..."
It was Tasman, the admiral of the coalition fleet, who was explaining the strategy of conquering Japan to Zheng Jiangong and Li Yuanyin on the Flying Ship.
Tasman went to war despite being ill. His health has not been very good in the past two years, and he is getting older. He originally did not plan to go to sea again, but he could not resist Zheng Jiangong's request, so he had to serve as the admiral of the coalition fleet. In fact, he, the admiral, no longer has the physical strength to command on the spot, and he cannot take care of the daily affairs of the fleet, leaving them to David Jones and Zheng Jiangong.
However, he did not get a generous salary as an admiral for nothing. He had already formulated a guide for Ming Dynasty to "conquer Japan"... It can't be called a plan, because there are not many specific implementation methods, only a general policy.
Don't underestimate this old Dutch sailor's understanding of Japan - the Dutch East India Company "knows Japan" very well, and Tasman has been traveling to Japan for a long time and has a very good understanding of Japan's national conditions.
Moreover, the Dutch East India Company also planned to "conquer Japan" in its early years, but had to give up because the cost was too high.
Of course, the so-called "conquest" of the Dutch was not to establish the autocratic rule of the Prince of Orange in Japan - the Prince of Orange could not be autocratic in the seven provinces of the Netherlands, let alone Japan?
The Dutch's conquest of Japan was actually to control Japan obediently, leaving Japan's samurai with nothing to do.
In fact, the Japanese samurai who experienced the baptism of the Warring States Period have always been very powerful! For such a small country, two to three hundred thousand soldiers can be mobilized at any time, and they are quite brave. If the equipment and training are in place, Emperor Zhu's Ming army is not sure to wipe them all out.
But the power of the Japanese samurai is only on land!
No one in the 17th century believed in the so-called Japanese maritime civilization full of pioneering spirit that was so popularized by later generations... How could the foundation of maritime civilization be based on the "high stone" theory of feudal samurai? Japan in the 17th century was a typical land-based feudal land country. There was no maritime merchant class at all. Therefore, there was a serious shortage of sailors and large-scale shipbuilding capabilities.
For the Ming Dynasty, which is both powerful on sea and land, the best way to bring Japan into the circle of the Chinese dynasty and make the fierce warriors obey is not to conquer the Japanese islands with a large army, but to use the advantages of the sea to conquer Japan with a small number of troops. Occupy some important small islands around the archipelago, and then use the small islands as naval bases to control Japan's external sea transportation chokepoints.
As long as these small islands are in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, no matter who rules Japan, they will have to serve as a lackey for the Celestial Empire...
"So the first goal of the coalition's expedition to Japan is the Goto Islands! And the second goal is Tanegashima!" Tasman continued to explain his plan, "The Goto Islands are very close to Nagasaki and guard the northern part of Japan's Kyushu. The channel also guards the western exit of the Tsushima Strait. Moreover, there is a relatively ideal anchorage in the northwest of the Goto Islands. It is a bay protected by several narrow islands. It only needs to be protected by two small islands. Building forts and deploying artillery on the island can effectively protect the entire bay. The area inside the bay is very large, including four small deep-water bays, which can fit all the naval ships of the Ming Dynasty!
Tanegashima is located on the sea south of Kyushu Island, just guarding the exit of Kagoshima Bay. Although Tanegashima does not have a good port for the large fleet to dock, the water and soil on this island are quite good, and there is a lot of flat land on the island, so there is also a lot of fertile farmland. If China occupies Tanegashima, it will not only obtain a base to monitor Kagoshima Bay nearby, but also obtain a food supply base for fleets and troops stationed around the Japanese archipelago.
As long as the Goto Islands and Tanegashima are mastered, the westward traffic of Kyushu Island will be completely controlled! Once the traffic to the west of Kyushu Island is controlled, Japan's complete surrender will be just around the corner..."
The plan proposed by Tasman is not the most thorough, but it is certainly the lowest-cost strategy to conquer Japan!
Zheng Jiangong, who was very familiar with the situation in Japan's Kyushu and Japan's foreign trade, nodded repeatedly, and the worry that originally appeared on his face disappeared.
He knew that the Goto clan (Goto clan) currently ruled the Goto Islands. He was the descendant of the famous Japanese pirate daimyo Goto Suijun during the Warring States Period. The lord of the domain was named Goto Morikatsu and had a fiefdom of twelve thousand koku. .....Due to the implementation of the national lockdown order, the Five Island Navy has long become history, and at most there are only a few fishermen left!
Without the naval army, the Goto family is just a small feudal lord with 12,000 koku. It is good to be able to raise an army of two to three hundred people. How can it withstand the Ming Dynasty's 15,000 heavenly soldiers?
As for Tanegashima, it is no longer the territory of the famous Tanegashima family, but the direct territory of the Shimadzu family. Because of the "One Country, One City Order", the castle on Tanegashima has been demolished, leaving only the Shimazu family's jinya.
There is no castle, and there should not be many samurai garrisoned, so Tanegashima is still vulnerable to the Great Tomorrow Soldiers... After taking Tanegashima, the coalition's large fleet will begin to blockade Kagoshima Bay, and will also try to land at Oshima Sakurajima in Kagoshima Bay.
If the fort can be successfully established in the west of Sakurajima, then Kagoshima Bay will be under the control of the Ming army!
"Boom boom boom..."
The faint sound of gunfire reached the stern of the Flying Ship at this time. This was a fort located on the Wudao Islands that was firing to deter Ming warships trying to approach!
Tasman nodded and smiled at Zheng Jiangong and Li Yuanyin: "It's starting... The Five Islands will soon be the territory of the Celestial Empire!
Then there are Tanegashima and Sakurajima in Kagoshima Bay! "
...
"Your Highness, the world of Japan originally belongs to the Toyotomi family. The daimyo and samurai who have received favors from His Highness Taikaku and are dissatisfied with the Tokugawa Shogunate are all eagerly waiting for Your Highness to stand up and raise the banner of overthrow! So Your Highness, don't hesitate any longer. Please give the order to raise the Toyotomi family’s flag in Fuuchi Castle! Gochitō’s royal flag and golden gourd horse seal have been prepared for you! Please give the order, Your Highness!”
"Please give the order, Your Highness..."
Just when the Ming army invaded the Goto Islands, a farce of taking the blame was taking place in Fuuchi Castle of Bungo Kingdom.
Toyotomi Kunimatsu, who was forced into power, was just a five-thousand-koku bannerman, and because of the favor of the third generation general Iemitsu, his life had been good, and he had never thought about reviving the Toyotomi family... In his opinion, this is impossible! The Toyotomi family has no strength and is very thin. It’s just him and his two sons Enchi and Enmei. There are three Toyotomi in total. How can we revive the Toyotomi family? By Shimadzu? Rely on gross profit? This is unreliable even if you think about it!
During the Osaka Winter Formation and the Osaka Summer Formation in the past, Shimazu and Mori both sent troops, but they stood on the side of the Tokugawa family and watched the Toyotomi family being destroyed!
