The sound of gunshots, bayonets, rushing arrows, shotgun blasts, and bloody screams all filled the entire Kokubu Plain. In the sky, several birds that accidentally entered the battlefield flapped their wings in panic and quickly moved away from this killing place...
It took more than half a month to prepare for a battle. When it came time to fight, it was over in two days.
The first day is about "cutting the wheat", and the next two days are about "gathering the wheat".
The defeated troops of the Four Domains Allied Forces ran all over the mountains and plains. The 3rd Northern Navy Regiment pursued the defeated troops of the Satsuma Domain, while the 4th Regiment and the Sendai Army pursued the other three.
While chasing the fleeing feudal lords, the coalition soldiers discovered that many of the feudal lords' waist knives were actually bamboo knives, and some of the tips of the two-guns were rusty.
"Liar! It's all a piece of bamboo!" Monk Zhou threw the bamboo knife on the ground and cursed angrily.
Why is it so hard to find a good knife?
Among the thirty samurai swords seized by the Third Company along the way, more than twenty were actually bamboo swords. Those who are conscientious still know to wrap it in a layer of tin foil to make it shiny; those who are unconscionable just use a bare bamboo knife, polished slightly so that it can fit tightly into the scabbard.
The truly well-armed and capable troops were the commandos and cavalry that launched the attack on the first day. The rest were just a make-up. These people had thought about it before going out. Everyone would be happy if they won. If they couldn't win, they would flee for their lives as soon as possible. .
It's a pity that there are really not many armies in this era that can outperform the North Navy.
By October 19th, almost all the four vassal coalition forces that could escape had fled, leaving behind more than 8,000 corpses and more than 10,000 prisoners.
The four major feudal lords of Kyushu are considered finished. Even if the shogunate really wants to send troops in the future, Kumamoto, Fukuoka and Saga will have no choice but to follow suit.
As for the generals of the Four Domains...
Needless to say, Shimazu Shigehao brought his head back to the headquarters as soon as the battle ended; the first boss of the Kumamoto Domain, Hosokawa Tadora, was wounded and died in the first round of shelling; the Fukuoka Domain Even the body of Kuroda Haruyuki was not found, and his strange-looking big helmet passed down from Kuroda Jishui was also blown to pieces; Nabeshima Harushige of Saga Domain survived the disaster, but after some rescue, he was killed. The military doctor sawed off the calf, but his life was saved.
For more than a month, Date Murasune seemed to be addicted to dealing with the feudal prisoners of war.
In his and Tamura's view, the Satsuma Domain's 100,000 feudal lords were too many and had to be reduced. Otherwise, when the Date family rules here in the future, just feeding these feudal lords will be a huge financial burden.
If you keep it, you will have to pay to enfeoff it; if you don't pay for the land, these people will become rogues, which will be a great unrest factor for the Date family to rule the three states.
The two closed the door and discussed secretly for a long time, and finally decided on a plan to eliminate the family: from now on, only 10,000 feudal lords would be enough to stay in the entire Southern Kyushu Three Kingdoms.
It's already quite a lot. The Sendai Domain is so big but it only has less than 10,000 feudal lords. The Shimazu family has 100,000 feudal lords. It's useless in front of the Northern Navy!
The key is to hold the right thigh.
After hearing the two people's plan, Zhao Xin thought to himself that he was so cruel and ruthless that he would never be able to do this; the education he had received since childhood told him not to do this.
If you start with this, you will end with this.
But then again, at the same time as he was disdainful, Zhao Xin felt an inexplicable disgust that made him want to laugh out loud.
Probably because of the Sino-Japanese War in another time and space...
"You go ahead and do it. The Beihai Navy won't participate." After Zhao Xin finished speaking, he wanted to take the time to check who the previous generation of Togo, Saigo, Okubo, and Oyama were, and who all joined Date Village Chang. in the list.
Date Village and Tamura Village understand each other intimately.
The reason why the two of them dared to decide on this plan of extermination was because for more than a month, the Date family's slogan of "Five Publics and Five Citizens" had spread throughout Kyushu; and the Sendai Army also put on a show of changing the world and saving the people from disaster. look like.
But in fact, the two people received a lot of money from the contributions of businessmen and village chiefs from all over the country.
As the news of the victory over the four vassal forces in the battle at Ridang Mountain spread throughout Sangyuan County, the lower-level farmers who were still in a wait-and-see state were already crazy with joy. In each village, people of all ages, regardless of gender, were singing and dancing in the streets with joy on their faces, day and night.
"Don't worry! Five publics and five citizens! Don't worry! Five publics and five citizens!"
The world is about to change, everyone thinks so, and hundreds of years of extortion and extortion seem to be gone forever.
But will the world really change?
In the shogunate period of another time and space, the Meiji government of the Eastern Campaign also issued an "annual tribute halving order." However, as those big businessmen defected to the Meiji regime and sought support to ensure their exploitative interests, the Meiji government quickly broke its promise and revoked the "Annual Tribute Halving Order."
The new rulers felt that the efficiency of collecting annual tribute in the past was too low, so they changed it to monetary land rent. As a result, the burden on farmers was even more serious than when the shogunate was under the shogunate. In just ten years, hundreds of "yiku" were launched.
In 1873, angry farmers finally invaded Fukuoka Domain Hakata Castle, destroyed shops and burned government offices, forming a massive riot involving nearly 300,000 people.
A change of dynasty is just a change of badge.
On October 20, in order to save unnecessary food, Date Muracao ordered the release of all the Shimazu family's ashigaru, other captured samurai of the San Francisco dynasty, and ashigaru. This move surprised and shocked the more than 7,000 captives. surprise. Carrying two walnut-sized brown rice balls distributed by the Sendai Army, they set out on their way back home.
After all the released prisoners were gone, the Sendai army began to attack the remaining Shimazu clan members.
Date Murakusa and Tamura Village Capital did this very secretly. Except for the two thousand Sendai troops in charge of the operation, no one knew where the Shimazu clan members were led.
A few days later, the two-meter-deep trenches on the Kokubu Plain were filled tightly. In the following years, the rice harvest here was surprisingly good, which made the farmers who cultivated the land extremely happy; they had no idea what nourished the land.
On October 26, the high-level officials of the Northern Navy and the Sendai Domain discussed and decided that the entire army would first attack Tsurunomaru Castle to the southwest in order to block the Shimazu family's southward retreat, and then march toward Satsuma County to defeat the Shimazu family in one fell swoop. .
Since Satsuma County is adjacent to Gaocheng County to the west, and Gaocheng County is adjacent to the sea to the west, Zhao Xin and Wang Yuanfang decided to send another regiment south after discussing it, landing in Izumi County, and attacking from the north and south to block the Shimazu family's escape to the north. route.
Five days later, a large force of coalition forces arrived outside Kagoshima Castle. At this time, the news of the battle at Hitoyama had returned, and no one in Kagoshima Castle Town dared to organize resistance anymore. A group of businessmen and town residents watched helplessly as the coalition troops passed through the streets of the town and destroyed the entire Tsurunomaru. The city was surrounded.
Shimazu Sainobu has retreated to Mizuhiro of Satsuma County, and the only people guarding Tsurunomaru are the local appointee, dozens of old retired feudal lords and a group of servants.
Facing the resistance of a hundred people, the Northern Navy dispatched a company to cover it. It took the Sendai Army half a day to invade the city. They decided to commit suicide and all other defenders died in the battle.
Zhao Xin did not allow the Northern Navy to enter Tsurunomaru Castle, so this city should be left to the Date family.
It is said that the entire Kagoshima Castle Town is composed of three towns: Upper Town, Lower Town, and Nishida Town. As Tsurunomaru Castle fell in full view of the public, the three towns each elected a businessman as their representative, and surrendered to the coalition forces together with the three towns. In order to save the lives of their families, each merchant collected one thousand shi of military rations and five thousand taels of gold as a reward.
Date Murachang was very satisfied with this and sent half of it to the Northern Navy that night.
Two days later, the coalition forces left Tsurunomaru Castle and headed north. The Sendai Army left two thousand men to guard it, and Tamura Village appointed several retainers to manage it on their behalf.
At this time, news of Shimazu Shigehao's death had spread to all parts of Kyushu. After the coalition troops entered Hioki County, which is adjacent to Kagoshima County, all the foreign mountain castles along the way heard the news. The banner of "Five Publics and Five Citizens" was held high in the ranks of the Sendai Army, and there was a joyous scene of singing and dancing everywhere.
In Suiyinroku in the northwest of Satsuma County, 13-year-old Shimazu Sainobu and a group of retainers were preparing to flee to Desuiroku in the north. However, a piece of news coming from the direction of Akune made the Shimazu clan despair again.
"What! Another force has landed at Akune!"
"Yes. It is estimated that the four hills of Chushui County will be captured within a few days."
Hisashi Shimazu, the head of the Hiki Shimazu family, said: "For now, the only way is to go out to sea by boat."
"Are you going to evacuate to Ryukyu?"
Shimazu Jiuchang said: "The north wind is blowing now. If we go to Okinawa, we will arrive in three to five days."
"But over there in Edo?" Shimazu Sainobu still wanted to count on the reinforcements sent by Edo.
Shimazu Hisashi, the family leader of the imperial clan, said in a deep voice: "My lord, the shogunate can no longer count on us. Now that the four feudal alliances have been defeated and the superior general is dead in battle, no one will come to help us! Please come to our aid immediately!" Make a decision, otherwise the Shimazu family will be destroyed soon!"
"That's all it can do!"
Three days later, the Shimazu clan fled in panic on sixty ships with thousands of their men...
In the early morning of November, the outer northeastern land had entered the bone-chilling winter season, but at this time, a lucky boat suddenly appeared on the sea twenty kilometers southwest of Beihai Town.
In the cabin of the lucky boat, the charcoal was burning brightly, and two men were sitting around the brazier to warm themselves up.
Although a man in his thirties was wrapped in a blanket, he was still so cold that he had a runny nose.
"Ah sneeze~~"
The man wiped his nose with the blanket, exhaled white breath, and said to the person next to him: "Brother Yan, it's too cold here! Why is that King Zhao hiding here?"
The person called Brother Yan was a thin middle-aged man in his forties sitting next to him. This person was also wrapped in a quilt and shivering.
The man said again: "Brother Yan, do you think King Zhao will send troops?"
The middle-aged man surnamed Yan slowly said: "A Dong, when this group of people turned Guangzhou upside down, do you know how many people they used?"
A Dong said: "There are less than fifty people. How many times have you said this?"
The middle-aged man said: "With less than fifty people, we can beat the superintendent with thousands of people running away with their heads in their arms. If we borrow a thousand soldiers from King Zhao this time, isn't the Taiwan government just around the corner?"
A Dong said: "Then can they agree to borrow troops?"
There was a hint of determination in the middle-aged man's tone: "Don't worry, since he is a descendant of Zhu Ming, we will respect him."
This person is Yan Yan, the big boss of Tiandihui in Fujian and Taiwan. He was originally a cotton merchant. The leader of the alliance, Generalissimo Lin Shuangwen, who is now fighting a life-and-death fight with Fukang'an, was recruited into the alliance by him in the forty-ninth year of Qianlong's reign.
In the history of another time and space, it was precisely because of Yan Yan's arrest that the Tiandihui fully revealed its true identity in the eyes of the Qing court. Before this, Qianlong and the princes and ministers of the Manchu Dynasty still believed that Lin Shuangwen was just a rural rebel.
Different from the interpretations of later generations, the early Tiandihui secret code was not tattooed on the soles of the feet, nor was there a code for "revolting against the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty"; it was instead "when you meet someone, stretch out three fingers and say 5:21."
Five twenty-one is the word "Hong". This was also the basis for all subsequent rituals of the Tiandihui and even the Hongmen.
Yan Yan was recruited into the association by Chen Biao, a Cantonese, in the forty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign. Basically starting from that year, the Tiandihui added the addition of an incense table and a row of swords when joining the club. Those who joined the club had to pass under the swords, and then the membership slogan and sign language were passed on.
As the number of members of the Heaven and Earth Society increased in Taiwan and Guangdong, in the 51st year of Qianlong's reign, it changed to pressing the middle three fingers on the heart, with the thumb as the sky and the little finger as the earth, and dictated verses were added:
"The floods are spreading across the world, and three thousand people are worshiping Li Taohong. The world knows how to stand upright, and the floods are all worshiping together."
It is said that during this period, if people who were traveling in Guangdong and Fujian provinces encountered road robbers, they would only need to show their sign language and the other party would stop robbing them.
So the real situation is that the early Tiandihui was an alliance of road bandit bullies, and Lin Shuangwen was the largest road bandit in Changhua County, Taiwan.
With such a thing, can you expect it to gather enough social, military and economic power to overthrow the Qianlong regime, the most prosperous regime of the Qing Dynasty?
Since Lin Shuangwen rebelled last year and named himself the leader of the alliance, he appointed Yan Yan as the magistrate of Changhua County. And that Adong, whose full name is Liao Dong, was originally a casual servant of the Changhua County Yamen, and was awarded the title of escort general.
In fact, after Lin Shuangwen captured Changhua County last year, Yan Yan proposed to unite Beihai Town and respond together from the north and the south. However, his proposal was opposed by Xiao Wutian, Jin Niang and others.
This man and woman were both Lin Shuangwen's military advisers. One was a monk, and the other was a charlatan who drew talismans and treated patients. They had much more say than Yan Yan.
Lin Shuangwen, on the other hand, had the intention of becoming the emperor. Otherwise, he would not have established the Lin family's regime as soon as he conquered a county and enfeoffed civil and military officials.
If he joins forces with Beihai Town, what can a country scoundrel like him do?
But one year has passed, and tens of thousands of people have been unable to capture even a single city in Taiwan. This makes Yan Yan feel that Lin Shuangwen and his group are really unlikely to be successful. The news that Fukang'an led his army to Xiamen in August made him feel that something was wrong.
Even though the Qing troops gathered in Xiamen and Fuzhou, Taiwan and Fujian could still exchange news. As the news came out that Zhao Xin and his men had killed Sun Shiyi in Guangzhou City, Lin Shuangwen finally couldn't sit still.
After August 15th, Yan Yan was entrusted with an important task by Lin Shuangwen and went to the sea to seek alliance with Beihai Town.
It is said that in the years since Zhao Xin and the others came to Beihai Town, except for the cargo ships of Beihai Company and people from Li Chao, no outsiders have come by boat; and it was only last year that the ships of Beihai Company were allowed to sail directly from Ezo.
At this time, Deng Fei, who was on the Thunderbolt anchored in the port, was taking a group of students on a tour in the cab. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the signal on the navigation radar. He immediately sent someone to notify the port guard.
"Send a tugboat, take a platoon, and bring that boat back!"
In this way, Yan Yan finally set foot on the land of Beihai Town; the news of the Heaven and Earth Society caused a sensation within the Chuanchuan people.
