As an island country, although it is within the scope of the Chinese cultural circle, Japan has always maintained considerable independence for thousands of years.
Compared with other vassal states, Japan did not have much respect for the Great Kingdom of China.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Battle of Baijiangkou taught Japan an unforgettable lesson.
Since then, Japan has been keeping its peace for hundreds of years.
After the Mongolian conquest of Japan failed, Japan realized its own strengths.
Therefore, since the Yuan Dynasty, Japan has gradually begun to increase its harassment and invasion of the Central Plains.
In the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, it reached a peak.
However, the Ming Dynasty's heritage still existed, and Japan's ambitions were once again defeated.
It is a pity that the Central Plains dynasty has always been closed to the country, attaching importance to land but despising the sea, so it has never been able to give Japan a fatal blow.
But when it came to Xia Kingdom, the advantages that Japan relied on for survival were gone.
The Xia Kingdom not only attaches great importance to the ocean, but also possesses the most powerful warships of this era.
Japan's traditional ships with backward performance were unable to stop Xia's attack.
Coupled with the rebellion of the Satsuma clan and the Choshu clan, which were best at naval warfare, the Tokugawa shogunate was completely unable to organize effective maritime power and could only allow the North Sea Fleet to come and go as it pleased.
When the battle broke out on Danlu Island, everyone in Osaka across the sea saw it and panicked.
"Let's talk about it, how should we fight Osaka?"
Zhang Keda had already made up his mind to use Osaka to defeat the Tokugawa shogunate's will to resist.
However, he was still a little confused as to how to fight.
"Osaka's defenses are all aimed at land attacks and cannot stop our artillery bombardment."
During the Toyotomi Hideyoshi era, careful construction was carried out here as Guan Bai's hometown, so the city defenses were very strong.
Since Osaka is close to the sea, it is natural to be prepared.
But times have changed, and the original defense facilities were all useless in the face of the Xia Navy's artillery fire.
"It's not difficult to attack Osaka or even capture it. The difficult thing is, how to control this speed?"
Zhang Keda spoke more clearly.
Only then did everyone suddenly realize.
With the strength of the North Sea Fleet, Osaka is like a brothel with an open door. There is no problem that it cannot be captured.
The only thing to worry about is the losses after the battle.
It was not Xia Jun's loss.
But the civilian casualties in Osaka.
The houses in Japan are basically made of wood. Under the Xia army's artillery fire, I am afraid that they will all be destroyed by fire.
In this case, the civilian casualties in Osaka would probably be heavy.
Any other army would definitely not care about this. The more serious damage you can cause to the enemy country, the better.
But Xia Jun was different.
This is a civilized force that has been taught from the beginning not to commit violence against civilians.
The soldiers of the Xia Army always kept Zuo Mengeng's teachings in mind, but they had difficulties in action.
"I think it's better to bluff. If the civilians in Osaka feel threatened, they might run away in advance."
Huang Fei came up with a solution.
As an ordinary citizen, it is obviously impossible to tell the character of the criminal's military.
Obviously, in the minds of the people of Osaka at this time, they didn't know how terrifying General Xiajun imagined.
Under such panic, it is not surprising that ordinary people chose to flee.
As long as the people fled, there would be no worries about Xia Jun's attack.
Zhang Keda thought about it for a long time and felt that this method was good.
He asked people to bring Haizuka Zhongying up.
"Lord Tokushima, you have also seen that our army is about to attack Osaka. Wherever the Heavenly Army arrives, no armor will be left behind. Please make a trip and inform the officials in Osaka to immediately put down your weapons and surrender. Otherwise, the Heavenly Army will never Forgive those who resist.”
Haizuka Zhongying lost his vassal state and was deeply impressed by the strength of the Xia army.
How dare you not agree when you are asked to pass on a message?
That afternoon, he took the boat provided by Xia Jun, crossed Osaka Bay and entered the city.
At the same time, Xia Jun also released many prisoners of Tokushima Domain and asked them to run to Osaka.
These people brought rumors that Xia Jun was about to go on a killing spree, which immediately frightened the people in the city.
That night, many civilians packed up their belongings and fled in the dark.
Beesuga Zhongying conveyed Zhang Keda's words, but it was of no use.
Officials in Osaka simply did not dare to surrender.
This is the important town of the shogunate, and it is also the escape route for Sakai Tadakatsu. If they dare to surrender to the Xia army, their entire family will be killed by Tokugawa Iemitsu.
All this had been expected by Zhang Keda.
The next morning, the atmosphere was even more tense.
The dignitaries and ordinary people in the city gathered into an endless torrent and embarked on the road to escape.
"Order all ships to use incendiary rockets. Also be careful not to hit the castle tower."
The most eye-catching building in Osaka Castle is the castle tower left by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
As the highest and most dangerous place in Osaka Castle, it has a very high status in the hearts of Japanese people.
Zhang Keda decided to retain the castle tower.
It’s not that he cherishes ancient buildings, and he has a very strong political purpose.
The castle tower symbolizes Toyotomi Hideyoshi. If it survives the Xia army's attack intact and all other buildings are destroyed, many Japanese people will definitely feel that it is the protection of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Especially for those outsiders, this will greatly stimulate their fighting spirit, and at the same time they will be grateful to the Xia Kingdom.
With Zhang Keda's order, the North Sea Fleet's attack began.
Countless rockets flew high into the sky, and then rained down into Osaka Castle.
The range of several thousand meters made Osaka's city walls and fortifications useless.
Deafening explosions began to roar throughout the city, and in the black and red air waves, hot oil with flames ignited everything in its path.
Soon, a fire turned into a field of fire, and with the blessing of the sea breeze, it transformed into a crazy rolling fire dragon.
In less than an hour, the entire Osaka City was surrounded by a sea of fire.
There must be many civilians who have not left and perished in the flames. But Xia Jun has done his best to be benevolent and righteous. If they don't leave, they are asking for it.
The civilians who fled stood on the hillside far away, watching their homes being completely destroyed, and they all burst into heart-wrenching cries.
Hundreds of thousands of people witnessed this sky fire at the same time. While sad, they also had a deep understanding of the power of Xia Kingdom.
The famous city that Toyotomi Hideyoshi spent countless efforts to build has been reduced to ashes with the fire that reached the sky.
In addition to the ideological blow to the Japanese, it was also very heavy in other aspects.
Osaka is a logistics and trade distribution center from east to west, north and south, and is truly the economic center of Japan. Every move here can even affect prices across the country.
Now this place was completely destroyed by the Xia army, which immediately caused the entire Japan to become turbulent.
Ming Zuo
