But as Yagyu Jubei and Matsudaira Nobutsuna expressed, Date Tadamune is indeed a powerful figure.
Even after withdrawing into the bay, although there was indeed chaos, this was more due to the fact that the warships assembled by the daimyo from various places were of varying quality and the military orders were not implemented thoroughly. As time slowly passed, he organized a defensive front and concave-shaped pocket formations to deal with the Ming army, reducing the losses of warships.
About half an hour later, on the Ming Navy side, Zheng Hongkui saw the flag message coming from Gu San Mazi, and asked his men to reply: The supplies on his side were also almost exhausted!
From the beginning of the fighting to this moment, it lasted for almost an hour, and all the gunpowder, iron bullets, and coal on the warship were almost exhausted. If the fight continues, the Japanese army will find out that they are short of supplies.
If there is no coal, gunpowder and iron bullets, then we can only rely on gang fighting. And this is the advantage of the Japanese army.
Therefore, the Ming army began to slowly withdraw from the battlefield, set off to the open sea, and returned to the naval base closest to Satsuma Domain in the Ryukyu Kingdom to replenish supplies.
Standing on the deck, Zheng Hongkui looked at Sakurajima in the bay and said with worry in his heart: "Old Li, Old Sun, I hope you can really hold on. I will be back soon after I go back to replenish supplies!"
With this thought in mind, he estimated the results of this battle. It was estimated that at least thirty warships of the Japanese navy were sunk and about seventy were disabled. At least in the short term, these warships would no longer be able to participate in the war.
"Yeah, the troops are still a little too small!" Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but sigh, "It's too far away from the Ming Dynasty. I don't know when the second batch of reinforcements will arrive. The fight is too unsatisfactory and very unpleasant!"
Although the Ming Dynasty has rapidly entered the era of industrial civilization, no matter what, it has only been a few years, and the generation gap with agricultural civilization is not obvious yet.
If the navy used high-explosive bombs, even if its current strength was one to seven compared with the Japanese navy, it would still be able to annihilate them in a single battle.
However, today the navy still uses iron bullets, which are solid bullets. These shells have penetrating damage. For large warships, unless they hit the vital point, they will not sink after many hits.
Of course, the Ming army had thought of today's battle situation in advance. Therefore, the strategy set was to fight the Japanese navy many times, accumulate multiple battle results, and ultimately achieve the goal of annihilating the Japanese navy and gaining control of the sea.
After all, when the second wave of domestic reinforcements will arrive depends on God, and we cannot place our hopes on God.
As a result, the key pressure in the battle with Japan was concentrated on the army.
………………
Watching the Ming Dynasty's warship retreat into the depths of the sea and slowly disappear on the surface of the sea, Date Tadamune couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
This was the first time in his life that he had seen such a powerful warship, a warship that was even more powerful than the Western Yi warships that he originally thought were the most powerful! There was a doubt in his mind: When did the Ming Dynasty have such a powerful warship?
In Date Tadamune's heart, for the first time, he suddenly felt that the isolation policy implemented by Tokugawa Iemitsu was good or not?
Putting this idea aside, Date Tadamune listened to his men sum up the casualties. It was similar to his visual inspection, and almost a hundred warships were lost. This was because he adjusted his tactics in time and hid in the bay. Otherwise, on the vast sea, the Ming warships could exert greater advantages, and the Japanese warships would suffer even more losses!
Date Tadashi knew very well that the Ming warships could not leave and never return, they would come again!
Before that, the Ming army on Sakurajima must be defeated first, but this is a matter for Wisdom Izu.
With this in mind, Date Tadamune immediately ordered the warships to force the Ming army on Sakurajima, and at the same time organized ships to dock to transport the army. Finally, he hesitated for a moment and said to Yagyu Jubei: "You must have noticed that the warships and artillery of the Ming Dynasty are too powerful, far more powerful than our Japanese country. If the war with the Ming Dynasty continues, our It will be very difficult for the navy to deal with such Ming warships. I hope that when this battle is over and you return to Edo, you will report this matter to the Lord and upgrade our Japanese warships and artillery."
Yagyu Jubei heard this, and for some reason, his mind immediately recalled the disdainful expression of the Ming army commander when he saw him before, when he proposed a duel, and the Ming army commander's disdainful expression. The words of the military commander also rang in his ears: "Do you think that today's era is still an era when two armies are fighting and the generals are fighting each other? This has been something that China has not done for thousands of years! Retarded!"
At that time, Yagyu Jubei felt that he had been deeply insulted, but at this time, as Date Tadamune experienced the power of Ming Dynasty warships, he suddenly felt that maybe he actually said the words of duel in the first place. Really mentally retarded? !
With this in mind, Yagyu Jubei replied to Date Tadamune with a very serious expression: "Don't worry, I will definitely convey it to the Lord."
………………
On the shore, the Japanese soldiers cheered when they saw the naval battle was over and the Ming warships abandoned their land forces and fled.
However, their commander, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, known as Wisdom Izu, was not happy.
Because he saw that the result of the naval battle was that the Ming warships won a large proportion of the advantage. Not even a single warship sank, and the several damaged ships were towed away by other ships.
As for the Japanese navy, in just one battle, as many as a hundred ships were damaged or sunk.
This kind of war is a completely one-sided war. If you come a few more times...
Matsudaira Nobutsuna was a bit unimaginable. If we really had to come a few more times, how long could the Japanese Navy last even if they gathered all the warships that had not yet gathered?
And the Japanese country is an island country. If there are no warships to protect it, the consequences will be serious, even a three-year-old child knows!
The warships and artillery of the Ming army were so powerful!
He knew very well in his heart that the Ming warships must have exhausted their supplies and retreated on their own. They were not defeated by the Japanese navy. If there are supplies, it will most likely go to the Ryukyu Kingdom to supply them. Soon, the Ming Kingdom warships will definitely come back to rescue their army.
Thinking like this, Matsudaira Nobutsuna decided to attack Sakurajima's Ming army as soon as possible, and one thing was very important.
I heard him pass the military order: "The soldiers of the Ming Army, especially the generals, should be captured alive as much as possible. Anyone who dares to kill the soldiers of the Ming Army privately will be severely punished!"
After hearing this, a daimyo was a little hesitant. In the end, he had a good relationship with Matsudaira Nobutsuna, so he questioned him: "Lao Naka-sama, if this is the case, our samurai will be tied up. I'm afraid this battle will not be easy to fight. !”
After hearing this, Matsudaira Nobutsuna replied with a serious expression: "If it is not easy to fight, we will fight! Even if we lose a few more people, we will still lose what should be lost!"
After a pause, he raised his voice and emphasized: "Only by capturing as many soldiers of the Ming army alive as possible can the Ming Navy use rat-proof weapons, and even obtain strange warships like the Ming Dynasty. And their powerful artillery. For the future of our country, do you understand?"
Sure enough, Izu, who is known as the wise man, immediately thought of what happened after this battle, which was related to the future of Japan, and made the decision that was most beneficial to Japan.
Of course, these daimyo also saw the naval battle just now, and they thought so in their hearts. While they admired Matsudaira Nobutsuna, they also secretly complained.
Matsudaira Nobutsuna's upper lip and lower lip were combined effortlessly, but the consequences had to be borne by the daimyo everywhere. Otherwise, let the army directly under Tokugawa Iemitsu try it and see if he can still be so relaxed?
But of course, he didn't dare to say such words, let alone let Matsudaira Nobutsuna know, so he could only use his own little thoughts to execute the military order.
When Matsudaira Nobutsuna stepped onto the naval flagship, which was the warship where Date Tadamune and Yagyu Jubei were, after the ceremony, he immediately heard Yagyu Jubei report to Matsudaira Nobutsuna: "Lao Naka-sama" , I’m afraid the Ming army on the island will be difficult to deal with!”
As soon as he got on the boat, he heard such words, which made Matsudaira Nobutsuna's heart suddenly lift.
Of course he knew about Yagyu Jubei. He participated in a series of wars after the end of the Warring States Period, including the Korean War and helping the Tokugawa Shogunate defeat other daimyo. His speech on the war was absolutely authoritative.
Even Date Tadamune also echoed: "Sir Laozhong, the Ming army on the island is indeed difficult to fight. The castle they built is easy to defend but difficult to attack!"
His words made Matsudaira Nobutsuna's expression become even more serious, and he quickly followed the guidance of these two people to see the Ming army's castle.
It didn't take long for him to arrive at Sakurajima. As expected, he saw the Ming army's castle, which was built near the sea.
In terms of its surroundings, the terrain is the highest. And the side facing the sea is a cliff, making it basically impossible to attack.
Although the other three sides are not close to the sea, it is very disadvantageous to attack from a high position.
"Please see, Mr. Laozhong, this Ming army's castle is also very strangely built!" Jubei Yagyu pointed at the Ming army's castle in the distance and said: "There are not only many forts on the city wall, but they are also uneven. No matter which side we attack from , they will all be flanked by several Ming troops on the top of the city, which is very detrimental to the attack!"
The most defensive castle, at this stage, is actually Lingbao. This kind of defense system exists in the West, and the Ming Dynasty actually also had it. The Nanjing City Wall was built with this concept, and it can be visited by future generations.
And on this plane, there is Zhang Mingwei, a time traveler who writes history, how could he not know about the castle with this kind of defense system. When he was deducing the Japanese war, he gave clear instructions. The defense of the army is to build this kind of optimal defensive castle.
This means that the Ming army had already made a prediction about the defense of Satsuma Domain before going to Ryukyu. The same is true. After Li Dingguo captured Satsuma Domain, he took the Japanese prisoners to build a castle as soon as possible.