Chapter 2128

Under Tagawasuke's strong initiative, the previous lord of the domain invested a considerable part of the Hirado domain's financial revenue in the military field in the past few years. Especially in the manufacturing of weapons and equipment and the training of military personnel, the Hirado domain invested

Its financial resources have even reached one of the best in Japan. If the shogunate had not been concerned about the results of military construction and would find excuses to suppress itself, the Hirado clan might have built fortifications such as city walls outside Hirado City.

Of course, such a huge investment was not just for self-defense. The previous feudal lord also had the ambition to become the overlord of one party, but he didn't know that his subordinates' ambitions were greater than his own. When the Hirado Domain's land and sea armies had developed to a certain level, Tagawa Suke

He jumped out and took over the ruling power of the Hirado clan.

If Tagawasuke is given more time to develop and grow, perhaps what he relies on at this time is not the hastily built defense line in the past two days, but a stronger wall. But Haihan did not leave him any more information.

There was much time to stop the defense, and such a crude defense line could hardly block an opponent whose firepower was far superior to the Hirado domain army.

It only took the special operations group about twenty minutes to complete the artillery deployment, and then began to shell several targets on the opposite line of defense.

Tagawasuke was originally a little confused that the opponent's artillery deployment was too far away, but after the opponent opened fire, he immediately discovered that the opponent had made such a deployment with confidence. Those artillery that looked inconspicuous had an effective range of more than

He was able to hit the feudal army's defenses with fire from such a distance.

Although the caliber of the Haihan army's field artillery is not large, its lethality within the effective range is unambiguous at all. After a few shots, it hit a gun emplacement on the southern defense line of the city, and the unfired gun was killed on the spot.

The artillery was broken into two sections. Seeing this, Tagawasuke could only order the other cannons to retreat first to avoid being targeted by the opponent from a long distance.

This kind of battle made Tagawa Suke feel extremely frustrated. He obviously had guns and cannons in his formation, but it was difficult to play their due role when fighting against the enemy. These weapons, which cost the Hirado Domain a lot of money to arm

The troops, when facing the Han army in Shanghai, did not seem to be as powerful as they expected.

All the weapons in stock have been brought to the battlefield, and the rewards that can be given have been distributed to the soldiers in advance before the war. Basically, Tagawa Suke has used all the methods he could use before the war, but the problem is that even if the feudal army is willing to fight to the death

In battle, there seems to be no opportunity for a fair fight with the enemy.

The only thing Tagawasuke felt fortunate about was that the defensive position in the south of the city he selected before the war was still some distance away from the coastline, so he didn't have to worry about being bombarded from the sea at this time. But he still couldn't help but feel a little worried, because he

The sound of artillery heard from the north became increasingly sparse, far less intense than the previous two days of fighting.

Will the Haihan Army weaken its offensive to attack Hirado Port from the sea today? Tagawa Suke believes that this is obviously impossible, and the sparse artillery sound must mean that his own resistance is also being weakened. He can't help but feel worried.

, if Hirado Port is breached by the enemy before the southern defense line of the city, then the troops he leads will be attacked from both the north and the south.

What Tagawasuke could think of, others could naturally think of. These feudal troops had no suitable opportunity to fight at the moment, and they had to worry about the defense line of the port area in the rear. It was difficult to concentrate on the battlefield in front of them, and they were a little restless.

After confirming that the enemy had removed several artillery pieces on the defense line, Sun Zhen ordered the infantry to begin advancing northward under the cover of the artillery. At this time, the artillery's shooting target also changed, and the attack points were concentrated on the east side of the defense line.

, to suppress the fire counterattack on this section of the enemy's defense line as much as possible, allowing the infantry to reduce casualties during the advance.

In order to ensure the speed of advancement, the soldiers' protective measures are as light as possible. Basically, they wear two-piece iron armor on the front and back to block the vital points of the torso. This thing can block the projectiles fired by traditional muskets at a certain distance, although the protection

The area is limited, but it is light in weight and does not hinder the soldiers' tactical movements, so it has become one of the standard equipment of the special operations group.

In fact, the armor of officers is not much better than that of soldiers. The main thing is that they have an extra helmet to protect their heads. However, such protective measures will not be used in every battle. For example, it has been confirmed before the war that the opponent does not have

If you have long-range weapons such as muskets and artillery, there is no need to burden yourself anymore.

Qian Tiandun still did not dare to be too careless when dealing with a semi-firearmed army like the Hirado clan army, so he made special arrangements for Takahashi Minami before the war, so that the soldiers would wear armor to fight.

However, the fire suppression tactics achieved better results than expected. The artillery and the firepower output of the Kaihan infantry during the advancement made it difficult for the Hirado clan troops on the defense line to launch an effective counterattack. The old-style weapons they used

The muskets can only be used in formation to fire. However, as soon as they start to assemble behind the parapet of the defense line, they will be discovered by the Haihan army who has climbed to a high place to look at the telescope in the distance. Then there will be a concentrated attack of artillery fire.

They were beaten and fled in all directions.

The skirmishing advance tactics adopted by the Haihan Army further made it more difficult for the defending side to hit. Although there were still casualties during the advance, the number was not large.

After quickly advancing to close range, the special force's individual firepower advantage was further brought into play. The continuous fire of muskets turned each soldier into a firepower point that could not be ignored. The Hirado musketeers who tried to shoot at him quickly

He realized that his shooting frequency could not compete head-on with the opponent. Instead, his position would be exposed by firing, and he would immediately become the target of concentrated fire from several of the opponent's rifles.

The most important thing is that the Kaihan Army invested more troops in this battle than the Hirado Domain Army equipped with muskets on the southern defense line of the city. In this way, whether it is a long-range strike or a short-range exchange of fire, the Kaihan Army can

Success prevailed.

Although the defenders had set up a defense line in advance, after all, there were too many areas lacking the cover of fortifications, and the span of this defense line was too large. Tagawasuke had to disperse the feudal troops to various parts of the defense line, making it difficult to form sufficient synergy and defense.

Depth. The Haihan Army concentrated its attacks on a relatively weak area. As long as a breakthrough was opened, it would be difficult for the enemy forces on this line of defense to organize and block the gap.

When they were still more than ten feet away from the defense line, several Kaihan soldiers already took out grenades, pulled out the fuses and threw them behind the bunker of the defense line. This kind of weapon was something that the Hirado clan army had never heard of, and they were caught off guard.

Explosions sounded one after another, and dozens of Hirado clan troops hiding behind the bunkers fell to the ground screaming, losing the ability to continue fighting.

After opening this gap, the soldiers immediately swarmed in, and then relied on this gap to begin to defend in reverse to prevent the enemy from launching a counterattack to retake the gap.

At this time, the only option left for Tagawa Suke was to organize a counterattack immediately, otherwise the entire defense line would soon collapse. However, the enemy's defense line was torn open as easily as tearing paper, which greatly reduced the will of the feudal army to fight.

, although they all received the money from Tagawa Suke before the war, the situation at this time was a matter of life and death. Many people had already thought of escaping when they saw that the enemy army was so strong, and they were unwilling to go forward and fight to the death.

Fighting.

To become a powerful army, it is not enough to rely solely on weapons and equipment. The final deciding factor on the battlefield is the quality of the combatants. Since the establishment of the special operations group, it has been fighting in the north and south almost every year.

In terms of their rich actual combat experience, they can undoubtedly be ranked first among the Haihan Army. It is precisely because they have experienced all kinds of battle scenes that they can calmly execute combat orders and know very well what they should do.

to complete the task.

A similar combat mission with the purpose of tearing apart the enemy's defense line was carried out once in Liaodong a few years ago. However, the opponent that time was much more powerful than the Hirado clan army. The Haihan army fought hard for a long time before they broke through.

The Jinzhou Isthmus defense line controlled by the Qing army.

The temporary defense line south of Hirado Castle is far inferior to the Kinshu Isthmus defense line in terms of strength and strength of the defenders. The most important thing is that the Hirado domain army has extremely limited combat experience, especially with Kaihan.

The Chinese army had too little experience in fighting against such a powerful enemy, and the Eighteen Zhiyu Party could only share their own defeat experience with them, and they still lacked effective means of dealing with the Haihan Army's strong attack.

After two consecutive counterattacks were repelled by the Haihan Army, more and more enemy troops were arriving at the gap, and the feudal army on the defense line inevitably collapsed.

Tagawasuke was already exhausted at this time. He sent two teams with a total of more than 400 people to try to regain control of the gap in the defense line. However, even the commanders of these two teams died on the line of fire, and the remaining people were losing control.

The command quickly collapsed, and this triggered a chain reaction on the defense line, making many people mistakenly believe that the battle had been completely defeated, and immediately fled back with the defeated troops.

Although Tagawasuke's team of supervisors killed several people, the span of this line of defense was too large to prevent more people from abandoning the line of defense and escaping into the city. Seeing that the situation was over, Tagawasuke could only order a retreat to the city to reorganize.

At least he can control most of the remaining vassal forces under unified command.

The Hirado clan used more than 2,000 people and spent several days to build the southern defense line of the city. In this battle, it only delayed the opponent for less than an hour.

Fortunately, several artillery pieces deployed on the defense line were withdrawn in time and were not captured by the Kaihan army. The Hirado clan army could also use these artillery pieces to erect barricades in the city and carry out final resistance. But they didn't know it.

, my opponent is not only good at fighting in the mountains and forests, but is also good at urban street fighting. The few field guns that were just beaten to prevent the defenders' artillery from showing up are equally suitable for use in street fighting, and their combat efficiency is much higher than that of the clumsy ones.

Large caliber muzzleloader gun.

At this time, the artillery battle in Hirado Port has come to an end. The defenders have less than ten artillery pieces left that can barely persist in fighting. However, the position of these guns can still form cross fire in the harbor, so the East China Sea Fleet is still

They did not rashly break into the port for landing, but were still shelling targets on the shore unhurriedly. However, in order to save ammunition, Lu Yuanlong had ordered to reduce the intensity of the counterattack, and planned to wait until the war in the south was over.

But the battle on the southern defensive line ended much faster than he expected. He originally hoped that the defensive line would last at least through tonight, so that he might have time to readjust the defense of Hirado City. If he planned it carefully

, there may still be a chance to severely damage the enemy in the urban area.

But the actual situation was that the southern defense line was broken before noon. Hundreds of defeated troops fled back to the city. News of the defeat was quickly spread to everyone. Lu Yuanlong also learned of this frustrating result.

For a moment, Lu Yuanlong couldn't help but have the idea of ​​​​escape. He knew very well that there was no chance of a comeback in the current situation. If he continued to fight, the result would be death. But the problem was that he escaped from Miyako Island a few years ago.

When I came out, there was an escape route to Hirado, Japan. Now even if I have to escape again, where can I escape?

Not to mention that Hirado has been blocked by the enemy from sea to land. Even if he can escape, Lu Yuanlong feels that he has no love left. Is it necessary to find another Hirado and spend several more years supporting the next one?

Tagawasuke? The hope is so slim. The possibility of success may not be greater than defeating the Haihan army in front of him.

Although Tagawa Nanzaemon has been sent away, Lu Yuanlong does not know the situation outside now, nor does he know whether Tagawasuke has arranged conditions for his adopted son to make a comeback. It is difficult to place high hopes on this arrangement.

They came to Hirado from Miyakojima because they knew that the young master settled here and that it had the environment for Shiba Shiba to rise again. But if the Tagawa clan's influence in the Hirado clan was wiped out, then even if the young master was still there,

Today, reviving Shibazhi can only be an unrealistic dream.

Before Lu Yuanlong could make a final judgment on the situation, Tagawasuke had already sent someone to inform him that he was trying his best to hold on to the port. If it was no longer possible, he would shrink the defense line towards Hirado City.

Lu Yuanlong dismissed the messenger sent by Tagawasuke and saw a plume of smoke rising from near the old site of Hirado Castle. He knew that this signal should be issued to the Hirado navy who was still somewhere at sea, but Tagawasuke

Even if the navy could be summoned at this time, there would be almost no chance of a comeback. Instead, it would most likely destroy the last armed force of the Hirado clan. Is this really necessary?

Wei Zhi, who was at sea a few miles northeast of the Hirado Strait, saw this signal. He sighed, knowing that the Hirado clan was defeated after all. However, this signal was not to ask Wei Zhi to lead the navy fleet back to aid Ping.

Toko, but to ask him to send a ship to a place on Hirado Island tonight to meet him, so that some people on the island can have a chance to escape.
Chapter completed!