Chapter 2773

The last foreign-related war that broke out in the Japanese archipelago dates back to the battle between Kaihan and the Hirado clan in 1638. However, the Japanese shogunate did not participate in it at that time. It just watched the whole process and allowed the Kaihan army to wipe out Hirado Port in one fell swoop.

Of course, the reason why the shogunate did not participate in the war was not as simple as fear of Kaihan's force. Hirado Island is located in a remote location, and the shogunate had no time to mobilize troops to respond when it received the news. And Hirado Port trades with Nagasaki Port, which the shogunate strongly promoted. The functions overlapped, and the Hirado navy was even more powerful than the shogunate. It already showed signs of being beyond the control of the shogunate, so the shogunate actually had the intention of killing people with a borrowed sword to clear obstacles for itself.

Kaihan stopped as soon as it was good and did not expand the battlefield, so the impact of this war on Japan was not significant. In terms of the scale of the war, it was actually far less than Tokugawa Ieyasu's war against the Toyotomi family in 1615. The participation of both warring parties was The number of personnel reached 200,000, and it was also the last battle for the Tokugawa Shogunate to unify Japan.

Now a full forty years have passed since the war commanded by Tokugawa Ieyasu. During this period, the shogunate did not organize or participate in any large-scale combat operations, and its military strength declined greatly. So much so that Wang Tom led an armed fleet When rushing into Edo Bay, the shogunate failed to organize timely and effective resistance measures at all, which was almost the same as the Korean King Li Jie who was attacked by the Haihan fleet.

Even if Kaihan later occupied Sasebo Bay to set up a military base and stationed an armed fleet, the shogunate still pretended to be deaf and turned a blind eye to Kaihan's actions. The reason is also very simple. At this time, the shogunate neither had an organized armed fleet nor an actual combat fleet. He was an experienced senior general, and Haihan had already dominated the East Asia region at this time. Even the Ming Dynasty could only retreat. Japan had no strength to launch a military confrontation with it. The most sensible way to deal with it was to pretend that nothing happened.

But what really made the shogunate feel that their defenses were breached was the Korean warships that entered Edo Bay with the Haihan delegation this time. Although there were only a few ships in total, their regulations, equipment, and combat systems were all in the same vein as Haihan. , if it were not for the personal command of the North Korean general An Daoshi, the shogunate would even think that this was a show by the Haihan Army pretending to be Koreans.

It is understandable that he cannot defeat Haihan. After all, it is a powerful existence that is about to replace the Ming Dynasty. However, the military strength of North Korea is left behind. This is definitely a situation that the shogunate cannot accept. Just a few decades ago, North Korea was almost defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Japanese army under his command destroyed the country. If such a neighbor rises rapidly, it will not be a good thing for Japan.

Fortunately, it is not too late to remedy the situation. Since the neighbor next door can quickly upgrade its armed forces by asking for help from Haihan, Japan can certainly follow this approach, and it is nothing more than spending money. Japan has been cultivating its health for decades. In 2008, the shogunate's financial situation was actually pretty good, and it was able to find a certain amount of funds to try large-scale arms purchases.

But even if you have the confidence to spend money, you still have to carefully calculate how to spend the money. Therefore, the shogunate did not rush to place an order, but sent a mission to Hangzhou, intending to draft the contents of the military purchase while inspecting it.

"The most common question asked by Masuyama Masato during the inspection was whether the equipment we displayed had ever been sold to North Koreans." Shi Chengwu said with a smile: "I think the Japanese shogunate's arms procurement standards are based on North Korea's armament level. For reference, if the North Koreans have it, they must have it too."

Tao Hongfang responded: "But the North Koreans have been cooperating with our country in the military field since 20 years ago. If Japan wants to catch up with the gap of 20 years, it will be difficult to achieve its goal by only purchasing arms, right?"

Ha Jianyi said: "I also asked the other party about this issue when I was in Zhoushan. The shogunate's idea actually coincides with the plan we are preparing to provide. While purchasing arms, our country will provide corresponding military skills training.

, assist the shogunate in forming a new army."

Ning Zijing asked: "Didn't the other party ask us to transfer the manufacturing technology of the equipment at the same time?"

Ha Jianyi said: "Of course I mentioned it, but this request is unlikely to be realized."

Zhu Zian asked curiously: "Is it because the transfer price is too high for the other party to bear?"

Ha Jianyi said: "This is only one of them. The main reason is that our country does not intend to transfer relevant manufacturing technology to Japan."

Zhu Zian asked: "Then why was North Korea able to obtain some manufacturing technology transfers for weapons and equipment in the first place?"

Ha Jianyi explained: "First of all, North Korea has an alliance with our country, and the relationship between the two countries is different from that of Japan. Secondly, North Korea was able to obtain such an arrangement in exchange for its domestic mineral mining rights. If you just want to

It’s also not feasible to use money to buy these technologies.”

Zhu Zian suddenly said: "Given Japan's poor situation, it is probably impossible to offer any attractive exchange terms."

For Haihan, promoting industrialization is an established development route, and minerals are the most valuable resources at this stage. Controlling other countries’ important mineral resources such as heavy metals, coal, and oil can not only promote Haihan’s industrial development, but also

It also grasped the possibility of other countries catching up with Haihan in the industrial field in the future.

Compared with North Korea, which is rich in mineral resources, Japan's natural resource situation can only be described as "poor". Haihan is not even interested in conquering the Japanese archipelago. In addition, the Executive Committee's consistent attitude towards Japan, the military industry

Technology transfer is unlikely to be realized.

The road to self-manufacturing through technology transfer has basically been blocked by Haihan. At this stage, if the Japanese shogunate wants to obtain high-end equipment in batches, it can only pay for it honestly. Moreover, the arms market in East Asia has basically

Being monopolized by Haihan, Japan is unlikely to find other suppliers that can meet its needs for upgrading its military force, and it cannot provide any valuable exchange conditions, so there will not be much room for counter-offering during the negotiation process.

Shi Chengwu continued: "The shogunate's arms purchase direction mainly focuses on maritime weapons, which is consistent with Japan's special geographical environment. However, ordering warships from our country requires a long delivery period, which makes the other party hesitant. The shogunate obviously

We also hope to be able to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, but the prerequisite is to get the ship first."

Tao Hongfang asked: "Didn't we mention before that they should consider buying old ships? What does the other party mean?"

Shi Chengwu shook his head and said: "The other party is still giving priority to new ships and proposes that our country relaxes restrictions and sells warships with larger tonnage to them. If they must buy old ships, the other party hopes to buy the Majesty-class warship.

"

"The ambition is not small!" Tao Hongfang couldn't help being surprised after hearing this.
Chapter completed!