Chapter 902 All tactics change! Attack Nagoya Castle! 【5500】
With the sound of "rumbling" and "rumbling", the steam battleship pushed through the seawater and crashed into the waves, looking like an indescribable and terrifying beast.
Dark and turbid smoke passes through the chimney and floats into the distant sky.
Yamata no Orochi stood at the bow of the flagship, holding the railing of the ship with both hands, leaning forward, and sticking his head out of the side of the ship, laughing while looking at the shore that was getting closer and closer.
"Very good! Very good! That's it! Straight towards the coast! Faster! Faster!"
Maher d'Orléans, standing next to him, reminded him quietly:
"This is already the fastest speed, and it is impossible to go faster."
As soon as he finished speaking, a big wave rushed from the bottom of the sea and hit the flagship's belly directly.
No matter how huge and powerful the ship is, it is as small as a sesame seed compared to the vast and boundless sea.
In an instant, the battleship facing the big wave began to shake violently.
Fortunately, Yamata no Orochi and Maher always clung to the railing of the boat, otherwise they would have been thrown away.
Faced with such a dangerous situation, Yamata-no-Orochi not only showed no fear, but actually laughed heartily:
"Hahahahaha! The sea! Is that all you can do? A small wave like this can't kill me!"
When Maher heard this, his expression suddenly changed and his face sank.
"Hey! Big snake! Don't say such unlucky words in the sea! It will really come true!"
As we all know, those who make a living from the sea, or those who go to sea frequently, often show their superstitious side. For example, when eating fish, you should not say "turn the fish over" but "turn the fish over".
In fact, these are not absurd superstitions, but are driven by experience.
The sea is so mysterious and terrifying that taking a boat out to sea is often accompanied by unspeakable mysticism.
Over time, various seemingly superstitious rules have been passed down.
As an arms dealer who often goes to sea for business, Maher is half a sailor.
Therefore, he is particularly taboo about these unlucky words, especially those that directly provoke the sea.
At this time, Ruonyo, holding a piece of feather fabric in her hand, hurried out of the cabin and rushed towards the Yamata no Orochi.
"Orochi-sama! It's very dangerous here! And you shouldn't be exposed to the wind for a long time! Please go back to the cabin!"
As she spoke, she picked up the haori in her hand and put it on Yamata no Orochi's back.
"unnecessary!"
Yamata-no-Orochi shrugged his shoulders and shook off the feathered fabric draped around him.
"I'm in great shape now! I'm feeling warm all over!"
"The overthrow plan that has been planned for many years is finally implemented tonight!"
"How can I not be the 'chief' at such a beautiful moment? Hahahahahaha!"
After saying that, he raised his right arm, pointed at the shore very close at hand, and shouted with great momentum:
"Charge! Land at Noubi! Sound the death knell for the shogunate!"
…
…
At this moment——
Flagship, cabin——
Although this cabin is specially used to load cargo, it can also be used to load people.
After simply renovating this cabin, part of the team members of the surprise team lived here.
The roaring sound of "rumbling" and "rumbling" waves was heard repeatedly outside the cabin.
The candle at the head of the cabin weakly emitted a dull light.
A depressing atmosphere... No one spoke in the entire cabin, only moans and vomiting could be heard from time to time.
Anyone who has experienced boating knows that boating is a technical job.
Some people have a very high "affinity" for ships and the sea.
No matter how the ship rocked, no matter how rough the waves were, he still ate deliciously without any discomfort.
Of course, these talented people are only a handful.
The vast majority of people will definitely feel extremely uncomfortable if they board a ship and go to sea rashly without training.
In comparison, the sea tonight was relatively calm.
It was neither windy nor rainy.
However, even so, these waves of peaks and troughs are enough to make the members of the team in the cabin drink a pot.
First, the body floated upward, and then fell again, over and over again. A strong sense of weightlessness dominated the internal organs, and there was a faint feeling of wanting to pee.
The resulting brain swelling and dizziness are unbearable.
"Ugh vomit vomit vomit vomit vomit!"
"Hey! Damn it! You puked on me!"
"What did you kid eat today? Why does it smell so bad?!"
In addition to the depressing atmosphere, the air in this cabin is also filled with an unpleasant sour smell.
There was vomit all over the floor...people who were unconscious due to seasickness were everywhere...
Even the strong swordsman Katsura Kogoro could not withstand the power of nature.
"Uh...! Uh-huh...!"
I saw him sitting cross-legged in the corner of the cabin, his face was as white as paper, there was no blood in his cheeks, and his facial features were wrinkled with pain.
Although he didn't vomit as loudly as others, anyone could see that his current condition was so bad that he couldn't even stand up.
"Come on, Gui, rub this ointment onto your temples."
Takasugi Shinsaku suddenly walked up to Katsura Kogoro and handed over the ointment in his hand.
Katsura Kogoro took the tube of ointment without knowing why. After taking a look, he asked feebly:
"Ointment...? What kind of ointment is this...?"
Takasugi Shinsaku spread his hands:
"I don't know either. Inoue-kun just gave this to me. He said that rubbing it on the temples can effectively relieve seasickness."
Inoue-kun——Inoue Wenduo.
In the third year of Bunkyu (1863), Inoue Bunta, Ito Shunsuke and other five people were sent by Choshu to study in England.
After the Shimonoseki War began, Inoue Munta and Ito Shunsuke returned home urgently, advocating for military subservience and trying to conduct peace negotiations.
Their short study abroad career changed their thinking from "blindly resisting foreigners" to "building a country and making progress".
People like them are destined to be tolerated by radicals.
Not only did the two of them fail to prevent the outbreak of the Xiaguan War, but they were also denounced by the radicals as "national traitors who exploited the inside and outside".
Afterwards, Inoue Munta was unfortunately assassinated by radicals and was seriously injured and on the verge of death. He finally managed to save his life.
Under the deliberate suppression of the radicals, the two were never allowed to be reused.
It was not until the radicals fell that the two of them finally came to the fore.
Now, they have become the key training targets of Gui and Takasugi.
This battle is of great significance and is related to the future of Changzhou's national destiny.
After repeated discussions, Katsura Kogoro and Takasugi Shinsaku decided to let Shunsuke Ito stay in Hagi and take charge of the overall situation.
As for Inoue Wenda, he went to sea with them to join the war!
Wen Ting heard that the medicine was sent by Inoue Wenduo. Katsura Kogoro did not doubt that he had it. He directly unscrewed the medicine tube, squeezed out the ointment, and applied it on his temples.
In an instant, a mint-like cooling sensation centered on his temples and spread to his forehead and back of his head. He suddenly felt much better.
Katsura Kogoro, who was a little more energetic, raised his eyes, looked at Takasugi Shinsaku beside him, and asked in a half-joking tone:
"Takasugi-kun, is it possible that you are the kind of person who is born to be blessed by the sea and will never get seasick?"
After hearing this, Takasugi Shinsaku sneered a few times:
"Hmph! How is that possible?"
"I'm just more experienced than you."
"Have you forgotten? Three years ago, I traveled across the ocean and went to Shanghai."
Katsura Kogoro said softly "Oh".
"I almost forgot...there is indeed such a thing..."
In the first year of Bunkyu (1861), the feudal lord Mouri Qingqin (Mouri Jingqin) allowed Shinsaku to inspect overseas.
In February of the following year, when the shogunate sent the "Chitose Maru" to Shanghai for trade, he went with the ship along with Tomohashi the Fifth Generation of the Satsuma Domain and Nakamu Kuranosuke of the Saga Domain.
In early June, "Chitose Maru" arrived in Shanghai.
During the two months that Shinsaku Takasugi stayed in Shanghai, he took every possible method to observe the situation in China.
Watching the foreign merchant ships racing in and out of Tianjin Port; watching the rows of foreign business houses in the city streets; watching the groups of foreign sailors disembarking from warships to perform tasks; watching the Waibaidu Bridge, which is only open to foreigners for free...
Takasugi Shinsaku felt worried.
This "trip to Shanghai" completely changed Takasugi Shinsaku.
He changed from a radical like Kusaka Genzui to a liberal like Katsura Kogoro.
In August of that year, as soon as Shinsaku Takasugi returned to Nagasaki, he acted on his own initiative and hastily initialed an agreement to purchase warships with Dutch merchants on behalf of the feudal clan. However, this was not only rejected by the clan, but was also rumored to be a laughing stock for a while.
"Hey... I really didn't expect that..."
Past events came to mind... Takasugi Shinsaku sat next to Katsura Kogoro with an expression filled with emotion.
“The bastard who was always ridiculed every time he proposed ‘purchase warships and strengthen coastal defense’, today actually took a black ship and embarked on the road of ‘conquering Edo and destroying Tokugawa’.”
"Hahaha! Being able to experience such a heroic act in person makes my name of 'Toyo Ichikuansi' a reality in vain!"
Black Ship - Affected by the "Black Ship Incident", even today, 11 years later, many people still refer to steamships that emit black smoke as "black ships".
Katsura Kogoro listened quietly, smiled slightly, then turned his head and looked to the west.
"I don't know what's going on in Changzhou now..."
Takasugi Shinsaku tilted his head and said calmly:
"If nothing else happens, the Tokugawa army should have broken through Yizhoukou and reached Zhounan."
Katsura Kogoro let out a sigh of relief.
"Then we have to speed up... We must capture Edo before Hagi Castle is captured. At this point, we can no longer tolerate retreating or regretting...!"
Takasugi Shinsaku nodded lightly:
"Well, that's right... We can't turn back anymore, we can only continue on this 'Way of Shura' to the end...!"
…
…
The only sentry post on the shore that can be called "coastal defense" has been bombarded by indiscriminate artillery.
Under the intensive bombardment of the artillery rain, there was nothing else on the shore except sand and gravel, damaged wood, and blackened human body parts.
Therefore, the landing of Katsura Kogoro and others was extremely smooth, as smooth as if they were walking in their own yard.
The three warships reached the shore effortlessly.
Finally able to return to land and get rid of the pain of seasickness - with this joy, everyone rushed over the rope ladder on the side of the ship, boarded the boat, and screamed as the water rushed to the beach.
After landing, they organized themselves into formations in an orderly and rapid manner.
"Don't wait! Run! Everyone, run! Hurry up and line up!"
"Well... damn... I'm still feeling dizzy... let me slow down..."
"Stop whining! There's no time for you to rest now!"
"We must race against time now! Seize Nagoya Castle before Owari Clan reacts! If we don't get the food and grass from Nagoya Castle, we will all starve to death in a few days!"
Nagoya Castle—the feudal hall of the Owari Domain.
It is worth mentioning that the people currently busy grabbing the beach are not only the members of the Raiders, but also a large number of Westerners.
It was as if some agreement had been reached in advance. The two groups of people would not interfere with each other and each would be busy with his own business.
The Raiders occupy the east side of the coast, and these Westerners occupy the west side of the coast.
When it comes to discipline, the latter is no worse than the former.
After successfully landing ashore, they organized the formation consciously without the command of others.
Although these Westerners have different looks, their facial features are surprisingly consistent.
Pale skin, eye sockets so deep that an egg can be filled in, high cheekbones, high nose bridge, medium build, and luxuriant hair...
If you are involved in European ethnology, you will definitely be able to see at a glance: these are the facial features of the Slavs!
After the forward troops completed the landing, Yamata no Orochi, Katsura Kogoro and others left the flagship and took a small boat ashore.
"Huh... I have been at sea for a long time and suddenly returned to stable land. I was a little uncomfortable for a while."
Yamata no Orochi clasped his hands behind his back, talking to himself, while striding forward, walking to the center of the beach, and then changed his gaze like appreciating art, looking around with interest at the craters that were blasted by random artillery fire.
of beach.
"Orochi-sama, wait for us, don't go too far on your own..."
Shuten Doji smiled bitterly while leading the cadres to follow Yamata no Orochi.
Take a closer look...the lineup around Yamata-no-Orochi is extremely luxurious!
Otakemaru, Otakemaru's younger sister Suzu, Shuten Doji, Umibozu, Su Nuo, Ushiki, Ruonyo... Except for Tamamo Mae who stayed behind, Yamata no Orochi brought all the cadres he could bring!
Katsura Kogoro and Takasugi Shinsaku slowly moved to the left and right of Yamata no Orochi.
"..."
Katsura Kogoro said nothing, with a dazed expression. He glanced around and blinked his eyes vigorously, as if to confirm whether he was dreaming and whether there was anything wrong with his eyes.
After a while, he lowered his head, looked at the beach belonging to the Owari clan under his feet, and murmured:
"The 'surprise attack on the thick tail'... actually succeeded...!"
When Yamata no Orochi heard his words, he looked up to the sky and smiled:
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"Kui-kun, Takasugi-kun, how about it? I said that right, right?"
"Our 'Amanuma Spear' is not an unrealistic plan! We will definitely succeed!"
"Tiannuma Spear" - the overthrow plan that the Fanzhu Party has been preparing for many years is actually not complicated and can be roughly divided into "two steps".
The first step was to launch a surprise attack on Owari Domain from the sea, capture Nagoya Castle, and seize Owari Domain's supplies.
The second step is to use Nagoya Castle as the base and divide the troops into two groups. One group will move forward to set up a defense line to block the marching army and prevent it from returning to reinforce Kanto; the other group will move eastward to attack Edo! Destroy the shogunate!
At first glance, this plan seems quite bold, almost crazy.
But if you look into it carefully, you will find that this plan is not a fantasy, it is quite feasible!
Just by choosing Owari Domain as a landing place, there are quite a few ways to go.
First of all, it is definitely unrealistic to directly attack Edo by surprise.
The "Black Ship Incident" of that year disgraced the shogunate.
The shogunate learned a lesson from this and felt that the coastal defense force was insufficient, so it put "coastal defense" on the agenda.
The "Ichitsubashi Faction" and "Nanki Faction" within the shogunate, which usually only hinder each other, rarely reach a common opinion on this matter.
If there is anyone among the ministers who can engage in coastal defense, it is undoubtedly Katsurin Taro.
Several years ago, Katsurin Taro, who was well versed in maritime affairs, was sent to Edo Bay to build coastal defense guns.
Under the careful design and construction of Katsu Rintaro, the defense power of Edo Bay was greatly increased.
Although it is far from an iron-clad wall, it is not something that can be broken through with just 2 or 3 steam battleships.
Carrying that one coastal defense gun and forcefully breaking into Edo Bay... Although this can't be said to be a suicide, it is undoubtedly a life-or-death outcome!
Furthermore, Edo Bay is so close to Edo that it is not an exaggeration to say it is just a stone's throw away.
After discovering something strange in Edo Bay, the shogunate was able to quickly gather troops to block the landing.
Therefore, forcing the invasion of Edo Bay was actually the worst of the worst.
Since Edo Bay is out of reach, there are only a few optional targets left.
Although Japan is a long and narrow island country, due to its mountainous and hilly terrain, there are few flat areas, and its coastline is winding and serpentine, so there are only a few suitable areas for landing.
In fact, if you consider "attacking Edo", you don't need to think about it at all - the most ideal landing place is undoubtedly Owari Domain!
The reason why I dare to make this conclusion is mainly due to three considerations.
First, Owari Domain is close to the sea and has excellent natural bays, which are suitable for landing.
Secondly, there is Tokai Street connecting Owari Domain to Edo, so transportation is convenient.
Donghai Street is the most popular and mature avenue among the "Five Streets".
If we march on the streets of Tokai, if everything goes well, we will reach Edo Castle in just 10 days!
Third, Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, the lord of the Owari Domain, personally led some of the domain's troops to participate in the Battle of March, so the military strength of the domain was weak and the defense was empty.
At this time, the attack on Owari Domain encountered little resistance.
Fourth, the Owari Domain is a powerful domain with a height of 620,000 koku, and sufficient supplies are stored in the domain hall in Nagoya Castle.
The most difficult aspect of a cross-ocean surprise attack is the supply of supplies.
Thousands of people and horses eat horse chews every day, which is not a small sum.
Even though the steam battleship is huge, the things it can carry are very limited.
After loading weapons and ammunition that are difficult to replenish into the cabin, there is not much space left to store food, grass, medicine and other supplies.
Although the Owari Domain was dragged down by the decadent feudal government, in any case, it was still a powerful domain that occupied most of the Nobi Plain, and in terms of abundant supplies, it was unparalleled among the other domains.
As long as Nagoya Castle is captured, sufficient supplies will be obtained to capture Edo! The supply issue will be easily solved.
Just when Yamata no Orochi was feeling proud, Maher beside him said lightly:
"Orochi, don't be too happy too early."
"It's far from the time to celebrate."
"If Nagoya Castle is not captured as soon as possible, there will be no way to talk about the subsequent 'capture of Edo' and 'annihilation of the shogunate'."
Although Maher's pouring of cold water at this time seemed unkind, what he said was not wrong at all.
Due to the insufficient material reserves in the ship, even though Yamata no Orochi and others successfully landed tonight, which seems to be quite a success, their current situation is by no means good.
The remaining provisions in the cabin were only enough for them to use for 2 days!
In other words, if Nagoya Castle is not captured and the materials in the city are not captured within 2 days, let alone "annihilating the shogunate", self-protection will be a problem!
How to attack Nagoya Castle as quickly as possible, and how to ensure that Owari Domain's ministers will not jump over the wall and burn the treasury... These things are all related to their future destiny.
Faced with Maher's cold water, Yamata no Orochi was not angry and nodded calmly.
"Well, Mr. Orleans, you are right. 'Landing on the Thick Tail' is just the beginning. We still have busy work ahead...cough, cough, cough, cough! Cough!"
Before the weak Yamata no Orochi could finish speaking, he knelt down with pain on his face and kept coughing.
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