The fighting started on the Shuri Castle side before the port side.
Kayama Rigen asked his deputy Yamamoto Seiichi to lead a group of people to pretend to attack the east gate of Shuri Castle, which is the main gate.
There was back and forth between the two sides. The Japanese had much higher fighting qualities than the Ryukyu Guards, but the Ryukyu Guards were condescending on the city wall and were not to be outdone.
Encouraged by Cai Mao, the Ryukyu Imperial Guards finally stabilized their morale and overcame their fear of the Japanese.
Just as the two sides were shooting at each other, a cry of killing came from the north gate. Cai Mao immediately felt shocked and secretly said: "Oops!"
Sure enough, after a while, soldiers came to report that Jin Chang, the head of the Jin family, led his soldiers to attack the North Gate defenders and opened the city gate.
The Jin family is also one of the four major families in Ryukyu, but it ranks at the bottom in terms of strength. The head of this generation, Jin Chang, has always been very low-key in Ryukyu official circles. He is inconspicuous and is often overlooked by others.
In fact, he had already surrendered to the Japanese, and he was the most thorough one, so thorough that he was willing to risk his family's fate for the sake of the Japanese.
The reason why he was willing to take such a risk was that the Jin family was not of Han descent.
The ancestors of the Kim family migrated to Ryukyu from Korea, so the Kim family has always been marginalized in Ryukyu. Why can't they become the number one family?
This has always made Jinchang very unconvinced. He felt that in order to break this situation, he must destroy the kingdom of Ryukyu King. Find a new master for Ryukyu, and the Jin family, as the supporters of the new master, will naturally become the number one family in Ryukyu.
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Jinchang's decision is destined to be a big gamble, and few gamblers end well.
But I can taste a little sweetness at the beginning.
Just like now, when the defenders were not paying attention, Jinchang faked a military order and said that he was sent by the king to support him. When he arrived in front of the defenders, his soldiers suddenly became angry.
Caught off guard, the guards guarding the gate were killed and defeated.
There is no way, this is not the main defensive direction, so the number of soldiers guarding the gate is not very large.
Kaguyama Kagigen, who was lurking outside the city, immediately led his Ashigaru team into the city.
"Haha, Jin Changjun, you did a very good job. Our lord will not treat you badly." Huashan Yanyuan praised with a smile.
"Then let's ask Lord Jin Chang to lead the way from the front. Let's go together to capture the royal city and capture King Shangtai alive."
In the royal city, after receiving the news that the city gate had been breached, King Shangtai and Princess Shangyun were frightened to death.
One of them is a child and the other is a woman. How have they ever seen such a scene? Of course they are going to find their own heavenly father at this time.
So, they all turned their attention to Zhang Wenhan who was standing aside. Seeing Princess Shang Yun's pleading eyes, Zhang Wenhan's heart suddenly softened.
Originally, he planned to wait for the Ryukyu army to resist for a while.
After all, it is more effective to provide help when the other person is more helpless. It is like providing help in times of need. Of course, providing help when the weather is colder will make people feel more grateful.
Now it seems that this is no longer possible, the Ryukyu people's combat power is really too weak.
"Captain Zhao, gather the guards and prepare for battle. The one entering the city is a Japanese Ashigaru army. It is an old-fashioned army. Be careful not to get close to the opponent. The Japanese fighting skills are still acceptable. At the same time, there is a group of Ryukyu rebels.
Help them lead the way." Zhang Wenhan called to the commander of the guard, Battalion Commander Zhao Gang.
Although Zhang Wenhan was not an officer, he had also participated in military training and knew some basic military knowledge. At this time, he told Battalion Commander Zhao as much detail as possible about the intelligence about the Japanese army he had learned from the Ryukyu people.
Zhao Gang was originally a battalion commander. Because of his good image, he was temporarily assigned to lead the mission guard this time. Of course, he felt extremely honored in his heart, especially when he passed through Naha, the moment when he was watched by everyone.
I thought I came here just to show off, but now I didn't expect that I could still get a fight. Battalion Commander Zhao was extremely happy. The guards below were also equally excited.
Battalion Commander Zhao did not waste any time and quickly gathered the guards and drove from the gate of the royal city to the street outside.
There was no need for any intelligence at this time, because they had already seen the leading rebels. The rebels led the Japanese and fought their way in from the north gate along the street.
Shuri Castle is not big, and soon the rebel team appeared in the sight of the mission guards.
There was nothing to say, so Zhao Gang directly ordered the soldiers to concentrate their fire.
"Bang bang bang..." intensive gunfire sounded.
The Jin family rebels in front fell to the ground. This street is the north-south street of Shuri Castle, which is straight and wide. There are shops with closed doors on both sides, and the shooting field of view is very good.
"Baga, they are the guards of the Qing Dynasty. Their muskets have such a long range! Quick, hurry up and rush forward." Huashan Liyuan yelled loudly, and then urged Jinchang's people to rush forward.
"Master Huashan, you can't charge anymore. If you charge me again, all the members of the Jin family will die." Jinchang's heart was bleeding. If all the soldiers in the family were killed, how could he be the first family?
"Baga, now is the time for you to be loyal to the lord!" Huashan Liyuan was not polite and slapped him in the face.
In his eyes, Jinchang is like a dog. Once Ryukyu is conquered, everything here will belong to the Satsuma clan. It is simply a fantasy for these families to want to dominate the area.
The look of resentment in Jinchang's eyes flashed away. He could only turn around and organize his soldiers to continue rushing forward. However, when faced with a situation of no life or death, no one in the family was willing to rush forward anymore and hid in the roadside.
Corner. As soon as they hid, the Japanese Ashigaru Phalanx was revealed behind them.
The shields in the hands of the Japanese front row swordsmen and shield soldiers could not protect themselves from bullets.
Huashan Liyuan was not a hot-headed young man, so he quickly ordered the Japanese infantry to retreat.
"Jin Changjun, take people to smash the doors on both sides of the street, pull out all the residents inside, and ask them to open the way in front."
Huashan Liyuan thought quickly. The people in Jinchang couldn't stop them just now because there were too few people. Then go find more people and use these walking shields to lead the way.
"Master Huashan, but this..." Jinchang was still hesitating. This was taking civilians as hostages. If he did this, he would be no different from a bandit. How could he have the face to continue to stay in Ryukyu in the future?
"Baga, do you dare to disobey this general's order?" Without further ado, the legion's guards were already pressing in this direction.
Huashan Liyuan quickly sent out a team of Ashigaru to follow Jinchang, and within a short time hundreds of people were captured.
They put these common people at the front of the team, and the cunning Huashan Liyuan even sent a few swordsmen of the Yitō style around him to mix in with these common people.
The common people were crying and being driven towards the palace by the Japanese.
Seeing this situation made the regiment guard stop, wondering what to do?
"Go back to the royal city first." Zhao Gang ordered.
The people on the Imperial City side were condescending and had already discovered the Japanese's dirty deeds.
"These Japanese want to use the people in the city as hostages. If our guards shoot, they will definitely hurt the people. What should we do now, please let the king decide." It is about the lives of Ryukyu people. It is not convenient for Zhang Wenhan to make a decision.
I can raise this issue to the Ryukyu monarchs and ministers.
Of course, if he were asked to order the guards to fight hand-to-hand with Japan's old-fashioned infantry for the sake of these Ryukyu people, he would not do it. As long as they entered the range of Japanese bows and arrows, the mission guards would inevitably suffer a large number of casualties.
The Huaihai Navy's infantry uniforms themselves have no protection against bows and arrows, because it is impossible for an army equipped with rifled rifles to allow bows and arrows to enter the range.
"Your Majesty, let the old ministers lead the troops to rush forward to rescue the people, and then ask the envoy to let the guards drive the Japanese out.
Lin Wenxuan, who had been silent until now, suddenly stood up, which surprised King Shangtai. Is this the same capitulationist who usually looks quite unpleasant?
"I know that the king doesn't like me to compromise with the Japanese, but I want to prevent Ryukyu's heritage from being stolen by the Japanese. Now that the Chinese army is coming, I, Ryukyu, no longer have to compromise. Even if I die, it will be better.
You can rest in peace." Lin Wenxuan said with firm eyes, as if he was giving his last words.
"Prime Minister..." King Shangtai choked and said, "Prime Minister, please take care, I will help you beat the drum to cheer you up."
King Shangtai resisted his urge to forcibly retain the old prime minister. At this time, only he or the prime minister could boost the morale of the Ryukyu Army, which had fallen to the bottom.
Moreover, the Lin family's soldiers are all composed of children of the Lin family. Only Lin Wenxuan, the head of the family, can exert the strongest combat power.
At this time, attacking the Japanese phalanx would inevitably lead to a narrow escape. Not to mention having to withstand several rounds of fire from Japanese bows and arrows before they could get close enough to allow the people to escape.
Even if it's a hand-to-hand fight, how can these Ryukyu people be the opponents of the Japanese?
"First company commander, you lead the army's sharpshooters to the rooftops on both sides, shoot over the crowd and shoot the Japanese soldiers behind." A living person cannot die from urination, and Zhao Gang was also filled with anger.
"Yes, battalion commander!" The first company commander had participated in the training of the special operations team. He immediately found more than 20 people, divided them into two teams, brought enough ammunition, and climbed up the ladders to the roofs on both sides of the street.
They walked along the eaves towards the Japanese team. After entering the shooting range, they set up their guns on the roof. The two teams on both sides were able to block the blind spots on the street.
At this time, Lin Wenxuan and 500 Lin family soldiers also came to kill from the direction of the palace. They were holding shields and swords.
While running, they asked the common people to come closer to them. Naturally, the Japanese would not let these common people run away, and rushed forward closely following the common people.
"Bang bang bang..." Gunshots rang out, and a few wisps of gunpowder smoke rose from the roofs on both sides of the street ahead.
"Baga, you cunning Qing people!" Huashan Liyuan from behind the team yelled, "Speed up and advance to the city gate.
Huashan Liyuan's team carries several explosive bags. As long as they reach the city gate, Japanese soldiers who are not afraid of life and death will blow the city gate open. When the time comes to enter the palace and fight in the palace, he will not have to be afraid of these mission guards.
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The Lin family's team has entered the shooting range of the Japanese bows and arrows. The Japanese archers following the crowd bent their bows and set arrows, and fired a dense rain of arrows at the Lin family soldiers. Although they were protected by shields, the dense arrows still made the Lin family's soldiers intimidated.