As an island country, although it is within the scope of the Chinese cultural circle, Japan has always maintained considerable independence for thousands of years.
Compared with other vassal states, Japan did not have much respect for the Great Kingdom of China.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Battle of Baijiangkou taught Japan an unforgettable lesson.
Since then, Japan has been keeping its peace for hundreds of years.
After the Mongolian conquest of Japan failed, Japan realized its own strengths.
Therefore, since the Yuan Dynasty, Japan has gradually begun to harass and invade the Central Plains more and more.
In the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, it reached a peak.
However, the foundation of the Ming Dynasty still existed, and Japan's ambitions were once again defeated.
It is a pity that the Central Plains Dynasty has always been closed to the country, attaching importance to the land but despising the sea, so it has never been able to deal a fatal blow to Japan.
However, when we arrived at Xia Kingdom, the advantages Japan relied on for its survival were gone.
The Xia Kingdom not only attaches great importance to the sea, but also possesses the most powerful warships of this era.
Japan's traditional ships with poor performance were unable to stop Xia's attack.
Coupled with the rebellion of the Satsuma clan and the Choshu clan, which were best at naval warfare, the Tokugawa shogunate was completely unable to organize effective maritime power and could only let the North Sea Fleet come and go as it pleased.
When the battle broke out on Danlu Island, everyone in Osaka across the sea saw it, and panic spread everywhere.
"Let's talk about it, how should we fight Osaka?"
Zhang Keda had already made up his mind to use Osaka to defeat the Tokugawa shogunate's will to resist.
However, he was still a little confused as to how to fight.
"Osaka's defenses are all aimed at land attacks and cannot stop our artillery bombardment."
During the Toyotomi Hideyoshi era, careful construction was carried out here as the home of Guan Bai, so the city defenses were very strong.
Since Osaka is close to the sea, it is natural to be prepared.
But times have changed, and the original defense facilities were all useless in the face of the Xia Navy's artillery fire.
"It is not difficult to attack Osaka and even capture it. The difficult thing is, how to control this speed?"
Zhang Keda said it more clearly.
Only then did everyone suddenly realize.
With the strength of the North Sea Fleet, Osaka is like a brothel with an open door. There is no problem that it cannot be captured.
The only thing to worry about is the losses after the battle.
It was not Xia Jun's loss.
It was the casualties among civilians in Osaka.
The houses in Japan are basically made of wood. Under the Xia army's artillery fire, I am afraid that all of them will be burned down.
In this case, the civilian casualties in Osaka will probably be heavy.
Any other army would definitely not care about this. The more serious damage it can cause to the enemy country, the better.
But Xia Jun was different.
This is a civilized force that has been taught from the beginning not to commit violence against civilians.
The soldiers of the Xia Army always kept Zuo Mengeng's teachings in mind, but they encountered difficulties in their actions.
"I think it's better to bluff. If the civilians in Osaka feel threatened, they might run away in advance."
Huang Fei came up with a solution.
As an ordinary citizen, it is obviously impossible to tell the character of the criminal's military.
Obviously, in the minds of the people of Osaka at this time, they had no idea how terrifying General Xia Jun had imagined.
Under such panic, it is not surprising at all that civilians choose to flee.
As long as the people fled, there would be no worries about the Xia army's attack.
Zhang Keda thought about it for a long time and felt that this method was good.
He asked people to bring Haizuka Zhongying up.
"Lord Tokushima, you have also seen that our army is about to attack Osaka. When the Heavenly Army arrives, no one will be left behind. Please make a trip and inform the officials in Osaka to immediately lay down your weapons and surrender. Otherwise, the Heavenly Army will never
Forgive those who resist.”
Haizuka Zhongying lost his vassal state and was deeply impressed by the power of the Xia army.
How dare you refuse to agree when you are asked to pass on a message?
That afternoon, he took the boat provided by Xia Jun, crossed Osaka Bay and entered the city.
At the same time, Xia Jun also released many prisoners of Tokushima Domain and let them run to Osaka.
These people brought rumors that Xia's army was about to launch a killing spree, which immediately frightened the people in the city.
That night, many civilians packed up their belongings and fled in the dark.
Beesuga Zhongying conveyed Zhang Keda's words, but it was of no use.
Officials in Osaka simply did not dare to surrender.
This is an important town of the shogunate, and it is also the escape route for Sakai Tadakatsu. If they dare to surrender to the Xia army, their family will be completely killed by Tokugawa Iemitsu.
All this had been expected by Zhang Keda.
The next morning, the atmosphere was even more tense.
The dignitaries and ordinary people in the city gathered into an endless torrent and embarked on the road to escape.
"Order all ships to use incendiary rockets. Also be careful not to hit the castle tower."
The most eye-catching building in Osaka Castle is the castle tower left by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
As the highest and most dangerous place in Osaka Castle, it has a very high status in the hearts of Japanese people.
Zhang Keda decided to retain the castle tower.
It’s not that he cherishes ancient buildings, and he has a very strong political purpose.
The castle tower symbolizes Toyotomi Hideyoshi. If it was preserved intact during the Xia army's attack, while all other buildings were destroyed, many Japanese people would surely feel that it was Toyotomi Hideyoshi's protection.
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Especially for those outsiders, this will greatly stimulate their fighting spirit, and at the same time they will be grateful to the Xia Kingdom.
Following Zhang Keda's order, the North Sea Fleet's attack began.
Countless rockets flew high into the sky, and then rained down into Osaka Castle.
With a range of several thousand meters, Osaka's city walls and fortifications have become useless decorations.
Deafening explosions began to roar everywhere in the city, and in the black and red air waves, the flaming hot oil ignited everything in its path.
Soon, a fire turned into a field of fire, and with the blessing of the sea breeze, it transformed into a wildly rolling fire dragon.
In less than an hour, the entire Osaka City was surrounded by a sea of fire.
There must have been many civilians who did not leave and perished in the sea of fire. But Xia Jun had already exhausted all his kindness and justice. If they did not leave, they would be asking for it.
The civilians who fled stood on the hillside far away, watching their homes being completely destroyed, and they all burst into heart-wrenching cries.
Hundreds of thousands of people witnessed this sky fire at the same time. While feeling sad, they also had a profound understanding of the power of Xia Kingdom.
The famous city built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi with countless efforts has been reduced to ashes by the fire that reached the sky.
In addition to the ideological blow to the Japanese, it was also very heavy in other aspects.
Osaka is a logistics and trade distribution center from east to west, north to south, and is truly the economic center of Japan. Every move here can even affect prices across the country.
Now this place was completely destroyed by the Xia army, and the whole of Japan immediately began to be turbulent.