Chapter 204 Return of the Expeditionary Fleet (Part 2)
Of course, Alexandra didn't know that Shimazu Mitsuhisa was still making final efforts to restore the strength of the Satsuma Domain. At this time, she was on Ryukyu Island, and she felt like a female colonial governor.
In fact, before the expedition fleet returned to Ryukyu Island, ships carrying various supplies, gold, silver, and Japanese people arrived at Ryukyu Island one after another, and announced to the Ryukyu Dynasty that the Merchant Army was attacking Satsuma. The victory of the feudal battle. In the Ryukyu Dynasty, there were some pro-Japanese people who still had illusions about the Satsuma Domain. They also felt increasingly disappointed, and finally almost despaired.
Of course, the pro-Ming forces in the Ryukyu Dynasty were also completely proud, including Ryukyu King Shangxian. Although they now know that this is not the real Ming army, but the private army of a Ming Dynasty general, but that doesn't matter. Ito is always much stronger than the Satsuma people. And in fact, the performance of the soldiers of the Merchant Army is indeed much better than that of the Satsuma soldiers. Therefore, Shangxian also feels that if he must be a puppet, then it is better to be a puppet for the Merchant Army. many.
When Alexandra led the last fleet back to Ryukyu Island from Kyushu Island, Shangxian also brought all the ministers of the Ryukyu Dynasty to the dock to greet her, as if he were welcoming a queen.
Although the war has ended, there is still a lot of aftermath work that needs to be dealt with, so the fleet cannot immediately return to Hangzhou.
The first thing is to confirm that the power of the Satsuma Domain has really completely withdrawn from the Ryukyu Islands. Alexandra sent Huang Zhen to lead the third squadron to inspect the Amami Islands and urge the Satsuma Domain to evacuate as soon as possible to avoid leaving behind any future troubles.
Secondly, the things and people robbed from the Satsuma Domain were distributed to Taiwan, with more than 30,000 women and more than 10,000 men. It would take at least two shipments to transport them all, and 10,000 more were brought back to Hangzhou. With many women, most of the supplies and money, and more than 3,000 soldiers from Taiwan, Alexandra decided to transport Taiwan's population away first, and then bring back the remaining population and supplies. Hangzhou. Two thousand Taiwanese soldiers were left to garrison Ryukyu for a period of six months, taking turns to garrison them.
Among the Japanese who arrived in Taiwan, craftsmen and men would focus on the mining work of the Keelung coal mine and learn Chinese while doing so, while women would first receive necessary Chinese training to be able to use Chinese to carry out certain simple conversations and simple conversations. Express yourself and then assign them to single men who immigrated to Taiwan to form a family.
The next step is to rectify the Ryukyu Dynasty. When Ryukyu was just captured, the pro-Japanese forces in Shuri were once reorganized, and this time they were targeted at the local pro-Japanese forces.
Of course, the Merchant Army was not familiar with the internal affairs of Ryukyu, and it was not clear who was pro-Ming and who was pro-Japanese, but Alexandra resorted to the colonists' tried and tested method of using barbarians to rule barbarians. First of all, Zheng Chongzhong, who had done an outstanding job in cleaning up the pro-Japanese faction, was appointed as the prime minister of the country to take charge of the administration of the Ryukyu Dynasty. Cai Jin and Jin Yingyuan were appointed as the chief ministers. Jishifen and Ongzhen were appointed as the political officials. Naturally, these people were pro-Ming faction. Minister, Han Jianzhong and Liu Kejun, the two first Ryukyu Army surrenderers, were also entrusted with important tasks and became the supreme commanders of the Ryukyu Army. These people would then complete the purge of the pro-Japanese faction.
As the King of Ryukyu, Shangxian certainly did not dare to have any objections to these appointments, so he quickly established a basically pro-Japanese political power structure in Ryukyu. Although it is not possible to completely eliminate the pro-Japanese forces,
As long as the Merchant Army maintains a military lead in the Ryukyu Islands, there is no need to worry that they will rebel.
After handling all these matters, Alessandra left the Spanish fleet to garrison the Ryukyu Islands, appointed Moya to garrison the Ryukyu Islands, and Alves to garrison the Amami Islands, and accepted the direct jurisdiction of Taiwan, and then led the fleet back to Hangzhou.
Shangxian also sent Cai Jin, and at an auspicious time the two of them were envoys, and they came to China with the ship to congratulate the Nanjing court.
The expedition fleet arrived in Hangzhou in late September. Of course, it was warmly welcomed by Shang Yi, because this was the first time that Shang Yi took the initiative to fight with a foreign country, and the opponent was Japan. Excluding the Sino-Japanese hatred in another time and space, even if it was
In this era, there were many disputes between China and Japan. Japan was also the only country surrounding China that did not surrender to China and was often an enemy of China.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang sent envoys to Japan, asking Japan to come to pay homage to China, and ordered them to deal with the Japanese pirates who disturbed the Ming Dynasty. As a result, after the Ming Dynasty was delivered to Japan, Japan not only did not pay tribute, but also paid tribute.
He chopped off the head of Zhu Yuanzhang's envoy and at the same time replied to the country with a sarcastic letter. Although Zhu Yuanzhang threatened to send troops to conquer Japan, in view of the tragic failure of the Mongolian army in attacking Japan, he had no choice but to leave it alone.
But now Shang Yi was able to rely on the initially established naval superiority and armed forces that surpassed this era to completely defeat the Satsuma Domain in southwest Japan in this battle. At the same time, he also basically measured the details of Japan and practiced it.
With the navy's cross-sea combat capabilities, it can be said bluntly that without the threat of the Manchus, Shang Yi's current strength would be enough to defeat Japan.
Of course, victory is secondary. In this victory over the Satsuma Domain, the Merchant Army not only completely controlled the Kuruyu Dynasty, but also plundered a total of more than 50,000 people in Japan. Including Shirogane and the Satsuma Domain's first indemnity, approximately
One and a half million taels, while the price of other supplies in silver is about six to seven hundred thousand taels. Although the total cost of the war against Sasha has not yet been fully calculated, it has been determined and it is absolutely impossible.
It's more than one million taels of silver, so it can be said to be a huge gain.
In fact, not everyone in Zhejiang agrees with the war to attack Satsuma. Especially in the administrative department, many people think that this war is unnecessary and wastes people and money. Even in the United Front Work Department,
Li Yan also felt that the current main enemy of the Merchant Army was the Qing court, not Japan.
, there is no need to make more enemies for yourself at this time. Therefore, this time it is enough to repel the Satsuma fleet and save the Sakishima islands. Controlling Ryukyu and attacking Satsuma is completely redundant, but with Shang Yi's strong persistence
This war was launched only with the request and the full support of the army.
But the final result once again proved that Shang Yi was right. Although most people did not realize the significance of controlling Ryukyu to China's coastal defense, another result of this battle changed China's past attitude towards war.
Concept, it turns out that fighting is not always a waste of people and money, it can still make money.
Because there were not many foreign wars in ancient China, and they were mainly focused on dealing with the nomadic peoples in the north. The purpose of foreign wars was first to expand the territory, and secondly to conquer the nomadic peoples and make them vassals. However, the purpose of the foreign wars was purely to plunder the population and wealth.
There is basically no war.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that the nomadic people in the north basically have nothing to rob. On the other hand, the small-scale peasant economy in ancient China has always been self-sufficient, and does not need to rely on plundering others to maintain its own livelihood. Instead, it is content with the coming of foreign barbarians.
In the scene of prosperous times when the world is in service.
Such a war naturally consumes a lot of money, and even if it seizes land, it is impossible to see immediate results. Therefore, China's foreign wars can generally only occur in the early stages of the prosperous age of the dynasty.
On the contrary, the wars in European countries were mostly aimed at plunder. After the Age of Discovery began, they began to do their best to plunder wealth all over the world. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
A big country was basically built through fighting. It is very similar to the northern nomads who have always been enemies of China. This is the main reason why Europeans and nomads have always been keen on war, but China regards warlikeness as an ominous thing.
But this time is different. It is almost the first time in Chinese history that a large amount of wealth has been plundered through war, and at the same time it has forced the hostile forces to sign a compensation treaty. In the past, only the Chinese dynasty paid compensation to the enemy. However, this time it is these hundreds of dollars.
For years, Japan has been unable to do anything.
At the same time, the Navy Department was finally able to feel proud. It was not only the Army that could establish military exploits, but the Navy was also a victorious team.
After the return of the expedition fleet, Shang Yi also made some adjustments to the current navy. The current navy has not changed much overall and still maintains its current size, consisting of five squadrons and one foreign fleet, in addition to Li Huamei's
Small fleet. The distribution of the strength and garrison of each squadron is:
The First Squadron is stationed in Hangzhou Bay and also protects the coast of Zhejiang. The warships are: two second-class battleships, seven third-class cruisers, eight fourth-class destroyers, five fifth-class frigates, and one auxiliary warship with two thousand materials.
, three auxiliary warships with one thousand materials, five auxiliary warships with 600 materials, one flying shear ship with 500 materials, and two flying shear ships with 200 materials.
The Second Squadron is stationed in Dengzhou, Shandong, and is under the command of the Shandong Theater. The warships are: one second-class battleship, six third-class cruisers, six fourth-class destroyers, four fifth-class frigates, and one auxiliary warship with two thousand materials.
There are two auxiliary warships with one thousand materials, four auxiliary warships with 600 materials, one flying shear ship with 500 materials, and two flying shear ships with 200 materials.
The Third Squadron is stationed in Taiwan and is also in charge of the Ryukyu Islands area. Its warship configuration is the same as that of the Second Squadron.
The Fourth Squadron is stationed at the mouth of the Yangtze River and protects the entire lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The warships are: five third-class cruisers, six fourth-class destroyers, four fifth-class frigates, two thousand-ton auxiliary warships, and six hundred
There are five auxiliary warships with materials and two scissor ships with 200 materials.
The Fifth Squadron, like the First Squadron, is also stationed in Hangzhou Bay to protect the coast of Zhejiang. The warship configuration is the same as that of the Fourth Squadron.
The foreign fleet is stationed in the Ryukyu Islands. The warships are: three third-class cruisers, five fourth-class destroyers, eight fifth-class frigates, two thousand-ton auxiliary warships, four six-hundred-ton auxiliary warships, and two hundred-ton auxiliary warships.