Chapter 493: The Day Contest (Two)

The sound of "boom boom boom boom" platoons echoed on the sea at the entrance of Edo Bay. More than 30 large and small warships began to clear the turrets on the shore at their own locations. Yokosuka's various turrets were immediately trapped in a dense rain of bullets like a storm. The main gunners of the navy are no longer the young men during the Battle of Penghu. They don't know how many live ammunitions they fired. They are all very rich in experience, and they are both accurate and fierce.-<  >-./(-<  >-Onlines)

The defenders on Yokosuka's fort have never experienced war and are negligent in practice on weekdays. One is that the artillery is too accurate these days, and the other is that it is rare to fire for decades. Who has the intention to practice? Besides, they are subjected to a sudden attack, without any psychological preparation or pre-war preparation, and they are suddenly hit by such a dense rain of bullets. They are all panicked, and they are not able to fight back at all.

After one round of artillery attack, as long as the defenders on the fort could still run, they were not scared, they all ran away with their heads in their arms, and they could not care about the spirit of the Bushido. Talking about the spirit of the cannon with the spirit of the Bushido is not going to die.

What made them extremely frightened was that in a short period of time, the second round of shells roared again, and the movements were a little slower, so they didn't even have a chance to escape.

After three rounds of artillery fire, all warships stopped shelling, and more than ten Yokosuka's artillery fired in smoke, and the entire sea and shore were quiet.

After observing for a while, Shi Shipiao ordered to divide two teams to pass through the Ura waterway alternately.

After the messenger retreated, Yinxiang asked, "General Shi, this place is very dangerous. It is tightly linked to this only waterway in and out. Don't worry about the Japanese returning and occupying this place again to cut off our retreat?"

"The concerns of Thirteenth Master are not without reason." Shi Shibiao said in a deep voice: "However, we are short of manpower and we are divided into troops to guard the Japanese, which can easily give the Japanese a chance to take advantage of the opportunity and weaken our troops to attack Edo. In addition, although this place is prominent, it must be equipped with heavy artillery, and at least a dozen heavy runs are required to threaten our fleet. Not to mention whether Japan has good heavy artillery, it is not easy to carry heavy artillery. When they deploy the heavy artillery well, our fleet may have already taken Edo."

Yinxiang nodded. Shi Shipiao is worthy of being a veteran and has thought carefully.

Fu Anding continued: "General Shi made such arrangements, and the Marine Corps benefited from Fei Qian. The dean once gave a guide to the use of artillery to achieve unexpected results. He originally thought that he would have to go to Europe to try it. Now it seems that he can try the power of cluster artillery fire in Edo."

When Lin Wei heard this, he became interested and immediately asked: "What the dean said? Why haven't I heard of it?"

"This is what the dean was teaching on the ship when he went south with the dean. You were in Nanyang at that time." Fu Anding said as if he offered treasures: "Following the dean's tone, the power and lethality of the cluster artillery fire is very powerful. This time, let the Japanese taste what it feels like."

Edo Castle.

Assisting the young king and minister Mabu Quanfang received the news from the Clippers, he couldn't believe his eyes. More than half of the fleet of more than 60 warships were Western warships? Red-bottomed Golden Dragon Flag, Qing Dynasty naval warships! This is impossible. How could the Qing Dynasty's fleet suddenly appear in Edo Bay?

The Qing people went crazy and actually attacked Edo at this time. How many troops can more than 60 ships carry? 20,000 or 30,000? Just a little bit of troops dares to come to Edo, wouldn’t that betrayal?

As the assistant minister of the young king, Kinomi Shini rushed over at this time. After bowing to see the ceremony, he said in a deep voice: "The Qing Navy must have been preparing for the large-scale invasion of Edo. I hope you will take it with caution."

"Why should Shiraishi become the enemy's might?" Mabu Quanfang shook his head distractedly and said, "The millions of Edo people can gather hundreds of thousands of people in an instant with one order. How can the Qing Navy be able to compete with only two or three thousand people." As he said, he quickly wrote a warrant, and after using the seal, he shouted to the outside world: "Come here, order the Edo navy to go and stop the enemy from going ashore."

"Hi." The guard bowed and took the warrant and turned around and left.

Although Kanmi Ai was born as a ronin, she was no different from a scholar. She was puzzled by this and said in surprise: "Your Excellency, will this order force the four thousand navy masters into a dead end?"

"Haishishi-jun is proficient in Sinology, wouldn't he hear the saying that Ci is not in charge of soldiers? Do you think the navy is useful?" Mabu Quanfang said lightly: "Their greatest value is to delay time for me. They must gather time for me." As he said that, he quickly wrote a warrant with a pen, and then stood up and said: "I have to ask the general to use the seal. I have to summon the retainers (the standing army of the shogunate) to set up defenses, and go outside the city to recruit samurai and organize troops."

News of the large-scale invasion of the Western fleet had spread rapidly in Edo. For a time, all kinds of rumors were flying everywhere, some said it was Portugal, some said it was Spain, and some said it was the Dutch. The fleet size also soared from dozens to hundreds of ships, and the soldiers became more and more outrageous, from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

Many people also swear that they could hear the dense sound of cannons faintly in the suburbs of the city. It was peaceful for more than a hundred years. Edo, who had never experienced the war, immediately fell into fear and panic. For Japan, the military war of tens of thousands of people was already a large-scale war. The invasion of foreign enemies of hundreds of thousands of people was simply unimaginable, that is, the two largest invasions of the Mongols.

Most of the panic are civilians, businessmen, women, old and weak women, and the samurai in Edo and the ronin are all excited as if they were fed with chicken blood. For them, war means opportunities and opportunities to make a name for themselves. Over time, Edo is becoming more and more prosperous, but their lives are becoming more and more difficult.

The shogunate samurai, like the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, were born soldiers, did not engage in production, and enjoyed many privileges. Not all shogunate samurai were born with a salary. They implemented the system of inheritance of the eldest son. Only the eldest son could inherit the family business and enjoy the salary. Children of the martial family other than the eldest son became ronin and needed to go out to make a living by themselves. Of course, most of them made a living by martial arts, and war was their best way to make a living.

Therefore, when he heard that the unprecedented Western fleet invaded Edo, the samurai in Edo rushed to their respective master houses, and the unowned ronin flocked outside the walls of the Tokugawa family's mansion.

The brother of Mabe Junfang, Mabe Junyan, rushed out of Honmaru Castle and saw that the road was filled with ronin. He immediately stopped his horse and shouted loudly: "More than 20,000 Qing Navy invaded Edo. The general has ordered to summon 30,000 weapons and equipment samurai to assemble in the south of the castle to resolutely eliminate the invading enemy."

"Resolutely eliminate the invading enemy!"

"Resolutely eliminate the invading enemy!"

The ronin immediately shouted loudly, seeing the opportunity fast, he quickly ran to the south of the city. There were no rumored hundreds of thousands of enemies, only 20,000 enemies, and the general's mansion only summoned 30,000 ronin. If he went too late, he would be afraid that he would have no chance.

The Nanyang Fleet passed through the Uraga Waterway and drove forward. After driving for more than half an hour, he didn't even see a small fishing boat. The naval generals were surprised. Didn't Edo have a naval army with a size of about 4,000 people? They all came to the door of their homes, and they should come out and say hello, and it was impossible to remain indifferent.

Could it be that the information was wrong? Yinxiang ordered people to call Cheng Kezheng, Cai Wen, who were familiar with the situation in Edo. After the two of them were greeted, he asked, "Is there a navy in Edo Bay?"

Cheng Kezheng hurriedly replied: "When he returned to the Thirteenth Prince, there was indeed a 4,000 naval army. Last year, their general died of illness. This year, the new general succeeded to the throne. The subordinate officials came to Edo, and the navy was escorted by the navy in and out of Edo Bay."

Shi Shipiao's expression subsided. The 4,000-man naval magistrate was quite large and he had not shown himself for a long time. Although it was not a big threat to fleet purchases, it always made people feel uneasy. He was always distracted and pondered for a moment. He asked, "How far is the most suitable port for landing in Edo?"

"Return to General Shi, you will be able to enter the channel in two quarters of an hour." Cheng Kezheng bowed.

Shi Shipiao was silent for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "Send the order, stop moving forward, search for nearby waters, send a reconnaissance ship and five warships from the Ryukyu County to the port to explore the situation, and quickly report it with a bird ship."

Fu Anding is the captain of the Marine Corps and is not very familiar with the situation of naval battles. When he heard this order, he whispered to Lin Wei beside him, "Why should I stop?"

Lin Wei glanced at him and said softly: "There are at least a hundred navy with a scale of 4,000 people. The waterways entering the port are narrow and cannot be turned around. If we enter the waterway rashly and the other party attacks with fire, we will lose a lot."

Yinxiang said at this time: "General Shi, the Japanese navy has not shown up for a long time. Is it intended to delay our landing time so that Edo has enough time to mobilize troops and condemn generals and make defenses calmly?"

Shi Shipiao nodded and said, "It should be the purpose, but the enemy situation is unclear at the moment. The number of Japanese naval warships should be quite large. Entering the port rashly is not conducive to the artillery's long-term attack advantage, and we must also guard against the opponent's fire attack. Our warships cannot afford to lose."

"We came straight to Edo in order to catch the Japanese off guard. The time was too long, but it was just what they wanted." Yinxiang pondered: "Can the troops be divided into two groups, guard the crossing of the waterway, and go straight into the river, and land on the port."

"Thirteenth Master's plan is very good, but we must first find out the situation of the port." Shi Shipiao said in a deep voice: "If the enemy ship is hidden in the port, we are also at a disadvantage."

Yinxiang nodded secretly when he heard this. Lao Sisi had a good vision. He really didn't know how to choose Shi Shipiao to command the Nanyang Fleet. He was cautious and had his own opinions. Although he was easy to get along with on weekdays, he could stick to his own opinions once he fought.

Cheng Kezheng interrupted at this time: "Report to General Shi, the Edo Port channel is very spacious and the harbor is wide enough to set up a formation."

Shi Shipiao nodded, but said nothing. Everything had to wait for the Navy's reconnaissance ship's return. It was the same thing to not believe outsiders. The outsiders' eyesight and judgment were different from those of the Navy. How could they believe it easily?

At this moment, an officer came in to report: "I reported to the general, and received the flag-speaking report, and the main force of the enemy navy was found in the northeast."

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Chapter completed!