The Japanese Navy recovered a little during the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
They even hired European shipbuilders to imitate a Galenic ship and sailed it on missions to the Americas and Europe. This Japanese-built Galenic ship has been sold to the Spanish in the Philippines to be used as a warship.
There is still one Japanese ironclad ship that has iron sheets nailed to key parts on the surface of the Anzha ship to protect against muskets and artillery.
It's not clear whether it can prevent firearms, but the speed is ridiculously slow.
The Anzhai boat is inherently slow, and with the iron armor on it, it becomes a living target in the sea.
"The navy of the Tang Army is coming to kill, the navy of the Tang Army is coming to kill!"
Several small boats sailed into Edo Bay. They belonged to the "Pirates" because they often committed piracy. They could also be called "Jingguzhong" and were hired by wealthy businessmen as bodyguards to prevent pirates from plundering them.
Whether it is a robber or a bodyguard can be unclear.
The speed of the small morning boat was very fast. The fleet coming from Shanghai was still half a day away from Edo. The pirates had already rushed to Edo to report the news.
The reporting location is Hamarikyu Palace, which is built on the remote island of Edo.
Although reclamation has begun in Edo, the rate of artificial reclamation is very slow, and the outlying islands are far away from the city. The shogun's younger brother, Tokugawa Tsunashige, built an outlying island courtyard for the navy as the office of the shogunate navy general. .
In another time and space, the Japanese Navy after the Meiji Restoration also used Hamarikyu as a naval base.
However, at this time, it was not called Hamarikyu Palace, but "Kofu Hama Yashiki".
The naval generals were all in the castle town, which was their home. The people on duty on the island at this time were all samurai minions. After receiving the news, they immediately took a boat to the city to report the news.
The 22-year-old Prime Minister Tokugawa Tsunashige of Kofu was tall and imposing, standing 1.6 meters tall.
He is the daimyo of the Kofu clan, serves as a counselor in the shogunate, and is also in charge of the Japanese navy. Although this young man is young, he is rarely able to do practical things. Not only does he exploit farmers lightly, he also allows his retainers to regulate rivers in the fiefdom and carry out activities. Dig weirs and ponds.
Tokugawa Tsusushige was proficient in Sinology and even studied the "Datong Collection". While admiring Emperor Zhao, he requested that the book be banned.
"Prepare for war with me!"
Tokugawa Tsunashige went into battle, ordered the naval generals to be summoned, and even went to the outlying islands to take command in person.
When the Datong fleet arrived in Edo, Tokugawa Tsusushige had already completed his army reorganization.
The shogunate naval fleet consisted of 1 ironclad ship, 3 anzha ships, 21 seki ships, and more than 200 small morning ships (many of which were pirates).
The armored ship is 30 meters long. Generally, only the shogun can ride it. Now it is temporarily used as Tokugawa Tsunashige's ship.
The Anzhai boat is over 20 meters long, and the Guan boat is even smaller.
These Japanese ships of various colors are all of the same shape. They are just accumulated in size. They have no keel or ribs.
The small morning boat sent out to investigate reported that the Chinese fleet was about to enter the bay. Tokugawa Tsusushige immediately drew his samurai sword: "If we attack the Tang army, Japan will win, and the shogunate will win!"
More than two hundred Japanese ships stormed out of the bay.
Tokugawa Tsunashige also had a telescope in his hand. He stood on the deck of the armored ship, holding up the telescope and looking into the distance. Then... he was stunned.
"Are the naval battleships of the Tang Dynasty so big?" Tokugawa Tsusushige was almost going crazy.
Although he was familiar with Chinese classics, he was too young and had insufficient experience. He had never left Edo, and he had never even been to his own fiefdom. Smuggling was absolutely not allowed in Edo, and Tokugawa Tsunashige had not even met him. How about being a Chinese merchant captain?
He always thought that the ironclad ship in Edo was the largest sea ship in the world.
The Chinese navy also knows battle line tactics. Eight warships quickly formed a battle line. The smallest ones were larger than the shogunate ironclads.
Hong Xu, who was born in the Zheng Group, had retired at this time, and the fleet commander was his nephew Hong Tao. Hong Xu was the first to join the Datong Army, and had severed his relationship with Zheng Zhilong. When he retired, he retained the title of marquis, and also had a prince.
Guaranteed to be promoted to official position.
"What kind of battle line do you want? Just kill them!" Hong Tao ordered.
Eight Chinese warships rushed directly towards the Japanese navy.
The largest number of small morning boats in Japan don't even have muskets, let alone artillery. They are just a group of pirates riding small sampans.
Relying on their numerical advantage, they surrounded 8 ships with more than 200 ships, trying to climb aboard the Chinese warships and engage in hand-to-hand combat.
The Chinese warships were surrounded, but they did not stop at all. Along the way, Japanese boats were all knocked over. The pirates tried to throw hooks, but it was difficult to throw them onto the side of the ship. Occasionally, a few hooks were thrown up, but they still had to be thrown.
Climbing up slowly, the Chinese navy soldiers were already aiming their guns.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
A series of gunshots were fired, and all the pirates who tried to board the ship were knocked into the sea.
The pirates completely lost their fighting spirit and took advantage of their maneuverability to quickly escape from the battlefield in more than a hundred small boats.
"Fire!" Tokugawa Tsusushige shouted.
Whether it is artillery or muskets, they are called iron cannons in Japan. The armored ships, Anzhai ships and official ships equipped with muskets and artillery all fired at the approaching Chinese warships.
However, the caliber of the artillery of the Japanese ships is too small, and the warships of the Datong Navy are either built with century-old oak or strong 100-year-old teak. There are a large number of old teak in the mountains of Vietnam, which have now been controlled and logging by any private forces is prohibited.
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A few artillery shells hit the target, but the shells were unable to cause effective damage to the Chinese warships.
As for the eight Chinese warships, they suddenly turned around and aimed their broadside turrets at the enemy ships. The amount of shells fired by one warship was equivalent to more than ten Japanese customs ships, and they were fired at close range, killing the target in an instant.
Break into a sieve.
The ship has no keel and ribs yet, so it will fall apart if a few more rounds are fired.
"Quickly retreat!"
After the Datong Navy opened fire, in less than ten minutes, seven Japanese ships had been sunk. Tokugawa Tsusushige was so frightened that he wanted to flee.
But the armored ship he was traveling on was too slow.
Both Anzha and Seki had escaped, but he was still advancing slowly, causing those ships that were able to escape to slow down and come back to protect him. After all, this was the shogun's younger brother!
"Boom boom boom boom!"
Two more Kansai ships were sunk, and an Anzha ship was also on the verge of collapse.
Tokugawa Tsusushige's ironclad ship was overtaken by two Chinese warships and was caught in the middle in an attempt to capture it because the ship's flagship status was too obvious.
Short spears with ropes attached were shot out from the Chinese warship and penetrated hard into the deck of the ironclad ship.
Some navy soldiers stood on the side of the ship and shot at the enemy deck from a high position. After several rounds of gunfire ended, other navy soldiers slid down the rope and killed the Japanese sailors who were dodging bullets.
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The deck was quickly occupied. Tokugawa Tsunashige hid in the command room, watching the battle outside through the window. He muttered to himself: "Damn it, how could this happen? I have read so many books, why is it in the book?"
Don’t you understand? The warships of the Tang army are too big and the iron cannons are too powerful. How can the shogunate navy win?"
Many Japanese daimyo living in Edo, as well as samurai, ronin, merchants and civilians, gathered on the shore to watch the battle from a distance.
In full view of the public, a large number of Japanese naval forces were crushed to a rout. The scene was not a war, but a scene of powerful men bullying unweaned infants.
"The navy of the Tang Dynasty was so powerful, even more powerful than the Dutch a few decades ago." A famous man who had seen Dutch ships couldn't help but sigh.
The Dutch fleet spans all over the world, relying not on large ships but on small and medium-sized warships and countless armed merchant ships.
Another daimyo said: "This time there is trouble. The shogunate's seclusion of the country has angered the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty may want to attack Edo Castle."
"Come on, let's retreat to the city."
"Yes, we can't wait any longer. We must retreat to the city to defend ourselves."
"..."
The daimyo returned to their residences, took their wives, children and courtiers with them, and swarmed towards Edo Castle.
Except for those who hold important positions in the shogunate, daimyo can enter the city once every two years. That is, they go to the city to meet the shogun to express their return to Edo to report. But many times, the general just stands on the wall, and the daimyo collectively stand under the city to pay their respects.
Daimyo's wives had no freedom at all. They could only live in Edo and could not follow their husbands back to their fiefdoms. They were not even allowed to go out, and there was no entertainment. They could only stand on the balcony and watch the street scene.
The gates of Edo Castle have been opened, and the daimyo and his entourage are pouring in, while the samurai are still queuing up.
During the Tokugawa Ieyasu era, there were 80,000 samurai in the shogunate. Later, they stopped fighting and kept downsizing their staff. Many samurai became ronin. Today, there are probably 20,000 to 30,000 samurai in Edo.
Only a few of the 20,000 to 30,000 warriors owned houses. The rest of the warriors lived in longhouses, which were probably similar to employee dormitories. They wanted to enter the city with their families, but they were ordered that their families were not allowed to enter. Only the warriors themselves could enter the city to defend it.
Edo Castle was so big, how could it accommodate tens of thousands of samurai family members?
For a time, at various city gates in Edo, the cries of the samurai family members were loud, and the children were so frightened that they howled.
Tokugawa Ietsuna, the shogunate, dragged his weak body to the city. He didn't know what was going on at sea. He only knew that the Japanese navy had been defeated. Seeing the chaos below the city, he was immediately anxious and overwhelmed.
Sakai Tadakiyoshi stood behind the parapet, looking blankly at the chaos below the city. His mind was also very confused at the moment, and he was just closing the country in isolation. Only the merchants were affected. Why did the emperor of the Celestial Dynasty raise troops for a few merchants?
Sakai Tadaki couldn't understand, but he knew very well that he was definitely doomed this time.
If he defends Edo Castle, he can continue to be the boss, and after the Chinese army leaves, he can suppress the daimyo who are against him. But if he defends Edo Castle, no matter what the outcome, he will only end up committing seppuku.
"The Tang Army has landed, the Tang Army has landed!"
Sakai Zhongqing quickly ordered: "Close the city gate quickly!"
The daimyo, their families, and their retainers have all entered the city, and the high-ranking samurai have also entered. Only a few thousand of the middle- and low-level samurai have entered the city.
It was useless to go in too much. There was not enough food in the city. The Datong army surrounded them but did not attack. They starved to death in the city.
Sakai Tadakiyoshi asked people to shoot arrows and shoot back the samurai who wanted to continue entering the city. He also appointed a daimyo as a general and went out of the city to organize the samurai who had not entered to fight in the streets with the Datong army that was about to attack.
