In February of the 13th year of the Longqing reign, in Edo Castle, Matsuda Kenhide, who had just gotten married, had not even finished his wedding leave when he was summoned by the garrison headquarters to discuss matters.
Returning from the headquarters, his father-in-law, Yokoshima Muneyoshi, saw his serious face and asked, "What's wrong with Kenhide?"
Matsuda Kenhide sat on the wooden couch, repeatedly wiping his sword "Flying Wind Slash" with a white silk scarf, and replied solemnly: "Li Guo provoked the Ming Dynasty, and His Excellency Taidian issued a summons order to our Yingzhou, and the Kanto garrison was
Our army is the most elite force in Yingzhou, and we are His Excellency Taidian’s most trusted retainers. I am about to go on an expedition thousands of miles away."
Yokoshima Muneyoshi was silent for a while, and then said: "Xianxiu, you have been married for less than a month, and now... you are going to fight? You will be sad... Can't you ask for leave from Commander Kumamoto?"
Matsuda Kenhide saw the skirt under the door of the bedroom, sighed, and said: "Today, Mr. Kumamoto taught us a poem: Grape wine luminous cup, if you want to drink, play the pipa immediately. Drunk on the battlefield, Lord Don't laugh, fight in ancient times
How many people responded..."
A soft cry of "Ah" came from the bedroom, and a faint cry was heard. Matsuda Kenhide couldn't bear it, but he said in a more determined tone: "This is a Tang poem, written by the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty. Mr. Kumamoto said
, We, the samurai who are the retainers of the Tai Dian, must always keep this poem in mind, and be prepared to be loyal to His Majesty the Grand Palace at all times. Only when we face the war with such a spirit of not fearing life and death can we, the retainers and samurai, be
The meaning of existence.”
In the evening, Xizi knelt in front of Matsuda Kenhide's knees, stuffed the sewn embroidered scarf into Matsuda Kenhide's arms, looked at the silent husband, and couldn't help crying: "I heard that Your Excellency Taidian has many
Retainers, why bother recruiting them from Yingzhou!"
Matsuda Kenhide frowned and said: "You don't understand! Commander Kumamoto said that it is precisely because His Excellency Taiden has so many retainers that we, Yingzhou, have to fight for it. This is Yingzhou's opportunity. If we want to build a prosperous Yingzhou, let Yingzhou
To truly integrate into the Ming Dynasty and let the people of Yingzhou become the people of the Ming Dynasty, the people of Yingzhou must work hard. This is also the responsibility of our garrison!"
Xizi didn't dare to say anything anymore and just cried softly.
The next day, Matsuda Kenhide brought Xizi to the headquarters. There was already a long queue. Almost every soldier in the garrison came with his family. As a battalion with one thousand households, Matsuda Kenhide did not have to compete with ordinary soldiers.
I walked in the officer queue and quickly entered the house. With the simple instructions of the photographer, I took a photo of the couple together with a click.
The photos came in two copies, one for each person. After getting the photos, Xizi treasured them in his arms and couldn't help but turn them out many times along the way. He couldn't get enough of them. Matsuda Kenhide said proudly: "This is the Taoism of the Ming Dynasty.
It has not been sent to the whole of Yingzhou. His Excellency Taidian specially sent it to our garrison from the Ming Dynasty. Keep it well. Xizi, take a look when you miss me. I will often look at it when I am on the battlefield. Every day.
One look at it, it feels like Xizi is by my side."
Xizi nodded heavily and followed closely behind Matsuda Kenhide, feeling sad and happy at the same time.
Seven days later, all members of the Kwantung garrison were dispatched. Under the welcome of the people of Edo, they marched to the Yokosuka military port. More than 6,000 people formed a team at the dock, looking at the magnificent military appearance.
But what is even more spectacular are the giant ships docked beside the trestles on the pier.
Four years ago, Matsuda Kenhide had seen the Ming Dynasty giant ship on the sea from a distance during the Battle of Odawara, but looking at it from a distance was not as good as looking at it up close. Now that it was so far away, he could no longer move his eyes away, staring blankly at the tall ship.
The hull of the ship and the ship's mast pointed directly at the white clouds. Unknowingly, I walked under the ship and raised my head higher.
At this moment, Matsuda Kenhide wanted to express his extremely shocked feelings to others, but when he looked back, he saw that all the five hundred soldiers in the battalion had only one posture, opening their mouths and looking up, and everyone's eyes were wide open.
Matsuda Kenhide suddenly remembered his responsibility as a Sento, and was about to scold the entire team when someone shouted in surprise: "Matsuda-kun, is that you?"
Matsuda Kenhide looked down and discovered that there were several sergeants standing under the bridge of the battleship. They were dressed slightly differently. They were the Ming army's standard red coats. But the leader was an out-and-out Yingzhou native, and he was his own.
We are familiar with Yukishige, the second son of the Sanada family.
After the two exchanged Ming military salutes, Matsuda asked: "Yajiro, why are you here?"
Sanada Nobushige said with a smile: "I surrendered to His Majesty Taiden during the Battle of Osaka. I was fortunate enough to be accepted as a retainer by His Majesty Taiden and was awarded the post of Hundred Households. Later, I was transferred to the Yokosuka garrison base."
With that said, he said to Matsuda Kenhide: "Are you the third battalion? This is the battleship Kachinan, and what you want to board is the troop transport ship next to it."
Matsuda Kenhide followed his hand and looked over, and sure enough he saw a flat-top ship docked next to the Kawanan. He looked at the huge battleship in front of him with reluctance, and said regretfully: "It's a pity that it's not this one.
"
He said goodbye to Sanada Nobushige again: "Yajiro, I feel relieved knowing that you are still alive. When I come back from the expedition, I will drink with you again."
Matsuda Kenhide led the third battalion towards the troop carrier converted from a container. As they marched, the soldiers of the third battalion continued to look up at the huge and majestic hull of the Kawananami and the densely packed gun windows.
A samurai under Sanada Nobushige sneered softly: "A bunch of bumpkins."
Sanada Nobushige said: "Why make fun of others? When we came here, it was the same. Speaking of which, I also envy them. They can go out to sea by boat and join the magnificent war."
The samurai under him all sighed: "Sanada-kun, Shizuichi-san still didn't approve our petition for war?"
Sanada Nobushige said in frustration: "Shizuichi himself didn't even have a chance to participate in the war..."
At the end of February, a huge convoy sailed away from Yokosuka. More than 6,000 officers and soldiers of the Kanto garrison were divided into 25 troop ships and slowly headed southwest. The ships sailed along the coast for a day and docked at Miyake Island. Here
After staying for a day, we reunited with the escort fleet and sailed again.
On Sagami Bay, the fleet formed a formation, with the troop carrier on the right and the escort fleet on the left, keeping pace. The troop carriers of the third battalion are the fifth and sixth, numbered Ying5 and Ying6. You can see the front of the line.
The two patrol ships, then the two frigates, next to the Ying 5 is the heavy destroyer Guide, and behind the Guide is the Zhangde, and then behind is the battleship Hezhinan with the highest mast, and then
Behind are the figures of other ships.
Matsuda Kenhide walked from the bow to the stern, then walked back to the bow from the stern, and said to Kimura Sento: "Kimura-kun, it is as you said, you can't see the end at a glance!"
The morning sun rose after itself, shining a red light on the sea. Every ship in the fleet seemed to be bathed in the golden river and sparkling. Looking at this magnificent fleet sailing scene, Matsuda and Kimura, as well as all the garrison troops
Every officer and soldier of the third battalion felt an indescribable sense of sacredness, and no one was willing to go down to the cabin to rest.