According to the plan of the Privy Council of the Tang Dynasty, all army units located in Ryukyu Prefecture and Fuso colonies were placed under the control of the Seventeenth Army.
The Seventeenth Army is also the latest military-level unit established by the Tang Army in the Tang Empire in recent years. The combat direction of this unit is to be responsible for the Ryukyu Prefecture and the Fuso Islands.
At the same time, the 15th Army stationed in the Koryo Peninsula area of Liaodong Province is also responsible for combat missions in the Fuso area to a certain extent. For example, the garrison on Tsushima Island is under the jurisdiction of this army.
However, according to the plan of the Privy Council, in principle, unless there are special circumstances, the Fifteenth Army is not responsible for the combat mission against the Fuso Islands, but is only responsible for defensive operations. This is because the Fifteenth Army does not have any main force under it. This force
It only has a few reserve divisions under its jurisdiction. Its main task is to suppress the Korean Peninsula. External combat is not its main task.
Therefore, this time the battle against Osaka will be independently undertaken by the 15th Army!
The army currently has the 1st Mixed Brigade, Ryukyu Garrison Regiment, Osumi Garrison Regiment, Osaka Garrison Regiment, Edo Garrison Regiment and more than ten garrison battalions from various colonies. This time, the troops preparing to send troops to Osaka are based on the First
Mainly mixed brigade.
Moreover, the entire First Mixed Brigade went into battle without leaving any spare force.
This is to achieve a quick decision and avoid delaying the war and causing other changes.
At the same time, it was also to deter other daimyo in the Gyeonggi region, lest they have any idea of taking advantage of it.
Quick victory, thunderous deterrence, this is the combat policy formulated by the Army this time.
After the deployment of the 1st Mixed Brigade, the garrison of Osumi County will be taken care of by the Osumi Defense Regiment. This garrison has a strength of 2,000 people. It is the strongest garrison regiment among the various garrison regiments in Fuso and is enough to defend Osumi County.
It's safe.
In addition, after coordination between the Army and the Navy, the Navy will not dispatch Marines to land in Osaka for operations. Part of the Sixth Marine Regiment stationed in the Fuso area will continue to be stationed in Osumi Prefecture, and the other part will accompany the fleet to sea, but they will not land in Osaka.
, but accompanied the main fleet to maneuver and roam to prepare for any changes in the situation in Fuso. Once there is a change, the navy will directly conduct landing operations in the area where the incident occurred.
In this way, some marines and the Osumi Prefecture garrison are stationed in Osumi Prefecture, and the navy blocks the Osumi Strait to ensure that nothing goes wrong.
Even if the Fuso people were given a hundred more courage and their strength increased a hundred times, it would still be impossible to break through the naval blockade of the Tang Dynasty Navy's Eastern Fleet and land in Osumi County.
After several days of discussions, the senior officials of the Fifteenth Army and the senior generals of the Toyo Fleet officially decided on the battle plan, and then took quick action. According to the relevant regulations of the army and navy in advance, the Fifteenth Army and the Toyo Fleet were in the Fuso area.
When launching a battle, as long as there is a request from the Fuso Affairs Office, you can send troops directly. When sending troops, you can just report to the country. You don't need to send a request and get approval before you can act.
Once the war begins, the Fifteenth Army and the Toyo Fleet will have a high degree of autonomy. They can decide to conduct any form of battle in the Fuso area. The domestic army and navy command structures will not interfere in any way.
Well, actually it is difficult to intervene because of the distance.
The Fifteenth Army directly dispatched the First Mixed Brigade to prepare for battle in Osaka. The Navy dispatched a large number of main fleets, and at the same time recruited merchant ships from the Tang Empire from surrounding navies as transport ships.
Finally, a huge fleet was formed, led by a cruiser, three frigates, more than ten large merchant ships, and more than twenty small and medium-sized merchant ships. The more than ten merchant ships in it were armed merchant ships equipped with large-caliber naval guns, but the remaining
The more than 20 merchant ships only have limited self-defense firepower.
As the Tang Empire increased its control over the Eastern sea routes and established the Eastern Fleet, which assigned a large number of capital ships to the sea area, it completely controlled the Fuso Sea area.
In order to control the Fusang sea area, the Tang Dynasty Navy was very tough and completely blocked the routes to the East Ocean trade. Regardless of the Portuguese, Spanish or other merchant ships, no merchant ships were allowed to go to Fusang.
This is also a feature of the Age of Discovery. The Tang Navy blocked the Fuso Sea, while the Portuguese blocked Malacca and the coast of India, and the Spanish controlled a large area of the east coast of America. If the merchant ships of other countries and forces dared to
Appeared, no matter what, I saw one ship sinking another.
After they were sunk, no one knew whether they were sunk by pirates or the Imperial Navy. There was no need for evidence on the vast sea.
After many years of continuous suppression by the Tang Dynasty Navy, the pirates in this sea area have basically disappeared. Well, the maritime power of the Fuso daimyo along the coast has also been basically wiped out, because the Tang Navy always kills Fuso in the name of fighting against pirates.
Human sea power.
The Navy of the Tang Dynasty did not allow any prerequisite maritime power other than the Navy of the Tang Dynasty to appear. Regardless of whether they were pirates or the Fuso Daimyo Navy, they would directly kill them all. Over time, those Fuso people also gave up and completely stopped developing maritime power.
Even large-tonnage merchant ships dare not develop anymore, because except for the merchant ships of the Tang Empire, even if it is the Fuso people's own merchant ships, if they dare to go to sea, they will basically never return.
The Navy of the Tang Dynasty doesn't care if you are a Fuso battleship, a merchant ship, or a pirate. Anyway, if you see one, you will kill every one!
After years of purges, the Tang Navy can now be very proud to say that the only merchant ships currently operating on the Eastern route are those of the Tang Empire!
Even in the offshore and inland seas of Fuso, the only ocean-going ships are those of the Tang Empire, and the local ships of the Fuso people are only some small offshore boats.
Under this general environment, the Tang Empire also changed the arming policy of merchant ships in the waters accordingly.
Ordinary private merchant ships are not allowed to be equipped with large-caliber naval guns and other weapons. They can only be equipped with small- and medium-caliber artillery and matchlocks and other self-defense weapons. However, merchant ships under the trading company controlled by the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises continue to prepare to be equipped with large-caliber naval guns.
.
However, the above-mentioned policy is only limited to merchant ships operating in the Eastern Seas. Merchant ships operating in the South Sea routes will continue to be allowed to be equipped with large-caliber naval guns. As for the ships on the Indian and European routes, there are only merchant ships of the Western Trading Company, which even has a fleet.
, let alone armed merchant ships.
This change in policy can also reflect some of the attitude of the Tang Empire towards armed merchant ships, that is, if conditions permit, the official is not willing to see ordinary merchant ships equipped with a large number of naval guns, because even if it is a control measure
No matter how strict it is, accidents will easily occur. At most, it will only allow them to be equipped with small and medium-caliber naval guns and light weapons, so that they have a certain self-defense capability.
The huge fleet of more than thirty ships took only half a month from preparation to departure. This also shows how powerful Datang's military mobilization capabilities are.
Of course, this is also related to the prosperity of Eastern trade and the large number of merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty active in this area. Otherwise, the navy would not be able to recruit so many merchant ships in a short while.
After the fleet went to sea, it headed straight for Osaka!
After many days of sailing, many Fuso people also knew that the Tang Empire dispatched a huge fleet. Especially when the fleet entered the Seto Inland Sea, such a huge fleet was directly exposed to the eyes of many Fuso people.
However, the Fuso daimyo who learned about the situation did not show any hostility towards this. Not to mention directly going to sea to intercept them, they more often issued an alarm and then increased their coastal defense capabilities to guard against this.
A huge fleet.
And when the fleet appeared in the Kitan Strait in the east of Awaji Country, it caused panic among the Miyoshi family who controlled Awaji Country.
Because this huge fleet did not continue to move forward after entering the Kitam Strait. Instead, it anchored on the "Friend Island" of the submerged mainland country in the middle of the strait.
The reason why the fleet anchored here is because the friendly island in the middle of the strait is under the control of the Tang Empire. In order to ensure the safety of the sea passage in and out of Osaka, the Datang Empire landed on this small island very early and forcefully expelled the island.
The small number of indigenous people who lived on the island later built a bastion, deployed forts, and built a small port here.
Relying on this small island, the Tang Dynasty Navy can proudly say that it has completely controlled the Jidan Strait!
Of course, controlling this strait does not rely on just one strait, but on the powerful strength of the Tang Empire. The strength of the Osaka Squadron is enough to crush any Fuso daimyo trying to get involved in this strait.
Even the most powerful daimyo in the nearby area, the Miyoshi family, had to obediently acknowledge the Tang Empire's control over the friendly islands.
Because although the Miyoshi family is the most powerful in the nearby area and is also a daimyo who controls a huge naval force, its maritime power is still vulnerable!
The navy of Sanhao's family has many ships, but the largest tonnage is only a hundred tons!
It's not that they didn't have such big ships before, but they were all sunk by the Tang Navy!
Otherwise, why do you think the Sanhao family obediently assumed the Tang Empire's control over the friend islands? It was because they were severely beaten and then had to admit it.
After anchoring on Friends Island for two days and taking a short rest, the fleet set sail again and then headed to Osaka. Although Friends Island has a material storage warehouse and a port, the scale is too small and it is impossible to bring any benefits to the fleet.
The most supplementary thing is to rely on the anchorage here to simply rest and at the same time make the best preparations for landing.
After setting sail, the fleet headed straight for Osaka!
At this time, almost all the Fuso daimyo in the surrounding areas knew the destination of this huge fleet of the Tang Empire.
Many daimyo were quite panicked. They were afraid that this huge fleet was going to attack them, especially the Miyoshi family. They were even more frightened. They had been sending envoys on small boats for many days to try to meet with the commander of the fleet.
But many people did not expect that the target of this huge fleet was not the surrounding daimyo, nor the Miyoshi family who had been suppressed by the Tang Dynasty, but the Ishiyama Honganji Temple, which had good relations with the Tang Dynasty.
The reason is not because Ishiyama Honganji is fighting against the Tang Empire, but because Ishiyama Honganji intends to independently develop the defense industry and accumulate strength.
Especially because Osaka is located in a strategic geographical location, the Tang Empire needed to control this area in order to implement its strategic intention of continuing to split Fuso!