However, there is no Akito on Amami Island, just a group of Ryukyu people. They only know that Akito is in Naha, but they don’t know the specific situation in Naha. This makes Yagyu Munenomi’s heart always worried.
of.
He didn't believe that there would be no Ming troops left behind in Naha, which was a transportation point for logistics supplies! He just didn't know how many Ming troops would be left behind?
The reason why he reported victory to Tokugawa Iemitsu after he captured Amami Oshima was because Yagyu Munenomi knew very well that the shogunate needed a great victory to boost morale.
As for Naha, he led more than a hundred warships and was determined to capture them even if he died, so he should claim victory in advance.
According to Tokugawa Iemitsu and Yagyu Munenori's own estimation, since the Ming Dynasty expeditionary force attacked Kyushu Island, it must concentrate as many troops as possible. The number of troops left behind in Naha would not be very large.
As long as Naha can be captured, and there are 5,000 samurai directly under the shogunate in the fleet, which are all elite Japanese troops, plus other soldiers, the total force is about 10,000, they will definitely be able to defeat the Ming army and regain control of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Along the way, Yagyu Munomi was thinking about this, and finally saw the shadow of Naha Island.
The Ming army on the Naha side naturally discovered this fleet at the same time. At a glance, they knew it was a Japanese warship, and the alarm gong sounded.
As Yagyu Munenuki expected, the Ming Expeditionary Force had not many warships left in Naha. There were only five steam-armored warships, fifteen No. 1 Fukufune warships, and twenty other small Fukufune warships.
There are forty warships in total.
Although the number of warships of the Ming army was more than half that of the Japanese navy, the Ming army's warships did not show any weakness and actually left the port to fight. This made Yagyu Munenomi finally feel relieved after seeing this.
He came down and said: "Xingxi, as expected by the general, the number of warships left by the Ming Dynasty Navy is not many!"
The armored steam warship began to boil water, and thick smoke came out of the chimney, which immediately attracted the attention of the Japanese army.
Although Yagyu Munenomi was shocked, he didn't pay much attention to it. The number of warships displayed here gave him an obvious advantage.
He immediately issued a military order, Anzhai ship was the main one, and fifty warships were divided to fight. The other warships were divided into two groups, bypassing the Ming warships, and attacking the flanks of the Ming navy when there was an opportunity, forming a pincer attack.
, without a chance, they directly attacked Naha Port, attracted the Ming Navy to come back for reinforcements, and in panic, annihilated the Ming Navy in one fell swoop.
After the layout was completed, Yagyu Munenomi couldn't help but sneered: "I don't know who the Ming general on the opposite side is, but he didn't rely on Naha to defend, but rushed out recklessly. He is really brave as a man!"
The implication is that if it were him, he would never rush out to fight, so that the fleet might be in danger of being flanked by the opponent.
The general of the Ming army who was despised by Yagyu Munomi was Zeng Ying's general Hu Mingfeng. He was indeed a brave general, but not a reckless one. After seeing the Japanese warships dividing their troops, he also made corresponding arrangements.
Yagyu Munomi then burst out laughing when he saw that the Ming Navy had ignored him and attacked his side without caring about the other two groups.
This Ming army general probably rose to power through connections, right? He actually used such a reckless approach?
With this in mind, he immediately ordered his warships to deal with the Ming army first, holding it back so that the other two Japanese naval forces could take the opportunity to steal and capture the Naha port.
However, what Yagyu Munomi never expected was that his military order had just been passed down, and before the fleet could turn around and start dealing with the Ming Navy, he saw the armored and smoking warship at the front of the Ming Navy.
They actually ignored the direction of the wind and rushed straight towards his fleet. The speed was far beyond his expectation.
What is going on?
Yagyu Munenomi even had some doubts. Could it be that the wind on the other side of the Ming warship was strong and the wind on his side was light, so the Ming warship was so fast?
However, seeing that the hard sails on the Ming warships were blown up by the wind were not much different from those on his side, then the question came, why was this armored ship faster? Isn't it supposed to be heavier after being wrapped in iron armor?
, so it is slower?
Something weird!
At this time, before he could think of one, two, three, or four, he saw gunpowder smoke suddenly rising from the Ming Dynasty's warship, followed by water jets shooting from his side, and pieces of wood flying after the warship was hit.
"Boom boom boom..."
The roar of the artillery was not heard until this moment. However, Yagyu Munenomi had no time to be shocked as he was pressed down by his bodyguards.
Because the flagship is the focus of the Ming army's warships, even if it is hiding behind, it is still within the range of the Ming army's heavy artillery. The care of several artillery rounds caused the bow of the flagship to be hit by an iron bullet, and sawdust flew everywhere.
middle.
Yagyu Munaki straightened up and looked up, and saw that the smoking armored warships were already very close to him. The armor reflected the sunlight, making them look even more majestic.
At this moment, even though Yagyu Munenomi's sword skills were amazing, a kind of fear surged in his heart, and he quickly shouted: "Retreat, retreat quickly, stay away from the Ming warships!"
In fact, his men would have already done this without his order.
In addition, when the frigates of the flagship and the Guanzhou ships saw that their flagship was about to be attacked by Ming warships, they all went crazy and hurried over to cover and block the five armored and smoking warships rushing in front.
"Boom boom boom..."
"Bah, bah, bah..."
The Fran cannon began to fire rapidly, and the musketeers also fired quickly, and for a while, the momentum was great.
Because of the close distance, most of the iron bullets and lead bullets hit the Ming Dynasty's armored and smoking warships. However, their iron sheets were very thick, and at most they were dented, or the hard sails were damaged, and the hulls were basically useless.
No, it doesn't affect it at all.
On both sides of the iron-clad steam warship, the windows of the gun muzzle were lowered, revealing the dark muzzle.
"Boom, boom, boom..." The Ming army's artillery began to fire back.
I saw that the Japanese Kanchuan was like paper. At this close range, the Ming army's iron bullets smashed through the Kanchuan with one shot. Even before the kinetic energy was exhausted, they smashed into the second Kanchuan, like a string of weapons.
The candied haws on a stick is average.
At the same time, the five steam warships did not slow down at all and continued to move forward at a high speed. Their target was the Japanese Navy flagship.
In just a moment, these five steam-armored warships penetrated the Japanese naval formation.
Among them, the collision angle of the steam-armored warship rushing at the front was already aimed at the flagship of the Japanese navy, and it hit it at once.
Yagyu Munenomi stared blankly at this scene and made no move at all. It's not that he didn't want to command, but that he couldn't command at all. The performance of warships like the Ming Dynasty far exceeded that of our country's warships, and it was impossible to fight.
If you can't fight, you can't fight; if you run, you can't escape; what else can you do?
At this moment, Yagyu Munomi had a clear understanding of why the Ming expeditionary force dared to attack Japan, and why the Ming Dynasty did not have many warships left in Ryukyu.
This person has full confidence!
At this moment, Yagyu Munenomi looked at the armored and smoking warship that collided with him, and murmured to himself: "If you fall behind, you will be beaten!"
"Bang!"
With a loud noise, the armored steam warship crashed into the Anzhai ship into two pieces.
When the surrounding Japanese warships saw this scene and saw their flagship being hit in two by the Ming warship, they were stunned as if someone had tapped their acupuncture points.
Although they had foreseen that their flagship would definitely not be saved, the psychological shock caused by seeing the flagship being smashed into two pieces just after the war started was definitely unimaginable in their lifetimes.
As for the Ming army, after seeing this scene, there was no hesitation. The remaining four steam-armored warships immediately turned around and attacked the remaining uninjured Japanese warships. The ordinary warships followed closely behind.
The boat also followed to cover up the enemy.
The one that crashed into the Japanese navy's flagship was the Ming army's flagship. Hu Mingfeng looked at a large group of struggling Japanese on the sea. He didn't care whether there was a Japanese commander inside, and immediately ordered the warship to turn around and continue to join the battle.
However, although the flagship turned around, it was found that it was not accelerating. His men quickly reported to him: "Sir, the cover of the left paddle wheel was hit by an iron bullet. It was dented a lot, and then it was hit by a wooden block.
Once the debris is blocked, the debris needs to be removed before the paddle wheel can be used."
When Hu Mingfeng heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful, and ordered: "Repair it quickly, and also salvage the prisoners and see if the Japanese commander is dead!"
"As ordered!" His subordinates agreed quickly and then went to work.
Paddle wheels have this problem and are easily blocked by debris.
After a while, the soldiers of the Ming army quickly escorted a Japanese with white hair and white beard to Hu Mingfeng and said: "Sir, this should be the commander of the Japanese navy, but he refuses to explain!"
At this age, it is absolutely impossible for him to be an ordinary soldier. In addition, there are a group of Japanese floating around him on the sea. It is basically certain that the Japanese commander has not escaped.
Hu Mingfeng heard this and didn't care. He just ordered: "Detain him!"
At this moment, another huge sound of artillery was heard in the distance.
"Boom boom boom..."
Hearing the sound, everyone on the deck turned around and saw the coastal defense artillery fire at Naha Port. Visible to the naked eye, rows of coastal defense artillery blasted away the Japanese warships that wanted to steal their homes.
heavy.
The navy here has already defeated the Japanese flagship, and the warships of the Ming Dynasty have also returned to support.
Those Japanese warships that made a sneak attack were bombarded by coastal defense artillery, and then were killed by the Ming army's return troops. It was almost certain that the defeat of the Japanese navy was certain.
Seeing this scene, Hu Mingfeng couldn't help laughing and said: "This battle is so exciting, so exciting, but there are just a few Japanese ships, which is not enough to fight!"
The white-haired old man next to him who was about to be escorted was Yagyu Munenomi. After hearing what he said, he couldn't help but feel sad: The general wants to cut off the Ming army's logistical supplies. It's really a dream!
While he was thinking, he suddenly heard a Ming army soldier exclaiming: "Sir, there are fifteen Xiyi warships!"
When Yagyu Munomi heard this, he immediately turned his head to look, and then he burst out laughing.