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Chapter 1043 – 1039 [Siege And Internal Strife]

Chapter 1043 1039 [Siege and internal strife]

Tokugawa Mikaki and Tokugawa Tsunashige reunited in the camp of the Datong Army.

One commanding land battles was captured, and the other commanding naval battles was captured. When we met at this time, we were speechless, only the sadness and loneliness left on our faces.

Huang Fei took the letter from Kyoto, pretended to read it for a long time, and handed it out with a smile: “You two, read it too.”

Mitsuki Tokugawa is a senior person, and he took the letter with both hands. His Chinese character culture level is so high that he can read ten lines at a glance, and his face changes drastically after he glances at it twice.

Han Shouxin’s autographed letter was written in vulgar language, and he could tell at a glance that he hadn’t read the book for a few days, but this made Tokugawa Mitsuki even more frightened.

He was afraid that the Chinese generals would be old men who didn’t understand politics at all, because Han Shouxin said in his letter: “I have captured Kyoto and captured two Japanese kings. One is the monk Taishang Wang, and the other is the queen king. The monk king Quite sensible and obedient, he simply killed the Tokugawa family and let the monk king rule Japan.”

“What was written in the letter?” Tokugawa Tsunashige asked in a low voice.

Tokugawa Mitsuki said with a serious expression: “Look for yourself.”

Tokugawa Tsunashige took the letter with a serious expression. If the Chinese army really supports the emperor, Japan will inevitably start a civil war again, and will not accept the name of the Tokugawa family’s rule, and will take refuge in the emperor’s side by relying on the might of the Chinese army.

This is not the end of the Tokugawa period. Even the Changzhou Domain is loyal to the Shogunate. At this time, the Choshu Domain still remembers hatred.

Huang Fei grinned and said: “You two, enter the city with a letter. Tell the shogun that if you don’t open the city and surrender, I will destroy Edo, kill all the descendants of the Tokugawa family, and support the monk king to rule Japan!”

The two were both surprised and happy. The surprise was that the emperor was in the hands of the Chinese army, and the joy was that they were released.

The two Tokugawa vassals walked towards the city wall regardless of their appearance. After reporting their names, they were immediately welcomed into the city.

Tadaki Sakai rushed over after hearing the news, but before he could speak, Mitsuki Tokugawa handed over the letter.

“This… how could this happen? Damn it!” Sakai Tadakiyo felt a little bewildered after reading the letter.

Although Tokugawa Mitsukyu was not good at fighting, he also knew politics. He said: “This matter should not be publicized, and the daimyo and samurai in the city should not know.”

The three of them immediately went to see the shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna, and Sakai Tadaki also called his confidant by name.

Tokugawa Ietsuna was terrified, and he was trembling when he spoke: “No… it’s better to surrender and agree to the conditions proposed by Tang Jun. No matter how much compensation is paid, it can be paid off slowly. If Tang Jun supports the emperor, everything I waited for will be over. .”

Masori Inaba asked: “How is the Tang Army’s combat strength?”

Tokugawa Mitsuki replied truthfully: “I brought tens of thousands of Kwantung troops to help, and in the afternoon, I met Tang Jun’s scouts. Tang Jun returned to Edo in the middle of the afternoon to report, and marched more than 30 miles at night. The raid on the camp caused my entire army to collapse. One afternoon, one night, a round trip of seventy miles, can our flag do it?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Sakai Zhongqing still refused to give up. Once he surrendered, the shogunate would definitely survive, but he, the boss, would become a scapegoat. He had too many political enemies in the past, and they would definitely attack them in groups. Seppuku would be trivial, and maybe his family’s fiefdom would also be reduced.

“Edo Castle is strong, as long as we work together, the Tang army will definitely not be able to defeat it.” Said Tadaki Sakai.

The senior middlemen attached to Tadaki Sakai are also afraid of being besieged by political enemies. But they were divided into two factions, and the genealogical daimyos knew in their hearts that they belonged to the basic base of the Tokugawa family, and even if they were held accountable, they would definitely be dealt with lightly. Instead of the daimyo of Pudai, he wanted to follow Tadashi Sakai to the dark alley.

Tokugawa Iezuna was already terrified. He was a shogun, and he just wanted to enjoy it in peace, no matter how much compensation he paid. Seeing that Zhongqing Sakai wanted to defend the city, he quickly said, “Surrender quickly, I order you to surrender!”

Sakai Zhongqing is already crazy, anyway, if he surrenders, he will definitely die, not a fight.

If Edo can be defended, his disrespect at this time can be regarded as never happened, and he can gain unprecedented prestige. Sakai Zhongqing shouted: “The general is tired, please go in and rest.”

The confidant of Sakai Tadakiyo who was present at the scene understood instantly, and stepped forward to surround Tokugawa Ietsuna.

The genealogy daimyos were stunned. Although they were also daimyos, their ancestors were from the retainers of the Tokugawa family. At the same time, they are attached to Zhongqing Sakai, how should they choose now?

Masanori Inaba still chose to be loyal to the shogunate. He pushed away a veteran and scolded: “Don’t disturb the general!”

“Someone is coming!”

Sakai Tadaki gave an order, and suddenly a dozen banner warriors rushed in.

Tokugawa Ietsuna, Tokugawa Mikaki, Tokugawa Tsunashige, and the few genealogy daimyos were all completely confused by this battle.

Tokugawa Mitsuki scolded angrily: “Do you want to rebel?”

Sakai Zhongqing said: “I am protecting the foundation of the shogunate. The fortified city is still there, and the army is still there. How can I surrender lightly?”

This group of people were all under house arrest.

Since Inaba Masanori was also imprisoned, Sakai Tadakiyo changed to a new general. It was claimed that the shogun’s condition had worsened, and the daimyo, who was under house arrest, stood guard in front of the sickbed, and at the same time gave money to reward the three armies, clamoring to vow to live and die with Edo Castle.

At the beginning, all the big names believed it.

But after two or three days, everyone gradually recalled it, and one after another, they asked to see and serve Tokugawa Tsunashige on the grounds of visiting a sick person.

Sakai Zhongqing said: “The general is seriously ill, so don’t be disturbed. You just need to keep the city alive.”

The more this happened, the more suspicious the daimyos became, and even guessed that the shogun had been killed.

“Boom boom boom!”

Didling in the city, but couldn’t wait outside the city, Huang Fei had already ordered a general attack.

Several loud noises came, and the outermost city wall of Edo City was directly blown down by the explosives in the tunnel.

Dozens of artillery and twelve hot air balloons bombarded the city wall in the southeast. The city wall in the southeast is very high and belongs to the third city wall, which can attack the army entering the city from a condescending height.

Countless shells and tens of thousands of enemies fell on the southeast city wall, and the fierce and sudden firepower made the defenders there panic.

Datong soldiers took the opportunity to push the simple cart and rushed to the gap in the outer city wall.

Rushing into the outer city, it was immediately covered by arrow rain.

That was the defenders hidden on the west side of the third city wall in the city shooting. Fortunately, Japanese craftsmen made the chariots, otherwise the Datong Army would have suffered heavy losses.

According to this, the defenders were too close, and could only use muskets and bows, and could not use artillery to bombard the Datong army. With the defensive power of the chariot, muskets and bows and arrows were effectively blocked, and the Datong army entering the city quickly gained a foothold.

Some Datong soldiers, under the cover of friendly troops, boarded the outer city wall from the inner ramp.

Then on the outer city wall, they fired at the defenders on the third city wall opposite. The shogunate army did not have many muskets, but the Datong soldiers held a musket, and soon formed a firepower suppression.

The hot air balloon floating outside was quickly collected.

Taking advantage of suppressing the firepower of the defenders, the hot air balloon was dropped onto the outer city wall and lifted into the sky. It’s a pity that the wind direction is a bit wrong. The defenders of the third city wall are on the east side. At this time, the southeast wind is blowing again, and it can only rise at the blocked passages of the inner and outer city walls.

And can’t rise too high, otherwise it will be farther away from the target.

“Hit the top!”

A shogunate officer pointed to the hot air balloon above and said.

Countless arrows and muskets, shooting at the hot air balloon. Bows and arrows must not be able to shoot, but muskets can hit, and the hot air balloon has been punched with several holes.

The people in the hot air balloon are all grenadiers. They are tall and burly, holding the enemy of ten thousand people and throwing them towards the east.

“Boom boom boom!”

Thousands of thousands of enemies threw out, half of them fell on the city wall, and half of them fell outside the city wall.

A grenadier is shot by a musket and pushes the enemy out of the way before he goes down, avoiding exploding in the rattan basket of the hot air balloon.

More and more Datong soldiers entered the city pushing chariots and ladders.

The artillery also came in, using the Japanese artillery on the outer city wall, turning the muzzle and bombarding the defenders.

“Boom boom boom!”

Not only the gunners of the Datong Army were firing, but the Japanese gunners in the inner city also responded. It belongs to the commanding heights of the whole city, and the artillery is fired at the outer city wall occupied by the Datong army.

It’s too difficult. A standard fortress-type castle has four walls. If you don’t break one of them, you have to pay a price.

Huang Fei besieged the city for more than a month and launched it after making sufficient preparations. At this time, there were still “huge casualties”, and the Datong Army had already lost more than 40 people.

The shogunate defenders on the third city wall were attacked by muskets, artillery, and tens of thousands of enemies, and there was already a gap in defense. The division commander Hong Lei, who personally boarded the outer city wall, immediately ordered: “Blow the trumpet and attack the city!”

The Datong soldiers who had already entered the city to wait for orders, now hid behind the baffles of the chariot and the ladder, and immediately pushed the siege equipment to the wall when they heard the sound of the trumpet. The hot air balloons and artillery also stopped to prevent accidental injury to the siege troops. Only the soldiers on the outer city wall were still covering fire.

“Go over there and hold it!” The Japanese officer shouted in a hurry.

At the city wall where the defensive gap was blown out, there were not many defenders left. Most of them were not killed by the bombing, but could not hold the artillery and the enemy, and took the initiative to withdraw towards the nearby city wall.

Taking advantage of the gap when the shogunate army returned to defense, more than a dozen Datong troops successfully boarded the city. The shogunate army rushed over to defend, and fired muskets, bows and arrows at the Datong army, half of the Datong army that had climbed first fell down in an instant.

Enough is enough, the muskets of the shogunate army are still reloading, and the second batch of Datong soldiers have come up, shooting arrows at the enemies on both sides.

“kill!”

A bullet was fired, and the bayonet was drawn immediately, and the bayonet was placed on the muzzle of the gun while charging.

Obviously there were only thirty or forty Datong troops, but the formation charging with bayonets seemed like thousands of troops galloping, and the banner warriors on both sides turned around and fled in fright. They were besieged for more than a month, suffered repeated setbacks, and their morale fell to the bottom long ago.

After some hunting, the third city wall was occupied by the Datong Army.

Next, there is a second and first city wall, and one is more dangerous than the first.

So far, the Datong Army has killed or injured more than 80 people!

Thanks to the hot air balloon bombing, otherwise the number of casualties would be multiplied.

At this time, civil strife broke out in Edo City.

Abe Tadaaki led a group of daimyos and banners, and rushed towards the shogun’s main guardian. They suspected that Tokugawa Iezuna had been murdered, or was under house arrest, so they rushed in to have a look no matter what.

(end of this chapter)