Chapter 3524
Chapter 3524
Chapter 3524
Although the area of the Japanese archipelago is not as vast as that of continental countries, its terrain is narrow and mountainous, and is divided into several parts by the ocean. It is indeed not an easy task for the Tokugawa shogunate to gather troops from across the country to the vicinity of Kyushu.
After the Oshu and Kanto regions began to mobilize troops, the Tokai, Koshinetsu, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku and other regions were followed by the deployment of troops. However, this Chugoku is not the same as the other China, but refers to the western part of Honshu Island close to Kyushu.
Among them, the Owari Tokugawa family in the Tokai region, the Wakayama Tokugawa family in the Kinki region, and the Mito Tokugawa family in the Kanto region are collectively known as the three great families of the shogunate. Their strengths are comparable, and they are the main forces in this expedition to Kyushu.
Other powerful domains include the Kofu domain, Kanazawa domain, and Fukui domain in the Koshinetsu region, the Tsu domain in the Kinki region, the Tottori domain, Matsue domain, Okayama domain, Hiroshima domain, and Choshu domain in the Chugoku region, and the Kochi domain and Tokushima domain in the Shikoku region.
The troops drawn from these fiefs, plus the Tokugawa shogunate's direct combat troops, could reach about 80,000, which was already several times more than the Kyushu coalition forces. The difference in the size of the territories actually controlled by both sides further widened the gap in war potential.
If the Kyushu feudal lords had not had the support of Hai Han, with their weapons and equipment as well as their strategies and tactics greatly improved, they would probably not have dared to have such a strong desire to resist the shogunate.
Currently, there are two known assembly points for the shogunate army. One is the Hiroshima domain in the Chugoku region in western Honshu, and the other is the Matsuyama domain in the Shikoku region.
The two places are separated by the Seto Inland Sea, and the straight-line distance from Kyushu is about two hundred miles.
However, after analyzing the intelligence, the Kyushu Allied Forces and the Hai Han Military both believed that these two locations were probably not the final gathering points of the Shogunate Army.
If an offensive is launched towards Kyushu from these two locations, the journey at sea will take a day, and there is a high possibility of being intercepted by the Kyushu Allied Forces' armed fleet on the way. The shogunate has basically no advantage in naval battles, and the commander of the shogunate army should not choose such a high-risk, low-return combat plan.
A more likely scenario is that the shogunate army would gather its forces in the Shimonoseki area of the Choshu domain at the westernmost tip of Honshu, wait for an opportunity to cross the Kanmon Strait, which is only a little over a mile at its narrowest point, and land on Kyushu Island, and then engage in a decisive land battle with the Kyushu army.
Although this plan is relatively conservative and can be easily deployed in advance by the Kyushu army, being conservative actually means being relatively safe. The shogunate army has a clear advantage in terms of manpower and can completely attack the Kanmon Strait by force, so there is no need to take risks by using unconventional tactics.
The tactics formulated by the Kyushu coalition were designed to target this situation.
Before the multinational inspection team organized by Hai Han arrived at the Sasebo base, the Kyushu coalition forces had already quietly gathered troops towards the Kanmon Strait.
The area in northeastern Kyushu near the Kanmon Strait is currently the territory of Fukuoka Domain, one of the allied forces. The allied forces are moving massively into the territory of Fukuoka Domain, and the marching routes, station arrangements, material supplies, etc. in between all need to be resolved through negotiation among all parties.
The alliance between these powerful vassals in Kyushu was not formed long ago, only a few months ago. Moreover, the alliance between the vassals was not initiated by them, but was facilitated by Hai Han. Therefore, in terms of tacit understanding and trust, the relationship between the parties is far from the level that allies should have.
If we want to be cautious, let the Kyushu vassal states spend two or three years to integrate their local forces, and then take action at that time, the chances of success will be much greater than now. However, the shogunate will definitely not give the Kyushu vassal states such sufficient time to respond. Both sides know that there will be a war in the spring. Although it is a bit hasty to form an alliance and organize a coalition, it is the best way to deal with it at present.
However, this hastily assembled coalition was not a problem faced only by the Kyushu feudal domains. In fact, the shogunate army also faced similar problems.
The composition of the various lords that made up the shogunate army was much more complicated than that of the Kyushu coalition, with more than a hundred families, large and small. It was much more difficult to organize so many troops and command them in a unified manner than the five-in-one Kyushu coalition.
However, given the organizational capabilities of the Kyushu vassal states, the Hai Han military did not expect the coalition forces to be able to maintain high confidentiality at this stage. Just as the coalition forces were able to learn about the movements of the shogunate army, the shogunate was also able to learn about the coalition forces' movements through similar intelligence channels.
In essence, both sides are fighting openly, and the outcome will depend on their performance on the battlefield.
After resting for a day at the Sasebo base, the multinational inspection team set off again for the Kanmon Strait where the two armies were about to confront each other.
Since the destination was most likely the main battlefield, and the security was no match for Sasebo, Hai Han had increased the security level of the delegation. Almost all the naval vessels in the Sasebo base were out, twice as large as the fleet from Zhoushan. Those who didn't know would definitely think that Hai Han was going to send troops to join the war.
After leaving Sasebo Bay, the fleet sailed north through the Hirado Strait, and the expedition team was able to visit the remains of the Hirado Domain on board.
Although the Saga Domain has annexed Hirado Island, for various reasons, the area where Hirado Port is located has not been rebuilt on a large scale. From the ship, you can still see the ruins left over from the fire that burned down the city.
Perhaps for the Saga Domain, instead of spending a lot of resources to rebuild the Hirado Port, which did not have favorable port conditions, it would be better to take advantage of the nearby Haihan and use the Sasebo Port as a window for the Saga Domain's foreign trade.
The port facilities and trade channels of Sasebo Port are ready-made, and major customers do not even need to settle in cash. Once they get used to it, it will be difficult for Saga Domain to have the motivation to build a trade port on its own. After all, no matter how hard they try, the conditions of the port after it is built will not be better than Sasebo Port.
Two days later, the fleet arrived at the Kanmon Strait and made a special passage from west to east so that the members of the expedition team could clearly see the topography of this narrow strait.
At the narrowest part of the Kanmon Strait, it is easy to hit the other side of the coast by setting up artillery on the coast. Therefore, since last winter, both sides have rushed to build artillery batteries here in an attempt to control the channel of the strait.
However, the two opposing parties that have deployed their defenses here now obviously do not dare to provoke Hai Han, and they just silently watch Hai Han’s huge fleet passing through the strait.
The fleet finally docked at a place called Tanoura on the Kyushu coast on the east side of the strait. It was some distance away from the bases of the opposing sides, so it would not be directly involved in the battlefield, but it was able to observe the movements of both sides. It was the viewing spot that Amakusa Shiro had chosen in advance.