Chapter 3537
Chapter 3537
Chapter 3537
The jurisdiction of Choshu Domain was the area closest to Kyushu within the shogunate's ruling area, and tens of thousands of shogunate troops also assembled in Choshu Domain before the war, so the entire jurisdiction automatically became the front line of the war.
The feudal lord Mori Tsunahiro certainly considered the risks this would bring to his own family, but Tokugawa Ietsugu promised that after the war, the northern part of Kyushu Island would be granted to the Mori clan as a territory, and that the Choshu clan would be given privileges such as engaging in foreign trade and manufacturing weapons. Mori Tsunahiro believed that this was profitable, so he decided to send troops to fight for the shogunate.
However, after two days of fierce fighting, the shogunate army not only failed to gain much advantage, but instead allowed the Kyushu coalition forces to steal their homeland quietly. This was not only a heavy blow to Mori Tsunahiro, but also a slap in the face to the shogunate.
This also made some people worried about the current trend of the war. In order to win as quickly as possible, the shogunate army concentrated its forces to attack the Shimonoseki Strait, but almost gave up the protection of the deep areas in the rear. Now that the front line is difficult to advance, and the rear is lost and attacked, it shows that the current combat strategy is obviously problematic.
Tokugawa Ietsugu was also furious when he received the news, but he could only comfort Mori Tsunahiro and give him time to return to Ogi Castle to clean up the mess.
If the Choshu clan was disrupted, the logistical supply would definitely be affected, and the tens of thousands of shogunate troops on the front line would no longer be able to focus on the attack.
As a last resort, Tokugawa Ietsugu could only make certain adjustments to the deployment, separating some local feudal troops with relatively weak combat effectiveness and sending them to various towns and ports in the Choshu domain to serve as guards.
Before the two armies officially went to war, the Kyushu coalition forces had actually carried out a round of harassment warfare, but the shogunate at the time believed that after the war started, they would naturally be able to suppress the opponent across the strait and make it difficult for them to move, so they did not pay enough attention to this.
However, it now seems that the Kyushu coalition forces did not show their true strength at that time, otherwise Ogi Castle might not have been burned down until this time.
There was nothing wrong with Tokugawa Ietsugu's deployment adjustment, but his execution speed was not as fast as his opponent's. Before these troops received the order to move on, many coastal towns were hit by the Kyushu coalition forces.
This time the places attacked were not even limited to the Choshu domain. The farthest place attacked was Hiroshima Castle of the Hiroshima domain, which was 400 miles away from the Kanmon Strait.
However, precisely because of the long distance, the armed fleet that attacked the local area was not too large, and did not attempt to land and attack Hiroshima Castle. The damage caused in the local area was much smaller than that of Ogi Castle in Nagato Domain.
Tokugawa Ietsugu really couldn't understand how the enemy could allocate so many warships to carry out attack missions in various places while resisting the shogunate army's crossing of the sea in the Kanmon Strait.
It seems that there was a huge deviation in the pre-war estimate of the Kyushu Allied Forces' naval armed forces.
A battle plan formulated under the circumstances of seriously underestimating the opponent's strength is bound to have many loopholes. The opponent chose this time to attack, which obviously showed that they were extremely confident in their own defense and dared to send so many warships to attack in various places.
This once again put the shogunate's high-ranking officers in command of the operation in a dilemma. They were not sure whether the Kyushu coalition's means of concealing its strength were limited to its maritime armed forces, or whether there were similar arrangements on land as well.
If other targets that the shogunate was preparing to attack also had the same level of defensive deployment as the hill positions, it would be possible that the shogunate army fighting across the sea would once again be caught in a dilemma.
As a last resort, Tokugawa Ietsugu could only order a re-verification of some of the intelligence and to conduct further reconnaissance of the planned attack targets to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
However, not all the news that followed was bad. Hai Han notified Masatoshi Masuyama through the liaison officer that the Executive Committee had reviewed the arms order submitted by the shogunate and could move on to the next stage. To Masatoshi Masuyama's surprise, Hai Han did not randomly delete certain items from the order as usual, but accepted the order in full and intended to provide the shogunate with all the weapons and equipment it requested.
“Could it be that the Hai Han people think that our army is unstoppable and victory is only a matter of time, so they plan to take sides? Have you asked them the reason?”
It is no wonder that Tokugawa Iematsu would ask this question. After all, the process of purchasing weapons and equipment from Hai Han in the past years has never been as smooth as this time.
Tokugawa Ietsugu even felt a little regretful. If he had known this would happen, he should have been bolder in stating the content of the order. He didn't know if the other party would still be so straightforward the next time he negotiated arms sales with Hai Han.
Zeng Shanzheng said: "The Hai Han people didn't play tricks this time. It must be because of the interests. After all, their offer this time is 30% higher than before the war, and they don't accept bargaining!"
Hearing this, Tokugawa Ietsuga smiled bitterly and said, "Let alone 30% higher, even if it's 100% higher, I can only buy it with gritted teeth!"
Zeng Shanzhengli continued, "Also, the Hai Han people said that due to limited production capacity, our order will not be delivered quickly... It will probably be divided into multiple batches, and a portion will be delivered each time."
Tokugawa Ietsugu's face darkened and he said, "They asked us to pay the full amount, but the delivery has to be made in multiple installments? The delivery period won't be as long as ten or eight years, right?"
Masuyama Masatoshi said: "It shouldn't take that long, but I estimate that it will take at least one or two years to fully deliver... maybe even longer."
If it were any other business, Tokugawa Ietsugu would have stopped it long ago, but the arms business was different. The international arms trade that the shogunate could access was almost monopolized by Hai Han, and there was no other company that could supply the weapons and equipment the shogunate needed. Therefore, Hai Han could confidently offer many conditions and leave no room for bargaining for the shogunate.
Tokugawa Ietsugu sighed, knowing that he had no choice. He waved his hands helplessly and said, "If the Hai Han people have no other conditions, then we will do as we say!"
Zeng Shanzheng said: "Actually, there is another condition..."
Seeing him hesitating, Tokugawa Ietsuga felt something was wrong. The conditions that were kept until the last moment might be particularly harsh.
Tokugawa Ietsugu calmed down and asked in a deep voice, "Tell me, what other conditions do they have?"
Zeng Shanzheng said: "The Hai Han people said that if we take the initiative to seek a ceasefire negotiation, then the execution of the order will be suspended immediately."
"Ah?" Tokugawa Ietsugu couldn't figure out the meaning of the conditions offered by the Hai Han people.
The purpose of the shogunate's dispatch of troops was to quell the rebellion in the Kyushu region. Unless the other party voluntarily surrendered, it would be unlikely to conduct armistice negotiations - at least that was what Tokugawa Ietsugu thought at the time.
Although things have not been going smoothly so far, Tokugawa Iematsu still has great confidence in achieving ultimate victory. But the Hai Han people put forward such conditions, apparently because they are worried that the shogunate will not be able to hold out until victory in the war?