Chapter 3550
Chapter 3550
Chapter 3550
With Hai Han as a guarantor, Zong Yizhen naturally did not have to worry about the Koreans taking over his position. As long as he solved the problem of his own homeland's defense, he could feel at ease and continue to command the battle on the front line.
As for the cost of bringing in Korean reinforcements, So Yoshizane believed that compared to the huge gains after defeating the shogunate, these expenses were still within an acceptable range. If the shogunate army really cut off their retreat, the loss would not be measured in money.
As for whether to bring the Korean army into the frontline combat troops, Zong Yizhen has no such plan for the time being. He knows that the nature of doing so is completely different from co-defense. Not to mention whether Hai Han can agree to it, at least the other allies will definitely not approve of such an approach.
Although Zong Yizhen's move was a bit hasty, it was really made in the right place.
After the shogunate army successfully raided Kagoshima, Tokugawa Ietsugu quickly realized that this was an effective means to deal with the Kyushu coalition forces.
The Kyushu coalition concentrated its main battle force on the northern Kyushu front, which inevitably led to a lack of rear defense. A powerful clan like Satsuma did not have many troops left behind, let alone the other clans.
Although the shogunate army's advantage in manpower did not give it much advantage on the front battlefield, if it split up and raided the strongholds of the various feudal domains in Kyushu, it would be enough to put the opponent in a state of panic.
Ogi, Hiroshima, and Osaka suffered heavy losses from several attacks on their rear areas, but the shogunate was richer after all, and they could hold on. However, the castles of the various feudal domains in Kyushu might not be able to withstand a single assault by the shogunate army.
Kagoshima managed to survive this disaster by luck, but the other cities might not have the strength to withstand the surprise attack of the shogunate army.
"We will send out troops to attack each rebel stronghold. If they want to strengthen their rear defense, they will have to withdraw troops from the battlefield in northern Kyushu to defend. When we confront them on the front battlefield, our army will definitely have a greater advantage!"
Tokugawa Ietsugu said this to his generals. Compared with the previous idea of directly defeating the Kyushu coalition forces on the front battlefield, this battle plan obviously allows the shogunate army to better play its military advantage.
As a result, the shogunate army quickly adjusted its strategy. It no longer actively launched large-scale offensives on the front battlefield, but only continuously sent small troops to fight a war of attrition with the Kyushu coalition forces in the surrounding areas.
At the same time, the shogunate army quietly withdrew nearly half of its naval forces, left the Kanmon Strait, and began to launch separate raids on the capitals of various feudal domains in Kyushu.
The Tsushima Domain was undoubtedly lucky for taking preventive measures in advance. The Korean troops transferred from Busan Port had just entered Asu Bay where the Tsushima Domain's Kinshi Castle was located for two days when the armed fleet of the shogunate army arrived.
Although the incident happened suddenly, the naval commander Li Yongfu still faithfully fulfilled his mission and commanded the fleet to fight with the shogunate army on the sea of Asu Bay.
Li Yi did not hold back at all on the matter of sending reinforcements. The fleet transferred from Busan was composed entirely of Hai Han standard warships, and their firepower was almost fully equipped. It was naturally a piece of cake for them to fight against the shogunate's fleet which was mainly composed of Ataka ships and Seki ships.
After losing six ships in Asu Bay, the shogunate fleet fled the battlefield in disgrace. They didn't even know who the enemy fleet that didn't fly any flags was.
The Fukuoka Domain, also located in the northern part of Kyushu, was not so lucky. Fukuoka Castle was almost directly breached by the landing shogunate army. More than half of the dozens of high-ranking samurai who stayed in the city were killed or injured, and several granaries outside the city were also burned by the shogunate army.
The main cities of Kumamoto and Saga were both located in the hinterland of the Ariake Sea on the west coast of Kyushu, and they had to cross the narrow Hirado Strait and pass outside Sasebo Bay. In order not to alert the enemy, the fleet of the shogunate army carrying out the raid on the two domains was not large. Although the resistance encountered in Saga and Kumamoto was not too strong, due to the limited manpower, the damage caused by the shogunate army in the local area was limited to the coastal areas, and not much results were achieved.
However, these successive raids did indeed cause the Kyushu feudal lords to fall into panic. Before the war, they had clearly planned to spread the flames of war to Honshu, but now, after more than a month of confrontation with the shogunate army, the main battlefield was still in northern Kyushu, and the flames of war had already spread to their own home.
Except for So Yoshizane, who believed he had anticipated the enemy's moves, the other feudal lords were inevitably pessimistic about the course of the war. The Satsuma domain, which was attacked first, even proposed to withdraw 2,000 troops from the front line to defend Kagoshima to avoid another surprise attack on their hometown by the shogunate army.
The one who raised objections to this was So Yoshizane, who relied on Korean reinforcements to defeat the shogunate's surprise attack.
"If you withdraw your troops to defend, wouldn't that mean you're falling into the shogunate's trap? If each family withdraws one or two thousand men, how many troops will be left on the front line? Can they withstand the next round of attack from the shogunate army?"
"Lord Shimazu, if the coalition forces are defeated by the shogunate army because of this, you will become a sinner!"
So Yoshizane strongly opposed Shimazu Mitsuhisa's proposal in a stern voice.
But Shimazu Mitsuhisa was not someone who was out of touch with the news, and he immediately questioned So Yoshizane's position: "I heard that the shogunate army also launched a surprise attack on Jinshi Castle a few days ago, but was quickly defeated by the defenders and couldn't even land in Asu Bay."
"Master Zong, can you explain to us why there are so many garrison troops in Tsushima?"
After Shimazu Mitsuhisa raised this question, the faces of several other feudal lords also turned ugly.
When the Kyushu coalition formed an alliance, it was agreed that each family would arrange the troops to go out and stay behind in equal proportions. Tsushima Domain had the least troops among the five families, and logically, the number of troops left behind in Kinishi Castle should also be the least, but when faced with the sudden attack by the shogunate army, Tsushima Domain was the only one that repelled the enemy with almost no casualties.
This makes people suspect that the Tsushima clan was reserved when it sent out troops and did not send all the soldiers who could fight to the front line.
So Yoshizane did not report the results of the Battle of Asu Bay to the other coalition forces, but Shimazu Mitsuhisa grasped the situation so quickly that he realized that there were also spies from the Satsuma clan on Tsushima Island.
However, at this critical juncture, it is obviously meaningless to pursue the matter. So Yoshizane must first explain why the defenders of Tsushima Island were able to repel the surprise attack of the shogunate army. Otherwise, once the trust of the other families is lost, the solidity of the Kyushu Alliance will inevitably be affected.
In desperation, So Yoshizane had to confess the truth, explaining that he had brought in reinforcements from Korea to assist in the defense of Tsushima Island and had not deliberately concealed any details in the deployment of troops.
Everyone was shocked. No one expected that the Tsushima clan would repel the shogunate army in this way.
It took a long time before someone remembered to raise the question, that is, should the Korean army's combat operations in Tsushima Domain be regarded as Korea's participation in the war?