Chapter 3617
Chapter 3617
Chapter 3617
From the first day of this civil war, the battle for control of the Kanmon Strait has never stopped.
In order to win the naval battle, both sides not only mobilized all their warships, but also purchased a large number of warships from Hai Han to fight. According to incomplete statistics, hundreds of warships have been sunk in the waters of the Kanmon Strait since the start of the war, and a considerable number of them were Hai Han warships purchased at a high price.
However, in terms of financial, human and material resources, the shogunate had more advantages after all. The number of ships deployed by the shogunate army to the strait battlefield was obviously one level more than that of the Kyushu coalition forces, so they gradually gained the upper hand in the war of attrition, gradually controlled the Kanmon Strait, and pushed the front line to the land of northern Kyushu.
The Kyushu coalition's fleet was limited in size, and the speed of replenishing warships from Hai Han was slow. In the end, they could not outlast their opponents in a war of attrition. In order to preserve their strength, the Kyushu coalition had no choice but to withdraw the remaining combat ships and only carry out some troop deployment and long-range raids, and no longer enter the strait to confront the shogunate army head-on.
At this stage of the war, the Shogunate's army had become accustomed to treating the Kanmon Strait as its own controlled area. However, the Kyushu coalition forces suddenly gathered the main force of the fleet and rushed back here again. Judging from their aggressive posture, they seemed to be ready to start a decisive battle at sea with the Shogunate's army.
Naturally, the shogunate army's generals linked this unusual movement of the Kyushu coalition forces to the current situation, and the conclusion drawn from this made them shudder - the other side is now desperately trying to consume the shogunate army's naval power, with only one purpose, which is to cut off the Kanmon Strait waterway and prevent the shogunate army from mobilizing troops across the strait.
To put it more bluntly, the Kyushu coalition forces charged at all costs in order to cut off the retreat route of the shogunate army stationed in northern Kyushu.
After realizing this possibility, the shogunate army in Kitakyushu Camp suddenly became agitated. Not to mention whether they could withdraw to Honshu across the strait, even the current combat supplies all needed to be transported across the strait. Once the strait channel was interrupted, the camp's supplies could only last for ten days or half a month at most.
As for whether the Kyushu coalition forces really have the strength to destroy the naval forces deployed by the shogunate army, not many people will think about it at this juncture. After all, these warships and cargo ships are all mobilized from various domestic fiefdoms, and most of them are not under the jurisdiction of the shogunate. At the moment when Tokugawa Ietsugu has lost contact, their owners will inevitably want to preserve their strength.
At this time, it was not only the shogunate troops on both sides of the Taiwan Strait who were paying attention to the battle situation at sea. Shi Diwen and his son and several Kyushu daimyos who had specially rushed to the front line to watch the battle were also very nervous.
The goal of this battle was clear, which was to cause panic among the shogunate's army, but Shi Diwen and several daimyos were not completely sure whether they could repel the enemy fleet near the strait.
If the shogunate's fleet had not been affected by these rumors and was determined to fight to the death with the Kyushu coalition, then the Kyushu coalition's only remaining dozens of warships might all be lost here. Before receiving the next batch of warships from Hai Han, the Kyushu coalition would lose its ability to fight at sea, which would be like opening the entire Kyushu coastline to the shogunate.
But if they don't take this risk, they will miss the great opportunity to defeat the shogunate army. Once Tokugawa Ietsugu responds to this series of measures to undermine the morale of the army and allows the shogunate army to readjust its status, it will be difficult for the Kyushu coalition to create such an opportunity again.
Fortunately, the shogunate army was no longer united after losing the command of Tokugawa Iematsu. When they saw the Kyushu coalition forces entering the strait, some warships not only did not take the initiative to engage in battle, but instead turned around and evacuated the battlefield.
Even though the Tokugawa family's warships raised flags and requested the entire army to attack, many warships belonging to other clans still pretended to be blind and only circled around the periphery of the battlefield, but had no intention of going forward to fight. In the current environment, as long as someone took the lead, others would soon follow suit. The shogunate army had hundreds of ships with combat capabilities inside and outside the strait, but at this time, there were only more than 20 ships flying the Tokugawa family's flag that took the initiative to fight, and the other ships deliberately lagged behind to wait and see the situation.
This strange situation was of course also seen by the shogunate troops watching the battle on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Thousands of people witnessed the blatant split in their own camp, and it was unknown how many people wanted to retreat at this moment.
The morale of the Kyushu coalition forces was greatly boosted. The current situation was just as the daimyo had told them before the battle. Although the shogunate fleet was larger, the morale of the troops was low and they did not have much intention of investing in the battle. As long as they fought to the death, they could completely defeat the shogunate fleet in this battle.
For the Kyushu coalition forces, there was no option of retreat in this battle, and each daimyo had promised huge profits before the war. As long as they won this battle, all the naval officers and soldiers who fought in the battle would receive generous rewards.
When two brave men meet in a narrow road, the brave one wins. Given the huge difference in morale between the two sides, the balance of the battle clearly tilted towards the Kyushu coalition forces who were willing to sacrifice everything.
The warships of the Kyushu coalition almost all rushed directly into the formation of the shogunate fleet, madly approaching the enemy warships and firing, completely ignoring their own damage. This crazy life-and-death tactic made the already nervous shogunate fleet even more difficult to resist.
Seeing the shogunate fleet's warships being hit and set on fire one after another in the artillery bombardment, the ships watching from the periphery had no desire to step forward to help. The advanced warships purchased from Hai Han could not withstand such a level of exchange of fire, and their old-fashioned Ataku ships would only be able to serve as food.
After losing seven or eight ships in succession, the Shogunate fleet realized that its friendly forces would not participate in the battle and that it could not withstand the crazy offensive of the Kyushu coalition forces, so it decisively chose to retreat from the battlefield.
After the shogunate fleet retreated, the friendly forces who were watching the situation did not dare to fall behind and quickly turned around and sailed out of the strait to avoid becoming the scapegoats that left the shogunate fleet behind.
The Kyushu coalition forces continued their efforts and chased the enemy troops retreating from the west side of the strait for dozens of miles. Seeing that the enemy still had no intention of turning back to fight, they raised the signal flag to withdraw their troops.
The most dumbfounded people at this time were, of course, the shogunate troops who were still watching the battle on both sides of the strait. Most people had never expected that this naval battle would be so one-sided. After a brief battle, the shogunate fleet was driven out of the strait by the Kyushu fleet, leaving behind only a dozen or so wreckages of warships that were still burning.
So the question is, after losing control of the Kanmon Strait, how will the shogunate army of more than 20,000 troops currently stationed in the Kitakyushu camp deal with this situation.
Chapter illustrations are generated by AI software provided by the writing background. After trying it out, it is a good auxiliary function. This function requires the author to provide a text description, and there is a limit on the number of times it can be used per day, so not every chapter will have it. It will be used depending on the content of the chapter.
If this feature had been released a few years earlier, it would have been great. I feel like many of the chapters with scenes in this book could have used it.