Chapter 2142
The battle that took place near the northern coastline of Kyushu only lasted a little more than an hour and was basically over. The Fujian Navy successfully defeated the main force of the Hirado Navy they had been searching for, consisting of 17 warships and seven cargo ships. Not a single ship in the formed naval fleet escaped from Jiwu Bay, and most of them were sunk or damaged. Only five ships remained relatively intact when captured.
About four hundred enemy personnel were taken prisoner, half of them from the last few captured cargo ships. According to Xu Yuzhuo's estimate, the number of enemy soldiers who died in this battle should not be less than 500, but some fish that slipped through the net took advantage of the chaos and abandoned the boat, swam ashore and fled into the inland areas. However, this is innocuous and cannot change the reality that the main force of the Hirado navy was basically wiped out.
However, the Fujian Navy also paid a heavy price in this battle. Two warships were sunk by the opponent's artillery fire during the battle, and another seven or eight ships also suffered serious damage. They must be rescued as soon as possible. Just make repairs. The number of casualties is of course much better than that of the opponent, but the number of people killed and missing has reached about a hundred, and the price is not light.
Cleaning the battlefield took far longer than the fighting time. Xu Yuzhuo had to be patient and let the warships search the sea surface in Jiwu Bay again, trying to fish out as many people as possible from the Fujian Navy who fell into the water, even those who had died in the battle. personnel, they also have to take their bodies back.
In addition, for several warships that were severely damaged and unable to sail normally, he also needed to make a decision based on their specific conditions. Whether to perform damage control maintenance on site and bring these damaged warships back to Hirado Port, or to decisively abandon the ships and transfer them. personnel to other ships and then return as quickly as possible. But no matter which option is chosen, for the naval fleet that has just experienced a life and death battle, it is not an easy task that can be completed in a short while.
But no matter what, the combat goal that Xu Yuzhuo had been thinking about for many days was finally basically achieved. In this way, even if he evacuated Hirado and returned to Fujian, he would still have a good record to show Xu Xinsu. Of course, if we can follow the clues and find the senior figures of the Hirado clan hiding in Kyushu, it will definitely be a great achievement.
Thinking of this, Xu Yuzhuo decided not to rush back to Hirado Port, but while the damaged warship was undergoing damage control maintenance, he would first see if he could get some useful information from the prisoners.
Without much effort, Xu Yuzhuo confirmed that the warship he identified was indeed the flagship of Wei Zhi, commander of the Hirado Navy. However, the stranded ship was still burning at this time, and Wei Zhi could not confirm that it was Zhi's life and death, it seems that it is difficult to obtain some key information.
At this time, the gunpowder on the warship exploded again, blowing nearly half of the hull into several pieces, making it even more difficult to implement.
Although Xu Yuzhuo felt a little regretful, he did not regret the measures he had taken earlier. If he hesitated a little at that time, he might have allowed the people on the ship to escape ashore. That was the result he was least willing to accept.
Xu Yuzhuo interrogated several people and basically confirmed that this fleet has been hiding in this secret house bay since it withdrew from Shandai Island north of Hirado a few days ago, and these ships are the remaining ships of the Hirado navy. All the power.
However, the issue that Xu Xinsu is most concerned about at the moment is whether there has been a recent escape of personnel from the area blocked by Haihan in the northern part of Hirado Island. These prisoners are not clear about it. Xu Yuzhuo was also a little helpless about this. The relevant insiders should be on that damn flagship, but at this time, there was definitely no way to get the news from the mouths of dead people.
The failure to trace the whereabouts of Tagawa and his son was undoubtedly a pity for this operation. After confirming that the damaged warships had restored their navigation capabilities, Xu Xinsu ordered the withdrawal of troops. The naval fleet gathered its formation and returned directly to Hirado Port.
At this point, almost all the elite troops of the Hirado Domain were exhausted in this war. Although there are still a few armed personnel who obey Tagawasuke's orders in the ruling area of Kyushu Island, they can no longer affect the current war situation. The armed strength of the Hirado Domain has also fallen to the lowest point since the establishment of the domain. At this time, any force that covets Hirado will definitely make it difficult for Tagawa to resist.
Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen were both a little surprised when they learned that the Fujian Navy had wiped out the main force of the Hirado Navy in the direction of Kyushu. It's not that the combat effectiveness of Xu Yuzhuo's fleet exceeded their expectations. After all, they only dared to let it act alone because they knew the basics. It's that the place where the battle took place was not particularly far from Hirado, and the Haihan warship had even been there. Searching the sea area, they failed to find the hiding place of the enemy fleet like Xu Yuzhuo. They originally thought that their opponent had gone away to hide in another place, but they never thought that the fleet was dozens of miles away from Hirado.
They saw that several warships had already tilted significantly due to water intrusion when they docked at the dock. From this, they could imagine that the battle situation at that time was definitely not a one-sided suppression. The desperate counterattack of the Hirado Navy also gave the Fujian Navy a hard time. The teacher caused a lot of trouble.
But in any case, being able to complete the task of searching and destroying enemies alone is definitely an outstanding performance worthy of praise. Even though Xu Yuzhuo later explained to them that he had failed to capture the enemy commander alive and no further clues were found about the whereabouts of Tagawa Jie and his son, Qian and Shi still gave a very high evaluation to the performance of the Fujian Navy.
After destroying this armed fleet, the Hirado clan is temporarily unable to launch a counterattack from the direction of Kyushu Island. The coalition forces no longer need to spend a lot of energy to guard against this hidden danger, and can focus on the personnel and supplies of Hirado Island. The cleanup work is up.
After nearly ten days of rush transportation, almost all the population in the central and northern areas of Hirado Island were transported to Seogwipo, and all kinds of supplies on the island were gradually evacuated. After the last batch of local people were put on the ship for shipment, the coalition forces began to carry out the final step.
The coalition forces set up dozens of burning points in the city, and then ignited these burning points made of dry firewood, straw, bamboo branches and other flammable materials one by one from west to east. The fire quickly spread in the city, and the personnel responsible for setting the fire quickly evacuated to the port after completing the operation. Of course, the official residences located on the highlands to the south of the port area also did not escape this disaster.
On the sea a few miles north of the Hirado Strait, Qian Tiandun, Shi Diwen, Shen Xueyi, Xi Mang and others watched the tragic scene of Hirado city gradually falling into a sea of flames on the deck. The local buildings all use bamboo as the main building material, and the fire spreads very quickly. In just an hour or two, the sky above the entire northern end of Hirado Island was already filled with flames and thick smoke, dozens of miles away. You should all be able to see it.
Compared to this overwhelming fire, the fire that burned down Hirado Castle more than thirty years ago was really nothing more than a child's play. The situation that Hirado has gradually developed since its opening as a port was basically completely burned by this sky-wide fire. The losses that this fire will cause to the Hirado Domain cannot be estimated using simple economic figures. Anyone who wants to rebuild this place in the future may have to consider whether it is worth it - even if the funds needed for reconstruction can be raised, even if the trading status of Hirado Port can be regained, it may not be able to withstand the pressure from the outside. Another military strike.
The Haihan people dared to do things to the extreme and razed Hirado to the ground with a fire, so who dared to take the risk and bet that they would not make a comeback in the future?
With trade, the most important economic source, cut off, the ruling body of the Hirado Domain will face the problem of insufficient operating funds. It is difficult to say whether the domain can continue to maintain its position.
The people are gone, the money is gone, and the industry is gone. The mess left behind is useless to the troubled Hirado clan. When Tagawasuke returns here a few days later and sees Hirado turned into a scorched earth, will he still have the confidence to continue fighting with Kaihan?
"Perhaps after this fire, the Japanese shogunate will re-examine their foreign policies." Shi Diwen looked at the fire in the distance and said: "Our actions may further catalyze the speed of the shogunate's implementation of seclusion. They probably won't be interested. Made a deal with us.”
"That's not necessarily the case. It might have the opposite effect." Qian Tiandun said meaningfully: "If they realize that there is an unimaginably powerful civilization outside, they may repeat the actions they took hundreds of years ago. Countermeasures.”
"Are you saying that the shogunate may send people to study abroad in our country just like it sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty?" Shi Diwen also responded with understanding.
"Yes, one of the cultural traditions of this country is obedience and imitation of the strong. Whoever has a harder fist than him and can beat him will strengthen his own strength by imitating him." Qian Tiandun said. Tan said: "They have done this before, and I think they will continue to do it now and in the future. This is their nature. This fire may just burn away the Japanese people's thoughts of resistance and make them aware of our Powerful.”
Beginning in the seventh century AD, Japan sent nineteen envoys to China over two hundred years, with more than a hundred people each time. The largest mission even had more than six hundred people. These elites selected from various fields came to China to learn all aspects of advanced production skills, knowledge and systems, and gradually introduced them to Japan, which played a great role in promoting the spread of Chinese culture in Japan.
Haihan's strength and advancement have obvious advantages over all countries of the same era. Whether it will be feared or admired may depend on the personal wishes of the person in power in the country. Although Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen have very different opinions, they are both situations that may arise.
Shen Xueyi and Ximeng were listening to this discussion beside them, and they couldn't help but feel excited. General Haihan talked so calmly about the impact of this war on Japan. His profound understanding and long-term vision were enough to make They were filled with admiration. At the same time, they couldn't help but secretly rejoice that their country and Haihan were allies with common interests, and there was no need to worry about facing Haihan's merciless military attack.
The fire in Hirado lasted far longer than the coalition forces expected. After engulfing the entire city, the fire gradually spread to the mountains and forests outside the city, and then slowly expanded southward. After the ash fire drifted across the Hirado Strait, which is less than two miles wide, it ignited part of the mountain forests on the west coast of Kyushu, causing the fire to spread to the northwest corner of Kyushu.
However, at this time, the coalition fleet had already reached the waters near Fujiang Island, and they did not know that the fire here was still expanding. Such a fire is far beyond the power of manpower to put out, and the locals can only watch helplessly as the fire rages everywhere.
It wasn't until three days later, perhaps even God couldn't stand it any longer, that a heavy rain fell from the sky and the fire finally came to an end.
The fire that destroyed most of the Hirado Domain in the fifteenth year of Kanei's reign was later recorded in Japanese history books. In order to distinguish it from the fire that burned down Hirado Castle during the Keicho period, this fire that took place more than 30 years ago was also called the "Haihan Fire". However, because the Kaihan army that attacked Hirado evacuated all the local people before setting the fire, although the fire burned a large area, there were very few casualties.
Hirado Port, Japan's leading foreign trade center in this era, was completely destroyed by the fire. Nagasaki Port, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate, quickly replaced Hirado's trade status and became a new foreign trade center.
As for the replacement of power in the Hirado clan, a series of bloody battles began within the Hizen Kingdom. Although Hirado, which was burned to ruins, no longer needs much reconstruction, there are still many careerists who hope to inherit Hirado's trade connections and military technology that is unique in Japan. It seems that the Tagawa father and son, who have lost most of their armed forces, do not have the ability to keep these secrets, so many people are targeting them.
However, these internal struggles in Hizen Kingdom are no longer important to the coalition forces headed by Haihan. Although they failed to annihilate all the target persons in this Eastern Expedition, the strategic purpose of attacking the Hirado Domain and the Shiba Shiba Yu Party has been basically achieved, and they have destroyed the opponent's base, leaving almost nothing for the opponent. A chance to make a comeback.
The military expenses spent by the coalition forces during the operation were partially recouped through the massive supplies seized from Hirado after the war. In addition, the thousands of Japanese people transported out of Hirado were also a considerable income for Haihan. . Haihan's rate of absorbing immigrants in various ruling areas in the north is slowing down. After these Japanese are distributed and resettled in various places, they can also slightly alleviate the local population needs. However, according to the current civil affairs system of Haihan, if this group wants to obtain Haihan nationality, they will have to go through a period of hard times.
The coalition fleet returning west did not let go of the Five Islands. It spent three days forcibly gathering the people on each island and transporting them away as spoils of war. After being plundered by Haihan, the population size of Hirado Island and the Goto Islands fell directly back to the level of a few centuries ago.
(End of chapter)