Chapter 2352
By observing the current situation of Hirado Port, Kaihanjun can basically deduce the progress of Hirado Domain's recovery. The rise of the Hirado Domain is closely related to the prosperity of Hirado Port. As long as it cannot continue to obtain wealth through maritime trade, it will be difficult for the Hirado Domain's military strength to return to its previous level.
Nowadays, there are only two things that interest Haihan in the Hirado Domain. One is the whereabouts of Tagawa Shichizaemon, and the other is the extent of the transaction between the Hirado Domain and the Manchus. However, the inside story of these two incidents can only be found out if important figures like Tagawa Suke are caught first.
Tracking down these two matters is not the main task of Wang Tom's trip. It only needs to confirm that the Hirado Domain will no longer pose a substantial threat to Haihan in the short term. Exploring unknown areas seemed to Wang Tom to be far more important than entangled with the remnants of the Hirado clan here.
Kyushu Island, separated from Hirado Island by only a narrow strait, is Japan's third largest island, covering an area of more than 30,000 square kilometers, slightly larger than Hainan Island. The east side of Kyushu Island is adjacent to Honshu Island and Shikoku Island respectively. There are nine countries on the island: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Bunzen, Bungo, Hizen, Higo, Hyuga, Satsuma, and Osumi, so it is called Kyushu Island. The Hirado clan, which was severely weakened by the Kaihan army, belonged to the territory of Hizen country.
In 1633, as soon as Haihan occupied Zhoushan, Chen Yixin led a fleet north to conduct reconnaissance in the waters near Kyushu Island. At that time, on the one hand, we wanted to explore the lair of Japanese pirates, and on the other hand, we also conducted an on-the-spot investigation of the maritime trade routes between Ming Dynasty and Japan.
Kyushu Island does not have any special products. Only the two trading ports of Hirado and Nagasaki are relatively eye-catching. Haihan has relatively strict criteria for choosing overseas colonies. They must either be geographically strategic, such as Xingdao, Hong Kong, Penghu, etc., or have high-value properties, such as the Fushan Copper Mine in Shandong and the Heitugang Coal Mine in Annan. , Jinguashi Gold Mine in Taiwan, etc., or natural ports with excellent conditions, such as Manila, Cam Ranh Port, etc.
Using these standards to measure Kyushu Island obviously does not meet Haihan's requirements. To put it bluntly, only the last one can barely meet the military's standards - Sasebo Bay, located on the west coast of Kyushu Island, is a very suitable place for establishing a naval base. The military has conducted two on-site inspections of this place, and both concluded that if Haihan wants to establish a military base in Japan in the future, this can be the first choice location.
However, the shortcomings of Sasebo Bay are also very obvious. Its location is not a geographical hub, but at the westernmost end of the entire Japanese territory. It is difficult to establish a base here to have an impact on important cities such as Kyoto and Edo, thousands of miles away. Moreover, there is not much permanent population in the local area, and a large number of labor forces need to be moved in from other places during the development and construction phase. This is not worth it for Haihan, who values cost-effectiveness.
The senior officials of Haihan also had a view that if they really wanted to establish a colonial port in western Japan in the future, instead of choosing the baseless Sasebo Bay, it would be better to simply capture Nagasaki and seize this ready-made trading port.
Nagasaki Port is only a hundred miles away from Sasebo Bay, and the natural conditions of the harbor are not bad. Moreover, after sixty or seventy years of continuous development and construction, the population size and port facilities can meet Haihan's requirements. If such a place is occupied, everything including trade objects will be ready-made and can be used immediately, wouldn't it be much better than a place like Sasebo Bay?
Of course, if Kaihan really sends troops to occupy Nagasaki, it will inevitably lead to a strong counterattack by the shogunate. After all, after the destruction of Hirado Port, Nagasaki has become Japan's main transnational trade port, with goods from the Ming Dynasty and Western countries. Everyone enters Japan through here, and the profits generated are an extremely important source of income for the shogunate. It is impossible to sit back and watch other countries take away control of Nagasaki Port.
Haihan's previous attack on Hirado did not provoke a strong backlash from the Japanese shogunate because of the competitive relationship between Hirado and Nagasaki. Haihan's move happened to solve the problem of Hirado for the shogunate. But if Haihan wants to move Nagasaki, the war caused by it will probably not be calmed down so easily.
It was precisely because of this risk that the Executive Committee did not make more detailed plans for sending troops to occupy Nagasaki. After all, Haihan's deployment of troops in Northeast Asia is limited, and the focus of military deployment has always been Liaodong, and he is not very interested in Japan, a country lacking mineral resources.
Wang Tom is of course a member of the main war faction. From his perspective, he wishes that there were Haihan military ports everywhere in the world. Whether it was Sasebo, Osaka Bay, Ise Bay, or Tokyo Bay, as long as it was a harbor suitable for establishing a military base, he wanted to occupy it. However, Haihan's current national strength is obviously difficult to achieve such an ambition, so he can only focus on exploring unknown areas.
Sail two hundred miles northeast from the Hirado Strait along the coast of Kyushu Island and arrive at the Shimonoseki Strait between Kyushu Island and Honshu Island. This is the western gateway to the Seto Inland Sea, the hub of land and sea transportation in western Japan, and its strategic value is far superior to "remote areas" such as Sasebo and Nagasaki. The Fujiwara Hiroshi Rebellion as early as the eighth century and the Genpei War in the twelfth century were both famous wars that took place here and were recorded in Japanese history books.
The narrowest point of the Shimonoseki Strait is only about two hundred feet wide. The ocean currents in the strait are turbulent, which is a big test for sailors who are not familiar with the sea conditions here. However, Tom Wang does not intend to enter the Seto Inland Sea through this place. Although Japan's important cities are almost concentrated near the south coast, if he wants to visit these places through the Seto Inland Sea, the additional voyage will take at least ten and a half days. Months of time, if you want to stay on the way, this time is likely to be extended a lot.
Wang Tom believed that there was no need to proactively contact the Japanese shogunate at this stage, so the route he planned was to continue along the north coast of Honshu Island to avoid unnecessary complications.
But even if we take this "shortcut", the entire voyage from the Shimonoseki Strait along the coast to the Tsugaru Strait at the other end of Honshu Island is more than 2,500 miles. Calculated based on the current average speed of the fleet, it will take about a week to arrive smoothly. If Tom Wang wants to go further north this winter, he really can't waste too much time on the way.
Since taking up the post of Navy Commander, Wang Tom has spent most of his time directing combat operations in various places, and has rarely had such an opportunity to freely explore unknown waters. After leaving Kitakyushu, he no longer had any specific tasks to perform, and the rest of the trip could be freely arranged according to his own wishes. Although the weather gets colder as we go north, for Tom Wang, this kind of free and easy trip is a great enjoyment, and the impact of the weather is basically negligible.
The fleet's route maintained a distance of about twenty to thirty miles from the coast, passing through Nagato, Hamada, Izumo, and Matsue. It was not until it entered Tottori Domain that Wang Tom ordered to dock to replenish fresh water.
"Ahead is the mouth of the Chiyo River. We will stop there for a while to replenish fresh water before setting off on the road." Wang Tom gave the order, and the fleet turned and headed for the coast.
The coastline here is very straight and consists of sandy beaches. The famous Tottori Sand Dunes are located here. Since there is no natural harbor, it is impossible to build a large port. For Wang Tom, this means that there is a safe zone nearby, and there is no need to worry about running into an armed fleet here.
The Chiyo River is not a big river, and its mouth is only about a hundred feet wide. After ascertaining the ice conditions at the mouth, the fleet slowly sailed into the already very narrow river channel, and finally stopped at a place only three miles away from the mouth. Water supply began to be obtained from the fork of the river.
Some residences can also be seen on the banks near the river, but the local people's fear of these outsiders is obviously greater than their curiosity, and no one dares to take the initiative to approach the fleet. For this trip, Tom Wang specially borrowed his Japanese officer Amakusa Shiro from Qian Tiandun, which came in handy at this time. Amakusa Shiro led the team to check out the situation in nearby villages, and by the way, to see if they could get help from the local area. Get some other supplies.
Facing the local farmers and fishermen who were inexperienced in the world, the Haihan Army had no need to use force. Amakusa Shiro took the money and went to buy supplies from the people.
However, the poverty of the local products was beyond their imagination. The paddy fields planted nearby did not produce much, and they did not even have enough to eat. There was no surplus food to sell. After winter, there are no fresh fruits and vegetables produced locally, and what people eat on weekdays is just pickles and kelp. Amakusa Shiro went around the village and only bought a dozen chickens and ducks. For a fleet of thousands of people, this was better than nothing.
Wang Tom was not too surprised by this result. In Japan at this time, the level of agricultural production was still quite primitive. Coupled with the geographical environment, it was indeed impossible to produce output all year round like Hainan Island. The fleet had plenty of food when it set out, and it was enough to complete the voyage plan even if no supplies were needed along the way. The main reason why Amakusa Shiro was asked to purchase was to get some fresh meat, vegetables and fruits. But now it seems that rural places like Tottori are still unable to meet the needs of the entire fleet.
"Let's rest here for one night and set off again tomorrow." Wang Tom was also very considerate of the hard work of his men sailing on the sea for days. Since the waters nearby were relatively safe, he simply ordered to stop and rest for a day. Although there is no harbor nearby, the weather has been fine in recent days and the sea is calm, so anchoring near the coastline is not a big problem.
It was still early before dark at this time, so Wang Tom took a few followers and went ashore to visit the nearby Tottori Sand Dunes.
The Tottori Sand Dunes are more than thirty miles long from east to west and about four or five miles wide from north to south. The height of the dunes can reach up to twenty feet, and there are also depressions as deep as ten feet. Looking from the coastline, all you can see is yellow sand. Such large coastal sand dunes are very rare in Northeast Asia. Even Amakusa Shiro, who was born in Japan, couldn't help but be amazed when he saw such a scene.
"My lord has never been here before, but how did you know that there is such a spectacular scenery here?" After being visually shocked, Shen Xueyi couldn't help but be a little curious about the temporary visit arrangement made by Tom Wang.
Amakusa Shiro next to him responded to Tom Wang's question: "Master Shen, General Wang has a wide range of knowledge, which is beyond our imagination. This is not surprising."
Shen Xueyi was a little unconvinced and continued to ask: "Then we have been traveling all the way east from Hirado Island, but only the coast here has such a sudden appearance of large sand dunes. What is the reason for this? Can General Wang clarify my doubts? ?”
Wang Tom smiled after hearing this and said in his heart that you really want to create an opportunity for me to show off my knowledge. Since he knew that there was a special scenic spot like Tottori Sand Dunes here, how could he not have studied the causes of these sand dunes?
"These dunes are not sand from the sea, but volcanic ash carried by nearby rivers such as the Chiyo River. They slowly accumulated here. After tens of thousands of years of wind and waves, the dunes we see were formed. This This kind of scenery can only be seen in this place. There will be no such unique scenery on the coasts from east to west. ”
Although Shen Xueyi didn't know whether Wang Tom's explanation was true or false, seeing his calm and confident demeanor, he already believed it, and he admired his knowledge even more. Tom Wang could know such a place like this that he had never been to before. No wonder there were rumors that high-ranking officials in Haihan were descended from the stars in the sky, and their vision and experience were very different from ordinary people.
After Wang Tom finished speaking, he ordered the team to be disbanded and everyone could move around by themselves. Wang Tom walked slowly on the sand dunes with his hands behind his back, and his men took the initiative to keep a distance from him so as not to disturb him when he was thinking about the problem.
In fact, Wang Tom was not thinking about anything serious at this time. He just thought that the warriors under his command may not know how to appreciate such a unique landscape, let alone how difficult it is to form such a natural landscape. Perhaps only at the same time as himself Only modern people will understand their own feelings.
It's a pity that there are no other time travelers in this fleet, which makes the visit itinerary specially arranged by Tom Wang seem a bit highbrow.
King Tom did not return to the flagship that night, so he camped on the sand dunes. At night, he dreamed that he was in the desert of North Africa, but the sand under his feet suddenly turned into sea water, causing him to fall into the boundless sea. However, he did not panic and shouted "Ship coming", and a deck appeared under his feet, and then a warship carried him out of the waves and sailed on the sea.
After Wang Tom woke up and recalled his dream, he felt that it was probably because he had been to the North African desert before traveling, and this time he came to the Tottori Sand Dunes, which subconsciously reminded him of his past experience, which was why he had such a strange dream.
However, he was very satisfied with his calm performance in the dream. This should be a good sign in his opinion, so he was in a good mood. After breakfast, he ordered us to break camp and board the ship, and continue heading east.
(End of chapter)