Similar to Fukuoka Castle that Shi Diwen visited before, Saga Castle is also located not far from the coast. Nearby rivers are introduced from the periphery of the city, forming moats on the west, north and south sides. Although it is not as complete as Fukuoka Castle, it can be regarded as the leading large city in this area.
However, this Saga Castle was not built by the Nabeshima family themselves, but was transformed from Nakamura Castle built by its previous ruler, the Ryuzoji family. The castle tower with white walls and gray eaves, which is seven to eight feet high, is the tallest building in the Saga Domain. The five-story and six-level regulations are already the upper limit for the local daimyo to build a castle. Building any larger would be overstepping the rules.
Nabeshima Mitsushige is known as "Hai Han Tong". His understanding of Hai Han is obviously not as simple as mastering Mandarin and social etiquette. He even prepared a military parade in front of Saga Castle for Shi Diwen's arrival.
Nabeshima Mitsushige took the initiative to introduce that when he was a boy, he visited Sasebo Bay with the old feudal lord and had the honor to witness Kaihan greet guests with a military parade. The scene shocked him greatly. Therefore, after he came to power, he decided to introduce this unique ceremony to the Saga Domain, and Shi Diwen was the first distinguished guest to enjoy such treatment.
The Saga Domain has been actively participating in the training courses for foreign officers held by Kaihan at the Sasebo base in recent years. Therefore, it is no surprise that among the participants, there was a phalanx of musketeers similar to the Kaihan army. The issued The weapons, even the equipment and armor on his body are all made by Haihan.
In recent years, the arms sold from Haihan to Japan have basically been distributed through the Sasebo base. Therefore, Shi Diwen also knows the price of these equipment. It is not difficult to see that the Saga Domain is indeed very good at building a new army. A lot of money was spent.
Moreover, these musketeers are taller than the traditional Ashgaru peasant soldiers lined up next to them. From their standing postures, it can be seen that they are more energetic. It is obvious that a lot of effort has been put into selecting the sources of soldiers. This is true in Kyushu. The region can be regarded as an elite army.
Nabeshima Mitsushige proudly introduced to Shi Diwen that this 500-man musketeer unit was established two years ago. The soldiers are all warriors selected from a hundred, and all 20 officers have received relevant training at the Sasebo base. The training, all equipment and tactics are based on those of the Kaihan Army. It is currently the most powerful elite force in the Saga Domain.
Although this "elite" was just that in Shi Diwen's eyes, and there was still a big gap compared to the servant armies of Annan and North Korea that were truly in line with Haihan, he still expressed his appreciation for this unit.
"I am very happy to see that the military cooperation between our country and the Saga Domain has achieved good results. Perhaps we should agree on a time to hold joint military exercises so that our troops can find the feeling of fighting side by side."
Hearing Shi Diwen's suggestion, Nabeshima Mitsushige couldn't help but smile: "It would be an honor for the Saga Domain if we could exercise with the Kaihan Army! But I personally hope that this unit can get actual combat experience." Opportunity to prove their abilities on the battlefield ”
"Good guy, you are more anxious than me!" From this statement, Shi Diwen could easily tell that he wanted to fight.
After a brief military parade, the two sides entered Saga Castle and began formal talks.
Nabeshima Mitsushige had already made his attitude clear before, so Shi Diwen did not need to test anymore and went directly to the topic.
"Our country believes that the shogunate's rule over Kyushu has seriously affected the development of local vassals, and many daimyo have contacted our country, hoping to break away from the shogunate's rule and establish a country on their own after receiving our support. I don't know what Nabeshima-sama thinks about it. What do you think about this?" Nabeshima Mitsushige responded without any hesitation: "Master Shi, I, the Saga Domain, also have the idea of breaking away from the shogunate. If your country can support me to achieve this goal, after it is accomplished. , I would like to give your country a vassal land!”
Nabeshima Mitsushige dared to make such a promise, and it was obvious that his goal was not just to escape the control of the shogunate. Only when he grabbed more land did he dare to give a share of his existing territory to Haihan.
Shi Diwen deliberately questioned: "With the current military strength of Saga Domain, can it really support Nabeshima-sama's ambition? As far as I know, Saga Domain's military strength is only about three thousand, including Many of them are farmers and soldiers. If we start a war with the shogunate with this small force, even if we can win, it won’t take up much space, right?”
Nabeshima Mitsushige was full of confidence: "Master Shi, the musketeer phalanx you just saw outside the city will be promoted to officers by wartime, and the officers will be promoted to generals. The recruitment of young men can be expanded to ten times or even How can an army a hundred times bigger not be able to fight against the shogunate?”
"Of course, this must also be supported by your country and provide enough weapons and equipment to our Saga Domain."
Shi Diwen thought to himself that young people still have too little experience. They really think that the combat effectiveness of the professional army can be compared to that of temporarily recruited peasant soldiers. If the wartime expansion of the army is completed according to his concept, the combat effectiveness will at least drop by several levels, and may even be reduced. Become a piece of loose sand.
Weapons and equipment are important, but even more important are the people who use them on the battlefield. Although Nabeshima Mitsushige's ambitions are not small, he obviously still lacks relevant military knowledge. If he had also gone to the Sasebo base to study for a few months, he probably wouldn't have expressed such a crude idea.
If, as the commander-in-chief, Nabeshima Mitsushige went against the shogunate with such a mentality, he would probably lose miserably.
Although Shi Diwen's goal was to make the warring parties consume each other in the civil war, he did not want the Saga clan to directly deliver food after entering the battlefield, which would inevitably affect the confidence of the Kyushu clans.
Shi Diwen decided to give the other party a few words to prevent the young man from getting carried away and wondering how much he weighed.
"Nabeshima-sama, regardless of whether the plan you mentioned is feasible or not, you have to know that the shogunate has tens of thousands of standing troops, and the number of troops that can be mobilized for war may be close to 100,000. Whatever you can think of, the shogunate can also think of, and The shogunate has a larger population and more war resources. If the war does not go smoothly, how long can the Saga Domain last? ”
"Also, to attack Honshu from Saga Domain, you need to send troops across the sea. Nabeshima-sama, are your naval fleets ready? Do you have enough warships to go into battle and maintain the sea from Kyushu to Honshu? Supply line? ”
Shi Diwen asked a few questions casually, causing Nabeshima Mitsushige to break out in cold sweat. He was confident in his family's military strength, but his understanding of war was still at the level of a layman. After Shi Diwen's suggestions, he realized that there were actually many loopholes in his ideas.