Shi Diwen worked hard when preparing to organize this visiting fleet, and specially mobilized a group of ships equipped with steam power systems as a team. Most of them were brought from China all the way, and the purpose was of course to bring them here. A small hand was revealed during this joint military exercise, allowing the senior officials of the Satsuma Domain to witness with their own eyes how big the gap in strength between the two sides was.
Shi Diwen introduced with a smile on his face: "Master Shimazu, as you can see, high-speed navigation is one of the unique tactics of our navy. With this ability, the enemy can't catch up or escape, and the enemy will be unable to escape." The initiative on the battlefield is firmly in your own hands. ”
Shimazu Mitsuhisa savored Shi Diwen's words and couldn't help but nodded and said: "It's so hard to catch up and escape. These six words are really an exquisite summary of this tactic! Mr. Shi, the speed of your fleet is simply unbelievable. , I’m afraid there is no one like him in the whole world!”
Prior to this, among the news that Shimazu Hisumi brought back from Hangzhou, in addition to Shi Diwen's visit to Japan, there was also an extremely important part, which was the display of naval force he saw at this year's National Day event in Hangzhou.
This also includes the Zhoushan and other East China Sea Fleet main warships cruising on the Qiantang River, as well as the parts open to the public. However, what Shimazu Hisumi saw at that time was not the combat status of the fleet, so he did not mention Zhoushan's high-speed thrust capability to Shimazu Mitsuhisa.
Now Shi Diwen demonstrated this as a special combat performance, which really shocked Shimazu Mitsuhisa. He couldn't help but think to himself, if the warships of Satsuma Domain had such ability, they would go to Edo under the nose of the shogunate. Bay, you can easily get in and out as you go.
Of course, the power of the Haihan battleship is far more than that, and the subsequent shooting training at sea made Shimazu Mitsuhisa dumbfounded.
Satsuma Domain specially prepared two target ships for this exercise as sea shooting targets. The Satsuma clan's warships are also equipped with some long-range firearms including artillery, but the shooting limit distance is basically within fifty feet, and the accuracy will decrease rapidly as the strike distance increases.
Therefore, in order to ensure shooting accuracy, the warship can only be brought as close to the target as possible, and then fire on it.
Only a few warships purchased from Haihan, coupled with the naval guns purchased along with the ships, clearly performed better during the exercise. Its firepower range, strength and accuracy far exceeded the warships built by the Satsuma Domain.
This made Shimazu Mitsuhisa feel proud. This performance showed that the naval forces were well trained and allowed the warships purchased with huge sums of money to display their due combat performance.
But the Haihan Fleet that came on stage immediately put a smile on his face. The Haihan fleet opened fire when it was about a mile away from the target ship. The dense shells streaked through the air and hit the target ship like raindrops.
The giant turret on the deck of the Zhoushan also slowly rotated and aimed at the target ship. Under Shi Diwen's reminder, Shimazu Mitsuji covered his ears, and then heard a loud noise, like thunder, and the deck under his feet also trembled.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa's head was buzzing from the shock. Before his hearing could recover, he saw the target ship on the sea in the distance being hit into pieces by the cannon, and a hole was blown out of the front of the ship. There was a large gap at least four to five feet wide, and this gap directly penetrated the hull. The sea on the other side of the target ship could already be seen.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa was almost shocked. The distance was so far, and the target was destroyed with one shot. Did such power really come from the naval gun in front of him? If the Satsuma clan had not prepared this target ship on its own, Shimazu Mitsuhisa would have really suspected that the Kaihan people had done something fishy on the ship to produce such a terrifying bombardment effect.
And what Shi Diwen said next made him feel mixed emotions. "I am convinced that the range and power of the Zhoushan's naval guns are the best in the world, and no ship can withstand the Zhoushan's bombardment. It is no exaggeration to say that this warship alone is enough to challenge the wars of your country." Boat!”
Shi Diwen saw Shimazu Mitsuhisa's expression in his eyes and continued calmly: "With our navy protecting the Satsuma Domain, Lord Shimazu can rest assured against the shogunate."
Shimazu Mitsuhisa came back to his senses and responded with a wry smile: "Master Shi is right, with such battleships to help, the shogunate really has nothing to fear!"
Shimazu Mitsuhisa was thinking, since you are going to attack the shogunate to make me feel at ease, why not invite the top officials of the shogunate too, so that they can also receive a shocking education on the spot. I believe that if the top officials of the shogunate had witnessed this maritime exercise with their own eyes, they would probably have no more thoughts of confronting the Satsuma Domain.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa forgot one thing. The reason why the shogunate signed a trade treaty with Kaihan was because Kaihan's fleet broke into Edo Bay and forced the shogunate to agree to a series of conditions. Regarding the terrifying strength of the Haihan fleet, the shogunate may be more sympathetic than he is.
The two target ships prepared by the Satsuma Domain could not withstand the bombardment of the large-caliber naval guns of the Kaihan Fleet. After only two rounds of bombardment, they began to capsize and sink, and disappeared into the sea not long after. There were only some ship fragments floating on the sea, indicating that a fierce battle had just occurred here.
After the training session ended that day, Shimazu Mitsuhisa realized that he was already hungry. I was so engrossed in watching it earlier that apart from drinking water, I didn't eat any rice for most of the day, and my stomach was already empty.
Shi Diwen invited him to eat in the officers' mess on the shoulder. Shimazu Mitsuhisa did not expect that there was such a spacious dining space below the deck, and the food served here did not seem to be all in one piece. There were actually many dishes. I can’t help but sigh that Haihan people really know how to enjoy it.
That night, Shimazu Mitsuhisa stayed on the Zhoushan, and a senior officer's cabin was specially arranged for him. Although it was not spacious, it was already a rare comfort in terms of the living conditions on the ship.
The second day of the exercise mainly focused on amphibious landings and siege warfare.
The landing site was chosen on a coast of the Osumi Peninsula. The beach here is relatively flat and suitable for warships and small boats with shallow drafts to complete the beach landing.
However, the environment setting of the exercise is that the enemy will set up a defense line near the beach, so during the landing of the Satsuma Army, the fleet at sea will also need to provide artillery cover.
But this is obviously not an easy task for the Satsuma Army. After all, most of the fleet's firepower does not have the range to cover the landing area. Only a few warships purchased from Haihan can barely complete this task. The density does not seem to meet the requirements for landing operations - at least it is far from the standards of the Haihan Army.
It is worth mentioning that the "city" built by the Satsuma Domain in advance can be seen from the sea. It is estimated to be only one or two miles away from the coastline. This setting is consistent with the situation in Japan. After all, these feudal cities in Kyushu are Even Edo Castle, which is thousands of miles away, is almost always built not far from the coastline.