Shimazu Mitsuhisa hopes that with the performance of his own army in this military exercise, he can get more attention and trust from Haihan. Shi Diwen can understand this feeling. However, in this shelling tactic, the traces of laymen guiding experts are too obvious.
After adjusting their tactics and conducting another shelling, the Satsuma army roared and charged towards the castle gate. As the Shimazu family's flag was planted high in the castle, the siege warfare drill came to an end.
Since there were no defenders arranged, there was basically no fighting during the siege process. It was just a matter of going through the process according to the combat plan. The form of the exercise was relatively simple. However, for the Satsuma Domain, this is already a very rare opportunity to simulate actual combat with real troops and ammunition.
After the operation, Shimazu Mitsuhisa ordered the officers who participated in the exercise to assemble, and then asked Shi Diwen to comment on the Satsuma Domain's performance in this military exercise.
Shi Diwen did not refuse when he saw this, so he stepped forward and gave a brief speech.
"As we all know, the Haihan Army has fought against many Japanese armies, and I have participated in and commanded most of the battles. I can tell you responsibly that your performance in these two days of military exercises, It is definitely the first-class combat effectiveness in your country!”
"Shimadzu-sama has invested a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources for the Satsuma Army. I want to say that these investments are worth it. The Satsuma Army's combat effectiveness has been greatly improved compared to previous years. Given time, the Satsuma Army can definitely grow. For a powerful armed force like my Haihan Army!”
Shi Diwen knew that the current Satsuma Army had not yet truly completed its preparations for war, and could only be considered a strong force in the Kyushu region. However, he still did not hesitate to praise and said some nice compliments to praise Shimazu Mitsuhisa and the Satsuma Army.
There is no other reason. Kaihan needs the Satsuma clan to take the lead in the upcoming Japanese civil war. Shimazu Mitsuhisa must have enough confidence in the current army training and equipment model and the prospects of the war.
As for how to inspire people, Shi Diwen, who has been in a high position for many years, is naturally familiar with it. With just a few words, the hearts of the Japanese present were surging. Many people were shouting. It seemed that the goal of dominating the country was within easy reach.
Even Shimazu Mitsuhisa, who had been very calm before, couldn't help but be so excited that his blood surged and his face turned red after hearing this praise.
However, he was the leader of a vassal after all, so he quickly controlled his emotions, thanked Shi Diwen for his comments with a smile on his face, and then announced that he would reward his officers.
Of course, with the Satsuma clan's family fortune, Shimazu Mitsuhisa couldn't spend much money to reward his subordinates, so he could only reward each of them with a hundred catties of rice and two pieces of cloth.
However, this has already made these officers very happy. As senior samurai of the Shimazu family, their annual salary is actually not much, so these rewards are really quite a lot for them.
As for ordinary soldiers, the reward Shimazu Mitsuhisa can give them is that today's dinner includes wine and meat, so they can open their belly and make a good meal.
Such conditions are naturally not comparable to those of the Haihan Army, but from the perspective of the Kyushu region and even within Japan, the treatment Mitsuhisa Shimazu gives to the army is considered very good.
The economic conditions of most Japanese vassal states simply cannot afford to support an army of this size. They can only rely on semi-professional peasants and soldiers as their basic establishment. During wartime, peasants and soldiers even need to prepare their own weapons and dry food. Satsuma could keep its army well fed, which alone was enough to defeat most of its rivals.
Shi Diwen was in no mood to celebrate the successful completion of the exercise with Shimazu Mitsuhisa because he received a report from Kumamoto Domain. According to the news obtained by the Military Intelligence Bureau's spies in the local area, the day before yesterday, Kumamoto Domain Hosokawa Tsunato avoided seeing Shi Diwen who came to rebel. The reason was indeed related to the shogunate.
It is said that two days before the Kaihan Fleet arrived at Kumamoto Domain, officials from the shogunate secretly entered Kumamoto Castle and met with Hosokawa Tsunato.
Although the content of the meeting between the two parties has not yet been revealed, Hosokawa Tsunato never appeared in public again after the meeting with people from the shogunate. His orders, including refusing to receive the Kaihan fleet, were all taken by a retainer. release.
The Military Intelligence Bureau concluded that Hosokawa Tsunato had always admired Kaihan, and this attitude did not please the shogunate. The purpose of sending people here should be to put pressure on the Kumamoto clan to draw a clear line with Kaihan. It is likely that the two sides had differences during the talks, and then someone from the shogunate managed to place Hosokawa Tsunato under house arrest and ordered his retainers to perform daimyo duties on his behalf.
This approach is not new to the shogunate. In this era, there were so many large and small vassal states in Japan, known as the "Three Hundred Domains of Edo". The changes in power and personnel of each domain occurred basically every year.
Changing the feudal lord's name was a daily occurrence for the shogunate. If a domain becomes disloyal to the shogunate and refuses to obey its orders, the simplest solution is to remove the daimyo from his position and then appoint an obedient person to take over the domain.
However, this method is not very useful for the Kyushu region far away from Edo. Especially the several powerful feudal lords here have long been estranged from the shogunate. If they really want to directly order the dismissal of the daimyo, the consequence will probably be to force the feudal lord to immediately take action. Flag rebelled.
Shi Diwen didn't know whether the shogunate had any plans to change the name of the Kumamoto clan. But if this goal is to be achieved, it is obviously not possible to achieve it with an edict from Edo. Some unconventional means must be adopted.
The arrangements for Shi Diwen's visit to Kyushu were notified to all the vassals in Kyushu a few days before setting off from Hangzhou. Of course, such semi-public information could not be hidden from the shogunate.
The time when the shogunate's envoy Masato Masuyama left Hangzhou and rushed back to Japan was almost the same as the envoys interviewed by these domains. After the news was spread back to Edo, there was just enough time to send people to Kyushu to trip up Shi Diwen.
What happened to the Kumamoto Domain was mostly related to the reaction of the shogunate.
As for why only the Kumamoto clan was in trouble, but the other clans did not respond, Shi Diwen believed that this was probably because among the Kyushu clans, only the Kumamoto clan was ruled by a young feudal lord, and it was relatively easy for the shogunate to capture him. That’s all.
"Sir, should we take action against the Kumamoto clan?" Amakusa Shiro asked tentatively when he saw that Shi Diwen was silent for a long time while holding the telegram.
Shi Diwen shook his head and said: "The situation of the Kumamoto clan is not yet clear, so it is not appropriate to intervene rashly."
If Tsunato Hosokawa really suffered from house arrest, Shi Diwen would certainly have a good chance of saving him by sending troops to the Kumamoto clan. But if you do this, it will inevitably attract the attention of other Kyushu clans and cause unnecessary suspicion. Kaihan can help the Hosokawa family of Kumamoto clan come to power, and of course he can also pull others down from their positions as feudal lords.
Moreover, Shi Diwen doesn't want to fall out with the shogunate yet, because he still has a large amount of business to negotiate with the shogunate.