Chapter 3523
In the second debate, Mitsushige Nabeshima took the initiative and regained a victory for Kyushu. Sakai Tadakiyo, on the other hand, had to worry about how to clear the Tokugawa shogunate of accusations of usurping power.
However, the purpose of the multinational inspection team coming all the way to Sasebo was not to watch them quarrel. This will take another ten or eight days to debate. I am afraid many people will think that this inspection is a waste of time.
At this time, it is natural to arrange some other programs to fill the gap before the outbreak of the Japanese Civil War, lest the delegation loses interest in continuing to watch the show.
Shi Diwen was really willing to spend money. The event he arranged was to hold a three-day actual combat exercise outside Sasebo Bay. Observing the exercises during the day and watching the Japanese continue their debate at night can be regarded as two things without delay.
The participants in this exercise were mainly the East China Sea Fleet and the Sasebo garrison, as well as the escort fleets of the kings of North Korea and Annan.
In addition to traditional exercises such as coordinated maritime operations and amphibious landings, another highlight is the new flagship of the East China Sea Fleet, the Glorious-class first ship Zhoushan, which will also make its debut in this exercise.
Although the Zhoushan was publicly displayed during the Haihan National Day and capital relocation celebrations last year, for most people in the inspection team, this huge warship is still a very novel existence.
Even among the time travel members within Haihan, there are still many people who have never seen the Zhoushan perform in a combat state. This time, by chance, they were able to see the Zhoushan participate in actual combat exercises overseas.
Of course, if dignitaries from many countries weren't watching, perhaps Nabeshima Mitsushige's fleet would also join the exercise.
Like the Saga Domain, a local force that is very close to Kaihan, its current maritime armed forces are supported by Kaihan. Not only are their warships purchased from Kaihan, but even their officers and sailors are almost all The entire basic training system received at Sasebo Bay is in line with Haihan.
Equipped with a new steam power system and a rotating turret, the Zhoushan had already amazed the onlookers at the scene with just a few tricks.
In the eyes of others, the combat performance of this huge sea monster has fallen out of the category of warships of the same era, and is even far ahead of other Haihan ships on the exercise ground.
If we fight on land, we may be able to resist the Haihan army with superior strength or solid fortifications, but it is useless to fight at sea with too many people, and there is a huge gap between the shipbuilding industry and the Haihan army. Ordinary sailing warships simply cannot To contend with a warship like the Zhoushan, even getting close is an illusion.
Of course, there are also spectators who are numb to this, such as the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which have lost their access to the sea. They knew that it was impossible to fight Haihan at sea at this stage, so naturally there was no need to worry that their own troops would run into the Zhoushan on the battlefield.
Although the Zhoushan is not for sale, there are also a variety of warships on Haihan's export list, as well as special loans and civilian models specially prepared for small countries with less abundant budgets. They are also taking advantage of the opportunity of military exercises. A wave of successful promotion.
The fleets of North Korea and Annan, which participated in military exercises together, are the best examples. All countries can learn from them how to build a maritime armed force from scratch.
Some countries that were still hesitant about arms purchases during the Zhoushan Forum finally made up their minds after coming to Japan to observe the three-day military exercise and applied to Haihan to purchase warships. During this period, the debate between Mitsushige Nabeshima and Tadayoshi Sakai also entered a fever pitch. Instead of being resolved through negotiations, the conflicts between the two parties became increasingly acute.
Even other countries watching the excitement understood that the two countries were not so much negotiating, but more like using this as a cover to quietly prepare for war.
The anxious spectators did not wait long. On the day when the military exercise ended, the negotiations finally broke down at the right time.
Sakai Tadakiyoshi announced on the spot that he would declare war on behalf of the Tokugawa shogunate against the Kyushu Allied Forces and attack the rebel areas headed by the Saga Domain. Not to be outdone, Mitsushige Nabeshima later claimed that the coalition forces would fight to the end until they overthrew the shogunate's rule.
The two parties broke up unhappy, and Haihan wisely announced that the mediation had failed. But the spectators of the inspection team knew that the cutscenes before the war broke out were over, and the real show started from now on.
In fact, Haihan was secretly paying attention to the combat readiness of both sides. Needless to say, Jiuzhou's war preparations will not be hidden from Haihan, but will require Haihan's guidance.
Where to gather the armies of each vassal, where to attack first, and whether to divide the troops to attack. These battle plans all require detailed opinions from Haihan.
By mastering the progress of these preparations, Haihan can easily guide Nabeshima Mitsushige when to rebel during negotiations.
As for the shogunate's preparations for war, it is slightly more difficult to obtain first-hand information. However, since last year, the Sasebo base and the Kyushu clans have sent a large number of spies to the Honshu and Shikoku regions in the east to collect intelligence on the shogunate's deployment of troops and generals.
Haihan judged that with the shogunate's troop projection capabilities, it would be difficult to gather tens of thousands of troops to wait at a certain place several months in advance. Most of them would order the garrison in various places to send troops separately before the war began, and then send troops to certain locations close to Kyushu. Complete assembly.
This judgment is also basically consistent with the subsequent intelligence received. In order to save military expenses and food, the shogunate only began to implement the actual troop mobilization at the end of February.
The shogunate first mobilized troops from the Ou area, which is the farthest away from Kyushu and is located in the northeast of Honshu, and mobilized troops from the feudal armies in Dewa, Mutsu, Ezo and other places. The large feudal clan dispatched one to two thousand people, and the small clan two to three hundred people. In fact, If you can't gather the fighting men and horses, then you have to work hard as civilians.
However, these areas were vast and sparsely populated, and more than thirty vassals together could only muster less than 5,000 combat troops. And because the straight-line distance between the local area and Kyushu is more than two thousand miles, if we march by land, it will take too much time and materials on the way, so the shogunate specially mobilized a fleet to transport these assembled troops to the front line by sea.
According to intelligence, these troops from the Northeast have arrived at Hiroshima Domain, two hundred miles away from the west coast of Kyushu
Then came the Kanto region, which had more than double the number of troops assembled than the Ou region. This was not because the Kanto region was so powerful, but because the Tokugawa family of the Mito domain, known as one of the three imperial families of the Tokugawa shogunate, was located in this area. .
The first generation lord of the Mito Tokugawa family was Tokugawa Yorifusa, the eleventh son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. All successive lords inherited the title of "Tenka Lieutenant General", so the level of military equipment was much higher than that of ordinary vassals.
Among the troops assembled in the Kanto region, the Mito clan accounted for more than half, and the rest of the patchwork of soldiers and horses all obeyed the Mito clan's dispatch.