Chapter 3524
Although the area of the Japanese archipelago is not as vast as that of mainland countries, the terrain is narrow and mountainous, and is divided into several parts by the ocean. It is indeed not an easy task for the Tokugawa shogunate to mobilize troops from all over the country to the vicinity of Kyushu.
After the Ou and Kanto regions began to mobilize troops, the next step was the large and small vassals in Tokai, Koshinetsu, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku and other places to send troops one after another. However, this China is not that China, but refers to the area in the west of Honshu Island close to Kyushu.
Among them, the Tokugawa family of the Owari domain in the Tokai region, the Tokugawa family of the Wakayama domain in the Kinki region, and the Tokugawa family of the Mito domain in the Kanto region are known as the three shogunate royal families. Their strength is also among the same. They are all sending troops this time. The main force in the crusade against Kyushu.
Others with stronger strength include the Kofu Clan, Kanazawa Clan, and Fukui Clan in the Koshinetsu region, the Tsu Clan in the Kinki region, the Tottori Clan, Matsue Clan, Okayama Clan, Hiroshima Clan, and Choshu Clan in the Chugoku region, and Kochi in the Shikoku region. Domain, Tokushima Domain, etc.
The troops drawn from these domains, plus the combat troops directly under the Tokugawa Shogunate, could reach about 80,000 troops, which was already several times the number of the Kyushu Allied Forces. The difference in the size of the territory actually controlled by the two sides further widens the gap in war potential.
If the Kyushu vassals had not been backed by Haihan, and their weapons, equipment, strategies and tactics had been greatly improved, they probably would not have dared to have such strong thoughts of resistance to the shogunate.
At present, there are two confirmed gathering points for the shogunate army. One is the Hiroshima Domain in the Chugoku region to the west of Honshu, and the other is the Matsuyama Domain in the Shikoku region.
These two places are separated by the Seto Inland Sea, and the straight-line distance from Kyushu is about two hundred miles.
However, after analyzing the intelligence, the Kyushu Allied Forces and the Haihan Military both believed that these two locations were probably not the final gathering places for the shogunate army.
If an offensive is launched from these two places to Kyushu, the voyage at sea will take a day, and the possibility of being intercepted by the Kyushu coalition armed fleet is not small. And the naval battle has basically no advantage for the shogunate. The commander of the shogunate army You should not choose this kind of combat plan with high risks and low returns.
A more likely scenario is that the shogunate army gathered forces in the Shimonoseki area under the Choshu Domain in the westernmost part of Honshu, waiting for an opportunity to cross the Kanmon Strait, which is only a little over a mile at its narrowest point, and land on Kyushu Island, and then start a decisive land battle with the Kyushu army. .
Although this plan is relatively conservative and can easily be deployed by the Kyushu Army in advance, being conservative actually means being relatively safe. The shogunate army has obvious strength advantages and can completely attack the Kanmon Strait with force and skill. There is no need to take risks and use some unconventional tactics. .
The tactics formulated by the Kyushu Allied Forces were aimed at this situation.
Before the multinational inspection team organized by Haihan arrived at the Sasebo base, the Kyushu Allied Forces were already quietly gathering troops towards the Kanmon Strait.
The area in the northeastern part of Kyushu near the Kanmon Strait is currently the territory of the Fukuoka Domain, one of the coalition forces. The coalition forces are heavily stationed in the territory of the Fukuoka Domain. The march routes, station arrangements, material supplies, etc., all need to be negotiated and resolved by all parties. .
These powerful vassals in Kyushu have not been in alliance for a long time, only a few months ago. Moreover, the alliance between the vassals was not motivated by initiative, but was promoted by Haihan. Therefore, in terms of tacit understanding and trust, the relationship between the parties is actually far from reaching the level that allies should have.
If the requirements are prudent, let the Kyushu vassals spend two or three years to complete the integration after completing the integration of local forces, and wait until then to take action, and the certainty of success will be much greater than now. It's just that the shogunate will definitely not leave such sufficient time for the Kyushu vassals to respond. Both sides know that there will be a battle in the spring. Although it is a little hasty to form an alliance and organize a coalition, this is the best response method at the moment.
However, this kind of improvised coalition was not the only difficulty faced by the Kyushu vassals. In fact, the shogunate army also had similar problems.
The composition of the various princes who make up the shogunate army is much more complicated than that of the Kyushu Allied Forces, with more than a hundred families large and small. It is much more difficult to organize so many people into unified command than the five-in-one force of the Kyushu Allied Forces.
However, with the organizational capabilities of the Kyushu vassals, the Haihan military did not expect the mobilization of the coalition forces to be highly confidential at this stage. Just as the coalition forces can detect the movements of the shogunate army, I believe that the shogunate can also grasp the movements of the coalition forces through similar intelligence channels.
In essence, both sides are playing tricks, and the outcome will depend on their performance on the battlefield.
After resting for a day at the Sasebo base, the multinational inspection team set off again to the Kanmon Strait where the two armies were about to confront each other.
Since the place we went to this time was most likely the next main battlefield, and the security was not comparable to that of Sasebo, Haihan raised the security level of the inspection team. Almost all the naval ships in the Sasebo base came out, twice the size of the fleet when they came from Zhoushan. Those who didn't know must have thought that Haihan was going to send troops to join the war.
After the fleet left Sasebo Bay, it passed northward through the Hirado Strait, and the inspection team was able to pay homage to the ruins of the Hirado Domain on the ship.
Although the Saga Domain has annexed Hirado Island, for various reasons, the area where Hirado Port is located has not yet been rebuilt on a large scale. The remains of the broken walls left after the fire destroyed the city can still be seen from the ship. wall.
Perhaps for the Saga Domain, instead of spending a lot of resources to rebuild Hirado Port, whose port conditions are not superior, it is better to hitch a ride on Haihan nearby and use Sasebo Port as the window for Saga Domain's foreign trade.
The port facilities and trade channels of Sasebo Port are ready-made, and large customers do not even need cash settlement. Once they adapt, it will be difficult for the Saga Domain to have the motivation to build a trade port on its own. After all, no matter how hard we try, the port conditions after completion cannot be better than Sasebo Port.
Two days later, the fleet arrived at the Kanmon Strait and made a special trip from west to east so that the members of the expedition team could clearly see the topography of this narrow strait.
At the narrowest point of the Kanmon Strait, you only need to set up artillery on the coast, and you can hit the other coast effortlessly. Therefore, starting last winter, both sides rushed to build forts here in an attempt to control the channel.
However, the two sides currently setting up defenses obviously did not dare to provoke Haihan, so they silently watched Haihan's huge fleet passing through the strait.
The fleet finally docked at a place called Tanohura on the coast of Kyushu on the east side of the strait. This place is far away from the headquarters of both sides of the confrontation. It will not be directly involved in the battlefield, but it can also observe the movements of both sides. Amakusa Shiro chose it in advance. Good place to watch the battle.