Chapter 3540
When the Zhoushan arrived at the battlefield at its highest speed, the shogunate army had already broken through the maritime interception of the Kyushu Allied Forces. Several troop transport ships have washed up on the coast of Kyushu, and hundreds of infantry are landing ashore.
Most of the warships of the Kyushu Allied Forces are concentrated in the eastern part of the strait. There are not many deployed in this sea area. Even if they try their best, they can only barely cope with the siege of the shogunate army and have no time to stop the opponent's troop transport ships from passing quickly.
Most of the main land forces of the Kyushu Allied Forces were concentrated in the hilly positions at the narrowest point of the strait. The fortification efforts here were limited to small patrols, which could not prevent the shogunate's landing.
This scene made the audience on the Zhoushan very stunned. Most of them thought that the Kyushu Allied Forces had been taking the initiative in the battle due to their recent consecutive victories, but they forgot that the Shogunate Army was actually the dominant force. one party.
Only a few military personnel who know the inside story know that if the Kyushu Allied Forces' operational plan had not been formulated very carefully, plus some luck, allowing the shogunate army to regard another location as the main direction of attack, a landing scene like this would have happened. It should have been there on the first day of the war.
"What's the rush? It's only a matter of time before the shogunate's troops land on Kyushu, and the coalition forces won't be defeated just like that. Don't worry, this battle won't be over soon."
Shi Diwen gave reassurance to his companions who were watching the battle, letting them watch the show with peace of mind without worrying that the Kyushu Allied Forces would be defeated.
Of course, having said that, Shi Diwen still asked his men to step up their supervision of the Kyushu Allied Forces to prevent several daimyo from being disrupted after hearing the news of the shogunate's landing.
Although the Kyushu Allied Forces did not deploy heavy troops here, they did not fail to take preventive measures. Before the war, considering that this place might become a landing target chosen by the shogunate army, they had cleared the coast dozens of miles deep of people in advance.
In other words, the area where the shogunate troops are currently landing has actually become a no-man's land. It is impossible to obtain supplies nearby. In the near future, they can only rely on cross-strait logistical supply routes.
This can effectively slow down the advance speed of the shogunate army after landing, buy buffer time for the Kyushu coalition forces to regroup, and then rely on the inland mountainous areas to start dealing with the shogunate army.
The nearest large city to this landing site is Fukuoka Castle, which is located a hundred miles away. It requires a long journey to reach it.
If the shogunate army wanted to launch an offensive against Fukuoka Castle by land, they would have to walk for at least four or five days after landing, and there would be too many environments that could be used for interception operations on the way. The shogunate army's strength advantage may not be effective in special battlefield environments. .
In other words, it may not be difficult for the shogunate army to control this landing point and establish a beachhead, but to achieve substantial results, such as conquering a representative city or wiping out the main force of the Kyushu coalition, it may be more difficult than crossing Monmon. It is much more difficult to complete the landing in the strait.
Although the Zhoushan only appeared on the edge of the battlefield and did not intervene in the battle, neither warring party could turn a blind eye to the arrival of such a giant ship.
The Kyushu Allied Forces knew Haihan's position very well, so the arrival of the Zhoushan greatly boosted their morale. This was enough to prove that Haihan had not given up on the Allied Forces, so the battle would not end with the Allied Forces' failure.
The Saga Domain's daimyo Nabeshima Mitsushige, who personally went to sea to supervise the battle, was greatly confident. He immediately ordered his warships to reorganize their formation and concentrate their firepower on the shogunate's troop transport ships that were passing through the strait. When the battle came to an end that day, the shogunate army had transported more than 3,000 troops to the landing point on the Kyushu side. There is no commanding height near the beachhead this time, so there is no need to worry about being hit by top-down firepower.
As for the battlefield at the other end of the strait that has not made much progress, although there are still more than 2,000 shogunate troops stationed there, Tokugawa Ietsuna is not prepared to continue to send troops there, nor does he intend to send those troops there. Withdrew, but ordered them to continue launching feint attacks against the local defenders.
As long as the main force of the Kyushu Allied Forces can be contained, even if all the two thousand soldiers and horses are sent away as cannon fodder, it will be worthwhile for the shogunate.
The tactics adopted by the shogunate in the new round of offensive were very effective. By noon the next day, the shogunate army had successfully transported more than 5,000 people to the coast of Kyushu.
Of course, such achievements are not without cost. During this process, the Kyushu Allied Forces also used full firepower to intercept. In a new round of cross-sea landing battles, the shogunate army had sunk more than 20 large and small warships, including several troop transports full of troops and horses. More than a thousand people disappeared in the rapids of the Kanmon Strait.
However, the good news for the shogunate is that the landing force sent scouts to explore the nearby area, and no Kyushu coalition positions were found within a radius of twenty miles.
Tokugawa Ietsuna and his generals agreed that this was a reflection of the insufficient strength of the Kyushu Allied Forces. After all, the Kyushu vassals each have very limited military strength. Even if they form a coalition, the actual combat force will only be about 10,000 people, and it is impossible to fortify everywhere along the dozens of miles long Kanmon Strait.
Although he was happy, Tokugawa Ietsuna also had some regrets. If he had not been so eager for success in the first round of the offensive and tried all the feint attacks, he might have discovered the weak defense here long ago.
But no matter what, now that the army has successfully opened a real breakthrough in Kyushu, then all we need to do next is to fight steadily. Sooner or later, we will be able to exhaust the opponent's limited strength and take down these rebellious big names one by one.
Tokugawa Ietsuna was no longer eager for the landing troops to launch an offensive this time. Instead, he ordered the troops and supplies to continue to be transported to the other side, and he would launch an attack on the next target after the rest was complete.
After watching the game for many days, some foreign guests from the inspection team also began to think about leaving, and one after another people bid farewell to Shi Diwen.
Most of these people are from small countries in the South China Sea. For them, the scale and intensity of this kind of war have far exceeded their imagination. Their countries have no chance to participate in such a "big war", let alone become a military power, and continue to watch the war. It's hard to get much profit.
Of course, the weapons and equipment used by both warring parties left a deep impression on everyone. Especially those small countries that were still in the cold weapon era, after seeing the actual combat of guns and artillery, they also submitted arms orders to Haihan.
Even though they may not be able to train an army with such strong combat effectiveness, it is still necessary to have a good relationship with Haihan through arms purchase.
Buy some arms and go back first, then ask Haihan to send some military advisers to help you train the new army. This is like paying protection money to Haihan.
For guests who intend to leave, Shi Diwen will not deliberately try to keep them, and will arrange a boat to send them away as agreed. Small countries are not the main target of organizing this cross-border inspection activity. Those who are truly interested in this war cannot be driven away even if they are driven away.