Chapter 3550
With Haihan as the guarantee, Zong Yizhen naturally does not have to worry about the Koreans taking over the nest. As long as the defense problems at home are solved, he can settle down and continue to command operations on the front line.
As for the cost of bringing in Korean reinforcements, Zong Yizhen believed that compared with the huge benefits after defeating the shogunate, these expenses were still within an acceptable range. If the shogunate army really took the retreat, the loss would not be measurable in terms of money.
As for whether to introduce the Korean army into the frontline combat troops, Zong Yizhen has no such plan yet. He knew that the nature of this was completely different from assisting defense. Not to mention whether Haihan could agree to it, at least several other allies would definitely not agree with this approach.
Although Zong Yi really made this move a little hastily, he really made it in the right place.
After the shogunate army successfully raided Kagoshima, Tokugawa Ietsuna quickly realized that this was an effective method to deal with the Kyushu coalition forces.
The Kyushu Allied Forces gathered the main battle troops on the northern Kyushu front line, which would inevitably lead to an empty rear defense. A powerful feudal clan like Satsuma Domain did not have many remaining troops, let alone several others.
Although the strength advantage of the shogunate army did not take much advantage on the frontal battlefield, if they attacked separately and raided the home bases of various vassals in Kyushu, it would be enough to make the opponents panic.
The rear areas such as Ogi, Hiroshima, and Osaka suffered several attacks. Although the losses were considerable, after all, the shogunate had stronger financial resources and could survive through gritted teeth. However, the respective cities of the Kyushu vassals may not be able to withstand an attack by the shogunate army.
Kagoshima was lucky enough to survive this disaster, but other companies may not have the strength to withstand the shogunate's surprise attack.
"We will send troops separately to attack each rebel base. If they want to strengthen their rear defense, they can only mobilize troops from the battlefield in Kitakyushu to return to defense. When the time comes to face off on the frontal battlefield, our army's advantage will definitely be even greater!"
Tokugawa Ietsuna said this to his generals. Compared with the previous idea of directly solving the Kyushu Allied Forces on the frontal battlefield, this combat plan obviously allows the shogunate army to give full play to its strength advantage.
As a result, the strategy of the shogunate army was quickly adjusted. It no longer took the initiative to launch large-scale offensives on the frontal battlefield, but continued to send small groups of troops to fight a war of attrition against the Kyushu Allied Forces in surrounding areas.
At the same time, the shogunate army quietly mobilized nearly half of its naval forces, left the Kanmon Strait, and began to launch separate raids on the capitals of each Kyushu domain.
Tsushima was undoubtedly lucky to have taken preventive measures one step ahead. Within two days of the Korean troops transferred from Busan Port entering Asu Bay, where Tsushima's Kinseki Castle was located, the shogunate's armed fleet arrived.
Although the incident happened suddenly, the naval general Li Yongfu who led the army faithfully fulfilled his mission and commanded the fleet to fight with the shogunate army on the sea of Asu Bay.
Li Zhi did not hide any secrets in sending reinforcements. The fleet transferred from Busan were all Haihan-style warships, and their firepower was almost fully equipped. The main battleships against the shogunate army were Anzha ships and Guanfeng ships. Of course, the fleet is not a problem.
After losing six ships in Asu Bay, the shogunate's fleet fled the battlefield in despair. And they didn't even know who the enemy fleet was that did not display any flags during the battle.
The Fukuoka Domain, also located in northern Kyushu, was not so lucky. Fukuoka City was almost directly attacked by the landing shogunate army. More than half of the dozens of senior samurai who stayed in the city were injured or killed. Several granaries outside the city were also burned by the shogunate army.
The main cities of Kumamoto and Saga were both located in the hinterland of the Ariake Sea on the west coast of Kyushu, and they had to pass through the narrow Hirado Strait and outside Sasebo Bay. In order not to alert the enemy, the shogunate army carried out a surprise attack on the two clans. The fleet is not large in size. Although the resistance encountered in Saga and Kumamoto was not too strong, due to limited troop strength, the damage caused by the shogunate army was limited to the coastal areas, and they did not achieve many results.
However, these successive raids have indeed plunged the Kyushu vassals into panic. Before the war started, it was clearly planned to bring the war to the direction of Honshu, but now that the confrontation with the shogunate army has lasted for more than a month, the main battlefield is still in Kitakyushu, but the war has already reached his own home.
Except for Soyoshi, who believed that the enemy was ahead of the attack, the other feudal lords could not help but feel pessimistic about the outcome of the battle. The Satsuma Domain, which was attacked first, even proposed to deploy 2,000 troops from the front line to defend Shikao. Island to avoid being attacked by the shogunate army again.
The person who objected to this was Mune Yishin, who relied on North Korean reinforcements to defeat the shogunate's surprise attack.
"If you all withdraw your troops and return to the defense, wouldn't you be falling into the shogunate's plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain? If each family removes one or two thousand people, how many people will be left on the front line? Can they withstand the next round of the shogunate's army? Offensive? ”
"Master Shimazu, if the coalition forces are defeated by the shogunate army because of this, you will be a sinner!"
Muneyoshi was very serious and strongly opposed Shimazu Mitsuhisa's proposal.
However, Shimazu Mitsuhisa was not someone who was privy to information, and he immediately questioned Muneyoshi's position: "I heard that the shogunate army also launched a raid on Kinseki Castle a few days ago, but was quickly defeated by the defenders, and even None of them landed at Asu Bay.”
"Lord Zong, can you explain to us why there are so many troops left behind in Tsushima?"
After Shimazu Mitsuhisa raised this question, the faces of the other feudal lords also became ugly.
When the Kyushu Allied Forces formed an alliance, they agreed that each family should arrange the troops sent out and those left behind in equal proportions. The Tsushima clan had the smallest number of troops among the five families. Logically speaking, the number of troops left behind at Kinshi City should also be the smallest. However, when faced with the shogunate's surprise attack, only the Tsushima clan was able to repel it with almost no injuries. defeated the enemy.
This makes people suspect that Tsushima had some reservations when sending troops and did not send all the combatable troops to the front line.
Mune Yizhen did not report the results of the Battle of Asu Bay to the other coalition forces, but Shimazu Mitsuhisa grasped the situation so quickly, and he realized that there were also spies from the Satsuma clan on Tsushima Island.
However, at this juncture, it is obviously meaningless to pursue this matter. Soyoshi must first explain why the defenders of Tsushima Island were able to repel the shogunate's surprise attack. Otherwise, once they lose the trust of other companies, Kyushu will The strength of the alliance is bound to be affected as well.
In desperation, Zong Yizhen had no choice but to confess the truth, explaining that he had introduced reinforcements from North Korea to help defend Tsushima, and that he had not deliberately hidden any secrets in troop dispatch.
Everyone was in an uproar, no one expected that the Tsushima clan would defeat the shogunate army in this way.
It took a long time before someone thought of asking the question: Should the North Korean military's combat operations in Ma Fan be regarded as North Korea's participation in the war?