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The guide for Li Tang was a local chief.

The prefectural-level administrative unit of the Ryukyu Kingdom, also known as "intermediate cut", can only be headed by the royal family.

The county-level units, called "Mula", are generally headed by the clan, but there are also a few indigenous chiefs.

In fact, he is the village chief.

These indigenous village chiefs hated the Japanese deeply.

It was fine for them to be exploited by the Ryukyu royal family in the past. After the Japanese came, they also came up with a poll tax system. They had to pay the tax twice a year, and villagers continued to starve to death.

A young man with the appearance of a hunter, looked at the footprints in the grass, and found a broken branch, and ran back quickly:

"The bad guys are going over there!"

The native village head is Du Bo, who doesn't even have a surname. He said to Yang Hao, "It's right in front."

Yang Hao is a Han Chinese from Kume Island, and immediately translated to Li Tang: "General, we have found traces of enemy troops ahead."

Li Tang said to the herald: "Head the order, proceed cautiously, all ministries must gather nearby, 60 people per mountain search team.

"boom!"

Before the military order could be fully conveyed, gunshots were heard suddenly two miles ahead. A Datong soldier fell down and was hit by a bullet from the Japanese "Iron Artillery".However, it was only an arm injury, and timely treatment would not be fatal. This is also the first wounded to go to Ryukyu.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

The Soushan team here has not yet been merged, only 30 people.The wounded were ordered by the captain to return, and all the rest of the soldiers pursued.

"Shhhhhh!"

During the pursuit, bows and arrows came from time to time, and the Datong soldiers raised their arms to cover their necks, allowing the arrows to shoot at themselves.

The climate here is subtropical, and it is still winter, the temperature is about 10 degrees, and wearing cotton jackets can just keep you warm.Aboriginal bows and arrows are useless against cotton armor.

"beep beep beep beep"

A suona sounded, but it was a signal to suspend the pursuit. Li Tang was afraid that the Soushan team would be ambushed.

The squad heard the bugle and immediately slowed down, waiting for more friendly troops to join them.

Seeing this, the enemy army stopped, hiding in the woods and firing arrows from time to time.

After 40 minutes, the Datong Army completed its assembly, but the enemy was still there in a daze.

"There is an ambush ahead, these are used as bait." Li Tang saw through the enemy's strategy at a glance.

"Fire the gun!"

The eight hundred troops raised their guns in unison and fired into the dense forest ahead.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Gunshots rang out, and smoke filled the air.

Dozens of enemy soldiers hiding in the dense forest were shot randomly at four of them, and the rest fled in fright.

"There is still one alive!"

Li Tang went over to check in person, but the person lying on the ground was a Japanese, who had been held down by Datong soldiers.

"Hey, there are firecrackers," Li Tang kicked the matchlock away, and asked, "Where is your main force hiding?"

The accompanying merchant interpreter immediately asked questions in Japanese.

The Japanese iron gunner closed his eyes and said nothing, as if he already had the will to die.

Li Tangdao: "Cut some wooden sticks, first pierce his thumbs."

The wooden stick was cut quickly, and it was aimed at the two thumbs and stuck in. The Japanese soldier screamed in pain and cursed at Li Tang at the same time.

A lesson must be taught to such stubborn people.

The wooden stick pierced his index finger again from the nails. The venerable Japanese soldier suddenly couldn't hold on, and hurriedly shouted: "I, I!"

Yes, but Li Tang couldn't believe it completely.

He divided the [-] soldiers into three groups, and at the suggestion of the village chief Shizhu, he climbed the mountain from three directions and surrounded them.

Hideo Yamamoto soon discovered the actions of the Datong Army and knew that his plan had been leaked.

Shang Hong panicked: "Run away, the ambush is impossible."

Hideo Yamamoto drew his sword and shouted: "We have a lot of people, and the Tang soldiers are not terrible. Moreover, we are on the mountain and have the advantage of terrain. The Shimadzu family and the Ryukyu warriors all took up weapons and rushed down with me. The Tang soldiers are defeated!"

Shanghong hesitated to speak. Although he was a Ryukyu royal family, the Japanese were the Supreme Emperor.

More than 300 miscellaneous soldiers rushed out like this, and rushed to the front of the [-] Datong Army-the other [-] Datong Army divided their troops and surrounded them from the mountains on both sides.

The enemy army came aggressively, and there were more than 1000 people.

The three hundred Datong soldiers did not panic at all, but the native village chief who led the way was frightened.

"Send the arrow, release the arrow!"

Hideo Yamamoto roared and ordered that he had only about a hundred archers, and most of them were earthen bows for hunting.

Due to the condescending position, these bows and arrows can be thrown at the Datong army indiscriminately.

But the forest is very dense, and most of the arrows are blocked by the canopy when they fall.

"Follow me to kill!"

Hideo Yamamoto held his samurai sword and charged forward with a roar.Encouraged by him, the soldiers behind him rushed down with strange screams.

The two sides approached quickly, and they could almost see each other's eyebrows clearly. Li Tangcai said, "Blow the horn and fire the guns!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Three hundred tunnel-fired guns are divided into two groups to shoot in bursts.

Hideo Yamamoto was hit by a bullet in the thigh during the first round of firing, fell to the ground and rolled down the hillside.

The smoke from the volley of guns has not dissipated, and the enemy has collapsed.

Nearly half of the enemy troops running in the middle were killed or injured, and the enemy troops on both sides turned around and ran away in fright.

The two Ryukyu royal families, Shanghong and Shangkun, watched the battle from a higher place on the mountain. At this time, they were so frightened that they didn't even dare to run away, because this was an island, and they would be discovered sooner or later.Immediately returned to the station where he was hiding, intending to surrender with his family members. Even if he was taken to Nanjing for trial, at least he still had a chance of survival.

Hideo Yamamoto hit a rock and fell into a coma while rolling on a hillside.

When he woke up, the wound on his thigh had been bandaged, and he found himself captured.

The next day, he was brought in front of Li Tang, surrounded by Datong army with full armor and stomach, which made Hideo Yamamoto feel a burst of despair - even the elite soldiers of the feudal lord could not beat such a powerful army.

Li Tang smiled and said: "You are the biggest official on this island, so you must know a lot of inside information. It's okay if you don't know anything, you can do whatever you want. If you want, you can live and go to Kagoshima with us."

Kagoshima?

Tang Bing is going to fight Satsuma?

Hideo Yamamoto was terrified, how arrogant he was before, and how frightened he is now, he nodded repeatedly:

"Yes, yes, the villain will be the general's loyal dog from now on!"

Chapter 631 [Military and Civilian Harmony]

In the Ryukyu war, the casualties of the Datong Army were only single digits.

And only wounded, no one killed.

On Qijie Island (Kijie Island) around Amami Oshima, the Datong Army didn't even bother to send troops, and directly asked Shang Hong, Shang Kun, Yamamoto Hideo and other captives to persuade them to surrender.The Ryukyu royal family, clan and Japanese on the island were all taken away, and only the local aborigines were allowed to stay.

The Datong navy and army rested for a whole day, and then continued to go northeast.

Encountered a string of island chains along the way, there is no population at all, so ignore it for the time being.

Further ahead are Yakushima and Tanegashima, which used to belong to the Osumi Kingdom of Japan and were later annexed by the Satsuma Domain.

Also ignored, the navy and army went straight to the lair of the Satsuma clan.

As soon as they arrived at the mouth of Kagoshima Bay, more than a dozen Japanese ships greeted them. Decades ago, when the Satsuma Domain invaded Ryukyu, hundreds of ships of all sizes were dispatched.But now there are not many left, don't let the Chinese navy come suddenly, even if you allow enough time for Satsuma to gather troops, you can at most gather twenty or thirty decent sea ships.

The reason for everything is that the shogunate closed the country and did not issue Zhuyin ship licenses to the feudal lords.

The Satsuma clan could only do business secretly, and as Chinese and Dutch merchants sent goods to Nagasaki for centralized sales, the Satsuma clan's smuggling business also declined day by day.Slowly, the old ships were too lazy to repair, and a large number of boatmen and sailors were unemployed.

The dozen or so ships of the Satsuma clan in front of us are actually armed merchant ships, also known as the legendary Zhuyin ships.The largest one is more than 200 tons, and the smallest one is only about 100 tons. The overall size is one size smaller than that of the Datong Navy.

Shi Daxuan and Hong Xu, each commanding a naval formation, planned to go around and surround the enemy ships.

The fleet of the Satsuma domain felt that the momentum was not good, and retreated before firing a shot, and all retreated to the innermost part of Kagoshima Bay.

"Boom boom boom boom!"

The Datong Navy went to the narrowest part of the bay, and the Japanese forts on both sides suddenly fired.

"Flag order, retreat!" Shi Daxuan shouted.

Several naval warships were damaged by shelling, but they successfully retreated to a safe place as a whole, and then put down the small boats on the warships, and the army and navy of the Datong Army landed in small boats.

Thousands of people landed on both sides of the strait, first unplugging those forts.

"What? It's not counting that Tang Bing occupied Ryukyu, but they came here?"

Before the fight broke out on the fort, Mitsuhisa Shimadzu received the news and was beyond shocked by the situation.

Hisamichi Shimadzu: "Don't hesitate any longer. You should prepare with both hands. While sending people to negotiate with the Tang people, you should also send people to Edo for help. You should also order the army to be summoned. If it doesn't work, you should fight the Tang soldiers to the end!"

The Satsuma domain privately swallowed the eight islands of Ryukyu. Although this was done behind the back of the shogunate, the conquest of Ryukyu was approved by the shogunate.

At this time, I don't care about other things, so I first ask the shogunate for help.

Mitsuhisa Shimadzu said: "Go and negotiate with Tang Ren!"

"Yes!" Hisutsu Shimadzu could only accept this drudgery.

This guy didn't dare to go out on a warship, so he approached the Datong Navy in a small offshore boat with trepidation.

When he came to Hong Xu's ship, it was the diplomat Liu Xiangke who met him.

Shimadzu Hisaichi prostrated and knelt down: "Greetings, Lord Kamikoku!"

With his nostrils upturned, Liu Xiangke dismissed him and said, "Go back first, wait until the battle is over."

Shimadzu Hisaichi asked: "Dare to ask your country, why did you send troops to attack the Shimadzu family?"

Liu Xiangke sneered: "Wolf ambitions, Yin and Ryukyu are just one of them. In recent years, the warships of the Satsuma domain have plundered Chinese merchants many times, and hundreds of people have been killed and kidnapped. You are not allowed to continue to provoke. Is China sending troops?"

Hisashi Shimadzu argued: "Your Excellency, it is only a misunderstanding to send troops to the Ryukyu Kingdom...

"Don't talk nonsense," Liu Xiangke interrupted, "no matter how much you argue, you can't tell the truth. The soldiers and ships are here, and you can make our country retreat with a few nonsense words? What do you want to talk about? Talk on the boat, I will lead the troops to the city to talk!"

Hisutsu Shimadzu still wanted to explain something, but he didn't speak again after all.

Just like what Liu Xiangke said, the warships have all been killed in Japan, can they retreat with a few sophistry?

After a moment of silence, Shimadzu Hisaichi asked: "Dare to ask my lord, how can we withdraw the troops?"

Liu Xiangke: "First, the war was caused by the Satsuma clan, and the Satsuma clan must pay 20 taels of military expenses; second,

For the Chinese merchant ships looted by Satsuma, the deceased shall pay 100 taels per person, and the lost goods and ships shall be compensated according to the price;

Third, the Ryukyu Kingdom has been accepted as the Ryukyu County of Datong China, and the Satsuma domain is not allowed to send troops to harass it; fourth, let the Satsuma domain lord or his eldest son go to Nanjing to plead guilty to the emperor in person. "

Hisazu Shimadzu was dumbfounded, the first request could not be fulfilled.

The annual fiscal revenue of the Satsuma clan is just over one hundred thousand taels.The feudal lord and his family are all extravagant and happy, and they have to be exploited by merchants for a while. How can they get 20 taels of compensation?

"My lord, I really don't have that much money." Hisashi Shimadzu cried poorly.

Liu Xiangke: "If you have no money, you can pay slowly. If you reopen the Nagano Gold Mine, you can pay in ten years. However, the delayed compensation must be paid with annual interest."

This Nagano is not that Nagano, but the Nagano area of ​​Kagoshima.Seven years ago, the Satsuma domain developed gold mines here, but gold mining was banned by the shogunate for only three years.

The reason for the ban is simple. Once Shimadzu has income from gold mines, can they support more troops? What if there is a rebellion someday?

Hisaichi Shimadzu: "The shogunate does not allow gold mining."

Liu Xiangke sneered: "Is Satsuma so obedient?"

Historically, as soon as Tokugawa Iemitsu died, the Satsuma Domain reopened the Nagano Gold Mine.But he did a lot of homework. Before going to sea, he asked Fujian maritime merchants about the Satsuma domain in detail.

After losing the profits from sea trade, the stable source of income for the Satsuma domain was the brown sugar from Amami Oshima, and the Nagano gold mine.Of course, there is also the tribute income in the territory, which is all in kind such as food, which can only be exchanged for money by the merchants in Osaka.

The current situation is okay. In a few decades, the Japanese feudal lords will be exhausted, and they will all work for big businessmen.


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