Chapter 2106

The older you get, the less courage you have. Haihan has accumulated rich practical experience in overseas campaigns over the years, but this did not make the military generals take it lightly in the face of another upcoming combat mission, even if the opponent's paper this time The overall strength does not seem to be on the same level as our own. Qian Tiandun and others who are responsible for commanding this operation do not dare to be careless at all. They are still working hard to improve the combat plan and try their best to avoid variables that may arise during the operation.

But there are still some signs before the war begins, which gradually appear due to Haihan's military mobilization and material procurement. Even if there is no very precise news on the market, the nature of businessmen is very keen to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. From March From the beginning, the number of merchant ships heading to Japan from the Ming Dynasty showed a gradually decreasing trend.

Especially in Zhejiang and Fujian, two areas with relatively large trade volume with Japan, the reaction of merchants was even more significant. Well-informed big merchants silently canceled their scheduled shipping arrangements to Japan, while ordinary merchants who had no inside information They are all aware of the subtle risks and realize that there seems to be some potential risk in the trade route to Japan. Except for a few adventurers who want to seize this opportunity to make a fortune, most businessmen will still follow the principle of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages. , giving up going to Japan for the time being.

As for the Netherlands and Portugal, which had already received Haihan's warning before, they were naturally even less likely to turn a deaf ear to Haihan's warning. They had already quietly notified their businessmen to cancel their recent itineraries in Japan to avoid being exposed to Haihan's next visit. He was accidentally injured during military operations.

Therefore, although the Haihan military and intelligence agencies have tried to do a lot of work to prevent military information from leaking, there will still be a lot of information that slowly spreads through various channels. During this period, of course, some Japanese businessmen who visited Daming Port got some information. There is vague news that most of the businessmen who were able to leave Japan to conduct overseas trading activities during this period had official backgrounds, so it was actually unavoidable that rumors would spread back to Japan during this period.

As for the Eighteen Shiba Yu Party who were hiding in the Hirado Domain, they probably got the news earlier, and the news was sent back to far more locations than Sun Feizhou in Ningbo City. Therefore, before the Haihan Army officially launched, Ping Hu Fan has actually received some bad news.

However, the Matsuura clan, the lord of the Hirado clan, believes that the situation should not be as bad as the rumors. The Kaihan Kingdom does not seem to have sufficient reasons to launch a cross-sea war. Even if there is such an intention, it is unlikely to launch action so soon. After all, in their understanding, it took Toyotomi Hideyoshi a full year to complete the preparations for his attack on North Korea. Although they heard that the Haihan Army was very powerful, it was absolutely impossible to attack on the spur of the moment. This was a cross-sea Fighting, and Haihan Kingdom is far away from Japan, so how can we just say war?

The Matsuura family's understanding is of course very one-sided. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched the war in 1592, he mobilized a total of 300,000 troops. The First Army Corps, which served as the vanguard, had more than 18,000 troops. Such a scale of troop deployment , the preparations required were naturally very complicated. At that time, not only did every daimyo have to be drafted to send troops, but the daimyo who faced the sea also had to be responsible for building warships and recruiting sailors. Completing the coordination of materials and personnel was a big project, and it was basically It could not be completed in a short period of time. At that time, almost all of Japan was mobilized, and it took a year to send troops from Tsushima Island to land in North Korea.

The scale of Haihan's troop dispatch was not that large at all. The total number of troops from the north and south was less than 10,000 people. In addition, the preparations for war were more efficient. Compared with the war presided over by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, it was indeed easier to complete the deployment of personnel and materials.

Assemble.

As for Haihan Kingdom, it is indeed very far away from Japan. However, Japan is closed to the outside world and is not particularly aware of the existence of overseas colonies. It also does not know how strong the military forces deployed by Haihan overseas are. Therefore, it will

The situation led to some misjudgments, and it was believed that Haihan was sending troops from the South China Sea. Naturally, it would be difficult to imagine how difficult it would be to send troops to Japan.

Of course, the Hirado Domain was not without discerning people. As a retainer of the Matsuura clan, the Tagawa clan believed that Kaihan was not bluffing, but was really planning to take certain military measures against the Hirado Domain.

This view, of course, comes from the remnants of the Shibazhi who served the Tagawa clan. These people knew very well what terrible military strength Haihan possessed. At that time, Shibazhi underestimated Haihan's strength and did not expect that Haihan would send troops to Fujian.

The attack on Penghu resulted in a lack of preparation for the battle, and they were quickly defeated in the decisive battle.

They did not want such a mistake to happen again, so they took some rumors they had received recently very seriously. After analyzing it, they suggested that the head of the Tagawa family start preparing for war immediately.

The main basis for making this judgment still comes from the layout of the Tagawa family on the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty. Numerous secret strongholds have experienced incidents one after another in recent months. They were either arrested by local officials on various charges and their homes ransacked, or they remained silent.

The resting place disappeared from time. Finally, a message was sent back from Ningbo through flying pigeons, and only then did we know that we had followed the clues and found the Japanese side.

With Haihan's style of doing things, at this level, they should not sit back and watch them hide in Japan and develop quietly. It is only a matter of time before they take action. Since there are already some signs of the Haihan army in Zhejiang before the expedition, it is probably about the time when the war breaks out.

Problem.

Of course, these people also know that their own side does not yet have sufficient combat effectiveness, and they must try to avoid a head-on confrontation with the Haihan Army, so the strategy for responding to the battle must still be based on harassment. The most important thing is to leave a way out, and once the situation worsens, attack as soon as possible

Escape from Haihan's attack range. Japan is so big, they should be able to find other places to stay.

There is another response strategy, which is to immediately ask for help from the shogunate, and the shogunate will organize reinforcements and wait for the Haihan to attack. However, this plan has too many restrictions, and the Hirado clan has not been popular with the shogunate in recent years.

, such a request for help may not be met with disappointment, but will expose its shortcomings to the shogunate, allowing the shogunate to take away the current foreign trade privileges of Hirado Port. It is not appropriate to initiate such a response plan unless it is a last resort.

Therefore, the final advice given by the Eighteen Shimo Party to the Tagawa clan was to be prepared for both sides. While preparing for war, they should also be prepared for a retreat. Once the war goes unfavorably, they should get out as soon as possible.

Because they provided a large amount of funds and military technology to the Tagawa clan, they helped the Tagawa clan become a prominent figure in the Hirado clan, and there was even a faint tendency to replace the feudal lord, the Matsura clan. Therefore, the Eighteen Shiba Yu Party has a very strong position in the Tagawa clan.

With great influence, most of these suggestions were adopted. However, when the Tagawa family reported it to the feudal lord, the response they received was not ideal, and there were obvious differences of opinion between master and servant.

This cannot be entirely blamed on Matsuura's short-sightedness. Comprehensive preparations for war will mean huge military expenditures, and will definitely affect the current trade environment of Hirado Port. However, there is currently no concrete evidence to prove that Haihan is about to attack the country in the near future.

If Hirado launches an attack, the so-called warning message may be just a false alarm, and half-hearted preparations may be a waste of money.

If the shogunate had to ask for help for this, it would put the Hirado clan in a passive position in the game with the shogunate. Even if the shogunate was willing to organize troops to assist the Hirado clan, it would definitely be at the expense of the Matsuura clan agreeing to a series of harsh conditions.

It is even possible that the foreign trade qualification of Hirado Port will be taken away by the shogunate. If such a consequence occurs, it may be more difficult for the Matsuura family to accept than the Kaihan people knocking on their door.

Although the Matsuura clan and the Tagawa clan are both in the same camp, due to the existence of the Eighteen Shiba Yu Party, they actually have different starting points for interests, and differences of opinion inevitably arise when considering the current situation. After many consultations with the feudal lord

After that, Mr. Tagawa finally lost his patience.

In the Tagawa family house next to Hirado Castle, an old man sat in the north with his eyes closed, and next to him was a young man with a calm face. In front of them, there were more than ten people kneeling neatly on the floor, all of them

They all looked at the old man with his eyes closed, as if waiting for him to speak.

After a long time, the old man finally opened his eyes. Although his eyes were a little cloudy, it did not affect him in clearly expressing his attitude: "As a feudal lord, I, Tagawa Suke, should consider the people of the Hirado Domain. Now the feudal lord has put the people in his care."

Being in a dangerous place and not paying enough attention to the war that is about to break out, I should stand up and do something for the people."

The old man who spoke was the current head of the Tagawa clan, Tagawa Suke, and the young man sitting next to him was the designated successor, Tagawa Nanaemon.

Of course, Tagawa Nanzaemon is not his heir, but the second son of Zheng Zhilong. After being adopted to the Tagawa family, he gradually gained the qualification to inherit the Tagawa family. And Tagawa Nanzaemon can sit here, except for

In addition to the fact that the Tagawa family is the natal family of his mother, Tagawa Song, there is another very important reason, which is the support provided by the Eighteen Zhiyu Party to Zheng Zhilong, the youngest son.

The people currently kneeling in front of Tagawa Suke are basically the current capable men of the Tagawa clan, but not all of them are surnamed Tagawa. Two-thirds of them are not Japanese at all, but come from the Daming River.

, Han people from Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places. These Han people have a common identity, that is, they have served the Shibazhi group in the past, and some of them are even close confidants of Zheng Zhilong.

These people were all leaders of a certain level at the beginning, and they controlled the wealth, connections, technology, armed forces, etc. left by Shiba Zhi respectively. However, because all the big bosses of Shiba Zhi were gone, they could not rely on their own resources.

His strength was making a comeback, and he might be hunted down by his enemies when he was living abroad, so he hid in the Hirado Domain, served as the leader of Tagawa Shichizaemon, and used all the resources at his disposal to support and strengthen the Tagawa clan.

Although Tagawa Nanzaemon is no longer surnamed Zheng, these people don't care. On the one hand, they need such a spiritual symbol to integrate the remaining power of Shiba Shiba so that everyone can work in one direction;

On the other hand, they believe that Zheng Zhilong's bloodline is just one. When Tagawa Nanzaemon reaches adulthood and can stand alone without having to rely on others, it will be feasible to persuade him to change his surname back to "Zheng" at that time.

Japan in this era has no taboos about things like subordinates overcoming superiors, so these people have already been planning to use the resources left by Shibashiba on hand to support the Tagawa clan, and let the Tagawa clan replace the weak and incompetent Matsuura clan at the right time.

Seize the Hirado Domain as his own. Tagawasuke has no heirs, only Tagawa Nanzaemon, the adopted son of Zheng Zhilong, will inherit all the family property. After such operations, only a few

In 20 years, the Hirado clan will change its surname to "Zheng", and Shibashiba's comeback is expected to be realized.

By then, the many secret strongholds they have set up along the coast of the Ming Dynasty will be able to mobilize thousands of armed personnel. There are also many allies at home and abroad. After several years of operation, they should also have considerable strength. Let's join forces.

They should be able to fight against Hai Han. Revenge for their relatives and friends who died under the gunfire of Hai Han's army may be realized in their lifetime.

Now that Tagawasuke is getting older, it is not surprising that in a few years Tagawa Shichizaemon will be able to successfully take over the Tagawa clan when he reaches adulthood. At that time, whether he launches an armed coup or uses a combination of soft and hard tactics to force the Matsuura clan to abdicate, he can win the Hirado domain.

There shouldn’t be much difficulty in gaining the right to rule. However, Kaihan was unwilling to leave them so much time to develop slowly, and the Matsura clan was unwilling to prepare for war according to Tagawasuke’s suggestions and wanted to make full use of the Hirado Domain.

In order to use the resources to counter Haihan's military attack, we must seize power from the Matsuura clan.

Although the Tagawa clan's influence in the Hirado clan is now very strong, the nominal lord of the clan is still the Matsuura clan, and it is unlikely that the Matsuura clan will cooperate with them in handing over their power, so they introduced Tagawa to the clan.

Suggestions were made to complete the seizure of power as soon as possible and integrate the forces of the Hirado clan so as to try their best to resist the military attack that Kaihan might launch within the year.

Tagawasuke didn't know exactly when Kaihan would launch his attack, but the situation reported by his subordinates did make him smell a very dangerous atmosphere. According to his subordinates, if the power of the entire Hirado Domain could be mobilized, he might be able to fight against the enemy.

Haihan has the strength to fight, otherwise he will have to wash his neck and wait for death when the opponent comes to attack. For now, he can only use unconventional methods to prepare for the battle and strive for a chance to defeat his opponent.

Of course, in addition to this, there was another reason that made him excited, that is, to become the lord of the Hirado clan during his lifetime. At least in the genealogy passed down to later generations, his identity as Tagawasuke was that of the Hirado clan of Hizen Country in Japan.

The feudal lord, not the feudal lord's number one retainer. Although the difference is only a few words, it means that he is the first person to create a glorious history for the Tagawa clan, and he will be praised and commemorated by future generations thousands of years later.
Chapter completed!