Chapter 2120

When people talk about Hirado in Japan, what immediately comes to mind is the unique local foreign trade environment. Another famous "specialty" is the Hirado navy.

The Hirado area is located at the western end of the Japanese archipelago, relatively far from China and the Korean Peninsula. Because of this unique geographical advantage, Hirado Port has gradually become an international trade port connecting Japan and the outside world. Prosperous ocean trade

It created a developed navigation and shipbuilding industry for Hirado, and based on this, the Hirado navy, established by local powerful men, was naturally among the best in Japan.

For a long period of time, the Goto Islands area under the jurisdiction of Hirado was the base camp of Japanese pirates. The combat experience of these Japanese pirates who went to the Korean Peninsula and the eastern coast of the Ming Dynasty to burn, kill and loot was gradually adopted by Hirado.

It was absorbed and used by the navy, so the combat effectiveness of the Hirado navy was far stronger than that of the navy armed forces in other parts of Japan that were built behind closed doors.

In the past few years, a large number of the Eighteen Shiba Yu Party members fled to Hirado to hide, bringing more advanced military technology here and further enhancing the strength of the Hirado navy.

Today's Hirado naval force is no longer entirely based on Japanese warships such as Anya ships and Kanfune ships. The armed Fukufune brought by Shiba Shiba has become the main warship in service in recent years. Japanese warships

Due to hull design problems, most ships can only move in offshore areas. The armed fuchuan not only has a larger range of movement and faster speed, but can also be equipped with Western-style artillery on the ship, and its combat effectiveness is far better than that of Japanese warships.

Although the cost of building an armed Fukong ship is much higher, this is not a big problem for the wealthy Hirado clan. Moreover, after the Hirado navy is upgraded, it will also play a direct role in future external expansion.

With its role, the early military investment will definitely be able to obtain sufficiently generous returns, and everyone in the Hirado clan is extremely optimistic about this.

Compared with the cost of shipbuilding, the real major expense is actually personnel. After the scale of the navy expands, it is necessary to train a large number of sailors who master the sailing skills of sailing warships, as well as gunners who can skillfully use artillery on ships.

Sailors who operate oars are still not qualified for these jobs that require professional skills, and a lot of financial resources must be invested in their long-term training. Moreover, these people's military pay can no longer be paid according to the standards of low-level sailors. The daily operating expenses of the navy

It will also increase a lot as a result.

However, despite certain financial pressures, the Hirado Domain still gritted its teeth and significantly upgraded its naval equipment in just a few years. Now it has nearly twenty new warships equipped with artillery. Although this

There is still a big gap in armed strength compared to the Eighteen Shiba in its heyday, but it can already be claimed to be the strongest naval force in Japan.

Of course, the so-called strongest title actually only refers to Japan's domestic level during this period. If the scope is enlarged to the surrounding areas, the Hirado Navy can probably only bully North Korea, and Ryukyu and other maritime armed forces are relatively

There is still a gap between the weak countries and the Ming Dynasty Navy. As for Haihan, it is simply incomparable. Whether it is the East China Sea Fleet or the Northern Fleet, their overall strength is far above the Hirado Navy.

Wei Zhi, who was the commander of the Hirado navy at this time, was born in Hachishiba. However, when he was in Hachishiba, he was just a small leader with five ships under his command, but now he has become the leader in charge of the Hirado Domain's three thousand ships.

A senior officer of the army holds the power of life and death. This is a situation that he would never have imagined a few years ago.

Wei Zhi was able to get the opportunity to command the Hirado navy, of course, not only because he had led troops in Shibashiba. Between 1630 and 1633, he participated in many combat operations, and almost all his opponents in these operations were

Haihan Navy and Fujian Navy under Xu Xinsu. Although he did not achieve any dazzling results in these battles, these experiences did allow him to accumulate rich combat experience.

Compared with the Shiba Shiba, which has a large number of armed sailing ships, when Wei Zhi first arrived in Hirado, he believed that the navy here could only be regarded as a paramilitary organization at best, and its professionalism was not even as good as civilian armed forces like the Shiba Shiba.

The military and navigation skills he mastered far exceeded the level of the Hirado Navy. After showing his abilities to Tagawasuke, he was quickly recommended to the feudal lord by Tagawasuke and entered the Navy.

Responsible for daily training.

With the secret support of Tagawasuke, Wei Zhi spent several years gradually taking control of the Hirado navy, and through his position, he cultivated a group of subordinates in the navy who obeyed his orders. After Tagawasuke overthrew the Matsuura clan and took over,

Wei Zhi naturally replaced the navy general who was originally loyal to the Matsuura clan and became the commander of the Hirado navy.

If it follows the normal development trajectory, the Hirado clan will continue to build warships to expand the size of its naval force in the next few years. Domestically, it will try to annex the Kyushu region to the east. Abroad, it will have conflicts of interest with the Qing Dynasty, Spain and other countries, as well as some countries in the Ming Dynasty that have conflicts with Haihan.

The forces in Tu continued to cooperate and slowly accumulated strength before going to war with Haihan and the Xu family in Fujian.

However, due to various reasons, the Hirado Domain prematurely attracted the attention of the outside world, causing the Haihan Army to organize a cross-sea expedition at all costs. Wei Zhi and the Hirado Navy had to organize a cross-sea expedition before reaching the ideal state.

You have to go to the battlefield to face a powerful enemy whose strength far exceeds your own.

However, Tagawasuke also knew that the navy was the biggest reliance of the Hirado clan. If the navy were to fight the enemy first, there would be no way out if they lost. The opponent could calmly stage a game of catching a turtle in a urn on Hirado Island.

.And by keeping the navy, it is possible to steal the opponent's retreat from the sea at any time. If the war goes unfavorably, the navy will still have the opportunity to help important people leave Hirado Island.

Therefore, in the stage of formulating the battle plan, Tagawasuke did not intend to let the navy go up front to respond to the enemy. Instead, he asked Wei Zhi to lead the navy to ambush outside and wait for a suitable fighter plane before attacking. If the battle on Hirado Island goes well, then

The navy can rest assured to stay away from Hirado Island to cut off the opponent's supply line. If the war becomes tense, the navy will have to assume the function of an escape channel when necessary.

Both Tagawasuke and Wei Zhi believed that even if the enemy was powerful, it would be unlikely to capture the Hirado Port area that had been prepared for war within a day or two, so they chose Hirado Port as a temporary hiding place for the navy.

Thirty miles to the north is a place called Shanda Island.

The area of ​​Shanda Island is about fifteen square kilometers. On the north side of the island is a harbor that is similar in size to Boxiang Bay. The hydrological conditions are also quite good. It is very suitable as a temporary base for the navy fleet. This place is only half a day away from Hirado Port.

During the voyage, there was time for reinforcements at the critical moment. Moreover, the harbor direction was north, and the enemy's range of activities at sea was unlikely to go north of Yamada Island, so the chance of discovering the Hirado navy was very small.

Of course, Wei Zhi did not just hide the fleet in this secret bay. After the East China Sea Fleet entered the Hirado Strait, Wei Zhi also sent several fast ships to the sea at the northern end of Hirado Island.

Monitor the enemy's movements from a distance. If the enemy attempts to send ships to disperse them, these ships will separate and evacuate in the east and west directions to avoid leading the enemy to the direction of Shanda Island.

And if some signals with special meanings are sent out from the island, these clippers will also act as messengers, sending news from the front back to Shandong Island as soon as possible. Wei Zhi himself is on one of the ships. He thinks that he is the only one

Only by observing the combat situation with your own eyes can you make an accurate judgment on the battlefield situation.

The artillery battle that started in the morning reminded Wei Zhi of the scene when the Haihan Army and the Fujian Navy jointly attacked Penghu. Although the enemy did not seem to have as many warships launching attacks in the Hirado Strait this time, the impact of the artillery battle was

The intensity was no less intense. And the defenses of Hirado Port were able to fight back and forth with their opponents. This was indeed a situation that Wei Zhi had never expected beforehand.

"This guy Lu Yuanlong can do it!" Wei Zhi thought that his colleagues who commanded the operations in Hirado Port had such an outstanding performance. At the moment, he was gearing up and felt itchy. He wished he could lead his troops to fight against the Haihan people.

However, Wei Zhi was not dazzled by the idea of ​​​​making great achievements. He knew very well how difficult it was for warships to attack land targets. Although the Haihan Fleet seemed to have nothing to do with the coastal defenses of Hirado Port, if

If the opponent is replaced by our own fleet, the battle situation may be very different. Moreover, the Haihan fleet has not pressed forward with all its strength. There are always several warships waiting outside, obviously wary of sneak attacks from the sea.

Wei Zhi has no doubt that if the Hirado Navy appears outside the Hirado Strait at this time, the attacking Kaihan Fleet will immediately give up attacking the port and give priority to fighting the Navy fleet - or in other words, the Hirado Navy will be used as a

It is more accurate to hit the target first.

Under the current situation, it was obviously irrational to choose to show up and fight Haihan, so Wei Zhi still only kept observing and did not order any measures to join the war. However, in the afternoon, he noticed that somewhere in Hirado Port,

A black smoke signal went off, which informed him that he was going to take some action according to the predetermined plan.

After nightfall that night, Wei Zhi ordered his ship to sail to a coast somewhere at the northern end of Hirado Island. According to the advance plan, he had to arrive here the night he received the signal to pick up the important people who were evacuated from the island. The feudal lord Tagawasuke

It was definitely impossible to escape at this time, and there were only a few people on the island who could enjoy this kind of treatment. Before Wei Zhi arrived, he could already roughly guess who he would pick up on this trip.

When they were approaching the coast, Wei Zhi asked someone to put down the boat, and he personally boarded the boat and went to the shore to pick up the people. After the boat docked, Wei Zhi asked someone to light two lanterns, and soon several people rushed over from the shore.

"For my humble duty, see you, Madam, and see you, Young Master!" After Wei Zhi saw the visitor clearly, he immediately knelt down on one knee to greet him.

"Uncle Wei, thank you for your hard work. Get up and talk!" The visitors were none other than Tagawa Nanzaemon and his mother, Tagawa Matsu. According to Tagawa's arrangement, the mother and son evacuated Hirado Island from here at night. Although Tagawa Nanzaemon himself

Although he considered himself a Japanese, he was not very interested in the great cause of recovering Shibazhi, but he did not have any ill feelings towards the Han leaders who wanted to regard him as their young master. In private, he took the initiative to treat him as a junior.

Of course, this attitude is different in the eyes of Wei Zhi and others. It is not only approachable, but also the trust shown by these old people who once served under Zheng Zhilong. This is what Wei Zhi is willing to do in the Hirado Domain.

One of the main reasons for the effectiveness. Even if only the Hirado clan does not have Shibazhi in the future, it will ultimately allow Zheng Zhilong's bloodline to be passed down extremely well.

Wei Zhi stood up, helped both Tagawa mother and son onto the small boat, and then had a simple handover with Tagawa Suke, who had escorted them here, and immediately ordered the boat to leave the place.

After returning to the ship, Wei Zhi first arranged a cabin for the mother and son to rest, and then ordered to sail to Kyushu in the east overnight to carry out the order issued by Tagawa Suke and send the mother and son to a certain place to temporarily escape the war.

Wei Zhi was not in a hurry to ask Tagawa Shichizaemon about the battle situation on the island at this time. In fact, Tagawa Suke decided to send the mother and son away less than a day after the battle. This arrangement already speaks volumes. If not

Tagawasuke felt that Hirado was in danger of being lost, and even the sea passage might be cut off by the enemy, so he probably would not be in a hurry to notify him to pick them up overnight.

Wei Zhi felt that this seemed to be somewhat inconsistent with the battle situation he had observed at sea during the day. At least the Haihan fleet had not shown any signs of landing at Hirado Port. However, the person who had escorted Tagawa mother and son previously said that the enemy had landed at Boxiang Bay. It seemed that

The opponent did not gather all their forces on the east coast, but while attacking Hirado Port, they also used a trick to cross Chencang secretly.

Wei Zhi felt a little aggrieved. Before the war, he had advised Tagawasuke to be careful of enemy surprise attacks on the west coast. However, Tagawasuke believed that the opponent should try to shorten the combat time without understanding the topography of Hirado Island. In the end,

The prudent approach is of course to concentrate on attacking the core area of ​​Hirado Port and reject the proposal to fortify the west coast at sea.

Of course, Wei Zhi also understood that Tagawasuke was worried that if the navy really ran into the enemy's main fleet on the west coast, it might be wiped out by the opponent in one fell swoop. After all, if the enemy focused its attack on the west coast, the navy would

The fleet will definitely not be able to withstand it, and may even be locked up in Boxiang Bay and Gujiang Bay and beaten. When the time comes, it will be too uneconomical to prevent the opponent from landing and lose the navy. Which of the two evils is the lesser of two evils?

The most important thing is to save the navy first.

But when he heard the news that the enemy troops had actually landed on the west coast, Wei Zhi was inevitably a little frustrated. Judging from his past experience in fighting the Haihan Army, once a large number of the opponent's troops landed on the island, it would be difficult for the feudal army to fight head-on.

Blocking the opponent on the battlefield, it is no wonder that Tagawasuke is eager to send the mother and son away.

How long can the vassal army on the island hold on without naval support from the sea? Wei Zhi is not optimistic about this. He plans to send Tagawa mother and son to the place and then immediately return to Shanda Island to gather the navy fleet.

, trying to relieve the pressure on the island's defenders.
Chapter completed!