Chapter 2130

If he could save himself and his property in the flames of war, let alone two pieces of silk, even if it was twenty pieces or more, Yu Chengli would not hesitate to take it out.

Recruiting during the war brought many benefits to Hirado officials, and it was far from causing him any physical pain.

Based on his own intuition, he believed that the method proposed by Gonzalez was very feasible. He remembered that when he went to Zhoushan before, he saw many shops there with a small sign hanging outside the door.

A red and blue flag was used to indicate the identity of the shop owner. Although neither Yu Chengli nor Gonzalez were from Haihan, but they had to seek self-protection in times of war, there was nothing wrong with using this flag to seek temporary asylum from the Haihan army.

Since it is feasible, just do it. Yu Chengli is in the textile business. In order to provide comprehensive services to customers, he naturally has tailors under his staff. It is not difficult to work overtime to sew a few two-color flags. By the way, Gonzalez

I also did it together with Si, without charging him a fee, just as a thank you for the favor of the other party for providing this solution.

However, there are many outsiders in similar situations in Yu Chengli and Gonzalez's respective social circles. If such a simple method can be used to protect themselves after the fall of Hirado, it can actually help a bunch of these people.

.

And then the situation of the Hirado war took a turn for the worse. In just a few days, the Hirado clan army on the front line did not send back any good news. Only casualties were brought back in a steady stream. And the Hirado Port had been completely blocked by the enemy fleet.

The rumble of gunfire from the port area lasted throughout the day, and the people in the city could only stay at home in fear.

At the same time, as the "Double-Color Flag Life-Saving Tips" slowly spread in some small circles, new comments also appeared in Hirado City, that is, the reason why Haihan attacked Hirado was not to plunder the local area, but to rob the local area.

Because there are some irresolvable old grudges between the new feudal lord and Haihan.

There are even some outrageous rumors saying that Tagawasuke's position as feudal lord came from an illegitimate background, and that the Kaihan people conquered Hirado in order to clear up the grievances of the previous feudal lord. However, such rumors have nothing to do with Yu Chengli and others, and are more likely to be

It comes from the disgraced retainers who were purged for being loyal to the Matsuura clan. After all, after Tagawasuke came to power, the interests of many people were greatly harmed. Therefore, there are many people who hate Tagawasuke.

But regardless of the origin of these rumors, the current unfavorable war situation has indeed greatly shaken the local public sentiment in Hirado. Some people who are dissatisfied and fearful of the trend of the war can't help but begin to believe various rumors in the market. With Tagawa

The government, represented by Jie Jie, was burdened with the dual responsibility of summoning enemies and being disadvantaged in combat.

When Tagawasuke ordered to seize time to build a temporary defense line in the south of the city, the dissatisfaction among the people had already brewed to a certain extent. Although some people still pinned their last hope on this not-so-strong defense line, more people

People have become very pessimistic about the current war situation and have begun to think of ways to protect themselves.

People like Yu Chengli and Gonzalez, who were secretly prepared, calmed down at this time, closed their doors and stayed at home to wait for the final result. Anyway, the two-color flag had been prepared, and when the Haihan Army entered the city, they would

The flag will be hung at the door as soon as possible to avoid harming the fish in the pond.

The vast majority of people don't know this method. They have no way to escape from Hirado now. All they can do is try to draw a clear line with the Hirado authorities. This may prevent them from being liquidated by the enemy after the fall of Hirado.

The direct manifestation of this collective sentiment was that passive resistance began to appear among the feudal army and the people. Especially the peasant soldiers who were temporarily recruited as cannon fodder. Most of these people were local farmers and farmers in Hirado.

Fishermen, they also realized in the past few days of fighting that their presence could not change the situation of the battle at all. They could not even see the enemy's face clearly, and many of them had already fallen in the hail of bullets.

For these farmers and soldiers who have almost no combat experience, the fear caused by death in battle and various local rumors make it difficult for them to focus on the battlefield. Once supervision begins to relax, some people will take the opportunity to escape.

Deserters. This kind of thing will have serious cascading effects in the current situation. As long as one person escapes, it will inevitably affect more people to follow this approach.

So when the Hirado domain army lost its defensive line in the south of the city and retreated to the city to reorganize its troops, the domain officers were shocked to find that the degree of attrition was far beyond expectations, especially those loosely organized peasant soldiers.

That's more than half less. Of course, it's impossible for all these people to die on the defensive line in the south of the city. Many people must have taken advantage of the chaos during the retreat to sneak away.

Although the northern end of the island blocked by the Haihan Army is not particularly large, in addition to the urban area with thousands of households, there is also a mountainous forest area several times larger than the urban area, and the feudal army cannot divide it further at this time.

Manpower was sent to capture these deserters. The enemy forces in the south might arrive at some point, and the feudal army had no way to retreat at this time. They could only organize defenses in the city as soon as possible for the last ditch effort.

When Tagawasuke saw the smoke signal rising from the old site of Hirado Castle, he felt very complicated at the moment. He always thought that he had kept a low profile for so many years, accumulated strength bit by bit, worked hard, and finally waited for the opportunity to rise to the top.

He thought that after kicking out the Matsuura clan and taking over the Hirado clan, he would be able to achieve great things and turn the Tagawa clan into the most prestigious family in Kyushu. However, he did not expect that he would be at the peak of his career right after his debut. The position of the lord of the clan would be eliminated before he could even get a seat on his butt.

A powerful enemy is coming.

Looking at the current situation, Tagawasuke had to admit that the possibility of a comeback was no longer high. Even the delaying tactics he had envisioned before the war were completely ineffective, and it was completely difficult to cope with the opponent's offensive rhythm. The Hirado clan wanted to rely on

The advantage of fighting at home was delayed until the opponent's logistical supplies could no longer be maintained and the troops retreated. Now it seems that it was all just a unilateral imagination of Tagawa Suke and his staff, who simply failed to fully estimate the opponent's strength.

The situation is over, and Tagawa Suke must also start to think about how to end this matter. The easiest way is of course to lead his troops to fight to the end. As the feudal lord, fighting to defend his own interests and dying on the battlefield can at least leave a good reputation for the future Tagawa Seven Left Guards.

The gate took over the Hirado Domain and laid the foundation of public opinion.

Tagawasuke had made such a plan before the war began, but as the war progressed, his thoughts slowly changed.

He had to consider whether the family fortune he left to Tagawa Nanzaemon would be enough to support the Hirado Domain if he fought to the end with the Kaihan people and consumed all the domain troops and his elite in this war.

A comeback? Is it possible to guarantee that this family fortune will be successfully passed on to the adopted son, and will not be taken away by other Kyushu powerful men who have emerged halfway?

Before the war, Tagawa Suke assessed the consequences of the war and believed that the Hirado Domain would lose some of its armed forces, but it should still be able to ensure that the Hirado Domain's trade environment and political status would continue after the war. However, the actual fighting situation was far worse than expected.

The result was much more severe, and he could only make a worse estimate of the future direction of the situation.

"Sir, our reserve team only has more than 800 people left!"

Gao Hongfu's report brought Tagawasuke out of his thoughts. He was not too surprised when he heard this number. He nodded and said: "It seems that there are still some loyal and brave people who have not escaped and are willing to live and die with us!"

Then distribute weapons to them as soon as possible and incorporate them into the feudal army to participate in the next battle!"

Gao Hongfu did not dare to continue explaining that most of the more than 800 people were farmers and soldiers who had withdrawn from the defense line in the south of the city in organized groups. Because they were moving in sync with the feudal army, they had no chance to escape. Several other groups of feudal troops had already been disabled.

, the peasant and soldier reserves assigned to them had already fled in large numbers.

There is not much surplus of the vassal army's standard weapons that can be issued to these peasant soldiers. It is unrealistic to expect them to play the same role after replenishing the vassal army. In addition, the morale of these peasant soldiers is already extremely low. Even if they can be forced to

It is hard to expect these people to perform bravely on the battlefield. Better than nothing, this is Gao Hongfu's evaluation of the combat effectiveness of these people. His intention in reporting to Tagawa Suke was to remind him that there was a serious shortage of available soldiers.

But Tagawasuke seems to be more willing to look at this problem in a good direction.

At this time, the Haihant Regiment was less than a mile away from the city, and the main force was resting near the southern defense line of the city. Although their combat effectiveness was obviously higher than that of their opponents, the soldiers still had to stop to rest, eat, and restore their physical fitness. Logistics Department

Meals were prepared in Onomura and then brought to the front line by horse-drawn carriage to be supplied to the combat troops.

Because the siege of the enemy had been basically completed, Takahashi Minami did not rush to attack the theater. Instead, he gave his troops time to rest and recuperate. At the same time, he was also waiting for the supply of heavy weapons and ammunition to keep up with the continuous advancement of the front to ensure that the troops could

Continue the afternoon battle in 100% condition.

Takahashi Nan listened to the briefing on the battle situation at the temporary headquarters on the front line. The Haihan Army suffered double-digit casualties in the morning battle, but the opponent's casualties were more than ten times higher. Only those found inside and outside the Chengnan Front

There were more than 300 enemy corpses. In addition, during the battle to occupy the southern defense line of the city, the Haihan Army also captured more than 100 enemy personnel, but no important figures were found among them.

However, through the identification of the prisoners, the bodies of several powerful domain soldiers said to be under Tagawasuke were still found on the battlefield. Judging from the captured enemy weapons, the standard muskets equipped by the Hirado domain troops were indeed the same as those used by Kaihan earlier.

The muskets seized in various places were exactly the same, which further confirmed that the Hirado clan was the mastermind behind a series of previous gun-related cases and had mastered the mass-manufacturing technology of this type of European-style muskets.

"Send the evidence and prisoners to the general as soon as possible." After Takahashi Nan saw the evidence, he knew that this matter was very important to the military. These evidence will be presented to the Executive Committee by the military.

appeared in the report to once again prove the necessity of military strikes against Hirado.

Although the war has been going relatively smoothly so far, for the Haihan military, what they need is not only to win the war, but also to submit an action report to the Executive Committee after the war to truly prove that this is

A war that represents justice.

After a brief rest, the special operations group began to launch an offensive into Hirado City at two o'clock in the afternoon. The first to bear the brunt was the barricade at an intersection in the south of the city. This barricade based on an artillery was launched after seeing the appearance of the Haihan Army.

Fired without hesitation.

In the morning battle, the defenders were wary of the artillery tactics of the Haihan Army. As a result, the artillery deployed on the defense line was not fully engaged in the battle and they retreated into the city. In the afternoon battle, they had no retreat. This time

He planned to strike preemptively.

Even if Haihan cannot be restrained, at least these heavy weapons can be put into battle to show off their skills, instead of just playing the role of spectators from beginning to end.

But the problem was that the defenders did not have enough time to deploy a decent line of defense in the city. The hastily built barricades seemed solid, but there were no supporting barricades deployed around them that could form crossfire.

However, the Haihan Army paid enough attention to this, and deployed four field guns to conduct five rounds of concentrated artillery fire on the barricade. After confirming that the gun position had been destroyed, the infantry was allowed to advance, and the

A second clearing operation was carried out using grenades at a distance of thirty meters to ensure that there would be no stragglers hiding in the ruins of the barricades to make secret moves.

This method of fighting once again severely damaged the morale of the defenders, making them realize that even if they set up fortifications, it would be difficult to stop the advance of the Haihan Army. If they tried to gather musketeers on the streets to form a battle formation,

This is equivalent to proactively providing the other party with an opportunity to commit massacre.

At this time, Tagawasuke issued a seemingly helpless battle order, asking the feudal army to disband into ten-man squads and fight on their own in the city. However, he also announced that he would increase the reward. For each enemy soldier killed, he would receive

Reward of fifty taels of silver.

Although this disperses the fighting power of the feudal army, it is indeed the only effective tactic in the current combat environment. Only in this way can the complex environment of the city be fully utilized to slow down the advancement of the Haihan Army and allow

The Haihan Army had to stop and clear every house on its path.

So after entering the urban area to fight, the Haihan Army, which had been advancing so fiercely, finally slowed down. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, Gao Qiaonan had to order to slow down the advance and first ensure that there were no enemy armed personnel hiding in the occupied urban area.

A sneak attack in the dark.

When the battlefield space becomes smaller, it will be more beneficial to the weaker defenders. They can make full use of their familiarity with the urban buildings and terrain to create more opportunities to take action. The Haihan Army needs to be more careful and guard against

A gun barrel protruding from a certain window, or a fanatical warrior suddenly emerging from an alleyway with a sword.
Chapter completed!