There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 486 Shimazu Nariakiro: "Me?"

It's too late to fight now.

The Satsuma fleet's encounter with the Han Chinese fleet in the coastal waters lasted less than two hours before it was completely overwhelmed.

They couldn't win artillery battles, they couldn't fight boarding battles, they couldn't even get close, and even the tonnage and displacement of their warships were completely inadequate.

The only advantage might be that the Satsuma Domain has more ships, but what good are more ships if you can't win?

It's like a flock of sheep encountering a pack of wolves. Even if there are many sheep in the flock, they still have to run when they see the wolves charging at them.

The Han fleet is now a pack of wolves, and a pack of wolves that has already shown its fangs, while the Samoan fleet has become a pure lamb, a silly lamb.

This is perfectly normal. Japan closed itself off from the world much earlier than the Qing Dynasty, and its isolation was much more severe, to the point that almost no part of the country was allowed to go to sea.

Even though the Satsuma Domain is a double agent, using Ryukyu for smuggling every day, they only smuggle for money and don't think about using the money to strengthen their fleet and navy.

There was simply no need for war. Japan had been at peace for so many years that it didn't need to fight at all. At most, it would occasionally encounter peasant uprisings. Naval battles were completely unnecessary.

Japan was so peaceful that several reforms during the Edo period were aimed at giving the idle samurai something to do.

It's not that they felt ashamed for not fighting every day and still receiving rice as wages from their lord. In fact, for a long time during the Edo period, it was common for retainers to commit suicide to be buried with their lord after his death, which was partly due to this.

They don't have to fight or risk their lives, and they eat rice given to them by their lord every day. If they don't go to be buried alive with their lord, how can they have the face to live?

Then, because the practice of killing samurai was so extreme, when the daimyo died, his chief retainer was also killed in the process. After the chief retainer was killed, his samurai retainers continued to be killed in the process, resulting in large numbers of dead samurai lying on the ground in the region.

The shogunate was forced to issue an order that retainers could no longer commit suicide to be buried with their lord after his death. The overly peaceful and stable environment in Japan meant that the Satsuma Domain had not fought a war for nearly two hundred years, and had almost never fought a naval battle.

The last naval battle was during the attack on ancient Ryukyu, which could hardly be considered a naval battle. The main role of the warships was to transport Satsuma samurai to the island for combat.

Although the Han army's warships were actually quite poor in terms of tactics, their poor tactics did not prevent them from having large tonnage and displacement, and powerful cannons and muskets.

After half a day of naval fighting, the Han fleet had figured out the true combat strength of the Satsuma Domain fleet.

Standing on the deck, Commander Guo drew his sword and shouted, "Men, kill them all! These Japanese pirates are all show and no substance! Kill them all!"

"Kill the Japanese pirates!"

"Let's kill the Japanese pirates!"

The military order was quickly relayed, and the Han soldiers on every warship were shouting it out loud.

The Han fleet quickly dispersed and encircled the Samoro fleet.

The Satsuma fleet was completely stunned. Shimazu Nariaki, standing on the flagship, hurriedly shouted, "Baka! Retreat! Retreat! Don't let the Han warships catch up!"

Without his order, almost all of Satsuma's warships began to retreat on their own initiative. The fastest retreating warships seemed to be those of the Akamatsu family.

They were so vocal before the war, the first to shout that they wanted to attack the Han army and teach them a lesson.

When the fighting actually broke out, he was the first to run away, and he didn't even spare Shimazu Nariakiro, the nominal head of the clan.

No wonder this guy was later dismissed by Shimazu Nariaki; he really didn't consider Shimazu Nariaki as the head of the Satsuma Domain!

The Akamatsu family was the fastest, and the other families were also quite fast. The Matsui family was second in speed, followed by the Ichida family and other families.

The combined fleet of the Satsuma Domain scattered almost entirely, retreating in a very chaotic manner.

Shimazu Nariakiro, the nominal head of the clan, was completely ineffective in commanding the various warships; no one listened to his commands or flag signals.

On the contrary, because Shimazu Nariaki frequently ordered the retreat, the main flagship's retreat speed slowed down considerably, and it was caught up by the Han army's encircled warships first.

The Han army couldn't distinguish the differences between the flags of the Shimazu and Akamatsu families, but they could tell which ship was large enough.

Although Shimazu Nariakiro's warship was small, it was still quite large compared to other Satsuma Domain warships. Moreover, the hull was very new, and the flags were decorated in a flamboyant manner, clearly indicating the configuration expected of an enemy commander's flagship.

The Han army's warships surrounded and encircled him. Shimazu Nariaki realized he wanted to escape, but it was too late.

A large number of iron chains and grappling hooks were thrown onto the midships of his warship, and the two Han warships managed to capture Shimazu Saisuke's warship simply by virtue of their tonnage and displacement.

More than twenty Han soldiers jumped onto the deck. Shimazu Nariaki, who was wearing samurai armor, tried to organize a resistance, but the Han soldiers who jumped on simply raised their rifles quickly.

"Bang bang bang!"

As the volley of gunfire was unleashed, a large number of Shimazu samurai fell instantly.

The arquebusiers behind them were all stunned. How could the range of the Han army's rifled guns be so far?
Moreover, the rate of fire was too fast. They were still loading bullets and gunpowder into the arquebuses when the enemy opened fire.

They were so accurate; one shot killed an entire platoon. Shimazu Nariaki remained relatively calm, only urging his men to open fire immediately in return.

The arquebusiers hurriedly loaded their bullets and raised their arquebuses to fire at the Han army.

"Bang bang bang!"

Several Han soldiers fell, but none of them died; they were only hit in the arms and legs.

The remaining Han soldiers were all unharmed; Xiang Duo simply swayed backward.

Japanese firearms do have some recoil.

This completely baffled the arquebusiers of the Shimazu clan.

"Monster... monster!"

"It's the curse power of the demons. These Han soldiers can utilize the power of the demons."

Once again, the Han army was treated like monsters, a situation that hadn't happened in a long time.

It's Japan after all; there are countless legends of monsters and spirits, and they even claim to have eight million gods. Ninety-nine percent of them are ghost stories, and at most only three can be considered as true deities.

These Shimazu samurai had no idea what bulletproof vests were. All they knew was that someone could survive being shot by a musket and still be alive—what else could they be but a monster?
The arquebusiers instantly lost all will to fight. Some fled, some knelt and surrendered, and some even took off their armor and prepared to commit seppuku.

Not only them, but Shimazu Nariaki, the lord and head of the clan, was also kneeling on the ground, having lost all will to fight.

He was taking off his samurai armor as Shimazu Nariaki prepared to commit seppuku in order to preserve the honor and name of the Shimazu family.

However, the Han army would not allow this guy to commit seppuku. The Han soldiers who rushed up kicked all the warriors who wanted to commit seppuku to the ground.

Shimazu Nariaki, the most flamboyant and eye-catching armored samurai in the entire arena, was pinned down by four Han soldiers and unable to move.

Shimazu Nariaki was captured so hastily.

"Baka! Let me go! Let me commit seppuku! Let me cut it... Waaah!"

The guy kept cursing and shouting. Halfway through his rant, the Han soldier holding him down couldn't stand the incoherent gibberish and grabbed a smelly rag to gag him.

On the sea, the Han fleet had already pursued back, capturing and bringing back eleven Satsuma Domain warships, and sinking eighteen warships to feed the fish.

In just one near-shore encounter, the Satsuma Domain's naval forces were severely damaged, and it's likely that less than half of them actually escaped.

Two days later, the Han fleet made a temporary rest at Amami Oshima Island and took the opportunity to interrogate the prisoners.

Shimazu Nariaki, the head of the Satsuma clan who was prepared to commit seppuku on the battlefield, was not as tough as one might imagine. He did not say anything that day and even intended to go on a hunger strike in protest.

But after only holding out until the second day, or rather, after just one night of hunger, this guy was willing to eat and would answer any question, directly stating that he was Shimazu Nariaki, the current lord of Satsuma-ryaku.

"So, the Satsuma Domain sent troops to attack us just because we helped Ryukyu reclaim the Amami Islands?" When Guo Qianzong asked this question, he still felt somewhat confused.

Shimazu Nariaki said, "Yes, General of the Celestial Empire!"

General Guo frowned deeply. The Japanese pirates were indeed damn shameless!

The Amami Islands are not Satsuma Domain's territory. He sent troops to help Ryukyu fight back, but Satsuma Domain still had the nerve to get angry and even threatened to send troops to attack him.

The funniest thing is that, before they've even fought, the Satsuma Domain's army is so weak that he's finding it difficult to write a battle report.

Guo Qianzong remained silent, and Shimazu Nariaki also dared not speak, fearing that the other party might be in a bad mood and chop him up on the spur of the moment.

After all, all of his arquebusiers were killed without exception after they revealed their identities.

If he hadn't spoken up in time, it might have become a "piled-up mound of Japanese pirates" on this island by now.

These Han troops are incredibly brutal!
After considering the information provided by Shimazu Nariaki, Guo Qianzong decided to report to Xu Mingyu of Shuri Castle first.

Xu Mingyu was the one who orchestrated this trip, and he also held the official position of Vice Minister of the Hongfei Temple. Such a major matter involving foreign tribes was beyond the scope of his military command, so it was best to leave it to the other party to handle!

Upon hearing that Commander Guo had captured the Satsuma clan lord alive, even if he was only a nominal lord, it was still of great significance. Xu Mingyu immediately took a ship to Oshima, fearing that Commander Guo, being a rough man, would not be able to tolerate it and would kill Shimazu Sainobu.

On the day Xu Mingyu arrived at Oshima, the Han army dispatched a warship carrying two letters written by Shimazu Nariaki and Xu Mingyu to Kagoshima Castle.

three days later.

The Satsuma Domain dispatched a negotiating fleet to Amami Oshima to begin formal negotiations with the Han army.

(End of this chapter)