Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 259 Naha Incident
Abdullah sensed a strong hostility towards foreigners in Edo. He was constantly at risk of being assassinated by Japanese soldiers who could appear out of nowhere, so for his safety, he always had a guard accompanying him.

"Lord Ii Naosuke, my suggestion to your country is to proactively open it to foreign invasion. Our country has suffered similar foreign invasions in the past, but it has now rapidly grown stronger."

Facing the Iranian ambassador who had finally arrived, Ii Naosuke hoped that the other party could give him good advice, because whether it was the Dutch who came first, or the Americans and British who came later, they all wanted to influence Japan internally. For example, the British were secretly supporting local forces, and the shogunate could only suppress those troublesome daimyo. Most importantly, it needed to find foreign aid.

"Your Excellency is right. Japan needs to be more open now. However, our people will oppose this. You should know that they hate any behavior that infringes on their interests."

Ii Naosuke is right. There is currently a great deal of hostility within Japan towards being forced to open up. As the daimyo in the southwest become increasingly rebellious, especially the Choshu and Satsuma domains, the shogunate has no way to deal with them and keeps saying that the shogun should return power to the shogun.

"This is inevitable, Your Excellency. There will always be supporters and opponents. But we cannot push everyone to your side; that would be very dangerous for you."

What suggestions do you have?

He couldn't really offer any advice; it was nothing more than a strategy of dividing and conquering. Essentially, it involved uniting the powerful figures of the Northeast region to gain their support. But that was all he could say; the specifics would have to be figured out by the man himself.

Ii Naosuke also discussed the situation with the Iranian ambassador, and gained quite a bit. The current situation did not allow for continued suppression, otherwise the shogunate would eventually lose all power.

After discussing with Ii Naosuke, Abdullah left. He never wanted to come back to this place again; everyone looked like they owed him money, and he felt uncomfortable there.

Japanese businessmen also acted independently, cutting corners in their business dealings with Iranians. What's worse, they arbitrarily broke contracts and hired workers who would run away without notice.

This situation was even more pronounced in Naha, the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom. As a geographically important country, Ryukyu attracted merchants from many other countries, but most notably from Japan and Qing Dynasty China. Iran signed a treaty of friendship and trade with Ryukyu in 1857, gaining the right to trade there. Naturally, this led to encounters with Japanese merchants.

I had hoped the Japanese would behave themselves here, but they've become even more brazen. And the Japanese merchants aren't fleeing; they're hiding in the Zaiban Magistrate's Office located here. This office was responsible for handling official business between the Satsuma Domain and Ryukyu and managing trade affairs. Their residence was the Zaiban Magistrate's Office.

The Japanese businessmen hid here after swindling money, leaving the Iranian businessmen feeling helpless. They kept writing letters to the government, as they had never felt so wronged.

They had also approached the King of Ryukyu, but he was even more cowardly than they were and refused to provide a fair resolution. So, they decided to handle it themselves.

The mercenary legion stationed in Saigon sometimes took on other missions, but it was still somewhat boring. Adil was the same, but he did get a new mission: to go to Ryukyu and capture those Japanese merchants.

This task was undertaken by Iranian businessmen who voluntarily pooled their money to hire them, and even at the national level, the government is on their side.

"Damn it, they haven't come out here for days."

Several Iranian businessmen looked towards the Japanese magistrate's office, where the Japanese businessmen they hated were located. They were utterly lawless; they shouldn't think they could hide there unscathed. Judging by the time, they had arrived by now.

"They're here! They're here!" A squad of Iranian soldiers marched in with orderly steps. The businessmen from the United States, Britain, France, and the Netherlands in the area knew what was happening. They had also suffered greatly at the hands of Japanese businessmen, so they especially hoped that Iran could teach them a lesson.

The legion stopped in front of the magistrate's office, bringing cannons with them. The Japanese inside sensed the danger and picked up their samurai swords, preparing to go out and fight them.

"Sir, shall we continue?"

Conventionally, they should first directly ask the other party to hand over the person, but this time, Adil decided to take an unconventional approach.

"Fire!"

Good heavens, things have really come to a head now. But don't blame them; the Japanese are just too shameless.

boom!
The legion's two cannons fired at the magistrate's residence, the shells slamming heavily against the wall and causing it to collapse. Upon seeing this, the samurai inside rushed forward with their katana, chanting the name of Amaterasu.

"Fire!"

The Nadir-type machine guns reaped more lives; although the enemy wore armor, they couldn't withstand the overwhelming fire. Adil ordered his troops to charge, and they quickly captured the Japanese merchants and several officials inside. As for the rest, they were all forced to commit seppuku.

The six-hour battle was over, but its impact was enormous. To arrive as quickly as possible and to minimize the damage, Adil only brought 300 men, two cannons, and two machine guns. Therefore, he brought a ship directly with him.

This was the largest military operation by a foreign power against Ryukyu, but it didn't have much impact on the Ryukyu Kingdom itself, as the main target was the Japanese. Therefore, the Ryukyu king approved of it.

Iran arrested 25 Japanese businessmen and 6 officials, who are being held in the residence of an Iranian businessman. Iranian traders were overjoyed upon hearing the news, but Adil was somewhat worried, as he now had to consider how to resolve the situation after his initial satisfaction.

The first step was naturally to explain the situation to Britain, the United States, France, and the Netherlands, clarifying that this was merely a retaliatory action against Japan and would not endanger the four countries. Then, messages were sent to Saigon and Abdullah, instructing them to send warships in preparation for war with Japan.

Such an approach is certainly not problematic, but their enemy is not the whole of Japan, but the powerful southwestern domain of Japan, the Satsuma Domain.

Following the Naha Incident, Shimazu Tadayoshi, the daimyo of the Satsuma Domain in Kyushu, learned of the event. Under the previous daimyo's rule, the Satsuma Domain had greatly strengthened, particularly its navy, which was now the strongest in Japan. Coupled with the influence of expelling foreigners, the daimyo decided to dispatch his navy to resolve the issue.

In his view, defeating Iran would not only solidify the Satsuma Domain's position in Japan, but also allow them to annex Ryukyu, a win-win situation. For the sake of the nation, the Satsuma Domain was willing to sacrifice itself.

Meanwhile, Abdullah, who had already left Edo, also received news of Ryukyu on the ship. He ordered the ships to head towards Naha immediately and wrote to Governor-General Cinestan, assembling all naval warships to go to Ryukyu. Although he did not know the enemy's strength, he would intimidate them with sheer numbers.

(End of this chapter)