Daming: I help my wife be the empress

Chapter 753: Eighty thousand flags of the shogunate?Courtesy before soldiers
When the sound of naval guns sounded, Matsudaira Nobutsuna had just rushed to the dock with tens of thousands of soldiers and horses.

Hearing a series of 32 loud shelling, Matsudaira Nobutsuna showed surprise and hurried to a nearby watchtower.

Many of the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses who were ordered to repair on the spot showed panic—most of these soldiers and horses had never experienced a war, and a few of them had experienced the Shimabara Rebellion more than ten years ago, and they had never seen the sound Such a scary cannon.

Not to mention, they have already heard that it was the Ming army who came to invade Edo this time.

Although Japanese officials have been promoting that the battles of Bunroku and Keicho decades ago were born in Japan, the vassal lords had to withdraw their troops and return to the island only because of the death of Sekibai Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

But secretly, there are rumors that 10,000+ warriors died in North Korea due to the Ming army.

Fear made this army, which is dominated by samurai Bananamoto, royal family members and accompanying ministers (subordinate samurai) who have never experienced a big scene, almost collapsed. It was only managed by the reprimand of many military officers and the personal prestige of Matsudaira Nobuzuna. Maintain the army formation.

Nobutsuna Matsudaira, who had just climbed the watchtower, frowned and sighed secretly when he saw this scene.

As the general who quelled the Shimabara Rebellion more than ten years ago, he knew in his heart that at that time, the so-called "Banner Eighty Thousand Banners" army by the shogunate was already weakened beyond recognition.

Even with half the combat power of the elites who came out of the Warring States Period in the Wenlu and Qingchang battles, they would not have killed or injured tens of thousands of rebels composed of Catholic peasants, and lost generals one after another.

In the 19th year of Kanyong, due to the reduction of military operations and the suppression of the development of foreign vassals, the shogunate implemented the "ban on swords", forcing many samurai and ronin to go to sea to make a living, or simply become farmers, handicraftsmen, and the strength of the shogunate army then further down.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna insisted on resisting the invading enemy today, besides securing power for himself, he also had the idea of ​​taking the opportunity to boost Wufeng.

However, when he went upstairs and saw dozens of huge black warships on the sea, and the big splashes caused by the 32-gun burst of the battleship near the pier, Nobutsuna Matsudaira's thoughts were inexplicably shaken.

'Are these really Ming warships?How can it be so powerful? ! '

Nobuzuna Matsudaira was shocked.

He read enough information about the battles of Wenlu and Qingchang that year. Although the Ming army was strong at that time, it was mainly strong in cavalry and artillery. .

In addition, he also heard that Hongyi invaded Daming more than ten years ago, and they defeated Hongyi by cooperating with Zheng Zhilong who was still a pirate.

As for the fact that this fleet comes from the Zheng family, he has also considered it - but he has never heard that the Zheng family has so many Western galleons.

Soon, Nobutsuna Matsudaira noticed that there were many differences between these galleons and Western galleons.

Firstly, there is one or several big chimneys on the ship; secondly, the whole body seems to be covered with a layer of black iron armor; thirdly, the sails are somewhat different, not exactly the same as those of western ships.

While observing the warships of the Ming army, Nobuzuna Matsudaira also paid attention to the changes in the situation on the sea at the pier.

The warship of the Ming army who was close to firing the cannon obviously just wanted to demonstrate, so the shells fell on the sea near the pier, but did not land on the shore or any fort.

Those Japanese samurai stationed at the base of the island were not stupid.

Seeing that the Ming army had the ability to easily destroy the fort, and the Fran machine with the largest caliber in the fort bombarded it, it only left a dent on the iron armored ship of the Ming army, which could not be destroyed at all, so no one dared to continue firing.

The Edo people watching near the pier were stunned for a few breaths after the Matsue battleship fired, and many people screamed in horror and fled away from the pier.

Suddenly, many people were tripped, trampled, seriously injured, or died tragically on the spot...
As the first diplomat to go to Japan this time, Li Xiangen stood on a watchtower on the second deck of the Matsue, using binoculars to see that there was chaos at the Edo Wharf due to a burst of demonstration shells, and many people trampled on each other.

When he came back to his senses, he couldn't help but said with a complicated expression: "We didn't intend to hurt people, but we never thought that these Japanese people would be surprised by the bombardment and trample on each other under the chaos. It's really..."

He didn't know how to describe it.

The captain of the Songjiang ship (Chief Qian) Zhou Rui smiled and said, "Counselor Li, it's time for you to land——I have already arranged for the speedboat and the guards."

"It's work."

"Counselor Li, you don't have to be polite about your duties."

Zhou Rui was quite enthusiastic and obviously intended to befriend him, but Li Xiangen didn't communicate with him much, and got off the boat after a few polite words.

He knew that Zhou Rui's enthusiasm for him was not because of his status as Jinshi and diplomatic counselor in the fifth year of Zhaowu, but because his grandfather was Lv Daqi, governor of Shaanxi and Gansu.

It was clear that anyone could have predicted that once a governor like his grandfather returned to the court, he would be a cabinet minister at worst, and he might even go straight to the military plane.

Therefore, there are quite a few people who can make friends with Li Xiangen in recent years, and he has long been used to it.

After getting off the deck, he took the diplomatic documents from the accompanying diplomatic secretary and checked them again. After confirming that they were correct, Li Xiangen followed the folding ladder from the Songjiang ship to a small boat.

Ten soldiers of the Eastern Marine Corps are already fully armed and waiting.

These ten people and him are all wearing floating face armor - this kind of armor was specially developed by the imperial court for the Marine Corps. Its defense is naturally inferior to the excellent cotton armor of the current border guards, but it can also defend against Can hold a knife and arrow.

It can also act as a hindrance to ordinary matchlock guns twenty steps away.

The most important thing is not to be afraid of falling into the water.

There is a layer of floating bubbles inside the armor suit, and the armor is thin and light. Not only will it not accelerate the sinking after falling into the water, but it can provide a certain buoyancy.And it is very convenient and easy to take off, so that the soldiers will not be encumbered by the armor and die.

In addition, each of these ten people was equipped with a flintlock, two grenades, and a short gun.

He had a revolver, a grenade.

Although such a small team cannot deal with all crises, it will not make them defenseless.

Sitting in the small boat, ten marines acted as oarsmen, and let the small boat sail towards the pier at a fairly fast speed.

During this process, Li Xiangen saw Japanese military officers and samurai evacuating the panicked crowd on the pier.

More military officers and warriors gathered towards the pier, seeming to regard them as enemies.

"It seems that the information given by Jin Yiwei is correct. After decades of Tokugawa shogunate rule, Japan's armed forces have dropped a lot compared to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's period.

I hope that those in the Tokugawa shogunate can also understand this, and honestly accept the terms of the agreement prepared by me, Ming. '

···
Sakai Tadakatsu finally met with Matsudaira Nobuzuna, but Abe Chuaki was in charge of guarding the castle and did not come over.

Both of them also saw the Ming army speedboat approaching the pier quickly, and the Ming envoy flag on it.

They are all big names passed down in their families, with profound knowledge, and they can recognize the envoy's flag.

Then Tadakatsu Sakai breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest and said, "Since the envoys are sent to talk first, then it is not for war."

Just based on the performance of the Songjiang ship's sideline discussion and shelling just now, if it fights with the Ming army today, I am afraid that Edo may not even be able to defend for a day.

Matsudaira Nobuzuna also had lingering fears about the previous naval bombardment, but he was still very vigilant about the Ming army.

He said in a cold voice: "The Ming Dynasty is the source of Confucianism. It always likes to put the etiquette first before the soldiers. Sending envoys first does not necessarily mean that they will not use force—the old man can see clearly that those ships are warships, but there is not a single one." It's a merchant ship."

While the two were talking, the speedboat was almost at the pier.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna hurriedly asked the trusted military officer to reorganize the army behind him again, one to avoid being underestimated by the Ming envoy, and the other to give the Ming envoy a blow.

Although he knew that this slap in the face probably wouldn't work, but he had to try, right?

　Second more.

　　Good night~
　　Correct the typo later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)