Chapter 367 Taiping Army

Chapter 367 Taiping Army

Chapter 367 Pacific Crusade

Japan, Hokkaido, Hakodate, Goryokaku Fortress.

This place was formerly called Ezo, but now the anti-shogunate army is advancing triumphantly and has occupied the entire Honshu Island. The reformists are very proud and have abolished the feudal domains and changed them into prefectures, and renamed Ezo Hokkaido.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu held onto the fortress wall, looking southwest towards Hakodate, maintaining his dignity as a general. The veins on his other hand, which was holding the telescope, were exposed, but it was trembling slightly.

Ninjas kept coming to report, and all the news was bad.

"Reporting to the general, the anti-shogunate rebels, with the help of the French fleet, landed at Otobe-cho, north of Shoji-cho. They have advanced rapidly and have already captured Hakodate. They are now attacking Ippongi Pass. The remaining Shogitai fought hard but were defeated. Ippongi is in danger."

Do you need to report this? The Ipponki is right below the fortress. If we lose the Ipponki, the rebels will come straight to Goryokaku.

"Reporting to the general, the French Yokohama Fleet assisted the anti-shogunate army in attacking Miyako Bay. The French sailors and gunners hired by the Stonewall surrendered to the enemy under the guidance of French instructors."

"The ironclad ship Stonewall fell into the hands of the anti-shogunate rebels and was renamed 'Kaitetsu'."

"Reporting to the General, the Shogunate Navy's surprise attack on the armored ships failed, the Chiyodagata hit a reef, Miyamoto lost the Battle of the Sea, and Commander Enomoto Takeaki led the Kaiten and Panryu to retreat to Hakodate Bay."

Tokugawa Yoshinobu sighed to the sky, thinking that God was not on his side. He had to be protected by the Shinsengumi and retreat all the way north. The daimyo under his command were extremely loyal.

In the bloody battle of Nagaoka and the desperate defense of Aizu, loyal men of the shogunate continued to emerge, but they kept falling under the guns of the new anti-shogunate army trained with the help of the French.

Now that he had retreated to Ezo, he was at the end of his rope, with only two loyal ministers left by his side: Hijikata Toshizo of the Shinsengumi and Admiral Enomoto Takeaki.

"How about this general send someone to talk to His Majesty the Emperor?"

"No!"

Hijikata Toshizo knelt down and touched the ground with his head. "If we negotiate now, the rebels will not let the general live. We still have the reinforcements from the Nanyang Kirishita."

Tokugawa Yoshinobu was furious. He turned around and grabbed Yang Jianhou by the collar. "This general believed your big words and persisted until now. Half a year has passed. Where are the reinforcements from Nanyang!?"

Yang Jianhou bowed slightly, very "Japanese pirates", "Reinforcements will definitely come."

Hijikata Toshizo stood up and said, "My lord, I will lead my men to defend Ipponki to the death. Please board the navy ship and head to the South Seas."

After that, he waved his hand and said, "Shinsengumi, attack! It's time to sacrifice your lives for the shogun and repay the general's kindness!"

There were only fifty people left in the Shinsengumi, and they rushed to Ippondogi Pass under the leadership of Hijikata Toshizo.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu, surrounded by the "Nanyang Christian warriors" led by Yang Jianhou, headed towards the seaside.

One man was able to block the passage of ten thousand at the Ippogi Pass, but once the fifty elite soldiers of the Shinsengumi joined in, they were able to hold off the fierce attack of the anti-shogunate army.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu bowed deeply towards the back of his most loyal and beloved general, and turned towards the sea without hesitation.

Just as they were about to reach the seashore, they suddenly saw the "Ironclad" in the lead, followed by a dozen wooden-hulled steam ships of the French Yokohama Fleet, emitting black smoke and with full sails, surrounding the "Kaiten" and "Panlong" ships on the seashore.

The Kaiten raised the white flag, and the shogunate's last resort, Navy Commander Enomoto Takeaki, surrendered.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu's eyes went dark, and his head felt as if it had been hit hard, "God wants to destroy me!"

Hijikata Toshizo at the Ippogi Pass in the distance also saw the scene here with a telescope. In the direction of Hakodate, the new army of the anti-shogunate army was charging with the "Brocade Imperial Banner" with chrysanthemum petals. The fifty warriors around him were constantly hit by bullets, and their number was decreasing.

Suddenly, black smoke billowed over the sea in the distance, and more than forty sailing warships flying the American flag appeared.

Hijikata Toshizo muttered to himself, "Are the American black ships coming again? Are they here to help the traitors overthrow the shogunate? No! This time they are here to help us!"

Behind the American fleet were endless transport ships, the number of which was impossible to tell, but there were actually more than 180 of them.

The transport ships were filled with soldiers wearing bicorne hats, and all of them were flying the Rising Sun flag of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Ahem, yes, that’s the kind we are familiar with.

"Have the Nanyang reinforcements finally arrived?"

When he turned around, the last comrade beside him had already fallen in a pool of blood. The anti-Qing army had already started to carry the big logs and shouted slogans together, "One warehouse, one warehouse!"

Hitting the checkpoint gate.

We must not let the enemy army get through. We must buy time for the lord to get reinforcements!
Boom! The gate collapsed. The new soldiers rushed to Tokugawa Yoshinobu who was standing on the seashore in the distance. That was the target for whom His Majesty had offered a huge reward.

Suddenly, a dark figure descended from the sky, and Hijikata Toshizo held the "Izumi-no-Kami Kanesada" in his hand and blocked the road.

"The shogunate guards are here! Shinsengumi leader Hijikata Toshizo is here!" No one dared to fight him, and the new army rushed forward.

Hijikata Toshisaga recited a suicide poem, "I will sacrifice my life on Ezo Island, and my loyal soul will forever protect the Lord of the East," and then he rushed forward with a knife.

Hijikata Toshizo is the leader of the Shinsengumi and a master of the "Tennen Rishin-ryu". If he fights desperately at this moment, ordinary soldiers are really no match for him.
At the Ippogi Pass, Hijikata Toshizo was guarding the pass alone and blocked several thousand new troops who were about to overthrow the shogunate.

The cold light of "Izumi-no-Kami Kanesada" flashed, and the new army soldiers holding French Chassepeau M1866 bolt-action rifles with bayonets fell one by one.

"boom!"

A bullet shot into Hijikata Toshizo's chest. Hijikata Toshizo leaned on his sword, swayed twice, and slowly sat down.

This is exactly the true portrayal of "No matter how good your martial arts skills are, you can be knocked down with one shot."

The Turkish side looked at the seashore and saw that the American fleet had already met the French Yokohama fleet, but they did not fight. The French fleet must have received some orders from the higher authorities from the American fleet and retreated.

One after another, the transport ships landed on the beach. The leading officers saluted the general, and more and more Japanese flags were raised around the general.

The Christian soldiers wearing bicorne hats have lined up on the beach, and the American fleet has aimed its guns at the Ippongi Pass and has begun shelling.

"The general is finally saved!"

Hijikata no longer had any worries, and suddenly recited a Japanese poem, "The world is bustling, the cherry blossoms silently fade away in an instant, and we only have a moment to see each other."

"Qianhe, see you in the next life..."

At the last moment, Tokugawa Yoshinobu waited for reinforcements from Southeast Asia.

The last loyal samurai of the shogunate, died in the Battle of Hakodate.

On the 17th day of the first lunar month in the tenth year of the Tongzhi reign, Taiping general Yang Changjiu and Nian general Zhang Hanchen led 120,000 Kirishita soldiers to reinforce the lone general Tokugawa Yoshinobu in Ezo and wiped out the 3,000 new anti-shogunate troops who had crossed the sea to fight.

Generals Zhang and Yang identified Tokugawa Yoshinobu as the sixth son of the Emperor of Heaven. Tokugawa Yoshinobu was baptized as a Christian daimyo, hung a cross on his chest, and the army raised a cross flag.

Under the protection of the Christian army, Tokugawa Yoshinobu swore an oath in Hakodate and began the southern crusade against Shintoism.

An army of 120,000 men boarded 180 transport ships and, under the joint escort of the American Atlantic Fleet and the French Yokohama Fleet, crossed the sea and set foot on Honshu Island, singing all the way and advancing rapidly southward.

Japan had no telegraph lines, and the only French consul in China was Brother Blaini, whose warships had all been seized. He had no chance to send a ship to inform the French Yokohama Fleet of domestic changes. The Yokohama Fleet had been carrying out the original order to intervene in Japan.

It was not until George Dewey received a handwritten edict from Emperor Alfonso I of France that he was ordered to assist Tokugawa Yoshinobu and then sailed to his new base in Madagascar.

The American transport fleet completed its mission and turned into merchant ships, heading to various places in the Far East to pick up goods and make money.

George Dewey led his fleet to Yokohama, where they stayed at the former French fleet berth for two months. Then, he waited for his new ship, the 3,000-ton steam-armored cruiser "Atlanta".

Also accompanying the ship were two sister ships of the Atlanta class, the USS Boston and the USS Chicago.

U.S. President Johnson crossed the Pacific Ocean and visited the Qing Dynasty on three newly commissioned Atlanta-class warships.

The three ironclad ships joined the Atlantic Fleet led by George Dewey, which was crossing the Atlantic and the Suez Canal in Yokohama.

The American visiting delegation, with three ironclad ships as the core and more than 40 steam sailing warships following, headed straight for Dagukou.

…………

April 1st, the tenth year of the Tongzhi reign, Forbidden City, West Warm Pavilion.

The Minister of Military Affairs Ronglu came running over, "My Lord, it's bad! American President Johnson, British Prime Minister Braxton, German Prime Minister Bismarck, French Foreign Minister Blanqui, and Russian Foreign Minister Gorchakov are visiting together and have arrived at Dagukou."

"All nations are coming to pay tribute, isn't this a good thing?"

The old lady's voice was calm and unhurried, "Isn't Shao Quanzhong back yet?"

"Shao Quanzhong took the Haiqi and arrived in Hailing first. He said he was sending a disabled British scientist to Xiaoxiang Cliff, and then he would take the train to Beijing to meet the emperor."

"Let's not talk about Shao Quanzhong for now. When the other countries came to the court this time, Dagukou gathered eleven giant ironclad ships and more than seventy steam-powered sailing warships. Their scale is dozens of times that of the British and French fleets back then. They have bad intentions."

Wenxiang followed Ronglu in and said, "Humph! Shao Quanzhong colluded with foreigners, marched to Dagukou, and threatened the court. He is a traitor and a rebel!"

"The Qing Dynasty will never surrender. I suggest that all new troops be sent to Beijing to defend the emperor, drive away the foreigners, and destroy the traitor Shao!"

(End of this chapter)