Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 262: Summer Battle in Osaka (Part 8)
For Yu Zigao, the general of Funing Town in the Ming Dynasty, this day was a subversive change to his life of more than forty years.
At the beginning, although he handed over the command to Li Guozhu under the strict orders of Zhu Youdong and Yuan Keli, he was still resentful. He was even prepared to support Li Guozhu at any time if he failed to fight well.
As a result, seeing Li Guozhu opening fire at full force and causing the mighty Fujitang fleet to flee in panic, the entire Funing Town, including him, was extremely shocked.
Funing Town was the strongest naval force of the Ming Dynasty before the rise of Chongmingsha, and it also had sailing warships - of course, they were Chinese style.
Specifically, Yu Zigao also had several warships with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, which could carry about 20 125mm guns. However, the hulls of such warships were Fuchuan hulls, and they also used hard sails. The problem was not obvious in shallow waters, but after entering the deep blue, the gap between them and Li Guozhu's fleet, which used galleons as hulls, suddenly emerged.
When Li Guozhu's fleet and Liu Sheng's fleet began to bombard each other and constantly maneuvered to seize the T-head, Yu Zigao knew very well in his heart: naval warfare has really entered a new era.
"Marshal, Commander Li's communication ship has arrived, asking us to intercept and destroy the enemy's Ataku ships and ironclad ships, and then ignore them and sail directly into Osaka Bay to pick up the people."
"good!"
As the son of a famous general, Yu Zigao was no ordinary man: when Li Guozhu's fleet ravaged the Fujitang fleet, he had already led his fleet to the northwest for a long distance. Therefore, when the Fujitang fleet had to retreat to the west in order to make room for the Yagyu fleet in the east, it happened to run into the arms of the Funing Town Navy.
At this time, the Fujido fleet still had dozens of Daiantaku and a small number of ironclad ships. Seeing the Ming army blocking the way ahead, Fujido Takatora, who was already angry and ashamed, suddenly became crazy: "Charge! As long as you don't get sunk, charge up and ram! Then board and fight!"
Therefore, under the strict order of Fujido Takatora, the captains of each Japanese ship went down to the bottom of the deck and urged the rowers at the bottom of the ship: Go at full speed!
"Humph!" Looking at the crazy Japanese fleet, Yu Zigao twitched his lips coldly: "Order, all fleets, head towards the enemy, charge!"
"Marshal? Why don't we fire at those Japanese pirates from the side?"
"It's too late. Because we have to cut in front of the enemy's retreat route, our army's angle of entry is too small. As a result, we are less than 300 rounds away from the enemy. Our artillery has a slow firing rate and is far less powerful than Chongmingsha's warships. At such a short distance, we cannot sink most of the enemy's warships. Therefore," Yu Zigao slapped the wooden board on the bow heavily, "we can only collide head-on, and then kill the enemy with bird guns or even hand-to-hand combat!"
"I understand and will obey the commander-in-chief's orders!"
Facing the madness of Fujido Takatora, Yu Zigao did not give in. So the two fleets headed towards each other, and soon they entered a situation of collision, exchange of musketry and even close combat.
The entire surface of the Osaka Bay was boiling.
And in Osaka Castle.
After asking Katagiri Katsumoto to go back and report to Tokugawa Ieyasu, Toyotomi Hideyori stood up and walked directly to the attic of the castle tower.
Looking at the war-torn Osaka Castle below, he took a deep breath and said to the young man beside him, "Go and bring Kunimatsumaru over."
"Hi."
"Thank you." Hideyori, still polite, looked up at the ceiling again: "Saemon."
"Hi!" With a swish, a man in ninja costume appeared beside him.
"Please cross the battlefield and find Yan Sang and Lord Sanada in the chaos. I have..."
"Your Excellency, the Right Minister, there is no need to look for me. We are already here."
Following this voice, without paying any attention to the exclamations and rebukes from Yodohime and the maids in the room, Yan Siqi and Sanada Yukimura, with blood on their faces, stood beside Toyotomi Hideyori.
"Haha." After a gentle smile, Toyotomi Hideyori extended a hand and invited the two to go back inside and sit down. Then he personally poured tea for them.
"Your Excellency, the Right Minister!"
"Yes." The young and fair face was extremely calm at the moment: "Please wait for a moment, both of you. Although the war is urgent, we can still wait for ten minutes, right?"
Alas, with this man's manners and demeanor, if he lived in the peaceful and prosperous era of our Ming Dynasty, he would be a handsome young man.
Soon after this thought suddenly occurred to him, Yan Siqi immediately began to be alert: Find out who you are! Don't forget your country after living in Osaka for almost a year!
Yan Siqi didn't say anything, and Yukimura Sanada, a samurai who still had a deep sense of hierarchy in his mind, was even less able to speak. Yodohime and others also looked at Toyotomi Hideyori with extremely strange and surprised eyes, and were speechless.
After a brief yet long silence, a young man entered the room holding Toyotomi Kunimatsu, the eight-year-old only son of Toyotomi Hideyori.
"Yan-san, this is my only son, Kunimatsumaru. He is also Taiko's only grandson."
"I meet Master Guosong."
"The war situation is urgent, so I will keep it simple. Yan Sang, Sanada-kun, when the Ming fleet enters Osaka, please gather your trusted generals to accompany Kunimatsu on board and send him to Ming."
"Hideyori, what are you talking about?"
"Your Excellency, the Right Minister? Aren't you going to Ming?"
"My God~ Do you want Kunimatsu to leave you?"
With a gentle wave of his wide sleeves, after everyone in the room quieted down, Hideyori said, "As the son of Taiko, my birth itself is stained with blood."
"Hideyori, how can you say that?"
"Mother, please be patient." After a slight smile, Hideyori continued, "Because of my background, my father forced my brother Hidetsugu, who was already the heir of the Toyotomi family, to death in order for me to inherit the Toyotomi family in the future. He also killed all his concubines and children. I said that my birth was stained with blood, isn't it wrong?"
Before Hideyori was born, Hideyoshi, who was old and childless (Hideyori's previous sons all died young), appointed his nephew Hidetsugu as his successor and trained him carefully. Hidetsugu's performance was generally good. Moreover, as an adult monarch, if Hideyori had not been born, then after Hidetsugu inherited the Toyotomi family, the Toyotomi family would not be as miserable as it is today.
Unfortunately, the birth of Hideyori made Toyotomi Hideyoshi want to pass the world to his son, so he forced Toyotomi Hidetsugu to death on inexplicable charges and killed his entire family.
This incident was a stain on the Toyotomi regime and greatly shook the foundation of its rule.
"So, I have been living under great pressure these years. Think about it, if Brother Hidetsugu was still alive, would there be the Battle of Kanehara? Would the Tokugawa family be as aggressive as they are today?"
"Hideyori, what are you talking about! If Hidetsugu inherits the world, he will only think about how to kill you all day long!"
"Haha, mother, didn't Tokugawa Ieyasu always want to kill me? If Brother Hidetsugu killed me, at least the Toyotomi family would still be there. But if Tokugawa kills me today, both the Toyotomi family and I will be gone. After the Toyotomi family is destroyed, how will the Tokugawa family tell future generations about the deeds of father? I'm afraid they will draw father as a monkey in their comics, right?"
"Nonsense, didn't you hear what Qie Yuan said just now? His Majesty Edo has proposed a truce, as long as we agree to transfer the title."
"Hahahaha~~ Mother, it's okay for a person to fall once, but if he falls into the same pit multiple times, that's really unacceptable."
After saying this, Hideyori no longer paid attention to Yodohime, but turned to Yan Siqi: "Sang Yan, your country's crown prince sent you to help my Toyotomi family, I'm afraid he doesn't have good intentions, right?"
"Uh... Your Excellency, it doesn't matter if you have good intentions or not. You just need to understand one thing. If the Ming fleet hadn't been about to break into Osaka Bay today, Katagiri Katsumoto would never have come in to propose a ceasefire negotiation."
"…You are right. If it weren't for His Royal Highness the Great Ming Crown Prince, my Toyotomi family would have been completely destroyed today. So, Kunimatsumaru."
"I'm Dosan~"
"You will follow this Yan-san later. General Sanada, General Otani, General Akashi and this Saemon will be by your side to protect you."
"Father, do you want Kunimatsu to leave you?"
"Well, this is also a last resort. Yan Sang."
"Your Excellency, the Right Minister."
"Can you adopt Kunimatsu as your adopted son?"
"...Ah." After a long sigh, Yan Siqi said helplessly: "Sir, why don't you go to Ming? Although we are at a disadvantage at the moment, we still have a firm control over the harbor area. Judging from the sound on the sea, my Ming warships will be able to approach us soon."
"Well, why don't I go to Ming Dynasty?" Toyotomi Hideyori lowered his head to think for a while, then raised his head and showed a warm smile: "Because I am a person who is very afraid of hard work."
He simply left his seat and walked around the room, saying, "Because I was afraid of hard work, I used to leave all the affairs in Osaka Castle to my mother. Even after I became an adult, I still did so. Because I was afraid of hard work, I felt a sense of resistance when I thought about traveling across the ocean to the Ming Dynasty to be a stray dog living under someone else's roof.
But Kunimatsu is different. He is still young. If His Royal Highness wants to help him restore the Toyotomi family in the future, that would be great. If His Royal Highness doesn't have this intention, he can live and study in Ming Dynasty since he was a child and become a citizen of Ming Dynasty in the future. Isn't that great?"
"Sir! If you stay, you will definitely be killed by the Tokugawa family!"
"It is indeed very likely, but if the Tokugawa family knew that Kunimatsu had left, there was also a great possibility that my mother and I would be spared. Besides." The gentle smile made Yan Siqi's heart tremble: "If the Tokugawa family kills me, Kunimatsu will fight back in the future, wouldn't it be justified?"
"Your Excellency..." Yan Siqi, who was sitting on the tatami, bowed deeply according to Japanese etiquette: "Your Excellency's determination and courage really move me deeply. Although I will probably be punished by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince when I return, I accept Kunimatsumaru as my adopted son."
"Thank you Yan-san, Kunimatsumaru, come over and call me foster father."
After completing the simple etiquette, Toyotomi Hideyori turned around and said, "Sanada-kun."
"Hi Yi!"
"I gave you a copy of the Historical Records a few days ago, The Family of Zhao. Have you finished reading it?"
"Hey, I've read it over and over again."
"Then, for the sake of this orphan of the Toyotomi clan, I will choose a simpler task and personally serve as Gongsun Chujiu. Please accept the most difficult task and serve as the righteous man Cheng Ying who has been praised for thousands of years. Is that okay?"
"Your Excellency! How dare I not follow the example of my predecessors and devote myself to the revival of the Toyotomi clan until my death!"
