Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 387 Landing Location Selection
"Huh, all the people are soldiers?" As a Koei fan before traveling through time, Zhu Youdong was very interested in the history of the Japanese Warring States period. But after really understanding it, he realized that the reality was much more bleak than the game: a group of 1.4-meter-tall dwarf mules wearing simple armor, thousands of people fighting for a day with a casualty rate of less than 3%. During the so-called two hundred years of chaos, the population of the entire Japan was still growing steadily...
What's the use of these soldiers trained in the Warring States Period?
Not to mention that he had already made arrangements in advance and spent a lot of effort to bring the only child of the Toyotomi family to the Ming Dynasty to raise him.
"My lords, you don't have to take the Japanese pirates' mobilization of all their people seriously. I think the most important thing is to understand the sea conditions around the Japanese pirates' homeland. You should know that even when the Mongols were at their most powerful, they failed to conquer the Japanese pirates' homeland. But this was not a crime committed in war. It was just bad luck. They encountered a typhoon and lost most of their troops before they landed. Therefore, the sea conditions are the most important thing for our dynasty to conquer the Japanese pirates this time."
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. In the past two years, the Royal Guards have been monitoring the sea conditions around the Japanese pirates' homeland through fishermen in Shandong and Liaodong. It is now clear that from June to October every year, typhoons are most frequent around the Japanese pirates' homeland. From December to February every year, typhoons are the least frequent. From March to May and November, typhoons gradually increase or decrease. In short, the time period from June to October is the core. The longer the distance from this time period, the fewer typhoons there are."
"Hmm..." After listening to Tian Ergeng's report, Zhu Youdong turned around and said to Wang Xiangqian: "Grand Marshal, can the Ministry of War mobilize troops before February?"
"Your Majesty, as long as the sea vessels can be guaranteed, there should be no problem. Although Your Majesty has only recently returned to the capital, the war in Siam has actually ended a long time ago. Not only have all the troops been recuperating for nearly half a year, but all the shortages caused by the war have been made up, and all kinds of supplies have been prepared in place."
"Does the Ministry of War have a comprehensive plan?"
Wang Xiangqian said: "When the emperor visited Siam, the Ministry of War worked together with the two major military academies to formulate a plan. But before that, I would like to ask Commander Tian to explain the results of their work."
"Oh? How come someone from the Japanese pirates agreed to be the insider?"
"Your Majesty is the wisest." Tian Ergeng stood up and said, "Your Majesty, after many efforts by the Jinyiwei and the Toyotomi family's officials on Taihu Island, the Date family and the Uesugi family in Korea have clearly stated that as long as Your Majesty can expand the two families' territories on the pirate island of Honshu after the war, they are willing to give up the two lines of defense north of Pyongyang. At the same time, even if our army reaches Pyongyang, they are willing to withdraw all their main forces in Pyongyang City. As long as Your Majesty sends a few thousand people to symbolically surround Pyongyang and let them give an explanation to the shogunate at home, they promise that they will never rush out of the city to cause trouble for us."
"Humph! These two barbarians have a good plan. If our army wins, they will return home intact. If our army is defeated, they will cut off our retreat. What a wishful thinking!"
Date Masamune was an ambitious man, and Uesugi Kagekatsu was suppressed by the Tokugawa family. Both families had ideas about the Tokugawa family. Usually they could only endure, but when the Tokugawa family was in trouble, they would definitely have other plans. Therefore, when Tian Ergeng said that he had done the work of these two families, Zhu Youdong believed it. But what were the conditions? Do you really think I'm a fool?
"How many troops do they have?"
"Your Majesty, the Japanese pirates have deployed 105,000 troops in Korea, and the Date and Uesugi families have 55,000 troops. But they are all old-style troops, there are no new troops."
"How much benefit do more than 50,000 chickens and clay dogs want to gain by not participating in the war? Tell them that if they are willing to rebel at the first opportunity, they can lead the army to counterattack the Japanese army in Seoul. Then after the war, I promise that their territory on Honshu Island will at least double. If they still don't want to take responsibility and just open up the defense line to let us march straight in, haha, then after the war, the most I can give them is the ability to protect them."
"Yes, I obey your command."
"Are these the only two guys contacted on the Korean Peninsula? What about the others?"
"Uh, Your Majesty." Tian Ergeng looked strange: "According to the introduction of Toyotomi's retainers on Taihu Lake, we have been focusing on the work of the outer daimyo during this period, and have not had any contact with the hereditary daimyo and the relatives. Among the other outer daimyo on the Korean Peninsula, the Maeda family and the Mori family are noncommittal. And the Shimazu family really let me..." He spread his hands: "The head of this family actually said that he was deeply indebted to the shogunate and would fight for the general to the end..."
"Tsk! A bunch of poor bastards, suddenly got such a large piece of land, they are so blinded. If that's the case, then this family doesn't need to exist after the war. Well, that's the case in Korea, what about the Japanese pirates' homeland?"
"Your Majesty, the territories of Date and Uesugi in the Japanese pirates' homeland are located in a remote area in the northeast. Our dynasty will also land in the southwest of the Japanese pirates' homeland. So there is no need to talk about these two families. With the help of Toyotomi's retainers, we have also contacted many outer daimyo. However, areas such as Osaka, Edo, and Ise Bay are either directly under the jurisdiction of the shogunate or guarded by close vassal lords. Therefore, contacting these outer daimyo is more about causing panic among the people in Japan, and it does not have much military significance. To be honest, there is only one outer daimyo that the Ministry of War and Marshals Ma and Yu are interested in."
"oh?"
"Your Majesty, here." Tian Ergen pointed his baton at the north side of Honshu Island near the Sea of Japan: "In the Tottori Domain. The lord here is a branch of the Ikeda family. This Ikeda family originated from Ikeda Terumasa, the milk brother of Oda Nobunaga, a great leader of the Japanese pirates. After Terumasa died in battle for Toyotomi Hideyoshi, his second son Ikeda Terumasa became the head of the family. Later, he was granted the title of Harima Himeji Castle on the north side of the Seto Inland Sea. And Terumasa's sons and nephews have completely lost their brotherly love in order to compete for the status of the main family of Harima and the 420,000-koku territory. Now, Ikeda Mitsunaka, the lord of the Tottori Domain, and the Ikeda main family are completely at odds with each other. So, after we contacted the lord of the domain, the other party clearly expressed his willingness to open his territory and cooperate with our landing. And promised to immediately raise the banner of supporting the restoration of the Toyotomi family after we landed."
"Your Majesty." Yu Zigao stood up and said, "According to our recent monitoring of the waters around the four islands of the Japanese pirates, it is clear that the wind and waves along the northern coast of Honshu Island are relatively small, and the probability of typhoons is not too high. Moreover, in March and April, the tidal range of the entire Sea of Japan is extremely small, even less than 0.2 meters on the Honshu Island side. Such sea conditions are very conducive to our landing. It is also convenient for the supply transportation of the subsequent fleet after our landing."
"Hmm..." After listening to the reports from the ministers, Zhu Youdong fell into deep thought.
Attacking an island nation like Japan would inevitably involve the issue of landing. Speaking of landing, of course, the easiest way is to land directly in Edo Bay: the Tokugawa shogunate is not a centralized government. Once Edo is taken and Toyotomi Kunimatsu is pushed out, I am afraid that the rule of the entire shogunate will begin to collapse.
However, Zhu Youdong saw this, and Tokugawa Yoshinao could see it too. It was said that Edo Bay was now filled with various fortress guns and mines. If they crashed into it directly, the outcome would be disastrous - it would be difficult to find an insider if they landed in Edo Bay.
In this war, it is better to fight in one go. Therefore, Zhu Youdong also hoped to land successfully in the first year of Tianqi. In order to land successfully, besides Edo Bay, the second best place is Osaka Bay. However, this is now the direct jurisdiction of the Tokugawa family, and the surrounding daimyo are either relatives or hereditary daimyo. It is also easy to encounter fierce resistance.
Therefore, landing in Infan on the north side of Honshu Island might not be a bad choice. But in this case, the Japanese army on the Korean Peninsula would have to fight: landing on the north side of Honshu Island is obviously best started from Korea. Driving from the Ming side, you have to pass through the Tsushima Strait: how can thousands of ships pass under their noses without being discovered? Once the enemy knows that we are still heading north after passing Tsushima, this strategic intention cannot be concealed. In this way, the landing is still full of variables.
