New Shun 1730

The smoke rising from the fire has become the best road sign.

After the team of more than 300 people entered the city, they joined Wu Fangrui's thirty-three cavalry and rushed towards the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

Surprise attacks seem to rely on speed, but in fact they rely on organization versus chaos and disorganization. Wu Fangrui knows this very well.

Until this moment, Kyoto Governor Toki Yorino had not yet understood the seriousness of the matter. He had never fought in a war. The reason why he was appointed as the governor of Kyoto was mainly because he showed his ability in promoting sweet potatoes and providing disaster relief during the famine.

However, a person who is good at growing sweet potatoes may not necessarily be able to fight.

A place that had been peaceful for more than a hundred years suddenly encountered this kind of chaos, and the entire Kyoto completely lost its organization.

Two grenades were also thrown near the palace, the door was closed, and there was no idea what was going on inside.

When he led people to the Hamu Gate, the guards in the city closed the gate tightly and refused to open it.

Fortunately, Sekihaku Ichijo Kaneka knew something was going on, and wanted to know if someone was causing trouble or if the shogunate was planning to make some big move, so he had to go to Kamimikado first to check out the situation.

When Toki Yorino explained in detail how the Dashun army entered the city and set fire to the city, Guan Shiro asked three questions in a row, but Toki Yorino's answer perfectly reproduced the allusion of asking three questions and not knowing.

"Where do the enemies come from?"

"I don't know."

"What did the enemy do?"

"I don't know."

"How many enemies are there? Is their entire army here? Will their reinforcements arrive?"

"I don't know either."

Ichijo Jianxiang suppressed his anger and sighed: "A gentleman's plan is to carry it out from the beginning to the end, and then go into it. Now that you three have entered without knowing it, how can you make a plan? Since the beginning of the war in the Tang Dynasty, it has been erratic, and we still don't know where it is. Why was he invaded Kyoto today?"

"The General Zhengyi established his government in Edo, separated by mountains and rivers. You are the representative of Kyoto. Isn't this your responsibility?"

Under normal circumstances, Ichijo Kaneka would not have said such serious words to Kyoto Toshiro.

He and Toyotomi Hideyoshi are both official officials, but the meanings of these two official posts are completely different.

While he was talking, a samurai ran up to him with a horrified look on his face and told Toki Yorimin terrible news. In the north, the movement of the Tang army has been discovered. There are many people, at least several hundred people.

After hearing this, Toki Yorimin hoped to meet the emperor. He had an official position. According to the rules, those without official positions could not meet the emperor. So when the Vietnamese sent elephants ten years ago, they had to give the elephant an official rank of "fourth rank" before he could enter.

Fortunately, Toki Yorino also had a formal official position in the imperial court, not just as the Kyoto Chief of the Shogunate.

Ichijo Kaneka and Toki Yorimin made an exception and passed through the Kenrei Gate. After meeting Akihito, the gunshots outside became even more intense.

"Your Majesty, the army of the Tang State has come to kill us. The Imperial Palace is not well-defended, so I would like to ask Your Majesty to move to Nijo Castle."

Nijo Castle is not far from the Imperial Palace, only about a hundred feet away. But the defensive function of Nijo Castle is much stronger than that of the Imperial Palace. There are at least castle structures and trenches there.

Toki Yorimin didn't know how many Dashun troops came, but he guessed that the number wouldn't be too many.

As the Kyoto Secretary of the Shogunate, he naturally understood that in this case, if the Dashun army raided the imperial palace and captured the emperor and a lot of ministers, things would be in trouble.

Nijo Castle is the residence of the shogunate in Kyoto. In normal times, it is not allowed to enter Nijo Castle without permission.

But the situation is urgent, and there is not much to worry about at this time. We can only rely on there to resist and see what happens.

If the Dashun Army had many troops, they would not be so silent, and their number would certainly not be too large. The defense of the Imperial Palace is really poor. If more than a hundred people make a rebellion, they may be captured. At this time of chaos, it is impossible to evacuate Kyoto, so we can only retreat and do the next best thing.

However, when Zhaoren heard this, he suddenly felt angry.

Although he supported the shogunate, he knew very well that he had no soldiers or power, and he did not have the popular support for the emperor to rule. During the shogunate period, people could spend money to buy tickets to watch the emperor receive ministers, and many people watched it as a spectacle. - Kansai Army Even if you support the emperor, it is just changing the shogunate from the Kwantung Army to the Kansai Army, there is no difference.

However, he couldn't bear to let him go to Nijo Castle.

No matter what, he is the emperor. Only ministers come to see the emperor, but no emperor goes to see his ministers.

Nijo Castle is the residence of the Tokugawa clan in Kyoto. When Tokugawa Iemitsu forced Emperor Gomizuo to go to Nijo Castle to meet Tokugawa Iemitsu, it was already regarded as a great shame and humiliation by the royal family.

How could it be possible to endure such humiliation if it happened again now?

No matter how much it is a tool, it must have the last bit of dignity. Zhaoren said angrily: "Quli said: The king of the country will die, the officials will die, and the soldiers will die. Shouldn't what Tanghou Shou has to do at this time is to lead the warriors to resist? We don't know how many troops there are in the Tang Dynasty now. I don’t know where they came from, but a dozen or so craftsmen rushed in and set fire to it. Am I going to leave the imperial palace?”

"If there are not many troops from the Tang State, what difference does it make whether or not to retreat to Ertiao City?"

"If the Tang army comes in large numbers and even has cannons, can Nitiao Castle be defended?"

"After the fall of Kochi Castle, do you still think that the Tang army cannot capture Nijo Castle?"

"Besides, I will stand firm in the imperial palace and you must gather samurai in Nijo Castle. Only in this way can we win."

"If we are all trapped in Nijo Castle and cannot leave Nijo Castle, and the samurai in the city don't know what to do, isn't this a stupid choice?"

Akihito couldn't just say he was going to Nijo Castle, because that would mean he would lose the last bit of dignity of the emperor. Instead, he used the content of military tactics to warn Toki Yoritsu that retreating to Nijo Castle was an unwise choice.

When the Dashun Army attacked Nijo Castle, the inside and outside would be cut off, and the news would not be communicated. The shogunate would guard against the emperor like a bastard. No one except Kyoto Soshidai could gather the samurai in the city.

After scolding Toki Yoritsu, Toki Yoritsu also felt that there was some truth.

The number of Dashun Army must be small, otherwise there would be no news.

The inner city of the Imperial Palace has a wall. Although it doesn't have trenches and moats like Nijo Castle, it can be defended for a while relying on the wall.

As long as he can gather enough samurai in the city, the safety of Kyoto will not be a problem. If he and the emperor and nobles all retreated to Nijo Castle, it would mean that the connection with the outside world would be cut off. I am afraid that a few hundred people from Dashun could control Kyoto.

Of course, the most important thing is the phrase "the king dies for the country".

Since he had such awareness, that was enough.

He fell to the ground without saying a word, but finally apologized and stood up, determined to leave the palace to command the battle.

After leaving the palace, he organized the four or five hundred warriors gathered nearby. In the distance, the troops of the Dashun Army had already rushed to the vicinity of Qianyu Gate.

The warriors in front resisted step by step, but it was meaningless.

Wu Fangrui was very good at commanding the Marine Corps of the Navy. These were troops carved out of the same mold as the Qingzhou Army. They were trained very strictly, but the only difference was the tactical system.

The skirmishers using Minié bullets in front scattered, not forming a line array, but standing in a few sparse rows.

In fact, with sufficient training and discipline, regardless of the impact of cavalry, even with smoothbore flintlock rifles, the killing efficiency of such skirmishers is higher. After all, they do not need to endure the eye-scorching gunpowder from the guns of their comrades around them after the formation, and it can also make it less easy for the opponent to hit them.

Dozens of samurai shouted and rushed forward. Even though they were wearing armor, the armor could not stop the high-speed and rotating lead bullets.

The skirmishers in front relied on their personal skills to keep moving forward.

This tactic and new firearms were used on a large scale for the first time. Under the rhythm of the drums, the skirmishers shot and scattered the Japanese samurai in front, and the grenadiers behind them picked up the flintlock rifles with bayonets and rushed over.

The tactics were so simple, shooting and attacking, forcing them to retreat, and more than 30 cavalrymen took advantage of the situation to attack and prevent them from gathering.

Toki Yoritoshi overestimated the combat effectiveness of these samurai and misjudged the gap in weapons. More than 400 samurai soon couldn't hold on and ran back.

The gate of the imperial palace was closed, and it had reached the point of close combat. At this time, there was no way to open the door to let the samurai retreat into the imperial palace to prevent the Dashun army from rushing in.

"Retreat!"

Seeing that the street fighting could not be stopped, Toki Yoritoshi had no choice but to retreat to Nijo Castle first, hold on there, continue to gather troops, or take advantage of the Dashun Army attacking the Imperial Palace to harass from behind.

In this situation, the bewildered samurai may rely on blood and courage to attack randomly, but without organization, it will be a unilateral massacre by Dashun.

Retreating to Nijo Castle can still control Kyoto, issue orders, and let the samurai gather.

The Dashun Army did not pursue to Nijo Castle, but gathered near Hagimon Gate, cut off the connection between Nijo Castle and the usurped Imperial Palace to the south, and began to attack Hagimon Gate to the east.

There were not many guards in the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Theoretically, the attendants and guards were not necessarily on duty. Most of the time, they were just an official position.

There was no very tall city wall, just a wooden gate, which was quickly captured, and the retreating Japanese fled towards the inner city.

The inner city still has walls that can be relied on for resistance. As long as Dashun cannot capture Jianli Gate and cannot enter the inner city, it can still be defended.

If the Dashun army is large in number, or even has cannons, such a small city will certainly not be able to be defended. Kyoto has an empty military force, and it is meaningless to do anything.

If the Dashun army is small in number, relying on the walls of the inner city, it may be able to hold out for a while. As long as Toki Yoritoshi can gather enough troops, the Dashun army is trapped in the imperial garden, and there may be a possibility of victory.

The naval soldiers who entered the imperial garden of the Japanese royal palace were very excited. Although many soldiers followed Liu Yu to carry out a large purge of the school of peace in Ryukyu and went to the Zhongshan Palace in Ryukyu, after all, Ryukyu was a small country, and they still felt that the victory was unfair.

This time, they really stepped into the royal palace of Japan, which was at war with the former Ming Dynasty in Korea. Many people had seen such a courtyard and pavilion for the first time, which was really fresh.

The Hagomon Gate is not far from the Jianli Gate in the inner city, only a few dozen feet away. The scattered soldiers in front had already dispersed and occupied suitable positions, shooting down the Japanese guarding the city walls one by one with Minié bullets. Some of them didn't know how much gunpowder they had been fed. They were trained by the navy to lie on the mast and shoot officers on the deck of the enemy ship.

The city wall was not high, and it was not as thick as the inner city of the capital. The engineers were already dismantling some of the wood from the towers to prepare for attacking the city wall.