Chapter 225: Burning of Amano Castle

After a chase, the fleet of dozens of warships of the Mori family was like lotus lanterns floating downstream during the Ghost Festival, scattered on the sea along the chase route. The raging flames were devouring the hulls, and the desperate soldiers of the Mori family chose to jump into the sea in order to survive, and were struggling desperately to ask for help from the Moroboshi family. Among them were some weaker samurai who did not choose to commit seppuku.

"Life is so fragile, as brilliant and short-lived as fireworks." Fu Ji, who caused all this, gently shook the round fan in his hand and said with a deep sigh, because the scene reminded him of the day when he burned down the castle tower to show his filial piety. However, his eyes seemed more like appreciation, and his next words confirmed this.

"Poor Mori family, the real war has just begun. Death will not easily let the weak go. Just bloom your last glory in the brilliant fireworks. This is the gift from the lord. You must greet death with a grateful heart." Fu Ji's face became more and more flushed, her eyes were blurred, and she narrated the cruel fact in a groaning tone.

The obviously abnormal mental state did not affect Fu Ji's command of the fleet. Although he was abnormal, his ability was really good, otherwise Yan Xu would not be a lunatic, so why would he insist on appointing him as the Minister of the Navy?

Under Fuki's precise command, the new fleet lined up in a line and slowly passed through the port of Amano Castle, and rained down the Hachiman Daihua ships on Amano Castle, which had been carefully built by the Mori family and had made the Otomo family uneasy for a hundred years.

Amano Castle was a bridgehead built by the Mori family in order to capture the Fukushima Island. In addition to the main castle, there is also a town as a commercial area and a port for the fleet to dock. It covers a large area, with a population of tens of thousands and several thousand permanent troops. It can be seen how much the Mori family values ​​this place.

Unfortunately, since its construction, Amano Castle has been entangled by other daimyo, making it impossible to concentrate its forces to sweep Fueshima. Once the Mori family's navy gathered in Amano Castle, the neighboring daimyo would join forces to attack the Mori family, forcing the Mori family to mobilize naval support. Over time, Amano Castle became a port for the Mori family's navy to rest and recuperate, rather than a military base.

However, this does not hinder the importance of Amano Castle. In addition to being a freight transit station between the main island and the secondary island, it is also an extremely important sword. Not only is the secondary island under threat at all times, but even other daimyo near the Mori family's territory have to expend their energy to deploy troops along the coastline in order to resist the invasion of the Mori family's powerful fleet. Therefore, its mere existence is enough to exert the effect of tens of thousands of troops.

This is also the reason why the daimyo neighboring the Mori clan are determined to contain Amano Castle at all costs. Once Amano Castle sends out its navy to occupy the sub-island, it will not only be a matter of the Mori clan gaining a new territory, but it will also be able to spread the deterrent power of the Mori clan's navy to a larger area, putting the daimyo neighboring the Mori clan completely passive.

Unfortunately, this sharp sword seemed so powerless in front of the brilliant Babao Dahua. The flames released by the Babao Dahua mercilessly engulfed most of the port in an instant. Even a large area of ​​Maori naval ships that were resting were covered in flames. Even if some brave Maori soldiers tried to drive the ships out, it was useless.

It is not easy for an old-fashioned sailboat to leave the port. It requires untying the ropes, raising the sails, and turning the bow with the help of oars. This series of actions takes at least half an hour. This is a small boat. It is even more troublesome for a large ship, not to mention that these ships are docked closely together. Once a fire breaks out, they will be connected to each other immediately and cannot be saved at all.

This was just the beginning. The flames soon spread to the commercial district of the port, which was much more prosperous than Omizu Town. Merchants and servants, coolies and prostitutes could be seen fleeing away in panic, not even bothering to take any valuables with them. Even if gold fell before their eyes, no one dared to stop, because the flames blooming like flowers from hell were always following closely behind them. If they were a little slower, they would be swallowed up. Countless greedy people who were ignited had proved that their choice was right.

In fact, even the 3,000 fully armed professional foot soldiers and a large number of samurai in Amano Castle were powerless in the face of the overwhelming fire, and could only flee with the civilians, because the continuous fire from the sky made them very clear that any rescue was meaningless. Four battleships, eight frigates, twelve destroyers, hundreds of fireworks cannons, every minute can launch thousands of rounds of various sizes of eight treasures and large ships into the ports and towns that the Mori family spent a hundred years to build. Even if the Mori family invested a lot of resources here, built solid fortifications, and stationed a large number of well-trained troops, but what does it matter? In front of the flames, the only difference between them and dry grass is that they are more resistant to burning.

"Retreat, retreat, line up in the rear. Once the enemy sets foot on land, drive them into the sea immediately!" The general of the Mori family who was guarding Amano Castle looked very embarrassed, and even a corner of his armor still had smoke from the remaining fire. However, he was still working hard to gather the scattered soldiers around him, trying to reorganize the battle formation behind the burning Amano Castle, because he knew very well that although Amano Castle was finished, they could not retreat. If they retreated, the army of the Moroboshi family would be able to reach the heartland of the Mori family, which would be the most fatal at that time.

The Mori family is located in a corner of the main island. Because of its naval advantage, the long coastlines on both sides do not require too many troops to be stationed, so the army is mainly stationed on both sides. Therefore, once Amano Castle, one of the two poles, is lost, the Mori family's empty hinterland will be at the mercy of others.

Of course, it is impossible to occupy the place because the Mori family still has strong military forces, and once they are recalled, they can regain the lost territory.

But although the invaders could not occupy the land, they were able to take the opportunity to cause a lot of damage.

So even if they all died in battle, they had to hold the enemy back until reinforcements arrived.

The military strength of the Mori family is not comparable to that of the Moroboshi family. Even if the other party occupies the entire sub-island, it is still a younger brother in the eyes of the Mori family. This also affected the general of the Mori family. Even though Amano Castle was burning, he was still full of confidence, but he didn't know how much loss his decision would bring to the Mori family.

It is because of this inner confidence that the general of the Mori family who was guarding Amano Castle chose to stay here to distract the Moroboshi family and hold out until the arrival of reinforcements.

He firmly believed that even if the Moroboshi family controlled this fire that seemed to come from hell, victory would belong to the Mori family.

It’s a pity that Yan Xu has taken so long to prepare, and he has more than just the new fleet and the Babao Dahua in his hand, otherwise he would have wasted the advantages of the modern world in vain.

(End of this chapter)