Chapter 226 Beach Landing Battle

Although the Komizu-machi fleet had little combat effectiveness, their role was still significant. After all attention was drawn to the burning of Amano Castle, they and ten landing ships quietly circled around Ezo Island and joined up with the completely ignored Otomo Castle fleet, and then they carried out the long-planned beach landing.

Although the Mori family is powerful and their navy is famous, it is impossible for them to defend the long coastline, especially now that the Mori family's attention is attracted by the fire in Amano Castle and they are unaware of it. This makes Yan Xu, who has prepared several beach landing plans, feel a little unsatisfied, so he just treats it as an exercise and lets the landing ships rush to the beach.

The landing ship with an angled bow decelerated and ran aground on the beach. Then the movable bow baffle hit the beach directly, forming a relatively gentle downhill slope. The ten Pig Turk tanks that had been fixed inside and started up long ago were released and driven by steam. They drove slowly into the beach in groups of two along the slope.

Fortunately, it did not fall headfirst onto the beach due to the angle problem. At the same time, the wide wheels and relatively light body prevented the Zhutu tank from sinking into the sand, but instead it crossed the beach slowly and powerfully.

Each landing ship can transport ten Zhutu steam tanks or one hundred fully armed soldiers, which means fifty steam tanks and five hundred arquebus foot soldiers, plus a large number of farmer foot soldiers transported by the Otomo Castle fleet. This wave of transport alone is a powerful combat force.

This force is certainly not enough to fight against the entire Mori family, but it is enough to break the current situation in Amano Castle.

Because of its range, the Babao Dahua could only cover the port and a small half of the commercial district at most. As for the spreading fire, there was an isolation zone in Amano Castle. Due to human intervention, only the port and the commercial district were connected. The warehouses, barracks and castles were all isolated from it. However, because the thick smoke and high temperature made it impossible for people to stay there, the soldiers of the Mori family retreated to the rear and formed a battle line.

But at the same time, the Moroboshi family's fleet could not dock. Water and fire are merciless. The fire they set does not mean that it will not burn them.

Moreover, after the fire in the port was extinguished, the Moroboshi family had to send out small boats, use manpower to clear the ruins, and build a temporary dock so that the fleet could dock.

Knowing this, the generals of the Mori family guarding Amano Castle had the confidence to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

But before the war, Yan Xu had taken these issues into consideration, so the Otomo Castle Fleet, which seemed to be a feint, actually had the mission of covering the landing ships and cooperating in combat.

Only in this way can the deadlock be broken, the new fleet be allowed to dock, and the army be quickly prepared to deal with the counterattack of the Mori family.

At this time, Yan Xu, who landed with Huiruomaru, was frowning and watching the steam tank moving slowly. It was really moving, because there was no road here at all, and the driver was limited by his vision. In an unfamiliar and bad place, there must be a navigator holding a small flag to explore the way in front to prevent it from hitting a pit or a rock and causing a rollover. Naturally, the speed would not be fast.

Yan Xu had no choice but to accept this. The low cost of the Zhutu Steam Tank meant that it had no advantages other than being cheap, such as weak firepower, poor defense, slow speed, and easy to flip over.

It's not impossible to modify these things, even using steam power, but it costs money, so we have to make do with what we have.

However, according to the Japanese custom, if machines fail, they will use manpower to fill the gap. People can be stuffed into torpedoes, not to mention that tanks are just slow.

So ropes were tied to the steam tank, and farmers and foot soldiers acted as trackers to pull it, and it indeed became much faster.

Because of the loud noise, the Mori army, which was preparing for battle behind Amano Castle, immediately noticed their arrival and understood their intentions.

"What kind of monster is this!" The general of the Mori family was shocked to see dozens of huge wild boars with black smoke coming slowly towards them, and almost wanted to run away. These wild boars were as big as small houses, with huge and sharp fangs, and made angry sounds. It was obvious that they were not easy to deal with.

However, the general of the Mori family, who was burdened with a heavy responsibility, could not retreat at all, because he could not afford the responsibility. So he gritted his teeth, picked up his spear, and led the most elite samurai to try to kill these wild boar monsters.

Yan Xu no longer had any hope for the steam tanks charging into the enemy line. At that speed, unless all the enemies learned from the scammers and lay side by side under the wheels, anyone could dodge.

However, the purpose of intimidating the enemy has been achieved. At least the largest number of foot soldiers did not dare to attack the wild boar monster in their eyes. Therefore, the generals of the Mori family chose to bring the samurai to kill the monster, because only in this way would the encouraged foot soldiers dare to move.

When the samurai of the Mori family came within a hundred meters, the iron cannon foot soldiers who had been hiding behind the steam tank immediately stepped forward and took aim. With just five rounds of volleys, most of the samurai of the Mori family were killed. This hit rate was worthy of the parts that Yan Xu brought from the modern times.

The general of the Mori family who was targeted by concentrated fire was naturally the first to die, because he was wearing gorgeous armor.

After losing their generals and samurai, the foot soldiers of the Mori family, who had no one to command and restrain them, immediately scattered without offering any resistance.

It is true that they are professional foot soldiers, but that only means that they have received more training and have better equipment. It does not mean that they have the courage to die and the sense of honor to fight to the death. So, they can only wait to be eaten by the wild boar monster if they don't run.

Yan Xu did not order his men to pursue, but instead asked the farmers and foot soldiers to quickly put out the fire in the port, and at the same time collect materials to build a temporary dock so that the new fleet could dock as soon as possible.

The Moroboshi family can rely on Onmyoji to transmit information, so the Mori family can naturally do the same. They can use magic, props, and Shikigami. Therefore, the news of the fall of Amano Castle has caused an uproar in the Mori family.

Amano Castle was extremely important to the Mori family. Not to mention its irreplaceable geographical location, the fact that it was a port, commercial district, and garrison area alone made it impossible for the Mori family to give it up. Not to mention the accumulated wealth, stored supplies, and complete shipyards. These were the accumulation of decades of the Mori family's experience and were important capital for dominating the world. Therefore, the decision to counterattack was made in the shortest possible time.

The problem is that many things cannot be done just because you want to. For example, if the Mori family wants to recapture Amano Castle, they must transfer a large number of troops from the front line. After all, they do not think that the opponent who can capture Amano Castle in such a short time will be easily defeated.

However, the mobilization of troops will certainly arouse the vigilance of hostile forces. By then, as long as they inquire around, they will know that Amano Castle has fallen, because it cannot be concealed at all.

As expected, when the Mori family learned that Amano Castle had fallen and was preparing to send troops to retake it, the neighboring daimyo immediately dispatched troops to the border to put pressure on the Mori family, so that the Mori family did not dare to mobilize too many troops.

The Mori family knew very well that the other party did it on purpose, but they could not take it lightly, because the other party could turn the fake into reality at any time, and then the Mori family would enjoy the pleasure of being attacked from both sides, which was what the Mori family tried hard to avoid.

After losing Amano Castle, one of the two poles, if the other pole also had problems, the Mori family would be lucky not to be destroyed, let alone regain the lost territory.

Do you really think that fighting for supremacy in the world is just a game? In the cruel competition, whoever reveals a flaw first will end up dead. The Mori family has no choice but to be cautious, and this is what Yan Xu hopes to see. It is worth it that he chose Amano Castle as the breakthrough point to land on the main island.

(End of this chapter)