nucmednet Chapter 341 Cannon Massacre of the City
Chapter 341 Cannon Massacre of the City
In the era before gunpowder, nitroglycerin, and even picric acid, it was impossible to flatten a city with smoothbore cannons alone, even if the Qiongzhou Camp possessed powerful weapons like bombardment cannons.
However, concentrating the firepower of Asia's most powerful fleet to attack a small city—the size of a Japanese domain's castle was roughly equivalent to a town in the Ming Dynasty—with its main buildings within cannon range, would have a devastating effect similar to what Liu Ye described as "razing it to the ground." However, such saturation bombing would not only affect military personnel but would inevitably harm civilians as well. If this were to occur within Ming territory, it would incur moral and ethical pressure.
As a modern person familiar with the history of Japanese militarism's invasion of China, Liu Ye harbors a deep-seated hatred for the Japanese people and their nation. While rationally he understands that a war that occurred centuries later in another time cannot be directly blamed on the ancients of this era—and he can calmly deal with Japanese merchants and officials in Nagasaki and Edo Bay—it doesn't mean he can remain restrained after being provoked by a certain daimyo, especially since this daimyo's daughter recently nearly killed him. That deep-seated hatred, once stirred, renders him indifferent to humanitarianism.
Liang Xiaoming didn't think there was anything wrong with Liu Ye's attitude. Whether they were samurai or civilians, weren't they all ancestors of the Japanese? The Japanese weren't in this time and space, so they had nowhere to bomb. What was wrong with bombing their ancestors? If he knew that Okinawa, which originally belonged to China, was taken away by the feudal lord in this city, he would probably hate it even more.
As executors, Gao Jie, Van Bommel, and others wouldn't consider such questions; they simply faithfully carried out the general's orders: to do everything in their power to destroy all resistance forces in the castle before them.
The fleet maintained continuous fire, conducting the most intense and prolonged bombardment since the establishment of the Qiongzhou Naval Base. The most intense previous battles were the naval engagements with Zheng Zhilong, but those involved maneuvering and alternating offense and defense, unlike the current situation where there was no need to consider defense or evasion, allowing for an unrestrained barrage of fire. Given the enemy's inability to resist, this one-sided bombardment was a massacre.
A deluge of artillery shells blotted out the sky above Tsurumaru Castle, seemingly eclipsing even the sun. At that moment, all the retainers, samurai, and commoners within the castle were equal; the shells were indiscriminate, showing no distinction between noble warriors and lowly commoners. Solid shot rained down, mixed with the shockwaves of heavy explosives, the indiscriminate attack causing entire swathes of houses to collapse. People died every second, the streets littered with corpses. The explosions unleashed fires and smoke that engulfed the entire castle. People screamed and ran in despair, frantically searching like headless flies, no one knowing where safety lay.
The castle tower, once a symbol of power in the city and considered the safest place, was now teetering on the brink of collapse amidst the gunfire. The exquisite eaves had been torn off, the roof was riddled with holes, and rubble was scattered everywhere. Everyone, including Shimazu Tadatsune, trembled in fear amidst the booming cannon fire, no one knowing whether the next shell would fall on their heads.
Shimazu Tadatsune trembled as he opened his arms and cried out, "Is this the wrath of Amaterasu? What have my Shimazu family done wrong? If you must punish us, then let all the blame fall on me!"
Shimazu Mitsuhisa knelt on the ground, crawled to Shimazu Tadahira, and said loudly, "Father, please don't say that. This is not the wrath of Amaterasu, but the evil Akito's doing. All these evil consequences were caused by one person..." As he spoke, he looked at his sister, Shimazu Chiyo.
Shimazu Tadatsune paused, looked at him, then at his daughter not far away, and murmured, "You mean Chiyo?"
Even though she was distracted by the muffled cannon fire and couldn't hear what her father and brother were saying, Shimazu Chiyo still sensed a conspiracy in their eyes. She clenched her teeth and gripped her katana tightly.
Outside the city, on the sea.
Gao Jie spoke loudly so that Liu Ye could hear him clearly: "General, if we keep fighting like this, even if our cannons can be guaranteed not to explode, we have a limited number of shells, and we will soon run out of them!"
Liu Ye glanced at the smoke-filled Tsurumaru Castle, sighed somewhat reluctantly, and ordered, "Cease fire!"
It takes some time for the order to be transmitted from the flagship to the other warships. After the Guangdong ceased firing, the other warships received the signal after a while. In the meantime, hundreds more shells flew into Tsurumaru Castle.
In the castle tower.
Seeing the hesitation on his father's face, Shimazu Mitsuhisa knew that his father had taken his words to heart. Overjoyed, he disregarded the cannonballs flying overhead and the falling debris, stood up abruptly, and loudly urged, "The one who tied the knot must untie it. Only by handing over Chiyo can we save Tsurumaru Castle and the Shimazu family!"
At that moment, the cannon fire suddenly subsided, and Shimazu Mitsuhisa's words, no longer masked by the gunfire, reached everyone's ears clearly, including Shimazu Chiyo's. The expressions on everyone's faces instantly became complex, ranging from astonishment and secret delight to bewilderment; each person was pondering the meaning behind his words.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa was initially somewhat embarrassed. He didn't want everyone to hear his advice to his father, lest he be branded with the infamy of sibling rivalry, which would be detrimental to his succession as head of the family. However, after hearing the cannon fire go from sparse to completely silent, he had a sudden inspiration and said to Shimazu Tadatsune, "Father, did you hear that? The Akihito's cannon fire has stopped! Even Amaterasu Omikami approves of this choice, which is why the Akihito's cannon fire has stopped ravaging the land. This is the will of the gods!"
Chief retainer Ijuin Tadatsune, a long-time supporter of Mitsuhisa, immediately responded, "My lord, please obey the will of Amaterasu Omikami and sacrifice one person to save Tsurumaru Castle and the Satsuma Domain!"
The other supporters of Shimazu Mitsuhisa echoed, "Please, my lord, obey the will of God!"
Chiyo Shimazu also had a group of followers, but when they heard the reasons given, and thought about the cause and effect relationship between the young lady's assassination and this shelling, they didn't know how to refute it and could only lower their heads and remain silent.
Chiyo Shimazu frowned, her face pale, and she did not defend herself.
Shimazu Tadatsune looked at the dilapidated roof of the castle tower and the rubble scattered on the ground, sighed deeply, and slowly said, "Chiyo, in order to preserve Tsurumaru Castle and to continue the glory of the Shimazu family, I have no choice but to make you suffer..."