nucmednet Chapter 339 The Collapse of Tsurumaru Castle
Chapter 339 The Collapse of Tsurumaru Castle
After being hit by numerous bullets, the Shimazu family's ironclad ship sank much faster than ordinary ships—the iron plating on the outside accelerated the sinking speed—and soon sank into the sea. The remaining Japanese crew members were dragged to the bottom of the sea by the whirlpool before they could even call for help.
A few merchant ships and fishing boats were moored in the harbor in front of Tsurumaru Castle. Upon seeing this scene, they scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing the harbor. The fleet ignored these ships and went straight into the harbor, lining up in a row not far from the dock. There were also one or two small Japanese warships that were not operated in the harbor, which were rammed and sunk by the Qiongzhou naval warships without even wasting any ammunition.
The fate of the ironclad ships was observed by the city's garrison, and now that the enemy was threatening to besiege the city from the sea, they dared not delay and quickly went to report to the lord.
The lord of the Satsuma Domain was none other than Shimazu Tadatsune, who insisted on building Tsurumaru Castle on the coast. He was also the first lord of the Satsuma Domain during the Edo period and was a renowned figure in Kyushu in his youth. He was fond of martial arts from a young age, and at 14, he accompanied his father, Shimazu Yoshihiro, to Korea, participating in the Korean War during the Wanli era. His first opponent was the famous Ming Dynasty general, Li Rusong. In 1609, he dispatched his subordinate, Kabayama Hisataka, to conquer the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was originally a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, incorporating it into the Shimazu family territory—creating the conditions for Japan's later annexation of Ryukyu. Later, in order to completely erase the Chinese influence from the Ryukyu Kingdom, Japan abolished the feudal domains and established prefectures at the end of the 19th century, renaming Ryukyu as Okinawa. Okinawa later became a forward base for the United States' containment of China—a significant contributor to Japan's territorial expansion.
At this time, Shimazu Tadatsune was already an ailing man in his sixties, suffering from numerous illnesses. Considering the average lifespan of people in ancient times, he was nearing the end of his life and wouldn't live much longer. To find a suitable successor, he had begun cultivating a future head of the clan several years earlier. The natural heir was his second son, Shimazu Mitsuhisa, but according to the regulations of the shogunate, each domain had to send its eldest son to Edo as a hostage for several years to prevent rebellions by local daimyo. Shimazu Tadatsune was unsure if his health would allow him to survive until Mitsuhisa's return, so to be on the safe side, he began cultivating his eldest daughter, Shimazu Chiyo.
To be fair, Shimazu Chiyo was quite capable, not considering herself a woman at all. She was proficient in both swordsmanship and firearms, and in terms of combat skill, she even surpassed her younger brother, Shimazu Mitsuhisa. She also enjoyed high prestige within the Shimazu clan. If Shimazu Mitsuhisa had remained a hostage for a few more years, the position of head of the clan would truly have fallen to her. Unfortunately, a few months ago, Shimazu Mitsuhisa received Tokugawa Iemitsu's permission to return to Kagoshima, and everything changed.
Japan is, after all, a feudal society where men are superior to women. Given a choice, most people would not want to be ordered around by a woman. After Shimazu Mitsuhisa returned, some of the originally neutral senior retainers and high-ranking samurai began to waver and slowly sided with him. Meanwhile, Shimazu Tadatsune, who had vowed to pass the throne to his eldest daughter, suddenly stopped mentioning it. Shimazu Chiyo's position gradually became awkward.
Perhaps feeling threatened, Shimazu Chiyo felt she had to do something to improve her image and status within the Shimazu family and gain more support. Coincidentally, while in Nagasaki procuring iron for the Satsuma Domain—the Satsuma Domain didn't produce iron and had to buy it from elsewhere—she inadvertently discovered the "Yuanhang," a unique ship belonging to the Qiongzhou Camp, at the docks. Learning that Liu Ye had returned to Nagasaki, she devised a daring plan—to assassinate Liu Ye.
While her past conflict with Liu Ye was one of the reasons Shimazu Chiyo took action this time, the most important reason that prompted her to invest in this plan regardless of the cost was that she wanted to prove her strength by assassinating such a powerful figure. Liu Ye was no longer the lowly adjutant he once was; he was now the ruler of the four seas, replacing the then-powerful Zheng Zhilong. Killing him would bring a shock like an earthquake to the whole of Japan.
She hadn't thought much about it beforehand; she simply regarded Liu Ye as a highly valuable prey, someone to gain experience from. Unfortunately, Shimazu Chiyo didn't expect to fail, nor did she carefully consider the political consequences of her actions, much less anticipate that the enemy would pursue her all the way to Kagoshima, pointing cannons at the Shimazu family's head.
Upon hearing this terrible news, Shimazu Tadatsune, who was on his sickbed, immediately summoned his remaining trusted retainers to discuss how to deal with the enemy outside Tsurumaru Castle.
The most senior retainer, Ijuin Tadatsune, suggested: "The enemy is coming with great force, and their giant ships are beyond human strength to defeat. We should send an envoy to find out their details and purpose."
Shimazu Tadatsune thought this made sense, so he sent someone out of the city to negotiate with the enemy.
Liu Ye was waiting for the other party to take the bait. When he saw that an envoy had been sent from the city, he met him on the "Guangdong" ship, righteously rebuked the envoy, and then handed him a personal letter to pass on to the vassal lord.
The letter was written in Chinese, but the powerful figures in Japan's upper class all understood Chinese; they could listen, speak, and write it, so it was read directly to Shimazu Tadatsune without needing a translator.
"The Satsuma Domain sent assassins to kill me, but they failed. Many of my warriors were killed or wounded, and my trusted retainers are also critically injured. I now order you to immediately hand over the murderer, Shimazu Chiyo, and I will deal with him as I see fit. Otherwise, I will bombard the castle without mercy!"
The retainers looked at each other in bewilderment. It turned out that the young lady was the one who had caused this trouble.
After hearing this, Shimazu Tadatsune ordered his men to summon the siblings Shimazu Chiyo and Shimazu Mitsuhisa, and questioned them face to face: "Is what the enemy's letter said true?"
Shimazu Chiyo was taken aback to find that the other party had followed her all the way here. Without hesitation, she admitted, "Father, it was Chiyo who did this. Chiyo is willing to leave the city to accept her punishment in exchange for the peace of Tsurumaru Castle."
"Foolish!" Shimazu Tadatsune roared. "Whether you did it without thinking or not, the Shimazu family has already done what they did. How can you hand over your own people to save your own lives?" After all, he had been the lord of the domain for decades. Even lying on his sickbed, his influence was still there. With just one sentence, he set the tone.
Once the lord had spoken, the retainers naturally knew what to do and shouted in unison:
"The Satsuma Domain will not fear the threats from the Ming!"
"The Ming people are extremely arrogant; they should be taught a lesson!"
……
Although Shimazu Mitsuhisa wished his sister would disappear immediately to clear the way for him to inherit the family headship, he still knew the importance of political correctness in this situation and shouted louder than anyone else: "Sister did nothing wrong, Mitsuhisa supports you! Please ask Father to send Mitsuhisa out of the castle to fight the enemy."
Shimazu Tadatsune looked at everyone with satisfaction. At this critical moment, the Satsuma Domain was still able to unite against a common enemy. He gestured for everyone to stop and said, "It's not time to go out of the castle to fight yet. Let the 'Kokubun' on the castle wall fire first and give the enemy a warning."