In history, there was a battle in 1863. The British attacked the Satsuma Domain after Second Raven's victory, but it was only a small victory. Therefore, the British changed their attitude towards the Satsuma Domain and began to support them from behind.
In Vézé's time and space, the United Kingdom fought against the Liberation Army in Two Ravens. Not only did they not win, but they also suffered great losses. Although they went north and beat up the Manchu Qing in the north, the Liberation Army controlled Guangdong and threatened the British's retreat. In addition, Britain's ally, France, had suffered great losses in the conflict with the Liberation Army, so Britain really had no intention of continuing north.
Forcing Japan to establish its own nation was also the goal of the British. After learning that the Liberation Army was preparing to attack the Satsuma Domain for the control of the Ryukyu vassal state, the British immediately contacted the Satsuma Domain. Having been a shit stirrer for hundreds of years, the UK had perfected these little tricks. By informing the Satsuma Domain, he would be able to gain their favor. If this method could allow the Satsuma Domain to be prepared and resist the attack of the Liberation Army. Then the English would have room to bargain with both sides at the same time. The United Kingdom, which was in a "friendly neutral" position, could still make full use of the information it had to choose a side again before the war became clear, realizing the greatest interests of the United Kingdom.
The Satsuma Domain was a powerful domain in Japan, and the current head of the Shimazu Clan was Shimazu Tadayoshi. However, the real power was in the hands of Shimazu Tadayoshi's father, Shimazu Hisamitsu. Shimazu Hisamitsu was the younger half-brother of the previous Feudal Lord, Shimazu Keihin. He had once fought with Keihin for the position of House Governor, but lost in the end. After Shimazu Shibin's death, Shimazu Hisamitsu's son, Shimazu Tadayoshi, succeeded as the feudal lord according to his will. Shimazu Hisamitsu, as the father of the nation, held real power.
Shimazu Tadayoshi had a love-hate relationship with his brother Shimazu Misaki. No matter how fierce the competition for the governorship was, the two brothers did not completely fall out. In the end, the power of the Satsuma Domain still fell into the hands of Shimazu Tadayoshi. But now that his old friend was no longer around, and the regime was in his hands, Shimazu Tadayoshi could only focus on his own matters.
He received news from England that the Shimazu Clan's ships had been chased away by the Chinese warships in Ryukyu. After the verification of both sides, there was no doubt that China's plan to regain control of Ryukyu was true.
In March 1866, a fleet headed straight for Ryukyu. There were three steam-powered ships in this fleet of more than twenty ships. Although their tonnage was not large, they were still ships powered by steam and sail. Their chimneys, which were much thicker than the masts, were very eye-catching.
When approaching the outer islands of the Ryukyu Archipelago, several smoke signals rose from the islands. Although he didn't know if this thing could really work as an alarm, Fleet Commander Saigo Takamori frowned.
The defense forces on the island did not simply believe that smoke would work. Huge fireworks flew straight into the sky, exploding in the sky and forming colorful clouds. Not long after, smoke and fireworks could be vaguely seen in the distance. These very eye-catching signals under the blue sky appeared one by one. This time, Saigo Takamori's brows furrowed even more. Wars at sea often relied on surprise attacks. Once the fleet's movements were exposed, this effect would be greatly reduced.
"My lord, should we send people to the island to kill all the people there?" A subordinate beside him asked.
Saigo Takamori thought for a while and rejected his subordinate's suggestion. "This is too much of a waste of time. Let's move to Ryukyu."
When the Satsuma Domain's crew returned to report the news, they described the huge and terrifying warships in a horrified tone. This left a deep impression on Saigo Takamori. In fact, according to his original plan, he wanted to send a fleet to explore the situation. But the situation really did not give him time.
The year before last, in 1864, there was a rebellion in Kyoto, and the Choshu Domain attacked Kyoto. The Satsuma Domain, which originally agreed to attack the shogunate with the Choshu Domain, defected and joined the shogunate. As a result, the Choshu Domain was defeated. After that, the Choshu Domain could not resist the first Choshu Crusade. The conservative forces within the Choshu Domain came to power, and the anti-shogunate were expelled and imprisoned.
In 1865, the anti-shogunate forces within the Choshu Domain rose again. The armed forces, led by Takasugi Shinsaku of the Elite Army, counterattacked the Choshu Domain, defeating the conservative forces and regaining power again.
Under the coordination of Sakamoto Ryoma, at the beginning of 1866, the Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Domain reached a Satsuma Alliance. They no longer pursued the policy of resisting foreigners and focused on overthrowing the shogunate. At this time, China stationed troops in Ryukyu to expel the Satsuma Domain's forces in Ryukyu. According to the news brought back by the Satsuma Domain's ships, the Chinese Navy had begun to station troops in Ryukyu.
Although it was not recognized, the Satsuma Domain also set up a position of 120,000 dans of rice in Ryukyu. Ryukyu at least had to pay a tribute of 80,000 dans of rice a year. This amount of resources was not dispensable to the Satsuma Domain. Now, China had officially stated its stance on the issue of Ryukyu. Ryukyu belonged to China. If the Satsuma Domain were to throw itself into the war with the shogunate, the Satsuma Domain had no idea how long the war would last. In the Satsuma Alliance, it was bluntly designed for defeat. If the Choshu Domain was completely annihilated, the Satsuma Domain had to try its best to wash away the Choshu Domain's reputation as a traitor.
If the war was prolonged, it could even lead to defeat. With the shogunate's conduct, the Satsuma Domain did not believe that the shogunate would fight with China. Now that the Chinese Navy had begun to station troops in Ryukyu for a long time, it would only allow China to take over Ryukyu. Since others could not be relied on, the Satsuma Domain could only express its stance. Of course, this attitude would not be to obediently hand over Ryukyu.
At this time, the Liberation Army Navy had already received the signal. Half a month ago, the first fleet of the China Expeditionary Force had also arrived in Ryukyu and joined up with the fleet that was previously stationed in Ryukyu. The latest news from China made Commander Liu Sha frown. During this time, he had already sent troops to the islands to investigate the situation of the entire Ryukyu Archipelago and even the islands further north. Knowing that the ultimate goal of the fleet was to attack the Satsuma Domain, it was a little out of the current combat ability of the navy.
Even now, the Liberation Army Navy had not been able to fully understand the reason for the rise of the navy. Even now, the Liberation Army Navy had not been able to fully understand the reason for the rise of the navy. This simple and crude explanation was actually infinitely close to the truth. Vézé was born into a shipbuilding family. In the 21st century, he had obtained a master's degree in ship propellers and had interned in various shipbuilding workshops. All the shipbuilding ideas of the Liberation Army Navy were proposed by Vézé, and the main designs were also completed by Vézé. The Chinese were very smart. Even if they did not understand it now, if they really came up with a set of ideas and gave most of the design drawings, there would still be people who could turn these designs into reality.
Of course, there were many problems with these designs. After all, Vézé had not engaged in 19th-century ship design, and China's shipbuilding industry was not up to scratch. Vézé paid great attention to the navigation and endurance of the warships. The more armor the ship had, the slower it would be, and the problem of the center of gravity of the hull would also occur. In the end, the warships of the Liberation Army became thin leather boats.
The Liberation Army Navy actually had no opponents, and the warships of the Manchu Qing Navy were even worse, with very few of them. Therefore, they used the intelligence obtained from Europe and the United States as the direction of their research. Liu Sha said very straightforwardly, "Our ship can't withstand cannons that are too big."
According to the intelligence collected by the navy, Britain, France, and the United States all had their own ironclads. It was a big monster composed of a 60-centimeter-thick wooden base and a 20-centimeter-thick iron frame. Not to mention the steel cannons that the Liberation Army was currently equipped with on the warships were less than 100 millimeters in diameter. A typical 24-pound gun had a caliber of 5.83 inches (148mm), and the shells fired from this caliber could not penetrate the iron frame. Even the 36-pound and 42-pound heavy cannons could do nothing to the armor of this ironclad.
On the other hand, because the research time of the warships of the Liberation Army was short, even with the converter steelmaking method, the eight-centimeter-thick steel armor was still too brittle and hard. The Liberation Army really could not afford to use that kind of high-toughness steel as consumable armor. Experiments proved that the eight-centimeter-thick steel armor made of ordinary rough steel was not enough to withstand the bombardment of a 24-pound gun.
The armor problem was only one of the problems. The problems of the navy's warships were piling up. The shipyards in Guangzhou and Shanghai were repairing the navy's warships every day. Some warships would spend two-thirds of the year in maintenance. Therefore, the Navy very much hoped that they could use armor to make up for other problems. Even if they encountered problems in battle, a warship that had lost its power could at least become an unsinkable fortress on the sea and continue to display its combat power.
As the deputy commander of the fleet, Liu Sha was also working hard to build a maintenance factory in Ryukyu, making such less optimistic preparations. After receiving the news that the Japanese fleet was approaching, Liu Sha made an even more negative suggestion. "Bring King Ryukyu onto the ship. His Majesty wants this fellow to go to Nanjing, but this fellow is making excuses. Let him see how we dealt with the Japanese Navy. Only then will he know how powerful we are! "
Although the political commissars felt that this was a little too forceful, they also felt that it was not a good idea. The new fleet's political commissar adopted a softer angle. "Just bring King Ryukyu's son along. There's no need to make it seem like a robbery."
These words caused a burst of laughter. The Liberation Army Navy was now on duty and training 24 hours a day. As the commander of the B Squadron, Liu Sha took a speedboat and boarded a warship that had been assembled near the port. Four 3100-ton warships were patrolling at this time, so the First B Squadron immediately set out and headed in the direction of the alarm signal.
Steam engines were considered unreliable in this era because of their precision and material problems. Most warships still had sails, but when the sails and steam were used together, the high-temperature smoke that the chimneys impersonated would greatly affect the life of the sails. Liu Sha couldn't care so much at this time. In any case, the logistics fleet had just arrived in Ryukyu, and there were a lot of replaceable sails piled up in the warehouse. Using a few sails was nothing at all.
Compared to this loss, the importance of engaging the enemy as soon as possible was unparalleled. Capturing the enemy's fleet was the key in a naval battle. It was easy to be a thief for a thousand days, but it was difficult to guard against a thief for a thousand days. If they could kill the thief with one blow, the pressure on everyone would be greatly reduced.
Liu Sha's luck was pretty good. The Liberation Army could burn one or even two sails for a naval battle, but the Satsuma Domain Navy was not so rich and overbearing. Therefore, three hours later, the fleet formed by four warships could see the shadow of the Japanese Navy from afar.
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