The battle at Hakodate didn't end until three o 'clock in the evening. The Meiji government's army also tried to chase the Shrimp Island Defense Force, but the vanguard of the pursuing troops fell into the ambush of the Shrimp Island Defense Force. Both sides were not in the mood to fight. After fighting for a while, they withdrew their troops.
In the early morning, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Fleet, Lieutenant General Bo Pei, saw that the Hakodate fortress was still full of smoke, and a large area had been completely burned. Through the telescope, he could see that the coal bunker was completely destroyed, and the water supply area was completely destroyed. The buildings all collapsed under the burning flames, and they couldn't even be called broken walls. They probably didn't even need to think about finding food.
This important port did fall into the hands of the Meiji government's army, but the port didn't just have berths. Modern ports needed to be able to add coal, water, and food. At this time, Hakodate no longer had the conditions to become a supply center.
At the breakfast meeting, Lieutenant General Bo Pei announced his decision. The British Fleet would withdraw from the Tsugaru Strait and return to Tokyo Bay.
This matter had been discussed within the fleet. The Chinese Navy that had left the Tsugaru Strait didn't appear again. Each of the six warships that fought in the naval battle had been hit by fifty or sixty cannons, and four of them were hit by 9-inch cannons. The armor was full of holes. In this state, there was no way to play the best combat effectiveness of the warships. The missing warships must have returned to the base for repair, which would take a certain amount of time. When the Chinese fleet appeared again, this fleet would inevitably be damaged.
The repair was completed. In other words, this young and fierce fleet would be as terrible as the battle at the Tsugaru Strait, or even more terrible.
No one in the fleet objected. In the original British plan, the large British Royal Fleet would first destroy the Chinese North Sea Fleet and help the Japanese Meiji government take over the Republic of Prawn. Then the ironclad warships of the British Empire would take advantage of the north wind to go south and bombard the important coastal cities of China. If the remaining China fleet dared to come out to resist, the remaining warships of China would be destroyed.
Once the Chinese Navy was eliminated or greatly weakened, the non-armored hybrid warships could freely sail along the coast of China under the protection of a few ironclad warships. Sinking China's ships along the coast and blocking China's ships for a few months, China would have to consider suing for peace. At that time, the Great British Empire would gain face. Whether it would be war or peace would depend on what kind of benefits they could get.
This plan seemed to have completely failed. It had been proven that the British Fleet did not have the strength to sink China's ironclads. If the British non-armoured fleet encountered a single China ironclad, they would suffer a terrible fate. There was only one choice left, and that was to return to Singapore before the ship sank.
After Lieutenant General Popei announced the order to head south, a sense of regret shrouded the breakfast meeting, but it was only regret. In the more than 300 years of history, the British Royal Navy had encountered countless strong enemies and challengers. Some enemies had an overall advantage, some enemies had a partial advantage, and some enemies were very difficult to deal with. More than 300 years had passed, and the opponents had all disappeared. The only one who could laugh in the end was the British Royal Navy.
The young Chinese Navy was not the first challenger the British Royal Navy had faced in more than 300 years, and it would not be the last. In more than 300 years, the soldiers of the British Royal Navy understood one thing. Failure and setbacks were inevitable, and there was no need to feel uneasy or despair when encountering such things. Naval battles had their own rules. The process of the Royal Navy's growth was the process of the British Royal Navy turning the lessons of every failure into nourishment and motivation to continue moving forward.
Compared to the soul-stirring losses and setbacks in the history of the British Royal Navy, this failure was nothing. Even if this failure was more tragic than the failures in history, the British Royal Navy would not collapse because of this. This kind of perseverance was the spirit accumulated by the British Royal Navy for more than 300 years.
After the breakfast meeting on October 18, 1874, the Royal Navy's warships weighed anchor in a neat row and headed south toward the port of Tokyo.
On the 22nd, the British Royal Navy arrived in Tokyo. When the British Grand Fleet went north, there was another task, which was to hand over seven ironclads ordered by Japan in the United Kingdom. These ironclads had also been handed over to the Japanese Navy. At this time, the Japanese Navy was being trained by British instructors.
Kido Takayun and Okubo Toshimichi immediately invited the British Ambassador to Japan. After the two sides sat down, Kido Takayun was the first to bow his head. "The Japanese government requests your fleet to continue to help the Japanese government."
The British Ambassador to Japan, of course, knew what Kido Takayun was referring to. The Ambassador shook his head. "We have received orders from home, asking the fleet to go south immediately. Although we would like to help the Japanese government, we are unable to help. "
Listening to this open lie, Kido Takayun and Okubo Toshimichi looked at each other in disappointment. It seemed that it would be extremely difficult to convince the British Grand Fleet to stay in Japan.
Kido Takayun and Okubo Toshimichi's original plan was to cooperate with the British Fleet to solve the Republic of Prawn together. Now that the British Fleet was going south, it was clear that they wanted to escape. After the British Fleet escaped, who would stop the ferocious Chinese Navy?
Japan had been founded for a long time and had a very good understanding of the world. Now, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou were the top three major cities in China. Hong Kong was only close to China's Guangzhou, threatening the southern gate and the most prosperous and affluent city in China. Since China and Britain had already started a war, China could not allow Hong Kong to continue to be occupied by the British. After China conquered Hong Kong, the British Fleet's only destination south was Singapore in the Straits Settlements. If the British Fleet ran to Singapore, it would be impossible for Japan to see the British Fleet again.
Unable to get through the British Ambassador, Kido Takayun and Okubo Toshimichi sent someone to see the British Fleet Commander Lieutenant General Popei in the name of condolences, hoping to persuade Lieutenant General Popei to stay in Japan. Of course, the two did not have any illusions. If Lieutenant General Popei supported staying in Japan, he would not return to Tokyo with the fleet.
After the messenger left, Kido Takayun and Okubo Toshimichi sat face to face. Kido Takayun sighed softly. "It would be good if Saigo was here."
Okubo Toshimichi straightened his big beard that extended from his upper lip to his cheeks and sneered: "He will not give up the Korean War."
Kido Takayun, who was sent by Choshu, was very firm when it came to overthrowing the Shogunate, but he was slightly indecisive in governing the country. Hearing that Okubo Toshimichi had no intention of reconciling with Saigo Takamori, he could only sigh again.
There was basically no China factor in Japan's Meiji Restoration. When the restoration succeeded and the Shogunate was overthrown, a considerable number of people in the upper class of Japan began to pay attention to China. They were not concerned about the complete destruction of the feudal system after the revolution in China. In this era, the peasants turning over and making a revolution was in the category of treason and heresy. What the upper class of Japan was concerned about was how China developed its economy at an astonishing speed.
The transparent soap, scented soap, and rubber-soled leather shoes produced by China were very popular among the upper class of Japan. People like Okubo Toshimichi saw and learned from China's policies of building water conservancy, opening factories, and promoting cash crops. People like Saigo Takamori, on the other hand, saw China's rapid expansion of its borders and territorial gains. In the eyes of the group of people led by Saigo Takamori, plants in the South China Sea could automatically grow strange fruits. When the skin was peeled off, the soap and rubber inside were revealed.
Compared with the group of uneducated Japanese, Saigo Takamori's idea was very close to reality. Regardless of the planting technology and processing process, this view was also in line with the facts. The problem was that the group of people led by Saigo Takamori also knew that they could not extend their hands to the South China Sea for the time being. Their goal was Korea, only across the Strait of Tsushima.
Of course, Kido Takayun and Okubo Toshimichi could not agree to attack Korea immediately. It was clear that they wanted to directly fight with China. Okubo Toshimichi did not object to the annexation of Korea, but he hoped that Japan could first solve the Republic of Prawn and develop its domestic economy. Make friends with Britain, wait for China to fall out with Britain, and then seize the opportunity to seize Korea. He firmly believed that now was not the time to annex Korea.
In May 1873, the Japanese fleet approached Korea and asked Korea to open a country to Japan. In June, China's envoy informed Japan and Britain that according to the Treaty of Seoul signed between China and Korea, China was obliged to protect Korea from foreign attacks.
Faced with such a tough response, on October 23, 1873, the Emperor announced in the form of an imperial edict that he had adopted the opinion of the acting Minister of State, Iwakura Tsuki, and overturned Saigo's expedition to Korea. On the same day. Led by Saigo, the "Five Councilors of Korea" resigned in anger. The officials and Imperial Guard officers who shared Saigo's position also resigned. The Meiji government immediately began to split.
Okubo Toshimichi knew Kido Takayun's attitude, and he did not want to talk about the group of people represented by Saigo Takamori. The conflict between the two sides was so deep that there was no room for reconciliation. Okubo Toshimichi did not like to waste his breath. He asked Kido Takayun, "What is the battle report from Hakodate?"
Kido Takayun introduced the latest information he had. More than 400 of the Meiji government's soldiers were killed and more than 1,300 were injured when the Hakodate garrison of the Shrimp National Defense Army broke through. In addition to the previous battle, the Meiji government's soldiers were killed and more than 3,200 were injured.
More than 4,000 of the Shrimp National Defense Army's soldiers were killed and took away all the injured when they broke through, leaving less than 600 corpses in the fortress area. The troops who participated in the night attack left more than 300 corpses, and the injured were taken away. The total number of dead was about 6,000, and the injured were unknown.
Hakodate was completely burned down, and there were no spoils of war. From a strategic point of view and the actual battle, the Meiji government's army had won a complete victory. The next thing to do was to pursue the victory, occupy the entire Hokkaido, and destroy the Republic of Prawn. Among the millions of soldiers who entered the Republic of Prawn, there were some spies from the Meiji government's army. According to the information they sent back, the Republic of Prawn was desperately reclaiming the land in the plains, planting wheat, potatoes, soybeans, and with the help of China, they were also raising horses and cows. They even mined coal and iron ore. The desolate Hokkaido, which was once regarded as a barren land by Japan, now showed signs of becoming richer than the rest of Japan.
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