Chapter 996: The Turning Point of the Pacific War (Please Subscribe)

"Excellent! Worthy of the Marine Corps — truly elite troops!"

Li Yuanyin, commander of the First Army Division, who was standing with Zheng Jiangong on the Fuqing to oversee the battle, smiled with satisfaction when he saw the Japanese troops cleanly repulsed by the naval marines. He lowered his telescope and added, "Excellent! The beachhead has been seized, so my army can go ashore now! With just five thousand men on Sakura Island, the Satsuma Domain's Sakura Island battery will surely fall — and we will have won!"

"I fear the Sakura Island battery won't be so easy to take. The Satsuma Domain's samurai army is bound to be tenacious — they won't surrender the Sakura Island battery until the last man falls."

"And where is the Spanish fleet, anyway?"

Zheng Jiangong was not as optimistic as Li Yuanyin. He was a true Japan expert and knew the stubbornness of the Satsuma samurai.

In fact, they were fighting quite bravely on the Sakura Island beachhead. Even though the Ming naval marines' flintlocks were cutting them down in droves, they had not lost their fighting spirit. Facing the Ming bayonet charge, quite a few samurai were still resisting desperately with their katana.

The fighting on the beach had turned extremely bloody — the dead and dying lay everywhere!

Of course, no matter how tenacious the Japanese troops were, they were at an extreme disadvantage — the Ming naval marines were only the first wave. The second wave, two army battalions, was already charging the beach aboard sampans.

And the third wave of landing troops was now transferring vessels (they would board the sampans used by the first wave) and would soon launch their attack.

Barring any mishap, the landing had already succeeded.

But victory would probably not come so easily!

An officer of Zheng Jiangong's rank saw more of the overall picture of this war.

In his view, what was underway now was not a war to chastise the Satsuma Domain at all, nor a war to conquer Japan — it was a Pacific war!

The tiny island of Sakura was, in truth, the fulcrum of offense and defense in the Pacific!

Once Sakura Island fell into the hands of the Eight-Nation Alliance, Kagoshima Bay could no longer serve as a refuge for the Spanish Oriental Invincible Armada.

And without the stronghold of Kagoshima Bay, the Spanish Oriental Invincible Armada would find it very difficult to maintain a foothold along the Japanese coast.

Because most of Japan's territory remained under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which could not lend it to the Spanish Oriental Invincible Armada for its use.

As for the other important port still controlled by the Satsuma Domain — Funai Bay in Bungo Province — it could serve as an anchorage for a large fleet. But the entrance to Funai Bay was too open, more than twenty li wide, making a fleet anchored inside far too vulnerable to surprise attack. Especially with North Five Islands Bay, Kago Island Bay, and Tanegashima all under Eight-Nation Alliance control, the allied fleet could slip up to the mouth of Funai Bay completely undetected.

With Funai Bay unusable and Kagoshima Bay under Eight-Nation Alliance control, the Spanish Oriental Invincible Armada could only leave Japanese territorial waters — either to station itself at Vladivostok or Busanpo, or simply sail away and flee to the New World!

Whichever option they chose, the Great Ming would gain a springboard for pushing eastward along the Kuroshio Current (the North Pacific warm current), and could also draw from Japan the resources needed for an eastward push into North America.

With North Five Islands Bay, Kagoshima Bay, and Tanegashima — these three critical strongholds at the starting point of the Kuroshio Current — the Great Ming could transport population and supplies to the Americas in large quantities at relatively low cost!

So the next engagement between the Great Ming and Spain would very likely take place on the American continent!

Zheng Jiangong understood this logic, and Admiral García certainly understood it too.

Therefore, when the Eight-Nation Alliance launched its assault on Sakura Island, Admiral García had already led the 22 armed galleons of the Spanish Oriental Invincible Armada into hiding in Uchinoura Bay on the eastern side of the Ōsumi Peninsula.

The land around Uchinoura Bay all belonged to the Kimotsuki family. The bay's entrance was relatively narrow — less than seven li across. Moreover, apart from a small patch of flatland at the head of the bay, the rest of the terrain was all hills, and the shore was a continuous line of cliffs and precipices — extremely rugged.

When García first arrived in the Satsuma Domain, he had once considered making Uchinoura his main base, but later discovered Inner Kagoshima Bay, whose terrain was even more advantageous, and abandoned Uchinoura.

Nevertheless, he was still very familiar with Uchinoura's terrain.

That was why, after the Eight-Nation Alliance fleet entered Kagoshima Bay, he had quietly slipped into Uchinoura.

"Admiral!" Captain Barbosa of the Nueva España strode quickly into the command cabin and saluted García. "The Ming army has landed on Sakura Island!"

"Wind direction?" García asked at once.

"Southeasterly," Barbosa replied.

"Good. We can seize this chance to strike! We sortie tonight! Their landing operations shouldn't be over that quickly!" García drew a breath and added, "Order every ship to ferry all surplus gunpowder ashore to Uchinoura harbor by sampan. Keep only enough for a single engagement!"

"Admiral," Barbosa hesitated, "what if—"

García waved a hand. "What 'what if'? The Satsuma Domain will need that gunpowder more than we do. And carrying that much powder makes it far too easy to set off a chain explosion!"

The lesson of the Dinghai anchorage battle had been deeply learned! The Spanish still had no way to counter explosive shells; the only thing they could do was move the gunpowder off the ships to avoid a chain detonation.

García paused. "Have de Bescora's Estrella del Pacífico leave the formation and take samples of the Ming explosive shells to New Spain. I think Spain will need them!"

"As ordered. I'll see to it at once!"

García's orders did not keep the Spanish fleet busy for long. That same afternoon, the Cross of Burgundy rose up the mast of the Nueva España.

Admiral García formally issued his battle order: "The Spanish Navy will fight to the end!"

The 22 Spanish armed galleons flying the Cross of Burgundy then, led by the Nueva España, slowly sailed out of Uchinoura Bay, rounded a bend at sea, formed two columns, and with the thrust of the southeasterly wind made swiftly for the Ōsumi Strait.

Once they passed through the Ōsumi Strait, Kagoshima Bay would be right before them.

And the first cannon shot of what later generations would call the "Great Battle of Sakura Island" — the naval battle that decided the shift between offense and defense in the Pacific War — rang out in the Ōsumi Strait.

On the eighteenth day of the second month, in the late afternoon approaching evening, an armed galleon of the Dutch East India Company spotted the Spanish fleet bearing down in formation. It immediately fired a warning rocket into the air, then turned about and fled toward Kagoshima Bay, firing explosive shells from a 24-pounder bombardment gun mounted on its sterncastle as it ran.

But the fleet led by García did not pursue at full speed; it merely hung behind this 200-ton fast vessel, charging toward Kagoshima Bay.

When Zheng Jiangong received the report of the Spanish fleet's approach, he was planning to send his great bird ships charging through the Sakura Island Strait — narrow as the strait was, it was still worth forcing. Because when his 45 great bird ships passed through in column, 180 bombardment guns could bring their fire to bear, perhaps completely destroying the Kagoshima battery and the Sakura Island battery. Of course, the operation to force the strait was not to be carried out immediately — it would have to wait until the landing was complete.

"What?" Zheng Jiangong was still somewhat startled by the sudden appearance of the Spanish fleet. He had not expected the Spanish to come so quickly. Did this not mean the Spanish had been near Kagoshima Bay all along?

"Admiral," Shi Lang, who had just been transferred to Zheng Jiangong's staff as an aide, suggested, "we should halt the landing now and immediately carry out the operation to force the strait!"

"Force the strait immediately?" Zheng Jiangong was taken aback. "Are you worried that the fleet under Davy Jones can't beat the Spanish?"

"No," Shi Lang said. "The Spanish appearing in the Ōsumi Strait means Inner Kagoshima Bay is empty. And the northeastern side of Sakura Island has better terrain, more suitable for a landing. Moreover, as long as we enter Inner Kagoshima Bay, we can block the Spanish fleet from entering. Then no matter how the battle in Outer Kagoshima Bay goes, we cannot lose!"

"But what about fleet resupply?" Zheng Jiangong asked.

Shi Lang smiled. "Go ashore and take it!"

(End of Chapter)