Chapter 1614: Hearing the Cannon Fire

Right after the Songshan fired, the other warships that had received the order also opened fire at the same moment. For a time, the roar of cannon fire was unceasing as countless shells poured down upon the small fort. The solid iron cannonballs carried terrifying impact force from their velocity. These shells smashed into the ground and then bounced and collided back and forth, quickly battering the fort beyond recognition. The earth was gouged with deep scars, and even flesh and blood were mixed in among them. The entire scene of carnage looked as if it had been plowed over dozens of times by an iron plow.

Zhao Song stood on the deck of the Songshan, silently watching the distant fort through his binoculars, motionless. Years of military life had long since immunized him to the roar of cannons, and though the ship rocked continuously, it could not loosen his footing in the slightest.

The smoke from below deck had risen up and then enveloped everyone, making him feel as if he were floating among the clouds.

"Marshal Zhao, what do you think of this bombardment?" Cai De asked him with a smile, a hint of smugness on his face.

Because the Great Han had always been expanding on land, the navy had never gotten many chances to appear on stage. Some even believed that most of the navy's funding was spent in vain, so now the naval officers were thoroughly enjoying the pleasure of being the main characters.

They were not stingy with shells, because right behind them, at Busan Port in Goryeo, the Great Han army had stockpiled a massive quantity of shells, enough for them to handle countless bombardments like this one.

"The effect is quite good. Give them another round of fire. Once that area has been smashed enough, you can bombard the fort on the other side, and then I'll have the men land on the left flank." Because the first battle had achieved such results, Zhao Song was also in a good mood and smiled slightly. "The navy brothers have had their time to perform. Next, it will be the army brothers' turn."

"Alright!" Cai De immediately agreed, then continued to calmly issue orders.

Under Cai De's command, the Great Han fleet continued the bombardment with immense patience. Only after confirming that the forts on both sides could no longer pose any threat to their ships did the fleet begin to change formation, then sail into the bay in a long snake formation and continue bombarding the shore.

As these ships relentlessly pounded away, rubble and raging flames turned this originally scenic harbor into a brutal battlefield. Yellow smoke billowed everywhere, and roars and screams rang out without end.

Soon, some small boats were lowered from the transport ships at the rear of the fleet. These small boats, fully loaded with soldiers, stopped at the flank of the bay's outstretched arms.

Next, the soldiers in red uniforms immediately disembarked and formed up under their officers' orders, then began climbing toward the high-ground fort according to the formations they had trained in.

Because they were the first unit of the Great Han to set foot on Japanese soil, they were all extremely excited. In their fervor, even their footsteps and the weapons in their hands seemed much lighter.

Among the leading group was Bi Su, a regiment commander of the Great Han's Liaodong Army. Normally, as a regiment commander, he would not need to participate in such a small-scale battle, but because this first battle was of great importance, and the honor of being the first to set foot on Japanese soil was too alluring, he led from the front and rushed to land first.

Before departure, the other two regiment commanders had also wanted to contend for this mission, but Zhao Song ultimately gave the opportunity to his old subordinate. Bi Su understood Marshal Zhao's painstaking intention, and he also knew how he should repay his superior.

Under his personal command, the first hundred-plus officers and soldiers to land assembled, then moved along the flank up the high ground and advanced toward the fort.

Just as they reached the top of the high ground, a unified roar actually came from the hinterland of the bay. Then, a large mass of figures burst out from the deep mountain forests and charged toward them.

Bi Su was not the slightest bit alarmed. Because the distance was still sufficient, he first observed these charging Japanese soldiers according to his combat experience from Liaodong.

These men had bizarre hairstyles and roared strange cries he could not understand. Even their clothing was not uniform. Although the ones leading carried long swords and had extremely fierce expressions, in the eyes of Bi Su, who had fought the Jurchens and Mongols many times, what did they amount to?

Nothing but a rabble. He sneered inwardly, then waved his hand.

The Great Han soldiers who had already climbed the high ground quickly formed up and arranged a small-scale military formation. According to Great Han practice, several rows of soldiers holding firearms stood at the front of the formation first.

The navy had already noticed the disturbance here and thus turned their cannons, launching a bombardment at the forest hinterland from which those men had just charged. The roar of cannon fire drowned out the shouts of these Japanese soldiers, but it did not affect Bi Su's judgment. He coldly watched these charging men, calmly estimating the distance between the two forces.

When he felt the moment was right, he waved his hand heavily.

"Fire!" the officers shouted loudly.

"Bang!" With the roar of the guns, dense volleys of bullets rushed toward these Japanese soldiers in unison, then mercilessly tore away their flesh and lives. But although many fell, the Japanese soldiers beside them seemed completely oblivious, continuing to charge this way with strange cries, as if they had gone mad.

"Fire!" the officers continued to order. The firearms roared again, taking away more lives.

As the distance grew closer, more and more Japanese soldiers died under the guns.

Gradually, their charging speed slowed. The fear of death began to strip away their earlier reckless courage, but the leading samurai still did not stop their steps, bringing them charging to the front of the Great Han soldiers' formation.

However, at this moment, the Great Han musketeers withdrew one after another, and soldiers holding long spears stepped up to take their place.

These soldiers advanced toward the Japanese soldiers with practiced formations and steady steps, like a moving wall of sharp spikes.

The two armies quickly clashed. The leading samurai were almost simultaneously pierced through by the dense long spears. They swung their long swords helplessly, only to find they had no chance at all to inflict any harm on these red-uniformed soldiers, and could only die with helplessness and unwillingness.

After seeing these samurai crushed so easily, the remaining men of this force finally collapsed. Some stood dumbly in place, while others threw down their weapons with strange cries and then ran back even faster than they had charged.

However, no matter what they did, their chances of survival were pitifully small. After the enemies began to flee, the spearmen and musketeers, following their many years of combat experience in Liaodong, quickly launched an assault. Their weapons once again took the lives of the vast majority of these men.

Soon, beyond this small battlefield, there were no other remnants save for the wails of the dying. The last bits of resistance also became futile.

Bi Su stopped the soldiers from further pursuit, then reassembled his troops. At this time, new reinforcements came ashore from behind. They moved along the high ground toward the fort, attempting to occupy it immediately.

Although there was sporadic resistance along the way, because the earlier bombardment, intense to the extreme, had already destroyed most of these defenders and caused the morale and courage of the survivors to collapse, their resistance was hardly worth mentioning and was quickly wiped out entirely by the Great Han soldiers.

When the entire fort was occupied, a red flag slowly unfurled at the fort's original site. Then, cheers rang out almost simultaneously on the ships and on the fort.

Although everyone had always deeply believed in their army's superiority, when they saw the first battle go so smoothly, the officers and soldiers could not help but feel joy from the bottom of their hearts.

Thus, in this initial engagement, without suffering a single casualty, the Great Han navy had battered the two small forts of the Fukuoka Domain at Hakata Bay beyond recognition, and the army had then crushed the first domain soldiers they engaged.

They established a foothold at Hakata Bay and would soon continue to send troops ashore, eventually expanding the foothold into an occupied area, becoming a fulcrum for the Great Han army in Kyushu.

Amid the cheers from all around, the navy's bombardment also slowly ceased. They remained in the bay, monitoring the interior and waiting for the possible assembly of Fukuoka Domain forces and a counterattack on the fort.

"Marshal Zhao, everything went smoothly. This is a great start!" Cai De looked at Zhao Song with a face full of delight. "Let's quickly send a victory report back. His Highness the Crown Prince must be getting impatient, right?"

"Well fought, but this is only the beginning." Zhao Song put down his binoculars, as if speaking to himself. "Alright, let's go. Set sail for the open sea off Nagasaki!"

Having learned the lesson from the Yuan Dynasty's two failed invasions of Japan, where all ships and troops were concentrated at Hakata Bay, leading to constraints everywhere and an inability to deploy forces, the Great Han army made many adjustments when formulating the plan to attack Kyushu.

Fully considering the reality that the Great Han possessed absolute naval superiority and the shogunate simply did not have sufficient naval strength to resist, so the Great Han army could move at sea without restriction, Zhao Song and his staff officers decided to split their forces into two routes and land at two places simultaneously.

One place was Hakata Bay in northern Kyushu. The other, naturally, was the Nagasaki area in western Kyushu.

Both of these places were areas with excellent geographical conditions, convenient for landing. Moreover, Nagasaki was where the shogunate's core area in Kyushu was located. Attacking Nagasaki directly would force the shogunate to engage the Great Han, saving the Great Han time in conquering Kyushu.

In the afternoon, under flag signal orders, the Great Han fleet abruptly changed course. Most of the warships and transport ships left Hakata Bay, leaving only a small portion of the army behind to rest and reorganize for a day before continuing to attack the Fukuoka Domain along the coast, bringing this area under the control of the Great Han army. Then, they would continue advancing toward northern Kyushu, planning to capture Kokura and the port of Moji, cutting off the connection between Kyushu and Honshu.

And this place would also become a material transfer base for the Great Han, supporting the army's next stage of operations.

Zhao Song also traveled with this fleet toward Nagasaki. He had designated Nagasaki as the main direction of attack, so naturally he had to command in person. The massive fleet assembled once more and sailed south in a mighty procession.

They had not been moving long before they reached the sea off Hirado. However, at this moment, several sea vessels blocked their path. These ships were quite large and of Western style in design. They appeared to be foreign merchant ships coming to Japan, not Japanese warships.

Cai De did not dare be negligent and immediately had flag signals sent out at sea, demanding these ships withdraw immediately and not obstruct the Great Han fleet's movements, while also ordering his own fleet to be on alert. If not for the previous battle having vented too much fire, he probably would have wanted to directly order the cannons to fire on these ships and use them to consecrate the banners.

After seeing the Great Han navy's flag signals, these merchant ships replied in kind. When he understood what they were saying, Cai De's expression became somewhat strange.

"What's the matter?" Zhao Song asked.

"Marshal Zhao, these ships are Dutch ships. They are merchants preparing to go to Hirado to trade, and now they want to talk with us..." Cai De's expression was a bit odd. "Marshal Zhao, we shouldn't delay. Let's just ignore them. If they dare get in the way, we can just blast them to the bottom."

"Although the Dutch have few ships, their ships are sturdy and their cannons powerful. If possible, it's better not to create extra complications and fight another battle with them. What's the point of forcing them to side with the shogunate against us?" After considering for a moment, Zhao Song shook his head and rejected Cai De's proposal. "The ignorant are blameless. They don't know what we are doing; it's normal for them to have misgivings. Do this: send a flag signal telling them not to block our path. I can receive a few of their representatives and explain the situation to them."

"Yes, Marshal Zhao." Cai De nodded.

Although he was a marquis and one of the navy's founding elders, while Zhao Song was still only a count and merely one of the army's brigade commanders, in the current Great Han, the navy was, after all, still somewhat lower in status than the army. Moreover, both His Majesty and the Crown Prince had repeatedly issued clear orders that Zhao Song was the commander-in-chief of this campaign, and both the army and navy were to follow his instructions. Therefore, Cai De did not mind showing him some extra respect and acting according to his judgment.

What's more, he was a true 'member of the Zhao family'.

Under Cai De's direction, the Songshan immediately hoisted a signal flag. The Dutch quickly made their decision — several ships turned aside, no longer interfering with the Great Han fleet, while a small boat was lowered from the merchant vessel, and a few men rowed it toward the Songshan.

They were soon hauled aboard the Songshan. Ignoring his soaking-wet clothes, the Dutchman in the lead immediately asked, "I am Van Gozet of the Netherlands, currently trade representative at the Dutch trading post in Japan. May I ask who commands this fleet? I request an audience with him!"

He rattled off a long string of words. The soldiers stared blankly, understanding nothing. But there were some Westerners aboard the Songshan, and a few among them understood Dutch, so someone soon came over to translate, then led him before Zhao Song and Cai De.

"Honored gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to meet you." After the translator introduced Cai De and Zhao Song's identities, he promptly bowed to the two men. "At such a time, I imagine you must be here on grave business… Still, I must presume to ask you to spare a moment and explain — what exactly does such a massive fleet intend to do, arriving here?"

The bombardment had been so immense that the booming cannon fire from Hakata Bay had long since carried into the lands of Hirado Domain. Hearing those sounds, the Dutch — already somewhat fearful due to the harassment by Great Han pirates — now grew even more panicked and bewildered. When the trading post discovered a Great Han fleet descending from the north, they screwed up their courage, boarded a few ships, and sailed out to the open sea, hoping to ascertain what exactly was happening before deciding how to proceed.

"I am the commander dispatched by the Great Han to chastise the Japanese shogunate." Zhao Song did not beat around the bush with him and stated the facts outright. "We have just bombarded Fukuoka Domain. Next we will sail south to attack Nagasaki, and perhaps even more places."

"You… you mean to say your country has already launched a war against Japan?!" Gozet was greatly startled, looking utterly bewildered. "But… but we have received no such notification?"

"We have not launched a war against Japan. We have merely come to chastise the shogunate. The shogunate is not the imperial court of Japan — these are two different matters." Zhao Song answered with a straight face. "In any case, this war has already begun. I hope you will not interfere from this point on, lest you bring calamity upon yourselves."

Gozet now understood. This was an undeclared war. Without giving the Japanese side any prior notification whatsoever, the Great Han had directly launched a war, then used its fleet to mount an offensive against Kyushu.

Although this general sought to justify his country's actions by claiming the shogunate was not Japan's legitimate government, in Gozet's view, that was naturally an untenable pretext.

Still, he had no desire to pass moral judgment on the Great Han's actions. He was a merchant — a merchant who had traveled untold thousands of miles from the Netherlands to Batavia and finally to Japan. He himself had done no small number of things that went against morality; what interest did he have in pointing fingers at others?

Besides, the lands of Europe were no different these days. The war in Germany raged on without end. The feudal lords and princes of every region had long since resorted to any means without scruple, reducing the German lands to a wasteland of wailing and countless dead and wounded. Such undeclared warfare was something he had long grown accustomed to seeing.

Now that this reality had come to pass, what he needed to consider was how to extract profit from it — or at the very least, avoid further losses.

Interference was absolutely out of the question. The Dutch had only these few ships in Japan, and they were merchant vessels at that — their combat strength could not possibly compare to the Great Han's naval fleet. To interfere would be no different from dashing eggs against a rock. He would never do such a thing.

Yet Japan was an important market for the Netherlands in the East. The East India Company held enormous interests here. To lose them because of a war like this — that would truly be hard to swallow.