In February of the following year, when the shogunate sent the "Chitose Maru" to Shanghai for trade, he went with the ship along with Tomohashi the Fifth Generation of the Satsuma Domain and Nakamu Kuranosuke of the Saga Domain.

In early June, "Chitose Maru" arrived in Shanghai.

During the two months that Shinsaku Takasugi stayed in Shanghai, he took every possible method to observe the situation in China.

Watching the foreign merchant ships racing in and out of Tianjin Port; watching the rows of foreign business houses in the city streets; watching the groups of foreign sailors disembarking from warships to perform tasks; watching the Waibaidu Bridge, which is only open to foreigners for free...

Takasugi Shinsaku felt worried.

This "trip to Shanghai" completely changed Takasugi Shinsaku.

He changed from a radical like Kusaka Genzui to a liberal like Katsura Kogoro.

In August of that year, as soon as Shinsaku Takasugi returned to Nagasaki, he acted on his own initiative and hastily initialed an agreement to purchase warships with Dutch merchants on behalf of the feudal clan. However, this was not only rejected by the clan, but was also rumored to be a laughing stock for a while.

"Hey... I really didn't expect that..."

Past events came to mind... Takasugi Shinsaku sat next to Katsura Kogoro with an expression filled with emotion.

“The bastard who was always ridiculed every time he proposed ‘purchase warships and strengthen coastal defense’, today actually took a black ship and embarked on the road of ‘conquering Edo and destroying Tokugawa’.”

"Hahaha! Being able to experience such a heroic act in person makes my name of 'Toyo Ichikuansi' a reality in vain!"

Black Ship - Affected by the "Black Ship Incident", even today, 11 years later, many people still refer to steamships that emit black smoke as "black ships".

Katsura Kogoro listened quietly, smiled slightly, then turned his head and looked to the west.

"I don't know what's going on in Changzhou now..."

Takasugi Shinsaku tilted his head and said calmly:

"If nothing else happens, the Tokugawa army should have broken through Yizhoukou and reached Zhounan."

Katsura Kogoro let out a sigh of relief.

"Then we have to speed up... We must capture Edo before Hagi Castle is captured. At this point, we can no longer tolerate retreating or regretting...!"

Takasugi Shinsaku nodded lightly:

"Well, that's right... We can't turn back anymore, we can only continue on this 'Way of Shura' to the end...!"

…

…

The only sentry post on the shore that can be called "coastal defense" has been bombarded by indiscriminate artillery.

Under the intensive bombardment of the artillery rain, there was nothing else on the shore except sand and gravel, damaged wood, and blackened human body parts.

Therefore, the landing of Katsura Kogoro and others was extremely smooth, as smooth as if they were walking in their own yard.

The three warships reached the shore effortlessly.

Finally able to return to land and get rid of the pain of seasickness - with this joy, everyone rushed over the rope ladder on the side of the ship, boarded the boat, and screamed as the water rushed to the beach.

After landing, they organized themselves into formations in an orderly and rapid manner.

"Don't wait! Run! Everyone, run! Hurry up and line up!"

"Well... damn... I'm still feeling dizzy... let me slow down..."

"Stop whining! There's no time for you to rest now!"

"We must race against time now! Seize Nagoya Castle before Owari Clan reacts! If we don't get the food and grass from Nagoya Castle, we will all starve to death in a few days!"

Nagoya Castle—the feudal hall of the Owari Domain.

It is worth mentioning that the people currently busy grabbing the beach are not only the members of the Raiders, but also a large number of Westerners.

It was as if some agreement had been reached in advance. The two groups of people would not interfere with each other and each would be busy with his own business.

The Raiders occupy the east side of the coast, and these Westerners occupy the west side of the coast.

When it comes to discipline, the latter is no worse than the former.

After successfully landing ashore, they organized the formation consciously without the command of others.

Although these Westerners have different looks, their facial features are surprisingly consistent.

Pale skin, eye sockets so deep that an egg can be filled in, high cheekbones, high nose bridge, medium build, and luxuriant hair...

If you are involved in European ethnology, you will definitely be able to see at a glance: these are the facial features of the Slavs!

After the forward troops completed the landing, Yamata no Orochi, Katsura Kogoro and others left the flagship and took a small boat ashore.

"Huh... I have been at sea for a long time and suddenly returned to stable land. I was a little uncomfortable for a while."

Yamata no Orochi clasped his hands behind his back, talking to himself, while striding forward, walking to the center of the beach, and then changed his gaze like appreciating art, looking around with interest at the craters that were blasted by random artillery fire.

of beach.

"Orochi-sama, wait for us, don't go too far on your own..."

Shuten Doji smiled bitterly while leading the cadres to follow Yamata no Orochi.

Take a closer look...the lineup around Yamata-no-Orochi is extremely luxurious!

Otakemaru, Otakemaru's younger sister Suzu, Shuten Doji, Umibozu, Su Nuo, Ushiki, Ruonyo... Except for Tamamo Mae who stayed behind, Yamata no Orochi brought all the cadres he could bring!

Katsura Kogoro and Takasugi Shinsaku slowly moved to the left and right of Yamata no Orochi.

"..."

Katsura Kogoro said nothing, with a dazed expression. He glanced around and blinked his eyes vigorously, as if to confirm whether he was dreaming and whether there was anything wrong with his eyes.

After a while, he lowered his head, looked at the beach belonging to the Owari clan under his feet, and murmured:

"The 'surprise attack on the thick tail'... actually succeeded...!"

When Yamata no Orochi heard his words, he looked up to the sky and smiled:

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Kui-kun, Takasugi-kun, how about it? I said that right, right?"

"Our 'Amanuma Spear' is not an unrealistic plan! We will definitely succeed!"

"Tiannuma Spear" - the overthrow plan that the Fanzhu Party has been preparing for many years is actually not complicated and can be roughly divided into "two steps".

The first step was to launch a surprise attack on Owari Domain from the sea, capture Nagoya Castle, and seize Owari Domain's supplies.

The second step is to use Nagoya Castle as the base and divide the troops into two groups. One group will move forward to set up a defense line to block the marching army and prevent it from returning to reinforce Kanto; the other group will move eastward to attack Edo! Destroy the shogunate!

At first glance, this plan seems quite bold, almost crazy.

But if you look into it carefully, you will find that this plan is not a fantasy, it is quite feasible!

Just by choosing Owari Domain as a landing place, there are quite a few ways to go.

First of all, it is definitely unrealistic to directly attack Edo by surprise.

The "Black Ship Incident" of that year disgraced the shogunate.

The shogunate learned a lesson from this and felt that the coastal defense force was insufficient, so it put "coastal defense" on the agenda.

The "Ichitsubashi Faction" and "Nanki Faction" within the shogunate, which usually only hinder each other, rarely reach a common opinion on this matter.

If there is anyone among the ministers who can engage in coastal defense, it is undoubtedly Katsurin Taro.

Several years ago, Katsurin Taro, who was well versed in maritime affairs, was sent to Edo Bay to build coastal defense guns.

Under the careful design and construction of Katsu Rintaro, the defense power of Edo Bay was greatly increased.

Although it is far from an iron-clad wall, it is not something that can be broken through with just 2 or 3 steam battleships.

Carrying that one coastal defense gun and forcefully breaking into Edo Bay... Although this can't be said to be a suicide, it is undoubtedly a life-or-death outcome!

Furthermore, Edo Bay is so close to Edo that it is not an exaggeration to say it is just a stone's throw away.

After discovering something strange in Edo Bay, the shogunate was able to quickly gather troops to block the landing.

Therefore, forcing the invasion of Edo Bay was actually the worst of the worst.

Since Edo Bay is out of reach, there are only a few optional targets left.

Although Japan is a long and narrow island country, due to its mountainous and hilly terrain, there are few flat areas, and its coastline is winding and serpentine, so there are only a few suitable areas for landing.

In fact, if you consider "attacking Edo", you don't need to think about it at all - the most ideal landing place is undoubtedly Owari Domain!

The reason why I dare to make this conclusion is mainly due to three considerations.

First, Owari Domain is close to the sea and has excellent natural bays, which are suitable for landing.

Secondly, there is Tokai Street connecting Owari Domain to Edo, so transportation is convenient.

Donghai Street is the most popular and mature avenue among the "Five Streets".

If we march on the streets of Tokai, if everything goes well, we will reach Edo Castle in just 10 days!

Third, Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, the lord of the Owari Domain, personally led some of the domain's troops to participate in the Battle of March, so the military strength of the domain was weak and the defense was empty.

At this time, the attack on Owari Domain encountered little resistance.

Fourth, the Owari Domain is a powerful domain with a height of 620,000 koku, and sufficient supplies are stored in the domain hall in Nagoya Castle.
To be continued...