Chapter 222 26. Pirates Attack with Drums and Flags

Ataka Fuyuyasu died after all, and the so-called "Ataka Navy Operation Manual" that Kobayata had been thinking about could not be obtained after all. Ataka Fuyuyasu, who was considered the top navy commander in Japan at this time, died at the age of 37 without leaving behind any experience in naval warfare.

Kobayata didn't care about the future of the Miyoshi family. Anyway, Kobayata didn't need to send troops to Kyoto, and Yamanouchi Yoshiharu must have known this news. He had his own Kyoto intelligence network, but he was not as sure as Kobayata. Who knew that after killing Ataka Fuyuyasu, Miyoshi Nagayoshi would die in pain and depression, only two years older than Yamanouchi Yoshiharu.

Kobayata was sorry that how would the bad battles on the water be fought in the future? Land warfare was much simpler, and the Yamanouchi family had so many elites who had fought bad battles for decades. Even if he had never eaten pork, he had seen pigs run away. Even if Kobayata didn't know anything at all, he would have learned the basics after watching for a few years. What's more, Xiao Pingtai has also read the "Jixiao Xinshu" which costs one yuan per copy on Taobao, and he has theoretical knowledge.

But what about naval battles? Although there are still many cases of boarding and fighting in naval battles of this era, the needs of equipping cannons, strengthening the hull, improving maneuverability and seaworthiness have been put on the table.

European sailing ships sailed for a year and a half to India, Siam, Malacca, and Macau, carrying countless oriental goods on the return trip, seeking countless huge wealth. This is an era of explorers and navigators. The development of countries that cannot build ships and sail will surely lag behind the world slowly.

Xiao Pingtai has no intention of changing whether Japan has maritime status. He only cares about how to fight Suruga with 2,000 Suruga navy in the future? How to fight against countless naval forces in the future such as Loise, Shima, Kumano, Kii, Awa, and Awaji? It is definitely not possible to rely on verbal cannons. Even if you want to force others to surrender, you must have a navy that is used to fighting.

The issue of ships is easy to solve. There is a Karuno Shrine on the Izu Peninsula [Note 1], next to which is the Reino River. Hundreds of years ago, small ships that can quickly shuttle between the near sea and the inland river were manufactured. The "Hitachi Fudoki" even records that in the 8th and 9th centuries AD, Hitachi Province was able to manufacture 15-meter-long fast sailing ships. According to the unearthed obsidian, this kind of ship can go to the offshore islands dozens of kilometers away from the mainland to obtain precious obsidian, and it has barely had the ability to sail long distances near the coast.

Therefore, in the eastern country, Kobana, Kanbune, and even Tang-style large ships with more than 1,500 koku can be manufactured without any problem. Even the Okamoto generals under the command of Boso Satomi occasionally engaged in the business of intermediary trading of ships. After all, Sakai's return ship returned to Suruga Bay, and it needed a ship from Kanto to relay and pull goods to Edo Bay.

The idea of ​​the Yamanouchi family to pull out a navy came up five or six years ago, but it is easy to find samurai who can draw a sword and cut people in this world, but it is difficult to find samurai who can command naval battles and train sailors.

Historically, the naval talents of the Imagawa clan and the Takeda clan mainly went to Ise and Shima to recruit those frustrated or ambitious ship owners, who served as the backbone of the navy, and then supplemented some of their own fishermen and boatmen. In this way, the Suruga navy, which was famous in the East, was formed, and it eventually withered because no one supplemented it.

This is a helpless part of the Suruga Sangoku of the Kaido. The naval talents are completely incomparable to those of the outer islands of Kyushu and the Seto Inland Sea. Even the naval forces in Ise Bay and Mihokoshi are incomparable, and are almost blank.

Yamanouchi Yoshiharu has been jumping around for five years. On the one hand, he has been fighting for years, and he has no ability to take care of it. On the other hand, it is very expensive, and talents are rare and nowhere to be found. Therefore, the navy of Ejiri has only two or three cats and cats. After several years of training, there are only a dozen small boats in Ejiri Port to show off and fill the table.

No one can even operate a decent Kansen, let alone coordinate the size and deploy troops. Merchants from Sakaimachi often laugh at the navy of the East Country for being really rookies. They will even bump into each other when rowing a small boat, and their driving skills are not as good as those sailors who return to the ship.

Originally, Xiao Pingtai was going to hook up with Ataka Fuyuyasu, and then let him write one or two books on naval warfare while under house arrest. For Ataka Fuyuyasu, who has such a high level of education, this is definitely not a big deal, and then Xiao Pingtai relied on that little bit of incense. Whether it is thick-skinned or persistent, he got a volume.

After reading through the theoretical knowledge, and gathering the wisdom of the cobblers, at least it should be no big problem to deal with the rookies' naval battles in the Middle Ages. Even Kobayata knew a little about setting up sheds (not watertight compartments), strengthening the hull, getting two big ships, and adding a ram, so maybe he could run rampant on the water in the future.

Unfortunately, Ataka Fuyuyasu was stubborn, thinking that although his elder brother was cruel to the enemy, he was not much different from his father to his younger brother. As a result, he killed his beloved elder brother, and all the tactics of the Ataka Awaji navy were wasted, and now they are all buried.

When Kobayata was upset, Aji ran in, panting, holding the door frame.

"Danzheng, three Kan ships and dozens of Kobana came outside the port, and the navy of Ejiri can't resist them at all."

"What? Which navy? What flag?" Kobayata has been in Ejiri for the past two years without any trouble. The pirates who are here are all setting up checkpoints along the way to collect protection fees, and they don't do robbing at all. It's better to say that they are a kind of national people than pirates, and they are very formal.

"There is no flag or number, so it is impossible to tell."

Kobayata's first reaction was that the thief Takeda clan had won over the Suruga navy. On the surface, the two families did not fight, but in fact, they were playing tricks and letting this group of navy attack the Yamanouchi town without a flag.

"Aji, and Nanaki hit my horse flag and summon all the foot soldiers in the city to line up."

"Tatsuzo, you blow the conch shell and mobilize the families and servants of the samurai foot soldiers under the city to enter the city for defense."

Kobayata did not wear armor, but ran down the city with a long spear. At this moment, the city heard the sound of the conch shell and saw two large ships coming outside the harbor. They probably guessed that there might be pirates coming ashore to harass. Women and children all ran into the city, and the townspeople gathered under the organization of the townspeople, hastily armed themselves, and prepared to defend their hometown.

Kobayata's horse flag soon rushed out of the city, and the soldiers and civilians in the city and the city saw Kobayata riding a hundred-dan rushing to the port, and they felt much more at ease.

The foot soldiers and townspeople along the way also slowly gathered behind Koheita, and most of the iron cannon soldiers also appeared with wooden shields on their backs.

Soon, a barely defensive formation was set up at the port, and the hundreds of iron cannon foot soldiers on the front line lit the fuses one after another, ready to give a head-on blow to the outsiders who attacked the port.

[Note 1]: In ancient Japanese, karuno refers to a small boat or a canoe.