However, the rebels not only equipped their opponents in the mountain city, but also the shogunate carried out military reforms under the pressure of survival crisis. Because of its superiority, the shogunate navy has taken control of the sea power in Seto Inland Sea, the main artery of Japan's sea. Only by winning a big victory and seizing Osaka, the land and sea base of the shogunate, can the anti-curtain faction ensure the security of Kyoto and even the whole Kansai. As clausewitz, a western strategist, said in On War, "The main battle, as we will explain in detail later, is the best means. Whoever is afraid of Armageddon and escapes from the main battle usually has to pay for it. " The battle between the two sides in Gyeonggi was not only the first battle of Chen Wu War, but also the decisive one.
On the afternoon of October 2nd, 65438/kloc-0, the shogunate army marched into the point city about 12 km south of Kyoto (but the supreme commander Tokugawa Yoshinobu was far behind Osaka). Then we split up in two ways, and the main force went out to meet in the east. Obeying Takenaka's orders, the army led the shogunate, Huijin and other vassals and the "new electoral group", with about 8,000 troops, and arrived in the ambush that night to meet the pursuit place. 1868 65438+1October 3 (65438+February 9, the third year of Keio), the rebels staged a coup in the imperial court and announced the return of the regime to the emperor. At the meeting of the small imperial office of the new government, it was decided that Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the shogunate, should return his office and territory to the imperial court. This incident stimulated the governors of Aizu and Sangming, who supported the shogunate, to March from Osaka to Kyoto. They clashed with government troops, mainly those of Satsuma and Changzhou, in the southern suburbs of Kyoto, that is, the battle of birds and feathers (Japanese: birds and feathers? See you later). The inverted curtain army has a half-moon position in the bird feather. From Zhongdao in the east to Yachuan Xiao Zhi in the west, the defenders are 2,000 Samoyed soldiers and some Changzhou soldiers. On the afternoon of October 3rd, 65438/kloc-0, the shogunate gave way to the defenders and ordered a forced passage. Samoyed defenders fired first, and the first shell hit an artillery team at the top of the shogunate column, followed by a rain of shooting, and the shogunate army was in chaos at once. Later, the shogunate finally organized a counterattack, and the military police organization "See You Tuan" in Kyoto also charged with white blades, but these swordsmen were immediately repelled by bullets. In the evening, the shogunate army could not resist the night attack of the curtain beggars and fled back to Diancheng overnight.
Fujian is in the east of Niaoyu, a small town about six kilometers south of Kyoto, with He Maochuan in the west and Taoshan in the east. In its southeast corner, it is surrounded by earth walls and huge houses. Under the fire conditions at that time, it was a solid fortress. Like the bird feather, the loyalist also has a half-moon position, occupying the commanding heights of Taoshan and surrounding Fujian's pursuit place from three sides. The defenders are 1800 Changzhou soldiers, a Samoan army and 300 tosa governors. The shogunate army repeatedly attacked the positions of the anti-curtain faction, once occupied Taoshan, and was later beaten back. At night, the curtain-raiser still carried out night raids. At dawn on the 4th, the curtain army was forced to return to Diancheng. In this way, the curtain army was defeated on the battlefields of Bird Feather and Fujian.
As soon as the war started, at noon on June 3, 65438 10, the imperial court announced that the Tokugawa shogunate had decided to crusade against the enemy. On the 4th, the imperial court took the Ningna Temple Palace as the general and ordered the shogunate army to be conquered. At about 2 pm, Zhang Jia, Prince Gong of Ningna Temple, came to the official camp of Dongsi with a banner and a festival knife given by the emperor, which greatly boosted the morale of the troops and led them to pursue. Saigō Takamori, the actual supreme commander of the defeated government army, happily wrote: "From the 3rd to the 6th, there was no retreat and no failure. Such a completely victorious army was unprecedented." . The shogunate army was forced to retreat to Osaka after losing in a row. After the fiasco of the Battle of Bird Feather and Fujian, the governors who had been loyal to the shogunate defected one after another. After the shogunate retreated, they tried to hold on to Diancheng. Dianchengfan is the "big name" of Tokugawa shogunate (referring to the vassal who surrendered before Tokugawa Ieyasu established hegemony, which is equivalent to his own clique). Just three days ago, it was the front headquarters of the shogunate, but at this time it flatly refused to let the shogunate enter the city, and Kaesong ushered in the fallen loyalist. Even Jizhou Fan, one of the "three royal families" (who is related to the general's family, and the general has the right to use the Tokugawa surname and inherit the shogunate if he has no children), remains neutral in the name of "diligent king". It can be said that the trees are falling apart, and the people are in trouble!
Osaka is known as "Jincheng Tang Chi" and "Osaka is rich and leading the world". However, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, commander-in-chief of the shogunate army in Osaka, had lost the will to fight. /kloc-On the morning of October 7th, he left the army that was still fighting, and fled back to Edo on the flagship "Kaiyang" with important shogunate officials Song Ping Rongbao (Lord of Huijin), Song Ping Ping Jing (Lord of Sang Ming) and Lao Zhong (the highest official directly under the general). After hearing the news, the shogunate troops in Osaka City were all amazed and dispersed in succession. Wu Yang, the assistant commander of the navy, had to carry180,000 taels of gold hidden in the city onto the warship and take some wounded soldiers to Edo. On the 8th, Changzhou Fanjun entered Osaka, declaring that the shogunate army was completely defeated in the decisive battle between Beijing and Capital. Of course, the primary reason for the defeat of the shogunate army on the battlefield in Gyeonggi was political perversion, and the citizens, businessmen and farmers in Kyoto gave great support to the loyalist army. The West Chamber records: "The shogunate was heartbroken between Beijing and Guangzhou ... there were soldiers burning nearby, but every time soldiers from Saskatchewan (Mozambique) passed by," men, women and children came out of the roadside and prayed together and thanked each other. On the battlefield, some people also send meals, boil water and wait for soldiers with wine. Better than this San Francisco guy. "However, the shogunate's mistakes in military strategy are undoubtedly an important reason. The shogunate army could have knocked on the south gate of Kyoto directly along the northern part of Dianchuan. On the other hand, the brave soldiers of Huijin and Sang Ming, who are known as "acting as two acts", took the main road "Zhongshan Road" connecting Edo and Kyoto, and from Guanyuan (northeast of Lake Biwako, 1600), Tokugawa Ieyasu won here, thus laying the foundation for Tokugawa. But the shogunate army, with a bloated formation, assembled all its troops from Dianchuan all the way, and the situation was dignified and inflexible. Sure enough, after the defeat of the war, this swarming March turned into a swarming retreat.
After the victory of the battlefield in Gyeonggi, the Emperor issued the "Order to Celebrate the Conquest Celebration" on 1 7, and on 16, he removed Tokugawa Yoshinobu from his post as a former minister, deprived him of the territory and official position of the loyal shogunate, and announced that the territory of the old shogunate would be listed as imperial territory. In order to win over the anti-shogunate forces, the new government ordered "the tax revenue of shogunate territory will be halved this year" in June 5438 +654381October +02, which won more public support for the new government. In order to gain the recognition of the emperor's regime in Europe and America, the new government sent envoys to Kobe on June +654381October+May 5, 5438, and submitted credentials to ministers of various countries. Its content: the emperor personally cut internal and external political affairs; In the past, the treaty was called Dajun, but later it was renamed Emperor. Recognize the treaties concluded between the old shogunate and foreign countries; Criticize the shogunate's faults at home and adopt a friendly policy abroad. Countries recognize the new government and the old shogunate as equal warring groups and declare neutrality outside the war. But France secretly supported the shogunate, and British businessmen sold a lot of weapons to the rebels. On February 6th, the governors of the towns of Donghai, Dongshan and Hokuriku were changed to pioneer governors and town governors. On the 9th, the government chairman, Prince Tomokawa Miyazhiren, was appointed as the governor of the Eastern Expedition, and Saigō Takamori and others were appointed as staff officers. Under the command of Saigō Takamori and others, the loyal ministers of the anti-curtain faction changed from strategic defense to strategic counterattack in Cheers for the Whole People. The Eastern Expedition Army, with the long soldiers as the main force, is known as 5 Maneba. February 1 1, and start to leave in turn. /kloc-In February of 0/5, Prince Chiren was personally awarded a pennant by the emperor and embarked on a journey. Yoshijiro, the governor of Changzhou, saw that his military power was widely circulated. The lyrics say, "Before the prince rides a horse, what is flying in the wind?"? Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock! In February, Sang Mingfan, one of the "double-screen actors", gave up without a fight. In March, Sanhe, the birthplace of Tokugawa, also fell into the hands of loyal ministers.